Carved out of the granite and limestone of Cheyenne Mountain decades before, the underground complex of the North American Aerospace Defense Command sat ready to detect any threat. Although deep under Cheyenne Mountain, the facility was many levels above the once top-secret facility at the bottom of the sprawling subterranean complex.
That facility was the SGC.
During the upgrading and refitting of the SGC, powerful deep space sensors identical to those found on Ancient city ships had been installed. These sensors' findings, instead of being interpreted by SGC personnel, were piped to NORAD above.
Sitting in the monitoring theater at her workstation, a young female Air Force Captain stared at her screen in disbelief. Prompted by an audible chime, she switched screens to bring up another sector of deep space covered by her section.
For a moment, she looked at the screen as her mind processed the finding. Seeing this information, her mouth was suddenly dry, and each breath caught in her now parched throat.
Training overrode her momentary shock.
She pushed a button to the right of her display screen, her headset tied into the overhead speakers wired throughout the monitoring theater.
"Unknown rider in sector three foxtrot, I say again unknown rider in three foxtrot," Captain Cranst announced.
Hearing this announcement, all eyes in the monitoring theater moved from their display screens to the young Captain. Resting there for a second, the eyes about the room soon moved on to the command duty officer for this shift.
Colonel Duncan, the command duty officer, dreaded this announcement. Sadly, he had expected this moment, having been alerted to the incoming armada by Midway Station after they had detected the track.
Coming to his feet, Colonel Duncan quickly crossed the room and the distance separating him from Captain Cranst.
"Show me what you have, Captain," Duncan ordered.
Pulling up the screen, the track was shown. Expanding the sensor parameters, Cranst overlaid the findings with the tracking data relayed from Midway Station.
Analyzing the data for a moment, Duncan confirmed that it matched the computer predictions based on previous data perfectly.
"Inbound track appears to be two separate groups. First track numbers one hundred and ten vessels. The computer classifies these vessels as Wraith cruisers. Closer examination of the data confirms those findings," Cranst explained crisply.
"What do we know about the second group?" Duncan asked.
"At this time, the second group appears to be composed of forty-eight vessels much larger in size. Classify these vessels as Wraith Hive class ships," Cranst replied.
"Get on the yellow phone and confirm these findings with North Bay and Mt. Yamantau," Colonel Duncan ordered before returning to his desk.
The facilities in question served the same purpose as Cheyenne Mountain. North Bay, located in Canada, was a virtual clone of its American counterpart. Built at roughly the same time as NORAD Main, this facility was a backup in the event that Cheyenne Mountain was destroyed.
Mt. Yamantau was a slightly different animal. Constructed six hundred feet below its namesake mountain in the Ural range, the facility was much larger than those of NORAD. Operated by personnel of Russia's PVO, or air defense troops, these men and women were tasked with identifying any attack on the motherland.
Both of these facilities were also equipped with Ancient deep space sensors.
For several minutes, Captain Cranst labored to confirm the tracks with her counterparts elsewhere in the world. In each instance, confirmation came.
This was not what the Captain had wanted to hear.
Over the intercom, Cranst announced that both North Bay and Mt. Yamantau confirmed her findings. A collective intake of breath was heard throughout the monitoring theater.
Hearing these words, Duncan pulled out a three-ring binder from the bookcase behind him. Inside this binder was a series of checklists covering every potential situation—from incoming nuclear attack launched from submarines offshore to small aircraft entering restricted airspace.
Flipping to the proper list, Duncan read each step that he would follow to the letter.
First step: he had to notify NMCC, the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon.
Lifting the blue phone to his left, the Colonel input his authorization code, bringing the phone to life.
"Go for Capstone," said the disembodied voice on the line.
"Capstone, this is Crystal Palace. We are declaring a Drop Shot," Colonel Duncan said clearly.
"Crystal Palace, Capstone. Say again," the confused voice said.
"Capstone, Crystal Palace is declaring a Drop Shot. We are tracking an inbound flight of one five eight vessels. This is fleet strength. Course puts them on target for Earth," Duncan explained.
"Confidence?" the voice asked.
"Confidence is high; I say again, confidence is high. Findings have been confirmed through allied sources," Duncan responded, his frustration growing.
"Do you have an estimated time of arrival, Crystal Palace?" Capstone asked.
"Capstone, Crystal Palace. Based on current course and speed, estimate arrival in forty-eight hours. How copy?" Duncan asked.
"Capstone copies," the voice replied soberly.
