Hey there! Launces Mechanist here with another installment of Metal Storm. As always please read and review, your comments are welcome.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THE SPYRO UNIVERSE, ONLY MY OWN OCs.
Chapter 8: Metal Storm Pt.1
The steam truck moved quickly through the deserted streets; James knew that the only way to win the ground war now was with the element of surprise. The soldiers with him were apprehensive about leaving the front lines, however they knew that when the Count of Launces tells you to come with him, you don't say no.
The truck was packed from cab to tailgate with soldiers, it vaguely reminded him of a theatre comedy reel he had seen of people trying to cram into one of the original steamcars, they had succeeded at cramming sixteen people into the car and had nine people hanging on outside; the car drove off, went around a corner and a few seconds later, there was a cloud of steam and then a wheel rolled by.
A few moments later the warehouse appeared in the distance and James began to decelerate, the truck came to a screeching halt just outside the overhead door. The soldiers dismounted the vehicle with practiced precision and James opened the door.
The inside was pitch black, and there was not a soul to be seen. After thinking a moment, James found the light switch he had invented years ago, however he was still trying to find a way to make light without using flames. The switch sent a spark into the massive chandeliers overhead and one by one they flared to life bathing the interior in a soft red-orange light. There were several strange machines and all of them were covered in sheets. Roughly thirteen of the machines looked similar, however the one in the back was even bigger. James walked over to one of the smaller machines and with a yank pulled the sheet off. The soldiers were dumbstruck.
"Sweet Mother of God," exclaimed one of them, "what is that monstrosity, milord?" James smiled and turned to them.
"Gentlemen, these weapons are what will drive the Federation back. I call this invention the 'tank'!"
"What does it do, sir?"
"To put it simply, the tank is a weapon that bulldozes through enemy lines and creates as much panic and havoc as possible while also inflicting severe casualties. I invented this machine to help bring a quicker end to war. Now that we have been invaded, it is time for the debut." Another soldier raised his hand.
"Sir, what about that large machine in the back; Will we be using it?" James shook his head.
"No we won't, sadly the Juggernaut isn't yet complete, there are still several key components missing, most of which are still under construction in my workshop at the castle. One of which is a new type of condenser and compressor hybrid that if it can be completed will ultimately supercharge any steam-powered machine tenfold."
"How do we work these 'tanks'?" James motioned the soldiers over.
"Alright see this box here? This is the driver's seat, the driver and tank commander will be here, the large turret in the front houses the 40mm cannon, the smaller turrets house small caliber sub-machineguns, the steam engine that drives it is in the back. I fixed the previous problem about having to use copious amounts of fuel to keep making steam with a prototype of the new condenser, all you have to do is start the fire once and the small coal fire will keep steam flowing, since the condenser only allows for a two percent steam loss, the tank can go roughly two hundred miles at full speed, which by the way to only twenty miles per hour, alright here's how we go about manning the tanks, we're short-handed so we need to stretch our numbers, there is a small .30 caliber sub-machinegun in the drivers cab fixed on the roof, we will need three men per tank: one man to drive, one man to command and use the gun in the cab, and one to load and fire the cannon. Including the six soldiers we picked up on the way here and myself that gives us twenty seven men, enough to man eight of the thirteen tanks." Just at that moment, a voice piped up from the back.
"Excuse me Professor?" James wheeled around to immediately recognize some members of the test crew.
"Reyson! Macintyre! You and your crews are alright?" The test crew nodded.
"Yes, sir; we knew that if things went to pot, you would be stopping by here to either start the tanks or destroy them to keep them out of the enemies hands. Since you're here to fight back, we'll help you out, there are enough of us that we can drive the tanks and the soldiers can man the guns, the crew for all thirteen tanks will stand at four, one of the test crew will drive while the soldiers man the machineguns and cannon in the turrets. I guess you'll be joining us?" James nodded.
