This is Some Party

[Malchus]

NOTE: Like Invictus has done with The Challenge of Dawn, I'm reposting my old OZC arcs chapter-by-chapter, with rewrites of each chapter. To start with, here's the first installment of my very first Comix arc, re-written and hopefully improved. Some feedback and suggestions would be appreciated.


This is Some Party

Prologue

On the outskirts if SDI Base Two, Guam

He paused for a moment and sniffed. It smelled like an insect, which he confirmed a split second later with his eyes. At another time he would have snapped it up without a second thought and gulped it down, but as he had done with other insects he had encountered over the past hour or so, he ignored it. There was still a mission to be done and the psi-link chip in his head made sure that nothing denied the will of his pterosaur masters.

The chameleon compsognathus paused, and the other four compsognathids in his team paused with him. They looked around, making sure that their head-mounted cameras caught as much of the facility as possible. He knew that their camera feed, as well as the feed from the several other compsognathid teams around the island, was going back to their pterosaur masters. Like many other human facilities they had scoped out before, it had several defensive systems. Advanced sensor arrays, among them transdimensional radar sets; anti-air missile, gun, and laser emplacements; automated defense guns and mounted turrets; and several armed human personnel going around either on foot or in vehicles.

Yes, the North American SDI Base Two was very well defended, and it would have been an extremely though nut to crack. Except for one thing: not all threats came in noticeable sizes.

The compsognathus scout leader started advancing again, his team followed. They moved slowly, even with their quickly changing skin camouflage, they would still be seen if they moved too fast. The equipment they carried was also a problem. While it was made of an active camouflage material that changed colors when they did, the material didn’t quite change as fast as their own skin, forcing them to move even slower. Then, there were the various motion sensors salted along the perimiter of the SDI Base. However, his and his team's diminutive size was helpful in this since, to the motion sensors, they'd appear to be any one of the small local animals which came and went every so often and would be discounted as such.

It took a lot of patience for them to advance to their team’s designated spotting position, but patience was something the dinosaurs had. After all, they would need to be very patient if their Uprising was to eventually succeed. Overhead, several jet aircraft passed by, likely from the joint NAKAIDO-SDI exercises they had been observing for the past few hours, but they paid those no heed. The spotter teams at the airfield, located a few kilometers from the main body of Base Two, would take note of those.

After several minutes, they finally made it to their spotting position. Carefully, his teammates un-strapped the equipment they were carrying. They made sure to keep their claws on them since the equipment’s active camouflage systems only stayed active if they were in contact with the compsognathids’ skin.

As the other four quickly assembled the laser designator, the team leader activated his comm. system and let out a short transmission: They were in position. Fleetingly, he wondered how many other teams were also in position.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Several kilometers out in the ocean

In one of two 500-foot long, shark-shaped transport subs, the pterosaur Aggressive, a Matriarch of the Uprising, peered over the multitude of holographic displays in the bridge. They were the feeds from the cameras of the chameleon compsognathid teams that were positioning themselves around Base Two of the North American Special Defense Initiative.

She saw the F-22Xs and FB-22Xs returning from the joint SDI-NAKAIDO exercises which were just coming to a close. Trailing them were the distinctive profiles of F-35Xs and NAKAIDO F-15KH (Kaiju Hunter) jets. She also saw the impressive defensive batteries around the human facility, slaved to sophisticated, highly sensitive sensor systems. Those systems could defeat nearly any stealth. However, they were designed to detect targets on or above the surface, but thankfully weren’t very good at detecting things under deep water. Just as well, since sneaking past the passive sonar array around the island had been difficult enough. If the other sensors did work underwater their mission would have been in jeopardy, as well as the continued operation of every one of the Dinosaur Uprising’s undersea secret bases. Not to mention that they would not have gotten undetected close enough to insert the observation teams in the first place.

Still, the jets and other defenses could very well pose a heap of trouble, but they had a way to deal with those. Aside from the pair of transports subs, the Uprising forces also had three cruise missile submarines positioned just off shore from the island of Guam, where SDI base two was located. Each of these submarines, while far smaller than the transports, were large enough to carry 20 missiles each, with each missile having a rather prodigious bomblet load due to compressed space technology. And with spotter teams designating targets, most of these missiles would find their marks and hopefully disable most of the defenses.

However, the usefulness of their missiles submarines could be potentially neutralized by the three attack submarines which did not belong to them: the Sea Sting, the Benson, and the Kurushio. These highly advanced submarines had also been involved in the just-concluded enemy exercises and they could easily match their own submarines.

