In the empty, dark universe, starlight shimmered like lighthouses above a harbor. Before an orange-red sphere of surging heat, several tiny black dots flew through solar particles, cutting through the storms around the star and sending out wave-like ripples.
A visible energy field surrounded the star, churning like ocean tides. As the ripples spread, those tiny black dots slowly headed away from the planet. As they drew closer, they could be seen to be several octopus-like ships.
The front half of each ship was an oval cargo hold, while the rear split into several longer tentacles housing the main control rooms. Inside one of them, several monster-headed crew members were complaining.
"Who knows what the Governor was thinking? Why does the stellar mining team have to handle public security incidents on the surface? He lifted the agreement banning surface fire. We might have to fire on the city later. If the capital planet finds out, we could be executed!"
Another monster-headed creature, a little taller than him, patted his shoulder and said, "You know the reserve hosts for parasitism have been running short lately. Look, this body of yours is almost rotten through. Only the Governor has the authority to allocate bodies. If we work hard for him, maybe we can get a new body next month."
"I heard the senior agent lowered the requirements for reserve hosts. Maybe there'll soon be an endless supply of bodies for us to use. Forget it, let's get back as quickly as possible, before something really happens to the surface city."
Just then, a piercing alarm sounded. The gathered monster-heads looked around, and one of them hurried to the wall, grabbed the communicator hanging there, and asked, "What's going on? Why is the cargo ship sounding an alarm? Oh, damn it! What is