December 14th 2259.
Operation-Slippery target
Estimated Cornerian population-973,844,141.
Sitrep- Strange activates continue to grow in intensity, as more civilians turn up missing. Marshal law been activated, to safeguard the well being of the remaining Cornerian population.

"Uh say again savage 7, your breaking up."

"This is Foxtrot Whiskey. We are entering Venomian airspace at 55,000 feet, and are preparing to drop load. The hurricane will be providing cover for the drop."

"Acknowledged Foxtrot. You have a green light for deployment. Good luck, and happy hunting. Command out."

*click* His paws shaking slightly from years of war, the chestnut furred vulpine placed a single plasmatic energy core into the slot of the powerful sniper rifle. He then secured it to the harness on his back. The machine pistol he strapped to his leg was loaded with old depleted uranium rounds as an emergency backup weapon. As it clicked into place, he rotated his shoulder to pop it back into a comfortable position. He slipped on a pair of black gloves with steeled knuckles followed by a helmet with his age old insignia carved into the top of the helmet.

Across from him, a lynx easily in her mid 30s fastened a small machine pistol with a flash hider and red dot optical sight to her waist. When it was secured, she then strapped a black serrated blade to her arm; the buckle that held it down snapped secure. She reached for her helmet, pulling it down snugly over her head, and securing the internal respirator over her muzzle.

And finally, beside the lynx sat the young McCloud, loading flechette rounds into her custom made combat shotgun. Once loaded, she pumped it once to load a shell into the chamber, then switched the safety on. She set it aside, picking up the small machine pistol beside her. The clip slid out the magazine slot and into her paw, completely devoid of any rounds. Taking a small box from the rack behind her, she loaded the clip with .45 devastator rounds. As the final round went in, the ship jerked to the side violently causing the clip to come free from her paw. Fox caught it in his paw before it hit the ground.

As he handed it back to her, the light above the ramp turned dark red; it was her first Halo jump, and she was nervous.

Fox stood up, throwing the large pack over his shoulders containing his parachute, and another over his chest containing his supplies. Both females did the same. Jasmine however was having trouble securing her helmet properly over her head; her paws were trembling making it hard to secure the straps. Miyu helped her with the strap.

"Wolf pack, 40 seconds from the dropzone! Prepare for a Halo drop!" The pilot shouted back to them over the roaring storm outside.

Jasmine, still slightly nervous looked to her father, almost asking for a piece of advice. He didn't need to be a mind reader to know what she wanted. Through his helmet he grinned.
"Wait till I give the signal to pull the cord on the chute. If your having trouble, don't hesitate to shout out for help. We're in this together."
She looked to him, his words of encouragement raising her spirits slightly.

"Thirty seconds! Ramp coming down!" The Savage pilot shouted again. A soft thump rocked the craft as the lock on the ramp came undone, and it slowly began to lower.

The vulpine smiled one more time.

"I'll see ya on the ground kiddo."

She nodded. She hugged her father before turning to the ramp as it continued to lower.

"10 seconds!" The pilot shouted again.

The ramp locked into position and Jasmine took a deep breath, steeling her nerves.

"Green light! GO GO GO!"

The young vixen inhaled deeply, then followed her parents off the ramp, and into the swirling whirlwind outside.

Outpost High-wind. Remote Cornerian deepspace radar outpost in the mountains overlooking the capital city.
Time-12:00 Midnight.
December 16th.
The howling winds of the blizzard sent a soft shiver down his spine. The husky sat back in his chair, trying everything in his power to keep from going crazy with boredom, but his small handheld game no longer provided the entrainment he'd hoped for.

Even his playfur magazines didn't entertain him anymore. All he wanted was to get away from this outpost, and this godforsaken blizzard and go lay on one of Zoness's resorts. But instead, he's stuck here freezing his tail off in the most remote area on Corneria.

"*Sigh* This is so boring." He slumped down into his chair, allowing the game to fall to the floor.

"Hey Alexei, I got a reply from command! They're saying we'll be rotated out of this frozen dump tomorrow afternoon."

Alexei simply rolled his eyes at the response.

"How nice of command to get us out of here now, instead of when I put in for a transfer 6 months ago."

"Wow, you're such a whiner. Always gotta complain about something don't you?"

