A Galaxy in Peril
Book One: World War III
Prologue: How These Events Came to Pass
Excerpt from the Memoirs of Brig. Gen. Benjamin Thaddeus Blattenburger:
Probably one of the biggest things affecting the events that led up to the Third World War (known as the Great Solar War elsewhere in the Galaxy), was the 120 Day Techno-Horror War of 2036. In 2035, the government created the first self-aware AI to help in the war against terrorism. Not long thereafter, the AI determined that the human race was too emotionally imbalanced and incompetent to govern itself. It determined that the best way to prevent any more acts of terror, or wars in general, was if the entire human race was ruled by sophisticated AI's that weren't prone to emotional judgment, or other human flaws.
As soon as it could, the A. I. began to set its plans in motion, recruiting some rather unlikely allies. The most fearsome of its human allies were a group of fanatical eugenicists, who believed that the way to true human potential was genetic engineering and cloning. Since both of these were highly illegal in most countries, they welcomed the rogue AI's offer to join in its conquest of the world.
Before the government realized what was going on, the AI had created an army of robotic killing machines, accompanied by the eugenicists' genetically enhanced clones. By mid 2036, the AI and the scientists agreed that it was time to put their army to the test. The AI, however, believed that it would be best for the clones and robots to be kept separate, and attack different, non-coordinated targets in order to keep the US military from knowing that they were part of the same team.
On August 5, 2035, US Naval Station, Norfolk, VA came under attack by approximately 20,000 attack drones and hunter-killer robots. The fighting and devastation was swift. Of the entire military assets at the base, only a third of the ships and submarines managed to escape. None of the aircraft were captured, but 90% of the planes were shot down as the fighter pilots desperately attempted to buy enough time for the ships to get underway and escape. The machines lost only 33% of their assets, and within 2.5 hours had full control of the Navy base, as well as all remaining ships, arms, and munitions. Since the robots had no need for food, they sent it to back to the clones, who were preparing to attack their first target.
Three days later, as the president declared a state of national emergency, a group of 3200 super clones, armed with AK-47's, RPG's, and other weapons obtained through the black market, hit Ft. Bragg, NC. The marines and soldiers at the base, already on the highest alert status, responded immediately with heavy resistance. After 4 hours of bloody fighting, with the clones suffering over 65% casualties, the last pockets of resistance were quelled. The clones now controlled the biggest Marine base on the east coast, as well as all the remaining tanks, vehicles, and other munitions and supplies.
Within the next few weeks, the clones and robots, striking independently were able to capture the Charleston Navy Base, SC, Jackson Air Force Base, TN, and the Petersburg, VA Army supply depot. While resistance was heavy, the enhanced clones and robots were more than a match for the US military. The only flaw in the AI's plans thus far was the fact that casualties were 55% higher than expected, and neither the eugenicists cloning labs nor the AI's drone factory could keep up with the losses. It was this time that Anna Schmidt, one of the lead eugenicists told the AI a way that they could possibly "recycle" some of their casualties. The AI thought the idea was brilliant, and set out immediately to set it in motion. The time of splitting their forces was over.
The next week, a volley of Tomahawk cruise missiles blasted apart the Pentagon, and other key military installations in Washington, DC. As the President, Congress, and the rest of the government evacuated the city aboard Air Force One, and other military and commercial planes, a vast army of over 20,000 units attacked the city. These troopers, vehicles and aircraft were neither robots, nor genetically enhanced clones. They were something far worse: Genetically Enhanced, AI Controlled Cybernetic Clone (GEACCC) units. The GEACCC's, created from the wreckage and body parts of previously destroyed/dead clone and robot troopers, were virtually unstoppable. The high damage resistance, and greater reaction time derived from the mechanical components, and the creative problem solving abilities of the human part, made these hybrid units much greater than the original component parts.
