The End

All it took was a single heart shaped locket; that was what ended the world. The ship had crashed in the middle of New York City. There was no denying what had happened. Extraterrestrials were real and they had come to Earth. That would have been enough to have scientists and the world in an uproar. The bodies themselves could only be identified by their bones, but what took it from madness to true insanity was the heart shaped locket. The one thing that had survived in a truly whole state clutched in tightly to one of the bodies. When it was found it wasn’t of some far off world. The two pictures inside were of a family very much on Earth, in a McDonald’s of all places. Extraterrestrials weren’t just visiting, they were living on Earth.

This was handled at first with some semblance of logic and reason. The family was found, they were spoken to and they were tested to see if they were human. The issue came when it was found that there was no noticeable genetic difference between Earthlings and the extraterrestrials. But worse than that, the one found clutching the heart shaped locket had just been elected to the city council. His wife said she had pushed him for it. He was so smart and kind, she knew he could do great things for their small town.

We had an extraterrestrial race, who looked exactly as humans did down to the DNA, were living among humanity, with no way to say who was or wasn’t from Earth, and they were involved in politics. It took one month from the time that extraterrestrials were discovered for humanity to be at its own throat. Everyone and anyone could be an alien, your neighbor you didn’t like, the politicians who didn’t believe what you did, that weird guy down the street, even your own family.

The first spark didn’t come from anything big, it was just a general disagreement on what should be done between two brothers in Duluth, Minnesota, Adam and David. One had started an organization to try and help people deal with their anxieties about the situation it was fairly small, maybe 20 people. The other had started a neighborhood watch looking for out of place behaviors. They were arguing at home, something that every family does. When Adam accused his brother David of being an imposter things took a turn; reason was lost, family was lost, it was just a pure outpouring of the insanity that had been building for the last month. At the end David was dead. The neighborhood watch retaliated quickly and Adam was hanging from a tree on every screen in the world. The sign nailed to his chest was Aliens will die.

Things happened quickly after that, riots and protests then marshal law. But who could trust the government? An alien had already been elected to government who was to say they weren’t much higher up. The people of the world revolted against the government and themselves. If you weren’t a member of a specific group then you were an enemy; outsiders were the enemy. The militaries of the world had generals fighting generals with the full force of their troops. There was no one side, everyone had their own. Unity had been destroyed in an instant.

The first genocide happened in Russia, as is to be expected, half of Moscow was gone in a week. The military wiping out every man, woman, and child who didn’t fall in line with them. We don’t know the death toll over the next week, but the military forces had been wiped out and Russia was being swept over by radicalized groups seeking to destroy the obviously, they claimed, Alien threat of the government. The third week they had taken the government, and then turned on each other. At the end of the month, a quarter of the population was alive in Russia.

India, Pakistan, and China went nuclear first. Not against each other, but against their own peoples. Over 2 Billion people were dead in less than 12 hours. The fallout swept over the world, the radiation that carried into Canada caused even more deaths over the coming months. Canada held together well for a time, not because of any particular national need, but simply because of how far people were from others. Major cities were in a state of war, but that was happening everywhere. Once the radiation began to affect them though, everything was lost. Each town began to fight with others for supplies. Soon towns were at war with others, raids constantly wiping town after town out. They left no survivors because they had to Aliens could be among them. Truth or lie, the belief made it so much easier for them to slaughter each other.

Europe fell when they refused supplies to the United States. The United States nuclear response came so swiftly that Europe didn’t even have time to respond. Switzerland was at least somewhat safe due to the terrain. Those left tried to enter; there were too many and who knew if they were aliens. The refugees were soon being executed at the border. The refugees fought back, no one has heard from the nation since.

Australia and Africa, have been entirely radio silent since Europe fell. The genocides that happened there can’t be counted, however what was left just disappeared from the cities. Living in small communities away from everyone else. Hunting and gathering, always on the move so they can avoid others. It’s a smart plan, at least until the radiation that is taking over the world seeps into the food and water. Even with the limited spread now, 5 months after the ship crashed animals are dying in mass. It’ll only be a matter of time until everything is inedible. The weather has also begun to shift. Soon winter will be upon the world.

The Americas held together the longest, the United State in particular did well for a long time at 5 months. It seems like all that time they spent hating each person who believed differently than them had made it easier to survive in a world of aliens. Having to deal with the other for years made it so much easier to live not knowing if your neighbor was an extraterrestrial invader. Small towns survived as major cities burned. A community of small towns supporting each developed. It lasted as long as it could until someone decided that they were in charge. Three factions stood out among the others, the military, the militias, and the religious zealots. The zealots’ pure fanatical drive allowed them to overtake the others swiftly. Suicide bombers and kamikaze attacks whittled down what little ammunition and weapons the military and militias could muster.

After purifying the United States, the turned their attention southwards and made their way through Mexico and down into South America. They burned everything that didn’t join them and would have taken South America, if not for the cartels. The prophets didn’t expect how well armed and supplied they were even with as few people as were left. In one month the prophets were forced back North and into the terrible winter that had befallen their former homes. They had their vengeance though, launching every last nuclear weapon into South America purely out of spite.

What survivors there are roam the world as small tribes or city states built to try and hold out against the coming winter. There is little hope of survival as most food and supplies can’t even be eaten. Food that was grown has rotted and weapon supplies have been burned through.

Mission Notes:

Please tell whoever came up with the idea to fake the crash with humans on board the ship that it was a stroke of pure genius. Their history of violence against their own species was perfectly suited to this tactic creating a result that could have taken decades, not the months they accomplished their own destruction in. The heart shaped locket in particular was a touch that can’t be stressed. As it set everything in motion. When we come to mine this planet of the radioactive materials please note that the humans will be hostile, but as the world stands it will offer little resistance as we acquire the materials we need for the empire. Bringing the humans in would have been a poor choice, as shown by the success of this operation, they could not have accepted others, they couldn’t even accept themselv