Kismet’s Tale

      Aunger came to the lab beneath the great manor. He was with three of the Hounds who were wearing their exoskeleton suits and carried a vest of magazines. Seeing their ‘blood-father’ gave them strength. The three Hounds saluted vigorously.

They were carrying a piece of equipment that took three of them to carry. “What’s that?”

“Gear for the Verdant Dragon.”

“You actually found it?” Mavin raised his head.

Aunger nodded. “It’s thanks to these three that I was able to find the Verdant Dragon that had been lurking the steppe.”

There was a land dragon that used its legs like grasshoppers. The movement of this erratic dragon made it the last dragon that they had to hunt down. Not to mention that this dragon that contained the sac that Mavin needed to complete the ritual that he would need to finish the last missing puzzle to fit it in his body.

The piece of equipment that the three of his Hounds carried was still in their hand so Mavin took it with a single hand and thought how weighty it was. Their faces showed awe and respect.

Aunger looked at the case and said. “This is the deployable sword that the Sir had made to hunt this particular beast. It’s a two meter blade and weighs about five hundred pounds.”

Mavin opened the case, and deployed the two meter blade that was as tall as him. It was wide enough to take most of his body. He made some space and swung it in front.

“How is it?”

“Good enough, but it is quite heavy.”

“You don’t look like you feel that it’s heavy?”

Mavin thrust the sword that weighed more than five hundred pounds, producing a gust of wind that pushed some of the equipment. Martina gave him a nasty glare as she then placed the equipment back in place. “Please refrain from destroying the equipment, Boss.”

Mavin pulled on the mechanism on the guard and yanked the blade back to place. “Inconvenient,  and more like a bladed maul, perfect for hunting it down.”

“I don’t understand why we couldn’t use a 13.2 mm rifle for this. I doubt it would break a collarbone when it comes to these lads.”

Mavin stared at the three exoskeleton-wearing Hounds. They were wearing something that was made for them and judging by how they were following Aunger. They were one of the lads involved in the five-year war, purging any combatants that tried to enter the Greater Lazon under the cover of the night.

“I have no doubt about that, but we are facing a Verdant Dragon that has a poison sac and layer below its scale that could instantly melt anyone that has not a single protection in their skin. Do you know why I need this overly long and heavy maul? Because even I wouldn’t dare to touch the sac until I get to cut it. I need you boys to hold down the dragon,  so I can deliver a killing blow. So how about we start before the dragon escapes?”

He was rather eager.

***

 

Mavin left the grounds of the great manor and went north of the capital alongside the Hounds. They traveled on by a half-truck supplied with the equipment they needed to nail down the great beast.

Mavin watched the Lazonian landscape flow by. Flat plains had long since been replaced by rocky hills and forests and small mountains. Aunger carried only a rifle with him, while the rest of the heavily armed Hounds were on standby.

The two half-trucks arrived on the tree line of a forest leading to a mountain with a rather unclimbable flat wall-like surface. Mavin dragged the deployable greatsword and leaned it on his shoulder while the boys dragged their 13.mm rifles armed with explosive rounds.

Aunger took out a foldable table, placing it next to the half-truck that they got out. The other truck that followed them had also started to deploy the HOUND-variant of the Vulcan power frame. The pilot of the power frame climbed the chest chassis and readied the analog controls while the mechanics readied the armaments of the machine.

Aunger placed the map of the area. Mavin looked at the map and saw that other than the village that there were no villages or hamlets around marked on the map.

“Ah, this is Tuskan’s Shard, right?”

“Yeah, so we should have no problem about villagers and folks coming out and distracting us. The area’s big so we would be able to sweep left and right while you head for the center, Boss. There should be mountain snipers that are stationed four hundred yards away from our location so we should have no problem,” he said, taking a headphone attached to a battery pack fastened with leather fasteners. “This is one of the new technologies that you had asked for, Boss. The tower relays are already transmitting the signals so we should have no problem connecting.”

“Are we using these in our armed forces now?”

“Only stationary, but the Hounds are testing it for field runs. There are problems with the signal when they go beyond a certain range, and the microphone produces too much noise sometimes, but it is viable. We can coordinate with these.”

Mavin regarded the Hounds who were with them.  Their radios were attached to their exoskeletons and were wired around the pack on their back alongside the hydroelectric crystals that  keeps it functional.

“Looks like we’re using the tech from Holmia now. Do we have enough?”

“We’ll have enough to arm the Hounds, Boss.”

“Good. I need you guys in your top shape when I’m not around. You are the shadows of our home, and it would be best if we are better armed and better informed than the Empire.”

“We will be,” Aunger said calmly. “For now I’ll have our specialist clear up the noise on the frequency band. Once that’s done, we will move in. Are you sure that you don’t want any suit, Boss?”

“No. This is a good time to test my strength while I can. I’m facing something more dangerous than this damn dragon after all.”

A frown passed over Aunger’s face. “I understand. All units will be deployed once the preparations are done.”

