Air Force One, Washington, D.C.

"How much time do we have left on the countdown?" asked President Whitmore, as Air Force One taxied down the runway. He leaned on the wall, the windows dark behind him.

David opened his laptop, and after it awoke, he checked the screen, "Twenty-five minutes, fifteen seconds."

"Good, good," said Whitmore, before leaving the two Levinsons and Shepard to their seats and continuing to his office, where his daughter was laying down on the couch.

"Mr. President?"

"Yes Connie?"

"We just got confirmation that your wife made it to Nellis," said Constance, buckled into her own seat opposite the President and First Daughter.

"Thanks Connie, the press might not like it, but safety takes precedence over the media," said Whitmore with a sigh.

"We've got reports of the LA and DC evacuations at nearly seventy-five percent, and the New York evacuation's been at ninety percent for the last hour," said Constance.

"Twenty-five percent," Whitemore said sadly, "that's not a good number."

"Sir," said Secretary Nimzicki, "Reports out of our NATO allies give evacuation numbers under forty percent, mostly due to the time issue, since while the evacuations were during the evening here, it was during early morning in Europe."

"And our secondary evacuations?" asked Whitmore.

"Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and Philadelphia are all at above fifty percent. Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, Detroit, and Phoenix are all above twenty-five percent evacuated. As we go further down the list the evacuations are lower and lower. We'll focus more once we know where they'll strike next, and how quickly they'll do it. Also, once we know the effected area of their weapons," explained Nimzicki.

"Thank God we got the information from David when we did," said Whitmore with a smile. "Too bad we couldn't have gotten the information earlier."

Constance paled.

"Is there something wrong Connie?" asked Whitmore.

"David called me during your Press Conference, just after the ships arrived. He tried to warn me then, told me to get out of Washington, that it was dangerous, I didn't listen. That's why he came down, to tell me in person, and to tell you, since he knew I wouldn't leave your side."

"Hmm," Whitmore said heavily.

"Exactly," said Constance. "It's been weighing on my mind since Shepard gave his little song and dance. Well, that and the dual revelations of aliens and magic."

"I'm sorry you didn't know Connie, but the law forbids that knowledge outside of the Cabinet. Mr. Shepard actually broke a few laws by revealing the existence of magic as he did, though I'm not exactly going to worry about it. Once we defeat the aliens, if we defeat the aliens, then we'll worry about his little revelation," said Whitmore.

"Makes that kerfuffle a decade ago after the Westminster Attack seem more credible though," said Constance.

"Oh, it was confirmed that Riddle was a wizard, both by the British officials and our own. He managed to pop up every now and again, he was behind those bombings during the NAFTA talks, though it seems it was passed despite his efforts," pointed out Nimzicki. "Though it does seem odd that the only people he targeted were criminals and terrorists, aside from parliament. Yes, innocent bystanders got hurt, but they weren't the targets. Always wondered about that, but couldn't find enough about him to figure out his motives."

The next twenty-five minutes was tense, as the President, Secretary of Defense, and Communications Director watched the life video feed from the White House roof, distortion free thanks to the efforts of David. The bottom of the alien ship opened, and a column descended, before eight spokes extended in turn towards it. Then, after a buildup of energy, the weapon fired, first sending out a green beam, and then a pulse of energy that destroyed the camera. The pilot had banked the plane southwards, allowing the passengers to see the attack, the column of energy exploding the White House, and then proceeding outwards at a surprisingly sedate pace. It wasn't until a minute later that, after the shock wave had traveled perhaps a half dozen miles, and still expanding, that the weapon turned off, though the ship continued to hover above the point of detonation as the wave of destruction expanded outwards.

Over the next hour reports came in from the three destroyed citied in the US, as well as from across the globe. Aside from the minimal radiation effects, the effects were similar to that estimated from the Tsar Bomba, or rather, the Tsar Bomba as it was designed, rather than the smaller tested size. The National Mall was totally destroyed, nothing left but ash and embers. Out to the circumference of the ships, now aptly given the name City Destroyers, themselves almost everything was destroyed, save the most hardened or protected structure, and nobody survived. The heat travelled as far as the outskirts of Baltimore, setting buildings and forests, dry from the summer heat, alight. All of the skyscrapers in Downtown Baltimore had their windows blown out, even reaching as far as the near side of the Delmarva peninsula. And that was just for Washington.

In New York the utter destruction went from Canal St. to 77th Street, from Hoboken to Hunters Point, and the worst of the pressure wave went from Prospect Park, to Laguadia, from the George Washington Bridge, barely intact, to the Meadowlands. There were windows broken on the outskirts of Princeton, Westport, and West Point.

In Los Angeles the utter devastation went from Echo Park to St. John's Cathedral, from the junction of the Five and Ten to Macarthur Park. The worst of the pressure wave went from Glendale to South Gate, Montbello to Beverly Hills. Fires broke out in Pomona, Santa Ana, and Santa Clarita, and windows broke in Palmdale, Ontario, and Irvine.

London's Destroyer parked above the rebuilt Palace of Westminster, striking the New Big Ben clock tower. Hyde Park, Slade Gardens, the Tower of London, and London Euston were utterly destroyed. Kew Gardens were just beyond the edge of the Destoryer, as was Wembley Stadium, and most of London City airport, though they were well within the fire zone, which also enveloped Woking and Windsor, Crawley and Chelmsford, Stansted and Stevenage.

The destruction was repeated around the globe. Mexico City, Bogota, and Sao Paulo in the Americas. London Paris, Berlin, and Madrid in Western Europe. Eastern Europe lost Moscow, Istanbul, and Kiev. The Middle East was hit in Cairo, Tehran, Baghdad, Tel Aviv, and Riyadh. Africa even got hit, beyond Egypt, in Lagos and Johannesburg. Asia, befitting it's larger portion of the world's population was the most hit. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Karachi, and Dhaka in the Sub-continent. Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila in South-east Asia. China got hit by three, at Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, though it was likely the Seoul and Tokyo Destroyers would head to the most populous country in the world after they were done with Korea and Japan. Even Melbourne in Australia was hit. Thirty-six cities destroyed, tens to hundreds of millions dead, just as many displaced, and many times more in danger.

"Even if we do win, how will we survive?" asked Whitmore as he read the list of targets.

-Update 09/26/13