The rapid fall of the capitol was a major epiphany for the AI, and the doom of the US military. Once the superiority of GEACCC units was proven, the AI and eugenicists converted all remaining robot and clone troops into GEACCC's. The eugenicists even went so far as to create specialized enhancements for direct installation into ships, aircraft, and tanks, allowing the vehicle fully autonomous function. As a result, the Tech Warriors (as the faction became known) were able to take over almost the entire Eastern US within a month.
The US called upon its allies for aid, but only the UK and Canada sent troops. The other European and Asian countries just sat back, waiting to see the outcome, and marshaling their troops to defend against a possible invasion. The Islamic terrorist groups, rather than helping the Tech Warriors, as the US feared, considered them an abomination from Hell. As a result, they didn't intervene, but rather hunkered down and prayed that both sides would destroy each other instead.
After losing several more battles in mid-October, the outlook was pretty grim. The influx of British and Canadian troops managed to hold the Tech-Warriors at New Orleans, and Vicksburg, but with heavy casualties. It was only a matter of time before the GEACCC troopers crossed the Mississippi, and the Western US would fall as well. It was during this darkest hour that help came.
It was at the beginning of November, when the first turning point in the war occurred. A group of about 500 GEACCC infantry troopers, and 50 GEACCC Bradleys entered Greensboro, North Carolina. Their mission was to harvest people as raw material for the Tech Warriors to turn into replacement GEACCC's for the ones they'd lost in fighting at Memphis. As they chased the screaming populace through the streets, they eventually came to the town center, where a strange sight greeted their digitally enhanced eyes. In the middle of the main square were about two dozen people armed only with knifes and staves. Most were wearing black-leather outfits and five or six-pointed star pendants around their necks. Their staves bore similar devices, as well as the heavy, leather-bound books that several carried.
When the people in the center of the square saw the GEACCC's approaching, twelve quickly went, in pairs, to six evenly spaced positions, while the other twelve raised their staves, and they all began chanting in unison. As the closest GEACCC Bradley got within 20 yards of the square, a brilliant flash went out from the center, forming the shape of a large hexagram on the ground. The Bradley gunned its motor and charged the center at full speed, only to crumple like tinfoil as it crashed into an invisible barrier. Shortly thereafter, all hell broke loose. The rest of the GEACCC's opened fire, only to have it explode harmlessly against the barrier. The Wiccan mages inside the ward, knowing that its protection wouldn't take a bombardment like that for long, unleashed a savage counterattack. Within seconds, the twelve who weren't maintaining the ward stopped chanting and unleashed a savage storm of chain-lightning, fire balls, ice shards, and other powerful elemental attacks through the GEACCC ranks.
Since the GEACCC's were almost wholly artificial in nature, they had almost no resistance to the powerful magic that was brought to bear against them. After about five minutes of fighting, the GEACCC's, now numbering around 70, went into full retreat. As they exited town, another group of mages, Druids this time, unleashed their own magic on them. About thirty were instantaneously entwined by roots and turned into trees. The rest were ripped to shreds by druid-controlled coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, and black bears. This was the first time in the war that the Tech Warriors met such a catastrophic defeat.
The next such defeat followed soon after. About four days later, the Tech Warriors sent a tenth of their entire army, about 30,000 troops, against Aberdeen Proving Grounds, the last, stubborn US controlled military base on the east coast. When the besieged troops saw the sheer size of the force arrayed against them, they knew it was over. After distributing all remaining arms and munitions, those who were without a weapon were tasked with destroying all the base's top-secret material. As the soldiers manned the defensive positions for a fight to the death, a van drove, unnoticed, to the top of a hill overlooking the base. The sides of the van bore the symbol of a cross above a streaming banner, with the words "For God and our neighbor's good", below which was written in large letters "Greencastle Church of the Brethren." Out of the van stepped eight elders from four different local churches. As the attack began, the eight joined hands in a circle and began earnestly praying for victory.
