The hum of Amelia's mechanical arm intensified as she struggled with the controls of the stasis pod. Her fingers, half flesh, half metal, slid over the alien surface, desperately seeking the opening mechanism. Luciano's face, frozen in an artificial sleep, looked at her through the foggy glass.

"Come on, damn it," she muttered through gritted teeth, ignoring the sweat running down her forehead.

A sharp screech cut through the air. Amelia instinctively stepped back, just in time to avoid a shower of sparks that erupted from the joints of her arm. The smell of ozone and burnt metal filled her nostrils.

"No! Not now!" she shouted, frustratedly hitting the articulated elbow.

In response to her desperation, an alien siren resonated throughout the convoy, its inhuman tone reverberating off the metal walls. Through the ovoid windows, Amelia saw flashing lights rapidly approaching. Time was running out.

The sound of hurried footsteps made her turn. Marina appeared running, her fiery red hair waving behind her, a toolbox in hand.

"Amelia! We have to go now!" she exclaimed, her eyes quickly assessing the situation.

Amelia desperately pointed to her inert arm.

"I can't open the pods. The arm... it's locked up."

Marina quickly approached, opening her toolbox in the process. Her agile fingers began working on the joints of the mechanical arm.

"I can redirect the main power," she muttered, focused on her task, "but we'll sacrifice precision for brute force."

Amelia nodded, her jaw tense.

"Do it. We need to get them all out of here."

As Marina worked, Amelia scanned the room. Dozens of similar pods lined the walls, each containing a human body suspended in a bluish liquid. The sight turned her stomach.

A metallic click and a discharge of static electricity marked the end of Marina's repairs. Amelia's arm came to life again, although its movements were less precise and more abrupt.

Without wasting a second, Amelia headed to the central control panel.

"We're going to release them all at once," she declared, her fingers flying over the alien interface.

Marina nodded, preparing for what was to come.

"Do it."

Amelia activated the release sequence. A mechanical roar filled the room as all the pods began to open simultaneously. The suspension liquid spilled onto the metal floor, forming bluish puddles that reflected the emergency lights.

Amelia, Marina, and Javier moved quickly, helping the disoriented prisoners out of their crystalline prisons. Luciano was one of the last to emerge, coughing and gasping as Amelia held him.

"I've got you," she murmured, feeling the familiar weight of his body against hers.

Marina's communicator came to life with a burst of static.

"Let's go!" Ernest's voice sounded frantic. "You have to get out of there now! Alien reinforcements are less than a minute away."

As if to confirm his words, an explosion shook the convoy. The lights flickered and a shower of sparks fell from the ceiling.

Amelia looked around. Dozens of ex-prisoners, confused and weak, leaned on each other or on the walls.

"Everyone to the escape vehicle!" she ordered, her voice cutting through the chaos. "Now!"

Marina led the way, helping the weakest to move. Amelia stayed behind, making sure no one was left behind. The sound of metallic footsteps and alien shrieks was approaching down the corridor.

Finally, they reached the hangar where they had left the stolen vehicle. It was a monstrosity of metal and gears, half tank, half cargo truck. Ernest was already in the driver's seat, his hands moving frantically over the controls.

Javier appeared from the shadows, his sniper rifle in hand.

"Come on, come on!" he shouted, helping the last stragglers climb into the back of the vehicle.

"Get in! Quick!" Amelia ordered, pushing Luciano towards the cabin.

The roar of the diesel engine filled the air as Ernest managed to start the vehicle. The wheels screeched against the metal floor as they began to move.

They had barely left the hangar when the first wave of alien soldiers appeared. Their biomechanical bodies shone under the emergency lights, their limbs transforming into lethal weapons.

"Hold on!" Ernest shouted, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.

Amelia and Javier, standing in the back of the vehicle, prepared for combat. Amelia's mechanical arm hummed menacingly while Javier's rifle emitted an electric blue glow.

"Now!" Javier ordered.

A rain of shots illuminated the night. Amelia's projectiles shredded the tires of the pursuing vehicles, while Javier's accurate shots took down the nearest aliens.

Suddenly, an alien energy ray impacted near the vehicle, causing it to shake violently.

"We've been hit!" Marina shouted from the co-pilot's seat. "The left engine is failing!"

Ernest cursed, struggling to maintain control.

"Come on, you piece of junk!" he growled, hitting the dashboard. "Don't fail me now!"

The vehicle shuddered, losing speed. The aliens were rapidly approaching.

"Ernest!" Amelia shouted, her voice tinged with urgency. "We need more power!"

"I'm on it!" he replied, his hands flying over the controls. "Marina, redirect all non-essential power to the main engine!"

