The Chimeran invasion of the United States began on August 14, 1951, and ended in America's downfall on July 4, 1953.
Background[]
More than a decade prior to the outbreak of the Chimeran War in December 1949, the United States government had been aware of the Chimera's existence through archaeological discoveries within the U.S. (such as Big Scrape Mine and Bryce Canyon) and intelligence sharing with European nations. Realising the imminent threat the Chimera posed, but unwilling to go public and foster mass panic, the Roosevelt administration instead committed to a military buildup and strengthened its ties with the United European Defence in order to combat the alien threat. However, to avert panic, the American public was kept deliberately ignorant of the Chimera's existence, which consequently led to the rise of isolationist sentiment as American citizens and politicians began criticizing Franklin D. Roosevelt as a "warmonger". Drawing on this disatisfaction and uncertainty, Republican isolationist Noah Grace defeated Roosevelt in the 1940 Presidential Election and promptly severed America's ties to Europe. Though Grace was soon made aware of the Chimera, he continued the military buildup only to defend America and its interests; the rest of the world was left largely to defend itself.
After the outbreak of the Chimeran War, the U.S. government grudgingly allowed military support to the UED in the form of weapons, ammunition, and limited troops in response to the Chimera's swift advance across Europe. The Grace administration also reinforced the nation's propaganda efforts, resulting in a massive media blackout which made all American media state property in order to keep the American public ignorant of the true nature of the war, and creating the myth of the "European influenza" pandemic. By the time Europe fell to the Chimera, the United States remained isolated, emerging only to participate in limited SRPA intelligence operations and Operation Deliverance, which assisted in liberating the United Kingdom from Chimeran occupation in July 1951.
Despite America's continued isolation, the U.S. Department of War and Special Research Projects Administration knew that the Chimera would inevitably invade America and developed contingency plans to defend the nation. The culmination of these led to the construction of a 4,500-mile boundary line, a safe zone that would protect the American people from the Chimera known as the Liberty Defense Perimeter.[1]
Beginning of the invasion[]
One month after the liberation of Britain, the Chimera finally began to focus their attention on Earth's western hemisphere, for reasons ascertaining to their excavation of the Chimeran towers. On August 14, 1951, the Chimera began their direct attack on America by launching a series of Spire missiles on the New England states of New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont.[2][1] After New York was contained, the Grace administration gave the approval to the construction of the Liberty Defense Perimeter.[1]
Near the end of 1951, America's northwest had been completely overrun by the Chimera. The replacements of the Crawler strain in place for Spinners greatly aided the Chimera in their conquest, as they could effectively infect populated cities within days (such is what happened to Chicago). The northwest invasion was temporarily halted and impeded by U.S. military, SRPA and Sentinel efforts in derailing the alien advance.
By this time, President Grace had begun to rethink that America would not survive the Chimera's onslaught. With the approval of most of his Cabinet, Grace secretly executed a negotiation attempt with the leading Chimeran entity known as Daedalus to spare America in exchange for the Chimera to keep the rest of the world. However, the negotiations failed in which Grace was killed by the Sentinel, Lieutenant Nathan Hale, for his treachery to the human race.[3]
The Chimera gain ground[]
Throughout 1952, the Chimera airships bombarded the American coastlines with Spire missiles. The American southeast was entirely blanketed with Spire attacks and was declared a gray zone, while on the west coast an attempted incursion of Orick was contained by Specter Team. This change in tactics was due to the new leadership of Daedalus, who augmented with his military strategy among the Chimeran military caste and as well improving the chain of leadership with the introduction of Overseers and Primarchs.[4]
As American territories gradually fell to the Chimera, Grace's successor Harvey McCullen drafted a colonization plan of the Hawaiian islands.[5] However, McCullen's plan later became an apparent failure when Hawaii's entire colonist population (including military personnel) mysteriously disappeared without signs of any conflict.[6]
The beginning of the end[]
On May 15, 1953, Daedalus ordered his airship fleet to massively invade America's coastlines which, if taken, would allow the Chimera to surround the U.S. military on all sides. 60% of the U.S. armed forces were killed within the first 72 hours of the assault.[2]
SRPA had led an effort to hinder the Chimeran assault and trying to stop Daedalus's plans from reactivating the Chimeran towers in America. Sentinel Echo Team had spearhead several victories against the Chimera which include preventing the Chimeran fleet from breaching the LDP in Idaho.
Despite a valiant defensive effort from U.S. military forces and SRPA personnel, on May 28, the Chimera finally breached the LDP at the southern border and caused the loss of 63 million lives.[7] Among the dead was President McCullen and his entire cabinet.[8] All remaining human survivors, totaling about 7 million, were scattered across America. Of these, 2 million were relocated by American military forces to Baton Rouge, the last remaining protection camp in the nation. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur became temporary leader of the civilian population until orderly elections could be held.[8]
Operation Black Eden[]
- Main article: Operation Black Eden
Despite the nation crippled by the invasion, SRPA made a last desperate assault on stopping the Chimera's intentions over the Chicxulub crater by initiating Operation Black Eden in late June. The operation involved detonating a fission bomb within Daedalus's flagship, destroying the Chimeran fleet and Daedalus' plans. The operation was a success, as the fleet was annihilated in the nuclear explosion and Daedalus was killed at the hands of Nathan Hale. However, the destruction of the fleet did not prevent the Chimera from activating the Chimeran tower network that created a wormhole leading to the Chimera's home planet.
Assault on the New York Tower[]
- Main article: Assault on the New York Tower
All remaining U.S. forces, including conflicting forces such as Freedom First, who had been known to assassinate U.S. government officials, joined together in a coalition to destroy the New York Hub Tower in the hope that it would remove the wormhole now above the American skyline and also prevent any geographical climate changes that have previously been seen.
The assault was planned by former Secretary of the Interior Thomas Voss, who became the 36th President of the United States whilst making the voyage to New York, and Dr. Fyodor Malikov. Thousands of surviving soldiers, ex-soldiers and Sentinels participated in the assault but only to end in catastrophic failure, leaving the Chimera to claim all of the United States unopposed.
References[]
- ^ a b c SRPA file PA51184390
- ^ a b Official Resistance Series Timeline on Gameinformer.com
- ^ Resistance: The Gathering Storm
- ^ SRPA Intelligence Memorandum 3
- ^ McCullen Proposes Colony in Hawaii
- ^ SRPA Intelligence Memorandum 24
- ^ SRPA Intelligence Memorandum 19
- ^ a b SRPA Intelligence Memorandum 20