The shuriken struck the staff with a reverberating gong.  For an instant, nothing happened, and the shuriken started to fall toward the ground.  Ryan’s chest was so tight he couldn’t get a breath into his lungs.  Then fingers of electricity licked out from the falling shuriken and hit the staff.

The trickle of energy became a torrent, lightning crackling over the staff and into the antenna.  The alien machine started to vibrate, and the strange sound coming off it changed in pitch.  With a final screech, the alien signal was gone.

Ryan felt like a weight had been lifted off his brain.  His breathing came easier and his vision went back to normal.  Looking up, he saw the antenna was falling apart piece by piece.  Aliens howled.  He couldn’t understand, but the meaning was clear: they were confused and defeated.

The large alien barked at the smaller half-breeds as they scampered up the walls and back out the hole in the hangar roof.  Whatever orders it was trying to give fell on deaf ears.  The alien’s cries filled with despair and anger as its minions retreated.  It turned back to Ryan and Theo, anger burning in its red eyes.

The alien screamed as it charged.  Theo’s suit was overloaded, and Ryan’s was deep in the red.  Ryan dropped his right foot back, bracing for the charge.  The alien was right on top of him, but suddenly it stumbled past.  A half dozen stun cartridges were pumping electricity into its back, shocking its muscles.  General Stewart had his two rifles, and he unloaded both clips into the alien leader, grinning maniacally as he did.

When he ran out of ammo, the old general grabbed another rifle from one of his soldiers and kept firing.

“What are you waiting for?  Let’s see how many shocks it can take.”

The soldiers pulled themselves off the ground, shaking off the effects of the strange antenna.  They aimed their rifles and fired at the alien.  After another ten cartridges hit their target, the massive beast when down with a crash that shook the airplanes parked around the hangar.

Dr. Marcus from the GTR and Dr. Vargas rushed to the fallen alien.  After they hooked it up to several IVs, it stopped twitching and lay still.  Then the two doctors turned their attention to the soldiers.

Everyone got injections from massive needles that looked way too big to be safe.  When Dr. Marcus pulled back the arm of Ryan’s suit and got ready to jab him, Ryan had the urge to run away.

“What’s in that, doc?” he asked.

“Whatever that antenna was doing, we want to make sure it doesn’t cause any permanent damage.”

“Permanent damage?”  Ryan gulped.

“We wouldn’t want you changing into an alien or anything, now would we?”

Ryan stuck his arm toward the doctor and tried not to look at the needle.  General Stewart walked over, pressing a bandage to where he’d just gotten his injection.

“Don’t worry,” he said.  “I’m sure we’ll be fine.  Thanks to you two, we may have found a new way to fight them.”

Theo looked at the wreckage of the antenna.  “It looks like they’ve found new ways to fight us, too.”

“No one said it’d be an easy war,” General Stewart said.  “Now rest up.  You’ve earned yourself a couple days off.  Just don’t get too comfortable.”