AoU Slitheen Conversion Anthology (4)

(N.B. These Slitheen stories are set between the events of the main Aliens of UNIT (AoU) storyline. They focus on newer/recurring characters featuring in standalone tales as well as stories that will tie in with the main narrative arc. This story focuses on (post-)conversion).

(N.B. This is a Slitheen story with mature and adult themes. Not for underage readers. Please read at your own discretion).

N.B. This story is set during the events of: Aliens of UNIT Part One. It provides the backstory to Hibah Mughal's formal entry into the Star Slitheen Family as well as functioning as a Slitheen (post-)conversion story in its own right.

Synopsis: The notoriously xenophobic UNIT Colonel Hibah Mughal involuntarily undergoes conversion to Slitheenhood and becomes an 'alien', a disorientating new reality she quickly has to reckon with. Her newfound Family immediately task the able convert with hunting down a key figure that will help to accelerate their long-term business plans whilst they remain stuck on Planet Earth: Brigadier General Penelope Warrington.

In a dark environment, a brief flash of lightning shone on a woman strapped to a chair in an unknown location. It was enough to reawaken her consciousness once again after a few hours of sleeping. Her eyelids slowly flickered as they reopened in response to external stimuli.

"Where… am I? Argh!", she wondered aloud as she felt some discomfort in her arms and legs. It was not a familiar place at all. The female could barely make out the scenery. She tried to leave her seat but found the simple action impossible to complete.

"Why can't I move?!", the beleaguered woman began to raise her voice, despairing at the imposed restrictions on her ability to move. The lanky and voluptuous twenty-eight year old UNIT Colonel Hibah Mughal, born and bred in the northern English city of Manchester, of Indian heritage, found herself indefinitely strapped to a cold metallic chair in a poorly lit square room, from what she was able to ascertain. She realised most of her military clothing had been removed by someone else without her consent. She felt absolutely vulnerable. Violated. Some malicious actor was responsible for this humiliating state of affairs. They were going to pay big time for it. Revenge was already on her mind.

An orphan originally raised in a dilapidated care home from the age of four, Hibah had performed well in her educational studies despite the constant bullying she had to endure over the years, making the young lady feel deeply depressed, inferior and utterly resentful of existence. Of other people. Yet after leaving compulsory state schools she took up vocational activities, leading to a reservist role in UNIT which gradually turned into a permanent occupation. In only a few years of active service at the global organisation, this ambitious human female had quickly risen up the military hierarchy; becoming well-known for her passionate planetary politics as well as for her unpleasant bossiness, leading to heated clashes with her seniors.

She was also notoriously renowned for being a staunch xenophobe, openly adopting a racist 'Far Right' platform within UNIT and preaching its hateful ideology unabashedly to anybody who would lend an ear, despite being non-white and the daughter of human immigrants herself. In her unimaginative, cramped worldview, Earth was for 'only humans', the current dominant lifeforms on it, exclusively. It was impossible and undesirable to share the planet with anybody else, especially 'non-natives' with no established history or links on and to the surface. No ifs, ands or buts. There were to be no negotiations with those who simply could not be seen as equals. The ideology was not her property. She shamelessly promoted it to achieve her own personal agenda, even if it resulted in the pointless persecutions and deaths of others.

Per her performative role, Hibah had to hate on 'aliens' who came from outer space onto the surface of the Earth 'uninvited and unannounced', as she liked to parrot. The Colonel selfishly wanted to become the leader of UNIT herself; hyping up a facile threat that hostile extraterrestrials were looking to colonise the planet at the expense of humanity. The illusionary fear of an 'alien' planet wherein humans might become relegated to being second or third class citizens, or worse extinct altogether, motivated her and so many others into (re)action. She presented herself in public as having a grandiose vision about how to stop or control extraterrestrial 'migrants' and 'foreigners' whom she blamed for leaching of Planet Earth's and human civilisational resources and populations without giving anything back in return. Her harsh rhetoric during meetings and public forums altered the levels of discourse occurring within the organisation permanently. Her adopted ideology could not be ignored nor suppressed outright, although the late Kate Stewart tried her best before Hibah ruthlessly took her out discreetly.

Although they were not willing to be forthcoming in their public support, Hibah was made aware that many anonymous officers within the world's premier planetary-wide security organisation supported her narrow, one-sided views, sharing the same toxic mindset and would tacitly back any bid to become UNIT leader in the near-future, making her feel vindicated and validated by the others. Hating on 'alien' life forms could elevate her to the top where she always believed she belonged. Shamelessly, she even came up with the poorly thought-out 'Stop the Ships' campaign that did little to prevent mass scale immigration from beyond the Earth's atmosphere to prevent the 'Great Replacement' concept she randomly made up herself. These attitudes formed part of her artificial superiority complex mindset which she pathologically enjoyed projecting onto the material world. The other human colleagues who found her views distasteful regularly, including the leader of UNIT Britain Saba Mahmood, pejoratively called her a 'coconut' behind closed doors. Unsurprisingly, heated debates and discussions over immigration and plenary defence budget spending constantly dominated conversations across UNIT.

"Shit!", the captive human cursed loudly as she again failed to break her imposed steel chains. Somebody had placed her here purposely, but who? For the time being, she was all alone. Her body started to sweat profusely amidst the humidity. The Colonel desperately tried to recall her last memories in the build up to this objectively pitiful scene.

"Harold!", she lamented, this time adopting a lower tone of voice. She was referring to Lieutenant Harold Edwards, a middle-aged veteran whom she was having a clandestine affair with outside of working hours. Unknown to her, or any human working at UNIT, Harold Edward's body had been taken over by a humongous Raxicoricofalipatorian belonging to the notorious Star Slitheen gangster crime Family as part of a long-term calculated operation. Sitting at private meetings with the rest of the senior leadership, he witnessed firsthand how callous and harsh Colonel Hibah Mughal behaved before her aghast colleagues. It was these very Slitheen-like qualities that he admired in a volatile homo sapien that he would otherwise have had little time for. The Colonel was driven by power and wealth ambitions, like most Slitheen women. Admiring her dominant nature, the disguised Slitheen began to support her hotly xenophobic views tactically, helping to mainstream them across UNIT. It made the Colonel trust him more as their secret illicit relationship blossomed.

"It was him. He set me up, the bastard.". Hibah recalled a recent memory: she was eating a dinner meal at the Lieutenant's house one evening. They were discussing an elaborate dastardly plot to take out Saba and launch a coup against the UNIT leadership before a sudden onset of diarrhoea forced her to use the restroom upstairs. After showering to clean herself up better, the Colonel headed to the main bedroom where she expected her lover to be ready for another night of wild fun. Somebody was in the bedsheets when she pulled it back…but the human strangely could not recall what happened next. Her mind constantly faded to black on this point. Nor could she remember how early this memory was. It was not clear how long she had spent trapped in this chair, having only woken up today. In any case, Lieutenant 'Harold' was definitely not present at the moment. Nobody was. Until some doors opened spontaneously after a while.

"Glad to see you are awake. Just in time too." a groggy masculine-sounding voice called out from the shadows. Hibah immediately tried to look around everywhere to ascertain the speaker but the twisting of her neck proved awkward and only augmented the pain she felt sitting in such a clustered space. From what she could make out, four exceptionally large beings with ridiculously long forearms complete with triple dagger claws, light or dark green in appearance, approached her from all four directions. They chuckled and guffawed arrogantly as they observed the helpless UNIT Colonel struggle to make sense of anything. In her eyes, they were obviously 'aliens', non-humans whom she had long detested. Their immediate behaviour already indicated sinister and malicious intent towards her, 'as expected'. Once their laughter died down, they simply stared at their captive, as if waiting for the Colonel to initiate a conversation.

"Who are you aliens? Identify yourself at once per Article Fifty-Seven of the Intergalactic Conventions." Hibah demanded defiantly. This was the first time she had encountered such unique beings, and she had encountered many 'aliens' whilst working at UNIT over the past couple of years. Their extended height and massive bodies made her feel intimidated to an extent.

"We don't give a shit about your protocols, human girl.", one of them replied dismissively. The blunt comment sparked further laughter amongst the mysterious beings who did not respect nor felt bound to the stifling confines of civilisational law and order made by species foreign to them. It made the Colonel feel pathetic and weak, a reality which was rarely accustomed to. She was in no position to coerce them into obeying.

"We are the Slitheen. Star Slitheen, to be more precise", another one of them finally revealed honestly though they did not bother disclosing their names, if they had any.

"Slitheen? From which planet?"

"Raxicoricofalipatorius.", a third member pronounced the phonetically complex name of his home planet with ease.

"Never heard of it.". That confirmed for Hibah that this was the first encounter with the Slitheen.

"Good. That is how we want humans to think, to continue living - in blissful ignorance.", the fourth and final member spoke up. The chained Colonel continued to observe them from a short distance. She speculated that this bunch did not reflect the full picture, the total numerical amount. She was worried that there might be many more Slitheen spread out across the planet. If so, it would, in her perception, prove her xenophobic rhetoric to have been correct all along. The Slitheen had boldly abducted a senior member of UNIT Britain. They were not peace-loving actors at all.

"How many of you are there?"

"Not a lot. We have a severe shortage of manpower and we are stuck on a god-forsaken rock surrounded by hostile primitives!". That information gave some insight to the captive Colonel. Perhaps they had seized her, a senior member of UNIT, and intended to use her as a bargaining chip for a deal. Either way, it only reinforced Hibah's deeply-held belief that non-human 'aliens' were nothing but trouble and had to be fought.

