"Get me a sitrep! How did the Koreans manage to take the entire Western Seaboard in a few days?! Where could they even get that kind of manpower?"
"We don't know sir! POTUS has been moved to a safe location, but we have no idea what resources the enemy has."
"Sir! EUCOM just called in, Eastern Europe has gone dark! Russia is making a move on Berlin as we speak!"
"Middle East isn't responding, General, and reports from the Pacific are showing massive troop movements in China. Intel shows they gave Kim Jong Un his new toys and the manpower to use them... SHIT!"
"What's going on?"
"Sir... San Antonio just got it. AETC Headquarters sent in their distress call not ten minutes ago. The Koreans are already gaining a steady foothold."
"I WANT EVERY TROOP FROM HERE THE MIDWEST EN ROUTE TO SAN ANTONIO YESTERDAY! WE WILL NOT LOSE TEXAS!"
Aria rushed into her parents' house, her black hair flailing as she sprinted through the doorway. Overhead, amidst the explosions of the aeronautical battle raging in the sky, was a massive and almost unnatural storm that split the sky open with divine fire. Lightning crashed down into the plains near the house, setting a small part of the field alight. Aria paid this no heed as she ran downstairs to gather her essential belongings. She entered the underground garage, her Suzuki V-Strom 1000 ready to go with her small pack of supplies strapped tightly to the back. Aria grabbed her jacket, pulling it on as she tracked down her helmet and backpack.
She found both on her workbench, where she had left them the night before. Aria threw her helmet on, pulled on the backpack, and mounted the bike. She turned the key, feeling the reassuring rev of the engine beneath her. She pulled out her remote for the garage door and clicked it to open the door. As soon as the metal gate was high enough for her to clear the gap, she tossed away the remote and rocketed outside. She sped down her driveway before turning toward the dirt road that led east into the nearby forest.
She was about halfway to her first landmark, the bridge over the interstate, before her neighbor, Faith, rolled up next to her on a custom Harley. Aria nodded towards Faith before clicking a button on the side of her helmet, turning on the internal speakers for the Bluetooth inside the helmet. "Call Fairy," she said into the voice command. She heard the dial tone a couple times before Faith answered the call.
"What's up, Singer?"
"Oh, you know, gunfire, lightning, end of civilization as we know it."
"Oh, yeah... So, it's just Friday?"
Aria laughed, hearing the echo of her musical alto through the other side of the call. "Just another Friday would have been fine, but Wichita Falls is under attack, in case you didn't notice. is being taken over by a bunch of squinty-eyed Communists. I thought the news had gone pazzo when they said Korea had invaded."
"Looks like Midge Et Un finally cracked, huh?" There was a brief silence between the two before Faith spoke again. "So what's the plan, Singer?"
"I don't know, Fae. Let's try to get to Atlanta in one piece, then we can make plans."
The two looked over to each other, nodding. Then they accelerated down the road, both praying for the best luck.
"On your knees!" The soldier yelled, pointing his rifle at Ken's face.
Ken just stared in both fear and confusion. "Listen, guy, I tell you. I not speak Korean!" He was met with the stock of the soldier's rifle cracking him in the jaw sharply, knocking him to the ground." He struggled to a kneeling position before attempting to stand again, only for the soldier to kick him in the stomach.
"Stay down!" The soldier said sharply, pressing the muzzle of the weapon against the young man's throat.
Ken glared at the soldier, rubbing his stomach. "Feeling really powerful, aren't you, scum?" He spat at the soldier in Russian. "I hope you fucking burn!"
At this bout of speech, the Korean soldier's eyes widened before he pulled the rifle away and backed up. "Russian? You are friend!" The soldier had switched to halting, obviously non-native Russian.
Ken Markov was originally from Moscow, but had moved to Los Angeles in hopes of going to a good university and becoming an engineer. To hear a Korean soldier call him a friend elicited more than its own fair share of shock. He did his best to play along, shaking hands with the soldier. At the same time he was exchanging false pleasantries, he reached for the long combat knife strapped to his thigh. As the pleasant banter continued, Ken pulled the soldier into an embrace that he could feel was reserved for comrades. At the same time, he slowly drew the curved blade from its sheath before bringing it behind the soldier and slamming it into the man's spine repeatedly.
"Trust not those who may speak in the tongue of your comrades," Ken whispered as the soldier gasped his last breath. He removed the knife as he felt the man take his last breath. "May God bless thy passing and forgive thy sins against thy fellow man."
Ken sheathed his knife before dragging the body of the dead soldier away into an alley. He made sure there were no other troops coming before stripping the man of his weapons and other gear. He had a bit of difficulty putting on the majority of the equipment, since even his own slight frame was larger than that of the Asian man's. He managed to put every piece of the protective gear and holsters on before he picked up the body of the dead soldier and threw it into a nearby dumpster.
Another group of soldiers was advancing on his position, possibly to track down their unresponsive comrade. Ken crouched behind the dumpster, bringing the stolen rifle to bear on the troops, wishing he was somewhere else, not in the middle of a warzone.
All across the United States and Europe, panic was rampant as people attempted to evacuate or even fight back. The combined forces of the Russian and Iranian militaries overran the majority within a matter of weeks, while China and Korea continued their merciless advance across the North American continent, slaughtering or imprisoning anyone they came across. The death toll for civilians alone reached a staggering number well into the millions. All the while, both the great and small of the assaulted lands prayed for anything that could end their plight, and the war with it.
All around the world, great and unnatural storms roiled overhead, bespeaking for many a great apocalypse to come. Great and minor figures commented how the world had finally forsaken the human race and intended to exterminate its mistake, while others bespoke prophecies from God or other divine and otherworldly figures. Still others simply brushed it off as mere coincidence, saying the storms only served a purpose as beneficial camouflage for military forces willing to employ them properly.
This war would make or break man. It would test human determination and perseverance, all while thinning an otherwise oversaturated population of warmongering people for the turning of the ages. A storm of a different kind was coming, but it would bring the greatest change known to man since the conception of fire...