Chapter 24: A Bit of Payback
February 3rd 15:33, Brytus, Dragon Orphan Occupation Zone:
"After that, we'll continue to press in on the enemy." Hidaki said, looking around the command center. "Any questions?"When he got no response, Hidaki rapped up the debriefing. "Then you all are dismissed. Debrief your squads and be ready to carry out your assignments."
"Yes, sir."
When everyone cleared the room, the half-ghoul let a sigh. "Having a bad day, Captain?"
Hidaki glanced over his shoulder, seeing Saren entering the room. "I wish you would stop calling me that." He said, turning the terminal off.
"Why not?" Saren said, stopping beside the terran. "You deserve your promotion."
Hidaki was a Captain now. A promotion he received about a month before the galaxy-wide offensive against the Dragon Orphans began. He now had his own company to command, the 415th. "Maybe." He said. He still hadn't gotten used to the fact, he was now responsible for the lives of over three hundred men and women within the Marine Corp. "I know it's been three months; I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it."
Saren nodded his head side to side. "I guess that's understandable." He said. "But I still believe that you deserve it. You're a good man, and you command your squad and platoon well. That won't change now that you command the 415th company."
Hidaki smiled. "Thanks, Saren." He said to the ghoul turian. A small chuckle escaped from him. "You know, if this had been peacetime, I wouldn't have received this promotion for another year or two."
"But you would have gotten the rank eventually." Saren said. "It just would have taken a little longer." Under the turian's mandibles, Hidaki could see a smile forming.
Hidaki let out a small huff. "Come on." He said, walking away from the terminal. "We'll rejoin the frontlines soon, and I would like to get some rest before then." He stepped out from the command center and out into the streets where their forces were encamped.
A lot had changed in the past year. No longer were the Citadel forces, and the Terran Federation were acting as a disjointed force. Now they were acting as a united and cohesive force. With the establishment of a unified command chain, orders could freely flow down and out into the individual units of the allied forces. Allowing for faster and more flexible response times. What's more, after being given the breathing room it needed, the Citadel's economy was given a chance to fully switch over to a wartime mentality. With that, they were able to start to recover the losses they had taken in the two years before the Federation joined the war. Ships were being rolled with the new technologies offered by their newfound ally that gave them a better fighting chance against the Dragon Orphans, and older ships were quickly being refitted.
The Federation, in comparison with its territories untouched by the war, pumping out war materials. The only real problem they had was supply chains. With the treaty signed with the Citadel, that quickly became a nonissue.
Looking around the encampment, Hidaki could see the effects firsthand. Overall, the allied forces were now pushing the Dragon Orphans back. The fact they were in this city was proof of that. City by city, planet by planet, system by system, Citadel space was being taken back. With each inch of space reclaimed, the morale of the allied forces grew as well, emboldening them to take back more. From the reports, it was projected that within a year, they would retake most if not all of Citadel space, and they would be fighting the enemy in Batarian space. From there, Hidaki imagined the war would take on a much more brutal tone.
On a personal level, he could see how close his people and the Turians had grown. The tentative friendships that had formed in the early days of the alliance had blossomed. All around the encampment, Terrans and Turians freely mingled. Doing things that soldiers did when they were not actively fighting. Some were training, others talking, more than a few taking part in one challenge or another. Even the discomfort the Turians had with synthetics had ebbed away, as he saw a few comfortably talking with mech units. A few still held onto their distrust and kept their distance. Hidaki didn't pay them much mind. As long as they didn't do anything, he was content to let them be.
Of course, Terrans and Turians weren't the only ones sitting around the encampment. "Captain." An asari commando called out to them. "Care to join us for a game? These gentlemen," She gestured to the mix of Terrans, Turians, and even a Salarian that sat around it holding cards. "Were just showing me a game, your people call poker. I call your hundred and raise you fifty." She said, placing chips on a table.
"By showing her, she means cleaning us out." One of the players said, eyeing the large pile of chips in front of the Asari. "Are you sure you never played this game before?"
The Asari gave the man an innocent smile. "Now, what gave you that idea?" She looked back at Hidaki and Saren. "Well, will you join us?"
Hidaki chuckled, shaking his head. "No, thanks." He said. "I don't think my wife would appreciate me going into debt."
The Asari had a small pout on her face. "Ahh, and here I thought I could get a real challenge."
Hidaki's smile grew. "Next time, perhaps." He said, walking away. He almost laughed when he heard several groans of defeat.
Though perhaps the biggest change was with the man beside him. The Saren of today was not the same Saren of a year ago. The young turian was calmer now, not quite as reckless, though he still had his moments. He wasn't out to prove himself anymore, he fought for different reasons. Not all for the best of reasons, but Hidaki couldn't fault him for that.
Then, of course, there was the most obvious change. Hidaki's eyes glanced at the red veins that came from the Turian's eyes. There had been quite a bit of trouble when it was first found out that Saren had been turned into a ghoul. Especially when it was announced that Saren would be allowed to continue his service in the Hierarchy military, at least until the war came to its conclusion. There had been more than a few accusations of favoritism, and Saren became the target of suspicion.