Earth
Ten minutes after the NMCC was notified of NORAD's findings, personnel took out checklists of their own. Working in teams, the communications personnel divided their assignments.
Satellite and secure telephone traffic skyrocketed in volume.
Getting word to allied nations first, all others second, word of what was coming made its way to the other militaries of the world. Quickly and quietly, many nations enacted plans to move sensitive personnel to secure locations.
In America, members of the United States Secret Service fanned out across the nation's capital. This scenario was one rehearsed often, and those many rehearsals paid off now.
Each Secret Service team was assigned an individual responsibility. Reaching their assigned objectives, the Secret Service details quickly whisked their charges away.
Among these charges were the Vice President, Majority and Minority leaders of the House and Senate, and assorted members of the Cabinet.
Once in secure or otherwise out-of-the-public-eye locations, the locator tokens that every individual involved in the Continuity of Government program carried were removed from pockets and activated.
Some were beamed to the SGC for a walk through the gate to Shambhala. Others were beamed to Mount Weather, also known as the High Point Secure Facility, deep beneath Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.
Still others were beamed directly to the Raven Rock Mountain Complex, otherwise known as Site R.
Site R is an ultra-secure underground facility like few others. Tasked with housing members of the Continuity of Government Program, it also served a second purpose. In the event of the Pentagon's destruction, Site R would assume the task.
Separate from the subterranean city within, a second facility rested. In this second facility were all the communications and intelligence-gathering links needed to direct a war.
As for the Continuity of Government Program, it was one of the most compartmented programs in American government. Its purpose was to ensure some form of American government survived any calamity.
Conceived during the Cold War, this program would have allowed the government to continue in some form should a crippling nuclear attack decapitate America's seat of power.
In the hands of those involved rested the task of restoring the United States Government if needed. It was not a task any involved ever wished to perform.
CNN Center, Atlanta – 36 hours later
Moments after the Health News segment, CNN returned their viewers to the broadcast originating from the hub of the twenty-four-hour news network.
Journalist teams around the globe beamed audio and video to the Center. These submissions, if newsworthy at the moment, were added to the broadcast.
Viewers found themselves looking at footage from airports around the world. At each location, clearly annoyed crowds grew. On the departure boards, beside each flight listed, was the word canceled.
The reporters on the scene at each location stated that it was unknown why so many flights had been unexpectedly canceled. Some speculated that it was the result of solar flare activity, but in each case, these were nothing more than unfounded guesses.
Next up was a story growing in importance by the moment.
Camera teams from the west coast to the east broadcast the same image. These images were of military equipment and personnel. Active duty, Reserve, and National Guard units were flooding into the streets of cities and towns across the country.
Adding to the mix, CNN International soon added footage of their own. Across Europe and Asia, the same scene was playing out.
Around the world, troops were taking to the streets in an unprecedented move.
Military affairs experts and civil liberty advocates came on in turn, giving their take on the events as they unfolded on screen. The military affairs experts found themselves unable to give a definitive reason for the actions.
Civil liberties advocates were enraged at the show of force. Many stated that such a widespread deployment of force added up to the most flagrant breach of citizens' rights seen in modern times.
Before the civil liberties tirade could run its full course, the lead newscaster working the CNN desk broke in with breaking news.
"We apologize for this unexpected break in the news hour. The President is making an unscheduled speech. We take you now to the White House," the newscaster said apologetically.
The screen switched to the Oval Office of the White House.
Sitting behind the large antique desk the President used, as many before him had, Hayes sat. On his look was not the smiling face many had come to know during his first campaign. Here sat a serious and focused Henry Hayes.
Based on that look, viewers knew that a message of incredible importance was on its way.
Clearing his throat, Hayes looked directly into the camera before him and jumped headlong into his prepared speech.
"My fellow Americans, people of Earth...
As you are aware, several months ago the United States Air Force deep space vessel Leonidas was lost. Fate ordained that those men and women who ventured among the stars would remain there.
These brave men and women knew that there was very little hope for their recovery. However, they also knew there is hope for humanity in their sacrifice.
Those whose lives they touched will mourn them. They will be mourned by this nation, by the people of this world, and by a Mother Earth that dared to send her sons and daughters into the unknown.
Through their exploration, they stirred humanity to feel as one.
As the news agencies of our world have noted, the militaries of the NATO alliance and our allies have moved to their highest level of readiness.
Furthermore, the governments of Earth have issued a planet-wide ground stop for all aircraft not directly related to military operations.
Why was this done?
This action is undertaken in the defense of humanity."