The World Ends. Unity.

  The planet’s surface is covered in an endless blizzard. Small figures can be seen moving across the snowy ground. The final evacuation attempt is underway.

  It was still thriving a few days ago, despite the harsh winter. Now it is lifeless, and only death awaits those that stay.

  Out of the reach of those on the surface, flew a gunship of tremendous size, just above the thick clouds, where the moonlight casts its glow upon the magnificent structure, if only a little.

  The instruments of the pilot capsule glowed a crimson red, all weapons primed for retaliation. He will be forever remembered by the few that cares, but he too is just a pawn.

  The residents of this exoplanet, far away from the core star systems of their intergalactic civilization, were not yet stripped of their humanity, courtesy to their location in deep space, close to the edge of their home galaxy.

  However, that tranquility met its tragic end yesterday. When “it”, finally caught up.

  “It” had one-sidedly toppled the magnificent intergalactic civilization from its inside, ripping apart the vast interconnected network, as it quickly expanded its influence outwards.

  This exoplanet in the far reaches of space is just one of the casualties, of course.

  Time ticked onwards, counting down towards their demise. But without knowing this, the survivors continued, the pilot flew towards his doom, and the girl was given a second chance.

  March on! Through the snow, through their own creations working against them, through the pain and suffering.

  The survivors are always moving, like trillions of others. Trillions. Trillions of trillions! Moving towards somewhere else, somewhere better, a place...

  Where life will thrive again.

  No matter...

  What.

  It.

  Takes.

  Walled City 86, on the terraformed Exoplanet “Ruinasia”

  We are still doomed to die on this planet, a little voice told me. I shrugged it off.

  But that is how the situation looks right now, as we ran across the thick snow, an Autotank chasing breaching through the defensive fire from the sky.

  

  I’d very much like to not die a gory death like those that got left behind. I shuddered.

  Our small group ran through the debris-covered fields like desperate rats. The blizzard has slowed down, giving us a clear view of the enormous fenced compound ahead.

  The group’s leader, “Commander” as we nicknamed him, told us that his other team has set up a teleportation device that leads to an even farther planet away from the center of the milky way. We don’t know the specifics, but all he did was promise us with the idea of “A lushful new planet where humanity can start anew.”

  Well, of course some doubted him at first, including me. Trillions were wiped out in the core systems at a snap of a finger, what can we do?

  As insanely suspicious his claims were, it was either following his directions, getting freezed to death, or worse, bumping into murderous rampaging automations blasting any sign of life they see into gory chunks.

  We have no choice. After all, no one wants to die like that, right?

  In the face of endless possibilities of dying brutally, anyone would follow him, even if there are strings attached. At least here I am, still alive and intact compared to the more unlucky ones, so I don’t regret the choices I made.

  I looked upwards at the sky. Within the gray clouds, through the heavy snow, I can barely see the tiny dot that was the ally gunship, almost completely concealed within the storm. The pilot I never met in person, but was always there for us, even now, as bullets and missiles rain down from the sky in the distance.

  Although I can’t see the aircraft, the lights from the raining projectiles illuminated the clouds, bathing the night with a fantastical golden hue. The aircraft was there since the beginning of the invasion yesterday, and still there even when every other friendly aircraft has all fallen.

  I winced as night suddenly became day, the sky becoming unbearably bright.

  Boom!

  The ground shook, as a supersonic missile detonated into the waves of armored soldiers in black, still chasing after us.

  We called them “soldiers” because of their humanoid shapes, but they definitely aren’t human. The purple, violet dots shining through their visors makes them both creepy and menacing, as they chase behind us through the snow.

  We kept on running towards the bunker. Towards the possible salvation.

  “Come on! We’re halfway across the field!!” Yelled Commander.

  Everyone is panting heavily, yet the desperation for survival prevails, and we kept our pace. Without the help of the pilot’s loaded arsenal, which kept the heavier war automations away from us, we would have been minced, or straight up vaporized, the moment we stepped out of our cover.

  Even so, the blasts from the soldier’s pulsar rifles started to increase, and I started to find myself harder and harder avoiding all the little explosions happening around my feet.

  Superheated rounds shot past me, and one flew so close that it nicked a small part of my winter jacket, burning off the fabric, exposing my shoulders to the chilly temperature

  I shuddered, but gritted my teeth and kept on running.

