(“Invasion of the Cryp’lar” series)
Book 1: Extinguish
2320: After the
discovery of sentient life in the Andromeda galaxy, Dr. Michael Ruwan
accidentally calls the sentience to Earth. When an unknown alien race threatens
to put out the Sun for their own mysterious purposes, a vigilante group of
Mars-based military forces have to devise a plan to stop them, before Earth
enters a new Ice Age.
[OUTLINE]
Prologue
[12/06/2320][Description of Nobel Prize awards ceremony and
Dr. Michael Ruwan being awarded the Nobel Prize ‘for the discovery of
intelligent life in the Universe’. Suddenly, a low noise of whirring mechanics
became louder and closer to the building and chunks of ceiling tiles flew from
above the stage, as a large elongated spaceship of somewhat ‘alien’ technology
charged through the studio and discharged a large concentration of red bolts of
plasmatic electricity upon the audience and the surroundings among Dr. Ruwan.
People screamed and panicked whilst trying to escape from the terror of whatever
was inside that ship. A hatch opened from below the ship as it stopped on its
course of rampage to hover above the ground, dropping half a dozen humanoid
creatures onto the velvet stage behind Ruwan. The creatures were armoured
lightly and held golden weapons that glinted in the moonlight and matched their
black and gold armour permutations to the letter. The creatures spotted Dr.
Ruwan and held their weapons above their waists, readying to fire.]
Chapter 1
[08/04/2320][PALM central barracks, Lunar Exploration
Centre, Mars][Description of heavy lunar barracks half-buried in Mars’ red sand,
with a rustic orange tinge to the dark metal, and a sandstorm blowing heavily
outside. Inside, several groups of humans gather around an
authoritative-looking member of personnel, who tells them about the harsh
conditions and that the barracks was having a ‘green alert’ lockdown until the
sandstorm had faded and it was clear for the patrols to move out. One squad of
soldiers (Lucas/Samuel/Daniels/Harrison) are particularly disappointed when
hearing the news; these are the slackers of the Planetary Assessment Lunar
Military; an organisation which safeguarded Earth’s most valuable assets and
investigated conditions present on other unknown planets. (These characters
become important to the plot later on...) They discuss about Dr. Michael
Ruwan’s latest findings on sentience in the Andromeda galaxy that was featured
in the PALM daily electronic report issued to all soldiers to keep them updated
about civilised planets that needed their help protecting. Strangely enough,
there were no articles asking for their help, nor had there been for over half
a decade! ]
The article read:
“It was recently reported that
earlier this week, astrophysicist Michael Ruwan, PhD had discovered incoming
transmissions from an unknown origin and managed to decode them accurately, but
he did not receive a large enough signal to get the full message. Just
yesterday, Ruwan perfected a two-way amplifier which would be put into space so
clear communication between the species and us humans could be achieved;
earlier today the testing proved successful and Dr. Ruwan is preparing to speak
to these aliens for the first time later this afternoon.”
Chapter 2
[08/04/2320][APDR facility, Manhattan, New York][It was always
a stressful time at the Astrophysics Development and Research facility and
today was certainly no exception. Dr. Ruwan was sweating and pacing the floors
of his laboratory for an inordinate amount of time, primarily thinking of what
he should say to the aliens, then the excitement of him making first contact
with extra-terrestrial life, then the horror of what he should/n’t say to the
PRESS during his several interviews. He felt his brow was already caked in
sweat and realised that he hadn’t stopped in his endless loop around the
specimens and equipment laid out carefully along the tables of his lab. From
the tests he had performed with his new machine and with decoding the
transmissions, he was able to work out some words of the aliens’ language from their tones and
levels of incessant clicking noises made
from; presumably, to Dr. Ruwan; several mandibles possessed by these
creatures.]
[An hour passed and his laboratory was full of camera crews,
journalists and photographers bulging into the room, Ruwan making his best
efforts to not allow them to knock over any of his work. And, in an instant,
the whole event, the nervousness, the anxiety, all passed from Dr. Ruwan’s mind--for
now. It was only a matter of time to see if his message had gotten across to
the aliens...wait...he was sure there were some tones that he used in his
transmission that differed from the creatures’ transmission which probably mean
completely different things, but it wasn’t time to worry about that now as this
was one of the only times that his mind was at rest and Ruwan wanted to enjoy
the moment while it lasted.]
Chapter 3
[09/04/2320][PALM Central Barracks, Lunar Exploration
Centre, Mars][The several groups of soldiers were still under lockdown as Mars
sandstorms were known to last months without interference. The slackers huddled
together on their daily routine, crowding around one news-magazine together,
reading Dr. Michael Ruwan’s article once again, but something was different
this time. Instead of reading aloud, they read to themselves – especially “however some communications errors have been
admitted and several of Dr. Ruwan’s tones and clicks could be misconstrued as
another. For the better or worse.” It was that last sentence that made them
realise what potential situation they could have on their hands; these
creatures could respond by coming here and offering their services to mankind
and be our allies, or they could bring an armada with them, ready to burn our
world.]
