Events blurred together after that. It was a swirl of meetings, calls, and staring at menus and sub-menus in the RAC store and various skill sets. Anya didn’t sleep much, but she found it wasn’t really as much of a necessity anymore. If she’d used her skills a lot, especially regeneration, she found sleep helped immensely. But if she had just been awake and not exerting herself to superhuman levels, she was fine.

Most hosts were the same, but everyone else——Hanover, MacDougal, Johnson, Huang, and other world leaders——needed their sleep. They did so in shifts, so somebody was always available to approve a decision or call a meeting.

In less than twenty-four hours following the conversation with Engineer, a basic plan of attack was made.

Operation Wormwood was projected into the air in the center of Gary’s new Ready Room. He had built his second, larger, more powerful factory in the middle of Antarctica. It was twice the size and according to him, at least twice as efficient as the old factory, which made sense. Gary had leveled up significantly, on the cusp of level 100.

The Ready Room itself was much the same, though slightly bigger and with individual holographic displays set into the tiered, circular tables that spread out from the main holographic display in the middle in concentric rings.

“Phase 1 will be firing guided missiles and every other type of bomb Hendricks and Huang can put together with their factories,” General Johnson said. All of the hosts were present, as well as representatives from each country.

Anya sat with MacDougal and the American hosts, minus Chell. Renn had come by and declared Immonen free of any alien influence, and both he and the doctor had set to speeding Chell’s recovery as best they could. She had woken briefly, said she was fine, but exhausted, then fallen back asleep. Samaira sat ramrod straight in her chair, Chandrali asleep in her lap as she tapped out notes into her menu. Pan sat beside Anya, clicking his claws together, while Gary sat on the other side of MacDougal, arms folded across his broad chest as he leaned back in his chair.

“We suspect the aliens will have defenses against most of these, but total annihilation isn’t our goal here, just to cut them down a bit, maybe break up the asteroid itself if we’re lucky,” Johnson continued. The holographic display showed hundreds of thousands of tiny glowing dots leaving Earth and zooming toward a distant (but not to scale) Asteroid Willis.

“The missiles are mostly a distraction for Phase 2: unmanned rockets that will land on the asteroid and use their automatic equipment to crack it open and scatter the pieces,” Johnson said. “Hendricks, how many of the digger rockets do you have?”

“Finished number 224 while you were giving that explanation. Should be up to 250 by the time your show is over, and hopefully 500 when it’s go-time,” Gary replied.

“And how many of those do you expect to actually work?” Admiral Jeffries from Australia asked.

“Maybe half if we’re very lucky,” Johnson said. “Hendricks has continued to send modified drones at Willis, and has a decent estimate of the aliens’ defensive capabilities. While there are millions of the freaks, most of them appear to be in some kind of hibernation, with only a small percentage on sentry duty. Even if they were all to wake up, the missile shield will either provide cover for the rockets to do their thing, or they’ll hit the asteroid. We’ve got enough redundancies for these two phases that Willis and the aliens on it will suffer some damage.”

“Saying that shit out loud is begging for trouble, mate,” Cooper said.

“Well, if it doesn’t work out, that’s why we have Phase 3,” Johnson said. The hologram of Willis moved closer to Earth, still fully intact, and several hundred-thousand miles away from the moon. A dotted, flashing red line appeared between it and the moon.

"This is our outer defensive line, composed of large attack satellites and housing squads of attack droids. They'll be supported by any hosts who have the ability to fight in deep space. While Phase 3 isn't equipped to deal damage to the asteroid directly, it will focus on clearing out aliens on the surface as much as possible. As Willis passes the outer defensive line, the satellites and droids will follow it until they or their targets are fully destroyed. Any hosts stationed on the defensive line will fall back to successive phases as needed.

"Which brings us to Phase 4: Lunar Base Prime, our greatest chance at obliterating Willis and everything on it. Generalissimo Huang is primarily responsible for setting up Lunar Base Prime. It’s currently 78% completed thanks to help from Hendricks and several Asian hosts and governments lending their skills and resources,” Johnson said. “We’re assuming worst-case scenarios for every phase. In Phase 4, Willis is still fully intact and fully populated with aliens. Lunar Base Prime will be host to a deluxe Mori Cannon that will fire upon Willis when it's within range.”

