Hey, Everyone! This chapter is the first to touch on "Pacific Rim" as part of my Kaiju Universe….sort of. My theory here is that the Anteverse, home of the 'precursors', is actually part of the "Void" as it exists in Dr. Who. This gives them access to virtually the entire multiverse…..at least all the alternate Earths. Enjoy!
Chapter 3: The Anteverse, Pt. 1
High Command was not happy, and the ripples were felt through the entire hive-mind of their race.
Their civilization had conquered their entire known universe, thrived for millions of years. They were at the zenith of their power, when their universe began to end; contracting back toward the point of origin. For all their power, there was nothing they could do to prevent it, and by extension their own extinction.
Then their greatest minds discovered the Void, and a thread of hope sparked. It took generations, but they managed to transport the home-world and moons into the Void before it was too late. Thus, they survived the death of their universe within a pocket in the Void.
But their salvation became their prison. The birth of the new universe had placed a new, young planet in the same relative position their home-world once occupied. So they could not simply return; the cosmic laws of physics prevented it. So they were trapped, doomed to eventual over-population and extinction.
But they discovered they could open portals to that world, and the nature of the Anteverse gave them access to every possible version of that world. Their planet may be trapped, but they could conquer all versions of that world, recreating their empire through dimensional expansion. Some would become colonies, others would simply be stripped of all resources.
So over the ages, they probed these alternate 'Earths', as they learned it was called. They sent their bio-weapons through portals to exterminate the native vermin and alter the environment whenever required, then simply take possession.
Countless successes over the ages had made them complacent, arrogantly sure of their invincibility. But recently, after millions of years, they started encountering…..complications.
The first was an Earth upon which the human vermin had been virtually wiped out by their own machines and weapons. At first, the Precursors assumed that would make it even easier than usual…..until the machines did not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against their bio-weapon beasts. And when those ran out over the course of the war, the machines used energy-beam weapons and rail-guns, then automated conventional weapons. And so it went.
It took far longer than normal due to the power and tenacity of the machines and the "Skynet" AI that controlled them, but the Precursors took that world. However, there was precious little in the way of useful resources left.
The next one to prove difficult, the native vermin possessed relatively advanced orbital weaponry; satelites armed with charged-particle cannons, rail-guns, or high-intensity lasers. For years, the bio-weapon beasts were cut down by weapons beyond their reach. Until the Precursors realized their beasts were not attacked until they neared a population center. So they changed tactics. They sent three of the biggest beasts in their arsenal to the largest, most active volcanoes but avoiding the vermin cities. The explosive reaction of the bio-beasts' blood and the rare, volatile elements in the volcanoes set off a chain-reaction of eruptions around the planet, destroying all indigenous life.
On the next Earth to exceed the norm, the native vermin were warring against each other with armies of primitive, weaponized mechs. They put aside their conflict to unite against the bio-beast weapons. However, they proved to be only a minor annoyance, lasting only a little longer than the standard target-world.
After that, it was years until an Earth proved difficult. However, this time it was not the native vermin resisting them, but some alien race that had already conquered the planet and exterminated the vermin. However, they had foolishly landed all their mother-ships on the surface once they had destroyed all the native cities. And fighting the bio-beasts strained the alien resources too much to launch them back even into the atmosphere, let alone back into space. It was a long campaign, lasting years and costing them many bio-beasts. The energy-shields the alien ships possessed were formidable. But the bio-beasts were expendable, and each wave was bigger, stronger, more powerful; until the aliens were overwhelmed and destroyed. Most of the planet's resources had been used up in the war, but some of the alien technology proved to be of interest or even useful. And the planet was still perfect for a colony.
The incursion of the next 'Earth' was about to begin. It was convenient that every Earth had identical geologic structure, so the exit point of the portal was always in the same place. Creating the portal was a gradual process requiring a great deal of energy. Because of this, they could only send a single bio-weapon beast through at a time at first. This would increase over time, how much time depended on several variables of the given Earth. On some, it could take more than a decade until they could send three weapons at a time every few days. On others, only a few years. They were working on a way to safely speed the process, but it wasn't ready yet.
The unique nature of the Precursors' 'hive-mind' was also an invaluable tool in their incursions. It not only gave them command and control over the bio-beast weapons, but allowed them to see everything they see. This enables them to analyze the resistance of any given 'Earth', learning from the experiences of the beasts' battles and defeats, to make improvements. Hence the bio-beast weapons kept getting stronger and more powerful, or even specialized to deal with specific problems.
But even a collective hive-mind has a hierarchy. The High-Command had punished several Incursion Commanders of particularly difficult campaigns for not finding solutions sooner. The Empire must continue to expand or it will collapse from within!
All of this was at the forefront of the minds of this Incursion Commander and his team of forgers and controllers. The portal to this new Earth had stabilized and the first bio-beast weapon was ready to be sent through. It roared in anticipation of its mission as it was held in the launching mechanism and moved into position. It had the standard four eyes and four clawed arms, moderately armored, sharp teeth and a hammer-like head for ramming and smashing. With glowing orange markings criss-crossing its body, it was one of the standard models to be sent first in an Incursion.
