Godforsaken Future - updated 10/31/2015

[Mobius IO]

I'm really enjoying this story and I'm looking forward to the next chapter!

[Mobius IO]

Like I said above I really like this story but reflecting on it some I'm surprised that humans have not turned to a (literal) scorched earth policy.

It is clear by now the invaders are not going to be easily contained and that they convert captured biomass into an alien ecosystem/war machine. Denying them that resource should be a top priority.

This is especially true in the Amazon. If I were in charge there I'd abandon conventional containment and instead start burning down the rain-forest in a ring around the infected area. I'd start many miles outside of the area they are in and ring them and let the fires burn. Evacuate nearby cities. If you are luck the wind will push the fires into the invaders area but that is a secondary concern.

Burn down half the rain forest if necessary, it will recover from a fire but not from the invades and letting them get their hands on that much bio-mass is suicidal for the entire human race.

[Night_stalker]

Like I said above I really like this story but reflecting on it some I'm surprised that humans have not turned to a (literal) scorched earth policy.

It is clear by now the invaders are not going to be easily contained and that they convert captured biomass into an alien ecosystem/war machine. Denying them that resource should be a top priority.

This is especially true in the Amazon. If I were in charge there I'd abandon conventional containment and instead start burning down the rain-forest in a ring around the infected area. I'd start many miles outside of the area they are in and ring them and let the fires burn. Evacuate nearby cities. If you are luck the wind will push the fires into the invaders area but that is a secondary concern.

Burn down half the rain forest if necessary, it will recover from a fire but not from the invades and letting them get their hands on that much bio-mass is suicidal for the entire human race.

I agree, at this point, I recommend that the US see about possibly loaning the usage of some B-52s loaded to the brim with napalm, and some Daisy Cutters, to accomplish that goal. They can worry about rebuilding the rain forest after we send the invaders running, so I propose that humanity adopt a scorched earth policy. Otherwise, they might not be able to stop it any other way.

[The Vortex Empire]

That shouldn't just be done in the Amazon though. The same concerns apply to the biomass in Michigan, Germany, and Afghanistan. I don't know about the region in Afghanistan, but Germany and Michigan both have forests in the area.

[Mobius IO]

That shouldn't just be done in the Amazon though. The same concerns apply to the biomass in Michigan, Germany, and Afghanistan. I don't know about the region in Afghanistan, but Germany and Michigan both have forests in the area.

Absolutely. Ideally I'd think you would want to burn out the area around each invasion site for (many) miles and then set up your defenses in the ashes. If that is not possible then everything that can be burned should be.

[The Vortex Empire]

It might be a little late for that though. Presumably you'd pull your men out first so they don't get cooked, but if the taziyane see all of your forces retreating I'd think they'd immediately take advantage of the opportunity to spread as far as they can. And there's no guarantee they won't reach a major population center before you can stop them.

[Night_stalker]

It might be a little late for that though. Presumably you'd pull your men out first so they don't get cooked, but if the taziyane see all of your forces retreating I'd think they'd immediately take advantage of the opportunity to spread as far as they can. And there's no guarantee they won't reach a major population center before you can stop them.

As much as it would pain me to say it, sacrifices must be made. They have to make them stay in place, so that means that we can't pull our troops out, BUT they can withdraw as many as possible, as they might end up needing them.

[Mobius IO]

It might be a little late for that though. Presumably you'd pull your men out first so they don't get cooked, but if the taziyane see all of your forces retreating I'd think they'd immediately take advantage of the opportunity to spread as far as they can. And there's no guarantee they won't reach a major population center before you can stop them.

True. In Michigan and Germany I'd put considerable effort into clearing out biological material behind the front lines. Make use of road crews, construction companies and equipment, strip mining companies, engineering core, chain gangs, etc. Have special units that burn overrun areas as troops retreat until you are fighting in the cleared areas.

As I said in the Amazon I think the conventional war should be abandoned and everything even remotely close burned. Use long range firepower as much as possible to hold off the taziyane while you do this but in the end some ground forces would be caught between the fires and the enemy...

Afghanistan would be the hardest because it combines an large front, a lot of engaged troops, and relatively little industrialization. Still even accidentally we're very good at damaging ecosystems, clear cutting/burning etc so I'm sure a lot of bio-mass could be taken out before the taziyane got to it.

[guest]

Interesting thoughts guys, as such I think that a few words on the overall strategies used by the various nations involved are in order.

First there are the Russians, their doctrine is heavily influenced by WWII, which means more or less they are using the cities as massive rocks upon which the enemy can break their armies over. They tried and failed to do this at Khost, although that failure was more or less due to the short notice that they had combined with the ad hock nature of the defense force there. The garrison while already set up for a seige was not prepared for the kind of battle which ensued, this was not helped by the patchwork nature of the troops there. This however did succeed in slowing down the bozorgs long enough for the Pakistani's to set up a pretty strong defense along the border. This defense was strong enough in fact that it held the bozorgs at bay for months and months, and it would have held for considerably longer had it not been for the sudden appearance of the sappers(that's the name for the big explosive ones). This strategy is being employed with far better success in Kabul, although when the Chinese got routed it threw a monkey wrench in the works. However in the next update you will see just what the Russians have been preparing while the Bozorgs have been held at bay.

The nations fighting in Afghanistan have been focusing so thoroughly on containment that they haven't quite started switching over to scorched earth. Until mid December, they didn't think they needed to quite yet, next update will show just what their overall strategy has been over the first few months of 1987.

Then there are the Americans and NATO powers (and WarPac nations) in Europe and North America, they have been also focusing on containment as well, however they've employed a more quarantine oriented approach by establishing a perimeter around the infested area and then bombing the shit out of it. Actually they have been already adopting a sort of scorched earth policy there, but due to a lack of air superiority, they've been limited to using artillery and cruise missiles to do the job. Obviously this has met with limited success. Unfortunately, they didn't have the necessary ammunion stockpiles to maintain the pressure and when they finally had to let up in Minnesota, and as Vortex said, the bozorgs took the opportunity and struck hard and fast. Fearing a massive uncontrollable breakout, the Americans did their best to organize a somewhat orderly retreat and trade territory for time. Unfortunately the situation was dire enough in Minnesota that there wasn't enough time to do anything but retreat as fast as possible.

The Brazilians are however in the worst shape of all, they have suffered horrendous losses, and the logistics involved in just getting the massive numbers of troops and equipment to the area are a nightmare. Keep in mind that the area involved has very few roads. Also, their plans effectively got all shot to shit right from the get go, and they spent almost a month just trying to regroup and reorganize. things got better when the other South American nations got involved, but it is still quite a mess over there. I'm sure that there are a good number of folks running the show there who would have loved to defoliate the region, it just wasn't in the cards however. Also, consult the history of the USAF's attempts at defoliating Vietnam over the course of a decade to see how easy it would be to deforest such a densely overgrown jungle.

The next update picks up in april of 1987, and will go over just what strategies and methods the human nations involved have employed since the events of december 1986.

[ChaserGrey]

Can't wait to see what happens!

One note about something I posted earlier: the concept of shifting a station around in different orbital planes is a nonstarter. Turns out that to go from an equatorial to an inclined orbit, it takes twice as much delta-v as it does to get the equivalent mass into LEO. You're literally better off starting from go, to a first approximation.

