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They were never the strongest predators. They never needed to be. Each brood carrier emerged from its damp hive with translucent egg sacs fused to its back. Rather than charging its prey, glands along its body released a powerful pheromone that dissolved fear and clouded judgment. Creatures caught in the scent became calm, trusting, and unable to fight. The parasite would leap onto its victim and clamp itself tightly in place with its hooked limbs. From beneath its abdomen, a long, flexible ovipositor extends into one of the hosts orifices implanting dozens of tiny eggs deep within the body’s soft tissues. The process is painless. The pheromone remained in the host’s bloodstream, slowly rewriting instinct. Within days, a single command consumed every thought: Go home. Animals abandoned migrations. Explorers boarded their ships. Entire colonies unknowingly carried the brood back to their own worlds. Once home, the host sought a dark, sheltered place where the eggs matured, feeding on nutrients from the body. When fully developed, the brood emerged encased in a thick gelatinous mass. Though weak and exhausted, the host remained beside it, compelled by the lingering pheromone to defend the clutch from any threat. Hours later the young parasites hatched, each carrying the same pheromone glands and instinct to seek a new host. No invasion fleets ever conquered a planet. The victims always brought the invasion home themselves.