The Alien Armada

It's been a month since I almost tore this planet apart with my rampaging energy. Whatever I am doing or whenever it is, the thought always lingers in my mind: How can I go back to my world?!… To my people?!… To home?!

I don't know if this place was always a wasteland or if I'm the one who turned it into this hellscape. After awakening my power, no matter how much I tried to control my strength during fights with those alien monsters, I always ended up destroying the entire area... The sunsets here are the only thing that reminded me of Earth, but even they started to feel alien, like a twisted memory of something I once loved…

Right now, I'm floating above the clouds, letting the breeze roll over me. The ground below is nothing but a scarred wasteland with jagged rocks and craters. The air is sharp and dry, carrying the faint scent of burnt earth… Which was also my handiwork...

The sun was setting on the horizon, painting the sky in violent red, orange, and gold streaks. The two moons were starting to rise; their silvery glow was faint but growing stronger with each passing minute. It was beautiful in a haunting way…

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My mind drifted to Maki. Her name felt like a lifeline, something that tied me to who I used to be. I tried to picture her face… her smile… the way her eyes lit up when she laughed… the way she always clung to me… but… nothing…

"What the hell…" I mutter under my breath.

I squeezed my eyes tighter, forcing myself to focus. I should be able to remember her...She was my wife…my world… I have to... But no matter how hard I tried, her face was a blur, like a faded photograph. The same goes for my friends. I could remember their names… Abdul, Joseph, Zhang… every single one of them—but their faces?! Gone… It's like someone ripped them out of my memories and left nothing behind…

"Why can't I remember?!" I said out loud, my voice breaking slightly. "I wanna go back… To home… To my people…"

I clenched my fist and forced myself to keep breathing to keep calm. I can feel the heat rising in my chest, that dangerous energy threatening to surge out of control again. Not now... Not here... I won't let it…

I look down at the sunset again, the light of the two moons now mixing with the fiery glow of the horizon. It's almost too much to take in. "I've gotta figure this out. Maki… my friends… Earth. I have to find a way back…"

But then, something caught my attention—a glint in the sky above me. I turned my gaze upward, and my breath caught in my throat…

There are seven of them—massive, hulking ships gliding silently right past the planet. At first, I thought I was imagining things, but no. They were real…

"What the… hell?" I whispered.

The ships were enormous, easily several miles long, and nothing like anything I had ever seen. Their hulls were sleek and black, like obsidian, with glowing veins of neon blue and violet that pulsed rhythmically, almost like they were alive. Each ship had a massive, glowing core at its centre, like a giant, unblinking eye staring down at the planet…

The alien-looking ships moved with eerie precision, smooth and deliberate, like predators on the hunt…

"What the hell are those? Doesn't look like anything human-made…" I said, my voice low.

I hovered in place, my mind racing. Are they just passing through?! Or are they here for a reason?! Did they see me?! Do they know I'm here?! What are those things?!

A part of me wanted to get closer, to figure out what the hell they were, but another part of me—the smarter part—told me to stay put. Whoever or whatever built those ships… they were not playing around…

As I was trying to decide what to do, one of the ships shifted slightly. Its glowing core starts to pulse brighter and faster. My gut twisted...

Something is about to happen...

And then it does.

BOOM…

A massive energy beam fired from one of the ships… It was so fast and so loud that it felt like the entire sky was being torn apart. The shot came straight at me, and I barely had time to move. It screamed right past my ear, close enough that I could feel the heat, and slammed into the ground below…

The impact was instant and catastrophic...

The ground erupted in a blinding explosion of red and white. The shockwave from the explosion tore through the air with a deafening roar. I was thrown back by the force, tumbling through the sky before I managed to steady myself. When I looked down, my heart skipped a beat…

The area where the beam struck was completely gone... Completely obliterated... In its place was a sea of molten magma, churning and bubbling as the ground continued to collapse on itself…

The destruction spread outward, a 1,000-kilometer radius of pure devastation. Mountains crumbled, and the air was filled with ash and fire...

I hovered there, staring in stunned silence. The heat was intense, even from this height, and the red glow lit up the alien dusk like a second sun...

"What… the hell… was that?!" I whispered, my voice shaking.

I looked back up at the ship that fired the beam. Its core was still glowing, faintly now, like it was recharging to fire another blast. The other six ships remained motionless, watching and waiting. I clenched my fist and felt the energy inside me stir...

"They didn't miss…." I said, my voice hardening. "That was a warning shot!!!"

I glared at the fleet, my heart pounding. "All right, you bastards. If it's a fight you want…" I let the energy rise, crackling through my veins like a storm. "Then you've got one..."

I flew upward and, in the blink of an eye, tore through the planet's atmosphere…

The moment I broke through the planet's atmosphere and entered the void of space, I was struck by its sheer vastness... The black expanse stretched endlessly in every direction, scattered with distant stars that shimmered like diamonds. It was eerily silent, the kind of silence that sinks into your bones. Ahead of me, the alien ships loomed even larger, their terrifying forms now close enough to make my stomach churn…

I slowed my flight and stared at the one nearest to me. Up close, the ship was monstrous. Its surface was a labyrinth of black metal plating, glowing veins of energy running along its length-like arteries feeding some living beast. The central core, which I thought looked like an eye from a distance, now pulsed brighter, its glow bathing me in an ominous light. The ship was alive with activity, tiny orbs of light moving along its surface, like insects scuttling across their hive…

"All right, let's see what you've got…." I muttered, more to myself than to the ship.