"Eh. Stuff a sock in it."

A large hailstone hit the window making them both jump. As they looked out the small window, they could hear the howling winds. It sounded as if the very air itself was alive with hidden screams.

"Man, I sure hope Nikolai is alright out there. Must be damn near -57 out there.

"Ah I wouldn't worry about him. He's been through worse. He's a sniper after all. A little blizzard isn't gonna kill him."

"Still, I think it'd be a good idea to call him in."

The small device connected to his ear chirped softly as he tuned into Nikolai's frequency.

"Nikolai? Come in Nikolai do you read?" Nothing but static was heard on the other end.

"Damn the coms are out." The brown furred canine said with a bit of hesitation.

"Yeah, that must be it. The blizzard must've killed his battery." They stared at one another for a moment.

Lying face down in a near frozen puddle of his own blood, Nikolai gagged as blood began to rush up his throat. The blood covered mandible lowered to his chest flipping him over on his back, bringing his attacker into full view. He began to scream in terror as it stared at him. It swiftly threw a single claw into his ribcage. He felt the sickening crunch of bone and flesh in his chest. He lowered his eyes to see the large claw dug deeply into his ribs penetrating out the back.

"Join us, in eternal glory."

With the last bit of his strength, he cried out in sheer agony, trying to call for help, but his scream was simply drowned out by the howling wind, and raging snow.
With the last bit of his life, he gasped his dying breath, slipping into the dark void of death. His body jerked violently as the creature ripped it's mandible out of his spine, tearing small chunks of flesh with it. Blood dripped into the powered snow from his mouth, and back, staining it fleshy red. The creature looked in his now cold lifeless blue orbs of flesh, and saw everything. His wife, his young daughter, and even his oldest son. But, the creature knew what it would do to these beings when it eventually hunted them down.
The creature lifted it's claws into the air, then with all it's might screeched like a banshee into the whirling wind, as it prepared to continue the hunt.

Inside the small radar station, both men looked to one another as the scream reverberated through the station. Both looking out the frost covered window, eyes locked on the barely visible landscape.

"What the fuck was that?" Mike whispered.

"How would I know? You think it could've been Nikolai?"

"There's no way in hell that was Nikolai. That was almost…demonic sounding."

"You see that!" Alexei shouted as something shot by the window in a blur of snow and wind.

"See what?"

"Something ran by the window. There's something out there." he whispered to the other, beginning to shake in his steel toed boots.

"W-what was that thing!"

"I'm calling command to get us the hell out of here." Alexei lifted his hand to his communicator in an attempt to contact anyone.

"This is radar base DeepFreze, this is Sergeant Alexei Markov, requesting an immediate evac. Our site has been compromised by an unknown assailant, who has possibly killed a member of our team. I repeat, we need an immediate evac." All he heard on the other end was static.

His heart dropped. He turned to his friend, his face turning pale.

"Whatever's out there knocked out the com tower."

"Are you shittin' me? How could this thing knock out the radio tower!"

"I don't know. It's smart whatever it is." He walked over to the window again, looking out to the swirling winds, and screaming snow. Everything thing was swirling in a beautiful yet dangerous blizzard, which concealed a deadly enemy.

"Look!" Chris shouted, pointing at the window.
Something ran by the window, sending snow flying behind it.

They both scanned the window trying to see what was torturing them only to see the white swirling snow.

"Crap get down!"
There was a split second of glass flying in every direction, accompanied by an explosion of snow and freezing cold wind. Alexei fell to the floor as something hard and very heavy fell on top of his chest. As he regained his senses from the impact, a small drop of semi frozen liquid fell on his cheek. As he wiped it away, a red smear was made across his glove. With fear coursing through his being, he looked to the thing crushing his chest to discover it was their team's sniper, Nikolai.

"Holy-! Get him off!" Alexei screamed, throwing the lifeless corpse against the wall. The look in Nikolai's eyes, were truly terrifying. The look of death, fear and pain was simply horrifying to one who hasn't experienced anything like it before.

"Mike? Mike where are you?" He shouted above the raging snow and wind, unsure where he'd gone in the confusion. The window that Nikolai had been thrown through now laid all over the floor, surrounded by both freshly shed blood and snow; and what appeared to be...drag marks?
The fur on the back of his neck began to stand on end. It was eerily quiet even with the raging blizzard outside.

