InsaneJournal

Chapter Two - In which aliens seem to laugh

The city was nearly leveled.

The skyscrapers which had once graced an oddly apocalyptic (and now, ironically fitting) crimson sky had been pulled down in mere moments by the invading force’s immense sentinel mechs.

Many of the neighborhoods in the city’s center had been flattened simply from the steps taken by these metal monstrosities.

The outer cul-de-sacs were patrolled by warrior droids – smaller, only a few times the size of the average human, but just as deadly as their infinitely larger counterparts – which gunned down any Earth-creature it might encounter, tearing apart what buildings were sensed to house life and not bothering with those which were empty. Such buildings could be destroyed later and with less effort during the final sweep.

Two such warrior droids (or rather, the creatures controlling them) making rounds in the outskirts were granted a surprise encounter, however.

The first creature examined the odd house before them with slight trepidation. “It can’t be possible.”

“I do believe it is, my friend; the technological signal matches perfectly,” the other responded, eying the tall structure with much more interest. “There is an Irken – an Irken Invader, if my guess is correct – housed here.” It gave a curious-sounding thrum, one long, dual-armed appendage slinking up so as to tap the tentacle-like fingers of one hand at a ridged chin, suction pads at the ends of the digits making small popping noises at the motion (meanwhile, the other hand scratched idly at an itch). The other dual-arm maintained its position curled around the controls as the alien continued. “Actually…the higher-ups may have mentioned it somewhere; might be why we’re here on this-” It paused to rove four beady eyes across a ruined horizon, the orbs rolling slightly in what might have been an exasperated gesture. “-otherwise useless planet.”

“Useless as this dirtball is, how upset the creature must be - to know our kind have bested it,” the first gurgled gleefully; it seemed to be trying to do something akin to laughing, though its biology simply wouldn’t allow such an action. The companion understood well its mirth, however, and gurgled in kind.

For a moment, the two merely scrutinized the bizarre green house – one which bore little resemblance to the Earthen-made structures surrounding it – with an amused air before the first spoke up once more, the gurgling tone of its voice suggesting it was trying not to break into its race’s equivalent of laughter. “I shall inform a Sentinel.”