Team USA

The VTOL's engines whine, lifting you into the night. In the cabin beside you sit four figures wearing sleek, dark combat suits just like yours. You've already forgotten their names from the briefing. That's how fast it all happened. Just yesterday, you were spirited away in the dead of night and locked in a cell. Soldiers in hazmat suits poked and prodded you Then you woke to sirens and were marched onto this plane. And now you're screaming through the sky on a suicidal mission: to prove yourself in a fight against the alien invaders known as the Vanguard—or die trying. The stocky man to your left leans in. "Still can't believe this 'Trial by Fire' nonsense," he mutters. "One minute I'm leading my SEAL team, the next I'm playing alien hunter." The woman across from you nods grimly. "Delta Force here. Guess AEGIS really is scraping the barrel." You think back to what little the soldiers told you. "Suspected hybrid DNA," they'd said. "Potential for power emergence." The catch? Those powers only manifest in the heat of battle, face-to-face with the alien threat. "Sink or swim," had said the one with the needle, before plunging it into your arm. A display flickers to life, revealing the stern face of Dr. Grey, the woman from the recording. "Recruits," she says, her voice tight. "We have a situation. The Vanguard have emerged in force, targeting the Olympus Corp research facility. We believe they're after prototype alien-hybrid tech." The woman across from you leans forward. "With respect, Doctor, why us? You just... 'recruited' us. Surely AEGIS has more experienced teams?" Dr. Grey's eyes narrow. "Because, Martinez, you're our wild card. The Vanguard have decimated our conventional forces. Your potential hybrid abilities are our best shot at beating them at their own game." "And what exactly are these 'abilities,' Doc?" the man asks. "You scooped us up so fast, we barely know what we can do." "That's part of the test, Morris," Dr. Grey replies coolly. "You'll have to figure that out together, and quickly. But I can tell you this—each of you has potential beyond anything we've seen before. You'll be embedding with a human unit already on-site. They'll provide support while—" BOOM! The cabin lurches as something slams into the VTOL. Alarms blare and red emergency lights bathe the interior in a hellish glow. "We're hit!" the pilot says over the intercom. "Losing altitude fast!" Through the window, you see flashes of blue light and hear distant explosions as the ground rushes up to meet you.