I didn't know how long I was out for, but when I woke up, everything was eerily quiet. My eyes fluttered open, my head pounding like a drum. Every nerve in my body felt like it had been torn apart…
"Ugh…" I groaned, clutching my forehead as I tried to sit up. "Where… where the hell am I?!"
The air around me was thick with the scent of burnt metal and smoke. The ship's interior was a wreck. Wires dangled from the ceiling, sparking faintly. The holographic display before me was shattered, its edges flickering erratically. What little of it remained intact showed a faint, cracked image of a planet….
"What… what the fuck happened?!" I muttered, rubbing my temple as I tried to piece together the events leading up to this moment. My memories were fuzzy, but I remembered the insane speed, the overwhelming force, and then… I went unconscious from the insane speed…
I blinked a few times, trying to focus…
I struggled to stand up, my legs shaky and unsteady. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stand up. "Okay... okay, Shin. Get it together..." I muttered to myself, grabbing onto the edge of the command table for support.
I forced myself upright again, my legs trembling beneath me. My balance was off, and I stumbled forward, nearly crashing into the cracked remains of the holographic display.
My eyes fell onto the holographic display in front of me. It was still active, though flickering and distorted. My heart skipped a beat as the image of a planet appeared on the screen.
The display flickered weakly, showing distorted images. But then my eyes caught something familiar—a planet. My planet...
"Earth…" I whispered, my voice barely audible.
Though the holographic image was damaged, there was no mistaking the blue oceans, the swirling white clouds, and the familiar landmasses—it was Earth.
"What the hell!!!…" I muttered, reaching out to touch the damaged display as if confirming it would make it feel more real.
A surge of excitement coursed through me. "I'm back…" I said, my voice steady. "I'm back on Earth…"
But before I could fully process the thought, the ship groaned around me, the damaged structure threatening to collapse. Sparks rained down from above, and I could hear the faint hiss of steam escaping from ruptured pipes.
"I need to get the fuck out of here…" I said, glancing around the ruined interior.
The floor was littered with debris, shattered pieces of alien technology, sparking wires, and chunks of what looked like the ship's hull. The air smelled faintly of ozone and something metallic, a sharp tang that made my nose wrinkle.
I stumbled forward, nearly tripping over a piece of twisted metal. My hand shot out to steady myself against the wall.
"I need to get the fuck out of here as fast as possible, but... now... where's the damn exit?" I said, glancing around the ruined interior.
I staggered toward the nearest wall, my head still spinning and my hand planted against the cold metal. The ship was barely holding itself together. I knew it wouldn't last much longer…
"Alright, no time to waste!!!" I muttered, planting my feet firmly on the ground. "Since there are no exits… Time to make my own exit."
I drew back my fist, the familiar surge of power rushing through me. With a roar, I slammed my knuckles into the wall. The impact echoed through the ship, and a massive dent formed where my fist connected.
"Again!!!" I yelled, punching the wall a second time and then a third. On the fourth strike, the wall gave way, a massive chunk collapsing outward and revealing the world outside.
Sunlight poured through the opening, momentarily blinding me. I shielded my eyes with one hand and stepped forward as the fresh, hot air hit my face.
"Finally!!!…" I muttered, stepping through the jagged hole I had created.
I turned to glance back at the ship one last time. The alien design, once sleek and imposing, now looked like a broken carcass. It was half-buried in the ground, smoke billowing from its engines. The once-glowing panels on its surface were dim and cracked, and the entire structure groaned under its own weight…
"Looks like you didn't handle the crash too well!!!" I said dryly, running a hand through my hair.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped away from the wreckage….
As I stepped out of the wrecked alien ship, the blinding sunlight made me squint, and the heat hit me like a wall. The air outside was thick—not in the way you'd expect, but dense with a faint, metallic taste and a bitter smell of ash and charred debris…
I ran my hand over my face, shielding my eyes from the intense sunlight as I took in my surroundings. The ground beneath my feet was scorched black, shattered into jagged cracks that radiated outward in every direction. Steam rose from the earth, twisting and shimmering in the sunlight…
I frowned, the weight of unease pressing down on me. "Where… the hell am I?! Am I really on earth?!… This place doesn't look like Earth…" I muttered, my voice low and hoarse.
I knelt, placing my hand on the ground. It was hot to the touch, like standing on asphalt during the peak of summer—but worse. It felt unnatural and lifeless as if every ounce of vitality had been burned away.
My gaze swept across the barren landscape. There were no trees, no plants, no signs of life anywhere. The horizon stretched endlessly, scarred and broken, a wasteland of jagged rock and scorched soil…
"This place…" I whispered, unease growing in my chest. "It looks like Earth… but it can't be… right?!"
I straightened up and took a deep breath, hoping to calm my thoughts. But that's when I realized something was wrong—very wrong. There was no oxygen.
My chest expanded, but my lungs burned as if I were breathing nothing but ash and emptiness. I stopped, pressing a hand to my chest as I coughed instinctively. "What the fuck?!" I hissed.
I scanned the sky above me, my heart pounding. That's when I saw it—the sickening truth.
There was no atmosphere, no clouds, no blue hue, and no protective layer shielding the world from the sun's radiation. The sky was a dull, sickly yellow, tinged with streaks of red and orange. The sun loomed larger than I remembered, its harsh rays cutting through the barren landscape, burning everything in sight…
"No atmosphere… no protection…" I muttered, realization sinking in like a blade to the gut. My fists clenched tightly as I stared upward, my mind racing.