Chapter 4
[12/06/2320][That was when Ruwan realised his mistake and
what he had said, but seeing these creatures in the flesh warmed his heart, in
a fearful way. He didn’t manage to physically receive his Prize, but he knew
that his life’s work was standing before him; however, he did not realise how
frighteningly advanced this species was and lost control of his emotions before
them. Showing signs of mental weakness, the patrol of creatures marched him to
a drop-ship that picked them up and took Ruwan back to the APDR facility in New
York. After observing the language of the humans for several hundred-years,
they managed to learn it as a secondary language, and explained this to Dr.
Ruwan...before tearing down his machines with their laser pistols and blasters
so that they could never be used to harm the Cryp’lar; this was when Ruwan
discovered the name of the species; he ran to the call centre at the bottom of
the building and looked behind to see the patrol of aliens in pursuit, shaded
by darkness. Rumbling floors and shattered panels of glass indicated that
another drop-ship had noticed Ruwan and was destroying the building to get to
him. His foot synchronized with another rumbling from a plasma blast and he
stumbled upon the floor, he looked up and couldn’t believe that he made it to
the call centre from the top floor in six minutes flat. His leg was stuck under
a surprisingly heavy sheet of glass but he eventually struggled free and lunged
himself at the nearest videophone located on the far wall. Ruwan called the
Lunar Exploration Centre and told them what had happened and to divert their
resources to help Earth immediately from the aliens. After he hung up,
breathless still, he turned to see all six Cryp’lar warriors readying their
weapons once again at him.]
Chapter 5
[12/06/2320][PALM Central Barracks, Lunar Exploration
Centre, Mars][The soldiers are relieved that they finally get to do something,
but cannot help as the sandstorm is now worse than ever and is put on “Red
Alert”, meaning that no one is allowed outside of the barracks no matter what.
Realising they had to do something to help Earth as they felt empathetic
towards Dr. Ruwan’s struggles, the squad of slackers disobeyed orders and left
Mars in one of the escape pods that detach from the sides of the barracks.
Fully equipping themselves before they left, the team has enough supplies to
escape the invasion on Earth. Meanwhile, a huge Cryp’lar battle-cruiser that
carried 1/3 of the armada with them had noticed the path that the squad took
away from Mars and followed it to the Lunar Exploration Centre; there they
deployed smaller drop-ships to drop enemy troops directly on top of the
buildings to kill anyone inside, using their powerful laser cutters that were
on the underside of all Cryp’lar drop-ships. Inside the barracks, the authoritative-looking
member of personnel ordered the soldiers to get ready to fight back, as he
knows it will be a perfect distraction away from Earth for most of the alien
fleet.
Chapter 6
[13/06/2320][Cryp’lar TSC-008-M (Mothership)][Ruwan looked
at his watch and knew it was well past midnight by the time he boarded the
Cryp’lar Tactical Super Carrier, as a hostage, but endeavoured to investigate
during his incarceration aboard the unknown vessel. He soon entered a room
after passing many heavily armed and armoured warriors (most likely guards) and
there he stared upon the Commander of the armada, Kuel’lar Shan, with his
invasion fleet—Before The Seventh Moon—bombarding the planet below them. Shan
asked Ruwan why humans would want to challenge the mighty Cryp’lar and
suggested that it would be suicide for them. Then, Ruwan asked Shan why he was
attacking Earth. “Earth? Your weak planet
is a mere diversion from our true goal, we will extinguish your Sun and absorb
it’s energy into holding tanks on our cruisers, then take it back home where we
can harvest its true power for ourselves!” Shan stated. Ruwan immediately
argued with this and suddenly a Cryp’lar guard held its staff towards Ruwan’s
throat, pinning him against the wall as he struggled to break free. After a
moment’s consideration, Shan approached Ruwan in his helpless state, face to
face. “Do you like your precious Sun, do
you feel its warmth every day, does it make you feel safe?” Shan asked this
rhetorically, then backed up with anger: “Do
you realise the power of our race, the majesty of our purpose...if we take the
Sun, your people no longer feel safe, they can no longer feel its warmth, only
the coldness of fear! You will freeze in eternal Winter, human scum! After
he was sure the Commander had finished his speech, the guard holding him
released Ruwan and delivered one swift kick to the abdomen, before joining Shan
with his work.]