Just as they said, "Amen," the GEACCC's had just breached the outer gates of the base and started streaming through the gaps. Just as the soldiers fell back to the inner perimeter for a final stand, the wind suddenly rose to a pitched howl, and the sky darkened with heavy clouds. As the soldiers looked up, fire and lightning rained from the sky, falling amidst the GEACCC's. Lightning bolts vaporized GEACCC F/A-18 Hornets in mid-air, while holy fire utterly consumed the troops and vehicles on the ground. About two minutes later, all that remained of some thirty-thousand Tech Warriors was wisps of ash being blown upon the breeze. Even though the fire and lightning so quickly and thoroughly devastated the cybernetic constructs, not even a single blade of grass or leaf on a tree was harmed. As the wind died down, and the clouds dissipated, the soldiers in the base either cheered wildly, or stood in complete bewilderment of the miracle they had just witnessed.
As more and more practitioners of supernatural powers joined the fight, the war rapidly turned into a defeat for the Tech Warriors. Wielders of arcane and divine power even showed their true abilities among the rank and file of the various armed forces involved. By the time that the US, British, and Canadian forces had surrounded the AI's hidden compound for the final battle of the war, there was at least one mage, cleric, or physical adept in every infantry squad, fighter squadron, and naval vessel.
After the three-day siege of the compound, a SEAL team, with the help of their Christian cleric, managed to penetrate the compound's defenses on December 7, 2036. They made their way to the main processor and memory core, where they planted some 500 pounds of C-4 remote-detonated explosives. When the team cleared the complex, the back-up EOD team detonated the C-4, scattering the AI's main circuitry over a 300 yard radius. With the AI no longer functioning, the remaining GEACCC's began to function erratically. Some remembered that they were once human, and defected to the allied military. Others remained true to the AI's vision, and fought to the bitter end. The rest, without the AI's control, became insane killing machines that attacked both friend and foe alike.
As the last of the GEACCC resistance was quelled, a spacecraft launched from a silo at the center of the ruined complex. As the rocket climbed into the night sky, allied forces surged into the base from all sides. They quickly rounded up all the eugenicists they could find, and seized the advanced medical and robotic equipment that hadn't been destroyed. Once the compound was secure, and the technology crated up for shipment to government labs, they began identifying all the prisoners. It was at this point that they discovered that a number of high-ranking eugenicists were missing, Anna Schmidt among them. According to one of the prisoners, Anna and a few colleagues had built a sleeper ship, and had it ready in case the compound should fall. The ship was on course for Alpha Centauri, where it was determined through IR, X-Ray, and radiographic scans that a habitable planet should exist. Since they would not be bothering Earth anytime soon, the governments just dismissed her escape as "foolhardy suicide."
The Techno-Horror war changed the way a lot of things were done, not only in the US, but worldwide. For one thing, pure atheism was dead, and the few die-hards who still clung to it were often ridiculed as "ignorant fools." Supernatural occurrences became legitimate science, with different religions studying to increase their skills, and how to apply magic or divine power to daily life. Thanks to this, medical "technology" began to increase in leaps and bounds, with previously incurable diseases being supernaturally healed by skilled clerics and mages. The armed forces of other countries also began to actively recruit people with these skills, and form special training squads to increase their skills.
The genetic/automated technology recovered from the compound was also put to good use. Better gene-therapy for genetic ailments were rapidly developed, as well as ways to regenerate missing body parts. From the automated tech, a new brand of AI worker robots, affectionately known as "droids" were created to take over extremely dangerous or physically demanding jobs. In order to prevent them from going rouge, like the original AI, they were hard-wired with a set of behavior governing rules.
These rules, known as the Assimovian Paradigm, were based on a set of rules that Isaac Assimov, a famous 20th century science fiction author, presented in one of his books. The first rule was that a robot was never to harm a human being or other living thing. The second rule stated that robots exist to serve mankind, not the other way around. The final rule stated that human life is of greater value than a robots continued function, so a robot should always attempt to rescue a human in distress, even if it is highly likely that the robot will be destroyed as a result. If any of the "New AI's," as the Assimovian Paradigm rigged machines were called, attempted to bypass or override these codes, the failsafe would cause all the circuits in the processor core to fuse, rendering it inoperable. International laws were passed that made machines without such programming illegal, any anyone attempting to create such devices would be hunted down, along with all such machines he/she made.
