Chapter 3: The First Gen

By 2039 the planet Orion was home to over 7,000 known species, yet 90% of the planet remained unexplored. Life had become a lot more manageable since the Tatski Hara had arrived on the planet ten years ago, but it still proved just as unpredictable at times.

There was a freak insect swarm in 2031 that killed a quarter of the citizens living in the capital of Rou’dan through a virus which the insects carried. Infectious ants were another common cause of death on Orion, killing an average of 24,300 citizens a year from 2030-2039. Those numbers dropped over the decade but threats remained consistent across the ocean and the land.

The First Generation of Tatski Hara soldiers were the greatest military minds hand selected from Earth. All soldiers were briefed on the numerous threats to human life that existed on the planet and made aware of the viruses, insects, dinosaurs, and other even deadlier species. The entire first generation of soldiers were dedicated to establishing a base in Tyran forest and the capital of Rou’dan.

The First Gen. had confidence that Caleb would be able to lead them towards their objectives while avoiding casualties. Their faith was misplaced. It was clear that Caleb had an extremely sharp intellect but his efforts were not fully dedicated to the first battalion. At the time only Caleb knew of the Deities protecting the realm and he was working overtime to develop an invention which had the capability of destroying them.

In the week leading up to the initial contact date, Caleb and his Generals held a meeting in Lazarus. As Caleb walked through the glass door five minutes late, General Novak was busy complaining of the Z virus.

‘We can’t have any more of our soldiers succumbing to this illness. One of our best soldiers was patrolling for threats and then the next thing we knew he had broken into the infirmary and was eating the newborns before Rory killed him. We need to end this madness at once and find out what is causing our soldiers to contract this virus.’

The rest of the room broke into applause in support of Novak’s statement.

Caleb remained silent, busy uploading his data through the computer onto the screen which loomed above the table. He thought to himself ‘Of course I want to know what the fuck is killing our children.’

General Thompson spoke up as well.

‘I’ve seen the satellite images of the blitzers and other species that reside in the forest.’ He pressed a button which caused a still-image of a blitzer moving at full speed to appear on the screen above.

‘Those things move as fast as cheetahs and they’re made of steel. We aren’t prepared to establish a base in the forest and pursue resources until we can make sure that these things are not a threat! But wait - there's more.’

He pressed the button again causing an image of a Tyrannosaur to appear on the screen. ‘We have to worry about our old friend, the T-Rex. AND!’

He pressed the button again, showing a decimator.

‘Whatever the fuck THAT thing is.’

Murmurs started circling around the table ‘Dragons. Anacondas. Giants’.

Caleb shouted ‘Everyone settle down. I know there’s a lot to digest right now but believe me when I say - If we work together on this then we can find a solution.’

General Thompson spoke up once more ‘With all due respect sir, I’ve seen the simulations and there just isn’t a way to create a northern base in the Tyran forest, short of torching the whole place.’

Caleb responded ‘Well. With our current limitations, yes. You’re right. However, I have been at work making a myriad of different devices which will save lives. In addition, our lead serum technician Isaac Chow has succeeded in creating the serum AM-17B.’

Caleb managed to inspire confidence in the Generals and Billionaires alike with his presentation. They decided to proceed with establishing a northern base in the Tyran forest and accept it as an intelligence-gathering mission. When the time came for the first battalion to be assembled, on the first night they drove five tank units out in V formation to the northern treeline unsure of what to expect. The Tatski Hara knew they were not alone on the outskirts of the forest. There were numerous species awaiting their arrival silently in the darkness. Novak dismounted the first Tank and shouted:

‘I want GPS tracking set up right away for 10 km. If anything moves, tell me.’

In the dark of night it was impossible to tell with naked eyes what lay in the shadows of the forest. The floodlights mounted atop the Tanks illuminated the thick tree trunks on the outskirts of the forest but nothing else.

A woman near him quickly said ‘Sir, everything is moving.’ She showed him the hologram radar on her wristwatch. Over thirty red dots were all over the place on the screen, all moving in different directions behind the treeline.

Novak said ‘Brian. Is this accurate?’

Brian Stwart, a fellow Tatski Hara General, looked at it and nodded.

Novak started pacing ‘That’s too many threats. Wait, those could be smaller critters. Change the scanner settings so that we can see what size all of those things are.

Get everyone back in the tanks while we wait.’

Brian yelled ‘Everyone load up!’

The same woman as before, Robin, said ‘Sir - There’s something-’

She was interrupted by the scanner, which spoke in a robotic woman’s voice. It said:

‘Danger. Spinosaurus.’

