Chapter 15: Not the Time to Celebrate Yet

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“We Russian are invincible in space! Huzzah!” chanted the Russians while they launched their spacecraft along with twenty powerful nuclear bombs from the top five nations of Earth.

Their mission was to stop the smaller meteorite from crashing into Earth with nuclear bombs, therefore, the launch route was different from the usual parabolic orbit. The nuclear bombs could not be activated from Earth because of the ozone layer which meant the Russians carried the bombs with them to space. 

The two meteorite halves were moving in different directions but at the same speed towards Earth.

The bigger half would miss Earth completely because of the booster. However, the smaller meteorite would still crash into Earth.

It was an expected result, the third part of the rescue operation depended on the Russians who needed to attack the smaller meteorite with their bombs until it was blown into bits.

The smaller meteorite measured around four kilometers in its diameter. 

It was smaller in comparison with the larger chunk, but if it crashed, a part of Earth would be destroyed.

They could not allow this to happen.

The best solution was stopping the smaller meteorite in outer space.

A nuclear bomb was the most powerful weapon ever invented by humans. But it worked differently from outer space.

When a nuclear bomb was launched on Earth, an explosion would occur along with lasting radiation damage.

However, there was no air in outer space. A normal explosion would not occur in a vacuum plus, there would be no mushroom cloud.

Honestly, the radiation was not a concern since the nuclear bombs nowadays were radiation-free. The world learned well from the mistakes of Chernobyl.

Moreover, there was radiation all over space anyway.

The nuclear bombs were still immensely powerful since it was the pinnacle of weapons research from the nations of Earth.

It was powerful enough to blow the small meteorite into bits.

It was the reason why every nation was in a more relaxed state.

They believed they had already saved the world, this mission was a piece of cake for the Russians.

It was a risky decision to announce the danger was over, but it was a decision they had to take. The previous disasters put nations in a perpetual state of panic.

All nations suffered economic and social losses in previous disasters. Most smaller nations even fell into a state of chaos.

Especially in Southeast Asia and Latin America, those countries fell into a government-less state. Anarchy reigned there like it was the end of the world.

Every nation hoped for the natural disasters to be over so they could spend money and effort on rebuilding their countries.

As for the capitalist nations, it was better if they could announce a danger-free situation so they could hurry up and rebuild their countries. That way they could benefit from it, it was what politicians only cared about.

They were spreading propaganda that the danger had passed through the media. So they could calm the people and lead things back to normal. Losses would be huge if people were in a state of panic.

However, the top five nations were still on their toes. They knew there was a possibility that the meteorite could still crash into Earth.

They risked it all for the first two parts of the rescue operation. Every nation did not have the time to calculate the meteorite’s mass and orbit, they just chose their best weapons and boosters.

The scientists, commanding officers, and the astronauts had no precise clue about the effect of the bombs.

The big meteorite was pushed off its course, but it was not yet over.

When it passed through the orbit, it might change its route due to the gravity of the Earth…

If it did not miss Earth, the consequences would be detrimental.

The United States operation squad were on guard at all times, observing the larger chunk and calculating its route non-stop. They were supported by data provided from Russia too, all they could do was pray that no unexpected accidents would occur.

They were out of options to deal with the larger meteorite piece if anything untoward happened.

All remaining nuclear bombs were to be used against the small meteorite. They no longer had any cards to play should a backup plan be needed.