Worldfall [Worldwar/Footfall Fusion]

The sun is low on the sky when I finally pull into the Mauna Kea Surveillance Observatory's parking lot. Formerly an independent facility, it is now under the jurisdiction of the federal government, as to scan the skies for potential threats.
Dr. Jennifer Paulson is an older woman, with streaks of grey in her dark brown hair. She is plumper than the old photos, but there remains a lively expression on her face when she greets me at the entrance. After a small exchange, we move inside for the interview.

Q: So, let me begin with, well, the beginning. Is it true that you were the first to detect them?

A: The first? Probably not; many seem to think the Russians actually spotted them first, due to clear weather. But we were definitely the ones to really piece it together.

Q: How so? Forgive my ignorance on the subject.

A: [Chuckles] A lot of people don't know much about it. It's not like the movies, where an alien fleet catches us off-guard. In fact, we saw the first fusion flame when it was still in the Oort Cloud. That's the so-called belt of comets beyond the Kuiper, which extends for nearly two light-years. Of course, they were less than a quarter of that distance when we first detected them.

Q: Why so early, if they were so far away?

A: Well, I think that mainly has to due with the lack of something to obscure the light. In space, there isn't anything to really hide stuff from sight, at least when we think of how foliage and haze. I mean, it's definitely there, but it's on a level far bigger than anything on Earth. Something as bright as a fusion drive? You could see that for billions of miles, especially if you have the right equipment.

Q: Why did it take so long for them to be noticed, if that was the case?

A: A number of things. We weren't looking for aliens, mind you; our focus was deep-space objects. In fact, when one of our interns noticed the flame, we briefly mistook it for a star, until we realized it had just appeared. Then, we thought it was a natural phenomenon, until we realized it was moving pretty quickly in our general direction. We got some specialists in spectroscopy to come up here, and that's when we realized it was actually a spacecraft.

Q: It must've been exciting news.

A: [Laughs] I was like a little girl! We got out the champagne for a bit, after we sent it to other observatories to confirm, which didn't take long. At the time, we were so excited about the prospect of alien life. Not just some microbes under a rock on Mars, but an intelligent species that was coming here. There's an old picture around here that shows me posing with the reflector, and I'm actually crying. It was intense, in a good way.

Then, that was when the feds contacted us about the information, asking about how long before the public would find out on their own. I guess they were worried about panic in the streets, especially in other countries. I guess I can't blame them, but they really killed the mood in the facility.

Q: What did you tell them?

A: The truth. That even amateurs with cheap refractors could see the ship. The news would quickly spread, especially on the internet, and there'd be a lot of suspicion about any silence on the matter. Besides, we contacted fifteen other observatories all around the world, and they were confirming it. There'd be no way for them to contain a leak that big, even if they tried.

That's why they decided to reveal our findings the next day, in a Presidential address. I was excited to see my face on national television, even if I was also pretty nervous. The news practically exploded, with everyone abuzz about the discovery. I mean, think about how huge of an impact the revelation would have on the world! The religions, the philosophies, the way we see ourselves in the universe. Suddenly, the galaxy just became a smaller place, all overnight.

Q: So, that was the Flishithy. How long until the Conquest Fleet was detected?

A: Two weeks, just in time for the initial freak-out to slightly weaken. We were watching the big ship like a hawk, with all the reflectors focused on it. We were getting good calculations on the deceleration when the other, stronger, fusion flames came about, coming in from a different direction. It was the Chinese who spotted that first, and they sent the findings to us for confirmation.

Paulson sighs.

That... that was scary. Mind you, we didn't know anything about what the snouts were packing. If we did, there would've been a real panic, not just celebrations and debauchery. At the time, we thought it was a contact vessel, or maybe a scientific expedition. After all, it was only one ship, and the size made sense for a ramjet. I mean, we thought about invasion, but it was at the back of our heads. We dismissed it as a silly thought, fit for a dumb blockbuster.

When I saw those two hundred and fifty six fusion flames, however...

That couldn't be for exploration. Why send that many ships, each of them bigger than an aircraft carrier, if you just wanted to talk? And we knew they had to be a different species, too; the flames were stronger, with different fuel, and they came from the direction of Tau Ceti, not Alpha Centauri. It's why we spotted them three light-years out, instead of two hundred AU.

Paulson takes a sip from her water bottle, then glanced out the window.

