Podkamennaya Tunguska River

Siberia, Russian Empire

7 am, June 30, 1908

Nikola Tesla stepped onto the tail jutting from the open back of the large box-sided wagon. He was a tall and trim man, wearing rugged travelling clothes that hung off his narrow frame. He swatted at the horde of flying bugs that threatened to devour him. The oppressive heat and humidity of this region of Siberia created some prodigious swarms.

With quick motions, he manipulated the array of toggles and levers that activated his Long Distance Communication Device. I should really have a shorter name for it. Edison is the one who is so good at making catchy names for his inventions. Tesla shook his head, remembering the foolish name one of his assistants had suggested: radio. What kind of a scientist uses such a scientifically inaccurate name for a device?

The radio, for want of a better name, was a complicated collection of wires, coils, and dials. The bulk of the wagon was taken up by the dynamos, paired to the wheels, that collected electrical current as the wagon travelled and stored in acid-based batteries. Tesla picked up the microphone and spoke into it.

“Wardenclyffe, are you ready?”

“Yes sir, all generators are at full power. We have the Teleforce targeting the coordinates you gave us.” His assistant's voice was flat, metallic sounding as it reverberated from the vibrating speech plate. This radio was itself a formidable invention, granting users the ability to communicate across vast distances. Wardenclyffe Tower was located in New Jersey, many thousands of kilometres away.

“Activate buildup and discharge when it is complete.” Tesla sat the microphone into its holder and turned the radio off. He stepped off the wagon and strode up the hill it sat next to.

It had taken weeks to find the perfect location for his test and observations. He had chosen Siberia to reduce the chance of being observed to almost nil. If his Teleforce was being tested on a location in North America and fared poorly the chances of further funding would be ruined. As a plus the atmospheric conditions were ideal for a long-range test. His device could transmit electrical power without the use of wires across great distances using the ionosphere as a conductive medium. A massive delivery of energy in a single pulse had yet to be tested, until today.

As he scaled the tall hill he passed the picket lines spread between trees where his escorts had tied their horses. Tesla’s assistants argued long for him to hire guards during this phase of the expedition, pointing out that this region of the world was dangerous. They repeatedly regaled him with news articles relating to the crimes committed by rampaging groups of Cossacks. In response, and with a hint of purposeful irony, Tesla had hired a group of twenty Cossacks to be his bodyguards. Their payment was to be delivered when they returned him safely to Moscow. His guards were tending the horses, lounging in the shade, or cooking several local rabbits over a fire pit.

At the crest of the hill, the trees thinned out, offering a clear view of the plain below. A large Cossack, with a thick bone structure and heavy slabs of muscle, stood waiting for Tesla. Pavel was the group's leader, apparently not by any other virtue than by being the largest and most dangerous of a group of large and dangerous men. Like his men Pavel wore a greatcoat that hung to his knees, Pavel’s was unbuttoned and hung open in the humid summer morning. A shashka sword hung in a scabbard from his belt and a pistol was at his over hip.

“When is this thing supposed to happen Mr. Tesla?” His voice was deep, and his wild beard hid portions of several impressive scars that crossed his face.

Tesla stood next to Pavel and retrieved a long spyglass from a leather holder at his belt, extending it to look down at the forest spread before him. “Any moment now.”

“Hmmph, how will we know when it happens?”

“Even four miles away we should be able to see the discharge of energy, it will cross the sky like a bolt of lightning and impact there,” he pointed to an area near the banks of the Tunguska River. “By my calculations, the detonation of energy should be quite impress…” Tesla’s words cut off as he noticed a jagged streak of energy cross the sky from the horizon and arch toward the forest floor. He began to raise his spyglass to his face when the energy impacted the ground and a massive ball of fire erupted in its place.

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The intense light, brighter than looking at the sun, spread outward growing to be hundreds of feet across in a fraction of a second. Pavel cursed and began to drop to the ground. Tesla’s eyes were almost shut with the painfully bright light, but he could see the trees whipping towards him and the air rippled as a blast wave rocketed towards them. Pavel and Tesla were suddenly lifted from their feet and flung dozens of feet. The two of them tumbled down the hillside. The shockwave ripped trees on all sides from their roots and then thrown backward. The impossibly loud sound, straight from the depths of Hell itself roared across the forest after the shock wave had passed by.

