After the disappearance of the Battleship Express from Earth, as well as the disastrous fiasco that was the Battle of Vegas finally blew over, the full scope of the damage was truly unfathomable.

Almost all of Southern Nevada, as well as a lot of the surrounding desert, was just barely habitable. All of the missiles and bombs that were used in "Operation Fireball" had been detonated at a certain altitude to prevent serious fallout, however, the damage was still beyond belief.

An estimated 750,000+ American troops, marines, airmen, and other service personnel lost their lives, with a further 500,000+ wounded, and 100,000+ missing. The Futas were believed to have been lost with complete casualties, and Vegas itself was in rubble-heap ruins, as was nearby Henderson, Nevada. Almost nothing about them were even recognizable, and they, and the desert around them, were radioactive. A lot of the casualties from that day also came from Nellis AFB. The base had been targeted, and several nukes detonated close to it. A few had managed to get to fallout shelters in time, but many others were not so lucky, and they either perished in the blasts, or like the less fortunate, died slowly from the radiation.

Although it had been targeted, the Hoover Dam still stood. Most of the Marines and Night Stalkers inside had been killed or wounded, but the dam itself withstood the test of nuclear war once again. And surprisingly, the cities of Reno and Carson City, which had also been targeted, had managed to escaped almost wholly unscathed. The nukes fell around the desert outside, but the cities themselves, though partially buried in sand, survived almost completely intact.

After Vegas, the war was a foregone conclusion. Without their leaders, and many Futas fighting each other, in less than 2 months after the fighting resumed, they were driven out of their final stronghold on American soil. In less than 2 years, the Futas had been wiped from the face of the Earth. Their genetic filth had been completely cleansed, as had the technology that they had used to turn themselves from women into Futas.

The whole world breathed a sigh of relief when WW6 finally ended in 2032, and no challengers rose up to take the place of the Futa Empire. There was America, Great Britain, the European Union of Free Republics (which was the successor to the EU, and was composed of a lot of countries in Europe), Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and what little remained of Asia. Africa was still uninhabitable after WW4-5, and Canada was partially a northern wilderness, while Mexico was a barren desert, and Central and South America were largely unpopulated jungle regions. Total world population was not known to exceed 3 billion people, and now that the Futas were gone, it was estimated to be closer to 2.5 billion.

However, "Operation Undertail" finally went into effect, and it enabled women who wanted to have children to have multiple births every time they got pregnant. It was met with mixed reactions, but the effects were noticeable. There were more people, and in 5 years, Earth's population would hopefully be over 3 billion again.

For those in America, their nation was the best off. While none of the nation escaped WW6 unscathed, the regions from the East Coast to the Mississippi River fared the best. Civilization hadn't stopped, and life continued as normal. In just 4 years following WW6, most of the US had been rebuilt, and was beginning to thrive again. It was estimated that in less than 20 years (by 2056), the total world GDP would be close to pre-WW4 levels again.

With each passing year, the site around Vegas got less and less radioactive, and methods that had been developed to control radiation were put to use. Eventually, the area had been made safe enough, although it would remain largely uninhabited for a long time to come.

For years after the fact, the final fates of the Battleship Express, as well as its supply train, Iron Glory, remained the greatest unsolved mysteries of the entire war. How could 2 trains like that have just up and vanished? Many searches were performed, and the desert was scoured with all kinds of instruments, but no traces of either train was ever found. Eventually, 2 memorials for their crews were added alongside the Battle of Vegas Memorial, the Nellis AFB Memorial, and the Hoover Dam Memorial, and those who wanted to could make the trek out to see these sites.

Many theories were put forwards regarding what happened to the Battleship Express and Iron Glory, ranging from total disintegration, to even alien abduction. Eventually, the conclusion was reached that the trains were unable to get out of the blast radius in time, and when they were hit by the force of the atomic blasts, they were blown into pieces, and the debris were scattered all around the desert. Then, due to the massive dust and sand storms resulting from the nuclear blasts, their remains were buried in the desert. Somewhere out there, the trains were believed to lie, shattered remnants of their former selves. Their crews were all given up as lost, and the world began to move on. The history books said that they'd been lost in the aftermath of the Battle of Vegas, and most people left it at that.

However, there was another theory put forward. According to a couple of historians and scientists, they believed that the trains had been transported to another dimension. They believed that the trains had crossed over a set of lay-lines that had been activated by the nuclear blasts, and were instantaneously teleported. Most people laughed at this theory, but yet, they still wondered that if the train really had been destroyed, why had no wreckage ever been found? Some parts of the train were even designed to survive a direct nuclear hit, but yet nothing had ever been found. It made no sense.

"But we also never found any wreckage of the USS Cyclops, or Flight 19, not to mention Malaysia Flight 370, so maybe it's just like them; lost forever to time, with no traces except for what we haven't found yet."

It was definitely strange, and many books were written about it, and even a number of documentaries appeared on TV as well. Still though, nobody could come to a solid conclusion.

Heh, if only they knew the truth. If only those scientists and historians knew just how right their teleportation theory was. Sadly, none of them ever really would. Also, most people never would find out what had really happened to the Battleship Express, HOWEVER, one day, a select lucky few would find the answers that they so desperately sought, and it would happen in the most unexpected ways imaginable......

Ok guys, here we go. This chapter was written to hopefully answer as many of your, "Hey, what's going on back on Earth while the Battleship Express is in Equestria?" questions. If it didn't, well, there will be another chapter later on that will hopefully answer a few more. Also, if you have any questions that you want answered, then I'll try to do just that. If I don't, then that usually means it'll be spoilers for a later chapter.

As always, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story are always appreciated, and I'll see you in Chapter 1!

ScarFox out for now!