The world held its breath.

High above the turbulent Antarctic waters, a steel leviathan loomed—the USS George Washington, cutting across the ice-choked sea like a predator reborn from metal and fire. Around her sailed a fleet of titanic proportions: six American aircraft carriers, each flanked by their escort groups, followed by the naval forces of China, Russia, India, and allied nations. This was no mere task force—it was a coalition armada, the spearhead of Earth’s final reckoning with the Elves.

Below deck, the hangar bays thrummed with life. The mechs—five meters of war-forged fury—stood in perfect rows like slumbering gods. Hydraulic limbs glinted under harsh fluorescent lights. Armor plates were emblazoned with national insignias. Technicians scurried over them, conducting final checks. Pilots, already in their neural sync suits, stood silently beside their machines, listening to the final mission briefing.

Admiral Henry Lancaster stood at the head of the command bridge, back straight, expression ironclad. His silver hair caught the light from the overhead monitors as he stared at the unfolding simulation. This was his second assault on the Elves—and this time, there would be no retreat.

“All units, this is Admiral Lancaster,” his voice rang out through every ship, mech bay, and forward command post. “This is not just a battle for Antarctica. This is a battle for our species. For every researcher who never came home. For every sailor who vanished beneath the ice. We stand today not as Americans, Chinese, Russians, Indians—but as Earth. Mech teams, deploy as planned. The operation begins in thirty minutes. Godspeed.”

He turned to his second-in-command. “Launch the drones. I want real-time visuals before the first pod touches snow.”

“Aye, sir.”

Above the Icy Wastes

Thousands of meters above the continent, stealth drones streaked through the sky—small, fast, nearly invisible to the naked eye. Their feeds began pouring into the CIC: high-resolution maps of the Elven fortress, heat signatures of patrols, and—most importantly—active magical barriers that shimmered faintly against infrared.

The fortress at McMurdo had changed since Solomon Kane's last report. Towering spires of crystalized moonstone now jutted into the clouds, radiating divine energy. Dozens of Elven anti-air emplacements, cloaked by layered enchantments, waited like cobras beneath the snow. Lunar priestesses chanted atop balconies, their hands glowing with cold blue fire.

Mary stood atop the highest tower, her golden Sun Knight armor reflecting the light of the pale southern sun. Her eyes scanned the horizon, expression unreadable. Around her, High Elves discussed the recent troop movements, unaware of what loomed just beyond the veil of magic.

Then, the first tremor came.

Phase One: The Ghosts Arrive

American mechs plunged through the clouds in stealth-drop pods, their forms cloaked by adaptive nano-skin and electromagnetic dampeners. The moment they breached the Elven detection field, they switched to full manual control.

Fifty pods landed in complete silence across a wide perimeter—one every 200 meters. The snow muffled their impact. Then the pods hissed open.

The mechs stepped out—sleek, angular, armed with railguns and anti-magic warheads. Their AI-assisted targeting systems identified enemy spellcasters first. They moved with terrifying precision, striking from behind ridgelines, inside crevasses, and beneath snowbanks.

The first Elven patrol never saw them.

The second tried to raise an alarm, but their priestess dropped mid-chant—her throat torn by a rail-round.

Within twenty minutes, the American mechs had carved out five staging zones, dismantling the outer defensive rune circles without alerting the inner fortress.

Phase Two: Iron Curtain

Then the Russians came.

Their drop-pods landed with thunder, shaking the permafrost. Their mechs were beasts—broad-shouldered, heavily plated, bristling with rotary cannons, flamethrowers, and plasma maces. They moved slower but with implacable force.

Once the Americans cleared the zones, Russian mechs locked them down, deploying mobile shield generators and heavy emplacement turrets. Snow exploded around them as Elven scouts finally responded, war horns crying out.

The first wave of Elven cavalry—riding beasts conjured from starlight—rushed the landing zones.

They were met with flame and lead.

One Russian mech locked its arm around a charging Elven knight and crushed him mid-swing. Another stood firm under a barrage of ice spears, its auto-cannons tearing through the storm.

Behind the front lines, the first landing ships began to touch down—heavy transports ferrying troops, mobile hospitals, and logistics teams.

Phase Three: The Eye of Heaven

Above the battle, Chinese mechs deployed onto forward platforms aboard their carriers, their rail turrets unfolding like mechanical lotuses.

From miles away, they began precision strikes. Their targeting algorithms—developed through years of AI warfare simulations—picked off Elven mages atop the towers with lethal calm.

One Chinese mech pilot whispered softly in Mandarin, “Wind flows. Blade cuts.”

He squeezed the trigger. A tower’s top exploded, the priestess atop it vanishing in a plume of flame.

Every Elven counterattack was met with deadly retaliation. Where the Americans struck from shadows and the Russians held the line, the Chinese turned the sky into a rain of fire.

Phase Four: The Guardians Arrive

Finally, the Indian mechs emerged—glowing green and gold, their frames lined with Ether-reactive panels. Unlike the others, their weapons were not solely physical. They projected shimmering domes of energy—Magic Shields—capable of bending or nullifying incoming spells.

As a second wave of Elven magic began to rise—a wave of ice storms and solar lances—the Indian mechs formed a protective phalanx around the landing sites.

Their shields rippled under the assault but held firm.

Behind them, Earth’s infantry disembarked in waves—American Marines, Chinese PLA special forces, Russian Spetsnaz, Indian Garuds, British SAS, and more. Tanks rolled off hover barges, UAVs buzzed overhead, and mobile artillery set up behind ice ridges.

Lancaster watched the simulation update in real-time. “All sectors green. Minimal resistance beyond outer wall.”

But he knew better.

The Elves had not yet truly begun to fight.

Inside the Fortress

Mary’s expression darkened as she watched the outer barrier collapse on the scrying mirror.

“They’ve learned,” she said quietly.

A High Elf commander sneered. “Let them come. Their mortal machines—”

Mary raised a hand, silencing him. “I’ve seen these machines kill many elves.”

She turned, her cloak fluttering. “Activate the Inner Gate. Ready the High Guard.”

Below her, massive arcane engines hummed to life, sending tremors through the crystalline citadel. Huge gates of obsidian and star-metal slid open, revealing the inner sanctum: legions of Elven elite warriors, clad in moonsteel and flowing robes, waiting in silence.

Priestesses began singing. Lunar energy surged upward, feeding the spires. Magical storms began to brew.

And far below, in the shadowed depths of the fortress, a single heartbeat echoed.

The Clocks Begin to Race

Admiral Lancaster stared at the live feed—at the spires glowing, the shifting magical pressure, the terrain altering in real-time.

“They’re adapting faster than expected,” muttered one analyst.

“We’ve only breached the first ring.”

Lancaster clenched his jaw. “Bring in the next wave of mechs. And tell Captain Mark Reynolds—his Pacific Star unit launches in ten. No delays.”