! written by u/JimDaBoff on 2019-08-20

It's another beautiful day on Nauvis. As I skitter through our glorious colony-city, admiring our bulging hive-sac nests ballooning out of the plains, I breathe in the fresh air and delight at the thought of my 400 biter-larvae gestating beneath the fertile copper banks; any day now.

I greet the local Worms, sat guarding our precious shiny iron. They say that there's news on the underground that a great stench has appeared a number of miles away, and that none of the biter scout parties sent to investigate have returned. Well, I think that's what they said, they just kinda roared and spat rocks as usual.

I skitter along the shore of the nearby lake, and stop for a moment to admire the fish, and the dappled reflections of the forest trees. Truly - I think to myself as I revel in tranquility - I live in paradise.

* * *

A few days later, the alpha calls a meeting. He has consulted with the spitters, our spiritual leaders who guard the graves of our dead while they decompose to oil. They say that a colony-village far to the south was destroyed by a rock from the sky, but that several others have also seen an omen; a cloud of rank smoke emanating from the place the rock fell. All who smell the smoke are said to disappear soon after.

As a precaution, the alpha has decided to splice all gestating larvae with the first-stage warrior gene. My babies will fierce and strong, the protectors of our colony. I join in the chittering of approval with the other biters. No mere omen shall scare us.

* * *

Another day, another report of vanishing colonies. The rumours grow more disturbing too; not only is the area of the stench growing, but there are strange reports of hellish sounds, structures like hive-sacs (only pointier), claws which protrude from the earth, long flat worms which carry peculiar objects on their backs and move without moving, all made of iron. And among the chaos, too distant to be seen clearly, a strange, small figure which walks on only two legs.

I don't see what any of this has to do with my brethren disappearing. To be honest, it sounds like a joke cooked up by some biter-young high on uranium, but nevertheless... I worry.

* * *

Terrible news; the stench came to a colony near our ancestral burial ground. A horrified witness told us that everyone was killed, and this... thing erected a strange iron tree which kept nodding. The witness explained how each nod sucked the spirit-oil of our ancestors out of the ground and pushed it into metal worms lying along the earth. Such desecration cannot go unpunished!

The alpha summons us again. He has ordered the second-stage warrior gene to be spliced into all larvae; may babies will be mighty indeed! Surely, we will not fall to this alien menace.

* * *

There is unease throughout the city. Last night, there was a sound like distant thunder, and a flurry of stars flew across the dark sky. The next morning, we heard that the nearby colony-towns to the west and south had been annihilated. More worrying still, there's something in the air... a rank, fetid smell which I cannot describe, but it burns my senses, and makes my compound eyes water. The rest of the populace feel the same, and the alpha has authorised the final-stage warrior gene to be spliced into all unhatched larvae.

Such a thing has not been done in generations; it is a testament to how serious this threat is.

* * *

My babies have hatched; they are beautiful... And terrifying. They tower above me, jaws immensely powerful and slathering, beady eyes enraged by the stench which fills the city. Freshly-hatched spitters and worms join our incredible army, made stronger than ever seen before by the warrior-gene. Today we march to find and destroy this pestilence on our land.

As the army musters, a curious silence descends. At first there's confusion, but then we all hear it; a sound, only on the edge of hearing, but so unusual that it cannot be missed. A strange buzzing hum, punctuated by thuds. As the sound draws closer, we can tell where it is coming from, and all eyes swing toward the forest. After a time, the strangest thing happens; an angular metal box, not much bigger than my body, appears from between the trees, and immediately crashes into one. Rather than changing course, it emits a high-pitched hum until the tree falls down, and continues on its way. It reaches the clearing, then weaves back and forth a bit before moving toward the city-colony.

The box stops, as does the noise, and a being emerges. It stands upright, on only two legs, and appears to regard us for a moment. This is it?! The terrifying monstrosity which has been ravaging our planet? It barely reaches my head! I can't help but laugh, and many of my brethren do the same. A contingent of us run forward to dispatch the creature, but as they approach, dozens of purple eggs fly out of it and throw... hold up, that was lightning at the approaching swarm. In the blink of an eye, they are reduced to vaporised chitin and ectomorph. The alien hasn't moved.

For a second, all is still - we are all dumbstruck. Then, with an immense roar which makes the ground tremble, the gathered force surges forward toward the creature. My brethren and children, much bigger than I, swarm past me toward the alien menace. More lightning, and this time flames as well, spewing out of the creature itself. I've only ever seen fire twice in my life, when trees in the forest were struck by lightning during one of Nauvis' rare storms, yet here is this demon who has somehow harnessed both.

And then it started running. By the insect gods, this thing can run.

The only way I can track where it is going is by the trail of utter devastation it leaves behind. Still my people swarm it, and still they are incinerated or vaporised. The combined stench of my fallen comrades and the alien's constructs are almost overwhelming. The monster continues forward towards the heart of the colony-city, hive-sacs collapsing ahead of it, a trail of corpses left behind, surrounded by fire and lightning. Surely it will be overwhelmed by the inner defences, I hope to myself, skittering after it as fast as I can. Fast as it is, what will it do when it is surrounded?

I skid to a halt, covering my eyes as best as I can with my thin claws. The light of a thousand suns engulfs the north-east quadrant of the colony, a wall of flame obliterating biter and hive-sac alike. With horror, I catch a glimpse of the creature out-running its own wall of fiery death, heading to the next quadrant of the colony. More suns, more death, and in mere moments, everything I knew is gone.

Every hive-sac in the city lies collapsed on the plains, surrounded by the countless corpses of my brothers, my sisters... my children. The beautiful, verdant forest is in flames, a thick plume of choking smoke blotting out the sun. By some miracle I am alive, although I find myself envying the dead.

The creature, his foul work complete, runs toward the iron field where our proud worms once stood. I hide behind the corpse of a nearby spitter and observe. For a while, it does nothing. Then, for just a moment, I have a peculiar vision - the iron field covered in some kind of structure, like a colony but more angular. Everything appears to be green, but as soon as the vision appeared, it vanishes. As soon as it disappears, more floating eggs fly out of the alien. These are bigger than the lightning-throwers, and the float out over the iron. Where each one stops, a small structure appears, exactly as it appeared in the vision.

A moment later, I realise the alien's diabolical purpose; not content with wiping out my people, the iron field is now covered in low skeletal frames with spinning jaws which rip our magnificent iron from the ground. The iron is deposited on the backs of flat worms which move and do not move, and I curse myself for ignoring the warnings in the days previously. And above it all, the stench; that infuriating, nauseating smell.

I've had enough. Fate has kept me alive, and now is my moment; the alien stands with its back to me, admiring its fell work. As quietly as possible, I stalk towards it, claws extended. As I approach, I hear it making noises, apparently to itself; "Thuh fak-tor-ee musst groh" or something like that; it makes no sense to me, and I don't care.

I raise my claw, and bring it down on top of the creature with all my might. Just before my claw connects, it hits something invisible and solid, which deflects my blow. The alien appears not to notice; it doesn't even look at me. Instead, a strange nozzle on its shoulder turns to face me, and a bar of red-hot searing light burns a hole through my face. I have time for only one final thought as I collapse to the ground; I'm all for immigration, but there's always someone who has to ruin it for everyone...