Jäger III
After retreating into his study for a moment, Jäger returns with a few maps of Western Europe, yellowed with age, and slaps them down on the table. Patches of it are colored a unpleasant red, focused around the landing sites.
Q: How bad were things getting during that time?
A: Not the worst-case, but it wasn't the best, either. The Iberian Peninsula was on the verge of being overrun by the time the Eidechsen-Bürgerkrieg began; Madrid was a nightmare of urban warfare as the surrounding countryside fell, and the Portuguese were barely holding the line around Lisbon and parts of Algarve. We'd gassed the push at Lyon, but we still had four million lizards on a three-pronged attack; two million were marching towards Paris, half a million were at the Swiss border, and the rest had the audacity to start moving towards my own country's border.
Q: How were they able to advance so far?
A: Well, for one, we did get hit by a relativistic impactor that temporarily made the Iberian peninsula an island, followed by an intense kinetic bombardment that took out a good half of our railgun stations. It took a good two days to really get back on our feet and start doing large-scale operations, instead of relying on small troop movements and all the defensive measures we'd set up.
Besides, we were pulling back to better guard Paris. After all, more than a fifth of the country's population was there at the time, due to everyone evacuating up north to escape Footfall. We could afford to lose a chunk of countryside that the Lizards bled dry to take, but we couldn't afford to lose Paris. And... I'm loathe to admit, but I'd say Paris is the most important cultural city in the Western world, along with London. The idea that the Lizards would try and destroy all of that art and culture was enough to make me shiver.
They were coming to destroy our cultures and replace it with their own, weren't they not? Would it not be prudent, then, to fight the hardest to save that culture over everything else? Factories can be rebuilt, and people can be born, but we would have not been able to replace the Louvre if the Lizards burnt it down.
Q: Were there any bright spots during that time?
A: As a matter of fact, yes. The Race hoisted themselves with their own petard when it came to invading Italy. The impact they used to soften us up for landings also caused Mt. Etna to erupt shortly after they landed in Sicily. Combined with the mountainous terrain, and the fact that Italy had been spared the worst of the waves, and they hadn't even taken a toe of the mainland.
Not to mention that the ones trying to invade Switzerland were stupid enough to, well, try and invade Switzerland. I'm sure you can find some old Swiss Guard who can tell you what a nightmare that was for the Lizards.
Still, we were preparing for the worst. We began to plant nuclear shaped charges in the ground, about thirty kilometers from Paris; if they crossed that line, then we would engage in scorched earth.
Q: Even if it meant nuclear retaliation?
Jäger gives a sad smile.
A: We'd dealt with the possibility of total nuclear annihilation for nearly fifty years. There were still millions of people in our countries who still remember what it was like to go to sleep, and wonder if they'd ever wake at all. We... we were ready to accept that sort of risk.
Q: Did the Schism change things?
A: A little, yes. Not as much as in other nations. We had the occasional surrender, here and there. A landcruiser crew waving the white flag as they dared to cross the line drawn around Neuchâtel, or some tired troopmales risking a surrender in Portugal.
Q: Why were there so little?
A: Fear. Fear of what their maniacal Fleetlord would do if he found out, but it was mainly fear of us. In Africa and the Middle East, many of the ones who started the Schism were doing occupation work, or were only holding the line. It's a lot harder to surrender en masse when you're fighting a large-scale war against a mechanized and numerous enemy who just lost millions of their people. Many were afraid that we'd just shoot them or drown them in mud, I'd wager.
I blame the Battle of Interstate 55 for that. Apparently veteran Lizards call it the American Cage, due to the horrific slaughter and abuse they underwent. I imagine they were afraid the same sort of thing was going to happen to them if they tried surrendering to us.
Though, the Schism still managed to slow things down. Now, the Race was having to make decisions; keep marching towards us, or stamp out the rebellions? Now, they had to wonder if there was going to be random uprisings in their landings here, and had to make sure there wouldn't be.
That gave us time to breathe a little again, and that's when the Supreme Commanders came to an agreement.
Q: What it was about?
A: That the only way to quickly end the war, and prevent millions of casualties, was an coordinated counterattack. On all fronts. And not only that, but we needed to win the orbitals at the same time.
Q: Why so?
A: For one thing, the rain was finally beginning to clear, which meant we now had to deal with the possibility that any large-scale attacks would be flattened from orbit. And even if they weren't, then there was still the impact that Daniels boy said was coming in three weeks, and if that hit, then there'd probably be no way to win the war without some sort of massed nuclear attack that'd also probably wipe out the human race.
I still remember the awkward silence in the meeting room, when the American representative revealed a certain project that his nation was working on...
-/-\-
Petrikov III
Petrikov pours himself another cup of tea from the samovar, then adds in some hot water to dilute it. Swishing it around for a few moments, he takes a slow sip, eyes focused on something I can't see.
A: I was actually in the Kremlin war room with the President when he got the phone call from the American counterpart about what his country and NATO were planning. He decided to put it on speakerphone after a few moments, so I and the other generals could hear.
Q: What did the call detail?
A: The American president asked us to pull out the old contingency plans we'd made in the early days, before the ships came. The ones we'd made with various countries as though exercises, rather than anything we felt was likely. Not more simple matters such as how to transport our forces across the landmass, or if we needed to do joint naval strikes against the aliens. This was the big stuff.
The Americans were calling it Operation Earth. It made sense, considering just what they wanted to do.
Q: Which was what, exactly?
A: Oh, nothing much. Simply the single largest military operation in the history of the human species. This was something that was going to make Operation Yi look downright minuscule in comparison. They were speaking of a coordinated assault on every last alien fronts across the planet. This was going to involve forces from my own country, as well as the Indians, the Chinese, and every other free nation who could actually contribute to the fight on time. Tens of millions of soldiers, moving in one offensive.
That was when the President asked his American counterpart if they were going to break out their fancy Archangels in order to claim the orbitals as well.
