Chapter 1 - Grabbing up the pieces: New World Order

Monsters have destroyed a huge number of governments in the world. What was left had to take over for the rest of the world. After the nuclear weapons were fired, satellite links slowly returned and the true scale of the destruction became clear to us. Many couldn't stand it and committed suicide. But the portals were still open and another invasion was very likely. To have hope for the future, we decided to make the most radical decision of our lives. Seeing that desperation transform into the future was truly touching. But I still believe that the only reason this decision was made, this war, was too great a price to pay.

Interview with the last president of Poland, Dominika Sikorska.

=location: Poznań, Poland's temporary capital, 2 days after the invasion=

The newly appointed president of Poland, Dominika Sikorska, had a lot of work ahead of her. Considering that half of the cabinet of the president, and prime minister, together with most of the Sejm, Senate, and Supreme Court was dead, Warsaw was destroyed by nuclear weapons, losses in the armed forces, death of 20-25% of the population, defacto occupations of Kaliningrad and Belarus, and helping the forces of Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and whatever was left of Germany was a disaster.

And this was one of the best situations in the world.

"Madam President." - said general Janusz Kowalski, entering the room - "We managed to prepare a connection with several countries. They want information about the situation."

"Just like everybody." - Dominika said - "Just activate the connection."

On command, a television was brought into the room and technicians quickly activated it. The leaders of many countries began to appear on the screen. Since the flags were always at the back of the room, it was easy to recognize which nations had survived enough to continue communication. These were Switzerland, Finland, Canada, Portugal, Morocco, Brazil, Cuba, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Egypt, and New Zealand. Only so many countries have had functional governments.

"Hello everyone." - said Dominika - "I understand that only so many of us survived."

"Not necessarily." - said the representative of Finland - "We managed to get in touch with officials in Sweden and Estonia who are trying to organize. Admittedly, we have only just recovered, but more countries will likely be able to reorganize in the coming weeks."

"The first thing we should do is take stock of our situation." - said the representative of Indonesia - "What is happening in Europe?"

"Apart from Sweden and Estonia, as I mentioned earlier, our forces managed to secure St. Petersburg and some ships of the Russian Baltic Fleet. We are now regaining control of Scandinavia in general and northern Europe."

"As far as Eastern and Central Europe are concerned." - Dominika said - "We now have the entire Russian arsenal of Kaliningrad, Belarus and German territories up to Berlin secured by our armed forces. Ukraine, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Austria and Hungary are currently reforming and helping to eliminate the current monster forces."

"As far as Western Europe is concerned, we have secured territories within 100 km of our border." - said the representative of Switzerland.

"There is chaos in the Iberian peninsula and we are currently clearing the area around Lisbon of these monsters." - said the representative of Portugal.

"Regarding the situation on the Iberian peninsula, we have several vessels that are working with the Spanish to defend Alicante from the monster wave." - said the representative of Morocco - "They have spread all over the country and looking for them and eliminating them will be extremely time-consuming. In addition, we have managed to establish a perimeter around Rabat and soon our forces will begin operations to recapture the city. In addition, we have secured large amounts of land in Algeria and Western Sahara. We expect to reach Mauritania in two days."

"Regarding the Caucasus territories." - said the representative of Armenia - "It is our country that is safe, just like the areas close to us in Turkey, Iran and Georgia. Right now, our forces are focused on destroying the monsters in Azerbaijan, and we should do that in a few days, a week at the most."

"Our island is safe." - said the representative of Cuba - "But our armed forces are just gathering reservists. There's nothing we can do right now."

"Our forces have launched a general offensive towards former US territories." - said the representative of Canada - "We are linking up with many Army and National Guard units, but at the current rate, it will take months to clean up the US alone."

"It's even worse for us." - said the representative of Brazil - "We have recaptured Rio de Janeiro, or rather the ashes of Rio de Janeiro, but contact with the rest of the country, neighbors and the military is very limited. We'll probably have to recapture the entire continent. We've armed some of our trains and sent them scouting, but I don't know what will come of it."

"Recon trains?" - asked the surprised representative of Egypt - "It doesn't seem very effective."

"Under normal circumstances, I would have agreed. After all, as a general, I have experience in such matters, but trains are faster. Additionally, against these monsters, standard military tactics will not be effective. Especially when we consider that God has decided to intervene on our side."

"Wait?" - said Dominika - "In the sense of these reports that monsters do not attack churches?"

