[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/xQRVOpA.png[/img][/center]

[center][b]Pacific Point, California[/b][/center]

Why wasn't the invasion over by now? 

No self-respecting Arlaeekan dared to voice that question out loud, of course, but as the humans continued to resist and daily objectives were being held back further and further, it became inescapable as the invading armies were forced to take the city building by building, sometimes room by room. Still, though the advance was slow, it was still an advance, and with the help of their capital ship arriving to provide much needed fire support, this farce of a resistance could be put to a swift end.

Thus emboldened, the Arlaeekans began their advance into Downtown, throwing themselves against the defensive works hastily thrown together by the messy hodgepodge of civilians, law enforcement, and National Guardsmen making up the human resistance, a suicidal one that only held until the aliens brought their armor to bear. On Brook Street, a security guard popped up over the barricade with his shotgun, blasting the face off of an alien approaching and ducking under a flurry of heated plasma. Next to him, one of the teens throwing Molotovs over the wall collapsed screaming, his arm sizzling from a direct plasma shot. Swearing under his breath, he waited for the plasma fire to cease before jumping back up and unloading another round of buckshot. Before he could pull the trigger, the entire squadron, at least six of them, were suddenly surrounded in a purple haze before flying towards one another and colliding in a heap. The guard couldn't quite believe his eyes before a flash of purple appeared on the barricade next to him.

[color=MediumOrchid]"Looks like I got here just in time!"[/color]

The security guard blinked, not recognizing the squid-like person crouching on the barricade, the third eye between the usual two glowing beneath her hair. After a moment though, he realized there was something oddly familiar about the strange purple...alien?

"...Voyager?" he asked cautiously. "Why you lookin' so different?"

[color=MediumOrchid]"New jacket!"[/color] she declared brightly. [color=MediumOrchid]"Not the only thing new I'm sporting either!"[/color] With a wave, a portal opened up on the wall and a bundle of alien plasma rifles tumbled out, ready to be used by the humans against their owners.

"Man, why don't we have more aliens on our side?" a burly biker guy said as he armed himself with his new weapon as a national guardsmen jumped up from his radio set.

"Hey, I just heard from one of our scouts," the guardsmen reported. "The xenos are setting up something on the roof of the Bailey Building. Could be an artillery piece."

[color=MediumOrchid]"I'm on it!"[/color]

Voyager tumbled backwards into another portal on the ground, appearing out the other end on a rooftop overlooking the shorter Baily Building. Definitely five aliens setting up some big gun, they noticed. Should be easy, perfect chance to flex their muscles a little with these new powers. Which...didn't have anything to do with physical strength so the metaphor doesn't work, but whatever. Opening another portal, Voyager hopped through and landed on top of the cannon barrel. They probably should have used their stunned surprise at seeing them to take them down, but there was one choice line they heard from Jordan that Voyager was just itching to use since they saw this thing.

[color=MediumOrchid]"I see we're compensating for something,"[/color] Voyager snarked at the Arlaeekans. [color=MediumOrchid]"Is this why you're invading this little blue planet? For the little blue pills?"[/color] Voyager had no idea what a little blue pill was, but the annoyed expression on the lead Arlaeekan's face was worth it.

"Kill her!" the lead alien sneered. Voyager effortless swung around to avoid the fire, hanging from the barrel by their legs.

[color=MediumOrchid]"I kinda prefer 'they',"[/color] Voyager retorted, raising their hands and yanking the rifles out of their grip via Psionics. [color=MediumOrchid]"I also prefer you didn't have these."[/color] Dropping off and popping out a portal behind them, Voyager dodged a sudden dagger swipe and flung two of them into a wall with a hard thump. [color=MediumOrchid]"You on the other hand, can have this back!"[/color] Voyager said, flinging a discarded rifle and beaning one of the aliens right between the eyes. Turning around with a grin on their face, the one good alien on the planet found themselves staring down a heated plasma barrel.

"Vermin-loving filth!" the translator hissed at them as they pulled the-

*CLANK*

Voyager nearly flinched as the Arlaeekan trying to shoot them suddenly went limp, the gun slipping from his grip as it collapsed in front of the fifth Arlaeekan that struck him over the head with a cannon shell. Voyager stared at him in confusion as the Arlaeekan grinned at them.

"You...TREACHEROUS SCUM!"

