Due to the unique political system of the Federation where each state operates independently, some states of the Federation are currently in relatively good condition. The citizens are systematically stockpiling supplies, digging shelters, and actively preparing for the impending disaster. However, some states have fallen into chaos even worse than that of Britain and Gaul, and their state governments have already lost control over the situation.
As for the Federal government, they are mainly focused on the meteor defense plan and, coupled with their limited control over the states, have simply opted to turn a blind eye to these issues, letting the states handle them themselves. The Federal government is single-mindedly concentrating all its efforts on completing the meteor defense plan.
After all, as long as the plan can be realized and the trajectory of the meteor can be altered, Blue Star can be spared from a catastrophic disaster. The various social unrest and issues caused by the meteor impact would naturally subside, leaving the government to merely oversee post-disaster reconstruction in the states.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this mindset that the disaster preparedness of the Federation is far from ideal.
The Federation does have shelters and nuclear bunkers, but the majority of these were built during the Cold War.
With the disintegration of Sovia and the end of the Cold War, the Federation, as the world's only superpower and the strongest military power, could be said to be very safe domestically. These shelters and bunkers gradually lost their function and were abandoned.
Although they say "Peaceful America, gunfight every day," this is, after all, a country that was never invaded in two World Wars. In terms of preparing for potential disasters, the Federation's people have always maintained a kind of optimism puzzling to the people of other countries, with little sense of crisis.
This has led to a situation where, in the face of a potential disaster, ordinary citizens of the Federation can only rely on their own basements, which is feasible for the property-owning class who can afford single-family homes. As for the poor lower class, who often live in apartments, they have no basements to use for refuge.
Of course, the truly wealthy build their own bunkers with complete living facilities and various supplies, which is indeed unmatched by other countries.
Despite the various issues faced with each country and their own complicated affairs, no compromises were made in the execution of the meteor defense plan. Every country has mobilized all their available resources and forces to ensure the execution of the three plans.
No country is presently concerned with concealing their nuclear launch sites. Some already exposed, or openly acknowledged, nuclear launch sites have entered combat readiness status, with warheads mounted on missiles ready for launch.
As the core executors of the three plans, the spacecraft of China, the United States, and Russia have been completed in these few months through intensive efforts, just waiting for the arrival of the meteor to begin executing the plan.
The Federation has brought out and heavily refurbished and maintained its two mothballed space shuttles, Atlantis and Endeavour, placing these over 20-year-old shuttles back on the launch pad all over again, regardless of the cost.
According to the Federation's plan, they not only need to carry nuclear bombs to propel or explode the asteroid but also drilling rigs to bore holes and team members to operate the rigs and place the bombs, all while landing on the meteor's surface after carrying so many items.
The Federation's space shuttle is the only one in the world with such a carrying capacity, capable of landing and then taking off again.
On its part, the Flame Country capitalized on the Falcon rocket provided by the Federation and combined it with its own Long March series rockets, developing a heavy spacecraft with multiple engines to exert force on the meteor near the Moon's orbit, attempting to alter the meteor's course using lunar gravity.
But so far, everything is based on estimated data, and no one knows exactly how much this meteor weighs or if the heavy spacecraft developed by the Flame Country can exert enough thrust to change its trajectory.
Hence, after discussions, the United Nations action team decided to adjust the plan, first sending the Federation's crew to land on the meteor's surface to carry out their plan, drill holes, and place nuclear bombs to blast the meteor apart into a large and a small piece, thus reducing the meteor's main weight.
Simultaneously, the Flame Country will then install the heavy spacecraft on the surface of the large piece of meteor after the explosion. Utilizing the Moon's gravity, the spacecraft's thrust, and the previous push from the nuclear blast by the Federation, they will alter the trajectory of the large piece of meteor to divert it from its collision course.
As for the remaining small piece of meteor, that's the responsibility of Lucia. They will guide a large number of nuclear warheads launched from Blue Star for a saturation nuclear strike on the small piece of meteor until it's shattered.
If the entire plan goes smoothly, then the meteor, with a potential diameter exceeding ten kilometers, which could likely cause human extinction, will finally be shattered into a heap of debris in near-Earth orbit, to then burn up in the atmosphere.
Perhaps some large fragments may still land on Blue Star and cause impacts, but this debris-level meteor impact remains within a tolerable range for human civilization.
As China, the United States, and Russia completed their preparations, the meteor gradually approached the lunar orbit, heading straight for Blue Star.
The three teams, long on standby, sequentially launched into space. They would refuel at the International Space Station and Tiangong Space Station in near-Earth orbit before leveraging the gravity of Blue Star and the Moon to accelerate, enabling the spacecraft of the Flame Country and the Federation to reach speeds adequate to land on the meteor's surface.
In pursuit of this goal, the Flame Country expedited the completion of the Tiangong Space Station within these three months, while the Federation conducted a thorough overhaul of the International Space Station. Both countries each dispatched a total of six astronauts to their respective space stations to ensure the provision of refueling services for the spacecraft of both the Flame Country and the Federation.
The necessary fuel for the entire plan has already been launched to both space stations using the SLS system, just waiting for the spacecraft of both countries to arrive.
This rescue operation, pivotal for the fate of all humankind, has captured the attention of everyone on Blue Star. All major media outlets and TV stations are broadcasting continuously, around the clock.
Whether they have religious beliefs or are atheists, everyone is sincerely praying for the successful execution of the plan.
Under the watchful eyes of six billion people around the globe, the spacecraft of the Flame Country and the space shuttle of the Federation each arrived at the Tiangong Space Station and the International Space Station, beginning their refueling operations.
As for the Lucians, since their role is to intercept the meteor, they will proceed only after the Flame Country and the Federation commence their actions. After all, their task is merely to guide the nuclear bombs, which relatively requires less urgency in launching their spacecraft.