"Why do you have me locked up in this chair? Surely you do not see me as a threat?". The captive pondered whether she was going to be used as a bargaining chip in potential upcoming negotiations. Conversely, these predators could be eating her for dinner. So many possibilities played out in Hibah's anxiety-ridden head.

"Correct. You are not a threat. You are an asset.", one of the unnamed Slitheen males announced candidly. The one that posed as Lieutenant Edwards had described the Colonel as such previously. Hearing it from another Slitheen's mouth directly astounded the offended homo sapien.

"An asset. Am I your personal property now?". The 'aliens' were clearly intent on dehumanising Hibah, converting her into a tool, an object that they would be able manipulate to achieve whatever crazy goals that had on the Earth. Placing her into the captivity of the chair obviously augmented this attitude, she reasoned internally.

"You belong to our Family now. It's a collective enterprise. You will help us achieve our lofty ambitions.", the Slitheen continued the conversion which by now opened up to various strands of thinking and delivering.

"Family? So you are not a separate race then.", the Colonel realised perceptively.

"Correct. We appreciate that you have understood this aspect quicker than most.". The Slitheen hailing from any Family branch often took immense umbrage at being labelled a 'race' even though they hailed from a planet with billions of other clans. Slitheen was their surname. Raxicoricofalipatorian was their species category. Many other species they encountered simply conflated these two categories, either deliberately or in a state of heightened ignorance. It always bothered the Slitheen who were sick to the death of having to correct others on such a basic fundamental.

"Okay. But what do you mean by my belonging to your Family? I don't belong to your kind at all.". Hibah was keen on maintaining a tight distinction between homo sapien and Raxicoricofalipatorian. She could not be both and preferred to remain as human. It was an impossibility. Once again, the Slitheen collectively laughed uncontrollably at the remarks. The poor human female had no idea what was heading her way.

"What is so funny?" Hibah asked, annoyed by the immature behaviour of the 'alien' Slitheen. They were hardly respectable. Not that they cared about what others thought of them. They were immune in that respect.

"We have been monitoring you for quite some time now, Miss Mughal. We have ascertained that the various aggressive qualities you exhibit on a daily basis as a homo sapien might be better served in another form. You will help us, and we will help you." the loquacious Slitheen speaker insisted. It sounded as though he was requesting voluntary compliance from his victim.

"If you think for one second that I will collaborate with aliens against my own species and home planet, you are severely mistaken.". She was principled on this matter. Hibah would never allow herself to be coerced into working with hostile foreigners. She was prepared for the most extreme scenarios, including martyrdom.

"Excellent! You are proving to us that you will never sell out the Family. That is exactly what we are looking for.", the Slitheen spoke more excitedly and approvingly of the human female. It caught her by surprise.

"I would rather die than live to serve your species." the Colonel declared defiantly.

"Oh, we do not need to be that dramatic. But in a way, you will have to 'die' to make way for a new reality.", the Slitheen interlocutor alluded to something cryptic.

"Very well. I am prepared to die. You will not succeed in taking over this planet. You will be stopped. You will all be killed.". Hibah assumed that they were discussing her impending murder and so responded with a harsh promise of her own. Her fellow humans would avenge her one day, she was sure of it.

"Prepare the female for conversion." he finally said to his counterparts beside his body, revealing what he meant all along.

"Conversion?!". That word set alarm bells ringing immediately. The other three Raxicoricofalipatorians promptly left the room.

"Yes. From humanity to Slitheenhood. We have decided this, not you. You will be forced to accept it, whether you like it or not."

"But converting one species to another is illegal by several galactic laws in force across the universe!" Hibah protested vociferously. It was something unheard of. One does not simply swap species. Tampering with biology, with nature often had unintended consequences. Deadly consequences.

"As we said earlier, we do not give a shit about these laws. The Slitheen do not recognise their applicability to our operations. That said, conversion is something we rarely do. Think of it as a free reward. You are very special.", the Slitheen proclaimed. The room that Hibah found herself detained inside was actually an internal conversion centre chamber that these Raxicoricofalipatorians had purposefully built some time ago. The intelligent Star Slitheen Family had stolen technology from other species over the centuries gone by, and using their own initiative, crafted bio-metamorphosis technology, illegal in most areas of the policed universe, that allowed the radical alteration of genetics and transmutation of species - turning non-Slitheen into Slitheen.

Sometimes, and the rationale always varied, this Family converted some prominent non-Slitheen individuals that caught their interests, forcibly assimilating them irreversibly into the Family to further the strategic business plans. They had seldom resorted to it in more recent times though. Crash landing on Earth meant that it likely indicated it would become more common in the foreseeable future - the Family needed to increase its stock to have a better chance of survival. Colonel Hibah Mughal, the next designated convert, was aghast at these developments. She had spent the last few years hating upon all-things-alien and now stood very likely on the cusp of becoming one herself!

"Before we transform you, there is something you should see.". The Slitheen man pulled over a portable TV screen monitor over to Hibah's line of sight. The live video feed showed the main hangar base inside UNIT Britain's HQ. Human workers, fellow colleagues whom she knew, were walking around. There was a noticeably large object that took up most of the viewing.

"We are inside here." the Slitheen pointed one of its pointy claws at the massive spaceship. It had recently been salvaged by UNIT and brought back to base for further examination. A fatal mistake that served the interests of the Family.

"No…" The Colonel could not believe her eyes. UNIT was compromised.

"We are inside the heart of your organisation, and nobody knows about it." the foreign extraterrestrial happily revealed, knowing it would further shock an already troubled Hibah Mughal.

"But that's impossible!". The spaceship was inside UNIT, and so were the Slitheen. No human had a clue. Their lives were in grave danger.

"Hahahahaha!" the Slitheen revelled in outsmarting the Earthling. They were experts when it came to building up suspense, leading to a massive mind blowing reveal that left their opposition dazed, confused and disorientated. The lighting in the room improved by this point, becoming more vivid. A helmet from above descended via remote control operating and planted itself on Hibah's mammoth head with ease. She could not dodge it. Tubes from her chair sprung out and automatically inserted themselves into various nearby body parts. The conversion operation was about to start.

"Try not to resist, dear sister. It will make the ordeal much smoother." the Raxicoricofalipatorian advised before he too departed from the location, leaving the human lonely once more.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!... HELP! HEEEEEEEELP!... NOOOO! I DON'T WANT TO BECOME AN ALIEN!". She screamed out hysterically. But it was futile, and she knew it. She could no longer move either.

"Three…Two…One…Begin the operation!" came the order on an amplified loudspeaker. The machinery hummed into action. The operation had already gone past the point of no return.

"Aaaaaargh!... ooooh!... Ahhhh!... Arrrgh!". The human test subject alternated between screaming wildly and moaning softly as her body underwent a radical transformation, effortlessly overriding her resistance, her willpower.

(A Few Hours Later)

Hibah woke up again, this time in another room on the cold floor and no longer strapped to a conversion chair. She helped herself up to her feet but understood immediately that she was much taller than before, as her head almost hit the concrete ceiling. She detected something was not quite right with her bodily existence. A nearby conveniently-placed vertical mirror was available.

"Oh no…". Hibah's worst nightmare confirmed - becoming an 'alien'. A Raxicoricofalipatorian Slitheen. Everything about her had changed besides a simple height increase. She no longer looked human with those massive extended forearms and killer claws. No more hair or ears; simply a bald head with big black eyes and saggy cheeks, supported by an elongated neck. Her form had transitioned from carbon to calcium. Her colour hue appearance was light green, no longer dark brown. A neck brace device had already been placed around her neck whilst she slept and recovered from the unnatural operation. The convert felt that her new feet were a bit too small for her liking. On the whole, a lot had changed although she retained her previous memories when she was a homo sapien. She had not lost her identity. A part of her humanity survived with her into Slitheenhood. She assumed this was deliberate.

"Spent the last few years hating hard on foreigners, migrants and I end up becoming one myself. I guess that is how karma works." the former UNIT Colonel lamented her new state of existence. She could not believe her luck. Nonetheless, the ex-human always pounced upon new opportunities life presented her.

"Still, this is pretty cool. I am much more dominant, powerful, and I could do a lot of damage with these bad girls.". The ex-human had already become fascinated with her claws. Clearly, they were designed for killing primarily. Becoming a Slitheen was not the end of the world. On the contrary, it was the beginning of another. The new convert decided to use the unscheduled transformation into Slitheenhood to her advantage; her ambition could lead her to taking over this Slitheen Family then UNIT and probably the entire Earth, if she played her hand correctly. Whilst the Hibah Slitheen busied admiring herself in the mirror, verging on vanity, the doors to this room behind her opened. Turning around, the convert watched on as another person - a human - arrived in close proximity to her.

"Your appearance is breathtaking, Hibah. Fabulous - ah!", he said with aplomb. It was Lieutenant Harold Edwards in the flesh, a white British man from the English Midlands who was in his mid-fifties at this point in his life. He was above-average in height, and had a respectable body width. Known for his prominently wrinkly forehead, he had served UNIT loyally for the last twenty years, dedicating a whole career to protecting Earth. Edwards had known about the alien spaceship crash from the beginning - he had sent Sergeant Tripps to secure the vehicle for UNIT though he had no clue that there were Slitheen predators inside at the time. It resulted in his death and subsequent appropriation by someone else. Whilst she stayed stunned in silence at his reappearance, the UNIT officer meanwhile lauded the new convert's beautiful form, palpably delighted with the successful conversion operation. Without invitation, he helped himself to sniffing all over the newest member of the Star Slitheen Family.

