Manifest

1st of November 2215

Two possibilities exist:
Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not.
Both are equally terrifying.
- Arthur C. Clarke

In the last centuries, people have gazed towards the skies, wondering if we were alone in the vast blackness. Whether our voice was the only one that could fill the silence.

Two years ago, we finally obtained certainty, when scientists all over the world suddenly began receiving signals.

Greetings from space. Not an echo, not a weather balloon and not some cosmic noise either.

According to the media, it was a plain old radio signal on a known frequency, which repeated the same message over and over again.

However not all of the world rejoiced. Plans were made, in case these extraterrestrials were hostile. I dare say that they would've made this plans anyway, even if there had been no doubt about their intentions.

Last month, the first emissary of the aliens arrived, a large ship of enormous proportions, which simply appeared in the sky, sending the entire world into a state of panic.

However not a shot was fired and not a single fighter was launched.

The world stared towards the sky, where the ship, which seemed to span the sky for miles to come simply relented like a dark omen, blocking out the sun.

The world waited, holding its breath and for just this one moment, all of humanity was as one.

Multiple smaller ships detached from the large ship, each landing in one of the capitals of the world about simultaneously. From this display alone it was almost certain, that we would not win a war against these aliens. After all, we had no craft of any sort, which could traverse around the globe in a matter of mere minutes.

The media gathered at the landing sites, where representatives of all of mankind waited for the things that were to come. Billions of eyes were glued to the TV screens all around the world.

The hatches opened as simultaneously as the landing had happened, making it obvious, that this entire event was orchestrated to the last and smallest detail.

However then something happened the aliens could not foresee. Or maybe they did, I can't say. Maybe they even had their hand in what happened next.

A number of soldiers all around the world suddenly raised their rifles and before anyone could have done anything, they pulled the triggers, sending death flying towards the aliens, which could have solved all of our problems with their technology.

As the body of the ambassadors hit the ground, the delinquents had already been overwhelmed and detained, but it was far too late. As the purple blood of the alien seeped into the ground, a disturbing sound echoed through the silence from their mothership as it ascended higher into the sky, far out of range of our weapons.

The smaller ships closed their hatches, leaving the corpses behind and took to the sky to return to their mothership, while the news program was replaced with an emergency broadcast, asking all civilians to take shelter in case of retaliation.

The heads of state were quickly assembled and brought to supposed safety, while the disturbing sound kept reverberating in the ears of all who walked the earth.

After about 30 minutes, the sound stopped. However, in its place, a voice echoed through the heads of every man, woman and child of 10 years and older, "We have come to offer you our hand in peace to deliver you from the evils that plague your bountiful planet. Now the demons of fear, which drove your kind to deny our offer before it was even spoken shall walk your world and consume all. We will return once you either have found peace of your own volition or reduced your world to ashes."