Intergalactic conquest with an AI

The projector's mist swirled, forming the ghostly outline of a shadowy hallway filled with faint, distant echoes of gunshots and screams.

"I ordered the rest of my team to move fast. We ran to where we'd last heard him, and when we got there... Carlos's expression darkened. "It was already too late. His body was crumpled on the ground, and his chest hollowed out like the others. But then we saw it. Him."

"Him?" Rex asked, leaning in, his voice edged with curiosity and unease.

Carlos nodded, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "In the shadows at the edge of the hallway, there it was, a humanoid figure. At least, it looked humanoid at first. But it was twisted, wrong. It had long, gangly limbs, with legs and arms so oversized they looked like they didn't belong on a person. It was moving on all fours, slowly, like some kind of stalking predator."

The projector displayed a dark, shadowy corridor, and in the distance, the blurry outline of a humanoid figure on all fours could be seen, its glowing eyes faintly visible in the dark.

Carlos's voice grew quieter, more intense. "It stopped and stared at us. Its eyes glowed faintly in the dark, like an animal watching its prey. And it didn't move, not at first. It just crouched there, waiting, sizing us up."

The group around the fire was silent now, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. The hologram shifted to show the creature's glowing eyes fixating on the team.

Ys broke the silence, her voice filled with excitement rather than fear. "And then what happened? Did you kill it?"

Carlos shook his head. "Not yet. We froze. We didn't know what the hell we were dealing with, and I wasn't about to start a fight with something that had already ripped through two of my men without a sound. We stood there, weapons raised, staring it down."

He paused again, glancing at the group. "And that's when it smiled."

"Smiled?" Cleo asked, her normally calm tone tinged with disbelief.

Carlos nodded, his voice grim. "Yeah. It bared its teeth, wide and sharp, like it was enjoying the fact that we were scared. And then, before we could do anything, it disappeared into the dark."

The projector showed the creature vanishing into the shadows; its glowing eyes were the last thing to fade.

Carlos leaned back, exhaling heavily. "That's when I knew we were screwed. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't human anymore. And it wasn't just hunting us; it was toying with us."

Carlos leaned closer to the holo-fire, his voice taking on a graver tone as the tension around the campsite grew. The projected holograms shifted in response to his words, showing shadowy figures lurking in the burned corridors of the crashed ship.

"Some of my men couldn't handle it anymore," Carlos continued, his eyes narrowing as if recalling the vivid memory.

"The fear... it was too much for them. They raised their electric rifles and started shooting at the creature. The shots hit it; I'll give them that. The bullets tore through its flesh, spilling dark, inky blood all over the floor."

The holo-projector responded, showing a distorted humanoid figure jerking under the impact of rifle fire, black liquid spraying against the walls.

"But here's the thing," Carlos said, leaning back slightly, his voice dropping to a whisper. "That damn thing didn't flinch. It didn't scream or retreat. It just stood there, taking the shots, and staring at us with that terrible smile on its face."

The projector rendered the creature's haunting smile, an unnaturally wide grin full of sharp, gleaming teeth, with glowing eyes that radiated malice.

Carlos took a deep breath. "And in that moment, I thought, 'Oh sh*t. We're so dead.' Because I've seen enemies like that before, the kind that take a beating just to get your hopes up, only to regenerate their injuries like it's nothing. And that smile? That was the smile of something that knew it was going to win."

The campsite was eerily quiet now, the sound of the holographic crackling fire the only thing breaking the silence.

"So," Carlos said, straightening up slightly, "I did what any smart man would do when faced with something like that." He smirked faintly and tapped his chest.

"I used the adrenaline shot built into my power armor, turned tail, and ran like hell. And while I was at it, I screamed at my team to do the same."

Rex, who had been sipping water from a canteen, choked on his drink. "What?! That's what I taught you?!"

Carlos grinned sheepishly. "Well, you always told me, 'If it looks like a losing fight, live to fight another day.' So… yeah. I took your advice."

Ys burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "Oh, Carlos, you're priceless. Running away while yelling at your men to follow, classic leadership material!"

Cleo, however, simply raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Running away is a viable tactic if it saves lives. Did it?"

