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

Sobek hadn’t foreseen that implication, but personally he didn’t mind.

On Earth, RE/SYST was an organization that existed only in the show called Salvation. Sobek had taken into account that they could also exist in that universe since he had met Pauline Mackenzie, but he had preferred not to investigate: after all he did not care about them.

However, cyber warfare was crucial to winning a war in the modern era. Drones, missiles, communications, everything was regulated by computers and systems. Having a group of experienced hackers on your side could make all the difference in an open fight.

Sobek had no reason to fear RE/SYST: his weapons were not connected to any network and the precautions he could take against the NMWA could also work against RE/SYST. They had nothing to threaten him. However, they had a lot that could threaten the NMWA and, above all, the superpowers.

A few months earlier, RE/SYST had announced the existence of atomic bombs to the world, and this had caused a domino effect within the NMWA. Sobek hadn’t been worried: with the initial dismay removed, he and Eden Union had handled the situation well. After all, both Sobek and Pauline and Palma and Jocelyne knew that this secret couldn’t stay that way forever, so they had prepared themselves for when it would come to light.

But less than an hour after that announcement, RE/SYST had contacted the heads of state of the Eden Union directly in great secrecy, so that no spies could identify them, and they had announced that they could hack most of the enemy nuclear missiles.

This had been wonderful news for Sobek. Preventing the missiles from launching meant minimizing any loss or biohazard. Even if the world still didn’t know it for obvious reasons, the ghost of nuclear war was less and less evident. With any luck, not a single bomb would have exploded when the war broke out, and at that point the war would only last a few months.

However, RE/SYST had also offered more. First, he gave Eden Union the exact coordinates where all the missile bases they currently knew were located. That information was of fundamental importance: RE/SYST could not stop the nuclear warheads forever, because sooner or later the enemies would fight back with anti-hacking programs; but if someone had used what little time the missiles couldn’t launch to destroy the bases, then even once they regained control, the enemies would have nothing to launch.

Sobek had already identified some bases thanks to Rambo, but it was difficult to scan the whole continent and find hidden structures. But since he now had their exact location, he could actually think about the counter-offensive! By taking advantage of [Teleportation] and [Ambush] he had already begun to deploy troops. He wouldn’t have attacked first, of course; in the political game, letting the other side initiate the conflict was important in maintaining the approval of the masses. But when the time came it would be ready.

The second thing that RE/SYST had offered was covert contact with the rebels of the nations still linked to the NMWA, so that they could agree to send aid and soldiers in great secrecy and thus cause the downfall of those regimes that supported the enemy superpowers, and therefore weaken them even more.

Initially Sobek had not known how to move about it: his initial plan was not to meddle in human affairs. He knew about the rebellions, they were inevitable with the birth of the Eden Union, but he had thought about letting the humans solve their problems for themselves. After all, in his perspective, that stalemate that was very reminiscent of the Cold War had to last at least as long as it, or at least twenty years. He was therefore in no hurry to quickly dismember the power of the NMWA. He didn’t want to become like the United States or Russia, playing war in nations that weren’t theirs and getting involved in wars that didn’t belong to him.

However, he now had to reconsider his strategy. International tensions had grown extremely strong after the discovery of the existence of nuclear bombs. While on Earth the atomic bombs were already known by everyone, and therefore the Cold War was based on them, on Eden they had unleashed a real scandal. All communication with the NMWA had already been closed and the dismemberment of the organization showed how much the nations now despised it. At that juncture, the enemy would have felt cornered... and if you cornered an enemy, then it is likely that he will attack with all he has, even at the cost of losing himself, because he will prefer to drag you into the grave with him rather than letting you win.

Therefore, Sobek felt that war was now imminent. A single spark was enough to cause international tensions to explode. Consequently, it was of the utmost importance to deprive the superpowers of any support. The more nations abandoned them, the fewer enemies Sobek would have to confront.

So he finally decided it was best to use that contact provided by RE/SYST to help the rebels. However, he would be very careful, to make sure that things didn’t escalate and cause a new Vietnam War.

Technically, Eden Union would need endless discussions before deciding whether or not to send aid. This was normal in a democracy. However, Sobek wasn’t part of the Eden Union: it was an exclusively human organization and Sobek wasn’t human. They were allies, but nothing more. Which meant that Sobek could choose whether to send aid without being accused of anything. He then began a long series of agreements and plans to support the various rebellions scattered across the countries.

