Connor snapped awake to the sound of a thunderclap, and then another. Three more rang out followed by a scream from his parent''s room. He was still wearing his clothes from the night before so as not to arouse any suspicion at the breakfast table so he rushed out of his room and into theirs. His mom and dad were standing at the window, their faces lit up every few seconds from flashes outside.


    "What''s happening?" He said, suddenly feeling like a toddler who had a bad dream.


    His mom and dad turned to him with eyes wide "I don''t know, look." his mom said and stepped aside.


    The horizon was both illuminated and also snuffed out by a raging fire. Streaks of light arced into the sky and flashed when they reached their peak altitude while red beams sizzled down from the clouds. An air raid started up and wailed it''s warning but you would have to be incredibly drunk or dead to not hear the chaos unfolding.


    "That''s the military base. They''re being attacked! Oh my god, what do we do? Who is it?" Connor yelled out, not expecting an answer. "Quick, turn on the television."


    His dad, Gerald, moved toward the tv as their bedroom door opened wider and Laura stood there with the look of a deer in headlights. "Who the hell are you?"


    "Dad, that''s Laura. She came home with me last night. I''m sorry, I was going to introduce her in the morning. Hurry, turn it on. Babe, something is happening at the military base by the South Port."


    The television turned on but every channel was static except for one. It was replaying the weird commercial that they had seen in the theater before The Stalker.


    "Connor get your rifle, it''s in the closet. I don''t know what''s going on but if whatever that is-" He pointed out the window. "Comes here, we need to be ready. Marie, fill the sinks and bathtubs with water and plug the drains. Get the first aid kit out too. I''m going to make sure the generator has gas." Gerald said


    Connor slid the closet door open and started moving clothes to the left and right until he spotted his rifle, still looking good considering the age and miles put on it. He cycled the bolt and felt that it was freshly oiled and still buttery smooth. Several boxes of 30-06 cartridges were laying on the shelf beside it, their green and yellow cardboard stood out against all of the other dull colored ammo boxes. Connor emptied one of them into his pockets and then filled the internal magazine with five from another box. The last two boxes of 30-06 went into the small black backpack laying on the floor. It was already heavy before the ammo, having been kept stocked with food, water, medical supplies and survival gear in case of a wildfire or other emergency where time was of the essence. This was one of those, he had no doubt.


    "Laura can you shoot?" He asked her, feeling the absurdity of the moment. This was supposed to be where she met his parents and won them over with her good looks and girlish charm.


    "No, I never have." She said. "I''m scared. Who is attacking us?"


    "We don''t know. Lets get downstairs, I don''t feel safe up here."


    In the kitchen, his mother Marie was doing as Gerald had asked and filling all of the containers that she could find with water, in case the service was lost. The stove was hot, ready to cook a meal as soon as she was finished. Connor laced up his boots and walked outside onto the wrap around deck of the old farmhouse. He didn''t even know what time it was other than the fact that it was still dark. The adrenaline had hit him like the strongest cup of coffee allowed by law. The anti air batteries of the military base fired rocket after rocket into the sky, seeming more like a shield than a weapon. There was nothing to shoot at. whomever was using the red beam weapons was still far above the clouds as far as he could tell. It must have been a space vessel. The Tiantang Navy maybe, but why?


    "Connor here, eat something. We might lose power and I don''t know how much gas we have for the generator." His mom said, handing both him and Laura a plate of hastily cooked scrambled eggs and toast. "I''m sorry honey, what was your name again?"


    "Laura ma''am. Don''t apologize. Thank you for the breakfast."


    The battle on the horizon raged for over an hour, the anti air batteries slowing before being silenced completely. Fighter jets soared into the clouds where bright flashes lit up the surrounding woods like illumination flares. Some came back down to attack again. Others were sliced in half and fell to the surface of Dottir and erupted into a fireball. The enemy ships at last decended. They were like nothing that Connor had ever seen. All black with no markings. All different sizes and shapes.


    Some were launching fighters of their own and air to air dogfights materialized in the distance. The black fighters were using smaller versions of the beams that had come from the clouds but they also had some kind of missiles. Connor watched the aircraft twist and turn over the flaming horizon, taking jabs at one another and trying to get behind their foes. The black shapes were faster and more agile, winning nearly every fight unless one of Vista''s pilots got a lucky break. It was a slaughter.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Dad, this is getting bad, they''re landing. I think we need to leave." Connor said. He hadn''t left the porch the whole time save for one or two times that he helped his dad carry some equipment from the barn.


    Gerald was sweating despite the cold early morning air as he tried to start the generator for a test run. He pulled and pulled but only got a puff of smoke as an answer. "Damnit! I knew I should have started this thing before winter."


    "Dad, I mean it. We need to go."


    "I ain''t leaving shit Connor. This is my farm, this is my home. Those are my animals, and over there are my fields. Nobody is taking a damn pebble from me, I don''t care who it is. I''ll die here one way or another. If you want to go, take Lauren and go."


