General Thatch felt that this was a horrendously bad idea.
In fact, he couldn't believe his superiors truly greenlit such a risky project. Using messed-up dinosaurs as weapons of war?
So many things could go wrong with that.
They weren't like tanks or warships that could be piloted by trusted men. These were animals, unpredictable and prone to lashing out.
But he couldn't question a direct order from them. He didn't have the authority to overturn their decisions.
He was a soldier, after all.
It wouldn't be the first time he had to carry out dangerous operations, and it most likely wouldn't be the last.
"...So they have human DNA as well?" He asked as his muddy brown eyes scanned the contents of the report.
These 'Dragons' were composed of the weirdest combination of creatures imaginable. He was somewhat amazed that they still retained their reptilian appearance even with all of that.
Although personally, he wouldn't really call them 'Dragons' at all.
What manner of freaks could reach such huge sizes in just these few years? He could hardly believe that all of them were the size of housecats at birth. They were more like devils in that aspect, defying the natural order in every sense of the word.
Luckily, they weren't getting any bigger. It seemed they had already reached full maturity, or at least, on the cusp of it.
As weapons of war, they were designed to grow fast and die fast. These were just the prototypes, after all. The real plan was to mass-produce these Dragons on a wide scale.
"Indeed, sir. It's to accommodate strategy and problem solving," The nearby scientist, a bald man in his forties with a long mustache, said as he answered General Thatch's question. "...Among other things."
He was referring to the fact that they had human DNA.
"Other things?" General Thatch repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, well... most reptiles don't have social capabilities, sir. We are aware of the risk of the specimens attacking each other in the field, and to minimize that as much as we can, we gave them a considerable amount of genes from social animals," The scientist paused. "The chief among them being humans."
That's probably why some of them have opposable thumbs.
General Thatch went silent as he considered this fact with a hand upon his chin.
Giving giant dinosaurs human DNA? Well...
"And they are not sapient, right?" He asked the scientist warily.
That would probably be really bad not just ethically, but logically as well.
Having a sapient bioweapon could make things go south very quickly.
"Of course not, sir." The scientist said with finality. "We've tested them repeatedly, and although they've exhibited intelligence roughly on the level of chimpanzees, they're still far from us humans, and we're certain that they're still primarily motivated by instinct instead of independent thought."
"I see." The General hummed in relief as he closed the report.
He could trust the scientists here with at least that much, they were far from the words 'stupid' or 'incompetent', after all.
Thatch turned towards his subordinate.
"Sergeant Hammond, I trust there hasn't been any complications with the transport of the cargo?"
John Hammond straightened his back at being addressed by his superior, but his wits quickly came together as he answered. "No, sir. None at all."
"Good," General Thatch nodded in approval. "Then let us proceed with this whole thing and see what your lizards are truly capable of."
The scientist sported an excited grin and accompanied the general as they walked into the long corridor.
The facility that housed the Dragons was very deep underground. It had to be, for they couldn't risk any trespassers seeing what they weren't supposed to see.
Although it was called the Seattle Project, that was just because the idea itself was conceptualized and launched in Seattle. This facility on the other hand, was far in the Alaskan wilderness where not many people lived.
"I'm sure you will be satisfied, general." The scientist grinned as he led the general and his men. "Although some of the... lesser specimens have much to be desired, our three aces will surely prove to exceed all expectations."
The General merely hummed with scrutiny.
In cases like these, you couldn't really trust such a biased opinion. After all, the Seattle Project's continued budget depended on their success rate.
Eventually, they reached the room in which the precious 'cargo' had been temporarily stored, waiting for their turn on the chopping block.
On the other side of the thick, reinforced steel bars were a pair of giants that would make even the bravest man hold his breath.
They were both unconscious, having been tranquilized for the time being.
They had to be.
After all, the handlers could not risk them turning on each other and growing cannibalistic tendencies.
These animals were the incarnation of gluttony. They did not stop eating, ever. They would even spit their half-digested food back out to make space for more.
It was a part of their twisted biology. They existed as living devastations to the ecosystem, unwilling to spare any creature that could serve as a meal.
Despite their insatiable appetites however, they didn't possess overweight or cumbersome bodies. Their lanky figures were well-adapted to constant hunting, and the smaller of the two even looked malnourished.
Two powerful forelimbs supported their whole frame with no hint of any hindlimbs, marking them as truly unusual amongst the vast majority of the animal kingdom. Balancing that bipedal gait was a long, serpentine tail that had enough strength to shatter every bone in the average human body with a single flick.
Their most identifiable trait was their skulls, which grew out of the head to form a protective carapace around it. The two 'eye sockets' present in that skeletal helmet held no eyes at all as their real eyes were set much further back. These physical features were the reason why they gained that fearsome name.
Skullcrawlers.
A superspecies of reptiles originating from Skull Island, possessing characteristics of both snakes and lizards.
They also happened to be adapted to an amphibian way of life, capable of living both on land and in the water, making them the perfect choice for the combat trial.
After all, it wouldn't really be an effective way to measure Specimen C11's combat abilities if it just dragged them beneath the water and left them to drown.
Of course, the Skullcrawlers that had been captured for the purposes of this combat trial were in their juvenile growth period. A fully-mature Skullcrawler was just too big and it would have been a real hassle to transport all the way from Skull Island to the United States.
"Alright then," General Thatch rubbed his hands together as he observed the sleeping giants. "Deploy them."
· · ──── · ──── · ·
ELEVEN was no stranger to the routine that his handlers had set for his feeding cycle.
Two cows.
This was the usual meal that he would see after waking up.
The taste of their flesh was characteristically excellent and packed with nourishing protein.
After all, these were grass-fed cows that had been cultivated to the extremes. Their slow pace when running and dense bodies made them the perfect prey item for ELEVEN.
However, he sensed that an entirely new type of creature had entered his territory today.
...What?
He thought silently, an action that he had always been capable of as bubbles floated to the water's surface, his eyes scanning from below the murky depths.
There was a cow near the river. It was white with occasional spots of black, and unlike the usual that would be attracted by the faint aroma of bait, it was entirely preoccupied with... running?
But why would it do that?
ELEVEN had not even surfaced yet, so it normally shouldn't have any reason to be so panicked this early on.
At least, that would be the case if the other creature chasing after it wasn't the least bit sneaky.
It hissed with voracious intent, dragging its serpentine body across the earth with its two powerful limbs. Each step was marked with its claws sinking into the dirt and stone.
Its mouth was open wide, the razor-sharp teeth within carved in the shape of knives as it snapped its maws trying to catch the fleeing bovine. It had a prehensile tongue that lashed out in an attempt to do so.
However, what attracted the most attention from ELEVEN was its size.
The strange creature was large, certainly larger than anything it had ever preyed upon.
A thought pierced into his head.
Was it another one?
ELEVEN reminisced of the other Dragons that it had grown up with. They used to share the same territory as juveniles, but ever since their size exceed a certain threshold and their territorial urges became too strong to control, the humans had separated them into their own little sections, unable to ever meet each other again without fencing between them.
If that was the case, then ELEVEN felt a little reluctant about targeting it.
One must understand that, as a being composed of the genetics of numerous social species, ELEVEN had a certain unfilled need that left it feeling lost and empty most of the time.
In truth, this was loneliness.
The Dragons were the only creatures that he had ever successfully communicated with. The human handlers couldn't interpret his attempts beyond simple concepts like aggression or cooperation. They simply failed to see him any more than as a savage animal.
And of course, it wasn't like any prey would bother communicating back even if they possibly could. They were too busy running for their lives.
He wasn't sure if that thing was a Dragon though.
No other Dragon resembled him in appearance, they always came in their own unique shapes and sizes. The only common denominator was the fact that they were all giant reptiles.
That thing obviously was a giant reptile, which led to his current dilemma.
But there was one sure-fire way to find out if it was indeed a Dragon.
And that was whether it would respond to his attempts at communication or not.
If it didn't, then ELEVEN would be at ease and he wouldn't have any qualms about hunting it.
The strange beast soon caught its quarry as the cow stumbled upon a rock, allowing its sharp teeth to rake into the soft flesh as it dug in hungrily with a ravenous pace that made even ELEVEN pause.
But he was undeterred. Instead, the Dragon's senses went into overdrive as it smelled that alluring metallic scent of blood.
As the specialized Dragon developed for anti-sea operations, sharks made up a significant amount of ELEVEN's already complicated genetic structure, which came with its own set of instincts.
The water exploded into the air as his lumbering form erupted from the lake's surface. Throwing his weight forward upon the shore, ELEVEN released a roar befitting that of a supreme predator.
"...ROAAAR!"
It was loud and bellowing, certain to rumble across the entire expanse.
Yet there was also a subtle frequency that would be completely unheard by the human ear, an ultrasound frequency that conveyed his 'words', if you could call it that.
"You, what are you doing here?"
A direct question, one that couldn't possibly be misunderstood.
Yet unfortunately, the moment that the strange beast witnessed ELEVEN's arrival, the only thing going through its head was... fear.
The Dragon before him was an intimidating sight that made the beast hiss and crawl back, dragging the cow with its claws in a primal way that seemed to communicate ownership of the corpse.
But it wasn't 'talking' back.
ELEVEN released a weary sigh, the giant reptilian version of it. He had held to some foolish hope that it actually would...
Well, at least the dinner would be filling.
Without another moment of hesitation, the giant predator leapt forward with nothing but killing intent in his golden eyes.
***
Chapter three done and completed! Any thoughts?
Sorry that this was released late into the night. I was sure I scheduled it, but it turns out my stupid ass forgot.
Spare thy stones and vote, reader.