02:37 Hours, March 28, 2018
Italica, Falmart
The battle was over. The fields outside of Italica was one massive graveyard of mutilated corpses of countless bandits and humanoids littering every square inch of the earth. The ground stained woth blood. Men and women of all kinds were roaming over the battlefield, gathering up the bodies and blasted body parts to put them to rest in the mass graveyards that was being dug.
However, there were survivors of the battle whom were kept as prisoners under the watchful guard of the UNSC and the JSDF team. The bandits were responsible for Italica's devastation and heavy losses among the city's citizens, so it was understandable that some would look for vengeance at the prisoners. The prisoners themselves were in a constant state of fear from their captors, unsure what kind of treatment they would receive or the fate they would be sentenced to.
The prisoners who were wounded during the battle were being overseen by the medics of the marine platoon. Wounds ranging from gunshots to blown up limbs were treated with diligently by the medics. Though there were some concerns on how to treat the un-human ones as the UNSC lacked the knowledge of their biology.
"Hey, do you wonder why we're here?" Turpin asked out loud to Sparks.
"It's one of life's greatest mystery isn't it? I mean why are we in this fantasy world. Are we because of some product of terrible strings of luck we're getting? Or is it some part of a highly intricate plan beyond any mortal comprehension of a god above us? You know, all this stuff keeps being echoed in my mind ever since we arrived here." Sparks wondered out loud.
"… I was asking why we're standing here, doing guard work." Turpin said confused.
"Oh, never mind." Sparks muttered.
"You wanna talk about it?" Turpin inquired.
"It's nothing, just some irrelevant rambling."
"Didn't sound irrelevant, the way you said it."
"I mean- ughhh… Never mind, just forget about it." Sparks grumbled.
"If you insist." Turpin shrugged.
They went back to watching over the plains before them, mesmerized by the clean landscape untouched by development, battle or glass. The two ODST wondered what became of their homes - reminded of the beautiful natural sights they saw throughout their life - whether it survived the war or was it blasted by the Covenant over the past years they were in cryo; wondering if all of them could even make it back home alive or were they just stranded in this strange world for the rest of their lives.
It was then their VISORs took notice of several objects coming in and audio was picked up. The sound was similar to that of a Falcon's rotors spinning around, but much louder and more clunky in feel. Sparks zoomed in with the scope of his gauss rifle to take an extreme closeup view of the incoming objects to determine if they were friend or foe. He then saw the silhouette morph into helicopters – a design he recognized being popular in the 20th century– flying towards their general position at breakneck speed. There were three designs in the coming helicopter fleet: one was a transport, another was a gunship with its gun and rocket pods and the last one was some sort of recon aircraft. He then saw the symbol of the JSDF marked on the side of the helicopter.
They must be the reinforcement the JSDF recon team called in. Too bad they were too late for the battle and would be left with clean-up duty.
"They sure took their time." Turpin looked at the incoming JSDF helicopters. "Too bad they missed their fun."
Then something flew towards one of the transport helicopters, going so fast that the helicopter had no time to evade as its engine engulfed into flames. The helicopter spun out of control nearly hitting the others, the pilot aboard tried to control it but the force of the spin made it impossible as the increasing speed threw out some unlucky soldiers out of the doomed aircraft. Seconds later there came a crash followed by a dust storm kicking off from the impact, hiding the broken helicopter from the world.
"You had to say it." Sparks glared at Turpin.
The other helicopters quickly broke off to disperse from any further attacks, the gunships facing the direction where the attack presumably came from.
The two ODSTs on the ground then heard their COM come to life as they heard the chatter from the JSDF helicopters. "What the hell was that!? What just hit one of us!" Someone demanded from the COM.
"We've lost Moon 3! I repeat, we've lost Moon 3!"
"What the hell hit us!"
"Come one Riku, please say something!"
The chatter soon when silent when a massive back-chilling roar, similar to that of a jet engine, echoed across the land, a large dark shape landed near the crash site of the helicopter like a meteor. The impact sent dusts in the air as the ODST's VISOR could make something big within the cloud of dust. Torn metal was thrown out of the dust cloud, telling the ODSTs that something very big was taking apart the helicopter. Eventually the dust cleared to reveal the thing that brought down the helicopter.