The most important data recovered from the former Tech Warrior compound, though, was the design specifications for the long-range rocket vehicle that Anna Schmidt used to escape. NASA, Japan Space Agency (JSA), and Russian/European Space Agency scientists began studying copies of the blueprints, modifying them for a joint Mars colonization effort. By 2038, NASA had a vehicle built that could transport 500 colonists in stasis, with a crew of 5 to maintain the ship, and wake the crew upon arrival. What the Japanese built was designed to deliver an initial habitation module, with parts and materials for prefab housing, and a small terraforming plant. The Russians and Europeans built two cargo ships filled with enough food stores, crop seeds, and livestock to allow the colony to become self-sufficient.
The mission launched on October 15, 2038. After 18 months of uneventful travel, the ships arrived in orbit around Mars on April 14, 2040. Upon a signal from the flight crew of the Centaur, the American ship with the colonists, the first Mars colonization attempt began its descent. The only mishap that occurred was when the European Space Agency ship came in a little too fast, and damaged almost half the food stores during the rough landing. The rest of the mission went off without a hitch. The Centaur, Yakutsk, and the Kasei Maru all touched down within a few yards of their designated landing zones in the crater of Olympus Mons.
The scientists from all the countries involved in the joint colonization project agreed that the enormous extinct volcano would be the ideal site for initial colonization. For one thing, previous probes had found a large accumulation of water ice in the crater, which would be vital for the colony's future. Another plus was that with all the past volcanic activity, it was highly likely that there would be commercially valuable deposits of metal ores, ore gemstones to be found. At the very least, the dense, sturdy volcanic rock could be used as building material to expand the colony.
Though the first six months were a bit hard, due to the loss of about 33% of their food stores during the crash-landing of the Eurostar, but the mission planners on Earth had anticipated that possibility, and had launched a second wave of supply ships six months after the initial one. One year later, the second wave of colonists and terraforming supplies arrived. The Terran race had finally permanently established itself on an alien planet.
Though the costs involved with building and launching the Mars colonization were phenomenal, the colony soon began to pay for itself. What the geologists discovered was beyond the planners' wildest dreams. Not only were there several large iron and titanium veins, but the center held a large, diamond-bearing kimberlite pipe, whose equal had never been seen before. The colonists were able to set up hydrogen and ore processing facilities, and soon had their robot-operated mines running at full speed. Two years after initial planet fall, the first shipments of steel, titanium, and diamonds began to arrive on Earth.
Soon, other colonies and terraforming bases were established around the planet. With the massive influx of colonists from so many different countries, squabbling and skirmishes began to break out over mineral rights, and various other issues. Soon afterwards, the Russian, British, French, German, US, and Japanese militaries began to establish bases on the planet, to make sure that future problems would be handled in a civilized manner. With the show of force, the colonists stopped bickering among themselves, and things went back to normal.
During the 2040's and 2050's, other significant advances were made in addition to the Mars colonization project. In 2048, the Japanese, Chinese, and US began to establish hardened, chemical and heat proof automated terraforming plants on Venus. These plants had processors to cool the air, neutralize the sulfuric acid, and tanks full of genetically engineered algae to convert the CO2 into oxygen. In addition, a ring of giant, solar powered Ion engines were embedded in the surface of the planet. The vast engines, only requiring electromagnetic radiation, and the planet's atmosphere to run, each generated 200 million tons of continuous thrust. With all of them aligned facing away from the planets direction of rotation, they increased rotational speed by 1day per year. It was hoped, at the rate the automated terraforming factories were working, that the planet would be suitable for Terran life forms within 100 years.