Hidaki was, for lack of a better word, disappointed in the turians he served with. How could they be so quick to turn on one of their own? Saren had fought and bled along their side and risked his life more than once. Why would that change because of something that was beyond his control?
But then, at the same time, he could understand why they did. Despite all the information they had now, ghouls were still a major unknown to the citadel races. It was oddly comforting that terrans weren't the only ones to react badly to fear.
Despite the prejudice that Saren had received, he handled it remarkably well. Maybe because he was a reserved person and ignored them. Maybe it was because he already knew who he was and didn't care what others said. Hidaki knew that it was affecting him. His people had basically turned on him, and there was no that anyone wasn't going to be affected by that.
While most of the whispers and distrustful glares had died down, there were still those who couldn't let go of their views. The Hierarchy and the other galactic governments may claim to accept their ghoul populations. But changing the hearts and minds of the people was no easy feat. Saren and other alien ghouls (and their families) would have to fight an uphill battle for years and decades to come.
Hidaki, though put this to the back of his mind. Hidaki didn't care what others said about Saren. He didn't care what he had become (being what he was and ancestry, he had no right to judge). He thought of Saren as a friend, and nothing could change that. To him, Saren is a good man, he had his faults, but a good man, nonetheless. Courage, honor, integrity was some of the things that came to mind when he tried to describe his turian friend.
A memory surfaced in the captain's mind. It was a bit before the offensive against the Dragon Orphans had begun.
Six months ago
"Sir, the enemy is retreating."
"Pursue them." Hidaki shouted, firing shards from his Ukaku. "We need to make sure they leave the city. Relay the development to command. Request additional reinforcements for pursuit."
"Yes, sir."
Saren was next to him. "If they keep throwing themselves at us like this, they won't have any left defend the occupied city." He said, aiming and firing his rifle. The small projectiles leaving a blue stream with a slight red hue in the air.
In recent months, the Dragon Orphans had become more aggressive on Brytus. Hidaki couldn't imagine why, though. This battle was the latest of a series of failed offensives into allied control territory. However, this was one of the largest they had faced yet.
The attack came at a city near the one occupied by the D-Orphans. Thankfully, the city was already well-fortified and had received reinforcements when they saw the attack coming. Hidaki's unit had been among the reinforcements
The Dragon Orphan's initial assault saw them breaching deep in the city before they were halted and pushed back. After an entire day of fighting, the Dragon Orphans were pushed back to the edge of the city.
"I wouldn't count on it." Hidaki said, taking cover behind a nearby vehicle. Shards flew past, and he heard a few impacting his cover. "The Dragon Orphans always have more numbers."
A flyer swooped down, its talons outstretched to grab its victim. Saren's Sekkaku pierced into its just, its forward momentum almost taking the turian off his feet. Saren threw the creature off his kagune. "Suits me just fine. It means I get to kill more of them."
Before Hidaki could respond to his friend's comment, a private came up beside him. "Sir, I got word from command."
"Report."
"They acknowledge that we are in pursuit of the enemy and are sending reinforcements to our position. The 212th and the 303rd are on their way, ETA twenty minutes, thirty at the latest."
"Only two battalions?" Saren screwing a prowler. "We'll need more than that if we are to pursue the enemy."
"Command says the enemy is in full retreat. Several other fronts are pursuing and requesting reinforcements as well. Command wants us to drive the enemy outside of the city limits and hold position."
"Command as something planned, don't they?" Hidaki said. A Brimir unit walked up, firing off its gatling gun, making it difficult to hear.
"Yes, sir." The private shouted. "Once the enemy has cleared the city limits, three full bomber wings will come in and drop their payload. After they make their run, we have permission to exterminate any survivors."
Hidaki replaced the permission with ordered. "Tell command that we confirm their orders and relay them to the rest of the unit."
"Sir, yes, sir."
"Come on, Saren, we have our orders." Hidaki said, running out from cover, firing several bursts. He used his Ukaku to block any in-coming Rc shards fired from the retreating enemy.
"Right behind you." He heard Saren shout.
The counteroffensive was in full swing as the allied forces pressed their pursuit. Hidaki and Saren, along with hundreds of soldiers, both organic and synthetic alike, and assorted tanks, advanced gunning down the enemy. Overhead a wing of gunships unleashed hell on the Dragon Orphans as they provided air support for the allied forces. From a distance, artillery shells were fired, quickly finding their way deep into the D-Orphans' retreating ranks.
A segment of the D-Orphans decided to turn around and fight, being the rest of their forces to retreat. The terran-citadel forces were caught off guard by the sudden attack but recovered quickly.
Hidaki dodged out of the way of a Dragon Orphan that charged him. A flex of his Ukaku, and the thing fell over in two pieces. He pulled the trigger on his rifle, firing a burst into the chest of an attacker that was close to him. It fell to his feet. Close by he saw Saren fighting several D-Orphans in close quarters. Much the same was happening with the rest of the terran-citadel forces.
With the suddenness of the attack and the fact that their forces were actively being pursued, resulting in the two armies mixing together and engaging in close quarters. A scenario normally avoided by Terran forces, as melee combat was not something you wanted to avoid with the Dragon Orphans.
