Chapter 2

Ben awoke about two weeks after the day that came to be known as The Arrival... an innocent enough name for an event that caused mass panic. Suicide rates quadrupled within a week of the landing, and the death toll in the crash site alone was devastating- forty-thousand people dead. Not since the Third World War, twenty years prior in 2018, had so many lives been lost in a single event, for it wasn't the crash alone that took lives. After a day of sitting there, not making a motion, the massive ship had finally dropped its cargo bay door, killing five hundred emergency workers in the site it fell on. From the massive hold had poured out an army of machines and genetically engineered Liodammians, bringing the Earth into the war it had utterly refused to help with. The machines had spread out first, some spider like in appearance, made for scouting, and some hundreds of feet tall, made for destruction only. They had occupied the surrounding hundred miles quite easily, and about half the state of Illinois afterwards. Three other landings had also occurred at the same time as the first: one in Britain, one in Australia, and one in Japan. The armies of many countries collided with the machines and Liodammians, but with little success. There was a gargantuan machine taken down by a cruise missile here and there, and a Liodammian that was taken out by anti-tank rounds from a sniper rifle, but it didn't do anything but slow the armies. Congress had no choice but to ally themselves with the Interstellar Defense League, and ask for their help.

It took a week for the Interstellar Defense League ships to arrive, and in that time the destruction had become worse. The death tolls were up to fifty million from around the world, with at least twelve major cities destroyed. The hardest hit so far had been Japan, which the Liodammians had completely taken over. An entire country subdued, in the space of a few days- no one had thought the Earth was so vulnerable before.

When the IDL ships arrived, they landed well away from the Liodammian occupied areas. They appeared on an emergency broadcast with the President the next day, Ben watching it from his hospital bed, where he was recovering from both physical and mental wounds.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I speak to you today not as the President, but as just another human being that is in the line of fire of an aggressive species with a hold on our lands," the President began, "and I also come to you with a request. The Interstellar Defense League says that they do not use their technology alone against the Liodammians, because their robotics and genetic engineering are much less advanced. However, they do possess one greater technology. They say they have the ability to first open every cell in a person's body to changes, to make them adaptive, and then to fill them with energy. The process uses a special energy which strengthens everything... senses, muscles, the brain... everything. However, this process is severely painful, according to the IDL. We are looking for healthy males and females between the ages of eighteen and thirty to go through this process, and fight for your country, and your world. Just realize this pain is not some quick come and go pain. Only apply to become an IDL Warrior if you think you have what it takes. If you don't, then simply join as a soldier; soldiers don't go through the process. If you can help in any way, I beg you to sign up. We are facing our most desperate time ever, our trial by fire as a species. We must do everything in our power to stop the scum that is invading us. Please, help your country."

Ben jumped out of bed, ripping the IV from his hand. He quickly threw on his clothes, walking out of the room and out of the hospital without anyone noticing- there were several hundred wounded in this hospital, so there wasn't anybody left to guard the doors. He noticed a congregation of what looked like soldiers at the edge of the parking lot, and ran to join them.

"Hey," he said as he reached them, "You guys heading to sign up with the IDL? Its just that you all look like you were military or something."

"Yeah," one of them responded, "Our unit just got beat to hell by a group of the GE's, so were going to sign up with the IDL Warriors- hopefully this energy process or whatever will let us beat those dudes. Wanna come along?"

"Yeah. I'd like to payback those things- they killed my parents and my sister when they landed..." he took a second to steady himself before he continued speaking, "and what are GE'S?"

"Oh," the leader responded, "Of course you wouldn't know the military terms we're using to describe these guys. GE means genetically enhanced, the Liodammians. They stand about three meters tall, and have enough strength to lift a car over their head and throw it at you. Believe me, I know. I barely ducked in time to avoid getting hit by a Chevy to the face. These things are weird looking... they have no mouth, nose, or ears. They have three legs which pivot around in their hips... it's freaky. So, you gonna come along?"

Ben jumped into the truck they were gathered around, not talking much through the ride to the main IDL landing vessel.

Ben was amazed as he walked through the entrance to the vessel. The corridor was about four meters in height, and pearl in color, with completely smooth surfaces that looked as if a speck of dust never touched them.

The doors sealed behind them without making even a whisper of a sound, melding into the wall so you would have never known a door was there. The technology almost seemed organic in nature, which, if Ben had remembered his Interstellar Politics course, he would have realized that some of it was.

A tall alien, maybe standing a meter taller than Ben, came and made a gesture for them to follow him. Ben and the eight soldiers followed along obediently, without a word, still in a stunned silence. They quickly arrived in a sort of lobby, and Ben took the time to stop staring at the walls and see what his first real life view of an alien looked like.

The tall being seemed neither male nor female, and had an almost completely smooth face. It was sort of eerie, looking into a face that only had four tiny slits - two eyes, one nose, and one mouth - and that was it. Ben didn't think he'd ever get over how strange these aliens looked. From his courses in school, he knew this was one of the Ghalerans- an offshoot race of the Liodammians that are much less violent.

"Ah, new recruits I see!" A human came out from behind a doorway at the end of the room. "Okay, what division are you boys looking on going into?"

The leader of the eight soldiers that Ben had spoken to earlier spoke up. "All of us want to be Warriors."

"Very well," the recruiter said, a little darkly, "But I must warn you, it is very hard for humans to endure the process. The first stage is for us to scan your mind, to make sure you're on our side. This isn't painful, but it will give us all your necessary information, and assure us of your loyalties. The second stage is to open all your cells to changes, through a form of genetic modification. This, I am told, leaves you feeling tiny pinpricks of pain all over your body. It takes about an hour after the second stage for you to be ready for the third. A massive amount of energy will pour into your body, filling every single cell. This entire process can be repeated at a later date as well, for further increased abilities, but we've never had a single case of someone returning to do it all over again. In fact, about thirty percent of all Warriors end up committing suicide in the first week after the procedure, because of the horrible pain as their body adjusts. We cannot use any sedatives on you, or any pain reducers. Because of the energy's affects on the senses, it simply won't help. We have had only six hundred or so Warriors manage to complete the process in its entirety. You may press the kill button you will be holding in your hand at any time during the second and third stages. If you do it in the second stage, your body will simply just be slightly more adaptive. If you do it during the third stage, which is where most people end up doing it, you'll be left with some energy, but not enough to be an effective Warrior, and you'll be what we call an Enhanced Soldier. So, still want to go through with this?"