Maris’s Final Act of Defiance

When there were no more options, world leaders withdrew to their protected havens, leaving the rest of the world to fend for itself. They persuaded themselves that they were required in order to protect the interests of the survivors and assist as many of them as possible. That is what they fooled themselves into thinking.

As the second moon grew larger and larger in the sky, the populace watched in horror. At that moment, they realized their chances of surviving were dwindling. Those left outside continued to attack the shields themselves. People gathered around the doors, frantically begging to be let in. But in the end, it wouldn't matter for the shields in the Western Hemisphere.

There was still an hour left. Three more shields were useless because they had been sabotaged. Another three areas were doomed. The chaos caused by the populace's fear would result in thousands more deaths.

Jonah Mercado sat in front of the TV, content to act as if nothing was wrong. However, all of the channels only show news. He put in a DVD and turned on a movie, turning up the volume to try to block out the sound of his impending death.

Erin Belasco was one of many people hammering at the gates of a protected city in the southern United States, hoping to get inside before Maris struck. It wouldn't have mattered if she hadn't made it inside.

From inside the shield, Peter Calvert watched the security cameras while he watched the frantic crowds outside. One of the girls he saw was crying and pounding, wishing for nothing more than safety. He wanted to assist, but he was constrained by orders. He thought the shield would keep him safe. He was mistaken.

Mariah Houghland was not particularly interested in the news. She found it incomprehensible that people were so afraid of dying. She faced the last few minutes of her life calmly and peacefully.

Amazingly, Cody Amerson was still alive as the planet got closer to colliding. He had survived the nuclear attack on the planet itself, the numerous course corrections, and the attempted coup by those against his mission. He wouldn't make it through this. He and every other survivor on Maris were vaporized as the fragment entered Erath's atmosphere.

As the planet approached, Martin Wilkerson, who was patched into the live video feed, saw the outer edges of the atmosphere scorched by its fiery descent. And then it hit, and the feed died. He heard the thunderous roar of the impact from Canadia. He sensed the earth trembling with the deaths of millions. He was aware of his good fortune, but even his brilliant imagination was unable to comprehend the enormity of the disaster.

As the video and commentary played on the screen, President James Wilton listened. With his head in his hands, he silently lamented the lives being lost. Only a few seconds before he heard the impact, the video feed stopped.

As the feed played, Mitchell Stuart, the president's foreign affairs advisor, looked in on the president. As Maris raced toward Erath, he interpreted the president's stance as a prayer for his own survival. Stuart was unfazed and had faith in the shields' abilities. He was unconcerned about the fates of the billions who would perish or the fact that he had concealed information that could have prevented their deaths. He reasoned that the fittest would survive. Eventually, those individuals would have only served as obstacles. Their loss didn't matter.

For the brief seconds before it struck, the piece of Maris ignited into a brilliant, fiery glow as it pierced Erath's atmosphere. A planet struck another planet. It could have appeared to an onlooker that Erath had completely engulfed Maris. The enormous piece buried itself far down in southern Mexico. In an instant, everyone within a thousand miles was crushed and killed. Then the earth shook. Following a shockwave that swept across Erath's surface, a torrent of rock and dirt shot out from the epicenter at unnatural speeds. These tiny projectiles knocked thousands to the ground, but they would have been crushed by the tidal wave of earth that followed. Those who were unlucky enough to be in the path of the terrible impact and its aftermath died instantly, without even having time to realize that their fate was imminent.

The impact itself was over in a matter of seconds. The world fell into stunned silence. However, the destruction was far from over.

Debris had been thrown into the atmosphere and beyond by the collision. Vapors, rock, and molten matter swirled together, encircling the planet. Erath was suffocated as this bubble of gas and dust gradually expanded outward.

Many more died as they struggled to breathe due to the dust clouds choking the air. The waves then started. They were first set off by the impact and spread outward, engulfing coastal cities all over the world. For a while, some shields were completely submerged. The water then sought the crater, which was the lowest point. People from all over the world were drawn into the depths of a massive riptide as a swirling ocean vortex converged over Central America. None ever made it back to the land.

With amazing speed, the vaporous atmosphere started to descend back to Erath. Wildfires broke out all over the world as a result of the debris's superheated descent. The most severe fires broke out in the vicinity of the impact site and at the Indian Ocean's geographical opposite. India, Africa, and the Middle East were the first regions to catch fire. The fires then spread westward along Erath's rotation, devouring everything in their path.

Only a few exposed locations made it through the impact and its ensuing fallout, primarily in the far north where life was already in short supply.

When Maris struck, about two billion people died instantly. In the hours of bloodshed and devastation that followed, Maris's last act of rebellion, another three billion or so people perished. The enormous natural power of the planet even caused the shields in the United States to give way. Many more would perish, but the nightmare was far from over despite the startling death toll.

It was Martin Wilkerson who first became alarmed. As he watched the outside world through the screens, the realization hit him. All that had been visible was now hidden beneath heavy dust clouds. He looked for the sun, but the haze was so dense that not even a dim glow could be seen. He realized then that something was amiss. He had manually calculated every possible outcome and had foreseen the entire disaster from the beginning. He knew exactly what was going on, and he had good reason to be concerned.

Erath had gotten lost.