Jocelyne had provided him with a large computer so that RE/SYST could contact him at any time. Sobek always kept him beside him; the advantage of having a collective mind with all the dinosaurs was that he didn’t need to move to keep an eye on everything, so he could afford to spend whole weeks lying in one spot waiting for a call.

He had already made arrangements with several rebellions, and that day was no different. This time his interlocutor was the rebel leader of the Republic of Alsace.

"So, can you provide us with troops and weapons?" asked the man, who, as far as Sobek had understood, was called Buddy. "How are you going to make them go unnoticed across the border?"

“That’s my problem. Suffice it to say that you will have what you need” Sobek replied; as always, he didn’t want to reveal the existence of [Teleportation]. “As you can surely understand, however, my soldiers will not be able to be seen. A human soldier can hide, a dinosaur would connect us directly to us. If that happens, war will break out. Therefore I trust that you will be able to plan a strategy that prevents the dinosaurs from showing themselves, obviously taking into account our mimetic abilities and our speed"

Buddy nodded. He clearly he would have far preferred Eden Union to send human soldiers, who could easily have passed for common rebels; however, he knew that Eden Union would take a long time to decide, so he was willing to accept Sobek’s support. "Do you have any advice on how we should do it?"

“Not me, but I will also send my covert operations commander. He will help you organize an efficient strategy” Sobek explained. “I cannot offer you more. I would say I was generous enough"

“You are, lord Sobek. What can we offer you in exchange for such kindness?" Buddy asked.

"For the moment, the weakening of the NMWA is enough. However, I would like you to seriously consider joining the Eden Union in the near future. I understand that at the moment these are difficult times, but when this situation is over, I would like you to carefully evaluate this path”. Sobek had no intention of forcing a nation to join the Eden Union by exploiting their desperation: such an act would not have been good for the mood of that nation. It was best to let that nation choose to join the Eden Union on its own, without any outside pressure. After all, such membership was practically certain: once the dictatorships were wiped out and the NMWA defeated, the single market and the restored economy would attract nations that remained neutral as an octopus.

Buddy didn’t think much about it: the terms were too greedy not to accept. "All right. When will the reinforcements arrive?"

“They will already be there in a week. My commander will come to see you and plan the strategy with you, reporting the numbers of troops and weapons. Tell me, where will he be able to find you?" Sobek could have sent help right away, but if he wanted to keep [Teleportation] a secret he had to avoid being rushed. A week was already a very short time given the enormous distances, and in fact Buddy seemed surprised that an army would arrive in such a short time. Also, his covert operations commander was currently working in another country, so it was only fair to give him time to get his job done.

"Tell your commander to go to the city of Frigeria, and go inside the cathedral; we’ll be there and escort him to our shelter” Buddy replied.

"Good. So we’re done. All I can do is wish you good luck"

“Thank you, lord Sobek. I hope this is goodbye, but if not it was a pleasure to meet you"

The communication broke off, leaving only Sobek and Nero. "And so another nation is preparing to blow up the powder keg" Sobek grumbled. "How many are we now?"

"Of the approximately one hundred nations that still support the superpowers, we have already contacted and supplied 36 of them with weapons" Nero replied in a mechanical voice. "In the next few days we will put you in contact with the rebels of at least fifty other nations, hoping that you can provide aid to all of them"

"I’ve already told you, I can and I will. I also want to avoid open warfare. I’m just as sick of this situation as you are” Sobek grumbled. "Rather, can you keep your word?"

“Do you doubt us, lord Sobek? What we have implemented in the Gardarikian Federation is already in motion. Over the next few months the country will plunge into civil war” Nero replied.

When RE/SYST first contacted Sobek, they told him they would provoke a rebellion within the Gardarikian Federation. How, Sobek did not know and did not want to know: what mattered to him was that one of his greatest rivals collapsed. If the Gardarikian Federation been shaken by civil war, no matter who won, Sobek would have benefitted from it: the nation would have been too busy fighting internally to face open war. At that point the only real enemy left on the board would be the Almagna Empire.

“You worry about providing support to those we put you in contact with. We will take care of the rest. Have no doubts about RE/SYST, lord Sobek: as you just said, we are on the same side” Nero said, and then he too turned off the communication.

Sobek laid his head on the ground, waiting for the next call. He didn’t like being talked to him like that, but deep down in wars one had to be willing to go down to negotiations even with unsavory characters. The important thing was to win, especially when the stakes were too high. He was therefore willing to bite the bullet and let RE/SYST do as he wished; after all, their actions brought him only advantages.