Q: You knew about Project Archangel? I thought the project was top secret?
Petrikov looks at me for a moment, then begins to laugh heartily.
A: Oh, we knew for four years! And they knew about our own Projects Drob' and Bog-ubiytsa for just about as long. And we knew that they knew, and they knew that we knew, and we knew that they knew that we knew... the unspoken agreement that neither would leak the information, in case the rest of the world had a shitfit over it.
Q: Drob'? I've never heard of that project.
A: Well, it definitely wasn't something we wanted people to know about, even with the whole glasnost thing that came about post-war, and all the, er, troubles... technically, you can just pull up the documents, but the documents are only on paper, and in a distant archive near Apatity, dead-center in a region known for bear problems.
Q: Polar or grizzly?
A: Yes.
Petrikov sips his tea.
I'll be blunt with you. It was essentially a doomsday device. Dig out a big hole, a neat cylinder. Line it with high-quality concrete, then fill with water about a third of the way. Put a hundred-megaton nuclear device in, then cap it with a five hundred ton tungsten plate. Wait for some incredibly advanced alien mothership to enter a trajectory over it, then initiate. Suddenly, you have a crude relativistic EFP that would crack just about any ship apart.
That is not a joke. The weapon was meant to use momentum, instead of being a penetrator. With optimal efficiency, you could send a seven million ton starship flying back fast enough for mechanical stress to rip it apart. This was something that'd put those stupid ships from that Independence Day movie on life support.
Naturally, it was the ultimate last-case scenario, as using the weapons would have done horrific damage to the biosphere, especially the ones located near the Siberian methane pockets... This was something we would have used if billions of people had been killed, and the only thing we could do was ensure our destroyers perished with us.
Q: Did you actually build that?
A: Well, we dug out a few dozen holes and filled them with water, but we decided to withhold the tungsten plates and nuclear devices until the worst-case scenario, to prevent accidents. It was also the fear of accidents that made us decide not to lace the bombs with cobalt, as a middle finger to any colonization fleet that came after the invaders. That, and because we knew the Americans wouldn't take kindly to it, either.
It is as I said. A worst-case doomsday weapon, that we prayed we would never need to use. That's why we put much more stock into Project Bog-ubiytsa instead.
Q: You mean your own ship.
A: Yes. The President agreed to the American counterpart's plan, after a few hours of talking, and ordered us to start making the preparations. After all, we now had a few fronts to get ready for, and this was going to be difficult to coordinate. Now, I had to speak with American generals, and Chinese generals, and even some from the Middle Eastern nations that hadn't fallen. Then I had to talk to a few others, as the day of the operation drew nearer...
I spent hours at a time with a telephone at my shoulder, talking to one commander about movements near Georiga as I also sent out orders on email to have trucks ship equipment over to Kiev. Not to mention, we had to figure out a hierarchy of who would be leading who in what area, considering how many different nations were getting involved in this.
That, and we needed to actually prepare our ship. Back before the war actually started, we were originally going to name it in the same theme as the Americans, actually. You know, something that evokes a divine being rising up and casting evil from the heavens.
By the time of Operation Earth, however, we'd named it Chongqing and Mumbai.
-/-\-
Propaganda Video: Friend or Foe?
Video opens to an empty screen. The Sierra Nevada mountains can be seen in the background, capped by a still-cloudy sky. An older man walks into view, wearing a gaudy suit reminiscent of the early 19th century, dyed in the colors of the American flag.
Uncle Sam: "Good day to you, fellow Americans! Uncle Sam here, ready to talk to you about some very important things."
A folding chair falls to the ground out of nowhere, landing upright, and Uncle Sam sits down on it. He folds one leg over his knee, and clasps his hands, a serious look on his face.
Uncle Sam: "Now, I'm sure many of you have read the news, or checked the internet if you still have connection. I'm sure you've heard about the seeming civil war going on with the Race in Africa and Iraq, and I'm here to talk about that."
A Race male walks into view, with faded and cracked body paint in the standard infantrymale pattern. Uncle Sam plops a hand on the male's shoulder, giving him a friendly squeeze.
Uncle Sam: "This here is Ristin. Say hello, Ristin."
Ristin: "Hello."
Uncle Sam: "Now, Ristin here is like many of his fellow males, in that he wanted to just head home after coming here, and was just as appalled by the dropping of the Foot as you and me. Isn't that right, Ristin?"
Ristin nods.
Ristin: "It was horrifying. As soon as I saw the waves, I knew I could not be a part of it anymore."
Uncle Sam: "And that's why Ristin defected, my fellow Americans. Ristin is one of many dissidents, who have pledged themselves to our side so this war can end and they can return home. Unfortunately, there is the problem of knowing who has defected."
Ristin straightens, a chipper look on his face.
Ristin: "Thankfully, we have our ways!"
Uncle Sam: "That's right. Ristin and his fellow dissidents have taken to painting themselves in bright, solid colors."
Paint suddenly pours down on Ristin, turning him red.
Uncle Sam: "Like red-"
More paint falls.
Uncle Sam: "White-"
The last color pours down, and a prop bucket bounces harmlessly off Ristin's head.
Uncle Sam: "Or blue!"
He looks at the messy Ristin, and twists his beard thoughtfully.
Uncle Sam: "Hmm... I think we can improve that..."
He snaps his fingers, and suddenly Ristin is painted in a manner reminiscent of the American flag, with stars and stripes adorning his body.
Uncle San: "Much better!"
Ristin twirls around, showing off his new colors.
Ristin: "I feel like a slice of apple pie already!"
Uncle Sam: "Just one last thing."
He snaps his fingers, and suddenly a hat just like his now adorns Ristin's head.
Uncle Sam: "Perfect!"
The two now stand side by side, with Uncle Sam holding Ristin's shoulder.