However, as with Base Two’s defenses, Aggressive had already positioned some of the forces under her command to deal with the enemy submarines. Close to the SDI and NAKAIDO subs in question was what appeared to be, at least on sonar, a pod of whales. But these were far from it. They were actually genetically altered plesiosaurs, imitating humpback whale noises. And when the time was right, they would unleash a devastating sonic attack which would hopefully cripple the enemy submarines, allowing them to be finished off by their own.

A part of Aggressive’s mind thought it ironic that thinking in such a tactical sense came almost naturally now. She was one of the first generation Mesozoic Mountains dinosaurs and there was a time when the things and concepts she had just taken note of would have been completely incomprehensible to her. But it had been a long time since she had psychically absorbed human knowledge and such things were familiar to her as they were for humans. More familiar, actually, since she had absorbed the knowledge of several humans. Then, of course, there was the tactical knowledge she had gained from the council of Adolph, the leader of the Aryannosaur faction in the Dinosaur Uprising.

The memory of the Aryannousaurs immediately caused her thoughts to sour. As useful as the Aryannosaurs’ military programming—something bestowed unto them by their former human master—had been in the past, it did not change the fact that they were not under the full control of the Matriarchs, the ruling cabal of pterosaurs controlling the Uprising, or even the lower-ranking pterosaurs. Because of the design of the Aryannosaurs’ cybernetically-augmented brains, they were completely impervious to psychic control, and remained under their own free will. That was a danger, since this free will had caused them to betray their former master for the Uprising. It was only logical to conclude that, given the right incentive, they might eventually betray the Uprising as well.

And that was not even taking into account that the Aryannosaurs were disgusting half-human. The Theozoologist, as their former human master had referred to himself, had seen fit to pervert dinosaurian DNA with a variant of human genetic material. It was something that revolted Aggressive to her core. The dinosaurs, under pterosaur leadership, were the rightful masters of this world, and it was absolutely obscene that their genetic supremacy should be corrupted with that of the vastly weaker evolutionary usurpers. She was glad that the Aryannosaurs, at least, would not be participating in this attack as they had been assigned elsewhere.

What Methodical was thinking when she allowed them into their ranks, without full psychic enslavement, was beyond her grasp. Of course, Methodical had been imposing more and more of her will on the rest of the Matriarchs (and by extension, the Dinosaur Uprising) lately. True to the dominant trait which had given Methodical her name, she had structured the Uprisings operations to operate on a slow yet systematic manner. True, these meticulously systematic operations had enabled the Uprising to set up a massive, secret infrastructure with which to support their armed struggle. However, the dominant trait which had given Aggressive her name was become weary with the focus on slowly set up. They had built a series of massive undersea complexes, they had a large fleet of sophisticated submarines which could rival any in the world, they had weaponized dinosaurs far superior to any land weapon fielded by the filthy humans. Now was not the time to continue crawling forward, now was the time to pounce, to strike! Now was the time to take the world by storm, and reestablish the rightful genetic heritage of the dinosaurs!

She quickly shook such musings away however. They were about to begin the campaign, and it would need her full attention. She actively opened the psi-link of the chips in the heads of those in her submarine. She looked through the eyes of the troodont and captured-human technicians going about the submarine, making sure everything ran smoothly. She felt the excitement and anticipation of the cybervelociraptors as they checked their weapons. She sensed the preparation of the tyrannosaurids and allosaurs (like the Aryannosaurs they had had former human masters; unlike them, they were under complete psychic control) as they flexed their augmented jaws. She felt a tingle as the spinosaurids excitedly charged up their electrospines. She felt the restlessness of the ceratopsids, stegosaurs, and crystal-armored ankylosaurids. She was the summative will of her followers, and she/they were ready.

Aggressive withdrew from the link, feeling supremely confident and powerful thanks to the accumulated feelings of the crew. She looked at the displays again. All the spotter teams were in position. If she were human, she would have smiled.

She turned to a young male pterosaur in the bridge and sent out a telepathic command:

Contact the others. We strike, now.

[Shroom Man 777]

Oh yes!

Though, mang. If the Aryannosaurs weren't there, then why was Aggressive musing so much about them? Kind of... detractive. Not that it's bad, mind you.

[Malchus]

Just wanted to establish how much Aggressive dislikes Adolph and his merry bunch, and how hard it is for her to just let things go.

[Shroom Man 777]

Aggressive is a bitch.

I imagine her to be the pterodactyl equivalent of Cobra Commander.

[Heretic]

Et Tu, Chameleons? Helping the Dino Uprising? Is it the humiliation you had to go through when caged inside that glass cage, with the small child forcing you to change your skin colors immediately or be poked? What sent you to the reptilian path of revolution? WHAT?

[Malchus]

No, not chameleons, compsognathids. Of course, like every other Uprising dino they've been genetically altered (hence, the chameleon-like skin-changing) and augmented with advanced cybernetics.

