"This King… This Outer… Everything will make sense once the representative that we have sent to the coordinates they had given. He was someone whom all the presidents in the world had entrusted to decide which of the options they had given to us, once he had heard it himself, specifically.
"Folks, we may be facing a revolutionary change, far from what our mother Earth had encountered before. Once again, trust your leaders to do the right thing. For the good of the world. All I'm asking is to be patient, then we'll give any available information that lands upon us."
"That's it and God bless Earth,"
The television blinked, the current channel disappearing, and the earlier news program reappeared—watched closely by Case and the rest of the family on the couch.
Case and the rest of the family, huddled around the couch, watched as the channel faded away, replaced by the earlier news broadcast.
The reporters looked visibly puzzled at first, but as each second passed, their confusion shifted into unease and then fear.
"I need to be home with my family… I'm sorry…"
The woman reporter said before standing up and leaving the news scene, wanting to spend the last moments of her life, if ever this was the end for Earth.
Soon, the news outlet blacked out.
It noted with the phrase, "Stand by, Tennews coming shortly."
It wasn't just that single news broadcast.
As the reality of what was happening with Outer settled in, it became clear there would be no news coverage to report the happenings around the world for at least a week.
During those times, the chaos that had already erupted will continue to worsen.
Only one person was ready.
'It's finally here...'
As he predicted, Case saw no news outlet online after the president's discussion regarding their plans for the future.
He kept seeing other news channels that were once active went silent and cut off as if the whole television had broken down.
Case had already experienced and expected this kind of scenario to happen, which is why he wasn't perturbed and was relaxed.
"Now another week of waiting…"
…
Dozens of jet aircraft escorted a single chopper as it traveled to a mountain terrain. Inside that chopper was the representative whom all the leaders had entrusted with their choice regarding the Earth's fate.
"Seriously, all those geezers are just afraid to step up. They make me their scapegoat to come at the base of an Otherworldly."
A man in his middle age spoke with ridicule, not afraid that someone was going to snitch about him, as there's a chance that it could be his last day in this world, the very first casualty at the alien's visit.
"Sir Thomas—I mean, Mister Secretary! That isn't true at all! They choose you because they know you are capable of judgment that could save us all."
Secretary Thomas chuckled as he couldn't help but look at his companion on his side, who had been loyal to him as ever.
"Karl. That's the worst thing they could've done. I know I'm a skilled individual, but they should've chosen a suicidal individual that isn't afraid of death, you know?"
Thomas paused, "And additionally, you really have the guts to come with me, aren't you? But oh well, dying alone seems boring. Get ready to meet our creators because we might not be coming back,"
Karl wanted to cheer up his master once again, but stopped as he also feared for his life.
He was the one who chose to follow Thomas when he was given a choice of not going. But upon receiving a lot from Thomas without wanting anything in return, this is the least he could do.
"Sir, please quit joking like that…"
"Hahahaha"
Bzt—!
A sharp buzz crackled through their headsets, followed by the steady voice of the pilot filling their ears.
"Secretary Thomas, Sir Karl. We received some info that we're approaching our target. If you had unbuckled your seatbelts, please return them. Also, you must brace for anything that might happen at this point."
After double-checking his seatbelt per the pilot's instruction, Thomas remarked in a voice that sounded like he had already given up on everything.
"Captain, I'll curse you if we ever have a bad crash upon landing."
The pilot of their chopper shuddered as they followed the jet escorts toward a location where the coordinates indicated a ship was stationed.
However, Secretary Thomas frowned upon witnessing nothing on the scene.
All he could see was a huge black wall that seemed to be blocking their way towards their destination.
"What is this black wall?" Thomas asked everyone who could give him an answer.
But the answer came instantaneously from the pilot itself, saying with a strained voice.
"That's not a wall, sir… I—it seems to be some sort of ship. And… It's freaking huge…"
Thomas and Karl couldn't help but feel a tingling sensation coursing through their bodies, making their muscles tense and their skin crawl.
For Karl, it was the sense of fear and being in the unknown that made him look to his boss.
Thomas, on the other hand, was different.
He was feeling that same fear creeping up inside Karl, but there was also excitement.
It had the potential to push Earth into a new era—one that delved deeper into the Universe's secrets, venturing into the very realm humanity had long struggled to comprehend... Space.
Now, this could be the chance to take one step forward.
"Uhm, we're receiving a transmission signal down below that we're ready upon landing. Hold tight, we're going down,"
As the pilot finished speaking, the chopper slowly descended, closely guarded by the jet planes throughout the steady drop.
Despite the presence of over a dozen jet planes, each towering at five times the size of a standard commercial aircraft, they were still nothing compared to the spaceship that had landed.
And the chopper they were riding was even smaller than it, making them nothing but an ant in the face of an elephant.
Thomas and Karl soon disembarked from the chopper, their gaze locked on the towering structure before them, a massive wall of the spaceship that seemed to reach the clouds.
"It's big…"
Almost suddenly, a whisper reverberated on their backs.
"It's nothing in comparison to our main ship in this planet's atmosphere,"
The soldiers who went down with Karl and Thomas raised their guns towards the whisper and pointed their barrels at it, only to see an almost human-like appearance, if not for the fact that it had two antennas right above its head.
The one that went towards them was no other than Auralex.
Even with a man advantage, they couldn't shake off the fear of meeting the Commander who had visited them from space.
Everyone felt his domineering aura even from miles away.
They instantly knew Auralex was deliberately showing his power.
'What is this malevolent pressure?! I felt like we'll be wiped out right in an instant if we provoked or showed hostility! Is this a strength of a resident of Outer?'
Thomas's head was filled with these questions that he couldn't help but blurt something out of his mouth.
"H-how nice it is for the commander has greet us personally! I thought it would be one of your men to do it… should we be glad?" Thomas said nervously as he stretched his hand forward.
Auralex chuckled, his voice calm as he accepted the offered hand without hesitation. "It's only natural that I greet the representative of Earth myself. It's a matter of respect, and Antavon regarded respect as the highest form of courtesy."
Then he continued.
"Let's not waste any more time. How about I invite you guys on a tour of one of our spaceships first before you give me your answer, then?"
Thomas, who looked like he was on the verge of breaking down, nodded solemnly as he and the rest behind him followed him back towards the entrance of Auralex's spaceship.
'He said one of our spaceships? One?!' Thomas aggressively thought inwardly.