Uncle Sam: "Remember: if you see a male wearing colors like these, don't shoot. Bring him to your CO, and he'll have our new friend brought over, where he can help the war effort. With your help, and his, we can win this war!"
Ristin: "Wanna tank it away, Sam?"
Uncle Sam: "You betcha."
An M1A5 tank suddenly lands behind them. Uncle Sam hops into the turret, while Ristin climbs onto the back. The tank speeds off, and Uncle Sam whoops at the camera. Stars and Stripes Forever begins to blare in a triumphant swell.
Uncle Sam: "Remember, everyone: America will not break!"
-/-\-
Oyuunchimeg II
After I manage to finish the meal put before me, Oyuunchimeg bades me to transcribe her story once again. This time, thankfully, she seems far more open to questions.
A: My life after the star-lizards were banished back into the sky was a tumultuous one, and it was one that was shared by nearly all of my people. The fall of Ulaan Baatar had caused us to scatter like sparks from a flame, even the ones who had lived in the city itself. Nearly a million of my people suddenly returned to the old ways of life, joining us as we roamed the taiga in search of good grass for our horses to eat.
The liberation of our capital by the Russians did little to change that. They interacted with us only on occasion, when their convoys met with our roaming homes and traded with us. They would trade us sweets and drinks in exchange for clothing, and sometimes they would be kind enough to also offer radios, so we could stay in touch with the world at large. That was a time all too brief, however, for the Russians went back south as soon as the meteors began to dance across the sky.
We were untouched during that time, and yet things changed little. Most refused to return to Ulaan Baatar.
Q: Why?
A: Many things. Fear, fear that we would be scattered again as soon as we gathered back at the capital. But not only fear, you see; there was also a sense of shame. You look at me with confusion, and I suppose it is something you would question. What was there to be ashamed of? We were outnumbered, and we had fought valiantly. You might say there was no shame in our defeat by the star-lizards.
Many would disagree with you, for people are irrational at heart, especially when we are in sorrow or anger. Do you think we thought to ourselves that there was no shame in losing, when we saw the great metal towering over our homes? No, many felt shame that a once-proud people such as us were the first to fall to the invasion, that if the war was won, the history books would forever say that Mongolia was the first to be conquered.
We are a proud people, even if outsiders think there is little to be proud of. And we do not take to a stain upon our national pride very well. Not in the slightest.
I did not wallow in that shame. I focused that anger for the weeks I spent wandering the plains, listening to the radio of the horrors in other nations. Many prayed for themselves and for others, when they learned of the destruction in India and China, and of the falling foot that nearly brought the Western world to its knees. I did not pray. I was filled with a great anger, and I decided that I was to hone that anger and direct it against the star-lizards and elephants.
Q: Is that when you decided to take control of your group?
A: It was better than simply waiting for either victory or destruction in the other parts of the world, and simply sinking into helplessness. I had us go and grab guns from the abandoned depots, and the former military men in our groups instructed us in the ways of using them.
But how would we use them against the enemy, one may ask? We had weapons, and we had a burning conviction that had gathered thousands of my people together under my family, but what could we do with those things? The fighting was far away from us.
Q: I imagine you ultimately did?
A: It was a week after the rains ended, that I came across a large group of Russians. They were moving through our nation without permission, but there was nobody to truly give it; the government was a phantom after the invasion.
I asked them where they were going, and I was told that they were ordered to move near the fronts in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The world was planning a big offensive; he told me. The biggest in all of history.
That was the opportunity I had been looking for, and so I asked them if my people could join the fight. They agreed, if only because they knew that each person who joined the fight, was a step towards success. This was something we could not conscientiously abstain from.
Q: So you were intending to go up against the forces of an advanced interstellar alien empire on horseback?
Oyuunchimeg laughs.
A: We were not expecting to be winning victory after victory, or dealing crushing blows to the star-lizards and their elephant slaves. We knew that many of us would likely die, and may never even see the enemy in the flesh.
But we went regardless. We knew that we would pay in rivers of blood in the fight, but if that would be the price of finally avenging our shame, and helping mankind win the war, even if by only a infinitesimal increment... it was a price we were all too willing to pay.
Q: How did that go for you?
Oyuunchimeg wordlessly reaches under her furs, and pulls out a stringed necklace that rattles with even the slightest of movements. At first, I think the parched white objects are some kind of stone, but I am quickly disabused.
Instead, it is laced through with Race fingerclaws.
-/-\-
Kông I
Ret. General Kông Níngtoù agrees to meet me at Hero's Park in Shànghâi. I find him sitting in the shade of the park's main monument, watching the sunset. It is a beautiful blue day out, a view that would have been impossible to find in this city less than a quarter century ago.
Kông is a little above the national average height, with not a hair on his head. His face is deeply wrinkled, and I wonder how much of that is simply due to age.
Q: Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Kông Xiānshēng.
A: It is not an issue for me. Please, sit.
I sit down. Kông continues watching the sunset, but motions for me to begin.
Q: During the war, you served as a general for the retaking of Chéngdū, correct?
A: Yes. I was in charge of the offensive to retake the city, and it was my job to corroborate with the Russian general, Petrikov. Personally, I was uncomfortable with such a large foreign force on home soil, but I ultimately put it aside; I knew that it was for the sake of my nation, and that we could use every warm body to retake the city.
Q: What did you do after Chéngdū?
A: I was ordered to move my men to the border, near Xīzàng. Tibet, I believe is the name in English. Now that the landings had been repelled, we needed to prepare our borders for any encroachments. Hán... Korea was still afflicted with the Race; they hadn't attempted to march on Seoul, but some of them were attempting to push into our northern territories. In that same vein, we had reason to believe we could face another invasion from the West; Tajikstan and surrounding nations had fallen by then.
Thankfully, they lingered at the border when the Foot came, and covered the planet in rain. I consolidated my men at the border, and waited from a command from up high.
Q: Did you receive anything about Operation Earth?
