So the Mobiliei’s strategists concluded that brute force alone would not succeed. The option of using biochemical weapons was explored and a virus was developed that could be seeded into Earth’s atmosphere before the majority of the Armada arrived.

It was clear that this would be the easiest method of attaining victory. But even such a brutally effective tool of extinction would have the downside of leaving every oil tanker, nuclear power station, jet airplane, and chemical plant on the earth’s surface suddenly un-manned. Could this theoretically be timed just so with the arrival of the fleet to avoid an environmental disaster of epic proportions? Perhaps. Again, repeated scenario modeling came close, but would not say, with any certainty, that it could be avoided, and there would be no second chances here, they needed to be as close to 100% as possible.

And so the threat of that pollution and radioactivity soiling their prize brought them back to the original problem. Like a child’s innocence, a planet’s natural beauty was not something that could be reclaimed easily if destroyed. So again the strategists returned to the drawing board. There would be little or no room for adjustment once plans were set in motion, and so the plan itself must factor all eventualities.

A plan with more finesse was required.

Finally the generals and admirals of the Great Fleet decided that they must send a smaller, more discrete advanced force ahead of them, with the goal of infiltrating any and all military forces with a tenable nuclear capability. With the help of stealthed AI satellites that would accompany this small force, they would strive to clip humanity’s nuclear claws, preparing them for quick defeat.

As the plan began to take shape, the emperors and empresses of Mobilius began to lick their lips over our precious world. But amongst all this fervor, not all the world’s houses were as enthusiastic as they might seem. In closed meetings, amongst old allies and close friends, the leaders of some of the ancient nomadic trading families grew ever more disquieted by what their race had embarked upon. The images sent back by the probe made them long to visit our planet: not to own it, but to explore it. To meet us and, once dialogue had been established, to open up the greatest trading route of all time. And so, quietly, discreetly, a few of the smaller but very wealthy city states united in a covert effort to subvert the planned attack.

Leveraging their expertise and significant resources, they worked diligently to remain a key part of the Armada’s construction, all the while seeding the staff and crews with a network of spies and allies. Their greatest coup was, without doubt, when they managed to focus all of their influence and political capital into placing one of their own minds amongst the prestigious eight selected to have their personalities implanted into the machine Agents of the advanced team.