NORAD

Atvar, Larry, Jerry, and Andy were with Harpanet in what used to be a pool room. The pool had been emptied and filled with mud for the large fi' to wallow in. Larry was making some drinks for his fellow think-tank members, while Andy and Jerry were in the mud with Harpanet. Atvar was seated far from the mud, not wanting to get dirty. Mud was something of a rarity back on Home.

"Harpanet, the Message Bearer exited Lunar orbit yesterday, and appeared to rendezvous with something." Jerry said, casually splashing Harpanet with mud. "We have concerns that your former herd might have plans to use a large projectile against us."

There was silence in the pool room. Larry continued at the bar, almost finished with the drinks. Atvar flicked an eye turret to the fi', waiting for its answer with bated breath.

Finally, Harpanet spoke. "Message Bearer was mated to a small moonlet of the ringed world. This many years." He held up a trunk and raised three digits. "We spent it pushing. I was not told why. I heard an officer call it this part of a fi'." Harpanet rolled over, raising a clawed foot.

"Holy shit." Jerry said at a near whisper.

"Jesus Christ, they're going to stomp us with it!" Andy exclaimed.

"By the Spirits of Emperors Past! How large was it?" Atvar asked.

"Not as large as the moonlet we initially intended for Message Bearer to mate to. Perhaps six times eight to the seventh times standard mass." Harpanet replied, absentmindedly stirring the mud with his trunk.

Larry pulled out a calculator from his jacket. "What's your standard mass, around 800 pounds?" He did some calculations. "Jesus, that's five and a half million tons!"

"And its probably going at 20 kilometers a second." Jerry added. He grabbed a smartphone from the table. "Calculating that, we've got a 300 megaton impact on our hands."

"Harpanet, do you know where it's going?" Andy asked frantically.

"No, but I remember an officer mentioning large waves in a conversation I overheard."

"That means we have a water impact on our hands." Larry said. "It makes sense, the resulting tsunamis would swamp vast regions, and a good chunk of the planet would be covered in violent rainstorms."

"We've got to warn the other nations, get them to start evacuating their coasts." Jerry said.

"It won't be enough." Larry muttered.

Atvar thumped his tailstump. "May the Emperor forsake them."

Earth Orbit

For the briefest of seconds, there was a burning streak over the Western Mediterranean. Then, a bright flash, as if the world's largest lightbulb was turned on and off. Waves, large enough to be seen with the naked eye, spread outward from the detonation, followed by clouds. The waves hit land in minutes. Corsica and Sardinia were almost completely inundated. Water broke against the Atlas Mountains. Villages and cities along the immediate coasts were washed away. Marseille, Monaco, Barcelona, Algiers, and Genoa disappeared under the waves. Rome was spared the worst of it, the waves broken by the sacrifice of Corsica and Sardinia. The remaining satellites in orbit captured the view in exquisite detail as cities drowned.

The water began to recede. The clouds continued outwards. Europe and North Africa disappeared under an impenetrable cover of white as rainstorms came down everywhere. It was a hot rain, more at home in the jungles of Brazil or Africa than the mountains of Switzerland.

Then another rain came. Rods the size of telephone poles fell from space, striking bridges and roads across the continent. The fury was short but terrible.

Just when the survivors thought it couldn't get any worse, the starships came down. All of them. There was no need to worry about railgun batteries or SAM launchers, for they were all gone. They came down in the areas directly affected by the waves, the places of least resistance. The opened up and disgorged their armies, ready to fight.

Within 24 hours of Footfall, there were 40 million soldiers in Southern Europe and North Africa.

NORAD, 1 day after Footfall

The war room was in chaos.

All of the large screens on the walls showed maps of Europe, news footage, reports from EDC generals, and other types of information regarding the recent catastrophe. Orderlies and officers were running about, handing each other news gathered from the front lines, chattering about possible plans and tactics to use in the war. In the center of it all was Atvar, Harpanet, the authors, and the President. They currently were looking over possible targets for killercraft when a general ran up to the President.

