Bryan: remove ellipses from sort key

2007-09-05T02:52:50Z

remove ellipses from sort key

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	[[Category:Story]] [[Category:Eirik]] [[Category:Animal]] {{DEFAULTSORT:~~...~~And the Universe Fell}}		[[Category:Story]] [[Category:Eirik]] [[Category:Animal]] {{DEFAULTSORT:And the Universe Fell}}
	{{title\|name=...And the Universe Fell\|user=Eirik\|author=Eirik}}		{{title\|name=...And the Universe Fell\|user=Eirik\|author=Eirik}}
	''In the final analysis, you could blame it all on the French.''		''In the final analysis, you could blame it all on the French.''

Eirik: New page: Category:Story Category:Eirik Category:Animal {{DEFAULTSORT:...And the Universe Fell}} {{title|name=...And the Universe Fell|user=Eirik|author=Eirik}} ''In the final analysis,...

2007-09-05T01:30:35Z

New page: Category:Story Category:Eirik Category:Animal {{DEFAULTSORT:...And the Universe Fell}} {{title|name=...And the Universe Fell|user=Eirik|author=Eirik}} ''In the final analysis,...

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[[Category:Story]] [[Category:Eirik]] [[Category:Animal]] {{DEFAULTSORT:...And the Universe Fell}}
{{title|name=...And the Universe Fell|user=Eirik|author=Eirik}}
''In the final analysis, you could blame it all on the French.''

''July 2, 1999.''

It was the day that many had hoped and prayed for. The day the
bloody Iraqi government fell in a violent coup d'etat. The
battered and bloody body of the former government officials were
dragged unceremoniously through the streets of the cities. A
promise of a more peaceful future was beamed to the world.

The government that took over was weak at best and collapsed
inside of a week. In the power vacuum that ensued, the generals
and colonels of the former Iraqi military took their troops and
began forming strongholds inside Iraq. Each faction looking to
take control of the whole pie but unable and unwilling to work
together.

It was an irresistible target for Iran. A deep desire to take
over the region and convert it to their own had led to the slow,
steady and quiet build-up of military machinery since the end of
the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980's. The leadership had watched the
what happened with Iraq's ill trained and ill equipped soldiers
during the Persian Gulf War, and had poured billions into
bringing their army to true readiness.

So, it was on August 19, 1999 that Iran made her move. The plan
was simple: Use the German concept of the blitzkrieg to roll over
everything they could. Surge through Iraq unopposed by a cohesive
military and split into three major groups: One going south,
through Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and ending up in Yemen, one going
east to Israel and into Egypt and one north-west into Turkey.

The plan was simple, really far too simple. It hinged on too many
factors to work out exactly as planned. Yet despite that they
nearly did it. If the Iraqi factions hadn't put up the resistance
that they did, Iran may indeed have managed to take most of their
objectives before the west and her Arab neighbors could have
responded.

If anyone had known better, though, they would have let them.

Iran's crack troops took a beating from pockets of resistance.
Delayed by the surprisingly fierce soldiers, the allied powers
were able to assemble weapons of war in the mountains of northern
Iraq, the banks of the Euphrates River and the outskirts of
Jordan's capital.

The Battle of the Euphrates. That's the battle that world would
really have remembered. A massive column of Iranian tanks,
supported by thousands of infantry, APC's and trucks, rolling at
a near breakneck speed across the desert toward a tiny forward
defensive force. Twelve American M1-Abrams tanks, about two
hundred Marines, five MRLS launchers, an obsolete Patriot missile
battery, a handful of British and French helicopters, and lastly
a new French weapon.

It had been dubbed "Dragon". They had been developing it for
years in total secret. It resembled a mobile artillery piece and
used a bizarre combination of lasers, acoustical waves and
electromagnetic pulses generated from newly discovered
radioactive elements to create a long range emission of extreme
heat and disruption. A single pulse, completely silent beyond a
few feet, could literally melt a hole though modern armor
slightly oval in shape and the size of a mans palm. Even better,
it had a range more than five times that of a standard tank
round. The primary disadvantage was that it was line of sight.
The gunner had to actually see the target in order to fire.

The French had built a total of fifty units and were forced by
circumstance to put it to the full test in battle. This tiny
holding force contained the largest contingent deployed, thirty
Dragons, all in a small line protected by a rocky outcropping.

