Before the Defence war, the EDF had a small navy only numbering around 107 ships. But these ships were considered to be the most advanced in any navy, mostly equipped with experimental and prototypes but still advanced. But after the Defence war, and the order came down that nations could only have a defence force and the rest needed to go to the EDF, the influx of new troops, ships and aircraft was a nightmare. This influx meant a lot of things, but one of the main things that they needed to do was to organise their new forces.
The focus on the navy was simple and complex at the same time. They had to retain, upgrade and organise practically all the navies of the world into one major force. This was easier said than done for many reasons, bad blood and cost were the main factors but there was also another that they had to deal with, resentment. Many of the older militaries, such as the British and French didn't like that their allegiances had change from a single nation to a multi-national organisation. Most of them even resigned from their posts.
But that was a godsend to the EDF. If people resigned from their posts, that would make it easier to train the soldiers. But it still meant that those who remained would need to be retained. That wasn't simple as that mean that they would have few ships patrolling the seas opening up routes for pirates and nations could go to war even with their small numbers. This problem was compounded by the fact that all navy ships needed to be upgraded if not mothballed and rebuilt.
So, the EDF prioritised what they needed to focus on. The upgrading and training could wait while they organised the navy. If they could do that, then the training and upgrading would fall into place with relative ease. Surprisingly it worked, but not without some major problems. One of the problems that they faced was the culture shock and bad blood. Many people from the middle east didn't like working with anyone in the west due to the number of invasions they faced in the past.
This was a major problem for the EDF. How could they get people to work together and not get at each other's throats? That was the most simple and dangerous option, they would fake a terrorist attack. Due to their victory against the Aggressors, the EDF had a lot of political and military options on their cards. If they asked for something, they had to get it. In this case, they asked for prisoners on death row and those with life sentences with undeniable evidence that they did it. This part couldn't have a paper trail, so what they did was use mercenaries to recruit these prisoners and hire them.
After that it was just to decide where'd they go. Some became pirates, and others became terrorists. This crated an enemy that the EDF could focus on and use the bond their forces. It worked very well and no one was the wiser. The only people who knew was EDF high command and several merc companies. But the latter knew to keep their mouth's shut and not keep any records about the incident making it very hard for anyone to investigate.
Captain Li Chan was one of those people who knew about the operation. As he looked out at the South China sea keeping his eyes out for pirates, he always wondered if it was worth it. They still had to face their own kind, but this time instead of binding the EDF together, it was to ensure humanities survival. They still had to face rouge units who simply didn't care about uniting but just plundering and creating their own little empires. Such was the new world. Li then moved back to sit in his chair, and just relaxed in it waiting for something to happen.
An hour passed before the radar operator called up. "Sir I'm picking up something," she said.
"On screen," Li said and the radar appeared on a screen in front of him.
A small dot flew at the edge of the radar without any kind of signal coming from it. "What is it a flock of birds?" his XO asked.
"Unlikely," the radar operator said. "That would mean a bunch of smaller signals, not one big one,"
"Any suggestions at what we are looking at?" Li asked.
"An aircraft of some kind," the operator replied. "Similar in size to our eagle dropships,"
"So, either one of them or an Osprey," the XO muttered. "Where did it come from?"
"East China exclusion zone, at least that's what it's baring says. According to the readings, it's headed for Japan," the operator answered.
"Isn't that where the Special region visitors are?" the XO asked and Li just nodded.
"Contact the Fujin," he ordered. "Tell them that the visitors may have some fans,"
OOOOO
Helicopters few above over New York City as soldiers on the ground moved up or held a street. Giant ants moved though the streets and along the buildings with ease making hard for the soldiers on the ground to keep them contained.
"INCOMING!" someone yelled and a group of EDF soldiered dived out of the way as a laser hit close to their barricade and sent up debris into the air.
Without the barricade more ants moved though with the street with little effort now that the EDF had been moved away from their post. Scourgers backed up the ants taking out EDF tanks and aircraft, trying to force their way though onto the American mainland. Lady liberty had already fallen, and all that was left to do was evacuate the city. The blockades the EDF had set up were meant to keep the aggressors at by while they helped evacuate. But this did little thanks to the ants and scourgers.
The ants, with their numbers and ability to stick to walls, could overrun the barricades with ease, while the scourgers destroyed the tanks and aircraft. The EDF were being pushed back quickly. But soon reinforcements arrived. Abrams tanks rolled up with Humvee support and began to fire at the aggressors. While they did a man in a National guard uniform climbed off a tank and ran up to one of the EDF commanders.
"You in charge here?" he asked with a thick Californian accent.
"Yeah," the man said before pushing the officer out of the way as a stray laser round hit close to where they were standing.
A scourger moved up but was faced with a barrage from a group of several Abram's tanks and rocket launchers. Even alien technology cannot withstand that much kinetic force and survive.
"Sorry about that," the commander said as he helped up the National Guard officer.
"Not a problem," the officer thanked. "What's the saturation?"
