May 4, 2152. The Earth. New York.

- ... And today, on May 4th, two thousand one hundred and fifty second, mankind has proved not only that it is able to stand against the alien threat in a united front, but also that it is able to protect itself and defeat the aggressors. Our victory came to us dearly. During the year of war, humanity lost more than a billion people, mostly civilians. The monsters that came to our house did not distinguish between military and civilian. For them, as once for the Nazis, there were no laws of war. There were only those who are not worthy of the right to life. But this day, the fourth of May, two thousand one hundred and fifty-two, will go down in history as the day when humanity, having rejected disagreements, defended its right to life. Today is the day when we all declared in one voice - we survived, and we won. From this day the 4th of May is declared the International Victory Day ...

Captain Harper was distracted from the TV, on which the president had been singing the praises of fearless humanity and the army of the Alliance for an hour. Basically, Jack understood that it was too early to celebrate the victory. Yes, the main groups of demons have already been dispersed, but the clearing of remote corners of the planet will take more than one year. A year ... this meat grinder, which is now dubbed the Great Cataclysm, or the Doomsday War, lasted for almost a year, clearly forgetting that such a war had already taken place in history. However, what happened in this year of war was much more like Armageddon than the eighteen-day Arab-Israeli conflict. Billion people... In fact, the aliens killed every twelfth inhabitant of the Earth, except for the arriving forces from the colonies. Most of the losses occurred in the first month of the war, when people, not quite understanding what they were facing, were thrown into battle units with minimal experience of war in the style - a squad against the crowd. And the crowd aggressive and spitting on the losses. During this month, Harper's company was assigned three times to re-form. And it was still a good indicator - some units only were re-created five or six times in a month. Then, however, it became easier - people adapted to the new enemy, creating assault groups that single-handedly cleaned multi-storey houses. Tanks, despite the extreme vulnerability to the internal enemy, also showed themselves well in urban battles - they lured out strong opponents, using ambush tactics. But fighting on the plains became a real vocation for armored forces — demons huddled together in a horde were a tasty morsel for artillery shots in the style of the Second World War and subsequent attacks on finishing moves. It was at this time that Harper was given command of the company. His unit was thrown from the front to the front, where his people, gaining invaluable experience, gradually turned into real thugs who were not afraid of anything and were absolutely faithful to their commander. Those who survived, of course. And in the end, when the war moved to hard-to-reach places on Earth, problems began again. It turned out that driving away demons from plains and cities is one thing, but smoking them out of the mountains and the jungle is quite another, and aliens managed to adapt to the tactics of people, having ceased to stumble into large units. The losses again increased several times, but people managed to feel the taste of victory, and, although with losses, they oppressed the enemy. Harper's company, while just drove through retraining, and, giving the status of landing, again thrown into battle. Although, to be fair, the status of the airborne company meant for them only better equipment, weapons and means of support - of these space marines from them it was planned to do after the war. But what was given was a great help, especially in the conditions of the jungle, where the usual infantry died like cockroaches from insecticides. In such a composition, the fighters of Harper passed the fire of the Himalayas and the jungles of South America, to which the captain now only harbored a feeling of cruel, unclouded hatred. And finally, after two more months of war, the company personnel were announced that the war was close to completion, and the company could leave for a month's vacation. To say that this news was received with enthusiasm means to say nothing. Some fighters did not come out of the fights for a year, having driven around the world like real tourists. Among them was Jack himself, Richard Miles, who received the first lieutenant and the post of platoon commander, sergeant Ben Hislop, a former policeman who joined the company after a memorable battle at the television center, and, oddly enough, Eva Korr, a talented engineer, a good pilot and just beauty. However, Eva's talents were a good help for the fighters, and her ability to pilot almost any atmospheric equipment even saved lives a couple of times.

After the company was sent on vacation, Jack decided to visit his home. He heard the official address of the president when the Atlantic Express train approached the station in New York. The Atlantic Express ... cyclopean project of the tunnel laid along the ocean floor began in the middle of the twenty-first century, and was completed only in 2130, connecting Europe and North America with a high-speed highway. Twelve lines of maglevs (approx. auto trains on a magnetic cushion, short for MAGNETIC LEVITATION), connecting the continents, carried people and goods through tunnels with highly rarefied air at speeds of up to two and a half thousand kilometers per hour. This allowed in a record two hours to be practically on the other side of the planet. And in the war along this tunnel flew trains with soldiers and equipment, which played an important role in protecting the Earth.

