Under Attack+
No one in their right mind had ever anticipated that our greatest enemies would come from another planet. We assumed they came from another planet but the truth is we didn’t know anything about them. They just showed up one day, and they sure as hell weren’t from Earth.
They didn’t even leave us a chance to fumble with diplomacy. First thing they did was decimate most major cities on the planet. Took about 42 hours.
So we were finally at war with someone other than ourselves. 
It only cost us 4 billion lives.
|
Retaliation+
As if there wasn’t already enough chaos, the surviving world leaders panicked and set off a load of nukes at our attackers. Put some very large holes in the ground. Killed a bunch of people. Our enemy didn’t seem to mind.
Survivors crept underground, hoping the invaders had made a critical error. Maybe our atmosphere was poisonous to them. Perhaps they were allergic to water. No such luck.
At this point you were lucky if you weren’t in the city, and if you were… you were lucky if you were dead.
|
Retreat+
It was abundantly clear we had no chance to win back our home planet. So we loaded up every last space-equipped vessel that hadn’t been destroyed already and jettisoned ourselves deep into the cosmos.
Humanity was fractured into countless colonies throughout the universe.
And we could run, but we couldn’t hide forever. We needed a new weapon before our enemy inevitably caught back up with us.
Fortunately we’ve always been pretty good at making weapons.
|
Smarter+
A smart weapon. That was what they wanted. Something that could keep on fighting the war for us even after we had lost the battle. Sure it would be smart. But was it a smart idea? We didn’t consider it at the time.
Ethics laws of Earth had previously held back any developments into autonomous AI but given the circumstances, our top scientists were able to get one up and running in only a couple weeks.
The AI learned quickly. Soon it was time to give it a real body…
|
Trial Ruin+
Our AI had been well-versed with the unit controls in many physics-simulations, but when the transfer finally happened things didn’t go as expected. No matter how much you dream of the day, nothing can ever prepare you for when the moment finally happens.
By the time calibration had completed, the manufacturing plant and lab base had been obliterated by a couple of poorly placed footsteps.
Although everyone present was mortified by the destruction, it didn’t seem to hit anyone quite as hard as our AI. We hadn’t programmed anguish, that just happened all on its own.
|
Shutdown+
With a gargantuan depressed robot on our hands no one knew what to do. It was unexplored territory. The unit had already fled to a nearby moon where it sat motionless, afraid to hurt anyone else.
Psychotherapy would have been an arduous endeavor so it was decided that the humane thing to do was to hit it with an EMP, and knock out the AI in a single blast. At the very least it was the cleanest and safest solution.
So it was, a week after taking its first steps, our smart weapon was decommissioned by a massive electromagnetic blast.
|
A Natural Approach+
Humanity hadn’t lost hope yet. Developments in bio-technology had made several significant jumps forward and presented new options for a smart weapon.
A ‘naturally-grown’ being could adapt and evolve under challenging circumstances in a way an AI never could.
Cutting the red tape surrounding genetic meddling, scientists began mixing every gene pool we had access to. Results began to take an interesting shape.
|
The Beasts+
Through accelerated life-cycles the new bio-weapons were maturing at an impressive rate. The creatures were fierce, resilient, and powerful.
Though they were bred specifically to respect human existence many people were still skeptical and fearful of the lumbering beasts. Had we blundered yet again in our attempts to create a smart weapon?
And would these creatures be able to defend us when our enemy finally found us again? We would learn soon enough…
|
Retribution+
Memories of the battle for Earth had built up a mythos around our enemy. They were clever and unstoppable. But when they finally attacked one of our colonies that mythos came crumbling down quickly.
Our bio-weapon tore through the invaders and broke them before they could even engage our soldiers. These monsters we had created were our salvation. Our second chance at existing in the universe. The enemy retreated back to wherever it was they came from.
We were safe at last.