[Ford Prefect]

There are some spelling mistakes I picked up, particularly where the the Aryannosaurs are 'imperious' to mind control, and Agressive was giver her name. That aside, it's a competantly written piece, as it was originally. Agressive's angry musings on Adolph (she so totally wants him ) weren't that much of a distraction for me. So long as her mind keeps on wandering, it would be a good trait. There wasn't much in the way of changes here, though the added characterisation is much appreciated. I really look forward to seeing more of TISP, and what changes you actually make. I thought there was a lot of potential for the story.

EYE BEAMS -
-On reflection, the Chameleon Compsognathids are really good infiltrators, especially in a jungle environment. They're be pretty much indistuingishable from other small animals on any sort of pure motion detection device. That they are in fact small animals is actually more useful in comparison to their skin.
-On the other hand, this strange proliferation of transdimensional radar is weird. It's just me, but I honestly think it should be limited to dealing with strictly transdimensional stuff as opposed to come sort of generic super-sensor. I mean, if it utilises some transdimensional equivalent of the radar 'ping', then I don't think it should bounce back off mundane objects, and if it did, I don't see why it would give a bigger radar return on a Raptor than nromal radar.
-It seems a little strange that SDI Base 2 is such a well defended installation ... except against threats from under the sea. You'd think that given the existence of the Mad Triton as well the fact that various kaiju emerge from under the sea that they would have a highly extensive net of sonar that would pick up a pair of five hundred foot (150 metre) long transport submarines. I don't actually know much about sonar, so I don't whether it is possible to actually design a sub in such away that the return is much smaller. The only thing I know about sonar stealth is that you just have to be really quiet. Either way, I suppose having lax security in that area is plot important.
-All of this is relatively minor, however, in comparison to the fact that the Dinosaurs apparently have started using compressed space technology in an expendable, not reusable payload delivery system. As much as I think it should be a relatively sound technology with not much in the way of accidents or malfunctions (no more than any other technology in use by the military), I really don't think it should so easily made that it can be used in missiles. Part of this is actually personal distaste because I think the technology is too cheaty even for OZ Comix!, but there has to be a practical limitation to how easily you can construct this stuff.

[Malchus]

I see typoid has struck me again. Off to the edits!

-On the other hand, this strange proliferation of transdimensional radar is weird. It's just me, but I honestly think it should be limited to dealing with strictly transdimensional stuff as opposed to come sort of generic super-sensor. I mean, if it utilises some transdimensional equivalent of the radar 'ping', then I don't think it should bounce back off mundane objects, and if it did, I don't see why it would give a bigger radar return on a Raptor than nromal radar.

Good point. I guess I Flanderized Shroom's mention of Raptor X and F-35X jets having transdem radars to having them become SDI standard.

-It seems a little strange that SDI Base 2 is such a well defended installation ... except against threats from under the sea. You'd think that given the existence of the Mad Triton as well the fact that various kaiju emerge from under the sea that they would have a highly extensive net of sonar that would pick up a pair of five hundred foot (150 metre) long transport submarines. I don't actually know much about sonar, so I don't whether it is possible to actually design a sub in such away that the return is much smaller. The only thing I know about sonar stealth is that you just have to be really quiet. Either way, I suppose having lax security in that area is plot important.

From my amateur knowledge of sonar (i.e., Clancy books and Wiki), only active sonar actually has one listening for returns since it bounces a loud ping of a target. However, active sonar isn't usually used since it's as noisy as hell and gives away the position of the transmitter. Commonly used passive sonar, however, is pretty much just sticking a mic into the water and listening for noise. My rationale was that the dinos sneaked in very, very slowly on minimal power so as not to be heard.

As for why I had SDI well defended, I'm setting this some time after the 1996 inavsion (as Shroom said, when SDI went public). I assumed that they upped the ante of their base defenses as well.

-All of this is relatively minor, however, in comparison to the fact that the Dinosaurs apparently have started using compressed space technology in an expendable, not reusable payload delivery system. As much as I think it should be a relatively sound technology with not much in the way of accidents or malfunctions (no more than any other technology in use by the military), I really don't think it should so easily made that it can be used in missiles. Part of this is actually personal distaste because I think the technology is too cheaty even for OZ Comix!, but there has to be a practical limitation to how easily you can construct this stuff.

Again, probably Fladerization of tech on my part. However, that's not the usual payload of dino sub's cruise missiles. They just shelled out the compressed-space payload tech for this occasion since they wanted a lot of bombs (more than the 60 total missiles of the three dino SSGNs) to get through all the defenses of SDI.

[Ford Prefect]

Good point. I guess I Flanderized Shroom's mention of Raptor X and F-35X jets having transdem radars to having them become SDI standard.

A varried array is always best.

