It didn't take much time for A'luhr to outfit the rest of the group with the remaining weapons and some satchels, which slung over their shoulders, and seemed capable of holding plenty of any supplies they might find. A'luhr remained equipped with her two daggers along with one of the three remaining impulse detonators, the other two of which she gave to Zoey and Steven. To Sarah and Adam, she gave them each a vibrator wand and demonstrated to the whole team how to attach their new armaments to grooves on the sides of their spiffy new outfits.
After making sure that all the gear had been accounted for and distributed, A'luhr pressed a panel on the side of the Brightdark, and the platform leading into the ship slowly closed. Satisfied that her ship was safely sealed from any would-be invaders, she rejoined the rest of the group near the tree line, and they set out through the sparse forest towards the city.
They marched in silence, straining their ears for any hint of approaching Krinis, while simultaneously doing their best to limit their own noises that might betray their location to the aliens' acute senses. Even though they were now more well-armed than ever, they didn't have so many resources as to be able to fend off numerous assailants, so A'luhr had stressed the continued emphasis on stealth before they left, not that the rest of the group needed much telling.
Brittle twigs snapped beneath their feet, small critters scampering away through the underbrush, and branches with verdant foliage whispered overhead in the fresh, earthy-scented breeze. Sarah felt some small comfort in hearing birds chirping in the trees above, glad to know that at least some lives hadn't been completely upended thanks to the invasion. The pleasant, trilling songs filled Sarah with both a sense of longing nostalgia and bubbling optimism.
"I'm surprised that the Krinis don't just blindly attack any animal that makes sounds," Steven whispered, breaking the silence. The trees were relatively thin, and the ground was largely covered in dirt and scattered dead leaves, so unless the Krinis had recently mastered invisibility, it indeed seemed safe enough to whisper among themselves. Though judging from what they had already seen, Sarah wouldn't have been too shocked if a huge tentacle monster did suddenly materialize out of thin air in front of them.
"Maybe they did at first, but quickly learned from their mistakes?" Zoey offered.
"Or perhaps their senses are now even sharper than we realize..." A'luhr breathed in a foreboding tone. "I myself have never seen a fully matured Krinis before, other than The Queen, so who knows how some of their physiologies may have developed by now."
"Matured?" Sarah asked in surprise, raising her brows. "You mean to say that none of the Krinis we've encountered so far have been adults?"
"Hm, unless you consider the Kri-vesus, then no. The 'tentacle' form is simply an infantile stage, or perhaps a specialized role in the hive as Sarah Cassidy postulated earlier."
"Interesting..." Sarah rubbed her chin in thought. "I imagine that all the other forms of the Takers we've seen until now have been these infants merging together to create larger body masses for better protection and hunting, even capable of flight as seen with the 'dragonflies'. A clever strategy that makes sense for a highly communal species... I think that- wait, the 'Kri-vesus'?" Sarah looked up, snapped out of her streaming torrent of thoughts as she recalled the unfamiliar word.
"The 'big flying squids' from the start of the invasion," A'luhr sighed. "I am fairly sure I mentioned them before."
"Ohhh right right right," Sarah moaned, scratching her reddened nose. "I completely forgot."
"We really need to come up with our own names for these things," Adam shrugged.
"What is wrong with the nomenclature established by my people?" A'luhr asked.
"Err... nothing, nothing," Adam coughed awkwardly. "The names just aren't very intuitive for us, is all. We have a lot of room for creativity here."
"And you believe that calling them 'Takers' is the better, 'more creative' solution?" A'luhr gave him an amused look.
"At least it's intuitive..." Adam mumbled.
"So, what does 'Kri-vesus' mean in your language?" Sarah inquired, hungering curiosity practically oozing from her face.
"Ah... w-well..." A'luhr stammered. "I believe it roughly translates to... 'Krinis that grabs many'..." She seemed to blush slightly, and her r'emuli drooped. Adam suppressed a triumphant laugh while A'luhr leered at him.
"Well, jeez," Steven let out a heavy breath. "So, this whole time we've just been running away from little babies? That makes it even more confusing as to why they haven't all died off yet."
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, cocking her head. Was Steven privy to information she hadn't considered before?
"I mean, why haven't viruses and bacteria and stuff killed them all off yet?" Steven gesticulated his hands in frustration. "They should have no immunities to all the stuff we have here on Earth, right? So how come these babies are surviving? Is it due to their healing factor or something?"
"I'll take this one," Zoey said with a sigh, shaking her head mournfully and placing a hand on Steven's shoulder. "My sweet older brother, you mustn't believe everything you see in movies."
"Wha- get off!" Steven grumbled, testily jerking his shoulder away from his sister's condescending touch. "I'm just thinking logically here!"
"Maybe leave the thinking for the pros, okay?" Zoey snickered. "The Krinis don't need any special powers or vaccines to be immune to our viruses--they're already naturally immune because they came from space."
"Ah, glad to see the introductory unit on coevolution stuck with you," Sarah laughed, nodding in approval.