September 26, 2268, Earth Orbit
The silence of the void of space allowed Michael to fully process the truly unique predicament he was in. He was now the last human being in existence.
Only 5 years prior, the Solar System was filled with humans scattered across the various planets, moons, and asteroids that orbited the Sun. Recent developments in creating stable wormholes for interstellar travel gave many hope for a bright future.
The collective hopes of Humanity's future were destroyed when the Zuvilor invaded the Solar System. Before first contact could be achieved, they struck first and started a war to eradicate every human in existence and claim Earth and the Solar System for themselves.
In time, we learned that they collectively fled their home system, Epsilon Eridani from an unknown threat. They had lost crucial knowledge along the way. They sought to rebuild on the surface of Earth, and expand from there. That gave us a fighting chance.
Michael's role in the war was quite simple. He was a footsoldier from Earth. Specifically, he was a Guardian foot soldier for the Space Force branch of the Union of North American States or U.N.A.S for short.
Before the outbreak of the war, combat in space aboard starships was undergoing an unexpected change. The lethality of certain firearms in ship boarding combat ran the risk of depressurization, killing both the attackers and defenders. Due to that, an older form of combat was making its return in an updated manner.
The exoskeleton armor that every soldier wore enhanced the strength and speed of its users. It also allowed for the reintroduction of bladed combat when use of firearms in certain pressurized spaces would guarantee the deaths of both attackers and defenders.
The blades themselves weren't physical, but rather made out of plasma. A specific attachment on the wearer's armored wrist would activate. Using a miniature magnetic field, the plasma would shape itself into the form of a sword.
The importance of the updated form of swordsmanship became important for space borne foot soldiers to learn. Use of such weapons on planetary and lunar surfaces was less effective due to gravity from said celestial bodies interfering with the shape of the plasma.
Michael was one of many Guardian foot soldiers trained in such a manner. Overall, his skill was average. Throughout the war, he had participated in numerous boarding actions that further crippled the Zuvilor's ability to rebuild their collective fleet.
For the first three years of the war, Humanity constantly lost and regained territory that the Zuvilor took from them. The furthest extent of Humanity's presence was reduced to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
During the last two years of the war, the Zuvilor began a suicidal offensive to destroy the last colonies of humanity. Around that same time, the many governments across Earth, Luna, and Mars began collaborating to build a fleet of starships equipped with functional wormhole drives. Their destination would be the Trappist-1 star system. They would be the last remnants of Humanity tasked with rebuilding their civilization.
Due to the Zuvilor losing key knowledge and technologies throughout the war, they lost the ability to colonize the other planets and moons in the Solar System. As such, the capturing of Earth for immediate colonization became paramount. Earth's condition closely resembled the home world they collectively fled. For a time, the other planets and moons were only used to gather resources for their fleet until even that was lost to them due to Human sabotage.
The latter months of the war saw the colonies on Mars destroyed. Luna held on longer but eventually they were also annihilated. Both worlds managed to wound the Zuvilor significantly, but not enough to stop what was inevitable. Everyone knew that this was the end.
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WMDs were left to activate across all the continents on Earth, Humanity would rather destroy their home than let aliens claim it. The interstellar starships were getting ready to depart with the last humans aboard. The last warships were to defend their getaway and join them if possible.
Michael was aboard one of these warships. He would fight with all his resolve in order to protect the only other family he had, his younger brother Hikaru. His brother was aboard one of the interstellar starships, Michael knew that at any moment the Zuvilor could strike at the interstellar ships. He along with the other soldiers would not allow that to happen. They wouldn't allow their families and friends to die in such a manner.
When the wormholes opened in Earth's orbit and the various starships started to pass through, Zuvilor warships were spotted and a battle commenced to buy the starships time to escape. Despite the Human warship's best attempts at distracting their attackers, some ships survived and began targeting the interstellar starships, destroying some and damaging others.
The damage that the surviving starships took destabilized the wormholes, resulting in them shattering. The resulting explosion from the incident destroyed all ships in Earth's orbit.
During the battle, Michael and a few other Guardians were tasked with infiltrating a Zuvilor command ship and eliminating every high ranking official aboard. The ship was far from the battle, which kept it safe when the wormhole explosion destroyed every ship in Earth's orbit. Around the same time on Earth, all those WMDs activated and left the surface uninhabitable, dooming the last Zuvilor ship to a slow death.
The realization that Michael and his comrades were the last humans alive awakened something dark within all of them. That same darkness attracted malevolent entities who decided to grant them increased strength, speed, and endurance for a grave price. They were overcome with an overpowering need to kill every Zuvilor aboard or die trying. The end result left him as the only one alive on the ship. All Zuvilor were dead and his comrades were as well.
When his rage faded, a stronger sense of grief overcame him. He let out a pained and mournful yell that reverberated throughout the empty ship. For a few minutes, he stood unmoving, wanting nothing more than to just die, then he spoke.
"There's no reason for me to exist anymore"
He grabbed his sidearm, saw that there was still a bullet in the chamber, and pressed it against his head.
"This is the only way now"
At least in death, he would reunite with not only his brother Hikaru, but the rest of his family and friends.
"See you soon guys" he said in a quiet voice.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he heard the last thing he ever expected to hear aboard this ship, the voice of a girl calling out.
"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe"
He released the sidearm from his hands and looked around, shocked to hear the voice of another human.
"My divine, beautiful, wise, and powerful servant"
Now he was just confused, who was she calling?
"Heed my call, I wish and assert from the very bottom of my heart"
His confusion continued to increase, he tried calling out to her, he even looked around the ship but still couldn't see anyone else.
"Answer my guidance and appear!"
Suddenly, a strange green wormhole appeared in front of him. Before he could even process what was happening, a strange force emanated from it and began pulling him into it. He tried to resist it. The more he resisted, the more he felt a strange pressure press itself onto his weapons and exoskeleton. Said pressure got strong enough that it shattered not only his armor, but also his other weapons. He was down to just his basic clothing and the only weapon he had on him was his knife. The force then stopped altogether.
Just as he thought he was in the clear, the same force from the wormhole increased tenfold and dragged him through completely. When he crossed the threshold of the wormhole, it closed. Now the ship he was previously on was truly empty.
Humanity was now truly extinct. Michael's fate as the last human would remain unknown. The entities that granted him some of their strength knew that the darkness that now existed within him would take on a will of its own. Wherever and whoever he was with, were now in great danger.