Voyager spun around as an unseen Arlaeekan suddenly jumped out, blasting him in the chest with his plasma rifle. Voyager immediately grabbed him with their Psionics and threw him into the wall and turned around to see the traitor Arlaeekan still standing, but instead of a gaping wound or burn where the plasma bolt hit him, there was a silver colored hole punched straight through, which closed up and changed colors to match the Arlaeekan uniform. The traitor alien only looked a little stunned from the experience if that.

"Uh...owwww, that....hurt?" the Arlaeekan said awkwardly before shaking his head. "Bah, no need to blend in now I...HEY!"

The Arlaeekan shot an arm towards Voyager that suddenly transformed into a semi-translucent, metallic silver appendage. Shooting past them, it grabbed the alien trying to come up behind Voyager with his own knife and slammed them hard into the cannon, distorting the barrel fiercely. Voyager, utterly shocked, turned to watch the appendage shrink back into an arm as the Arlaeekan suddenly transformed, changing into a tall, silver-colored humanoid, featureless except for a pair of glowing eyes, dressed in some sort of blue jumpsuit.

[color=MediumOrchid]"Who...what are you?"[/color] Voyager asked.

"Proto, GCSA," the silvery being said proudly, its natural metallic sounding voice coming through now. "Man it's nice to be back to normal again, I've been in deep cover so long on these guys that I think I was getting dumber."

Something seemed to click in Voyager's head at these words. [color=MediumOrchid]"Wait...you're another alien! Like me!"[/color]

Proto blinked his glowing eyes. "I...yeah I guess so. Is that odd around here?"

[color=MediumOrchid]"I'm the only other alien I know! Besides...you know..."[/color] Voyager kicked one of the fallen Arlaeekans in the crotch to prove her point. An explosion suddenly echoed from downtown, prompting Voyager's interest. [color=MediumOrchid]"Crud, I need to get going, they're on the move again."[/color]

"Need an extra pair of hands?" Proto asked, splitting his two arms into pairs to demonstrate. "I'd love to crack a few Arlaeekan skulls to get the taste of fashy genocidal fruitcake out of my mouth."

Voyager grinned. [color=MediumOrchid]"We could use all the help we can get right now."[/color]

Moments later, another Arlaeekan column was surprised by a portal suddenly opening in their midst, and a pair of aliens leaping out to confront them. Weaving through plasma fire, Voyager flung more aliens through the air as Proto flowed past them, landing jabs and stabs from his tentacle-like limbs. Taking a moment to breath after she pulled another Arlaeekan fighter from the sky, she turned to her new ally as he reformed, from a gelatinous mound into his usual form.

[color=MediumOrchid]"So...you know about these Arlaeekans?"[/color] Voyager asked, ducking underneath a blast of plasma.

"Oh yeah, real dirtbags. Just love invading and conquering new worlds because they think they're better then you," Proto explained. "Kinda surprised you don't know, the Celesarans have always hated them more then anyone else, and that's saying something."

Voyager blinked in surprise before moving on to the important questions. [color=MediumOrchid]"So, if nobody likes them, how come they're still around?"[/color]

"Because they're powerful and scared half the galaxy into letting them do their thing," Proto said with a hint of venom in his tone. "Even the Concord's too scared to take them on, they just send me to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't hurt us directly."

Voyager opened their mouth to respond but suddenly felt a strange sensation of dread as the street was cast into shadow. Glancing upwards, the two aliens saw the massive Arlaeekan ship emerging from the portal overhead.

"Well at least they know how to keep things interesting," Proto said.

[color=MediumOrchid]"I've taken down things in space before,"[/color] Voyager declared, rolling up the sleeves on their jacket. [color=MediumOrchid]"Bring it on."[/color]

As the two pondered the momentous task of defeating this ship, a smaller portal suddenly opened up beneath the ship, then more popped open as they began spewing out smaller, fast moving ships.

[color=MediumOrchid]"Those...aren't Arlaeekan," Voyager realized.[/color]

And on Brook Street, one of the dropships landed in the path of the approaching Arlaeekan squadrons. The humans holding the line watched in awe as the doors opened up and the sound of roaring metal and hissing steam filled the air. Over the din a voice could be heard.

[color=f7941d]"By infernal steel, they shall be destroyed! Onward!"[/color]