Darth Kyuubi Kurama: Thank you.
Maglad: In fact, the Lord of Deep is simply the most powerful being on Rifts Earth. There have been three serious attempts to get rid of this menace so far. The first was over 10,000 years ago. The Lemurian managed to get it stuck on Earth just when Atlantis disappeared. As a result, without magic, it remained blocked and fell asleep for millennia. The second attempt is more recent (less than a century). The Whale Singers, a large organization of Sea Druids, Ocean Wizards but also whales and dolphins tried to destroy the Lord of the Deep through a ritual... Several thousand Spellcasters participated in the ritual... Only thirty survived. The last attempt is even more recent (a few decades) and this time it was a technological nation, the New Navy (a contemporary survival of the U.S. Navy), that tried. Thanks to a nuclear submarine modified to go deep in the Marianas Trench, they fired two nuclear torpedoes (2x 200 megatons) directly into the den of the Lord of the Deep... the monster didn't receive a scratch.
Hordes from the Deep
Alarm bells were ringing all over Fuyuki.
Despite the night and increasingly violent storm, the police and army evacuated the city. Civilians were taken as quickly as possible to the Einzbern Forest. In recent weeks, the military had dug an important underground shelter under the hills. Multiple MDC concrete cells capable of withstanding the worst disasters sheltered everything necessary to house and feed the population of the entire city.
As families left their homes in an emergency, as cars and buses moved slowly through the crowded streets, helicopters landed on the squares and rooftops to load other civilians.
The Japanese were disciplined and knew how to keep their cool... such a situation would have resulted in a real panic with a more individualistic or irrational population.
Nevertheless, the men in uniform who were in charge of the evacuation were increasingly worried.
Thirty clicks from Fuyuki, above the ocean, two jet fighters were flying at an altitude of more than 30,000 feet, far above the thunderstorm clouds that obscured the sea.
The fighters were two Japanese Navy FV-45J Super Hawks. Their hull was covered with two-tone green and brown camouflage paint. On the wings and fuselage, the red sun of Japan was circled in yellow.
The Santō-kai-i (3rd class naval lieutenant) Miyazaki kept his eyes fixed on an inertial compass... a primitive system to keep his course. But the time when GPS satellites made it possible to know his position within a few feet belonged to the past... oh, there were still satellites in orbit. But they were weapons intended to destroy everything that left the atmosphere (1).
Sitting in the ejection seat right in front of him, the Ittō-kai-i (1st class marine lieutenant) Mishima was trying to control his breathing. Her eyes went from the cockpit's intelligent canopy to the radar screen above the right joystick.
Miyazaki sighed and spoke in a nervous voice.
"We arrive on target... T minus... Top 30... 29... 28... 27..."
With her left thumb, Mishima maneuvered the Target Management Switch (T.M.S.) and selected the strongest supernatural presence detected by the sensors. It could only be the Lord of the Deep... In fact, there was no doubt. There simply could not be two such powerful sources of mana a thousand miles away. This monster was unique, there was only one being like him on the whole planet!
"10... 9... 8..."
Mishima pressed the red button on top of the joystick she was holding in her left hand. On her pilot's helmet, the visor crosshair locked. After a light indicator flashed a few moments before going out, the weapons were ready to fire.
"3... 2... 1... Ute (fire)!"
From the middle finger and index finger, Mishima tightened strongly the trigger.
There was a shock and then a missile detached from under the wing of the fighter, a moment before the reactor started. The self-propelled weapon plunged into the storm clouds, followed by a wake of smoke. At the same time, the pilot lowered the throttle completely, while maneuvering the left joystick to accelerate at full power. The roar of the Super Hawk's engine surged as the rush sank the pilot and navigator into their ejection seats.
In spite of their anti-g suits which inflated to protect them from the effect of acceleration, they had the vision obscured by a blackout. By instinct, the Ittō-kai-i Mishima kept the fighter in stable flight despite the explosion catching the FV-45J from behind.
When they could look around, the two airmen noticed that a nuclear mushroom had driven the clouds behind them. The second Super Hawk was still following them.
Pressing the micro switch under her right thumb, Mishima spoke.
"Saber Control, this is Buzz Goose, successful shot. I repeat successful shot. Over."
In her headphones, a voice was chopped by parasites.
"Buzz Goose, this is Saber Control, received. Is the target disabled?"
