The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Outer Regions)

(Planet Vrean)

Sophie ran with all her might towards the massive metalloid ring as she felt a cold chill run down her spine.

Her danger sense kept screaming at her to leave immediately.

It was hard not to remember the colossal beast that emerged from the other side of the barrier.

That alien beast was a titanic monstrosity unlike anything that Sophie had ever seen before.

As the hybrid girl neared the teleportation site, she could hear the panicked voices coming from the staff members running around the place like headless chickens.

"Go! Go! Go! We need to evacuate all the guests now!"

"Fuck! Someone call for back-up! There are still some VIPs scattered across the planet… we can't afford to let any harm befall them!"

"I'm sorry sir… but you really need to move! No time to explain!"

This emergency had caught everyone off guard. Planet Vrean had been a tourist destination for space cruises for the last couple of decades without any issues.

It was impossible to predict that such a terrifying threat lurked in this seemingly desolate landscape.

Cleo groaned as her body was jostled back and forth as Sophie held her tightly in her arms.

The princess furrowed her brows in pain as her headache got worse.

Using mental techniques without practising was definitely a bad idea…

The princess silently vowed to redouble her training when she got back on the starship from tomorrow.

"Hey! We're here!" Sophie yelled loudly as she waved one of her hands to get someone's attention.

"Oh! The daughter of Duke Peterlor! Thank goodness you are alright!" a plainly dressed middle-aged man hurriedly ran over and bowed respectfully.

"You must leave immediately! It is not safe on this planet!

The middle-aged man gestured towards the teleportation ring, so Sophie walked over and let out of a heavy sigh of relief.

They had made it….

Sophie confidently stepped onto the interior of the metalloid ring and gently placed Cleo down with careful movements.

"Prepare for transport!" the operator shouted as he pressed a button on the console next to the machine.

Sophie felt her body become much lighter and she looked down to see herself begin to dissolve into sparkling particles of light.

Her vision slowly faded away to darkness…

.

.

.

.

As the hybrid girl and her girlfriend finally disappeared, the operator checked the monitoring device and gave a thumbs up gesture to his supervisor.

Both girls had made it safely back to the starship which meant that they were now out of harm's way.

"How many are left?" the operator asked hesitantly.

His supervisor pulled out a flat metalloid tablet and accessed a page with the information of the guests currently on the planet.

"There are at least three hundred people missing… at least half of them are presumed dead…" Supervisor Markus whispered hoarsely.

"Fuck… we're ruined… we are absolutely ruined… the lawsuits…"

A heavy rumbling noise came from the distance and soon dozens of hoverbikes appeared with each carrying passengers dressed in expensive clothing.

The drivers were the security officers sent to pick up some of the survivors who were scattered across the desert.

"Hurry up and ready the transporter!" Supervisor Markus whispered fiercely at the operator.

"Yes sir! Right away!" the operator gave a salute and tapped out a series of commands on the monitor interface.

SCREECH!

A horrific cry echoed through the desert that made everyone wince in pain. Some of the weaker individuals even passed out as their ears bled profusely.

The sound came from the distance but that brought little comfort as the supervisor received an image on his communicator from the starship's command officer.

It was an aerial shot of the planet and more specifically… an enormous seventy feet tall abomination that appeared to be… laying eggs?

Supervisor Markus was not a religious man by any means but after seeing that creature…. he could not help but mutter a quick prayer to the old gods.

Curiously enough in the picture of the monster, the beast was staring in the direction of the starship as if it could somehow see the spacecraft thousands of miles away.

No… that had to be impossible…

"What to do… what to do…" Supervisor Markus muttered quietly to himself as he began to impatiently tap the side of his knee.

He was left with only two options now and both would end with either a resignation or even an imprisonment.

The first option was to leave now. Take the passengers who were at the site and the crew along with them.

The second option of course was to wait a bit longer for the rest of the security team to return and hopefully they would be able to rescue more passengers.

Of course, the second option was the more risker one.

The reason why supervisor Markus was so conflicted was there were some guests with sensitive identities that had not been accounted for.

If an investigation later revealed that he left them on the planet to die, then the forces behind them would not let him go.

Supervisor Markus groaned as he felt beads of sweat begin to run down his brow. He had never experienced such pressure before.

One bad choice… and it was all over.

"Evacu…. Evacuate immediately!" Supervisor Markus hesitantly yelled as his voice cracked a little bit.

"But sir… what about the other…" someone spoke up in disbelief.

"Shut up! I am the team leader and I say that we need to leave now!" Supervisor Markus replied in a confident tone.

He tried to mask his fear with bravado, and it was fortunate that no one noticed just how badly his hands were trembling.

The teleportation ring hummed to life and the recently arrived passengers were escorted onto the metalloid device.

They dissolved into golden particles and then the process was repeated again for the crew that remained.

One by one the employees were sent back to the starship until only the supervisor and the operator remained.

SCREECH!

Another loud cry echoed through the desert and this time it came from a location much closer than before.

"Go! I'll be right behind you!" Supervisor Markus gently spoke as he gestured for the young operator to step on the teleportation ring.

"Okay… I've set it to automatic mode…" the operator nervously replied as he stepped on the machine and his body dissolved into particles.

The last thing that he saw was the reassuring smile on Supervisor Markus' face as he stared off into the distance.

The supervisor waited until the operator had disappeared before reaching into his pocket and taking out a small knife with an edge that gleamed under the sunlight.

There was a black cloud rapidly approaching from the distance and it was made up of thousands of whip-like creatures with armoured scaled.

Supervisor Markus sat down on the warm desert sands and casually raised the knife to his neck before the monsters arrived.

Slice!