"Bad, we just got word that more aggressor 'tanks' are on the way," the commander replied. "And a possible hive-ship is on the move,"
"And with the evacuation at 78% compete," the officer muttered making the commander nod. "We need to hold out for as long as possible. We need more reinforcements,"
"I'll get on the horn," the officer said before heading back to his tank.
"Make it quick," the commander said as he aimed and began to fire his rifle at the ants taking a few of them out.
In the distance, a building fell over throwing debris into the air and sending a wave of smoke over a small part of the city. It wasn't a big building so the smoke didn't get far or became thick. But it still obscured their vision making them stop firing their weapons but this turned into a big mistake as more and more ants charged.
"We're going to get overwhelmed!" the commander yelled. "Don't stop firing!" he yelled.
Tracer rounds flew though the air followed by tank rounds. Ant bits and guts flew into the air as the rounds detonated against the aggressors and surrounding building. But it wasn't enough as more kept on coming. There was no end to them, but the EDF had to hold out for as long as possible. But the ants began to advance too quickly making the commander order for his group to get on the tanks and fall back to the next barricade. This only worked for so long before they had to fall back to another barricade, and the next.
The national guard officer then ran up to the EDF commander. "Just go word, the evacuation is complete, all forc…" he couldn't finish as a loud snap sounded making people look up.
A Hive-ship, the aggressors main command and control base hovered over the city. Gritting his teeth, the EDF commander pressed his comm.
"EDF command, we have a Hive-ship over New York, I repeat, Hive-ship over New York," he said over his radio, but he then looked over to his men with a concerned look. "Give me a moment," he said before turning his radio off and removing his helmet. "Everyone! EDF command, has ordered a kinetic strike on New York. They want to know if we can make it out,"
Both EDF and National Guard looked to each other for a moment before they stood, saluted and took their positions. No words, just actions making the commander nod and look toward the National Guard Officer who removed his own helmet and nod. The commander also nodded before pressing his radio on and bringing it to his mouth.
"Fire at will," he said before dropping it and fired at the aggressors with the rest of his men and National guard.
Far above the city a satellite readied itself before getting a long hollow spear down. Gravity did the rest and brought it down giving it the same impact as a nuke. But the act was in vain as the hive ship vanished before the spear could destroy it. The once great city of New York was destroyed with one shot along with four companies of EDF soldiers. While they managed to save everyone in the city, they failed to stop the invasion of North America and one of the Hive-ships.
3 years later.
A helicopter flew close to New York and looked over what had become of it. By using the concrete, steel and more the once proud city had become an insect hive. The largest ever recorded. Another rod fell down and destroyed the hive, ending any chance of New York returning to normal.
Pina, Rory and their respective friends watched the video as it played. It was called 'Fall of New York', and they could see why. Even without knowing what the city was about they could see it was largely wealthy and respected. A great city like just destroyed to try and prevent a full-scale invasion, but failed in any meaningful capacity. Rory was quiet tough out the video, silent. But the others were speechless to say the least. They had never seen this kind of devastation before, but it did give off an impression on Pina.
"How…" she muttered trying to find the right words, but they were lost on her.
They were not lost on Rory who moved over to another video and watched. The others couldn't bring themselves to watch another, but Rory could. She had devastation, war and death before but not like this. This scale, this war, these wars, the people, the soldiers, and more all spoke to her. This wasn't a war; it was a battle for survival. The EDF, the people in this world fought for their right to survive, their will to live was greater than the enemy they faced.
As the video finished, she looked down the museum. There were more videos about the battles that they both won and lost. And this was just the ground level, there where three more levels.
"I think we can skip out on the rest of these videos," Rory suggested as she looked up. "I need to learn more,"
The others just nodded in agreement and they walked up a flight of stairs to the next level. But as they did Rory stopped Pina who turned to the Oracle.
"When we get back to our world, we need to show them the power of the EDF. It's pointless to fight them," she said in a low voice so that the others wouldn't hear.
Pina just nodded in response. "I was thinking that too. A weapon demonstration to the senate would be the best bet to convince them to stop this war,"
"I'll come with you," Rory said shocking the princess. "My presence and word will carry more weight then anyone else. It may also wake up a few of the senate members,"
Pina just nodded at that as they walked up to the next level. Unlike the pervious floor this one was filled with models. Leiei has already looking at one reading the text. Pina joined her looking at a model of a rounded headless white ogre.
"This is a scourger," the witch said. "According to this, it's a robot that was used as a tank by the aggressors,"
"Robot?" Pina asked unfamiliar with the term.
"A golem," Rory said as she walked up. "A puppet that can move but has no will of its own,"
That thought scared Pina as she looked at the model. Her mind then turned back to the videos. Something clicked, she didn't know what the things in the video she saw, now she did and while reading the description the point became even more clearly. Jus like with the entrance they wanted to show you the horror of the war before you met the participants of the war. A faceless enemy was scarier than one with a face.
She looked around and realised what this place was. This wasn't just a reminder; this was a warning. They will be back one of these days, and the EDF would be there to stop them. another thought then crossed her mind, what if these Aggressors were in her world too?