That was scary. The atmosphere here changed in a heartbeat; one of my interns actually swan-dived off a ledge after a night of hard drinking. Cant blame him. If an alien species could cross the void like that, and they wanted us dead... it'd be like a war between ants and boots. We were almost glad when the feds took over. It felt like I could breathe, even if it'd only be until they arrived.

Q: And how long would that be?

A: Six years, and we were lucky. I was twenty-nine when we made the discovery, and I looked fifty when everything went to hell.

 

The Race Free Zone is eerily reminiscent of the old Japanese internment camps from the 1940's, even if the similarities are superficial. The area, located on several hundred acres of previously unused land near the Great Salt Lake, is surrounded by fences capped with barbed wire, and there are armed guards at the gates. It is mainly for the safety of the inhabitants within, however; there have been a number of hate crimes in the years.

Wallafess is middle-aged by Rabotev standards. His scales have yet to grown worn and cracked, and he is still rather lively when he greets me at his little shack. Behind him, badly rusted in the rain, is the remains of the 43rd Emperor Unffor.

Q: Thank you for inviting me here. I understand that a lot of other troopmales are tightlipped about their experiences.

A: With good reason, if you ask me. Each of us here knew someone that died in the fighting, and it's never fun to reopen those old wounds. But, if it will get our side of the story out, then I'll let myself bleed.

Q: Admirable conviction. Could you give us some information on your arrival in the solar system?

A: I think you need to first understand what it was like before we actually arrived in the Tosev, er, Solar System. I might be Rabotev, but I was born on Home. I grew up there, even if I spent a few years on Rabotev. The difference between Home and this planet is... well, it's unbelievable.

Q: Could you elaborate?

A: First thing: the quiet. The civility. Home has no serious crime. Your Pyramids were brand new when we had our last murder. Most of us didn't even have locks on our doors, because we didn't have to worry about crime. I think the nation of Nippon comes closest to that, but there's still some wrinkles there. We didn't have drug trades, or mass murderers, or even corruption. I know your world has valid criticisms of mine, but peace will never be one of them.

Wallafess lets out a low hiss; his version of a sigh. He pours himself a glass of 'brandy', and takes a sip.

So, that has a big impact on your childhood. I never grew up afraid that others would hurt me. None of us did. We had nice, quiet, boring lives, with no cares in the world. I studied hard in my classes, but that was the only stress I really had. I was like a content azwaca in the field.

Q: Would you say that the troopmales who signed up during the Soldier's Time were interested in adventure?

A: More or less. Yes. Definitely; all of us chose to sign up. We had a once in a millennia opportunity to see a world never before visited by our kind, and encounter strange new things. We were embarking on one of our people's three biggest expeditions ever, and we were going to expand the Empire for the Emperor. So, we signed up, because we figured that would be better than becoming scholars or working at food-packing factories.

Q: I have to admit, there seems to be a bit of a disconnect.

A: How so?

Q: You grew up in such a peaceful environment, yet you were willing to go to war against an entire planet?

A: To be honest, I never expected I'd actually have to kill a To- er, human. None of my friends expected it either. We thought we'd just come in, show off our fancy guns, and have the planet under control in a month. I mean, I knew that the previous conquests had deaths in the thousands, but everyone thinks that they're not going to be it, that they're not going to be the ones who slaughter them. Or get slaughtered. We knew that a few dozen of us were probably going to die, but we brushed it off. We all thought 'won't be me'.

Q: I'd imagine that led to some fear among the ranks when you were woken up early.

A: I wasn't supposed to be up until we were in orbit. You should've seen how confused I was when I looked out the porthole and only saw empty space. I think we were a few days from the orbit of the fifth planet. Venus?

Q: Jupiter.

A: Truth. Beautiful world, I have to say. Home has no gas giants, and Rabotev has one that looks like a red ball. No swirling clouds, unless you're a Race male; their eyes can see some colors that I can't. But that's beside our point, isn't it?

I felt a twitch of fear in my liver when the Shiplord had us convene in one of the meeting rooms and told us officers that, not only was Tosev Three far more advanced than predicted, but that it was trying to talk with us.

Wallafess takes another sip of his brandy. His hands have a slight shake to them, which he quells when he realizes that I've noticed.

