But a wholly different beast walked onto the base today, and she gave but cursory salutations to the people who greeted her as she headed to the main Z Berth building. The Z Berths were a long set of large sheds that abutted the heavily guarded harbor waters of the naval base. The long flat buildings were in fact armor plated and frequently patrolled. They were staunchly guarded because they housed the US Atlantic Submarine Fleet, the greatest concentration of nuclear weaponry on earth. In order to keep their movements secret, the big sheds had no approach above water; no surface ship could enter them or see into them. Great doors both above and below the water’s surface guarded the sheds’ entrances, and they only ever opened at night, allowing blackened hulls to slip unseen to and from the great berths.

As Lana walked up to the buildings, she saw a group of people staring mutely at the southern sky. Hundreds of miles to the south lay one of the GBMD launch sites that the conspiracy had chosen to fire from. The whole country, indeed the whole world, was abuzz with the news that a massive barrage of missiles was heading into space. But even more amazing to the billions of people watching was that the missiles were even now starting to detonate in mid-flight. The massive cloud of fire rising into the sky was being steadily whittled down. She smiled. Pesky humans and their pathetic weapons. Even now, even when it was clear that they had discovered the satellites in orbit, they still did not have the courage to launch their nuclear missiles at them. GBMD indeed. Nothing but a bunch of kinetic warheads and tactical oxidizing weapons. That may have been enough to destroy the first satellite, but only because the satellite in question had not been allowed to defend itself.

Well, humans, now you get to see what our satellites are really capable of. Now you will see what happens when we bare our claws, you impudent fools. And now that you have shown us your true colors, there is no way I am going to carry on lurking in the shadows. New game, new rules. When this attack fails and you eventually get around to launching your nuclear weapons at my satellites, I intend to see to it that you have several less of them left.

As she approached the Z Berth sheds, she felt a surge of disdain for the personnel who were staring at the missile barrage soaring into the sky. She smiled. Enjoy the show, you plebeians, things are about to heat up.