An armistice is declared between the EU/Russia and the Middle Eastern Alliance, along with their allies. England argues the allies should press forward and deliver a knockout blow to the EU, but worldwide, there is no appetite for continued conflict.
Following two years of relative peace, China formally enters a military alliance with the EU and Russia. Simuatiously, Chinese, Russian, and EU assets attack worldwide. American outposts in the Indian ocean are hit, along with Taiwan, while millions of Chinese ground troops join with Russian and EU armies to storm Turkey and Iran.
In the face of overwhelming force, Israel uses its tactical nuclear weapons to decimate the Chinese army after it broke through all remaining defensive lines. While the strike kills upwards of eight-hundred-thousand Chinese troops, the communist juggernaut rolled on. After reality sets in, the Middle Eastern Alliance stages a final stand to allow as many civilians as possible to escape into Africa, where the African Union formally joins the Freedom Alliance. Using the Suez canal as a natural defensive position, they finally check the World Society’s advance.
Doctor James Lawrence—an English physicist—begins experimentation on a new type of space propulsion that functions by creating a stable artificial wormhole. Initial tests in a lab environment are successful.
Australia fully enters the war on the side of the American, English. Middle Eastern and African countries. Using the ANZAC region as a base, the US Navy is able to bottle up the Chinese and Russia Pacific fleet threat – for the time being.
While the war rages on across land, sea and air, Lawrence creates a working prototype of his “wormhole” drive. A miniaturized version is tested on a robotic probe and returns intact. He proposes that plans be made to evacuate a large group of colonists from the free world to another planet, in the hopes life would continue elsewhere.
England proper is invaded by millions of EU troops, marshaled in France. Facing ongoing engagements in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, the US Navy is unable to send enough carrier battlegroups to stop mass landings of troops and war material. English troops slowly give ground in the face of the overwhelming assault, while making the enemy pay for every inch in blood.
A breakthrough in fusion power generation occurs in the United States. It is quickly recognized by Lawrence as the lynch-pin to make his new drive function properly for large scale spaceships.
Military planners project that within two decades, the World Society will overrun the free world and extend its grip across the planet. To counter this, the United States takes the lead in creating large colonization vessels under the codename “Exodus Project.” Massive amounts of funds and material are diverted to speed the process.