"Hmm, such a lovely raw scent! Welcome to the Family, Hibah Mughal El Bul Fashfar Star Slitheen!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, not fazed by what he was doing so boldly. The newly renamed Hibah found the casual behaviour deeply unsettling. This man, this human, had sold her out to these aliens. He was totally responsible for the loss of her humanity.

"You?!". The sudden reappearance of her lover from UNIT simultaneously irked and infuriated the newest addition to the Star Slitheen Family. She mistakenly assumed that her 'colleague' was working with the aliens that she now belonged to by biological default. He had deceived her all along, triggering the chain of events that led to her being forced to shed her humanity. Incensed at the further violation of her body, the Slitheen aggressively shifted a claw to his throat and slammed him hard against the wall.

"Give me one reason why I should not do it?". The Hibah Slitheen violently threatened to snap his neck without second thought if he could not come up with a reasonable excuse for his deceitful behaviour. 'Harold' could barely breathe, let alone speak. The situation stayed tense for a moment.

"You have another second to live…". She increased the pressure of her grip. A little more and his windpipe would snap, causing the body to go limp.

"STOP!... I-I… SAVED YOUR L-LIFE!", he finally managed to squawk out. The short explanation was enough to persuade Hibah to let go of his neck, at least temporarily.

"What do you mean?" she asked with curiosity, retreating a solitary step to give her counterpart some much needed room. How could he have 'saved' her life? More importantly, why would a Slitheen collaborator be interested in preserving her existence? The ex-human awaited proper answers.

"I know it's a shock but hear me out, Hibah. The Family wanted to have you killed then skinned so that one of our other sisters could assume your identity in UNIT, like we did with Harold. I spent day and night begging and pleading to my siblings that they spare your life. I had to give away some of my most prized possessions to secure this deal. The choice was narrowed down: either you be converted or killed." the Lieutenant explained thoroughly. It sounded convincing enough.

"You did all that…for me?". The new Slitheen woman was left stunned by what she was hearing. It was a selfless act, delivering the Colonel to these aliens. She had attained a 'salvation' of some sort although she understood very little.

"Yes, Hibah. Only for you. I could not bear to know that you would be killed. It would have broken my heart." 'Harold' continued, displaying complete emotions.

"Oh. Thanks. But why would they listen to you, a human?". This was the final part of the mental jigsaw puzzle that she awaited resolution. What was the UNIT officer's role in the grand scheme of things?

"Ah Ah! I am not who you think I am." he remarked with a perverse smile.

"What?". Who could he be then, Hibah thought to herself?

"Let me get naked and show you my true form.", 'Harold' announced straightforwardly.

"Err, 'naked'?". Hibah did not fancy seeing his army clothes on the floor. For once, the stripping would be inappropriate for the occasion. But that was not what he, the compressed being lodged inside the carbon-based body, meant. He would be going much further than that. Without responding any further, the being that controlled the lieutenant's human skin reached for his forehead, peeling back a zip hidden by a perception filter until this moment. A stream of jet blue lighting unleashed itself alongside some companion electric humming. Hibah was pleasantly surprised by the spectacle, keenly inspecting every second carefully of the unzipping process. She already knew this was a behaviour she would be expected to emulate at some point in the near future. It was when the human head rolled back and revealed a popping bald green Raxicoricofalipatoriian head that the convert finally understood what had been going on. 'Harold' was actually a Slitheen this whole time. He had been posing as the Lieutenant. After a minute, his skin suit flopped to the floor, allowing his true form to be showcased to his solitary audience.

"You like what you see?" the Slitheen man asked rhetorically, laughing a little as he shook his legs out of the rubbery skin suit mess on the floor.

"You look…" Hibah began to speak again but stumbled immediately.

"Go on…"

"You look like me - 'naked'." the convert was forced to concede. There was very little separating them by external physical appearances alone. All Slitheen males and females boasted similar size and strength once they reached the adult phases of their long lives. Hibah realised that she was part of a broader collective wherein commonalities trumped differences.

"Everyone is the same in this Family, once we peel back our zips and strip.", the Slitheen male claimed authoritatively. He started to stretch his muscles.

"Who are you? I mean, I know you are a Slitheen but what is your name?". Confused once more, Hibah decided to return to basic questioning once again.

"Tor. Tor El Bul Fashfar Star Slitheen, at your service. A fellow brother from another mother. You knew me better when I was hidden away inside the body of Lieutenant Harold Edwards.".

"Yes. Erm, terribly sorry about choking you." the ex-human with newfound super strength apologised for her uncivil behaviour.

"Oh, stop being so civilised with the apologetic language! I don't mind you slamming me against the wall with your claws around my neck at all! It proved to me conclusively that Slitheenhood is perfect for you. When you were human, you barked loudly but lacked the form to back up your desires. Now you retain the first and have augmented the second. I already know you will go far in this Family.". Tor complimented in sincere admiration of the newcomer, fully prepared to back her expansive ambitions. Hibah did not take much notice because she was looking at something bizarre on the floor, the outfit that her counterpart, her 'brother' had emerged from.

"So Lieutenant Edwards was…?". It was yet clear to her if Harold was ever a human being to begin with. The Slitheen could have made him up as part of the infiltration mission.

"He was my second skin suit since I have set my grubby feet on this rock. It has been a manageable existence". Tor said before stretching his muscles a little more. He had not unzipped for the last few days.

"Skin suit?" Hibah had never heard such terminology before. She looked back down at the rubbery mess on the floor and crouched for closer inspection. The implications were obvious. The skin was not artificially produced; it was sourced directly from a previously living lifeform. It was sad to know that her former lover had been killed, and his body repurposed by a carefree life form, an 'alien' from outer space. But the convert accepted reality without passing further judgement.

"Body snatching. An unconventional approach.". The newcomer learned that Harold Edwards was a human before this Slitheen laid its fatal claws upon him, reifying his corpse into an appropriate costume. It reflected domination in a highly perverse sense, completely uncivilised behaviour that broke basic norms and decent.

"You will find that this approach suits our methodology very well. Might be strange for humans to understand and to accept but it's perfectly normal for Slitheen to slot ourselves inside those we hunt. See, this could have easily been your fate which I successfully prevented." Tor again reminded his counterpart of his timely intervention. He appreciated any gratitude.

"How long have you been inside Harold?", the Hibah Slitheen continued her investigation.

"For a while now. Enough to understand how UNIT works.". The Star Slitheen were busy infiltrating Earth's premier planetary defence organisation. Tor had not yet been pressed to reveal why.

"You - we - are much bigger than him though. I assume that the neck brace you wear helps you - us - fit in and maintain yourself - ourselves. Some kind of slotting, compression device? That might explain the fart-"

"We prefer the proper term gas exchange for it." Tor interjected. He was mightily impressed with how Hibah had already comprehended much about the Slitheen and their uncouth behaviour.

"Wait. Are you telling me that I have been fucking an alien this whole time?" Hibah blurted out a realisation that embarrassed her deeply. She thought she had a strong grasp on reality before today but it turned out she knew nothing. The ex-human had much to learn and relearn.

"Pretty much. Certainly since our spaceship moved to this base". Tor replied, to Hibah's dismay. A few moments of awkward silence ensued. They both then laughed together. The convert accepted the contradiction. She did not have a magic wand or a time machine to change anything. Besides, it explained why their nights of passionate fun were wilder than usual. The Slitheen Harold was a more skilled lover than the human version.

"So we are the Slitheen. But who and what are the Slitheen? What do we do in our daily lives? Why are we taking over UNIT?". Hibah was already using the pronoun 'we', signifying a discernible shift in species loyalties. She saw no reason to protest the transformation by this point. What was done was done. Time to move on immediately. She was a Slitheen, effectively adopted into the Family, and had to act accordingly. No time for sentimentalism.

"It's a bit of a funny story, actually. Our business-orientated Family from Raxicoricofalipatorius are scavengers for the most part. There are so many branches. We explore the vast cosmos, seeking out rare and expensive technology which we then sell to the highest bidders elsewhere. During a routine scouting mission to find our next items, we crash landed on this rock after being chased across this solar system by some stubborn law enforcement officials. We never intended to come to Earth originally but our rump spaceship took a beating pretty badly. We have decided to stay put on this rock whilst we have it repaired. We understood that UNIT would possess a lot of extraterrestrial technology and weaponry. Our ambition is to loot this organisation for everything it has." Tor neatly summed up who the Star Slitheen Family were at this stage in history - shameless materialists, vulture capitalists. Hibah was intrigued to know more about the future and her potential place within it.

"And then what?"

"We leave and never return to this god-forsaken rock. So primitive and stifling from top to bottom. We will sell the goods we plunder from UNIT to the highest bidders on the intergalactic black markets and reinvest the money elsewhere. Some of us will retire early. Others will find themselves being lured into various schemes taking place all over the universe. These are our honest intentions". This information confirmed that these Raxicoricofalipatorians were not invaders. At this moment in history, they had no explicit intention of taking over the Earth, nor did they have the capabilities to do so. It gave some relief to the ex-human who dedicated her prior existence to defending her home planet at all costs. She still identified with her birthplace.

