July 4, 2019

En Route to Felomia, 36 miles out

“What’s the Valkyrie’s payload?” A Dragonslayer pilot, Captain Grant, asked.

A reply came over the combat network. “Huh? Oh, the General said it’s got one 250 pounder.” It was Captain Grant’s wingman, Captain Miller.

“What?” Captain Grant was confused. “That’s it?”

“Well, most of it is jammed with sensors and stuff for uh, tactical analysis,” Miller replied.

“Hm, you’d think it’s carrying something special…”

“Eh, it kinda is? The General said it’s for the new drone network. Thing’s gotta learn from something. Why not the best?”

“Alright you two Dragonslayers, cut the chatter. We’re about to reach the target,” Major Adam Gryffin announced.

For this mission, Dragonslayer Squadron flew 6 F-35’s, leaving behind the F-22 Raptors they had used last month against the Epic Dragon. One of the primary reasons for this selection was to test the viability of current generation US aircraft against various targets in Gaerra. Another was to collect data for the prototype YQ-58 Valkyrie so that the drone may finally be put into official service as swarming wingmen for human-piloted aircraft. For this operation, Adam was tasked with coordinating a bombing with the Valkyrie to determine how well the drone received communications from its controller. To minimize collateral damage, all aircraft were equipped with small, laser guided bombs.

Trailing in between the Dragonslayers were two larger aircraft, designated as Ghost One and Ghost Two. In these lumbering aircraft, crew were hurriedly making checks to their weapons.

“105 is good to go!”

“40 is all ready!”

“25s are good!”

With a few minutes left to reach their destination, some were excited. Some were even nervous, unsure if they could make it in time. However, all were confident in their faith of superior firepower: that their selection of the finest American ordnance would be able to reduce the beast to bloody chunks.

——

“Let me show you how a master tames a monster!”

The declaration from the Eanish man was loud, loud enough to be heard by Kelmithus and Jones, who continued their work in the town circle.

“Kelmithus, what else do we need?” Dr. Jones asked as he placed the final box of mana gems in the appropriate position.

“The setup is complete. Now, all I require is Omnis, as a conduit for the massive amounts of magical energy we must channel from these crates.”

Jones frowned.

“Don’t I use you as a conduit every time I cast a spell?” Jones asked.

Kelmithus had an expression of confusion on his face for a split second before he realized that Jones was communicating with Omnis.

“Ah, I don’t think you’ve ever told us about that.”

“Omnis… I’m pretty sure I was asleep.”

“Whatever. Kel, Omnis says he is willing to do it.”

Dr. Jones ignored Omnis and passed his scepter to Kelmithus, who placed it in the center of the runic depictions and crates scattered throughout the town circle. Kelmithus began chanting and soon enough, a beam of light shot into the sky, not unlike the beam seen a few days ago.

“Interesting,” Dr. Jones thought.

Kelmithus then stood in silence, allowing the magical energies to build up.

“Just a couple more minutes…”

——

The Hydra eyed the puny mammal that so confidently strolled up to challenge it. Unfortunately for the beast, it was so blinded by hunger and hubris that it could not see the arcane symbols hidden among the bushes, nor could it see the flaws in the hastily crafted leaf coverings in front of it.

The mammal raised its hands, letting out a war cry, and then beat its chest. In response, the Hydra roared, sending chills down the spines of the other mammals, standing behind their walls and towers. Curiously, the one in front of him did not falter. Offended, the Hydra lunged forward in an attempt to eat the creature.

Unexpectedly, the Hydra fell short and instead fell through the leaves, nearly tripping. Despite the dig trap being but a story in height, the Hydra was firmly entrenched by the numerous poisoned mithril spikes that pierced its feet.

The Hydra stifled a roar of pain, instead screaming in anger as the human laughed and rushed around it. It would take time to lodge itself free, but in the meantime, it could still kill the nimble little creature with its attacks.

—

Master Kor laughed and rushed toward the first activation rune. 9 such others were scattered along the circumference of the trap.

To Kor, this was routine. The plan was to activate the runes in sequence so that the Imperium’s Magical Suppresion Tendrils could restrain the Hydra and slowly send it into a mana exhausted state.

The Imperial Tamers were first founded decades ago, years after Eanish sages rediscovered the lost art of mana siphoning. With such magic, intricate runes were developed for the purpose of restraining powerful mages. This allowed the Eanif Kingdom to expand relentlessly, since rivaling nations couldn’t challenge Eanif without their magic users. Eventually, a group of Tier 1 adventurers decided to apply this knowledge to the capture of a Tarasque and the rest became history.