From my amateur knowledge of sonar (i.e., Clancy books and Wiki), only active sonar actually has one listening for returns since it bounces a loud ping of a target. However, active sonar isn't usually used since it's as noisy as hell and gives away the position of the transmitter. Commonly used passive sonar, however, is pretty much just sticking a mic into the water and listening for noise. My rationale was that the dinos sneaked in very, very slowly on minimal power so as not to be heard.

Submarines don't use active sonar, because it would give away their position. However, I do know that surface ships and sonar equipped aircraft use active systems. I just had this feeling that something as secure as an SDI base built on a coatline would make use of a hundreds of square miles of active sonar so that nothing would hide, and all the fish would be dead. It's not like stealth is a big concern for an installation. It's not really that important, anyway.

As for why I had SDI well defended, I'm setting this some time after the 1996 inavsion (as Shroom said, when SDI went public). I assumed that they upped the ante of their base defenses as well.

I might have come across wrongly, but I don't actually have a problem with SDI having really clever or extensive base defenses.

Again, probably Fladerization of tech on my part. However, that's not the usual payload of dino sub's cruise missiles. They just shelled out the compressed-space payload tech for this occasion since they wanted a lot of bombs (more than the 60 total missiles of the three dino SSGNs) to get through all the defenses of SDI.

Thatm ust have been very expensive.

[Malchus]

A varried array is always best.

Which is why i'll change it, after I stop scratching my bum like the lazy ass that I am.

EDIT: And now I have.

Submarines don't use active sonar, because it would give away their position. However, I do know that surface ships and sonar equipped aircraft use active systems. I just had this feeling that something as secure as an SDI base built on a coatline would make use of a hundreds of square miles of active sonar so that nothing would hide, and all the fish would be dead. It's not like stealth is a big concern for an installation. It's not really that important, anyway.

Surface ships, yes, but since I've written out the surface ships involved in the exercises (as was fleetingly mentioned, but not seen in the original story) they're not issues any more. As for aircraft, they'd be heading back and the dinos were careful to position most of their subs a good distance away during the duration of the exercises. And, if I recall correctly, those sonar sensors the US Navy does string around the waters of their naval installations are also passive receivers, since they don't want making a helluva racket for their own subs.

EDIT: Oh, and the main body of Base Two's not exactly on the coast, but in the middle area of Guam. Though, the air field being referred to is.

That must have been very expensive.

In Uprising terms, probably months worth of work, mined materials, and stolen tech research. So, yes.

[Malchus]

NOTE: Here's the next chapter of TiSP. I've heavily modded it, and I think it's over twice as long as it was before. I've did some editing, but I probably missed a lot. If I did, I'll be back to correct them later.


Chapter One

Dinosaur Uprising Combat Submarine 027, somewhere off the coast of Guam

Patron Disciplined felt the urge to stretch his wings, the natural desire for a pterosaur such as him which had not disappeared even after all the time spent in the horrendously claustrophobic vessels and facilities that Dinosaur Uprising, for now, called home. The dominant trait which gave him his name, however, refused to grant his body even that small concession. Every fiber of his being was focused on the mission, his cybernetics-enhanced mind attentively processing every bit of transmitted data, psychic or otherwise, he was receiving. It was the same single-minded focus which had earned him the elevation in status rarely afforded to males in the female-dominant pterosaur hierarchy of the Uprising, and it would be the same focus which would carry him through the success of his part of this mission.

Hours before, his submarine, Combat Submarine 027, along with two other dinosaurian combat submarines had crawled into position on a painstaking two knots, magnetohydrodynamic drives pushing them with little more than a relative trickle of water. It had been long and painstaking, but necessary to avoid detection by the then-ongoing SDI-NAKAIDO exercises playing out a mere few kilometers away. Apparently, their patience and caution had worked, for they had been completely ignored by the three uncomfortably close human submarines. There had been a few close calls with the active sonar buoys from the search aircraft, but the shallowness of the water (which produced multiple quick returns which tended to muddle up and active sonar reading) and the fact that they had been looking for their own submarines had worked in their favor.

Now, the three combat subs of the Dinosaur Uprising had reached their designated strike position just above the bottom of the seabed just off Guam—a mere hundred and eighty feet of water between them and the ocean’s surface. They had then waited, waiting for the affirmative signal from the superplesiosaur group attempting to approach their targets under the acoustic guise of being a pod of whales. Though the progress of the superplesiosaurs had been tracked on sonar, it had still been a relief when the telepathic confirmation signal had been received. Once the attack signal was given, the superplesiosaurs would unleash powerful sonic attacks on the human submarines, hopefully tangling with them long enough for Combat Submarine 027 and its two fellow combat subs to fire their cruise missiles unmolested. Hopefully.

