Rambo was perched on top of a building in the city of Tainir. The rhamphorhynchus stared down at the streets below, where Imperial soldiers had been marching continuously for hours.
The city had not been occupied for even a day, yet that was enough to take total control. Rambo had serious problems understanding human beings: it seemed that most of them didn't mind being enslaved. Had they been animals, they would have fought to the death as long as their pack leader was still alive. But evidently, their mentalities were too different.
Still, it was amazing how humans allowed themselves to be exploited. Tainir's civilians numbered in the millions; if they had wanted, they could have eliminated all the invaders within the hour. Yet, they remained still and frightened in their homes, without having the courage to go out. And if someone was dragged out of the house accused of being a resister, no one came forward to help him.
Rambo really didn't understand. In a way
Sobek was furious. Really very, very furious.He thought he knew everything about humans, but apparently he was wrong. The humans of that world seemed to have made very great advances in terms of technology. Apparently, they had studied dinosaurs and learned from them things Earth scientists could only dream of. This, added to the war tension, had made the enemy technology jump forward by centuries.'This time they really caught me off guard'He was angry with himself. How could he not have taken that variable into account? Humans were extremely inventive and intelligent creatures, and wars were the most powerful engine of technology. It was absurd to think that the nuclear bomb could be the most dangerous adversary Sobek could face.'Apparently, they've found a way to replicate [Ambush], even if only partially. And given the low fatality rate on their front, I'd say they were able to replicate [Regeneration] as well. However, I doubt they went much furth
"It's here"A family of humans was in a suburb of Tanior. They were almost in the suburbs. There the city was much quieter, in contrast to the center where the imperial invaders were busy shooting opponents every day.The family was very simple: a man, a woman and two children, one of whom was no more than four years old. All four had worried expressions painted on their faces and were looking around frantically, even the little boy who, despite his naivete, was able to tell that something was bothering his parents."Are you sure this is the place?" the woman asked.The man nodded. “This is where my source told me to come”“We can't stay exposed for long. If they see us, we will be dragged to the military tribunal!”“I am aware of it. Let's wait a moment longer"Suddenly there was a noise. The four turned abruptly and saw a large black cat with a white spot on the right eye approaching them. "Kitten!" the
Croft stared in amazement at the device before him. “What… what is this!?”The general across from him smirked. “A prototype. A teleportation device that we created based on data collected over all these years combined with Henry Wu's research,” he explained. “I don't know how it works exactly, the scientists who worked on it talked about something about 'bending spacetime', but I personally don't care. And you mustn't care either, sir. All you have to do is install it on there”Croft stared in horror at the spot the general indicated. Beside them, in all its enormity, was a huge cylinder at least eight meters long and more than two meters wide. Croft knew what it was: his most extraordinary and at the same time most destructive project. The most powerful thermonuclear bomb ever created.Croft had designed it not even six months before. He had done it because he was convinced that no one could ever use it. The bomb weig
In a millisecond, a ten kilometer wide ball of fire appeared in the center of the lake. The millions of liters of water vaporized in less than the blink of an eye and the ground became fluid, forming a crater about two kilometers wide. At 49 million degrees Celsius, the fireball was more than three times hotter than the core of the Sun, so hot that it instantly turned sand into glass and liquefied it immediately afterwards. Everything inside the nuclear monstrosity disappeared in the blink of an eye: trees, rocks, sand, insects… everything sublimated, instantly passing from a solid state to a gaseous state. Even some boats found themselves inside the fireball, and the people inside them disappeared, evaporating in an instant. They didn't even have time to suffer.In the millisecond after the fireball was born, a flash of light so powerful it dwarfed the Sun illuminated everything for miles around. The light was so intense that for a moment the bodies of Sobek and the o
Buck was lying on a small hill, looking out over the ash desert before him.The fire had continued to rage for eight hours, and surely would have lasted even longer if the combined efforts of humans and dinosaurs had failed to put it out. Now all that was left of the region was ground covered in ash and trees turned black as coal. The beautiful lake that bathed that land was still empty: the river had started to fill it again, but surely it would have taken at least a month before restoring it to its original shape.The crater was still visible in the center of the lake. It was the deepest part of it now and would be the first place to fill with water; however, at the time the water level did not exceed three millimeters and was therefore still clearly visible. Every time he looked at it, Buck felt sick. He was sure the nightmares would haunt him for days."Everything is fine?"Buck turned his head just to see Carnopo lying down beside him. The carnotauru