The train began to slow down in the meantime, until it stopped at all. Unlike other passengers, Harper did not immediately collect luggage and rush to the exits - the war taught him to be patient. Leading the last through the gateway, Harper just half an hour later found himself on the outskirts of New York, where the Transatlantic Station was located. A half-hour metro ride - and the captain went out into the business center of the city. New York has not changed since his last visit. This city did not affect the war, unlike neighboring Washington, which was demolished almost completely by demons. Either due to timely reinforcements from Europe, or thanks to competent commanders, the demons were stopped in the suburbs of the metropolis, and not a single creature leg set foot on this land. Now it was here that the US president was located with the administration. But Harper did not care about the residence of the first person of his native country. His path lay in one particular skyscraper. A strict, monolithic building of glass and concrete once belonged to UAC, but after the company went bankrupt, the building changed its owner, but the design, as if recalling the corporation's former absolute power, still suppressed passersby with its appearance, as if trying to discourage the very idea that such a financial giant can be fought. However, the current owner of the building definitely liked this design. Especially considering who he was during the UAC domination.

- Can I help you, captain? - - pretty girl at the entrance, smiling "at thirty-two," greeted the incoming Jack. Harper smiled in his mind - before the war, the attitude toward the military was much more indulgent. Now they almost prayed to uniformed people, even if in fact the clerks sat in the headquarters during the whole war.

- Good afternoon, - Jack returned the smile, - be so kind as to inform the general director that Jack Harper wants to see him.

The girl's smile faded instantly. Considering the fact who this young man in captain's uniform came to, the latest fool would have realized that the officer is obviously a bird of high flight. And the girl was not a fool, so she immediately realized that in this case there was nothing to catch.

- OK, wait a minute, - the girl pressed the link selector, and, having contacted the reception, transferred Jack's request. After hearing the answer, the girl looked up again, - sir, you will be ready to meet in half an hour. Would you like to wait here or go to the waiting room?

- Thank you, Liza, - Harper replied, reading the name on the badge, - I'll go upstairs. Have a nice day.

Not listening to the girl's response, Jack headed for the elevator. Having missed the exit crowd, Harper entered the elevator and pressed the button of the last floor. The doors slammed shut, and the elevator, slightly pushing the captain to the floor, drove to the top of the building.

Reception met Harper emptiness. This deafening after a crowded metropolis silence was so unusual that the captain tensed for a second, waiting for an attack. The instincts developed during the year of war yelled to him that if there is no sound in nature, then this is not normal. And the abnormal silence in this war was equated with demons. Despite their bloodthirstiness, in the jungle these creatures quickly turned into masters of ambushes, to the envy of all the "guerrillas" who lived in these places before the aliens. The only thing that betrayed them was the lack of sounds of wildlife. If the demons were close, not a single bird or beast gave a vote, as if fearing to be a dinner for aliens. Unfortunately, people did not immediately discover this feature.

Soon one of the doors opened, and people began to leave it, dressed in solid and expensive suits. Passing by Harper, these men only for a moment held their gaze on the captain, as if he was for them only a part of the landscape, what attracted their attention for some reason. However, Jack did not care about them. The war has changed him too much in order to take such views with hostility.

- Sir, - a middle-aged woman left the office, - Mr. Director awaits you.

Hearing the voice of the secretary, the last of the businessmen, already entering the elevator, already stumbled by surprise. Apparently, he thought that a young man in a captain's suit accidentally made a mistake on the floor. Then the businessman looked more closely at the officer, and recognition flashed through his eyes. However, Harper did not pay the slightest attention to this when entering the office.

A middle-aged man was standing by the window. Hair combed back gave a noble gray hair, and a simple but expensive suit complemented the image of the owner of the office. Turning around at the creak of the door, the man, seeing Jack in the uniform in the uniform of the Orbital Droptrooper Corps, seemed to feel his tenacious gaze from head to toe, and only waiting for the door to close behind the captain allowed himself a sincere smile.

- I'm back, - for some reason, looking at this man, whom he had not seen for many years, Jack was attacked by a binge attack, - father.