Extraterrestrial Invasion: Annihilation

Chapter 21: Annihilation

Lieutenant Sean led a hundred thousand troops into Washington D. C. They came by air and land. General Howard's plan was useless; the Navy was not needed at all.

"How long until we get there?" Sean asked, sitting in the cockpit of his plane.

"Seven minutes," the pilot said. "Hey, look. Huge thing ahead."

The Annihilator came into view. It was so massive that nothing could be compared to it. The soldiers felt intimidated by it.

"Fire at the spacecraft!" Lieutenant Sean ordered.

A series of ear-cracking explosions filled the air. Projectiles upon projectiles were sent in the Annihilator's irection.

Then, magically, the missiles changed directions and headed back to them.

"Holy cow!" the lieutenant yelled.

"Get out, sir!" the pilot said.

The lieutenant and the pilot managed to escape the plane a microsecond before their own weapons destroyed it. The air was full of dread, imbued with the deaths of thousands.

The two of them had avoided the first casualty, but the next one was much more painful to realize.

"Uh, where are the parachutes?" Sean asked.

"Oh, dammit!" the pilot swore.

***

The wreckage of the US Army and Air Force were pulled by an invisible magnetic force. It was total chaos. In the future, people might call this tragedy as 'Hell on America'.

A businessman was walking out of his office, devastated at the stock market trades. After the rumor of the alien invasion, businesses became cold. He had lost millions of dollars and some very credible business partners. He resented the aliens and wanted them to be responsible.

He felt his phone moving. Was it ringing? No, it was pulling him. This should have been impossible! He took it out of his pocket and it flew away from his grasp.

"Hey!" he shouted.

Then his suitcase was snatched from him. Then his metal belt dragged him into a particular direction. What was going on?

He looked around and shouted for help, but everyone seemed to be in the same state as he was.  Soon, shouts and screams and cries came out of everyone's mouth.

***

Howard, Rick and Mike climbed the magnetic field generator. They could see everything around them, which was not a pretty view, considering the direness of the situation. Things flew here and there.

"What do we do now?" Mike said.

"Come here!" the spider said. He was punching the device.

"Does that really work?" Mike said sarcastically.

"You better hope it does," Rick said. "It's our only chance. Since we have no spaceship, the electromagnet is not a viable option. Good thing someone knows about the device well."

The humans helped crushing the part Colonel Rick was ruining.

"Now what?" Howard asked after they had uncovered a complex machinery.

"Any of you brought non-conductor gloves?" Colonel Rick asked.

"No," the general said.

"Damn, this is not going to be good," the spider sighed.

"What are we really doing?" Mike asked.

"Listen," Colonel Rick explained. "We just lost the spaceship, and thus, are unable to damage the device. This is our only shot at stopping it. If we can cut the wire system, the device will shut down. I don't really know what will happen if we initiate our plan, but I don't see any other choice."

"So, how much is the percentage of success?" Howard asked.

"There are about 160,000 panels similar to this," Rick said. "3 will shut down the device once broken, but the other 158,997 will make it even more aggressive if deranged."

"Then, our chances of stopping it is only 0,001875%," Mike said, calculating in his head.

"Sadly, yes," Rick admitted.

"Well, then, no time to waste," Howard said. "How do we take it out?"

The panel they had opened was elaborate. It was divided into two parts. The left side consisted of computer chips, while the right section was made up of different-colored buttons and complicated wirings.

"The blue wire," Colonel Rick said. "We'll have to disconnect it."

"Is there a way to do it without getting electrocuted?" Howard asked.

"What did your science teacher tell you?" Rick said in an irritated manner. "The human body is a current conductor, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but an insect isn't," Mike indicated.

"I'm not sacrificing myself," Rick refused. "What makes you think I am immune to it?"

"We're dead," Howard said.

"What about clothes?" Mike advised. "Fabric can't channel electricity, can it?"

"Um, that might work," Colonel Rick agreed. "But I'm not so sure."

"Maybe," Howard said.

"If so, I'll surrender my jacket," Mike volunteered.

Together, they wrapped the jacket around the blue wire and pulled it with all their might. The wire tore off and sparks zapped out of the opening. The clothing was scorched and Mike jerked it out. It caught fire and he waved it around to extinguish it.

"Oh, shoot!  Shoot!" he screamed.

"Did it work?" Howard asked.

"Uhhh—"

The generator trembled, causing them to lose their footing. Mike slid down the slope with his singed jacket, shouting for help. The spider and the General grabbed hold on the broken panel, gripping so hard they began to sweat.

"I think we got the wrong one!" Colonel Rick delivered the bad news.

"What?" Howard exclaimed. "Dammit! We are really dead!"

Fragments of metal debris moved in their direction. Howard spotted a spiky shape making a beeline toward him. He jumped just in time as the javelin pierced a panel right below him. Scintillation emitted from the impaled contraption.

"I hope that's the right one!" Rick shouted.

The generator rumbled deeply, vibrating seismic waves through every solid material. The general hoped it would not bury the president down below.

"Nope, it's false!" Howard said.

The metal pieces were getting larger. Vehicles emerged and slammed into the machine, some exploding upon impact.

"We have to take down the panels one by one!" Howard yelled through the noise.

"Okay! Find something to stab it!" Colonel Rick replied, but it was barely audible. Nevertheless, Howard took that as a sign of confirmation and searched for steel bars and such.

He found a snapped lamppost and jabbed the surface of the generator, letting go of the pole just in time before he got shocked.

Despite all their efforts, nothing seemed to work out. The generator kept getting wilder. And, as if the appalling situation could not get any worse, objects began falling from the sky.

"What the hell are those?" Colonel Rick yelled.

Detritus of shattered satellites and spacecrafts cascaded to Earth like an unavoidable rain. They crouched and balled their bodies, praying perilously that a miracle would come to their aid.