Robin said ‘Sir! We have movement right there!’ She pointed to the tree line, to her left.’ Another soldier yelled ‘Flash!’ and shot a flash grenade into the forest with his launcher. When it hit the forest floor 30 yards into the treeline, it illuminated the spinosaurus that was crouched on the ground, looking right at them.

The fearsome toothed predator lumbered itself upright rather quickly and let out a ferocious roar that spooked all of the Tatski Hara. They ran to get back inside the tanks as fast as they could. The spinosaurus sprinted towards them and snatched Robin in its jaws. They opened fire on the Spinosaurus but could not bring it down as it ran back to the treeline and disappeared behind cover a moment later. Rory Engles managed to secure a tracking dart onto the hind leg of the Spinosaurus.

They could hear the disgusting sounds of the spinosaurus, the sound of Robin’s bones breaking, coming from the darkness of the forest as they loaded back into their tanks. All of the Tanks sped away from the Forest before Novak spoke over the radio:

‘Wait! Wait… Wait…Stop all of the tanks.’

The tanks drew to a halt, the tracks of the tanks creating clouds of dust.

‘Let’s give them something to remember.’

The tanks grinded against the dirt as the Tatski Hara turned them around 100 meters from the Treeline.

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Brian gave the order.

‘Fire at will.’

The plasma cannons on top of the tanks charged up before unleashing three blasts in a large cone in front of them. When the plasma reached the trees it illuminated the surroundings as a pink flame appeared to eat away at the dinosaurs and trees on the northern edge of the forest. The plasma illuminated the outline and shadow of the Spinosaurus which was caught in the strike. It let out a loud hiss and ran deeper into the forest as the plasma made its way across its scales. The howls and cries of every species subjected to plasma burns were unforgettable. The plasma ate away every living thing. Many species of dinosaurs and other life were killed indiscriminately, only a few creatures that were lucky made it out.

Novak came across again

‘Give them one more.’

The men manning the plasma cannons took aim toward other sections of the forest before unleashing more plasma, burning everything to the ground and leaving a shallow crater around six teeth deep which spanned for a few hundred yards.

Their plasma weapons worked to carve out a section of space but the naturalists among the Tatski Hara disagreed with this type of approach. The naturalists as well as the majority of citizens residing in Rou’dan called it Reckless. What the brutes of the first generation did not know was that their attack on the treeline was viewed by the other species as a declaration of war. The intel that the first-gen tatski hara had to work with was poor at best.

They were not even aware that Tyrannus existed, much less half of the other species in that forsaken forest. Though their attack on the forest was reckless, the Tatski Hara weren’t stupid. They knew there was something amiss in the air. They did not know that the deity Tyrannus had taken notice of their presence on the continent.

This was the beginning of a long-waged war against the inhabitants of the forest. Week after week the Tatski Hara would try different strategies, different points of entry, air strikes, controlled burns, more plasma burns, everything. In an attempt to gain valuable resources from the forest necessary for their survival.

Everyday there were many Tatski Hara soldiers that would be sent back to the capitol, injured or mortally wounded by the predators hiding within the trees. It was their land and they knew it through and through. This gave the indigenous species the tactical advantage. Casualties were tallied sky high as the battle for territory lasted months. The forest was vast and the Tatski Hara were only fighting for a sliver of it.

The existence of a base at the northernmost point of the forest proved to be a formidable objective. Units were assembled and deployed, over a thousand men armed with plasma rifles and other equipment were tasked with establishing a perimeter. Many of them were killed by predators during the day but there were times across the next month where a perimeter would be constructed. To the Tatski Hara’s dismay, whatever progress was made during the day was lost at night as the ambush predators and various nocturnal species emerged.

One night the blitzers came out of the darkness seeking vengeance for the twelve blitzers that were killed by the Tatski Hara’s strikes that day. The blitzers traveled silently in the shadows of the night from the trees to the dormitories. They were smart enough to unlock doors with their claws and quietly entered the building. The blitzers were in position, looming over the beds of the soldiers, their dark scales reflecting the sparse moonlight that eagerly made its way through the reinforced windows. They attacked fast and in unison, killing seven Tatski Hara in the first second that the alarm blared. The screams of the Tatski Hara triggered the alarms.

Thirty Tatski Hara were killed, many suffering slow deaths as they were left by the blitzers to bleed out. There were many agonizing screams that night, though five minutes after the blitzers were in the building, they were all gone. Dead or having retreated back to the darkness of the forest. That event became known as the First Blitzer Massacre.

After the massacre new door locks were installed on all of the buildings to ensure the blitzers would not be able to get in. The event led many Tatski Hara to take more pride in killing blitzers, with some soldiers going out of their way to target blitzers in particular.

