Jeff was leaving on a scouting round again. He said that he had seen an interesting new building which we might be able to blow up if we got close enough. While it certainly was a provocation to the invaders, with all the known underground sanctuaries already either destroyed or flooded until they were underwater, we were safe. It would definitely send a message: We may hide, but we are not defenseless. You are not welcome here.

They say that there's no place like home. I say that they're right.

We had been hunting the Daylight Beast for a week when we finally found it.

When the warring civilization attacked Earth, many a good person went to war with them, quoting an old movie from the 1990s. They were blinded by their own ideals, their excessive belief in themselves and our war technology despite of Earth being heavily into pacifism and commerce over war and conquering for a couple of centuries.

That day was supposed to be a fun day. Olly and I had organized a charity run for us kids with our friends: each participant would pay the one-euro participation fee and we would all race to the top of the hill just outside our town. The winner would get an ice cream of their choice from our local sellers and the money would go to the local animal shelter.

"Well, nobody's perfect." I shrugged. "Well, nobody told you to toss your expensive gear that we're still paying into the beast's mouth!" the team chief, Escargot — yes, he did kind of look like a snail — yelled in my face.