The two fighters had each fired a 5 KT tactical nuclear missile. But the SNS sensor continued to perceive the nightmarish amount of mana released by the Lord of the Deep.
"Negative, the target is still present. I repeat. Negative, the target is still present. Over."
"Roger. Buzz Goose, get back to base. Over."
The two fighters flew back to Japan.
The tilt-rotor utility aircraft was much like the V-22N Osprey of old. Like its predecessor, it was able to land like a helicopter and fly like a propeller plane.
The main difference between the two aircraft was that it was a real flying crane capable of lifting the heaviest loads at the end of a cable. The super Osprey flying over Fuyuki was barely bothered by the tropical storm pounding the roofs with rain-laden wind gusts. He carried a giant robot and gently laid it on a ledge overlooking the mountain road from Fuyuki to the oil port in the south.
Freed from the sling the mechanical monster took a few steps into the forest joining the others giants robots that had settled in this position. All these mechas belonged to the same model. They were AT-1053 Ka-Kuma "Metal Bear".
These robots had a humanoid appearance, with hands with five perfectly articulated fingers, and feet with three claws. But they had a bear head and various weapons that turned them into walking tanks. The most impressive were two howitzers-like railguns on their shoulders. These weapons were very effective for the Indirect Fire-Support.
In the cockpit in the chest of one of the Ka-Kuma, three men in green jumpsuits, their faces concealed by integral helmets, operated various systems. One of them dealt specifically with the AT-103 Rail Cannons.
With an optical pencil, he selected a Fragmentation shell for the first gun and a High Explosive (H.E.) shell for the second.
With this done, he altered the pointing of the cannons which rotated on the shoulders of the enormous mechanical bear. He turned to the NCO sitting next to the pilot.
"Ready to fire, Nitō-rikusō (2nd Class Land NCO)."
"Very good." The sergeant selected the frequency from his own supervisor before pressing the switch on his radio.
"Jun-rikui (Land Associate Lieutenant), we are ready to fire."
The officer replied immediately, this mecha being the last to contact him.
"Ute (fire)!"
At the mouth of each cannon, an electric flash appeared a fraction of a second before the first shell was fired. The projectiles climbed on a curved trajectory before falling toward the ocean...
The explosions raised huge geysers as the fragments chopped the sea...
But the shots were not random. The ocean bubbled with monstrous bodies swimming toward the shore, mutant monsters that mixed human characteristics with those of marine creatures.
The water became stained with blood as the bombing continued.
Standing at the top of Center Building, near the helipad, Archer frowned when he saw a sudden geyser in the harbor. This first explosion was followed by others, faster and faster to the point of mixing in a continuous roll of thunder.
Telepathically, the Knight in Red called his Master.
[Rin, the monsters have reached the mined perimeter. And I doubt that will hold them back very long. ]
From the headquarters near the ruins of the Eizbern Castle, Tohsaka replied.
[In that case, I'm counting on you to help the defenders.]
[Wait; there is something else!]
Using the Strengthening Magecraft to improve his eyesight, EMIYA focused on the black spots that had just appeared over the ocean.
He grimaced in acknowledging the creatures...filthy mixtures of woman and bird, as crazy as they are hideous.
[Greeks Mermaids!]
[You mean the flying Mermaids that Odysseus meets?]
[Yes, and they'll be here soon]
[All right, Archer, make them your priority.]
[Yes, Master!]
While invoking his black bow, EMIYA turned to the helipad. A man was getting ready. He was wearing Samurai-like armor... but with wings on his shoulders and a dorsal thruster like a human mini-fighter.
He was busy adjusting the wiring powering his Particle Beam Rifle.
"Ittō-Rukui Yamashita, stay above the city. I'll take the Flying Mermaids over the ocean."
Captain Yamashita put on his helmet adorned with metal blades and stood at attention.
"All right, Archer. We won't be an embarrassment to you."
The Servant with brown skin and white hair had an ironic smile.
"It would be better for you... meeting an arrow in flight is not a pleasant experience!"
Without worrying any more about the soldiers in SAMAS Power Armor who took their flight from the neighboring roofs, EMIYA extended his right hand and made the gesture of placing an arrow on the wood of his bow. When he stretched the rope, an arrow of blue prana appeared.
The next moment, the arrow was catapulted to the sky and... multiplied... the Self-Replicating Arrows were a way to quickly eliminate weak but very numerous opponents.