"There is one more warehouse that I need to check on, once we get these tanks rolling, we barge through the gate and mow down as many enemies in our way, then I need to get to Warehouse Five, the one near the Dracocorps landing field." A surprised look came into the eyes of Reyson.
"Sir, you mean to tell me the planes are finished?"
"Roughly eight of them are, the other six still need work." Reyson smiled and nodded, then turning to the test crew, he raised his voice.
"All test crew aboard, I'll be in tank one with the Professor, Miles, you're in two. Remember, this isn't a test; this is the real deal, you mess up, it's your ass."
The crew whooped and hollered as they jumped into the tanks. James and Reyson climbed into the cab of tank one and got into position. Reyson sat in the driver's seat looking at the five gauges in front of him: water, engine temperature, speed, steam pressure, and fuel. The tank used anthracite coal for primary fuel, however it also used kerosene as a backup. James climbed up the step and sat in the commander's chair behind Reyson. In order to protect the crews from exposure, the driver and gunners used periscopes to see what was going on around them, when the tank was moving, the commander watched the gauges for the driver who watched them when the tank was stationary. With a few clicks and then a screech, the tanks began lumbering forward, James took a second to leap out and open the warehouse overhead door, and then climbed back in. In numerical sequence the tanks rolled out single file, the crews conducting systems checks while rolling.
"Water level, check; engine temperature, check; hydrolic pressure, check; emergency fuel, check; okay Reyson what's our speed?"
"Speed is five miles per hour, opening throttle to full." A loud whoosh of steam accompanies that statement and the tank lurched forward again, the clicking and clanking of the treads picking up in rhythm. James listened a moment, then spoke.
"Damn thing nearly sounds like a heartbeat, doesn't it?" Reyson laughed.
"I know, right? That's why I love this thing, it nearly sounds alive once you get going." James smiled and looked out from his peephole in the cab and turned around.
The engine was barely smoking, and hardly any steam was escaping from the exhaust ports; the other tanks were still behind them in the same formation. Looking back toward the wall, he saw the Federation zeppelins hovering ever closer. The Dracocorps were putting up a valiant effort, but they were barely making a dent. They had lost two more dragons, however, Spyro, Shimmer, and Pyre were still fighting.
Then the funniest thing, Spyro and Shimmer looked down at the line of tanks, and did a double take, eyes wide in surprise. There were cries of surprise coming from the wall as well. Thinking quickly, James opened the top hatch and started waving the Syllian flag for a moment before setting it in the flag holder on the side of the cab.
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Spyro was shocked, he had never seen anything like this, and from his surprise, neither had Shimmer, who was about to investigate until James came out of the top and started waving a flag. Shimmer had a complete reversal, from looking worried to relieved as he saw the Professor. Thirteen iron boxes trundled along at what Spyro thought was a leisurely pace, surely these things couldn't influence the battle below too greatly. Then again, he was only one dragon, yet he had rescued Cynder, defeated Gaul and Malefor, and pulled the world back from the brink of destruction.
(Maybe there's more to these humans than I thought. I wonder how well they'll do in battle.) Spyro thought to himself.
It was remarkable to see these inventions working, if he were here Volteer would be absolutely giddy and want to take one apart to see how it worked.
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Meanwhile back in the Southlands.
Volteer walked through the library looking at the old books and texts that had survived the war, suddenly, he got an itching sensation by his ear.
"Hmm, Idobelievesomeoneorsomebodyisconversing,blabbing,talking,speakingaboutme. I do wonder who it could be?"
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James' tank column had just reached the wall when he saw the garrison commander come running up with an excited look on his face.
"So these are the new 'tanks' I've been hearing about, if the enemy doesn't shit their drawers looking at these behemoths, they might at least have the decency to possibly pull back some." James cut in quickly.
"These tanks are going to completely rout the enemy, commander, I will not settle with a fall back, we will push hard and harder still until they either retreat or surrender. I will notallow these brigands near my city, people, or family. I would rather die than let that happen."