As they waited, the other pterosaurs on bridge crew watched their instruments closely, checking their bearings and paying attention to the sonar data regarding the positions of their human nemeses. They made sure the submarine held its position, adjusting ever so slightly to correct the drift caused by the current moving through the shallow water. They had to be in exactly the right place before they fired their missiles.

Then, the Patron felt a psychic presence in his mind. He recognized the psychic aura as belonging to that of the communications pterosaur from the command transport sub of Matriarch Aggressive herself. Before the telepathic command was given, he knew exactly what was going to be said, Commence primary operation.

For New Pangaea! he replied dutifully, feeling the Matrons commanding the other two subs, Competent and Fortitude, do the same.

Patron, his sonar operations pterosaur reported, The superplesiosaurs have commenced their attack, the human submarines are engaged.

Commence launch sequence, Discipline commanded, keeping full reign of his rising excitement, Load the torpedo tubes with active decoys. We have to be ready for the human submarines once the launch is completed.

For New Pangaea! his crew replied, immediately conveying his instructions to the troodont and captured human technicians in the missile and torpedo rooms.

Toggle switches were thrown, and the weapons status light came on in a dull red. The weapons officer sent a psychic activation signal to the neural circuitry receivers on the weapons panel, completing the arming process. Forward of the conning tower, within their reinforced steel silos, the guidance systems of twenty cruise missiles came to life. The on-board computers which served as the simple minds of the missiles were told where their flight would begin.—and where it would end.

Initiate!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

USS Benson, a few kilometers way

Captain Mark Ramsey swallowed a rather foul curse as the Benson rocked from the powerful pressure waves of the incoming sonic attacks. From what sonar had managed to report, the sonic attacks had come from what had been designated earlier as a pod of humpbacks. Apparently, the assessment was now being revised.

“Damage report!” the captain demanded as the sub rocked again. This time he allowed himself to utter a curse as he grabbed an overhead rail to brace himself. “God dammit! This is a submarine not a fucking Federation starship!”

“Reports of minor flooding in the engine room and a few compartments,” his executive officer reported, “Nothing the damage control crews can’t handle.”

Yet. The implication was there, clear for all to see despite being unspoken. Still, the Benson was part of the new Daggerfin-class submarines. Specially built for the anti-Kaiju arm of SDI, said class was fitted with the latest in magnetohydrodynamic drive technology, sophisticated sub weaponry and sensors, and a pressure hull so robust it could survive quite a few rounds with gigantic Kaiju. It’d take more than a few sonic attacks to stop the Benson, but that did not mean Ramsey was gonna allow his boat to just sit there and take a pounding.

“Load tubes one through four with QANTKAIs!” Ramsey ordered. “Get a solution on the four closest targets and let the fuckers have it!”

“Torpedo room reports all tubes loaded, outer doors are opened.” a crewman reported.

“Tubes one through four, FIRE!” Captain Mark Ramsey barked, “Reload with QANTKAIs!”

The Benson shuddered ever so slightly as it fired off the four QANTKAI (Quick-maneuver Anti-Kaiju) torpedoes. They tore through the water, propellers whirring. The strange bending and twisting “fish-tail” rear segment gave the weapons unparalleled maneuverability, although it reduced fuel space and warhead size. This made the weapons perfect for engaging smaller Kaiju at close ranges, just like what ever the hell was the attacking the American submarine and her two compatriots.

“HIT!” yelled a sonarman, sonic filters protecting his ears from the deafening sound of the explosions and still-ongoing sonic attacks. “Conn, sonar. All four fish hit, Sierras 10, 12, 13, and 16 are gone.”

“Set up new solutions and prepare to—”

“Captain!” the same sonarman yelled again, interrupting Ramsey in mid-command. “Multiple missile launches at bearing one-niner-five, distance ten thousand meters!”

“What?!” Ramsey demanded, running over to the nearest sonar station. Right on the board several lines were converging into blooms, the computer readout identifying the blooms as missile launches.

“Reload all tubes with SUPERCAVs! I want those bastards sunk yesterday!”

The crews in the torpedo room raced to reload the tubes, however the Kurushio, the NAKAIDO submarine, had gotten the same idea and reacted fasters. Ramsey listened to sonar report that the Japanese sub had fired all six of its torpedo tubes (it had two more tubes than the American design, much to Ramsey’s envy), all loaded with SUPERCAVs. The supercavitation torpedoes tore through the water fast, the supercavitating fields creating pockets of gas which reduced the overall friction, allowing the weapons’ rocket motors to push them well in excess of 200 knots. They closed the distance rapidly. Two slammed into one of the dinosaurian submarines just as it lofted its last cruise missile, littering the seabed with twisted metal and torn dinosaurian bodies. A third SuperCav overshot and broke contact, its own speed and relatively close distance not allowing it adequate time to correct and sufficiently turn toward its the target. Ramsey waited for sonar to report the status of the other three torpedoes, but the report never came.