Clinging to the bark of a tree by almost indistinguishable takes, Rider was upside down, her beautiful purple hair falling almost to the ground. Attentive, she listened, smelled, and felt for the slightest movement in the air.
Unfortunately, the constant explosions did not allow her to hear the enemy arriving. But she sensed the smell of the scaly bodies rising on the beach. She also sensed the magical energies of the monstrous foes thanks to the sign on her forehead.
Even though a mask was hiding her eyes, she wasn't really blind.
The forest was southeast of Fuyuki, which was the outer perimeter of the city. The first step was to cross two fences topped by rollers of barbed wire. The second one was also electrified... with enough voltage to kill an adult man.
An explosion startled Rider.
[They are here Master]
Sakura's mental voice answered immediately.
[All right, Rider, I immediately inform the Rikushō (General) Saito. And... Medusa? ]
[Yes, Master?]
[You can call me Sakura, you know...]
[Yes... Sakura.]
Another explosion sounded, and then another one... the perimeter inside the wire fence was mined. And that was not the only defense. The first explosions activated small autonomous robots. Their creator had given them a look as horrible as possible because the fear they inspired was another weapon in their arsenal. These mechanized monsters looked like scorpions... but instead of a tail finished by a dart, they had a six-tube rotating railgun.
The ground pressure of these robots being very low, they did not trigger anti-personnel mines. This mined forest was therefore an ideal hunting ground for them. As the first bursts were heard, Medusa smiled and extended her hand.
In a whirlwind of blue prana appeared stainless steel chains... First translucent the interlaced rings materialized quickly, forming barriers between the trees, stretched between the branches. The monsters that broke into the forest struck the steel links, stumbled, or stopped, surprised and uncertain, looking around them at the interlacing of chains that had suddenly been born from the air itself.
This brief moment of chaos was all that needed the spider snuggled in the center of this steel web.
Medusa jumped, bounced over a length of chain, and landed just above a bipedal shark. With a kick, Rider broke the neck of the creature before jumping again to avoid the tentacles that replaced the hair for a creature looking like a man up to the waist but walking on crab legs.
As if her legs were replaced by springs, the Gorgon immediately attacked again, breaking the monster's skull with a powerful punch. When a man with a lobster head and a claw in place of the right arm attacked her from behind, she stood on her hands, tied her legs around the neck of the aggressor, and threw it away. Even before it crashed into a tree, she caught it between the sky and the ground and kicked it in the back.
At no time did she step on a mined spot... the smell of plastic and explosives allowed her to locate the traps. Of course, Medusa could only be harmed by magic and magic weapons but... it would have been a shame to waste a trap she could use, wouldn't it?
"Now! You hear this?"
Kneeling behind the concrete base on which the AT-600 Rail Gun was attached; Private Saito raised his eyes from the sight collimator. He turned to his comrade, sitting next to a box of ammunition containing the magazines of supersonic darts fired by the railgun.
Private Kobayashi bumped his head against the low ceiling of the megaconcrete bunker. With a mechanical gesture, he lifted the visor off his helmet and leaned over to look through the firing slot. In the nocturnal darkness, the young man only discerns the trees planted along a dike supporting a road heading west... nothing in sight. Besides, a few hundred meters away, the road stopped suddenly, cut clean...the rest have remained in the Fateverse.
Kobayashi began to listen. He was so focused that he even forgot to breathe.
Yes, he heard it feebly... mad cries and the trampling of thousands of feet...
Kobayashi continued to listen, turning his head from one side to the other. Nevertheless, before he could determine where these sounds came from, a man entered the bunker.
"Watch out, get ready, there's movement on the road!"
Turning towards the voice, the two soldiers recognized the Nittō-rikui (2nd class ground lieutenant) Ito. Like ordinary soldiers, he was dressed in AT-A14 Trooper armor that resembles a motorcycle suit with a chest plate, a tinted visor helmet, and various pieces of rigid ceramic to protect the joints. The armor was painted in a black, green and khaki tiger camouflage.
"Aye aye Lieutenant"
Lieutenant Ito came out of the bunker. Immediately the rain began to bounce on his helmet. His boots trampled on the mud and puddles of water, splashing his shin guard. Of course, he did not start to run...he held to his dignity as an officer... but he walked as fast as he could. Ito crossed the outskirts of Fuyuki, a few small houses built at the intersection of two roads on dikes overlooking rice fields. It was a strategic place that the Japanese army had turned into a fortress.