About a day had passed since the atomic explosion on Frigeria when Sobek showed up in front of the doors of the building where the leaders of the Eden Union had met.Within twenty-four hours, the world had entered a state of panic. Though national leaders maintained a facade of security and the Empire had yet to issue a declaration of war, all of humanity was in turmoil. Many people had abandoned the cities and had run to take refuge in the countryside. Those who had bunkers had moved into them and brought all their dearest possessions there. Even though governments had tried to keep speculation to a minimum, the supermarkets were crowded with people rushing to stock up on supplies. Many had even let themselves go, abandoning themselves to carnal pleasures completely regardless of their economic loss, because they were convinced that they didn't have long to live.All of humanity seemed convinced that the world would soon end. Most of the people were trying to convince
Croft was lying in his bed, barely resisting the urge to sleep. He'd had way too many emotions for that day. He had gone from tension to utter terror, to relief when he learned the bomb hadn't destroyed the city, to guilt at having helped kill hundreds of innocent people, and finally to fear of what the future might hold for the world.He still hadn't slept in twenty-four hours. In a way, he was afraid to fall asleep. After that wicked act, international tensions had become very strong. Like him, many expected nuclear war to break out at any moment.Fortunately, for the time being, both sides seemed to prefer to tread carefully. Neither the Empire nor the Eden Union had yet issued a statement.However, that calm situation was perhaps more dire than a formal declaration of war. As horror writers and directors taught, waiting for the monster was much scarier than the monster itself. Not knowing what was inside that dark room scared much more than any Lovecra
“PH has dropped to more normal levels. At this rate, within a month or so it will be possible to introduce cyanobacteria and phytoplankton” Ellie said, pulling an instrument out of the water and checking its acidity. “However, the amount of nitrogen is still too low. Without it, bacteria will fail to fertilize the oceans… Alan, are you listening?”Professor Grant shook himself. “Obviously yes, honey. You know I'm all ears"It wasn't true. He wasn't listening to her at all. He was too lost admiring her while she worked. Alan had never been a nostalgic person, but right now he felt like he was back in the old days when they worked together. As if nothing had ever changed. It was the two of them, together, studying the environment just like in the past…… except that the ground was now much more reddish, the two of them were protected by spacesuits and the gravity was considerably weaker. Because they were on anoth
It took Sobek a few moments before he realized he was back in the room where it all began. That room where time and space ceased to exist, and where everything and nothing seemed to have changed at the same time. He already knew where he had to go; walking through the infinitely large (or perhaps infinitely small) room, in a few minutes (or perhaps a few centuries, who knows) he reached the familiar armchair on which was seated a woman with white skin and light hair.God didn't even seem to move since she sent him to Eden. Even her expression didn't seem to have changed at all. She was still the same, beautiful and terrible at the same time, whose gaze was both magnetic and loving on him. “Welcome back, son,” she greeted him in her crystal clear voice.Sobek advanced on her. This time there wasn't an armchair waiting for him, but a large mattress wide enough to allow him to lie down. She lay back on it and gazed intently at God. Even now, after he'd grown i
On the continent of Maakanar, near a river that was once a typical spinosaurus nesting place, something immense could be seen. A huge creature was lying on its belly, but nevertheless it was so tall that its dorsal sail towered over the surrounding masts.Sobek was now thirty-three years old. To say he had grown into a behemoth was an understatement: he now measured 150 meters from head to tail and reached 45.6 meters in height. Even without activating the mutation he was now larger than Godzilla: the gigantic atomic reptile was a tiny lizard compared to him. All kaiju would be small compared to him. Even King Ghidorah would have been forced to acknowledge its superiority.In the last five years he had hardly moved. After the death of his last loyalist he returned to his birthplace and settled there. He ate what was provided to him from the [Personal Manger] and drank the water from the river. Otherwise, he remained calm, warming himself in the sun or admiring the star
After a few days Nefertiti settled at the lake together with her father and her last remaining uncle. With the help and indications of Sobek she built a comfortable nest and there she laid her egg.Thus began the brood. The female spinosaurus never moved from above her little egg, keeping it constantly warm. Sobek and Buck brought her food and water. When Nefertiti was hot, Sobek used her huge wing as a parasol and Buck fanned her with his tail. In the rare moments when it was cold, the two of her huddled to help her warm up.That routine went on for three months. Finally, at the end of the third month, a familiar clicking sound came from under Nefertiti's paws.The female spinosaurus reared up and looked down. A small crack was opening on the egg. With a smile she moved from above it. The crack widened more and more and finally a large piece of egg broke off, showing a lively green eye that stared intently at Nefertiti.“Hello, baby. I'm your mothe