However- turns out the kind of highly inclined orbits that Mir and the ISS use(d) will pass over all the current infection sites. If an orbital solution is in the cards I suspect that will be what's used, since it's accessible for the major space powers' largest launch sites. If you go with 50-55 degrees you can combine mass launched from Kennedy Space Center, the Baikonour Cosmodrome, the Plestesk Cosmodrome, and theoretically Vandenberg if you don't mind launching out over California and Arizona. That's unacceptable for range safety reasons currently, but in this scenario "safety" might undergo a very drastic redefinition.

[ChaserGrey]

Hmmm. On another topic: what you might see very soon is a "Liberty Gun", the artillery equipment of a Liberty Ship. Simple design with minimal tooling, not so much because you want guys building these in their garages as because it means pretty much any industrial plant can make one without having to spend a lot of time making toolings and jigs. Towed, with as universal a hitch as you can make it, and simple so it doesn't break down. Couple it with a shell just big enough to hit the 'zogs without being overrun, add a similarly dumb time-fused shell, and go.

Not an overnight solution, but if you can't use airpower to start the necessary firestorms this is probably going to be a good solution. You're sure not going to be able to build enough cruise missiles to do the job, although that's no reason not to shoot off the ones you already have.

[The Vortex Empire]

I wonder how much warning the taziyane need to react to a nuke the way they did when the Soviets tried it. Davy Crockett style nuclear artillery could be a real game-changer if it's too fast for them to counter, and if it's hidden among tons of conventional weapon fire they might not even detect it. If it works, then it gives humanity the ability to crush whole swarms of them with little risk (aside from fallout, but we have bigger worries.)

[guest]

So I've finally gotten to finishing the next update, as with before, it turned out far longer than I intended and thus has been broken up into multiple smaller episodes. The bad news is that information promised in this episode won't be appearing until a later one. The good news is that the next two updates should be out before the end of next week.




Episode 16



“Alas, regardless of their doom, the little victims play! No sense have they of ills to come, nor care beyond to-day. “
-Thomas Gray
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-2:23 PM April 3, 1987, somewhere over Punjab Province, Pakistan
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nikolai felt his guts move around in his stomach as the Bell 412 they were riding in leveled off.  A quick glance out the still open door of the aircraft revealed that the other two helicopters had also leveled off and were maintaining formation with them.  Up in the cockpit the two Pakistani pilots chattered to each other inaudibly over the sound of the engines and rotors of the helicopter.
 
The passenger compartment of the helicopter wasn’t too cramped as there were two extra seats left over after the whole squad had loaded into it.  The ground below rushed by quickly enough, but he could tell that they were slowing down as they reached their destination in the town of Isakhel. 
 
The past four months had seen a lot of action for Nikolai and his men as well as the rest of the survivors from Khost who had made it this far.  The plans to transfer the Russian troops still in Pakistan after the retreat from the siege had fallen through after the line on the Afghan border had been breached.
 
It had been such a mess that day, in fact Nikolai didn’t know how he had gotten as many as he did out alive, they had lost almost half their original number that day.  Of course they had been lucky, some units had been entirely wiped out, and chaos was the order of the day, an actual official order to retreat had not been received until almost three days after the initial enemy breakthrough. There had been no living officers to give the orders, and only a chance finding of a working radio set had allowed them to hear the communications chatter mentioning such an order.
 
What had followed had been a two month long fighting retreat across North Waziristan… or what was left of it anyway.  Nikolai supposed that after what the tāziyāne-ye bozorg had done and the scorched earth policy of the human armies retreating ahead of them there wasn't much left other than a devastated patch of earth. 

Every plant or tree had been set alight, every wild animal that had been encountered had been shot and the body burned, any human dead bodies had received similar treatment, as long as it was possible to do so, often times those dead bodies were the result of encountering the tāziyāne-ye bozorg and no time was available to do so.  Anything and everything possible had been done to prevent the enemy from obtaining further bio mass.  Massive amounts of artillery bombardment had been employed, turning all the land before the oncoming swarm into a moonscape.  It had been days since the last time that they had heard artillery bombardment though.  Rumor had it that the Indo-Pakistani forces had completely exhausted all of their artillery ammunition, or at least the supply was so scarce that only the most dire emergency warranted using it.
 
Individuals from other units had been brought in to replace their losses, and more to replace those after they had died.  After the past four and a half months, only three of the original survivors from Khost were still left; only Aleksie, Eduard, and of course Nikolai.
 
The powers that be at first didn’t quite know what to do with them at first, massive holes existed in the command structures of the Indo-Pakistani force that had once held the line along the Afghan border.  Finally it had been decided that the remaining hardened veterans from Khost were to be used as rapid response troops, replacing Pakistani forces that originally served that purpose which had already been wiped out.  Thus; over the past month, Nikolai, his squad, and most of the remaining Khost survivors had been loaded into Pakistani helicopters and flown from place to place, putting out various fires and covering the retreating human armies as they tried to reform up somewhere to the south.
 
The helicopter lurched suddenly, drawing Nikolai’s attention outside the aircraft once again.  A look out the port window revealed a small swarm of dragonflies approaching.  The engines of their aircraft whined in protest as the pilots pushed them to their limits, hoping to make it to their destination and the protection of hopefully present anti-air defenses located there.
 
Less than a minute later the first of the creatures had managed to catch up with them, it didn’t even bother to try and launch any kind of attack, it merely rammed the hapless helicopter at full speed.  The resulting explosion bathed the interior of the passenger compartment in bright orange light.  Meanwhile the other dragonflies had in stead opted for a more conventional attack and one had latched onto the undercarriage of the other surviving helicopter and he could clearly see it buck and lurch in a drunken fashion, pieces of it starting to fly off.
 
Suddenly a deafening bang could be heard over the sounds of the helicopter’s engine, shortly afterward several screams could barely be heard as well.  Nikolai quickly glanced back inside the helicopter and saw that three men had been hit with firefly spikes, as well as another dozen or so spikes protruding from various locations about the compartment.  Then he saw that one of the Pakistani pilots was slumped lifeless in his own seat, the other had leaned over to assist his wounded comrade.
 
Then the engine started to change in pitch and sound, his stomach jumped up into his throat as the helicopter started to fall from the sky.  Smoke began to fill the aircraft interior, blocking his view.  Soon the aircraft started to spin as well as plummet, the weightless feeling now replaced with an increasingly strong feeling of being pressed into his seat by centrifugal force. The ground outside was spinning incredibly fast, but Nikolai could tell that it was getting closer, even through the increasingly thick smoke inside the helicopter.
 
Nikolai's entire world jarred violently when the aircraft impacted into the ground, his chest and shoulders protested with severe pain as he was thrown into his safety restraints. His vision blurred and he was briefly deafened by the thunderous sound of metal meeting earth at an incredibly high speed.
 
When his senses returned to him, Nikolai realized that he was soaking wet and that the front of the helicopter was submerged in water, the entire passenger compartment was filled with the sounds of men groaning and screaming. The others were struggling with their own restraints, some had already gotten out and were crawling over to help their comrades. He reached up to his stomach and grabbed at the buckle on his restraints, a little struggling and it released, causing him to fall onto the unoccupied seat across from his.
 
Over the back of the seat he saw that the pilot who hadn't been injured before was also slumped in his seat as the water continued to rise above his shoulders. Nikolai climbed over the back of the seat and into the cockpit. A quick inspection revealed a jagged piece of metal protruding from the left side of the pilot's lifeless face. He turned his attention to the co-pilot and after checking for a pulse he realized that both men had expired.
By then the entire cockpit was almost completely submerged, so Nikolai turned back to climb out into the crew compartment. To his left he saw the rest of the squad hovering near one man in particular. As he approached, the others moved out of the way, and Nikolai could see three men in particular were struggling with the safety harness of the other man who groaned in pain from a spike that protruded from his stomach. Blood flowed out from the wound and into the water which had turned a pinkish hue.
 
