No one would have believed near the dawn of the 21st century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by a intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.
Normany Mountain
MOPAD Secondary Headquaters
Wellovia, People's Unified Federation
"FEM Zorya Vechernyaya requesting clearance for take off"
"Rosewell Space Station Confirms launch is clear."
"Juventud Island Confirms launch is clear."
Air Commodore Joseph Madrid scanned the consoles and screens across the Command Room nearly two kilometers underneath the stone mountains, which served as a secondary Command Center to Juventud Island's immense military complex. In the event of Nuclear war, this room would stay in contact with Juventud's Command Center sealed under the Mar del Moka thousands of kilometers away. This way one central command could be losts, and the Federal retaliation could still be coordinated with ease. For the moment, they only served to manage aerospace control and Defense of the Federation, from exciting times of unknown aircraft entering Federal airspace to the routine supply trips to the Space stations. Today was merely the latter.
No known or traceable objects were heading in the direction of the flight path of the Zorya Vechernyaya. No major threats or unknown launches from nations nearby Rosewell were happening, so by all accounts she appeared clear to launch...
"Normandy Mountain Confirms launch is clear."
"Copy that, this is Rosewell Space Center, confirming all clear."
"Copy that Rosewell, This is Zorya Vechernyaya, ready for take off."
"Copy that Zorya Vech, Take off in 10.....9.....8...."
Joseph watched on the screen as the countdown continued in the air, satellite feed focused on the Zorya Vechernyaya as her engines began to bellow smoke and fire, the transport preparing to defy gravity and race towards the sky. In a smaller screen off to the side of the main show, a curious spectacle of unknown items many AUs away were being tracked by satellites who obeyed the rules of a computer who found them worth mentioning. The computers had studied the incoming objects for some time, calculating trajectory and probably paths. It was only when the items deviated from those paths multiple times did alarms begin to go off in the system. As such they were highlighted and transmitted to the main screen, as an anomaly that warranted attention. No doubt many other nations around the world noticed these objects as well, if not for their unusual travel patterns then the fact the recalculations kept getting them passing closer and closer to Earth.
Joseph pulled the objects up on his personnel screen, allowing the staff and others to remain focused on the flight of the Zorya Vech... The unusual objects seemed harmless for now, but his job was not to ignore the seemingly harmless. A few emails were sent out to some of his better scientific and military staff too investigate these items further, before turning his attention back to the rocket in the North Mejican Desert, finally taking off towards the sky.
