| Twilight of the Apocalypse |
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| Chapter
6: The Tol'Adjun Arrive |
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| Free
Haven- Trimoire Island 0736 hours, 15 June 2016 |
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| "Tagran,
the prisoners are in sight," a Tol'Adjun fighter announced. |
|
| "Yes.
The Stalkers stole our crafts and fled from the carriers. They should've
known |
| better than
to anger the great Lord Darian, |
d Darian," he said in whispered
tones. |
|
| "Fools
they've been! Fools back on their planet, and yet still fools after being
captured. |
| What a
great act of dishonor. We must seize the opportunity now. We must stop them |
| from
escaping into the shadows again," the fighter commented. |
|
|
| "But
why waste our time with these low creatures with barely a hint of
intelligence?" |
| Tagran
questioned. |
|
| "Why
not let them destroy this planet, and turn its native species into slaves for
our |
| cause? Why
not let the Stalkers multiply and rid this world of its occupants, so that |
| one day, in
the very near future, more of our ships would come and take over this star |
| system and
claim this rich, resourceful planet for our own?" the Tol'Adjun
commander |
| added, his
voice full of passion and power. |
|
|
| "Because
the Stalkers might use the humans against us. Remember the war we waged |
| thousands
of years ago? The result of that war was a billion of us dead. On this
planet, |
| they might
learn to use human technology and evolve to be even more powerful than us. |
| And the
fact that they, like us, are able to breathe human air is the one reason why |
| we should
stop them now, before they steal the resources that are so vital to us. This |
| planet,
they call it Earth, is vulnerable," the other alien explained. |
|
|
| "What?"
Tagran asked, puzzled. His eyes glowed a bright purple as he spoke. |
| "Don't
you understand? I've done much research on this planet since we discovered it |
| just
moments ago. The species here, they are unaware of our presence. For many |
| centuries,
their belief is what they call religion has clogged their minds, turned them |
| into beings
who deny the existence of extraterrestrial life in the universe. They live
lives |
| of peace,
with no wars for the past decade that they've become lazy, weak, and |
| complacent,"
the warrior continued. |
|
|
| "Your
suggesting we strike when they least expect it, like now?" |
|
| "Yes.
We've already disabled all their satellites and space stations orbiting the
planet. |
| Now is the
time to hit them hard." |
|
| "Anyway,
send the Defta Pods to retrieve the prisoners. And, capture that human |
| alive,"
Tagran ordered. His fists were clenched and his head psychins flared. |
|
| "Yes,
Tagran. I'll speak with the Lord Darian soon and tell him of my plans,"
the |
| warrior
answered, and twisted thoughts of death, slaugther, and greed filled his
mind. |
|
| 0736
hours, 15 June 2016 |
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| The
creatures came, almost a dozen of them now. I stepped back and ejected |
| the empty
magazine from the rifle and slammed a new one into the weapon. |
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| As I held
the trigger, a terrible image formed in my mind. It was cloudy at first, and |
| I couldn't
make out the details. But I guessed it was someone's face staring back |
| at me. As
the image grew in size and detail, I threw up my hands to cover my face |
| as the
thing in my mind gripped me on the neck. |
|
|
| I went
crazy that instant. Guns blazing, I screamed. But the thing prodded my mind |
| and
tendrils of cold fear creeped into me. It would not release me. I saw the
creatures |
| lumbering
toward me and I swiveled my weapon around and fired at the one closest |
| to me. |
|
|
| "Human…"
the thing called me. |
|
| "What
t-the-" I managed to say as something heavy knocked me to the ground. |
| I tumbled
backwards and released the trigger. I was too stunned to move, or even |
| speak. The
thing in my head began to disappear and its form materialized in front |
| of me. I
turned to flee, but a grey wall prevented me from doing so. Trapped between |
| both wall
and creature, I collapsed to the ground and lay there panting. |
|
|
| I
managed to control myself. The other creature was bizzarre-looking. It
vaguely |
| resembled a
human, was biped, and its dark grey head was huge. Two snake-like |
| appendages
dangled from each side of the creature's head. |
|
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| Long,
pulsing veins that seemed to glow ran along the length of the creature's two |
| long arms.
