With a forcibly steady hand, a man dressed in white put the last of the substance extraction into a chemical solution. Instantly, bubbles formed in the cylinder tube as it mixed together.

For a quick second, his eyes fell on the mangled mandrake among the array of apparatus. The plant had been renowned since ancient times for its properties as narcotics and an aphrodisiac. However, he had discovered another use of it, which currently only he among those who studied it had lived to tell.

He held his breath as he pinched the dropper containing his new creation. A single drop of the chemical fell onto the watch glass where another test subject was already waiting.

As he looked through the microscope, his heart thumped wildly. With full concentration, he observed the test subject; the X chromosome slowly mutated with his new compound. With his expertise in chemistry and biology, he had safely paired the mandrake or, as he called it, the Mandragora Officinarum protein-coding with the genetic strain of the allosome.

"This is it!" he exclaimed. "Now what's left is to test it."

He set the glass tube filled with what he believed to be the key to save humanity carefully before he swivelled around to the few women present inside the room. Their faces were pale, their condition was debilitating, yet hope still glimmered in their eyes.

But whatever plan he had was cut short when suddenly the red dots on a monitor broadcasting a world map started to dissipate.

"Russia had fallen."

"Japan had fallen."

The automated robotic voice announced.

"USA... ATTENTION USA!"

As soon as the warning aired, all the women started grabbing their Plasma Guns.

A sickening gurgling sound reanimated from the transmitter before a hoarse foreign voice echoed, "Your last fleet of pathetic weak men are slain! SURRENDER and you shall be spared!"

A woman, perfectly dressed in a nanotechnology power armour, calmly put on her headpiece. "Open the door and prepare the launcher," she commanded.

"But the X-Trex still needs to be tested," said the man. His small eyes turned into thin lines by the weighing tears.

"We have no time for that," said the woman.

"But what if-"

"Stop wasting my time, Chen Guozhi! Our brave men are dead. Women around the world have become slaves! The Magog is breaking through the wall as we speak!"

"Listen, please. The X-trex is unstable. We don't know how it would react upon contact with-"

Interjecting, Xax pulled the nip of his collar and looked him straight in the eyes. "It doesn't matter anymore. We are already as good as dead!"

While the professor was speechless, Xax released her grip. He tried to take hold of her, but his movement couldn't match the speed of the enhanced armour she was wearing. In a few blinks, she reached the massive steel door.

"Ready the launcher; I would buy you some time." She spoke gently with a pained smile, granting something the man had known her for: her softness and affection.

"Xax, don't do this!" the professor begged.

But Xax was determined. It was a protocol she had to follow immediately when the enemy breached the wall. She looked behind for a last glance and mumbled, "I love you."

As if in a slow-motion state, she witnessed the professor desperately scramble to his feet in his attempt to stop her. A tear rolled down from her eyes as the door finally shut closed. She knew as soon as she stepped out of the sealed bunker, she would never see him again.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

She punched the entry access mechanism from outside to avoid Chen Guozhi from opening the door. Without her knowing, it had also trapped him in the bunker.

After inhaling a heavy breath, she spun to her troops. There were only 4 of them against a hundred of Magog, too small to make a winning stance. Around them stood women and infants with fear all over their faces.

"My heroines, summon your bravery. Even if we fall, we won't go down without a fight!" she said.

With shared understanding, the four sprinted to the surface, leaving the safety of the underground fort. Defending the place was their mission; they were humanity's last stand. The last vestiges of resource had been invested in them.

As soon as the outside registered into their sight, they were greeted with destruction. From afar, the wall built in haste less than a year ago was slowly breaking apart. Men, almost twice the size of an average human, was plunging forward. A trail of corpses was behind them, sprawled around the junk of satellite wreckage and fallen war machinery.

These deviants were what the people had come to call the Magog. No one knew where they originated from, but it was the sea as some speculated. They had suddenly appeared after the distress warning of global warming. Within months they had caused terror upon the earth.

A translucent VDU built in their intellectual head mask began to show confound numbers. It was computing the enemy, scaling a proficient battle strategy and a ratio of winning chance. Unfortunately, it buffered.

The other three spun to Xax, waiting for her command. Their artificial intelligence error had indicated it was up to their general to give a fighting order.

"Code SYNCERUS," Xax announced.

It was fight-till-death.

Standing bravely on the edge of the barrier, they started shooting towards the enemy. In their heart, they hoped it could slow down the Magog's advance.

Deep underground, the professor hastened to help. After much effort, he eventually finished inserting the X-trex into one of the designated missiles. With a push of a button, the countdown began.

Alas, one by one, the warriors departed. Thus Xax was left alone in the fight. She came face to face with the enemy's general, but his strength was significant in comparison. She was apprehended.

The man, whose name was never known, gripped her head. With a single force of his hand, it crushed her mask armour. Once her helmet dropped to the ground, her long hair came down in a cascade.

At first, the man was shocked, but a millisecond later, amusement took over his expression. "A woman!" he hissed. "Women are trash! No matter how much they evolve, they could only be a level of slaves! To spread their legs! To birth!"

Xax spat on his face. "Man like you should cease to exist!"

Oblivious to him, a missile blast through the air towards the clouds. A booming sound pursued the X-trax release in the atmosphere. Anticipation graced Xax's heart in the instant. But after the long felt seconds passed, nothing was different. The enemy still looked at her with disgust.

"What was that? You can't even aim right? Now yield to me, and I shall spare you!" Derisive laughter rumbled as soon as the words left.

Dismay rendered Xax speechless, and ridiculed by her state of silence, the enemy took no pity on her and strangled her to death.

Before Xax's soul departed, she believed her death was in vain. As her tear met the earth, the sky brimmed with grey, awakening the universe intervention.

Her fall marked the end of the fourth world war.

The Magog believed they had won that day. But little did they know, something was creeping in the air they were inhaling. It made them brawl for power among themselves.

Decades passed with suffering until eventually the last of the Magog around the world fell to their doom. They were pushed to the edge by war and the absence of a son. However, they left behind something far more significant than destruction. It was what all the women were taught to feel; it was fear.

***