World War 3

== Prelude ==
=== Rise of Penumbra ===
In the mid-21st century. the United States supremacy in the space arena was challenged for the first time since the Cold War. In 2044, Russia, China, Japan, and India formed the Penumbra Space Nation, a collaboration of space exploration. The combined innovation of these countries changed the realm of space forever, as the Penumbra Space Nation colonized the moon in 2055, built 7 major orbital cities by 2068, colonized Mars in 2075, and colonized the LGA System by 2091. Many nations wanted in on these great feats, and by 2095, nearly every major country in Asia was in the Space Nation program. In 2095, the governments decided to unite themselves under the space program, and from it created the Penumbra Alliance, with its capital Atlantis II, located on the moon. But as the Alliance continued to flourish and innovate, the United States economy began to plunder into the greatest depression in U.S. history.
=== Anarchy in the States ===
Throughout the 21st century, the United States was ravaged by terrorism, poor economy, and was being divided a little more every day. In 2065, the second American Civil War began and lasted nearly 2 years, killing millions and making even more homeless. By the 2090's the US was almost to the point of total anarchy; however, a new symbol of hope began to emerge. In 2093, President Gary Sean rose to power and promised to make America great once again. He had massive public approval of the American people, and he decided that his first step as president would be to rebuild America's relations with the rest of the world, which had deteriorated over the century. He was able to gain the trust of the European Union once again, but failed to build strong relations with the Penumbra Alliance, who simply thought that he was a madman. This angered Sean, and he decided that the best way to gain access to Penumbra's assets was by force.
=== First Strike ===
President Sean wanted to send a message to Penumbra that they would never forget. Over the next 5 years, the Americans and European Union worked together on an elaborate plan that would strike Penumbra where it hurt the most, and show them that they are not gods above the rest of man. The plan involved a special infiltration team that would shut down the defense matrix of one of Penumbra's Orbital Cities. On July 9th, 2098, the defense grid over Star Station Yamato went down and within 5 minutes a large ballistic missile struck the station, heavily damaging it and killing over 1,000 people living in the city at the time. Simultaneously, the EU launched a ground offensive towards Moscow while US Forces invaded Japan. In the following hour, the Penumbra Alliance declared war on the US and EU. The 3rd World War had just begun.
== Open Warfare: 2098 to 2101 ==
The EU and US were on a victory streak throughout the first year, conquering a large portion of Asia. However, due to Penumbra's vast superiority in space-based technology, they were able to quickly construct massive orbital weapons that could strike anywhere and anything on the globe, including high-speed aircraft going hypersonic or submarines 3 miles under the ocean. These weapons also had a defense matrix, meaning that they couldn't be shot down unless infiltrated from the inside, and Penumbra wasn't going to be fooled again. Basically, these weapons were unreachable and unstoppable, the EU and US had no defense against them whatsoever. These weapons gave Penumbra such a huge advantage that by the end of 2099, Penumbra had reclaimed all of its lost territory and was now on the offensive. Penumbra ground troops invaded Europe at the beginning of the 22nd century, and the US tried to help the EU defend the peninsula. Their efforts failed however, and by mid 2101, the whole continent of Europe was under Alliance control, and the EU surrendered on October 30th, 2101. America stood alone against the massive Penumbra Alliance; and their questionable choice to attack was about to pay them dearly..
== On American Soil ==
=== Invasion ===
On December 8th of 2101 AD, the PA Navy began an amphibious assault on the western coast of America, supported with orbital weaponry. By the end of the day, most of the western seaboard was under the control of Penumbra, with power bases established in Los Angelos and San Francisco. To add to the chaos, Penumbra Space Marines entered Earth's atmosphere over the Gulf of Mexico and conquered the city of Houston within a matter of hours. The citizens of America who heard about the invasion were in a state of hysteria, as it was the first time the American mainland had been attacked by a foreign power since the War of 1812. Americans everywhere went into arms, ready to defend their homes from the marauding enemy, but that was unnecessary. The US Marines had a surprise that they were about to unleash upon Penumbra, a surprise that would change the ways of war and human history forever.
=== Counterstrike ===
The very next day, at 1100 hours Central Time, Penumbra occupying forces were surprised to see a lone plane flying overhead of Houston. Suddenly, what appeared to be a small boy jumped out of the plane and came accelerating downward at high speed. The PA Marines thought it was some sort of protest, and simply laughed, until the boy that jumped out struck a sky-scraper with his fist on the way down, which caused the building to explode and send fragments all over the city. The PA forces were shocked and tried to contact reinforcements; but they heard on the net that another child approached Los Angelos by freezing the waves on the beaches and walking right over them, and he was now running rampant around the city, freezing everything he saw. Moments later another report came in of another child who was literally setting the city of San Francisco ablaze like a human-flamethrower. These "children" were in fact the Osykans, an artificial species created by HGE; they were the US Marines' secret weapon. The Penumbra comm-net was going crazy with soldiers panicking and going mad at their first encounter with super-humans. The General decided to evacuate all of his forces and use orbital weapons to pinpoint and eliminate these new threats, but his plan would backfire severely, and result in the death of over 40 million people.
=== The Explosion ===
In the city of Los Angelos, Osykan Glacies (under the code name of XtremEvan) was literally transforming the metropolis into a "winter wonderland". Everything in the city was completely covered in ice, and the city didn't even show up on thermal mapping anymore, meaning it took hours for the orbital laser to track down and find XtremEvan. When it finally did, it automatically fired it's Positron Particle Beam, which struck XtremEvan right on top of his head. The General was surprised that the child was still standing after enough energy to vaporize a tank hit him right in a half-inch by half-inch square on the top of his head, but what happened next was unexpected. The positrons in the beam reacted with his synapse which caused his brain cells to excite to a point where he lost all control over his mental state and his powers. He went into an uncontrollable, psychotic rage and then suddenly exploded into a massive wave of energy. This sudden release of energy was equal to an explosion of 150,000 megatons, and it made a crater over 1,000 miles in diameter. In that instant over 40 million people lost their lives, including all Penumbra forces on or near the American west coast, US Troops preparing for a counterattack, and millions of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.
== Aftermath ==
=== Shockwaves Around the World ===
The explosion had many devastating side-effects with it, such as throwing up a huge dust cloud that took atmospheric scrubbers nearly a year to clean, high speed winds that toppled skyscrapers across the mid-west, and huge tidal waves that completely devastated small islands in its path, such as Hawaii. The blast could be heard around the world, and caused slight tectonic activity afterwards. It was impossible to fight in the current condition of the planet, and a cease-fire was called between the US and PA. Almost everyone who heard of the explosion thought that it was a new Penumbra weapon fired from orbit, and many of the PA's citizens rallied up and rioted against the government. President Sean of the US met with President Leo of the PA on Atlantis II in January of 2102 to discuss the future of the war. The US already lost, but because of the current state of the PA citizens, the PA essentially lost too. In total, over 100 million lives were lost in the duration of the third world war, almost half of them from the single explosion.
=== United as One ===
Over the next few months the two leaders discussed the war and the future of the human race. They concluded that the way civilization conducted itself through means of different factions would be the undoing of man, as many realized after the war. A new form of government was needed, one that united all of mankind, one that shared everything. The Treaty of Atlantis was signed by the leaders of Penumbra, the United States, European Union, and other nations on May 29th, 2102 AD. The treaty made unification indeed possible, as it called for the creation of one and only one government: the Alliance of Humanity. The Alliance brought every human, whether they be on Earth, Mars, or in the LGA System together under one government. It was the first time in human history that every man, woman, and child was united under the same government, and it was truly a magnificent moment in the timeline of humanity.