"It's hardly a noble cause though.". The ex-human commented in response. She had been raised in a military environment that prioritised integrity, discipline and pursuing lofty ideals that supposedly would benefit the rest of humanity. Stealing technology from other planets sounded thuggish. Ignoble. A step down, even.

"Meh. We don't really care. Securing our own existence is what matters the most. The Slitheen are survivors. We live to enjoy the many pleasures of life. Look at our bodies - we are born predators who love to hunt as well." Tor announced bluntly, celebrating who he was with full self-esteem. Slitheen Families learnt quickly to immunise themselves from critique by non-Slitheen species, those they ruthlessly hunted down regularly for sport. Ethical consciousnesses had to be suppressed and buried in the process.

"I can at least see the consistency in what you are saying.". Hibah felt ambivalent as she processed the explanations at her own pace. The Slitheen were smart. But to be a Slitheen ultimately meant that she would have to let go of something from her human past. The skin suit on the floor was an indicator of what exactly she needed to stop being sentimental about.

"You convert non-Slitheen too.", she stated for the record. Hibah herself served as a living contemporary example of this fact.

"Yes, although it's not very common so consider yourself the exception. We are not always after technology. Sometimes we feel the need to take some worthy individuals from another species and redeploy them into our ranks. It's nice to see that you are taking your transformation well. No time to lose though. The Family wants to see you in action immediately.", Tor stated. The final sentence intrigued his counterpart.

"Why? What's going on?"

"We need to hunt somebody."

"Hunt?". The terminology was still brand new to the neophyte. She would have to learn fast.

"I hinted about it before. We are alpha predators. Have you not noticed these bad boys - or bad girls in your case - yet?" Tor held up his sharp claws, clinking them playfully, hoping to excite his partner.

"I have, yes." Hibah lifted her parts to her face as well, mimicking Tor's activity confidently. He was making sure that the socialisation process ran smoothly. There was no false consciousness; the complicit Hibah was genuinely happy to go along with this co-option process.

"This is what allows us to occupy the top of the food chain wherever we go. You are going to use them on our next target."

"Who? Come on, enough with the suspense building!" Hibah protested playfully.

"A homo sapien. Here at UNIT so you will be very familiar with her… Brigadier General Penelope Warrington." Tor finally published the name and species of prey they needed to seek out, UNIT Britain's second-in-command. Hibah as a UNIT Colonel often had heated debates with her and Major General Saba Mahmood. She hated them both when she was a homo sapien. Becoming a Slitheen did not change that. In fact, it meant she could now commit certain activity that was previously impossible to enact.

"Oh…when you put it like that.". The Slitheen couple began to giggle uncontrollably amongst themselves. Tor knew that the mere mention of that human female would titillate the convert. They vacated the room together and searched for their other siblings, holding each other's claws warmly.

(A Week Later)

Loud footsteps could be heard echoing as three individuals in a tight formation strutted down the populated corridors of UNIT HQ, forcing other colleagues to give way to them. Two muscular male soldiers armed with advanced weaponry marched ahead of the precious female they were protecting at all costs, Brigadier General Penelope Warrington. She had a very similar height and body shape that mirrored her boss and close friend, Major General Saba Mahmood; she was over six feet tall, with a pronounced chest and a prominent hourglass body shape. The hair colour was different though. The peachy-white Penelope was a blondie, sporting a typical trimmed bob cut hairstyle. Her smart green-coloured military uniform looked pretty tight on her but she always insisted to any sceptic she was comfortable. It was the organisation's policy since the disappearance of the late Kate Stewart that every senior UNIT staff member be accompanied by armed bodyguards whenever they moved about from the offices, for their own security. When they arrived at their intended destination safely, Penelope's office, the superior officer dismissed her subordinates.

"Have your lunch break now and come back in an hour. I am not leaving my office before then." the commanding officer causally ordered with her posh voice indicating her privileged class background.

"Ma'am!" they saluted their boss immaculately before heading off into another direction together. Once they had disappeared from sight, the general unlocked the door and headed inside alone. Taking her red army cap off, the human sat at her desk on a very comfy leather office chair. The modern room was quite spacious. For the last three years, she headed the Department of First Contact which dealt with all initial alien encounters that were non-military related. Usually, the Brigadier General's team came across extraterrestrials fleeing from the horrors of war, famine and disease from all corners of the galaxy, something she as a privileged native human had never had to contend with her entire life whilst living on Earth. She felt it was her duty to assist them in some ways.

Penelope had her own exclusive office on the other side of the base from where could concentrate on her department. There was a stack of papers already loaded on the desk. She started reading over some standard reports. Boring but the human needed to stay up to date with everything. One particular memo page with an unusual heading eventually caught her eye. It was titled:

URGENT! UNIT COLONEL HIBAH MUGHAL MISSING. LOCATION UNKNOWN. PRESUMED DEAD. PLEASE INVESTIGATE.

It struck the human female immediately. Another senior UNIT officer had gone missing. First Kate Stewart, now Hibah Mughal. The memo did not give extra information, including confirmation of hostile alien action. The paper was classified as top secret: Saba only entrusted a select few to know about this sorry information for now. It was not to be disseminated to the wider public yet. But if the Colonel would not return alive, safe and sound soon then it would be too obvious to carry on pretending that everything was normal at UNIT. Rumours would spread to the public. Another unscheduled controversy would break out, putting further pressure on an organisation already suffering from widespread distrust from the local populaces of Earth. Saba's job - and everyone else's - would be on the line.

"Oh dear… I hope she is safe." Penelope prayed openly for the safe return of her work colleague. Secretly though, she and so many other UNIT officers wished that the 'coconut' was gone forever. Her hateful preachings at their base had created such a suffocating, antagonistic environment, infecting otherwise decent personnel who wanted to perform beneficial service positively. The engineered toxicity threatened the unity of the organisation. One less Hibah Mughal meant a better world for all. She tucked the memo into one of her drawers. Out of sight, out of mind.

But Penelope was not exactly innocent herself, and she knew it deep down. Being responsible for First Contact operations, she oversaw all pertinent issues pertaining to immigration, refugee and asylum seeking by extraterrestrials to Earth. Being liberal-minded and marrying herself to a Felix Jagad Catman from the Delta-Five constellation to better understand how aliens thought and behaved in close proximity with humans, Penelope believed that those who wished to remain on the planet indefinitely could be assimilated into human cultures undetected under the guiding hand of UNIT. Aliens could be made to work for the benefit of humanity. To reciprocate any directed labour they would perform, these life forms could live on Earth and be grateful for this permission but they had to remain under human control permanently. These were the terms and conditions she made anybody sign at the enrollment offices. In effect, Penelope was the other side of the coin that Hibah was a part of. Compared to that overtly nasty Colonel, this individual knew how to cover her tracks better, making sure nothing could be traced back to her office or to her person.

Using her position of power, Penelope abused it behind the scenes. Thanks to her high-level interventions, she managed to secure legal Earth residency permits for aliens and full-time employment under top-secret UNIT contracts. The only problem was that these innocent intelligent aliens were trapped in such contracts indefinitely, forced to channel their intellects and labour into serving the needs of human-run UNIT which benefited the most in a one–sided relationship. The technological innovations and research output increased manifold when Penelope became head of her department. The programmes were so successful that Penelope helped organise illicit alien trafficking across the Earth across various warehouse locations to bolster the number of alien life forms deliberately, augmenting profits. She selfishly enriched herself at the expense of others, offshoring her illicitly-created wealth to other countries where they could not be tracked. Her superior Saba had an inkling about what was going on but was too scared to launch an internal investigation. Peneleope was her most trusted ally, and she was needed to counter the toxicity being promoted almost unchallenged by Colonel Mughal and her ilk.

The Star Slitheen knew about this since infiltrating UNIT and collecting their own intelligence about the human staff. This was crucial information that they could exploit to their advantage. Penelope was number two in the military hierarchy, below only Saba, the most prized target. A Slitheen entering her body was a must but they needed to isolate her from her busy environment. Tor and his siblings had a plan ready. As the corrupt Brigadier General continued rummaging through yet more banal paperwork, a sharp sound emitted from the closed wooden door. Knock Knock. Somebody had arrived and wanted to see her.

"Come in!", Penelope shouted loudly. She was not expecting any visitors but neither was she particularly busy today. A familiar face entered with a smile. The senior UNIT was delighted that she could momentarily pause from reading.

"Ah, Penelope, so lovely to see you. Hope I am not bothering you. I have a request." Lieutenant Harold Edwards spoke up politely as he assumed a stationary position in the room. He stood right before his female counterpart at the desk.

"What is it, Harold?". Penelope wondered what brought him here. This Lieutenant was closer to Hibah than her although lately he had been helping with the immoral alien trafficking operations. She assumed that he might have something to say about her mysterious disappearance.

"A First Contact issue. Somebody has left a suspicious device at one of the warehouses where we, you know, do our thing with the aliens, unleashing a distress call signal that we cannot run off. We need to investigate it at once.". The news was surprising to hear. But the Brigadier General failed to see its connection to her being directly.

"I am afraid that is not possible. I have a very busy schedule. It can wait until next month if you are not willing to send a team of your own first.". She thought that would be enough to ward off this non-issue. It did not sound serious at all.

