Prologue

The silence was the worst part. A silent, freezing vacuum of space that swallowed every sound, leaving nothing but the thrum of his own life-support systems in his ears. William Last Johnson huddled in a shallow, foxhole-like crater on the cracked lunar surface, the Earth; a magnificent swirl of blue and white in the sky above. He was alone, but he wasn’t lonely.

“HQ, this is Blast,” he said into his comms, the sound of his own voice a dull crackle against the silence. “Their communication network’s down. The androids can’t coordinate their attack. I’ve got the upper hand.”

A frantic voice immediately answered him. “Bill, this is Admiral Thorne! Hold your position! I repeat, hold your position! We have reinforcements en route, ETA twenty minutes.”

Blast’s jaw tightened. “Negative, Admiral. By the time your team gets here, they’ll have breached the outer defense perimeter. It’ll be too late.”

“Captain, that’s an order!” Thorne’s voice was a desperate shout. “Do you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Admiral,” Blast whispered. He reached up, his gloved thumb pressing the ‘end comms’ button. The frantic voice of his commanding officer was gone, replaced by the humming of his suit. He took a deep breath, the stale, recycled air filling his lungs, and then he stood.

The lunar battlefield was a landscape of jagged shadows and shimmering androids—hundreds of them, a silent, relentless army marching towards the EDF Lunar Installation. Blast charged out of his crater, his Laser Assault Weapon raised and ready. A torrent of crimson laser blasts erupted from his rifle. He hit the first android square in the chest, the robot’s optical sensors flickering and dying as it fell to the ground in a spray of sparks. He spun, his weapon hot in his hands, and fired again and again. Dozens of killer androids collapsed, their metallic bodies smoking from the heat of his blasts. He moved like a phantom across the moon’s surface, a one-man army, a human storm against a tide of steel.

But as he destroyed the last of the androids, a single, stray laser blast tore through the vast emptiness. It came from nowhere, a brilliant arc of light that slammed into his weapon, melting it into a twisted, smoking ruin. Another android, an alpha unit, had appeared from behind a crater. It lunged at him, pinning him to the moon’s surface. Blast struggled, but it was no use. The android’s grip was like steel, his strength far beyond Blast’s. He looked up, his reflection staring back at him in the android’s polished chrome head as a red targeting laser locked on to his face. He felt the cold, hard press of its metallic hand on his helmet. The android was about to deliver the final blow.