One of the Russians, a private named Andropov spoke up “sergeant? We can't get his buckle loose” he said. Nikolai was about to say something when Aleksie appeared from behind the rest of the group, producing an NR-40. He went to work on the safety harness, quickly cutting it off of the injured man who they quickly dragged out of the sinking aircraft. Before exiting himself, Nikolai as well as a couple of the other men grabbed the few scattered weapons which lay about the interior of the helicopter, he found his lodged underneath the dead body of another man, a small struggle pulling it free.
 
When he got out of the helicopter he could tell that the water was deep, so much so that his feet didn't touch the bottom, and he had a hard time holding his weapon in one hand while he swam with the other one. Surveying his surroundings, he saw that they had come down about five meters from the river bank, he guessed that it was the Kurram which meant that they were only about five kilometers south of their destination in Isakhel.
 
The sound of other men shouting drew Nikolai's attention toward the center of the river where the other helicopter had crashed. It too was sinking and a handful of men were climbing out of it and swimming toward the shore. After about a meter or two, he could feel his feet hit the bottom of the river, feeling secure in his footing, he took his rifle and held it over his head as he walked out of the river.
 
More exclamations came from the other men in his squad, Nikolai looked to his right to see something moving in the water. His heart skipped a beat as realization dawned on him a second later. He had remembered seeing dead mutilated bodies of both people and animals laying on river banks and floating in different bodies of water before, and he had heard rumor's about some kind of 'razor serpents' which lurked in the lakes and rivers in Afghanistan and here in Pakistan.
 
Other men had started panicking and stumbled and fell as they hurriedly tried to wade out of the river toward safety. One unfortunate man was still trying to pick himself back up after falling in when one of the slithering shapes reached him. Something dark and shiny leaped out of the water in a blur and wrapped around the man's midsection, blood flowed out from where the thing had wrapped around the man. He screamed in agony and terror, his struggles only causing the the creature to cut deeper into the man. Then the unidentified creature brought its head out from the water, it looked like nothing but a mass of teeth or spikes or something, it was hard to make out details with all the violent motion.
 
Nikolai managed to get to where the water was only about waist height then brought his weapon down to aim at the nearest approaching serpent. He pulled the trigger, releasing a barrage of gunfire which impacted into the water all around the approaching monstrosity. A couple rounds hit the slithering shape though and it shuddered under the impact, it's smooth slithering motion became interrupted and jerky. Another burst seemed to have finished the job as the creature stopped swimming and merely floated at the top of the water.
 
He waded towards the shore as he quickly turned his aim toward the next monster. Another extended burst also took down that one as well. A third one was less than a meter away by the time Nikolai had turned to aim at it too, it leaped forth from the water at him, and he squeezed the trigger, unloading the rest of the bullets in the magazine directly into the face of the oncoming serpent which fell back into the water harmlessly with a splash.
 
He managed to make it the rest of the way to the shore and took a few more quick strides away from the water before turning around to face the river where he managed to see more serpents heading toward the swimming men from the other helicopter. The rest of the squad started yelling in alarm at the others still in the water with warnings, trying to coax them to swim faster. Nikolai took aim at one of the monstrosities with his rifle and pulled the trigger only for it to click, obviously empty.

He cursed under his breath and proceeded to reload a fresh magazine. However, by the time he looked back up he saw that the serpents had already closed the distance and wrapped themselves around the handful of swimmers. The water turned red and frothy as they struggled with their horrific attackers, the men that weren't choking on water screamed in pain.
 
Less than a minute later the struggling had ceased and the water was somewhat more placid now, the eviscerated bodies of those unfortunate men slowly sinking into the water. Nikolai sighed, then he turned his attention toward the rest of his squad “alright, let's get the hell out of here, we've got a long walk toward Isa Khel and I want to get there before nightfall."
 
 
 
 
 
-Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Willard Maye, Phd. Archeology, Princeton University
 
 
 
 
 
“April 12, 1987,
 
We’ve been continuing to make excellent time as far as the excavation goes and have managed to unearth almost a full square kilometer of the city.  Although it is only the area closest to the gate there is still quite a bit that we have managed to accomplish so far, especially considering the remarkably challenging logistics and difficulty in conducting a dig here in Antarctica.  Even our mysterious benefactors from the United States government have been minimally obstructive.
 
The city itself has been as interesting as ever, the prevalence of non Euclidian geometry seems to permeate every aspect of Antarctican art and architecture, as not a single structure or item that we have encountered has a single parallel line or right angle.
 
Most remarkable of all are the animal remains that we uncovered last month, after considerable effort, our resident Peleantologist Dr. James has managed to assemble the skeletal remains into what he believes is the proper form, although from the looks of it, I would think that he must have been drinking when he assembled it.  The creature looks like nothing I or anyone else has seen before, in fact it appears to have three spines, two skulls, seven limbs, and four jawbones!  One doesn’t have to be a biologist to realize the implications of such a find, it would indicate an entirely new evolutionary branch of the animal kingdom.  While it is an exciting find, many here have dubbed the specimen “the abomination” due to it’s… unconventional appearance, Dr. James himself admits that such a creature would have been quite grotesque by conventional standards when alive.
 
Most interesting of all about the creature is the fact that it seems to be related to primates in some way as some of it’s skeletal structure bears an uncanny resemblance to that of human physiology.  Dr. James in fact originally thought that the creature itself was merely the skeletal remains of several different organisms along with one or more human bodies, however initial tests seem to indicate that it is in fact all from one single organism.  However, my concern is the mystery of just what role this new species played in Antarctican society.  I wonder if it was feared as some kind of predator, or revered as a sacred animal of some sort, or used as a beast of burden.
 
The work on the translation has also been progressing quite well lately, I’ve managed to decipher some of the tablets to a degree.  From what I can tell, they appear to be some form of religious items, apparently they seem to describe some kind of ritual that involves human sacrifice.  Details are a bit hazy, but they appear quite grizzly, involving several stages of torture and painful mutilation prior to the death of the victim. 
 
Of particular note is a vicious mutilation and amputation of the victim’s genitals followed by slow and painful dismemberment starting with the fingers and toes and concluding with the arms and legs which are to be amputated one at a time.  This is then followed by flaying the victim alive and then a violent disembowelment.  Most striking of all however is the fact that the text on the tablets seems to imply that the victim is to be somehow kept alive for the entire process right up until the end, a challenging process even while employing modern technology.
 
The instructions on the tablets would seem to indicate that there are different means of sacrifice depending on which diety is being sacrificed to.  For instance, the previously described ritual seems to be meant to appease the Antarctican god of pestilence.  The language itself hasn’t been spoken in over ten thousand years, however basing it upon ancient Aztec pronunciation the name of this god appears to be ‘Tlxanxilkl’.
 
The Antarctican pantheon is unique amongst those of other cultures.  While most cultures appear to have deities which which often represent both positive and negative things, such as life and death, the elements which can bring pleasant results as well as bad, it appears that Antarctican gods appear to almost universally represent negative things, such as death, fear, rage, disease, and hatred.  It is not known if there are multiple pantheons of gods and perhaps we have only uncovered one for ‘bad’ gods, and there are additional ‘good’ gods, or if the Antarctican religion focuses almost exclusively on the negative aspects of nature.  It is also entirely possible that Antarctican cultural norms would give concepts that we normally associate with negativity a more positive or neutral connotation.  As of this time further research is needed in order to determine the true meaning of these findings and their full implications.
 