The commander nodded knowingly, and gave the signal to open the gates.
With a burst of steam and a sharp whistle the gears locking the gates started spinning slowly, as they turned, the gates crept open, the clanking of chains and machinery the harbinger of the horror that was about to descend upon the Federation. The tanks were ready and the remaining infantry were massing in preparation for the armored charge. Then James heard a scout shouting and pointing to the east. He turned and saw a beautiful sight, the Royalis Dracocorps Home Wing and nearly sixty war dirigibles were approaching, the cavalry had arrived. Strangely however, the airship of the Blackguard Mercenaries was leaving.
(No matter, those mercenaries were always unreliable, it was only a matter of where their loyalties lie. It obviously doesn't rest with their country.) James thought disgusted.
"Milord, the gates are nearly fully open, we're prepared to charge."
James nodded and chambered a round in his gun. With a loud clang the gates were opened and the whole of the Federation's ground troops stood before them, some of the enlisted in the front had the grace to look either stunned or horrified by what they saw. One of them opened his mouth to speak, but he was silenced by a rifle shot from behind the tanks, he crumpled and fell forward. His comrades looked amongst themselves and then turned heel and began to run.
"Main gun: Fire!" shouted James, "Machineguns fire into the crowd, mow them down!"
The cannon fired a round that impacted a soldier in the torso, he and the unfortunate few to be standing near him were turned into a red mist by the explosive shell, then the guns open fire; tracers and bullets shot into the disintegrating army, bodies were dropping left and right. Then James felt a lurch as the tank began to move forward. There was a sickening crunch whenever the treads rolled over a corpse, even worse was when they ran over an enemy who was still alive but gravely wounded. One in particular James actually saw through his gun sights.
Tank five was rolling on their right side and rolled over an enemy starting at his boots and started rolling up his body, he screams got higher more frequent as the treads advanced: feet, legs, groin and hips, finally reaching his torso he was silent after the tank crushed his chest. James averted his eyes before then not wanting to get sick of the sight. A familiar roar made him cringe slightly as he looked up and saw the only dragon in Syllia that despised him, his brother-in-law Zakwell, Commander of the Silver Wing, the most elite combat wing of the Dracocorps, and from the sound of that roar, he was pissed offas usual.
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The wall guns continued firing up into the sky to try and down a few enemy airships. Zakwell, watched in mixed curiosity and astonishment as the metal machines obliterated the enemy in front of them.
(Well, well, well; looks like the 'mechanist' has actually made something even I can approve of, although the Dracocorps would annihilate the enemy even quicker given numbers.) Zakwell thought smugly.
He had been a little curious as to the unknown airship fleeing south but that was a matter for the army down there, not him. The only reason he was here at all was because he had an immense hatred for the Federation.
Sure his sister Lysa and her 'mate' were here, but in his opinion she stopped being family when she bedded a human, shapeshifter or not. As his wing drew near, he caught a glimpse of Shimmer and his brother, the most surprising thing was to see the Southland's purple dragon also flying and destroying airship upon airship. He snarled viciously as he saw the parachutes coming out of a nearby airship, taking a deep breath he cast an arc of lightning that jumped from parachute to parachute and then finally hit the zeppelin immediately causing it to explode in a massive fireball. Shimmer and the other Launces dragons looked in shock. Shimmer did a wing over to reach him.
"Wing Commander Zakwell, what the hell was that explosion for?" Zakwell wheeled on Shimmer, his snout twisted in the angry snarl he wore when annoyed.
"The same reason you've been fighting, we are at war Group Leader and I intend to show these Telanian bastards why the Dracocorps are the most feared unit in the Syllian Armed Forces! I thought you most of all would understand since you lost your mother and sister at the start of the last war. Or have you forgotten what it means to be a dragon?!"
