Things have been washing up on the shores of alien seas. Wretched, dying things, with brains of pulp.
Thousands of red crabs, smaller than a fist, scuttle over the almost dead, stripping flesh. The frothing salt water is stained with blood, but not for long. Soon there is nothing but sand and bones.
Our soldiers. Our bio-weapon. Turned on each other and scattered through a hundred star systems.
The humans think us defeated, but they are wrong. We have played this game a thousand times before.
As our ships slip into orbit around Earth, I spread my wings and howl.
Author bio: When the invasion comes John Xero will be safely holed up with a big stack of books. He will live tweet the fall of civilisation.
Paper books hmm? ... hope you've taken necessary measures against the paper-eating proclivities of the parasites carried by the red crabs.
ReplyDeleteOoh... nested bio-weapons... interesting concept... =)
DeleteI really like the first two sentences. The others are good too but the opening works best for me.
ReplyDeleteI think I probably like the first two paragraphs the most, maybe the third too, but I admit the ending is a little bit "by the numbers".
DeleteThanks, Pete. =)
I agree the first two paragraphs are really good. War never ends!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Helen. =)
DeleteThis sounds like a war that will go on forever.
ReplyDeleteI did cringe at the image of the crabs eating the still living. Crabs are scary creatures. :)
Crabs are scary, but for no real reason.... I guess they're all pinchy-looking. ;)
DeleteYou'll live tweet? Ha! That should be fun! ^^
ReplyDeleteI love the two paragraphs as well, they work great for the concept of the story. The visuals are chilling. Alien shores... interesting.
Thanks, Cindy. =)
DeletePowerful opening. Ah, crabs. It's all in the claws.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Aaron. =)
DeleteThem claws sure are nasty-looking.