He was right in his thinking; those earlier skirmishes were merely a prelude. This dragon, immense in size and power, was the main event. Towering above even the hospital, with a wingspan that dwarfed a football field, it was a menacing sight. Dragons have always been perilous creatures, and now, an undead one had materialized in the heart of the military base.
"Bell, we're under attack by a dragon!" Eldrin's voice crackled over the radio, urgent and incredulous. "Reports are coming in from other villages too. Dragons, everywhere! What the heck is going on?" His voice was nearly drowned out by the thunderous roar of autocannon fire in the background, as they attempted to fend off the beast, large as a jumbo jet. As the dragon flapped its mighty wings, a powerful gust swept towards the Blackhawk helicopter.
The dragon, with its formidable strength, charged towards the hospital. Its wings smashed into the second floor, obliterating everything above it, leaving only the ground floor intact. Sparks flew from the JLTV and Stryker autocannons, peeling scales and flesh from the undead beast, yet it remained upright. It was baffling. These autocannons could tear through the strongest magical shields with ease. Even the helicopters' hellfire missiles seemed futile against this creature.
The remaining VADS units tried their luck, unleashing the full fury of the M61 Vulcan, but the dragon was unyielding. Dozens of soldiers, desperate for a solution, launched anti-tank missiles at the black dragon. Explosions rippled across its body, yet it continued its relentless assault.
As the dragon turned its massive head toward the helicopter, Bell braced for the worst. Fire, he assumed. The pilot, sensing the impending danger, thrust the control stick forward, maneuvering the helicopter away as Bell and the crew hurriedly secured every door in preparation for the dragon's breath attack.
An orb of fiery orange formed in the dragon's mouth, launching towards the helicopter. It homed in on them, relentless, even as the pilot executed every evasive maneuver he knew. Chaff and flares were deployed in a desperate bid to divert the fireball, but it pursued them unyieldingly, every alarm in the cockpit blaring a warning of the imminent danger.
"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
In the next instant, the helicopter was engulfed by the fireball. A deafening crash resounded as the helicopter spun wildly out of control. A window shattered, sending shards of glass flying; some embedded in Bell's face, while the searing heat of the fireball singed his skin. The helicopter plummeted, losing altitude rapidly before crashing into the tundra with a bone-jarring thud. It rolled over the snow, tumbling multiple times before coming to a rest, upside down in the frigid wilderness.
Dazed, Bell unfastened his seatbelt only to be slammed against the helicopter's roof, now its floor. Gritting his teeth, he kicked at the damaged door, forcing it open. He crawled out of the wreckage, gasping for breath. From his position, he could see the dragon in the distance, its immense size making it visible even from afar. Small explosions dotted its back, but they seemed to barely affect the creature.
Turning his gaze, Bell spotted other dragons in the distance. Their smaller silhouettes were scattered against the backdrop of the sky, dotted with smoke trails from the ongoing battle. Their fiery breaths set the forest ablaze and targeted civilians desperately trying to escape via the roads.
The autocannons, once thought to be powerful, now seemed as ineffective as peashooters against these undead dragons. The realization dawned on Bell that these creatures were impervious to pain. The only way to defeat them was total destruction or immobilization. The nearest functional artillery units were engaged in the elven village, already overwhelmed with their own battles. "Fucking hell," he muttered under his breath. The missile batteries were depleted, having been used against the earlier onslaught of arrows or spears.
Bell re-entered the helicopter, determined to assist his fellow aircrew. The pilot, with fractures in his leg, looked up at him in concern. "Sir, your face, are you alright?" he asked, his voice laced with worry despite his own injuries.
Half of Bell's gas mask lay in tatters, his face beneath it painted a blemished red from the fire's heat, interspersed with several scratches from the shattered glass. "Focus on your leg first," Bell said, his voice firm yet tinged with urgency. "My face can wait. We've got bigger problems," he added, nodding towards the menacing dragon in the distance.
As he spoke, his radio crackled to life once more. "Bell, we're deploying a squad of Stryker SHORADs and JLTVs armed with M-TOWs. We'll draw the dragons' attention away from the villages. I've got a strategy," announced Eldrin over the line.
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"Let's hear it," Bell responded, his tone serious.
Eldrin's voice, determined and clear, came through. "We'll use the 155mm artillery to divert the smaller dragons from the civilians. Once they're grounded, we'll hit them hard. But there's a catch—I can't do much about the larger dragon at your base. It's just too massive."
"Do what you can, Eldrin. Every bit helps," Bell urged.
"You got it. Anything for a friend," Eldrin replied, a hint of resolve in his voice, before the line went dead.