Those words hit Shimmer like a ton of bricks, Zakwell had also lost family in the Syllian War, but his family had been butchered, Pyre was the only family he had left aside from their father Titanus. It made Shimmer's blood boil to think how Zakwell treated his family, his father and mother were still alive, yet he treated his sister like a complete stranger. Zakwell snorted roughly and did a flip in mid-air aiming for another airship and was gone before Shimmer could say anything else. Spyro came up alongside him, concerned.
"Who was that?"
"Wing Commander Zakwell, leader of the most elite Dracocorps wing in history; and one of the most arrogant dragons I've ever met. He was a good egg once, when we were in training together, however he completely changed when he heard about Lysa's marriage to James. Since then, the nicest thing anyone can say about him is that he's frigid. At least he doesn't mince words, he'll tell you straight out what he thinks of you. His tongue is a more dangerous weapon than that lightning power of his."
"Lightning? Don't you mean electricity?" Asked Sypro, uncertain.
"No Spyro, I mean lightning. That dragon is a living, breathing, lightning storm; he can create an electric field around his body to shock anyone who touches him, furthermore, he can close nearly any distance in the blink of an eye, he moves so fast he vanishes for a moment, look! He just did it and now he's going at another!"
Spyro looked up at the blue-gold dragon and was amazed by the sight, Zakwell was darting around several airships and exploding every single one, he destroyed five airships in a second; and he was moving so fast Spyro could hardly keep track of him. One second he was darting around a zeppelin, the next he was shredding parachutes and hurtling the soldiers toward the ground, screaming as they fell.
Spyro recognized the tactics, however there was a bloodthirstiness in his attacks, the Launces Wing had been fighting because this was their home, Zakwell's wing fought because they enjoyed it; it reminded him all too well of Gaul and his apes.
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The Syllian airships were closing in on the battle, General Williams was looking at the destruction the Silver Wing of Royalis was inflicting. As a soldier he could understand the tactics behind such barbaric attacks, but inside he was horrified. Still, the morale of the soldiers was bolstered when they discovered the Launces Guard was still fighting on the wall, and a lot of soldiers whooped and cheered when they saw the machines that were obliterating enemy squads and platoons left and right, the Federation was in full scale retreat; their will to fight was broken. A soldier approached the general and saluted.
"Sir, our own paratroops are ready to deploy, just give the word." Williams nodded and walked back to the jump station. Once there he saw the one hundred paratroops lined up, their light blue trenchcoats waving lightly in the breeze from the drop bay. The squad leaders snapped to attention and saluted.
"Gentlemen, we're close to the battlefield. Hook on and prepare to drop."
The soldiers hastened their rip lines and stepped to the edge of the steel bridge. The detachment leader signaled with his hand 'five seconds to drop', the soldiers braced, took a collective breath and jumped. The downward hurtle was terrifying, especially with the dragons flying around flaming parachutes and airships everywhere. The parachutes deployed almost immediately upon leaving the airship, a wall of canopies stretched from the outer wall to the inner. Within moments six thousand soldiers were on the ground and advancing toward the outer wall to join the fight.
James' tank had cut through the enemy ranks like a farmers scythe through wheat, no matter where the tanks went on the field, death befell those who stood against the armored cavalry.
The Federation's officers (who had been the first to retreat to the rear), had ordered trenches and razor wire to be set up. These fortifications slowed down their own troops who had yet to retreat, the tanks had stopped just outside the barrier. Reyson looked at James in askance.
"The tanks are not equipped to cross those kinds of trenches. Get me to the Warehouse in this area, the planes should still be there, I only pray the enemy hasn't found them."
Reyson nodded and pulled the levers, the tank started to turn and began to chug away toward the warehouse. The other tanks stayed in their positions and continued to fire into the fortifications and also fire at the outer wall.
They made good time to the warehouse and the tank's crew dismounted. James threw open the doors and there, neatly rowed, were eight machines sitting there.
