A pungent rotten smell went up Timothy’s nose. It was almost overbearing. Some of his soldiers turned their guns on themselves rather than breathe it in.

The arachnid monsters were gradually making their way up to the steep cliff face. The intense battery fire could not cut them down fast enough.

Then he noticed some of his troops looking in the opposite direction. Just standing there as if frozen in time. The monsters had scaled the other side of the mountain. A second later they were leaping down onto his troops. Their incisors made short work of cutting through the flesh of his screaming soldiers.

“Fall back,” Timothy roared, “fall back all units.” Their ships were inside the tunnels of the mountains. He could plot an escape. But flight would not be countenanced. The Emperor’s will was there was to be no step backwards. But the tunnels would stops his troops being outflanked. That way, they could take more of the enemy down.

Just as he reached the tunnel, he felt a large explosion tearing through his armor and propelling him through the air. Then there was a thud as he hanged his head on the ground. And then nothing.

Twenty minutes later and the city of Gaillimh is coming into view. You could just about make out the lights from some of its most iconic skyscrapers in the distance. It is a compact and dense city; the economic powerhouse of the habitat containing its sole spaceport and hence controls inter-colony trade. Still, it relies heavily on tourism from its vast agrarian hinterlands to survive.

Almost certainly that is why it is one of the very few places where alcohol and ladies of the night can be purchased. Not legally of course, a blind eye is turned.

Tabitha shuffles in her seat.

“So where exactly are we going?” Tabitha asked.

“We are going to a tavern called Roisin Dearg. In English I’d guess that would be Red Roisin. Not that you’ll hear any English there. It the best place to go if you need something underhand. One of the people who regularly frequents works in the space port and I’m hoping he can help you.”

“And how do you know this?”

“Probably best not to say.”

Fuck, that was close. I’d really rather not tell her that’s where I go for some female companionship.

The outskirts of the city is drawing nearer now. Huts and farmsteads are giving way to mansions with large estates. He hasn’t mentioned it to Tabitha, but it would be wise to reach the inner core of the city before the habitat system changes to daylight. And that was happening shortly. So many more to monitor their movements then.

He roared for the binoculars to be held up for him once again.

The large indigenous creatures were proving no match for the invader. He did see one carnivore put up a good fight but it too was quickly killed in the end by the sheer weight of numbers against it.

After it fell it was quickly consumed and its mass transformed into more of the enemy.

The arachnid type monsters were mostly twice the height of a man in the main though some were far larger. They foamed some sort of acid from their mouth. Their behavior appeared coordinated, even intelligent.

Timothy gasped as he realized a wave of the critters were heading straight to the fortification under the tree canopy.

“Prepare to fire. They will attempt to climb the walls!”

It seemed absurd, they were so far removed from the surface and yet he knew that was what they were about to attempt.

He ordered for his laser canons to point downwards. The terrified soldiers quickly obeyed knowing there was little time to spare.

And then they appeared. The vertical climb only made them slightly slow.

“Fire, everything we have. Do not stop!”

The laser batteries and small arms fire were cutting through them but there was always more coming.

I move my hand to turn on the flyer’s lights but Tabitha blocks it. She has a frown on her face and I know it’s a no-no.

It makes it a weird flight. I can’t see anything except the occasional light and have to rely on the coordinates array so as not to crash.

“Are we nearly there?” Tabitha asked.

“Well, in about an hour the city will be above us but it will take another seven hours to go up and around to it.”

Even, in the darkness I could see that she was not impressed.

“We’re in a flyer, are we not. Fly up to other side. We don’t have time.”

Damn, it was theoretically possible but so risky. He didn’t want his new friend to think him a coward.

“Are you sure, that would be very dangerous.”

“Yes, do it.”

God-dam-it.

I speed up the flyer to maximum. I could feel my heart pumping.

Then I lift the control wheel so that the flyer starts to rise. A loud shrill siren goes off. I can see we’re at the tipping point. Just a few more seconds.

For a few moments, we are weightless. Then we are falling.

I change the direction of the thruster and the flyer flips.

Feeling nauseous, I regain control of the flyer.

“Well done. Ciaran”

For the next few minutes everybody was still. Just waiting and wondering what was to happen next. All except Timothy, who was driving up and down the battlement. The bombardment had been impressive but he had expected much more.

Then screams of terror started coming over the communication devices. There were reports of ghouls and strange arachnid type creatures tearing people to shreds. Timothy stopped his wheelchair. Everything now made sense. It was not a bombardment but a landing.

He immediately roared out –

“Laser canons, fire on the locations where the fireballs hit the surface.”

The large cannons fired setting large amounts of the jungle ablaze.

“Stop firing.”

A few moments later, a disgusting rabid smell hit them. It was worse than the decay of bodies.

He looked through binoculars that a soldier held up for him.

In the distance, trees were being felled or rather consumed and turned into an alien horde.

“Fire, and do not stop.”

But the cannons were having little effect. The alien swarms grew larger and larger and then began to merge.

Then the reports of mass casualties and cities being lost came and for the first time Timothy contemplated failing to repel the invasion.