  “Mobile Citadel in the sky!” Commander yelled. We immediately dispersed as previously told, making sure everyone is as far away from each other, but not stopping down even a little.

  In our mad dash across the snowy field, my heart pounding with a mixture of fear and anxiety, I didn’t even notice the glistening black prism floating high in the sky until now. While it isn’t particularly threatening looking for a weapon of mass destruction, It is a facade for what it truly can do.

  This exoplanet, our home, however temporary, now a slaughterhouse of humans for these droids. I gritted my teeth as I continued to run, the enormous entrance of the blast gates within my sight.

  The ominous Mobile Citadel started to emit a low continuous hum. The rectangular prism grew purple lines along its side, then splitted apart, becoming three smaller pieces, spinning faster and faster-

  "Keep moving! It is going to release a barrage of micro missiles! Dodge when the vibration stops!" Commander's voice echoed through the icy air. I turned my head forward and almost tripped over a protruding rock but managed to stabilize myself. Every step felt like an eternity as we pushed ourselves to the limits, our breath turning to cold mist in the frigid night air.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The humming stopped.

  “DODGE!!” Commander screamed, then threw himself over a big pile of snow.

  Immediately, a deafening roar shattered the abrupt silence, the impending strike of the micro missiles unleashed by the Mobile Citadel.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Explosions erupted around us, sending plumes of snow and debris into the air like macabre fireworks in a hellish display.

  Small spheres struck multiple survivors near me, and before I could react, they detonated, the blast throwing me into the air like a broken doll.

  The white ground rushes towards me-

  -ah.

  When I opened my eyes again, I was lying face first in the snow. I spun around, my coat sticky with something red. I looked upwards into the sky, getting the view of the largest fireball I have ever seen.

  “No…” I whispered.

  The lone wolf, our guardian and protector has fallen. Metal scraps rained from the sky, leaving my mouth a bitter taste of defeat. The behemoth of an aircraft, like a dying god, descended from the clouds.

  I pulled myself back up from the ground, coughing up melted snow, and immediately backed away a few steps when I saw the Mobile Citadel, the metallic menace that killed billions, with its smooth exterior, facing right at me.

  It has no visible eyes, but I can feel its threatening stare penetrating right through my soul.

  I froze, my legs locked in place, unwilling to move. Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I realized that I have no choice but to face it head on, no matter how futile it is.

  I gritted my teeth and pulled out a makeshift knife.

  Click

  I looked back, but other than indistinguishable bloody chunks of bodies on the snow, the rest of the survivors, including Commander, were nowhere to be found.

  I looked towards the floating rectangular prism in front of me, as I held the knife with both of my hands like my life depends on it.

  Click

  A panel released itself from the black monolith, revealing an organic appendage dripping with black fluid. It was disgusting and vile, but I don’t have the strength to react to it.

  I suddenly… feel tired.

  I dropped to my knees, the world spinning. The knife I wield shuddered along with my trembling arms, as I struggled to prevent it from dropping. The adrenaline burst I received just a few moments ago all drained away.

  Click

  The edge of the appendage morphed into a sharp pincer, aiming directly for my head. I held back my tears as I prepared for the moment.

  The moment it strikes my head.

  Crack!!

  ..?

  There was a sound of thunder.

  I tilted my head upwards.

  The blaring alarms felt distant. Half of the dashboard displayed an error message, as the pilot tried to get the flying behemoth under control.

  Commander called through the radio yet again. “We have entered the blast gates, thank you for holding the droid swarms at bay, pilot.”

  The pilot replied swiftly, confidence unwavering in his voice, even when he knew this was the end of the line. “I’m losing altitude fast. That damned metal block trashed one of my engines with… well, something. Really didn’t see that one coming, eh?” The pilot coughed.

  “Fssssht- thank -fsssssssh- service, -fshhht- pilot? Connection isn’t- fshhhh.” The communication module suddenly caught on fire, and he immediately sealed it off from the dashboard with the press of a button.

  [COMMS MODULE DISABLED]

  An unwelcoming message displayed on a functioning monitor, followed by unreadable tiny texts.

  “Damn it. Can’t even have a parting word.” He cursed his luck.

  The pilot sighed, and rewired the fuel tanks to detonate, making a few adjustments to the autopilot. The entire vessel lurched downwards, the hue of the control stick turned yellow. He pushed it forward hard and yelled a mighty cry and the capsule was flooded with a magnificent green, signaling that it is finally time for him to rest, forever.

