My name is Lalik. No proud family name, just the one I chose to keep. Right now, I'm aboard the warship Rex Inter Astra, staring down a battle we're destined to lose. Outnumbered a million to one, stranded in deep space, and hunted by the Calthian Empire's flagship, Dues in Forma Humana, the same monster that erased Mars from the night sky, permanently.
Shit, I just connected those two. I didn't realize it was the same ship. I need to inform my commander that it's that warship, or we're finished. I begin a mad dash to the captain's quarters. Upon arrival, I barged in. Astra sighs, "Could've knocked," he says casually.
"Astra Sir! It's hopeless! They're led by Dues in Forma Humana itself, and on top of that, we're outnumbered worse than ever before." Astra looked up at me.
I know my tone was most likely reminiscent of a scared little girl, but who wouldn't be? That flagship took down a planet; we have no chance of winning against such a threat.
Then, suddenly, Astra spoke, "We've made every being in the cosmos our enemy, it seems. Well, we have no choice but to fight for Earth!" After stating so, he barked an order into our ship's communication before getting up and heading to the deck to see the enemy fleet himself.
I follow Astra as he heads to the deck, "How many of them are there?" he suddenly asks, "Roughly a million, according to our sensors." I replied coldly. I expected Astra to lose hope.
"Alright, charge up cannon Sagittarius, get the firing squad to attack Dues in Forma Humana's command center as soon as possible." Astra said, a voice of unwavering confidence, it was almost as if he knew the future, as if he could deny fate itself.
"No that's impossible," I thought to myself, no matter how good technology gets, there's no way for us to get superpowers- that goes far beyond logic and reasoning. But I didn't have time to ponder things like that. I was given a task to do; that being said, I rushed to the weapon hall.
"Commander Astra wants us to fire on Dues in Forma Humana's bridge," I said, fixing my composure sharply. All the men in the weapon hall simply nodded and began loading their rounds.
As I began to rush back to the bridge of our own ship, the ding of the announcement system played in our ears. Astra's voice was projected across the entire ship as he began to speak, although he seemed far less hopeful than before- the news couldn't be good.
"All men stand down."
Everyone in the weapon hall stood in silence; nobody here, including myself, had ever seen Astra order a retreat or surrender. "What the hell is happening, Lalik?" one of the engineers asked.
"I know as much as you, Arthur," I responded in a dazed voice.
The voice on the intercom picked up again. "The Calthian Empire launched a huge strike on the Americas; everything is gone." Everyone around me went from a state of confusion to horror in a matter of seconds. I did too. What did he mean gone?
The now hoarse voice came over the intercom a third time- "North and South America were hit by an unknown attack that eradicated all life, over 4 billion are dead, Earth has surrendered."
I watched as some of my very own crew began to break down at the news. "T-They're all.. dead?" Frank spoke, his demeanor one of sorrow. He said what we all felt, horror and shock.
A final announcement came on, "We will be returning to Earth as soon as possible."
For the first time in history, Astra & Lalik had been defeated.
Chapter 1; 4 Years Later
I woke up to a loud buzzing; my alarm was going off. My mother was yelling for me to get out of bed- although I didn't want to. It was a warm Monday morning, and schools were opening for the first time since Earth's surrender four years ago. It was a weird feeling.
"Hauhh" I yawned
"Zalman! Get out of bed now, I mean it!" My sweet mother was yelling at me a second time. I knew I couldn't ignore her again, so I had to respond and get up.
"Huahh- I'm coming, I'm coming." I said groggily, my words slurred, I knew today was going to suck more than likely, but I couldn't let my mother down. That being said- I got up and out of bed.
I started off by getting dressed, a Japanese-style boys school uniform. Next, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth- I had showered the night before, so I should be good there.
That being said, I started to clean my hair, styling it into its typical modern shaggy look. I didn't look my best, but there was nothing I could do about that.
I decided the next best action was to eat, thankfully, my mom had prepared breakfast. "Eat up! I made your favorite!" my mom says with a sweet smile, it was a simple American style bacon and egg meal. Although- these types of meals got very rare after the destruction of the Americas.
"Thank you" I said as I began to dig into my meal, devouring its savory taste. "This is really good." I followed up, "I'm glad you like it." my mother responded energetically.
