Deckard Jackson was not having a good week. Well, no one on the planet was having a good week, there was an alien invasion going on, but he was having a relatively much worse one. First there was the report of the Strogg contaminating the Yosemite Valley water supply, so he had to organize a mass evacuation there, then the Area 22 laboratories, where scientists were supposed to be studying Strogg technology, got raided and destroyed, and now a major conference call is coming from high command. Every single general was ordered to attend. He admitted that the GDF being able to organize at all was a miracle he should thank God for, but he found it incredibly annoying they were interrupting him in the middle of planning the campaign across the entirety of west coast America.
Well it was about time, so he got comfortable in his office and logged in to the call. On his screen over a dozen faces appeared, mostly the leaders of the GDF though two others he didn't recognized were also there. A man cleared his throat, GDF commander in chief Jacob Shaw. Though he was only in his forties wrinkles marked his face, with a few gray hairs sticking out on his close cropped hair. 'Perks' of being one of the most important men on the planet.
"Alright, let's do a roll call." A series of names were called out, each being answered by their respective owners, including Deckard himself. "Alright, we're all here so let's get on with this. Approximately twenty hours ago our telescopes picked up something you're all gonna want to see. Dr. Kavan?"
One of the men Deckard didn't recognize spoke up. He looked also around forty, though with much less signs of stress. "Thank you Mr. Shaw. I am Simon Kavan, chief director at the Mitchel Astronomy Center in Canada. The main purpose of our facility is checking the movements of Strogg ships in order to predict their next assaults. And yesterday, our main telescope picked up on something that, without any exaggeration, could change the course of this entire war." Deckard's eyebrows rose. Change the war?
A video was pulled up, showing several Strogg battleships pivoting around to face away from Earth. "At 3:18 PM, we saw several Strogg ships turn away from their standard path around Earth. When we moved the telescope, we saw they were facing this." The video fast forwarded to show a collection of thirty or so small dots. As it continued to fast forward, the dots came closer and closer until their shapes became evident, Deckard going from confused to intrigued to shocked. From the looks of the other general's faces, they felt the same way.
They were space ships. Nothing like the blocky and gnarled Strogg ones, these ships were flat and tube-like, with angular wings jutting jutting out at the midsection. While Strogg vessels were universally gunmetal gray, these ones had a mix of green and gray colors. Where massive jets propelled the Strogg craft, much softer thrusters were at the backs of these ships. And of course, they came from the opposite direction of the Strogg's initial invasion. Were these new aliens?
"We saw these UFOs go from Mars' orbital path to around the moon's. Unfortunately, none of the other observatories we're in contact with were watching that area of space, so we don't know how exactly they got here. What we do know is this." He set the video to a certain segment.
The Strogg opened fired on the new aliens, unleashing the same plasma blasts that had destroyed entire cities against the ships. Several of the alien ships took heavy damage, a blue "shield" appeared around most of them, though it seemingly exploded out of the ships that took two or more blasts. One unfortunate vessel was hit by five beams and outright exploded.
The surviving ships returned fire, single quick shots fired out of their fronts. "Readings indicate that they have spinal cannons capable of firing rounds at a percent of light speed. Additional turrets are placed on their wings." The rounds smashed into the Strogg vessels, damaging some of them. Many of the damaged ships fired out smaller projectiles out of their stern's, streaming down towards Earth. Two seconds later, another series of shots were fired. Before a further barrage could come, the Strogg unleashed their beams again. The head ship took several of the plasma attacks and ended up with a half dozen rends in its hull. Many more of the small projectiles streamed out of the alien ships. This continued until a final barrage from the assembled Strogg ships smashed the alien ships into submission.
Jacob Shaw spoke up again. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have seen three things. One, a new race of aliens has come to Earth. Two, they do not like the Strogg and the Strogg don't like them. Three, they have weapons that can take them on." A new image came up showing the crash site for most of the projectiles, primarily centered on North and South America. "High command saw several alien dropships land alongside these pods. Your mission is to rendezvous with our new alien pals and make sure they have the best opinion of humanity as possible. Any questions?"
A veritable storm of shouting erupted at those words. Shaw muted everyone until he saw them quiet down, then turned sound back on again. "One at a time. Sanders, you first."
A pale, blonde haired man spoke up. "What do you mean pals?! We've been fighting bastards from space for the last few months and now you want us to get all cozy with them?!"
Jacob sighed. "Have none of you heard "The enemy of my enemy is my friend?" If these aliens are willing to fight the Strogg, that's helping us no matter what. And no matter what, we need their help."
"I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. Our odds are looking incredibly grim. The Strogg are an interstellar menace. They can go anywhere, attack anywhere, destroy anywhere. It's solely their desire to harvest humanity that keeps them from bombing us into extinction. And as much as we like to believe otherwise, the GDF has not been winning. We've just been stalling for time. We have no way to strike at Strogg space ships, no way to hit their center of production, we don't even know if this is their real army or just a vanguard. Humanity cannot win this war alone, we need friends in space to survive. If these new aliens have the ships, we need them to help humanity."
Another voice spoke up. "Samuel McCarve here. How do we know these aliens aren't gonna turn on us once the Strogg are gone? They could be slavers or robots for all we know."
"I understand. That's why I need you all to have some faith. Again, they're our only real chance. And there's no where to go but up from here. Best case scenario, we're saved as a species. Worst case, we're not any worse than here. Are there any more question?"
No one responded. "Well then, your orders have been sent over the email. Make sure they're completed to the letter. This meeting is adjured."
With that, Deckard signed off. New aliens. In North America. Exactly where he commanded. He sighed. His week just got a whole lot harder.
Procrastination, they name is Giblo. Yeah everyone, I meant to get this out earlier, but better late than never, heh. Heh.