I just noticed that the final part of the End of the Story post was cut off. Here it is, for anyone that cares - and sorry it took me so long to notice:
The Alliance’s defense forces, both on the ground and in orbit, did their best. Fifteen missiles were destroyed by orbiting ships, forty six by ground based meson turrets, and ten were destroyed by laser fire from orbiting bases. That still left one hundred and twenty one missiles to slam into Alliance cities. Blinding nuclear fireballs rose across the great cities of the western hemisphere. London, New York, Washington DC, Mexico City, Rio De Janeiro, all were obliterated without warning. One hundred and forty five million Alliance citizens died in seconds, while hundreds of millions more were grievously injured. Seven hundred and six industrial and economic centers were destroyed along with their host cities. The top political and military leadership of the Alliance disappeared along with the cities and their inhabitants. The military command structure was still intact, but its link with the political leadership had been decisively severed.
In the Reich the Kaiser was being woken up even as the missiles were hitting the Alliance cities. There wasn’t time to bring him up to speed, instead he was rushed towards a waiting trans-Newtonian transport that would take him away from the danger area. The Reich strategic defense AI has been presented with a difficult situation. The Alliance’s missile launchers are slower than the Reich’s, which have almost recharged. In a few seconds the Reich PDC’s will be ready to launch a second salvo at the Russians, however, it will take at least another twenty seconds for the Alliance PDC’s to recharge their launchers. In that time the will be able to launch yet another salvo, possibly this time at Reich cities. The AI feels an almost overwhelming imperative to launch now, however, in the end it decides to wait. Launching now against the stiff Russian defenses will almost certainly mean wasting their missiles. Launching with the Alliance will greatly increase the chance of penetrating the Russian defenses. In the end the AI decides to wait and launch with the Alliance.
The Russian bases launch yet another salvo, again targeted on Alliance cities. Once again the Alliance defenses do their best, but ultimately fail to defend their charges. Fireballs blossomed across the Alliance and nearly two hundred and thirty million people were killed and nine hundred and thirty seven industrial installations were destroyed.
Seconds later the Alliance and Reich PDC’s launched a combined salvo of nearly two hundred and sixty missiles. To achieve this salvo density the strategic defense AI’s used every launcher at their disposal, including anti-missile missile launchers and those of the two Reich cruisers in orbit. This was their best hope of penetrating the Russian defense sphere. Their alpha strike.
Hundreds of missiles rain down on the Russian PDC’s. The Russian defense stations try to stop them, but prove inadequate to the task. Four of the ten missile bases are destroyed, three more are seriously damaged.
Several more salvoes cross the skies as each side desperately tries to eliminate the other’s remaining military or economic strength, but it is the last gasps of a dying war. Over the next several days the temperature on Earth will drop precipitously. Initial estimates are that the remaining population of the planet will die in just over two years unless relocated.
In the aftermath of the nuclear exchange, as the skies darken, the Alliance orbital defense net makes short work of the remaining Russian ships in orbit. In the days to come, the Reich fleet will sweep the entire system clear of Russian ships, most of which are racing back to the Earth in a forlorn attempt to rescue something of the gestalt from the dying Earth. Both Reich and Alliance naval units begin lifting their people from the dying cities. In the Reich this goes smoothly, at least at first, and the Reich government is transitioned with little incident to Venus. For the Alliance the evacuation is much more chaotic, as most of the large cities have been nuked and the government on Earth has collapsed. Still, the Navy does what it can.
The Reich colony group is currently out-system, on a run to establish a colony in the Iota Piscum system, and won’t be back for nearly 140 days. The Reich has access to twelve colony ships obtained when they took over the remnants of the Japanese fleet, and they are pressed into duty immediately, set to transporting survivors to Venus.
Both of the Alliance’s colony groups are also out system, and aren’t expected back for several weeks. Once they do arrive they will also be set to transporting survivors to Mars. The Indians receive permission from the Alliance government on Mars to begin evacuating their people to Mars as well.
Even as the planet dies around them, the Reich Wehrmacht and the Alliance and Indian Armies move into Russia and begin slaughtering what is left. The Russian cyber enhanced ground military units put up a vicious defense, but are overwhelmed by the determined attackers.
As the extent of the damage to Earth becomes clear, recall orders are sent out to all ships in all of the national fleets, calling them back to Earth to deal with the disaster. All three surviving powers recall their terraforming fleets as well, to begin altering Earth’s atmosphere to try and halt the plummeting temperatures. Factories on Mars and Venus begin producing infrastructure exclusively, to be shipped to Earth on board the freighters that are engaged in the hurried evacuation of Earth’s industrial might.
The effort to evacuate the Earth becomes an all-consuming endeavor. Colony ships, freighters, military ships, everything is pressed into the fight, but the task is too daunting. In spite of the best efforts of the multinational fleets, hundreds of millions die over the next two years.
The political situation on Mars is chaotic. Most of the Alliance Senate died in the nuclear strikes on Earth, as did most of the government itself. The governmental structure on Mars is intact, of course, but overwhelmed by the evacuation effort. The Mars government finally collapses amid food riots just short of the one year anniversary of the war, to be replaced by a military government that imposes order through martial law. The relationship between the Alliance and the Indian government-in-exile on Mars begins deteriorating shortly thereafter.
The Reich fares somewhat better. The Reich government escapes earth largely intact, and the Reich government is re-established on Venus without incident. The Kaiser abdicates shortly thereafter, to be replaced by his cousin, an Admiral in the Raumarine. The new Kaiser focuses on maintaining order on Venus, and distributing the evacuee’s from Earth throughout the Reich’s colonies in the Solar System and in Hamburg. The Reich’s focus is narrowed to the Solar System, its primary colony in the Hamburg system, and the conquered population in the Novaran system. Two years after the war the Reich fights a short, sharp war with the Alliance military government over the Indians, who have decided against joining the Alliance. The Alliance, never really able to recover from the disaster on Earth, collapses after its defeat at the hands of the Reich, leaving the Reich as the only real government in the solar system.
Five years after the war on Earth, the Reich begins to expand its interest beyond the Solar System, Novara, and the Hamburg system. Almost immediately, the Reich runs into what it calls the Out-world Coalition, a group of alien races that have banded together to oppose humanity. The Coalition has had five years to consolidate its power and integrate its disparate populations, and is ready to face humanity. But that is a story for another time.
