Chapter 1 – The End

All television networks interrupted their regular programming. In the background, the video of a large scale explosion followed by a mushroom cloud was running in a cataclysmic loop, with charred human remains scattered on streets, buildings collapsed, people running, walking to nowhere or simply standing still, or crouched in a daze. The captions, in all languages, mostly in English and Arabic, laid it simple: “Israel strikes Iran”.In the foreground, the cameras showed a still image of the United Nations pulpit. The Permanent Security Council had been called for an emergency meeting, and the leaders of China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States had been meeting since the morning. The Presidents of the United States and Russia were to hold a joint conference, scheduled for 21:00 EST.

A day earlier, Iran had fired yet another missile test from its Sharud site in the North. In response, Israel had decided the time had come. Much like a date is about to expire on a milk carton, the threat of an Iranian nuclear or electromagnetic pulse attack had been imminent for too long. It was time to throw the carton out.