Envoys were loaded up with stones from Rou’dan and sent to establish the northern base of the Tyran forest. The Tatski Hara tried different points of entry into the forest, but it didn't work. They tried burning down a large section of forest and establishing a base there, but it didn't work. They tried clearing everything in a 5km radius and it didn’t work. The dinosaurs and other creatures would come in waves and tear down the base no matter what they did.

It was only with Caleb’s invention of the super soldier serum that they started to make progress. The human trials for the compound began and only exceptional test subjects were given the serum. The majority of the test subjects had adverse reactions to the compound as their bodies rejected it. The compound would cause internal hemorrhaging, necrosis, seizures, and ultimately death.

The trials lasted three weeks and were notorious for the amount of deaths involved. There was more than one whistleblower involved with the trials that leaked information to the press. Citizens protested in Rou’dan with signs with the words ‘Save our Soldiers’ and ‘Stop the experiments!’ After the trials concluded, the data showed that in specimens of peak fitness, only 36% of males and 33% of females could survive a successful assimilation of the compound. It was not a very promising success rate.

Rory Engles was the highest ranking Tatski Hara to be given the compound as commander of the 2nd battalion, thankfully for him the serum's assimilation was successful and he survived. It was with his leadership and newfound abilities that they began to make progress carving out space to form the northern base. At long last after four months of hardships and death, they had done it. Rory would win their battles through ambush strikes after they had engaged the enemy, whether it was a pack of blitzers or a Tyrannosaur.

Rory found the secret to killing the blitzers was targeting the most vulnerable spot on their bodies, their necks. With that information the Tatski Hara actually stood a chance. In fact, in a decisive battle where Rory and the other soldiers conducted a siege from a location on high ground, they had staked out a position in blitzer territory and killed several families of blitzer with specialized bullets. The death toll of the blitzer stood at 75 while the death toll of the Tatski Hara totaled just 5.

Not long after this, Caleb had sent out a hologram message telling all of the soldiers to retreat to Rou’dan as the area was compromised. Around seven of every ten soldiers there ended up leaving for Rou’dan whereas the minority stayed at the northern base. There were arguments between the two factions as to who was being unreasonable, but only time would tell the truth. Hours passed and those who remained at the Northern base celebrated, treating the occasion as if it were a holiday.

Caleb's message came across at 9 AM and the time passed to noon with no signs of any threats. It was an unassuming breezy day with blue skies and light cloud cover, a pleasant break from the intense heat which usually plagued the continent.

The Tatski Hara who stayed were hanging out in the game hall of the dormitories, playing billiards, drinking, and watching films. Those who remained at the northern base were violating protocol by disobeying Caleb’s orders but they did not care. They stood defiant in order to send a message to Caleb that he did not own them.

Caleb watched the soldiers from the monitors in his office. Rather than attempt to warn them again, Caleb put his mind to use elsewhere as they stood defiant against him, ignoring his broadcast. Despite the calm weather and appearance of a peaceful day, there was a surprise in store for them. As the afternoon began to fade into the evening, the forest looked incredible with the sun shining through the trees. It was quite peaceful. Several Tatski Hara were outside enjoying the weather when they felt the ground shake beneath their feet. One couple was taking a stroll by the river, joking to each other when they heard a faint thud. The man said ‘Wait. What was that?’

They heard it again, and again, with a second or two in between the thuds. The sound was getting louder each time. Without saying anything he grabbed his partner's arm and ran for the dormitories. They both knew as well as anyone what could be making that noise. They were certain it was a dinosaur and they were certain that it was coming their direction. They could still hear the quakes from inside the building and they took shelter in the game room with the other Tatski Hara. There was frantic chatter amongst them:

‘What is that?’

‘It’s a Tyrannosaur, it’s got to be.’

‘I’ve heard a Tyrannosaur’s steps. This thing is bigger.’

For a full two minutes they listened as the steps grew closer. Their chatter turned to silence as fear started to take hold of their minds. The ground shook violently on the last few steps until the intermittent quakes turned to silence. Ten seconds passed…twenty… thirty… a minute. The Tatski Hara were still full of fear, but a few of them were bold enough to venture out of the dormitory onto the grass of the base. They looked around and initially they couldn’t see anything. When they looked around the tree line which surrounded them, they could not identify what was causing the earthquakes. Until they looked into the darkness of the eastern trail head.

In the shade of the trees they could see it. Tyrannus. The deity was waiting there in the shadows, looking right at them. It blended in so well that they could barely see the outline of its head, but when they did see it, the Tatski Hara froze in fear. It looked so sinister, so frightening. It remained still and chose not to attack but instead observe. This did not inspire any confidence among the soldiers who went back inside the dormitory. That was the first time any humans bore witness to the deity Tyrannus.