POV: Earth Defense Force (DAY 0 - 50)
On the day the Asteroid Swarm which was harboring the yet unknown Undead Virus flew towards Earth, the Earth Defense Force fleet decided to intervene with their 73 Cruisers.
The Commanders of this attack were the three Admirals of the Earth Defense Force.
One of them is Admiral Odin, who commands a fleet of 22 cruisers and approximately two million soldiers, pilots and officers.
Admiral Odin is a 86 years old Soldier, making him one of the most experienced Admirals of all four the Sol Solar System has to offer.
The Admiral is best known for his recent successes against smugglers who supplied equipment and weapons to the Separatists during the war on Earth.
In addition, Admiral Odin was a good friend and former teacher and instructor of the now renegade desateur Admiral Kornelius, who opposed the Sol Parliament and joined the Earth Separatists fighting for an independent Earth from the Solar System.
Admiral Kornelius is said not only to have taken his 10 cruisers and more than 900,000 soldiers with him on the day he deserted, all of whom also defected to the Separatists. But, according to rumors, he is said to have tried to get Admiral Odin on his side too.
In the end, however, he seems to have failed, especially since Admiral Odin has remained loyal to the Earth Defense Force.
However, many in the Sol Parliament and military dread the day the two fleets will meet in combat, especially as no one knows how Admiral Odin will ultimately fare when push comes to shove.
But before this future battle can happen, an unnatural crisis suddenly occurred.
A swarm of asteroids, unusually large in number, made its way into the Sol Star System.
However the Sol Parliament was quickly relieved, especially since the asteroids, according to calculations, would not pass any inhabited planet or space station.
However, in the end it was not just about this assessment.
Countless new calculations showed that the course of the asteroid swarm was constantly being readjusted and was getting closer and closer to a planet than initially expected.
And before you knew it, the asteroid swarm, which was incredibly fast and unnaturally increasing in speed, passed more and more space towards Earth.
It wasn't long before the Earth Defense Force decided to use the entire fleet at their disposal to counter this threat.
Admiral Odin was given command of Operation: Destruction of the Z-102 Asteroid Swarm.
...
[DAY 0]
On the day it happened, the Earth Defense Force and all of their Cruisers were already in intercept position, readying their Plasma Weapons to launch a chain attack to destroy as many asteroids as possible.
The final preparations for the Plasma Attack were underway on Admiral Odin's flagship and the Admiral listened to the latest reports from his officers on the bridge.
"Admiral Odin the Plasma Weapons are charged and the fleet awaits your orders," said a soldier in gray military fatigues which has red stripes on his right shoulder as he views and taps on some displays on a screen in front of him.
"Plasma weapons at over 140% Power, the expected kill rate on the oncoming asteroid swarm Z-102 is speculated at more than 98%. The remaining asteroids would not cause any significant damage to Earth." the soldier explained afterwards.
"Admiral, consider the previously explained risks of using Plasma Weapons. No more than 3 minutes at most, after which soldiers in the Weapon Stations will begin to feel the side effects of plasma radiation," explained a woman in a gray military suit which has blue stripes on the right shoulder.
"Doctor I understand your concern and I've ended up listening to it over a hundred times already. No more than 3 minutes, fighters are not to be launched, never aim at an inhabited station or near a planet. I already learned that in basic training which was more than 70 years ago." the Admiral explained with a smile as he looked at the doctor.
"Nevertheless, thank you for always reminding me, doctor," the Admiral said as he nodded.
After that, the Admiral pushed a few buttons on the chair he was sitting in and stood up.
"Very well gentlemen. You all know that I'm not a man of many words and I won't waste your time with that either. Lets stop these Asteroids that threaten our family and friends on Earth and have terrified them over the past weeks. Destroy the asteroids and show the Earth how powerful Mankind has become since then. Show them the might of Mankind!" the Admiral said loudly while his speech was broadcast to the entire fleet.
Countless soldiers in the fleet doing their part in various positions on the cruisers, whether in the engine room or in the hangar or at the weapon stations, everyone heard the Admiral's short but meaningful speech.