The helicopters were the first to go. The handful of battle ready
choppers had flow over the Iranian divisions and started a free
for all fire fight like the world had never seen and would never
see again. It was the most target rich environment any of these
pilots had ever seen. Those pilots fought well, but the Iranian
troops were simply too numerous. Only three helicopters survived.

The cloud of dust and sand kicked up by the inbound tanks and
trucks continued to draw closer as the MRLS missiles began to fly
forth onto the yet unseen enemy. Soon even their pounding
firepower was depleted and the launchers were ordered to
withdraw.

The wave of tanks crested the top of a low hill just outside the
extreme range of the French Dragon. It was a sight that none
there would ever. It looked like a carpet of ants from one end of
the hills to the other. A minute passed, two, three. The French
commanders were waiting for more Iranian vehicles to enter range.
Then, while the enemy was still far outside their own firing
range, the French opened up.

It's doubtful that any of the Iranians realized what was going
on. Their tanks began lighting up all over the place. Unlike most
conventional weapons, a Dragon needed no time to reload and only
a few moments to recharge. It was able to fire nearly as fast as
a new target could be acquired. The heat from the beam was enough
to set off ammunition and fuel, all without a flash to give away
the Dragons position.

The Iranian commanders didn't know what to do. They probably
thought they had blundered into a mine field and so ordered a
halt. But even stopped their tanks and trucks continued to
explode around them. The columns became badly disorganized as the
hope of forward progression as well as retreat became blocked
with burning hulks and exploding ammunition.

The French simply kept firing.

It went on for only a few minutes, enough time for the thirty
Dragons to register two hundred kills, before it happened.
Something that no one had expected. Something that hadn't been
tested.

Seven French gunners all sighted the same thing, an armored
personal carrier outfitted subtly with additional antennas and
equipment. A vehicle converted for long distance electronic recon
and communications jamming. The seven gunners, each firing at
will, all let loose at this same modified APC within a split
second of each other. The seven beams converged in the
electromagnetic field around this single vehicle.

In that instant, the battle ended.

The battlefield became instantly still. Nothing electronic worked
for a few seconds for a thirty mile radius. The only people who
would ever know what happened couldn't believe their eyes as it
did.

For those seconds, and only over the Iranian positions nearly
four miles away, it got dark. Not like a shadow from a cloud, but
a bubble of pure darkness which extended towards the defenders as
close as a quarter mile before it halted itself.. A piercing
sound could be heard from inside the bubble. Not really a scream,
but a long wail. Thousands of human voices screaming out in pain
and terror, clearly heard despite the distance.

Then, the darkness vanished into light. Everyone in the allied
defensive line looked out across the plain and saw the massive
Iranian formation still there, but silent. The tanks which had
been burning only a moment before were now charred hulks, not
even trailing wisps of smoke. The dust, which had so dominated
the sky, had settled. A quick check of sensors could detect no
communication activity, no electronic activity, no active IR
signatures, no radar activity. Only a slight breeze, blowing over
the allies toward the silent invaders, made any sound.

An American commander decided to investigate. Showing some
caution, he ordered all troops into chemical weapons gear, and
took five M1-A tanks forward. Each kept weapons at the ready, in
case this bizarre behavior was some kind of trick. But somehow,
they all knew that it wasn't.

The small cluster of tanks came first upon a group of five APC's,
one of which had been destroyed by a shot from a Dragon. Some of
the Marines dismounted their tanks to investigate.

The first soldier they found had been standing behind one of the
vehicles when he died. His skull, glistening white, lay face down
on the sand. His once tan uniform was soaked in a mixture of
colors, dominated by red. A stream of thick fluid ran down the
slight hill over the sand, looking like a mixture of red, gray,
yellow and brown paint.

One of the men noticed a similar liquid dripping from the rear
access door of the nearby APC. Guns at the ready, they pulled it
open. Some of the skeletons were still sitting in their seats,
others had fallen to the floor into a pool of the same heavy
paint they had seen outside. As the door came open, it drained
out onto the desert floor. It wasn't blood, it didn't congeal.
There were no bits of flesh, it had a perfectly smooth
consistency. Somehow, it didn't seem to stick to the skeletons.
The exposed bones were all pure white.

