Before he could make contact, the creature's hand snapped forward, and with its much longer reach, it grabbed the man by his throat. Without a discernible effort, the tall alien lifted the level four Engineer and slammed his back against the shuttle hull.

Nori yelled and charged at the creature from the back. She pivoted on one leg, putting the entire force of her body’s spin into the kick that caught the monster on its back.

A second hand whipped back, found the woman’s throat, and slammed her against the shuttle as well next to Bulco. The two strained against the creature’s hold, but even with their combined strength, they couldn’t make the arms budge. It was like his limbs were made of pure steel.

The creature leaned forward until its face was centimeters from the large man. Bulco looked back at him defiantly, though his face turned ashen. The creature then turned its attention to Nori, its small, beady eyes scrutinized her flushed face, and it leaned in even closer. Its jaws opened, nearly touching the woman’s face.

Nori head-butted it.

The creature’s head snapped back, though its hold on the humans didn’t loosen. It blinked several times, then the clicking sounds came out again, longer and louder than before.

A metal plate on its arm opened and a flexible tube with a thick needle at the end came out of it, moving as it had a life of its own.

“No!” Nori managed to cry chokingly as she doubled her efforts to escape. Her eyes looked everywhere for help and found Lana’s. The younger woman and Nathan cowered fearfully, holding each other. When Nori’s eyes found hers, Lana felt a sudden surge of courage she didn’t know she possessed. She couldn’t just stand there and let her friend get butchered while she did nothing. She looked around and found a metal rod lying on the floor. She grabbed it with both hands and threw it as hard as she could.

The needle-headed snake had nearly reached Nori’s throat when the bar hit the alien’s on its head. It bounced off harmlessly, not hindering it the slightest.

The needle plunged into the woman’s throat.

After several seconds, it withdrew with an audible suction sound. Nori’s struggling ceased immediately, and her body became limp.

Bulco thrashed wildly and somehow managed to slightly push the hand that held him and yelled: “You’ll pay for this, you bastard.”

The creature let go of the limp woman’s body and grabbed the man with both arms. The metallic tube came out again and plunged into the man’s thick neck without hesitation.

Bulco’s thrashing weakened, and he too was released to slide limply to the floor.

The creature whirled around to face the two remaining humans. Lana and Nathan looked fearfully at each other and stepped away, but the creature seemed content to stand its ground.