Jed took a deep breath as he stepped out of the elevator and onto the base’s main floor. The familiar hum of machinery and the cool air-conditioned corridor made him at ease. It was good to be back.“You don’t have to hold my hand, Ricky. I’m not going to tumble here just because I got XFS. It'll be about seven months from now.”“Sorry,” the blond said, traces of his sobbing earlier still present in his face. He quickly let go of Jed’s arm and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.Waiting before the door to the common room, Ryan impatiently tapped his foot against the floor. “Chop, chop, Hunter.”As he walked there, he noticed that things seemed unusually quiet. Normally, the base was a hive of activity, with people bustling about and the sound of conversations echoing off the walls. Today, though, it was eerily silent.Just as he was beginning to wonder what was going on, the doors of t

The evening sun made orange streaks across the sky as Jed strolled back home from school.He took a detour, wanting to see the location an alien monster destroyed last week five blocks away from his house. Doing that made him come home late for dinner. He wondered what his mother cooked, and got excited as he remembered his father would be back from his out of town office trip.Last time his father brought a popular tin-boxed fruit candy from the nineties. Alas, the factory was attacked by a horde of alien monsters before he was born and they tried so hard to recover from that, even if they declared bankruptcy five years later. Now, only a handful of old-time stores sell their remaining stocks.Humming at the thought, it took Jed a moment to notice that the neighbourhood seemed oddly quiet, more so than usual. There were no kids playing outside, no cars driving by, and no neighbours chatting on their porches. He noticed toys strewn across a lawn and an abandoned

[Extraterrestrial cores detected.][Consume extraterrestrial core to activate Ultimate Skill – Devour.]Jed looked up at the sky where nine creatures of storm raided the base with lightning and thunder, heavy rain that came out of nowhere drenched him in seconds.He saw them. All nine of them.Large reptile body covered in reflective scales. Massive manta ray-like wings with undulating membranous texture that stretched wide, and long flexible tail with a series of electric discharge nodes along its length.One of them, the nearest monster, flailed its tail and electricity gathered around it. In three seconds, a streak of thunder crackled from it, strucking a tower somewhere in the base. The monster opened its hooked beak widely, and Jed felt something worse was about to come.His instinct told him to close his ear as the monster emitted a powerful roar. It generated shockwaves that shattered all glass windows and damaged some nearby bu

Jed got paralysed.Freaking pathetic.He should have known better not to dip his hand on someone’s cookie jar. He didn’t even hesitate then.The moment his fingers made contact with Max’s specialised weapon, the warhammer’s security system activated, paralysing him in excruciating pain. His muscles locked, his vision blurred, and he crumpled to the floor, unable to move or call for help.The roars and shrieks of the manta ray reptiles echoed through the dark halls, the louder one being on the other side of the armoury’s steel doors. His heart pounded as he got paralysed, knowing the creature was moments away from breaching the armoury.A blaring roar from the flying monster made the steel doors shudder, an impact from the shockwave it generated. Metal screeched and bent, and with each second, the creature came closer to breaking through.Jed watched in horror.Another powerful roar resounded, sending thunderous shock wav

Ryan Tanner crouched behind  a low concrete wall, clutching his automatic gun tightly. His breath came in shallow bursts as he scanned the dark base.The manta ray reptiles, tails charged with electricity that made them bright beacons for targets, flew near the ground. Their thick underside like a mockery, every roar resulted in a shockwave that destroyed half a building.“Tanner, you draw its attention and keep it busy. I’ll circle around and take it down  from behind.” Charlie’s voice crackled through his earpiece.Groaning in distaste, Ryan ran ahead and disappeared into a building. He didn’t want to be a decoy, even if it was for his own platoon leader. His pride was too big for such a small role like support.He wanted to take down the alien monster and get the glory for himself.“Hey, what are you doing?” Charlie sounded more aggravated, “I said, you’re the decoy!”R