Hidaki was thankful they did receive training for such a situation. Ghouls like him and Saren were only the ones that could fight the D-Orphans in close combat safely. The human soldiers and the rest of turians and a few asari took cover where they could, getting off shots against targets that got too close before switching over to more distant targets.
Most of the mechs did much the same except for the larger and bulkier Brimir units. Those were too big for them to take cover. Though this didn't matter much as those things were pretty much walking tanks, and anything that tried to fight one in melee was asking for a swift and painful death. As one D-Orphan found out when its head was backhanded cleaned off before its body was stepped on.
"That is honestly a damn satisfying sight to see." Hidaki thought to himself as he cut through a horde of Dragon Orphans. He saw the massive machine fire a salvo of rockets into the retreating horde up ahead.
He looked to Saren, seeing him use both his rifle and kagune to kill any Dragon Orphan that came at him. In the months following his transformation, Saren had quickly become skilled in fighting with his kagune. He mixed together a deadly storm of jabs swings from the four spider-like legs that protruded from his back. Even Hidaki found it hard to keep up with ghoul turian when they had sparred together.
More so when they discovered that Saren could use his Sekkaku to climb up vertical surfaces and cling to them, much like an earth spider could. This offered Saren opportunities to attack from angles that normally wouldn't be possible.
Which readily became apparent when the ghoul turian lept back at a building and used his Sekkaku to cling to the surface. With his back to the building, he began to climb up the build quickly, ascending several floors, all the while firing his rifle into a group of D-Orphans. Then about around the fourth or fifth floor, he launched himself off the building and spun around swing his kagune out at the enemy below.
He landed beside Hidaki. "Show off." Hidaki said, using one of his Ukaku to block an attack from a charging standard D-Orphan. A burst to the stomach saw the creature dead.
He knew the young turian was smiling. "You're the one to speak." He said, skrewing three Dragon Orphans and throwing their remains into a pack of prowlers. "If I remembered correctly, the first time we meet, you jumped out of a transport and cut a brute in half."
"Don't remind me." Hidaki said, reloading his rifle. "My CO gave me a massive chewing out for that stunt. If it weren't for the fact, I'm one of his best, I probably would have ended up on latrine duty for a month."
"Sir, our reinforcements have arrived."
The private didn't have to make the report. As Hidaki could see that with his own eyes. Coming out from the streets on both sides of the road, the 212th and the 303rd emerged. Coming between the retreating Dragon Orphans and the fighting allied and Dragon Orphan forces. "Their timing couldn't have been better." Hidaki said, getting a nod from Saren.
With the appearance of more friendlies, the attacking Dragon Orphans were swiftly slaughtered, and pursuit of the rest of the swarm continued.
A few more blocks down, another surprise reared its ugly head. Five of them are too precise. In one moment, a whole line of soldiers was pressing on the Dragon Orphans. The next, they are torn to pieces. Hidaki barely had time to register this before the five Dragon-Lieutenants started to carve a bloody path through terran-citadel forces.
"Ignore the rest of the Dragon Orphans." Hidaki shouted. "Concentrate all fire on the D-Lieutenants." His orders were quickly followed as a wall of bullets, and Rc shards were fired at the newcomers to the battle. Thankfully turning one of them into bloody chunks. The remaining four though continued to charge through the allied ranks, killing all who got in their way. Even as they took wounds that would kill ordinary people.
Two came right at Hidaki, who reacted fast enough to block and parry their attacks. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a third sail pash him and use its kagune a pair of Rinkaku pierce through the armor-plated chest of a Brimir. An attack that would see the large unit go down. But not before it grabbed its killed by the head get yelp of surprise and bring his Gatling gun and firing obliterating the creature's head.
Two down, three to go. Hidaki knew this was a suicide attack from the D-Lieutenants. While still Dragon Generals and were deadly in their own right, they were the lowest tier of them. A well-coordinated and armed squad of soldiers could theoretically take one down., though not without taking heavy losses. Five of them against a whole army? There was no way they would survive.
Though at the moment, that mattered little for Hidaki as two of them were doing everything they could to kill him. The terran captain dodged and parried every attack that came at him, and he tried to get in an attack whenever he saw the opening. But he found it hard to keep up, these two were fast and coordinated their attacks. When he moved to block or dodge one's attack the other would strike at his vulnerable side.
He didn't know where the third one was, hopefully, it was already being taken care of. There was one good thing about the two focusing on him, they ignored the rest of the army. From the corners of his eyes, he saw the terran-citadel forces continue their advance giving him and his opponents a wide berth but still close enough to help.
Then Hidaki made a mistake. Both Dragon Orphans lunged at him, he jumped back. He felt his foot collide with something, throwing his balance off. Cursing himself for not paying attention to his surroundings, Hidaki tried to re-right himself in the air. But too late, one of the D-Lieutenants vanished from his sight, and an instant later, he felt its presence right behind him. Pain shot through his being as he felt the creature's kagune tear through his shoulder. His momentum came to a stop, and Hidaki was forced to bit back a scream as he felt his shoulder pop. He felt his rifle drop from his hands.
