The shuttle of the strangely human, yet still alien, Hrwang vanishes from its landing spot outside the United Nations. Minutes later, satellites plummet from the sky all around Earth. Nuclear warheads launch. The human weapons -- targeted at other humans -- bring on the expected devastation, but no one expected the kind of firepower the alien Hrwang would harness. Within hours, Earth changes forever. So, too, do the lives of survivors. Astronauts on a mission to Mars, aware of the Hrwang but unaware of the attack, try to figure out why they can't communicate with Earth. A German man leading American soldiers on a mountain hike witnesses the mushroom cloud that destroys his home. An Air Force Captain on the Pacific coast alerts her commanders of suspicious movements by the Hrwang, but her base's proximity to the ocean leaves her in a kind of danger she never imagined. Teen sisters on a mountain getaway will have to deal with the alien threat, but first, they'll see some of the worst of humanity. Governments try in vain to fight back. Is there hope for Earth in the face of a technologically superior foe?