The Olympus chamber was darker than usual.
Not because the lights had dimmed.
But because every screen showed the same thing.
ARRIVAL: 6 DAYS
Adrian stared at the timer like it had personally offended him.
"Well," he said slowly, "that's not a lot of time."
Elara stood near the center console, the glow of Olympus reflecting in her eyes.
"No."
Six days.
Six days before eleven alien scouts entered Earth's orbit.
Six days before the first real battle for the planet began.
Adrian rubbed his temples.
"So let me recap our situation."
He raised one finger.
"Aliens are coming."
Second finger.
"They have living warships."
Third finger.
"They can regenerate."
Fourth finger.
"And they're bringing eleven of them."
He dropped his hand.
"Did I miss anything?"
Elara answered calmly.
"Yes."
"What?"
"They're studying us."
Adrian sighed.
"Right. That part too."
The holographic map of the solar system rotated slowly above the console.
The eleven scouts appeared as glowing points racing toward Earth.
They were moving faster now.
Much faster.
"Olympus," Elara said.
The system responded instantly.
ALIEN SCOUT TRAJECTORY UPDATED
The ships' speeds increased again.
Adrian frowned.
"They're pushing their engines harder."
"Yes."
"Olympus estimate?"
"Arrival may decrease to five days."
Adrian stared at her.
"You're kidding."
"No."
He leaned back against the console.
"So humanity has less than a week to prepare for an alien fleet."
Before she could answer—
The council channel opened again.
Secretary-General Kovac appeared along with dozens of military leaders.
The mood in the room was tense.
"We've seen the scout acceleration," Kovac said.
Elara nodded.
"Yes."
One of the generals leaned forward.
"How many weapons will Earth have ready when they arrive?"
Elara opened the system.
The results appeared across the screens.
Helios orbital laser.
Two missile defense satellites.
Experimental kinetic interceptors.
Adrian looked at the list.
"That's… not a lot."
Kovac asked the question everyone feared.
"Is it enough?"
Elara hesitated.
Then answered honestly.
"No."
Silence filled the council chamber.
One of the scientists spoke quietly.
"Then we need another plan."
Adrian crossed his arms.
"Yeah. Preferably one that doesn't involve extinction."
Elara looked at Olympus.
"Olympus… analyze alien scout weaknesses."
The system began running simulations again.
Thousands of battle scenarios appeared.
Energy weapon comparisons.
Structural weaknesses.
Biological vulnerabilities.
Then finally—
A pattern emerged.
Adrian leaned closer.
"What is that?"
Elara pointed to the neural core inside the alien ship.
"The brain."
The scan revealed a cluster of biological nodes controlling the vessel.
Adrian nodded slowly.
"So if we destroy that…"
"The ship dies."
"But hitting it will be hard."
"Yes."
Another scientist stepped forward on the council screen.
"What if we disable them instead of destroying them?"
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"How?"
The scientist displayed a new concept.
Electromagnetic Pulse Satellites.
"These devices could disrupt the bio-electronic systems inside the alien ships."
Adrian studied the design.
"That might actually work."
Elara asked Olympus.
"Probability?"
The system calculated.
SCOUT DISABLE CHANCE: 42%
Adrian winced.
"That's still basically flipping a coin."
"Yes."
"But it's better than nothing."
Kovac nodded.
"Then we deploy them."
Orders spread across the planet again.
Factories began assembling the EMP satellites.
Rocket launches were scheduled around the clock.
Humanity was building weapons faster than ever before.
Inside Olympus, Adrian watched the chaos unfold.
"Humanity is really good at panic-engineering."
Elara almost smiled.
"It's a survival instinct."
Suddenly—
Olympus detected another signal.
Adrian frowned.
"Let me guess."
"Aliens."
"Yes."
The message came from the approaching scouts.
But this time the transmission was much longer.
Olympus translated the first lines.
Adrian read them aloud.
"Planetary species shows rapid technological adaptation."
Another line appeared.
"Resistance probability rising."
Adrian shrugged.
"Well yeah. We're not just going to surrender."
The next message appeared.
And it made the room colder.
ADJUSTING HARVEST STRATEGY
Elara whispered,
"That again."
Another line followed.
INITIATING PREDATOR PROTOCOL
Adrian frowned.
"That sounds… unpleasant."
The message continued.
TARGET: PLANETARY COMMAND SYSTEM
Adrian looked at Elara.
"That's us again."
"Yes."
The alien scouts were still focused on Olympus.
Which meant the facility was still the most important target.
Adrian sighed.
"I'm starting to feel personally attacked."
But Olympus suddenly detected something else.
A new object.
Far beyond the scouts.
Adrian blinked.
"What is that?"
Elara zoomed the map outward.
The alien carrier appeared again.
But now something new had emerged from it.
Adrian stared.
"That's not a scout."
"No."
The new object was much larger.
Much more heavily armored.
And it was accelerating toward Earth.
Adrian whispered,
"What is it?"
Olympus ran the analysis.
Then displayed the result.
ALIEN WARSHIP CLASSIFIED: HUNTER
Adrian blinked again.
"HUNTER?"
Elara's voice dropped slightly.
"It's a combat vessel."
"And it's coming here?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
Olympus calculated the trajectory.
The number appeared.
Adrian felt his stomach drop.
ARRIVAL: 48 HOURS
He looked at Elara.
"That's not six days."
"No."
"That's two."
The alien scouts weren't coming first anymore.
The aliens had sent something far worse ahead of them.
The first real alien warship would reach Earth in two days.