Battle of Manhattan

“The aliens are here and attacking us! They will not stop until all humans are enslaved or killed off.”

No one could have predicted how fast a simple blog post on an unknown social media site would go viral. The author himself had no idea that this simple April Fool’s joke, designed to make his friends laugh, would lead us into the War of the Universe. It was followed up a few minutes later with the classic ‘April Fools…’ Tag but it was too late. The wheels of fate were already turning and there was no looking back.

“Get the nukes ready!” The President ordered his minions. They all scurried to make sure that everything was ready to go. Only one of them stopped to research the original post and find out the truth. “If it’s a war these Aliens want, then a war they will have! They don’t stand a chance against us.”

“Sir, with all due respect, the post was an April Fool’s Day joke. The Aliens are not attacking us.”

“You are a traitor to your country and your species.” The President snapped his fingers. Guards tackled the assistant down, placed him in handcuffs and carted him away. The traitor would be taken care of another day, for in that moment there was a war to start. “Fire at will.”

After the buttons were pushed, the white heads of the nukes presented themselves. Loud booms announced the launch of them, and a trail of fire followed. The entire world waited with baited breath to see what would happen.

The wait was less than an Earth minute. A UFO appeared in the Manhattan sky, it hovered for several seconds before moving slowly. It was a steel grey, oval that moved at a glacial pace. Jason watched it closely, his heart pounding out of his oversized chest. He knew what was about to happen, his division of the Army had trained for it.

His legs moved before the brain told them to. Most people were running away from the UFO, but Jason ran towards it. The Hudson was in his sight, and so were the other men in his unit. They wore the customary stretched white t-shirts and camouflage pants that looked like they were a size too small. Each of the five men nodded their heads, and they jumped into the river.

A thick blue beam came down from the UFO and hit the Statue of Liberty. Chunks of the green copper flew all over the city. Jason watched as the spaceship started to move away. Everything about him became calm, it was his training. With three head nods, the unit launched a missile at hovering craft. It bounced right off of it and hurtled towards The Natural History Museum.

Nonplussed, Jason and the crew switched weapons. They shot off lasers, identical to the ones that the aliens used. The lasers went hit the UFO, causing it to wobble. Jason fired his weapon again, watching as the craft threatened to fall out of the sky.
Following their unofficial leader, the rest of the unit fired their weapons. The spacecraft cracked in half and fell into the river. The Unit high fived one another, none of them spoke their thought: It was almost too easy to destroy the aliens.

As if on cue, another craft appeared. This one wasted no time in shooting down a beam. The Empire State Building exploded, sending debris flying. The top of the building flew above them, piercing the ground of Ellis Island.
Jason and the Unit got the boat back to dock, and jumped onto dry land. Jason hoisted his weapon on his shoulder, his biceps were as big as a watermelon. As they moved closer, each man shot his gun.

A red beam dropped from this craft. Tiny dots floated down in the light, Jason thought that they looked like chocolate chips. A green laser shot off from a gun carried by one of the aliens. It hit a building. On impact there was an explosion that shook the ground that they were walking on.

One of Jason’s comrades fired a shot, which hit the alien closest to them. The laser hit the blue hued creature in the head. Green gunk splattered all around them. Six pairs of completely black eyes stared back at them. At once, each alien fired their weapons.

Everywhere the beams hit, explosions followed. When one of the lasers hit a member of the unit, time stood still. It turned the corpse into a miniature bomb, throwing the rest of the soldiers to the ground. Jason shot off two shots, as he fell to the ground. Another alien was lost in the battle, which emboldened the remaining extraterrestrials. They shot their guns indiscriminately, blowing up buildings and pushing Jason back.

Another one of Jason’s friends got hit with a laser. The remaining three braced themselves this time, they knew what to expect. On an impulse Jason grabbed the fallen solider, who was hot to the touch. He threw his comrade at the aliens, and watched as they scattered to avoid the fallout. It didn’t help and another two fell victim to the ploy.

The last two aliens retreated and were transported back to their spaceship. Jason shot one last beam at the retreating UFO. It seemed too easy to Jason that this species would just leave, even if they admittedly did destroy most of New York City.

The spaceship blasted off one more laser beam, destroying 30 Rock. The building crumbled downward, spraying dirt and glass like lava for miles. Dust covered Jason. Finally, he allowed himself to sigh and wonder when and where the next battle would take place.

There was no way that this was the end of it. Aliens were far superior in intellect, so it made no sense that they only sent 6 troops to destroy the city. This was part of a tactical move.

An April Fool’s Day prank had led America, the world into a new war.