The monster was huge; big enough that it could comfortably fit an Elephant in its stomach and looked strong enough to flip a tank over. The beast had a body of a lion but with the wings of a bat and spines like that of a porcupine; the tail of a scorpion; and the creepiest of all the head that resembled that of a feral, hairy, human with horns sprouting from its skull. And sticking out of its mouth was a leg of a JSDF soldier.
"That is one ugly son of a bi-." Turpin's sentence cut off when the other gunships opened fired upon the monster. Rockets and 20mm rounds impacting against the beast, engulfing the monster in a large ball of fire and shrapnel, surely killing it with the latest 21st century firepower. However, to the shock of the ODSTs and the 4th combat unit, the beast was unharmed from the attack, though it made a deep yelp from the attack that seemed to have slapped it in the face.
The beast rose up again, high and mighty, its golden eyes twitching as steaming hot anger seem to flow out of it. Its massive bat-like wings brought out and flapped down, sending a wall of powerful wind that sent dirt and rocks flying away. The beast roared as its wing continued on its powerful push, the monster's speed increasing as he made its way to confront its flying foes. The JSDF responded back firing at the beast, trying to take it down before losses could mount up any further.
"Great, just what I needed today day." Turpin grunted.
"Call Vaughan to bring in animal control." Sparks aimed his weapon at any potential weakness the beast might have.
"The heck is going on!" Vaughan demanded as his COM was filled with screams, yells, and call for reinforcements.
"Sparks and Turpin are reporting that an unknown massive hostile is attacking the JSDF aerial group near Italica." Skye referred to the COM report and the sound of a battle nearby. "Took down two helicopters already."
Vaughan furrowed his brows in worry, wondering just what manner of creature had taken down the helicopters.
"Incoming!" A marine yelled out.
Vaughan suddenly thrown on his back when something that was dark and burning nearly missed his body by several inches crashed on the ground and rolled for several feet. The ODST major blinked few times at what just happened before him. He then turned slightly to his right to see Irisia's right arm on his chest plate and her head looking at him with concern.
"You alright major?" She asked.
"I'm fine. Thank you for saving my life there."
"No worries, good thing I managed to save you in time."
The ODST rose from the ground with the help of Irisia and looked at what nearly killed him there and then. He saw what appeared to be a slightly burning and darken remains of a helicopter. It was on its back as the broken rotors tried to come back to life, the tail section of it was entirely ripped off showing no trace of where it went, and the barely alive personal within it.
"I want medics with them now! Get your weapons ready marines, we're not out of the trouble yet." Vaughan barked out as marines scrambled over to their position and the Scorpions bringing their turrets to aim where the hostile would presumably come from.
Vaughan then looked at Irisia. "Do you know what is attacking us? And the roar from earlier."
Before Irisia could answer the question Rory suddenly appeared to answer it. "A Manticore, the Beast of the Many."
"A Manticore!?" The purple sorceress yelled in shock.
"Manticore?" Vaughan asked.
"A legendary beast with skin like that of iron, its wings gushing out a powerful windstorm, and spines like that of a ballista." Rory said ominously, an ever-creepy smile forming on her face disturbing Vaughan. "No mortal weapons can harm the skin of the beast. Only those enchanted or gifted with magic can stand a chance against it."
There was a roar coming over from the hill far away getting the three's attention to it. From over the hill came two ODSTs running for their very lives from the Manticore whose malicious visage came into view of the defenders and the city. Civilians outside of the city panicked at the mere sight of the horrid monster and ran towards the city for safety.
Vaughan heard Turpin and Sparks yell into the COM channel connecting them to him. "Sir, we've pissed of the monster, luring it away far from the city as possible." Sparks reported with a panicking tone as he and Turpin sped away on a warthog, veering left to get the Manticore as far away from the city as possible.
"What did you two do to get it so angry at you two!" Vaughan demanded, noting the beast obsession with two of his squad members.
"We may or may not have shot at its balls." Turpin yelled.
That explained a few things.
Vaughan then saw JSDF helicopters approaching the manticore for another round. The choppers all fired at the Manticore, peppering the back of the beast's back with gun and missile fire but showed no signs of harm on its body. The Manticore stopped its chase and turned around to face up its flying attackers. The beast lowered its body against the ground, the porcupine-like spines aimed at its flying foes before it and the spines inside it shot out like an arrow.
