MoultonLava
Torch God
This is my first story, and feedback is appreciated. Onto the story:
In the future, humanity has advanced far further than we have so far, completely removing pollution, poverty, and extreme wealth gaps. There are plans on many projects, including a dyson swarm and terraforming different planets to become like Earth. The world had all become one, in a government called the United Earth, or UE. 5 representatives from each continent (including Antarctica) came together for a council in Sweden, which has historically been neutral to all. There, they decided on major business, and discussed what happened in the world. These meetings were often boring, as nothing major happened besides the occasional asteroid mining company finding an absolutely loaded asteroid to mine. They mainly talked about how they could expand farther, and the possibility of life besides themselves further out.
That is, until something incredibly unusual happened. One day, out of nowhere, a small black rift appeared in front of the Sun. It was pure black, like a black hole, and sucked in all light. Small outlines of red could be seen in it. The UE united to find out what the hell it was, and hastily assembled a team of AI and engineers to build something to explore it. A few months later, they managed to build a ship that could survive being near the Sun for extended periods of time. However, during this time, the rift was slowly growing larger. By the time the ship made it to the rift, the rift covered nearly 40% of the sun, and temperatures had dropped worldwide by about 12 degrees Fahrenheit. People had noticed, and were beginning to worry. The government said it was fine, and it was under control.
That was the first lie told by the government ever since the UE had been established.
Once the ship got close, they began to analyze the rift. It seemed to be very slowly expanding, and would cover the Sun in about a year, give or take. This concerned the UE, as the Sun was keeping the world's ecosystem in balance, and loosing it would inevitably end up killing off all life in the Solar System. So, the collective UE worked to try and think of a way to either destroy or at least stop its expansion.
They had no idea, until they thought of an ancient relic that hadn't been used in centuries.
The hydrogen bomb.
They all decided to build the biggest, most powerful bomb that they could build so they could save their world. They obviously had to keep this a secret, else the public would get terrified.
The rift kept expanding, and covered 70% of the sun by the time the bomb was done. Once the bomb was done, they made a simple spaceship to carry the enormous bomb that contained a power level similar to that of a supernova. After it was launched via a hypersonic railcannon, it was set inbound into the portal. Just a few days later, it hit.
Kaboom.
The largest manmade explosion ever, detonated at the rift's entrance. The rift showed activity for the first time, rapidly churning. It seemed that this worked, reducing it to a mere 5% of its original size.
The UE rejoiced, and said to the public they had destroyed the rift.
But, the scientists knew, it wasn't destroyed. Just regathering.
3 years later, it appeared again. No warning, it just appeared at the size it was before the hydrogen bomb hit it. It was rapidly expanding to cover the sun, and the entire world was in despair. Snow and ice covered everything in the world. Everyone was moved into safe domes and underground heated structures. The UE realized it was hopeless, as the rift consumed the last bit of sunlight.
After this, the first drone sent to observe the rift saw something strange.
Hands made of the same darkness of the rift appeared, and grasped at the sun. Surprisingly, this didn't seem to hurt the creature. The most concerning part was that the sun was slowly dimming from this. After 2 years of this snow filled and dark existence, the rift left as suddenly as it appeared, but not before causing irreversible damage.
The Sun had been forcably pulled through its life cycle, and was now just a tiny white dwarf. Only the deepest darkness of the ocean was not frozen over. Thousands of species died. Soon after, the UE decided to get the remaining people into massive ships, and leave their home, as the Earth breathed its last breath. They found that the rift that had destroyed their home, was a living being. They sent out this message while they were looking for a new home:
This message comes from the United Earth, a government from the planet Earth. A dark living rift has consumed our sun, and we are looking for a place to live after our home world has been destroyed. There is nothing you can do if it appears to block your sun. The only way out is to leave the system. Attached is a picture of the rift in question, although its size will gradually increase as it stays near your star:
In the future, humanity has advanced far further than we have so far, completely removing pollution, poverty, and extreme wealth gaps. There are plans on many projects, including a dyson swarm and terraforming different planets to become like Earth. The world had all become one, in a government called the United Earth, or UE. 5 representatives from each continent (including Antarctica) came together for a council in Sweden, which has historically been neutral to all. There, they decided on major business, and discussed what happened in the world. These meetings were often boring, as nothing major happened besides the occasional asteroid mining company finding an absolutely loaded asteroid to mine. They mainly talked about how they could expand farther, and the possibility of life besides themselves further out.
That is, until something incredibly unusual happened. One day, out of nowhere, a small black rift appeared in front of the Sun. It was pure black, like a black hole, and sucked in all light. Small outlines of red could be seen in it. The UE united to find out what the hell it was, and hastily assembled a team of AI and engineers to build something to explore it. A few months later, they managed to build a ship that could survive being near the Sun for extended periods of time. However, during this time, the rift was slowly growing larger. By the time the ship made it to the rift, the rift covered nearly 40% of the sun, and temperatures had dropped worldwide by about 12 degrees Fahrenheit. People had noticed, and were beginning to worry. The government said it was fine, and it was under control.
That was the first lie told by the government ever since the UE had been established.
Once the ship got close, they began to analyze the rift. It seemed to be very slowly expanding, and would cover the Sun in about a year, give or take. This concerned the UE, as the Sun was keeping the world's ecosystem in balance, and loosing it would inevitably end up killing off all life in the Solar System. So, the collective UE worked to try and think of a way to either destroy or at least stop its expansion.
They had no idea, until they thought of an ancient relic that hadn't been used in centuries.
The hydrogen bomb.
They all decided to build the biggest, most powerful bomb that they could build so they could save their world. They obviously had to keep this a secret, else the public would get terrified.
The rift kept expanding, and covered 70% of the sun by the time the bomb was done. Once the bomb was done, they made a simple spaceship to carry the enormous bomb that contained a power level similar to that of a supernova. After it was launched via a hypersonic railcannon, it was set inbound into the portal. Just a few days later, it hit.
Kaboom.
The largest manmade explosion ever, detonated at the rift's entrance. The rift showed activity for the first time, rapidly churning. It seemed that this worked, reducing it to a mere 5% of its original size.
The UE rejoiced, and said to the public they had destroyed the rift.
But, the scientists knew, it wasn't destroyed. Just regathering.
3 years later, it appeared again. No warning, it just appeared at the size it was before the hydrogen bomb hit it. It was rapidly expanding to cover the sun, and the entire world was in despair. Snow and ice covered everything in the world. Everyone was moved into safe domes and underground heated structures. The UE realized it was hopeless, as the rift consumed the last bit of sunlight.
After this, the first drone sent to observe the rift saw something strange.
Hands made of the same darkness of the rift appeared, and grasped at the sun. Surprisingly, this didn't seem to hurt the creature. The most concerning part was that the sun was slowly dimming from this. After 2 years of this snow filled and dark existence, the rift left as suddenly as it appeared, but not before causing irreversible damage.
The Sun had been forcably pulled through its life cycle, and was now just a tiny white dwarf. Only the deepest darkness of the ocean was not frozen over. Thousands of species died. Soon after, the UE decided to get the remaining people into massive ships, and leave their home, as the Earth breathed its last breath. They found that the rift that had destroyed their home, was a living being. They sent out this message while they were looking for a new home:
This message comes from the United Earth, a government from the planet Earth. A dark living rift has consumed our sun, and we are looking for a place to live after our home world has been destroyed. There is nothing you can do if it appears to block your sun. The only way out is to leave the system. Attached is a picture of the rift in question, although its size will gradually increase as it stays near your star:
