On September 17th, 2017, North Korea publicly detonated a hydrogen bomb as a weapons test. Given the general uselessness of radiation in space, as well as the lack of heat transfer, the general consensus was that space combat vessels would be armed with hydrogen warheads instead of regular fission warheads. While humanity, as far as they were aware, hadnt yet mastered controlled nuclear fusion, the uncontrolled variety was much easier and plenty destructive enough to be used as a weapon against aliens.

Two days later, while the civilized governments were busy threatening more sanctions against North Korea, they launched a ballistic missile that passed over Hokkaido, causing alarms to ring out in every country that had missile launch detection programs and nearly instigating a full-blown nuclear war. If it werent for the incoming aliens, humanity likely would have self-immolated that day; especially since the ballistic missile test came only days after a public hydrogen warhead test.

That day, the Doomsday Clock was set to 30 seconds to midnight from the relatively safe time of two-and-a-half minutes to midnight it was before the missile launch. Humanity was the closest it had ever been to doomsday.

Theyre really pushing our limits, Trump said as he read a report about the mess caused by North Koreas test fires.

Looks like when Eden helped them with their sanctions, it gave them the balls to do what they want. After all, more threats of sanctions against them is pointless with those fucking blockade runners from that third-world shithole, Trumps new Chief of Staff, John Kelly cursed.

Isnt China supposedly keeping their dog on a leash? As far as I know, North Korea is just Chinas attack dog. They let them bark and rattle sabers every now and then just to remind us that they could unleash them at any time, Trump asked.

This time, even China seems to have been caught off guard, the CIA director reported.

What do you mean by that? Trump asked.

North Korea has been breaking free from Chinese control thanks to the coalition formed by Eden. In the past, China was responsible for 70% of their food and energy needs, so they had a leash to control them with. But now that they can get what they need from Eden, with no strings attached, theyve been growing closer to Eden and away from China. Thats why, we think, theyve become bolderits because the damn Edenians removed Chinas leash from around North Koreas throat.

So youre telling me theres a chance things will get much worse than this? Trump asked.

Most likely, yes, so long as Eden continues providing them what they need without strings attached. As long as that trade continues, North Korea can do whatever the hell they want.

So lets remove Eden from the equation and let China put a shackle on their dog again. After all, those morons are incompetent and the last thing we need is a war started by their missiles failing during the boost phase and falling on Japan, or worse, South Korea, Trump said after a moment of contemplation.

How about we promise to remove the sanctions against Eden if they cancel their deal with North Korea? the aide from the State Department suggested.

That wont work. They already know we cant do that on our own. Itll take a Security Council resolution, and right now, Russia would probably veto it just to muddy the waters further. Or worse, theyll want to trade our support for their slipshod plan, and thats the absolute last thing we need, the Chief of Staff replied.

So how about threatening to sanction that... whats his name? Adam? No... Aron. Aron Michael. How about we threaten him personally with sanctions, since his companies are responsible for producing and delivering everything thats letting North Korea be ballsy. Then theyll be forced to go back to begging China for food and oil, and China will have the leash again, Trump mused.

Hes a very important figure in Eden, and combined with his individual power and influence, hes a huge target. But since a lot of his funds are in our banks, or banks that we can influence, thats possible, the CIA director said.

I dont think sanctions are a good thing at the moment, as we need their tech. And if we piss off the owner of the companies responsible for researching and producing it, its likely to backfire since he can use the sanctions as an excuse for why he wont give it up to us and paint us as the bad guys, the Secretary of State said.

Then how about a naval blockade on North Korea? Can we do that? Trump asked.

Its... technically possible. Naval blockades are considered acts of war, but we can interdict their trade ships and force inspections on them with the excuse of checking them for weapons and other banned items, the Secretary of State replied. It wouldnt make it completely impossible for Edenian shipments to arrive in North Korea, but it would delay it by a lot. The tricky part is that Eden is a neutral country, so therell be some political wrangling and horse trading involved, but its doable... technically speaking.

Like we do in Cuba? Trump asked.

Yes, but itll take two fleets, since we dont have coast guard ships capable of sailing that far. Weve got the Ronald Reagan carrier strike group and the America amphibious ready group in the area, but we cant pull any more than that without compromising ongoing ops elsewhere, General Mattis replied. Plus, it wont be a perfect interdiction, but itll cover most of the ports at least.

The discussion continued into the early afternoon as they worked out how the interdiction would be implemented, what they would be announcing to the public, and so on.

Father, I think its about time we start the final escalation act. We need to focus on the aliens, so its high time we stomp Eden into the mud. Theres a high chance the Rothschilds will try to stop our plans in Eden, like we did theirs in Yemen back then, so we should focus on building up public opinion against Eden now, George Morgan said. He had learned that the previous upswell in anti-Eden sentiment had fallen once the publics focus shifted to the incoming alien threat, which he considered a fine move on Edens part.

We need something huge, and on American soil, otherwise the people wont be angry enough to merit a military response. But itll serve two purposes... first, itll get our revenge against those peasants, and second, it can serve as the opening act to forcing takeovers in a lot of countries that are currently just wasting space and resources.

And although the aliens are an opportunity, even if an unplanned one, we need to put those countries to bed within the next two years since were on a timer, he mused. He was thinking along the same lines as many powerful governments were; it was time to reduce the cacophony of voices in the UN, or whatever the united government would be in the near future. And he wanted the first mover advantage.

Lets frame up a bombing attempt on the 9/11 anniversary this year. Its the best time to unite people, as theyre already busy remembering that particular masterstroke of ours, George suggested.