Nearly seventy years ago, an American G.I. lay dying in a cold trench, a battle line cut across a foreign land, part of a war he thought he almost understood. What he did understand was that he was dying of severe shrapnel wounds. He understood that he was the only thing still living in that trench. And if anyone was in earshot to hear him holler for help, they weren't coming.
Lightning flashed behind the smoke-filled air.
Something was coming. Someone was coming.
He didn't know how he knew. For the rest of his life, which he expected to measure in minutes, he would not have been able to describe the feeling. Time slowed. Shapes moved in the darkness, past where his stinging eyes could see. He tried to sit up, pushing his back on the rtench wall, to get ready for... whatever. Or whoever. They were almost there, almost in front of him...
"Daniel."
He still saw nothing. But he felt that voice, clear and cold, all around him. On that warm August night, he would have sworn he could see his breath.
"Daniel. You are dying."
More shapes move, still shapeless and looming.
"Daniel. Look up."
"In the aftermath of the great crisis, the first angel descended from the heavens.
"Don't get me wrong. We all knew she wasn't an angel. We're kept safe by heroes with wings, and aliens, even impressive ones, float down from time to time. We live in a world wherebattles are fought in the skies. But she was different. There was such an... aura around her. It was majestic. You couldn't help but look. The noises from the street just faded, and you could hear her wings beating."The air itself settled. The noise and bustle of the city faded. I tell you, everyone there could hear her wings beat. And the glow... none of us who were there will ever forget it, as long as we live.
"She stood there, feet overing nches above the ground, for what felt like minutes. Studying us with those glassy black eyes.
"She spoke. I don't even know how to begin to describe her language. Obviously, no one on the street that day could understand what she was saying. But the sounds of the words tehmselves rang in our ears, soft, clear words...
Yes, VanGUARD checked us all for eveidence of mind control mystical influence, the whole battery. Nothing. But even in a world like this, full of aliens, sea monsters, and mad scientists, sometimes, well, and experience just changes you..."
VanGUARDThe Invasion (Host)
The Galactic Gamesman