They had narrow bodies and two sets of wings fixed just in front of a seat, a strange machine was first and for most with a wooden propeller, on the nose there were two machineguns and behind the rear seat there was another smaller gun and a box holding strange oblong objects. One of the soldiers looked skeptically at the machines.
"Are these the flying machines you were building sir? Were they ever finished?"
James gave a triumphant nod and walked toward one of them. The planes 'skin' was blue and a silver cross had been painted on the body and on the wings, numbers had been painted in black behind the crosses and a single letter had been painted in front of the cross, the plane James was looking at was A01.
"Reyson, I need you to be my tail-gunner, let's see if we can start this baby up."
"If you're taking the fight to the Federation, milord, we'll go up with you."
Reyson turned when he heard the voice and whooped with joy.
"Pauly, how the devil did you guys get from residential to here?" Pauly chuckled.
"We knew that if the ground war was pushed into those trenches the bastards dug, you'd need an overhead attack to finish the battle. This is the home stretch and none of us here would miss this for the world."
A few moments later all eight planes were manned and the tank crew was helping them start the engines. The only way to use the plane was for kerosene and coal oil to be mixed and fed into a special engine, furthermore, the only way to keep the engine running without it seizing was to use castor oil as a lubricant, a tank in front of the pilot's seat held the fuel, by James estimate they could fly for about four hours before needing to land and refuel. The tank crew members acted as the ground crew for the planes, fueling and oiling the engines, then they each grabbed a blade of a plane's propeller and when they heard the 'pilot' shout 'contact' they spun the propeller as hard as they could. Most of the planes started on the first spin, others required a little more force. James' started on the first go and with a sputtering roar, the biplane crept forward.
The sun was out and the sky was clear, no dragons were on the field so the planes had an unobstructed runway. James lined up the plane's nose and pushed the throttle forward as far as it would go, the whine turned into a roar and the plane lurched forward, picking up speed as it went, the speedometer read eighty, the plane's tail went up level, then the wheels lifted off. James pulled back on the stick in front of him and the plane began ascending, he spared a glance behind and saw the other planes doing likewise, within moments all eight planes were up, each a perfect takeoff, under James' order they got into formation like they had seen the dragons do, two squadrons of four.
"We're really flying now eh, James?!" Yelled Reyson over the howling wind. James nodded and then yelled.
"Yeah we are, now it's time to go do some business!"
He banked the plane right and made a beeline for where the trenches and remaining zeppelins were, intent of taking back his city.
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Spyro was tiring, he had destroyed nearly fourteen airships, Shimmer had nearly as many kills as him, even Zakwell was tiring. The other dragons including Pyre had dropped and landed behind friendly lines to recover. The enemy had set up trenches to protect their remaining forces and there was no way to get at them except from the air, however, whenever one of them made a run for the trenches, the airships opened fire with their machine guns, concentrating their fire over the lines. Spyro desperately wanted to protect his family, there had to be some way to destroy the trenches, something had to happen.
His thoughts were broken by a buzzing roar that seemed to get louder as it got nearer, Shimmer and Zakwell heard it too and looked for its source. On the ground, soldiers and dragons were searching the skies looking for the noise, some with alarm some with curiosity. Then from out of the clouds they saw the source and Spyro swore he saw Zakwell's jaw drop.
James was approaching and he was flying, but without a dragon, he was controlling some sort of machine, and there were seven others behind him. Spyro watched as they went for the zeppelins, breaking off into twos and ones same as the dragon wings. Shimmer flew toward the machine that James was controlling.
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James almost laughed at the look on Zakwell's face, however he could not spare the time, he banked hard left and flew towards the closest zeppelin. Squeezing the lever that controlled his guns, he fired of a long stream of bullets that ripped into the airship. Below, he could hear the crew's cry of alarm and circled back to attack again.
One more burst and the zeppelin exploded, its flaming wreckage falling slowly toward the ground. He saw other planes attacking other airships and having the same amount of success; then there was a bright flash and he saw Shimmer attacking with renewed strength. He nodded his head and James promptly saluted.
