The Final Age [Original Sci-Fi Story Pt.2]

In the year 2756, from somewhere beyond our Solar System, came the Intruders. We never did find out where they originated from.

[You can read part one HERE. It will only take a few minutes and you will be caught up. If you like sci-fi then I think you will like this story of mine, as I worked very hard on it. This part still stands on its own too, if you don't have time.]

Their first group numbered 160 in all. They were a vanguard of the Intruder fleet, each ship nearly a kilometer in length.

One of our transports returning from setting up a mining operation on Eris suddenly ceased connection. The A.I. Control on Earth sent out a probe, our probes at the time being 6 centimeters in length, from Neptune’s moon, Thalassa. It soon reached the location where the transports connection had been lost. Images were sent back showing four of these Intruder vessels surrounding our transport, which had had its hull blasted into nearly two.

These craft had sent out connections to our destroyed vessel and there were strange life-beings crawling inside its broken carcass. These Intruder beings were 2.5 meters in length, and surrounded by a shimmering, transparent bubble of energy. They appeared most similarly to the reptiles of Earth, a greenish scaly thick skinned four-limbed creature with eyes halfway between facing forward and to the sides of their heads. Eyes that were capable of independent movement to each other.

This was observable from the live video feed was continuously recorded and sent back to the control on Earth, who commanded the probe to investigate closer. These creatures were examining our components, Control quickly came to the conclusion they were studying our technological level. This could not continue.

The probe was sent further into our wreckage, to the propulsion center. While the brain of our ship which was located in the first half of the vessel had been destroyed, the aft end had suffered relatively little damage. The probe maneuvered its way through the interior, avoiding the jumbles of ruined wires and jagged metal, until it reached the engine section. There it was ordered to connect to the engine controls and made to enter a command to the release vents so they became fused shut. The power-core was rebooted and increased to beyond operational levels.

The probe disconnected and quickly made an exit of our destroyed transport. The resulting explosion destroyed the three closest Intruder vessels and heavily damaged the fourth. A gaping void was formed into the side of that last ship, itself venting liquids and gasses into space over the twisted metal debris. Control immediately sent the probe into that broken hole to gather intelligence on the operations of the Intruders.

Swiftly entering into the vessel, it traversed down corridors looking for areas of interest. To the A.I. Control back on Earth it was soon apparent that this Intruder vessel was unintelligent, no machines seemingly having the capability of independent thought. The life-beings entering inputs into a primitive command pad beneath monitors.

Then it became evident by the actions of the Intruder beings that the presence of the probe had been noticed. Some of them ceased the damage control efforts and began to search for the trespasser. It might have been the connection to Control, or the tiny movements the probe made, but after some time of searching they found it. This was when we discovered that their power lay in their technology of disintegration of matter. The findings of this first probe were of monumental importance to the strategy that was to be employed against them.

Eventually they found the probe and one of the Intruders aimed a device and shot out a purple beam and our connection was ended.

By this time their fleet was surrounded by hundreds of our probes, and it must have been the numerous signals that made it difficult for them to pinpoint their locations. However, they ignored them as best they could and directed their vanguard continue towards Earth.

I had with me two of our greatest mind-humans, @dan and @ned. These two were my friends, that time so very long ago now. Since the beginning of the first A.I. there had been no wars, wars being such a concept so far from the processes of thought of the machines. Machines were built to perform roles that complemented each other, a synergy of effort so efficient that to operate any other way was foreign to the A.I. A system of cooperation so well put together that most machines unable to continue without the support of each other. Much unlike the humans, who had existed independently of each other in their history.

Ned told us that these Intruders had come for invasion. A concept so distant to the machines, that the Intruders would come here to destroy everything and take for themselves what was here. It would have been more efficient for these Intruders to work together with us to increase the production levels. But life is illogical as I have recorded earlier, and life is the only thing that can truly understand itself – so we believed Ned.

Based off the information recorded from the probe it was determined that they had the capability to cause massive destruction. Weapon technology had not been an avenue that was explored since the time of the final discovery, the science of those times before were quickly scanned. The decision that came to the machines was to build a multitude of torpedoes equipped with nuclear warheads while simultaneously re-equipping the asteroid mining machines with a laser similar to their own one used in mining – but much more focused and destructive.

