Soldiers were everywhere at the southern coast of China, especially at the port cities. Those places were in the process of being evacuated under the guise of a potential tsunami. Luckily it was successful for the southern coastline, mostly.
At the city of Xiamen, soldiers moved through the empty streets alongside tanks near the edges of the city. They were headed to the docks to serve as reinforcement for troops positioned there since shipping vessels were disappearing in the South China Sea. At the dock, soldiers laid dead with parts of them disintegrated or chopped off. A group of soldiers took shelter inside a warehouse as they fired outside at their mysterious enemy. Smoke was everywhere and one could hear clicking sounds in the distance before seeing a beam of blue light suddenly strike them.
At beaches elsewhere, soldiers were able to witness the creatures exit the ocean before engaging them in combat. They were large, hunched crustacean humanoids. Some had two legs like a human while others had six legs. They had small faces with four glowing eyes and they were covered in natural armor. They were the most common soldiers of the creatures down below.
The creatures immediately opened fired, launching arching balls of plasma into the air to explode upon soldiers. Beams of light darted across the air along with bullets. They fired from one or two of their forearms which would have an organic cannon in place of claws. Other creatures were there that crawled moved rapidly toward the soldiers with claws ready to rend the human soldiers apart. They would grab whoever and stuff them down their toothy maw.
It was chaos since the soldiers didn't know much of the threat they faced and so on they battled, not knowing what they fight is nothing compared to what lurked in the ocean. Oh, if they only knew.
The two massive beasts, the Xerca and Ark'Sh, proceed to the cities at the coastline to bring upon ruin after they had finished destroying their targets. Their existence had already been reported to the rest of the military and one could expect them to deploy bombers.
Back at the warehouse in Xiamen, a soldier spoke to his comrade from behind cover in the loading area of the warehouse among large crates a few feet apart. An eerie silence came to the docks.
"Things are too quiet..."
"Yes, it is. Toss me some ammo, I am getting low."
The soldier complied and grabbed a clip from his person and slid it across the floor to where the other soldier was. When he reached out to grab the clip, a sudden blast of light came. The two soldiers were quickly vaporized along with the crates. Then, a large quadrupedal creature with limbs similar to a crab quickly crawled into the warehouse, shrieking loudly. On top of it were various spikes.
The other soldiers in the warehouse opened fired on the creature. Some shot from catwalks above, who originally fired out of the windows. The creature responded with shooting out its spikes everywhere.
A soldier was hit directly at the head, becoming split in half, as his body fell over the railing. Others got impaled and the creature charged at the other soldiers that fired from behind the crates. Soon the sound of gunfire faded into screams which in turn became silence. The monsters quickly moved forward toward the city. As they marched on, the corpses they left behind were tended to by strange creatures resembling black sea urchins that crawled on spindly legs like a spider. Their spikes were long and sharp like splinters. Their spikes leaned toward the direction they desired to travel to and they occasionally rattled.
The small spiky creatures as soon as they reached the deceased soldiers, they attached themselves, stabbing their spikes deep into the body. One or two would latch themselves onto a body, but sometimes there would be multiple. The bodies then convulsed as the creature attached them pulsated, digging their spikes deeper into the flesh. The bodies then slowly rose up, still dead but now under the control of the creatures. The reanimated bodies groaned and gurgled as they began to shamble their way down to battle. They twitched and their bones sometimes made a cracking sound.
Meanwhile, the tanks roared through the streets along with the soldiers that marched to engage the enemy. Some soldiers entered the nearby buildings to provide covering fire from above. Soon they were able to hear the distant sounds of the beasts bringing about destruction. They collapsed buildings and blown up wherever one could hide behind.
As one would expect, the two forces fought. Bullets seemed to be unable to harm the large crustacean creatures as they fired plasma or swiped with their claws. A tank did managed to blow one up before being torn apart.
A team of four soldiers sought refuge inside an apartment complex while they radioed for other fellow soldiers throughout the city. A young man with light brown hair among them then separated from them to inspect a sound around the corner of a doorway. The soldier had his gun ready to fire while the others were distracted by attempting to call others or peeking out of the windows for possible threats.
Then, what was around the corner stepped to the doorway. It was a corpse that had an instance of those urchin-like creatures imbedded in the stomach. Blood trickled down from the reanimated corpse while it loudly groaned. The soldier and the creature were still for a second but the soldier proceeded to open fire, which caught the attention of the others.
The corpse shrieked and the small creature then fired a spike at the stomach of the soldier. Pain quickly flooded the soldier for it was deep inside him. He tried to scream but couldn't as he entered shock. The other soldiers entered and fired at the creature as it shambled toward them with arms reach arm for them, spewing out blood filled with small black chunks from its mouth.
