I'm a spinosaurus with a System to raise a dinosaur army

Apache watched yet another plane explode in the sky under the power of [Devastating roar]. Or maybe it was because of the weapons provided by the [Weapons system]. Or maybe one of his subordinates had chosen to be a kamikaze and dive into the enemy aircraft. God, who cared. There were too many things happening around him for him to pay attention to them all.

Following Old Li's plan, the final battle had begun. While Mazu was busy cleaning up the sea, Blue and Eema defended the colony of Ares, Monica searched for Sobek, Rambo and Snock searched for nuclear bases, Al juggled diplomacy and Pierce prepared a strong defense on the border, along the famous trench line Buck, Carnopo, and Apaches were leading their armies into battle.

The strategy was as simple as it was effective: Buck and Carnopo attacked from below and completely destroyed the camp, while Apache annihilated the air force and, once this was concluded, he would launch himself against the army on the ground and attack from above.

The Imperial Army was still greatly weakened from the earlier battle Wafner had used to lure Sobek into a trap; many of its fortifications and defenses were still badly damaged. Having been forced to move their trench, even though they had prepared it in advance, the Imperials still had to manage to rebuild turrets, observation points, sniper positions. From a military point of view, they were in very bad shape.

Yet they were still tenacious opponents. Their numbers and tactics were considerable, and it was obvious that they would fight to the bitter end to win. To minimize losses as much as possible Buck and Carnopo had recalled every single animal that was part of the shock legion and army.

Sobek had preferred to divide his army into different compartments, because he reasoned with broader views and took into account various possibilities that the enemy could have decided to take… but Buck and Carnopo had a much simpler mind. They reasoned exclusively for the single battle. And from their point of view the only thing that mattered was wiping out every single Imperial soldier and subduing the Empire. And the best way to do that was to use all the troops at their disposal.

So the fight had begun. The dinosaurs had teleported without any warning into the middle of the enemy trench and started tearing it apart. The Imperials had not been taken by surprise: they had been preparing for that eventuality for months. They had reacted promptly, but their lack of defenses and their weariness from the previous battle were evident: it was clear that in the long run the dinosaurs would triumph.

But if the imperial army was in bad shape, the same could not be said of its air force.

The Empire had fielded only a small handful of aircraft in the previous engagement, saving aircraft for a later time. Now, that moment had come. The pilots had received the order and had taken off from every corner of the country.

Most of the military aircraft of the Empire were real war machines equipped with all kinds of armaments that could travel at over 2500 km/h. Having received orders to depart from Wafner within minutes of the engagement with Sobek having ended, even without teleportation technology these jets had arrived on the battlefield despite the distance. And many planes kept arriving after every minute.

And Apache was faced with all this.

"Damned bastards, but you never finish!?" he yelled in exasperation. The air battle had started for almost an hour and yet the enemy planes showed no sign of diminishing. And if Apache or his subordinates lost focus for even a millisecond, the Imperial jets didn't hesitate to use the opportunity to duck and bomb the dinosaurs on the ground. Even with the support of dinosaurs on the ground and weapons provided by the [Anti-aircraft system], the situation was quite difficult.

A huge pteranodon approached him. "Commander, we have seen more planes arriving from the south"

"Again!?" Apache screamed without realizing it. "Wait… from the south?"

This was weird. The territory of the Empire lay completely to the north. All the planes so far had come from there, or from the northeast and northwest at most. But from the south? There could hardly have been an air base there, considering it was Eden Union territory. And the planes certainly couldn't have made the rounds; Eden Union flak and Pierce's security measures would have prevented that. "How is it possible?"

"I don't know, sir" the pteranodon replied. "But if they attacked us from two fronts we would end up like a rat. We can't let him get close"

Apache narrowed his eyes. "How many?"

"At least one hundred"

"And how much time do we have?"

"If they continue at their speed, I would say no more than twelve minutes"

"Shit" the quetzalcoatlus whispered. He was already in a bad mood when a second messenger, this time a Pterodaustro, approached him and proclaimed: "Commander, scouts have sighted more planes coming from the southeast. And some think they saw something to the southwest too, but the fog in that direction makes judgment difficult"

Apache was tempted to spit. "I don't know how they got around, but they're circling us"

"What do we do, commander?"

"The only solution is to plan ahead. I'll take a hundred, no, two hundred warriors and we'll attack first using [Teleportation]. As I understand it, these new planes are currently divided into groups of no more than a hundred each. Using a quick and decisive maneuver, we can eliminate them one by one"

Quetzalcoatlus screeched, and immediately several dozen large pterosaurs flew towards him. "Follow me!" he ordered. "Activate [Teleportation], immediately!"

