Ministry of Magic
London, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
"Come On! Hurry up!"
"Drop what you're doing and leave now!"
"Only what you can carry!"
They yelled as frightened Witches, Wizards and even Goblins serged around the Ministry, heading for the nearest Floo point. Moments later a large detail of Muggle military troops rushed through the Atrium. Some ran over to the Floo points to make sure people traveled through in an orderly fashion whilst another group ran over to Albus and awaited his orders.
"Another checkpoint just went down, sir and we're getting reports of enemy contacts in several locations," a soldier reported.
"Where are they coming from?" Albus asked.
"We don't know, sir, it's like they're appearing out of thin air."
"What the hell?!" a Witch shouted out, "I can't disapparate!"
Several Witches and Wizards squinted their eyes trying to disappear on the spot but nothing happened. There were no shot 'Pops' and not one person had left the spot they were standing on.
"Wards!" Amelia hissed.
Albus thought for a second then turned to his father. "Harry...you know what to do."
Harry nodded tentatively. "Aurora, come on, it's time to go."
She looked like he had just said the most stupid thing in the world. "What? No, I'm not leaving!"
"Sargent, escort these people to an evac point," Albus order without hesitation. The Soldier nodded and started advancing towards Scorpius.
"Albus what the hell are you doing?!"
"I'm not leaving!"
"We stick together!"
Every single one of them objected while Aurora started to look dangerously outraged.
"I'm not leaving! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" she roared as Harry tried to move her away.
"What the hell is this?! Albus, you had us trained so that we could fight with you!" Scorpius yelled as the Soldiers started to take their rifles away.
"No Mal...I had you trained so that you could fight without me," Albus said solemnly.
They all understood in that moment that Albus wasn't expecting to survive this day. Suddenly they went wild, struggling against the soldiers that were trying to force them away. James and Rose went for their wands while Hugo actually attempted to punch one of them.
The only people that weren't fighting this were Lincoln, Amelia and Athena. They already knew that they were staying.
"NO! I WON'T GO!" Aurora screamed.
Albus moved over to her quickly and wrapped his arms around her, "you have to go! You have to take our baby and keep it safe!"
"NO! I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!" tears were falling from her eyes.
"You have to! Go! Please!" he begged.
Harry pulled her away from him as the soldiers forced the rest of them towards the Floo points.
"No! Take them to the transports. Make sure they blend in with the crowd!" Albus ordered.
The soldiers obeyed without question and started moving them towards the exits while Albus clenched his eyes shut, praying that this wouldn't be the last time he saw them. He couldn't bare to watch them finally disappear through the portals but had to steal one last look at Aurora.
Her face was soaked with tears and she was screaming but still being pulled backward.
"I LOVE YOU!" she yelled out before finally being taken away.
Albus felt a stab of pain go through him like a lightning bolt. Some how just seeing her go seemed to have sapped his strength.
"They're gonna be all right, Albus...now we've got to get to work," Athena said laying a hand on his shoulder.
Albus nodded and sucked it up, "forward command post."
They darted through the Atrium towards the exits.
Up on street level it was complete panic. Air raid sirens were sounding out everywhere as if the Blitz had returned. Hundreds of people were darting left and right while soldiers desperately tried to keep order. Fear stricken civilians were being pushed and shoved out of the way while some where even falling down and being trampled.
Others where abandoning their possessions so that they could run faster. Everyone was heading towards the Thames river where dozens of ships were waiting to take them across the channel. Most of them still thought that this was still some kind of terrorist attack or viral outbreak but it didn't matter. Whatever would get them out of the country was good enough.
The most massive evacuation in history was taking place all around them and only a few knew the truth about why it was happening.
"Albus, there's no static in these clouds!" Athena yelled out.
"No apparating, no sunlight, no electricity in the clouds! What's the bet that Port Keys are out too?" Amelia growled.
She was right, this was way too perfect. Albus's brother had thought of everything.
"The Floo networks still running."
"The Floo networks a direct connection, like a hard line. They can't stop that unless they attack the Hub," Lincoln said quickly.
"Get troops down there to guard the Hub. Nobody gets in or out!" Albus ordered, "stay here, assist the evacuation."
Lincoln and Amelia nodded and shot off.
