The perimeter goes down

The ****-field, the anti-personnel weapons and the motion detectors were all powered by the troop carrier?s power-system. In ordinary cases, this system worked fine: the TC's were simple, tough, and reliable. However, the troop carrier had taken a lot of damage during the day, first from the attack and then in the search for Eighteen and Twelve.

In fact, it had taken too much damage.

So, as the Lieutenant and the Commander fell asleep having planned the next day?s search, and V, Stripe and Eighteen did the same after a long session of passionate fucking, not one of them noticed that a small, cheap power transfer curcuit had quietly failed. Steady green telltales began blinking red.

Out in the jungle, one of the aliens, one who had gained great respect and admiration among his tribe due to his physical prowess and his cunning wits, gathered together roughly a dozen survivors. That was seemingly all that remained of his tribe, and all of them were men. He had grown tired of the brutal and unprovoked attacks by the strange women in their metal birds which swooped down on bringing carnage and ****. This was their world, their home. And now they were being hunted down as animals, and for no good reason , it seemed, other than it provided entertainment for the bored alien women.

He had seen enough of it, and would accept no more.

Rather than being killed off slowly for sport, he would lead what remained of his family and tribe into one last fight against those wretched women. His friends, though not as resourceful and eloquent as he was, decided to follow him. They set out in the direction that the metal bird had flown of, hoping at least to be able to kill the ones directly responsible for what had happened that morning.

When the sun fell, they marched on, refusing themselves any rest before they had found the women.The alien war-leader couldn?t believe his luck when, in the middle of the night, he saw lights up on a nearby hill.

He led his group towards it, carefully advancing up the hill. Pleased as he was when they saw that it was the metal bird that was standing there, and that no one was moving around it, he was also aware that the women most certainly had set up traps to warn them if anyone approached. He told his followers to hold still, while he himself scouted the terrain before them. Ignoring the looks of uncertainty from some of his men on hearing his decision, he moved forwards on his own.

Soon, he had spotted a strange thing standing on a tripod not far from the metal bird.

Not being a fool, he saw that it resembled the strange weapons that protruded from the metal bird, and so he slowly moved towards, hoping to be able to reach it unnoticed in order to disarm it, knowing as he did so that it might be his final act.

He moved with as much care as his years of experience could muster. Still it was not enough. One of the small mammal-like animals living in the undergrowth raised its tapered head, ears twitching, before darting away in fright as it heard him closing in. To the Leader?s dismay, the small, rodent hopped straight in front of the trap, something which would undoubtedly trigger it and alarm the women.He was surprised and greatly pleased when the animal passed the trap unharmed. The metal device remained silent.

Still not believing his good fortune, he moved slowly forward to confirm that the thing really was harmless. Spreading his hands wide and breathing a silent prayer to the Many Armed Gods, the alien turned and made his way back to gather his group.

Meanwhile, the Lieutenant had awakened. Bored and restless, she decided to take a stroll along the perimeter just to check that everything was working. She stepped out of the shelter and stretched her lithe, tired body. Questioning prisoners was certainly exhausting work. But oh how fun it was, she thought to herself, her lips curving to form a cold smile.

The night sure was quiet, and dark, she noted as she started to walk. Too quiet and too dark in fact. The power-system should have been producing a low humming: a pale glimmer ought to have marked the ****-field boundry. Something was wrong, she concluded, and decided to warn the others. As she turned to walk back to the shelter, she heard something behind her. Spinning around again, she saw a blue figure come flying out of the dark, swinging a large club towards her head.

There, her world went black as she fell into a heap on the ground.