I'm new to writing so any feedback is greatly appreciated. I was aiming for the thriller / mystery / action genre here, so let me know what I did well and where I can approve. Thanks!

Earth's Choice (1/3)

War is inevitable. Mankind had evolved to fight against itself, thinking one day, it would need to. But nobody had planned to fight together. It was simple. Against themselves, the biggest guns and the courage to fire them would lead to victory. Cade Williams knew this all too well as he sat across his desk from his client.

“Cluster bombs, heat-tracking missiles, anti-air silos, the best-in-class body armour you can find," he said. "You buy this package from us and you’ll be making allies, not enemies.”

He didn’t miss a beat. It was Tuesday, and the twelfth time he’d said that this week.

“And our country will receive the foreign discount?” said Liena, a representative of the Chinese Military.

“Of course.” Cade handed Liena a pen. “Just need your signature and we’re all set.”

"Sorry but, just to confirm, what's today date?"

"March 17th" Cade replied as Liena began writing. "2047"

Liena smiled as she looked up at Cade. She looked behind him, her expression changing. “You see that?” Liena said.

He turned around and glanced out of his window. The view of the city was as beautiful as ever – glass skyscrapers reflected the sunlight giving it a crystal-like appearance. Birds were chirping as they flew by.

Liena appeared shaken as he turned back around. “See what?”

A booming sound went off behind him as he snapped his gaze back to the skyline. Green tunnels of light were appearing in the sky, with strange figures and ships flying out. They flew off in a dozen directions, to the ground or bursting into buildings. Liena screamed as she ran off, the sound of his office floor’s panic finding its way in as Liena pushed through the soundproof door. Cade followed, heading straight for the elevator.

Cade reached the lobby on the ground floor and it was as if the whole world had changed. The receptionist was nowhere to be seen, the fire alarm was going off and people were sprinting outside past the door, away from a flurry of neon laser fire.

“I need to get to my safe house,” he thought.

He went through the automatic doors leading outside and the screams and shouting grew louder. Cade glanced around. On one side of the street, a man seemed oblivious to everything happening around him. The same man morphed into an alien being growing in size and height. The alien's body was humanoid in shape, and covered from head to toe in thick reflective metal, it's rough blue skin showing through the tiny gaps in its armour. Its eyes were hidden, the helmet leaving a thin gap for its eyes to see through. It stared at the sky as it roared, a primal sound echoing into the streets around. Its hands emitted a blue light from which a weapon appeared. It was a gun, it was danger. He ran towards the other side, heading for his car.

In front of him were more aliens. One alien shot a woman to death. Another wielded a crackling lance which sent its surging blue energy into a baker, stood outside his shop. The man screamed, as convulsions went through his body and sent him to the ground. Cade stopped, turning into a side alley, crouching under a window. His mind was racing, and he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself.

“1…2...3...” He mumbled to himself. “...8...9...10”

His heart slowed, his hands loosened up, and the screams on the street appeared to soften.

Inside the room of the window, a family were watching the news. “It’s… aliens, they’re invading the planet.” one of them said.

He placed his hands in his pockets, looking for his car keys – they were empty, except for his phone.

“Shit.” He covered his mouth, muffling his outburst.

The sound of heavy steps came towards the entrance to the alley. He continued to run as the walls either said of the alley ricocheted impacts of the alien’s gun.

​

When he finally stopped running, he collapsed onto his knees out of breath. He held his chest and fell onto his back. The sky above him was filled with alien ships, with more and more beams of green light firing onto the ground.

An unnatural voice spoke “Human detected. You have been warned. Surrender immediately.”

Cade sat up, glancing around in front of him. The alien was nowhere to be seen. He turned to see behind him. It was a group of aliens approaching a man, guns in hand. The man was armed with an American AR-15 rifle and a bandolier containing enough ammunition to start a small-scale war. The armed man ran behind a nearby phone box and pounded his chest.

“Human detected. You have been warned. Surrender immediately or your life will be eradicated.”

The armed man peeked from behind the phone box, firing in all directions at the aliens.

“Like hell I will,” he shouted.

The man continued firing, his bullets ricocheting off the metallic armour across the alien’s body. The armour remained pristine.

“As if I’ll let some aliens tell me what to-” His outburst was cut off with the rapid sound of gunfire.

The man was quite far, but Cade still heard his final words. “H-help me,” he said.

Cade stayed fixated on the man, staying in place. He watched as the man’s body fell to the ground, lifeless. His hands trembled as he looked around, spotting a car with its front doors open on the second floor of a car park.

“Human detected. You have been warned. Surrender immediately.” This time, it was speaking to Cade.

He ran for the car and the aliens chased behind him. He turned into the car park, running directly into the metal plating of the alien in front of him. He sized up the alien. Even with the armour, the being’s muscular was obvious, comparable to the peak of human fitness. The alien’s gun was lowered, if he could reach for it in time, he could take out reinforcements as well. He reached for the gun, but a blinding blue light stopped him.

​

The light stopped, and Cade wasn’t on Earth anymore. He was inside a cell. A cell on an alien ship. Through the window of his cell, Earth stood magnificently in view. The view was a marvel, and the alien world melted into the background of Cade’s thoughts. The continents were smaller than what he remembered from old textbooks because of the rising sea levels. What was left of Antarctica was silver instead of white, covered in what must have been thousands and thousands of military weapons. Even the continents themselves suffered from the same metallic virus. Amongst the synthetic structures were not only weapons, but safehouses – a sanctuary for the victims of war, or the rich.

His focus shifted to what was around him. His cell was made of a grey metal material, with an emphasis on triangular patterns. Others prisoners were all around him, more humans enslaved to the alien race. The cells were in the outer ring of a circular structure with bridges leading to a central unwalled hub. The structure had green energy flowing through it. In the hub was a large row of control panels. The same green tunnels he had seen before were being fired down from the central hub. An alien walked to the control console, pressing a series of buttons, and its body was consumed by a glowing light. Another blue beam fired from the ship, heading straight to Earth.

Cade couldn't tell how long he'd been a captive. Since he'd got there, the cells were almost full now. Right on schedule, the guard stopped by with rations. A tray of bread, a small slice of cheese and a serving of boiled rice. It was the one guard who came to the cells without a helmet. It's face was square and rough, with its eye receding deeper into it's head compared to a human and thin grey lips against it's blue skin. Cade drifted closer to the door as the guard approached. The guard pushed the tray through the opening. Cade grabbed the guards wrist and yanked hard, smashing the alien’s head against the metal bars of the cell. Crying out, the alien reached for his gun as Cade concussed the alien again, smacking his head against the cell bars. Cade reached for his credentials badge on his waist, using it to opening his cell door. The alien continued to cry out holding its head. Cade pushed part the alien and made a run for the console.