The pterosaurs did. Instantly the noise of battle disappeared, replaced by a placid stillness. Several dots in the distance symbolized incoming planes. At their speed they would have reached them in two minutes at the most.

"Activate [Ambush]! Prepare to dive!" Apache roared. The pterosaurs flexed their wings, ready to charge at the enemy.

But then, something suddenly happens. The planes gave a puff, and colored fumes emerged from their tails. Smokes that had the colors of the Eden Union flag.

"What… stop!" Apache exclaimed. "Let's go back! Right now!"

The pterosaurs teleport back to the battlefield. Apache was quite confused: what had happened was not something he expected. He quickly looked for one of the scouts, and when he found him he immediately asked: "Did the other planes emit those fumes too?"

"Yes, sir. As soon as they got within ten minutes of here, they released those colors" the scout replied. "We don't know what that means"

Apache was not an expert on unusual situations. It was the pack leader normally that he was able to juggle those decisions. He didn't know what to do. But fortunately, a small anurognathus appeared before his eyes: "Commander! Old Li sent me!"

"Old Li? What news do you bring?"

"He sends me a message: the planes that are arriving are on our side. The Eden Union went to war alongside us!"

Apache's heart leapt. "For real?"

"Yes, sir. Al managed to get the support of the Eden Union. Old Li teleported to our outpost a couple of minutes ago, but since he couldn't fly he sent me to warn you. Old Li claims that all aircraft that emit colored fumes are our allies"

Apache smiled. "That's news" he exclaimed, then looked at the scout he'd been talking to earlier. "How far away are those planes?"

"I would say no more than three or four minutes"

"Then let's hurry up. Don't let them find an unfavorable welcome, so that they can't say that we don't know how to deal with our enemy!"

Apache unleashed [Devastating roar] in the sky and hurled itself at the Imperial aircraft; the rest of the pterosaurs, birds and bats followed in close pursuit. The rumbles in the sky grew even louder as more and more planes were reduced to smoking rubble that fell like fiery meteors.

And then, the Eden Union planes arrived.

Apache felt momentary fear, fearing the planes would suddenly switch sides and open fire on the animals; but that doubt disappeared in a second. As the Eden Union planes opened fire, hundreds of Imperial planes were riddled while not a single pterosaur was even grazed.

Apache felt his chest heave as he saw enemy planes decimated. Finally, the situation looked favorable again. While Eden Union support was limited, their sudden intervention had at least confused the Imperials. And of course the quetzalcoatlus was not going to miss the opportunity.

Meanwhile, from the ground, Carnopo was observing the explosions in the air. "Looks like I can stop worrying" he grumbled. "Apache will take care of managing the aviation. I can focus on what's here on the ground"

When the battle had started, Buck obviously had gone in a rage against the Imperial trench and had begun to tear it apart without any regard. Because after all this was Buck: impulsive, ferocious, a real war machine. Carnopo, however, was more pragmatic. Perhaps it was because of their different titles: after all, the assault commander had to think only of breaking through the enemy line, while the army commander had to calculate more variables and evaluate strategies. Or maybe it was simply their different personalities.

Therefore, even if he too had led the army into the enemy trench, Carnopo had not lost sight of the sky. It didn't take him long to realize that the Apaches were facing difficulties and that if he lost the planes would bomb them from above. As much as he had complete faith in the pterosaur, he had to be prepared for that eventuality.

But now that same occurrence seemed to have completely disappeared. With the intervention of the Eden Union it seemed that Apache was regaining control of the sky.

"Al, you son of a bitch" he whispered satisfied. That allosaurus had managed to get the support of the huge international organization in a period of time that could only be described as minimal, almost miraculous.

The carnotaur shook his head. It wasn't the time to think about it now. "Come on guys! Let's give these bastards a good brushing up!"

The army dinosaurs all roared in unison and continued the battle. The strategy that Carnopo was using was extremely efficient: the dinosaurs chose a target, teleported in front of it and used [Devastating roar], and then used their claws, teeth and tails to tear apart what was left intact. He had studied the imperial army for months and thanks to a long series of observations and planning he had obtained the winning strategy: every single animal in the whole army had a series of specific objectives and would only deal with those with a certain timing . In that way the dinosaur army was quickly managing to eliminate any resistance from the imperials. The attacks were too quick and precise for them to regroup.