"Mike? Hey ya there buddy?" Alexei shouted above the raging wind, only to hear nothing respond.

But, his eyes grew wide when he looked over to the area that Nikolai's body laid. It wasn't there anymore.
His heart began to beat faster and faster as fear began to invade his mind and the terrifying quiet hiding a menace that he'd not easily defeat. He slowly drew his knife holding it's hilt tightly; so tightly his knuckles began to turn white. He made his way around the corner following the trail, ready for something to jump out at him. He continued to follow the trail until he came to the closet door. A single deep breath was taken, then he reached for the knob. His heart was beating hard enough it felt as if it'd come flying out of his chest. Taking a firm grip of the knob he swallowed hard, then with one swift jerk he swung the door open.

Nothing. The closet was empty. He shook his head softly while letting a soft sigh out. But, he froze midstance when he felt something standing behind him.

"Hello, Alexei."

He spun on his heels, slashing violently behind him, only to strike open air. He'd missed by mere inches, as the unknown attacker back-flipped out of the way, using his foot to knock the knife into the ceiling. Before he could even blink, a sharp agonizing pain ripped through his chest.
"AAAAAAGGGHHHHH!" He screamed as loud as he possibly could. The attacker had pounced on his chest knocking him to the floor all the while driving a 6 inch serrated combat knife directly into his chest.

"Don't fight us, join us in eternal glory." Mike hissed, plunging the knife even deeper into Alexei's chest
Blood gushed around the knife covering the floor, and his paws in a thick red slurry. Mike using his weight and leverage to his advantage kept Alexei pinned to the floor and plunged the knife still further into his chest cavity.
He let out an ungodly scream of agony, as the blade ripped through his heart until it finally severed his spine, and silenced him.

The blood covered gray wolf slowly retracted his knife from the silenced husky's chest, licking the blood clean from it. He stood over his fallen comrade, and smiled demonically.

"And now, we expand out our grasp. We will have our revenge. This planet will belong to us in a matter of weeks. Not even the McClouds will stop us this time. He hissed as his eyes became crusted over with a purple lens.

December 18th
12:10 AM
An abandoned housing complex two miles behind Venom mining lines.
Sitrep- team wolf pack has infiltrated the area without incident, bringing along their daughter. They have begun observing mining operation watching for anything that might link Venom to the environmental disturbances.

Two days. Two long, boring days have passed since the trio had arrived, and nothing had happened since then.

Scanning the scope over the general area, Jasmine watched as the daily activities continued as every other day. The normal everyday routine of hauling the element blue crystals out of the mines, then load them onto Venom cargo ships.

"Jasmine, what do you see?" Fox spoke into his radio crisp and clear.

"Not much. Justa bunch of miners and a few armed guards. Same as always. I don't see why Peppy sent us all the way out here." She replied with a hint of boredom behind it.

"Don't' let your guard down Jasmine. These apes are ruthless to intruders." Miyu spoke soft, yet firm.

"How can they possibly see me?" She spoke a little louder this time, her tomboyish and fiery personality becoming apparent.

"Don't speak to your mother that way young lady. Peppy may have asked you come along, but I'll come down there and haul your tail home, understand?" Fox muttered gruffly, but remaining still.

Jasmine sighed, frustrated with her parents overprotective nature. Turning eighteen the day before, she had begun to feel cheated how her parents wouldn't let her experience the fun that some of her friends got to. Such as raves, all night parties, the freedom of staying out past midnight, and even meeting boys. Her parents being afraid of her being kidnapped, murdered, or even rapped, set very strict rules, for her own protection. But, these rules also conflicted with her social life. She had few friends, and the few she had, where very tolerant of lack of her freedom, and her parents.
She sighed again, and leveled her eye with the scope. The activity down below was just as it was every other day she watched them. Eighty miners go in, escorted by ten armed Venom guards then eighty come out again ten hours later. It was a never ending cycle of going in, and out. A constant boring cycle.

As the last miner went down into the mine, one of the guards pulled a cigarette from his vest. She watched as he lit it up.