"Alright Reyson, you know what to do, when I strafe an airship, you turn the tail gun on it when we pass over." He barely heard Reyson's reply over the howl of the wind; James angled the plane towards another airship, this one obviously served as a troop carrier, as James noted, it was bigger than the gunship zeppelins and had two massive balloon sections lashed together with two small bridges and one large area from where several enemy soldiers were parachuting out of the sides. Off in the distance, James could see an even larger airship approaching, this one had three balloon sections and had a long steel body in between the front two and had the third lashed above.
James brought the plane in and opened fire on the airship, his bullets ripping through the soft fabric and occasionally setting the skin on fire, his two nose-mounted machineguns dealing immense yet unseen damage to the enemy machine. As he passed over, Reyson trained his gun on the other side and squeezed the trigger; the bullets ripped through the skin on this side and they were rewarded with a large explosion that seemed to 'pop' the starboard balloon; the frame and the top half were gone in a flash and the machine began to list, the other gas bag unable to keep the weight aloft, another plane came behind them and finished the job. Reyson then tapped James on the shoulder and pointed down, James looked and saw the infantry beginning a charge. James immediately thought of a daring, yet risky, plan.
"Reyson, I'm going to pass over the trenches, when I give you the signal, start dropping bombs into the trenches!" Reyson acknowledged with a tap and grabbed the box of bombs that was behind him. James dropped low, flew over the corpses of the fallen and was just over the trench.
"Now!" He shouted and Reyson threw bomb after bomb into the trench; explosions and screams followed shortly thereafter as clouds of smoke and dust were blown into the air.
A few bombs actually hit the razor wire and detonated, shredding the wire and clearing a path for the infantry. The Syllian troops cheered as they went overhead. Reyson soon tapped his shoulder again indicating they were out of bombs. James nodded and pulled back on the control stick, he then soared over the bombed trench. Catching a glimpse of Zakwell, James turned and gave his brother a salute. Zakwell surprisingly returned it with a victory roar.
Suddenly, there was trouble, a loud 'bang' echoed from below and the plane's engine began spewing black smoke. They'd been hit directly in the engine.
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Zakwell watched in open horror as the machine was hit by a rifleman on the ground; quick as a whip, he fired a bolt of blue lightning and struck the Telanian dead, then looked for James, the machine was barely flying, black smoke was pouring out of the nose and a rattling sound could be heard from the machine, in the cab he could see James desperately trying to maintain control, they were quickly approaching Lake Gerion and the machine was descending rapidly.
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Shimmer and Spyro were horrified when the machine was hit and started to crash; thinking on instinct, they both raced forward to try and catch them before the machine crashed into the nearby lake. A loud roar and a great shadow passing overhead stopped them however as they looked up, Spyro saw the biggest dragon he'd ever seen flying toward James, this dragon was even bigger than then guardians. Beside him, Shimmer went wide eyed and called out in joy.
"Father!"
The call was echoed by Pyre below. Titanus, father of Shimmer and Pyre, the largest dragon in the Syllia, and leader of Syllia's dragon populace dove to rescue James and Reyson from the burning machine.
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Wow that was one heck of a ride huh? Good grief I can't believe how long this chapter is. (13 pages on Word). So, James fought in a tank and flew a plane, then was shot down.
Also I found out I tend to write more when the right kind of music is playing for example during the tank scene I was listening to the Valkyria Chronicles soundtrack, with the Syllian paratroopers I was listening to Queen's "We Will Rock You"; and for the whole airplane sequence I was listening to the soundtrack for Ace Combat 5. Cool huh?
As I stated at the beginning, you're comments are welcome, please rate and review!
Will Titanus be able to rescue them? Will the Federation finally be pushed out of Launces and Syllia? Will Volteer ever find out that Spyro was talking about him? Find out these answers and much more next time on The Legend of Spyro: Metal Storm! See ya! :D
