Dragon Slayer
Prologue: Tortured past, uncertain future
It is the year 2050 AD and the Earth has been plunged into chaos once
again, this time not by man, but by creatures from beyond the Earth solar
system. In the year 2035 descending from the sky came burning balls of fire
that were thought to be meteors, but what the people of Earth didn't know is
that these balls were not meteors, but in fact were their new enemy, dragons.
These creatures of ancient myth became real when they fell to Earth and brought
such destruction that had never before been seen in the course of human
history. The continent of Australia was wiped out, many countries in South
Africa were lost and many other nations suffered heavy loses to their
populations. New York city was removed from the face of the planet in the
largest dragon attack ever and the United Nations was lost as well. But before
the UN was destroyed, the Security Council created the Dragon Defense
Directorate based on the massive military space station built for the UN Global
Defense Forces. The task of the Directorate was to do all that it could to
defeat the dragons and drive them off of Earth; to help in the task the
Directorate developed a robot war machine called the mobile suit.
For fifteen years the Directorates
mobile suits have fought the dragons wherever they appeared. Battles have been
won and lost in both sides, but the Directorate has developed a new type of
mobile suit that may tip the scales in their favor. For a young pilot who has
lost everything in his life, it might help him find the meaning of his existence.
Location:
Somewhere in southern Peru, South America
Date: 14 March
2048
The South American town
was covered in darkness as it lay in ruins from the fires that had destroyed it
earlier that day. The town had been torn apart by the latest threat to human
kind, the much-hated dragons that had come from the stars. The creature that
had leveled the town still lurked, stalking its next victims who now searched
for it to annihilate it for its crimes and the crimes of the ones like it. Though
large, the savage creature moved swiftly and silently as it tracked the ones
that hunted it. The creature walked close to the ground on all fours as it
crept among the burnt out buildings and would peer around a corner with its
long neck so not to expose its large body. Marching through the town were the machines
called mobile suits that were used by the ones who hunted the creature.
It had seen and fought
these mobile suits before and it knew that they operated in large groups of
twenty. It also knew that this large group of mobile suits was divided up into
two groups of six and two groups of four, one of the groups of four was the
command unit, while the other was a support unit. The creature knew which way was
the best way to deal with the mobile suits and that was to isolate each group then
destroy them one by one before they could call for help. It turned slowly then
began a to head to out edges of the town to put its plan into effect. As it
turned the moon light glinted off its metallic scales as it moved its large reptilian
body, it was going to take the human soldiers by surprise just like it did with
the town. This creature was one of the fiercest breeds of dragon, with scales of
powerful steel and breathing blasts of heated plasma fire. This was a steel
dragon.
"I hate hunting dragons,"
Sergeant Jill Ringer said over the platoons communications channel when she
halted her MS-06F Zaku II next to a destroyed house. The other five mobile
suits in the platoon stopped as well. "The damn things are as big as buildings
and they can move as quietly as a mouse!"
"Calm down, Ringer."
Sub-Lieutenant Marcus Phell tried to sooth the fiery Sergeants temper.
"Yeah Jill. You know you'll
start to relax when you get the chance to take a piece out of its ass." Sub-Lieutenant
Falcon Gray, the youngest pilot in the company at age fifteen, said jokingly as
he brought his RGM-79G GM attack type behind Phell's MS-09R Rick Dom. The three
pilots started laughing.
"Quiet down, you three!"
Lieutenant Robert Carr, the platoons commander, snapped at the chattering
pilots as he turned his RGM-79N GM custom to face his platoon. "Contact was lost with the support unit ten
minutes ago. Captain Hynes wants us to back track and search for them."
"At least we don't have
to drive ourselves insane hunting this son of a bitch of a dragon." Ringer said
as she turned her Zaku around. "Those poor bastards were probably jumped by
that SOB." The words were barely out of her mouth when her Zaku erupted into
flames, from a heated ball of plasma slamming into the mobile suit's torso. The
other pilots raised their suits weapons and pivoted the heads of their mobile
suits this back and forth trying to see where the dragon was.
"Did anyone see where
that came from?" Carr asked, but no one had seen from which direction the
dragon had attacked. "All right, stay sharp."
There was a glint of
light, then a large shape charged out of the darkness towards the platoon and
before anyone could do anything it slashed its claws through the platoons
second GM attack type. The GM began to fall, but before it hit the ground its
reactor overloaded and the night was brightened slightly by the mobile suits
fiery death. The dragon used its powerful legs to jump over the platoon; Falcon
pivoted on his GM's right leg and lined up his hundred-millimeter machinegun
with the creature. He pulled the trigger and traces etched his firing line in
the darkness as he emptied half his magazine into the dragon, but each bullet
sparked as they bounced off the dragons steel hide. The dragon landed deeper in
the town.
"It's heading for the
command unit! Go after it, you sons of bitches!" Carr yelled at the remaining
members of his platoon. Phell powered up his Rick Dom's hover engines and started
to fly down the road while the other mobile suits had to run. "Did anyone see
what kind of dragon it was?"
"It was metallic, sir.
Steel I think." Falcon responded. Carr didn't reply.
