The year is 2001. The location: Safe Haven. The remnants of a decimated alien race seek shelter from their aggressors, as well as a means to launch a counterattack. However, one of these remnants is more of a liability than anything else--a child, a...
The night was silent for the most part. Alexis's cell phone was still on, playing natural ambiance that emanated through her room: insects buzzing, wind whispering, leaves rustling.
All was calm.
Then, without warning, alarms began to blare throughout the bunker. Red lights flashed wildly, lighting up the darkness of the room.
Alexis's eyes snapped open, and she shot out of bed in a blaze of green light.
The Chimeros came to a stop in the living room, looking around sharply. "Mom?" she asked through her antennae, which buzzed and vibrated as they sent her words telepathically. "What's going on? Where are you?"
"Outside!" came Maricella's frantic reply. "We have intruders!"
"Trozians?"
"No! It—it's something else! I need backup!"
Alexis moved faster than the eye could see, practically teleporting out through the bunker's hidden entrance. She floated in the middle of a forest, observing the scene.
A horde of hideous creatures had flooded the area around the bunker, howling, grunting, roaring, and gurgling as they swarmed around Maricella. The elder arthrogon female was holding them back with considerable effort, spinning like a graceful dancer as she unleashed the fury of her yellow flames on the beasts.
"What are these things?" Alexis shouted as she added her fire to her mother's.
"I don't know!" Maricella shouted back. "They just showed up and triggered the alarms around the secret entrance!"
"Do you think they have something to do with the lightning bolt?"
"Maybe! But right now, who cares?!"
"Good point!" Alexis growled at one of the beasts as it swiped at her and responded by turning it to ash.
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Valafar straightened up and wiped sweat from his brow as he adjusted a panel on the northern side of the Reviver's outer hull. He headed toward the boarding ramp, but paused as his antennae began to quiver involuntarily.
The patriarch of House Marnozal looked over his shoulder as the bushes around the Reviver began to rustle. "D----t," he muttered, turning around fully. "If it's those eldritch fools again..."
Suddenly, a large group of twisted, disfigured monsters came spilling out of the underbrush, letting out chilling wails as they stormed toward the arthrogon.
Valafar recoiled, momentarily startled by their appearance. However, he recovered quickly, opening his mouth and spraying orange flames at the creatures. They backed away, howling in pain, and quickly dispersed, disappearing into the darkness.
