Ravens of Eternity

451 Action-Reaction, Pt Planet Wyeth, Renalus System, Sol Federation (formerly)

A shadow hung heavily over the Federation planet. Or perhaps more accurately, it crept steadily across what used to be a Federation planet and consumed everything in its path. It chewed through its largest cities as quickly and completely as it devoured whatever plains and forests and oceans it had left.

Godeater swept over the streets and buildings and stores and hoppers across the capital megacity, which spanned nearly a quarter of the planet’s surface. Its billions of citizens ran from the creeping shadow in horrified panic.

It didn’t matter how fast and frenzied they ran or whether they used their feet or fled in hoppers, the shadow constantly nipped at their heels.

Those who were slow or feeble or tired or sacrificed or trampled were easily swallowed up. Arcs of dark purple energies swept across their bodies as the darkness hollowed them out. Their panicked screams and pained howling echoed all through the massive city’s streets.

But it hardly mattered in the long run. Some ran for secure bunkers, others dove into service tunnels underground, many went into various hiding spots and locked themselves in. No matter what they did, Godeater caught up to everyone and everything, eventually.

They were all taken quickly, too. In fact, by surrounding themselves in darkness, they only sped up the process.

A great many ran for the various star harbors and skyports dotted all over the megacity itself. Regardless of what ships those ports had or how small their landing pads were, the panicked populace swarmed them all.

Although most of them went for the passenger ports and harbors, even the industrial and commercial facilities became utterly bogged down with people.

.....

Tens of thousands of them crowded around the ticket booths and machines as they bought out seats in whatever ships were on the ground. And when those ran out, tens of thousands more simply pushed their way towards the vessels.

They practically trampled whatever security was in their way as they forcibly boarded every ship they saw.

Some were welcomed aboard.

One of the cargo cruisers parked in a shipping yard was doing just that – it had lowered its cargo ramp and let numerous people in. At the same time, its top deck cargo arms were pulling containers from deep inside the hold and tossing them out on the other side of the platform.

Whatever few guards the ship employed did their best to maintain order along with the shipyard’s crew, but they were beyond overwhelmed. That was even with dozens of Megacity police helping them maintain order.

Deep inside the crowd, a young woman pushed her way through the throng. She grit her teeth as she cut a narrow path through the people all around her.

Behind her, she led her aging grandfather by the hand. The old man wheezed and panted as both of them struggled to get through the crowd itself.

“Wait, hold on,” he said with heavy breaths. “I can’t…”

“Yes you can,” his granddaughter told him. “We’ve only got maybe a dozen meters to go, then we’ll be alright. You can sit down as much as you want after, alright? Can you do that?”

“Just a few more meters? I… okay, I can try.”

She clutched at his hand tighter, then pushed them both further through the crowd. They took their first steps on the bottom of the packed ramp, even as an argument erupted right at the top of it.

A man in a rumpled, but otherwise pricey suit screamed at the few Megacity PD officers just inside the entrance to the ship itself.

“I don’t care what duties you swore to!” he shouted. “The Majority Chief Executive of Continental Starlines is on this boat, and he wants off the ground right this second! No more delays!”

“We can’t just leave all these people here,” protested a ship crew standing by. “We’ve got plenty of space in the hold. Can’t he wait for another hour so we can fill it up? I mean-”

“Absolutely not!” the executive assistant roared. “An hour? Are you insane? Also, shut the hell up unless you wanna lose your job.”

The incredibly irate assistant turned back to the officers.

“And I suggest you all understand your real jobs,” he continued. “You’re here to make sure nothing happens to the Execs aboard this ship. Everything else is up to our discretion, you got it? Now get rid of these goddamned rubes so we can get this goddamned boat in the air!”

“How exactly do you propose we do that?” exclaimed one of the officers.

“You’ve got guns. Use ‘em.”

The Megacity PD officers grimaced hard, even as the assistant stormed off. But orders were orders, and there really wasn’t anything they could do about it. How could they possibly risk their paychecks, after all?

“Well, you heard ‘im,” said one of the officers. The stripes on his chest revealed he was the captain in charge.

He raised his duty rifle up and fired a burst into the air. The sound of it cut through everything else, and froze the crowd. In that moment, the captain yelled out his warning.

“The ship’s full!” he said. “We’re closing up and undocking, as of right now. Please disperse and find transport elsewhere. If you don’t… we’ll be forced to fire on you. We… we wish you all luck.”

