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

The bombs went off exactly three minutes after that last conversation. Jocelyne's call had been recorded and in the future historians would remember it as Wafner's last words. Whole branches of psychology and philosophy would have been interested in them, since they contained the thoughts of a man who, however insane, had demonstrated considerable acumen.

Whole branches of psychology would arise that had that last conversation as a basis, which compared the democratic and free thought of Jocelyne with the absolutist and dictatorial one of Wafner. Within a few decades a new term would even be born, 'Wafnerism', aimed at indicating the mental condition of a person who has spent too much time in power to be unable to let it go.

But above all, that conversation would be remembered as the last attempt at peace before Mushroom Day.

As soon as the countdown ended, the teleportation device installed on the bombs transported them over the cities they were intended to hit. Submarines and still hidden military bases also dropped their bombs, which traveled in all directions across the planet's surface.

The cities by that time had already been evacuated and were completely empty. The defense designed by Pierce and the Eden Union generals was able to destroy some of the bombs, especially those not equipped with teleporters, but most of them detonated.

And that was how Mushroom Day began.

Future generations would call it that because there were so many mushroom clouds that it looked like they were growing like real mushrooms. Wherever you were on the planet, you could see at least one of those gigantic formations of dust and debris being swept up into the upper atmosphere by the fireball.

Thousands of cities were wiped off the map. Hundreds of millions of people suddenly found themselves without a home. Whether they were cities with thousands of years of history or newly built modern metropolises, they were all obliterated in an instant. And not only the cities: many parts of the continents not inhabited by humans were also bombed. Above the primeval forests the huge mushroom clouds appeared as giant dead trees raining down poison.

For eighteen hours, the world was in the grip of nuclear flames. It took the combined efforts of humans and dinosaurs to quench the fires. The fire devastated entire hectares of forests, plains, cities, even deserts. Flocks of pterosaurs, birds and bats flew for several hours in the sky among the mushroom clouds, absorbing the radiation and causing the monstrous formations to collapse. The explosions were literally heard around the world as the shock waves from many bombs traveled across the planet. A magnitude 5 earthquake swept across the world several times, destroying many structures and buildings that had escaped the initial destruction.

The following day, the sun shone on a battered world. In place of the great cities built by humans, many of them a credit to their country and a historical, technological or ecological jewel, they were gone and in their place there was only rubble and huge craters. The forests of Maakanar, the great plains of Tegrom, and the cold woods of Latissa had been reduced to barren gray deserts. The horrific remains of incinerated and broken trees emerged from the ground covered by a thin layer of smoking ash that descended from the sky like snow.

There would have been a lot to do to put everything right. The only consolation was that it could have ended worse, much worse.

The troops of the dinosaurs and the Eden Union immediately entered the imperial capital as soon as the emergency ended. There they stormed the royal palace and literally tore it apart to find the emperor. It was time to end that story once and for all.

Eventually, Wafner's body was found in a bunker below the palace, completely mangled and with a pained expression on his face. The Eden Union pretended to believe that he had been killed by his own guards who, crazed and feeling betrayed by their monarch, had decided to reserve that brutal end for him.

Barely half an hour after taking the capital, the generals of the Eden Union found the last remaining man of power in the Empire, a lieutenant named Badoglio, who immediately signed an unconditional surrender.

That was how the last war in the world ended.

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

Jocelyne sat on what until a few days before had certainly been a magnificent old tree, but which was now reduced to a blackened trunk, skinned, broken in several places and covered with a thin layer of ash. It had been days, but incredibly the log was still hot and was emitting white smoke in places.

In front of her was what looked like an alien landscape. Where a short time ago there were buildings, skyscrapers, houses and monuments, now there was nothing but ash and debris covering the ground. She was sitting in what must have been a park or botanical garden, but was now nothing more than a plant cemetery. The unnatural position of the logs showed where the shock wave had come from that had ripped them apart and… well, pretty much everything in the vicinity. At the center of all that devastation was a tiny crater, between three and four hundred meters wide.

"Such a small scar, for such a big wound" Jocelyne murmured, staring at him. Talking wasn't a good idea: even if she didn't see him, the air was still full of dust that entered her throat making her cough hard.

Her lungs definitely weren't happy that she was there; breathing ash was hardly a cure-all for her health. Were it not for the fact that the radioactive fallout had already been cleaned up, she would never have dared get that close to the site of the explosion. But since there was no risk of radioactive contamination, she'd decided she could go and have a look. Abe and Jackson had been against it, as had many of her staff, but in the end they had complied with her wishes. So she had arrived at that place with a helicopter and a large group of guards, who had dispersed according to her orders. She knew they were around her to make sure she was safe, but at least they were trying to hide enough of her to give the illusion that she was alone with thoughts of her.

And there she was now, sitting on a blackened and ash-covered log in the midst of what had been a botanical garden, amidst the remains of what had been the capital of her nation. In fact, that wasteland had been none other than the capital of the Great Republic of Beleriard. A city that had been a jewel a few days before was now nothing more than a desert.

Jocelyne knew that all that destruction had actually been ephemeral: having evacuated the population in time there had been no deaths and thanks to the help of the dinosaurs the fire and radiation had been tamed. What had been destroyed were nothing but piles of bricks, concrete and tiles. But though Jocelyne knew they were only material constructions, she couldn't help but feel a grip around her heart as she saw this disaster.

She had helped build that city. She had enlarged it, improved it, had canceled the barracks and erected works and monuments. Even though her efforts had been aimed at the whole of Beleriard, she was still proud of her capital. And now, all that work had been canceled in one measly instant and by the will of one man.

"Why are you here?"

Jocelyne looked up, finding Sobek's muzzle staring at her. "Did my men let you pass?"