"I've had similar reports." - said the representative of Morocco - "Apparently, during the fighting in one of the cities, the monsters avoided the mosque. This one is confirmed, but I have a few more of these."

"It was similar with us." - interjected the representative of Bhutan - "Many people gathered at the Buddha statue, but the monsters did not attack them."

"When did you show up?" - asked the representative of Egypt.

"When you were talking. I'm sorry I couldn't attend. The time difference and the recapture of the capital took us the last two days of fighting. Fortunately, the Indian shells managed to destroy their relatively small attack. We count somewhere between 60,000 and 80,000 of these monsters."

"Returning to the situation in South America, I got information from the Uruguay Army. They suffered casualties but managed to keep the greater part of their army intact. They are planning a counterattack on their capital."

"Back to Africa for a moment." - said the representative of Egypt - "The attack was massive and at least 50% of our force is at least temporarily unfit to fight, with the rest fighting battles across the country. We have small units in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Sudan and Jordan, but they are scouts at best. It will take at least a week to reorganize our forces."

"As far as the Oceania region is concerned, we have managed to hold our territory and we are preparing our forces for a sea expedition to the neighboring islands and to Hawaii." - said a representative from New Zealand - "If we're lucky, a good portion of the US Pacific Fleet will be operational."

"However, we managed to eliminate most of the threat and we already have the first units in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Indonesia." - said a representative from Australia.

"While we have a functional government, many of our islands are under constant attack and we are trying to sort things out." - said the Indonesian representative - "But we should have troops available within a week. As soon as that happens, we will start operations to liberate Indochina."

"As far as we are concerned..." - began the representative of Taiwan.

"I have to stop this." - said the representative of Armenia - "I just got information from the Middle East. It seems that the Kurds have started a general uprising in all countries where they have a Kurdish minority. They announced the establishment of the Republic of Kurdistan with Erbil as its capital. It seems that the remaining forces of countries such as Turkey and Iraq were unable to stop the insurgents. In fact, in most cases, they retreated without a fight, or they surrendered and were let go."

"How?" - asked the representative of Canada.

"It seems that the Kurdistan area has not been directly attacked by monsters, but only the surrounding countries have suffered."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe you missed an important point." - said the representative of Brazil - "As a general, if I was planning an invasion of the planet, I would attack targets for 3 things. Military, economic, and population centers. Given that the attacks have focused on countries such as China, the US, Russia, India, Turkey, Western Europe, etc., it would be fair to assume that these monsters are controlled by some sort of intelligence. It is probably at this point that several civil wars and uprisings by different ethnic groups that do not have states may be taking place."

"Since they had no states, they were not considered in planning an attack on Earth." - said a representative from Taiwan - "It's worrying and very possible, but we'll need more information to confirm this. In the meantime, I must tell you that our forces have made numerous landings in China and are now joining forces with the rest of the PLA forces. At the same time, we sent ships to investigate the situation on the Japanese islands and Korea. In addition, we were able to obtain support from US bases in Okinawa."

"As for us." - said the representative of Mongolia - "So we have the situation in our capital under control, and our units have begun to enter China into areas dominated by ethnic Mongols. In addition, several hundred of our soldiers started securing the Trans-Siberian Railway."

"In central Asia, the situation has also calmed down." - said the representative of Kazakhstan - "We have secured the capital, some areas of Russia, and from what I learned from units in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The governments are still down, but they have mostly managed to gain the upper hand in their battles with the monsters. But even with their support, it will lack the manpower to secure a little more than our current territory."

"I know it's not the time." - said the representative of Portugal - "But does anyone have any idea what the global losses are?"

After a moment of silence, the representative of Switzerland said - "My analysts show that it may have died... even half the population of the planet."

Everyone sat quietly for a moment and began to contemplate the losses. In one day, these monsters outclassed all wars combined in destruction.

"I know it's a bit of a risky proposition." - said the representative of Armenia - "But we should create a government for the whole planet."

All the representatives started to look at the monitor, and exactly the Armenian representative, who continued after a while - "This is a war like no other in the history of mankind. If we stand apart, our culture, history, and most importantly, our people will be completely annihilated. The entire planet is depressed and almost everyone is suicidal now. Many have probably already done so. We need to give some glimmer of hope that we can still survive, or the last civilization on the planet will fall, and then a second wave will come and finish us off. After all, those portals they came with are still there. Even nuclear weapons didn't destroy them. Who knows how many of these monsters might be on the other side."

The presenters looked at each other and, after a short pause, made a decision simultaneously.