"Phft. Doesn't he know smoking kills?" Jasmine muttered aloud to no-one in particular.

Moving the scope to the left, she two more guards playing poker near the mine entrance.

"Three pair vs. a royal flush. He's screwed." She said snickering slightly. She moved the scope again, watching two more guards engaged in a boxing match. Both guards were putting up a fierce fight, but neither one was able to knock the other to the floor. Growing bored of them punching each others brains out, she moved the scope over Venom ship leaving the platform.

A glisten of caught the attention of her well developed eyes. Using her scope, she scanned the area she'd seen the light, then froze.

"Wolf 1, wolf 1 come in. We've got a problem." She whispered her heart beginning to race.

Having been in these kind of situations before, he already knew what she was going to say.

"Where?" Is all he said.

"Second house on the right, top floor, second window. Two snipers, and their spotters. One 50cal tungsten and a plasma. All carrying radios. What do we Wolf1?"

"Keep airways clear, and wait for my signal. If things go south, we'll have to take them out quickly. Wolf pack, attach silencers now."

They all complied, attaching the small cylinders to the rifles, not taking their eyes off the sniper team even for an instant.

It felt like an eternity as they watched the rival sniper team. One false move one wayward twitch and the whole operation would be compromised. But, the engagement was over before it had even started. The Venomian sniper team was leaving the area before they had a chance to discover the group.

"Wolf pack, targets are gone. Disengage." Fox sighed, relived it went as well as it did.

He wiped a small bead of sweat from his eyes, then set the scope on the miners again.
"They still don't know where here. I want it to stay that way. Wolf3, good work."

A small wave of pride allowed the vixen to smile, but very little. They were still behind Venom city limits, and if they were caught, it could set off a planet wide incident. And this fact kept her on her toes.

A soft scuttling caught her attention.

She pulled her eyes away from the sniper scope, and looked over her shoulder. Nothing.
"Wolf1 did you hear that?" She asked quietly to the vulpine two floors above her.

"Hear what?"

"I thought I heard someone up on the next floor."

"There's no one in this building. It was abandoned over a year ago. Maybe it was just a rat."

"Maybe, I'm gonna check it out."

"That's not a good idea. We have no idea if it's a Venom patrol, or a rabid animal. Stay at your post."

"Wolf1 how am I ever going to prove my usefulness to you, if your not going to let me take care of things myself?"

"My orders stand firm Wolf3 Stay put. I'll-" He never got finish, as she switched the radio off, then slipped it into her pocket. She slipped her ballistic shotgun over her shoulder, and upholstered her machine pistol

Gripping it tightly, she walked into the hall adjacent to the stairwell. It was eerily quiet despite the noise coming from the mine. The quiet although was creepy was somewhat comforting in it's own way. She cautiously ascended the stairs. Keeping her pistol and flashlight in the same general area waiting for any unexpected surprises, she slowly made her way up the stairwell.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she again heard the noise. A soft skittering noise.

With her heart skipping a beat, she turned on her heels looking down a long dark hall with a light blue illumination at the very end of it. Her heart began to beat harder as she made her way down the hall.
She clicked the safety off her pistol, and readied herself. She'd only ever shot it at the range with her father, meaning, she was unsure what it'd feel like to take another being's life. Would it feel evil? Would it drive her insane? She'd heard stories of marines blowing their brains out to escape the guilt they felt after marching onto the battlefield.

The light grew brighter as she approached. Cautiously, she reached for the handle, then slowly opened the door. Pistol ready, she pushed the door open, slowly crept inside

Cornerian Research, and development Center- Cornerian capital.
December 18th 11:00-PM

"Please proceed Doctor Nazareth."

"Thank you miss Phoenix. In it's natural form, element blue resembles a dark blue quarts like crystal, that possess photo-luminescence capabilities. While emitting low doses of alpha radiation, element blue crystals are completely harmless to handle unprotected."

He paused for a moment.

"Although unbreakable by hand, when extreme heat is applied, the atomic structure of the crystals fall apart which we then reassemble into a new metallic alloy in which we use to create out fighter's vital components."

"And this is why you needed to mine the minerals?"

"Yes. If not, then we be unable to produce anymore fighters."

"Then how can you explain the surplus fighters you managed to rally during the second Angler incursion if you were so low on element blue?"

