December 8th, 2020: 10% of the population of the Earth, spread equally over the globe, vanishes at 3pm EST.

December 10th, 2020: An extraterrestrial being, identifying himself only as EXOCET brings knowledge of the whereabout of the abductees to the United States government. To the world at large the situation remains a mystery but in N. Virginia, just south of Washington DC, plans begin to be made.

December 17th, 2020: A second mass disappearance removes 7% of the global populations. Countermeasures put in place by DARPA and the Joint Chiefs are successful in blocking some of the abductions but are overwhelmed by the alien technology involved.

EXOCET reveals that abducted people are being processed as food stuffs prompting the USGov to reach a conclusion that direct action is the only option.

Dec 23rd, 2020: Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) begins Operation: All Star Team. Operators from every available Tier 1 Spec Ops team, including for the first time the US Space Force, Canadian Special Forces, and even six British Special Boat Service squadies who had been on vacation at Disney World, are transported aboard the four alien Motherships via emergency lift ships scratchbuilt at NASA's facility in Huntsville AL with the assistance of EXOCET and his android Makers.

The abductors technological advantage is offset somewhat by the ferocity of the assault and a brutal close quarters battle rages in the skies above the Earth completely invisible to all those below.

Dec 25th, Christmas Day, 2020: The last message transmitted by the JSOC teams is received in Washington DC over an open mic, "Ok then, Fuck 'em!".

Four alien Motherships, each nearly 4 miles long, appear in the sky above the four corners of the Earth and plummet, burning, into some of the most horrifying and spectacular crashes witnessed since the end of the dinosaurs.

All aboard them are killed.

Within hours recriminations fly between world powers who hold the US responsible for the deaths of the abductees. With no hard data available as to what went on aboard the Motherships the attempts and conciliation fall on deaf ears.

US and Canadian forces come under attack world wide and rare and scattered cries for peace are ignored. With wide eyes glued to their TV and computer screens the population of the Earth watches as virtually every nation lines up against the US with many of them shouting for blood and revenge for lost loved ones.

Over a few days something the whole world had known on some level is proven to be true. Even with virtually the entire civilized world combined the United States cannot be beaten in a conventional war. In hours the navies of India, China, Europe, and even Great Britain and battered below any semblance of combat effectiveness with most of their vessels resting on the bottom of the worlds oceans.

No one will ever know who it was, and it is possible, even likely, that is was more than one head of state, but someone pulled the trigger. Nukes and WMDs were launched from all over the world targeted at US and Canadian assets, some even inside their own territory. Millions died.

The US President addressed the nations of the USA and Canada and with tears in his eyes turned the key that authorized the use of the nuclear, and all other, arsenals. Those who had sought to bring down the world's last Super Power were blasted with nuclear fire, and worse weapons that had never before seen the light of day. Unavoidably some of this hell strikes the crashed alien vessels and the results are...well...Apocalyptic.

The atmosphere burns, plants are consumed, polymers and metals are disintegrated, building are reduced to rubble, and billions of human being die.

The event goes down in folklore as simply, "The Nuke", and most know no more than that.

The time immediately afterward is known variously as Black Skies, Skydark, or The Dark Times and humanity desperately clings to life for decades before the planet can begin to clean and heal itself.

It is nearly 30 years before the sun is viewed from anywhere close to sea level anywhere in the world.

When the light returns the weather begins to calm people start crawling out and trying to reestablish themselves as the dominant species on the world. They find that new challengers for that title have arrived.

No one that you know is certain how long ago that was. Everyday life is far more pressing than academic studies to the people of the Earth. Survival is not easy but the race of man is not easy pray and they struggle to recover to this day.

Code Word: Cerberus
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:26, Wed 09 Dec 2020.