The soldier that had a spike in him watched on and felt himself slowly fade away. Poison was flowing through his veins as the creature killed his comrades without flinching at the constant gunshots, despite chunks of flesh falling off from every bullet penetrating through it. Although, it did violently react when the organisms attached to the body was hit which caused it to shoot out more spikes.
At the harbor, the Xerca finally arrived and rose from the sea with a mighty roar. The city quaked and various windows had shattered. No doubt people from beyond the city heard the beast. The Ark'Sh managed to arrive at Hong Kong. The two giants proceeded to destroy the city as jets scrambled into the air from military bases to enact a bombing run on them.
It was a futile battle and it was the first of many to come. The cities were turned into blazing ruin in less than an hour.
Back at the underwater city, the humanoid leader of the terrifying creatures remained sat in the command center. Its servant, Ourok, stood by its side. lowed himself to his master and spoke.
"We emerge victorious, my lord." The pinkish creature said with a smile.
The humanoid figure was briefly silent, and the room became quiet in anticipation. The only noise was the occasional distant creaking of the tower and the sound of the monitors.
"Hmm. I see, Ourok." Ourok's master replied with a groan while still observing the holographic globe before it.
"What is your next command, my lord?" Ourok then proceeded to gingerly ask.
The lord looked at the earth and pondered for a few seconds before giving its reply to Ourok's question.
"Destroy the place I was reborn at." The humanoid said blankly to Ourok without looking at him, still closely observing the globe.
Ourok's cheerful expression quickly faded away. Everyone in the room became concerned and glanced at their master with curious eyes. They were ordered to never speak of the place where their master was reborn, so it was disquieting to hear the humanoid bring it up themselves.
"Uh, very well. It will be done, sire." Replied Ourok as he turned to speak to the other creatures present, but before he could say anything the humanoid spoke.
"I'd like for the place to be bombarded. Send out the rippers." Commanded Ourok's master.
"Then it will be so, my lord. Our pilots will greatly appreciate you sending them forth to do your bidding." Replied Ourok as he bowed his head.
A hangar with long massive doors somewhere near the edges of the city then opened, releasing rays of light. Quickly, many small ships started to pour out; they were the rippers. They propelled through the water up to the surface with ease and soon they were all in the sky.
At the command center, the globe displayed that the target of the rippers was at the eastern coastline of China. The rippers were marked as they journeyed to the location.
The humanoid being silently observed as the markers got closer to the place of its rebirth. It was going to take immense satisfaction at its destruction, to see the lighthouse that was present to be reduced to ashes. It had been years since it had been there but the humanoid felt no nostalgia for it. It was meaningless like all things for what mattered the most was His Slumbering Majesty.
The rippers soon arrived to their destination. It was a quiet town near the ocean, and it was bombarded with explosions of plasma and streaks of lasers. During the attack, military planes arrived to engage the alien ships in combat were detected but they were quickly dispatched. The rippers flew faster and were more agile in the air. After completing their task, most the ships returned to the underwater city while a few went to assist the others at the cities.
Finally, the coastal invasion concluded as military forces gathered to plan out more elaborate assaults. The government scrambled to contain the incident with lies such as natural disasters, but eventually the truth will spread. That was inevitable.
The humanoid back at the command center sat quietly, watching the markers of the rippers returning after completing their task. Ourok then spoke to them.
"It is finished, my lord." Ourok said softly to is master.
"I see. I will return to my courters. Prepare further assaults." The humanoid replied as it rose from its seat and proceeded to leave the command center. Ourok said nothing and with his fellow monsters he watched his master leave the room.
Brandon was back home with his Aunt Merilee as his ship instructed him. He still needed to keep up appearances with her.
Merilee was in the living watching television and drinking a glass of wine. She had to counsel a student who had lost a relative in the terrorist attacks at the town, which was actually Brandon's doing.
Brandon sat in his room, trying to come up with an excuse to leave the house so he may go see Caitlyn. He was struggling to come up with something since Merilee worried of something bad happening to him due to what has been happening at the town. It was somewhat frustrating.
Damn. I am getting myself unintentionally cooped up in here! I could just leave through the window but what if Aunt Merilee checks in my room to find me gone? I can't raise suspicion but it be so much easier to just get rid of her. Although, I do still enjoy having some 'family' that like me being around.
Brandon sighed and looked out of the window from his bed. He then thought that he may have to wait until Aunt Merilee was asleep for him to go out and find Caitlyn. He had been thinking of her mostly.
