2073. The year of the apocalypse. The one night when a barrage of asteroids made the entire planet tremble. Europe was struck first by the bombardment. Earth’s crust was instantly punctured, bursting open along the many points of impact. The first in Scandinavia, then all along the Alps and into Italy and the African coastline.
As the Earth’s crust fractured, cracks burst across the planet’s surface. Giant clods the size of cities shot skyward. Great waves of magma rose to consume the earth, turning entire cities into lifeless wastelands. More were flattened by the stone hail, tsunamis, and earthquakes that followed.
Brazil was able to radio tsunami warnings, but seconds later, all frequencies abruptly cut to a static hiss as the aftermath of the asteroid attack swept the globe. Moscow was bathed in fire. North America drowned in the ashen rain. India cracked. Sydney vanished.
By daybreak, dense billowing clouds filled with volcanic ash and red dust from craters swallowed the sky, bathing the land in bloody twilight. The sun was reduced to a distant marble glistening through the haze. Only the fires and electro-static discharges staved off the darkness. Gunshots. Explosions. Screams. A ceaseless cacophony as the red clouds angered and began to rain, pummeling the earth with acidic poison. The world instantly stank of death.
That day, society as it was known crumbled. 10.000 years of civilization vaporized in a day. That day was given many names by the few survivors: apocalypse, global conflagration, Armageddon. Worn-out phrases to help them accept the finality of it all. A last bottle of wine, cold metal against the temple, a crooked finger. And that was it.
But Mankind lived on, and this was not the end. Yes, the old world was gone, and no one and nothing could ever bring back the good old days. The people who strove for an explanation found it in spirituality. Did not all the eschatological doctrine of the world foretell such events? The downfall of creation? The dawn of a new world? It felt good and full of hope. These asteroids had not brought the apocalypse. They brought the Eshaton. A new beginning. Now, they only had to endure the night.