[Grim's Ship.]
[Location: Somewhere in the desert, not too far away from Ace's location.]
"Lord Grim," one of the Granians spoke after taking a reading from the computer screens, "the storm's clearing out and the planet's sun is starting to rise. Shall we take action and proceed forward?"
"Hold on," Grim replied while sitting with his legs crossed and stroking his chin. "It appears our human friends here were expecting a little bit of help earlier, am I correct?" He spoke while looking at General Luke. "Well, answer, human. Judging by your uniform, I can tell that you are part of this planet's military. You must have called for more of your comrades to come and rescue you at the settlement we found you, correct?"
Luke remained silent with his head facing the ground. "I'll ask you again," Grim continued. "Did you or did you not call for more of your comrades?" Once again, Luke remained quiet and didn't even bother to look back at Grim.
*BAM* With one powerful kick, the Granian warrior was able to leave a huge crack in Luke's armor. Luke slid across the floor while groaning in pain and coughing out traces of blood.
"Answer me, human." Grim handed a communicator over to Lilly, who, for some reason, was smiling instead of being angry like the others expected him to. "Did he call for more of his kind?"
"Yes, Lord Grim," Lilly replied.
"Lilly," Michelle cried, "what are you doing calling him that? He's the enemy. Don't tell them our plans."
"I believe they called for a good squadron. I think they may have enough numbers to outnumber us."
"I see," Grim smiled. "You're relieved of your duties, agent." Lilly's handcuffs suddenly fell to the ground as she stood up on her feet. She then slowly took off her clothes in front of everyone in the ship, smiling.
"Lilly," Jason cried, "why are you doing this? These Granians are not some kind of perverted species. Seducing them won't work."
"And who told you I'm trying to do that?" she replied with an evil smirk on her face. She unbuttoned her shirt and let it fall to the ground, revealing her plain chest.
"Y-you... y-you..." Jason stammered. "You're..."
Before the eyes of her human comrades, Lilly's body started transforming into that of a Granian. She gained a couple more inches in height as her body morphed. Her knees bent backward, her toes tearing through her shoes and getting replaced by green claws. Her hands became more muscular and grew scales, while her human skin fell to the ground like it was a costume.
Her facial features changed to suit her Granian body, and from her buttocks grew a very long tail with a few spikes on it. "How do you like me now, Jason?" she asked with an evil smile on her face.
"Y-you... you were..." Jason still stammered.
"YOU BASTARD!" Zain barked angrily. "YOU WERE ONE OF THEM. YOU'RE AN ALIEN! HOW COULD YOU LIE TO US?"
"More importantly," Hurt, who was calm and collected during the whole incident, interrupted, "how was a Granian like you able to infiltrate a human settlement, do a human blood test, consume a serum, and gain human Gifted powers, all while adapting to learn our cultures? How did you do it?"
"Where shall I start?"
***********
[Space]
[Grand Master's Ship.]
Grand Master and the remainder of the Granian Forces remained in orbit, keeping a watchful eye over Earth and its inhabitants. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, until one of the Granians spotted unusual activity from a city a few hundred kilometers from where Ace and Cherry were.
"Grand Master, the humans seem to be preparing to go to battle with us once more," the Granian announced, prompting Grand Master to step over and see for himself.
"I doubt if that war is for us," he replied while scrolling through the screen. "Look at this. This human settlement is only a few meters away from Grim and his forces, and behind him... we can see the human military that was in the city Grim just came from. They're following him. If my guess is correct, I say they're preparing to go to war with Grim and are hoping to wipe him out."
"You're wrong, Grand Master," another Granian spoke with great concern. "There are more and more of these human forces gathering together across the world. It seems they're all meeting at Grim's location. If we don't do something, we're going to lose thousands of our troops. What are your orders, Sir?"
Grand Master remained quiet for a moment as he saw millions of military groups from across the world gathering their forces together to go to battle once more with the Granians. Even though he didn't show it on his face, the Granian leader was panicking. On one hand, he could send forces to assist Grim, but on the other, he could be sending them to their deaths since he suspected this to be a trap.
"Set a course for that specific location. Have our forces on standby. If all fails, we'll have them deployed."
"Yes, Sir!"
**********
[ArkVille Military Convoy.]
"General Gene, the weather conditions have stabilized. Our hovercrafts will manage to fly," the military personnel announced, giving the green light to the fleets behind him to start their engines and prepare for departure.
Meanwhile, General Gene Maguire and a few subordinates were communicating with the remaining military bases across the world.
"Attention all military personnel," he began his address calmly. "This is General Gene Maguire of the ArkVille Minor's military for the Gifted. I'm requesting your help in battle. The enemy has finally made a move after four long months of silence, and we're currently in pursuit of them. General Duke of the Nexillian Military group is on his way, and even though our numbers surpass theirs, we need your help. These aliens are highly advanced, and we still have no understanding of the potential of their weaponry. We've sent our coordinates and hope to see you here. Godspeed, ladies and gentlemen."
With that out of the way, Gene stood by the control panel of the hovercraft he was in. With determination on his face and a will to win set in his heart, he took a deep breath and prepared to lead the ArkVille Military into war.
"Listen up," he spoke with great determination in his voice. "Soldiers, we stand on the brink of battle against an enemy unlike any we have faced before. Their technology far surpasses ours, their tactics are unknown to us, and their motives remain a mystery. But we know one thing for certain: they are a threat to our way of life and to the future of our planet. And so we must fight. Some of us may not return from this battle. We may face obstacles and losses beyond our imagining. But we must remember why we fight. We fight for our families, for our friends, for our comrades-in-arms. We fight for the millions of people who sleep soundly at night only because they know we are out here, holding the line against the unknown. We fight for the future of our planet and for the idea that humanity will not be conquered or extinguished by any force. We have trained for this, we have prepared for this, and we are ready for what lies ahead.
"We will face our fears head-on and emerge from this battle victorious. We have the courage, the strength, and the determination to stand up to this enemy and say: we will not be beaten. We will not back down. We are the defenders of humanity, and we will never, ever surrender. So when you stand at attention, waiting for the order to charge, I want you to remember this: you are not alone. You are part of a team, a unit, a brotherhood of warriors who will stop at nothing to keep our world safe. Let us go into battle with eyes and hearts open, knowing that we fight not just for ourselves but for all of humanity. Let's show these alien invaders what it really means to stand strong and fight back. Let's go out there and give them hell, show them what we HUMANS are made of."
"YES, SIR!"
"ONWARDS. FULL SPEED AHEAD."