Aftermath

[Paradokz]

United Nations New York Headquarters, International Territory, New York, April 17th, 2016.

The door slowly opened, and Felix stepped in, seeing the familiar figure standing at the window across the room. Felix walked across the room, standing beside James. James stayed silent for a moment, "One year ago if you looked out this window, you'd see nothing. No people, abandoned cars... Now look. Everyone's going on about their lives like nothing happened. But in every single mind, there are the memories. The memories of four long years of fear. Memories of loss. Everyone lost something."
James uncrossed his arms, raising his left hand, carbon fiber with a palm of black silicone, "Some more than others."
James' hands fell to his sides, "From fighting in the front lines to cowering in dark rooms, the memories still resonate as if they were yesterday. We'll never be the same. We know they're still out there. Wandering, locked away, frozen. They're still everywhere. We were the last line of defense, but the line broke. When it comes down to it, the safety of the people was an instrument of social destruction. Secrets, Felix. Our secrets almost led to the extinction of the human race. It's our job now to make sure we don't make the same mistakes again."
"... You've changed."
"We've all changed. But what changed me the most is what I don't remember. How many rounds, how many I put down. How many of my men were lost. Three and a half billion, Felix. In the beginning, we were losing. Decades of military training proved useless. We hid, and they just kept growing. Before we learned how to fight back, we realized the terrible truth. Our largest adversary wasn't the ones that rose, but the inherent greed of the ones left. Things that seemed so insignificant before became reasons to kill. We thought we were prepared. But then... P'yongyang, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul... All desolate reminders of desperation in our darkest hours... It's back to us Felix. But it's not the same. The people we tried so hard to hide our existence from need to know we're here, keeping watch. They rely on us to keep them safe. And that, Felix, is why we came back. Before, we had different reasons, but now, they're blended into one."
The door opened again. James looked over his shoulder, "Welcome back, Owen."

[Paradokz]

Part 1: Panic

December 21st, 2012, United Nations New York Headquarters, International Territory, New York, 11:24

James walked to the podium, then faced the crowd, reporters along with a large amount of cameras. James leaned forward, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are completely fucked. Despite our best efforts, containment of this outbreak has failed. Armies in multiple countries are mobilizing to try to decrease the threat, however conventional warfare methods seem less than satisfactory to contain this outbreak."
James turned from the podium and left the stage.


G. Felix Casdin, Reinstated CO of AAD-10, Geneva, Switzerland, January 15th, 2013.

All 40 members of the special forces crew stood behind jersey barriers, and behind them a small fleet of dark brown Mercedes Sprinters. Felix raised his weapon, "Offen schießen!"
The sound of gunshots from 552's echoed in the air, the rounds tearing through the horde, but none falling.
"Konzentrieren auf den kopf!"
Bodies began to hit the ground, occasional shouts along the line, "Wieder laden!"
Clear polymer 30 round magazines hit the ground, the spots in their weapons replaced with a fresh mag. Felix pulled the charging handle back on his 552, flicking the select fire to semi-auto, "Halbautomatische!"
More bodies fell, just for their places to be immediately filled, "Zurückweichen!"
The entire group began to backpedal, continuing to fire. As the mags ran dry the soldiers turned, taking cover behind the vans, "Schützen das barrikade!"
The soldiers emerged from their cover, firing more rounds into the horde, "Tu nicht lassen verlieren das barrikade!"
Smoking casings showered onto the ground, as one fell over a jersey barrier, "Zurückweichem für zweite zeile!"
The fire stopped, the soldiers running back, vaulting over another set of jersey barriers.

Owen Charmichael, Reinstated CO of Green Beret 1st Battalion Bravo Company, Los Angeles, California, January 19th, 2013.

"Open fire!"
The report of AR-15's filled the air. Bodies began hitting the ground, "Keep firing, they're thinning!"
The gunshots stopped as the last of the horde hit the ground. Charmichael looked through his ACOG then lowered his weapon, "Shit.


James X. Fraust, Provisional CO of 21 SAS Regiment, London, England, January 23rd, 2013.

James looked up at the sky, "This AO is lost, fall back! Simmons, Baker, Deploy white phosphorus!"
"Roger!"
Two men ran to the front of the line with Arwen 40mm launchers. They both shot two grenades, the grenades exploding into clouds of white smoke. The horde disappeared behind the smoke as the men ran.


Operation: Darkstar Report, January 25th, 2013

US: Green Berets and Delta Force engaging hostiles. Containment failed in Seattle, WA, San Diego, CA, Dallas, TX and Miami FL.

UK: SAS Engaging hostiles. Containment failed in Bristol, Blackpool, Liverpool and Basildon

Switzerland: AAD-10 engaging hostiles. Containment failed in Geneva, Zurich, Bern and Lausanne.

Large Scale sterilization authorized for: P'yongyang, Seoul and Beijing.

[Paradokz]

Operation Brimstone
Objective: Sterilization of P'yongyang, North Korea, Seoul, South Korea and Beijing, China.
Mission Assets: 3 B-2 Spirit bomber aircraft, designation X-Ray 1-3. 12 F-5 Tiger II escort aircraft, designation Echo 1-4, Victor 1-4, Zulu 1-4. Each B2 is equipped with B53 8,850lb bombs.

[Paradokz]

Part 2: Second Sun


"X-Ray 1 in position."
"X-Ray 2 in position."
"X-Ray 3 in position."
"Roger that X-Ray, you are cleared for drop."
"X-Ray 1, dropping."
"X-Ray 2, dropping."
"X-Ray 3, dropping."

January 29th, 2013, Seoul, South Korea, 14:23

The massive white bomb spiraled toward the ground, 1,000 feet, 750 feet, 500 feet, 250 feet, 100 feet.
The shaped charges went off, compressing the core of the bomb.
It started out as a bubble, which grew and rose to form a mushroom cloud, buildings being torn apart before being incinerated by the heat of a star.


Part 3: Danger Close

January 30th, 2013, Fontana, California, 16:03

The empty magazine fell to the ground, Owen slamming another mag into his M4 before hitting the slide lock, "Where's our air support!"
"Bravo 0-1, Hammer 3-5 and Hammer 3-6 coming in hot from the north. Engaging enemies at barricade. ETA 30 seconds."
Owen turned toward his squad, "Fall back, Thunderbolts on station!"
The squad starting moving backwards from the barricade, a message came over the radio, "Hammer 3-5, guns guns guns."
"Hammer 3-6, guns guns guns."
The barricade was masked in explosions, followed shortly after by a loud cackling, followed then by a loud buzz."
"Brass coming down!"
Empty brass casings, roughly 7 inches long rained onto the ground, "Hammer 3-5, we're going to circle around and lay down some AGM and Paveways, advise you fall back."
"Hammer 3-6, missle off the rail."
"Hammer 3-5, bombs away."
The two Mavericks slammed into the ground, further thinning the horde with their explosions, then one massive explosion from the Paveway.
"Hammer 3-5, you see any more hostiles,"
"Got nothing on thermal except for our guys, maybe half a dozen hostiles."
"Bravo 0-1, you can handle this. Hammer 3-5 and 3-6 RTB."
"Roger Hammer, thanks for the assist."