Chapter 3
"Shrike, thank you again for saving us all. That was a pretty intense fight. But, I have good news for you now anyway. We recovered the body of that thing and you were right. It was almost entirely organic." Norman looked ecstatic, but there was an undertone of fear in his voice. "Don't worry about it, General, I'm going off to hunt those things down, remember? I won't fail you guys. So, what else is there that you found about it?" Norman pulled some papers from his desk. "This is the full report. The interesting stuff is book marked. Take a look." Shrike took the report from the General's hand and flipped to the first paper clip. It was a diagram of the creature. The weapons were labeled and Shrike read them aloud. "2X Medium Pulse lasers, 2X ER Large Lasers, 4X ER Medium Lasers, 3X LRM 10s. Jesus Christ this thing is incredible. I've seen Assault 'Mechs with fewer weapons." Shrike turned to the next clip. The header read "Biological Report". It outlined tests taken from the creature's cells. It appeared to be reptilian, though it had wings that shared the same cell structure. "Norman," Shrike said softly. "What do you think of this thing?" Norman shook his head. "I don't know, but it seems to resemble the mythical creatures known as dragons. The definition of the word means 'huge, often flying reptile'. Many of our scientists suspect bioengineering at work. Turn to the next clip and you'll see." Shrike turned and saw that it was a DNA report. Several small sections were circled. Notes at the bottom read, 'Indicated portions have been added and are not found in the DNA of typical lizards native to this planet. They are closely related to the chromosomes that allow domestic animals to be trained.' "Ummm. Norman? What does that mean? These things are alive, and their creators trained them to be killing machines?" "That's the gist of it. We only know that much, but it's enough. They're fast, strong and have more weapons than any one of our 'Mechs. The only thing we can hope for out of this is that that one was a prototype and there are no more of them out there." "I hope you're right, General. Is there anything else?" "No, Lieutenant. You can go now. Just come back alive." Shrike turned to go. "Oh, and Shrike, I'm sending a few 'Mech pilots with you. Hopefully you can get your hands on a few 'Mechs off the Market and get a squadron started. Godspeed, soldier." Shrike turned, saluted and left.
. . .
The voice came over Shrike's comm in the flatbed. It was a young voice, but one he had heard earlier during the battle. "Hey, Liuetenant. I'm corporal Nick Boler. I've been assigned to your command. My lancemates here are Chris Gonnard and Lisa Akland. Good to be with you." Shrike looked at his radar. Two Cougars and a Heavily modified Bulldog tank. Hardly a force, but it was a start at least. "Good to have you guys with me. I've got a location to set up shop. It's an old half burned out fire base about 3000 Kms out. From there we should be able to get some Black Market connections and start some raid ops. Sound good?" Lisa spoke. "Uh, sure. How's the pay?" Shrike snickered. Typical warriors. "You're still getting your military commission, plus whatever I decide you're worth. Just so you all know, our objective out here is to eliminate the threat of those dragon things." Boler spoke again. "Sure Lieutenant, sounds like fun. Right guys?" The others gave affirmatives and they all seemed to close formation a little. The four sped off toward their destination.
"Shrike, thank you again for saving us all. That was a pretty intense fight. But, I have good news for you now anyway. We recovered the body of that thing and you were right. It was almost entirely organic." Norman looked ecstatic, but there was an undertone of fear in his voice. "Don't worry about it, General, I'm going off to hunt those things down, remember? I won't fail you guys. So, what else is there that you found about it?" Norman pulled some papers from his desk. "This is the full report. The interesting stuff is book marked. Take a look." Shrike took the report from the General's hand and flipped to the first paper clip. It was a diagram of the creature. The weapons were labeled and Shrike read them aloud. "2X Medium Pulse lasers, 2X ER Large Lasers, 4X ER Medium Lasers, 3X LRM 10s. Jesus Christ this thing is incredible. I've seen Assault 'Mechs with fewer weapons." Shrike turned to the next clip. The header read "Biological Report". It outlined tests taken from the creature's cells. It appeared to be reptilian, though it had wings that shared the same cell structure. "Norman," Shrike said softly. "What do you think of this thing?" Norman shook his head. "I don't know, but it seems to resemble the mythical creatures known as dragons. The definition of the word means 'huge, often flying reptile'. Many of our scientists suspect bioengineering at work. Turn to the next clip and you'll see." Shrike turned and saw that it was a DNA report. Several small sections were circled. Notes at the bottom read, 'Indicated portions have been added and are not found in the DNA of typical lizards native to this planet. They are closely related to the chromosomes that allow domestic animals to be trained.' "Ummm. Norman? What does that mean? These things are alive, and their creators trained them to be killing machines?" "That's the gist of it. We only know that much, but it's enough. They're fast, strong and have more weapons than any one of our 'Mechs. The only thing we can hope for out of this is that that one was a prototype and there are no more of them out there." "I hope you're right, General. Is there anything else?" "No, Lieutenant. You can go now. Just come back alive." Shrike turned to go. "Oh, and Shrike, I'm sending a few 'Mech pilots with you. Hopefully you can get your hands on a few 'Mechs off the Market and get a squadron started. Godspeed, soldier." Shrike turned, saluted and left.
. . .
The voice came over Shrike's comm in the flatbed. It was a young voice, but one he had heard earlier during the battle. "Hey, Liuetenant. I'm corporal Nick Boler. I've been assigned to your command. My lancemates here are Chris Gonnard and Lisa Akland. Good to be with you." Shrike looked at his radar. Two Cougars and a Heavily modified Bulldog tank. Hardly a force, but it was a start at least. "Good to have you guys with me. I've got a location to set up shop. It's an old half burned out fire base about 3000 Kms out. From there we should be able to get some Black Market connections and start some raid ops. Sound good?" Lisa spoke. "Uh, sure. How's the pay?" Shrike snickered. Typical warriors. "You're still getting your military commission, plus whatever I decide you're worth. Just so you all know, our objective out here is to eliminate the threat of those dragon things." Boler spoke again. "Sure Lieutenant, sounds like fun. Right guys?" The others gave affirmatives and they all seemed to close formation a little. The four sped off toward their destination.