Carver tracked the interloper on his heads-up display. The marvels of technology he thought, where I can see these bastards right through walls.
He had only seen one of the interlopers for real, once upon a time when he was still a fresh-faced kid straight off the training floor. He had been on patrol that night; Sargeant Sack had found his porn collection, and decided that "any recruit with enough energy to be whacking off had enough energy to walk patrol".
He hadn't recognized it at first. It was the size of a boulder, and if it hadn't moved he probably wouldn't have seen it at all. The thing turned to look at him, reptilian features in a humanoid face, broad shoulders, and a thick green scaly skin. But what caught him were the eyes: almost human, with a deep golden hue. They held his gaze, almost hypnotic, and for a few seconds he felt like he was there inside it's skin, looking back at him. Then the 'loper hissed and ran, impossibly fast, into the darkness.
Carver looked at the pile before his feet, wondering what it had been doing so close to camp.
The pile was DeLancey. Or what was left of her. The 'loper had been feeding on her, had torn her hard-suit open with its claws and ripped her throat out so fast she hadn't had time to even radio for help.
Carver turned and retched into the sand. That probably saved his life. The interloper had circled around to his rear to attack, and had missed by mere inches.
Carver's training took over, and he had his weapon up and shooting before his mind even fully registered what was happening.
The 'loper never had a chance.
The projectiles were designed with a special polymer inside a metal jacket. Once they reached their target and expanded, the polymer shot out like a spiderweb and instantly hardened to a microfine mesh stronger than titanium, and about the size of a dinner plate.
The end result was an explosion of interloper body parts and blood, and the creature was down on the ground, motionless.
Huh, though Carver, they bleed red, too.
Then he realized that the blood was DeLancey's. He had punctured the 'loper's stomach.
He turned and retched into the sand again.