The hologram zoomed in on the moon to show a series of domes connected by tubes on the lunar surface. The central dome was an enormous observatory with what Anya had first thought was a telescope poking out, but then realized it was a cannon the size of several buildings strapped together.

“Holy shit, you turned the moon into the fucking Death Star,” she said.

“We’re not keeping it,” MacDougal muttered. “No way we’re just leaving an orbital weapon in the hands of the Chinese.”

“I’m sure it would be much safer with you,” Gary grumbled.

“Once Asteroid Willis comes within range, the Deluxe Mori Cannon, or DMC, will fire. It’s output has been confirmed to be…substantial. Even if the asteroid is fully intact at this point, it will still suffer massive damage.”

“What’s that dotted red line between the earth and the moon?” Samaira asked.

“That’s the point of no return,” Johnson said. “If the asteroid is still fully intact when it crosses that line, it’s an extinction event for the whole planet. We won't have enough time to separate the pieces of Willis even if we destroy it once it crosses that line, and that's it. We must crack it at the lunar base. However, if we can reduce it by at least 50%, we'll have a chance at finishing it off.

"Which brings me to Phase 5: The inner defensive line. The inner defensive line is the red line in space here, and will but filled with powerful drones and orbital weaponry, and several orbiting stations. Hendricks has also constructed a number of space-faring vehicles capable of unmanned flight or with a pilot. Any host who is capable of surviving in space or who can do so with basic equipment will be required to go to the asteroid itself and fight and use whatever skills or RAC purchases needed to crack Willis up before it passes the inner defensive line. If we can’t break Willis here and starting pushing its trajectory around Earth, it’s the end for all of us. But, if we can manage to break it just a little, we have a chance.

"Phase 6 will be the effort of all hosts who could not go into space. They will patrol the upper and lower atmosphere as needed to do their best to break everything up that gets through the inner defensive line. The rest of Earth’s militaries will help by hurling every single piece of conventional weaponry we have at whatever remains of Willis before it breaks through the lower atmosphere. Generalissimo Huang will be supplying all militaries with upgraded weapons and defense. Hendricks will be doing the same, but most of his resources will be focused on orbital weaponry and drone production.

“If, for some reason, there is still a threat, we move onto Phase 7: ground assault. If neither Earth nor the creatures on Willis are dead yet, we will begin a coordinated ground assault on any fallen asteroid chunks. Hosts like Kemuel and others with high mobility will act as scouts to identify exact locations of asteroid impacts and focus on evacuating civilians if necessary. Hosts will be sent as the first wave to each asteroid, backed-up by as many Exterminators and combat droids as our factories can muster, along with any remaining orbital assets.”

Johnson clapped his hands once as he finished.

“That’s it. That’s what myself, the President and most of you have agreed to,” he said.

“There’s a few things you forgot to mention,” Generalissimo Huang said as he stood up.

“Some things we didn’t quite agree on, either,” Johnson said.

“It’s unavoidable that the longer the asteroid remains intact, the greater chance of Earth’s destruction,” Huang said. “I propose we send a large number of hosts with the digging rockets to ensure their protection, and better guarantee an early result in cracking Willis. Preferably strong hosts that could also aid the diggers or be capable of breaking the asteroid itself.”

“It’d be suicide,” Johnson said. “And we’d be short of hosts for the later phases.”

“Holding onto resources until the last minute could endanger us all,” Huang replied.

“Not just resources ya fucking twat,” Brody said and blew a plume of smoke in Huang’s direction. The humanoid shark was hunched forward, his enormous muscles bulging beneath his gray skin.

“If I may?” President Bisset asked as he stood. The President of France raised his hand, and Renn stood up beside him. “I have a suggestion that may appease everyone.”