"Athena, hold on to me."
She wrapped her arms around his waist and he gripped her tightly before blasting himself into the air.
Forward Command Center
Hatfield, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
Hundreds of tanks, Humvee and MRLS's, aided by thousands of troops had formed a massive task force just on the outskirts of London. They were all shifting position's as per the orders of their superiors.
In the command tents, reports of enemy contacts were coming in from all over the country. It's like they were falling from the sky or something. They were getting now warnings, no sighs of anything approaching the country, no transports of any kind. One minute they weren't there, the next minute they were and the only possibility was that it had something to do with the bizarre electrical storms that were taking place at random locations.
"Where's my air support?" a General demanded.
"Just took off, ETA seven minutes," an Operator replied.
"Sir, we have visual contact from Big Eye Six!" another called out.
The General rushed over to the Operator's station to take a look. On screen was camera view from a Specter Gunship that was circling the area just below the clouds. The image was fuzzy and out of focus but it didn't stop the Generals eyes from going wide.
There were thousands of them. All different kinds. The bigs ones, about the size of double decker buses had a distinctly insect like look to them. Like a praying Mantis, they walked with their bodies upright on four huge armored legs. They had giant sharp spines all over their bodies along with scythe-like forearms that were twice the size of their legs.
Around them were small one that looked more cat-like. Walking on all fours with tails as long as their bodies. Their heads seemed almost like a sharks, pointed and smooth. Moving in between the land based ones where smaller, bat-like creatures with ugly skeletal bodies and huge claws on their feet.
"What in God's name..." the General breathed.
The image zoomed out to show other large groups of the same creatures moving up and joining the main group.
"They're massing just East of Bedford," the Operator reported.
"What's their heading?"
"Us..." the Operator said gravely, "at their current speed, they'll reach us inside of four hours."
"Call up the task force. Get fighters, choppers, gunships, everything we've got and keep em on strafing runs. Try and thin their numbers," the General ordered.
"Who's in charge?" Albus and Athena power walked into the command tent.
"I am," the General said quickly.
"Sit-rep?"
"See for yourself," he gestured to the screen.
Albus took one look at the screen and couldn't believe his eyes. It was as if they were watching a Hollywood movie or something. It couldn't be real.
"What the fuck are those?!" Athena gasped.
"We were hoping that you could tell us," the General sighed.
"I've never seen anything like that before," Albus said, his mouth still agape.
"I've never even heard of anything like that before!" Athena blurted.
"Sir, you might wanna take a look at this!" another Operator called out.
Albus, Athena and the General rushed over to his screen. There was a similar image on that screen but this was from a different part of the country and in addition to the strange unworldly creatures that were there, four small cloaked figures were standing together. Humans.
They watched as the four men formed a large square then raised their arms. Albus was just able to make out what was undeniably wands in their hands. Light started to flow from the tips and meet the spells from the other mens wands in the center of the square.
There was suddenly a huge blinding light that shifted and molded itself into a massive circular hole. The surface looked like mercury and seemed to ripple and move. Then a grotesque insect-like head peered through followed by the rest of the giant Mantis monster. Then others started to pour through.
"That's how they're getting here! Some kind of portal!" Athena gasped.
The creatures seemed to be completely ignoring the men that had just summoned them there. Then, with a puff of mist and light, they were gone.
"How can they still Apparate?!"
"I don't know! They must have something that makes them immune to the wards," Albus guessed.
"Wait? Wizards can't Apparate anymore?!"
"No, they've set up wards to block them. Port Keys are probably being blocked as well," Albus threated.
"What's that going to do for the evacuation?" Athena asked.
The General shrugged and thought for a second, "twenty four hours," he guessed.
"We don't have that long! At this rate there's gonna be millions of them in only a few hours!" Albus threated.
"Well if you've got any ideas, nows the time!"
"Pull all your troops away from their posts. Get them to defend the cities. We have to hold London until the evacuation is complete," Albus ordered.
Charring Cross
London, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
Admits the panic and chaos that was going on all around them, Aurora, Hugo, Scorpius, Rose, James, Lily, Lynx, Violet, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny could do nothing but scathe at the fact that Albus was refusing to let them fight. The team of soldiers were still not taking any chances with them, keep their guns ups and where even ready to tie them up if they had to.