Chapter 7
[13/06/2320][ESCAPE POD DELTA B-6 Crash Site][Description of
smoke, dust and rubble filling the air and ground as each member steps out of
the pod, coughing vigorously in turn. After exchanging humourus pleasantries,
they decide to make their way to the highly damaged APDR facility, hoping to
find Dr. Michael Ruwan that they have all read so much about. When they find
that Ruwan has been taken, Harrison discovers that a drop-ship has spotted them
and is blasting the weak spots of the tall building, causing it to eventually
collapse under its own pressure, narrowly avoided Samuel from getting hurt.
But, the squad was more than ready for when the drop-ship came back around and
started landing troops onto ground level for a fire-fight with the soldiers.
Pre-occupied with the fight, Lucas didn’t see the drop-ship swoop back around
and shoot at him. KABOOM! After a direct attack by the ship, Lucas was left
unconscious on the ground a few yards away from the fight, as the blast carried
his body. Knowing that they were lost without their leader, the squad retreats
to Lucas’ position so Samuel can reach a medical kit from the escape pod and
treat Lucas. Meanwhile, Harrison and Davies were using heavy weaponry to mill
through the seemingly-endless reinforcements that were being dropped down at
the end of the street; the Cryp’lar were still getting too close to them, this
was it. Desperate times called for desperate measures.]
Chapter 8
[13/06/2320][PALM Walkway B-2, Lunar Exploration Centre,
Mars][Description of Cryp’lar advancing through a long corridor, whilst
military forces are doing whatever they can to protect their side of the
corridor, as it leads to the Centre Barracks and they need as much time as they
can get. A leader of these forces issues military commands to the others and
they respond without hesitation. Two spec-ops soldiers charge in front of the
fighting troops with heavy, grey, flamethrowers in their hands. Their armour
was significantly more than the general troops as to support the mass of the
weapons that they specialized in using on the battlefield. Two streams of continuous
flames surged out of the weapons simultaneously, burning the squad of advanced
Cryp’lar troopers that were dumb enough not to retreat beforehand. As many of
the components of the Cryp’lar armour were organically-based, the alien
warriors were not able to hold back their inevitable deaths when matched with
the heat coming from the advanced human war technology. The flames sparkled in
the black visors of the specialist troopers, no expression on their emotionless
faces, as if they were experienced in this sort of warfare before and have seen
many horrors since their commissioning into the military. In a manner of
seconds the hall was filled with smouldering ashes and burnt metal from the
remaining armour. Before long twice as many Cryp’lar burst through the end of
the corridor, determined to break through the human’s ‘blockade’ of soldiers.
The leader of these troops ordered the spec-ops troopers to pull away from the
frontline as they were needed elsewhere in other skirmishes around the
Barracks, and continued to engage the new aliens with his original troops, who
eventually became overwhelmed by the sheer number of Cryp’lar soldiers the
enemy had at their disposal and were forced to retreat behind the steel
barricade that was one of the entrances leading inside the Central Barracks.
The corridor shook as what sounded like a medieval battering ram hammered down
above the structure. The authoritative leader, tired from years of stress,
watched in vain from the other side of the heavy door as empty alien drop-ships
blasted plasma bolts at the door from high above what was left of the
corridor’s long ceiling, smoking from the surge of energy pressured onto it
moments before. At first, the bolts quickly dissipated against the reinforced
metal of the door, then, after a moment’s silence, a huge blast impacted with
the door with a force of energy that was large enough to shake the entire base.
As the door was launched through the Barracks with an impressively frightening
speed, a flash of red, electrified light filled the structure and blinded
everyone in its path with its strong intensity.]
Chapter 9...
Book 2: Vanquard
2326: During the
planetary war between the mysterious Cryp’lar aliens and the humans, a squadron
of breakaway military soldiers discovered the location of the Cryp’larian home
world; Vanquard; and managed to unlock a few of its primitive secrets.
After six long years
of bloodshed, surviving astrophysicist Dr. Ruwan decides to unlock his enemies’
true purposes for stealing the galaxies’ gas giants by fleeing from Earth, in
its most desperate time of need.
Book 3: Resolute
2327: With the true
intentions of the alien threat shown, weaknesses are found in their expansive
militia that are delicate to the stability of their race’s very survival. Their
life holding precious to them, the Cryp’lar would have no choice but to end the
war and leave the Milky Way galaxy, or have they got one more card up their
sleeve that could turn the war back into their favour?
Book 4: Aftermath
2340: A new
generation is ushered in to help rebuild their world and it seems that the
secrets of the war between the humans and Cryp’lar have not all been
discovered; clues towards the events that occurred in the final days of the war
are scattered amongst the ruins of an overwhelming empire. Alien helmets in the
debris; recovered transmissions from a Dr. Michael Ruwan stay hidden; records
of the war are erased on Earth and Vanquard; and a lone monument stands on
Mars.