Around the lieutenant, soldiers fanned out. Some would run to reach their battle stations. The other soldiers - in reserve- were content to wait while nervously controlling the status of their weapons. Two medics wearing a Red Cross armband were inspecting a stretcher leaning against a wall.
On the other side of the street, under the entrance awning of another house, a man used a radio, talking into a microphone while adjusting a potentiometer. Near him, a messenger on a motorcycle handed a communication out of his pocket to the second radio which had risen to speak to him.
The lieutenant looked up at one of the few buildings with more than two floors. But he was immediately reassured by the presence of a pair of men at a window. They too were at their posts. One of them is a sniper armed with an AT-84 "Sharpshoot' laser rifle.
The lieutenant turned behind a house and went down the steps of a staircase to enter a concrete trench. The men were waiting for him nervously. He tapped on the shoulder of a soldier who had buried his head in his arms.
"Wake up!"
In the muddy trench, as if they were one man, all turned to the lieutenant.
"Bayonet fixed! The monsters are coming."
Under tinted visors of their helmets, no one could see their figure, but they were green scared... most of them have never fought. Their hands trembled as they seized their bayonets. A clumsy man even managed to make her fall into the mud.
Ito feels compelled to cheer them up.
"Calm down, you are in prepared positions, we have the advantage. Aim, shoot, repeat the same process, just like in training."
First Class Sato gasped and feels for breath... He blinked and passed his tongue over dry lips.
"I see them!"
Indeed a monster the size of a house has just knocked down a tree, entering the rice field by throwing mud and fragments of the trunk all around it. The creature looks like a huge turtle... with a human's upper body, with arms and a demented face, where the head should have been... and crab legs! On the turtle shell, there was a kind of coral bunker from which two cannon tubes came out.
All around the gigantic creature swarmed smaller monsters, a mixture of men and marine animals: fish, octopuses, crabs, sharks...
"Shoot," said Koyabashi.
With his eye glued to the crosshairs, Sato hesitated. He doubted that the railgun was powerful enough to destroy the monstrous turtle. But as the creature approached quickly, he sent a first round of darts. With supernatural reflexes, the human part and the crab legs went under the shell. The shots ricocheted on the thick, helpless exoskeleton.
However, the soldiers in the trenches and hidden in the buildings had also opened fire. The laser beams and grenades thrown by the under-barrel grenade launcher wreaked havoc among the monsters.
But the enormous turtle-like mutant that led the offensive continued to advance. From the bunker added to the top of its shell came sonic cannon fire aimed at the defensive positions of the Japanese... and the weapon had deadly effects, even going through the armor.
Just before the filthy tortoise reached the first trench line, a young woman's clear soprano sounds like a silver trumpet.
"Strike Air!"
A whirlwind began to blow suddenly, ripping tiles from nearby roofs. Moving parallel to the ground, the twister grabs the giant turtle and... tore it from the ground!
The attack had left the monsters stunned, and they did not have time to recover. A woman leaped among a dense group of half-human creatures. Soldiers in the trenches saw only a fuzzy blue and silver form. Here at one time, and in three places at once right after.
The mutants created by the Lord of the Deep were overthrown by an opponent so fast that they could not see or catch him. Dozens at a time, they were literally sliced like fish on a fishmonger's stall.
Although the monsters were insane, they should not be insensitive to fear. Terrorized by the adversary who slaughtered them so easily, they scattered in disorder, crawling or running towards the sea, in the hope of escaping the massacre. Astonished, the soldiers discovered their savior.
She was a young woman... no, a teenage girl, dressed in an unbelievable dress armor of blue fabric and silver steel. Her face was delicate, aristocratic. Her hair as if powdered with gold was neatly wrapped in a braid wrapped around the back of her skull. As for her eyes, they looked like precious emeralds.
Her sword usually invisible in its air sheath was now completely stained with blood, besides even Artoria Pendragon's arm was scarlet and projections maculated her torso and face.
[Rin, I inform you that I have fulfilled my mission. The post is secure. The enemy is routed. ]
[Bravo, Saber! The post south of here is in trouble. Go there to help the soldiers.]
Artoria nodded mechanically.
[I hear and obey, Rin.]
