This prologue is meant to set the scene for the world in which the events of the story will unfold. The main characters will be introduced in the first actual chapter.
A ripple raced through the air, and to Koma, it seemed that the universe itself shuddered.
"So I wasn't the first... but I'll be damned if I don't at least try to resist."
Without any further delay, all neural junctions were locked by copper and redirected to control Eclipse, his ship. Its turrets immediately rotated towards the perceived origin of the ripple, and fired. Just a moment later, thousands of satellites woke from hibernation, the sky darkened, and the temperature began to plummet, as every bit of available energy was redirected to fight the invader.
Reality-rending beams traveled at the speed of causality from thousands of different locations, impacting harmlessly on their target, but Koma was relieved.
"Alive. Power: less than feared. Survival: possible."
Half a second passed, the ripple stabilized, and a human figure emerged.
At the same moment, in hundreds of bays all around Earth, ships broke the surface of the water - woken from their slumber by a specially designed signal. It would take 498 seconds before Koma would have the power of the Sun available for his defense. If only he could hold out until then, he might still survive.
The figure took a step, and was before the bridge of Eclipse.
"Well, that's quite the welcome. I take it you know what I'm here for."
Koma did not answer. The invader was here to kill him, of course. After all, this was required to escape fate.
Eclipse blinked out of existence, and reappeared on the other side of the globe, but the invader was there before the ship's arrival.
"482 secs - long time", Koma thought before his emotions were finally fully disengaged.
Eclipse's prow was disconnected from her hull before she teleported again. The ship had not been destroyed outright - the disruption shield was doing its job.
6000 ICBMs launched, all targeted at the north pole.
Eclipse reappeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as did 243 more ships, the number growing by 10 every half second until an armada of over 900 ships was facing the invader. Their cannons fired, and the atmosphere burned.
A moment later, the armada was no more. All ships were sinking - except Eclipse. She was covered in wounds, but none of them were lethal to herself or her only occupant.
The green glow of auroras washed over the freezing ocean.
This would buy some time. 451 seconds remaining. Eclipse teleported.
Eclipse's bridge exploded right after she reappeared. The green glow faded.
The invader had her immobilized.
There was a ripple in space-time, as the strong force failed for a fraction of a second around the invader. Eclipse teleported away.
Seconds later, thousands of reality-rending beams once again fired at the invader from the satellites, and the sky lit up.
Eclipse was cut in half before her next teleport.
Carbon dioxide rain began to hit her fractured hull as she reappeared, evaporating on contact.
The world lit up. That planet was no more. The invader still stood, but the planet had bought a precious couple of minutes.
The next teleport brought Eclipse to the North pole. There, she resisted the invader's onslaught for 10 seconds under a veritable downpour of liquid oxygen until antimatter missiles impacted the scene, immediately vaporizing one tenth of planet.
As she reappeared, the invader sighed.
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"Survival is the only thing that matters, huh. I didn't think I had it in me to inflict so much destruction on so many innocents."
He looked at the wreck that was Eclipse.
"Maybe we can stop this madness, some people might still be alive..."
Everything went white.
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The Versuvian Feather was, by all accounts, a completely ordinary merchant galley. It had a carrying capacity of roughly 30 boulders (equivalent to 82 metric tons), and a crew complement of 120 men. Its captain, a 37-year-old sailor, had a good reputation, and was seen as a punctual and reliable carrier with moderate fees. Besides a few seasonal workers, most of the sailors had worked with each other since the keel of the ship had been laid in 206 E.S., nearly 12 years ago.
It was no surprise, then, that on the evening of the 13th day of the second moon of summer 218 E.S., one day before the ship was scheduled to arrive at its next destination, the mood on the upper deck was rather jovial. The two lookouts, on the other hand, were in an understandably grumpy mood. They knew the importance of their job, and they were not slackers, but still, the last night of any voyage was generally seen a moment to relax, and having to miss the party stung.
"You know, I just realized that we haven't had to deal with that many pirates lately."
"Well, I'm guessing it has to do with the recent increased patrols from Erya."
"Really? I wasn't really paying attention. What's the deal?"
"I don't really know either. Maybe they finally had enough of the pirates?"
"You tell me... Anyway, what did you have for lunch?"
The other lookout sighed.
"Can we please not speak about food at the moment."
