They didn't know that it would be a war unlike what had come before it. This would be not like the wars where two sides in formation would face off across a battlefield and attack each other, nor would be one where tactics and use of guerilla tactics would win the day. What was to be coming was the industrial version of war, where machines helped to made 'honorable combat' less important than simple survival. Science became the new weapon, and the various nations were looking towards new and more efficient ways to wipe out one's enemies.
That was why the appearance of the giant machines were met with fear and concern. Onto a world that was realizing how much war could be mechanized, the sight of those first steam driven machines was a shock. Those creations might have been loud, hot, slow moving, and not very maneuverable, but they were more than effective. The first ones had crawler treads, but the size of them more than made up for it. They had the metal armor that could defend against machine gun and grenade fire, could have all manner of weapons attached to them, and were capable of doing more damage than any large group of soldiers.
When they got 'legs', it just became worse, and the people in charge realized that these heavy machines were something to worry about. They might not have been pretty but they got the job done. Everyone knew that something like that striding across a battlefield would not be something that they would want to see. And the fact of the matter was that they were controllable, what with the ability to put a loyal pilot in it, lowering the risk of there being deserters in the ranks of a group of soldiers of equal strength.
No matter if one called them 'Gear Walkers', 'Steel Men', or 'Metal Troopers', they were a powerful weapon of war.
Tesla could see the writing on the wall though. As he watched the escalating military strength of Austria-Hungary, he realized that one didn't need to go to outside sources to destroy one's lands. The planet of Urth had opened gateways to a belligerent world, but the fact of the matter was that could have been prevented, and it could still have ended up as it had. Keeping the ability to transverse universes secret hadn't proven to prevent the possible dangers that the world might face. In fact, it had only served to lessen the level of force available to those who wished to rely on strength to get what they wanted.
He had already assumed that war was something that was inevitable, as people were people. Until the underlying reasons for the fighting were taken away, people would still fight each other. But this promised to not be anywhere as clean as one might have thought.
And it was all being increased by one who had been part of his inner circle.
That fact was not lost on him, while:
(Posted Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:23)
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