A shadow came over him as Hidaki saw the other Dragon Orphan raise its Kagune for the kill. "Looks like I'm not coming home." Hidaki thought, reaching for a grenade. His would-be killer's chest exploded as two red spikes busted through it.
The creature coughs up blood, a surprised look on its barely human face, before a third spike or rather a leg came through its head. Before its body hit the ground, Hidaki ripped himself away from the other D-lieutenant's kagune. Turning around, he saw the creature was just starting to recover from its shock. Hidaki would never give it that chance as he swung out his Ukaku, flesh, and bone were separated from each other. A moment later, the D-Lieutenant fell over in two pieces.
Hidaki let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He looked up, seeing Saren standing over him, his four Sekkaku dripping with blood. "Hidaki," He said, kneeling beside him. "You alright?" He asked looking over his wound, a small look of surprise on his face.
"I'm alright." Hidaki said, popping his shoulder back into place. "My wound is healing up now." He gestures to the rapidly closing wound. "The perks of being a ghoul."
"I don't think that I heal that quickly." Saren said, standing up and offering his hand.
Hidaki took Saren's hand and got to his feet. "That's because I come from a family whose's regenerative abilities are a fair bit more powerful than the average ghoul." Hell, some were known to regain limbs. "It'll take a lot more to do me in." He looked over the battlefield looking for evidence of the remaining D-Lieutenant. "Where's the."
Saren answered his question before he could finish it. "Dead." He said. He raised up a bloody hand. "Took its head out myself. A squad of soldiers saw to it that it didn't have a chest to grow a new one."
Hidaki nodded. "Good. The last thing we need is a Dragon General tearing through our ranks. Even if it is one of the weaker variants." Hidaki picked his rifle from the ground, inspecting it to see if it was still in working condition. Satisfied, he reloaded and stepped behind Saren. "Come on, Saren. We have an offensive to press."
"Yes, sir." Saren responded.
Before running, Hidaki placed a hand on Saren's shoulder. "Thank you. For saving my life."
Saren gave a slight nod. "Anything for a friend."
Present
Hidaki smiled at the memory. Saren truly had grown into his own and still had more growing to do. Saren noticed him staring. "What?" He asked.
Hidaki shook his. "Nothing. Just thinking." He placed a hand on the turian's shoulder. "You're a good man Saren. Never forget that." Far from them, Hidaki eyed a small group of turians giving Saren a dirty look. They turned away when they noticed him staring. "No matter what other people may think."
Saren looked over at where Hidaki had been looking at. "I suppose." He said before turning his attention back to Hidaki.
"Just remember that you will always have a place in this galaxy." Hidaki said. They entered a tent filled with makeshift beds. "It may not be in the Hierarchy or even the Citadel. But there is a place."
The young turian remained quiet for a few seconds before he slowly nodded. "Thank you."
"Anything for a friend."
February 7th 12:24, close proximity to the Dragon's nest:
"This is Viper-3. I've ran out of ammunition. Pulling back for resupply."
Viper-11 switch on their com. "Viper-11 to Viper-3. Copy that, will take up position and continue air support for friendlies on the ground." Viper-11 pushed on the control stick, moving his gunship through the air.
On his HUD, he saw the signal for Viper-3 move away from its position. "Viper-3 to Viper-11 confirmed. Much appreciated."
Viper-11 smiled under his oxygen mask. "Your welcome, viper-3. Just be sure to get the supply depot safely and get back into the fight." Viper-11 took up position about where Viper-3 had hovered over.
"Rodger that Viper-11."
Viper-11 ignored the acknowledgment, he lined up the sights of his gunships, gatling guns. Then he pulled the trigger, mowing down a hoard of D-Orphans. This was his favorite part about being a gunship pilot, the power and dominance he had over enemy ground units.
He could have been a fighter or bomber pilot, but they never offered him the same feeling of power as being in a gunship. Just then, he saw a group of brutes charging through the swarms of Dragon Orphans.
"This is Viper-11, five brutes inbound to allied front." One of them exploded as a tank shell hit it. "Correction four brutes inbound to allied front."
"Viper-11, this Viper-7. I confirm the sighting of four brutes. Readying barrage of missiles to deal with the enemy."
"Confirmed." Viper-11 said, hearing two other confirms. He moved his hand over to control panel to his left. His hands glided over the controls on the display he saw several of the gunship's missiles arm themselves.
Satisfied his hand moved back to the control stick and pressed his thumb over the fire control. "Missiles ready, acquiring target lock." Viper-11, watch the targeting sights on the HUD moved over the battlefield before lining themselves over the brutes. "Target lock."
"Target lock."
"Target lock."
"Target lock."
"Fire!"
Viper-11 pressed the button, almost having a vicious smile as he saw a stream of missiles fire from his and three other gunships. Seconds later, a ripple of fireballs consumed the brutes and numerous other Dragon Orphans.
"Missiles have made contact." Viper-7 said. "All units confirm the destruction of the target."
It took a few seconds for the smoke and fire to clear away enough to give Viper-11 a visual of the enemy. "This is Viper-11. I confirm the destruction of the target. All four brutes are down, additional enemy forces have also been destroyed." Viper-11 heard several other confirms from the other gunship pilots and a few from the soldiers on the ground.