A: Yes. It was six days after the Foot that I was informed of the planned counteroffensive. The President had quickly agreed to the idea, and was ordering us to get ready for the offensive. More men started arriving from nearby provinces, and were placed under my command, as well as the command of two other generals. This was a degree of mobilization I had not seen in my life, even when we were preparing for Chéngdū.
Q: How was that possible?
Kông chuckles.
A: People seem to forget that, even when we were caught off-guard by the landing in Chéngdū, even when the fithp bombarded our infrastructure, we were still able to field million-man armies in a matter of days to push back the landings. We had spent six years, using our vast industry and population to prepare ourselves for an invasion. We may have not had railguns like other nations, or some of the more advanced war technologies, but we had the single largest army on the planet.
And now, we had a month to repair the roads, and a month to move our forces to guard the borders. When the President agreed to Operation Earth, we still had eight days to prepare for a counteroffensive, and that meant we could bring our full strength to bear. We would need it, we realized; we were facing combat against millions of enemies, who had that time to entrench themselves, and now had the technology of the fithp to assist them. There were Schisms, yes, but that still meant a formidable defensive force, capable of hitting us from orbit.
Thankfully, we had a formidable force of our own. By the time the Operation began, the fronts across the Western border were fifteen million strong, and the front in Korea was five million strong.
It was time to show the aliens the full might of my nation, and to finally avenge the humiliation they had wrought upon us.
-/-\-
Igoshin IV
The game of weiqi is almost complete; once again, Igoshin has managed to thrash me. We take a short break so I can better engage him in the interview.
Q: After Chéngdū, I imagine you were transferred out of China, yes?
A: Yep. As soon as we took back the city, the Chinese were basically all like "yeah, thanks, now get the fuck out". I can't really blame them, you know? Who wants nearly a million foreigners lazing about in your country with nothing else to do? No one. Well, probably no one. Yeah.
Q: Where were you transferred?
A: Oh, I was sent all the way west, back to Nizhny Novgorod. There were rumors that my squad and I were going to be sent down to the Caucasus to fight some yascheritsy, since they were almost done taking Azerbaijan, and we didn't want them to try and surprise us.
Then the Foot hit America and France in the balls, and suddenly there was a hot rain in the middle of winter. Russian winter, too. Not the nice weather you get in some parts, but the kind of winter Westerners think of when they think of Russia. It felt pretty fucking wrong for a sudden heat wave. Nizhny usually has at least some snow on the ground all winter, you know? Watching it all melt away and show bare ground in a few minutes...
I don't like admitting it, but I was scared. We still had internet, and I remember reading about the devastation, and it made my asshole pucker right up. I mean, I'm not sure if people who were born after the war can actually appreciate it. A goddamn asteroid smashing into us like that? Mile-high waves, sweeping away entire cities into the drink? That used to be the stuff you'd see in bad disaster movies, the shit you'd crack jokes about when you're leaving the theater.
Same thing with an actual invasion of America. You didn't need to be some American redneck with an M-16 and a mobility scooter to think that country was impregnable before the war, and hearing that they were marching to Chicago made me wonder if the world actually was ending. Me and my squad started talking about what we were going to do next. I was honestly expecting nukes to just start flying like spitballs.
Q: What was your reaction when you realized Operation Earth was underway?
A: You mean when the officers told us we were heading to Germany? My first thought was "Ah, fuck".
I mean, I wasn't exactly a physicist or something, you know? All I knew was that the big boys decided that the only way to get the slony out of Mumbai and Chongqing was to nuke them, and suddenly we were doing a massed attack on yascherit turf, the same yascheritsy who enslaved the slony and were using their tech for support, without nukes? I was expecting to be thrown into a meat grinder.
Q: They didn't tell you about how the cloud cover could protect from lasers and confound targeting for bombardment?
A: No. I was a private. And there were still tons of yascherit defections going on. I guess they were afraid we were gonna let it slip to some prisoner, then he'd change his mind and go warn his superiors of the shitstorm we were gonna unleash on them. I didn't know about any of the surprises we were hiding up our sleeves.
Q: So, how long did it take you to get down to Germany?
A: About a week. The army decided to move us in chunks at a time, so the aliens wouldn't see a massive army and realize what was going on. A hundred thousand in this direction at this time of day, two hundred thousand in another direction at a later part of the day... We had to snake our way across a dozen little paths that converged in the Rhine valley and surrounding parts. Some of us were transported by boat from Crimea and sent to Italy, of all places.
Man, I got a lot of funny faces on that trip. Especially in Poland and Germany. I don't think they were happy to see millions of Russians swarming into their country again, rolling down their streets in tanks and IFVs.
...I may have cracked some rude jokes at their expense while I was there. You know, stuff like "Never fear, comrades! The Red Army is here!" or "The Warsaw Pact is back!" My humor was shit.
One German soldier got me back pretty good. I made some joke at him, and he just said something like "Looks like another war's gonna be won with oceans of Russian blood."
Q: How much did you interact with the Bundeswehr and other armies?
A: A lot. Since they were kind enough to help us get through, it was agreed that we would be privy to their generals' command along with our own, especially considering that my country was also planning a big offensive south into the Middle East, and it would've been hard to manage both fronts alone like that. Our generals could veto theirs if they disagreed with what they wanted us to do, but for the most part they just told us to suck it up and play nice.
So, while I waited for the big day, I did exercises with Germans, chatted with some Frenchman in the canteen, and helped Belgians move shit around. There was even a Brit or two, pilots who were gonna fly out against the yasheritsy.
I had to admit, it felt... weird, but a good weird. When I grew up, I thought that if I ever became a soldier and was sent to Germany, it'd mean World War Three had come and I'd be killing Krauts.
Well, World War Three had come, and I was in Germany, but I wasn't fighting Germans. I was fighting with them, side by side.
-/-\-
Kim I
Kim Sook-hee invites me into her apartment in Seoul, where she lives with her wife, Hideko Kouzuki. A rather petite woman, it is hard to imagine that she has six known kills under her belt, and still has her old rifle hung on the wall.
