In 2094 the Meridian Ring fell out of the sky. Thirteen years later its wreckage is the richest thing on Earth, and it is still coming down. The company that built it wants it back. The people it fell on say it is theirs.
They built and paid for the Ring, and by the accord they signed in 2039 every piece of it is still theirs. Few units, expensive, precise, shielded. You win by never taking a bad trade.
The wreckage lies on their land and their families' graves, and nobody ever paid. Many units, cheap, built from scrap. A lost unit is replaceable; a lost field is not.
Orbit tracking announces the impact site seconds ahead. Whatever stands there moves or dies.
The fragment hits, scorches the ground and throws a streak of debris downrange. Units and buildings in the zone take the blast.
A new salvage field, richer than anything on the map. It does not regrow. Both sides race for it, and the match turns on who holds it.
Four hundred and eighty matches against the gate. With scarce fields the craters pay, but nobody fights over one yet. What the AI has to learn before the gate passes.
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