The Sage Titan was exiting the Earth's Atmosphere, after leaving Chile he had to get back to the formation and its completion. Others from the Tower City had their own goals to complete and needed to be relieved before they could go. He was hurried but it was to be expected.
Small black dots, smoke plumes, appeared over the Tundra of Russia's airspace.
Rockets, more than a dozen of them were flying toward the formation plates that hung in the night sky. They sailed at speeds approaching a few hundred kilometers per second.
Many of the ships were still busy, it would take more than a day to place all 1.6 million steeles into place. Mike heard the many rocket's separate from their boosters. It's said that no noise can be heard in the vacuum of space but that was a lie for Mike's extreme Titan senses. Any noise loud enough could travel, though sound waves would be greatly distorted, they were still felt and acknowledged.
Mike turned his head and saw more than thirty warheads sailing to different points on the formation belt. He touched a communication stone and tried to speak but his voice didn't travel. The Crystal broke.
There was no telling if a Nuclear blast would damage the formation or even displace the ring plates. He couldn't risk it either, Mike flew at his fastest speed and collected the ones he could track into a storage ring. Space and time were cut off for inanimate objects within the storage ring's spacial confinement, he could keep them indefinitely suspended in its inventory.
Of the thirty, he could only reach about 14 and then the first explosion lit up the night sky.
More than a dozen explosions followed.
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In a secret bunker, hidden well under the Arctic circle's Ice, a group of Russian scientists and engineers were carrying out the nuclear strike against the Invasion.
To the people in the facility, they were the good guys.
"Preliminary trajectory is corrected, detonation on impact is expected. T-minus 3 minutes and counting." One of the Tech's was performing his duties when he saw something he didn't expect.
One of the warheads disappeared from their tracking system. Alarmed, he called for his supervisor but it happened again, and then again. More than a dozen missiles in the Volley had vanished without a trace. "Sir, we've lost guidance and position on several of our Rockets." He gulped, there was no telling why they had lost signal but the outcome was the same.
The staff held their breath to wait for the ETA to pass and expire.
Then, two minutes later, there was a detonation, then more than a dozen bright flashes lit up the night sky, they were blinding to the naked eye but from a great distance they were impossible to miss even in the daylight.
"We have detonation on...." He counted them out. "1,2,3...19 explosions."
"And the target?" The General leading the facility stood over the man's shoulder.
"Sir. We will be unable to tell for a few minutes, the radiation is blinding our instruments."
"Get me confirmation." General Morozov kicked the counter with his foot.
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The Sage Titan was floating freely in space, the explosions had sent blast waves of radiation in his direction. Bright light covered his vision for a moment but it was unable to blind him.
Mike flew toward the explosions after regaining his position and orientation. While he was extremely hearty, he wasn't sure if he was radiation proof. Mike approached with caution and surrounded himself with a Barrier for good measure.
The explosions were still roiling in their compressive states, hiding the targets and sending out smaller waves, secondary to their initial explosive force. The daisy chain of explosions had sent a massive ripple of energy out and it had a lot of force behind it. The half-kilometer tall steeles that had been struck were thrown out into space but the explosive force wasn't enough to send them sailing a great distance away. The steeles were thrown away into the vacuum but it was nothing when compared to the Formation's overall size.
After ten minutes, Mike had already repositioned the loose plates, they locked together like magnets that floated in parallel. When all 20 or so were all back in place, he found the nearest ship, entered the cabin and contacted the Emperor to report the situation.
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"Understood, when you've got the time, there is a human here that wanted to talk more. He says you called him a Motherfucker before you left. Too funny." Wu Hai laughed it off, the damage was inconsequential and hadn't even set them back on the projects estimated time for completion. The Crystal broke and the Emperor had other things to think over.
"Kuzunoha, Vira." He called them over. "Are both of you ready?"
Both of them had changed into their Imperial Robes, the Pride of an Empress was important when speaking to large groups of people.
"Then, I think its time." Vira cracked her knuckles, she looked ready to fight.
Wu Hai could tell what she was thinking, he stopped her. "Vira, its not a fight, its an Interview. Just speak freely when we get there, nothing you say will change their minds but something must be said."
"Its your plan, I support it fully. But will this be the end of your ambition?" the corners of her mouth seemed to twitch gently like it was a subject she didn't want to bring up.
"My Ambition? There is a long road ahead." Zao spun a spell circle in his hand and channeled the silver light in his fingertips. They were gone in that instant, the representatives were left standing with their hands shaking.
"What is the Emperor about to do?" Musu Yahaya, the Nigerian representative was standing in the center of them all, he asked with a puzzled look.
The British rep spoke calmly but on the inside she was feeling tiny pinpricks like she was being stabbed repeatedly with needles. "I think he said he was about to start"
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A Black dot appeared on the Whitehouse Lawn.
Soldiers armed with railguns and attack vehicles surrounded it. Many different powered Human Espers were flying overhead, ready to battle it out.