"I had to ask them several times. They're brave, they know they couldn't stop me if I really wanted to, but they still resisted" the spinosaurus said sitting next to her, shading her with his sail. "They said you wanted to be alone. They agreed only after I told them I would come to you with or without their will"

Jocelyn smiled. "They are faithful guys"

Sobek looked at the ash desert ahead of them. He snorted at the dust. "It's not healthy to stay here. The ash hasn't settled all the way yet" he said. "I doubt it will give you pneumonia, but it certainly won't do you any good"

"I know it. But at least it's quiet here" Jocelyne replied. "In any other corner of the world I have to deal with refugees, fill out paperwork, calculate monetary amounts to guarantee all their essential goods…"

"The worst part of war is always the post-war period. Especially for those in charge"

"Already. And I'm really broken. I know those people who lost their homes are much worse off than me and need help, but I need to go a few hours without someone calling me to ask me to solve any food, economic, humanitarian or anything else problem that haunt us in these times"

"I understand you" Sobek murmured. He too had had a lot to do in the last few days. With the world half destroyed there was much to do.

Jocelyne got up and walked a few steps, then crouched down and lightly brushed the ground, kicking up a small amount of ash. When she got up, there was an ant in her hand. "It must have been hiding underground with its colony" she said as the bug crawled between her fingers. "Not even the most powerful monstrosity built by mankind has been able to completely eradicate all life"

Sobek gave a small smile as he watched the Beleriard president look at the ant as if it were a chick. "What are you going to do now?"

Jocelyne turned and his eyes met those of the spinosaurus. Despite the pain in them, Sobek saw no signs of weakness. "What we humans do whenever we really realize our mistakes. We rebuild" she replied. "We will build our cities again, house by house, stone by stone, one grain of sand after another. Will you help us?"

"Of course. You will have the support of my people to rebuild" Sobek replied. "And we will restore everything else as well. We will replant trees, rejuvenate forests, help the whole world recover. Just like after every big fire, life will re-emerge from the ashes this time too"

"Make it all right, huh?" Jocelyne smiled sadly. "You'll be busy too, then"

"That's right. But hey, we knew it was our destiny when we decided to become who we are now, didn't we? Being a leader means working hard for your people after all" Sobek said. "At least the job is done. The war is over. We no longer have to worry about seeing people die"

"Already. I sure hope so. I'm really tired of this" Jocelyne said. "By the way, the Eden Union is pondering what to do with the Empire"

"I guess they are not very happy after what happened"

"Oh, yes. What is your opinion?"

"I shouldn't have a say. My people are the ones who have suffered the least. We don't need cities, money or other goods. You are the ones who have lost the most"

"But you have lost more lives. You were the ones who fought the hardest"

"Dying in battle is no cause for hard feelings for my people. It just means that the opponent was better than you. There is no reason to be angry about this. No member of my people harbors a grudge against the population of the Empire"

"Already. I always forget that you have a different mentality. But you will have an opinion, right?"

Sobek snorted. "The Empire deserves to be punished. Even if Wafner was really responsible for everything, I'm not one to get emotional at the 'we were just following orders'. They have to pay… but to ensure that such a disaster does not happen again, you have to make sure that the punishment is not too terrible for the people". Sobek didn't know much about postwar politics, but he remembered what had happened on Earth. The world wars had shown that to obtain a lasting peace it was not necessary to destroy one's adversary and prove cruel and vindictive, but on the contrary to ask for justice and prove to be good and benevolent. "My advice is to find all the survivors of the old imperial elite and try them publicly. Unearth every dirty secret of the Empire and make it public. After that, make the Empire pay all the damages of the war, but to prevent the nation from collapsing, help them to recover. Build a new democratic government, spread new ideologies, and don't ask for the payment of the debt immediately but over time, so that it doesn't burden the population too much. Make sure people have food and places to live. It is the only way to eradicate the birth of grievances that over time will lead to the birth of terrorist or rebel groups"

"Ask for justice, but don't humiliate them. Is that what you mean?"

"Yup"

"As I imagined. That's the same opinion I have too. But not everyone in the Eden Union agrees. I'm doing my best to convince as many people as possible that this is the best route to take"

"I'll ask Al to help you"

"He's already doing it. I guess you've been too busy with everything else over the last few days to notice"

"Then I will publicize my support for you. I'll let the world know that's where I stand. While I still don't intend to interfere with a decision that's up to you humans, I won't hide my thoughts if someone should accidentally come and ask me"

Jocelyne let out a half laugh. "That would help, yes" she said, then ducked again and skimmed the ground again. More ants began crawling up the back of her hand. "When I think about how it could have ended according to Wafner's plan, I'd say it ended up going well"

"Despite the destruction, it is a preferable scenario"

"Already. At least we'll have a cooler summer this year" Jocelyne joked. Despite the rapid intervention of the animals, in fact, the amount of ash thrown into the air by the explosions was such that a small part of it was trapped in the upper atmosphere. Scientists had concluded that it would take a few years to settle and help lower global temperatures by at least half a degree. However, it would have actually been beneficial, because it would have helped to counteract global warming and would have therefore favored the recovery of the biosphere. Incredible to say, with his last act Wafner had also given a little help along with a long series of headaches.

Jocelyne raised her hand. The ants walking on it were now at least twenty. They were very small ants, no more than a couple of millimeters long, pitch black in color and with long antennae. "Isn't it amazing that something so small could survive a bomb capable of obliterating a small region?"

"Life is incredibly resilient. Just like humanity" Sobek replied. "That's why I love them both"

The two looked into each other's eyes, then both burst out laughing. After that they stood there for at least another half hour, admiring the incinerated landscape in front of them, immersed in the silence that seemed to have enveloped everything like a blanket.