The Allegory Of Triberias: The Call Of Destiny .

A New Terror and The Wall of Blue Death

BETHESDA,
Eastern District,
2420AA,

As the Killion and Gabriel came around the final corner and came into the market square, they were greeted by a most bizarre sight.
Insects. Locusts to be specific and a whole lot of them scattered everywhere as they ravaged whatever they could lay their mandibles on.

Their black wings buzzed. Their blue eyes crackling, sparking with electricity even as their dark pincers which were essentially the extensions of their mandibles and sharp as swords were busy decapitating heads in a manner like they had never been seen before.

"What on Elydria is that?" The Captain whispered, horrified at the bloody mess that the giant insects were making and giant they were, for the locusts were as big as tiny dogs, though varying in sizes and with wing spans that could rival that of a moderately sized Marabou stock.Their numbers were also a matter of concern, but compared to the dragon horde that was yet to make an appearance after that altercation almost seven days ago, this situation seemed more manageable that is, apart from the numbers that were also quite astonishing.

Where a dragon horde was made up of maybe six or ten dragons on average, these locust swarmed in numbers so high that they could have easily been a thousand or more, making them a huge and deadly swarm whose only resemblance to the real thing were their numbers and their morphology. That is, minus the deadly pincers that the metallic menace were using to tear down the market square.

A noisy horde of black metal, blue eyes, and a lot of clanking wings! That's what they were.

"What do we do now?" Gabriel shouted to his captain above the noise of the clanking of metal and a thousand buzzing wings. For a moment, Killion remained quiet, baffled just like the young lieutenant was.

"I don't know. I bet though the metal on those things acts like some sort of armor, and those pincers–" The Captain trailed off even as Gabriel shivered at the man's unspoken words."Call in the hub for aerial support, meanwhile, I will cover you even as we continue to try and figure out what we are dealing with."

"But...but Captain!" Gabriel tried to stop him, but the man in question was already on the move, regardless of the threat to his own life.

Once again, just like that other night, Gabriel watched as his visor came down and his suit came to life. The armor on his right hand, a new suit modification, transformed into a gun which he used to rain bullets one of the giant insects and as expected, the bullets did nothing to harm it. Instead, they ricocheted off the armour and fell down without leaving even a scrape.

Did its armour absorb all that kinetic energy? The young soldier shivered, put off by the thought of fighting another horde of hard-skinned terrors. Was that even what they were? New terrors, to replace the old ones that they hadn't seen in almost a week? He did not know which of the two he preferred. The flames or the blades and the noise that continued to grate at his nerves, irritating him to no end.

"Gabriel! Support!" The captain's voice screeched into his earpiece and just like that he remembered his orders and began acting.

Reacting to his punches, the communication panel on his left hand slid open as he began the process of sending out a distress call towards the central Hub. He could only hope by now that the sensors had picked up on the new energies and that a team had already been dispatched and was already en route. For with every moment that passed, a building crumpled or a life lost as the massive insects continued with their senseless decapitations and ravaging. What did a metal insect want with a carbon-based life form? No one was spared, be it birds, livestock, or human. Fortunately, though, there seemed to be less of the latter than the other two that had fallen prey to these deadly insects.