The soldiers all looked at the Admiral and then nodded with a determined expression and then went back to their respective works at the various stations on the bridge.
...
While the Earth Defense Force recharges their weapons and maneuvers into attack position and makes the final corrections, the menacing asteroid swarm closes in.
Consisting of thousands of small and some large asteroids, the swarm is hurtling towards Earth at high speed, leaving a trail of glittering particles and dust in its way.
Gradually, the swarm nears Earth more and more and thus also the range of the Cruisers.
However, when the asteroid swarm finally entered the attack range of the Plasma Weapons, several larger asteroids suddenly glowed, causing an unknown high pressure wave to erupt in them.
The invisible wave then reached the Earth Defense Force fleet and the previously loaded Plasma Weapons suddenly discharged and the Xeon II in the Xeon power generators cooled and was about to shut down.
The previously operational fleet of Cruisers suddenly has now been reduced to a pile of junk flying around in space with auxiliary engines.
While all of this was happening, the asteroids continued their course toward Earth.
...
"Admiral, the systems are not responding to the new commands... The Xeon generators must have failed!" yelled the officer at the weapons station over the ship's internal communications.
"How can that be, the already existing energy cannot simply disappear! The energy must dissipate naturally, but such a reaction of the elements contradicts all science!" shouted another officer.
"Everyone calm down now! I need suggestions for a solution, no discussion as to why this is not possible or why it is!" said the Admiral suddenly, interrupting the officers in their discussion.
"Engine room, how much power can you provide the ship?" asked the Admiral afterwards.
"Not more than 20%, we already work with auxiliary energy and I can't spare more." a voice explained over the ship's internal communications.
"Drain power from life support and artificial gravity generators, I want maximum power from all systems." ordered the Admiral
"Then channel all available power into the hangar's launch pads and into the cruiser's weapons." the Admiral commanded afterwards.
"Under- Understood Admiral" said the soldier.
"To all Cruisers in the fleet, follow my approach immediately and get your weapons ready, our target are the largest and most voluminous asteroids. Try not to destroy the asteroids, just throw them off their path." ordered the Admiral as his orders are relayed to all Cruisers in the fleet.
All Cruisers afterwards followed the Admiral's orders and the fighter planes gradually stormed out of the hangar.
The weapon phalanx on the Cruisers readied themselves one by one and immediately after activation began firing their red lasers at the asteroid swarm.
The fighters also joined the fight after a few seconds in combat squadrons and opened fire on the asteroids.
Above all, they tried to divert the trajectory of the large asteroids, but no matter where they shot, the asteroids would at most lose a few parts and otherwise continue their course to Earth.
The pilots in the spaceships, but also the officers and the Admiral in the Cruisers, found this very strange.
All of them had experience in space comabat and science and knew how asteroids normally behave and therefore had difficulty understanding the phenomenon of why the asteroids do not change their trajectories.
"Perform a full scan of the asteroid swarm for any energy signature." the Admiral suddenly ordered with a pale face as a idea was growing inside his head.
The officer addressed just nodded and got to work, and after a few seconds the frightening news came.
"Admiral! Inside the asteroid there is a small energy signature of unknown origin, which is increasing more and more. What does that mean?" reported the officer as he looked at the Admiral.
"Damn, that means these aren't just asteroids, they're an enemy attack!" explains the Admiral as he watched in horror as the asteroids stormed towards the earth unchanged.
"Forget the previous orders, open fire on any asteroids you can get your hands on. Destroy them and don't try to change their trajectory! Have the bombers arm their plasma bombs and concentrate on bombing the large asteroids." commanded the Admiral to the entire fleet.
In the end, the fleet managed to destroy around 12% of the asteroids, including some of the largest of them.
But when the asteroid swarm entered the atmosphere of Earth at the end, everything was over.
The Earth will be destroyed by the impact of these innumerable asteroids, there was no longer any doubt about this outcome.
The Earth Defense Force fleet has failed in defending Earth.
There was utter silence on the bridge as they all watched the happening on Earth, through giant holographic screens.
They saw their Earth in a red glare of asteroids that breached the apostosphere and were set ablaze.