    "Laura, her name is Laura. I don''t want to leave you." Connor said.


    "Then get over here and help me start this thing."


    By lunch time the sounds of the air battle had ceased and been replaced by silence. The black ships had landed inside the airfield of the base and there was probably a ground battle happening but it was too far to hear that. The fires till raged, but the sun was up now to drown out the glow. Black plumes of smoke billowed into the sky and then flattened out into a carpet of ruin stretched across the sky.


    "Dad, please. We can take the camper and go somewhere safe. We can go to uncle Ray''s and wait for the news. We don''t even know who that is." Connor said pointing to the smoke in general.


    His dad just stared at him and then pointed at the car. "Take your bag, take some food and water, and go. Your mother and I are staying put. We have everything we need here."


    "You know what, fine." Connor said and reached for his rifle and backpack." His dad reached out for his shoulder.


    "I love you son, I want you to go and be safe." He said, and he hugged Connor tightly.


    "I love you too dad. Take care of mom. I''ll get in touch soon."


    "Tell Uncle Ray he still owes me five hundred credits for those chickens I sold him two years ago." His dad said and winked.


    Connor slung his rifle on one shoulder and his backpack on the other. It was awkward but he needed his arms to hug his mother next. "I love you mom. Laura and I need to go now. I''ll see you soon."


    "She''s a sweet girl, I''m glad you brought her to meet us." His mom said and tears shimmered in the corner of her eye.


    Connor nodded knowingly but didn''t say what they both knew. This could be the kind of goodbye that you have to settle for when you look back through your life and see the things that you regret again. The last one goodbye that just doesn''t feel good enough but you were rushed for time. He was about to call out for Laura when the sound of helicopters caught his attention. He hadn''t heard any aircrafts for hours and these ones sounded close.


    Gerald sidestepped a few times until he could see over the house and pointed but the sound of the rotor blades had grown so loud, so fast, that Connor couldn''t hear him. As they passed over the house, one of the choppers was belching black smoke and the rear end was flagging back and forth as it lost altitude quickly, the other orbited the driveway area a few times and then pitched forward and flew off into the distance. The damaged chopper came down hard and then pitched to one side causing the rotor blades to break apart and shear off in the dirt.


    "Holy shit!" Connor yelled out and sprinted toward the now disabled helicopter. As he reached it, he could see soldiers laying inside, their uniforms were bloody in spots but they were still moving. The pilot was unconscious, his head hanging to one side. Connor reached inside and tapped one of the wounded men vigorously.


    "Hey, wake up, wake up buddy." He called out "I don''t know what to do man, I need you, wake up."


    The soldier moaned and rolled toward him "Get us out of here."


    "Okay, okay. I can do that." He said and started pulling on the man''s uniform. He screamed and grabbed his thigh and that''s when Connor saw that there was nothing below that. His lower leg was gone and the wound was somehow cauterized.


    "Keep pulling. Get me out." The man gasped.


    Laura arrived first, and then Gerald and Marie. Everyone grabbed a soldier and dragged them away from the smoking chopper in fear that it would catch fire. Gerald went back for the farm truck and brought a long flatbed trailer to put the wounded and their gear on. Once back at the house they started first aid on anything that was bleeding. The wounds were severe and like nothing he had seen before. Connor knew that the military had weapons that civilians didn''t but he had at least heard of most. The beams that had hit these men didn''t make holes in them, it ripped pieces off of them. Arms, legs, feet, hands.


    Every soldier in that evac chopper was missing something. The pilot was dead, killed on impact, but four men had survived. They told the James family of the Sharlah fleet. They told them what had happened to the Militia ships during the night and that the Sharlah planned on harvesting Dottir of it''s life. He believed them, as hard as it was, how could he deny what he was seeing. Those ships didn''t look like Dottir military ships. The fighters were far better than anything he had ever seen, and now these wounds. It was alien technology.


    He still wanted to leave but how could he. How could he leave his parents with these wounded and dead soldiers in their house. He looked at Laura, she was cleaning one man''s stump where his hand used to be.


    "They poured out of dropships and just started running at us and firing lasers. They blew out chunks of buildings. It was crazy. We killed a lot of them but it was like they didn''t even care about each other. I even saw this huge dog thing start eating a wounded alien. The thing wasn''t even dead yet. Some of them ripped off their helmets and started taking bites of people." He started gagging at the thought and vomited on the floor below the living room couch where he lay.


    Laura stepped back with a worried glance at Connor. They had to leave while they could.


    "Mom, dad. please come with us. We can get these guys to a real hospital."


    The room changed. The soldier who was vomiting covered his mouth with his now baggy sleeve. There was a whining sound like a jet turbine that grew louder and louder.


    "They''re here. They came for us." The soldier whispered behind his sleeve.