<Snipped quote by Legend>

You're welcome.

*sits down, looking through the menu*

Oh, this was the place with the really good chardonnay! Ill have to remember that.

<Snipped quote by Fractured>

Must be a dimensional vessel, I can't think of a different explanation for it.

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

So much for the realistic façade...
*Takes off runnning, dashing past you and toward the vehicle at a breakneck superhuman pace*

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Above the world we circle. Using the scanners of our hijacked ships, we scan the surface. This reveals scattered clusters of boxy structures surrounded by sandbags or walls. The night side of the planet is dotted with the occasional, isolated bunch of yellow lights. I laugh, thinking of how easy the population would be to subdue and the joy I would savor while playing my games with them.*

Get the cannon, Phantom.

Phantom: Yes, Lash.

*The ship with the node stuck to its gun turns around to face the opposite direction of its orbit. Then, it fires, launching the node at a retrograde trajectory, aimed to strike one of the largest population centers on the planet. In less than 10 minutes, it strikes directly onto their town square. A camera watches as dozens of curious humans dressed in 19th-century attire gather around the impact site. Then, like a blooming flower, the node opens, releasing six Withers. They speak, allowing their psychic ability to pacify the crowd. Then, they strike. They pounce onto their victims, sometimes biting them on the torso and injecting embryos to further the race, and sometimes simply swallowing them whole before regurgitating their acid-coated remains as projectiles. I am disappointed in the fact that the camera does not have an audio recorder and I cannot, therefore, hear their dying screams. I am still happy to see the crowd massacred, with some left comatose and implanted to birth new Withers. I tune off the screen once the square has been deserted and occupy the next few hours looking down at the city and watching as its lights slowly go out.*

<Snipped quote by ZAVAZggg>

*the ship collides with the planet, sending out a massive shockwave throughout the entire area around it*

<Snipped quote by Dark Cloud>

That's a lot of effort just to get stuck in this mountain.

<Snipped quote by Fractured>

Probably went out of it's way to get here, expand it's horizons.

<Snipped quote by Dark Cloud>

There’s nothing here to seek.

<Snipped quote by Fractured>

Creatures like Beholders and Mindflayers are interested in knowledge and power. They were likely drawn here by something.

<Snipped quote by Melodious>

*The waterfall of data continues to flood the area with new viruses even as the existing ones are deleted—my own recovery barely keeps up with the rate of deletion, introducing minor bugs every few seconds*

<Snipped quote by Dark Cloud>

Something we haven’t found.

<Snipped quote by Fractured>

Precisely, but maybe they found it. And maybe it could be aboard that ship.

<Snipped quote by Webmaster>

Launch the insectoids, now.

*With a faint popping noise, a multitude of green blisters fire off of a nearby ship and descend into the atmosphere. They detonate in midair in showers of pus. A multitude of dark forms spiral out of them, only to swoop back up and form a rough V-formation that circles over the area. Seeing through their eyes, I notice a form standing in the reality storm. They seem to be in some distress, but, judging by the geysers of light behind them, they are powerful.*

Oh, well that isn't a place for you to be... we have the spare anchor, right?

Phantom: Yes, but it's weaker. Won't go as far.

I don't need it to be strong. Get some Vampyrs and launch.

*A drop pod fires off of another ship and flies over the reality storm, positioning itself with its rocket engines. It comes to a hover over the form and descends, seemingly cutting through the storm. As it lands, a perimeter of roughly twenty feet around the pod is cleared as one of the Vampyrs extends her hand, exerting a psychic tug force pulling at the form to bring them out of the storm and into the radius of the anchor.*

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

*Holds my hand up, creating a repelling force*
Another combatant?

<Snipped quote by Source>

*An android turns to look at you.*

Not one, but many. I saw you were fighting, and I love to fight, so WHY NOT?

*The last two words are spoken in a glitchy, disturbing tone.*

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

Hmph. Just watch your shots. The last thing we need are more casualties.

<Snipped quote by Source>

What's wrong with casualties? Last I checked, that's what war's for.

*The android laughs coldly.*

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

If you're not extremely careful, you're going to have enemies on both sides. I suggest you watch your step.

<Snipped quote by Source>

I see. But, I have a thing to do, and we don't do guns. Besides. You!

*I point to a bug-like creature, then a spot on the ground. The creature stamps the ground, its foot cupping over the landmine and detonating it safely.*

I've got this.

<Snipped quote by Tank O The Lake>

I have greater concerns than the insects.