The general found himself in a landscape of sheer chaos, running through a scorched wasteland as explosions erupted like firestorms on his left. Bombs dropped relentlessly, and the blinding streaks of laser shots slashed through the smoke-filled air, narrowly missing him, crackling and sizzling with deadly intent.
He stumbled and fell while protecting what seemed to be heavy artillery-type futuristic equipment. His heart was pounding as the ground trembled under his feet. Every time he fell, he forced himself up, the screams and roars around him blending into a haunting, metallic howl that grew louder and louder.
Everyone dashing beside him suddenly disintegrates as the light touches them. Unimaginable horror surged as he pushed himself to run faster, his legs burning, lungs screaming for air. It didn't matter where he was going—only that he escaped that consuming light.
He ran through a wasteland of charred Earth, scattered with the wreckage of once-mighty war machines and the ashes of countless lives lost to an endless war. Each step grew heavier, a constant reminder that he was the last one left, doomed to keep running with no end in sight.
Then, a deafening silence ensued as if time had stopped.
As he looked back slowly, a fleet of warships that spanned the whole sky hovered ominously. Their sleek, metallic hulls gleamed with a predatory sheen as they positioned themselves to strike.
The air grew thick with tension, each ship's laser cannons glowing, ready to unleash devastation. Then, without warning, a blinding flash tore through the silence.
BOOOOM!
The explosion ripped through the air, shaking the ground as debris and fire rained.
...
Suddenly, Aldric Skye jolted awake, drenched in sweat, and his heart racing. Instinctively, his hand darted under his pillow and whipped out a gun.
He held the weapon close, its familiar, cold weight comforting him as he scanned the shadowed corners of his room. A faint silhouette appeared near the door—a cat's eyes gleaming in the dim light, staring back at him with an eerie stillness. He tensed, raising his gun at it and aiming it at the shape, finger hovering over the trigger.
The cat meowed softly, breaking the silence.
sigh...
He let out a shaky breath, lowering his arm. His breaths slowed as he let the quiet, mundane reality of safety wash over him. The dream's horrors ebbed away, leaving only the cool, dark calm of the room around him.
Aldric gripped his face, fingers pressing into his temples as he exhaled slowly, trying to quiet the restlessness that gnawed at him. After a few deep breaths, he stood, glancing at the clock's dim glow—4 a.m.
With a weary determination, Aldric pushed himself from the bed, each movement slow and heavy as though the weight of the night's haunting visions clung to him. He entered the bathroom and flicked on the harsh lights, which flooded the mirror with an unforgiving glare, revealing a toned, scar-covered soldier staring back at him.
As the cold water splashed over his face, he felt a brief, grounding relief, letting it wash away the remnants of sleep and sweat. The house's stillness settled around him, unnervingly quiet—a silence that amplified his isolation.
He dried off, running a hand through his hair, his gaze drifting around the space. His mind scanned each shadowed corner and closed the door with instinctual vigilance. The rooms were empty, each one meticulously clean and still, as if no one truly lived there.
There was no sound but his own movements, no muffled voices, no clatter of someone sharing his space. He had no family, no close friends to greet him in the mornings or share a word of familiarity. He was alone and felt that truth settle into him with a sharp, biting chill.
---
Heading toward his private gym, Aldric couldn't shake the sense that this house, though secure and well-guarded, was just a hollow shell. Each footstep echoed faintly, filling the eerie void, a reminder that, even in a world he'd protected so fiercely, he lived like a ghost, detached and unnoticed.
He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as he prepared for his morning workout, hoping to lose himself in the physical grind and silence the shadows that had followed him from his dreams.
As a superhuman, Aldric didn't truly need rigorous exercise. His body was equipped with genetic infusions reserved only for the highest-ranking generals—the trusted protectors of the Earth in the past. These infusions drove his cells into a constant state of overdrive, maintaining his physique in peak condition.
Every fiber of Aldric's being was enhanced to endure; illness and fatigue were foreign concepts, and injuries healed with remarkable speed. His muscles never atrophied, his endurance never waned, and his body remained in a state of relentless, optimal performance. He was crafted to be a perfect soldier, immune to the frailties of ordinary humans, his very biology ensuring he was always ready for battle.
Yet, despite his extraordinary gift—or perhaps because of it—, Aldric clung to the habit of daily exercise as if the ritual might ground him, offering him a fleeting sense of normalcy in a life that had become anything but ordinary.
In truth, he wasn't considered human anymore, not to those who truly knew him. As the last soldier to receive the gene-infused enhancements, Aldric was a relic of a bygone era, a figure the current world barely tolerated.
