Free Apex by Adam Moon

husband.

    A million miles above the Earth
     
    The Earth spun lazily beneath their ship, oblivious to the attack that was about to render its apex species extinct. They were four times further away than the moon so there was little chance the Earthlings would spot them, even if they somehow knew to look.
    C ommander Davok ordered, “Send the mowers, then the microbe poppers, and then wake the troops. Do it in that order.”
    The microbe poppers would eradicate viruses, harmful bacteria, and other tiny creepy crawlies that could weaken or even kill their invading forces. No warrior wanted to be taken down by something as innocuous as an invisible microbe. That was no way to go out. Not all alien microbes could harm them, but there were a handful of cases where it had happened and the results were horrific.
    The mowers would cut down anything over a couple of feet tall, but the mowers used amplified energy that only shot out in straight lines, and because planets are curved, thousands were necessary to get the job done.
    Plenty of animals would die besides the humans but that was ok. As long as enough survived to supply a food source for the coming colony, then the rest were expendable. Since a bulk of the livestock and wildlife lived far away from the population centers, they’d mostly remain intact.
    Davok watched as his second in command loosed the mowers. They shot away silently towards the planet. Next he sent the cylindrical virus poppers that would detonate about a hundred meters from the ground; low enough in the atmosphere to have an immediate effect  but high enough to be picked up by the winds to adequately disperse.
    It always amazed the commander how quietly and languidly a planetary invasion began. There was no fanfare or grand show of force. That would come later when the humans stood no chance at defending themselves from his troops.
    He added, “Wake up the cadets when you wake the troops. I want them to witness this one.”
    Fillo smiled impishly. “It’ll be good experience for them to see a successful invasion.”
    “They can watch from below deck. I don’t want those punks anywhere near me.”
    “That’s fine by me. They haven’t seen a real slaughter yet, and I know they’re disappointed about that.”
    “Well this invasion should satisfy their bloodlust.”
    “I agree.”
     

    Denver, Colorado 
     
    Everyone watched in horror as the twenty foot tall, arrow shaped device fell from the sky and stuck in the road like a dart.
    Several small pops issued overhead as a faint mist fell upon them but they were too preoccupied by the cylindrical device before them to pay any attention to the microbe poppers deploying above their heads.
    People divided themselves into two groups at that point; those dumb enough to approach it out of curiosity and those smart enough to run away. But running wasn’t going to save anyone today.
    The device hummed electronically and then it transformed before their eyes. Several spindly legs emerged from the body. A few people thought that it might start to run around on those legs, but instead, the legs jammed into the road and stuck. The legs moved but only to reposition the arrow shaped device into a perfectly upright stance.
    The unmistakable sound of metal on metal signaled the first car crash just up the block. A window of one of the nearby jewelry stores smashed as looters eager for just such a perfect opportunity took advantage of the confusion. A woman was knocked to the ground by a man trying desperately to escape whatever this alien machine was about to do to them. A single bullet ricocheted off of the metallic body and hit a teenager on a bike, who then cried out in pain and peddled away as though his life depended on it.
    Dogs barked and people mumbled.
    Then the contraption moved again. A single metal rod, about a foot long emerged from the body about two feet from the ground.
    Before anyone knew what to make of it, it spun around the cylindrical body