The launcher sent it into the portal, and the Commander and his team settled into 'observer' mode. This allowed the bio-beast to simply act upon instinct and the basic commands it had been programmed to follow, while they were able to see and experience everything it does.
xxXXxx
The hammer-headed beast emerged from the portal into the deepest depths of the Pacific and made for the surface. It had its orders; find and attack a dense population center of the native vermin at random. Breaching the surface, it scented the air as its eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight.
There! It made course for a heavily populated chain of volcanic islands. Surging through the sea just below the surface, it began to sense strange vibrations in the water, almost like….explosions? Conflict?
xxXXxx
On the big island of Hawaii and in the surrounding sea, an alien race had established a beach-head for invasion. All across the Pacific, naval ships of many nations were engaged in battle with the alien attack craft. They hopped across the surface like frogs, launching peg-like missiles that flipped through the air to pierce the armor of their targets, then detonate with extreme explosive force. Even worse were the remote-guided chain-blade spheres; able to wipe out an entire airfield or split a naval ship in half in seconds. Radar was useless, but the active sonar of the submarines gave them a slim chance.
Off the coast, two American destroyers were facing off with one of the alien craft. All three had taken damage, the destroyers trying to withdraw. The alien craft armed several banks of missiles, synched to their targeting scanners. Targets locked…..
An enormous biological erupted from the ocean surface between them and their targets! There was no such creature as this recorded in the database of life-forms for this planet! With a thunderous roar it attacked the navy destroyers, the bullets and shells from their guns only annoying the beast. The monster smashed the ships before any of them could arm and target any stronger weapons. They were sinking rapidly, engulfed in flames and smoke.
Then the monster lifted the broken bow section of one destroyer, sailors screaming as they fell into the sea, and it turned toward the alien attack craft, the crew of which had been watching all of this in a state of shock. It wasn't until the beast hurled the wreckage at them that they reacted.
The gunners shifted targeting to the massive beast just before they were struck, crushing one missile bank and damaging another! All the remaining banks fired. Some of the tumbling missiles missed due to the movement of the creature, but most struck the creature with the tips piercing its tough flesh. An irritation that angered the beast, prodding it to charge forward at greater speed …until all the missiles seemed pile-drive themselves deeper then detonate with incredible force!
The monster roared with pain and rage, toxic blue blood pouring from a multitude of wounds. Enraged, it resumed its charge at the alien craft. The tactical officer, rather than risk another volley of missiles, armed and launched several chain-blade spheres. One struck the beast in the throat, making it pause briefly in its advance. The others tore up the tough hide as they were guided to the blast wounds caused by the missiles.
The monster roared in agony as the spheres entered the gaping wounds and carved deeper into its body, shredding muscle, bone, sinew, and organs. The beast still advanced, albeit more slowly, in savage determination to destroy this thing that had harmed it. The gunners fired another volley of missiles at point-blank range, rocking the creature painfully.
The beast halted just short of the craft, the spheres finally reaching something vital. It's death-roar trembling with the death-rattle, then it slowly sank into the depths.
The aliens breathed a sigh of relief. They would send a report Command as was protocol, and hope that beast was merely a singular, solitary aberration. The native species was already putting up an annoyingly determined fight, the last thing the invasion force needs is to be fighting giant monsters as well!
xxXXxx
(the Anteverse)
The Incursion Commander and his team prepared their report for High Command. It was not uncommon for the first bio-weapon beast to fail, nor even second or third, so the Commander wasn't too concerned. However, it was disconcerting that this Earth was another being invaded by an extraterrestrial race. Such Earths tended to be difficult and problematic as the aliens were invariably much more advanced than the native vermin.
The report completed and sent, the Commander ordered his forgers to begin bio-assembly of the next weapon to be sent through the portal. Using the data gathered in the battle as a guide, they would include biological defenses or countermeasures while also making it bigger and more powerful.
The gate-keepers informed him that the portal would be ready again in a few weeks. Good. He had no intention of sharing the same fate as those others that took too long to crush the resistance of a difficult world. He ordered the forgers to ignore the standard procedure of advancement of the bio-weapons and make the next one the size and strength of a third or fourth attempt beast. And if it fails, the next one will be another two or three levels stronger.
He would discreetly keep pressure on the gate-keepers to reduce the amount of time between launches, and hopefully be able to send multiple beasts through at a time as well if necessary. He was determined to overwhelm and take that world in not much more time than the standard average, advanced aliens or not!
In the meantime, let them and the native vermin fight and weaken each other.
xxXXxx
Author's notes: What do you all think of my interpretation of the Anteverse and the Precursors? Some of the 'other Earths' I used were pretty obvious, and the 'Pacific Rim' Earth will eventually be mentioned, but can anyone guess which Earth is currently under siege? Anyone who guesses correctly will get to ask a spoiler question!
Long reviews and suggestions are always welcome! No flames, please.
xxXXxx