I'm trying to think of an analogy for you, to understand our panic. Imagine... imagine if you decided to go to Africa, right now, for a safari trip. Maybe you'll see the chimps, since they look pretty clever, and you might wryly think that they could become like you in a million years. But during those few hours it takes you to fly to Africa and go on safari, the chimps advance, faster than anything you've ever. When you land, they actually drive up to greet you in their own cars, and they reveal that they've figured out teleportation or some other bizarre concept. Wouldn't you be terrified by that progress?

Q: Perhaps.

A: We were! You accomplished in eight hundred of your years, what should've taken you eighty thousand. My great-great-great grandparents, whoever they were, used the same kind of phone that I did. It should've been impossible for you to reach such a state of development. And when something impossible happens, you ask yourself all sorts of questions. Are the Tosevites going to obliterate us on a whim? Are they going to capture us and pull our guts apart? Are they going to follow our trail back to Home and scorch it to ash?

We calmed down after a while, and started telling ourselves rationalizations. Maybe the Tosevites found a crashed probe of ours, or maybe another species dropped by and gave you tech for the hell of it. Anything, to make ourselves feel better.

Then we found out about the other ship. A mile long monster, armed to the teeth, orbiting around that planet of yours with the big rings. A warship, that was neither Race nor Tosevite, that was moving awfully slow for something with a fusion drive. And it was a lot harder to make rationalizations for that one.

Wallafess finishes the rest of his brandy in one gulp.

If I knew what was waiting for us, I would've stayed on Home and packed meats.

 

Ret. General Petrikov's home in Odessa has a lovely view of the Black Sea from the second-floor patio; it is there that he sits down with me to hold the interview. Between us is an old samovar that his grandfather had purchased nearly a hundred years ago, and he pours some tea as we talk.
Q: Thank you for the tea, General.

A: It's been too long since I've shared a cup with someone. I don't get many visitors these days, except for terse business matters.

Q: I'm sure you had a lot of that back before the war.

A: [Chuckles] Yes, yes, that's true. The first few months after the discovery were all too hectic. The President had us scrambling to create a working plan of defense, if only to ease the fears of the public. I had to speak with scientists, engineers, civil construction, writers...

Q: Writers?

A: That was originally the Americans' idea, though we quickly did it ourselves. After all, where else to get ideas as to protect ourselves from alien invasion, than from the men and women who constantly dreamed of it for a living?

Q: Of course, most science fiction writers play hard and fast with the 'science' part, wouldn't you think?

A: True. We were able to quickly, eh, cut the wheat from the chaff, as you would say. The writers we organized into the think tanks already had backgrounds in sociology, engineering, physics; they actually knew what they were talking about.

Q: Were they of any use?

A: I'd say that they were very useful, though my peers would likely disagree. The Americans were sharing with us ideas from their writers as well.

Q: Weren't relations tense at the time? Why would the United States freely give your country information?

A: Some more optimistic people would like to call it a sign of altruism, of overcoming national squabbles for the greater good. Others would point out that it was in the Americans' best interest that other nations would be able to defend themselves. After all, if the invaders could secure a beachhead in our country, or in another, then the United States would be at a greater risk.

The general sips his tea.

That was a conclusion our think tanks pointed out fairly swiftly.

Q: What other conclusions did they reach?

A: That we were likely going to lose, and quite badly at that.

Q: Why did they believe that?

A: You have to remember what it was like back then, before we knew anything about the yascherits or slony. They were a problem completely -completely- outside of the context that we normally acted in. We knew little to nothing of their motivations, or their capabilities. For all we knew, they could've vaporized our atmosphere with a simple flick of a switch, or infiltrate our society so subtly that we'd have no clue until it was too late. Our war games and plans covered a spectrum of technological possibilities and levels, from godlike to primitive, from bioweapons to kinetic bombardment. Almost all of them spelled certain defeat.

Q: Even assuming that they weren't much more advanced than us?

A: Ah, that is an important point to discuss, considering how it actually influenced the war. We actually created scenarios in which the yascherits had technology similar to what they actually ended up having. Of course, we made generalizations; we were fairly off in a number of regards.

That's a distraction from the subject, however. When we ran those war games, we still came to the conclusion that it would be a logistical nightmare, enough to make victory unlikely.

Q: Logistics are often called the backbone of any military campaign. How did they differ from the norm in this case?

A: I'll give you an example, though I'm sure some will be uncomfortable: suppose we were to attempt to invade the United States. Our weapons are roughly equal in performance, and our numbers are even greater than the Americans. Why was it never seriously considered, then?

