In the darkness, a single electronic eye blinked. A mote of metal, riding on a puff of nuclear flame, had violated the ancient boundaries. Systems that had laid dormant for millennia woke as power flowed into them. Powerful sensors reached out through millions of miles of the void, bringing the tiny ship into crystal-clear focus. An impassive command is called, and in answer two dozen missiles hurtle forth. In a blinding flash of light, the mote is gone.
* Time Passes *
The eye awakens again. Now three motes of metal approach, their course directly for the planet that the eye orbits in its eternal vigil. The ancient structure rumbles as missiles are loaded and fired, a single volley for each mote. Beams of coherent light reach out from the ships, grasping for the missiles that hurtle towards them. One, its programming slightly degraded by the eons of disuse, falls to the crude weapons - the rest do not. Nuclear fire tears into the ships, vaporizing metal and flesh. However, once the explosions have cleared, the motes remain. They are battered things, bleeding oxygen into the void. They turn around, attempting to flee from their fate, limping along at whatever speed their remaining engines can produce. A second volley of missiles is sent, and the ships stop their flight.
* Time Passes *
Six motes now violate the ancient borders. The aether around them boils with protective energy as they speed towards the guardian. Missiles fly out through the void, their sleek forms promising death. Once again, the ships fight back, now with both light and tiny chunks of metal, hurled at great speed. Explosions pock the incoming swarm, and half a dozen are stopped short of their goal. The rest pounce upon their prey, swatting away the protective energies and digging deep into the metal beneath. The first volley fails to stop the intruders, as does the second, and even the third. The fourth, however, finds only broken metal and bodies floating in space.
- This story brought to you by The Empire of Humanity Unchained versus what appears to be a single Precursor outpost. It is not going terribly well for Humanity.