"Were any spaceships still able to escape? Do we still have lines of communication with the military on the ground?" Admiral Odin asked, breaking the deathly silence on the bridge.
"We're getting reports from some civilian ships that were able to launch earlier, but nothing else, communications with the government on Earth and the military are down as well."
reported the communications officer.
The Admiral then fell silent and watched the Earth transmission on the main screen.
Most of the soldiers made a sad face at the sight and some cried or sobbed as they witnessed the destruction of the people and the planet.
Their family, their friends, their fellow human beings all of them will die in this apocalyptic event.
They felt an incredible amount of guilt at the moment, since they were the force meant to protect the people of Earth from such a fate, they should suffer instead the innocent people on Earth.
But shortly after, a miracle happened in the eyes of the soldiers.
The planet was not destroyed by the countless asteroids as expected.
The asteroids were still raining down on Earth, but it was not destroyed by them and instead communications with the military and civilian government were restored and the first reports on the state of Earth and the people came in.
...
The asteroids destroyed some buildings in the countless metropolises of Earth in the impact, but caused only minor damage and the number of deaths was still limited at a few millions.
At the news of the Earth and its current stable condition, the soldiers could no longer contain their emotions and began to burst into tears.
They were just happy in that moment that Earth and the people on the planet were not wiped out.
On the other side, however, was Admiral Odin, silent as before, reading through the reports from Earth.
"Gentlemen, you are all soldiers of the Earth Defense Force, please act accordingly. The chaos on Earth is not over yet and our Xeon energy generator is still defective. We still have a lot to do, you can use your free time and when all is done, rejoice and rest." said the Admiral and with his words the soldiers and officers all returned to their stations.
The Admiral then ordered ground troops to be sent to some central crash sites. He didn't know why, but he had a bad feeling that something was wrong.
Why didn't the asteroids respond to the attacks as they normally would?
Why did the energy distribution break off the moment the asteroid swarm came within weapon range of the Cruisers?
These are all too odd coincidences that something here just can't be right.
In the end, the Admiral was right, especially after some time the first reports about the Undead came in.
All over the world the dead on the crash sites would rise again and they would start attacking the living people.
The Admiral immediately ordered the extermination of the Undead and the evacuation of the population to every available military base.
But the Sol Parliament did not take long to reverse these orders.
Evacuating the entire population to the various military posts around the world poses too great a risk that will end up endangering everyone on the planet.
Admiral Odin also planned to send ground transports with soldiers and supplies to the planet to provide reinforcements.
But once again the Sol Parliament rejected this action.
Instead, they ordered timely withdrawals to various military bases, which they will henceforth declare as Safezones.
The infected cities and any population are to be abandoned immediately.
Over time, the number of undead only grew and within the first week after the Apocalypse broke out on Earth, most of the infected cities and the local government, police and security forces were overrun by the undead.
The Sol Parliament, on the other hand, has seemingly turned a deaf ear to the complaints of Admiral Odin, who the entire time expresses his protest against the orders.
the Sol Parliament just ignored him and demanded examinations of the undead from the scientific staff on earth.
It didn't take long for them to realize that the undead mutate more and more over time, changing their bodies in seemingly random directions.
An undead has been found in the northern hemisphere, whose body has mutated into a giant wolf-like being.
Or they found in the southern continents, undead that adapted particularly well to the lack of food and the heat, turning completely black.
Other undead in dense metropolises, in turn, develop into hunter-like creatures that roar especially in combat.
The strangest thing so far, however, was a kind of worm that developed in the west.
The worm is unnaturally huge, wiping out city after city it passes with its huge, tooth-crammed maw.
The Sol Parliament realized that this undead virus had incredible potential to induce mutations in ways never seen before.
And greedy as people are, they ordered the secrecy of these events from the Supreme Parliament of Mankind so they could have the virus all to themselves.
You should know that the status of the Sol star system is relatively special. They are recognized as Galactic heritage and are not allowed to combine or form any alliances with other sectors.
Historically, this title has ensured that the Sol System is isolated from the rest of humanity's sectors and territories.
The lack of resources of the Sol system has then also ensured that new technologies, knowledge, economic exchange and galactic immigration did not take place within the Sol System.