"Madam President, we are receiving a powerful radio transmission from the fleet in Lunar orbit."

"Put it on screen two." she replied curtly.

The room fell silent as the image of a Race male appeared on the large screen. By his side was a rather old looking fi'. Atvar hissed in anger as he recognized the male, despite the new body paint he wore.

"This is Fleetlord Straha of the Race. As you already know, we have flung an asteroid into the western Mediterranean Sea. 40 million of my troopmales are currently in Europe and North Africa, where they are making headway against your disoriented and weak forces. Within the week they will be at Paris. I have no doubt that you are planning to fight back against us. But know this."

The Fleetlord leaned closer to the screen. "Do not think the bombardment will end. The Foot was not a one-shot attack. There will be more coming if you resist my army. To the leaders of Tosev Three, I tell you this. You have one week to surrender to the Empire of the Race." A symbol, resembling a red cross, appeared on the screen. "This is the symbol for surrender. If you wish to avoid destruction, place this over your homes, your hospitals, and your other civilian buildings. If you attempt to disguise a military base or missile launch site with the symbol, all symbols will be attacked, regardless of their true nature. I will flatten every square inch of your planet and have the Colonization Fleet settle down on the bones of billions. Surrender will be for the best. You will learn the true culture of the universe: ours. Like I said, you have one week."

The screen darkened. For a moment, all was silent in the war room.

"Prick." muttered the President.

"Ma'am, we need to do something. We can't just surrender the whole planet to those pompous chameleons." one of the generals said. He then glanced at Atvar. "No offense."

Atvar coughed in irritation.

"We will not surrender to the Race." the President said. She looked around at the various generals before her. "We need to beat these bastards before the week's up. It's time to enact Operation: Endgame."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll get the Russian President on the line." one of the generals said.

"Don't forget the Chinese and Indian leaders. We also need to contact the UAA, what's left of them at least." the President said.

The war room resumed its motions with increased fervor. Atvar couldn't help but feel sick in his liver at the sound of "Operation: Endgame."

Thuktun Flishithy, Twenty-five hours after Footfall

"Herdmaster Straha, I didn't know we had plans to use more asteroids." Pastempeh-keph said. "I am your advisor. Shouldn't you have told me that?"

Straha looked at the old fi', and dropped his jaw in mirth. "I didn't feel the need to tell you. Crushing those Tosevites will be a very easy matter."

He gestured to the Fleet visible in the porthole. "The 26th Emperor Sohrheb was extensively damaged during the escape from Shanghai. It's not very useful for landings anymore, I was reluctant to let it join the others in Europe. We've begun evacuating the crew from it and applying additional heatshields. If the humans still refuse to surrender, we'll speed it up with the fusion engine and slam it into the Atlantic coast near the United States. The resulting tsunami should wash away New York City, Washington DC, and several other cities. Then we shall use some of your explosive-metal bombs to destroy military bases and cities along the Mississippi River and Appalachian region. Once the US is in chaos, we shall bombard the whole country and make landfall. Probably somewhere in Kansas." Straha turned back to the former Herdmaster. "We shall make an example of the United States. Once the world sees the most powerful nation on Tosev Three crumble like sand, they will have to surrender."

"Are you sure that would even work? The United States has thousands of those strange guns and lasers, and a very large and well equipped army. I don't think even your plan would break them." Pastempeh-keph said.

Straha glared at the fi'. "Do you doubt the decisions of your Herdmaster?" he hissed icily.

"Of course not." Pastempeh-keph replied, with little sincerity. "In other matters, my mate is due to birth my daughter. May I be with her?"

Straha grimaced. "Go." he spat.

The former Herdmaster left. Straha looked out of the porthole, and discreetly pulled out a vial of ginger.

A/N: The end of the war nears!