All the station’s doors were flung wide open. The alarm sounded throughout the vast building. The noise was deafening.
But no one inside the station knew what it meant.
The alarm had not sounded in over a generation. And never on Cyrius.
Most of the people simply froze where they were. And waited. Holding their ears. Trying to shout questions at whatever official was closest.
At Carver’s directions, the generals and the Cyrian military formed wedges and powered through the doors.
Even with all their advance work, they were almost too late.
The aliens were fast.
Sean and Dillon and Carey and Elenya entered behind the official formation, linked by clenched hands. They held to the outside wall and moved to a position that gave them a clear sight of the unfolding attack. Two minutes later, Chenel and Baran came racing up. Agape at the horror on display.
Sean thought it was like watching a high-speed virus invade a body. The aliens poured into the station through the portal that was now clearly visible. The aperture to another realm opened like a flower of death. The invading aliens spread with incredible swiftness, a greenish, translucent tide. They were not entirely visible. It was like viewing a confusing scene through heat waves. The aperture itself continued to expand, a fracture in the human realm.
The first Praetorian Guards who arrived froze in shock. It was easy to understand why. The aliens massed in a swirling mob that grew with exponential speed. Everything and everyone in their scope was consumed. The sight was both savage and gigantic. In the petrified space of a few seconds, there were so many aliens they formed a putrid cloud. The churning mass was lit from within by great roaring flashes, lightning bolts of furious pleasure.
Perhaps the one event that saved them, the first finger in the dike, was Tirian.
All the civilians screamed with one voice and rushed for the exits. Tirian’s shield deflected one panic-stricken human after another. It was doubtful Tirian saw any of this. He moved with the single-minded purpose of a man who had finally, against all odds, been granted a chance for vengeance.
Against the surging human tide moved this lone individual, sucking up the fury and the fear, fashioning a huge ball of force that he flung into the alien mob.
Tirian might not have been the first to blast the aliens. But he was most certainly the first to take the battle to them. He raced forward, flinging one great bolt after another. His lone force was enough to slow the surging chaotic mass. At least, he did so for an instant.
Then the aliens counterattacked.
Streaks of green lightning blasted Tirian, over and over, halting him in his tracks. He fought back with single-minded fury. But the aliens gathered and formed an oval menace that swarmed over him. And ate away his shield.
Sean and his friends watched in horror as Tirian’s shield melted under the onslaught. They saw Tirian react in shock as the first gap appeared in his shield, rimmed by the deadly green fire. A drop of electric acid oozed through the opening. Tirian screamed and jerked. But there was no escape. His shield was now his cage.
Then he gathered himself. Drawing in everything, all the force that was around him, a great heaving breath that even included the acid of death.
And he exploded. A blast of force so great it actually halted the aliens.
And galvanized the Praetorians into full assault mode.