Prologue

The being stands looking out beyond the transparent glass of the ship. Earth. The small planet stands alone in its star system. It is the only planet capable of housing life. It's full of inhabitants who believe everything revolves around them, each of them selfish in their own way. They excessively fight, causing war, death, and disease for the profit of power.

The being laughs to himself—such an insolent race.

All the years humanity has been granted to make their world a better place, and they've done nothing but make it worse. They do not know the true meaning of power. They do not know what it means to conquer an entire planet. An entire star system. And that is why he is here. He wants the Earth. He wants to teach them—to show them that they are inferior in every way possible.

He smiles to himself. He knows they will try and fight. He's counting on it. He revels in the bloodshed. He loves the fact that once their hopes are extinguished, they will finally understand their true purpose. It's simple.

To serve him and his race however he deems necessary.

The being turns to his second-in-command with an amused grin. Humanity. They believe they are advanced with their satellites and telescopes. It's laughable how behind they are. Their technology is so outdated that they haven't even realized they've been observed for years. Even now, they have no idea of the armada sitting in their solar system, ready to strike.

The time has finally come to intervene.

July 23rd

Iris

"Andrew, you can't ignore your son forever. You two have to talk about this eventually!" I tense at the sound of my mother raising her voice. I hate it when my parents argue.

I look up from my place in the backseat. My mother glares at my father from the passenger seat, waiting for him to respond. I know how he'll respond. He will either yell or ignore her for the rest of the day. My parents rarely get along, but today, they were supposed to, no matter what.

Today we are supposed to celebrate my birthday. My birthday isn't until tomorrow, but my father will be out of town by then for another business trip. So, I get today. All I wanted for today was for my parents to take me to the park. The sun is high, the weather is warm, and there isn't a cloud in sight. It's the perfect day. Or rather, it would be if my parents could get along for five minutes.

"Lauren. I'm not discussing this with you today." I know that tone. My father really is refusing to discuss it with her. His hand reaches for the radio to turn the volume louder than my mother's fuming voice, adding to her anger. She launches into an argument about my father's lack of attention to his family and accusations of affairs. I fight the urge to put my hands over my ears. She hates it when I do that.

So, my eyes shift to the world outside of the car. I see people on the street walking with their friends and families, enjoying the weather. A car pulls up next to us with the top down and a young man sitting in the driver's seat. He is wearing a pair of sunglasses, his head tilted as he looks at his phone screen. I wonder where he's going on a day like this.

My brow furrows when I notice a large shadow passing over the area. It's strange because only seconds ago there were no clouds in the sky.

I tense as the song that was coming out of the speakers is cut off, followed by a long ringing noise and an emergency announcement .

"This is not a test. We repeat, this is not a test. There have been sightings of a foreign..."

Screams erupt outside of the car, and the people who were once happily enjoying their day begin pointing to the sky and running in the opposite direction. Chaos slowly ensues around us as everyone tries to escape the ominous shadow in the sky. I place my hand against the glass, craning my neck to see the object that has blocked out the sun. It isn't a cloud. It's a... spaceship? It looks nothing like the ships in the movies. It looms over the area even though it's hundreds of miles in the sky; the ship's circular wings radiate blue light, mimicking the texture of dragonfly wings. The body is smooth and metallic, glinting in the sunlight. It's bigger than any airplane I've ever seen. And more versions of it suddenly appear in a formation surrounding it, stretching a long distance in the sky.

"Dad?" I whisper from the back seat. My mother's shouting has silenced, and my father's looking out the windshield as well at the terrifying sight. All of us jump as the emergency announcement abruptly ends, followed by a loud static noise and a strange new voice.

"Earth. Your planet has become volatile and destructive and has reached the end of its days in your solar system. You have now become the property of the Leviathan empire. Do not resist, and there will be no need— "

"Andrew!"

That's the last sound I hear before a large truck crashes full force into the side of our car. The sound of metal crushing against metal and shattering glass fills the air, and I feel my body being forced with the car into the opposite lane.

"Shit!" My father's voice fills the air as do my screams, our car spinning from the force of impact. My stomach flips, and I am no longer in control of it as I am jostled violently in the backseat. The car finally halts, and the sounds of more screams fill the air, as does the panic of humanity. I look up from my place in the backseat, my arm screaming in pain from the glass that has punctured my flesh. I look down at my arm in horror, trying my best to keep my scream down. It's bent at an unnatural angle, with glass and blood coming from it.

"Shit, shit, shit, Lauren. Lauren!" I look up from my bloodied arm to see my mother's slumped body in the front seat. The right side of her body has been crushed by the truck that struck our car. The entire passenger side has been mangled, as if eating my mother's body.

A cough leaves my lips, and tears fall down my cheeks from the pain.

"Iris! Are you okay, baby?" My dad's screams mingle with the world around us, and I give him a small whimper, letting him know I'm fine. My father looks back at my mother, and his voice wavers as he touches her lightly.

"Lauren...?"

She doesn't stir. My father continues to shake her, dropping his head as sobs wrack his body. His hand grips my mother's shoulder desperately, but she won't respond to him. A large explosion in the distance causes the ground to tremble beneath our feet, pulling my father from his grief. He reaches for my mother's throat, pulling the necklace she keeps anchored there from her lifeless body. He then brings his closed fist to his lips.

"Hold on, Iris, we're going to get out of here."

I watch my father struggle to get out of the front seat, my eyes shifting to my mother. I can't see her face from here. Only her hair, which is now wild and dripping with blood. My father screams from the front seat as he breaks his windshield with his elbow and crawls out of the vehicle.

He immediately comes to my seat directly behind his, trying to open my door, but it's stuck. His panicked gaze meets mine.

