They slowly began to emerge from the forest into the clearing. The Lieutenant and each of the Troopers looked at the advancing group with disgust and horror. This was not only a grotesque potential adversary; it was also an unusual one in that none of these creatures carried any sort of visible weapon.
Lieutenant Ximoos looked down the ranks and said, “Alright Troopers, I’m going to order these creatures to surrender. If not, prepare to fire on my command.”
Lieutenant Ximoos switched on the universal translation and increased the amplification on microphone to full volume. She then took a deep breath, and began to announce to the advancing creatures, “I am Lieutenant Ximoos of the United Galactic Empire. I am ordering you to stop your advance and put your hands up. Anyone failing to do so will be shot! I will give you a count of three to do so.”
Lieutenant Ximoos counted to three in a loud, authoritative voice. She wasn’t enthused about shooting a group of unarmed civilians, but after all, they were humans. They should have died during the assault on the planet in Phase I.
The creatures showed no reaction to the Lieutenant’s warning and continued their forward progress. For Lieutenant Ximoos, there was no choice. So, in a loud shout, she gave the order to fire. She and the rest of the Troopers let loose a volley of cordite into the human-like creatures.
However, the creatures continued coming forward. As they did, more of their ever increasing numbers emerged from the forest. Not only that, the volleys from the hyperifles seemed to be unable to stop them. Hits on the creatures simply kicked up chunks of mottled flesh. Even the force of the cordite bullets, which normally would have stopped any creature in their tracks, seemed to be nothing more than a minor annoyance.
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