Bell then put his thoughts on how to deal with the dragon. The railguns over penetrated its skin and its head without any difficulty, but it didn’t cause enough damage to fully wound or kill the dragon. He needed something to destroy its head, something heavy, but still within his budget, preferably something with enough range.
Thinking that Amelia and Harris were somewhere on this Tundra, unharmed from the virus or the dragon, gave him an idea for them. He opened his radio and contacted both of them. He hoped that they were far enough that the dragon wouldn’t detect them. It was crucial that whatever they did was undetected.
“We already formulated a solution, but it’s quite tricky,” Amelia responded, giving Bell a glimpse of hope.
“What’s the solution?”
“We bought five VLS with two Tomahawks on it, we’ll currently reprogram its target perimeter to get the dragon, even though it’s not designed for anti-air role,” Amelia added.
Bell's eyes widened at the news. "Tomahawks? That's... ambitious. But if you can make it work, it could be our best shot at taking down that behemoth. That thing has 500 kilograms of explosives, right?"
"Yes, we just need to recalibrate the targeting system to account for its size and speed. It's a bit of a long shot, but we're running out of options here," Amelia's voice crackled over the radio, a mix of determination and anxiety in her tone.
"I trust you," Bell replied, gazing at the colossal dragon wreaking havoc in the distance. "Just make sure you stay safe while doing it. We can't afford to lose anyone else."
"We will. Harris is working on the calculations now. We'll be ready to fire in five minutes," she informed him.
Bell nodded, even though she couldn't see him. "Fifteen minutes. Got it. We'll try to keep it distracted until then. Just... be careful, Amelia."
"We will. And Bell? Be careful out there too," Amelia said before the line went dead.
With the injured pilot carried on his back, Bell led the way with the air assaults surrounding him, his gaze fixed on the dragon in the distance. The taiga, now ablaze, served as a grim backdrop to the chaos unfolding around them. The dragon, with its fiery breath, seemed unstoppable, turning the dense forest into a sea of flames.
As they moved, Bell kept a wary eye on the sky, knowing that at any moment the dragon could turn its attention towards them. The air was thick with smoke and the sound of distant explosions, a constant reminder of the battle raging on.
"We need to find cover," Bell grunted, adjusting his grip on the pilot. "Somewhere the dragon can't spot us easily."
After a tense few minutes, they spotted a small depression in the ground. It was a small one, but enough to hide them among the white spec of landscape on the whole tundra. They laid down low while one of the air assaults helped to reduce the pain on the pilot’s injury.
Bell checked his radio, ensuring it was still functional. "Amelia, Harris, status report," he called into the device.
"We're almost ready, Bell," Amelia's voice crackled back. "We've recalibrated the Tomahawks. We're initiating the launch sequence now."
"Good. We've found some cover. We'll wait here for your signal," Bell replied.
As they hunkered down, Bell couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness. All they could do now was wait and hope that Amelia and Harris's plan would work. The fate of the base, the forest, and countless lives hung in the balance. Minutes passed like hours, each second stretching out as they waited for the sound of the Tomahawks.
Bell's grip on his weapon tightened, his eyes never leaving the sight of the dragon, which continued to unleash destruction. Finally, the distant roar of the Tomahawks broke the tense silence. Bell watched as the missiles arced through the sky, their trails visible even through the smoke. The dragon, sensing the new threat, turned its massive head towards the incoming missiles.
"This is it," Bell whispered, his heart pounding in his chest. The Tomahawks closed in, their targeting systems locked onto the dragon. With a series of thunderous explosions, the missiles struck their target, engulfing the dragon’s in a massive fireball. The explosion destroyed the dragon’s head.
“Good hit, good hit,” Bell added.
The air assaults cheered as the large dragon tumbled down towards the ground. Bell couldn’t believe his eyes, the dragon was down. The black body covered the landscape, and slowly, the body melted and evaporated into aether energy, white light of aether surrounded the dragon as the massive amount of aether energy was dispersed across the entire landscape. The cheers of his soldiers could be heard rumbling on his radio.
“WE FUCKING DID IT LADS!”
“Man, I thought I’d be a goner.”
“Sergeant, can we change the units name to The Dragon Slayer?”
“Drinks on me! We fucking did it!”
Amelia then chimed in, “How did it go?”
“The dragon is down.”
Then, Eldrin added, “All clear on my end, Bell.”
[After Action Reports: 3 Young Dragons Killed, 1 Dragon Killed]
[475,000,000 EP Rewarded, 110,000 EXP Rewarded]
[Level Up]