Genetic infusions like his had long since been banned, and some of their contents had even been completely lost. Such enhancements were not needed anyway, as they were considered unnecessary and even dangerous in this new era of peace. His very existence once hailed as a miraculous feat of human advancement, had become an uncomfortable reminder of a violent past that society was eager to leave behind.
tak..tak..tak..
As he walked through the quiet streets, a civilian passed by, casting Aldric a wary glance at his towering frame and the sheer power that seemed etched into his every muscle. With his extraordinary senses, Aldric caught the other person's look of discomfort and unease.
He couldn't help but smile depreciatingly to himself, sighing for what felt like the thousandth time.
He knew what that look meant—he'd seen it often enough.
In truth, if not for his countless meritorious deeds and the powerful allies he had earned, the government might have deemed him expendable. He could have easily been disposed of, quietly erased from the peaceful world they had built, a world where his kind was no longer necessary. Instead, they had retired him, allowing him to live out the remainder of his extended life under watchful eyes, forever monitored and subtly isolated.
Noticing Aldric's seemingly lost gaze directed at him, the civilian gave a nervous cough and quickly scurried away, not daring to look back.
Aldric thought nothing of it as he walked on. Encounters like these had become routine—a silent reminder of the invisible barrier that separated him from the peaceful world he had fought to protect.
Centuries of relentless combat had etched themselves into Aldric, consuming three hundred years of his five-century lifespan. His body bore the hardened strength of endless battles, and his mind, now unmoored, wandered restlessly through a world that no longer needed him. He took solace in the fact that he and his comrades' dream of a peaceful era free from death had finally been realized, yet a quiet emptiness lingered within him.
Aldric turned his gaze outward, taking in the streets around him. Though dawn had yet to break, the city was already alive with gentle sounds and untroubled faces. People moved with easy smiles; their laughter carried on the breeze as if the world had long forgotten sorrow and conflict. New Earth flourished—a sanctuary built from generations of sacrifice and resilience. A faint smile tugged at his lips.
'Yes, this is what I protected.' he thought.
A brief surge of pride warmed him but quickly receded, leaving a hollow ache. The peace he had helped secure felt strangely distant. Observing the bright, carefree faces of those around him, he felt like a stranger—a remnant of a forgotten world.
As he stood there, the weight of his future settled heavily on him: he couldn't imagine spending the next two hundred years in this quiet life, watching the world move forward while he stayed left behind.
---
After an intense workout that would have left anyone else exhausted to the core, Aldric felt only a light sheen of sweat. His pulse was steady, his breathing calm. As he made his way home, his gaze drifted to a large advertisement on one of the city's towering screens. The headline pulsed in bold letters:
"JOIN THE SPACE EXPLORATION INITIATIVE! Discover the Future, Reclaim the Stars!"
Beneath it, sleek images of spacecraft and distant worlds flashed, accompanied by a promise of wealth and honor for those who dared to venture out.
The galaxy had been ravaged during the wars, and resource-rich planets were dwindling. The Milky Way and nearby galaxies had been nearly exhausted by centuries of extraction and destruction, leaving humanity needing new sources. Technological advances have made space travel more accessible. Yet, searching for habitable worlds and valuable resources had grown harder, demanding journeys that stretched millions of light-years into the void.
Aldric's eyes lingered on the ad. He imagined the thrill of an uncharted world, the silence of deep space broken only by the hum of a vessel, and the alien landscapes waiting to be discovered.
There, his skills would mean something again. In the infinite black of space, the distance he felt from the world might finally feel right—his solitude mirrored in the silence of the cosmos.
He let the thought settle. After all, a life of quiet anonymity stretched ahead of him, a slow march through two hundred more years of peace. But out there? In the unclaimed reaches of the universe?
There... he might find a purpose once more.
A challenge that could bring the pulse of life back into his veins.
The weight of the decision pressed on him as he walked, his eyes still fixed on the screen's tempting images of unknown worlds.
Aldric's lips curved into a smile, a spark of youthful energy lighting up his face. His eyes blazed with the fierce determination he hadn't felt in years; a hunger for purpose reignited. It was as if, in that moment, the weight of his years had lifted, replaced by the thrill of a new horizon.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out his commlink, a sleek, translucent device that shimmered faintly as he activated it. With a quick tap, he connected to an old contact—one who might just be able to pull the right strings to get him on the first outbound exploration mission.
"Hello," he said, Aldric's voice brimming with renewed energy. "It's been a while. I think I'm ready for one last adventure."