Europans

The Europans are a species that were believed to be the alien species that attacked earth. The Europans, originating from Jupiter's moon Europa, supposedly attacked earth after NASA drilled into the moon's ice. NASA had seen a giant swastika that covered most of Europa and investigated the moon. Directly after this, NASA received a message from the Europans:

"You have desecrated our most sacred temple. For this there can be no forgiveness. We are coming to kill you all."

In the videogames produced by Chaos Terrain (including Armada) the Europans are replaced by the "Sobrukai", an alien species from another star-system whose "supreme leader" is depicted as a hideous creature similar to a giant squid or octopus. This design is based on the scientific speculations of what kind of intelligent life could theoretically inhabit the occean under Europa's icy surface. Among the veteran members of the EDA there is a rumor that the design is actually based on the alien corpses retrieved from a manned scout ship that was knocked down by the military in the 80's (this rumor appear to be disproved at the end of the novel).

After this transmission, the 'war' begins. In the last few pages of the book, we find out that the war was staged by the Sodality, a 'galactic community of peaceful civilizations', as it is described in the book. There was no life on Europa, except microbial life. Earth joins the Sodality as the ninth planet in its community. This change proves to be very beneficial, because the Sodality gave earth food and medicine that could cure most diseases, even cancer. But at the end of the book, Zack wonders if the Sodality is not all that it says it is.