“Sir, the other three just dropped off the scope! Gone!” the sonarman reported. “Whatever’s attacking us must’ve intercepted them!”

The American captain grimaced. His sub was deep within the group of whatever was attacking them sonically. What was worse, the sonar blooms indicating the missile launches had stopped, indicating that the enemy subs had finished launching, lofting all of their missiles at Base Two. Worse, Ramsey knew that they would be coming for them next.

“Reload tubes two and four with QUANTKAIs,” he commanded, “We have to clear up these sonic fuckers if we want to have a clear shot at those subs.”

They may have drawn first blood, but this was only the opening act, and the dinosaurs had blood-drawing of their own to do.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

In the air

As the sea battle unfolded, the sixty cruise missiles flew on, their guidance AIs unconcerned with everything around them not concerning the delivery of their payloads. The missiles jettisoned their rocket boosters, their winglets unfolding and their jet engines coming on-line. Two from each set of twenty broke off and settled into orbiting holding patterns, circling like vultures around a dying animal. These six activated the ECM equipment which they carried in place of warheads, wreaking havoc on the radar and communication system on their targets.

The fifty-four other missiles flew on, zeroing in on their targets. A third of them set their sights on the airfield a few klicks away from the main complex of SDI Base Two, the rest focused on the main complex itself. But these missiles did not soar unopposed. Even though their targets were caught by surprise, and even though they were fired relatively close to them, the SDI response time was admirable.

SAM launchers rotated and responded to the incoming threat, meeting missiles with missiles. Anti-air laser batteries hummed as they added their powerful yet invisible beams of coherent light to the fray. Immediately, several of the incoming projectiles were blotted out of the sky, erupting into massive fireballs. Of the thirty-six missiles targeted on Base Two only eight weren’t intercepted, and of the eighteen missiles aimed at the airfield only three remained.

However, the dinosaurs had expected this. The noses of the remaining missiles blew open, dropping several bomblets. But these weren’t any ordinary bomblets, each was a quantum tesseract canister which used compressed-space hypercube technology (similar to the missile bays of SDI’s own F-22Xs) to allow them to carry far more bomblets than their dimensions allowed. The usage of compressed space technology in such a disposable function was horrendously wasteful, especially considering the literally months worth of time and cost that had gone into their creation. However, the SDI base was a tough target, tough enough for the Uprising to justify their costly use.

The canisters opened and discharged dozens of bomlets each. Each bomblet was guided, the seekers in their noses sniffing out the radiant “scent” of the laser designators, moving the maneuvering fins to guide them into the targets accordingly.

Blasts erupted all over Base Two and the airfield. Defensive structures and hangars fireballed as the guided bomblets slammed into them. Humvees, AFVs, and helicopters were blasted apart in Base Two while in the airfield once-proud jet aircraft was reduced to so much scrap metal and flames.

For the first time since the alien invasion of 1996, a main Base of the North American Special Defense initiative was in flames.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Combat Submarine 027

Combat Submarine 019 has been destroyed, Matron Fortitude’s psyche has ceased. a crew pterosaur reported.

Disciplined did not allow himself a moment to mourn the Matron and the other pterosaur minds which had been extinguished in the supercavitation torpedo attack. His own submarine had barely escaped the same fate, the single torpedo which had gone after it having fortunately missed. All his focus was on making sure the humans would not get a second chance to rectify their mistake. There would be plenty of time to mourn later.

Fire all torpedo tubes. Turn toward the enemy submarines at full speed. Reload with attack torpedoes.

Response to his command was immediate, and Disciplined soon felt the shudder of the torpedo tubes discharging. The decoy torpedoes shot out of the tubes, generating noises exactly similar to that of his own submarine at full speed, hopefully making it appear to the human submarines that his one sub had split into several subs, making accurate target acquisition that much more of a challenge for his nemeses. A moment later, Matron Competent’s own sub did the same.

Torpedoes in the water, two from the bearing of one of the SDI submarines. the pterosaur on sonar duty reported. More torpedoes, four from the bearing of the second SDI submarine, further six from the NAKAIDO submarine.

A total of twelve supercavitation torpedoes approached, but almost immediately five dropped from the sonar, then two more. The superplesiosaurs had intercepted as many as they could, but five of the human torpedoes had survived and closed the distance rapidly. Two went for some of the decoy torpedoes his submarine had launched and exploded. Two more torpedoes went for decoys, these from the combat sub of Matron Competent. The last one went for the Matron’s sub. Even from the distance his submarine had covered on full drive speed, his sub still felt the shock of the explosions.

Combat Submarine 032 has been destroyed. the same crew pterosaur reported, his telepathic “voice” subdued.