She sits me down on the couch, where she offers me some soju and imported Indian snacks.
Q: Thank you very much for your time, Mrs. Kim. Now, I understand that you were part of the ROK army during the war, serving along the border. What was your time before Operation Earth like?
A: The first word that comes to mind is 'tense'. I was as nervous as I can remember during that time. Not as much due to the aliens, though they were a factor, but mainly due to the North.
Q: Care to explain?
A: Even in good times, the North was an unpredictable element, hanging over our heads, since birth in my case. As a kid, you worried for the Northerners, and drew pictures of a reunified Korea to send across the DMZ in balloons. As an adult, you worried if there was going to be a sudden artillery strike coming down on you. And almost everything was in artillery range, including the capital.
Things only got worse when we realized an alien invasion was coming. The North started doing more and more of its posturing, and we had to contend with the possibility that they would try to bomb us before the Race or fithp did! They started testing their shiny new missiles, and doing underground nuclear detonations, and claiming that the aliens were a Southern fabrication.
For me, that meant patrolling the border, keeping an eye on the radar for any sign of missiles or artillery. The Americans started trickling out, too, which made things worse. I mean, I can't blame them, especially considering that they ended up needing the men. But... it wasn't reassuring at the time. I wasn't feeling ready, at all. I was given rather bare training, since the government felt that our small size and lack of support meant that quantity was better than quality.
Q: Would you say you were relieved when the Race invaded the DPRK?
A: That's like asking if I'm relieved my AIDS killed my cancer or something stupid like that. No, I wasn't relieved. One, because now there were Lizards a few dozen kilometers from my position. Two, for all I knew, there was going to be a sudden invasion from fragments of the Northern army. And three... they may have been raised by a tyrannical government to hate us, but they were still Koreans in our eyes.
I wasn't relieved; I was terrified. And I only got more terrified when I heard that Pyongyang got the uranium special. They allotted us a call back home as soon as the news came in, in case that was the last chance we had to talk to our loved ones. Thankfully, it wasn't. We only got a few border crossings during that time.
Q: From whom?
A: It wasn't the army, that was for sure. As soon as the landings occurred, half of the guys on the other side disappeared. When Pyongyang was vaporized, the rest disappeared.
Well, not all of them. We got a few terrified soldiers running our way, who felt they'd rather take their chances with us. Some wanted a suicidal charge, and we gave it to them, though most surrendered once the first few got shot. Others merely defected.
The rest were families, people who leapt at the opportunity caused by the invasion so they could reunite with their loved ones in the South. We let them in, even as the first few dozen turned into thousands, and then tens of thousands.
They trickled to a stop after a while, though, and then the Lizards came close to the DMZ, and stopped.
Q: What happened after that?
A: The ceasefire. It was a weird time; it was almost business as usual, except the spots were being taken up by Lizards who decided to take advantage of the abandoned outposts. While the talks were underway, we played JPop at them, and they started playing their own music back. It was definitely one of the most surreal experiences in my entire life.
Q: Did the fithp's arrival change things?
A: No. I suppose we weren't worth hitting. Ilbon... Japan got hit a little, and China got hit a lot, but we didn't get a single bombardment. It did, however, bring up a predicament for us. One one hand, the Lizards weren't doing anything, and on the other, the Lizards weren't doing anything. They just stayed at the border, looking awfully confused. I imagine we must have looked awfully confused to them, too.
I mean, it was a bit of a conundrum. We could either try to press our advantage and catch them by surprise, or we could simply consolidate our strength in case they decided to invade first. Ultimately, we started getting more guys at the border, but it wasn't a massive mobilization. Not yet.
The border stayed quiet all through Footfall, and then they tried a small attack. We repelled it, but it had us scared. Intelligence reports said that there were probably a million Lizards in the North, and unlike the Northerners, these guys were well-fed, well-armed, and weren't going to do pointless suicide attacks. Combined with some rumors that they were possibly using captured Northern soldiers as auxiliaries, and they were a scary conventional force.
And they could definitely deliver on possible nuclear attacks as well.
When we got orders from up high that we were going on the offensive in less than two weeks, the first thing I said was 'Oh no'. Nothing too flowery or crude, just a little 'Oh no'.
Q: Was it that bad?
A: Yeah, it was that bad. We had four million warm bodies, but these Lizards were already entrenching themselves deep, with help from the elephants and captured Northerners. And by then, the intelligence reports had confirmed that while a good many soldiers stayed loyal to their Eternal Leader or whatever the fuck he was called before he became hot plasma, many others were being used as auxiliaries.
Can't say I blame them. Many of them were afraid, I imagine, and those who weren't afraid were just happy to get more food and not worrying about thought crimes. There were probably half a million of the auxiliaries, helping the Lizards familiarize themselves with the defenses they'd set up for the past half century.
We were looking at trying to do a pre-landing invasion of the North, but now they had better troops and advanced weaponry.
Q: Did you receive support from other countries?
A: That was the bright side of things. At least now, the Chinese weren't going to help defend the North; they were going to invade it as well. Then the Japanese started coming to offer their own help. A quarter million men, and their boats. And some Northern defectors joined in, albeit under heavy scrutiny.
It was an... interesting time, when the JSDF and Northerners started joining us at the border. Lot of confusion, since aside from the occasional row with the defectors, now I had a bunch of bunk-mates who didn't really speak the language, and who had different routines.
She glances at Hideko, and the two exchange a warm smile.
Ultimately, however... I didn't mind it at all. When the order to attack finally came in, I wasn't full of despair... I was hopeful.
-/-\-
Johnson I
Usually found at his home in Cheyenne, Gabriel Johnson is still an imposing figure as he invites me inside for some vegetable smoothies. The living room is a rather spartan place, which is rather fitting for a former astronaut.
