Forty years ago_
It was the first time it occurred. No one knows where it came from or what its purpose was. But one thing was for sure: it caught humanity off guard. It started with some light wind around the grasslands. Clouds unexpectedly appeared. Weather forecasters predicted light rain in the city nearby. The clouds kept increasing. The next day, weather forecasters changed their predictions and advised civilians to stay at home, for a big storm was coming.
"However, there is nothing to worry about, as according to its direction, it will not hit the city."
If only they had known the storm should have been the least of their worries. Energy continued building up on the grassland. It caught the government's attention.
"Sir, it keeps getting bigger and bigger with each passing hour. Should we tell the civilians to evacuate before it becomes unstable?"
The Principal Secretary of Interior and National Administration thought for a while. Strong winds had already formed, with hailstones occasionally hitting the area. Hailstones large enough to break car wind screens.
"Yes."
So much energy had built up, there was a deep humming sound in the air. The police tried to keep the people calm, but they forgot one thing: fear was contagious. Nothing could stop the rumors.
"The end has come!" One person shouted as he ran down the road, the wind making his steps unstable. Women covered their children to shield them from the strong winds. The rainfall had paused, giving them a chance to leave the only home they knew. It was a large city that took about two days to evacuate.
Some people refused to leave. They called the others cowards. You can guess where they ended up. (though you would probably be wrong)
Once enough energy was gained, sparks started forming in the air. Then… Boom! It wasn't a normal explosion. The first wave carried energy unknown to humans. To this day, scientists still can't explain what it was made of, though some speculations exist. No one knows how far it has spread. The second carried electromagnetic energy, killing every electrical appliance within a ten-mile radius. The third, sound energy, is loud enough to deafen any organism within a three-mile radius. It could be heard across the continent. Then, finally, came the heat. I believe that needs no elaboration.
Many termed it as one of the biggest natural catastrophes, though arguments about how natural it was sprouted everywhere. Despite occurring in the grasslands, although people had been evacuated from the area, over fifty thousand people lost their lives. They had underestimated the effects of the explosion. Many thought the statistics about the explosion were exaggerated, but the mass graves that were built about four kilometers away from the city convinced them otherwise.
People called it a disaster, and they were right. But it was also some form of a blessing.
From that occurrence came the first artifacts, objects that were imbued with magical energy, objects that defied the laws of physics and reality altogether. It is assumed that the first energy wave was the one that filled normal objects from the city with this magic.
But something else also came from the explosion. Beings like nothing the world had seen before. Anyone who survived an encounter with these beings was left with broken, traumatised. Most went crazy, screaming that reality was not as we knew it. The beings that appeared on that day were never caught or eliminated. They just disappeared.
More of them started appearing all over the world, though the latecomers were weaker, but that didn't make it any easier to defeat them. Conventional weapons had little effect on them. Their goal seemed to be to retrieve the artifacts at all costs.
A few months later, during a national government meeting_
"We should just collect every artifact and put them all in one location, then the hybrids can come and collect them, as they seem to have no interest in anything else," one of the gentlemen said. He was speaking out of fear, though I must say, he was justified. He had witnessed firsthand the brutality of the hybrids.
"So you're suggesting we abandon the technological value of these artifacts? That is unacceptable. These artifacts are a blessing from above, and the hybrids are just a test to see how willing we are to defend them. I say we incorporate these artifacts into our weapons and use them to fight off any hybrids that pop up."
There was a major flaw in his suggestion, which was addressed by a man who seemed to be in his mid-forties.
"No one knows how many of these hybrids exist, from wherever they come, so we do not know how many will be sent before they give up on their pursuit, or decide to launch a full-scale invasion. However, for the time being, we can use the artifacts to level up our technology, which would be a major achievement for humanity."
He paused for a while, everyone waiting for him to address the major issue at hand: how would we deal with the hybrids?
"As for the appearance of the hybrids, an organisation is already being established to train agents on how to engage hybrids in combat. It will be central to handling matters of hybrids and artifacts. Until its completion, the police force will deal with the hybrids, using the weapons created by the organisation ever since the appearance of the hybrids. And the organisation's name will be The Alliance. I now declare this meeting over."
The whole hall remained silent.
'Always ten steps ahead, as usual. Mr Virek Arion, the most powerful man in this country.'