[ WP ] The apocalypse has occurred , killing all life on Earth . The Mars colony on the other hand ...

Argus rapidly cycled between news networks on the large screen of the communal hall. A crowd had gathered around him under the clean, white, canvas tent. Beads of sweat lingered on his temple as a cold shiver ran down his body. He fidgeted in his fatigue pants. The barracks of young men and women in grey was hushed as they watched the anxious newscasters of Earth report the Homeworld ’ s colossal failure. On Mars, minarets of dust twisted upwards in the wind, and the breeze of artificial oxygen was heaven. It seemed impossible to imagine the Homeworld ’ s end on such a fine evening. Colonial Authority had only just recently made Argus Rico a squad leader with his Junior Cadet company. Yet he now had no idea what to tell the others. He was normally the bossman and the know it all, do it all. Now he was another teenager. A cadet in the back, Karlson, skinny and freckled, spoke up “ How long does it take for an ECM signal to get here? ” “ Anywhere between 5 minutes to 20 ” Cadet Li said, a crack in her voice “ For all we know, the planet could be dead as is ” “ Shut your mouth ” Ara spat back, and suddenly everyone remembered she had brothers still on Earth. The others felt lucky their immediates were on site, some by more than a generation. The noise of the broadcaster was paid no due attention. The cadets were focused on the footage. From a Terran perspective, they viewed the failed detonation. The blackened patch of sky looked like nothing, only a cluster of nightsky untouched by stars. The object was blocking a portion of sky. That is until a brilliant fire came and went from view. The telltale double flash of nuclear hell revealed itself like a silent lightning, and as quick as it arrived, it was gone. They knew it wouldn ’ t come, yet they watched the footage, awaiting a breakup of the object. They waited for stars to slowly ignite like tiny candles to fill that void of the sky. They waited in vain. Tears streaked down faces, and another cadet began to heave into a bin. The forty ’ s faces turned a hue of bright red from the alarm. They were startled as the siren blared and the screen flashed “ EMERGENCY SLIPSPACE MANEUVER ”. How fitting it announced air raids centuries ago. The cadets rushed outside as did others in their canvas modules. The gargantuan plasma dome above them, covering the entirety of Olympus ’ Peak, opened a hole in spacetime, allowing a badly damaged fleet to appear out of the grey sky, trailing smoke and fire. They watched in horror as the cargo group landed desperately, outpouring civilians in droves. They covered themselves in blankets, surgical masks, and what was left of their possessions. The refugees of old had returned to humanity ’ s history. The flagship ’ s copilot rushed out with fire crews, who made embers dormant and wounds painless. The pilot sprinted from the runway to speak with the commander, and cadets sprang to meet them. Captain Liam Farland of the Colonial Merchants was white faced, aside from red eyes. He yelled to Commander Aronovich, agony in his voice. “ We made FTL as soon as we could! The blind jump nearly slammed us into the fucking surface! ” Sergeant Argus Rico ran up, cadets in toe. “ It ’ s happening?! ” The Captain screamed in manic terror “ It HAS happened! I saw it all from orbit before we nearly ripped the deck in two! WE ’ RE ALL THAT ’ S LEFT! See the light for yourself, it had to have caught up! ” Commander Aronovich called to the A.I. “ PENNI! Bring up Terra on the Plasma shield! Magnify! ” The translucent dome generated a screen off its surface, extracting the image of a gorgeous blue planet from a grey evening sky. The Homeworld was slowly, violently ripped apart by an object scarred black. The planet was being glassed as its surface boiled and turned dark like obsidian. The volcanic shards hurdled through space ever so slowly, yet at hundreds of miles every second. They streamed fire like wounds in the sky, brilliantly illuminating the void as they left the cataclysmic event. Even off screen, they could see the once-blue planet become a red light, a beacon of death. It glowed a blinding red, like another star as it collapsed into its own hellfire. Cadets dropped to their knees, others desperately reaching out to the dying world. None knew what was next, all knew what it had made them: They had become an endangered species. The last bastion of Humanity.