Before the soldiers had time to thank her, the female version of the legendary King Arthur disappeared... literally running as fast as the wind!
Under the spotlight and the light filtering through the exits of nearby bunkers, huge Power Armors were literally glittering.
Moreover, if the official name of these assisted armors was USA-G10 "Chromium Guardsmen", they were very often called Glitter Boys because of the highly reflective anti-laser alloy that formed their armor.
They were 10-foot, 5-inch war machines with a humanoid appearance. The head was particularly recognizable, shell-shaped with three curved horns, two groups of three vertical slits in place of the eyes, and two tubes coming out of the jaw.
These Power Armors were artillery units. Each of them held like a rifle, a huge RG-14 "Boom Gun" railgun.
Suspended by a harness inside the Glitter Boy's chest, a soldier wearing a blue jumpsuit and a helmet with a kind of monocle covering his left eye pushed a switch with his chin, the result was a detonation.
"Retractable pylons engaged!"
Under the Glitter Boy, two telescopic tubes had just deployed to anchor the Power Armor to the ground.
"Ready to fire!"
When the order arrived, this soldier and his dozens of companions pressed the index finger. They had locked the target that appeared in the viewfinder of their monocle.
The result... well... after witnessing the shooting of an RG-14 railgun, one understood why the weapon was nicknamed "Boom Gun".
The projectile was ejected at supersonic speed, causing a violent 'Bang!' capable of breaking all the windows for several kilometers around.
At the same time, a huge crater was being dug by the Glitter Boys while huge cracks were staring at the ground around their feet. And in spite of the pylons that anchored the Glitter Boy, the humanoid war machines were not thrown to the ground only thanks to the stabilizing thrusters that had offset the recoil effect.
Each Boom Gun fired a tube-shaped projectile. At the peak of its trajectory, the tube disintegrated, releasing... 200 darts two millimeters long.
The darts fell to the ground in a cone-shaped trajectory and... The ground looked as if crushed by a titan's hand! In the perimeter struck by the darts, several trees exploded into splinters of wood... Propelled to Mach 2, darts a hundred times harder than steel could penetrate any armor!
In the forest, cries of agony and terror resounded... because the darts were not to do the work of the loggers and many monsters who crossed the woods were literally chopped by the supersonic darts.
Private Tanaka hastily opened the breech of the railgun to extract an empty magazine. He turned to pick up another disc-shaped magazine while his comrade readjusted the finder. Over there on the dike, numerous corpses of monsters literally sawed in two testify to the power of the AT-600.
Private Suzuki armed the railgun, but before he could start shooting again, a filthy creature turned towards the bunker. It was a jellyfish floating in the air, between the long urticant tentacles appeared a human face with features deformed by dementia.
Several tentacles stretched out. Between them came electric shocks. Suddenly, a ball of plasma as bright as the sun took shape!
The projectile was thrown at them by the flying jellyfish, but fortunately only scratched the bunker... and that was enough. The corner of the megaconcrete's building was neatly cut into a circular shape with melted red-hot outlines!
Without giving the monster time to fire once more, Private Tanaka retaliated with his railgun. Pierced like a skimmer by the burst, the monster seemed to hiccup before starting to deflate and ignite!
"For God's sake, this horrible thing is filled with flammable gas. It must extract hydrogen from water by electrolysis."
Private Watanabe nodded.
"That explains how it floats in the air... it's kind of a balloon, actually... and its attack is a ball of plasma... and plasma is perfectly ionized gas!"
In the trenches, this victory was greeted with cheers.
Unfortunately, the enemy attack was barely slowed down. Hundreds of monsters stormed the trenches. They were all mutants, a mixture of a human and one or more marine animals. Although none of the Lord of the Deep's slaves were completely identical to any other, the shark-headed men were the most numerous.
Though monstrous, they were not primitive. They fought with various weapons such as harpoons throwers or coral rifles firing sonic waves. Others used magic, with a preference for lighting or fireball spells.
A violent shooting surrounded the trenches. The Japanese were shooting back with laser rifles, plasma cannons, and their grenade launchers.
Nevertheless, the monsters were getting closer and closer. Many shark-men were brandishing coral tridents or swords. The battle would end in an old-fashioned melee, with hand-to-hand weapons.
Two mechanized monsters were running on all fours.
