Nightime ambush

Beams of pure light pierced the darkness. Flashing out across the desert hills on a moonless night. As they raced across the dunes the sand glowed as if under the light of a swiftly traveling florescent bulb. From the highest hill they came again and again until at last an explosion was heard in the distance. A massive fireball erupting, casting an orange flicker into the cold sandy surroundings. Five figures on the hill were now visible, the fire shone off of the golden emblems of wings, claws, and eagles. They stood tall, brandishing their massive tools of destruction and turned to leave. Near the distant fire black figures move with a practiced urgency, quickly sending retribution in the form of gunfire. Plumes of sand shot up from highest dune as it was hit by massive caliber rounds and small explosives but the five had long since slid down the other side. They were safe for now but eventually tracking so few across sand would become quite easy. The black figures now climbed the dune with a speed that bellied their size, hungry for violence. The five now stopped, turned, and trained their weapons upon the dune, waiting. Scores of the black figures crested the hill and took aim at the few down below but without warning a massive craft flew overhead. A mighty beam shot from the front of it, sweeping from one side of the dune to the other. The utter power of the attack cut the black figures in pieces and turned the sand atop the dune to glass. The leader of the five nodded to the vessel which in the instant of its attack appeared as a giant bird. They stood once more and returned to their march deeper into the desert.