"Focus the lights here! Focus the lights here!"
A ranger's voice echoed through the snowy storm. A red flashlight in his hand, he waved to signal. Within minutes of the signal, two dazzling yellow fog lights from afar slowly moved toward him.
The source of the lights, as it approached, was a bus-sized cruiser levitating a few meters above the ground. The cruiser featured two females in black metallic military outfits, with clear white text: NSDR.
With her finger, she swiftly tapped the headphone, opening the communication channel. "Unidentified object detected. Guards are advised to approach with alert."
"I repeat, rangers are advised to approach with alert."
The voice sounded tinny on everyone's badges — about fifteen members who were out in the field.
"Copy that!" said the ranger holding the red light, turning around to face a humongous crater through the snow, carved long, as if something big and heavy had crashed into the ground at a very high speed.
The ranger took a deep breath as he jumped down into the crater. All other rangers, wearing identical NSDR suits, followed in formation with their energy weapons pointed ahead. As they walked further through the crater, the yellow light behind the snowy storm dimmed. Even in the foggy light, one could see something shimmering in red.
"A spaceship!" the ranger said into his mic, but the signal wasn't working correctly. Uncaring, he advanced closer to what looked like a house-sized metallic structure before him, molten in parts and glowing red.
"It's unlike anything I have seen before!" another ranger roared, his voice barely making it through the strong winds.
"This is a damaged spaceship — it's probably burned inside the Earth's atmosphere. I don't think whoever was in—" His sentence was cut short as soon as he noticed some movement from the molten structure.
"Take your positions!" he commanded with sudden seriousness, and all fifteen of them pointed their weapons toward the ship.
"Maintain positions," he said, alert, looking at the molten structure.
Crackle~crackle
A metallic sound, similar to cracking an egg but louder, echoed through the winds. Intense strikes followed it, and suddenly—
Bang!
A part of the molten metal burst through the air, and something from inside jumped out into the snow.
"Gjeoiewhrgo!"
Something gibberish sounded, like someone trying to speak — but in a different language.
"Hjd-whe-sjjj…." it sounded again, and now the ranger could see the source of the sound. It was an eight-foot-tall humanoid figure with two small horns on its head. As it drew closer, the figure became increasingly visible.
Three yellow eyes with red pupils gleamed through the darkness. Burns and scars bruised his bare body; his skin was white, so white it looked like it was made of chalk. And on its back were two majestic wings, folded around his body.
He was naked, with no armor, except for a small black telecommunicator in his hand.
"Wher-ejef is th-isdj place?" As he walked closer, the telecommunicator slowly adjusted: "Where is this place?"
The ranger ahead looked back for a moment; he couldn't recognize this species, never having heard of anything like it before. Still, the fact that the being was weaponless and trying to communicate put him at ease.
"No one will engage unless commanded," he said. The rangers stepped back and surrounded the alien being, still keeping their weapons trained on it.
The first ranger walked closer to the being, lowering his weapon. He said with a friendly expression, "Are you a lost ship? You need to identify your species and—"
"Where is this place?" The voice cut him off mid-sentence as the alien with three eyes looked at him with plain, almost no expression.
The ranger took a slight pause and reached his hand out for a handshake. "This planet is Earth. We are friends — we will help you."
The alien looked down at the reaching hand, then his eyes darted toward the remaining soldiers, who were still pointing their weapons at him. He looked down again; he too reached his hand, his three fingers holding against the ranger's hand.
"We are a friendly species. We will guide you; you need to cooperate with us," the ranger said, trying his best to communicate. But it was as if the being before him wasn't listening — instead, it was looking at something else.
He was looking at his fingers. "Five…" he said, then looked at the three fingers in his hand.
Perhaps he was comparing fingers; the ranger didn't understand, but he felt something… he felt the grip on his waist tighten, and now it was too late to understand.
Plorp
A sudden burst of strength — and red blood flew everywhere. It all happened in a millisecond. The being was holding a human hand that had just been torn apart from a living body, and the ranger was bleeding like a fountain.
"AAaaaggghhh!" the ranger roared in pain as he collapsed to the ground.
"Fire at will!" one from the breach yelled, and within a second, plasma weapons were fired — a hundred shots, each as powerful as an exploding grenade. The blasts sent a meter-wide shockwave through the air. It could be felt even in the cruiser behind.
"Ground unit, update your position! Ground unit!" said the lady in the pilot seat, but all she heard in response was a constant beeping sound.
"Is it dead?" One of the rangers stopped firing as he moved closer. There were no screams, no movement — just dust and stillness.
The wind was strong, and it didn't take long for the dust to blow away. What they saw next was the alien being, licking the blood stains off his fingers — unscratched.
"Ah…hh…hh… pro..ti..en." That being said, his expression twisted into a gruesome smile, revealing hundreds of needle-like, sharp teeth.
"Engage in battle!" one ranger yelled as he continued to shoot his plasma cannon toward the alien.
"Everyone, fire, dammit!" he yelled again, continuing to shoot — but when he turned back, he froze.
Limbs scattered everywhere and blood sprayed in the air. He didn't know what had happened, nor did he have the time to react. His vision turned black, and his headless body fell to the ground.
All weapons fell silent. There was no communication through the channels. The pilots looked at each other, not knowing what to expect.
Then a shadowy figure slowly walked out of the mist, holding a yellow flashlight. His white body was now colored red with blood, and a chin-to-chin, deadly smile stretched across his face.
"FULL THROTTLE IMMEDIATELY!" the other pilot yelled. She hit a button, and multiple machine guns popped out of the cruiser, firing at the entity.
"Report… we need to report this incident!" the pilot said as she powered the engine to full throttle. With a burst of speed, they launched up into the air, breaking through the sound barrier.
"Tsk… pro…tien…" The alien chuckled as he spread his wings and launched into the air with almost the same speed. With his sharp ingrown nail, he made a small cut in his forearm, and gushing black blood took the shape of a spear. The alien aimed with the same smile — and fired the weapon.