I Know

From the ashes of collapsing nations, from the fractured remnants of global power structures, a desperate, improbable alliance began to coalesce. The NIA, the CIA, MI6, the remnants of Japanese Intelligence, even fragments of the once-formidable KGB – intelligence agencies that had spent decades locked in Cold War shadow games now found themselves united by a common, existential threat. From the chaos, from the dissolving world order, emerged a whisper, then a plan: Sons of Samak.

It began as a desperate intelligence-sharing initiative, a clandestine network exchanging fragmented data, desperate for any edge against the Nhjashj. Then, it evolved, solidified, becoming something more – a covert organization, a shadow resistance, a fragile coalition of the best minds humanity had left. The name, 'Sons of Samak,' was Layla's suggestion, plucked from the dusty pages of Nigerian folklore, a legend of a mythical warrior who had defied overwhelming odds, who had stood against impossible darkness. It was a symbol, a rallying cry, a whisper of defiance in the face of annihilation.

Layla, against all odds, found herself at the heart of this nascent organization. Her calm resolve, her strategic mind, her unwavering commitment to humanity's survival – it made her a natural leader in this leaderless world. From the ravaged NIA headquarters, she began to gather the threads of resistance, reaching out through fractured communication channels, seeking out the pockets of skill, of brilliance, of defiance that still flickered in the darkness.

Efe Obada was high on her list. His name, his radical weapon concept, a desperate gamble in a desperate time. NIA operatives, working in the shadows, managed to locate him in the besieged ruins of Lagos, his workshop miraculously untouched amidst the surrounding devastation. He was extracted, along with his family and a handful of neighbors, brought to a secure, underground facility, blinking in the harsh fluorescent light of the bunker, his mind still reeling from the horrors he had witnessed. Layla met him there, in a sterile, utilitarian room deep beneath the earth. She saw the exhaustion in his eyes, the grief etched on his face, but also the flicker of fierce intelligence, the spark of ingenuity that still burned within him.

"Engineer Obada," Layla began, her voice calm, measured, "we need your weapon."

Efe looked at her, his expression a mixture of weariness and cynicism. "My weapon? Madam Deputy Director, with all due respect, that was a theoretical concept. Against human armies. Against… them?" He gestured upwards, towards the unseen enemy dominating the skies.

 "It's… irrelevant."

"Perhaps," Layla conceded, her gaze unwavering. "But you are not. Your mind, your skills, your understanding of technology – that is not irrelevant. We are forming a team, Engineer Obada. A team of… specialists. To fight back. To find a way." She spoke of Sons of Samak, of the desperate hope, of the fragile coalition. She spoke of humanity's last stand.

Efe listened, his initial cynicism slowly giving way to a flicker of something else – a reluctant hope, perhaps, or simply the desperate need to do something, anything, other than watch the world burn. He looked at Layla, at the unwavering resolve in her eyes, and a spark of his own defiance began to rekindle.

Kendrick was located in his mountaintop observatory, stubbornly refusing to evacuate, immersed in his alien data, oblivious to the chaos raging across the planet. He was extracted by a CIA black ops team, practically dragged from his consoles, protesting every step of the way, his mind still lost in the alien signals. Amina was rescued from the besieged Tieddr Corp lab by a joint Nigerian SWAT and MI6 extraction team, leading her small group of survivors through the fire-swept streets, her bravery a stark contrast to the devastation around them. Matvey, moving amidst the chaos of the Russian evacuation, was identified by KGB operatives, his strategic mind and calm demeanor marked as invaluable. Yui, working alone in her underground Tokyo lab, was contacted through a clandestine Japanese intelligence network, her fierce focus and deep understanding of experimental physics making her an essential, if initially reluctant, recruit.

One by one, they were gathered, disparate individuals from across the globe, each a specialist in their field, each touched by the devastation, each carrying their own grief and their own brand of desperate hope. Kendrick, the brilliant but socially awkward astrophysicist. Efe, the pragmatic, ingenious Nigerian engineer. Amina, the young, fiercely intelligent nuclear physicist. Matvey, the seasoned, strategic Russian aerodynamics expert. Yui, the intensely focused, innovative Japanese experimental physicist. Five individuals, seemingly disparate, brought together by the crucible of global annihilation, united by the impossible task of saving humanity. They were the Sons of Samak. And their work was just beginning.