On a more tragic note is the death of one of our excavators; Richard Allison who was found outside without any clothes on early this morning.  Initially, many had suspected possible fowl play, especially the gentlemen from the department of defense.  However, the the base physician, Dr. Tourneau examined the body and says that there is no sign of physical trauma or injury prior to death and that all indications are that Richard froze to death.  A search of his room shows no sign of anything missing or any kind of struggle either. 
 
As of now the only explanation would seem to be that he got out of bed last night, took off all of his clothes and walked outside to freeze to death.  Everyone who knew him here at McMurdo says that he showed no sign of being distraught or any indication that he would take his own life, he also left no suicide note either.  I’ve allowed any staff that wish it to to take the day off in mourning.  It is a real tragedy and I fear a mystery that we may never truly solve to anyone’s satisfaction.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
-4:58 AM April 16, 1987, Lambda Complex, Blackbird Research Facility, Nevada, United States
 
 
 
 
 
Roger Jourgensen sat back in his chair in the back of the control room, he watched as about a dozen men in lab coats worked intently at various control panels and computer terminals along the walls of the room.  The blast door behind him slid open and he turned to see as Dr. Frohman walked into the room “ah, you are already here, good” said the scientist whose appearance looked considerably unkempt, no doubt he had been considerably busy working on the latest project here at OBSIDIAN WINDOW.  Roger got out of the chair as the doctor approached him “you know, you didn’t have to come all the way down here, it’s not like there is much to see from here.  You could glean just as much information from an electronic mail or a phone call as by seeing us engage the new program” he explained as they shook hands.
 
Roger merely shrugged “I’m quite well aware of that, however this is a crucial step in our fight against the bozorgs.  I believe that it is important for me to be here when it works… or doesn’t work” he explained.  Dr. Frohman scratched his head and eyed him nervously, no doubt he didn’t like the idea of having someone from the top brass looking so closely over his shoulder, especially at such a critical moment, but if Roger was to report on the result of such an important project, he had decided that he had better be present, possibly more so if it failed.
 
The doctor released Roger’s hand and looked down at his watch “well, you’ve still got another ten minutes to go before we’re ready to engage the new protocol” he said.
 
“Well doctor, I will say that the powers that be are quite pleased with how quickly your people have managed to implement this project.  So long as it works that is.”
 
Frohman nodded nervously “it’s been fortunate, all the hardware is already in place, we’re just using the ARROWHEAD network of satellites already in orbit, all it required was uploading a new software update to them, which finished just last night.  Now all we need to do is run a systems check to make sure the upload completed without any problems and then finish recalibrating the instrumentation which we should be finished with at any minute now and then we’ll be ready  to go.”
 
Roger nodded in acknowledgment “how will we know that it has worked?” he asked..
 
“Um, well, we’ve got chamber six here ready for conducting a long distance teleport, we’ve set it to attempt to open a portal to the moon, which will be outside the jamming barrier put up by the ARROWHEAD network, if it fails to work, that means that we have successfully jammed all extraterrestrial teleportation on the desired frequencies.”
 
Roger furrowed his brow “but you’ve said before that the energy requirements for opening a portal through that dimension are quite high, especially at long distances, wouldn’t opening one all the way on the moon be so difficult that it would probably fail due to lack of power?” he inquired.
 
Dr. Frohman shook his head dismissively “well, you are right about the power requirements, in fact, we’ve got to run all four on-site nuclear reactors specifically for the task, and the portal we would open up would be incredibly small, an aperture of no more than ten centimeters across is all we can manage, but rest assured, if it doesn’t open up that means that in all likelihood, the jamming worked” he said with a look of certainty.  Roger nodded in understanding well at least he seems confident about that fact, that’s good.  The doctor turned his attention toward one particular group of men in the corner “if you’ll excuse me Mr. Jourgensen, there are a few issues that I need to see to before we start the test” he said.
 
Roger didn’t feel much like sitting back down again, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of Marlboros and extracted one.  He raised it to his lips and then replaced the pack while he retrieved his lighter, a polished stainless steel zippo.  He lit the end of the white cylinder and inhaled the warm smoke which filled his lungs, relaxing his nerves.  He closed the lighter with that signature metallic chirping noise and returned it back to his pocket.
 
After waiting for a short while the activity in the room seemed to have changed in tempo, the excitement was tangible.  It was clear that the moment of truth was nearing.  Roger finished his cigarette and snuffed out the butt in a nearby ashtray, he didn’t bother to light a second one just yet.  Dr. Frohman approached him once again “well, it would seem that we are about ready to engage the jamming program, feel free to find a spot by the observation window” he said as he handed Roger a pair of goggles much like the pair he had been handed the first time he had observed a test at Lambda Complex “although we don’t expect to need them, we wouldn’t want to suffer any eye damage in case we have been unsuccessful” reassured Dr. Frohman.
 
Roger took the goggles and put them on as he approached the window, this time the area near the observation windows was crowded with a small group of other men.  Roger thought that it was ironic, that there was a larger audience here for an experiment where no one expected to see anything.  A gentle humming could be heard along with the feeling of a vibration in the floor, much like the last experiment that he had seen “ONE MINUTE UNTIL DIMENTIONAL INCURSION” said a voice over the loud speakers.
 
Both the vibration and humming grew in intensity, making it harder to hear the sound of chatter between the other men in the room “THIRTY SECONDS UNTIL DIMENSIONAL INCURSION” came that same voice as the vibration and noise got even louder.  This time it was far louder and more intense than the last test he had witnessed, although it was not surprising, this was a larger teleportation chamber, and the distance covered was far greater.
 
The noise reached a crescendo and the entire facility felt as though it was about to shake itself apart, the observation windows shook so violently that it looked as though they were about to shatter and he could even hear them over the deafening humming.  Roger thought that he could hear that voice over the intercom, but it was hard to tell, probably it was the final countdown before the test commenced.
 
The sound that he thought was the countdown stopped and the rattling and humming continued, then it suddenly started to decrease, like someone had flipped a power switch off.  Roger could hear the sounds of cheering and congratulation throughout the room and he turned to see as the other men were shaking hands enthusiastically.  Dr. Frohman turned to face Roger, a broad satisfied smile on his face “well Mr. Jourgensen, it looks like we have a success, the tāziyāne-ye bozorg teleportation frequencies appear to have been interdicted.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
-5:09 AM Mountain Standard Time April 16, 1987, in the vicinity of Earth
 
 
 
 
The Mind attempted to contact the rest of the selves again and again, it’s thought process had suddenly been interrupted by the abrupt loss of contact with the rest of the iterations across the rest of the universe.  Each time it tried to bridge the void of space it was met with failure, each call to The Others was met with nothing but silence.
 
It was unprecedented, nowhere in its memory could it find an experience like this, The Mind had no idea what was happening and that thought brought yet another unprecedented experience, fear.  Not since the very early days since the first couple iterations of Selves had gone forth from the first world had there been this much silence.
 
The collection of Selves on this world conferred, not enough information existed to discern with any certainty what the cause of this change was.  Finally after some intense thought, it had been decided that this was not a mistake, that whatever the cause of being cut off was, it was an intentional act.  While the combined experiences of all of the different iterations of Selves told these individuals that the overwhelming majority of intelligent samples fought back when assimilation was commenced, it had never occurred to Them that any of those samples would ever retaliate in this way.
 