Time had passed again. Sobek couldn't even figure out how much time had actually passed now. One year? Two? Maybe three? He didn't know.After his retirement, Sobek had gone deep into the forest of Maakanar. It was hard for him to move his huge body through the trees and very often ended up destroying them: his passage was evident as a trail of uprooted trunks was always behind him. He had moved permanently to the lake where he had met Buck and where he had established his first army. And he hadn't gone there alone.Carnopo and Buck had joined him just a month after his departure. They, too, had decided they'd had enough and abandoned their roles entirely. After all, in the new world there was no longer a need for either an army commander or one of the shock legion. Now there was peace, and the old war veterans had no reason to try to find their place in their world. So they had decided to do what they had always done: follow their pack leader.The trio spent th
Another year had passed. In Sobek's eyes, time seemed to have begun to flow more rapidly. The months and weeks all passed almost the same and in a flash the morning turned into evening.Humanity had continued its advance. By now, Aphrodites had been fully colonized. Whole cities had sprung up on it and millions of settlers had begun to live there. Davis had now reached more than a billion inhabitants and Hermes now owned thousands of mining establishments.Thanks to teleportation technology it was so advanced that traveling between planets was even easier than going from one city to another. Since energy and material consumption were now no longer a concern thanks to solar panels on Hermes and mining plants on asteroids, everyone had a portable teleportation device. By now, being hired to work a mine on an asteroid was no different than being hired to work at the local convenience store.Colonies on the moons of Leviathan and Behemoth had multiplied, providing e
More time, more changes. In just one year, many things had changed.Nefertiti had assumed control of the entire astrophysics division of the dinosaur pack, effectively acting as acting pack leader for them. After the first shared mission, she had begun to promote more policies of integration and union between humans and animals. She had facilitated interspecies interspace operations, sending animals and humans to work together in the new worlds to be colonized. Furthermore, there was still much to colonize, as human attention was slowly shifting beyond the outer Solar System to the dwarf planets and comets of the Oort Cloud.The work was not cheap and with it the possibilities of working together. With the Dyson Sphere nearing completion, energy was no longer an issue. After determining which moons to colonize, the Eden Union had begun an intensive mining program in the asteroids of the main belt in order to be able to build huge lenses to capture the sunlight and also
One more year, more innovations. The more time passed, the more progress seemed to accelerate. It was like a speeding train that multiplied its speed every second: first slow, then faster and faster, until it turned into a giant projectile.Sobek knew that progress was bound to accelerate more and more, after all it was his nature. For each new discovery, countless doors open. And every door leads to other doors. This was the nature of progress. It was no coincidence that it took humanity less than two hundred years to go from horses to aircraft capable of leaving the orbit of their home planet.He recalled that on Earth, where he came from, progress had become so fast in the 21st century that it was enough to be born even a generation later or further back to find oneself in a completely different world. While in 1990 the main communication system was the satellite phone, in 2020 people used social networks for the most disparate things. While in 1990 movies were watc
More time had passed. This time it was a year… or maybe a year and a half? I don't know. Not that it mattered much, actually.The world's attention to the inner solar system was gradually waning. Now that three planets had been terraformed, even if one of them still wasn't enough, and Hermes had become a stable colony that was continuously producing large panels of glass that joined in the orbit of the Sun to form the Dyson Sphere, the humanity was beginning to anticipate new challenges. From the inner solar system it was time to move to the outer solar system.Although some colony outposts were already present on some moons of Behemoth, they could not be defined as true colonies. However, now that energy consumption was no longer a problem thanks to the Dyson Sphere, which although not completed already released enormous amounts of energy, the Eden Union decided to start an exploration program of the entire outer solar system, or at least of the space between B
Two more years had passed. The advance of humanity towards the stars continued inexorably.The hypotheses of the scientists had proved to be correct: using a combination of gravity control technology and energy obtained from the Dyson sphere, although still incomplete, they had managed to accelerate the rotation of Aphrodites. The planet was slowly accelerating, though not too fast. There was generally talk of an hour each week. At this speed there was no risk of destroying the infrastructure already present on the planet. Yes two years, the rotation period had gone from 2082 hours to 1978 hours. Continuing at this rate, it was expected to reach 24 hours in 'just' another 38 years.Once this process was completed, the huge orbiting mirrors could finally be taken off. The day/night cycle would no longer be artificially determined and there would no longer be the risk that something would go wrong due to the impact of a micrometeorite. In addition, the accelerated rotati