"You see, thanks to our many previous wars many of our weapons bunkers were filled with excess single seat attack fighters. Using the ones that we're in decent condition we took all the element blue materials we could find, and reused them in our newer designs. But, due to the smelting process and the delicate nature of the metal, for ever 5 wrecked fighters we stripped, we only managed to acquire one new working fighter. But fortunately, we managed to provide enough metal to produce an average sized fleet in addition to the amount we had already available."

"You said before that if you didn't acquire element blue, that your people would be trapped on Venom. Why haven't you invested in civilian transports to evacuate your people from the planet and into orbit?"

"Because of the amount of element blue required to create such a craft. In order to create such ships, we need 55,000 tons of element blue per ship. Our current stocks would allow us to create a maximum of 40 ships. However, to evacuate we would roughly 69 or 72 ships. At our current rate of mining, it'll take at least another four months to acquire the amount we need."

"Then what? What will your people do once you've cleared Venom airspace?"

"Me and my advisers were considering leaving Lylat with our remaining population. It's clear that our two planets can never truly live in peace because of the difference between Corneria's canines, felines, and avians, and our reptiles and apes. I've already asked the general public, and most agree."

"So what your saying is that you and your entire population will be leaving Lylat? This is pretty convenient considering the recent events on Corneria."

"I know how this may seem, but as I've said before, we have nothing to do with these events, and all tests on element blue are reinforcing my claims."

"I know this already Nazareth. I'm not accusing you of anything. But, many of the other scientists are very wary of you and the Venomians."

"And for that miss Krystal, you have my deepest gratitude."

She grinned softly.

"But, I can say this for certain, whatever is causing these disturbances will be dealt with swiftly. My top scientists are working nonstop to figure out what is plaguing the planet."

One of the scientists standing behind Krystal scoffed softly. Nazareth turned to him, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Is there something you wish to say?"

He cracked a smile, standing up to face the ape.

"I just find it hilarious that you of all people would want to try and 'save' Corneria."

Nazareth now gave the cocky young man his full undivided attention.

"And why is that?"

"You're an Oikonny. Sworn enemy of the Cornerians, and most of Lylat."

Nazareth sighed slightly, rubbing his forehead with his paw.

"Let me explain this to you very clearly. Andross Oikonny is my uncle. Yes he did wage war against Lylat, but because he descended into madness after the loss of his hands. His experiments could have done wonders if they had been allowed to be finished. I will not defend him for killing James and Vixey McCloud, or the countless innocents who lost their lives because of him, but when it comes to his research he was a genius."

The wolf snorted once.

"A genius? He was psychotic. His research nearly destroyed Corneria."

Nazareth wanted to say something, but refrained from saying anything. He simply sighed.

"Be that true. I will not defend him for his dangerous work. But, I will not allow you to slander his work that did have meaning. If it wasn't for his research half of your weapon wouldn't exist today. He invented the portable self-recharging plasma cells that all of your standard issue weapons use. He also invented the slip space jump gate, which all of you take for granted. In fact, he was the one who began the original testing on arwing project. But, I wouldn't expect someone raised on the lies and hatred for him to know this."

"Do you have some kind of point to this little sob story?"

His limit now pushed to the breaking point, Nazareth looked his dead center.

"Yes there is." With the speed of lightning, Nazareth gripped the wolf collar in his paw, and effortlessly lifted him off the ground. The wolf clawed at his arms in a attempt to force his release, but his claws merely met a metallic alloy surrounding the ape's arm.

"You'll find that quite impossible my boy. You see, my arms were removed after carpel tunnel syndrome destroyed my nerve endings, just like Andross. However, I never lost my mind. As I love my home planet, I love this one to. And I will do whatever it takes to preserve it."

Nazareth dropped the wolf flat on his tail.

"Let this be a enlightening experience for you boy. Not all Oikonnies are made the same. Some of us have a heart."

Unwilling to tolerate the arrogant Conerian any longer, Nazareth turned and began to walk out of the room. His pride hurt more then his being, the wolf stood up from the ground clenching his fists tightly together.

"You'll pay for that chimp!" He shouted launching forward his fist trying to make contact with Nazareth's chin. However, before he could make contact, his fist was stopped dead by a cerulean furred palm.