These Selves concluded that these intelligent samples were to blame and the thought made them uncertain.
 
They panicked.
 
A decision was reached soon and a course of action was selected, and for the first time in a very very very long time The Mind made a mistake.  As mistakes went, it was a massive one, although not one that was immediately noticeable, which is what made it all the more dire.

[That NOS Guy]

Science!

[DKeith2011]

Such clever little monkeys we are.

[AgentPalpatine]

The city itself has been as interesting as ever, the prevalence of non Euclidian geometry seems to permeate every aspect of Antarctican art and architecture, as not a single structure or item that we have encountered has a single parallel line or right angle.
 
[/i]

This is'nt Ryleth is it?

[guest]

This is'nt Ryleth is it?

I can neither confirm nor deny

[The Vortex Empire]

I believe this calls for a "HUMANITY! FUCK YEAH!"

Now what could this so-called dire mistake be? Some kind of massive offensive that will leave the Taziyane to weak and spread out? Will the taziyane fall back to regroup, giving humanity time to get strong defenses in place? Or something more subtle?

[guest]

I believe this calls for a "HUMANITY! FUCK YEAH!"

Now what could this so-called dire mistake be? Some kind of massive offensive that will leave the Taziyane to weak and spread out? Will the taziyane fall back to regroup, giving humanity time to get strong defenses in place? Or something more subtle?

You're just going to have to wait and see for yourself now wont you?


Anyway, here are some updated maps for early April of 1987.



Afghanistan:




Brazil:



Germany:



Minnesota

[guest]

Episode 17
 


“Every battle, every war - is fought for things worth dying for. “
-Arthur M. Jolly
 
 
 
 
 
-11:43 AM  April 19, 1987, Puposky, Minnesota, United States
 
 
 
 
Private Jorge Hernandez jumped over a dead body as bits of dirt and debris pelted him viciously, the sound of a charging warrior to his left drew his attention.  He brought up his M16A5 and swung it to bear, searching for the source of the noise. 

There he saw one of the creatures as it finished slicing some unfortunate man in half. Without waiting the creature immediately finished extricating itself from the further forward trench, entrails and blood slipping off the ends of it’s scythes.  Jorge squeezed the trigger and a hail of bullets shot out of his weapon, striking the creature and causing it to falter and stumble where it stood.  After about six or eight shots the creature went down in a heap.
 
Jorge then turned and started on his way again.  He rounded a corner in the trench and passed a few other people who were screaming and firing out over the edge of the wall of sand bags into the battlefield.  After about a minute further of running he finally came to his destination.
 
A small congregation of men had gathered around a tent, after a few seconds a couple of them headed away with what looked like various different ammunition boxes.  Jorge got in line behind a stout looking corporal who acknowledged his presence with a brief glance and a grunt then paid no further attention to him.
 
After about a minute of waiting, Jorge finally arrived at the ammo tent, a young man in a corporal’s uniform greeted him with a humorless grin “can I take your order?” he said sarcastically.
 
Jorge merely nodded without registering the corporal’s little joke “yeah, I need two cases of .50 BMG rounds” he said.
 
The corporal nodded “big ones eh?  Alright, let me see what we have here” he said casually, searching amongst several stacks of metal ammunition boxes situated atop one of several pallets arranged underneath the tent.  After about thirty seconds of searching the man returned hefting two rather large metal boxes.  He placed them down on the ground between them with a grunt “there you go, two cases of .50 BMG, and if there’ll be nothing else, I’ve got other customers to atten-“ he was interrupted from finishing his sentence by the sounds of several of the surrounding men exclaiming and drawing weapons. 
 
Jorge spun around to see something black and big and horrible charging toward the lines from across the battlefield.  Jorge didn’t quite recognize the creature, it bore a strong resemblance to a centaur, except that it had no yellow spots on its carapace, it was much larger, and it had some kind of strange mass of long thick hairs or something all along it’s back. The creature reached the first line of trenches which had been overrun the day before and merely leaped over it.  He could see tracer fire from several heavy machine guns flying in its direction and it looked like the thing was being hit with a considerable amount of weapons fire, it seemed to flinch as it was hit, yet that didn’t seem to stop it.
 
Seconds later it reached the next trench line, kicking over the sand bags along it’s leading edge as if they were little more than pillows.  It merely hurled itself over the first trench with little effort, and in the same motion it reached into the trench with its scythes and skewered two unfortunate men through the gut and head.  Then it threw the two screaming men up into the air.
 
Jorge hadn’t realized that he had been distracted by the incredible sight, so he frantically brought up his rifle to aim at the horrendous new arrival.  Already the other men around him had started firing on the beast, again they failed to even slow down the monstrosity. 
 
Jorge didn’t dwell on that possibility as he unleashed two quick bursts of fire towards the monster in quick succession.  A flurry of brass casings flew out the side of the weapon.  He adjusted his aim and then fired again, this time it appeared to stumble, perhaps the massive weight of firepower directed at the monster was finally having an effect.
 
As the hideous thing got closer Jorge noticed movement along the front trench line again.  Suddenly the realization dawned upon him that this new titanic monstrosity had distracted them all from the rest of the horde and now the rest of them had used the opportunity to punch through their lines.  He swung his rifle over and quickly put down a warrior that was about to pounce on a pair of men who were adjusting an M60 to aim at the beast behind them..
 
The warrior fell to the ground after about a half dozen shots hit it right in the midsection, saving the machine gun crew.  Unfortunately the effort that Jorge had devoted to saving those two men distracted him from this new giant which had finally reached the ammunition tent.  It reached out with one of those tentacles or hairs or whatever and wrapped it around the neck of the man next to Jorge, it cut through the flesh on the poor man’s neck like a hot knife through butter.  His screaming didn’t last but a second as his head came off swiftly, with a torrent of blood flowing out of both his severed head and from the stump where it had once been attached.
 
Jorge quickly stepped to the side to dodge one of those vicious tentacles.  The giant thing moved faster and more gracefully than anything of it’s size rightfully should have and with a swift motion Jorge felt a sudden sharp pain in his stomach.  A quick look down toward the source of the pain revealed that he had been run through by one of the beast’s scythes.  He felt his feet lift off of the ground and the flesh in his stomach tear as he was pulled up into the air.
 
Suddenly an explosion erupted on the other side of the massive thing, bits of hot shrapnel tore into Jorge’s flesh all over his face and chest.  The creature stumbled and Jorge slid off of the end of the scythe and hit the ground.  His vision had become fuzzy and he was starting to feel light headed, it was a bit of a mercy as it dulled the excruciating pain of the massive gaping wound in his stomach as well as the many smaller wounds all over the rest of his body.
 
He could feel the last traces of his life slipping away as a second explosion ripped into the horrendous creature.  He was practically dead by the time it collapsed onto the ground right on top of him, crushing his skull under its massive weight and finishing him off.  Perhaps it was a small mercy that he died that way and didn’t have to deal with the scores of warriors which had managed to make it to the trenches and started eviscerating the survivors.
  
 
 
 
 
 
-2:14 PM April 19, 1987, Somewhere in Southern Beltrami Co. Minnesota, United States
 
 
 
 
 
Rob Haskell wiped the sweat from his brow as he leaned against his shovel.  He looked out over the area and observed as backhoes and bulldozers plodded along over the torn up earth.  He whistled in amazement, it never ceased to amaze him at just what they had accomplished.
 