The Sol System has therefore lagged behind the other sectors of humans by centuries and has so far lived in its own little bubble.
But that could all change if the Sol Parliament could better understand and harness the undead virus.
Suddenly, the Sol system could attract population and interest, and that would ultimately bring the Sol Parliament more power and prestige and fortune.
Therefore, the Sol Parliament has no intention of destroying the Earth and the undead virus.
Rather, they want to use the people of Earth as tests and lab rats.
Since then, these Separatist scum always wanted freedom from the Sol System, so please have your freedom here. In hell!
...
[DAY 45]
"How could it get so far?" the Admiral wondered as he watched some video footage of Earth and some reports on the undead from his flagship.
Countless cities and their inhabitants have already fallen and the number of dead is steadily increasing, while the number of undead has long since exceeded the number alive.
"So much destruction and death in such a short time... just madness!" said the Admiral when he closed the reports.
The Admiral was currently on its flagship over Earth's orbit, along with its own fleet.
"Then the other two Admirals also betrayed Earth and went over to the Sol Parliament and their army, and all for just a little money. Maybe Kornelius was right then and I should never have trusted the Sol Parliament. Maybe things would have turned out differently if I would have made a different decision back then" asked Admiral Odin depressed.
"Admiral that can't be, how could that have prevented any of this? You and our fleet have done their best in the fight against the undead, so please don't say such a thing." said the doctor who was at the Admiral's side suddenly.
"I gave it my all? No, I clearly didn't do that. The last thing I can do is still in front of me. If these monsters are going to destroy the Earth and the people with them, then I will make sure that I have as many as possible evacuate before all people on Earth are damned!" the Admiral explained afterwards determinedly.
"What, what are you talking about, Odin?" asked the doctor.
"I've already arranged everything, I'm sorry... Doctor" the Admiral said only and then two soldiers came with weapons in their hands and tied up the doctor.
"No! What are you planning to do Odin? What is all this about?" the doctor asked the Admial.
"My love, honey... I know you may or may not understand what I'm about to do, but I know I have to do it anyway... I'm sorry," the Admiral explained as he kissed the doctor on her forehead.
The soldiers then took the Doctor away and shortly thereafter an incoming communication request opened up.
"Admiral Odin, my old teacher, it's good to see you again after all this time." said an old friend.
"Admiral Kornelius, don't be polite, we have too much to do and you know that." said Admiral Odin.
"As fierce and eager for work as ever. Sigh well I'm getting my fleet into position and the attack will take place in exactly four days, your job will be to protect me until then, don't forget that!" said Admiral Kornelius as his fleet of Cruisers surfaced and took up position in Earth orbit.
The two Admirals are planning an all-encompassing Plasma Attack on Earth that will destroy some of the huge capitals that are completely infected. Their goal is to give the survivors more time in the Safezones to enable subsequent evacuation.
Admiral Odin's fleet will protect the Separatist fleet commanded by Admiral Kornelius while they prepare for the orbital bombardment of the planet.
The Sol Parliament decided to send its fleet after learning of the intentions of the two Admirals.
After some time, more than 50 Cruisers set out and began fighting Admiral Odin's fleet over the moon.
The two fleets collided for several days and countless soldiers, pilots and captains lost their lives in this fighting.
In the end, Admiral Odin's fleet was defeated and the Admiral was killed along with his flagship.
But his sacrifice was not in vain in the end, especially since it gave Admiral Kornelius enough time to carry out the orbital plasma attack on Earth at the 49th day after the Apocalypse.
One of the cities that was destroyed along with it was the city of Abeus, which just about fit the criteria for annihilation. In the end, however, the decision was made to wipe out the city.
Subsequently, countless transports with ground troops were sent to the various Safezones, along with supplies and weapons, and the separatist fleet withdrew again.
"Be well old man... I hope you know your sacrifice wasn't in vain." said Admiral Kornelius as he saluted.
...
What none of the Admirals or the Sol Parliament knew is that this day of the bombing ushered in the rebirth of an incomprehensible demon upon their world, which will bring annihilation and madness to the far reaches of space...