"Alright, boys, let's- VIPER-11 WATCH OUT!"
Before Viper-11 got out a response, a proximity alarm flashed across his terminal. Another half a second later, instinct kicked in, and Viper-11 pulled his craft to the side. Narrowly avoiding the large block of debris. Viper-11 ignored the reports of causalities as he lined up his sites on the offender. A sixth brute that escaped their notice, it was reduced to mush by three streams of projectiles.
Viper-11 sighed in relief, feeling his heart pound. "Thanks, Viper-7." He said. "I owe you a drink after this."
He heard Viper-7 chuckle into her commlink. "Looking forward to it."
Viper-11 noticed that the allied forces below were advancing on the retreating Dragon Orphans. He had his gunship move at a pace with them.
February 7th 14:04:
Brimir Unit- 1107: Fire main weapon. Report: fifteen enemy units confirmed killed. Firing missile. Report: Missile has made contact with the enemy. Twenty confirmed killed. Allied units moving in Dragon Orphans forces.
Deploying Thor Unis 1203, 1204, 1205, 1206, and 1207 to support allied units. Taking causalities Units 1205 and 1207 offline. Five allied units killed. Three Turian, two terran. Enemy still in retreat.
At the start of the battle, Vincent saw it from a hundred different angles. From a hundred different points of view, he saw the Dragon Orphans being killed by the combined forces of the Terran Federation and the Citadel. He himself had racked up a high kill count, against the greatest enemy that Terran people ever faced. He relished at the sight of the retreating swarm.
But at the same time, his heart felt heavy. From a hundred different points of view, he saw allied units be killed. A few he considered to be friends. He had Thor Unit- 1202 look down at the corpse of a young terran. Rc shards protrude throughout his body, and a pool of blood surrounded him. Vincent said a silent prayer for the young man before having the unit move on.
A brute charged one of his Brimir units. A fist collides with the armor plating in the chest of the heavy combat unit, leaving a dent. A second punch almost staggered the unit, but it ground its feet. Vincent intercepted the third punch. The creature tried to swing out its free arm. However, Vincent wasn't going to give the brute the chance. He threw out the unit's Gatling gun into the creature's head and fired. Vincent pushed the dying Dragon Orphan off the Brimir unit.
A part of him was glad that over forty of his mech units had been offlined. It gave him fewer points of views of the deaths this battle was bringing about. Unlike his organic creators, he could not simply suppress the memories of what was happening here, nor would they fade. He would always remember in perfect clarity as each of his friends was killed. He knew he could erase the memories. A simple process that would take less than a second. All he would have to know was that the people he cared about were dead. But the AI felt that be doing a disservice to the soldiers dying in this war.
Whatever their reasons for fighting, they were fighting for the Federation. Fighting so that the galaxy would survive. They deserved to be remembered, even if it meant remembering their deaths as well.
Two more Thor units went down, cutting off their sights from him.
"All Units halt advance here." His commanding officer said. "We'll hold position here and wait for reinforcements. Then we'll continue our advance on the enemy."
Vincent wasn't going to argue against that.
February 8th 12:24, close proximity to the Dragon's nest:
Saren used his Kagune to swat away a prowler that had tried to jump him. It landed a few feet away from him. It got to its feet, and its head exploded as the Turian charged and shot out a red leg.
In the same motion, he used two other Sekkaku to skewer half a dozen Dragon Orphans. Pulling out the spider-like legs, he turned over to see several D-Orphans, a mix of standard types and prowlers, charging at him. Hissing and roaring as they got closer. They were cut to pieces as a figure landed in the middle of them. A wing-like structure extended out from the figure and fired a rain of shards.
Saren ran over to figure using his Sekkaku to block any shards from spikers, a few impacted his barriers. He got behind the figure. "Hidaki, how are you holding up?" Saren asked.
"Good." Hidaki said. He used his Ukaku to slice open a Dragon Orphan that charged him. A second was gunned down by Saren. Several squads of soldiers ran past them, taking up positions and firing their weapons, their COs issuing orders.
Saren looked past the swarm of Dragon Orphans and over the horizon. He could make out the thin outline of the Dragon's Nest. Block by block, they were getting closer to their objective and ultimate victory on Brytus. "You think we'll make it to the Dragon's Den today?" He asked. Meters away, a brute was reduced to nothing as a missile impacted its chest.
It was difficult to hear the terran over the sound of his rifle firing. "Difficult to say." They both took cover behind some rubble. "But I doubt it." Hidaki continued to answer. "It may take another day or two before we reach the nest itself."
"And how long do you think it'll take to finally defeat the D-Orphans." Saren charged out from cover, lashed out his Sekkaku at a small group of Dragon Orphans. Most of them were cut to pieces, and the remaining few jumped at him. He pulled back his Sekkaku to block a claw that would have racked across his chest. He quickly killed the creature and finished off the others.
He felt Hidaki behind him. "I'm sure. Definity longer than a day. At that point, the Dragon Orphans will have nowhere to run." Overhead they heard missiles fly. "They will all fight to the death."
Saren was glad that he was wearing a helmet, it hid the smirk. "You think we'll face the Dragon General?" He asked.