Over the past two months, nearly every large scale excavation and demolition contractor and a good number of small ones had been hired by the Pentagon to go to work at tearing out every single tree, shrub, and blade of grass over a twenty mile deep strip of land surrounding the area infested with those alien creatures. 
 
While all of the fighting was miles from where he stood, from Bob’s perspective, it looked like a rampaging army had already been through the area.   He was reminded of reading about the Civil War in school and certain instances where the US army would go through an area and tear anything of use down.  He hadn’t paid it much thought then, but seeing such devastation first hand brought home just how momentous a feat such a thing was.
 
The war itself was never completely out of mind, even though there were no visible signs of the fighting itself, the sounds of artillery and weapons fire and jets flying overhead could be heard over the sounds of the construction equipment.  He swallowed a large gulp of water from the paper cup in his hand then crumpled the empty receptacle and almost tossed it away but stopped himself.  Their job was to remove as much biological material from the area as possible, and cardboard was made from tree fibers.  After a second further of thinking, he crumpled up the cup further and stuffed it into his pocket.
 
A man approached from around the side of his pickup truck, his face was covered in grime and dirt, it took Rob a second to realize that it was Joe Darmody, one of his laborers. 
 
“What’s up Joe?”
 
The young man stopped and paused, he wiped some of the grime off of his face “Bill told me to come tell you that we’re ready to start packing in the rest of the equipment and head on over to the next site, he said we should be-“ he was interrupted as he turned to look at a green Humvee come over a nearby hill and screech to a halt about a dozen feet away.
 
Even before the truck came to a complete rest the door swung open and out stepped a man in green fatigues.  It was hard to tell what rank the man was as he had lots of soot and dirt all over his uniform, the urgency in his step along with his unkempt appearance was not reassuring.
 
Before getting too close, the Army man spoke up “are you the one in charge here?” he asked half shouting.
 
Rob nodded quickly “name’s Rob Haskell, I’m the on site foreman for Leeds and Goreman here, we’re running the sho-“ the soldier didn’t let him finish.
 
“No time for formalities, I’m Lieutenant Parker with the US army, and I’m here to tell you to get you and your men out of here ASAP” said the army man, he came to a stop a couple feet away.
 
“Well, you’ve got excellent timing, we are in the process of doing just that-“
 
“You’re not understanding me, you are ordered to drop everything and get out now.  Forget about your equipment and try to get your people out of here as fast as possible.”
 
Rob leaned the shovel up against the side of the truck and took a step toward Lieutenant Parker who was standing there with a dead serious look on his face “you’ve got to be kidding me, we’ve got over five million dollars worth of equipment with us, we can’t just leave it” he said incredulously.
 
The lieutenant reached out with his right hand and forcefully grabbed Rob’s shoulder and looked him square in the eye “listen asshole, right now there are about fifty thousand horrible things from god-knows-where bearing down on our location, and whatever forces between us and them are doing their best to get the hell out of the way as fast as possible.  There. Is. No. Time.” 
 
Rob didn’t say anything just yet, but all of the blood drained from his face, he turned to look at Darmody “go tell Bill to get everyone together and drop whatever they are doing, tell them to get the hell out of there as fast as possible, go-“ his orders were interrupted by the nearby sound of an explosion.  He quickly turned to look in the direction of the sound, he could see a white puff of smoke rising over a hill off in the distance.  It was the first time that they had heard one this close.
 
 
 
 
 
 
-7:23 PM April 21, 1987, Southern Defensive Perimeter, Kabul, Kabul Province, Afghanistan
 
 
 
 
The Kalashnikov clicked empty, Igor cursed.  He quickly ejected the empty magazine and inserted another, they weren’t as easy to handle as the older smaller ones.  A few seconds later he brought the newly loaded weapon up and squeezed off a few rounds at the nearest warrior, it was less than ten meters out by the time he had gotten it.  That was bad, they hadn’t managed to get this close to the line before.
 
The beast went down on the second short burst of fire, right then he took back his mental complaints about the lager size of the newer magazines.  He turned his attention toward one of the new “super centaurs” which they had started seeing the other day.  The sight of tracer fire heading toward it showed that it was already coming under fire from at least three KPVs.  He knew better than to waste his ammunition on that, best to leave it to the machine gunners.
 
He quickly searched for another target, it was not a long search.  A charging centaur which was not too far from its larger brother, Igor squeezed out an extended burst into the thing.  Just as his weapon clicked empty again the beast stumbled and fell, Igor mentally cheered this minor victory, then he saw as the large beast had started to get back up again.  He cursed, then went through the ritual of reloading his weapon.  A massive artillery barrage impacted amongst the charging horde, illuminating the battlefield in horrific detail and causing the ground to shake slightly..
 
Just as he had managed to get the next magazine into place he heard something, like a large howl or trumpet blast or something loud enough to be heard even over the chaos of the battle.  It was a new sound, not like any that the other creatures made, and it chilled him.  He briefly paused and looked up.
 
Although it was hard to tell, he could make out something out there on the battlefield, illuminated by the intermittent flashes of explosions and flares that over flew the battlefield.  Details were hard to discern, but he could at least see a poorly defined outline against the smoke and flame off in the distance.  The range was hard to judge, and he couldn’t tell much about the creature, but he could at least discern that it was at least fifteen meters tall, and heading right in his direction.
 
 
 
 
 
-2:08 AM April 22, 1987, Red Army Regional Headquarters, Kabul, Kabul Province, Afghanistan
 
 
 
 
Junior Sergeant Nikolas Giorgadze  headed intently down the hallway, suddenly a loud blast could be heard outside the building.  The entire building shook and bits of plaster and dust fell from the ceiling, it was such a violent upheaval that Nikolas feared that the whole building would collapse damn, that was too close, we have got to get out of here before the next one turns the place into a crater he thought.
 
He reached the end of the corridor that he was walking down and exited the building through a pair of large double doors.  Outside the headquarters was almost in total chaos, the sounds of explosions and weapons fire was almost deafening and it was only made worse by the sounds of thousands of people screaming and shouting as they ran about the street outside.
 
He could hear the sounds of aircraft and dragonflies flying overhead, the occasional explosion illuminating the ground as they died in ones and twos.  An artillery shell impacted less than a block away, it’s explosion ripping through a small tenement and reducing it to a collapsed pile of rubble almost instantly.
 
“Corporal!” shouted someone behind Nikolas just barely audible over the chaotic sounds of battle.  He turned to see a man in a VDV uniform carrying a small child in one arm and an AK-47 in the other, his insignia indicated that he was a lieutenant.
 
Nikolas stood at attention “sir, were you the one who called me down here?” he responded expectantly.
 
The lieutenant nodded “that is correct, I understand that your unit is being assigned to accompany the general as he evacuates the city.  I need you to take this girl with you” he said as he handed the child; a little girl no older than seven or eight, off to him. 
 
Nikolas awkwardly complied, a look of confusion on his face “sir?” he asked perplexed.
 
“My platoon has to take care of something important before we pull out and we can’t take her with us, she should be safe with the General” he explained curtly.
 
He considered for a second or two then nodded “yes sir, I’ll make sure she stays safe” he responded.
 
The lieutenant nodded and saluted, and then turned and jogged away quickly, disappearing into the crowd.  Nikolai looked down at the girl in his arms, she looked back up at him with a surprisingly calm expression considering all of the chaos surrounding her “um… hi” he said to her.  She merely stared back at him blankly.
 
 
 
 
 
-6:58 AM April 22, 1987, western defense line, Manaua, Amazonas, Brazil
 
 
 
 
Che looked out over the desolate moonscape that spread out to the south and west of the city.  As far as he could see, nothing but craters and burned out tree trunks met his eyes, it was a truly remarkable view.
 