Telsa rolled to a stop partway down the hill and looked around. Their camp had avoided most of the damage of the blast by virtue of being partially shielded by the hill. Even still the Cossacks were working desperately to regain control of their panicking horses. The picket line had been torn from its ties with horses and men flailing in a tangle of ropes, limbs, and trees.

“My God in Heaven Tesla!” Pavel lay on his back gazing up into the sky. Tesla followed his gaze to see a mushroom-shaped cloud of fire and smoke rising many kilometres into the air. The roar of the explosion was beginning to pass, but Tesla knew his ears would be ringing for hours still. His eyes felt sunburned, tears streaming down his cheeks. “What have you done?”

Tesla stood on wobbly legs and looked around him. “I have ended war.”

“What! How the hell can you say you ended war by creating a weapon that can do this?” Pavel was screaming, in a combination of ringing ears and anger at the scientist next to him. “What would this thing do to a city?”

“What indeed? If two countries possess my Teleforce device, would they dare wage war upon one another? Only a madman would do so, and surely his subordinates would refuse to follow such orders knowing the consequences.” He watched as Pavel picked himself up. “Help your men gather the horses. We need to examine the effects closer towards the epicentre of the event.”

Pavel straightened his belt and hurried to aid his men in calming the panicked horses, and calm his men as well.

It had taken nearly an hour to soothe the horses and oxen used to pull the three wagons; two wagons of Teslas and one used to carry foodstuffs and barrels of water for men and beasts. As they had passed through the ruined remains of the forest the terrible power of the device had been repeatedly reinforced. Thousands of fires burned in and amongst piles of fallen trees, raising a heavy layer of smoke that wafted with the gently swirling wind.

The men rode through the tangled mass of ruin, avoiding fires as Tesla sat on one of his wagons. He sat with a sheaf of papers in his lap and hurriedly made notes of his observations. His estimates of the Teleforce's ability had been off by a factor of ten. What would Edison say if he ever discovered that error? As it was, Tesla had spent most of the past hour berating himself in an angry internal monologue. A cry from one of the outriders caused the group to halt and wait for the young rider to trot his horse back to the group. Pavel rode to Tesla’s wagon after talking with the scout.

“Telsa, Alexi says he found the place your lightning weapon hit the ground.”

Telsa bit his words back, forcing himself to remain calm, “Show me. I must see this.” The weapon did not hit the ground. The weapon itself is in a building in New Jersey, what hit the ground was a directed stream of energy fired by it.

Ten minutes later Tesla stood at the rim of a shallow crater nearly one hundred meters across. In the center of the crater, a roiling mass of energy pulsed several meters above the ground. The energy reminded him of one of the displays his large coils could put on for visitors, but only to the most general extent. The arching cloud of energy was roughly spherical, and nearly the size of a house.

“What is that, is it some of the weapon left?” Pavel held his horse’s reins tightly in one hand, his other hand held the three-metre lance all the Cossacks carried. “Is it dangerous?”

“I do not know what it is Pavel, but I am sure that we are in no danger. Come, I want to get a closer look.”

Pavel looked down, sure the man who walked into the crater was both mad and the most dangerous person he had ever encountered. He was being well paid, but would it be better for the world if Tesla never left this forest? The burly man shook his head and gestured for his men to follow Tesla as he rode slowly after as well. As they drew closer the swirling ball of chaotic energy pulsed several times before the center of it swelled, and vomited, outward. From within the vortex, the shadow of a man could be seen walking toward them. Tesla and his guards stopped in their tracks, watching intently. A flurry of voices rose from within the ranks of the Cossacks.

“Who..who is that Tesla?”

“Is that God?”

“No you moron, it’s an angel.”

“It’s a demon sent to punish us. It is here to take us to Hell!”

As the man walked toward the group it was now possible to make out more details. This was no man. The thing walked hunched over, with backward-facing knees like a horse. It had a massively muscled torso with four long arms growing from its shoulders. The hands of each arm had four broad fingers that each ended with long claws. Its head was bulky, like a bear. The skin of the creature was a mottled black with grey highlights. The creature spread its arms wide and roared loudly.

A number of the Cossacks yelled in terror, all working to keep control of their mounts. Behind the creature, several others could be seen emerging from the energy field. They were pure malevolence made flesh. As one they all roared and then began sprinting toward the Cossacks.

“Well, this was unexpected!” Tesla turned and ran towards his wagon as the Cossacks instinctively lowered their lances and spurred their horses on to meet the attacking monstrosities.