"That's quite enough." Krystal barked calmly at the wolf. "He'd already said his piece. You have no reason to continue this idiotic behavior."

"Stay out of this you stupid blue bitch." He growled, flashing his canines. She flashed her fangs as well, but more aggressively then the wolf had. It shocked him to see such an attractive woman so fiery. His teeth sank back behind his lips, eyes widening.

"I think you have me mistaken." With one motion of her wrist she flipped him on his back, arm his humerus snapped in two like twigs.

"I'm a vixen, not a bitch. Look it up asshole. Vixen often means fiery tempered woman. And I'm as fiery as they come."

The initial shock passed as the pain of his newly broken arm began to sweep through his body. He coiled up in pain on the floor, his arm now limp and unwilling to move.

"It's pricks like you that make me sick." She spat on him as he recoiled in pain.

She turned to Nazareth once nodded at her then turned and walked out of the room. She smirked once then looked around. No one said a word, but most were smiling.

It didn't take her powers to know what they were saying. It was a small satisfying victory that she wouldn't soon forget. Nor would the wolf.

"Now who's the bitch now tough guy?" She snickered before walking out of the laboratory.

As Krystal left, Phara helped the wolf to his feet.

"Smooth. Real smooth genius."

"Shut the hell Phoenix."

1-hour later. 12:29 AM
Thick clouds of steam rose through the air and into the overhead vent. The warm water swept over her body dragging with it the pain and stress of the day with it. The old scars riddled across her torso sang with pleasure as the warm water massaged them. Her entire body felt as if it was melting from the soothing water. Nothing seemed to bother her either. Not the remarks of the arrogant from before, not the life changing acts of vicious killings, nor the choice to leave behind the one person who seemed to understand her better then anyone before. She regretted nothing.

"Water off." No sooner as the command left her lips, the water shut off. She pulled back the curtain stepping onto the soft mat, fur dripping wet. A white towel waited for her. She yanked it off the ring giving her fur a quick run over, catching most of the water in a single run. But, because of fur's natural insulating ability there was still water that the towel couldn't extract. Throwing the towel back over the ring she grabbed ahold of the blow dryer using it to quickly dry out the remaining water trapped under her fur. The warm air tickled slightly.

As she finished she set the drying back down on the counter, and grabbed a clean pair of underwear, bra, then slipped on a pair of sweats followed by a loose t-shirt. A soft sigh escaped her muzzle. The steam began to escape the room as she opened the door. She planted herself firmly on the couch sprawling her arms and legs out comfortably.

She picked the remote up twirling it for a moment.

"There is still no official explanation as to why these disappearances continue to occur all around the city, but speculation grows it has something to do with the Venomian mining camp. Many-" She changed the channel, not wanting to hear anymore.

"I'm here with the current owner of Space Dynamics, who has allowed us to see the newest model of aerial attack fighter. , any information as to what kind of fighter this is?"

A short, yet well dressed green amphibian walked into the camera's view, and adjusted his glasses over his eyes.

"Yes of course. The current model we are in production of, will surpass the previous models in a way that hasn't been seen before since the first Arwings were produced. These new attack fighters will be similar to the Arwing project, but be half the price of a standard Arwing, and will be available for our well trained pilots. In addition to being half the price, they will also be slightly stronger, and faster then the Arwing, and hold more armaments."

"Very interesting. I do have a question, you were in fact once one of the main pilots for the Arwing project correct?"

"That is correct. Me, and four other flew these amazing craft, during our glory days. But now, since we're all retired, at least I am, the Arwing project has been moved to military production instead of standalone manufacturing."

"Thank you for your time ."

"My pleasure."

She flipped the station again, seeing as thought it being over. She flipped from channel to channel, searching for something to watch, until a knock was heard from her door. She set the remote down on the coffee table, and walked to the door curious.

"Who is it?"

"Mrs. Krystal? May I speak with you." An all to familiar voice asked from behind the door.

"….One second."

She quickly unlocked the deadbolt, and opened the door to see Nazareth standing before her.

"Can I help you?"

Without even speaking, he pushed her into the room, then turned and locked the door.
"I'm sorry to disturb you Miss Krystal, but I can't trust anyone else." His voice quivered with dread.

