When The Stars Died

Day 2

People, people. I realise this story has a schnizload of chapters for only one day, but things are going to start moving faster now. Cheers and ciao.

The animals were in the forest again, doing what they did best (poop, eat, sleep, repeat) and the whole gang was on top of Dead Hill, watching the FAD vehicles trundle through the village and soldiers running everywhere, so far below that they looked like ants. Well, not to Skeeter.
He was seeng them close up, seeing their drills and their boots and the things they were doing. For one, they had a few aliens tied to a futuristic looking metal thing. It sort of looked like a torture device. Skeeter watched, fascinated. A Supernovae wearing human clothes over its moss (just a baggy shirt and jacket) was watching them closely.

"Joe. How can you tell if a Supernovae is a boy or girl?"

"What are you talking about, whelp?"

"Their gender?" Skeeter tried.

"Oh, ah. Alright. See how we sort of look like humans? Limbs and all?"

"I suppose. In a certain light."

"Well, uh, female Supernovae don't have any visible womanly parts, not under their genetically engineered clothing. So, in lieu, they have tattoos. You'd spot one from a mile away, which is handy."

Skeeter looked harder, and indeed, there were definitely a difference.

"There's sort of a physical difference, females are curvier."

They certainly were. All the tattooed Supernovae had pronounced hips, whereas the male invaders were slim like sticks.

"Are the tattoos a social level thing?" Pandora asked.

"The more you have, the higher level you are." Joe confirmed.

"And how do they get those tattoos?" She continued.

"Very painfully. Needle, and an ink like substance pumped from the underground tunnels of Supernova."

"So your Queen, what was it?"

"Imerosis."

"Yes. She'll have a pooptonne of tattoos?"

"A what?"

"A pooptonne. A tonne of poop. A shitload. A lot?"

"Yes, she is very heavily tattooed. You could've just asked like a normal person, you know."

"We don't do normal." Skeeter said proudly.

Pandora snorted. "Speak for yerself, crazy farm boy that magically has abs."

"I told you I box."

"What?"

"I told you yesterday, like when we first met. It was only yesterday, how have you forgotten already? I first saw you at a boxing match, that's how I knew your brother?"

At the mention of her brother, Pandora felt a red hot iron pressed onto her heart.

"Yeah," she choked out. "Sorry. Goldfish memory."

Skeeter chuckled. "'S okay. Anywho, what kind of tatts do the girls have?"

"I believe they are almost symmetrically with your earth 'tribal' tattoos. Chevron, swirl, dot and band patterns."

"Bands as in the lines?" Thalia chipped in.

"Yes...?" Joe said.

They watched a troop of Supernovae soldiers move in sync through the village, checking every house and shop.