However, the pilots of the choppers weren't going to fall for the same trick again as they dodged to the side to avoid the quill-like projectile. From the empty spot of where the quill spines were, new ones grow to take the empty spots. The beast shot forth several more at them but the helicopters dodged the projectile while continuing their assault on the monster.
The Manticore grew increasingly annoyed that it couldn't easily take down the pests flying around it. It came to this place expecting easily kills, but alas today wasn't its day, as the monster was facing more pain and resistance. Suddenly a new scent entered its nostrils traced with fear coming from the large den. The monster made the decision to turn back and attack the large den, seeing that it was more vulnerable and easier target to attack.
"It's going to the city!" A marine yelled out as the Manticore jumped in the air and its wings flapping as it glides toward the city. The Manticore soon landed within the city, sending out a pillar of debris and dust for those to see outside of the city walls. Immediately the UNSC forces outside could hear screams and the roar of the beast as the monster rampaged inside the city.
Vaughan ordered marines to evacuate the city and find a way for the Scorpion to get into the city to get to a position to fire upon the Manticore, next he ordered in a request for air support. The ODST Major took a rocket launcher and ran into the city to get any civilian out of the city as much as possible, while finding a way to strike the Manticore. He then felt wind rush by him as he looked to his left to see the little girl with the huge halberd pass by as fast as a Spartan. The sight of how fast the girl was going unnerved him. Someone tapped his right shoulder and Vaughan glance to see Irisia running next to him.
"Get out of here, it's not safe!" Vaughan tried to deter Irisia from going with him.
"Major, I am not some helpless maiden in need of saving. And as you can see right now, none of your weapons managed to harm the Manticore in the slightest. The only thing that could harm it is magic, and I'm one of the two able to use it." Irisia's eyes bore into his, the determination inside them clear.
"Fine, but do you have any ideas of how to take the monster down?" Vaughan asked the sorceress.
"My magical skill alone wouldn't be enough, if I had more power than it would be easier to kill it. That's where your rod of fire comes in." She pointed at the rocket launcher.
Vaughan looked at her confused. "What do you mean by my weapon?"
"Remember when the apostle said that only those enchanted with magic could defeat the Manticore. I know a spell that would help you defeat the monster." Irisia's hand started to glow as she touched the barrel of the rocket launcher started to whisper out a chant he couldn't understand.
He was startled to see his weapon started to glow very faintly, he was considering stopping what she was doing to UNSC equipment but was curious of what kind of help she was giving to his weapon. Soon after 4 seconds passed by Irisia stopped the chanting and stepped away from the weapon. Vaughan could see his M41 rocket launcher was faintly giving out a yellow glow and felt that his weapon was somehow… More powerful and mystic.
The major looked up at Irisia and demanded. "What did you do to my weapon?"
"Enchantment, more preciously lightning enchantment." Irisia said with a smile. "Now your weapon has the power to kill the Manticore."
So now his rocket launcher was magical? The inner nerd within him was jumping up and down that he was holding a rocket launcher that apparently had magical lighting within it. "So now my weapon is magic?" He asked her.
"One way to find out, come on." Irisia took his hand and dragged him towards the direction where the carnage was happening.
The duo navigated through a pathway of destruction, passing by debris and corpses of those whose life cut short by the Manticore. It was a sight familiar to that of the battlefields he served through, while Irisia felt sick looking at some of the mutilation and half-eaten corpses of the citizens of Italtica. They soon arrived at the marketplace, an area large enough to accommodate a small firebase, where they were greeted with the sound of roar and flesh tearing apart.
Rory was fighting the Manticore, zipping around the battlefield like some superhero, dodging around the swipe, slam, and bite of the Manticore. Each time the Manticore missed, Rory would strike against the monster with her oversized weapon, her blades slicing apart the flesh. The monster would roar from the pain of the attack but relentlessly continued, the attacks never fully felling the beast. Rory jumped up in the air and brought down her weapon upon the wings of the Manticore with mighty speed and power; the halberd tore one of the wings in half.
Vaughan was amazed at how a little girl was moving around and possessing all that. Just what was it? The things he was seeing should have been impossible for something in the shape of a little girl.