 

***

 

The wind blew quietly, driving the leaves out. Mavin’s foot made a crunching sound every time he stepped on the leaves. There were ten meter tall trees and most of the taller and older trees were covered in a skin of grass and moss. Roots intertwined on one another and the thick vegetation and patches of leaves made the area dim-lighted.

Mavin tried his best not to make noise by walking carefully. Unfortunately, the weight of his gear, and the greatsword he was carrying made it impossible.  The ground he was walking on was soft, and to avoid being buried ankle-deep. He had to walk on top of the overgrown roots, planting his foot firmly to avoid tripping.

Mavin pressed on the button attached to the strap of his webbing. “Aunger, any signs from the other teams?”

“The Vulcan we sent on the left area has started attracting attention, Boss. Most of our snipers are in place while the Hounds are surveying the right flank.”

“Copy that,” Mavin scanned the area. “Nothing so far in my end. This verdant dragon has stayed its welcome in our forest. We need to put it down here before we miss the ingredient and spend days tracking it again. I need that poison sack so tell our squads not to aim around the neck and throat area of the dragon. I doubt that their kit will shave through their scales, but it's best if you target their spring legs first.”

“On it.”

Mavin let his finger off the button. He continued walking until he found himself in an area with fallen trees leaning on one another. There were no clear areas and they can’t exactly shoot down the demifiend with a single sniper rifle when there were no clear sight of it.

Mavin checked on the sticky flare on his pouches and ran up vertically before grabbing on to a piece of wood. Standing on top of a fourteen meter tall tree that was cut from the middle, he traveled his gaze around the area, finding nothing other than the tall trees.

“Anything on your side?” Mavin radioed in.

Aunger made two clicks before he answered. “There are movements around the Vulcan-unit, over.”

“Tell the unit not to engage hostile, over. I’ll be moving to the Vulcan unit and provide support. I repeat, do engage any hostile until you are given permission.”

Mavin attached the strap in the circle around the butt of the greatsword before racing through the forest, vaulting over fallen trees, running sideways and making use of his leg strength to jump from tree to tree. As he moved closer to the area where the unit was, the vegetation on the ground made it impossible for him to navigate, so he opted on using the overgrown roots as pathways until he caught a glimpse of the Vulcan-unit.”

Mavin landed heavily next to the Vulcan-unit and stabbed his greatsword on the ground. The Vulcan-united craned to his direction for a moment. “Boss, the might be the dragon, at twelve, about twenty meters away, Boss.”

“How do we handle this?” Aunger radioed.

Mavin placed his gaze on the vegetation. That scaly bastard was taking a nap. “Aunger, I want the Hounds in our position, I’ll be popping snap flares. Keep your snipers aware.”

Mavin fished out a snap flare, and went into a pitching stance. He then aimed for the sky,  strike the flare on the rock beside him, and threw it with all he got up the air. The flare didn’t pop until it reached above the trees.

When it did the smell of the flare, the noise, will surely wake that beast. Artillery would be useless this close, and to aim and fire accurately in this dense jungle would be useless if it doesn’t hit anything. It was too risky to do anything unless they were a hundred meters or more away from the beast.

“Lad, are you armed with a cannon?” Mavin asked, while preparing his greatsword. He hated the heavy thing, but he needed the damn thing since any instrument would just melt before he could take it out and even acid-resistant equipment would be useless when it comes to engaging the 

“I am, Boss.”

“Good. I would advise engaging a beast that might spit acid and poison at you.”

“Are you going to be fine, Boss?”

“There’s a reason that I have this heavy sword, lad. Don’t worry about it and shoot the damn monster when it tries to leap.”

“Got it, Boss.”

“Good.”

Mavin dragged the greatsword menacing towards the beast. The dragon snapped towards him, and used its powerful back legs to jump when the Vulcan unit slammed a shelling on the dragon.  The dragon, although six meters tall, and four meters wide, was able to twirl, land on the tree and pounce at the nearest hostile, swiping its claw.

“Oh no you don’t,” Mavin dashed into a leap, used his greatsword to stab on the ground, while his right hand grabbed onto the tip of the tail of the dragon. “Dodge now!” He commanded the pilot.  Using the stabbed greatsword as a pole, he swung the best around and threw it on the tree.

The beast landed, again unsurprisingly, but this time its claws were pointed at Mavin.

The pilot didn't move.

 He watched as Mavin lifted the five hundred pounds greatsword and blocked the two mete-wide claws of the demifiend.

“Ah shit, that shook my bones more than it should,” Mavin spat as he pushed the beast, then slammed the flat of the greatsword’s blade like a club right on the nose of the greater beast.

The best was flung three meters away from Mavin.

 Mavin stood staring at the beast with his eyes focused on it.

“Keep the beast from jumping away, that’s all I asked of you, lad,” Mavin radioed to all. “Aunger,  make sure that they arrive on time.”

“Hold on, Boss.”

Mavin glared at the beast and readied for another attack.