"I hope not." Hidaki said. "The last time we faced that monster, we almost died. THAT is an experience I do not want to repeat." Saren felt a little bit disappointed at that answer. His more rational side, however, agreed with him. "I'm hoping that the Investigators we sent after it will be able to kill the thing."
Saren's mandibles twitched in curiosity. Hidaki had mentioned that unit a few times. Controversy around their name aside, Saren understood they are among the Terran's most deadly special forces. They were the top ranks of the Dragon Hunter Corp. a special forces group trained and armed to fight Dragon Generals.
They had a few members of the DHC in their front, and they cut through the Dragon Orphans like they weren't even there. The few lower-ranked D-Generals that tried to engage them were usually cut down before they had the chance to do any real damage.
"How will we know that the Dragon General is dead?" Saren asked. They had advanced past another block.
"Trust me, we'll know." Hidaki said. "These things don't react well when you cut off the head. They'll suddenly become disorientated, frenzied even. In that state, they won't be able to attack as a swarm and start to kill everything on sight, including themselves. At that point, they'll be much easier to fight, as they'll be just as busy fighting each other as they will be fighting us."
Saren nodded. He heard about what happens when the Dragon Orphans lose their leaders. He had never seen it before. "How long will they stay like that?"
"Not as long as we would like." Hidaki responded. Close by, a transport vehicle came to a stop and unloaded its occupants. A fresh wave of soldiers joined the battle on the frontlines. "But by the time they do, we have pushed them back significantly, and even then, they wouldn't be nearly as coordinated as before."
Several groups of the fleeing Dragon Orphans broke off and charged at the frontlines. By this point, this was a familiar tactic. The Federation/Citadel forces recognized that this was an attempt to slow down any advance on retreating swarms. Brytus wasn't the only world to see this, so most of the allied forces had learned how much distance they needed between them and the swarm. Close enough to keep up an effective pursuit and far enough to prevent any sudden turnarounds from becoming a brutal CQC situation.
Most of the attacking groups were cut down by the combined firepower of Federation and Citadel forces. Though a few groups did manage to get through the wall of death and attack allied forces in close quarters.
Again Federation/Citadel forces were ready for this. On all frontlines, a greater number of ghouls had been stationed. As the forces of the Citadel quickly learned, ghouls were deadly, particularly in close-range combat.
A single one didn't pose the same threat as a Dragon-Lieutenant or a brute, but a well-trained one could still tear through dozens of Dragon-Orphans. Squads of them properly supported could turn back swarms.
Saren had seen this happen plenty of times throughout the war. He had seen Hidaki and other terran ghouls tear through hundreds if not thousands of D-Orphans, only struggling against the more powerful variants like the brutes. Even then, he has seen his terran friend take one down by himself then a few times.
Of course, Saren was one of them now, a turian ghoul. It was something he had struggled with, still struggled with, but he had quickly come to appreciate the benefits it offered. The cannibalism aside, Saren was faster and stronger than he had been when he was just a turian. His body could take more punishment and could recover quicker, small wounds were all but ignored.
Then there was his Kagune, weaponized appendages. Three years ago, if someone had told him about such a concept and that he would have one, he would written them off as insane.
A group of stalkers and standards charged at him. He turned to face them, readying his rifle and Sekkaku, when the creatures started to glow with a blue hue and were lifted off the ground. Multiple stabs from his Sekkaku later, the creatures fell to the ground dead. He turned his head over to see an Asari Commando giving him a smile. He nodded and moved on to his next target.
He thanked the spirits that the Terrans had made peaceful contact with the races of the Citadel. He shuddered to think what would have happened if the two powers had gone to war. In space, they might have been more even, but on the ground, he knew the Turian Hierarchy would have been slaughtered.
Out the corner of his eyes, he saw Hidaki cutting through group after group of Dragon Orphans. Saren briefly wondered in that scenario; would he have ended up fighting him? Would he even have survived such a fight? Most likely not. Saren shook his head and focused his mind on the battle.
His kagune pierced through the chest of a Dragon Orphan and into the head of another. He swung the spider-like leg out, throwing the corpse off, and shot out his head, grabbing the head of a D-Orphan that had gotten close. A squeeze exploded its head, and he threw the dead thing to the side.
He knelt and aimed his rifle at a group of Dragon Orphans charging at a squad of soldiers. He fired, cutting two of the D-Orphan and grabbing the attention of the rest. Taking advantage, the squad of soldiers came out from cover and unloaded their weapons into the group.
Not bothering to register the results, the ghoul turian stood up and ran to a piece of cover. A moment later, he felt a familiar presence next to him. "Looks like we are making good progress." Hidaki said. "I counted two blocks we just took back."
"I'm going to have to take your word for it." Saren responded. He'd been focusing more on fighting the D-Orphans, than the progress of the battle.
"I've been getting reports from the other fronts." Hidaki said. He poked from cover and fired his weapon, and returned. "The Dragon Orphans are falling back on all sides, and more of our forces are coming in. command wants us surrounding the Dragon's Den by tomorrow night."