The Manticore shrieked in pain as its human-like head made a pained expression that disturbed Vaughan at such a human-like expression from a monstrous being. The creature was enraged at the loss of its wing and it swung its tail around and hit the apostle of Emroy. The whip-like strike shattered bone as she was sent flying away through several buildings across the city.
The monster huffed at seeing its foe dispatched for now and move towards where a den where a group of prey was gathered. It was time to fill its belly.
"Hey ugly, eat this!" Vaughan yelled as he fired his enchanted rocket launcher at the monster's side.
The 102mm rocket enhanced by magic flew towards the Manticore like a frenzied shark lured by blood in the sea. The world seems to have slowed down as the rocket moved ever closer to the beast before hitting its target in a flash. There was a great explosion as the rocket unleashed its explosive content that was then followed by lightning bolts appearing out of the sky, striking against the monster, causing it to shriek in utter agony from the explosive-magical attack.
"Wow… Those would've been useful in the war." Vaughan whistled at the result and looked at the modified rocket launcher in fascination
The Manticore recovered from the blast but not without suffering a major injury as Vaughan and Irisia saw the heavily mutilated side of the monster. They could see the side between its front and back legs heavily burnt that its brown skin faded into black, and its muscle and bones exposed to the open world. The monster looked at the ODST and the sorceress, roaring at the two with such intense rage that steam seem to come off of its body.
The monster charged at the two covering the distance between the two and swiped its paw at them. Irisia put up a magical barrier to protect against the attack but shattered like glass by the force of the incoming paw. However, it bought the two time to dodge the attack. Vaughan dodged to the ground barely escaping the attack yet, as if the universe hated him, his rocket launcher was nicked and flew away from his hand. Irisia rolled across the ground, quickly getting up on one-knee and launched a fireball from her hand at the monster's face.
The Manticore reeled back in pain, roaring at the burning sensation on its face. The monster swung its tail at the sorceress but Irisia formed an ice wall just as the tail slammed into it. The ice wall held against the blow but she saw several cracks forming up and that the next blow would be a finisher. She ran out of the ice wall and jumped inside a ruin building to take cover for a moment as she was trying to figure out her next plan of attack.
She peaked out of the building to notice Vaughan crawling towards his rod of fire enhanced by her magic. A growl was heard before her world was reduced to a wooden splinter as the wooden walls around her was gone, replaced by oblivion as she was exposed once more to the open world. She looked up to see the Manticore looking at her with face full of contempt and lunged forward to bite her body off. The sorceress was quick to conjure wind magic to make her fly away from the attack and float above the Manticore's back, where she then casted a spell that gathered all the nearest debris ranging from splinters to large stones. With one flick of a finger she bombarded all of the objects she had gathered onto the Manticore, the monster letting out a surprised yelp at the barely effective barrage.
Unfortunately, she failed to notice the Manticore's tail coming towards her direction and barely saw the incoming attack before bringing up a barrier. Despite the barrier protecting her from the worst of the attack, the rest of the force broke through the barrier and sent her flying towards where Vaughan was. The ODST major jumped in surprise when a body landed in the spot he was several seconds ago and saw that it was the purple-haired sorceress lying wounded on the ground.
The roar of the Manticore got his attention, his helmet now facing the Manticore charging at him red in its eyes and drooling like a dog. The ODST quickly turned to his right where the rocket launcher was few feet in front of him and dashed to get his hand on the weapon. Reaching it and scooping it off the ground he brought it to bear, steadying the launcher and aiming at the charging beast, Vaughan's time came to a crawl as adrenaline kicked in. Reducing the beast's charge to a slow crawl and him moving his finger to click the trigger at a snail's pace. Once the trigger was pulled, the head of the Manticore was engulfed in a fiery display of yellow and lightning.
As the smoke dissipated away from the Manticore. All that was left of the monster was a twitching headless body, slayed by the union of magic and technology.
From the ruined buildings surrounding the Manticore, the citizens of Italica peeked out of their hiding places to witness the sight of the dead Manticore. Staring with wide eyes at the mythical beast slayed by one man, they all started to whisper in shock and awe looking at Vaughan.
For Vaughan, there was no cry of victory or boast of glory the citizens expected, just few simple words muttered through his COM. "Someone call in MEDVAC. We have a wounded at my location!"