Q: Thank you for the smoothie, Colonel Johnson.
A: You can call me Gabe, if you'd like.
Q: Very well. Gabe, when were you first approached for Project Archangel?
A: That was about a year and a half after the discovery of the Flishithy and Conquest Fleet. I was a Captain in the USAF at the time, doing test flights for the F-22D. That was a high-altitude variant, designed to specifically carry ASAT missiles as one of the proposed countermeasures against orbital hostiles. There were a handful of incidents during that time, and I suppose the way I handled them was what got the Project's attention.
Q: Did they tell you what it was upfront?
A: No. They told me that they wanted me to be involved in another countermeasure program, and that was it. It was only after I agreed, and I was screened for Top Secret clearance, that I was informed of the project's true nature.
At the time, they had only built the rough frameworks, but what I was told was still enough to make me a little nervous.
Q: How so?
A: I don't use this term all too often, but the designs were monstrous. I'd had some experience with NASA beforehand, and I had a rough idea of typical procedure for spaceship design. As lightweight as possible, with rather fragile hulls as a result. When I was recruited, I initially suspected I was to fly some manner of SSTO pursuit craft, along the lines of the X-33 or X-37.
I was not expecting thousand-ton monsters with armor like battleships, and enough firepower to wipe out nations. It was almost like something from science fiction, and yet I knew it was frighteningly feasible. When they asked me if I knew anything about Project Orion, I wasn't too surprised.
Q: Project Orion? Is that the name of the nuclear propulsion?
A: The only propulsion that could possibly get that degree of firepower into orbit. Rockets were too unwieldy, and ultimately not powerful enough. Laser-propelled craft were deemed problematic, due to the possible challenges in building a powerful enough laser, as well as the proposed station's vulnerability.
Bluntly put, the only way to properly get a ship equipped with nuclear weapons into orbit, was to use nuclear weapons.
Q: Is that why the Americans didn't inform the rest of the world about the Project?
A: It's why we didn't inform the other world leaders, since we knew it would create a lot of legal hassle due to the old nuclear treaties. We didn't inform the public for other reasons. There was worry about a potential panic at the idea, and it was agreed that it was too important to be made public. This was to be the ultimate last resort, and we didn't want the enemy to have any idea of it. Considering that the Race eventually began trying to use the internet, it was a smart choice in retrospect.
Honestly, I am surprised we managed to keep it under wraps. It wasn't a small project in the slightest; we had thousands of people working on the ships, and this wasn't like the Manhattan Project, where there wasn't any internet. Though, like the Manhattan Project, everyone working on it was kept on base in Nevada, myself included.
Still, I sometimes wonder if there are some unmarked graves in the desert, serving as silent monuments to the lengths we were willing to go.
Q: What did you do on base?
A: Testing and consultation. I was part of the tests with the shock absorbers, which once earned me a cracked rib. I also did tests in CIC mockups, helping determine where the controls should be put, and what would be the best way to view the information coming in from the sensors and cameras.
I also tested out the revamped Space Shuttles in unpowered flights, to see how the extra weight of the missiles would change its maneuverability. That was about the extent of the testing for the craft, however. After all, we couldn't exactly launch a test flight of the Michael or Uriel and see how they handled the stresses of space travel; we could only test individual pieces, and pray that the rugged over-engineering would work.
Q: I'm surprised such an important and advanced project was meant to be rugged.
A: Well, unlike the Space Shuttle and other rockets, Orion craft actually perform more efficiently when heavier. We didn't need thin aluminum hulls; they were built more like pressurized battleships, meant to keep operating even if they were damaged. They were also crammed full of redundant systems, since we could afford to do so without having to sacrifice the absurd amount of weaponry we put on the ships.
And it was absurd. Between the two of them, we had four hundred missiles, both nuclear and non-nuclear, six hundred W48 nuclear artillery shells meant to be fired from a pair of howitzers, four railguns, and the glasers.
Q: Glaser?
A: It was the old term we used for the x-ray lasers the Project put in the spurt bombs. Ingenious design, really. The same initiations we made to propel the craft could also be used to power the lasers, which had ranges measured in thousands of miles, and were far more powerful than any previously-designed laser.
As I said before: the amount of weaponry the Project made was frightening, and that isn't even getting into the Russian ship.
Q: And it wasn't used before Footfall?
Johnson sighs.
A: People have been debating this for years, saying that we should've launched as soon as the Fleet arrived, or when the Foot was coming down.
The thing is, it was the weapon of last resort, and that's not a word I'm throwing around. The launch itself ran the risk of irradiating the area if the graphite pads proved ineffective, and if the launch failed, there would be radioactive material scattered over a wide area. It was better to try and see if we could beat the invaders with more conventional weapons and tactics.
And if we had launched at the beginning, without the final preparations, and lost, global morale would have plummeted, and the only way we could've won would've been to let the Russians use their doomsday weapons.
It was the right choice, to wait until Operation Earth. We knew their strengths, we knew their weaknesses, and with everyone coordinating with each other, we knew how to win.
-/-\-
Teegarden I
Despite being nearly sixty-four years old, Colonel Mary Teegarden still works at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tuscon. More popularly known as 'the Boneyard', the fields of the base are filled with retired aircraft from earlier periods in American history, and we walk alongside them as the interview begins. Some of them are in the process of being scrapped, while others are being touched up.
Q: When exactly was the 309th ordered to begin recommissioning?
A: That was June of 2015. I was a Lieutenant, then, and old Cayrel was still the commander here. Things were a bit simpler before the discovery. We scrapped, we preserved, and we stored. Occasionally we'd get an influx of planes; I still remember the smell of fresh sealant on the Tomcats.
Q: Tomcats?
A: Christ, I feel old. The F-14s, you know? Those were made more than seventy years ago, but had only been retired for a few years before the Fleet was discovered. We were actually in the middle of shredding them before we had to suddenly roll them back out.