Up ahead of the charging
platoon were the burning remains of a GM custom from the command unit lying in
the street, and further down were more remains of the second GM custom. A stray
bazooka round hit an already destroyed building and the platoon turned in the
direction that the shell had come from. All that remained of the command unit
was Captain Hynes's RGM-79G GM command type, which was behind the dragon, and a
MS-18E Kampfer, which was in front of the dragon. Hynes racked his machinegun
across the dragon's back while the Kampfer hit the dragon from the front with
its shotgun. The dragon roared and from its maw spewed a blast of heated plasma
that engulfed the Kampfer. The blue mobile suit flailed its arms then suddenly
exploded as its reactor overheated and melted down. At the same time the dragon
slashed its blade edged tail through the center of Captain Hynes's GM and the mobile
suit fell on its back. The torso erupted into flames.
"Let's hit it!" Carr
yelled after watching what had remained of the command unit be swept away so
easily. Falcon went to the right, Carr went to the left, the platoons remaining
Zaku charged straight at the dragon and Phell came up from behind with a RB-T27
eight hundred and eighty millimeter raketen bazooka at the ready. The two GM's
and the Zaku opened fire with their machineguns, but the large bullets bounced
off the dragon's metallic scales. The creature took the four pilots by surprise
by spinning in a complete circle and using its tail to cut the Zaku in half at
the waist. The legs ran for a few more meters before collapsing, while the
torso sailed into the air and vanished in a fireball when the reactor
overloaded.
Carr
halted his GM to steady his aim and scored a few hits on the dragon's head when
he fired a burst from his weapon. The dragon twisted its head around to glare
at the Lieutenant's GM custom, the lizard's eyes meeting the GM's visor and in
that moment both dragon and man understood each other. When the moment passed the
dragon leapt forward with its jaws wide open and Lieutenant Carr opened fire
with his machinegun once more. Carr's weapon ran out of ammunition suddenly and
as he was reaching for a fresh magazine the dragons jaws clamped around the GM's
mid section. In one swift motion the dragon hoisted its head into the air with
the GM still in its jaws and started to crush the mobile suit.
"Gray,
Phell! Get out of here!" Lieutenant Carr yelled over the radio. "Go find the
second platoon and kill this thing!"
"But
Lieutenant!" Falcon began to protest.
"Don't
argue with a doomed soldier, Gray!" Carr said before Falcon could continue. "You
can't save me. Now listen-" Carr was cut off when the dragon crushed the mid
section of the GM along with its reactor. The reptile's head was engulfed by
the GM's explosion.
While
the dragon was dazed from the explosion Falcon and Phell both turned their
mobile suits towards the second platoon's patrol area and began to move as fast
as their mobile suits could go. The dragon roared in triumph after it had
recovered, but it didn't chase the fleeing mobile suits. Once Falcon and Phell
thought they were a safe distance from the killing machine of a lizard they
stopped and scanned the area for the second platoon. They saw something at the
edge of their sensors and headed towards it. What they found were the burning remains
of a Zaku: Its torso had been ripped open by an explosion, its domed shaped
head lay five meters away, the right arm with the shield attached to its right
shoulder was still connected to the torso, but the left arm with the spiked
shoulder pad had landed in the side of a destroyed building.
Two
bazooka rounds lit up the night to the east and Falcon and Phell headed in that
direction, hoping that they weren't too late. When they reached the area where
the fighting had started again they saw a GM attack type raze a six-tube rocket
launcher at the dragon that couldn't be seen by the two approaching pilots. The
reptile made itself visible by charging forward at the GM and when it rushed
past the mobile suit it slashed deep rents in the GM's center torso. The mobile
suit spun around from the force of the hit, pointed its rocket launcher into
the air and a split second later exploded. Falcon and Phell then headed in the
direction that the dragon had gone in.
Their
enemy actually did something good for them, because standing shoulder to
shoulder with their weapons raised were the three remaining mobile suits of the
second platoon. The second platoon was commanded by a Lieutenant Nash who
piloted a tall MS-07B3 Gouf that was armed with a seventy millimeter gatling
gun attached to a shield on the right arm. The Gouf was similar in design to
the Zaku, except that it was taller, painted blue, had two shoulder pads with
spikes on them and the middle spike on each pad was taller and curved. The
other two suits with Nash were a GM custom and a Zaku.
"Where
the hell did you two come from? And where's the first platoon?" Nash demanded
when he turned his Gouf's mono-eye to look at the two approaching mobile suits.
"We're
all that's left!" Phell began. "The dragon got the command and support units too!"
"What!?
Damn! In that case, you two get your asses in gear and take this thing from
behind!"
Falcon
stopped his GM and raised his machinegun to add his mobile suits firepower to
that of the second platoon. The dragon was growing more and more furious with
every hit from the machine guns as their bullets bounced off of its scales. It
opened its maw and a ball of plasma erupted from the fire chamber just
underneath its stomach. The ball ripped into the chest of Nash's Gouf and in a
violent display of fire the Gouf disappeared; bits of armour pelting the two
suits next to it. Taking advantage of the distraction provided by their
commanders death, the dragon charged at the GM custom and Zaku as they relayed back
from the explosion. The Zaku turned to fire at the charging creature, but the
dragon ripped its claws from the top of the Zaku's head all the way down to its
waist. The Zaku reeled then exploded. The GM custom was also quickly dealt with
when the dragon's tail snapped it in half. Phell was lining up his bazooka, but
the dragon saw him and pounced on his Rick Dom, pinning it to the ground.