Well, how would you get the army there? Regardless of what direction you chose, you would need to traverse thousands of miles by land or sea to even reach the American mainland. Imagine the difficulties in getting a large enough army to challenge the Americans to America! You'd need to create a safe supply and transportation train for fifteen million men or more, as well as their tanks and other equipment. If that train broke at any point, then your campaign would break as well.

And when you finally arrived, the Americans would have their armed forces amassed to greet you. Such a struggle would bring about too many casualties to occupy such a vast country, even if you could succeed.

Q: But the Race didn't face those problems.

A: Exactly! With those two hundred and fifty six starships, each one bigger than an aircraft carrier, they had the greatest logistics by an absurd degree. How could you defend against such an invasion? They could arrive anywhere, simply bypassing your defenses. What's an ocean or mountain range to a ship that can travel light-years? How can your artillery hit something in orbit? Once the war begun, they could land starships anywhere they wanted, and deploy their forces before we had time to respond. They did do such a thing. It's why they made initial great strides where they landed.

Q: And you had to prepare a defense against that?

A: Da. We had almost nothing to work with. We figured that the most likely landing zones would be as close to the equator as possible, due to the fact that it takes much more energy to land at higher latitudes, but that was still making many assumptions, including the idea that they simply wouldn't scour us from orbit. All we could do was prepare locations for evacuations, build up our forces, and work on weapons that could be effective against ships in orbit. The Americans did a little extra, making equipment that would be hard to detect from orbit, but we decided that was too much work for too little gain.

Q: That sounds like nightmarish work, General.

A: It was. I knew, that even if they didn't simply kill us all from orbit, even if they weren't much more advanced than us... the fight would not be easy.

 

Despite being middle-aged by his people's standards, Harpanet is a rather lively fi'; he decides to give his interview while going on a stroll around the White House. We are flanked by Secret Service agents, one of whom is also a fi'.

Q: Thank you for taking some time out of your schedule to talk with me, Harpanet.

A: There is no need to give thanks. The pasts of our herds is important to understand, lest we make the same mistakes in the future.

Q: True enough. Let's start with some basics.

A: Lead me.

Q: When did your old herd become aware of the situation on Earth?

A: We knew next to nothing of your herd. We left Hearth many octuples of years ago, before your radio signals became strong enough to examine. All we knew was that there was intelligence on your world, and that Winterhome was suitable for life.

Q: No information about us were left in the thuktunthp?

A: No. It seems that even the ones who came before us did not examine your world enough to learn of you. We had to learn everything of your herd as we entered the solar system, and inserted ourselves into orbit around the sixth planet. We listened intently to your radio broadcasts during that time, deciphering your languages with difficulty.

Q: Did you find anything surprising?

A: Almost all was surprising. Many things confused us. Much of the data you produced simply involved stylized mating rituals, the prom- no, the porn. We hypothesized for some time that your species needed to teach your young how to mate.

Q: So your species does not romanticize mating?

A: We have mating sculptures, during the season, but we do not think much of them when we are out of heat.

There was more than just that. Many aspects of Winterhome culture were alien to us, at least initially. The sheer volume of it was part of our surprise. Some of our Breakers grew fond of your entertainment, once they began to learn the language.

Of course, they also became worried.

Q: How so?

We were confused by the political state of your world. How herds did not try to absorb smaller ones, save for certain occasions. How the conquered rarely became loyal to the conquerers. Slowly, we came to realize that your herd was unlike ours, and that the conquest may prove more difficult that originally anticipated.

I was aware of little of this while serving aboard Message Bearer. I was a simple soldier in an octuple. While we were in the ringed system, I did a great deal of manual labor, helping Message Bearer resupply. The officers impressed upon us the need for urgency, especially after we destroyed a small probe made by your kind.

Q: That was Cassini.

So I have been told. A scientific instrument, yet it was like a fire lit beneath our snouts, pushing us into action. We were to have spent twelve of your years in the system, but instead we spent four. We collected ice for hydration and fuel, and whatever metal we could scrounge from small moonlets, in order to make weapons. We worked tirelessly, to the point that some of our number suffered nervous breakdowns.

I myself did not suffer as such, but it was unpleasant. I didn't even have the time to fully enjoy the beauty of the system, with the way the distant sun caught on the rings.

Q: Did you agree with the faction that wanted to colonize space, instead of Earth?