They moved quickly but not rushing like everyone was. They would be able to get on any transport they wanted simply because of who they were.
"I can't believe he'd do this to us!" Lynx growled.
"He's just trying to protect us. Honestly, I would have done the same thing," Hermione admitted.
"The country is under attack and we're running away!" James barked.
"Live to fight another day James," Ginny sighed.
"This is bullshit!" Hugo roared.
"Hugo!" Rose shrieked, "you just swore!"
"Who-fucking-ray! We shouldn't be leaving! We should be fighting!" he hissed.
"We are under orders to get you safely out of the country. After that, you can do what ever you want!" one of the Soldiers said.
Scorpius and Aurora were looking at each other and seemed to be communicating without speaking. She was giving small nods and instructions with her eyes while Scorpius seemed to be agreeing.
Suddenly he span around grabbing the rifle of one of the soldiers and shoving it upwards into his face. In a flash, he had turned it around and armed at the soldier next to him while Aurora pulled her wand and pointed it at the other soldiers.
"I'm afraid that is one set of orders that we can't allow you to follow!" she growled.
"Aurora! Don't!" Harry yelled but she wasn't listening.
"I am not leaving without Albus! Drop your weapons!" she yelled.
The Soldiers hesitated. Aurora didn't. She let off a stunner that sent one of the Soldiers flying backwards where he slammed into a car. She pointed her wand at another Soldier.
"I said, drop them!"
This time they listened. They through their rifles to the ground in front of her. Hugo immediately picked one up as did James and Lynx. Soon the whole group was armed again.
"Aurora, Albus needs you and the baby away from danger!" Harry tried again.
"The only way that is going to happen is if he takes me away himself!" she barked, "now, you can either run away and hide or you can stay and fight!"
There was no way that they were going to abandon their own children and run for safety. They simply pulled their wands and nodded.
"Where would Albus go?" Aurora asked anyone that could answer.
"Where do you think? Straight to the front lines!" Lily sighed.
"Where are the front lines?" James wondered.
"My guess would be north or west."
"We'll go north first, then west," Aurora said quickly.
She grabbed hold of Scorpius and focused on a location but nothing happened, "what the hell?!"
"What?"
"I can't Apparate!"
Hermione was the next to try but again nothing happened. Not even the start of the jerking sensation that usually comes right before you disappear, "They've put up wards to stop us!"
"Shit! Come on!" Aurora hissed, beckoning them to follow her.
The panicked masses of people would mean they would have to travel by foot and with the city in such a state of chaos, it would probably take them hours to get to the front lines.
Forward Command Center
Hatfield, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
As Albus had feared, the evacuation was going slower than they needed. After three hours, only fourteen ships had left their docks and eighteen planes had taken off. The Eurostar was making trips back and fourth but had so far only managed four journeys. About seventeen percent of the population had left the country which was nine percent lower than it should have been.
They had lost contact with several checkpoints and outposts. The unnatural clouds above them that were blocking out the sunlight were also disrupting satellite communications and on top of that, they still had a massive enemy force heading straight for them.
There were several roaring blasts from overhead as a squadron of jet fighters passed the base, heading towards the mass of enemy creatures to deliver yet another air strike. They were barely making a difference. Every time they destroyed part of the group more would simply join.
Their numbers were endless.
"Sir, Colonel Weatherspoon reports that Hogwarts is empty but they are encountering heavy enemy contacts!" an Operator called out.
"Tell him to fall back to the nearest major city and mount a defense there," the General ordered.
"Sir, infantry and vehicles from the Kent TA just arrived," another Operator reported.
"Get them into position on the line. We've only got about thirty minutes before the main force arrives!"
"Yes, sir."
The ground rumbles and the massive explosions were seen in the distance as the fighter jets dropped their payloads. The sounds of the explosions had been coming closer and closer for the last forty minutes. Soon they would be in range of the ground troops.
"Athena, Reapers," Albus ordered.
She walked straight over to the nearest computer and laid her hand on it. The screen started buzzing and distorting from the jolt she was giving it. She kept her eyes closed while her consciousness stretched out through the wiring and transmitted signals until she got to what she was looking for.