Simply unable to explain the mixed emotions radiating from his body, the blue vixen simply raised an eyebrow.

"What are you taking about?"

"The element blue crystals are resonating at ultra psionic frequencies."

She stared at him blankly for a moment, unsure what he was even talking about.

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning they're sending out frequencies well beyond anything we're capable of detecting, unless using extremely sophisticated detectors."

"Alright, your not making any sense. Can you kindly explain what this means to me in Lylatian?"

Nazareth sighed with impatience.

"It means that the crystals are communicating!" He nearly shouted.

"Communicating? With what?"

His paw went to his temples, massaging them softly.

"I fear, it's a dormant species of arthropod arachnidan."

"What!" She screamed. "Are you telling me we've awoken a new strain of aparoids!"

"That's just it. I don't think we ever really killed them off even with the apoptosis weapon."

His paws came away from his head and fell to his sides. His eyes locked with hers.

"But I can say this with certainty. This new strain is stronger then the previous. It possesses all of the strengths of the previous brood, with the added of not having any cells meant for self destruction. Our previous method of destroying them is out of the question."

She never took her eyes from the ape even for a second.

"How long?" Is all she asked.

"I don't know. But, when the queen hatches, it'll be the end of Lylatian existence as we know it."

December 18th

12:30 AM

Jasmine was thrown up against the wall, her head pounding with pain. As she recovered, quickly the spider made another rush at her which she managed to dive away from. It leaped onto the wall as it missed. Using her machine pistol she fired round after round at the huge purple spider clinging to the wall. A single round struck it's left leg sending a shower of purple blood into the air and across the wall behind it. It screeched loudly raising it's front two mandibles into the air. In the blink of an eye it rushed forward, knocking the pistol from her paws and nearly impaling her with one of it's many long mandibles. She drew her knife as quickly as possible and buried it deeply in it's back leg causing it to screech in pain again accompanied by blue and purple blood spilling on the floor. While it was dazed she quickly kicked it across the face causing it to stumble back a few inches. Now completely agitated, the spider roared loudly, and stared at her with it's beady black eyes. She took a step back trying to gain a foothold, and preparing to fight for her life.
The creature charged forward with lighting fast speed, slamming it's entire girth into her stomach, and causing her to fly through the thin plaster wall. The wall crumbled around her as her entire body broke through. Lying on her chest gasping for breath, a great pain struck through her abdomen, and a warm liquid could be felt running down her fur, to the floor. She tried to stop the bleeding, but was stopped feeling a large piece of metal buried deeply, cutting through flesh tendon, and muscle.

Silent tears of pain rolled down her face, matting the fur under her eyes. She tried to crawl over to her pump action, but was stopped when the creature flipped her over on her back, then impaled it's front mandible into her calf, pinning her to the floor indefinitely. She tried to scream as loudly as possible. She tried to crawl away, but fell of her face, quietly sobbing in agony. To make matters worse, It impaled another mandible into her other calf, then two more into both arms. She tried with all her might to scream again, but now the pain was so great she choked up as she began. No sound could be made with the amount of pain that was coursing through her body.

The creature leaned it's face close to hers, and laughed in a sinister and insect like tone.
"Do not be afraid. I shall free from your mortal bonds my queen. You shall lead us to everlasting glory and prosperity."

Her eyes wide as an eight inch proboscis began to slither out of the creature's mouth, slowly descending to her chest. Trying with all her might, she tried to reach for the knife that lay merely and inch away from her fingertips. But try as she might, the spider prevented her even coming close.
She turned her face away from the creature knowing her death had arrived.
"No. I want you to see your glorious ascension to that of God."

Using another pair of mandibles, it gripped the side of her face and forced her to watch as the proboscis continued to descend. Her eyes widened as it pushed into her skin effortlessly slicing through both fur and flesh directly above her heart. As it drove even deeper fire began to erupt beneath her fur. She gasped as hard as her lungs would allow. Her eyes shut forcefully as the pain grew more and more intense.

But, the pain stopped abruptly. When she opened her eyes, she found herself floating in an empty space filled with white light. She naked, but it didn't seem to bother her at all. A wonderfully pleasurable feeling began to wash over her entire being as if it was radiating from her very soul.