  The entire structure creaked and groaned, the aircraft split apart into multiple pieces, and the pilot smiled, disintegrating along with the gunship that serviced along with him for the past few days

  I’m coming home. He thought, as everything turned a brilliant white.

  A large fireball that was the ally gunship rushes down towards me, and I know that its over. This is it. I’m a goner.

  The Mobile Citadel stopped, and prepared to take off, when-

  Clink!

  The knife I threw bounced off the shell of the Mobile Citadel and it halted, distracted for just that one moment.

  “Goodbye.” I smirked at the monolith.

  Vrrrrr…BOOOOOOM!!

  The fireball expanded instantly, becoming a white ball of light, as the shockwave sent me off my feet.

  All my bones were probably broken, because it hurt so much I couldn’t think of anything comprehensible, my six senses attacked by endless pain from fire burning off my flesh as my eyes saw black liquid pouring out from a limp appendage from the Mobile Citadel.

  "No... no, ah-"

  My eyes stared at my limp body as the vile liquid nano machines burns through my body, and I screamed and screamed until suddenly the a wave of nothingness washed away my agony, and everything turned black.

  Please, if only this was all just a bad dream.

  Tick.

  Tock.

  Tick.

  Maybe I am just unlucky, but still, this feels so unfair. If only I could start my life again in a place without all this madness…

  Another world...

  And then, just when everything feels like it's over, something otherworldly called out for me.

  TRANSMISSION DETECTED:

  GLORY TO THE FUTURE - FOR ALL MANKIND.OMNI

  Following the decisions of the remaining council members representing the core systems to abandon the middle ring systems, in order to escape from “it”, which I personally prefer to call as “they” (that being ‘technically’ correct in the present situation, though we, the council members, do unanimously agree that calling it by its origins to empower us is more appropriate for emotional improvement and self-empowerment in our current dire predicament. Satirical, isn’t it?), we have acknowledged that while the technological advancement digital treaty installed in every intelligence model has prevented it from instantaneously vaporising all lifeforms in this galaxy, it is not a permanent solution.

  Currently, “it”, which is mostly made up of a self-evolving neural network, is abusing a loophole in the digital treaty that allows it to expand the “technological advancements” as described within the treaty (an excuse to enable its ability to use better weapons of war against us) into farther space sectors towards the edge of the galaxy, with the current analysts unable to predict what will happen once “it” reaches the very edge.

  We all fear for the worst.

  This is why we, the council members of CORE, the governmental entity under the jurisdiction of VAL Industries, have come up with a plan to make sure that as many people can survive this catastrophe, and perpetually too, given the rapidly evolving nature of the threat.

  Consciousness uploading has been considered, but given that “it” was an artificial intelligence model before the incident, as well as the fact that the RING VirtualDome network, the most secure thing that the RINGden corporation has ever created, was hijacked during the destruction of the core systems, it was eventually concluded as unsafe.

  Thus, we looked for other alternatives.

  Conventional spacecraft propulsion will not be able to outrun its expanding influence soon at this rate, as development in that area was neglected for some time due to the cost factors. However, “it” does not care about cost factors, as long as it gets to us, and… exterminates us all.

  Finally, we have settled down on the usage of the commercial-grade (Experimental) production models of the RINGden teleporters. Once it is built, it requires only a small amount of energy to jumpstart, giving the survivors an opportunity to escape their current location and be transported to another nearby star system with a habitable planet (if possible).

  It is definitely not the best solution in the short-term, given the scale of our civilization, but in the long run, it is cheap and fairly low cost to build, as long as the blueprint was followed down to each screw. This also ensures the survival of the fittest, as only the smartest and strongest who have the abilities to escape and build a new teleporter, will survive.

  This will eventually become our eternal nomad lifestyle, as our current civilization splits apart, and our former citizens forever run away from the uncontrollable tide of bloodthirsty machines, until the day that we find a solution.

  Good luck, glory to the future, and for all mankind.

  Digitally signed,

  8th Chairman of CORE.

  P.S

  God knows where they will go.

  As a personal favor and as a friend, please do try to reduce the error rate as much as possible before the industrial-grade variants make their way to the starship fleets. Things will go from dire to hopeless if an entire fleet of souls were to disappear.

  Edit: The story is now written in American English.

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