Thick muscular limbs supported the creature's weight and the feet were |
| clawed and
looked extremely deadly. |
|
|
| Its torso
was equally terrifying. Veins were visible and what looked like rib bones |
| could be
seen beneath the grey-brown flesh that stretched tight over the skeleton. |
| "These
are Stalkers. They bring death wherever they go…" the voice said in my
head. |
|
| Too stunned
by all that has happened within the last hour, I could neither speak nor |
| move as
voices spoke from unknown sources. |
|
| Another
voice spoke, "We come to retrieve our escaped prisoners only,
human." |
| "There
is no need…to be afraid." |
|
|
| Other
creatures began to form from thin air in front of me again. Seconds later, |
| four of the
abominations stood before me. |
|
| A
spine-tingling sensation coursed through my body at that instant. |
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| One of the
so-called Stalkers reared up on its hind legs and screeched to the rest |
| of the
pack. The others responded by thrashing their heads and tails wildly about in |
| a sort of
frenzy. The lead Stalker suddenly leaped at the creature closest to it. |
|
| The
humanoid raised its arms and clenched its fists. The appendages on its head |
| flared a
bright purple and the Stalker hesitated in mid-leap. As the beast landed on |
| the
humanoid, the latter delivered a killing blow to the former's chest. The
force of the |
| impact was
so devastating, it punched a clean hole through the other creature's torso. |
|
| Bright
purple energy emanated from the fist and the Stalker started dissolving like
acid |
| dissolves
metal. The exo-skeleton crumbled and black ichor flowed freely out of the |
| wound. The
monster simply vanished moments later. |
|
|
| Stepping
back, the humanoid gestured toward the other remaining Stalkers who rushed |
| forth to
meet those who slayed their leader. A wild shriek of bloodlust and anger |
| resounded
across the street. The carpark was to be a bloody battlefield. |
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|
| I held my
breath. I did not know who I'd expect to win this fight. Having already seen |
| the powers
of the humanoid beings, I believed they would emerge victors. But the |
| cold fear
still gripped my heart and soul, refusing to release me from its deathly |
| clutches.
What are these things? Where did they come from? And why are they here? |
| These
questions stayed in my head for a long time as I watched the fight. |
|
| My mind
raced as I thought desperately for a way to flee this bloody scene. |
|
| But no,
everyone was dead now. My teammates, the survivors, the pilots. There |
| was no way
I could make it out of here alive. But at least I hoped the humanoids |
| would win.
At least they had already displayed their intelligence to me, unlike the |
| Stalkers I
believed were just cannibals who even feasted on their own kind and |
| cared not a
bit about preserving life. |
|
|
| Maybe the
humanoids would let me go unharmed. |
|
| The
Stalkers slammed into the humanoids as both sides clashed in battle. |
|
| A torn limb
flew overhead as a humanoid being kicked out furiously at its Stalker |
| opponent.
The wild kicks tore limb after limb from the unfortunate creature, who |
| dropped
dead to the ground after an insanely powerful punch shattered its head. |
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| Three
Stalkers circled another humanoid and forced it into a corner. They then |
| delivered
blows to the creature's mid-section. Tails moved at lightning speed and |
| sliced off
the humanoid's arms, legs and a portion of its massive head. |
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| Brain
juice, purplish in colour, trickled out of its skull and down its
blood-soaked |
| head and
body. Stumps remained of the creature's limbs, which lay on the |
|
| ground
further away. |
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| Victorious,
the Stalkers around it screamed in their high-pitched voices and |
|
| separated,
looking for more victims. One of them spotted me. As it came close, |
| one of the
beings bounded toward it. The humanoid slammed into the Stalker, |
| causing it
to fall sideways in mid-run. |
|
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| Both
aliens- if that is what they are- stumbled in a heap to the ground and fought |
| it out just
scant metres away from me. |
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|
| Minutes
later, all the humanoids lay dead around me, their corpses torn to |
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| bloody
shreds. The Stalkers- half a dozen remaining- approached me slowly. |
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| Their
cries of triumph sent shivers up and down my spine. I waited bravely for |
| them. I was
not afraid, because I knew no way could I have managed to get off |
| the island
even if the other party won. They would either slay me or take me |
|
| prisoner.
So I was already expecting this. I was prepared for it. |
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| If even the
humanoids who were able to manipulate psychic energy could not |
|
| defeat the
Stalkers, then who can? |
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| Soon, they
would overwhelm me, and feast on my flesh. I was prepared… |
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