The build machines got to work, some making the new laser beams, others creating the torpedoes and warheads. All mining machines within range were recalled to be upgraded in the few hours we had until the Intruders were upon Earth.

I maintain that our actions were the most logical ones we could have concluded with the information we had at the time.

Our response to the Intruder hostility was met beyond the orbit of Luna, our torpedoes released en masse at their remaining 156 ships. As our torpedoes approached, shots of beam energy burst forth and vaporized some dozens of our warheads. The ones that were missed were bouncing off the energy blanket that the Intruders had activated. These fields of energy enveloped each ship like a bubble, similar in concept to the individual ones that they were observed to wear during their investigation of our destroyed transport.

Our torpedoes redirected themselves and again sped towards their fleet. This time they were instructed to detonate upon reaching the energy bubble. The massive energy released was enough to weaken and then penetrate into their vessels, more than half the fleet was destroyed by these explosions! Meanwhile our re-equipped mining machines had arrived with their beams of focused lasers.

To our amazement they were quite worthless. The energy weapon fire being absorbed by the Intruder energy bubbles. Not a single one was damaged by our lasers. The Intruder response was quick, our connections to the miners were lost. Our defenses were gone, and they reached Earth with 43 operating ships.

Intruder fleet spread out and took positions over the human cities. Colossal beam structures were extended from some of their ships. We could only watch while streams of a red-orange energy weapon enveloped the cities. All life was instantly vaporized, down to the smallest sub-microscopic form. Vegetation, humans, animals, bacteria – everything reformed into a dust of particles.

Where ever these beams touched, only structures and the machines remained. Only those things deemed not to be alive by the Intruder way of thinking.

Fatefully, the second batch of torpedo weapons had been completed at this time. With the Intruder fleet spread out destroying all life on Earth they had lost the advantage of protecting each other with their point-defense beams. Based off the analysis of the Lunar battle, the center A.I. minds calculated how many torpedoes each group needed to be destroyed. In desperate defense of their creators the machines fired off these last hopes for the survival of all humankind.

These last few dozen unexpected torpedoes were enough to take down the remnants of the Intruder vanguard. The explosions from these hulking wrecks were visible in the sky to the last few humans alive, those in the only surviving human settlement of Hawai’i.

Now the A.I. sent probes to study the wrecks of their vessels. Larger machines with more specialized scientific instruments were built and launched to tear apart the Intruder technology and discover their secrets. The A.I. displayed the information on monitors for the mind-humans.

After many hours of discoveries it was Dan that first spoke.

“Well, it’s clear that you machines are the only ones that can defeat them. You alone are immune to their main weapon that vaporizes life such as us. The Intruders have shown why they are here, to end life on this planet and place their own upon it. They mean to control the Earth, and we are in their way.”

Dan smiled and chuckled. Those facial expressions and short vents of air and sound that humans make to display when they find something amusing.

“Well, they are destroying what they think control the machines, us humans. But they are leaving their most deadly enemy alive – you A.I.’s and your armies of machines. You center minds are more intelligent than us humans could ever be, and capable of changing yourselves in a few hours or less. Look at what you did to destroy the Intruder fleet. Humans cannot change that fast. You can live on any planet or in space itself, while us humans require specially designed and built crafts to go anywhere else but where we are. The Intruders think they need just destroy us humans to stop the machines. They do not yet realize it is the machines themselves doing the thinking. So you must attack them! We must devise a way to defeat their energy bubble.”

Dan was cut short. One of the newly created science machines, designated SC-021, had returned from the Intruder wrecks just a few minutes before and now spoke out. “The secret of their energy shield-bubble has been discovered.” SC-021 had commanded a nearby builder to create a device. He aimed one of our focused mining lasers upon it, and it was absorbed without damage.

Ned said “We are still mostly defenseless. We cannot expect our version to be as great as theirs, for they have had countless years of testing and use. Much of what was in their ships were destroyed in their defeat, we have only fit our own pieces into theirs to bring it to activation. We must build upon this energy shield discovery to have it match what they already possess.”

“We must also discover the secret of their beams that vaporize life. We are completely doomed if we do not end their aggression!” Spoke Dan. “Let us create teams to work on each core task.”

It was now known, by probes sent past the direction of the first encounter, that the main fleet of the Intruders were headed this way. A fleet containing 8,800 vessels was approaching, with not even 48 hours remaining before they would be at Earth.

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All pictures from Pixabay