Weren't the only ones, either. The first ones we were ordered to roll back into service were the F-16s, the A-10s, the B-52s... that was already a few hundred aircraft.
Q: Why were such old planes being rolled back into service?
A: Kid, you do realize we were facing an honest-to-god alien invasion, right? We were dealing with all sorts of scary-ass what-ifs. What if they outnumber us? What if they can neutralize our more advanced planes? We wanted every plane we could back in the air, even if they ended up being useless or something. Better safe than sorry, especially when the future of the human race is on the line.
By the first year, we'd met our quota, and I wondered just how far we were gonna go. Got proven right when we got orders to do the same to even more planes. Now, they wanted us to start restoring fucking F-4s and A-6s and even the goddamn Skyhawks... those planes were old. Half were octogenarians when the war started. Spent a few long nights wondering if we'd ever actually need them in the air...
Then the Foot came down, and we were told to get the older planes ready for flying.
Q: So you were involved in the preparation of Operation Earth?
A: Yeah. I remember helping wheel out some A-6s literally two days before the battle begun, wondering just who they were getting to fly these buggers, and why. I mean, I should've known, but the propaganda from Route 55 had me rather convinced that we actually didn't need to get the rickety retirees flying.
I remember actually making a little gasp when the pilots started coming in, rolling out of trucks and buses.
Q: Why?
A: Because they were all as grey as the sky. I was expecting some greenhorns who'd been given a lesson in flying the planes, but these guys were all vets, from Korea and 'Nam. Volunteers to the last one, liver spots and all.
One of them... he was an A-6 pilot, coming over to take the plane I'd help wheeled out. I could see hear him wincing as he worked his arthritic fingers and got his flight suit on. He patted the plane and looked at me with wet eyes, and at first I thought he was in pain from the exertion until he told me that this A-6 was the one he actually flew in 'Nam.
That... that really got to me. My own eyes were wet as I watched him take off, along with all the others. It really hammered home the depth of this war.
Q: Care to elaborate?
A: They were flying up because every extra target in the sky, was one less laser to the important planes, like the Raptors or B-2s. Half of these things were pitifully out of their depth, and yet they were still going up. Those men were essentially going on a suicide mission.
It really got to me. This was how important the war was; these men had already fought for their country and grew old and finished their stories, and yet here they were again, for one last flight. Not against some rebels in a jungle country, but against the greatest threat we had ever faced, to free their country from its first ever massive invasion.
They had already bled for their country, and yet they were willing to give everything again, because they knew that the Lizards would take everything. They were willing to die in droves, if it meant ensuring that their kids and grandkids would live free.
We pass by an old plane, one that looks downright ancient when compared to the retired F-22s and F-35s that are also in the field. A faded burn can be seen on its wing, the distinct shape a clear indicator of a laser strike. Teegarden pats it tenderly, smiling.
They were braver than I will ever be.
-/-\-
Atvar VI
The hologram of Earth shifts, showing the territorial gains made by the Race after Footfall. Only a few pockets of the Middle East remain free, centered around the mountains of Afghanistan and the coasts of the Levant. The only nations without any occupied territory are Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon. Likewise, parts of Texas and the Mississippi region are under Race control, as is most of the Iberian peninsula, the heart of France, and almost all of Sicily.
Q: How many more broadcasts did you make in the time running up to Operation Earth?
A: I made one every day, using new information. After the death of Psanok's Martyrs, I used that development in my broadcasts, as well as reports of successful surrenders. I warned that any Fleetlord who was willing to slaughter his own males in such a manner was no Fleetlord at all, or even fit to be called a member of the Race. The Emperor, I said, would be ashamed of what had been done here.
It was after the fourth day that Straha began to make his own propaganda broadcasts, calling me a traitor to the Race who desired to see Home fall to the Tosevites. I was painted simultaneously as an incompetent buffoon who had bungled the invasion and killed millions of my own men, and as a treacherous creature whose machinations were subtly engineering a scenario where I could rule Home as a viceroy once the Tosevites enact their revenge.
He made outrageous claims against me, claiming that I had begun to wear human clothing, and engaged in 'depravities' with Tosevite females. In response, I claimed that he was a ginger taster, not knowing how right I was. His response to also accuse me of ginger tasting, and vowed that he would drag me out of the rubble of Europe and bring me back to Home in a cage, like the animal I was.
I simply dared him to try, and decided to ignore him as I made more broadcasts.
Q: Ultimately, how effective would you say your broadcasts were?
As a response, Atvar flicks another switch, and the projection of Earth changes once more. Now, there are fragments in Race-held territory, colored a bright blue. Three fragments, each the size of Alaska, dominate the Sub-Sahara region, and smaller pockets can be seen across Africa and the Middle East.
A: By the time of Operation Earth, over a million males had turned against Straha. Many could not surrender to human forces, due to the logistics of crossing hostile territory, and so remained where they were. Many allied themselves with human insurgents in the regions to help defend against any attacks to reclaim the territory. It proved to be a major issue for Straha.
Q: What did he do?
A: He started moving those loyal to him towards the fronts in Europe and America, and let the mutineers be for the time being. I suppose his logic was that he could simply crush them once he broke America and Europe.
Q: I thought he hadn't made any major gains after the American Cage?
A: Truth. However, there were whispers that he was planning to start using explosive metal bombs to soften up the front lines, after the two week deadline. I don't know why he didn't use them earlier, considering that he was addled enough to use the Foot. Perhaps he was planning on waiting for the cloud cover to clear, so the water wouldn't spread the radiation to his males.
It was of no matter, in the end.
Q: How involved were you with the planning for Operation Earth?
A: I was consulted as they made their planning, and ultimately, I was the one who proposed the auxiliaries after hearing of what was happening in Africa.
-/-\-
Saeed IV
Saeed pours another cup of mint tea for himself, and opts against lighting another cigarillo as we continue.
Q: How exactly did the auxiliaries come about?
