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Phase 14: Disclosure
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Part 4
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Disclosure-related protests continue to sweep the world, with riots erupting in places stoked by local radical factions. The reasons are as varied as the protesting groups. We have everything from people ready to greet our new alien overlords and those eager to welcome them in peace and friendship to violently xenophobic groups who protest against any dealings with alien elements and everything in between.
Euronews
A Humanity First manifesto is spreading through the internet, claiming that Earth and humanity must stand proud and alone, free from alien taint. This message resonates with surprisingly many people feeling that forces outside their control now threaten their place in the world.
Washington Post
Disclosure and the heightened war readiness of many countries across the world did nothing to slow down the fighting in Iran. Loyalist forces in the North completed the encirclement of Tabriz. They began a slow, grinding campaign to destroy the cut-off Revolutionary Guard units within the city. Armor, mechanized, and mountain infantry are sweeping the North, aiming to destroy radical elements and fully secure the country's northern borders. In the East, the Iranian military is slowly fighting to take control of key population centers and roads. They act in preparation for the war's final offensive after the fighting in the north concludes.
In the past days, despite the danger of an alien incursion, US and NATO air power intensified their sorties over Iran, determined to aid in ending the war faster.
BBC World News
About half of Herat and a third of Jalalabad are now in ANA and Coalition hands. This only happened after weeks of heavy fighting that saw whole Afghani formations destroyed and much of the cities in question leveled by artillery and air strikes. Coalition forces increase the deployment of heavy infantry equipped with exosuits and the best personal armor available weekly. In this new age of heavy infantry, Combat Engineers act as shock troops. The Coalition usually deploys them on the front to take enemy strong points when it is not feasible to deploy heavy firepower due to significant civilian presence.
CNN
First Jaeger heavy infantry platoon outfitted with Stark Industries exosuits deployed to Herat. At the same time, anti-war and peace protests grip Germany. Despite government reassurances, many of Germany's allies are unhappy with the expressed mindset of large parts of the German population.
In a scathing tirade, French Foreign Minister Jeanne Petain all but accused Germany of shrinking its defense responsibilities.
"If Germany is to expect and enjoy the mutual defense that NATO and the European Union provide, then it must be ready to respond in kind. Germany must not only contribute with economic aid but boots on the ground when necessary."
Euronews
The prospect of German re-militarization is controversial across Europe, where the specter of the Third Reich still haunts the halls of power. Some EU members would welcome a more serious commitment to defense from the German government and the population. At the same time, there are others, or elements within the former, who would watch any sign of German re-militarization with extreme concern. And this doesn't even touch upon a critical factor – how does the average German citizen feel about this topic?
BBC World News
"It is a bitter irony! Germany finally has a free, liberal society! We need the aid of their military to protect liberty and freedom throughout Europe and the world. Yet, the German people now balk at the idea of wearing the uniform, fighting, or dying for a worthy cause. Oh, why wasn't that the case a hundred years ago? Or eighty years ago?"
James Kaine, an infamous right-wing member of the Tory Party
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Capitol Building
Washington DC
"Dr. Stark, please explain to us why do you believe the SWORD Initiative is necessary. Why is it better than our existing alliances if that is the case? I would also like to hear you elaborate on certain statements you made in front of the United Nations. Our friends in the press have been busy twisting your words one way or another. Please, put that particular dog to rest."
I glanced at my lawyer, and she gave me yet another nod.
"Global reach. For various reasons, our existing alliances are limited in scope. An alien threat doesn't care about our politics, borders, or sovereignty. To safeguard Earth, we need rapid response forces that could act in every corner of the planet and reach it in numbers within a reasonable time frame. Our existing alliances simply were not set up for dealing with the kind of threat environment that an extra-terrestrial invasion presents. As importantly, the SWORD Initiative doesn't have the baggage of any already existing alliance. It is not bound by the same restrictions as, say, NATO. I'll use NATO as another example – its core purpose was a mutual defense against the Soviet Union and their Warsaw Pack puppets. Russia is no longer a conventional threat, and that, combined with the NATO framework and restrictions, makes the alliance less than an ideal tool to face alien aggression. Our alliances in South East Asia had the explicit purpose of countering the Soviet Union again and later containing China. This again makes them flawed tools for the task at hand."
I let people digest my words and carefully opened the cap of a bottle of water, then took a sip.
"SWORD is a framework meant to grow. Ideally, in the coming years and decades, it will incorporate all countries on Earth. The paradigm we have to operate under is, by necessity, global. An alien incursion on the other side of the Earth is not a local problem that is out of sight and out of mind. It is and should be considered as a first step of a global invasion. Any incursion could be a beachhead that, if not neutralized, could threaten every single country and person on this planet. With Disclosure out of the way, we all have to accept we live in a different world. And I hope for all our sake and our children's sake, that we as a species will act accordingly."
"This is going to be a tough thing to accept for many, and I am not only talking like someone who is part of the government as an elected official," Kelly said to the flashing cameras. "There is much history, perhaps too much bad blood to just turn another page. However, you gave us much to think about and discuss, Dr. Stark. Now let us put to rest all those accusations that you are a dictator in the making, shall we?"
"Now I will speak not as Dr. Tony Stark, as scientists, industrialists, or even American citizens. I will speak with someone who has the memories of a general who fought multiple galaxy-wide wars. I will speak as someone who remembers watching whole worlds burn as collateral damage while massive fleets fought above them. All the good intentions in the universe don't matter when someone parks a warship above your world and demands you fulfill their demands or watch your world burn. That could be a pirate ship kept spaceworthy with duct tape and prayers. It could be a state of the war warship from a galactic superpower. It could also be part of the enforcer wing of an interstellar corporation that came to exploit any useful resources it could find in your system. We know for a fact that there are hostile star nations within our galaxy. Only luck and Asgard's distant protection have kept us somewhat safe until now. Yet despite that, Earth has been invaded in the past, forcing Asgard's intervention. Any invasion that happens in the future will take into account not only Earth's strategic location in the galaxy but the fact that we are now a modern civilization. Even with rapid reactions from Asgard, the consequences of such an event can be catastrophic. We are our own first and last line of defense!" I declared.
The way things were going I wondered if people would want to lynch me for telling them hard truths they didn't want to know.
"Reality doesn't care about what I like or dislike; it doesn't consider my political views. Despite what certain good-natured scientists believed, becoming an interstellar civilization doesn't absolve you from petty desires for conquest or racism or somehow makes you morally superior. It only makes you more dangerous, and I am talking from experience here; it is easy to consider a primitive alien species expendable when they stand in the way of what you want and need. In our society, things like colonialism and offensive wars to grab lands and resources are something that today's world order does its best to discourage, and people loathe them. The same can't be said for successful interstellar conquerors for whom colonialism works. I don't need to tell you what happens to the colonized, even if they are fortunate to survive as people, do I? Might doesn't make you right; however, if you possess enough of it, it doesn't matter if you are morally right or not. You can do whatever you wish to those weaker than you, and only sufficient raw power can deter you. We are back to operating under such a paradigm now. And we are racing against the clock to become strong enough and advanced enough before a hostile faction sets its sight upon Earth."
