Toeth's discussion with Deputy Trig was brief but his directive was unambiguous.

Send a message to the hidden Humans as well anyone who makes the grim mistake of trying to protect the species. The ultimate price will be paid for anyone who interferes in Zeta affairs.

Toeth was not particularly surprised when he learned of Human existence outside of Terra. He knew that the beings had support from several member systems within the Sektor V Council, including the Chairman's homeworld of Arcturus. The fact that the Rigel Colony had already expanded to nearly two million individuals also did not phase the Zeta Supreme Leader given the species known ability to reproduce at rates typically reserved for viral organisms. While such a ravenous trait was generally considered vile by most advanced beings (not to mention wholly unsustainable if left unchecked), it was precisely this unfettered reproductive capability that gave him great hope that the long-standing Zeta fertility crisis might soon be coming to an end. After an Earth century of hybridization experimentation, Toeth knew that his scientists were getting close...very close. Once they reached their objective he also knew that they would have no further use for the Humans or any of the other Hybrid Colony outposts that were currently being occupied. If anything was marginally unexpected from the previous day's revelation, it was that the seemingly neutral Alpha Centaurians were involved. Toeth knew that a message had to be sent to both the exo-Terran Humans as well as the openly defiant Alpha Centaurians. In the end, Toeth decided to leave the mission particulars to his Deputy, who was only more than happy to execute the bloody details...

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Dr. Allison Coker, who technically also had the title of General Allison Coker (but refused to go by that designation), did not respond.

Lt. Volker repeated himself but still did not receive a reply.

He turned and looked up at her from his nearby station.

"Ma'am'?"

"I heard you, lieutenant. There was no need to repeat yourself, stand by...."

"Get Dr. Holland up here, ASAP."

"Yes Ma'am", replied Volker.

Irritating. Where the hell is he? she fumed internally.

After receiving advance warning of a possible Zeta strike from Triugha's Global Secretariat six weeks earlier, Coker's entire execution team was instructed to be on call 24/7 and within 15 minutes from mission control at all times. That requirement included Holland...

She knew her team was on edge. How could they not be? This was something she and her predecessors knew could come at any time on Rigel. But knowing an event might happen and having it actually happen are two different things entirely. The fact that simple greed was the triggering mechanism for the impending conflict made her sick to her stomach. But none of that mattered now. At this point, she had to do whatever she could to save as many of her people as possible. Even more importantly, she had to save their science at all costs. As sad as that was for her to admit, it nevertheless was the absolute truth. Their century-long bioresearch would be the key to eventually getting back home...their real home...Earth.

For now, she had no time for such existential thoughts. She was too busy helping her teams put the final touches on securing the water, food, ammunition, and other basic requirements they would need to simply survive the coming attack. She knew they would take significant losses on the surface. That much was inevitable. Total eradication was unthinkable and she had done everything she could to eliminate that outcome as a possibility. The frequency of the drills they had run over the past month had put Rigel's general population on edge but she hoped that same uneasiness would translate to a higher readiness rate and ultimately, a higher rate of survival. Coker had put her people out of harm's way and now all she could do, all any of them could do, was wait and hope that it was enough.

The sound of a door opening behind her abruptly broke her train of thought.

It was Holland. Finally.

Dr. Steven Holland entered the room with a smile on his face. This only added to Coker's existing level of irritation.

"What could possibly be amusing at a time like this?" she snapped at him.

"Well hello, Dr. Coker. Always nice to see you in a chipper mood."

She had no patience or time for this crap.

"The inner perimeter AWADS beacon was just tripped. They will be here very soon."

"Have you engaged the planetary emergency warning system?" Holland asked her.

"No."

He looked at her, waiting for more.

Nothing else was offered.

"Ok, fine. Why not?" he asked with an air of annoyance.

"Well, first off, I was waiting for your return since it's your job to initiate the warning system, and secondly, I don't think that it really matters at this point. As it stands now, They'll think it's another drill. Which is likely a good thing for everyone involved."

Holland looked at her dumbfounded.

"What's going on Allison? We've been over this countless times. We need to warn the people. They have the right to know what's going on, and within the hour, they will know whether we tell them or not. All of us, in some way, have prepared for this day for over a century. We knew it would come, and now here it is..."

She knew he was right. But it was still very hard to accept. She had no idea how devastating this strike would be. They were hunkered down but had no real capacity to strike back. At least not yet...

"Fine. Lieutenant, send out the warning through the Global Transmission System. Get everyone into their final ready points," she added.

Holland was still looking at her quizzically.

"And...?"

"And let them know that this is not a drill." She said with her eyes closed as she exhaled deeply.

Holland turned to directly face her and grabbed both shoulders.

"We're going to get through this Allison. Those frail pieces of shit will not bring our species to our knees. Not today. Not ever. Moreover, this marks the day we finally move against these bastards. This is not the end. It marks the day of our new beginning."