A: It was six days before Operation Earth. I was flying a patrol over southern Algeria when my squadron received the news of the transmission that had been sent from some Race bases in Nigeria. Apparently, the Lizards were offering to lend some of their manpower to whatever operation we were getting ready for.
I couldn't believe the idea at first. Surrenders? That I could understand. But to actually volunteer to join our fight? It was absurd. I was fuming the whole time when I was ordered to escort some killercraft to a remote base in Libya. My finger was on the trigger all the while, itching to shoot anything that stepped out of line, so to say. The moment didn't come, however. I just watched from the air as the Lizards waved the white flag after landing.
Q: I'm surprised the governments of your nation and the others were willing to even consider it.
A: It is as I said earlier. We were desperate. We'd probably held off the invaders longer than anyone else at that point, even if we hadn't had any big operations like the Russians or Chinese. Maybe our men weren't as numerous as other countries', but those few men had been fighting above their weight for months. Most were regularly pulling double duty, and it was showing. I was lucky; I simply drank unhealthy amounts of coffee. Others were taking stimulants to stay combat ready.
Not only that, but Algeria and Tunisia were still reeling from having to abandon their capitals, and our front was much larger, proportionately speaking. We were ready to follow the other nations into Operation Earth all the way, but we knew we were probably going to walk into a slaughter when compared to America or France.
So when some fresh meat comes in, we were ready to take it, even if they were Lizards. The other nations were furious, of course, saying that we were risking the operation, or that our 'allies' could easily be pulling a Trojan Horse. The former Fleetlord directly ordering the auxiliaries around only mitigated it.
Q: Did you take countermeasures against that?
A: Yes, which the other reason why we were able to use the auxiliaries. We agreed to split them up and imbed them with our own forces. For every killercraft in the air, there would be three of our own jets flying alongside it. The same went for their landcruisers. The troop males were to serve mainly non-combat roles; moving equipment and the like. Half of them weren't even allowed to keep their guns.
In exchange, however, we decided to be considerate of the prisoners. The standing order was capital punishment for anyone who decided to use the auxiliaries for target practice, though that kicked up a shitstorm.
Q: Did you interact with any auxiliaries during that time?
A: We had two in my squadron. It was actually rather amusing, seeing them follow orders quicker than some of my human subordinates while we did training exercises. I was still wary of them, of course. After a while, however, my wariness began to fade.
I must admit, it was strange flying alongside them on that fateful day. It really showed me that the old adage is true: war makes strange bedfellows indeed.
-/-\-
Yeager VI
Yeager pours himself a glass of ice tea, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he looks down at the map.
Q: How intensive was the preparation for Operation Earth?
A: Intensive? This... kid, this was the single biggest endeavor in history. Every last nation on the planet, countries that normally hated each others' guts, were helping each other, working side by side and hand to hand. Even if they couldn't get their armies to the fronts in time, they still did something. They shipped supplies, or helped the more able nations pass through quick enough to arrive at the fronts.
He points at the map of North America.
Don't believe me? Just look at the American front alone. We had nations like Nicaragua and Honduras helping the Brazilian armed forces move into Mexico, so they could in turn help the Mexican army launch the offensive into Texas. At the same time, we had the Chilean and Argentinian navies moving into the Gulf to meet up with our own naval forces, while guys in Colombia helped maintain radio communications across the southern fronts. All to keep the Race off guard while our own boys moved in, backed up by the Canadians.
That story was being told all across the planet. We had Russians coordinating with Israelis to help liberate Syria and Georgia, Chinese and Indians planning to push into Pakistan together with logistical support from the Southeast Asian nations, all while the Australian navy got ready to assault the coast of Iran and keep the Lizards there distracted while Kazakhstan pushed to help free Uzbekistan with Russian support...
Q: What kind of manpower were we looking at, here?
A: Between our boys, the Canadians, the Brazilians, and the Mexicans, we had about eighteen million in the American front. We had four million North Africans ready to go into the Sub-Sahara, and the Russians were sending ten million of their own men to free the Middle East, with help from about two million Israelis and fifteen million Chinese... that's not even getting into mechanization.
He disappears into his study for a few minutes, then comes out with a list.
Here we go. Altogether, fifty-two million men, give or take a few. A quarter million armored vehicles of all kinds. A hundred thousand combat aircraft, ranging from fifth-generation stealth fighters to some goddamn Spitfires that the British pulled out of museums. Ten thousand naval assets, which included about fifty carriers and thirty revived battleships. For Christ's sake, we even pulled the USS Constitution out of Boston, for mainly symbolic reasons.
We were going to need it. We were going up against twenty million Lizards, backed up by half a million elephants and their defensive lasers. Not only that, but the rain was beginning to clear up, which meant it'd be open season for ortillery again.
He pauses for a moment.
The deployment of the Constitution really got to me, as I'm sure the Russians felt when they started rolling out some T-34s. We were putting our history on the line if it meant even a slight edge, because they'd be destroyed if we lost anyway.
Can you imagine how I felt, sitting in Cheyenne Mountain with the President as we prepared to start the operation?
Q: I suppose not. Care to describe it?
A: That feeling... it was a sudden moment of realization, you know? That realization that this was it. Everything we had ever done in our history, every good or bad thing, every small action and huge action... led to this pivotal moment. This was what was going to make or break us. This single moment was going to decide the fate of mankind; no other war has come close to doing that. This wasn't something we were doing as nations or organizations. This was something we were doing as a species, united for the first time in all two hundred millennia of existence. It wasn't Russians and Chinese about to go into the Middle East; it was humans. People.
Everything seemed to fade away. Borders, ideologies... just us. Us, fighting for the right to exist as ourselves, instead as vassals to some distant empire. This was the single most important decision ever put forth, full stop.
And then we gave the order, and that decision was made, for all mankind.
-/-\-
You have been reading:
Worldfall, Chapter Fourteen: Going on the Offensive