The Professor's lab had suddenly gone dark. But it couldn't have been from the blast. It was perfect. Her calculations were precise and she had managed to direct the blast mostly outwards, into the atmosphere. Someone had turned the power off, from the outside. Then she heard metal clunking on the other side of the door to her lab. There was a sharp blast and a cacophony of voices.

"Down! Down! Get down on the floor!"

The professor and her assistant complied.

"Strech limbs out! Stay flat!" the voices continued.

The lights were turned back on, and the professor could finally see who had blasted her door in. It was the Federal Police. And Director Syat. Again.

"Ah, my good professor. Blowing stuff up today are we? Whole continents perhaps? A thousand fighter planes too?" Syat said, while kneeling down to look her in the eyes.

"You can see for yourself. They are gone. Annihilated."

"The worst storms ever recorded are raging all over the planet. Do you realise you probably doomed a few hundred species to extinction?"

"No! This is professor Reey you are talking to! She didn't kill them. They did" her assistant yelled.

"Professor, huh? More like a cuckoo. Any idea how they might retaliate?" The Director used his most condescending tone. "You have doomed us all."

"But it worked! It really did! The stellar observatories can no longer detect any alien presence! We got them all!" The assistant replied.

"Unlikely. But you will have to explain that before the council. Apparently your research here is too important. Otherwise I'd throw you both out on the devastated surface." The Director stood up.

"Now, come with me please. We have a long journey ahead to the capital."
 

Yim III looked a lot smaller now that his ships had fallen back. Looth turned away from the window to face the fleet staff on the other side of his desk.

"What do you mean no reserves? Did you send all the marines at once?"

"It was a type 1 landing, it calls for a show of force, and..."

"I am no military" Looth interrupted, "but even I know it's common sense to keep units in reserve. This is exactly what the Treecuu Academy of Culture has warned us about. Growing overconfidence and self-assurance. Never relax! Let this be a lesson for all of us." Looth took a deep breath.

"Now. Let's see what you've come up with."

"Plan 1. We call for reinforcements and..." a younger officer began but was interrupted by Looth's almost disgusted face.

"Calling for reinforcements is out of the question. It will take weeks for them to arrive."

"But it is the sensible thing to do, I..." the young officer was interrupted again.

"What are the other two plans?"

The young officer leant back. Someone older spoke up.

"Either we take out the city. Can be done from here. No losses on our side. Or we try the chemicals."

"We still know too little about them. We'd risk annihilating them all."

"Yes."

"Take that city out. All of it. Then send a new negotiation party."

Looth turned to the window. "Dismissed."

He had to confess. He was impressed by the Aryyt't. He looked forward to meeting them.

He turned on his computer and a high-resolution view over the devastated continent appeared. Three symbols closing in on it were marked in blue. Had they already fired? A projection of three giant craters soon confirmed it.