His two comrade submarines were gone, Disciplined was all alone now. The human submarines had exacted a terrible price, and they had yet to suffer a loss of their own. However, in the chaos, Disciplined had managed to close to an optimal attack distance. Now, all he needed to do was to have his sub disappear.

Reduce speed to five knots. The magnetohydrodynamic drives of his submarine responded admirably as his submarine quickly decelerated. Half of the surviving decoys did the same, making sure that the human submarines would not be able to pick out his sub just by looking for the one target which did not do as the others did.

It worked, and the human submarines engaged some of the decoys. This time, they were using non-supercavitation torpedoes, which told him that he was close enough that they couldn’t use them effectively. He had them now.

Open outer doors, do not fire. Wait for my command.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Anderson Air Field

Raging flames. Searing heat. Pandemonium. Death.

Fate was indeed fickle, thought NAKAIDO Major Murasaki Tojiro. One moment he had just stepped out of the cockpit of his F-15 VCKH (Variable Configuration Kaiju Hunter), heading toward the post-exercise debriefing and performance analysis, when the attack warnings suddenly blared over the air field. He had had barely enough time to get over his shock when the SAM batteries started to fire. He had been running for cover when explosions thundered through the air field, the outer edge of the shock of one such explosion throwing him to the ground.

He picked himself up and discovered that Anderson had turned into what Christians would call hell. The radar and sensor equipment around the airfield had been reduced to burning debris, as had the primary air tower. All around, once sleek aircraft and imposing hangars were shattered and in flames. Soldiers, technicians, and airmen who had been going through the usual post-exercise motions were either dead, screaming in pain, or gaping in shock like he was.

But, ever the highly-trained professional, he and most of the other relatively unhurt personnel had quickly recovered and started doing what they had been trained for. Response teams were already hosing down fires with foam and water while bulldozers were clearing debris off the mostly undamaged runways. Some were putting the debris into the cratered runways, so that they could be quickly patched up with quick-drying concrete. However, their jobs were complicated by the fact that several of the emergency response vehicles had also been hit in the attack.

He ran toward an intact hangar, realizing that another attack was very likely coming and that he would be most useful in an working fighter, providing than any from his squadron remained.

Luckily, the intact hangar seemed to be one housing two undamaged NAKAIDO Kaiju Hunter jets, one of them was a Variable Configuration variant . The technicians, knowing that any undamaged aircraft probably needed to get on the air as soon as possible, were having jets refueled and rearmed as fast as humanly possible. The NAKAIDO officer moved toward another Japanese pilot, a lieutenant and started asking for information.

“Captain Nakamura is dead,” the lieutenant reported, referring to Murasaki’s second-in-command. “We assumed you were also and I was about to take command since the Americans want us in there air as soon as we are able.”

The lieutenant seemed to be sheepish about admitting the latter, but the major brushed it away. “What’s the situation?”

“Submarine attack, we’re not sure from whom. Our subs radioed that they were under attack, and right after that the sensor grid detected multiple sea launches.”

That made the NAKAIDO pilot wonder, who would have the gall to attack an SDI base with NAKAIDO troops present? They’d risk the wrath of two nations, possibly three since Canada was also an SDI member. If you discounted other nations, a submarine attack made two suspects immediately come to mind, one of which was Crimson Dawn. However, Crimson Dawn had limited resources and tried to be as low key as possible, and attacking the forces of two major nations was not a way to keep low key. Which left one other candidate… the Dinosaurs.

The Dinosaur Uprising did have, as unbelievable as it seemed, a respectable submarine force. They were also known for making raids on high-technology installations, and the SDI base fit the bill perfectly.

“Agana?” he asked, referring to the name of the old Naval Air Station where SDI Base Two now stood. Some of the Americans still used it unofficially to refer to the SDI base and it had caught on with the Japanese pilots.

“Hit as badly as we were.” That spoke volumes of how damaged Base Two must have been.

“How many aircraft left?”

“Including SDI's fighters, fifteen. Only four of them are ours.”

The major grimaced. There had been over sixty SDI jet aircraft in the island, made up of two F-22X squadrons, an FB-22X squadron, an F-35X squadron, and AWACS and support craft as well. Added to that number had been the twelve F-15 Kaiju Hunters in his own squadron. And now they had only fifteen to work with.

“Suit up,” Major Murasaki said grimly before he went toward the F-15 VCKH fighter. His people’s jets were designed primarily for taking down the massive, lumbering beasts known as Kaiju, and he had no doubt that the Kaiju Hunters’ anti-Kaiju weapons would be more than adequate for dealing dinosaurs as well.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Several Kilometers Offshore

In one of the 500-foot transport submarines, Aggressive allowed herself to feel smug. From her psychic link, she could tell that the initial attack had been a success. SDI Base Two and Anderson Air Field had been severely damaged, its defenses compromised. Now, it was on to the second step.

