Chapter Nine: The Great War – Part Two
USAS Patton – Hangar Bay; Over the Jutland Bank
Task Force Therian
March 22nd, 2246 – 0542 Hours
The USAS Patton and Eisenhower were hovering alongside each as Barnes prepared to brief the rest of the post-human dragons, dragon riders, and the 502nd about their new enemy who had now been identified while Stoick, Skullcrusher, Gobber, and Grump watched
"I know the events of the past few hours has everybody on edge, but I need you all to focus." He said, "These so-called 'Isotxians' are proving to be quiet the headache for the Coalition and we still know very little about them or what they're capable of besides the fact they are quite capable of laying down some serious hurt as evidenced by the Megathon that they crippled without even having to dent it's shields."
"How did they do that?!" Karlson shouted with his translation collar
"I might be able to answer that." An APM Engineer replied as he entered the hangar with four more engineers who were pushing in a large shell on a cart, "This here is the same type of shell that was used to cripple the Megathon, we estimate it to be at least 240mms, but that isn't the most interesting part, it's the material that the shell is made out of that is baffling us."
"And why is that?" Karlson asked him
"Although you can't see it, the material is generating a shield of energy which is what allowed the shell that crippled the Megathon to get past its shields." He replied
"And how is it doing that?!" Karlson asked him
"We don't know, we've never seen anything like this before, but we also think that it also increases the hitting power of the shell as well which is what allowed it to damage the Megathon." He replied, "The armor on their tanks and airships are also made of the same material, which is why our railguns, plasma cannons, laser cannons, and whatever else we use that fires a form energy hasn't been gutting them alive like they do with other tanks."
"Is there a way around it?" Barnes asked him
"Thankfully yes, it has been shown that concentrated or sustained energy and projectile weapons fire wears down the field overtime, but the material itself is actually durable as well, almost on the same level as kletonium, but the frontal armor on most of their heavy tanks are penetrable at close ranges with conventional tank rounds." He replied, "But problem is though that these people have a lot of god damn tanks and their airships are large enough to take quite a beating."
"So how are we going to beat these guys?" Astrid asked
"Exactly my question!" Stoick replied
"Well we can't beat them without first learning more about them and I'm personally interested in learning why they came through the rift with guns ablaze." Karlson replied
"And that's what command is interested in too because as far as we know neither the Coalition nor Gene Corp has done anything to provoke this kind of action." Barnes said
"Maybe it was a preemptive strike?" Catherine asked them as she and Margaret came into the hangar, fully suited in their combat armor
"That's a possibility." Barnes replied
"Are you saying these people probably attacked us and Gene Corp because they thought we were going to attack them?!" Stoick asked him
"The Israelis used to do it all the time when they thought their neighbors were about to throw a punch at them" Karlson replied. "And there's an old saying, attack is the best defense."
"But that was saying said before we knew other dimensions weren't science fiction." Barnes said
"Good point." Karlson replied, "So what are we going to do then?"
"Recon, Command wants us to infiltrate their lines and learn everything we can about the Isotxians and why they're here with any means necessary including taking prisoners for questioning." Barnes said to him
"That should be fun, what about Calvin? As much as I hate to diss on my own flesh and blood, his stealth skills aren't exactly the best in the world." Karlson replied while Tesla nodded
"It's true, he can't be stealthy at all." She said
"Well I can guess he can stay behind with the rest of the 1st Legion and help defend the beachheads if the Isotxians try to attack it again." Barnes replied
"Yeah I guess that's the best option." Karlson said while in the vehicle bay, Calvin was with the rest of Echo Squad while they prepared for their deployment
"So how long do you have now?" Katrina asked Calvin, who looked at the timer of his transformation device
"Four hours." He replied
"So where does all that additional weight go when you turn from a several ton Monstrous Nightmare to a several pound human?" Jordan asked him
Calvin shrugged
"Don't ask me, ask the nanites, they're the ones who do all that shit I'm just the one they're doing it to." He said
"And what about the horns, wings, the spines, the tail, and the fire breathing, what happens to all that?" Jordan asked him
"I said before, I don't know, all I know is that I lose it when I turn human." He replied
"It must suck ass not being able to fly." Eddie said to him
"Yeah…" He replied before Don slapped him on the back
"Hey! At least you get to be with us!" He said to Calvin
"Yeah, I have to admit you guys are great to work with." He replied
"So what happens when that timer runs out and we're in a combat situation, will you change then?" Jordan asked him
"Depends on the situation, if it calls for it, yes. If not, no." He replied, "Plus the last thing I want is Gene Corp finding about me being able to change and sending their henchmen after me, I want to rescue my sister and girlfriend, not join them."
Calvin sighed
"It's okay Calvin, I'm sure they're out there somewhere." Eddie said to him
"I hope so too sir." He replied quietly
"So what do we know about these Isotxians?" Katrina asked Eddie
"Not much besides that one of their tanks crippled one of the 5th Legion's Megathons and survived a direct hit from another one." He replied
"Jesus, how did they do that?!" Calvin asked him, "My dad always told me that modern Megathons are near indestructible!"
"Not against these people apparently." He replied
"What about the Isotxians themselves?" Jordan asked him
"The general consensus is that they fight like hell no matter if the odds are against them or not." He replied, "But speaking of Isotxian soldiers, we have also received strict orders from command to not shoot their medics or any vehicles that appear to be ambulances because we have received reports of them taking good care of our wounded and we don't want to risk killing somebody trying to help one of our guys or blowing up one of our guys up as they're taking care of him or her."
