Chapter 44: The Korathians
Humanity adapted.
But adaptation came with a cost.
The human body was too slow, too weak, too breakable. Infantry units were slaughtered in every engagement, their weapons proving little more than an inconvenience to an enemy that could tear apart a battle tank with its bare hands.
In desperation, military scientists turned to genetic augmentation. If humanity couldn't match the Selunirs naturally, they would force evolution itself.
Thus, the Genetic Boosters were born—children accelerated beyond human limits, grown in artificial wombs, subjected to neural conditioning from the moment they could comprehend sound. Their muscles, bones, and reflexes were enhanced to to the extreme.
But it was a failure.
The process was too unstable.
Most of these children didn't even survive their first few years. The ones that did lived short, agonizing lives—their bodies breaking down before they reached their thirties.
The process of augmentation was not just about creating super-soldiers; it was about accelerating both mental and physical development. Children subjected to these boosters not only gained overwhelming physicality compared to baseline humans but also had their cognitive functions forcibly matured. The refined versions, later perfected by the Archon Families, could turn a five-year-old into the equivalent of a thirteen-year-old—both in intellect and in physical development.
The Selunirs were faster, stronger, and more adaptable. Even with augmented soldiers, humanity was barely slowing them down. And so they built something bigger.
The first generation of mechas were clunky, barely maneuverable, their pilots often dying before they could even master the controls. But in time, that changed. The next generations were faster, stronger, more precise—machines that could go toe-to-toe with the Selunir in direct combat.