The two continued with their small talk for a while. There's wasn't really much to discuss, but just standing there, looking at the dark horizon, was not particularly thrilling either. It was a pretty clear night, with almost no clouds, a near full moon and the sea was calm to boot. As a result, all other vessels were very clearly visible, so the chance of getting attacked by pirates was pretty much non-existent.
"By the way, see that ship with two lights over there? I'm pretty sure that's one of those Eryan patrol ships I mentionned. That's how their recognize each other apparently."
"Thanks, I was about to ask what was up with that ship."
The Eryan ship was still quite far away, but with its two lights, it not only illuminated itself, but many of the surrounding ships as well. The waters near the port city of Taflius were quite crowded at this time of year, and a dozen or so ships were illuminated by the patrol. For a couple of them, the lookouts could even make out the trade company label on their sails - not that this information was particularly useful at the moment.
The Versuvian Feather was currently anchored, as was common practice for merchant galleys moving goods in the Eryan basin. The basin was shallow enough that anchoring was possible at almost any location with it. This, combined with very calm trade winds during the summer months, meant that crews could relax during the night. Because of this, about half an hour after the Eryan patrol ship first came into, not much had changed. Almost all the ships were in the same location, the exception being a small dingy that really had no place on the open seas, and the Eryan patrol ship, which seemed to be moving North a moderate pace.
"This is so boring... Hey what do you think that boat's doing here?"
"Dunno... Also, I don't really care."
"Oh, come on. I'm having a hard time staying awake as is. Can't we at least talk about the one unusual thing that's happening right now?"
"Look, it's probably just moving between two ships. Passing a message or something."
"You're no fun... but actually, that makes me think. Didn't you get married last time we visited Danalau. What was her name again?"
"Her name's Hilde. Why d'you bring THAT up, of all things?"
"Well, it's just, you know... Are you planning on sending her a letter, or something, when me moor at Taf'?"
"Yes, but that's none of your business."
"Thing is, I've never heard of a sailor with a stable marriage, what with never staying in one place for long. So like, are you going to keep sailing?"
"Yeah, we worked out a deal. I'll probably become a seasonal worker on this ship starting from next year."
"I still don't know what she sees in you, but to each their own, I guess... Hey, what the hell is up with the Eryans!?"
In the distance, the two lights from the Eryan ship were moving rapidly in opposite directions. The lookouts observed the moving lights, as if mesmerized. Then, after a few seconds, the festivities on board of the Versusian Feather were brutally interrupted by a crack of thunder. Flashes of light were seen at the horizon, and one by one, the anchored ships began to sink, each event accompanied by the crack of thunder.
A few more seconds later, it was the Versuvian's Feather turn. A shockwave blasted the lookouts overboard, splinters of wood lodging themselves into the flesh of the unsuspecting sailors in the process. Even deafened and blinded by the impact, contact with the water still felt like hitting solid stone, and it was a miracle that neither of the two men lost consciousness.
Thankfully, both of them also knew how to swim. After resurfacing, they took their bearings, located each other, and wordlessly began to swim in the direction that was most likely to see them survive: towards the small dingy that had, miraculously, not been targeted by the onslaught.
The next 10 minutes felt like eternity. Each stroke was slow, the water seemed to be as viscous as honey, but simultaneously only as dense as air. To both men, it seemed that their muscles would give up before they reached safety, and that the sea would swallow them, as the dark beast that it was. Waves on the calm surface of the water, that had seemed so small before, suddenly appeared as if they were created by a storm. Each breath felt like salvation, but was followed by the realization that they had barely moved. The boat was there, but it was out of reach. Was it getting further? The sailors didn't know, but they labored towards their destination. Their soaked and heavy clothes were weighing them down, seemingly imbibing more water by the second, and in the distance, as their hearing slowly began to return, the thunderclaps intensified.
But at last, they had made it. Yet, that was not the end of the night.
As suddenly as the onslaught had began, it stopped, and then, from beyond the horizon, massive, unnatural, angular shapes emerged. They looked like nothing the sailors had ever seen before, moving with speed toward the wreckage. As they approached, the towering monstrosities began to feast upon the sinking ships. The sound of creaking wood, the cries for help that would be suddenly silenced, the stench of iron, and the subsequent silence would haunt the nightmares of the 12 people who would be the only survivors of that night.
The third demonic incursion was heralded by sea demons.