A: I did not want to focus on politics. Yet, in retrospect, I feel that was a mistake.

 

Initial transmission is sent to the Hetto in lunar orbit at 12:00 PM, Greenwich Time.

12:00.02 [UN Special Assembly]: "This a transmission to the fleet in lunar orbit, sent from the United Nations Special Assembly. Repeat, this is a transmission to the fleet-"

Sixteen seconds of static pass, during which there is an unintelligible conversation from the Hetto.

12:00.23 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "This is Kirel, Shiplord of the 127th Emperor Hetto. How is that you know the language of the Race?"

12:00.40 [UN Special Assembly]: "We have studied your language for five of our years. We have been listening to radio transmissions broadcasted between the ships in your fleet."

12:01:11 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "What is the purpose of this transmission?"

12:01:20 [UN Special Assembly]: "We desire a dialog with the one in charge of your fleet."

Another minute of static passes with an unintelligible conversation from the Hetto.

12:02:32 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "This is Atvar, Fleetlord of the Conquest Fleet, as decreed by the 42nd Emperor Risson. Will you surrender peacefully to the Race?"

The Special Assembly waits one minute before a reply, during which there is a short but furious discussion amongst the Security Council as to how the reply shall be worded.

12:04:10 [UN Special Assembly]: "The 197 sovereign nations of Earth have unanimously rejected the offer of surrender, as sent by the Fleetlord."

12:04:43 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "You Tosevites have clearly shown yourselves to be relatively civilized and intelligent. It would be unwise to reject our offer of a peaceful surrender and suffer a conquest that will result in great loss of life and widespread destruction for your world."

12:05:02 [UN Special Assembly]: "The Special Assembly refuses be intimidated by threats of violence. The success of your conquest is far from guaranteed."

12:05:48 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "It is evident that you Tosevites know little of us. We have conquered two planets before this conquest. By our estimates, the most recent conquest was approximately nine thousand of your years ago. Your species was still only experimenting with primitive agriculture while we were traversing the stars and bringing entire planets into the fold for the Emperor."

12:06:12 [UN Special Assembly]: "And now our world is capable of spaceflight itself. We are aware of the subjugation of the Rabotevs and Hallessi, but we are also aware that they were apparently at far lower technological levels to our own civilization. We are undoubtedly the most advanced species you have encountered."

12:06.56 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "Your technological development would only make colonization easier; it would fail to keep your world from being absorbed into the Empire."

12:07:21 [UN Special Assembly]: "The Special Assembly disagrees strongly with your statement. We do not desire war with the Race, and would rather engage in a peaceful exchange of knowledge, culture, and technology. It is the opinion of the Assembly that such an exchange would mutually benefit our worlds. We are currently transmitting the document that details what we would be willing to exchange with the Empire of the Race."

Twelve minutes of static pass.

12:17:45 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "You Tosevites have the audacity to demand access to our coldsleep technology and spaceflight technology? And for what? Material sciences? Mere documents on biological sciences and physics? And what is this... nanotechnology? What matter of trickery is this?"

12:18:04 [UN Special Assembly]: "We are attempting no trickery upon the Empire of the Race. We simply desire a peaceful coexistence, and perhaps a military alliance."

12:18:43 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "For whatever reason would the Race ally with you Tosevites?"

12:19:01 [UN Special Assembly]: "The other spacecraft in the solar system is not of our construction, and is evidently not our yours. One of our probes in the system was able to discover that the ship is heavily armed, and is likely to attempt a conquest of our planet, much as you so desire. Such an attack, while we are embroiled in war, could spell disaster for both of our worlds."

12:19:58 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "Once again, you are attempting to deceive us by suggesting that we divert our forces to combat a phantom enemy. That spacecraft will have no impact on our conquest, and it's creators will fall into the fold as well."

Twenty seconds of static pass.

12:20:18 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "Your use of terms imply that your world is not unified under a single government. Which not-empires possess the greatest power on this planet?"

12:21:00 [UN Special Assembly]: "That topic has no clout on our current dialog."

12:21:09 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "I disagree. You speak of alliances, and now I shall as well. To the strongest not-empires on Tosev Three, I extend the offer of an alliance: We shall use the full might of the Conquest Fleet to assist you in subduing the rest of the planet. In exchange, our not-empires will be the ruling authorities on Tosev Three, answering only to the Race."