Marina nodded, her fingers dancing over an improvised panel.

"Redirecting! But this could fry the secondary systems."

"Do it!" Amelia ordered, firing another burst at their pursuers.

The vehicle roared with new life, accelerating abruptly. Amelia and Javier staggered, clinging to the walls to avoid falling.

However, the victory was ephemeral. A flash of blinding light illuminated the night sky.

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"Shit!" Javier exclaimed. "Alien mothership at twelve o'clock!"

An enormous ship appeared above them, its hull pulsing with alien energy. A tractor beam began to descend, threatening to trap them.

"Ernest!" Amelia shouted. "We need a miracle!"

Ernest smiled, a manic gleam in his eyes.

"I always keep an ace up my sleeve, Gear," he said, pressing a red button on the dashboard. "Hold on!"

The vehicle vibrated violently. For a moment, it seemed like it was going to disintegrate. Then, with a burst of energy, it shot forward at an impossible speed, leaving its pursuers behind and narrowly escaping the tractor beam.

Amelia collapsed against the wall, panting. She looked at Javier, who seemed equally exhausted but smiling.

"That," she said between breaths, "was close."

Javier nodded, reloading his rifle.

"Too close. But we made it."

Through the rear window, Amelia saw how the alien base and the mothership shrank in the distance. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, she allowed herself a small smile of triumph.

"Amelia," Ernest's voice snapped her out of her trance. "You have to see this."

She approached the front of the vehicle. On the dashboard, a screen was flashing with alien information. Ernest had managed to hack it during their escape.

"This... this is a map of conversion facilities," Ernest muttered, his eyes scanning the screen. "There are dozens all over the country."

Amelia watched in horror at the bright dots on the map, each representing a place where other humans were being subjected to alien experiments. The magnitude of the operation was overwhelming.

"My God," she whispered. "How many people have they captured?"

The silence that followed was heavy, laden with grim implications. Amelia looked back, where the rescued were beginning to wake up, confused and disoriented. How many more were out there, waiting to be saved?

"What's the plan?" he asked.

She looked at the map on the screen, then at the rescued in the back, and finally at her mechanical arm, damaged but still functional. A spark of determination lit up in her eyes.

"The plan is to counterattack," she declared. "We'll use the information we've obtained to hit them where it hurts most. It's time for the resistance to go on the offensive."

Ernest nodded, a smile of anticipation forming on his bearded face.

"I like the sound of that," he said, accelerating the vehicle.

The vehicle disappeared into the horizon, leaving behind a trail of dust and hope.

Hours later, they stopped at an abandoned resistance shelter. The ruins of what was once a military bunker rose among the undergrowth, camouflaged by months of neglect and invading nature.

The rescued began to descend from the vehicle. Their legs trembled after so long in suspension, and their eyes blinked confused in the daylight.

Luciano was the last to get off. Amelia held him carefully, noticing how the alien symbols under his skin pulsed more intensely. She helped him sit against a crumbling wall, closely observing his face for signs of recognition.

Slowly, Luciano's eyes opened. Amelia held her breath. The gaze that greeted her was not entirely human; a faint bluish glow shone in his pupils.

"Amelia?" Luciano whispered, his voice a disconcerting mixture of familiarity and strange, almost mechanical sounds.

She took his hand, noticing the differences in its texture. It was no longer the warm, soft skin she remembered, but something more... synthetic. A mixture of relief, concern, and determination was reflected on her face.

"Welcome back," Amelia said, her voice trembling. "It seems we've both... changed."

Luciano stared fixedly at Amelia's mechanical arm, his eyes shining with that alien glow.

"You're still you," he murmured. "I'm... not so sure about myself."

Amelia pressed her lips, fighting against the urge to hug him.

"You're Luciano. That's what matters."

Around them, the other rescued began to wake up, each showing signs of alien transformation to different degrees. Some had luminous patterns under their skin, others movements too fluid to be entirely human.

Ernest approached, cleaning grease from his hands with a dirty rag.

"The vehicle took some damage but nothing major," he reported. "What's the next step, Gear?"

Amelia stood up, her gaze scanning the group of survivors. Each face was a reminder of what was at stake, of how much they had lost and how much more they could lose if they failed.

"We need to contact the rest of the resistance," she said, her voice taking on a tone of command. "Marina, can you establish a secure connection?"

The redhead nodded, already working on an improvised communication device.

"Give me five minutes," she replied, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

Javier emerged from the shadows, his sniper rifle slung over his shoulder.

"I've been exploring the surroundings," he reported. "There are signs of alien activity a few kilometers to the east. Patrols, mainly. But it won't be long before they expand their search."