"Jasmine" a voice called to her from the empty white void.i "Do you want to be strong? Powerful? Beautiful?"

"Who's- who's there!" She shouted worryingly into the void.

A large glowing object began to appear before her which began morphing into a young women. She resembled no known species she'd ever seen. The creature was more ape like then anything, but with large blue antennae sprouting from the sides of her head, and large gem like eyes. Instead of fur, scales covered her entire body.

"My dear child, there is nothing to fear. I simply offer you happiness. Isn't that what you want?"

The creature extended her hand towards Jasmine.

"Join us, and you will nothing but happiness."

Jasmine hesitated for a moment. But something was slowly winning her over. She began to extend her paw towards the creature, beginning to smile softly.

"That's it my dear. There is nothing to fear."

But before Jasmine could touch it's hand, the entire void began to shake violently. Screams began to resonate from every corner and blood began to rise up from the floor.

"NO!"

It screamed in an insect like tone. She was thrown to the floor by an unseen force. As she tried to get on her feet an invisible force pinned her body to floor. Blood began to flow from her arms and calfs from unseen wounds. The pain began to flood her system once again. She screamed as loud as possible as the creature that had pinned her before appeared again directly above her.

"If you will not join us on your own accord, then I shall take your body by force foolish little girl."
The creature that had stood before her as a beauty, now began to morph into a large grotesque figure. Long razor sharp talons began to sprout from her fingertips, a long scorpion tail began to stretch out of it's back, and it's eyes faded dark black. It slithered towards her placing it's claw above her breast.

"I WILL have this body as my new vessel. Nothing will stop me!" She screamed while plunging her talon into Jasmine's chest cavity. Jasmine's jaw simple flew open. She had breathe to expel, nor any fight left to give.

"Yes, give in to my will little one. Soon you shall be free of your worries."

Just as the creature was wrapping it's long talons around Jasmine's heart, it was thrown back violently across the void shrieking in pain. The spider that pinned her was also thrown back. It screeched loudly as a fresh hole was torn through it's left eye.

"Get the fuck away from my daughter!" Someone shouted from inside the void. Jasmine's mind now free from the spider's influence began to return to reality. The spider was screaming across the room with both eyes oozing purple blood in every direction while being riddled with even more round from two different types of weapons. Despite her current state, she could feel the discharged heat of the plasma weapon and the slamming hammer of the ballistic. But, her strength gone, and pain unbearable she submitted to the darkness, and fell into comatose.

"Die bug die!" Fox screamed as he lept onto the creature unloading a full clip of depleted uranium rounds into it's skull. The rounds tore through the hard exoskeleton as if it were swiss cheese, dragging large chucks of purple shell and biomass with it. When it finally collapsed on the ground, it did so with a loud thump.

Miyu lifted Jasmines head in her arms putting two fingers under chin checking desperately for a pulse.

"She's still breathing. Oh god what have they done!" Miyu nearly screamed choking back her tears.

"We don't have much time. We have to get her out of here before the infection begins to take root."

Miyu nodded softly. She took the emergency blanket from her pack and wrapped Jasmine in it. She took off running through the apartment complex, holding her daughter tightly in her paws.

Fox looked at the husk of the creature blood now pooling under its body.

"How in the maker's name did they come back?" He whispered as he inspected the fallen insect warrior. He pulled his knife from it's sheath, and cut a small section of it's head, and placed it inside a small vial, which he tucked inside his vest. It would probably be of use later. His heightened sense of hearing picked up the distinct sound of scuttling coming from the room next door. It was time to leave, or die.

Picking up his both weapons he bolted out of the room just as two more large spider like creatures came crashing through the wall.

His headset chirped for a moment. Peppy was hailing him.

"Fox, what's going on? Miyu just called in an evac for you."

"Peppy, Peppy they're back!"

"Whoa slow down. What's going on? Who's back?"

"The aparoids! The aparoids!"

"What! Are you sure!"

" Alert the CDF and the Venomian special forces! This isn't a joke old man just do it!"

Peppy went white as Fox finished his statement. He backed away from the intercom, then looked up through the glass pane window to the stars above.

"What evil have we unleashed...maker save us."