"Totally understandable - prrrp! Oh, I beg pardon, Penny! Ahem! But as I said, the distress call comes from an area that your department covers. It may be picked up by certain actors." the concerned Lieutenant warned ominously. He was not joking.

"Such as?" Penelope wrapped her thin fingers together and leaned her bony elbows forwards on the desk as she sought to learn more details.

"Judoon. Wrath Warriors. Anybody really. Powerful and capable actors who might discover some…unsavoury stuff that goes on behind the scenes. You would be the first to be implicated in activity that may be deemed criminal, breaking all established legal conventions this rock - erm, I mean planet - has signed up to, as well as plunging UNIT in a scandal controversy from which it may never recover.". The disguised Slitheen played up the imaginary threat to perfection. He knew it would create anxiety within the mind of the homo sapien so used to comfort. She did not want to get caught.

"Ahm I see what you mean more clearly now. Very well, we must act at once. Thank you for bringing this to my immediate attention." Penelope responded politely. It was an inconvenience to her but she felt compelled into action to save her own skin.

"My pleasure, Ma'am. I have kept this between ourselves. Nobody else knows. That is all." the disguised Tor played along with the civilised politeness scheme so characteristic of modern British society. It reaped immediate dividends for the Slitheen actor.

"Erm, Harold?", the Brigadier General called out before her colleague was about to depart from the scene. He turned around with curiosity.

"Yes?"

"Given how you have described the potential ramifications of this issue should it get out of hand, and I pray to the one God that it will not, I believe that it would be best if we dealt with this problem ourselves. On our own would be preferable. We need not alert anybody else. If you understand what I mean?". Penelope rarely did anything alone. She did not really trust Harold but he was the only person who knew about this pernicious matter. The collaboration would be forced. But necessary. The dodgy general could not risk becoming exposed. She would dispose of this knowledgeable lieutenant at a later date when an opportunity presented itself. Covering tracks was her specialty, she liked to think highly of herself regularly.

"Agreed. I will have the staff vacate the site temporarily so that we can act without impediment or surveillance. I will meet you at the warehouse in, say, about an hour's time?". The anxious general wanted this issue over with at the earliest opportunity possible.

"Sure."

"Excellent. Thanks Harold. See you soon.". Penelope resumed reading her papers in silence.

"See you then.". Once he stepped outside, the Raxicoricofalipatorian stuffed inside the human skin sniggered uncontrollably as Penelope's security detail returned from their lunch break. He did not even acknowledge their slavish saluting to their chagrin as he strutted off in a different direction.

(An Hour Later)

Penelope arrived independently at the unnamed UNIT-controlled warehouse site located on the edges of London. Harold was awaiting her presence at the entrance. Nobody else appeared in sight. The afternoon sun shone brightly upon them.

"Let us not waste time. I have had to cancel two meetings instantly that took six months to organise for this impromptu trip.", the Brigadier General stated as she arrived beside his side, wanting to wrap this up rapidly. A creature of habit, she hated it whenever her daily routines changed abruptly.

"Absolutely. I have sent all the staff home. Turned off the CCTV cameras. Completed my own tour of the place. Etcetera. Nobody knows we have come to this location. Exactly how you wanted it.", the Lieutenant claimed with a beaming smile. The trap had been set accordingly.

"Excellent. I have brought this in case.". Penelope waved up an advanced pistol in one of her soft hands. Compensation for the absence of her security team.

"Is that really necessary? This is a UNIT warehouse. Completely empty. We should be perfectly safe - prrrp!". Harold protested before his unruly gas exchange acted up as was the normative expectation nowadays.

"It's only a stun gun. I never take risks. Especially if aliens are involved. They usually are.", the senior UNIT officer retorted lightly, totally unapologetic. They promptly entered the building together. The wide-open place that had only one floor was a messy maze. Layers of uneven crates and shipping containers were found everywhere but it was still traversable thanks to the excessive bright lighting that illuminated most things on the floor. The boxes would often be the vehicles by which extraterrestrials were trafficked into the planet by the general's orders. They were officially classed as 'off the record', non-existent in the databases. Nobody outside Penelope's circle were supposed to know about this, including and especially Saba. Harold knew the way to their destination. As they followed the signal's echo on an electronic reading device, Penelope decided to break some silence with some chit-chat. She hated silence whenever she was out in public.

"So Harold, I read the memo."

"Memo?"

"About the cocu- I mean, Colonel Hibah Mughal. She has gone missing, unfortunately. Nobody has seen her for a week."

"Oh, right. Yeah, I'm devastated.", the disguised Slitheen pretended to display emotions.

"I'm sorry to hear about it. I know that you two were somewhat close.". Word had been coming out in recent days that the duo were in an illicit relationship. Saba was not happy about it.

"It's alright. We all have to go sometimes - pzaap! Blimey! Wasn't expecting that one!". The disguised Slitheen relieved himself from his gas exchange imbalance as he spoke.

"She's dead?" Penelope asked, frightened if that was what Harold was euphemistically alluding to.

"You know as well as I do, that in this line of work we must always expect the worst. If she has gone then she went with her pride and dignity intact. Planet Earth's greatest patriot. You will never see another one like her again. Once in a generation.". The UNIT Lieutenant eulogised the Colonel, singing her virtues openly. Not that she had too many. On top of the crates, a larger sentient being hidden in the dark shadows observed their movements carefully and kept pace.

"Prrrrp! Pardon me! Don't know what is up with my body today." Harold once more unleashed some flatulence, downplaying any embarrassment. It rightfully irked his human colleague.

"Harold, I insist on asking: what is it with your persistent flatulence problems? Do you not have any shame?". This was the first time she had the opportunity to raise this peculiar matter with her colleague, one-on-one. He broke social taboos far too often.

"Not at all, Penny. It's a perfectly natural reaction. I prefer not to fight nature. Respect my rights to relieve myself whenever I feel like it, please." The disguised Slitheen produced a lousy liberal excuse as they continued to walk around the place. The scanner began to beep more loudly, signifying that the distress call device they sought was nearby.

"I cannot believe what I am hearing! You might want to check your dietary intake these days. Anyways, where is the distress signal emitting from?".

"It is not too far from our current position. A few more steps…". They turned a final corner and entered a cul-de-sac. The device they were seeking was wrapped up in a neat box at the far back. Harold's tech began to beep aggressively.

"There it is.", he said, pointing to the exact box. They approached it eagerly.

"Is it safe to open?". The Brigadier General always exercised caution when it came to the unknown. Who had set up this call that beamed out across the stars, she pondered in her head. Probably a suffocating creature who smuggled in some illegal technology that ended up being confiscated and shifted into this crate.

"Yes, the scanner is not showing anything unusual. Here, I will do the honours.". Harold ripped open the box enthusiastically. The harmless device dropped out onto the floor. A red flashing light emitted from it. Picking it up, Penelope looked for an off button which she found effortlessly. The light died instantaneously. Mission complete.

"Well done.". The UNIT Lieutenant congratulated her for the simple efforts this afternoon. It almost sounded like mockery to the UNIT general's ears.

"Is that it? You brought me all the way here to turn off a button?". Penelope was baffled by the disappointment. She was expecting so much more. An encounter with some other species, even. Anything more exciting than this banal chore.

"Pretty much." Harold replied disinterestedly.

"You have wasted precious time, Harold!". Angered, the woman launched the device high into the air. It smashed to pieces somewhere else in the warehouse.

"Tough. I don't really give a shit, Penny." the rugged-looking man suddenly said, displaying an abrupt change of tone totally out of sync with his usual deferential respect to a senior member of his organisation.

"I beg your pardon, Lieutenant?". She was astounded by the lack of respect and deference expected of a lower-ranking officer to a superior boss. It upset her sense of reality. Her comfort turned to slight discomfort.

"I am not kowtowing to you, or anybody else in this crappy organisation." the Lieutenant continued his unusual abrasive attitude. His disrespect appeared to be quite deliberate. Calculated.

"Choose your next words carefully!", an enraged Penelope responded with force, her passive-aggressive voice intonation rising louder. She was already thinking about having him possibly court-martialled the moment they would return back to HQ. Insubordination needed to be punished.

"Oh alright then, Penny. I suppose you deserve the truth at the very least. I brought you here for another purpose." Harold puffed a little as he switched tones drastically. Once again, the weird Lieutenant changed his behaviour, now sounding playful. It made his colleague more apprehensive of him.

"Which would be?". Penelope wanted answers. If not, this warehouse and this timing would be most opportune to dispose of him once and for all. Stun him and leave him to rot inside one of the containers, she fantasised. That would make this pointless trip worthwhile.

"It's very difficult to explain. She needs to be here first.". The UNIT member alluded to another female.

"She?". The UNIT general was stumped.

"Yes, she is close by.. I can smell her scent.". Tor sniffed the air vociferously with his human nose. A fellow Raxicoricofalipatorian approached their position.

"Who, Harold?". The Brigadier General remained in a state of confusion as her counterpart played the pronoun game, deliberately masking the name of the other individual in this otherwise empty warehouse. But the human did not need to continue asking for answers. A massive predatory being emerged out of the shadows and jumped down from the crates before the UNIT officers. It was colossal in size, about eight feet tall. Nobody could fail to notice its extended forearms complete with those white-yellow claws sticking out at the end.

"Afternoon." it simply said with a deep voice as it blocked the only exit. At least it spoke a language everyone could understand.