The main control computer for the UAV Reaper Drones. She took control of their systems and immediately started lining them up on the runways that they were parked on. A few minutes later she had over twelve of them in the air and heading towards the enemy.
In the distance, the roar of their engines started to creep up. They weren't as loud as the actual jet fighters but they were still armed with the same Sidewinder missiles and best of all, they were unmanned.
They shot overhead of the command tent and towards the enemy.
"Once you've spent your ordinances crash the damn things into them," Albus whispered to her. She simply gave a little nod and continued to concentrate.
"Sir! We have visual contact!" a voice shouted from over the radio.
Albus and the General ran out of the tent and towards the massive array of military equipment that was waiting to defend London. He jumped through the air and landed on top of one of the tanks where a soldier was looking into the distance with a pair of high powered binoculars.
Albus grabbed them and took a look.
The Prophecy suddenly flashed through his mind. Demons would walk the earth. He looked up in the black and grey sky. Darkness will reign. It was really happening. As if the gates of hell themselves had opened and released everything that had been held back since the dawn of existence.
Explosions lit up the horizon illuminating the monsters that were heading straight for them. The creatures actually seemed to shy away or scatter when ever the explosions erupted. Albus suddenly realized why the sky was so dark.
They hated the light! His brother had somehow blocked out the sun so that his army could move without a problem.
There were more explosions but these were caused by the Reaper Drones loosing altitude and slamming into the mass of enemy beasts.
The monsters suddenly let out a massive collective roar. They had spotted the troops that was guarding London. Then there was a great serge and the invasion force sped up into a gargantuan charge.
The small cat-like ones immediately took the lead while the others ran or flew as quickly as they could towards task force.
"Sir! Targets are in range!" a soldier shouted.
"WHISKEY TASK FORCE, ENGAGE!" the General roared.
Every single weapon they had opened fire with so much untied force that it lit up the entire area and caused the ground to shake. Hundreds of 50. Caliber machines guns carved a line through the air and cut down anything in it's path. The tanks blasted off their rounds that sailed through the air and exploded like a broadside from a battleship. Rockets roared their way towards the enemy and created wave of fire that overtook the horizon.
The creatures dropped by the hundreds but didn't falter even for a second. They just continued to charge their way towards the line, jumping over or trampling the bodies of their own dead, edging ever closer to their targets.
Muswell Hill
London, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
They could hear the horrifying rumble and see the flashes in the distance. They knew exactly what it meant. Their forces had engaged the enemy.
This only made Aurora want to find Albus even more quickly. They weren't covering the ground quick enough. They had finally made it through the panic stricken crowds and through the road blocks but they still had at least a few miles to go.
Behind them they could see massive search lights rolling across the skies and hear the sounds of army vehicles tearing through the streets, yelling out instructions on loud speakers. Then they heard something else. Something that seem to cause their worst nightmares to become pleasant daydreams.
It was a low, moaning noise that sounded almost like a whale. Something primordial that shouldn't exist but did.
They watched in horror as an entire tower block suddenly crippled and began to break apart. It looked almost like a demolitions team had just blown up a building in the heart of London. A wave of dust and smoke engulfed the entire area causing it to look like a cloud had just fallen out of the sky.
Then something within the cloud moved. If it was alive, it would have had to have been the size of a Naval Destroyer. Barely audible screams were coming from everywhere and through the gaps in the buildings they could see massive crowds of people running for their lives.
Suddenly a strange soft blue light started to emanate from the dust cloud. It started of as a small oval shape that grew bigger and bigger. Then, like some kind of giant spell, the blue light blasted it's way across the sky and struck a building. It burned straight through anything it touched the same way that a Rail Gun would.
Whatever that thing was, it had some kind of particle cannon!
"Albus...where are you..." Aurora breathed in terror.
Forward Command Center
Hatfield, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
"Sir, something just came out of the Thames River and is attacking the city!" a soldier reported, yelling at the top of his lungs over the deafening assault.
"What?"
"I don't know but it's huge!"
"Athena!" Albus called out. Athena raced to his side, "you hold! Not matter what it takes! Don't let these things near the city!" Albus ordered.
The General nodded as Albus took hold of Athena and shot into the air, heading back towards London.