With that technique, Carnopo would have been able to eliminate all the imperial soldiers while losing very few troops, but it would have taken him a long time. Fortunately there was a variable capable of accelerating time: Buck.

Since the beginning of the battle, the tyrannosaurus had turned into a real rampage. He would charge and slaughter anything in his path, using every trick he had to destroy everything in front of him. Despite his demeanor, however, his attack was by no means without cognition: whenever the enemies grew too numerous or their armaments too powerful, Buck would retreat using [Teleportation] and attack another corner of the army. He did it randomly, without any plans, so the Imperials couldn't predict where he would attack next.

It was a simple but clever plan. With this and Carnopo's strategy the imperial army was being shredded in no time. In a matter of hours at the most, the imperial army would have completely collapsed. But if Apache had been able to fix the problem in the sky in time, then his support would have further accelerated the roadmap.

While Carnopo was thinking about this, Buck teleported next to him: "Victory is now basically certain" he proclaimed with satisfaction.

Carnopo laughed. "I'm aware of that" he said. "But we continue to keep an eye out. We must be ready in case the imperials drop an atomic bomb"

"Apache has scouts from here within twenty miles. And we have [Supreme instinct]. They won't take us by surprise" Buck replied. "You can rest assured. With [Teleportation] we will be able to escape in any case. If they drop a nuke, they'll just kill their army."

Obviously, the t-rex was thinking logically based on what he knew about their enemy. However, Carnopo had learned to always expect the unexpected.

Meanwhile, more than a hundred kilometers away, a mountainside was opening wide.

************

Monica emerged from the forest along a river bank. Before her eyes darted the sight of a gigantic body lying on the ground. A smile appeared on her face as she approached the titan.

They had finally found him. Sobek was there, barely hidden by overgrowth in a corner of the river. Judging by how many trees in the vicinity had been blown down and the ground was damp the spinosaurus must have literally fallen into the river causing a tidal wave, and judging by the small crater below him he must have fallen to the ground with all his weight not as soon as he dragged himself out of the water.

Like the Empire, the Eden Union had also been looking for Sobek after Al brought them the news. However, before passing out, Sobek had approached the trees and used their foliage for cover. And the Eden Union unfortunately did not possess artificial satellites as sophisticated and numerous as those of the Empire. Big as Sobek was, it would take them hours, maybe even days, to find him.

But Monica wasn't the head of exploration at all. Her title granted her some intelligence in the matter of finding a missing person. Therefore, she had simply made a logical calculation. Since Sobek had contacted Old Li with so much apprehension and then passed out, he must clearly be exhausted; therefore the place where he had teleported had to be a place where he felt safe and consequently familiar. So Monica had narrowed it down to the places Sobek had frequented the most during his life; excluding the human territories, which didn't have many safe places to hide, the only place left was the forest of Maakanar. Incidentally, that small stretch of forest crossed by the river that led to the lake near the Neanderthal city.

It had been enough to go to the mouth of the river and ask a few questions to discover that shortly before the river had swollen slightly for a few seconds, as if something had raised a very distant wave. That had been the definitive proof that Sobek must be somewhere in the river. Now it was enough for Monica to focus on the sections of the river she knew had some value to Sobek: the lakeshore, the nesting site of the spinosaurs, his first hunting grounds. By carefully surveying these places and using some air support thanks to birds and pterosaurs, she had been able to locate a large gray patch half hidden in the vegetation near a large bend in the river.

That was how she had found her pack leader.

The brachiosaurus approached Sobek. The spinosaurus was fast asleep and breathing heavily, but vital functions seemed fine. His life wasn't in danger, but he probably wouldn't wake up for a few days.

Monica felt sorry for her pack leader. She had never seen him in such a fragile state. Whatever he had faced, surely it had forced him to fight with all his strength and has harnessed every single ounce of energy he possessed.

Monica reared slightly on her hind legs. For an animal of her size and anatomy it was quite tiring. "Excuse me, pack leader, but you have to wake up!" she exclaimed. She held that position for a couple of seconds, then she dropped her front paws against Sobek's side. Her impact almost made her jump and she took a few steps back.

The whole body of the spinosaurus shook. Even with [Reinforced skin], no one could remain indifferent if a 50-ton animal pounced on them. For comparison, it was as if one person had kicked another person unconscious with all his strength.

There was a deep snort. And then, a huge eye opened wide, glowing with a furious light.