Judgement Day (Federation War)

42 Million Lives were ended on July 10th, 2077. The survivors of the K.E.M Strikes called called the war "Judgement Day". They lived only to face a new nightmare, the Federation Invasion of the United States. Yet, this war of annihilation, that almost threatened the very extinction of the United States itself, was fevered by an earnest attempt to avoid such a tragedy. A tragedy that would change the very way of how the world viewed warfare in its entirety, a tragedy that had been two years in the making. 
== History ==
=== Outbreak of War ===
Judgement Day wasn't just something that had been envisioned overnight, it signaled the years of frustration and anger that had built up between the citizens of the Federation of the Americas, and the United States of America. The two most powerful nations in the Western Hemisphere, the Federation and the United States had grown to distrust and actively dislike one another. Despite not being truly enemies, they were not friends either. The Federation and the United States ultimately disagreed on foreign policy, and often disagreed on the formation of new nations. These disagreements, coupled with the ever expansion of the Federation in South America, came to a blow in 2075 when the United States launched a full scale invasion of the Federation, specifically the Federation Capital of Caracas, with the aim to dismantle its government. 
This opening strike materialized into something never seen in over 100 years. Guided by a divine belief in a United South America, to Federation leadership and its citizens, the existence of the Federation was being threatened by a nation (The United States) that had not had the best track record within Latin America. The near indoctrination of the ideal of the Federation, expressing the unique and vibrant culture of Latin-America in a sense of national rebirth and the new world order, cultivated Federation President Rosa Cossette D'Elise to declare a Martial Crusade against the United States, ensuring that the Federation could only survive, through the complete eradication of the United States and its people, without any condition for surrender. 
=== Development of ODIN ===
The Federation began its honorable Crusade against the United States, launching Drop Pod, Air, Amphibious, and Ground Assaults through Central America. Federation soldiers fought there way through Panama and through Central America and the Caribbean to reach the United States. Despite the US invasion of Cuba, the Federation continued fighting there way through Central America, leading American leadership to come to terms with reality that they might face an invasion at some point. Thus, the United States Government came to issue two options for such a threat, the Orbital Defense Initiative, and the Liberty Defense Perimeter. 
The Orbital Defense Initiative was quickly developed starting in the year 2076, with the construction of the Freedom Star Military Space Station being kept a secret from the American Population. The Freedom Star was the largest space station of its kind, larger than anything that had ever been previously attempted. Within just over a year, the United States of Americas finished the construction of the station, and its first crew were launched out of Vandenburg Air Force Base. At the same time, the crew brought up the first ODIN Satellite, nicknamed ODIN-1. Once the ODIN Initiative was leaked to Federation leadership, there government moved to authorize plans for Operation: Homecoming (The planned invasion of the United States) ahead of schedule. 
== Judgement Day ==
=== Phase One ===
Judgement Day began at 2:14 AM, on July 10th, 2077. The Federation using a revolutionary new virus called "ARES". The program, which had been developed by Federation Defense Contractor "Soveirgn Industries" was a revolutionary new piece of malware, that was specifically designed to search for and sabotage American Infrastructure. The virus was launched at 2:14 AM Eastern Standard Time, and searched its way through American infrastructure. Computers, Smart Phones, Fusion Reactor Plants, Hydro Electric Plants, Railroads, Banking Systems, the real Y2K virus was actually becoming a real thing. The ARES virus searched through for exactly six hours, when it was finally told to pull the plug. When the plug was pulled, the plug was pulled. 
Across the United States of America, in Parts of Canada as well, the Federation pulled the plug on the ARES Virus. Across the United States, Power Plants shut down or were destroyed, shutting down nearly all power grids. Houses, Banking Systems, and others simply lost power. But it wasn't just the power that was pulled. The ARES virus manipulated railroads, causing trains across the USA to either come to a halt, or crash in fiery collisions. Electric Cars were simply unable to be started thanks to the virus, leading to multiple collisions across the freeways. But that, wasn't even the deadliest. The ARES virus manipulated aircraft, causing over 1,000 in US Air Space to simply fall to the ground. The chaos that ensued from the Federation Cyber Attack lead to the deaths of an unknown number of people, but that wasn't even the worst part.