I'll see you soon, Caitlyn. Thought Brandon.
Next, he decided to leave his bedroom and get something to eat. He thought of having just a bowl of cereal. He walked passed the living room. Aunt Merilee turned to look at him and smiled.
"Hey, Brandon. What you're doing?" She politely asked Brandon.
"I'm just getting a bowl of cereal, Aunt Merilee." Brandon replied as he walked into the kitchen.
"Don't pour much cereal, we are low on milk!" Exclaimed Merilee so Brandon could hear her from the living room. Brandon made no response and continued on.
Brandon opened a cabinet above the kitchen counter to reveal several shelves. There was a few bowls and he reached out to grab one until noticing the shelf above. There were various pill containers. Brandon looked at them and saw one that held sleeping pills. A smile formed on Brandon's face for he had developed an idea.
Caitlyn was back home, trembling in fear in her room. She tried to calm herself down.
He's out there. What if he shows up here? Caitlyn quickly thought. She paced around her room and felt defenseless. There was nothing she could do to assure herself.
Downstairs, her guardians spoke with Agents Carter and Hendrick as usual in the living room.
"We'll have to get going, guys. We'll leave you with a few soldiers to patrol the woods nearby." Said Carter as he looked down at his phone for the time.
"Thank you, Carter." Agent Winters replied with a slight smile. She had a small fondness for Carter.
"You're welcome. Keep an eye on the girl as usual and we'll see you around." Carter continued before looking at partner Hendrick who was eating a bag of potato chips.
"Hendrick, time to go." Carter said to him.
"Alright. About time..." Hendrick responded as he placed a chip in his mouth. He didn't enjoy being around Agent Winters and Freeman, especially Winters.
"Shut up, Hendrick. Happy to see you leave." Winters responded rudely to Hendrick.
"Bitch..." Hendrick mumbled to himself quietly as he walked to the front door to leave the house. Winters face twitched for she heard Hendrick's remark.
"Goodbye." Carter then said to Winters and Freeman before leaving too.
Freeman and Winters gestured in response and could hear their fellow agents start up their car and leave. The two then proceeded as usual while soldiers secretly patrolled the house within the woods as Carter had stated.
Agent Freeman went to the basement to listen on radio chatter while Winters decided to go check on Caitlyn. Winters had noticed that she was bothered by something.
Winters slowly opened the door into Caitlyn's room and peered inside. Caitlyn sat by the window, looking outside at the nearby trees that rustled by the wind. Caitlyn had an expression of relief when seeing Winters, as if expecting someone else.
"Hello, dear! Is everything alright?" Winters said gingerly with a smile to Caitlyn. Winters then went further into the room.
"I'm, uh, fine." Caitlyn replied cautiously before looking away from Winters to stare out of the window again.
Winters approached the bed and sat on it. She continued to look at the silent Caitlyn. Winters sighed before continuing to speak.
"Are you sure, sweetie? You can trust me. It is why I am here. I know things have been hard since..." Winters stopped mid-sentence when Caitlyn looked back her. Winters noticed her eyes were somewhat teary, so she decided it was best not to finish her sentence.
"Yeah, I am here to talk to about anything, Caitlyn. I'll always be here." Winters continued with a sincere smile.
Caitlyn was starting to lose herself and so she began to cry. Winters then got off the bed and approached Caitlyn to give her a hug. Caitlyn remained seated and hugged Winters at her waist. Caitlyn sobbed away as Winters wrapped her arms around the sad girl, brushing her hair. Winters had a somewhat of a surprised face expression since this was the first meaningful interaction she has had with Caitlyn. Finally, Winters made some progress.
Caitlyn continued to cry into Winters and spoke to Winters.
"Would you?" Caitlyn said through her tears.
"What?"
"Would you always be here?"
"Of course..." Winters replied as she looked out of the window as she still held the crying Caitlyn in her hands. She then scanned the room for anything of interest.
Caitlyn needed someone in her life to comfort her. Of course, a piece of her knows it is likely foolish to try to form a relationship with Winters. Brandon could take her away like he did with her mother. Still, it was nice for her to express her sadness to someone.
As Agents Winters looked around the room, she saw a partially covered piece of paper under notebook on Caitlyn's text. It was the paper with the drawing Caitlyn made that night.
Winters then decided to lure Caitlyn out of the room so she could get a closer look at the drawing.
"Let's go the kitchen, dear. You could use a glass of water." Winters said to Caitlyn.
Caitlyn hesitantly rose from her chair and was lead out of the room by Winters. Caitlyn was in the hall heading downstairs but Winters stayed to quickly take the drawing. Winters stuffed down her pocket and proceeded to go downstairs with Caitlyn.