Despite his tendency to be an aloof ass most of the time, he did have his moments, she thought as she bit her lower lip.

"You better be right, Holland. We both are getting way too old for this shit."

Just as those words left her mouth an alarm went off.

Her Lieutenant spoke.

"Ma'am, we have our first strike. It's in the northern hemisphere. Unpopulated. Looks like one of our power relay stations."

"Put it on visual," she replied.

Suspended holographic imagery from a polar-orbiting environmental satellite provided the close-up, high-resolution detail she requested...

Just as she had anticipated, one of her 'sore thumb' decoys had been hit. Good...waste time and resources where it won't matter, she thought.

"Thank you, lieutenant," she said calmly. "Please continue to keep me apprised..."

"Fake?" Holland asked her. Coker nodded.

Despite complaints that her team's efforts were a "waste of time and resources", Coker had insisted that they establish several 'high value' intricate decoys. Her contention was that these bogus targets would occupy their attacker's time and attention whenever that fateful day ultimately arrived. Today, as it turned out, would be that day.

Holland spoke.

"Lieutenant, please put up visuals covering every strategic and population-dense high-value target area you can. I want to see as much of Rigel as possible."

Within seconds, almost every inch of the room's available walls and curved ceiling became lit up with high-resolution, real-time imagery.

"That's more like it, thank you," he added.

"Let them think they are thoroughly incapacitating us," she told Holland. "If the diversions save one civilian life, the time and effort we spent setting them up was worth it. Of course, if these bastards go for every city and every target it won't matter..."

Holland scoffed at the notion.

"Allison, you worry too much. These clowns still have to maintain some respect for the power of the Sektor V Council. Outright annihilation would set off a Galactic shitstorm. They know this and I'm willing to bet that they don't want to take it that far."

"I think you underestimate Zeta aggression and overestimate the value of Human life to the rest of the S5 Council," she replied. "If they make the mistake of also attacking Triugha then I will agree with your assessment. In that case, they'll be overplaying their hand. I guess we shall soon find out what they have in mind..."

As she finished her last thought, one of the monitors lit up in bright orange and black. After a moment the lieutenant spoke.

"Ma'am, that was New Rome. They are under heavy bombardment. Conventional weaponry it seems. Our sensor array is picking up no signs of any radiative fallout. We have no evidence of nuclear detonation..."

No sound accompanied the imagery, but other screens continued to light up.

Holland and Coker stood in silent disbelief as they helplessly watched city after city being knocked out in front of their eyes.

She saw New Belgium, followed by New Chicago, the largest population center on Rigel, get leveled within two minutes. There was no break in the horrific destruction. She started to feel numb all over. Was this really happening?

Then, just as quickly as it began, it ended. In all, the attacks lasted just over ten minutes, even though the non-stop, real-time visualization of the heavy losses made it feel much longer than that.

After a few moments, Holland finally spoke.

"How many centers were hit, lieutenant?"

"Six," Volker replied. "Initial damage reports are starting to come in. Casualties appear to be moderate thanks in large part to our sub-surface evacuation efforts but most of the infrastructure associated with these urban areas appears to have been destroyed."

"We can rebuild things. Lives can't be resurrected," Coker added.

"We lost too many people today, Allison. We did our best but it still wasn't enough."

"Perhaps not," she replied, "but there's no question that it would have been far worse if we didn't prepare. It's odd that over half our cities and most of our water storage and power generation facilities appear to be unaffected. Can you confirm this lieutenant?"

"It would seem so ma'am. That said, I do not have full intel on what exactly has transpired planet-wide. That will take days to fully sort out."

"Fair enough. For now, keep the shelters active," she added. "This attack may not be over."

"Oh, it's over Allison," Holland interjected. "This was the message they wanted to send. It's also a stupid strategy, but that's not surprising. Once again, these soulless beings have underestimated Human resiliency along with our ability to harbor an unwavering desire for revenge. It looks like they will never learn. Unless you kill every last one of us, you better watch your back. They will soon regret their decision to not come at us in full force."

She could see the vitriol in his eyes. It was a look she was all too familiar with, and one she regularly witnessed during her younger years on Rigel when survival itself was not a given. Lately, she worried that people were getting too complacent, too soft, as life on Rigel got easier and easier as time went by. Today, however, all of that would change. And not just for her and her pseudo-military personnel. No, these irreversible actions would force change for everyone on the satellite. And Holland was right about one thing. The time for action was finally upon them.

"If there's a silver lining to any of this, it's that the research and technology necessary to fight back is unharmed and directly beneath us," Coker added.

"lieutenant, contact Alpha Centaurian Global Secretariat, Minkon Blees on a secure channel," she told him. "Let him know what happened here and to be on the alert for what may be coming his way very soon. Also, please send an encrypted communiqué to S5 Chair, Raizor Quintavius, requesting that he set up a full Council meeting as soon as possible."