The Federation of the Americas then proceeded to hijack the United States Emergency Broadcast System. The ARES virus manipulated the system to transmit on devices that were still online and unaffected by the cyberattack. The message pointed to one motive..."Look at you. All of you, vermin. Cowering the dirt thinking what I wonder, that you might escape the coming fire? No, your nation will burn until all that remains is but glass! Not even your souls will live to creep, blackened from its hole to mare the reflection of our rightful passage, the culmination of our journey. Your destruction is the will of God, and we are their instrument"
- Federation Message to the United States
=== Phase Two ===
After the cyberattack essentially caused a nationwide blackout across the United States, the Federation moved onto phase two. The Federation launched its Daedalus Rocket up into Orbit. By the time it was up in the Atmosphere, the Cyber attack against the United States was complete. Carrying personnel from the Federation Space Force and the Federation Order of the Rose, the target was simple, the American Freedom Star Military Space Station. The aim was to hijack the station, take control of its Orbital Weapons, and turn it against the United States. Nobody knows for certain what the goal of the soldiers were the Federation sent up, but the aim presumably was to target the entire United States. 
The Federation Special Forces attacked while the crew was having breakfast and doing routine checks on the weapon. Most of the crew was scheduled to return in a crew rotation back to Earth, so when the Federation attacked the station, it caught many off-guard. The Federation Soldiers massacred most of the crew, however a few managed to fight back against the Federation personnel. However, the Federation crew were successfully able to take control of the stations controls, and opened fire. 
For nearly two hours, Kinetic Tungsten Rods carrying a force more powerful than a nuclear bomb rained down across the Southwestern United States. Without proper warning from the United States Emergency Broadcast System, and without ability to contact the ground control the ODIN Crew were left to fend for themselves. The Federation targeted the cities of...
* Austin, Texas
* Caldera Peak, Colorado
* Dallas, Texas
* El Paso, Texas
* Fort Worth, Texas
* Houston, Texas
* Las Vegas, Nevada
* Los Angeles, California
* New Orleans, Louisiana
* Phoenix, Arizona
* San Antonio, Texas
* San Diego, California 
This in turn destroyed a large area along the United States-Mexico Border into a distinct No Mans Land, with an estimated Four Million Mexicans and 38 Million Americans being killed in the strike. However, the Federation wasn't done yet. The ODIN Personnel on the station managed to establish contact with Houston, giving them the information about the Federation attack. As a result, Houston scuttled the Freedom Star, allowing time for most of the ODIN Crew to escape in the drop pods. However, the Federation personnel on the station weren't so lucky. However, for the ODIN Crew the did survive, the crew helped in destroying the weapons satellite, helping them avoid the destruction of San Francisco, Sacramento, Denver, Kansas City, and St. Louis. 
=== Phase Three ===
Phase Three of Judgement Day began almost immediately after Phase One, and by the time Phase Two was completed it was nearly irreversible. Phase Three was the beginning of the actual land invasion of the United States itself. Federation Forces surged ahead up through Mexico and into the Southwestern United States, attacking multiple American cities all along the front line. The Federation Forces made no distinction between American Civilians and American Soldiers, all of them were deemed as a threat. 
== Aftermath ==
By the end of July 10th, 2077, the Federation of the Americas had not only successfully initiated Operation: Homecoming, but had completely changed geography in itself. This geography change turned parts of Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Southern Nevada, Louisiana, and Northern Mexico into a place that only would become known as No Mans Land. The projected casualties in the region were estimated to be around 42 Million people, however the true casualty estimates are still unknown thanks to the lost data that is hiding within the craters and ruined cities of No Mans Land. Survivors, mainly scavengers and drifters were often hunted down, interrogated, and killed by the Federation Military. 
Americans who survived the chaos that was unleashed on this day often referred to it as "Judgement Day" reflecting in the passage from the bible and the second coming of Christ. The day soon became internationally recognized as Judgement Day after the UNSC victory in the Federation-American War. Across the world in the aftermath of the war, the day was celebrated as an international holiday of remembrance for those who died in the tragedy. In the United States, it was a national day in a way similar it is to November 11th to all of those who were lost on Judgement Day. But above all, the ashes of those who are buried beneath the ruins in No Mans Land gives a scaring reminder to a famous quote..."Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind"
- John F. Kennedy