Renewed Hope

—Leave me alone!

Lesley could not escape the haunting sounds.

Screams, crying, metal scraping against metal, and the terrifying roar of the Enders.

The myriad of sounds bombarded Lesley's ears, ending with Chang'e's words.

"—Go away! Leave me alone!"

Hatred and tears welled up in her eyes.

Once again, Lesley was forced to relive that day.

Chaos, death, despair. The devastation left in the wake of the rampaging Enders was unfathomable.

Lesley rushed towards the research base against the fleeing crowd. After combing through the burning hellscape, she finally found Chang'e.

The girl, covered in soot, was kneeling among the rubble with hatred and tears welling up in her eyes.

Lesley suddenly woke up as cold droplets streaked down her cheeks.

It was a familiar dream; a painful dream. Lesley gently touched her artificial left eye and a video recording was projected in front of her.

It was a little girl, barely up to Lesley's waist, proudly showing off her amazing new invention—

An artificial eye, representing Dawnbreak's greatest technological advancements.

She carefully placed it into Lesley's palm. It was a replacement for the eye she had lost long ago. A small, warm hand pressed against Lesley's cheeks as the ingenious little device was fixed into place. Lesley blinked and the world before her took shape in the form of projections.

"Happy Birthday, Lesley!"

Chang'e stood on her tiptoes to touch Lesley's eyes.

"Oh, was it my birthday?" She thought to herself.

Since losing her family, Lesley had almost forgotten what a birthday was like. Chang'e had searched the database to find out her birthday and prepare a surprise gift.

Even though there were only two people at this birthday party, it warmed Lesley's heart for the first time in a long time.

Lesley rarely opened up to others, even her comrades. The silent sniper preferred not to dwell on her bitter past and instead to focus on the enemies in front of her.

To Lesley, revenge was the best way to ease the pain.

Her left eye began to ache and the pain brought her back to the house that was her entire world, to her childhood.

Over a decade ago, massive beings of unknown origin began appearing in groups on Dawnbreak with a single purpose: to eradicate humanity. There was no rhyme or reason to their behavior, only pure destructive instinct.

People called them "The Enders."

The first time Lesley heard that name, they seemed but a fantasy, like characters in a fairy tale. However, not long after, they would take everything from her.

When they came, her childhood was snatched away in an instant.

The seeds of hatred were firmly planted that day, and Lesley vowed to destroy every last Ender. She trained for a long time in an unknown corner of the world before climbing to the upper ranks of the Shield of Dawnbreak, a defense force created to combat The Enders. She was assigned to protect the Chief Scientist couple and their foster child and brightest student—Chang'e.

Such an adorable and lively child was a rare sight at the research base. Even though the pint-sized genius had always lived on the base and acted like a little adult, Lesley realized that Chang'e longed to have friends. From sneaking glances at Lesley from behind the scientists to hugging her arm and calling her "Sis", the young girl soon became like family.

But this would also be taken by the Enders.

Lesley was deployed on a top-secret mission that required her to cut off all contact. When she returned to Terrinia after her mission, she saw a hellish sight — The Enders had struck.

Lesley immediately rushed to the research base, but she was too late. In the smoking rubble, she could barely make out Chang'e, crying over a crater. In a burst of anger and grief, Chang'e resolutely broke all ties with Lesley.

—Why weren't you there?

Lesley asked herself over and over again. She knew the pain of losing everything better than anyone, yet she allowed the same cruel fate to befall Chang'e.

Years later, the scars were still seared into everyone's hearts and Dawnbreak was still in desperate need of a defense system capable of defeating the Enders.

Lesley and Chang'e had not spoken to each other in a very long time.

Chang'e reached major breakthroughs in her research in recent years and became the youngest Chief Scientist in Terrinia. Lesley, through her outstanding leadership and combat performance, was promoted to commander of the combat division.

Both of them tried to bury the grief in the depths of their hearts, but the nightmares continued to haunt them.

—The cries and screams.

Lesley awoke from her nightmare, but the screams did not stop.

This was no dream!

The Enders have finally returned.

Lesley knew that stubborn girl would definitely try to take on the Enders on her own.

She was just like Lesley back then.

But this time, she won't be alone.