Complications of Being Invaded by an Alien Race You Never Knew Existed

Chapter 2.2

"We have been contacted by another species."

Murmurs of hushed awe swept through the room but were quickly silenced by a knock of a fist on the table. Forgetfulness of positions as soldiers would not be tolerated.

"They have informed us of who our enemies, the Axians, are."

A screech of a chair scratching across the floor echoed.

"We've no idea whether to believe them or not, but they are our only hope."

Once again, mumbles rose, whispers under breath of speculation and doubt. How far had the Axians undermined human society?

The marshal answered the elephant in the room swiftly. "The Axians have gained full access to our teleportation network. We are unable to travel efficiently," he said, "unable to protect our people."

He paused, letting his words sink in. Maybe that was why Han Tian was the marshal, and nobody else. The power he commanded with his words was immeasurable.

But the words that fell out of his mouth seemed to have flown into one ear and out the other, unlike the reactions his other information provoked.

Still, he continued without hesitation. "The species who has contacted us, who have named themselves the 'Kine', have provided us with valuable intel on the Axians. They have told us their history and their conflict with the Axians."

"It goes like this..."

...

Decades ago, the Kine were living peacefully in a prosperous and beautiful world. They had many cities and technology galore that they used to survive because although their world was gorgeous, the other species saw them as prey.

To repel these other species, the Kine used metal—a particular and unnamed metal—because, after much experimentation, they had come to the conclusion that contact with metal hindered every species on their planet. By the time of the invasion, the Kine had already taken to building everything with metal even though the close proximity with it had always irked them. They adapted quickly though.

It was like any other day, the day of the invasion apparently, when everybody was alerted by their wristwatches—which the marshal had explained was a method for the original storyteller's government to notify their people—to immediately take shelter in their houses.

It wasn't long before everybody was at home. The storyteller, in particular, was in a house with their family in tow. They were all huddled up in their basement, the storyteller's parent and sibling on the floor while they sat on the bed.

The storyteller had offered to switch spots with their sibling, knowing that they would be unnerved by sitting on the metal floor, but their sibling refused because they knew that the storyteller was a bit more sensitive to these things. In hindsight, the storyteller had reflected, maybe the result would have been different if they had let their sibling sit on the bed, but there was only space for one person—the reason being that people of the Kine species slept sitting upright.

So while they were waiting in safety, the storyteller's parent—people of this species only had one parent just as there was only one gender—decided to check out the situation since they hadn't gotten any updates on their wristwatches.

The storyteller and their sibling tried to dissuade their parent, but they vehemently insisted. That parent was actually secretly part of a rebel force in the government which the storyteller knew, so they understood their parent's decision to see if the situation was real. So the storyteller let them go.

While the storyteller waited impatiently, a sudden shock racked their sibling's body. They stood, worriedly approaching them as they twitched once, then twice, and then finally stopped moving altogether.