The Big Damn Fight

The Menace shook with a thunderous rapture as they realized a couple of significant developments had occurred. Two of their forward units had been defeated by a new force that seemingly had appeared from nowhere. Despite the fact that their carefully calculated plans had been foiled, it had been a long time since there had been any challenge in conquering races. The endless quest for power was, after all, endlessly boring.

In the early days of domination, these humans had been something of a enigma, but this was only due to a lack of information on how they behaved. Though at first humans seemed to be operating under a distinctly indecipherable set of rules, after the destruction of twelve colony ships, two armadas and the human homeworld, they had come to understand just how predictable humans were. All the Menace needed to do was apply pressure on multiple fronts and their precious power structure came crumbling down. This new force, however, wasn’t entirely composed by humans, and that presented a distinct challenge due to the unknown factors.

The infantry ship had docked itself on the belly of this human colony ship undetected. The foot-soldiers had been sent to control the hydroponics lab, starving the humans out, while embedded agitators sowed seeds of destruction in positions of power. With the humans hungry, restless and stupid it would have been an easy victory. There would have been minimal damage to the resources the Menace hoped to take for themselves. The game wasn't over, however, there were still two squadrons of infantry on the ship and a handful of embedded agitators, and the Menace would apply them in whatever way was most tactically advantageous. Unfortunately for the Menace, they couldn't see a way that these units would be capable of victory on their own.

They had received this intelligence like they had the rest, communicated through the technological implants of the children. All of the Menace’s children needed to operate independently, but be able to communicate strategy and intelligence back to the source. This being, a gargantuan mass of flesh and implanted technology, was both the brain, and womb of the operation. This “source” was the lynchpin of all Menace operations, it floated silently and undetected behind a large asteroid, as it gutted a victim of a previous campaign; another colony ship.

However, the Menace was nothing if not adaptable, literally physically adaptable, and this ability shaped how they made decisions. All the children had this same ability, to transform their physical selves to a shape that best suited the situation, and were implanted with the technology of the defeated enemies. The Menace decided, if they could not win through subtle manipulation, they would have to go all out. It was time to try a new strategy.

The menace began to put a rush job on the finishing touches of their most beloved and powerful breed of children, and unlike the agitators and infantry, this breed of Menace needed no ships to carry them through space. They were effectively functioned as their own ships, titans capable of great agility and even greater offensive capabilities. In the previous campaigns, the menace had used them to great success.

Only destruction was left in their wake. The Menace was sure now that there would be no more surprises, only righteous battle.