The army had managed quite a feat over the past couple months.  After the disasters in Tapuaz and the surrounding areas, the various armies of South America had managed to regroup rather quickly, holding off the horde just long enough to cut a massive swath of scorched earth between the infested area and Manaua.  In spite of his experiences over the past months, Che found himself thinking that they might have a chance after all.
 
He was drawn out of his thoughts by a sound off in the distance, he recognized it almost instantly as that of the huge swarms of suicidal acid spewing missiles that preceded any major tāziyāne attack “get ready, pull those dicks out of those assholes little boys, this one is for real!” he shouted.  The others responded with grunts and shouts and the sound of their weapons being readied for combat. 
 
Sure enough, just as he had expected, what looked like some kind of cloud rose over the tops of a line of hills off to the southwest.  To an uninitiated soldier, it would look like nothing more than smoke rising off of the ground, but Che knew that it was a massive swarm of horrific monstrosities.
 
What Che had not expected however was the sheer size of the swarm.  Even as the first of them started impacting into the ground all around their trench there were still more rising over the hills further down the line.  Men screamed and died, their bodies turned into unidentifiable piles of mush by the deadly chemical cargo of those creatures.  Weapons fire sounded out across the line, downing many of the creatures, but still many more came.
 
Then the dragonflies appeared, their deep loud buzzing mixing in with the horrific sounds of death and pain on the ground.  Anti-aircraft fire went up to meet them, jets screamed in and engaged the flying horrors creating a massive ballet of death in the sky above.  The torrent of acid bugs continued for what felt like an eternity, Che had never thought that so many could have existed in the whole world, let alone just here in Brazil.
 
Then, finally it abated, a quick survey of the immediate area revealed that there were three piles of molten human remains where men had once been.  Che gritted his teeth in a grim scowl at the losses already suffered but then he turned his attention toward the battlefield.
 

The loud pounding of artillery fire had already started to shake the ground indicating that the duel between the human artillery and their alien counterparts had begun in earnest.  Enemy shells impacted nearby, the ground shoot heavily, an unpleasant rain of debris and earth fell down all around them, and more men screamed and died.  About a kilometer away he saw the lead elements of the enemy swarm which had advanced under cover of the acid bug assault.
 
Che looked to his left and right at the men under his command “if anyone opens fire without orders they’re going to get a prostate exam with my size twelve boot, understood?!” he barked.  They all grunted in acknowledgment.
 
The creatures approached at an incredible rate, running flat out to cover the distance as fast as possible.  Che could feel the tension building, it was hard to stay calm and do nothing with that massive tide of death heading their way.
 
Seconds passed like hours, and the creatures advanced, their screams and shrieks echoing across the battlefield.  Che gritted his teeth and his knuckles went white around his weapon as he prepared for what was coming, the tension was almost unbearable.  Warriors, centaurs, fire beetles, those new bigger centaurs, and even those massive sappers that he had heard about were all present, their terrifying features getting clearer with every second they got closer. Then it happened.
 
Bright yellow light flashed across his entire field of vision; his face felt as if he had just stuck it into an oven, and a strong stiff wind blew against him.  The earth shook and his ears rang from the deafening blast.  Seconds later a thick drawn rain of debris fell all along the line, pelting them painfully.
 
When the thick black smoke and fire cleared enough to get a good view of the battlefield, he could see that not a single thing moved between them and the line of hills a couple kilometers away, and yet fresh monsters had already crested the hilltops and started advancing over the burned out carcasses of their freshly dead predecessors.
 
Apparently even that unbelievable amount of devastation wasn’t enough to give the tāziyāne pause.  It wasn’t so much of a surprise to Che, but he had held out at least some hope.  He pushed that thought aside and readied himself for the coming assault.  The ground shook and the deafening sound of hundreds of 105mm tank guns assaulted his still ringing eardrums.  The ground at the front of the charging horde erupted in a large line of explosions, obliterating everything at the front of the swarm.
 
The assault continued this way for what seemed like an eternity, the swarm would advance, a fresh barrage of tank guns and artillery would obliterate the leaders and more creatures would continue on their way, getting ever closer with every passing second.  When the horde had gotten to within half a kilometer, Che knew it was time to engage the enemy “open fire!” barked Lieutenant Amaral and the rest of the platoon as well as just about everyone else along the line opened fire. An impressive hail of gunfire leaped forth from the trenches to cut down the first line of oncoming beasts who collapsed into black gory piles of broken limbs and exoskeletal armor.
 
This state of the battle also continued much like many others, with gunfire cutting down the warriors and centaurs,, meanwhile mortar, tank guns, and light artillery fire took out the larger super centaurs and fire beetles.  The heavy artillery was reserved for the sappers which were the most durable of all tāziyāne varieties.  Concentrated groupings of large explosions signified places where they went down.
 
Then Che heard something just barely audible over the deafening cacophony of battle, it sounded like some kind of loud howl or scream.  He didn’t know what it was, but he knew where it was coming from.  His eyes scanned the tops of the hills for a few seconds before he saw the first one.
 
It was a large dark shape that had started rising up over the top of the hill.  As it cleared the hilltop and came fully into view, Che could see that it was at least the size of a small office building, standing atop two tree trunk sized legs.  It’s armor was a dark greenish black, and three massive limbs sprouted from its upper body, two with massive clawed hand-like appendages, and one that featured a massive gaping hole at the end, looking like some kind of demonic cannon.  The entire body was covered in a massive forest of hideous spikes and spines which only served to make it look even more horrific.  It also featured two heads of different size, both with a pair of large black eyes and gaping maws of huge sharp looking teeth.
 
Less than a minute after the first one cleared the hill, two more followed on either side of it, approaching at a pace that was unnervingly fast in such a large creature.  When the first one had reached the bottom of the hill, it’s large tube-like arm leveled at some point in its path, it wasn’t too hard for Che to guess what was going to come next.
 
A large glowing projectile leaped forth from the end of the giant beast's arm at an incredible speed, so fast was it that Che might not have even noticed it if not for the trail of brightly glowing bluish green vapor that marked it’s path.  A large explosion erupted at the spot where the trail ended.  Che couldn’t see the explosion very well from where he was, but he could feel the way the ground shook as a result, and the sound it made, and it didn’t sound good.
 
Another barrage of 105mm cannon fire let loose against the oncoming swarm, and clearly a good portion of it was concentrated on the first of the giant’s up ahead which was evident by the congregation of explosions which erupted in the vicinity of the beast.  It looked to Che like it had suffered a fatal blow from the impacts as it stumbled, but those hopes were quickly dashed when he saw the massive thing regain its footing and continue on, it’s armor now featured several gaping holes and cracks where copious amounts of black fluid leaked out, yet within seconds the flow of blood had been stopped and the holes themselves seemed to be shrinking.  Just before the other two launched their own attacks Che realized that the battle for Manaua had already been lost.
 
 
 
 
 
-3:07 PM April 23, 1987, The Cabinet Room, 10 Downing Street, London, England
 
 
 
 
“It’s been confirmed” said Secretary of state for Defense George Younger “we’ve got two new varieties, survivor accounts from both Kabul and Manaua have described a larger version of the mantis’ as well as a much larger two legged creature” the cabinet room erupted in unpleasant grumbling from the rest of the group assembled.
 
Margaret Thatcher frowned “what is the overall effect on the strategic situation of these new types?” she asked.
 