Amelia nodded, processing the information. Her mind was working at full speed, evaluating options, calculating risks.

"Alright, this is what we'll do," she began, her voice firm. "Marina, as soon as you establish contact, I want you to transmit all the information we got from the convoy. Coordinates of conversion facilities, patrol patterns, everything."

She turned to Ernest.

"Wrench, I need you to examine the rescued. Find out what the aliens did to them and if we can reverse it or, at least, use it to our advantage."

Ernest nodded, his expression a mixture of determination and concern.

"I'll do what I can, but I'm not a doctor, Gear."

"I know," Amelia replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But you're the best engineer we have. If anyone can decipher this alien technology, it's you."

"Shadow," Amelia said, turning to Javier, "I need you to establish a defensive perimeter. Use everything you have at hand. If the aliens find us, I want them to get an unpleasant surprise."

Javier nodded, a wolfish smile curving his lips.

"It'll be my pleasure, Gear. I have some ideas."

As the team dispersed to carry out their tasks, Amelia turned her attention back to Luciano. Her ex-husband was watching her with a mixture of confusion and recognition in his altered eyes.

"What did they do to me, Amelia?" he asked, his voice a whisper broken by mechanical sounds.

Amelia knelt in front of him, taking his hands in hers. The contrast between her warm skin and the cold metal of her mechanical arm had never been so evident.

"I don't know for sure," she replied honestly. "But we'll find out. And whatever it is, we'll face it together."

A flash of the old connection they shared shone in Luciano's eyes. He gently squeezed Amelia's hands.

"You were always the strong one of the two," he murmured.

Amelia sketched a sad smile.

"We're both strong. You survived whatever they did to you. That requires a strength that few have."

The moment was interrupted by the sound of static. Marina's voice resonated through the improvised communicator.

"Contact established!" she announced. "I'm transmitting the data now."

Amelia stood up, her expression turning serious.

"Good job, Spark. Any response from the base?"

There was a moment of tense silence before Marina responded.

"Yes, but... it's not what we expected. Amelia, I think you should hear this yourself."

With a knot in her stomach, Amelia approached the communication device. The voice that emerged from the speakers was familiar, but tinged with urgency and fear.

With a knot in her stomach, Amelia approached the communication device. The voice that emerged from the speakers was familiar, but tinged with urgency and determination.

With a knot in her stomach, Amelia approached the communication device. The static crackled, filling the air with an almost palpable tension. Everyone held their breath, waiting.

Suddenly, a familiar voice but laden with urgency cut through the interference:

"This is Generalissima Victoria Steel. To all clandestine cells: a liberation operation is being prepared for the city of New Forge. I repeat, we are going to liberate New Forge. We summon all available units in nearby regions. Prepare to receive coordinates and mission details. Time is crucial. Steel out."

The message ended abruptly, leaving a deafening silence in the shelter. Amelia felt the ground move beneath her feet. New Forge. The former industrial heart of the Federal Republic of Ferrostan. The citadel they believed impregnable.

"New Forge?" Ernest was the first to break the silence, his voice a mixture of disbelief and excitement. "It's madness. It's... it's suicidal."

"Or it's our best chance," Javier intervened, his eyes shining with a fierce intensity. "If we take New Forge, we cut off the alien weapon supply at the root."

Marina, still in front of the communications console, turned to the group, her face pale.

"I'm receiving the coordinates and operation details. They want us to join an assault team in sector 7. In 24 hours."

"24 hours?" Ernest exclaimed. "We barely have equipment for ourselves, how are we supposed to prepare for a large-scale operation in such a short time?"

Amelia felt all eyes on her. The weight of the decision was crushing her. She looked around: at her team, exhausted but determined; at the rescued, confused and scared; at Luciano, watching her with those eyes that were no longer entirely human.

"If we don't go," Luciano said, his voice a strange mechanical echo, "how many more people will end up like me? Like us?" He gestured towards the other rescued.

Amelia closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the weight of each life on her shoulders.

"We're going to do it," she declared, her voice leaving no room for doubt. "Marina, confirm our participation. Ernest, I want all equipment checked in 6 hours. Javier, do a complete inventory of weaponry and start planning infiltration strategies."

She turned to Luciano and the other rescued.

"And you... you are our secret advantage. We're going to figure out how to use your connection to alien technology to give us a chance to win this."

The shelter erupted into activity. Amelia could feel the electricity in the air, a mixture of fear and hope. As everyone moved to carry out their tasks, she allowed herself a moment of doubt.

"What are we getting ourselves into?" she muttered to herself.

But there was no turning back. The battle for New Forge was about to begin.

END