Straining metal, years of grit, grime and caked up soil fell from the large doors slowly opening ahead.
It had been ages since the first bombs fell, hurled by clandestine satellites formerly believed to be watching weather formations. But that hadn't been a surprise.
Not to me.
I was stationed at a central command post when the scopes lit up, klaaxons sounded and the percussive stampede of combat boots filled the air. It didn't take long to get my gear, throw it in a rucksack and keep on walking. Most officers were preoccupied with barking orders and giving status reports. It was perfect - the world map lit up like a christmas tree, neon-red circles where detonations had been detected or inferred from the bomb trajectories.
No one had time to notice the splice in junction box 42A, where the T-Junction was injecting extra information via fiber optics. They certainly didn't have time to register the small uplink dish that was placed on the summit of the mountain, put there with care after a long training drill, after I faked an injury and hobbled back, last in line.
All pieces of the plan that I had laid out years ago.
It was several years ago, when I was deployed in combat - that I saw the true nature of man. It wasn't in the waving flag, the crisp uniforms or the neat parade drills. It was best displayed in sudden gunfire, your best friend bleeding out, limbs blown off bodies from insurgent mines. It was in the eyes of everyone that wanted to kill me, and in mine as grew to enjoy killing them. That's when I decided, it was time to finish it. No more delaying, no more rationalizing killing in the name of peace.
That's why I hacked into the main system and stole the launch codes. That's why I used the uplink to prime the satellites and set target coordinates.
That's why, after the longest time, earth was finally at peace.