Carlos's smirk faded slightly as his tone grew somber again. "Not for everyone." He looked at the fire, his gaze distant.

"We ran for our lives, sprinting through those dark corridors, and that thing just... let us go. It didn't chase us. Not right away, anyway. Maybe it was just watching, enjoying the sight of us panicking. I don't know."

The holograms shifted, showing the frantic team rushing through the twisted halls of the crashed ship, their flashlights bouncing wildly in the dark.

"But when we finally made it to the cargo bay," Carlos continued, his voice heavy, "that's when things went from bad to worse. The cargo containers we were supposed to secure? They were destroyed. Torn open like tin cans. And on top of them..." He paused, letting the tension build.

The projector shifted, showing broken cargo containers littered across a massive room. On top of them, shadowy, humanoid figures crouched like predators.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"There weren't just one or two creatures anymore," Carlos said, his voice shaking slightly. "There were twenty of them. Maybe more. All of them just like the one we saw before: long limbs, glowing eyes, and that same twisted smile."

The hologram intensified, showing the horrifying sight of dozens of glowing eyes staring hungrily at the team from the darkness.

"When they noticed us," Carlos continued, his voice dropping to a near whisper, "they didn't laugh like the first one. They didn't toy with us. They just stared. And the hunger in their eyes." He shivered slightly. "Even now, I still remember it. It was the kind of look that chills your blood."

Sharon hugged her knees tighter, her feline ears flattening slightly. "What did you do?" she asked softly.

Carlos let out a bitter laugh. "What do you think I did? I knew we were outnumbered, so I took out my hammer and prepared to go down swinging. I told my men to hold the line, but..." He shook his head.

"They didn't stand a chance. The creatures charged us all at once, and it was chaos. My men started dropping one after another. They didn't even have time to scream."

The projector displayed a horrifying scene, the creatures leaping from the shadows, overwhelming the team in a brutal, frenzied attack. The sounds of gunfire, screams, and metal tearing filled the air as the holographic figures fought desperately for survival.

Carlos clenched his fists, his voice trembling slightly. "My power armor shields held out just long enough for me to stay alive. I swung my hammer like a madman, taking out as many of those things as I could. But there were just too many. I thought I was done for... until reinforcements finally arrived."

The hologram shifted, showing a team of heavily armed soldiers blasting their way into the cargo bay. Explosions rocked the scene as the reinforcements fired heavy weapons, cutting down several of the creatures.

"My special unit breached the cargo bay, blowing a hole in the wall to get in," Carlos said. "With their firepower, we managed to kill some of the creatures. But not all of them. The rest of the bastards ran through the new hole, escaping into the wilderness outside."

The projection showed the remaining creatures fleeing into the dark, their glowing eyes disappearing one by one.

"And just like that," Carlos said, letting out a long breath, "it was over. The mission was a bust, the cargo was destroyed, most of my team was dead, and we had no idea what the hell those things even were."

The group around the fire was silent, hanging on to Carlos's every word.

"After we got back to the city," Carlos continued, "I tried contacting the guy who'd hired us to secure the cargo. But guess what? He'd vanished. No trace of him anywhere. It turns out someone had been spying on us the whole time. The moment we realized the mission was compromised, the contact erased all their information and disappeared."

Cleo frowned, her gaze sharpening. "A cover-up."

"Exactly," Carlos said, nodding. "We reported the creatures to the city guards, but as far as I know, no one's ever seen them again. At least not in the city. Every now and then, I check in with the guards to see if there've been any sightings, but the answer's always the same: nothing."

Sharon tilted her head, her green eyes wide. "Do you think they're still out there? On the planet?"

Carlos stared at the fire, his expression dark. "Oh, they're out there. Somewhere. And if anyone's unlucky enough to cross their path..." He shook his head. "Let's just say I hope they're faster runners than I was."

The holo-fire crackled softly as Carlos finished his tale, the weight of his words hanging heavy in the air.

"Well," Rex said after a moment, breaking the silence, "remind me never to take a job from you, Carlos."

The group let out a nervous laugh, though the unease lingered. Somewhere out there, on some distant planet, those creatures were still waiting... and hunting.