Attention, inhabitants of Earth.
We are the Astrals
Every human on the earth raised their gazes towards the projection in the sky, pulled out of their dazes by the metallic sound of hundred voices which seemingly came from the lone image shown in the sunlit blue sky, distorted unstably by its occasional twitching.
Liam, in all his studies and knowledge could have sworn he nor ancient humans neither had ever experienced this event before. So it was their - his first exposure and experience, and there were no handouts nor guidelines on what to do in case of such emergencies. So the first course of action for any animal or human was flight.
But this..... this is strangeeee....
Why can't I move? Why is no one panicking or running?
His basic human instinct had failed him. No, every human basic instinct had failed them.
Liam's eyes twitched to his sides, and he saw everyone looking up, with a fixed gaze and ... frozen.
Crap!
Everyone was jittering, the shadow mist of panic almost palpable, yet no one moved. The voice came again, this time with an announcement.
We are the Astrals from Astra planet. We want to announce the invasion of this planet for ourselves temporarily till our planet is fixed. While taking over, we will dominate and rule over you, and relay our activities to our Supreme in the Astra planet.
Another astral appeared on the screen and whispered something into the absent ears of its colleague.
And, also your planet is destined to be destroyed and its timer is running down, but before it does, and every one of you is either enslaved or eliminated, the astrals will look for the pandora box here on earth to save our astra planet.
In five minutes, your world will enter the Trial Phase.
But before we do, Welcome to the Ascension Apocalypse.
A huge meteor struck the ocean somewhere far away, and a sonic wave hit the land. Several more were seen streaking through the sky aiming to hit the ground where Liam stood affixed.
With the disappearance of the alien blue screen, a veil-like feeling was suddenly removed from everyone's consciousness, and the city that was once frozen shook off its slumber.
PANDEMONIUM
The first meteor hit the land.
IMPACT
A deafening boom shook the ground. The floor lurched. Huge craters formed with deep fissures snaking in all directions.
Then—a sound that didn't belong to anything human.
A screech.
Not human. Not mechanical. Yet alive.
Liam glanced back just as something crawled out of the dust-choked building behind them.
It was an alien.
Two spindly legs, a humanoid body, a thin line representing a mouth full of needle-like teeth. Its black almond eyes gleamed under the emergency lights as it lunged forward, claws clicking.
Rita who had somehow found herself close to the alien monster screamed.
The creature lunged.
Liam yanked Rita just as the monster's claws scraped where her head had been. They tumbled onto the next building door and fell, barely avoiding being trampled.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Rita shrieked.
Liam didn't know. Didn't care. All that mattered was getting out.
Another impact. The building swayed. Cracks spiderweb up the walls.
"Oh God. Oh God."
Another impact—closer this time. The building nearest to Liam groaned, the walls cracking. Fire alarms wailed. Smoke billowed from the street below.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" someone shouted.
Liam didn't think. He moved.
Move. Move. MOVE.
Humans burst in all directions, some running into a building, some running out, some joining the flood of people stampeding towards a huge vehicle.
They weren't going to make it.
Liam paced towards the vehicle, dragging his bag and trying not to lose it—
Then—a disaster. The ground near the vehicle got hit.
The shockwave knocked them backwards, throwing the majority of them hundreds of meters. Liam hit the asphalt, his ears ringing. Dust and debris rained down. When he lifted his head, his stomach twisted.
The city was gone.
Skyscrapers had been reduced to rubble. Fires raged in the distance. The sky was choked with smoke, meteors still streaking down like falling stars.
A blinding white light engulfed them.
Liam's vision whitened out. The screams, the fire, the monsters—all vanished.
Momentarily blinded, Liam clawed at the air, trying to grab and understand where he was.
When his sight returned, he was no longer in the ruined city.
He was in a sterile white room...and he was not.....alone.
A message flickered in the air before him:
WELCOME TO THE TUTORIAL SAFE ZONE.
Liam's breath came in ragged gasps. Around him, other survivors materialized—some injured, some crying, all shell-shocked.
A cold realization settled in his chest.
The world had ended.
And the real nightmare was just beginning.