As I tried to get closer, the ship turned slightly as if reacting to my presence. Before I could reach it, beams of energy erupted from the other ships, streaking through the vacuum toward me. My instincts kicked in. I twisted my body, dodging left and right as the beams screamed right past me, lighting up the dark space like fireworks…

One shot grazed my arm, and I winced at the searing heat. "Damn, they're not playing around..."

I zigzagged and evaded the onslaught until I was within striking distance of the nearest ship. Its surface glowed faintly, and as I reached out to touch it, I realized it was protected by an energy barrier. The barrier shimmered faintly, like a thin layer of liquid light, distorting the space around it…

"Figures…" I said, clenching my fist. "Let's see if this thing can take a hit..."

I pulled my arm back and unleashed a punch with everything I had. My knuckles slammed into the barrier, sending ripples of light cascading across its surface, but it held firm. The punch's force sent a shockwave through space, but the ship remained untouched. I gritted my teeth and hit it again… And again…And again… Each punch sent vibrations through my arms, but the barrier refused to budge…

"Damn it!!!" I growled, pulling back.

My mind raced with the thoughts of how to break the barrier protecting the ship. Then I remembered—the heat vision… It had worked once before, back on the planet. Maybe it could work here, too. The problem was that I still didn't know how to control it…

I closed my eyes and tried to focus. I thought back to the first time it had happened, the raw, blinding energy that had exploded from my eyes. I remembered the heat building in my chest, the pressure in my head, the burning sensation behind my eyes. Slowly, I let that feeling rise again…

"Come on…" I whispered. "Come on…"

I opened my eyes, and with a roar, I let the energy loose. Twin beams of blazing red light shot from my eyes, slamming into the barrier. The energy crackled and sparked where it hit, but the barrier held. My heart sank for a moment, but then I gritted my teeth and pushed harder as I channeled every ounce of power I could muster into the beams…

The barrier began to flicker. Then form cracks…

"Yes!!!" I shouted, doubling down. The beams intensified, growing hotter and brighter until finally, with a deafening burst of light, the barrier shattered. Fragments of energy scattered into the void, dissolving into nothingness…

I stopped the heat vision, panting from the effort, and stared at the exposed ship. "Now, let's see how tough you are, you motherfucker!!!…" I said with a grin spreading across my face.

I flew toward the ship, grabbed its side with both hands and strained against its massive weight. The glowing veins along its hull pulsed brighter like the ship was fighting back, but I didn't let go...

With a roar, I spun the ship around and hurled it with all my might toward the planet below…

The ship plummeted like a falling meteor, its black surface glowing red as it tore through the planet's atmosphere. Seconds later, it slammed into the ground, and the impact sent up a massive fireball that lit up the sky. The ground shook, cracks speared out from the crash site, and a mushroom cloud of dust and flame rose into the air….

I hovered there, staring at the destruction, my chest heaving. "One down…" I muttered.

But then I shifted my focus to the other six ships. But it was already late….

Their glowing cores began to pulse in unison, and I realized too late what was happening. The remaining ships shimmered, their forms distorting as they activated some kind of jump drive…

"No, no, no!!!" I shouted, flying as fast as I could toward them.

But before I could reach them, they vanished in a flash of light, leaving only empty space in their wake. I stopped, running a hand through my hair in frustration. "Damn it!!! I was too focused on one ship…"

I floated there for a moment, staring at the empty void where the ships had been. Then, I turned my gaze back to the wreckage on the planet below. With a sigh, I descended, landing near the crash site. I landed with a resounding thud, and the sheer force of my landing sent cracks splintering out from beneath my feet. The ground was still glowing with heat, and the air was thick with smoke and ash…

The alien ship's wreckage loomed like a fallen titan, its massive frame embedded deep into the planet's crust. Flames licked along the edges of the crater, and the air was thick with ash and the metallic scent of burnt alloys …

I approached the ship slowly and cautiously. I placed and ran a hand over the cool, blackened metal of the destroyed ship. "What the hell are you made of?! Guess it's time to see what you were hiding inside…." I said, narrowing my eyes.

The hull, though battered from the crash, was surprisingly intact. Its surface gleamed with an alien material that seemed to pulse faintly, as though the ship were still alive. Strange glyphs ran along its surface, glowing faintly in patterns I couldn't decipher…

I stepped back and tilted my head, studying the hull. "All right, big guy, let's see if you're as tough on the inside as you are on the outside!!!"

I took a deep breath, focusing on the now-familiar sensation of heat building in my chest. The energy swirled upward, filling my head with that fiery pressure. Closing my eyes briefly, I aimed at a section of the hull where the plating seemed thinner…

"Let's crack you open!!!" I muttered, the corners of my mouth pulling into a small smirk.

Twin beams of blazing red light shot from my eyes, slamming into the hull with a ferocity that sent sparks flying in every direction. The material sizzled and groaned as it began to melt; the glyphs started flickering wildly. I focused harder, the heat intensifying, until finally, with a sharp screech, the metal split apart. A glowing seam of molten edges stretched across the hull, and with one final push, the section caved inward, leaving an opening just large enough for me to step through…

I deactivated my heat vision and exhaled, smoke curling from the edges of the cut. "There we go…" I said, wiping a bit of ash off my forehead. "Time to see what type of alien technologies are inside of you..."

I stepped closer to the opening, peering into the dark void beyond. The air that seeped out was cold and carried an alien tang, like ozone mixed with something metallic and bitter. I ran my hand along the jagged edge of the opening, feeling the residual heat from my heat vision, and took a deep breath…

"Well…" I muttered to myself, "No point in standing out here." Without hesitation, I ducked my head and stepped into the ship.

TO BE CONTINUED