Sweat started to trickle down my brow. Fuck, how did I manage to get myself involved in this? Maybe, I should never have gone to that crash site.

Tabitha is following close behind me as we traverse a field filled with eye height grain. It is tough and punishing just to push through it. Aengus’ family planted this field three months ago. They had always been nice to him and even cared for him when he was sick.

But he didn’t want to ask if they could take the flyer. It would be surely be recorded by one of the countless cameras on the habitat, implicating them in whatever trouble he got himself involved in.

Finally, they reach a clearing and the thatched hut is in front of them. There are no alarms or anything of that nature. Normally, there is no risk of anything being stolen.

They go silently to the rear of the hut where the flyer is docked. The doors are already opened. It is far more spacious than the taxi and Tabitha takes the seat next to them. It is fitted out in leather and there is even entertainment screens in the rear. I quickly find the keys and put put it in the ignition.

Then as I look up I see one of the boys standing next to the rear door of the hut. It is the oldest, a boy of fourteen years. He is looking at me aghast unsure how to react.

With that, the flyer takes off.

There were multiple suicide bomb attacks in the main cities. Key military installations had been targeted along with places where there had been large congregations of people . Timothy approved of the tactics. It’s what he would have done, a mixture of weakening and terrorizing your opponent.

For hours he waited on the defensive fortification in a heavy downpour and looked out at the lush horizon below. But the assault didn’t come despite the reports that the alien ship had been spotted in orbit. He retreated to his quarters inside the mountain and rested, languishing wistfully about what was to come There would be much death. He rose a few hours later, once more rejuvenated.

He went back on the rampart and waited. Minutes, then hours passed. His soldiers were fidgeting and making small talk. Then there was the sound of an explosion.

“Over there!” came the roar of a soldier pointing to a a point of light in the distance.

Then there were multiple explosions. Timothy looked up at a sky that was filled with fireballs hurtling towards the surface. Reports were coming into his communications array that the same was happening all over the planet.

Then the shower of fireball came to an abrupt halt. It made no sense to Timothy and for the first time that day, he felt fear.

“I think I know how to get you off the habitat, though it won’t be easy.”

The woman was sitting back now and no longer holding the blade in an aggressive fashion.

“Okay, tell me what you are thinking,” she asked.

“The city of Gaillimh is the main port city of the habitat. It trades across the Empire. I have a friend there who could put you on a ship to a more friendly location. What do you think?”

“Sounds good. But how do we get there? Is it far”

It was as far as could be in the habitat and the robo-taxi had returned to base to charge, But his neighbor Aengus had recently purchased a vehicle.

“Come, follow me.”

As they left his hut, he asked, “What’s your name by the way?”

“Tabitha, what is yours?”

“Ciaran, pity we didn’t meet under better circumstances.”

Aengus’ farmstead lay adjacent to Ciaran’s small landholding. He and his wife had a large family, eight children in all, four boys and four children. Like the rest of the population in the area, they were very religious and deeply committed to their humble lifestyle.

Days pass and there is no sign of any invasion. Timothy is even beginning to enjoy his new world especially round dusk when it is temperate and there is still enough light that you can survey the valleys beneath. Large reptilians live out their lives below devouring the tough vegetation and each other. It never ceases to amuse.

He has even begun to get to know his foot soldiers that bit better. He had never realized how much he was loved by the rank and file for his previous exploits. They regaled him with stories of the different battles they had watched and how he was the name on everybody’s lips. It lifted his spirits.

It was during one such conversation with a group of his soldiers, that yells roared out in the distance –

“General, General he was interfering with our weapon battery.”

Four soldiers were approaching. three of them holding on to one in the middle.

The Emperor had warned that there may be traitors among the ranks. Timothy pressed the button on his chair to activate the machine guns his chair was armed with .

“Stop! Don’t come any closer!” Timothy roared.

The traitor’s eyes had turned black and now his whole body began to metaphorize. His face became a dark green and his arms and legs grew thicker. The other soldiers lost their grip and he quickly snapped the neck of one.

Timothy opened fire killing the other two but the monster would not fall until the other soldiers also fired moments later.

“Burn the bodies. Make sure bio-suits are worn.” he ordered.

Reports of sabotage were now coming in across the planet.

It was beginning.

There is something sharp at my neck. Am I just still dreaming or is this for real?

I hear “Wake the fuck up!” being shouted into my left ear.

I immediately open my eyes to a dimly lit room. My heart is beating vociferously.

The woman is now very conscious with a knife to my throat.

“Where am I and who are you?” she says angrily.

I ponder playing dumb and responding in Irish but then quickly blurt out –

“My name is Ciaran. You’re ship crash-landed on this habitat. You asked for my help, remember? This is my home. I patched you up as best I could, you were in a bad way.”

“I would never have asked someone like you for help. You look just like him.”

“You did, try to remember.”

With that, she withdrew the blade. I let out a deep breath.

“Were we followed? I need to get off this habitat as soon as possible,” she says softly.

“No, definitely not. Why do you need to leave? We could go to the authorities.”

“No, they will just hand me over. I’m a wanted person in the Zen Corporation. Is there any way to get me off this habitat?”

I pause briefly but then a plan comes to mind.