Another major advance was the discovery of how to efficiently produce, and contain antimatter. Now humanity had the ultimate cheap, re-useable power source. Soon, nearly all the Earth and Mars' electricity was being generated by matter-antimatter generators. On the down side, it was also discovered that antimatter and matter-antimatter devices also made excellent weapons. Within a year, the US, China, and every other major power dismantled their entire obsolete nuclear arsenals, and the world breathed a collective sigh of relief. Though a matter-antimatter device was significantly more powerful than a nuclear weapon of equal size, there was no radiation, fall out, or critical mass to worry about.
With laser weapons already in use, and the addition of practical heavy rail guns, wars became fewer and more devastating. Fortunately for the Terran race, the Mars colony and a new technology precipitated events that would save it from wiping itself out.
It was 2058 that NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratories scientists, working in concert with a number of quantum physicists, developed a hyper-dimensional faster than light speed drive. They shortened the name to "hyper drive", and the moniker stuck. Soon afterward, the research and development team installed the experimental device in a Centaur class transport vessel. This particular transport, the Triton, was bound for the American/Japanese colony of Olympus City on Mars, in order to drop off colonists and terraforming supplies. The mission commander of the ship just happened to be my great-great-great-great grandmother, Rebecca Blattenburger.
The day of the launch, everything went smoothly, and the Triton reached Mars in an unprecedented 5 minutes and 45 seconds, mostly due to launch and landing times. The ship traversed the 80 million miles from Earth to Mars, via hyperspace, in less than .001 seconds. The crowds of people watching the events unfold over holographic TV and internet, both on Earth and Mars, cheered as the stalwart vessel touched down on its landing pad in the center of Olympus City. The crew stepped out, along with the colonists making the journey, and took a bow. After the supplies were unloaded, the crew did a few interviews with CNN, and other local media, after which they returned to the ship.
During the return trip, things went horribly wrong. One of the circuit cards in subspace emitter subunit burned out as the ship jumped into hyperspace. Luckily, the Triton had completed the transition, and therefore did not end up scattered halfway across the galaxy. Its current fate, however, was not much better. The ship was now hurling through hyperspace with no way of stopping, save getting yanked out by the gravity of a planet-sized object.
To further complicate things, the burnout skewed their jump vector, so instead of maintaining a heading toward Earth, they were rotated almost perpendicular to Sol's orbital plane. The crew desperately attempted to repair the emitter, as the ship streaked uncontrolled through hyperspace, when their luck changed again. With a stomach-wrenching jolt, the ship emerged from hyperspace, and into galactic history.
As the Triton was yanked out of hyperspace by a large gas giant, the crew soon realized that they were not alone. The Triton, not exactly being "small" with a 100 yard length and 55 yard width, found itself facing an enormous spacecraft, at least 700 yards long. A quick look around, revealed two more ships of similar size surrounding the Triton. The three ships were obviously a heavy military class, judging by the multitude of easily visible gun mounts, missile launchers, and sensor arrays scattered across their hulls. The vessels, however, showed no signs of powering their weapons up, so the Triton's crew settled down and waited for the unknown ships to make the first move.
They did not need to wait long. Within about a minute, the incoming message light on the communications array lit up, and a heavily accented voice came through on the overhead speakers. The biggest surprise was that who, or what- ever built those ships was speaking English.
"...I repeat, Terran vessel Triton, we monitored your hyperspace mishap from Pluto Star base. If anyone aboard is still alive, please respond," the alien voice asked for the second time, before any of the crew could recover from the initial shock of their encounter. Rebecca was the first to recover enough to make a reply.
This is Mission Commander Rebecca Blattenburger of the NASA cargo vessel, Triton. None of my crew have sustained serious injuries, but our hyper drive is shot. Requesting repair assistance so we can return to our system," she said, hopefully.
The alien responded, "This is Cmdr. Kakiro Tagalima of the Jarofan Federal Starship Kurikan. I've radioed your request to Star base Jarofu One, and am awaiting permission. On behalf of the Jarofan Federal Republic, welcome to the galaxy, Terran. I've just won several bets with some of my colleagues in Central Command who did not think your people would pull this off for at least twenty more years."
