"Very little is known about what goes on in a hive. Not because of a lack of research, but because there is little left to study about the methods of destroying a hive. What we do know is that antipodes are not a species made up of individuals, or even A real group. We spend too long thinking about alien life in an easily understandable way.
The opposite is not ants, they are not termites, they are not insects per se, nor are they mammals. If anything they have more in common with plants. Mobile, destructive, violent plants. "
—Professor Heinlein, excerpted from a lecture on the knowledge gained from early antithetical research (henceforth called alien anthropology), 2028.
***
I hid behind a corner, and soon I felt the blood running cold all over my body. To put it bluntly, this is really terrible.
There are no alien noises to worry about. shocking. Or maybe it's not alarming, but it makes them scarier and more difficult to deal with. I kind of wish they had the decency to announce their arrival.
I tightened my grip on my trench machine and flicked the safety with my thumb. The gun made a slight buzzing sound and I felt something inside move. The reticle floating in my field of vision glowed orange.
The trencher is ready to fire up
[Current load output: 9x19 Parabellum
Number of Ammunition: 17]
I looked down the corridor. I can still leave. They didn't hear me coming, which means maybe they wouldn't see me leaving either.
Then when we went over with all the kids, they were there waiting for us. I gritted my teeth and held back the curse. I couldn't cover my dirty mouth.
I shifted into a crouch and held the gun closer to my side. That's not how heroes in movies hold guns, but heroes usually have an extra arm, and in the old movies they didn't have a red circle telling them where the bullet would land. A touch of humor.
I took one last breath and moved.
It was still staring down the corridor as the red circle of my handbag aligned with the side of its head.
I jerked the trigger, wincing as it threw me off target, then frowned even more as the gun roared in my hand. The noise was almost deafening and I might have flinched had it not been for the knowledge that there were more beasts to come, it was enough to drop the trench gun.
Good luck when my first shot put a hole in the back of its head.
The second one turned around and rushed towards me. Its huge claws hit the ground hard with a loud "snap" sound, and at the same time, its jaws opened to bite off a piece of me.
I shot it once, then twice more, then jumped to the side.
The monster tumbled past, its body falling to the ground like a rag doll. Green pulp splashes everywhere!
You only hit twice.
"Not now!" I said. Mialis's vitriol is endearing, welcome even, but now is not the time.
I pointed the gun at the giant worm-like thing, and... it wasn't really moving toward me, its sides were undulating, moving where it wasn't covered in scales. Numerous little legs protruded from overlapping scales and scraped against the floor as the worm writhed away.
I looked ahead and saw several bodies lying on the ground, most in civilian clothes, but a few looked like they worked in nearby shops. And, at the end of the corridor, a hole had been blown out of a window. The slime leading from the hole to the worm gave me information about where it came from.
Most aliens with model numbers between 8 and 10 are considered utility or professional. This is a big truck. They are harmless.
“My ass is still harmless,” I said. The worm was moving towards a poor twenty-something who looked like he'd been beaten. The smell wafting from him made me flinch and ignore it for now, I was used to it when I was at the orphanage!
The worm, named Type Eight, opened its mouth and began grabbing the boy's legs.
"Fuck," I said, raising the gun.
After three shots, I paused and let the ringing in my ears fade away. The worm had three pinholes on its side and was bleeding, but it didn't seem to care at all. Its jaws opened wider, and several small tentacles emerged from them, grabbing onto the body.
It's of no use. It's possible to kill it now, but you don't have the ammo on hand to destroy every one of its brains. You don't have time to find more creative ways to destroy it.
"Brains? Plural?" I asked.
There's one for every segment, yes. Even though the brain is very simple.
I counted the various parts of the bug's body and gave up after about twenty. "Won't it attack me?" I asked.
No, not even when provoked. Model Eight is used to transport biological elements from one part of the opposing hive to another. That's all they did. Aggression is beyond them. How many points are they worth? Speaking of…
Target eliminated!
Reward... 20 points!
Well done, Catherine! Your current total is 27 points.
"I can't let that thing eat people!" I said.
I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but if you don't act soon, many more people will be eaten today.
I tightened my grip on the pistol. "Damn," I said.
Looking past Model Eight, I looked toward the hole in the far wall. It looked as if something large had crashed into the building, tearing off one of the glass walls and the railing behind it, before falling or flying away. A bigger flying alien, or maybe a hover car. never mind.
I slowly made my way past the worm and towards the end of the corridor. I thought other aliens would come running when they heard the gunfire. It's not fun without them.
The hole in the glass revealed a part of the city that I couldn't see from the other side of the building. Smoke rose, obscuring much of the world, but it left enough visibility for me to see the invasion spreading throughout the lower areas of New Montreal, past the island itself, and into the suburbs beyond.
Millions of people must have been involved, tortured and died.
A flash of red streaked across the sky, followed by three dozen tiny black dots falling back to the ground. I could barely make out the shape of a human being in the distance, hovering over the guts of a giant shipworm that had descended to Earth.
Hundreds of tiny flying objects flew towards the floating figure.
It waved its arms at them, and a burst of red beam wiped the air clean.
I wonder how many aliens died there and how many points were raised? Haha, just know how to make money!
It looks like the rest of the Pioneers are hard at work. There is no doubt that as we speak, local armed forces are conducting a powerful attack.
"Do you think they can clean this up?" I asked. The city wasn't in ruins, but I saw a skyscraper five blocks away that was completely on fire, and the air that usually crowded the sky was almost a lot clearer.
I have no doubt. This is a small to medium intrusion. It will take weeks to completely clear it out, but humans are nothing if not tenacious.
Soon the area will be repopulated and grow again, the dead will be replaced by new generations of humanity, and your species will continue to thrive.
"Yeah" I said in a low voice
