The Best Defense (near-future HFY)

For millennia, two galactic empires have been locked in an interstellar cold war. Dissent to each empire's ideology is considered treason, and neutrality is incomprehensible. As each empire has expanded, newly-discovered sentient species have always joined one side or the other -- whether they want to or not. In the year 2028, Earth is the latest planet in the path of expansion. It has barely any space capability, no system defenses, and no allies. The nations of Earth therefore must volunteer to be subjugated, or become the latest battleground in a war that began before the construction of the pyramids. There is no hope of any effective resistance. No species has ever succeeded before. Except humans have a saying. The best defense . . . is a good offense. Discord link. Cover by Cedar Sanderson. The Best Defense is a science fiction web serial in the HFY subgenre -- a story niche that, first and foremost, describes humans being awesome because they are human. You can expect: - Multiple POVs, including humans, aliens, and AI characters. - Significant near-future space exploration concepts. - A dash of real physics next to the ray guns and snarky AI, and a greater scale than what is normally seen in sci-fi. - A gradual build of humanity from planet-bound to star-faring, eventually resulting in giant space battles. - Humans shattering the status quo without being OP. Humans have HFY-style advantages, but they are grounded in reality and don't guarantee a win. Content warnings are limited to Profanity, which will still be light. This story is also mirrored in the r/HFY subreddit under u/OGNovelNinja.  SHOUT-OUT POLICY: I don't do many shout-outs and I never ask for them. I do make recommendations when I think my fans will like something. If you want me to give you a shout-out, there's a forum thread for recommendations for stories like The Best Defense. Anything I think looks good will get mentioned to my readers.