The air smelled faintly of ash and burnt metal. My thoughts turned to the absolute worst as I suddenly remembered what I had seen on the alien planet just before I left.
The holographic display… the seven ships hovering over Earth… the energy cannons firing… the cities burning…
"No…" I said, shaking my head, my voice trembling. "No, no, no… This can't be real."
But the evidence was everywhere. But everything pointed to the unthinkable: the ground beneath my feet, the lifeless air, the scorched sky…
"No fucking way they destroyed my world… This isn't real…" I whispered, my voice filled with panic.
A surge of anger and despair coursed through me, my hands trembling as I clenched them into fists. My breath hitched, and for a moment, I stood frozen, staring at the dead world around me…
"This can't be Earth… Right!!!" I said, louder this time, as if saying it aloud would make it true. "It can't be…"
But deep down, I knew. I knew exactly where I was.
I looked around again, taking in the scorched ruins and the lifeless horizon. Then my gaze turned upward, locking onto the blazing sun above…
The memories of the alien ships hovering over Earth flashed through my mind again: the energy cannons firing, the holographic display showing cities being turned to ash, and the planet engulfed in flames.
"No!!!!" I snarled through gritted teeth.
Without another thought, I bent my knees and planted my fists against the shattered ground. The earth cracked beneath my knuckles, spiderweb fissures spreading outward as my energy surged through me.
The air around me rippled, and the ground began to shake violently as I prepared to take off.
With a deafening boom, I launched myself upward with groundbreaking force, the earth exploding beneath me in a shower of rock and debris. The sheer power of my takeoff left a massive crater in the ground, the shockwave rippling outward and shattering the already fractured landscape.
As I broke through the atmosphere, the force of my ascent dissipated, and I came to a hovering stop in the vast emptiness of space. My body trembled, not from the cold void of space…But from rage and anger…
And then, I looked down at the planet while hovering above…
"Wha… what the fuck…" I whispered, my voice barely audible, carried by the vibration in my chest as if the words might shatter me more than the view before me.
Earth… My home…
Or what used to be Earth.
The once-blue planet was now a ghost of its former self, its beauty stripped and burned. The oceans were gone, leaving vast, barren craters where water had once teemed with life. The landmasses were blackened, charred, and lifeless. Where forests had once thrived, only ashes remained…
"No…" I muttered, shaking my head as the sight sank in.
The cities, which once gleamed brightly under the sun, were now unrecognizable ruins. Towering skyscrapers that had stood as monuments to humanity's progress were crumbled. Everywhere I looked, I could see shattered skeletons, their broken remains glowing faintly from raging fires. Smoke coiled up from every corner of the planet like black veins bleeding into the atmosphere…
"No…" My voice cracked. I blinked rapidly, refusing to believe the destruction I was seeing.
The continents were charred and split apart. Massive craters dotted the surface, glowing faintly with the residual heat of the blasts that had carved them out. Rivers were gone, their beds reduced to long, jagged scars across the desolate landscape.
The Earth's atmosphere had been ripped apart, leaving the planet exposed to the sun's radiation. The air shimmered unnaturally, distorted by waves of heat radiating off the broken ground…
My hands trembled as I hovered in space, staring down at the desecration. "No…" I whispered again, my voice shaking. My heart raced, each beat pounding in my ears like a war drum. "This isn't happening. This can't be happening!!… this can't be real!"
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. My breathing quickened, ragged and shallow…
"This is Earth!!!" I muttered to myself, shaking my head in disbelief. "This is my home… This was my home!"
My voice rose into a desperate shout, echoing into the void. "This isn't fucking real! IT CAN'T BE!"
I couldn't tear my eyes away. I didn't want to believe it, but the evidence was right before me, burning into the surface of the planet I once called home. The memories of my life there flooded back—Maki, Joseph, Abdul…
And now, there was nothing left.
"No… they're not gone!!!" I said aloud, my voice trembling as if saying the words would make them true. "They're not gone. They can't be gone!!!"
My eyes scanned the surface frantically, searching for anything—any sign of life, any glimmer of hope—but there was nothing. Just destruction. Just death...
A deep, guttural scream tore from my throat, and I doubled over. "FUCK!" I roared, the sound shaking my entire body. "You bastards! YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!"
But then, something else hit me—a memory, faint and desperate. Maki... The way she used to smile at me, her laugh, her touch. Joseph's dumb jokes. Abdul's unwavering calm.
"They're not gone!!" I whispered, my voice raw and strained. "They're still here. They have to be!"
I couldn't stay frozen in shock anymore. My body moved on instinct, and I hurled myself forward, tearing through space with terrifying speed. The air burned as I reentered the broken atmosphere…
"Please," I whispered to myself as I streaked toward the surface like a comet. "Please… let something still be here. Let someone still be alive!"
I adjusted my trajectory and aimed straight for the city I had once lived in. My speed increased with every passing second, and the ground below rushed up toward me in a blur of blackened ruins and desolation…
"This isn't over!!!" I growled, gritting my teeth. My eyes burned with desperation, with fury. "This isn't over!"
But deep down, fear twisted in my gut. What if it really was over? What if there was no one left to save?
TO BE CONTINUED