"What?!". Penelope was aghast to see an alien freely walking about in this supposedly vacant building. The creature whom she assumed was from outer space obviously looked like a massive predator with presumably hostile intent. The human female was vulnerable to attack. Her life was in danger. Tor walked over to his true partner, holding the 'naked' Hibah Slitheen by her massive waist tightly with his human hands. They looked like a couple?

"The latest addition to our Family needs you, Penny. I don't suppose you are willing to volunteer for a good cause?". The question posed was very cheeky. The Lieutenant revealed to his senior officer that he was in league with an unknown alien for unknown reasons. She realised at that point that this afternoon was a set up. The distress call device was a hoax. The human was the real target all along.

"How?! Why?!". Penelope could not understand the betrayal. The veteran soldier Harold had been serving UNIT for decades; his record squeaky clean. The disguised Slitheen laughed a little before he took off his red beret hat and peeled back a zip on his forehead. The Hibah Slitheen placed a claw warmly over his shoulders as his bald green head popped out amidst the groaning and moaning. The UNIT general froze in paralysis, shocked to witness such a high-level infiltration of her counterpart's body. That there were aliens inside of UNIT was not remotely interesting. It was the fact that aliens could be - were - running the organisation without human foreknowledge and permission that represented a catastrophic intelligence failure. She and her native species had been outsmarted, something the anxious homo sapien would never dare to admit in front of these creatures. After a minute, Tor re-emerged in his true 'naked' form. Now two large, intimidating predators stood before the stunned commanding officer.

"Well, are you going to give yourself up?", the thing that walked out from Harold Edward's body asked somewhat politely. The Slitheen man was not expecting an affirmative answer.

"Who are you?". Responding with a question of her own, Penelope tried to prolong the conversation, unsure of their exact intentions. The rubbery skin suit of Harold Edwards on the floor represented a grotesque sight regardless if it was organically real or artificially produced.

"I thought not. No time for exposition either, except to say that we are the Slitheen. Oh well, Plan B it is - LET THE HUNT BEGIN!", Tor screamed deliriously as he whipped up a frenzy. He tried to lunge for his prey immediately but Penelope hit him with a stun pistol that she managed to unleash in time from her belt piece. He fell to the floor, causing his female companion to instinctively crouch to his side with utmost concern, forgetting about the ultimate target. The UNIT general's weapon had an inconvenient overheat meaning that she could not stun the other hunter at the same time. Seeing that both Slitheen were paralysed, the human seized her chance to run away. Surprisingly, for a woman with a large body, Penelope was incredibly fit and able to gain a decent head start. Her seemingly tight outfit did not hold her back. She wore her running boots for this occasion.

"Tor! Tor, are you okay?!" Hibah thought he had been killed. Only his bodily movement had been stopped for a while. He could still speak albeit slurred.

"Neva mine mey!.. Geth tha gaarl!", the temporarily paralysed Slitheen urged his partner not to lose their prey. Highly motivated to seek revenge on his behalf, the Slitheen convert howled before peddling into top speed. Penelope ran for her life, turning corner after corner, climbing crates and containers consecutively as she looked for the correct exit. The Slitheen adult chased after her. The occasion gave Hibah the opportunity to get to grips with hunting, a completely new activity that the Slitheen Families enjoyed on a regular basis wherever they were in the universe. As she advanced rapidly, the neophyte Star Slitheen woman understood three things were crucial; being guided by the nostrils, sensing the scent of her petrified prey and having fun in the process, irrespective of the outcome. Eventually, the raw hunter caught the sight of her target at a makeshift crossroad of containers.

"Shit!", the beleaguered general cursed her rotten luck before reversing her body into the opposite direction.

"RUN PENELOPE, RUN!", the fearsome Hibah Slitheen urged her former colleague to continue moving because it augmented the sweat and fear the hunters could easily detect and become whipped up into a consistent frenzy. The near-defenceless human female completed a few more laps before she tired herself out. A box of unevenly-designed crates piled on top of one another nearby and camouflaged by the darkness represented an opportunity to hide and recover for a while. It was not long though before her enemy arrived on the scene.

"Come out, come out wherever you are…", the Slitheen woman teased with deliberately slow steps. She could smell her prey was close. Her assured behaviour suggested that the convert had attained maturity in the field rapidly.

"Why are you after me?", Penelope spoke bravely from an unknown location, aware that she could be giving away her position. But she needed answers. Fast. If she could somehow survive this chase, UNIT would be in prime position to counter these aggressive aliens wherever they may be.

"We need you to advance our business plans, Penny.". Business plans? What could that be a reference to? The confusion only amplified.

"We?". Penelope correctly speculated that there were more than two of these creatures. It made her shudder. Was everyone in UNIT a Slitheen? Saba, too?

"The Star Slitheen… Oh, it's an incredible story. You will not believe it. The woman in UNIT who rabidly hated alien life awkwardly became one of them herself…What goes around comes around, eh?". The openly pondering convert gave away a crucial detail which her prey could not fail to understand.

"Hibah?!". Penelope blurted out the name. It was too good to be true. Yet it was the truth. The 'alien' that was hunting UNIT Britain's second-in-command was none other than Colonel Hibah Mughal. Somehow, she had transformed her biology and switched allegiances to those whom she behaved extremely xenophobic towards. The irony of ironies.

"Yes! It's me, Penny!", Hibah Mughal El Bul Fashfar Star Slitheen announced spectacularly as she lifted the loaded crate weighing several tonnes beneath which her target was hiding under. Penelope tried to crawl away as the Slitheen relentlessly breathed down her neck.

"What have they done to you?", the afraid person cried out. She was sad to see what her ex-colleague had become. This Slitheen was not really an 'alien' from outer space after all.

"I am not some victim of a tragedy, Penny. They have changed me for the better. Granted me a new lease of life, a new species, a new Family that I readily identify with. Proof that individuals do not truly know what is best for them. I have transcended my limitations.", the convert boasted proudly. She had no regrets to bring with her in this new phase of her life.

"What are you going to do?", Penelope tried desperately to prolong a pointless conversation. It was her biological instinct to survive that was kicking in.

"First, we will take you. Then we are coming for Saba.". Hibah announced ominously. This bunch of infiltrators had it all planned out. Nothing accidental.

"No!". The Brigadier General now feared for the life of her boss and best friend.

"Yes!". Hibah cackled loudly before roaring, indicating that she was about to kill. This time, the Slitheen convert found herself stunned by the sophisticated pistol weapon that had managed to cool down conveniently for re-use. The fortunate Penelope had no time to do anything other than run away without looking at her former UNIT colleague. Retracing her steps, the hunted prey ran around a few laps, navigating the intricate maze before at last catching the sight of the main entrance once again. The human assumed that she reached the exit. As soon as she was about to set foot back outside into the open, an invisible force field that the Family had activated as soon as their human prey entered the building prevented her from escaping to safety. She was trapped conclusively. No escape was possible.

"No!". A sense of despair came over the homo sapien. Desperate, she tried to run back and sought out another exit from this spacious location. Hibah and Tor had reunited somewhere along the way before Penelope bumped into them once again. They continued the prolonged chase once more, allowing the panting human pumped with adrenaline to remain a few steps ahead. A sense of inevitability crept in as the hunt wound down. Turning a few more corners, the UNIT general ran into a dead end. Sniffing out her location, the Slitheen predator approached the location very slowly, deliberately amping up the suspense, the inevitable conclusion.

"Come to us, Penny!", they teased sinisterly, fed up with a needlessly prolonged session. The end was nigh. Her stun gun failed to cool down. Her hunters knew it too.

"Hibah, you don't have to do this!", the human female screamed hysterically, begging for her life to be spared.

"But I do! You don't understand how I am feeling right now! I have to satisfy myself!", the Slitheen convert announced with vim. Her bloodlust levels had reached their crescendo. Roaring again, the Raxicoricofalipatorian instinctively raised a claw high into the air before sending it crashing down on her prey who this time could not defend herself.

"Aaaaargh!". Hibah slew her on that very spot. The general fell to the ground, dead. The Raxicoricofalipatorians howled together, signifying the end of the hunt. Only heavy breathing could be heard afterwards. The couple recovered themselves as they cooled down and returned to a normal state.

"Well done." Tor congratulated his partner as he inspected the corpse. It was a clean strike. Bloodless. The newcomer to the Family performed like a professional.

"No thanks to you." the predator killer replied coldly. This was her first hunt. Apart from the ending, she did everything by herself independently.

"How do you feel after your first hunt?", the born-Slitheen enquired. Everyone's first time was always different, engendering a diverse range of emotions and feelings.

"Nothing.", the Hibah Slitheen replied immediately. She began to scratch her claws together.

"That's pretty cold."

"I know.". The ruthless killer continued to display psychopathic tendencies.

"… That makes you pretty hot." Tor openly confessed to the paradox.

"I know.". This callousness was one aspect of Hibah's character that had not changed since her transition from humanity to Slitheenhood. If anything, it appeared that hunting her former kind augmented this negative trait. It remained unclear if she could ever let go of it.

"Right, we need to get out of here quickly and get you inside of her before anyone realises she has gone missing temporarily.". Picking up the body from the floor, the Raxicoricofalipatorian duo teleported with the spoils of their hunt back to their spaceship. A group of born-Slitheen siblings, all males, had been awaiting their return. They celebrated wildly when the duo teleported into the room, gathering around them.

"Placed the body on the table.". The prize was slapped hard onto a portable operating bed.

