est. 41kg · bioluminescent · controlled descent · presently RE-ENTRY · T-04:00:00
Six hours ago, orbital array HALO-3 tagged a non-terrestrial object decelerating against atmospheric drag at coordinates the laws of physics say should not have produced deceleration. It is small. It is hot. It is steering.
Anti-orbital intercept failed at T-minus four hours. The kinetic kill vehicle struck a cloud of chaff — fragments of the pod's outer hull peeled off and absorbed the impact. The core kept descending. By the time analysts realised what they were looking at, the pod had committed to a corridor of 120 candidate impact cities. We can nudge it. We cannot stop it.
XENO-VECTOR · HIVE-CARRIER PAYLOAD · HOST-TO-HOST CONFIRMED
Bio-scans of the chaff fragments returned a parasite consensus: a self-replicating xenoform that converts mammalian respiratory tissue into hive substrate. Sub-millimeter spawn-drones are released on impact. Once airborne, host-to-host conversion is observed in lab primates within 48 hours. There is no antidote on Earth.
Three impact cities have already volunteered to take the strike. Five have threatened pre-emptive nuclear response if targeted. Markets opened in the red and never recovered. The UN is on a four-hour emergency session. Orbital telescopes are now pointing back at the trajectory's origin — something larger is following.
You are the United Earth Defense Council. The decision of where the pod lands is yours alone. The invasion begins there.