The Galactic Offense

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Whomever it is "they" are, they're right… I can assure you the screaming and ripping of flesh from bone fell silent. This will be my final entry on this journey, this mission's journey, and my life. Once the truth is revealed, I know without a doubt I will be killed. Nonetheless, it is what must be done. My country needs to know what its government is planning, and I am the messenger. The unfathomable horror that has befallen my crewmates and me is so gruesome that recounting what happened here would do no justice to the mayhem that ensued.

The mission seemed simple enough: travel the cosmos to locate and retrieve the meteorite in the moon's orbit, speculated to contain the biological data needed to revive the downed spaceship from the Roswell incident. Civilians have an idea about reverse engineering from leaked information and redacted documents, but they have no idea what my unit has been up to, and apparently, neither did we.

The Reds have gone away, but the destruction they left in their wake has damaged our ship beyond repair, leaving all communication systems down and unable to receive a signal. There is no calling for help, but knowing what I do now, I wouldn't know whom I could trust to call on if I could. I am alone, and once home, I will be hunted and crucified. Of these things, I am sure. The leader of the Reds somehow rigged the ship and set the trajectory for Earth. At the speed I am traveling, I will be home (I use this term loosely now) within the next week.

I never imagined we would be met by these hideous creatures so indescribable. All I can liken them to is something straight out of a nightmare. They were massive, maybe eight or nine feet tall, with skin blacker than the abyss of space itself. They had these eyes, oh God, their eyes… piercing and red, but a shade so deep yet bright that I can't accurately describe them as I have never seen anything like it in my life. Wilds and I called the creatures "Reds" to give them a name.

I'll never be able to forget the sounds. My poor friends, their blood-curdling screams, haunt my every waking moment. I dragged what was left of their bodies into my room and have since taken up the Captain's quarters to make my final days a little more comfortable. Even with the door air locked shut, I can still smell their rotting flesh, which becomes increasingly putrid by the day.

Maverick, our Captain, and I were in the control room, going over final preparations to secure the rock. I was mid-sentence when three Reds manifested in our midst. I'm assuming they teleported from their ship. I could not believe what I was seeing. Of course, I've seen UFOs before but never have experienced such a moment. Once on the ship, they dispersed throughout it. One of them walked right up to Mav, and as it looked at him, he screamed this shrill cry that brought me to my knees while I watched him explode as if a grenade had gone off inside his body. I was so terrified that all I could do was look down to see pieces of my friend of 15 years scattered all over me and the entire room. As the Reds went through the ship, I finally got my wits about me, and low crawled to Wilds' room. She was covered in blood and shaken from witnessing a red pickup Jones by his head and ripping him in two. We quietly snuck to the break room in search of Braun, but when we got there, Braun looked as if she'd been submerged into a vat of acid. Only her skeletal system remained. Wilds and I knew it was Braun because that was her location at the time of the attack. We searched for Sands and Soto in the locker room, but when we found them, we couldn't tell who was who. One had their skin torn from their body, with only the muscle tissue beneath remaining. The other looked as if he'd internally combusted, his body charred beyond recognition and burned to a crisp. As we looked at each other in horror, we heard footsteps fast approaching. As we turned around, we saw two of the Reds drawing near, the largest and most powerful, clearly the leader of the three, directing the lesser Red in Wilds' direction. Looking at Wilds, it put its hand out towards her, and as she wailed in agony, her heart flew out of her chest. As her body fell to the ground, I watched, frozen, as the Red devoured her heart.