"Always start at the forehead. Sink your claws in from an angle. Peel back slowly. Once you get past the shoulders it should come off neatly. If you rip it then you have wasted your time.".The males talked the rookie female through the process, giving her expert hints and tips from their years of combined experience. Hibah began awkwardly but by the time the skin had been pulled down past the shoulders, it was plain sailing. Once the skin was separated permanently from the flesh, the unwanted leftover meat was zapped away elsewhere as were any bloody traces. The convert held up her custom-made costume as if to show off to the rest. The hollowed out face of Penelope stared at everyone eerily. They were impressed.

"Get inside." Tor urged, ever conscious of the time. Hibah had been told earlier that her technological neck brace around her elongated neck would compress her larger form inside her victim with ease. She was excited to see this work. Two Slitheen took the skin and crouched below their darling convert sister, preparing to pull it from her feet. Hibah clumsily fell onto the floor as they lifted the skin too quickly for her liking. The expected compression process kicked into effect, shrinking the woman to an appropriate level. She rolled around as she struggled to lift up the rest of the skin to her face but soon enough, Hibah overzealously jumped into the air and landed onto her feet. Her newly acquired human feet. A zip on the forehead was quickly attached to seal off the jet blue lighting and electric humming. The self-installation was an outstanding success.

"Ahhhhh! I can smell my favourite chippy ten miles away from here!". These were the first words that emerged from Penelope's reanimated red lips after her nostrils were made use of. A nod to the Slitheen's awesome powers of smell. The best in all the galaxies.

"This does feel very strange… I like it!" Hibah Mughal El Bul Fashfar Star Slitheen spoke authoritatively as Brigadier General Penelope Warrington. Once more, she was inside human skin yet she was no longer a human. This was one of the many ways that the Slitheen encouraged converts to cut their ties to their former species. Her Family gestured to a nearby mirror in case their convert sister wanted to adjust her appearance.

"How do I look? I love the nose, very elegantly shaped. Lips are a bit too thin for my liking. Never had blonde hair before. The chest is outstanding, very roomy. Compression is holding, thankfully.". She asked her peers for feedback, playfully moving about her large body in every direction so that they could touch and smell it if they wanted to, which they did. The neck brace also allowed Hibah to mimic her hunted prey's upper class posh English accent effortlessly, making the infiltration and posing operation exceptionally easier. Nobody would be able to tell that a huge Raxicoricofalipatorian hid inside this costume. It was an added bonus that Hibah had been born and raised in Britain in addition to being a member of UNIT. She knew the culture and personnel perfectly well. The infiltration mission would be a walk in the park.

"Pretty… for a homo sapien.". One of her brothers obligated themselves to a cheeky commentary. The Slitheen all laughed, including the convert.

"It's absolutely surreal." Hibah continued to admire her crafted skin suit. A brother passed her the red beret cap that completed the outfit. She had no regrets about the kill. Penelope was a corrupt crook that regularly escaped accountability. In the convert's twisted imagination, swift and stern justice had taken place. She had done UNIT a selfless favour.

"Once you have been in a few more skins, you stop thinking about it. It becomes natural. Besides, you were known as a coconut amongst your human peers. Now you can live out your wildest fantasies. You do not even have to pretend.", one of her excited peers declared, encouraging the convert to enjoy her existence without guilt. The Family saw it as their duty to socialise this newcomer into their violent culture. Hibah did not have a moment to answer. A loud rumble from her stomach could be heard.

"Oh, I think my gas exchange is activating. Hang on - paaarp!". The hidden Slitheen lifted up a human leg athletically to her chest and allowed her nascent gas exchange to kick into effect without resistance.

"That's not all…Pzaaap! Aaaah! Oh God, that is so much better!", the newly-disguised Slitheen announced avidly. The look on her human face suggested that she really enjoyed the relief. Looking back at the mirror to double check everything was in order, the newcomer had a final comment to make.

"We are going to have so much fun together, Penelope!", she exclaimed gleefully. Hibah had already integrated herself into her new Star Slitheen Family. She was going to help them take over UNIT in Britain and then every other branch. She was already looking forward to her next hunt. Nothing else was on her mind.

"I've never seen a convert this enthusiastic!", one of her brothers announced. The Family had struck gold with this ex-human.

"She's a pure blooded natural!", another brother spoke up this time, admiring his newest sibling's capabilities and enthusiasm. It was as if she had been a born-Slitheen this whole time.

"I want to marry her!", yet another cried out, unwilling to control his heavy emotions. The convert enjoyed the praise. She wanted more of it. Augmenting the power and wealth of her new Family on Planet Earth would increase her status. Amidst all the hubbub, Tor had managed to re-enter Harold Edward's skin and returned himself besides his newly dressed female counterpart.

"Tough, she's mine!... Let's head back to base." he suggested wisely to the woman he claimed before all other competitors. She was happy to remain with this born-Slitheen. They needed to slot back into UNIT without anyone becoming suspicious of their absence.

(Later that Evening)

The vast sky in Britain was turning purple, red and orange as the sun began to set over the country. A large Range Rover car rolled up to the security gates of UNIT HQ, stopping at a final checkpoint. An active guard left his station to check the vehicle occupants before letting them pass.

"Ah, Brigadier General. Lieutenant. Back from a trip?". Saluting slavishly, he was delighted to see his seniors return from outside safe and sound.

"Yes. Let us inside the base immediately. We have pressing matters to attend to. You are only delaying us.", Penelope spoke bluntly, making the guard feel somewhat guilty.

"Yes, of course. Right away." he said. Returning to his seat, the security officer activated the mechanism that allowed the car to proceed further inwards. Once it was parked neatly, the two disguised Slitheen got out and made their way to the entrance of one of the main buildings in the enclosed compound.

"Return to your normal duties as the Brigadier. Enjoy the promotion." Tor said quite cheekily, faithfully posing once more as Lieutenant Harold Edwards.

"Hah! I will. See you later.". They kissed each other's human lips briefly before departing. Hibah headed in an opposite direction, towards her new office. Strutting inside the building confidently, she came across her security detail patiently awaiting her return from her secret warehouse trip that they had no firm knowledge about.

"Ma'am!", they greeted their commanding officer with due respect. They had no idea what had happened to her body since she left HQ a while earlier.

"Oh, it's you two. At ease. Come inside with me". Hibah humbly gestured with a human hand that they enter her private space before her. She shut the door and observed them as they stood before her with proper upright postures, taking at least a full minute to do so. They were big males, very muscular and loyal to a tee. Without saying anything and only smiling weirdly, Hibah began to sniff them randomly with her finely-shaped human nose. She ascertained quickly that they were regular bathers. The bemused security detail did not know how to respond to the seemingly inappropriate behaviour of their senior boss. They remained totally silent.

"Hmm, I think you two would be excellent additions to our expanding Family.", the hidden Slitheen woman stated aloud, revealing her bubbling thought processes. She wanted an army of converts loyal only to her as the convert sought to achieve domination over her new Family in the coming future. Further transformations of other homo sapiens would be absolutely necessary, on an industrial scale. The two males had no idea what she was on about but since they had not been given permission to speak, they went along with it. One of them actually enjoyed the peculiar behaviour demonstrated by their boss.

"Right, let's head off to Saba's office.", 'Penelope' announced abruptly, moving her human head back to an upright position. They happily escorted her smoothly to the other side of the base without incident, passing by Lieutenant Edwards along the way. He showcased a brief but noticeable smirk at his counterpart. Saba, the leader of UNIT Britain and of all UNIT operations worldwide, had finished a Zoom call meeting with various heads of governments from around the world. She was exhausted at the end of a long working day but seeing her best friend and staunchest ally turn up now reinvigorated her strength.

"Hiya, Penelope.". The leader of UNIT warmly greeted her second-in-command with a hand wave from inside the office. She was sitting at her desk, watching her second-in-command and staunch ally arrive at her door. There was very little to distinguish them physically; they practically boasted the same body size and width. The only 'obvious' difference was their different skin colours, accidental features that the contemporary set up of the modern world loved highlighting. The English woman Penelope was perceived by her peers as 'white'; Saba exhibited a light-gold hue and her recent ancestry traced back to the postcolonial state of Pakistan. She also wore a black hijab headscarf on her head that was covered at the top with her neat red army hat.

But at UNIT, race or negative representations of religion meant very little and emphases on them increasingly proved counterproductive, as the vile bile promoted by the mysteriously missing Colonel Hibah Mughal had amply demonstrated to all. Defending the Earth, always a diverse and mutually cooperative affair involving every alert homo sapien or even a friend of the planet who might hail from other galaxies, meant that petty accidental differences and harmful ideologies had to be put to one side with a view to total eradication at some final point in the near future. Principled human unity and solidarity mattered more than ever. Inside and outside UNIT, Saba and Penelope were very close friends, both born and raised in modern Britain, having spent many years together doing similar things since attending the same university. They shared a like minded mutual outlook on most matters, making running UNIT a smooth affair.

"Saba. Lovely to see you as always. You two, shoo!", the disguised Slitheen rudely sent her guards away. As ever, they obeyed subserviently without protest. Her human boss gestured for her to enter the space. There were bookshelves everywhere. Every UNIT officer averaged at least completing a tome a day on other planets, life forms and extraordinary phenomena across the universe.

