[WP] Earth is consumed by a galactic beast. You have days before being completely annihilated in the stomach of the beast.

He stood at the edge of the glowing gate. It would take a moment for the power to charge, for their last chance at escape to be ready, but it made for a good opportunity to reflect.

When the abominations had begun falling from the skies, it had been assumed that they were here to invade. Knowing what we do now. . .in retrospect it was nothing more than a swarm of krill, at least on a cosmic scale.

War had broken out between man and formless horror. Weapons were forged, strategies written, until eventually one by one the monsters fell just as every other force of nature man had faced before had. But as their numbers fell, they became increasingly desperate. Some people said the beings spoke to them. Begged them for help. It was assumed to be a hoax at first, but towards the end it was harder to find people who hadn't heard the voices screaming in their heads.

They called it Final Aurora. In the vaguest sense one might compare it to some sort of space whale, although from the perspective we had to view it from the majesty burned away rather quickly. Lifeforms that earthlings could hardly dream of lived and evolved solely to survive Auroras. To run from them, to hide. They swore that it was coming for us.

We ignored them. Assumed they were bluffing.

When the light first appeared in the sky, it was assumed a supernova had gone off in some far stretch of space millennia ago. As it grew brighter, the theory was quickly discarded. It wasn't in the right place in the sky, it wasn't in the right position.

It was moving faster than the speed of light. Several thousand times over.

Once the trajectory was determined, panic began to set in. We had weeks, tops. It was assumed that our only saving grace would be that the planet would be destroyed in whatever surge of energy hit it.

But humanity doesn't take the threat of extinction sitting down, and even for this we attempted to create a way out. A portal that would tear through time and space itself to evacuate as many people as possible before time ran out. All of the time and money and effort that could possibly be gathered were focused into this single effort. As impending doom closed in, we became worried there wouldn't be enough time to finish it. That we would be just short.

In all likelihood what happened next was just a natural part of the cosmic ecosystem. The monsters that had come before had sworn it was actively malevolent instead. Seeing the way it happened, the extended pause, waiting long enough for every living being on the planet to have it sink in what they were looking at, what it was about to do. . .he had to wonder if the monsters were right.

The Aurora completely dominated the skies from all sides at this point. Sol was beginning to break apart already, with all the ecological disasters that implied. This thing. . .on this scale, creatures don't feed on life, they feed on energy itself. From the energy that kept stars burning right down to the energy that held individual atoms together. . .

The delay had been just enough time to finish the project. Finding a near identical world had been oddly easy. Perhaps there was still a monster or two left out there that we'd missed, trapped along with us. In any case, what had to be done was clear now.

He glanced over at the handful of companions that had made it to the gate with him. It wouldn't be long now before even here things broke apart, and when they did the device would surely be one of the first things to shatter. This was our last chance, and there was no one else we could save.

We would attempt to enter the new world. No time for extensive testing, no time to hesitate. We knew matter could transfer, that's all we needed to know. If it was a world where these things didn't exist, or where they missed the planet entirely, then that would be perfect. If they showed up again. . .

He stepped through the gate, the feeling of matter piecing itself back together oddly soothing.

If they showed up again, we wouldn't make the same mistakes twice. We had the schematics for the portal with us, in blueprints and on flash drives alike. If it sent the new world into new tech levels ahead of time, so be it.

And if the monsters were here again. . .if we at all had a say, things would go differently this time. Diplomacy rather than extermination. With their power they might very well dominate us all. But now knowing the alternative, that was preferable to what else could happen.

He watched as one of the others stepped through the gate after him. Relief washed over him like an oasis in the desert. Even in that brief time he almost worried the others might have been lost.

"So. . .I guess this is it then. Jonah gets another chance to preach to Nineveh." He said, all the pent up tension of months seemingly gushing out in a single sigh.

The feeling Jonah must have had, of washing up on the shores, breathing fresh air for the first time in three days. . .was this what it was like?

She smiled, taking his hand.

"We're all given another chance sometimes. Let's just hope if it comes down to it the Ninevites listen." She said.

"It's not them we have to worry about. . ." He muttered.

He stiffened back up again as he saw the first twinkling meteor in the sky. This. . .this was how it started before. When they began arriving. When the attempt to hide from the Aurora began.

Some stranded agents from an alternate world. . .what government would believe them? Even if they were believed, they might just be locked up. Ignored.

He tightened the strap on the emergency pack he was wearing and began to walk towards where he knew the crash site would be soon. It was a few miles out, but still fairly close. If it was anything like last time, no one would bother to get there before he could. The others hadn't started following him yet. . .perhaps that was for the best. It might go more smoothly if he did this on his own.

He'd do his best to stop the war before it began. . .by asking for help before anything else could.

/r/WritingPrompts Thread