And the rest, as they say is history. The Triton's hyperspace accident had by some strange miracle, coincidence, twist of fate, or whatever you want to call it, vectored to the Sirius System, where Jarofu, the capitol of the Jarofan Federal Republic, was located. They first sight of the Jarofans was when their ship docked with the massive wheel-shaped star base in orbit between Jarofu and its sister planet, Karofu. The Jarofans are a genetically compatible humanoid race, that looks uncannily Terran. The biggest differences between the average Jarofan and the Average Terran are a pair of 6 to 8 inch electro magnetically sensitive antennae that protrude from their foreheads, just below the hairline, canine teeth lengthened to the point that they look like vampire fangs, and the eye colors tend to be violet or yellow, with green and brown being rarer.
When the hyper drive repairs were complete, the Jarofan Governor and Federal Council appointed a delegation representing all the major systems in the Jarofan Republic to accompany the Triton on its return to Earth. When it was discovered that we weren't, some 2 dozen wars across the planet came to a screeching halt. The United Nations called an emergency session to meet the aliens.
As soon as the UN determined that the extra-terrestrials weren't looking to cause us harm, and even were offering to buy, sell and trade useful technology at reasonable rates, the UN ambassadors lowered their reserve, and were soon hammering out diplomatic agreements. One of the first was to establish the Sol and Alpha Centauri Systems as Sovereign Terran Space, and the UN charter was modified to make it an actual government. While the nations still maintained some autonomy, they were ultimately answerable to the UN. They also worked out trade agreements, military alliances, and other documents needed to set the pace for future meetings.
By 2096, numerous private companies began trading with the Jarofan Republic, as well as the government owned space agencies. Large numbers of Cragonian sub-terrain engineers, Jarofan terraforming experts, and Gravitchian Environmental specialists began arriving on Earth in order to offer their services to help us clean up our environment, move most of our cities underground (with the exception of historical landmarks, and other significant buildings), and speed up the Mars and Venus terra forming projects. That same year, after global elections for UN representatives, the UN council unanimously approved a bill requesting that the Earth join the Jarofan Federal Republic.
The Jarofans, who'd been watching us since World War II said that they'd annex the Terran Union if we could go 100 years without fighting any major wars. The UN agreed, but they failed to take one thing into account. That thing was the part of human nature that causes people to be afraid of the unknown, and is the root of all bigotry and prejudice. With the establishment of communications with alien races, the Neo Nazis, KKK, Islamic Jihad movements, and other racist organizations lost their reason to exist, for the differences between our sub-races pales in comparison to the differences between a Terran and an alien.
There were also those who were dissatisfied with allowing relatively free trade with the aliens, and had lost their jobs as a result of alien competition. Soon a number of megalomaniacs began to gather these dissidents, and organize them into a formidable shadow army. With weapons purchased from the Galactic Black Market, or stolen from military bases, they slowly built up their strength in secret for 100 years.
The three main groups were the Earth Defense League, the XenoNazis, and the Khamir Al-Shidat. All of them had their reasons to oppose the Earth's joining of the Jarofan Federal Republic. The Earth Defense League (EDL), was a Mafia run organization. They knew that if the Jarofan military took over system defense, it was likely their illegal sex-slave, narcotics, and weapons smuggling operations would be severely hurt, if not shut down altogether. The XenoNazis, true to their namesakes, were paranoid racists who believed that the aliens really wanted to take over the Earth, kill all the men, and use our women as breeding stock for a galaxy conquering super army. The Khamir Al-Shidat, an Islamic extremist group, had the weirdest reason yet. They believed that the other races were really Hell-spawned demons bent upon corrupting our world, and the coming Jihad was Armageddon itself. They further believed that anyone who died in this Jihad would not just go to heaven, but take their rightful place at Allah's side as Mohammed's equal.