"Shut the door before you take a seat.", the UNIT leader politely requested. The Slitheen mechanically did as it was told. Hibah knew she had to pretend, to put on a deceitful act and avoid raising suspicion about her real nature. It was an incredibly strange experience to see her human colleague once again, someone whom she had engaged in a recent rivalry with. Hibah was present and yet absent paradoxically. Slitheen and human. And Saba had not the faintest clue. The office walls were elaborately decorated with portrait pictures of past UNIT Britain leaders, including the late Kate Stewart, correctly presumed dead but no proof had conclusively established her deceased status.

She had gone missing for over six months. No body had been found yet. Saba had been elected by her peers to lead the organisation since then. A massive portrait of this human occupied the central wall behind where she sat, showcasing her dominant physical figure signified by her impressive height, massive chest, and long legs all covered by her military attire. As always, her black hijab and red beret cap helped to complete her tidy appearance. The UNIT flag featured prominently in the background. So too was the Union Jack flag; Saba had it added as a last minute addition to placate the Far Right elements within her organisation. Ideally though, nationalist representations were not supposed to feature in these official portraits but times were changing. At least nobody could claim that the current Major General did not have Britain's best interests at heart. A safe Earth meant a safe Britain anyways.

"Busy day?", 'Penelope' casually asked to get the chat going. The hidden Slitheen hoped to learn a few details during the course of this conversation. Anything that would accelerate the Family plans.

"Yes. Reported sightings of Daleks in Iran of all places. Hah! Never good when the Daleks are around. I have had to speak to the President of that country as well as the UNIT leader based there, Commodore Nader Shah; requesting an international joint task force be assembled and allowed to operate as necessary on that soil against those genocidal aliens. After hours of negotiation, we managed to reach a tentative agreement. Deployment should begin by tomorrow, I hope. They can be quite stubborn, the Iranians. Perfectly understandable. In light of their troubled modern history, they are zealously protective of their territory. So I told them that at the very least we native humans should all be protective of Planet Earth and that the Iranians could take a leading role in this field, if they are feeling up for it. Our country will always be ready to partner up in good faith. It was a warmly received message. I think so, anyway. Let's see what happens.". Saba explained how a major part of her active day played out. The Major General, possessing one of the most senior rankings available at her organisation, was a capable, independent woman happy to lead others. She inspired confidence and commanded full respect from her peers in her role as UNIT leader, boasting an impressive resume of having helped humanity fight off threats from Daleks, Cyberman and Zygons in recent times. It won her three star medals and honours from across the globe. An impressive feat for the thirty-five year old.

"I see." Hibah pretended to be interested in the conversation. This was the boring aspect of life inside a skin suit, having to deal with mundane humans that pretended to be important but were utterly ignorant in every area of activity.

"Have you heard the other news?". Saba shifted the subject matter smoothly.

"What news?"

"Coconut Colonel Hibah Mughal - she has gone missing.", the UNIT leader spoke ominously. Very few people had been made aware of this information. Classified.

"Oh, really?", the hidden Hibah Slitheen feigned surprise over-dramatically. Truth be told, she wanted to burst out laughing but she retained her composure sufficiently. If only her former UNIT colleagues knew what had really happened to her recently.

"I sent you a private memo about it three days ago, Penny - have you not read it yet?", her interlocutor questioned, sounding somewhat annoyed. Saba always expected high standards from her staff no matter whether they were close friends or not.

"Well, I have been as busy as you. The workload at First Contact is immense these days…. So many migrants are seeking to overrun our planet…." Hibah subtly snuck that last comment under her breath, reviving her hateful rhetoric for a final time. Her human boss was too busy thinking about someone else to notice the xenophobia often associated with that notorious Colonel who was now mysteriously missing. She lifted herself up from her chair to speak this time.

"That wretched cow has gone missing… We have to assume that the worst has happened. That she has been killed by unknown hostile forces. Damn, this may create another scandal that we do not need. Still, she is a permanent member of our species and a member of our esteemed organisation. We will need to send out search parties, would you agree?... Penelope, what do you think?"... Penelope?". A baffled Saba tried to get her counterpart's attention who simply appeared to be staring blankly at her. Internally, Hibah was busy fantasising about slotting her gigantic self inside of the leader of UNIT Britain. A similar size and width to the Brigadier General's skin. Saba would be a perfect fit.

"Penelope!", the Major General once more screamed at her opposite to get her attention. It struck the convert into responding.

"Huh?!"

"Are you okay? Were you even listening to what I was saying?".

"Oh yes, something about that 'coconut' and 'wretched cow' Hibah Mughal. It's probably nothing. She might resurface tomorrow or maybe the day after, who knows? In any case, our organisation would benefit from her brief absence. She was toxic. A major inconvenience to us all, in fact. I do not think we should shy away from saying what we really thought about her", the disguised Raxicoricofalipatorian felt forced to hate on herself. At least it allowed her to see first hand what others honestly thought about her old human form.

"I am worried. We cannot afford another scandal. Not now." Saba revealed her vulnerable side as she walked over to a window alone. The higher ups that she ultimately reported to would not be happy about this. Unfortunately, UNIT already had a bad reputation these days amongst broader world public opinion. The organisation was the target for vicious rumours and internet gossip about how governments were hiding the truth about alien life. Governments themselves around the world had cut back funding for UNIT to cover their own austerity programmes, creating needless funding issues. The mysterious disappearance of yet another senior UNIT staff member, automatically presumed dead, only added to the issues facing the surviving UNIT leadership team. Colonel Mughal had to be found immediately. Alive was the reluctant preference.

"Oh, don't be so pedantic. You two never got on with each other. If the removal of that Colonel from the scene means a more peaceful organisation then I say the sacrifice will be worth it. Take the hit now and reap untold dividends later.", the Slitheen encouraged her human counterpart to forget about the person. She was no longer a member of humanity any more anyways. It was best for all to think that Hibah Mughal was dead and to be conveniently forgotten.

"You could be right. Maybe I am being overly-dramatic. But it's only because I care about our country and our home planet like the patriot that I am.". Saba felt compelled to reveal a justification about her concerns. Securing the Earth and humanity from harm was always her first and foremost priority. She was also conscious that she was representing Britain on the world stage too.

"Yep. I can testify to that.", the Hibah Slitheen spoke truthfully. This was the only aspect she admired in this human's character - her unwavering commitment to the defence of Planet Earth. It was respectable. The Major General turned away from the glass window and approached Penelope by her side in close proximity.

"Thank you, Penny. I don't know how I could cope without you being here by my side. These past few weeks have had an immense toll on my health. So much stress and lack of sleep", she said, graciously looking down at the blonde woman's warm face, seeking reassurance. Hibah lifted herself up from her chair too.

"You are such a strong lady. It is an honour to serve UNIT under your command, Ma'am!", the Slitheen announced excitedly, even saluting slavishly. It was actually a mockery. Soon, others would be saluting the disguised human as the new leader of UNIT. The only human in the room was delighted to hear that comment as they remained standing face to face in close proximity.

"We could do with more Penelopes in this universe." Saba replied before laughing lightly. She did mean that statement sincerely though. At that moment, the Slitheen compressed under the skin opted to do something unconventional. During a moment of silence in the dialogue, the compressed Raxicoricofalipatorian woman leaned into her human opposite, smelling her body vociferously. She did not bother asking for her opposite's consent.

"You smell good, Sabs. I love the perfume you are using today." 'Penelope' said brashly as the number two sniffed up the various odours of her boss. Experimenting with highly subversive behaviour that would catch her human opponents off-guard, the convert Hibah wanted to manipulate her human boss' emotions, wondering how she would react to this inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour. It certainly provoked a measured response from UNIT's leader.

"Penny, I know you have strong feelings for me but I have told you before… I am seeing someone else at the moment. You know how strict I am when it comes to fidelity. We can't be together.", Saba politely confessed graciously, hoping she would understand. Hibah found herself being gently pushed away by the human female to a respectable distance. Independence had been reasserted by the most powerful homo sapien in this organisation.

"That's quite alright. I respect your decision - prrrp!." Smiling, 'Penelope' pretended to be sad about that revelation, returning to a sedentary position on the chair and allowing her gas exchange to act up for the first time in an outdoor setting. Her counterpart seized the opportunity to bring this evening to a definitive closure.

"Et tu, Penny? You know, I can barely stand Harold's unruly stomach… Thanks for understanding anyways. Right, it's getting late. I need to go home. See you tomorrow." Saba picked up a heavy rucksack and checked carefully that she had not left anything essential behind.

"No worries. See you. Have a safe journey home.". The Major General departed the office in a hurry. The door closed gently, leaving Penelope Warrington the only remaining inhabitant. Hibah began to cackle loudly to herself as she looked at the massive portrait picture of Saba on the wide wall and unleashed a fiery monologue of her own.

"Call me a coconut, a wretched cow, eh? Silly primitive idiot! Like myself once upon a time, you have no fucking clue what is really going on this planet. What is about to go down. I hope to be the one who gets to hunt you, Saba. I deserve to be the leader of this organisation, of this planet. Nobody else. Your time at the top is already over. A dead human walking", the antagonistic convert railed angrily to herself. The Family had long ago designated Saba to be hunted down last as the rest of the Star Slitheen concentrated on securing the bodies of other senior UNIT Britain officers as part of what they termed 'Stage Two'. Saba's days as leader of Earth's premier planetary defence organisation were severely limited, her life as a human numbered.

(The End).

(N.B. This story is fully resolved by the end of: Aliens of UNIT Part One).