The words coursed through the crowd in front of him. Some were utterly shocked by them – their eyes were as wide as their gaping mouths. Others were immediately incensed, and began to scream and curse and shout.

“They’re still pulling cargo out!”

“It looks like there’s tons of space in there!”

“What kinda fecal farce is this?!”

“Look, I’m sorry, alright!” the captain shouted back. “Nothing I can do – the ship’s full, like I said.”

The girl down at the bottom of the ramp looked absolutely forlorn on hearing what was going on, or rather what they were all being told. Part of her couldn’t believe it – the ship was still in the process of pulling cargo out of its belly.

How could it possibly be full?

She felt her grandfather tug on her hand, and when she turned to look, saw that he was gripping his chest firmly. His face was plastered with pain, even as he struggled to breathe.

Alarm swept across the girl, who then quickly pushed people out of the way and led him off to the side. They found a relatively empty corner a half dozen steps away, just off to the side. She leaned her grandfather up on a stack of cargo containers, though he quickly slid down to the ground and sat himself down on the dirty ground.

As he rested, numerous murmurs spread all around the crowd. Those up at the top of the ramp were practically screaming at the officers and crew, and demanded to be allowed into the ship.

“You’re gonna let us all die?! You’re all monsters! Demons!”

“They’re lying to us! Someone ordered them to stop us from going in!”

“Look behind them! The hold’s more than half empty!”

The throng up top began to push and shove in an attempt to get past the officers. But they hardly budged from their positions.

“I’m gonna go see if we can maybe get in anyway,” the girl told her grandfather. “Maybe I can reason with them, pay them, whatever. Sit tight, alright?”

Though she turned to go, she didn’t get more than a step away before gunfire erupted from the top of the ramp yet again. But this time, instead of a single burst, it was countless bursts. And it didn’t just come from the captain.

The officers fired their service rifles straight into the crowd in an effort to stop them. Their rounds cut through the unarmed and unarmored civilians as though they were made of paper. Each bullet ripped through a half dozen of them at a time, and practically mowed half of the ramp clear.

People screamed as they ran full tilt in the opposite direction. They pushed and shoved anyone in their way in an attempt to get away from the gunfire.

But most simply didn’t make it. Bullets thudded into their backs and completely shredded their skin and muscle.

The girl draped herself over her grandfather protectively, even though they were far enough from the line of fire. Both of them shivered out of sheer fright as they huddled down on the ground. They covered both their ears as the screaming and gunfire intensified all around them.

She glanced over her shoulder and watched as dozens and dozens of people were torn to shreds, as the bullets literally tore through their bodies. The force of the hits pushed them down the ramp, where the bodies piled up and gathered at the bottom.

Blood seeped out of their wounds and pooled up at a rapid pace. It spread out all around, even as the officers up top continued to pepper the area with their gunfire. They emptied their magazines, reloaded them, then emptied them again.

They unequivocally ripped through everyone and everything without flinching.

Hell, they even poured countless rounds into piles of the dead all around, just to punctuate their position.

The officers only stopped once the square around the ramp had been completely clear of any living people. They saw that many were dead, and watched as the rest fled as fast as they could while others cowered behind cover.

Their guns’ dark red glowing barrels cooled slowly as they lowered them. At the same time, the blood-streaked ramp raised up and receded into the ship itself as it pressurized for liftoff.

The girl and her grandfather raised their heads and watched as the cargo cruiser lifted itself up off its landing pad. They watched as it rose up higher and higher, then angled its way up and out of the city itself.

A sad grimace fell on her face as the screaming of countless people came from beyond the gates to the landing pad itself. Godeater’s shadow had finally crept up on the shipping yard and began to consume anyone and everyone who was still out there.

There were still tens of thousands of people in various landing pads, all panicked as the darkness swept through them. Each was converted painfully by the dark purple energies, and turned into shadow. Crowds were swallowed whole, even as they violently pushed and shoved their way into any open cargo holds.

They did their absolute best to escape their fate, but there was nothing they could do at that point. Even the ships that were still on the ground couldn’t get away. The shadow touched their hulls to some degree, and spread without stopping.

Even the lumbering cargo cruisers were eaten up as purple energies coated them in shadow. All those inside were equally swept up and devoured. There was absolutely no hiding from their fates.

The girl simply wept as purple energies swept across her and her grandfather. Despite the pain she felt as her body was converted, all she could feel was deep, undying sorrow.