3rd of September 4096
This was the day humanity would launch itself in the vastness of space. They would voyage in the void, and explore the many worlds that floated in the firmament. Things would not go as planned, however.
The blue sky turned turned black and purple. An armada of strange flying vehicle, varying in shape and form, soon bloated the horizon. From the smaller vessels emerged blobs of an unknown substance.
The instant a blob touched a building, stone melted, steel warped and the entire structure collapsed. Upon reaching ground level, the substance shifted and morphed, two long red slimy arms shot out, an abnormally thin torso, covered in black armor, solidified and two short stubby legs—borderline stumps— formed from the rest of the matter. Two horns exited its diamond shaped head, a massive yellow eye with a vertical pupil.
The creature stood still for an instant, its eye scanning the surrounding. Several civilians stood frozen, paralyzed in fear at the sight of the otherworldly creature. The invader, however, roared, its red body turning bright purple. A shield, black like its armor and with a pulsing red eye, formed on its left arm while the fingers of its right elongated and fused, transforming into a grotesque axe.
With a fluid movement, it whipped its arm-axe, cleaving people, cars and structure alike without any apparent effort. The surviving civilians screamed in horror, scattering away at absurd speed. The invader didn't bother chasing, it wasn't alone, after all.
Out of corners, on top of still standing structures and even below. They were everywhere. Nowhere was safe. Corpses split open, bodies dismembered, crushed and or impaled, blood and viscera filled street. Walls were painted red with blood.
And it wasn't just localized. The entire globe was under attack.
"... What are these things!?" An old man, crawling away, his legs cut off, couldn't help but ask. Moments earlier, he was with his family, watching what should have been humanity's departure into the vastness of space. Now, he was crawling away from one of these creatures in black armor. An axe fell, separating his head from his shoulder and cracking the ground below.
Thanks to the Soul Theory, a human could survive situations that would have ended them in a matter of seconds. Their skins and bones were harder than any metal found on Earth. They could regenerate from almost any injury. Yet, these monstrosities cleaved through them like butter.
In his dying instants, the old man's eyes landed on one of the many flying vessels bloated the sky. One word was etched on it.
"Starless."
...
5th of December 4096
Three months have passed since the invasion. From the ninety billion people on Earth, only less than a hundred million remained. All cities have been reduced to ruins. Humanity fought back with everything they could, and every time they thought they would reconquer some land, a surge of Starless emerged out of thin air. New variants followed. Some larger and more resistant, some smaller and almost impossible to catch.
The remainder of humanity was underground, almost near Earth's core. This was the only place where the invaders didn't bother to go for some reason, but sooner or later, they would he found. It was not a matter of 'if', but 'when'.
Desperation was thick in the air, almost suffocating even. Even though their weapons could harm and kill the invaders, there were simply too many, and they kept on popping out of nowhere. That was without mentioning all the new ones too.
It seemed like it was end.
What could humanity do against an entity that kept surging and evolving?
...
They had to evolve as well. The Soul Theory already allowed humanity to truly conquer the planet, no other life forms, no matter how big, strong or fast could contend with them. Surely, they could advance as well.
That was how the Gear Project came to be. Using their soul as a blueprint, they would modify themselves into machines that could perpetually evolve, that could perpetually fight against the Starless.
...
1st of January 4299
It had been costly—both resource wise and life wise—but the first phase of the Gear Project succeeded. The first Gears had been created. Well, the project almost succeeded. Although humanity created Gears using souls as a blueprint, there was one major flaw they could not correct, not their current circumstances at least.
Gears were only mimicry of humans. They looked humans and acted like humans but that was it. They had a soul but it wasn't anywhere close to a human's. Why was it a problem?
Because that came at the cost of whoever managed to become a Gear. They had no recollection of their time as humans, none of their previous personality or behavior. It was like they were reset. They had gained the power to fight their enemies but at the cost of their humanity.
It was upsetting in a way but what time did humanity had to correct that problem? There were less than a thousand of them left, if they didn't deal with the Starless first, all their efforts, blood, sweat, tears and sacrifices would have been in vain.
They could fix the problem when they had won, but for now, it was time for a test drive.
...
2nd of January 4299
The Gears were deployed, equipped with Soul Armaments—special equipment that were made alongside them, using the Gear's soul and psyche as a blueprint. There were currently five archetypes: The Executioner, the Accelerator, the Ravager, the Constructor and the Manipulator.
In total, twenty-five had been manufactured. And that was more than enough to give hope to the remaining humans. They cleaved through the Starless with little difficulty, purging zones thoroughly and faster than humans could. Thousands upon thousands of the monstrosities fell.
Before the month ended, they had clearly a landmass comparable to a country. That was only half the project at work too, just the thought of it brought a warm feeling to the remaining humans.
...
30th of January 4299
The land had been warped by the Starless so much that it became unrecognized. Existing continents fused and new ones emerged out of nowhere. But that was a matter for later, because today, humanity had reclaimed its first mass of land.
By the look, it might be a piece of an European country. Which? They would need some time to find out.
Unfortunately, this was the last piece of good news for them.
A world-shaking crack rumbles across the world. It came from the sky, a spiderweb fissure—smaller than a house—at first. Then, in the following seconds, it grew, claiming more of the sky. When the sky looked it would fall the humans' heads, the fissure spread to a part of the ground.
What ensued chilled the hearts of Gears and humans alike. A claw extremity, far larger than the entirety of the merged continents, pushed through the fissures. It belonged to a gigantic dragon-like Starless. Three long necks ended by sharp reptilian-looking heads with a singular yellow eye extended out of a large body with two small arms at the front and two massive at the back, supporting the thing's weight.
Wings so gargantuan they seem to wrap around the entire world, and three long tails that reached into the very depths of the ocean.
With a single beat of these wings, terrific hurricanes and tornadoes ravaged the reclaimed land. The dragon-like Starless flew high into the atmosphere, barely exiting it. From the three heads, orange flames brewing in their maws.
The humans and Gears knew what would come next and they didn't want to be there to see the aftermath. They ran as fast as their legs could take them, attempting to return into their underground base but they were just too slow.
Fire more intense than even the surface of the sun struck the entire fused landmass. Scorching whatever remained; animals, trees, ruins, humans and Gears all melted into nothingness.
Just like that, humanity had met its end. A grim realization set in at their last moments. All this time, they had been struggling against the grunts, the small fries...
There were bigger and more destructive than them, hidden in places they could neither see or reach...
... Humanity could not win.
...
But Gears could...
Out of the twenty-five Gears, five remained. Badly damaged, but still active.
Humanity may be extinct but their creation remain. They would continue fighting, they would evolve to the point their enemies would not be able to keep up, and they will eradicate them all.