They were huge metal tigers with two flags hanging on their shoulders. Their head looked more like a samurai helmet with a tiger face mask than the real head of the animal. Between the jaws appeared the cannon of a Plasma Ejector.
Quickly crossing the lines of defense surrounding Fuyuki, the two AT-1063 Hi-Tora "Fire Tiger" robots arrived at a place where a violent confrontation was taking place.
A veritable tide of monsters was about to submerge trenches occupied by Japanese soldiers. They fought with bayonets and knives against shark men armed with coral swords and tridents.
The Hi-Tora stopped and... straightened out... and took up the station upright, like humanoids. Throwing flames through the mouth, laser rays through two spherical turrets on the hips, and particle rays through the eyes, the two combat robots advanced on the battlefield, mobiles battle fortress towering more than 30 feet high.
Nothing could stop them or even slow them down.
Shirou jumps back to avoid the attack of a Flying Mermaid. He had nothing to fear from his singing because he wore audio protection that looked a bit like a headset to listen to music.
By reflex, he threw Kanshou and Bakuya.
"Trace On!"
In a whirlpool of blue prana, the doubles of the Married Blades materialized. The first pair he Traced, came back to him like boomerangs.
Two Flying Mermaids fell down, cut in half.
Around the young redhead, the battle was very violent, the air monsters attacked the military base of the Einzbern Forest, but the automatic defenses massacred them. As for those that arrived at close range, they had to face USA- G10A2. Smaller than the other Glitter Boys, the A2 (or "Hawkeye") Glitter Boys specialized in fighting against air units. They did not use the RG-14 Boom Gun, but a quick-fire gun rail, as well as a multiple missile launcher.
A weapon that proved particularly effective against the Mermaids.
"Boring!"
Sitonai yawned ostensibly before shooting three ice stalactites at once towards a Mermaid who plunged from the sky claws wide open. The monster fell like a stone, stabbed all the way through.
Sitting on a crate, the Alter-Ego Servant would swing her little feet into the void, while inflating her cheeks.
"Boring," she repeated. "Shirou is bored!"
She pointed to the polar bear that was her Noble Phantasm. To the amazement of the humans who were present, the bear was able to fly... or rather run in the air, leaving behind him a trail of snowflakes! With claws and fangs, the magical animal had just ignited carnage among the Mermaids.
Shirou (the young man, not the bear of the same name) wiped away the sweat that fell on his eyes and turned to his Servant.
"Listen, Illya..."
"No!"
The little girl stood up and held out a finger to her Master, one hand on her hip. She wanted to have the air of a being accustomed to command... she just seemed adorable and a little ridiculous.
"We are in battle, you must call me Alter-Ego, onii-chan!"
"Oh, of course, Alter-Ego," replied the redhead with a mocking tone. "But then you have to call me 'Master', don't you?"
Sitonai waved her arms like a fan!
"I don't want to; onii-chan is onii-chan!"
Rin - who attended the scene on the screens of the command bunker- crossed her arms and sighed with disdain.
"Shirou is completely dominated by this little girl!"
Next to her, Sakura had a shy smile, while rubbing her arms.
"Because she's his little sister..."
Indeed, since he had touched the weapon of his adoptive father, Shirou had acquired part of the memory of Kiritsugu Emiya, which had allowed him to discover that Illya was the daughter of Kiritsugu and Irisviel von Einzbern. It was undoubtedly a unique event in the history of the Grail Wars. To Rin's knowledge, never before had a Master summoned his own sister as a Servant.
Annoyed, the Tosaka Heiress bit her lip slightly before answering.
"This is his OLDER sister! She totally manipulated him with her little girl appearance... But she kills like it's a game! We must be wary of her.
The remark troubled Sakura for an instant, but she replied in a barely audible voice that she was trying to make firm.
"More dangerous than Rider? Everyone says she's a monster... but I trust her. Our Servants are killers... except for Saber, none of them are really reliable."
In the east, the first light of day transformed the ocean into a lake of red and gold mercury. The battle continued, as violent as ever.
(1) At the time of the cataclysm that ravaged the planet, many inhabited stations were in orbit and there were cities on the Moon, and even on Mars. Most of them still exist. With great ingenuity, the descendants of the survivors have managed to adapt. Aware that the Earth has become a madhouse, they now refuse any contact with the planet. They've created millions of killer satellites. These weapons automatically attack any vehicle leaving the atmosphere.