Master Tamer Kor has learned directly from these legendary adventurers, who still prowl the lands in search of everlasting glory thanks to an abundance of incredible loot which has improved upon their durability and lifespans. Athough he certainly did not meet up to their standards, Master Kor was still confident in his ability to wrangle this Hydra, even if it was the hardest challenge he had ever faced.

Dodging a ball of acid, Kor made his way over to the second rune and activated it. A head lunged in his direction, nearly biting his upper torso off. Kor rolled backward only to have to jump forward once more to avoid another attack.

Some splashes of flames and acid landed on his gear, which was enchanted to protect against magic. Still, the heat from the Hydra’s fireballs threatened time overwhelm his magical defenses if he kept only narrowly avoiding the attacks.

Muttering a few incantations, he renewed the various buffs he had cast on himself. As he activated the third rune, he began to feel the effects of exhaustion. After navigating through a storm of fire and acid, he finally reached the fourth and cursed. The runes seemed so far apart, yet if the circular trap was any smaller, he likely would have succumbed to a fireball or acid ball by now. If the runes were father apart, he would have more time to dodge the Hydra’s ranged attacks and even avoid the heads’ physical attacks, but at the cost of having to run more. Already, Kor had run the equivalent of several blocks on top of the magical strain of maintaining his defenses and the physical strain of quickly dodging incoming attacks.

While running to the fifth rune, Kor noticed a bright beam of light shooting up into the sky. Curious, he thought. The distraction was enough to send him flying from a fireball that had landed behind him. He quickly rolled, dodging yet another lunge from the Hydra’s hungering jaws and recovered.

By the sixth rune, Kor was exhausted. The Hydra, sensing the wavering of its prey, ceased its attacks and grinned at the man who stood defiantly against it. It was nearly free from the crude spike trap and after consuming this Kor, it would have no problem ravaging the town.

Kor whispered a prayer to Avis and Avon, the goddess of death and god of war, respectively. As of a response from the gods themselves, a massive bolt of lightning erupted from the town circle, striking the Hydra who was climbing out of the pitfall. The beast jerked wildly and it fell back down into the spikes, having lost control over its motor functions.

Master Kor smiled at the gift he was granted and quickly activated the nearly all of the remaining runes without any challenge from the Hydra, who could only glare at the running little creature.

Upon reaching the tenth and final rune, the Hydra stirred as it began to recover from its temporary paralysis. The central head opened its mouth, beginning to unleash an attack.

Kor was a bit unnerved by the Hydra’s actions, since he recalled the middle head doing nothing but attempting to bite him. He shuddered thinking of its attack, then calmed down after activating the final rune.

The buildup of energy within the middle head’s mouth reached a critical state and just as it was about to obliterate the pesky critter before it, tendrils lashed, seemingly out of nowhere, and grabbed it. The surprising nature and unexpected force of the tendrils forced the heads to face the sky, and thus Kor was spared.

—

“Holy hell, did that come from the Hydra?” Lieutenant Hopkins asked.

“Affirmative, Slayer 6. Looks like the damn thing’s got some sort of laser or energy beam weapon.” Adam replied.

“Why didn’t Monster One or Two get hit with it?” Miller wondered.

“Must be some helluva fight going on down there for it to use that specific attack maybe,” Grant speculated.

The American aircraft approached the site of the battle, where ten purplish tendrils grasped a thrashing Hydra.

“The fuck? I thought we were just dealing with the Hydra?” The pilot of Ghost One said.

“Intel messed up the Hydra’s ETA. Wouldn’t be surprised if they messed up something else,” Ghost Two replied.

Suddenly, a transmission from the ground came in, identifying as Captain Emma Lamarr. She explained the situation on the ground based on Kelmithus’ and Dr. Jones’ accounts.

“Well folks, looks like we should thank these Eanish later for trapping the thing for us. I’ll be sending the Valkyrie first. After that, Dragonslayer Squad will commence bombing runs. By the time we finish, Ghosts One and Two will have arrived on site to finish off the thing,” Adam announced.

“Roger that!” Came the simultaneous reply from the local network.

The Valkyrie shot forward, accelerating to speeds that would certainly crush a human. The onboard computer received targeting information from Adam’s F-35 and calculated the necessary information to conduct a successful bombing. The test went off without a hitch, as the precision bomb landed smack in the Hydra’s chest. The ghostly purplish tendrils within the blast radius disintegrated for a split second before reforming and securing the Hydra.

Subsequent bombs from Dragonslayer Squadron devastated the once pristine skin of the Hydra, turning the emerald skin into a dark charcoal. With its magical powers dwindling, the fireballs it shot missed their targets by a pathetic margin.