“Please, feel free Mr. President,” Johnson said. President Hanover started to stand before MacDougal scowled at him and waved him down. President Bisset nodded his thanks to General Johnson.

“We do not have time or resources to spend on duplicating Phases 1 and 2 if they should prove a failure, yes?” Bisset asked.

“Correct,” Gary said. “I could make more bombs and digger rockets, but not in the amounts we’d need in the time we have. We got one shot at full power.”

“Then a compromise. Renn has volunteered to go and personally escort the rockets,” Bisset said. The huge chamber was filled with murmuring, and a sudden, furious woman’s voice.

“Absolutely not!” Mona shouted as she stood. She was seated next to Prime Minister Stark of the UK, a couple levels above Renn in the tiered seating. She jabbed a finger down at the masked Frenchman. “If you think I’m letting you just throw your life away after everything we’ve planned——”

“I would not be throwing it away,” Renn said.

“Like hell! There’s millions of the bastards on that thing!” Mona said.

“And they will be occupied by massively destructive weapons, decoys, and more,” Renn said, voice calm and even. “I don’t need to fight them all, just keep the ones away from a small number of the digger rockets. Even one would do, right Gary?”

“One of the digger rockets, in the right place and given enough time to burrow into the asteroid, could do significant damage,” Gary said.

“You’d be alone against millions, still!” Mona said.

“No. I’m suggesting a compromise between General Johnson and Generalissimo Huang. Instead of sending no hosts or many hosts, we send just two. Myself, and Anya Nowicki.”

“Me?” Anya asked.

“While Gary and Yai are at the highest levels, their abilities are better used here. What we need to do is destroy that asteroid. I can think of nobody better at pure destruction than you,” Renn said. “And as I understood it, you also receive significant bonuses to operating off-world, yes? And a token for a ship from the RAC store.”

“If you’re so interested in destruction, why are you going?” Anya asked.

“I have capabilities beyond what I am comfortable using while on Earth,” Renn said. “Which is something I think you can empathize with.”

Anya didn’t respond. He was right, but there was no way she was going to admit to that in a room full of other hosts and world leaders. Ever since Honolulu when she’d ridden the volcanic explosion, she’d thought about it. It was one of the reasons why Alien Omega had been such a disappointment. There had been no real fight there at all, no excuse for her to really cut loose. She had implemented her level 87 build, and knew that at this strength, she would be able to make the incident in Honolulu look like an amateur fireworks display.

“There are other potential hosts who may be useful, such as Pan, but, and no offense my small friend, I do not think you have the temperament for this,” Renn said.

“None taken! It sounds really scary!” Pan said.

“Any hosts beyond two-to-three would leave the later phases ill-prepared for worst-case scenarios. And if either you or I were to fully unleash our destructive power on or near Earth, we could cause collateral damage,” Renn said. “We are best utilized the farthest away, and when the asteroid is at its strongest. Besides, the aliens may have psychic abilities like Omega, and if that is the case, any other host going will require psychic protection.”

“I——” Anya started to say.

“We’ll need to confer with the President,” MacDougal interrupted. “In the mean time, the rest of the plan is sound, and we have no time to waste. I suggest we all get to work while we decide what to do regarding…this. Perhaps if Generals Huang and Johnson and President Bisset would meet with us to discuss this further?”

“Of course,” Bisset replied and Huang nodded. The rest of the attendants rose and filed out or gravitated to the edges of the room to hold their own discussions.

Anya stood, then turned to Samaira as the other woman touched her on the shoulder.

“I know you know this already,” Samaira said, “but be careful of Renn. You’ve been pretty openly suspicious of him since day one and now he’s proposing to take you with him to the middle of nowhere with just himself and millions of aliens for company.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Anya said.

“Just…don’t let them push you into anything,” Samaira said.

“I won’t. Thanks, Captain.”

Samaira looked like she wanted to say something else, but closed her mouth and gave Anya a wave before she said, “Good luck.”

Anya looked at the small group of Renn, Bisset, Huang, and Johnson. All of them turned to look at her and MacDougal waved her over. Anya sighed and said, “Yeah. Good luck.”