Chapter 29: The Sky Burns
Part One: Earth's Fall
Unknown to Dr. Forrest and the Seedkeepers, the defeat of Vorlag was merely the beginning. Emperor Magzorha, blinded by vengeance, had commanded the full invasion of Earth—a fury unleashed, a reckoning unstoppable.
The night sky over New York City had never looked so alien. Thick smoke curled between the towering buildings, swallowing the stars. Above, the sleek, angular hulls of K'tharr warships formed a metallic ceiling, their reflective surfaces mirroring the chaos below—a hellish tableau of fire and collapse. Plasma bolts rained down, streaks of cerulean death that reduced once-mighty skyscrapers to ruins.
On the streets, panic was absolute. Civilians ran in all directions, their screams merging into a chorus of desperation. In mere hours, routine had evaporated—people who had begun their morning at work, with coffee and news updates, now fled through streets riddled with craters, their lives shattered by something beyond comprehension.
Among the destruction, a mother and her young son lay pinned beneath the collapsed remains of their apartment building. The boy coughed weakly, his fingers clutching his mother's arm as she shielded him from the falling debris. A man—face streaked with blood and soot—desperately clawed at the concrete trapping them. "Help is coming," he muttered, though the words carried no truth, only the fragile illusion of hope.
Three blocks away, Dr. Ellison ran, his lab coat blackened by smoke, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He clutched a small tablet to his chest as if it contained salvation—perhaps it did. A handful of fellow researchers followed, dodging chunks of falling debris, their expressions wild with fear.
"We need to reach the evacuation point," Ellison wheezed, pushing forward even as his knees threatened to buckle. "This data… it's all we have left."
On Fifth Avenue, among the rubble of shattered buildings, a soldier braced himself against a half-collapsed barricade, speaking into his radio. His voice, trembling but defiant, cut through the static.
"Command, this is Sierra Squad! We're being overrun on all fronts! Do you copy? Command!"
Silence.
The K'tharr did not simply invade; they consumed. The streets had become a war zone, the city a battleground where resistance flickered but did not fade.
Yet even in the face of overwhelming devastation, some stood their ground.
Earth would not fall easily.