Younger cleared his throat “well aside from the massive territorial losses that have been suffered across the board already, it can be safe to say that they pose a significant threat, all first hand accounts indicate that this ‘super mantis’ variety is virtually immune to all forms of small arms fire, requiring the use of heavy calibre machine gun fire or high explosive munitions.  Thankfully they are not nearly as prevalent as their smaller cohorts, however that does not stop the ones that they do have from causing massive damage to our front line forces” he explained.
 
General Sir James Glover spoke up next “I think that it is clear however that this new ‘behemoth’ variety is the larger threat of the two.  I’ve read reports that indicate that even concentrated artillery fire only seems to faze them,  While we have information that it is not quite immune to conventional weaponry, it does seem to be able to quickly heal wounds sustained in battle somehow.  It is my opinion and the opinion of much of the rest of the general staff that we should be able to kill them with enough concentrated firepower, it just remains to be seen just how much is required.” 
 
“The good news is that at least we haven’t seen any signs of the behemoth’s in Germany or the United States.  However, there is no telling just how long before that changes.  Although things are already bad enough on their own in those theatres” explained Glover.
 
Deputy Prime Minister Whitelaw interjected “what is the overall situation in those two areas anyway?” he inquired with an inquisitive look toward Younger.
 
The defense secretary looked this way and that, then “well, they seem to be the bright spots in the overall strategic picture.  The Americans seem to be holding strong at their new positions for now, although their scorched earth strategy seems to have failed miserably, the tāziyāne merely overran the scoured region with little delay.  At least they are no longer running low on ammunition.”
 
“The situation in Germany is the most stable, although we're not sure just how long it will stay that way.  Although the bozorgs have managed to cross over into France finally, their advances are being held in check better than on any other front.  However, we're not sure just how long this situation will last" replied Younger.
 
Geoffrey cleared his throat "quite right" he interjected "the Russians have been getting anxious since Kabul fell, as I recall their plan was to extricate the forces and people there with a somewhat organized retreat when the Varennikov Line finished completion.  Unfortunately the retreat from the city was not orderly in the slightest, and those fortifications are still several weeks from completion.  We've been getting hints that they are thinking of pulling some troops from Germany to make up for losses suffered when Kabul fell."
 
The other assembled ministers started grumbling in disagreeable tones "surely they can't be serious" said Whitelaw "if the Soviets pull out of Europe the situation will undoubtedly become far worse" he protested.
 
Glover shook his head "actually sir, I think that it may not be the most militarily foolhardy decision at this stage.  While their troops have been crucial in holding the line in Germany, it does seem to be the most secure front at the moment, and they've been fighting the bozorgs for longer than any other nation, they've been suffering probably the worst manpower drain of any of the current combatants, with the possible exception of the Brazilians." 
 
"Worse yet is that unlike in Germany, there is no one else to take up the slack, all the other powers in that region are barely handling their own fronts as it is, even the PLA is still trying to clear out the dead wood following that cock up outside Kabul.  At this point I think we would be optimistic to hope that they could simply stop retreating and halt the bozorg advance from continuing any further." 
 
Considering the fact that Afghanistan is probably the worst infestation right now and the most well established, it also represents the biggest threat, if the Russians can't stop it before long, it could reach a critical mass of sorts and become uncontainable.  Put simply; as bad as losing the Russians in Germany would be, not having them move to Afghanistan could be worse."
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-6:48 PM April 28, 1987, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States
 
 
 
 
Gene Kranz blew past John Young’s secretary, Sallie Winchester and barged into his office.  John was on the phone “did you know about this?” Gene demanded.
 
Young raised an eyebrow “I’m sorry, I’ll have to call you back” he said as he hung up the phone.
 
Sallie nudged past Gene “I’m sorry sir, he just barged in here” she apologized.
 
Young raised a hand in a dismissive gesture “it’s alright Sallie, what can I do for you Gene?” he said, a hint of consternation in his voice.
 
Gene clenched his fists “you know damn well what this is about” he said in an exasperated tone, Sallie exited the room silently.
 
Young sat forward in his chair “you’re referring to the new bill in congress?” he said.
 
Gene shook his head with a disgusted look on his face “Space Defense and Appropriations act” he practically spat it out with disgust “It’s a goddamn military takeover of NASA.  Hell, it’s practically the end of the whole agency” he said.
 
Young nodded “I’m sorry Gene, it’s a fact of life these days, we’re fighting for the survival of the whole species” he seemed like he was trying to sound sympathetic.
 
“Don’t you think I know that?  But it’s still a disgrace, NASA was never meant to be a military organization.”
 
“Try to look at the bright side, it’s not like we’re cutting any part of the space program.  If anything it’s getting bigger, didn’t you hear about the part where they decided to increase the size of the shuttle fleet?  We’re supposed to get five more orbiters”
 
Gene let out a sigh “and additional infrastructure added onto Vandenberg, not to mention tons of other things, we’ll probably even get the space station project off the ground finally too.  Too bad it’s going to be a damned battle station.  Science and exploration are a thing of the past here” he said ruefully.
 
John looked up at him with a bit of sympathy in his eyes “I’m sorry Gene, at least we can ensure that another accident like Challenger is most likely never going to happen.  The three remaining shuttles we’ve got left are too important to the war effort to risk having one blown up.  Congress wants as much lift capacity as possible right now, they’ve even authorized funding to finally give Enterprise the necessary refits for space flight.”
 
“They’re going to turn the shuttle into a damned cargo ship to transport bombs up to Mir, it’s a perversion of what it was meant to do.  Strangely enough I think this is only the beginning of the horrible things we’re going to do as a species to win this war, I only hope that there will be something worth saving of the human race once it’s all over.”

[The Vortex Empire]

So was the taziyane's mistake releasing those two new forms? How exactly could that be a mistake? Hm...

[That NOS Guy]

So was the taziyane's mistake releasing those two new forms? How exactly could that be a mistake? Hm...

Could be the incredible amount of biomass needed to manufacture them?

[Zim]

If the Americans are jamming the bozorgs, doesn't that mean they won't be able to transport nukes away, making nuking a viable option again?

[guest]

I may not have specified quite well enough in the story, the jamming only prevents off-planet teleportation. Local teleportation is still doable, even with the jamming.

[ChaserGrey]

I think the bio-titans are going to be the bozorgs' mistake. Yeah, they're Bad News with Capital Letters, but it's also a lot of biomass in the same place- and unless the 'zorgs can somehow violate conservation of mass, each time it heals itself is going to take more and more biomass. Hit them hard enough and you can burn through a lot of the infestation.

Of course, we'd need a big, big boom to make a dent. Hey, the Americans are building more Shuttles...

Seriously, a titan is so much mass it might even be worth launching a Shuttle mission to hit one or two of them. A single orbiter should be able to carry enough KEMs to put one down and zorch a lot of mass that way.

Out of curiosity, what did you mean when you said there were two shuttles left? Columbia should still be around, so there should be three- Columbia, Discovery, and Atlantis, unless I missed something. Building five more would put the fleet at eight, which would in turn let them maintain a high flight rate- say, what they did in 1984-5- without cutting corners since there's more time to recondition each orbiter.

Wonder what they'll name the new ones? The first one will be made from the structural spares and would have been called Endeavor in our timeline, but that may change. And of course, the new ones are completely new territory.

Sorry about the fixation, I just find myself really fascinated by the idea of a revived 1980s-era Space Shuttle program, with a purpose that finally makes all the effort put into it worthwhile. Shuttlepunk?