Smoke and Mirrors

It all started long ago. We all knew that this massive world war would eventually spark up. We all knew that it would grow into a flame and consume itself. We all knew that it would turn the world to ash. We all knew. We all knew.

What we didn't know was that the war would be launched by something outside of Earth. An invasion had occurred. Beings called the Sdionamuh (Die-ona-muh). In the wreckage of their invasion, only about 10% of the world's population survived. 5% scattered across the universe to find somewhere to live. They would find nothing. Those of age, in the world's surviving population, would be enrolled in the military to help defend themselves against the intruders.

The war of the worlds has finally started. All you can do is sit by and watch as the story unfolds…


James's eyes slowly opened to a slit. He could finally see, but what was he looking through? He could make-out shapes of things. Moving things. People. He blinked a few more times to try to clear up his vision. However, this failed. He was being kept from the other beings in some form of green substance. James couldn't hear much either. There were sounds, but they sounded like muffled noises. Soon, James saw a blindingly bright light flash above him. Whatever it was, it was coming from the machine James was in.

A doctor came over and spoke to another man in the room. James could only make out a few words. "Patient…stabilizing…under?" Those words. James didn't know what to make of it, but he was glad he could hear them. The hazy figure of the doctor touched a few lit up buttons on the machine, making it output some sort of lever. The doctor pulled the lever down on James's machine and stepped back.

He held his breath as the green substance covering his body slowly seemed to deteriorate. An apparently glass barrier, that James couldn't tell was there, split in half vertically and withdrew into the sides of the machine. James was shocked at what his eyes took in

Reflective metallic surfaces covered everything. Clear crystal walls were in front of him. Peering through the walls, one could see a large window, easily 2 stories large, showing planet Earth. James had never seen anything so beautiful, so breath-taking. The views were everywhere; everything had a certain shine to it that made it spectacular.

"The patient is awake and well." The girl doctor said while holding down a device in her ear. She was blonde, tall, had ice-blue eyes, and seemingly natural big and red lips. Her hair was in a pony-tail, and she sported a large white trench coat that covered her navy-blue shirt and black skirt. Suddenly, James realized everything. He had never seen anything like what was on this…ship? James didn't know what to think of it. The doctor was acting calm, so James tried to remain calm. However, parts of him were bursting with anxiety. He could see Earth. Last James remembered he was on Earth.

"Come with me please." The doctor looked at him and offered a hand to help him down. She had to be around 21 or 22. James looked at her name tag. Angie Ore. He took her hand and stepped out of the machine.

"What is this place?" James asked . Angie didn't answer. She took his hand and led him out of the room. "Why am I here, and how long have I been in that machine?" James questioned. Yet, he still got silence in answer. She took him left down the hallway, where there was a transparent circle of glass the size of a person in the ship, leading into space. Angie took her id out of her trench coat pocket. A red beam above the glass seemed to appear and scanned her card. A high pitched beep occurred, and so did a blue light. "Look, I'm not going anywhere till you answer me." James told her.

"You'll learn soon enough." Angie answered. The glass was quickly replaced by a clear crystal tube. Angie walked into the tube, looking at James to follow. He sighed, and quickly followed behind her. He took in the views here too. All he could really see was space and stars. However, James also took notice that there were only 8 bridges holding the two pieces of this ship together. The ship was hovering around 20 stories high and 4 acres wide. The head of the ship was only half as long as the back. The overall color to the ship was purple, with hints and accent of green and blue. Suddenly, James's legs felt weak. "The faster you walk, the faster you'll get to the other side." Angie said as she walked her way to the head of the spaceship. They quickly reached the main room in the head of the ship. "Commander Lumarck, I've brought the boy." Angie said as she pushed James towards the commander.

Commander Lumarck had obviously been through a few fights in his lifetime. He had a large scar running down the left side of his face, scaling from his eyebrow, down his eye, and reaching his check. As a result from that battle, he was blind in that eye. He had black hair that was ruffled upwards, and a mechanical leg on his right side that was rusting. He was dressed in a black trench coat and black pants. However, his torso was being covered by some machinery. Perhaps it was keeping him alive, but James felt the need to avoid asking the man.

"Look kid." Commander Lumarck started. "You must have missed a lot while you were in stasis."

"What do you mean stasis?" James cut off the commander. The large man shook his head.

"What do you think? You wake up in our ship watching over Earth. The aliens won! The war is over! Earth belongs to them now!" The commander shouted. "It's been that way for over 400 years now. What century do you think you're in boy?" James stumbled a little bit. His eyes shot wide.

"What?" He gasped and started to fall over. Luckily, Angie caught him before he fell.

"We rescued you." Angie told him. "You were in the wreckage of some hotel, along with our second-in-command." Angie pointed to another boy around James's age. As he turned around, James saw his long lost friend Kendall.

"Kendall!" James broke out of Angie's arms and ran for his friend. He had never been so happy to see 'eyebrows' in his life. He tackled his friend to the ground. This hurt James more than Kendall due to the armor like suit Kendall was wearing. "My god I'm so happy to see you!" James screamed. "Wait. Where are Carlos, and Logan?" James started looking around for his other two friends.

"Well James, Logan is still in stasis." Kendall told his friend, who gave a look of relief. "But Carlos…" James looked into Kendall's eyes. He saw the sudden pain, and the suffering. There was only greif in Kendall's eyes. That's when James knew.

"No." James shook his head and covered his mouth. "No! He can't be!" James tried his best to choke back tears but, he found one had already started to roll down his cheek.

"I'm sorry James, the three of us got rescued but Carlos…it was too late for him. The aliens killed him." Kendall told him. James stood up, and wiped the falling tears from his face.

"I'm joining this war. They can't just get away with killing Carlos." James gave everyone in the room a triumphant look. "Where's Logan?" James said. "I'm not leaving him behind. Not like Carlos."


Please review, and please be nice, this is my first story. And yes I realize you probably have some questions in your mind right now, but I think future chapter might help with that.