Population Zero

In the winter of 2026 C.E., the execution of Operation Kaminari continues in defiance of an enemy that is willing to murder billions in order to maintain control of the war-torn survivors. Allied Forces on the surface of Earth are fighting against hostile paramilitaries and heavily-armed state-sponsored proxy forces. Militias, rogue ex-military operators, and motley groups of specialized global resistance fighters are working in direct collaboration with DSEF to seek, surveil, study, sabotage, and destroy the enemy's war-fighting capability. Together they are all helping to evacuate humanity from the apocalyptic battle fields of a global NBC war that has devastated Earth's biosphere and left the humans struggling for survival in a toxic, irradiated nightmare. Technical Sergeant Kahmay O'Conaill, Staff Sergeant A.J. Conway, and the DSEF crews of seven interstellar supercruisers are tasked with relocating the sick, wounded, and innocent to a dangerously untested off-world sanctuary. The challenges of the evacuation, while simultaneously equipping resistance elements on the surface of Earth with advanced technology and continually modified reinforcements pushes Kahmay, A.J., and their shipmates on the X-Tensai to expand their capacity for innovation. Autonomous non-human commandos capable of traveling through Earth's scorched killing fields are programmed to infiltrate enemy territories and neutralize enemy fighters. The commandos work tirelessly to liberate and protect civilians who are trapped behind enemy lines. Hope of rescue lives on for those who are still entombed in subterranean shelters, and surrounded above on the Earth's surface by the deadly effects of nuclear winter, contaminated water supplies, and biological hot zones. The flagship X-Tensai, along with one of the fleet's two multi-role tactical escorts, the E.S.S. Hell Cat, rendezvous with the interplanetary freighter E.S.S. Terrawatt and continue on a course for Mars. The E.S.S. Dark Star, the E.S.S. Scorpius, and the E.S.S. Jackrabbit remain close to Earth as a vital part of the Allied strategy to prevent Earth from falling into an abyss of unrelenting human suffering and mass murder. Headquarters DSEF has deployed the special operations deep space scout E.S.S. Blackfoot to the EDO system. Commander Aranck Allaire will lead the Blackfoot team to their ultimate objective 4.24 light years away. His orders are to document and carry out a series of top-secret operational objectives across two separate star systems. The E.S.S. Terrawatt, cruising through the Earth-Mars Interplanetary Passage (EMIP), has launched an unprecedented macro-scale autonomous robotic construction swarm months in advance of the arrival of the main EMIP contingent to Martian space. The swarm has found a shocking anomaly. Specially-trained human scouts from DSEF's Devil Dog units are sent to the Martian surface with quadrupedal tac-units from the Hell Cat and have arrived at the equatorial cave network near the edge of the Martian dichotomy boundary. "The Labyrinth" cave network is rapidly being transformed into the first off-world outpost for humankind on Mars. The fleet's Martian contingent is working feverishly to deliver the first group of thousands of humans down to the Martian surface and re-deploy back to Earth to ensure the evacuation route to HEIWA remains clear for those still trapped and fleeing for their lives to reach the Ring of Fire. The returning Martian Contingent will take on more passengers and provide strength in numbers to the courageous fighting ships of the Earth contingent. Together they provide the core strategic infrastructure and tactical collaboration for operations being conducted throughout Earth's still sporadically-erupting battle zones. Commander Gertrude Garima, DSEF's highest ranking off-world officer and skipper of the one-of-kind special purpose interplanetary freighter E.S.S. Terrawatt, sends an unexpected surprise back to earth from Mars.