Brandon's ship lit up in the depths of the woods inside the cave it was in. It rapidly was processing data thoroughly, over and over again, whispering to itself in many quiet alien voices. It had intercepted a broadcast earlier that was not native to Earth, one that was familiar. The ship needed to be sure before anything. The broadcast was transmitted to the two locations in the solar system and if it was proven to be what the ship thought it was, then the mission was in trouble.
After a while, it came to a definitive conclusion. It's assessment was unfortunately correct.
Transmitting emergency report. Threat to mission detected. Identified hostile presence on planet. Servants of the Slumbering God. Detected through interception of advanced interplanetary broadcasting nonnative to targeted world. Immediate actions necessary. Awaiting further instructions.
Once the ship stopped broadcasting its message back home, the lights on it died down. All it did was analyze all contingency plans it was programmed with in case if it received no response. The invasion of the planet will most definitely need to happen faster than planned.
The ship then calculated on whether to have Brandon perform reconnaissance, though it wasn't sure if he be ready to face the worshipping horrors of the Slumbering God. If its databanks were accurate, they are formidable and sometimes unpredictable. The risk of losing Brandon was likely.
It continued to ponder and concluded that it needed to know more of the enemy. First, it must patiently wait for a response from home.
Aunt Merilee was passed out on the couch. Brandon stood in front of the couch and looked over her resting body, tilting his head to the right. The TV still played behind him.
It worked. Thought Brandon. He managed to slip in sleeping pills into Aunt Merilee's wine and in twenty minutes she was asleep.
I should get going. Brandon concluded before walking away to his room to get his mask. He wasn't going to wear but he was going to bring it just in case. Admittedly, it would scare Caitlyn even though he personally didn't find anything wrong with the mask. The only time anyone displayed fright at his mask was Brandon's Uncle Noah when he attempted to kill his aunt. No one since has had a good look at his mask.
Brandon then exited through the front of the house and flew up into the sky. The wind blew his hair back and it ruffled as he soared through the sky.
I'll find you, Caitlyn.
Ed and other high-ranking individuals sat within a large room around a long table. A monitor was embedded into the wall down from the table that was attached to a camera. Everyone within the organization was becoming aware of the attacks, and the Director wanted to speak to everyone in the United States and Canadian branches.
Ed tweedled his thumbs until the meeting started. When it began, the room darkened and the monitor lit up to display the symbol of the Director. The symbol was a circle with a dot in the middle. It was encased inside an incomplete triangle.
Everyone sat up in attention and looked directly at the screen. Ed swallowed nervously for usually a meeting like this is for emergencies.
"Hello, ladies and gentleman." A feminine voice emanated out of the speakers on the monitor which belonged to the Director.
"Hello, to you too, miss." Someone near the monitor said in response on behalf of the room.
"Thank you, Richard. So... Let's get to the point of this meeting." Continued the Director. Everyone was completely quiet to hear her speak.
"After close analysis of the evidence, I must inform you all of a coming invasion of extraterrestrial origin, and they aren't coming from space. They are already here, within the oceans of our world. No doubt some of you have heard this from our spies over seas about a few recent attacks. Ladies and gentleman, today in this room you will be revealed classified information so we may prepare ourselves to defend what we can when the time comes. I have spoken with other branches but it is now all of your turn to be enlightened. It is time our organization performs at its fullest potential."
Ed gotten goosebumps from that last part. Others felt perturbed or even eager to hear what the Director was going to reveal to them.
"My assistant, Hemsworth, will hand you guys folders. Remember their contents." The Director said as her assistant emerged from the shadows of the room with a stack of folders under his arm. He was tall and physically well built with short black hair combed back. He wore a pair of shades and black leather gloves. His face was emotionless. He handed out the folders to everyone at the table without hesitation.
When Ed received his folder, he opened it and saw various documents and pictures detailing an ancient civilization forgotten by time. It had images of beached corpses of beings that couldn't be from Earth, hideous creatures straight from a nightmare. In this line of work, Ed had became somewhat desensitized for he had long understood that the universe was an absurdly cruel place with many secrets. What Ed would give for a cosmic secret that was beautiful instead of horrifying.
Then, while Ed skimmed through the documents, he noticed an attached file of something called Project Phoenix. It was a cybernetic research project but most details of it were redacted. The Director continued to speak.
"Attach to the other documents is the full nature of Project Phoenix. In the coming weeks, we will unveil the next step of human evolution. So much progress had been made over the years. I think some of you may like it."
If the Director was in the room, everyone would see that she had a smile on her face.