12:21:57 [UN Special Assembly]: "The Special Assembly unanimously rejects your offer of an alliance with any member nation. It is no doubt that you would reject such an offer if the roles were reversed."

12:22:14 [127th Emperor Hetto]: "The roles are not reversed for a reason. We are the Race! We are the true culture of the universe. and you shall be brought under the rule of the Emperor, as was decreed nearly nine hundred of your years ago. If you do not surrender now, your world shall be brought to heel by force."

12:23:12 [UN Special Assembly]: "As all attempts of diplomacy have failed, all 197 members of the United Nations unanimously declare war upon the Empire of the Race. The offer of your surrender will remain open for the time being."

End transmission.

 

Our walk around the White House grounds bring us to a secluded mud-pit, one that has been used by Harpanet and his family for a good seventeen years. He slinks inside and wallows around a bit, explaining that it helps to ease his arthritis. I decide to join him, feeling that it'll make the interview easier.

Q: You've already mentioned that you were aware of the Race Conquest Fleet. How did their presence change your plans?

A: The other traveler herd was deemed a secondary target by the Herdmaster. After all, what they could offer us was far less than what Winterhome would gift. Our first and foremost desire was for planet to live on.

Q: Were you also able to intercept their radio transmissions and work on translating their language?

A: Yes, but with great difficulty. We barely had a child's understanding of the language before the war came.

Harpanet sucks some mud into his trunk, and sprays it over his back, a contented look on his face.

Q: What were the plans regarding them?

A: We felt they were of little threat to us; we knew that their ships had no weapons, no defenses. Our digit ships would make short work of them, we decided. Winterhome was the main threat, based on what we gathered from our observations.

Q: What was the plan regarding Winterhome, then?

A: From what I heard from the higher-ups, we were to insert ourselves into an orbit that would bring us to Winterhome three of your months after the other herd's arrival. We felt that a conflict between your two herds would result in both being sufficiently weakened by that time, without rendering too much infrastructure unusable.

Q: Which is when you'd make your strike.

A: As we did. The plan was to make landings in fertile regions on the planet once we'd rid the orbitals of the fleet. Such landings would be preceded by strikes on military infrastructure, to slow down your response time.

Q: Why fertile regions?

A: We felt that your herd would be far less willing to contaminate your breadbaskets with fallout than you would a desert or tundra. Successful nuclear strikes were undesirable, naturally. Even if losses were minimal, it would still make the planet less and less desirable. We were already appalled by your willingness to soil your own garden.

Q: And yet you were bringing the Foot along?

Harpanet falls silent for a few moments, absentmindedly stirring the mud with his trunk.

A: It seems that one of the universals of culture, no matter what world you hail from, is hypocrisy. It was a lesson we would soon learn in the war to come.
​

 

My next interviewee is perhaps the most elusive and difficult one to find an audience with. It took two months of paperwork and background screening before I was allowed an appointment. Surprisingly, however, I am allowed to speak with him in person, rather than the phone call I was expecting.

The small state-of-the art building in New York City, just a street over from the UN Headquarters, is the newest embassy in America. I am escorted inside by armed guards, taking care to avoid the protestors and counter-protestors that have been flaring up in the past few weeks. Once I am inside, I am patted down once again, then passed through bomb-detecting equipment, which would've safely detonated any explosives smuggled inside my body.

As an old Hallessi guard explains, they've had to replace the blast-shields once before.

Finally, I am allowed into the office of one of the most controversial figures of the 21st Century. It is a small, comfy room, with solid wooden furniture. It seems that Fleetlord Atvar prefers to surround himself with old things, both human and Race-made.

The Fleetlord himself looks very old, despite being what most Race males would describe as "middle-aged". He wordlessly gestures for me to sit, then pours a glass of Race brandy.

Q: Thank you for allowing this interview, Exalted Fleetlord.

A: I am unsure of how much clout my title holds, anymore. That is unimportant for the time being, however; my silence has been damning enough, and it is time that truth is wholly revealed at this twilight hour. Ask your questions.

Q: Very well. Let's start with how you responded to the first signs of Earth's drastic change since the last probe.

A: That was many years ago, but I remember it distinctly. It was Kirel who woke me from coldsleep as we passed the orbit of Tosev Eight, and informed me that Earth had sent a tight-beam contact package to us. You have probably never experienced coldsleep, but know that when you wake from it, your mind is clouded. It may take a few minutes to even remember your name, or where you are.

