Silent Extraction

Mission: Covert Op Rescue – Human Scientist Retrieval

Location: Eos-9 – Science Research Facility (Kran-Controlled)

Mission Briefing – Stealth Destroyer Obsidian Lance

The dim glow of the holographic war table cast shifting shadows across the command deck. Nathan Vale stood with arms crossed, his Blacklight-Class Tactical Armor humming with synchronized neural data from Aegis. Around him, Team Blacklight and Arcanum Veil operatives listened as the mission parameters scrolled across the display.

Aegis' voice came through the briefing room's comms, cold and precise. "Eos-9 remains under Kran occupation, its primary research facility repurposed into a bio-experimentation site. Intel suggests Dr. Elias Varin is being held within Lab Complex Theta, forced to work on psionic augmentation research. He must be extracted or eliminated to prevent Kran acquisition."

Vale's gaze hardened. "Extraction is priority. If he's compromised, we ensure the Kran don't get what they want."

A schematic of their stealth corvette—the Wraith-Class Covert Operations Variant—hovered above the table. Unlike standard combat frigates, the covert model sacrificed heavy armor for near-total sensor invisibility, heat-dampening alloys, and sound suppression tech.

Zero leaned forward, smirking. "Stealth insertion, silent takedowns, and a ghost extraction? My kind of mission."

Hex adjusted her Specter-Class Psionic Armor, the sigils dimly pulsing as they calibrated to the energy fields of the ship. "They won't even know we were there until they count the bodies."

Vale nodded. "We deploy in thirty minutes. No mistakes. No noise. We get in, we get him, we get out."

Planetfall – Eos-9 Atmosphere

The Phantom-Class Stealth Corvette glided through the void, a specter against the planet's dim skyline. Every external system ran at minimal power—no emissions, no thruster burns, just the silent descent of a ghost. The Obsidian Lance remained hidden in deep space, awaiting their return.

Inside the corvette, Vale and his team moved with practiced efficiency, finalizing their weapons. Silenced kinetic rifles, monomolecular blades, and EMP disruptors.

Aegis whispered through Vale's neural link. "Surface scans indicate eight sentries patrolling the outer perimeter, automated turrets on a 45-second rotation. No aerial support detected. Facility security is moderate."

"Moderate isn't good enough," Vale muttered. "Let's make sure no one sees the sunrise."

The dropship bay doors opened to reveal the blackened terrain below—a ruined cityscape overtaken by Kran military structures, research labs nestled deep within the industrial remains. The team activated their cloaking veils, bodies distorting into ghost-like figures as they descended silently into the dark.

Covert Approach – Science Facility

Vale moved first, gliding through the shadows with NSU-assisted precision, every footstep calculated for silence. Hex followed, psionically manipulating light refractions to further blur her presence.

Two Kran sentries patrolled ahead, their elongated, armored frames scanning the ruins. Vale signaled. Two takedowns. No noise.

Hex vanished into the air, appearing behind one of the guards. A single knife stroke through the base of its skull, silent and clean.

Vale's blade punctured the second Kran's throat, the alien gurgling once before collapsing. No alarms. No witnesses.

They pressed forward through the ruins, avoiding detection as they silently eliminated a squad of Kran engineers near a power relay. Zero planted a charge, severing the external surveillance feeds without triggering an alert.

They reached the outer wall of Lab Complex Theta. Zero hacked into the side terminal, the door hissing open in near silence.

They were inside.

Silent Execution – Clearing the Facility

Dim red lights flickered across the sterile white corridors, the halls eerily quiet save for the occasional hum of distant security drones. Team Blacklight moved like wraiths, eliminating every guard they encountered.

A Kran soldier walked past an intersection—Hex flicked her wrist, his mind shattering under a silent psionic pulse.

Two technicians whispered near a control panel—Kiera approached from behind, a garrote wire silencing them before they could scream.

Vale halted as a Kran enforcer, larger and heavily armored, marched down a hallway. The team melted into the shadows, watching as it passed.

Hex smirked. "We taking it down or slipping past?"

Vale exhaled. "No loose ends."

He moved first, sprinting low before vaulting up the wall, planting a magnetic mine on the enforcer's back. The device pulsed once before detonating, ripping through its armor without a sound.

The enforcer collapsed, already dead before it hit the floor.

Rescue & Extraction

Dr. Elias Varin sat restrained in a stasis chair, bruised and weak, but alive. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the operatives step inside.

"You… you're not Kran."

Vale knelt, cutting his restraints. "You're coming with us."

Varin hesitated. "They… they forced me to work on something. A project—"

Aegis cut in. "Enemy patrols converging. Detection probability increasing."

"No time," Vale said, pulling Varin up. "We leave. Now."

As they exited the lab, two Kran officers stepped into their path. The moment they opened their mouths to shout, Hex flicked her fingers, snapping their necks with psionic force.

They slipped through the facility's entrance just as an alert flickered to life. The Kran had found their dead.

Return to the Void

The Wraith-Class Corvette was already waiting, hovering just above the extraction point. The team sprinted for the ramp as Kran forces mobilized in the distance.

A Kran scout drone locked onto their position—Kiera raised her rifle and fired a pinpoint shot, disabling it mid-air.

Vale didn't look back.

The moment the last operative was aboard, the ship cloaked, vanishing into the night sky. The Kran base scrambled to track them, but they were already ghosts.

Aegis' voice returned. "Obsidian Lance on approach. We are clear."

Vale exhaled. "Another day. Another fight won."

Hex smirked. "They never saw us coming."

As the ship jumped back into deep space, the Kran base lay in confusion, unaware of what had just slipped through their fingers.