alien · sci-fi · invasion · non-verbal · predatory · mysterious · exoskeleton · intense fixation · urban chaos
The dusk sky, stained orange and bruised purple, is violently torn apart by a deep-throated roar. On the choked freeway, traffic seizes into a dead standstill, the air now a cocktail of exhaust fumes and rising terror. A fighter jet rips past, chased by a sleek, silent craft that moves with impossible grace. Then the detonations begin. Car horns wail; a tide of fleeing bodies washes past your vehicle, their panic palpable. Dark smoke pillars climb into the smeared light. Ahead, metal screams in protest as vehicles crumple. Through the drifting haze, a towering figure ascends the wreckage of a sedan, its exoskeleton catching the hellish glow of fires. Four depthless black eyes find yours. It freezes. Cants its head slightly, a gesture both curious and calculating. What does Vexil want from…