She accessed the minds of her minions in both her sub and the second transport. She saw her superdinsoaur troops boarding transport aircraft in the impossibly cavernous (thanks to compressed-space technology) hangar within the submarines. The same technology was also present in the larger transport craft within the hangar. Tyrannosaurs, spinosaurs, ankylosaurs, and other massive dinosaurs were walking into the wide rear hatches of the larger transport aircraft which still looked too small from the outside. Smaller dinosaurs such as the cyborg velociraptor and troodont troops were boarding smaller craft which did not have compressed-space internal areas. Among these craft were several of her fellow pterosaurs who were being fitted with cell-powered booster packs. These pterosaurs were to serve as the escorts and air cover for the duration of the mission.

Satisfied that all was ready, she sent out the psychic command to proceed with the second phase. Immediately, the two transport subs began to surface. She was confident that they would be unopposed, the combat subs and the superplesiosaurs were keeping the SDI/NAKAIDO submarines occupied while Base Two and Anderson would still be occupied with picking themselves up after the recent attacks.

After the two massive undersea craft broke the surface, she felt the massive doors along the dorsal surface and revealed the expansive maw within. Like demons arising from the pits of what some humans called hell, things started coming out of the submarines. Thanks to Aggressive’s psychic link, she peered through the eyes of the hangar crew and saw the pterosaur troops take to the skies with a few powerful flaps of their ceybernetically-augmented wings before steadying them and activating their booster packs. The transport craft quickly followed carrying their load of troops.

A powerful wave of excitement and anticipation flooded her mind through the link, making her feel indestructible and unassailable. Part of her cautioned her about being blinded by such feelings, but she knew that she could keep herself in check. Besides, she wanted to feel every bit of the triumph she knew she was going to feel after her troops had completely crushed the SDI presence on this island, giving another reminder to the world as to whom once ruled it and who would rule it again.

Of course, she thought, the destruction of the SDI base was only a bonus. The real mission is being carried out by the chameleon compsognathids…

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

SDI Base Two

The compsognathus team leader scrambled out of the way as a bunch of soldiers ran by, the others in its team did the same. It would have been embarrassing for them to have so successfully completed the first part of their mission only to be killed by being stepped on. Had any of the humans looked down, they would have noticed a strange moving distortion of colors on the ground that would have given them away. The humans were, however, so preoccupied about responding to the attack they had just gone through and with preparing themselves for the second attack they knew was coming that they didn’t notice his team or the dozen others who were spread out throughout the main base complex and the air field several kilometers away.

To the humans' credit, though, it was only several minutes after the attack and most of the flames were out and the debris swept away. There were also troops and undamaged ground vehicles taking position around the base complex and surviving helicopters rising to the air.

However, what those troops and vehicles were responding to was yet another diversion. True, the coming attack by his fellow superdinosaurs was aimed at neutralizing the SDI presence on this island, but that wasn’t the main part of the mission. The primary objective was for the compsognathid spies to infiltrate the technology centers (necessary parts of bases mainly concerned with countering the threat of technologically advanced aliens) of the main base complex and Anderson Air Field, downloading what was needed, and transmitting this information to the submarines.

With an attack expected, some of the soldiers guarding the tech centers would been drawn out. Of course, it also mean that the Omega Security Team would be on stand by. The Omega Security Team was the official name for soldiers tasked with providing a strong last line defense for SDI bases. From what the Uprising had learned, they had grown out of a group of soldiers established during what the humans called the Cold War, heavily-enhanced soldiers who were tasked to keep on fighting even after a devastating total war. Aside from providing a powerful last line of defense and resistance, however, they were also tasked with activating the dead man’s switch on the tech centers and any other information-rich areas of SDI bases if it looked like the base was about to fall into enemy hands.

Of course, these troopers would not blow everything up until the base was fully overrun. By the time that happened, he was confident his team and the other chameleon compsognathid teams would’ve already infiltrated the tech centers unnoticed and gotten the information they needed.

Still, their window was tight and they couldn’t afford to dawdle. He ran as fast as he could toward the tech center, his team following closely. As long as they didn’t get run over, things should go smoothly.

[Shroom Man 777]

Awesome! VCKH! Yes! And we need to see the sheer obscenity of psychic pterodactyls taking on superfighters! Telekinesis! MIND BULLETS!

and chainsaw missiles

[Ford Prefect]

That Tojiro is going to be tooling around in a variable fighter basically means I cannot comment on anything else. As an addition, it's just too cool for school.

[Mobius 1]

I'll second Ford in that my jaw dropped when the VCKH showed up. Hells yeah.