"What of our forces in orbit?" Saren asked. He knew they were engaged with swarms of Dragon ships. He was curious about the progress of the battle happening over their heads.
"You're going to like this one." Hidaki said. "They've established complete orbital supremacy. All enemy forces in the system have been wiped out with no sign of reinforcements coming in. The system is ours."
That would mean that the Dragon Orphans had given up on Mactare and, by extension Brytus. The Dragon Orphans on the planet were now cut off from the overall swarm. They had no chance of getting reinforcements except for the ones they could make. "Are they sure?" Saren asked.
Hidaki nodded. "They are. Now they don't have to worry about fighting for the system, the navy is moving in to support our offensive. A wing of frigates is being deployed to low orbit they'll focus their fire around the Dragon's Den. It won't damage it, but it will soften up the forces around it."
Saren nodded that would make this offensive easier. Almost as if the universe was waiting for a cue, Saren heard a distant thundering. "That's going to rile them up." Saren said.
"Indeed," Hidaki responded. "Let's go."
Booth soldiers got from cover, rejoining the fight. Working in tandem, the two ghouls tore through the ranks of the Dragon-Orphans, ridding them with bullets and shards or tearing them to pieces with their Kagune. Hidaki mostly focused on attacking the enemy from a distance, which he excelled at being a Ukaku ghoul. While Saren focuses on getting in close to his target and ripping them apart.
The allied army, now having orbital support, advanced swiftly on the Dragon Orphans, taking several blocks in a matter of hours. That was when things started to go south.
"We have incoming Dragon-lieutenants and Dragon-Captain!" A private said.
Sure enough, seven figures that barely looked human, led by an eighth that did look more like a human, charged out from the horde of Dragon Orphans. They cut down a role of soldiers before they had time to react. They did not get much further than that, though, as two teams of Dragon Hunters, twelve in total, leaped out and engaged them.
"Ignore them." Hidaki ordered, knowing the problem was well under control. Already two of the D-Lieutenants laid dead on the ground, while the other two and the D-Captain struggled to stay alive. "Keep the offensive going."
Saren was about to leap in to help the hunters when he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. "Don't." He said. "They got the situation under control." Two more D-Lieutenants fell, and the D-Captain looked like it was about to join them.
Saren opened his mouth to protest. That was when he got a terrible sinking feeling like something was trying to crawl out of his stomach. He closed his mouth, through his helmet, Saren could see a look of confusion and fear on Hidaki's face. The terran was getting the same feeling as him, and that made it a thousand times worse for the turian.
"What?" Saren asked. His question was cut off by the sounds of screaming and shouts of surprise.
Both figures turned over to see where the sounds were coming from. At first, relief flooded over Saren when he saw that the D-Lieutenants and D-Captain were dead. Then that gnawing feeling returned when his mind registered that half of the Dragon Hunters were dead, torn limb from limb. The other half were in the fight of their lives against a foe that haunted Saren's nightmares.
The figure was covered head to toe in blood, both red and blue, in some areas mixing together to make a sickening purple. The figure's head turned over when their eyes met, flashes of a torn-off arm flashed into Saren's mind.
The Dragon General smiled as recognition flashed across its blacken eyes.
Saren was vaguely aware of Hidaki mattering something. "Murphy, why do you hate us?
"Murphy, why do you hate us?" Hidaki asked. He was starting to wonder if the figure that caused disaster had a personal grudge against him.
Just when the offensive was going well, Murphy took one look and decided. "Let's see what I can do to make everyone's lives miserable." Sure, the Dragon Lieutenants and Captain had been unexpected, but they were nothing that couldn't be managed. But this? This was a whole other problem.
As the Dragon General turned its head to Hidaki and Saren, a look of recognition flashed across its face. Hidaki realized that their chances of getting out of this unscathed were rapidly approaching zero.
That was when the moment of calm ended. The Dragon General went back to fighting the remaining Dragon Hunters, who struggled to survive against the monster's onslaught. Hidaki knew that it was done with them, he and Saren would be next.
It was with that Hidaki was spurred into action. So was Saren, evidently. Before he had a chance to react, Hidaki saw the Ghoul Turian leap into the fight between the D-Hunters and the D-General. "Saren, what the hell are you thinking?" Hidaki shouted at the man. "You can't fight that thing."
"It won't matter." Saren shouted back. "Once the D-General is done with the hunters, he's coming after us next. This way, we'll have a fighting chance against this monster."
Hidaki bit back a remark. He knew that Saren was right. That thin remember them from the last time they fought, and the Dragon General clearly wanted a second go at them. If they fought it now with the remaining Dragon Hunters, there was a chance, however slim, that they could overwhelm the monster. "Damnit." Hidaki cursed out, knowing their options were limited. He went for his comm. "This is Captain Hidaki Kaneki of the 412th, we have been engaged by the Dragon-General. I repeat, we have been engaged by the Dragon General. Requesting immediate reinforcements."
"This is General Xi." A woman's voice answered over the comm. "Please confirm. You said you have been engaged by the Dragon-General?"