The stench when the carrier opened was unimaginable. Despite
their protective gear, they swayed when it hit their nostrils.
None of them could describe it. It was a horribly sweet smell
mixed with the stench of death and decay, with a bit of burning
plastic and rotten meat. It was the stench of hell.

When the commander smelled it, he ordered his men back into the
tanks and returned to their positions. All the way, frantically
relating what he had seen in disjointed phrases to the command
center in Kuwait City. Despite orders to continue his
investigation, the commander ordered his men to withdraw from the
area.

Almost three hours passed from the moment that the bubble had
enveloped the invading troops. The small defensive force had
taken only an hour to investigate, and only moment to fall back.
They had taken new positions several miles back, but were still
the only ones alive to witness the tear.

The French Dragon had ripped a small hole in the fabric of time.
The original burst, the one that had ripped apart the enemy
soldiers, had simply been the initial explosion. Like a
firecracker set off on a pile of newspaper, it had burst forth in
an instant, smoldered quietly for a moment, and then slowly
caught fire again.

The American, French and British troops watched in awe as the
azure sky seemed to fold in on itself, creating a spot of pure
violet in the sky surrounded by a total absence of color. The
spot seemed to hover for a moment, and then began to expand.
Slowly at first, and then exponentially. It took only moments for
it to expand over the troops, and seconds for it to expand to the
size of the solar system.

What happened next was the single most significant event in the
history of the planet. The fabric of time was wrinkled. The past
and present began to blur.

Everything came to a halt. There wasn't a soul alive, be it human
or animal, who didn't see the violet light surrounding them and
yet casting no shadows. Those asleep woke. It lasted a minute,
maybe a little more, and was gone.

People looked at each other on every street corner all over the
world. Each person asked, "What was that?". Even the small number
of men and women who knew where it had all started couldn't
explain it, though. The world held it's collective breath hoping
that there was nothing to worry about.

They were wrong.

Then people began to notice the alteration, the devolution. It
was hard to detect at first, the changes subtle and seemingly
minor. People grew more hair all over their bodies, foreheads
seem to thicken as millions lost their posture and hunched over.
Confusion could have reigned, but the world was still in the grip
of that immense, pregnant pause.

Perhaps only a few thousand the world over recognized immediately
what was happening, even if they didn't know why.
Paleontologists, both amateur and professional, watched
themselves pass through the familiar forms found in biology
textbooks. Then they passed through the less familiar stages.
Every human, animal and plant began to follow that trail
backwards through time.

Every species of life on earth has a single, unbroken chain of
ancestors to follow back on. Ancestors long forgotten, long gone.
Shortly and briefly they began to reappear and vanish. Some
animals and plants managed to survive, ever so briefly, without
alteration. Sharks and alligators were but a few of the animals
virtually unchanged for millions, even hundreds of millions, of
years. But it wasn't long before they found themselves being
forced back into time.

This trip down Darwin's memory lane was unstoppable and
universal. Forests devolved in smooth progression, flowers
vanished and for a time, the gymnosperm was the dominate plant
again, and some dinosaurs again ruled the earth.

But unlike the previous reign, this one lasted only a few moments
as the few dinos vanished back to their own ancestors, and the
plants became more simple. Billions of life forms began to die at
they devolved into water forms, too far from the sea. In many
ways, it was more merciful than what happened to the survivors in
the water. Not long after, even the few plants and animals left
on the land fell behind time and died.

By then, any trace of human civilization was already gone.

But Mother Nature was not finished with her vengeance. The seas
passed back though the geological epochs in minutes. Soon, not an
animal on earth contained a bone, then cartilage, then a
notochord. The brief explosion of the Cambrian era that had led
to so much diversity worked in reverse as the sheer number of
species on earth lessened. Animals and plants suddenly found
brothers among species that no one would ever have suspected were
related. Life on Earth continued to fall until it was little more
than a collection of cells, and then single cells, and then
primitive bacteria.

And then it was gone.

As the planet returned to a new primordial ooze, the backward
spiral of time corrected itself and once again started forward at
it's normal, slow rate.

Free to try again.

User:Eirik/...And the Universe Fell - Revision history

Bryan: remove ellipses from sort key

Eirik: New page: Category:Story Category:Eirik Category:Animal {{DEFAULTSORT:...And the Universe Fell}} {{title|name=...And the Universe Fell|user=Eirik|author=Eirik}} ''In the final analysis,...