Missing chunks of flesh throughout the body, the Hydra attempted to regenerate. Despite being hindered by the tendrils, regeneration commenced relatively smoothly as some of the burnt skin returned to its original color. The Hydra’s devastated right arm slowly regained its mass as tendons and flesh grew from the remaining chunks. With all ordnance depleted, the F-35s turned away, remaining in the general vicinity in order to escort the two gunships back to base once they finished their mission.

—

To the Hydra, the circling jets looked like vultures waiting for a dying animal. Yet, these vultures were nearly enough to kill a Hydra on their own. What could they be waiting for?

—

Two AC-130 gunships rumbled toward the Hydra, drawing cheers from Alpha Team on the ground and open mouths from the Gaerran natives. Neither the Felomian people nor the Eanish had ever seen such an object, except of course for Master Kor, who had seen massive bombers in Mekkan.

Master Kor, resting safely behind the town walls, frowned as he saw the approaching planes. He had seen Mekkanese bombing runs before, and just a single plane could decimate a village. What could these two American planes do?

To Kor’s surprise the American planes were less like bombers and more like flying ships, equipped with massive guns and cannons.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The two gunships fired their first salvo. Four 105 mm rounds shrieked through the air and impacted the Hydra with tremendous force, almost causing the tendrils to lose their grasp. With the immense stopping power of the planes’ guns, the Hydra was already effectively restrained and forced to the ground. Just the opening volley was enough to negate any regeneration done by the Hydra. The beast was now missing half of its left leg and the right arm was once again devastated, only attached to the main body by a few strands which had somehow managed to hold on.

Then came the next volley. Eight corresponding explosions signified the impact of the AC-130’s 40mm rounds onto the designated target, completely severing the limbs damaged from the first salvo.

The Hydra, now released from the shackles of tendrils which took but a few seconds too long to reform, watched the beast’s above angrily. They flew low and slow: easier targets than the smaller, more nimble pests from before. The middle head began to charge its attack, opening its mouth only to receive a meal of dozens of 25mm rounds. The rounds impacted the soft flesh of the middle head’s throat, causing the energy build up process to be interrupted. Consequently, without the biological components in the throat to stabilize the magical energy, a massive blue explosion engulfed the Hydra, vaporizing the middle head and severely burning the other two.

With the most powerful head gone and half the body missing, the Hydra attempted a retreat into the forest, crawling with whatever limbs it had left.

These efforts were futile. The gunships’ 105mm Howitzers were ready to fire, and thus they did. The damaged skin and depleted magical energy of the Hydra stood no chance against the final salvo of 105mm rounds. The ground upon which the Hydra stood was bathed red with gore and the nearby environment was showered with bloody flying chunks.

—

On the ground, the Felomian townspeople looked back toward the thunderous sounds and bright flashes in the distance, wondering what happened. Soon, a radio communication alerted Lord Talvin.

“Hmm? How do you answer this thing again… Ah there it is!”

“Lord Talvin, we have excellent news!” The voice of Major Donnager announced. “The Hydra has been slain!”

“Thank you, Major Donnager. We the people of Felomia owe you yet another debt, on top of liberating us from the Nobians.”

“Haha, don’t worry about that. Ecith is an American territory now, so you fall under our protection.”

“Once more, I thank you. I will now announce the news to my people.”

Turning his attention to the Felomian evacuees gathered by the eastern gate, he declared, “The Hydra is no more! You may all return to your homes!”

He was met with cheers and the crowd quickly dispersed, everyone walking back to their homes and discussing the whole ordeal. Lord Talvin grinned. This marked a new era for his people.

—

“I just gave Lord Talvin the good news. The townspeople should be working their way back here.”

“That’s nice!” Emma said.

“Yeah, and we had quite the fireworks show too!” Kelmithus joked.

Alpha Team laughed heartily, prompting several glances from the awestruck Eanish.

Master Kor in particular was at an extreme loss for words. He would certainly be reprimanded for his failure to tame the Hydra. Now, he wouldn’t be killed, since Emperor Evalion isn’t stupid enough to waste the talents of his people, but he may lose many of the benefits he had seen in recent months, such as additional gold. Perhaps he could focus his tale more on his encounter with the Americans?

Yes, Emperor Evalion is known for seeking information. Depending on what Kor said, Emperor Evalion could potentially spend days, even weeks, pondering over this report. Satisfied with his decision, Kor began to organize his camp for a return back to the Imperium. They would not return on the back of a tamed Hydra, but returning with one of its heads should be enough to make him a hero.

As the last of his workers exited the East gate, he spared one last glance at the Stars and Stripes upon the gate’s flagpole. A nation that could decimate a Hydra in a few short minutes. Kor smiled softly, his face actually depicting a smile this time. In the background, several fireworks went off above numerous Ecith towns in the distance. This world was about to get interesting.