So, when Kirel told me the news, I initially assumed that he was making a bad joke. I even laughed at him, then asked for the real status report. It wasn't until he showed me the data that my liver turned cold with dreadful realization.

Q: What was your response to the contact package?

A: I called an emergency meeting of the shiplords, and as one we reviewed the information over and over again. I had Ttolmass examine it, and see what psychological information he could extrapolate. Very little, unfortunately. Some of us theorized that you had become the client species of some unseen empire, but the lack of anything other than your species seemed to disprove that hypothesis.

At the same time, we reviewed the contact package to see what military strength we could surmise. You were wise to not show anything militarized, or the locations of key industrial areas when showing off your technology. The more hopeful claimed that your world had no weapons, but the warlike visages we saw in our probes was enough evidence for me that you would be armed. Our guesswork ran from simple gunpowder weapons to technology that could rival our own before the Emperor unified Home.

Then more contact packages arrived, and we realized how advanced you'd become in the past 1600 of our years.

Q: What did you do then?

A: We first decided to withhold the information from the troopmales, out of fear of what such a revelation would do to morale. Then, we began to debate what to do regarding you. Kirel advocated that we spend five years studying Earth before making any moves, whether it be a retreat or a continuation of the conquest. Straha suggested that we simply break out the atomics and turn your civilization into radioactive rubble. He was the loudest of us during this time, constantly speaking of how we couldn't simply leave the Tosevites alone.

Q: And what was your ultimate decision?

A: I was at a most unpleasant crossroads. Do we simply retreat, and be disgraced by the Emperor for our cowardly failure, or do we proceed on what could result in our destruction, and thereby risk the lives of the Colonization Fleet? Of course, I was still a haughty Fleetlord of the Race; more than anyone it had been drilled into me the superiority of the Race, and the reputation that I carried onto my shoulders into the blackness of interstellar space. Defeat was not simply undesirable, it was unthinkable.

When we arrived in orbit around your moon and received radio communications in our tongue, I knew that even a successful conquest would be drenched in blood. Immediately demanding your surrender was a last-ditch attempt on my part, to subvert the bloodshed and peacefully win your world.

I was more fearful than I cared to admit when your United Nations unanimously declared war. There was something about the way it had been said, you see.

Q: How so?

A: As far as we were concerned, the Race was the only real culture in the universe. Our laws were the true laws, our form of government the only way. Everyone else were simply collections of savages barely scraping by, not worthy of legal attention. We did not officially declare war on the Rabotevs, or hold a ceremonial surrender when the last of the Hallessi were brought under heel. We simply came and conquered them, refusing to acknowledge what laws or polities they had.

However, the way your world declared war on us, with the ceremony and formality of it... this was not a group of savages we would simply roll over. This was an equal to our own, letting us know of the war that would come.

And so, the war came.

Q: Would you care to elaborate a little on the invasion plan?

A: I knew that numbers would be key in winning over important areas. Even if the Tosevites were of comparable technology to us, we'd hoped that our numbers would win the planet. After all, forty-five million troop males is nothing to jest at. From our population projections, we knew that such an army would be bigger than any one Tosevite army.

We also hoped that your more advanced technology could be used against you. The detonation of six explosive metal bombs in the upper atmosphere at key parts of the planet should've been enough to render much of your technology useless, we felt, and so we prepared our killercraft to deliver it.

Our landing sites I chose two months in advance. We would land near Mumbai'i, São Paulo, Beijing, Shanghai, Cairo, Johannesburg, Mogadishu, Islamabad, Ulaan Batar, Tehran, El Paso, St. Louis, Monterrey, and Zanzibar. Five ships per landing site, which would allow us to deposit seventy starships. All in all, we were to land twelve million troopmales on the opening day, hoping that our overwhelming superiority would win us the day. We would then land ten more starships in the Southern Hemisphere as we saw fit over the next few months. Once your abysmal northern winters landed, we would then land our remaining forces in key locations there.

Let me think... during the summer we were to land near Kiev, Oslo, London, York, Paris, Versailles, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Madrid, Barcelona, Pisa, Phoenix, Houston, Washington DC, Seattle, and Tokyo. This time, we would land ten ships per site, unloading thirty million more troops.

We estimated that we would be able to conquer the planet within the year, if the Emperor was on our side. Which, we naturally believed, he was.

And so, the invasion began just three days before that Americanish holiday of yours. The one with the turkeys.