"Falcon!
Help me!" Phell cried in terror, but it was to late for Falcon to do anything.
The dragon slashed its claws across the Rick Dom's chest, cutting deep gashes
in the armour, then with its other hand it slashed the same area again, but
this time struck the reactor. The Rick Dom began to shudder from a reactor
overload and the dragon jumped off its victim. Seconds after it landed the Rick
Dom went up in flames.
"Mark!
No!" Falcon yelled in horror after watching his friend die. He jettisoned the
empty magazine in his machinegun and popped in a fresh one as tears welled up
in his eyes. He held his weapon in his GM's left arm and leveled it with his
target, but before he could fire the dragon made a leap at him. Ready for such a
move, he jumped his GM backwards, but he wasn't totally safe for the dragon
made a swipe with its right arm and caught the GM in the left arm, severing it
at the elbow. The force of the hit sent Falcon's mobile suit flying off to his
right and when it landed the right leg was damaged. He was barely able to get
his GM to stand again, but he did it with much difficulty.
He
was facing the dragon again, but this time he didn't have any weapons to fight
it with and in desperation he panned his GM's head left and right in search of
one. He was lucky. Lying on the ground not so far from him was the six-tube
rocket launcher from the GM attack type that had been destroyed earlier. He
took a chance and made a dive for it. The dragon saw what he was trying to do and
jumped in the same direction in an attempt to catch Falcon. Falcon reached the
rocket launcher and grabbed it as he hit the ground, the GM's right leg
snapping off when he landed on the mobile suit's right side. The dragon had
misjudged the distance and was going to land past the point it had intended.
Falcon took advantage of the dragon's mistake and rolled his GM onto its back
with the rocket launcher aimed upwards. When the dragon passed overhead he
fired all six rockets into its underbelly, where its steel scales were weakest.
The dragon's death cry was loud and terrible. The explosion almost ripped the
dragon in half and the spray of blood covered Falcon's GM like a new coat of
paint. The lifeless carcass landed further down from where the GM lay and slid
to a halt leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Everything was silent once
again.
Falcon
undid the straps that had held him in the mobile suit's pilot chair and hit the
switch that opened the GM's cockpit hatch vertically. He climbed out of the
cockpit to stand on his mobile suits chest; he had to be careful not to slip on
the slick layer of dragon blood that now covered his GM. He undid his helmet's seals
then took it off and tossed it into the GM's open cockpit. He gazed out over
the destroyed town, the dying flames from the burning mobile suits that had
once been piloted by his friends and comrades dimly lit up the night in certain
areas. Among these wrecks was the Zaku of Jill Ringer and the Rick Dom of
Marcus Phell, two of his best friends. Also Lieutenant Robert Carr was among
the dead, he had been like a father to Falcon and the scene of his GM custom
being bitten in half then vanishing in fire played over and over in his mind.
Falcon
looked to the sky and at the top of his lungs he let out a cry that was part
for victory over the dragon and part for grief over lost friends.
"Lieutenant
Gray, wake up!" Falcon was suddenly awoken when someone gave him a sharp shove.
"Sorry to wake you, but you were talking in your sleep." The woman who spoke was
Major Samantha Chamberlain, his commanding officer since he was transferred to the
special operations corps.
"Sorry
Major. I was having that dream again." He said as he sat up in his chair and
looked out the porthole of the space transport they were in. "It's been two
years since that night in Peru and I still remember every detail as if I was
there again. I can hear their voices again as they call for help and their screams
when they died. How I wish I could forget!" Samantha placed a reassuring hand
on his shoulder. She had been working closely with Falcon for the past two
years on a special mobile suit project to get him ready for the missions he was
going to perform. She had been placed in command over him mainly because she
was an expert on the new suit's operations systems and she knew how to get him
ready. She had also helped him deal with what had happened to him two years
ago, and even though she had seen him change for the better there still some
scars that would not heal. "How close are we?"
"We're
almost there." She pointed out the porthole to a massive space station that
orbited the Earth. This was the headquarters for the international defense
organization called the Dragon Defense Directorate or 3D as it was called for
short. The station had been built fifteen years ago for the United Nations
Global Defense Force with the purpose of shooting down nuclear missiles and
being able to deliver a fighting force to anywhere on the planet. However, the
dragons had arrived a few months before the station was completed and the UNGDF
was transformed into 3D and new additions were made to the station. The station
still had its massive space dock, but it was also given a factory to help 3D
build the equipment that it would need to fight the dragons. Weapons research facilities
had also been put in place to help with the production of new weapon systems
that would prove useful in the war against the dragons. It was here that the
first mobile suits had been built fifteen years ago. It was also on this station that the salvation for the future of
the human race waited for its pilot, and this is where its pilot would find his
instrument for revenge.