"Iris, turn away from the glass and cover your face. I'm going to break it!" he calls. I do as he says, still unable to lift my right arm. I hear the sound of the glass breaking, followed by the spray as it covers me. My father wastes no time undoing my seatbelt and pulling me out of the car.

I cry out in pain when he grabs my arm, and he notices, his eyes wide.

"Oh no," he whispers. He pulls his phone out, frantically dialing for someone as he hoists me up in his arms, pulling me away from the street that has now become a bloodbath. I look behind him at the park. People have begun to turn on one another, snatching things like purses and wallets before running away desperately. The sound of gunfire fills the air, and I look up to see what appear to be missiles heading toward the massive ship that looms in the sky. Fighter jets zoom overhead, following a pattern to strike the intruders .

"Ow, ow!" I cry out from my father's jostling. He limps through the chaos with me in his arms until we find a now-empty stand, and he sets me down gently. He pushes my hair out of my face, handing me the phone.

"Iris. I need you to listen very closely, sweetheart—"

I scream just as another explosion sounds around us. I can feel the heat of its proximity. I look around in terror, trying to see where the threat is coming from, but there are only people running past us.

"Iris! Keep trying your brother, okay?" my father says, turning away from me. I watch him in confusion as he begins kicking the wooden stand's edge.

I press my brother's name on the cracked screen, my eyes widening when I see the dried blood. I look up at my father's face, and there's blood pouring from a wound in his head. It's a deep wound.

"Dad?" I whisper. He ignores me, though, continually breaking down the stand.

"Hey, you've reached Cypress. You know what to do."

I hang up the call, dialing again just as my father comes near me with a small piece of wood.

"Give me the phone, honey," he murmurs. I've never seen my father so desperate as he moves around me. He pulls the phone out of my grasp, setting it on speaker between us. He then grabs my injured arm, earning a hiss of pain from me.

"This is going to hurt. I need you to be brave for me, okay?" he asks with a pleading gaze. I nod my head vigorously, more tears streaming down my face .

" Hey, you've reached Cypress. You know what to do."

My father murmurs another curse as he redials my brother. I look beyond his shoulder and see smaller ships descending toward the ground. My father grabs my hand, and I cry out as pain shoots up my arm from his trying to set it properly.

"It's broken, Iris..."

"Hey. You've reached Cypress. You know what to do."

The sound of foreign weapons soon fills the air, followed by screams. My eyes widen when I look behind my father's shoulder to see the buildings that once stood tall in the city's skyline suddenly collapse.

"Dad...?"

My father frantically pulls his blazer from his shoulders, tearing at the frayed material. A shocked gasp leaves my lips when I notice the bloody stain that has saturated his once-white shirt, right in the center of his abdomen.

He begins wrapping the strips of his torn shirt around my arm, fastening the board to me as he creates a splint. My ears are ringing from the adrenaline and loud explosions surrounding me, but as I calm my breathing and focus on my father, I finally notice his breathing. It's shallow. He's fighting to remain conscious as he rapidly blinks the blood from his eyes.

"Okay…" He leans back against the stand just as more people run by us, and I study him closely. His skin is clammy and pale. The wounds on his body don't look shallow at all. They look fatal. He offers me a weak smile, reaching into his pocket. He holds his hand out to me, giving me my mother's necklace, and I notice the tremble of his arm.

"Daddy, we need to go," I whisper in a panic. Another rumble shakes the ground, and I can hear foreign gunfire getting closer. I reach for his hand, trying to pull him with me, but he slowly shakes his head, looking down at his phone.

"We're sorry, you have reached a number that— "

He sucks in a shaky breath, looking at me. And I see defeat wash over his features.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat things for you. I'm dying," he says, his voice weak.

He reaches for my face, placing his hand against my cheek. He seems at a loss for words. A large shockwave ripples across the land, causing the trees to shake and some in the distance to snap. The force rocks even our bodies.

"Iris. You know you're my brave girl, right?" He places his palm against my cheek, his eyes desperate to take in every feature of my face. Tears stream down his cheeks, something I've never seen from my father as he studies me.

I hastily nod, placing my hand over his. His skin is cooler than usual.

"I love you… so much. And I need you to listen to what I'm about to tell you," he manages. But his words are becoming weaker by the second. He inhales a deep breath, the tremor of his arm spreading to his whole body.

"Get out of the city… go as far as you can and never place your trust in anyone. You have to get as far away from the fighting as possible… you have to do whatever it takes to—" he trails off, his breathing turning into shallow pants as he struggles to hold onto life.

"Dad! Daddy! Please!" I cry out, my grip on his palm tightening. His pale eyes meet mine as he struggles to speak his last words to me, his brow furrowing. He grips my hand, his grip mimicking his desperation to speak his last words to me.

"…survive…"

His grip slackens, and I watch in horror as his eyes slowly dull, his life leaving his body. I drop my head in my hands, gripping my mother's locket with all my might. The sound of screams and a battle in the distance fills the air, and I know I have no time to mourn. I have no time to hold my father or find my mother to bury them. I have to go.

I have to.

I slowly stand just in time to see what it is that has changed my life forever. My eyes widen as I take in the army of foreign beings walking through what remains of the park with their weapons. Their armor glistens from the sun reflecting off the form-fitting uniforms. They're terrifying. I take one last look at my father, my feet already moving away before they spot me.

I hastily wipe my eyes as I run in the opposite direction, hatred bubbling deep within me. I know there's nothing I can do now, but one day, I will avenge my family. One day, I will repay these invaders for what they have caused. Tears burn my eyes as the reality of my life comes crashing down on me. I don't know where I'm going, but it doesn't matter as my jog turns into a sprint, and I make my way in the opposite direction to follow my father's last command.

Survive.