"Alright, I'm going to head to school, I love you." my mom brought me in for a hug, she was obviously overjoyed at me being excited to go to school. "I love you too, and tell me everything about your day when you get home. Also, remember no matter how hard it gets, never lose hope!" she said, "I will." I responded one final time, before walking out the door and waving goodbye. I proceeded to walk to my car.
I hopped into my car- turned it on, and proceeded to leave my family home to head to school for my senior year in high school. I had an early birthday so I was one of the only eighteen year olds in the entire school to the best of my knowledge, so I had to act responsible.
As I drove through my hometown, I began to wonder- is the forgiveness Earth gave to the Calthians really deserved? I personally believed the Calthian Empire should be destroyed- it was reminiscent of a phrase I learnt while studying ancient civilizations.
How did it go? Was it "Carthage must be destroyed?" yeah, that's it. Anyways, that's how I felt about the Calthians, the Calthian Empire must pay for the mass genocide they committed.
Anyways- I needed to get to school before I was late, so naturally I sped up to the speed limit and began hauling myself over to the school I attended. I had ten minutes before I arrived.
After driving the rest of the distance, I finally arrived at the school. I began to walk to my first class of the day when I ran into someone I didn't expect to see there.
It was my old friend, Arneb, I hadn't seen her in years, so it was rather surprising to see her so casually. But that aside, I felt the best course of action would be to strike up a conversation.
"Hey, Arneb, Long time no see." I spoke, hopefully in a confident manner, but I myself wasn't sure.
"Hey Zalman, It has been a while hasn't it?" Arneb responded, her demeanor radiating the warm kindness I knew her for. It had been 3? No, it had been 4 years since I had last seen her. We used to be close friends in our old school before Earth surrendered and everything shut down for a while to help with recovery. Anyways, regardless of how long it's been since we last saw each other, I was glad to see a familiar face.
"So Zalman, What's your first class of the day?" She asked, clearly trying to keep the conversation from becoming awkward silence.
"I have Advanced Calculus." I had always been gifted in a sense, I was always able to figure out things that most couldn't, so a course like calculus was only natural for me.
"Well that's lucky.. I have AP Calculus aswell." Those words came as a shock to me, considering the fact she had always fallen behind no matter how hard she tried a matter of years ago, it was truly hard to believe. Something had clearly changed with her.
"That's impressive, I'm proud of you for making it this far, especially considering how you used to be." I spoke, she quickly responded- "Just say I used to be stupid, I wouldn't mind, I swear." Well even if that's the case, I'm not going to blurt out 'You used to be stupid!" I'm not that blunt, believe it or not.
Anyways, I need to stop talking to myself, that being said, I responded to her. "Let's walk to class together." I for sure blundered there, no way I didn't. "Sure, I'd love to." Wait what? She wants to walk together? I totally nailed that then.
"Alright let's go then." It didn't take long for us to get to class after that, although we were a little late due to me and Arneb laughing it up in the hallway. The teacher didn't seem to mind however, and just noted we were here as he continued attendance.
"Umai Stella" The teacher called out a rather interesting name during attendance, "Was that a Latin and Japanese name? Such a weird combination.." I muttered to myself.
"Here." A sharp voice called out, a near robotical one.
"I wouldn't want to get on her bad side." I said jokingly, bumping Arneb with my elbow.
"For sure." Arneb responded.
Arneb and I continued to speak for the time being, although nothing major happened. The teacher had begun introductions- and eventually, it was my turn. Naturally I walked up to the front of the classroom.
"My name is Zalman Port, I enjoy mathematics, reading, writing, and many other topics- although I don't want to overexpose myself first thing in the morning."
I said- rather robotically. There wasn't anything special about my introduction so I seemed rather bland in comparison to others.
Anyways, other than that, there was nothing else noteworthy in the class. Soon enough; the class ended.
I realized I didn't have my next class with Arneb, so I walked there on my own after dropping Arneb off at her class. We had a rather mediocre conversation beforehand, so I was in a decent mood.
Anyways, the second and third classes went off without a hitch- and soon I had my 4th class of the day, being an AP English course. I was assigned a seat next to the robotical sounding girl from earlier- Umai was it? Yeah that sounds right. Anyways, I felt compelled to start a conversation.
"Hey, Umai was your name right?"
"Yes, yours is Zalman, correct?" she responded in her robotic fashion.
"How's your day going?"
