The asteroid field lay virtually unchanged.

Since its inception five billion years earlier in this backwater galaxy, the jumble of spacial flotsam had existed relatively untouched by time. Assembled from the cosmic debris left over from the formation of the diminutive planetary system it encircled, the wide and unbroken ring of astral rocks numbered somewhere in the region of 90,000 and ranged in mass from pebble-sized asteroids to hulking planetoids several thousand miles in diameter.

Lying near the outer rim of the unmoving, weightless boulders floated a particularly mammoth specimen. Measuring 50,000 miles across, this impossibly huge asteroidal chunk equalled the dimensions of a large planet while lacking the spherical contours normally associated with celestial bodies of such magnitude. Its surface was instead a mosaic of assorted craters, sheer cliffs and bottomless crevasses that shaped the massive rock’s outline into an incoherent pattern of jagged irregularities. Jutting outwards at the dim star and its lone planetary satellite forming the hub of the wheel of stellar rocks projected a monstrous outcropping of barren stone pointing menacingly at the moonless biosphere like a prophetic finger of doom. This was by far the largest of many such protuberances that rose out of the asteroid’s craggy and pitted surface, being roughly conical in shape and shaded the same drab nondescript grey colouring the rest of the astral monolith.

A disquieting flicker of white incandescence appeared suddenly at the base of the outcrop to disturb the cloak of timeless serenity that had shrouded the torpid rock for aeons. The mysterious glimmer lasted only an instant before giving way to a vivid, pulsating flash of harsh yellow that doubled in breadth and intensity with each passing moment. Within seconds, the sweeping brightness totally engulfed the tip of the asteroid, completely masking it from view before abruptly vanishing. The prominence unexpectedly shattered, blown apart by the devastating explosion heralded by the deadly hypnotic light display. The extreme force of the cataclysmic blast was evident only visually, for its deafening roar was smothered by the stifling noiselessness of space.

Pandemonium erupted throughout the stoic asteroid field as the impact of the tremendous detonation took effect. The planetoid reeled drunkenly from the blow that had blasted a fifth of its mass asunder and rent a disfiguring chasm on its already cracked exterior. Spiralling slowly away from its familiar resting place, the great lump of celestial rock dredged a sluggish path through the belt, effortlessly brushing aside its smaller companions as it unerringly pushed its way to the edge. Rotating with deceptive laziness, the errant asteroid broke free from its constraining brethren and exited into empty space to eventually be swallowed up by the immeasurable vastness of the inky void.

In the wake of its forceful departure the blasted planetoid left a growing melee of tumbling and spinning rocks, the product of a chain reaction of kinetic energy that swiftly spread amongst the formerly motionless space boulders like an incurable malignancy. The deathly stillness that had permeated the asteroid field for untold centuries was suddenly shattered. Rock after dormant rock was stirred into life after millennia of inactivity as the wave of disruption escalated. They tumbled uncontrollably after being struck by their close companions and in turn bumped and set into motion their immediate neighbours. The circular belt of stellar matter quickly became a confusing scene of shifting points of stone.

From out of the midst of this chaotic scattering of revolving rocks burst forth the jagged remnants of the shattered tip of the receding planetoid. Reduced by the explosive light to a mosaic of fragmented pieces, the shivered outcropping was hurled in all directions with unimaginable force. The majority of the shards were smashed into nothingness after colliding with the more substantial rocks careening around them, but a few somehow avoided being dashed to smaller pieces and were flung clear of the maelstrom. These dozen of so scraps of cosmic shrapnel erupted from out of the field at a staggering 90,000 miles per second, narrowly missing the isolated planet in the center of the rocky ring before shooting past the subdued sun faintly glowing in the near distance to vanish into the dark spacial depths.

This would have been the conclusion of yet another unremarkable, albeit violent, chapter in the infinite volume of interstellar events were it not for the nature of the astral missiles and the direction the horrendous blast had unwittingly fired them in. For although most of the fragments were no bigger than a football, they preceded a more substantial segment of the host rock that greatly overshadowed its leading entourage of tiny slivers. Meagre by galactic standards, the six-mile wide meteoroid was still of significant size to adversely affect any celestial body blocking its course, and four light years distant a fragile ocean-covered planet unknowingly stood directly in its path.

The unstoppable journey of the Annihilator had begun.

NOTE: For the sake of improved readability, the frequently unpronounceable dinosaur names used in this story have been replaced by user-friendly designations. Refer to the glossary for the proper terms and pronunciation listed against their colloquial variants, as well as the literal translations where researched.

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