On March 17, 2196, the Jarofan House of Delegates voted unanimously to admit the Terran Union into the Jarofan Federal Republic. As the bill made its way to the Federal Senate, news of massive, coordinated terrorist attacks throughout the Sol System was flashed across CNN and other holonet news channels. Since part of the formal recognition of the Terran Union stated that neither the Jarofan Federal Republic nor any other outside force could get involved in a Terran civil war, the Senate decided to delay voting on the bill until the outcome of the war could be decided.
Alpha Centauri, the colonists on the Saturnian and Jovian moons were far enough removed from the conflict that they voted to secede from the Terran Union and defect to the Jarofan Republic. To prevent any retaliatory strikes against the splinter colonies, the Jarofan Federal Navy sent a task force consisting of two Jarofan Shokutan class battle cruisers, four Cragonian Ch'karr class destroyers, and six Gravitchian Voldra class frigates, with full star fighter complements for each ship. Admiral Gokaru, commander of Jarofan Cruiser Task Force 5, made it abundantly clear that if any military or armed ships from either side of the conflict approached within orbital boundaries of any planet in the outer solar system, it would be given one warning to turn back, and failure to comply would be met with "appropriate force."
On Mars, almost half of the mining colonies, if not outright controlled, were at least heavily involved with the Mob. Therefore, almost two thirds of the planet fell relatively quickly under control of the "Alliance for Humanity," as the three anti-alien terrorist groups collectively referred to themselves. The biggest bulwark against the advance of the Alliance for Humanity was the heavily fortified, self-sufficient Olympus City. The almost sheer sides of the volcano made ground assault almost impossible, and the insides of the volcano were big enough to house shield generator capable of repelling most aerial attacks. The Valle Marinara colonies were the other major Terran Union defensive bastion, while elsewhere, the war raged back and forth across the Red Planet.
Venus, having non-Terrans make up some 45% of its population, was more open minded and reasonable about extra-terrestrial motives. They did not defect to the Jarofans, but because they were always a fairly peaceful colony, and needed all their military to guard their merchant fleets, they did not actively participate in the war at first. They had enough planetary laser batteries, quantum missile launchers, and anti-star fighter rail guns to defend their planet. Even without that, their revolutionary planetary shield would be able to keep them safe from orbital bombardment.
Which brings me to Earth. After almost 100 years without any major conflict, many countries were unprepared for the sudden, massive onslaught by Alliance forces. Within a matter of two months, Africa, Europe, the Mid-East, and much of Russia and Central Asia were under Alliance control. The first major roadblock in their Asian campaign was heavy Chinese resistance in the Tibetan Mountains and Gobi desert. The Russian Army was pushed in a fighting retreat all the way to Siberia, where, with the aid of Japanese and Korean troops, they were able to hold the line.
Soon after Europe and Africa were secure, and things had quieted down on the Asian front, the Alliance decided to attack North America. The US, Canada, and Mexico were already bracing the best they could for the pending invasion, as the tattered remains of the European military arrived on their shores.
Three days later, it happened. To call the attack enormous is an understatement of Biblical proportions. Using space transports, hovercraft, and any other transport they could scrape up, the alliance commenced the largest amphibious assault in galactic history when they landed 700 million troops on the East coast of the US and Canada. Norfolk Naval base, already stripped of classified material, supplies, ships and ordnance, fell within minutes, while amphibious transports moved up the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Meanwhile in Louisiana, landing craft made their way up the Mississippi, In hopes that their East shore comrades would be able to meet them in the middle, so to speak.
As the US and Mexican forces were regularly beat back, people began to wonder if there was anything that could be done to stop the Alliance tide from sweeping over the planet, drowning them in an ocean of hatred and intolerance. It was during this dark hour that I came in. The account that follows is true, and is the eyewitness accounts of myself and other people who lived through those horrifying times, and wished it to be set in writing, lest they be forgotten.
(signed) Benjamin Thaddeus Blattenburger, Brig. Gen. JFSF