"It's been good." Her robotic tone was starting to get to me, but there was nothing I could do about that- plus, the conversation seemed to be going well anyways.
"What about you?" She followed up.
"Mine's been great." I responded, keeping it vague, I was still trying to read this borderline unreadable girl, eventually, I cracked it, she had something to hide- therefore, she acted robotic so nobody questioned her.
"So, what do you like to do, Umai?" I said, trying to figure out more about the mysterious figure
"Nothing much, I spend most of my time studying." I was sure of it now, the girl was for sure hiding something, but what could it be? I had to figure it out.
"Hauhh" I yawned suddenly, apparently I had zoned out halfway through Umai's robotic dialect. Although- it was quite boring, so you couldn't blame me.
But anyways, I discussed math & science with Umai for quite some time, she was a very intelligent person- having a ton of knowledge on complex mathematical theories.
But anyways- soon enough the class ended, and we entered the next class.
"Hehhhh- Oh Zalamn!" A sweet and familiar voice rang out from behind me, it was one-hundred percent Arneb.
"Errr- Hey Arneb." I responded
"Hello Arneb." Umai said she was behind me at the time- following me like a puppy dog. It was actually rather odd, but there was nothing I could do about it. I suppose she mentioned something deep while I was zoned out.
"Got a new friend?" Arneb teased.
"Hmmmm- Yeah, I believe I do." I responded to her teasing- choosing to interact. As I did, Umai tilted her head curiously, once again, acting like a puppy, it was getting weird.
"Anyways, shall all 3 of us sit together?" I followed up trying to change the topic.
"Sure." both Arneb & Umai responded with the same word. Well, that's a relief! Although- actually nevermind. I'm gonna stop that thought before it brews.
Anyways, we entered the classroom, I sat in the middle seat with Umai on my left and Arneb on my right, things were looking good. Although- this class did seem quite boring.
"Hey, Umai, may I do your hair?" Arneb said with a sweet smile upon her face, while looking at Umai's blonde hair. "It's quite pretty." Arneb followed up.
Although- Arneb was stunning herself. She was wearing a traditional Japanese uniform like I was, but her face & hair made up for the lack of unique clothing. She had black hair that went to her hips, and a beautiful smile. On top of all that, she had glittering caramel eyes, filled with joy. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was just my type.
Umai on the other hand- had relatively shorter blonde hair that spanned halfway down her back, and her eyes were blue. Her expression was relatively neutral most of the time- but that puppy eyed look she had earlier definitely hit me in a weak spot.
I'd love to have both of these two by my side- but that's unrealistic so I should probably shut down such thoughts. But then again they definitely got along, would having both of them really be such an impossible task? Who knows, maybe if I get closer to them- I'll shoot my shot, but for now, I don't want to ruin anything, so I'll leave it be.
"Sure, I wouldn't mind you doing my hair" Umai's response to Arneb's request snapped me back to reality after my perverted delusions of a harem.
Arneb began to do Umai's hair, styling it into a messy ponytail.
"Mmmmm" Arneb hummed while styling Umai's thick and healthy hair, clearly enjoying herself and her work.
After some time- Arneb finished, Umai grabbed a mirror- then lit up to her puppy eyed self, clearly appreciative of the new style.
"How do you like it?"
"I love it! I've been trying to pull this style off for monthsss and I could never get it right! Thank you Arneb! Thank You!" Umai started shouting on accident, her face lit up with joy.
"Quit yelling" The teacher finally had enough of Umai and told her to quit, most of the class had been too engaged in their own conversations to care.
"Sorry sir." Umai quickly switched back to her robotic demeanor upon being told to quit- well, there goes the cute Umai I guess.
Anyways, Umai, Arneb, and myself all sat back down and began to talk- it seemed the day's happiness would never end.
Then suddenly, the bright sun coming in through the window next to us blacked out.
"What the hell!?" I shouted upon seeing the sky seemingly turn to night. I wasn't alone either. "Huh!" "What the hell!" "What's going on?" I heard my classmates shouting in horror and confusion upon seeing the sky black out. It clearly wasn't natural.
"Wow, how odd.." Umai said coldly
"What the hell?" Arneb asked- clearly confused.
"Everyone stay calm and sit DOWN!" the teacher attempted to speak- but even when shouting he was ignored.
Then it happened- the ground began to shake.