The Invasion: The Cycle of the Shards Book Two

The great ship hung over the city like a malevolent cloud, both still and threatening at the same time. It made no attempt or effort to inspire fear upon the population. It didn't have to, the hundred vessels that accompanied it, tiny in comparison, descended upon the city like a swarm of insects, albeit insects that were armed to the teeth with various weapons of both physical and energy type. While they moved through the streets, inciting panic and causing as much random destruction as possible, the larger ship remained motionless, which for some was more terrifying than the threat from the attackers.

After the smaller ships moved out of the immediate area, the great ship ended its silence, emitting a large sound not unlike a low tone from a trombone. The sound was deep, and had the effect of breaking almost all of the windows of the buildings in the city below. It continued for a minute, spreading out from the ship like an invisible shockwave, before ceasing as quickly as it begun.

Then the ship spoke. One word. A name. One that meant nothing to all but a very few, but the anxiety that the name caused to those that knew who it was and what it meant somehow dwarfed any fear that all of the spaceships combined had caused.

One of those that knew the name clutched the small cylinder in her hand tightly, raised her head defiantly towards the invaders, and said the name along with the announcement almost as a prayer.

"...Critock."