Vira was the first to step out of the Black dot, she pointed her fingertips instinctively and tore the awaiting forces into kibble. It was ghastly, bile and small explosion marks covered the grasses in a smear.
When the Emperor's vision came into focus, there were already bullets flying in his direction. Some of them were good shots but the attacks were meaningless in front of him.
Zao held up his hand. "STOP!" He yelled a single word, it resonated with everyone that survived on the battlefield.
The sound of vehicles disappeared, their engines stopped.
"You are attacking a United States government facility, surrender now or we will continue to fire!" A cocky general spit some words out to sound tough but his men had just been treated like grass to be reaped.
It was enough to have caught them with their pants down, Wu Hai waved his hand, a shield appeared in his hands.
The Shield was several feet tall.
'Didn't this asshole already shoot, why ask for surrender after his attacks were so pitiful?' "You pose no threat to me, shut your condescending mouth before I rip that tongue from your body." Vira took several steps forward, it was intimidating and some of the soldiers opened fire without order.
The General cocked his head. "God Dammit! Cease FIRE! CEASE FIRE."
His words came too late, Vira had been given explicit latitude. So long as she didn't kill everyone, whatever she did was to be considered part of the plan.
Kuzunoha walked up, standing beside Vira, she spoke to the General, "You don't get a say in how this plays out."
Vira spoke to the General while she charged light in her hand.
White, and red lights filled the area, each of their fingers shot out another beam, everything including the fortress underneath the white house lawn was cut into tiny pieces. Bulkheads and machinery crumbled underneath their feet. Vast networks of tunnels became unstable and began to collapse like a house of cards. Millions of tons of rubble crashed downward.
Wu Hai, Kuzunoha and Vira spread their wings and hovered. More than seventy officials who had been inside of the Whitehouse were quickly thrown out onto the remains that covered the lawn.
Stealth Corp operatives were already seizing everyone inside, dragging them out by force if needed.
"What's the meaning of this?" A Woman in a blue dress with ruffles landed hard against some rocks after being thrown in front of the Empresses. She was screaming at the top of her lungs but no one was listening.
"Ahh.. A Madam President, so, it's a Woman this time?" 'Hmmph,' "It changes nothing.." Kuzunoha kicked her in the face, several of her teeth flew out. "Next time, address me properly."
A formation plate was thrown out, it projected the President's figure as she was spitting her teeth out. Her voice was carried, it sounded around the world. Hundreds of such formation plates were scattered across the globe when Wu Hai was circling it. Everything that was happening would be public knowledge, something that no government could deny or reject.
Wu Hai watched Kuzunoha pick up the President by her hair, it came off. "A wig?" He laughed and watched her throw it down into the debris and muck that laid on the Whitehouse lawn. "This is being played worldwide, you have been judged." Kuzunoha backhanded the President.
The whole scene looked like Demons had just won the battle over heaven and Earth, those that were able to see the playback on the projections didn't know what to think. The audiences worldwide felt that it was possible, that in the next moments, they could all lose their lives.
"How Dare you hit me! I am the President of the United States of America!" The President spit out one of her canine teeth, her smile had a huge gap in it.
"How Dare I?" Kuzunoha watched as Vira took the next swing. More teeth flew and the President's nose was broken. Blood flowed down her face and she looked miserable.
In the background, hundreds of meters away, the public was watching from Pennsylvania Avenue. Some cheering could be heard and then, Gunfire. The mixed feelings about what was happening had triggered a gunfight outside of the Whitehouse Main Gate.
"Its not about how much power you have but how you choose to wield it." Vira wanted to behead the President to set an example but Kuzunoha had other ideas.
The Empress raised her hand, "INDEED, YOU WIELD YOUR POWER LIKE A WEAPON, AGAINST THOSE WHO QUESTION YOUR ACTIONS." Kuzunoha's finger traced a path along the soldiers who had already died around her.
"Now. Surrender." Hundreds of the Empire's Espers were arriving in Washington DC, they converged on the street and made a path next to the Emperor. As more arrived, dread crept over the American President's face.
"The United States does not negotiate with Terrorists!" The president did her best to spit out her resolve but it was worthless, even the public had somewhat turned against her in that moment.
"Lies." Vira kicked the woman in two.
The President's torso sailed away, her upper body came into contact with the second pillar on the Whitehouse entryway. It burst like a watermelon and scattered across its face. Her knees which still held most of her intestinal tract, remained pinned to the ground, it slumped over in the absence of the weight that kept it upright.
The gruesome image was played around the world. It was true, they were utterly powerless in the face of extreme pressure from outside force. The Earth was being held captive, no manner of denial could be heard.
"From this day forth, the Earth is under the rule of the Empire." Wu Hai put himself at the center of the formation's projection. "Any more attempts to defy this order will be met with extreme force. We will not tolerate any more senseless slaughter over land or perceived political power. You have neither." Wu Hai picked up a pin that had fallen off the President's lapel.
He pinned it on his collar then turned his visage back to the Projection.