The air on Virelia-7 tasted like rust and static, a metallic tang that clung to the back of Commander Rhea Voss’s throat as she adjusted her helmet’s filter. Her boots crunched over jagged black gravel, the sound swallowed by the planet’s oppressive silence. The sky above was a bruise of violet and iron, streaked with tendrils of light that pulsed like veins. She raised a gloved hand, signaling the team to halt. “Check your suits,” she said, her voice steady despite the knot in her stomach. Lieutenant Jax Mercer knelt, running a scanner over his chest plate. “Still holding. But the readings—” He paused, his brow furrowing. “They’re fluctuating. Like the air itself is… alive.” Dr. Elara Kain, the team’s biologist, crouched beside him, her breath fogging the visor of her mask. “Not alive,” she muttered. “But something’s manipulating the atmosphere. The particles—” She trailed off as a low hum vibrated through the ground, sending a shiver up Rhea’s spine. The sky above darkened, the light tendrils twisting into a spiral that pulsed in time with the hum. “We need to move,” Rhea said, her voice tight. “Now.” The team scrambled toward the dropship, their footsteps hurried, but the air thickened as they approached the structure. It loomed ahead, a sleek black obelisk half-buried in the dust, its surface smooth and reflective. Rhea’s hand hovered over her sidearm as she approached. “This thing wasn’t here yesterday,” Jax said, his voice tinged with disbelief. “It’s not part of the survey data,” Elara added, her fingers trembling as she scanned the structure. “It’s… growing.” The obelisk’s surface rippled, and a sound like a thousand whispers filled the air. Rhea’s pulse hammered. “Back away. Now.” But the ground shifted beneath them, and the whispers coalesced into a single voice, deep and resonant. “You are not welcome here.” The team froze. The voice didn’t come from the obelisk—it came from everywhere, from the air itself. Rhea’s hand dropped to her sidearm, but the weapon felt impossibly heavy. “Who’s there?” she demanded. The whispers swelled, and the obelisk’s surface split open, revealing a void of shifting colors. “You have trespassed,” the voice intoned. “The Veil is not for you.” Elara stepped forward, her mask reflecting the swirling light. “We didn’t know. We’re scientists. We only wanted to study this planet.” The voice paused, then spoke again, colder this time. “You will leave. Or you will be unmade.” The ground quaked, and the team stumbled. Rhea’s mind raced. They had to get off this planet—now. But the dropship’s engines were dead, its systems scrambled. “We’re trapped,” Jax said, his voice hollow. Rhea turned to Elara. “Can you reverse the interference?” The biologist shook her head. “It’s not interference. It’s… a force. A will.” The obelisk pulsed, and the air thickened, pressing against their suits like a physical weight. Rhea’s vision blurred, and for a moment, she saw something—shapes moving within the void, figures with too many limbs, eyes that shimmered like starlight. She staggered back. “Get to the ship,” she ordered. “Now!” The team ran, their boots slapping against the gravel as the whispers grew louder, more urgent. The obelisk’s light flared, and a shockwave tore through the air, knocking them off their feet. Rhea hit the ground hard, her helmet cracking on impact. The world tilted, and she glimpsed the sky—now a swirling maelstrom of color and shadow. Then darkness. When she woke, the silence was absolute. Her suit’s display flickered: oxygen at 12%, systems offline. The team was gone. The dropship lay in pieces, its hull torn apart. Rhea crawled toward the wreckage, her hands scraping against the sharp gravel. The obelisk was gone, replaced by a vast expanse of black sand. She stood, her legs unsteady, and looked up. The sky was clear, but the air felt different—still, heavy. A low hum resonated in her bones. She turned, expecting to see the team, but the horizon was empty. “Hello?” Her voice echoed, unanswered. The silence stretched, unbearable. Then a sound—a faint click, like a door opening. Rhea spun around, her hand on her sidearm. Nothing. Just the endless sand. She took a shaky breath, her mind racing. Had they been taken? Or worse—had they become part of the Veil? The thought sent a shiver through her. She had to find them. Had to understand what had happened. She stepped forward, her boots sinking into the sand, and vanished into the endless expanse.