"Makes sense, are they going to be shooting at our medics though?" Hazel asked him
"From what I've heard no." He replied
"Wow so for once we're fighting somebody who actually gives somewhat of a shit about the Geneva Convention…and they're from a entirely different dimension." Don said, "In fact have we ever fought anybody who even remotely cared about the Geneva Convention?"
"Besides the 'brief' episode where he had to fight the Frenchies, no." Eddie replied
"Even though it's been over a century, I still can't believe we got attacked by the fucking French!" Katrina said
"Nobody believed it, but it happened." Hazel replied, "Well then again back then a lot of people still didn't like the fact that we won the Second Civil War."
"You know by the way you guys and the others keep talking about the past, I'm glad I'm missed it." Calvin said to them
"Oh don't fool yourself, there were good times too back then." Eddie said to him, "Sadly enough, some people just like to dwell on the bad parts."
Calvin nodded
"And I'm one of them." He thought to himself when an APMSF Officer approached
"Echo Squad! You're being deployed!" The Officer shouted to them as they all stood at attention
"May I ask where to sir?" Calvin asked him
"The beachheads, you're to help the rest of the Legion and the other Coalition forces defend them if these 'Isotxians' try to take them again." He replied
"Yes sir!" Eddie said
"And I guess you must be the general's son!" The Officer said to Calvin
"What makes you think that sir?" He asked him
"Because you look a lot like him." He replied
"God dammit." Calvin thought to himself, "Is every person I meet in this form going to say that to me?!"
A few minutes in the hangar, Stoick and Gobber were getting ready to leave on Skullcrusher and Grump when Stoick overheard two APMSF Officers talking
"So did you hear about those dragon trappers that we captured back in Britain?" One of the APMSF Officers asked the other
"Yeah, I heard they worked for some nutcase trying to build a dragon army." The Other Officer replied
"That's what I've heard too, I think they said his name was Drawgo Bloodfist or something like that." The First Officer said as Stoick froze
"Is something wrong Stoick, you look like you've seen a ghost!?" Gobber said to him as Stoick dismounted and ran over to Barnes and Karlson who were talking to each other
"You two know about Drago Bludvist?!" Stoick asked them
"Yeah, we captured a group of dragon trappers in Britannia yesterday that said-. " Karlson replied
"I know that part, but I've also manage to overhear that he's building an army of dragons?!" Stoick asked him
"That's what they told us too, but other than that we know about Drago, but I'm guessing you know him judging by the way your face looks." He replied
Stoick sighed and nodded
"I wouldn't say that I know him, but I have encountered him before." He said before he told them about the story where he and the other chiefs were attacked by Drago's armored war dragons after he arrived at their meeting and how we was the only survivor
"Jesus fucking Christ!" Barnes replied, "And you never thought about telling us about all this before?!"
"That was almost over twenty years ago General and I haven't seen or heard from him again before now." Stoick said, "Do you know what he plans to do with this dragon army?"
"No because up to this point we just thought those dragon trappers were just trying to scare us into releasing them, but that didn't stop me from sending a report to the CIA to see if they could find anything about him in all the Roman and Gene Corp documents we've captured back in Britain." Karlson replied, "But it would've been better if you had told us about him earlier."
"I should have, but I didn't. I'm sorry." Stoick replied, "But if he's building an army, we need to stop him before he makes his first move against us, if he already isn't!"
"We will, but for now we have bigger concerns." Barnes said
Stoick nodded
"So where are you keeping these dragon trappers of his'?" He asked them
"We put in them stockades at the airfield back in Britannia, where they should still be at." Karlson replied
Stoick nodded
"I'll have to pay them a visit." He said
"Well when you do, be sure not to hurt them too bad, because they might be able to give us vital information since they also told us that Gene Corp also bought dragons from them." Barnes replied
Stoick nodded
Gene Corp HQ
0602 Hours
Cameron Yates and the Roman Emperor, Marcus Salvius were in the war room of Gene Corp's Headquarters with several Roman and Blackwater Generals as they studied the situation in Denmark on the large miniature table map before them
"These 'Isotxians' are smashing us to bits, we need to withdraw our forces now!" One of the Blackwater Generals shouted
"If we abandon Denmark, we risk losing our Scandinavian colonies to Drago Bludvist, whose forces are already on the move again!" A Roman General replied
"Then we'll let the Isotxians worry about him! The Blackwater General replied
"That's actually a tempting idea, but unfortunately we have vital facilities in Scandinavia that we can't afford to lose to that madman or be cut off by the Isotxians or for that matter the Coalition." Yates said to him
"What do you suggest we do then, Mr. Yates?" One of the Other Generals asked him, "With the main Coalition invasion force pouring into Gaul through their beachheads in Normandy and the WHF and American forces trying to breakout from the Roman Rift Zone, we don't have the forces to spare for a counter-attack."
Yates sighed
"Then we'll have to take another and more drastic measure." He said, "Have we identified any particular Isotxians that would be any use to us as hostages?"
"We've identified a few high-ranking officers that could meet that criteria, but we don't know if the Isotxians are the type that will negotiate with us over a single man or woman." A Blackwater General said
"Then we'll capture a lot of Isotxians and use them." Yates replied, "In fact send Casca and his men in to do it, tell him to gather as much Isotxians as he can, it doesn't matter what rank they are."
"Yes sir." The Blackwater General said