The leader of the Reds walked up to me and motioned its hand as if to choke me, and although I could feel it intensely, I couldn't understand because it wasn't even touching me. As it raised its arm, I began to levitate and was lifted off the ground to meet it face to face. As I gasped for air, I realized it was speaking to me telepathically once I noticed its mouth (full of a pungent, black, and foamy, drool-like substance) was not moving. In my mind, with its deep, demonic voice, it said to me, "We have come to put a stop to the earthling's plans and intercept that which you have intended to harvest. We are part of the Intergalactic Order, which governs many universes, including yours. Earth and its inhabitants have been nothing more than a thorn in the side of the entirety of all the galaxies for eons. Your governors see it fit to use this substance to create superhuman soldiers with the intent to assert domination and total control of your planet. This would begin a catastrophic event that would end your world as you know it. Normally, my kind and the likes thereof would rejoice at such a glorious moment, but the dissipation of Earth would upset the galactic balance of all the universes, and we cannot allow that to come to pass. We have sent a message to your government that death awaits them should they make another attempt such as this. They cannot hide, they cannot run, they cannot lie, for we see, we know, we watch, and we wait. You will live and relay this message to your leaders and the rest of the world to alert them of the evil that has taken the highest seat in the house of your land. If you do not share these messages, we will know and return to deal you the same fate as your friends. Alert your leaders that this is the final warning regarding this trespass of the Galactic Order your forefathers agreed to long ago. We need the Earth to maintain balance, but we do not need humans. The Order has spoken." The Red released its hold on me, and I fell to the ground, lifeless and unable to comprehend what had just happened and the information I had gained. While speaking to me, it also implanted visions in my mind's eye. During a created pandemic, they will replace some vaccines with syringes filled with the alien enzyme extracted from the rock. These vaccines will be administered to soldiers, and when mixed adequately with our human DNA, they will amplify telekinetic abilities to the nth degree, manifesting and harnessing thought and bringing it forth into the real world. We would be able to weaponize thoughts and create mass destruction using only our minds. I saw people on battlefields with no armor or weapons, just themselves, creating mine-like explosions and rocket launcher damage, all from… their minds… An earth-shattering war, unlike anything we have ever known on this planet.

I am in disbelief that our mentor and supposed friend of the last ten years, a highly decorated general, was party to set this mission up as a facade for the true intention of bringing about the end of the world. With over $500 million in research and mission expenses and a seven-member crew whose families will be forever changed by this event, he was still ready and willing to set his plan into motion. How could someone be so heartless, calculated, and cold? For what gain? A new technological advancement that will surely bring about the end of humanity as we know it. Why? Why is world domination and control of the human race the end goal? Why can't we expend the same energies searching for peace rather than war? I cannot answer these questions, although I wish I could help fight against the evil that lives among us. As I drift back to Earth, I feel nothing but the impending doom of my arrival and how I will be received, the questioning, the reliving everything to explain the events, and my inevitable death. I know the government will never allow this story to leave the room in which it's shared, which means I, too, will never leave that room… not alive, anyway. I can only hope someone will find this journal and share the foresight that has been bestowed upon me in the hopes that this mission is never again attempted or forgotten. Luckily, it will be almost impossible to locate the same material as the only meteorite detected with the necessary elements, but the Reds confiscated it and have taken it only God knows where. Hopefully, somewhere far from the reaches of humankind. I fear this mission and everyone aboard will be explained away as an "unfortunate accident," and our families and loved ones will never know the truth.

To ensure no man is left behind, these are the crew members aboard the Night Hawk: Captain and Space Shuttle Commander Ryan Maverick. Pilot Astronaut, Annie Braun. Technician, Adam Jones. Technician, Bruce Sands. Scientist Eric Soto. Mission Specialist, Lara Wilds. And myself, Mission Specialist Wyatt Templeton.

Please, tell my wife, Rose, and son, Michael, that I love them dearly, that they are the only things to have brought me peace during this time, and that my dying wish would be to see them once more before my life is taken from me, even though I know that will not happen. Should someone find and read this entry, I beg of you, please, share the accounts of this mission, and don't let our deaths be in vain for a covert operation. Do what I will not be able to, spread the word of the possible demise of the Earth by the very hands that have sworn to protect it because I know they will stop at nothing to accomplish this mission. They will sacrifice all of us until the world is in its grips.

For the love of God and everything holy, please help me. Please help me save the world, our world, from itself.