"Affirmative," Hidaki said, keeping a close eye on the fight with the D-General. Several other ghouls had quickly joined the fight and were being killed off just as quickly. Fireteams of soldiers gave the fight a wide berth and took carefully placed shots at the biggest threat in this theater. "The Dragon General is here. He killed about half of the Dragon Hunters assigned to us before we knew he was here. He is presently engaged with the rest of the hunters and several other units. I repeat my request for immediate reinforcements."
"Requested granted." General Xi said. "I'm sending in additional teams of Dragon Hunters, if possible, a secondary team of Investigators."
"A secondary team?" Hidaki questioned. Then he remembered a conversation he had with Saren. "You already sent one team after him, didn't you?"
"Yes we, did." General Xi confirmed. "It would seem they failed to eliminate the Dragon General." Which meant they were dead. Hidaki felt a tremble of fear inside of him. Investigators were among the Federation's most deadly units. Their success rate on missions was about as near to perfect as one could get. Anything that could fight and kill a team of them was nothing to be scoffed at. "I will try to send in a second team of Investigators. Failing that, I'll divert as many forces as possible to your position. Your primary objective has changed, captain. Focus on eliminating the Dragon General and press on with the offensive. We cannot fail here. Am I understood?"
Oh sure, it's not like she was asking him to fight a monster that could tear through armies like a blender on overload. "Understood, sir." He said. "The Dragon General will die this day."
"Glad to hear it." General Xi said. "One more thing and consider this an order. Try to stay alive."
"Understood, General." Easier said than done, but Hidaki appreciated the sentiment. The link went dead, and Hidaki turned his full attention to the fight with the Dragon General. Predictably it was not going well. Several dozens of bodies lay across the battlefield. Very few were in one piece.
Hidaki noted that very few of the Dragon Hunters remained now. To his relief, Saren was still alive and circling around the Dragon Orphan, looking for an opening. That came when two ghoul soldiers charged at the creature. It turned to face them, exposing its back to Saren.
The turian was quick to capitalize on the weakness. He charged in and shot out two of his Sekkaku aimed at the center of the back. However, the Dragon General sensed the danger and span around out of the way of the attack.
Saren, however, did not stop his movement. Instead, his Kagune swung out in an arc. The D-General blocked both appendages and grabbed hold of them. Before the monster could do anything about it, the two ghouls had closed in and jumped at it. Bikaku and Rinkaku flew through the air.
The Dragon General frowned and threw off the pair of Sekkaku belonging to Saren, sending him across the street. Then in a flash of red, the Dragon General was behind the two attackers. One fell over, his torse having been torn from the rest of his body. The second only had a second to register the death of their squadmate before his throat was torn out.
The Dragon General flicked his hand, sending a spray of red out into the air. The Dragon General's gaze turned to Saren. The Turian had just barely recovered from being thrown when the D-General flew towards him.
With its attention fully on Saren, the creature had little time to react to Hidaki's attack. It was able to react, twisting out of the way of a stream of Rc shards, but it could not avoid the kick that connected to its side. The D-General was sent skidding up the street before it gained control of its momentum, coming to a stop several meters away.
Hidaki had landed just in front of and a little to the side of Saren. The ghoul turian gave a quick nod. "Thanks." He said.
"No problem." Hidaki responded. "You would have done the same for me."
"Right." Saren mattered.
The Dragon General had recovered from the attack now and was glaring at the pair. "You two won't escape from me this time." It said. "This time, I will feast on your remains and bath in your blood." It's Kagune flared to life. Then it smiled. "The other, the turian, you are different now, aren't you? You're more like your friend here."
"Consider it a parting gift from one of your pets." Saren said in a low growl.
The Dragon General's smile grew, making it look more mad than before. "I wonder what would happen if I fed your friend to you? Would you enjoy it, or would it make you sick? How about we find out?"
"You sick bastard!" Saren shouted, leaping at the Dragon General.
"You sick bastard." Saren shouted, sending himself flying towards the monster. This thing had to pay. Pay for everything it ever did. For every life it took, every world it ruined. Pay for what it did to him.
He felt a firm hand land on his shoulder. Saren looked over to see Hidaki holding onto him. "Don't." He said. "That thing is trying to get a rise out of you. It wants you to make a mistake."
Saren was about to explode on the Terran when he looked him in the eyes and saw the concern for him in them. Saren calmed down a little. Hidaki was right. Just rushing into this fight was going to get him killed, and what good would be then? The Dragon General was too dangerous of an opponent to rush in on.
He found that out the hard way, the first time they faced that monster. They had to be careful against it. "Thanks. I guess we're even now." He had a lot to thank for the Terran.
Hidaki may argue differently, but Saren knew what he was like before meeting the man. He was brash and reckless, out to prove himself. He had a ruthless streak that, if had it gone unchecked, would have gone on to make him a different individual than he was now. Without meeting Hidaki and experiencing the horrors of this war, he would have gone on to become a man that would do anything and everything to complete his goals. To accomplish his mission. Even if that meant sacrificing the lives of others, the lives of innocents. He would have become a monster like the one he was fighting now. Perhaps not the same type of monster, but a monster, nonetheless.
Saren, though, had the presence of mind to understand that these traits were still in him and would always be. He was still willing to go farther than most people would gain a victory in a fight. But with Hidaki, these traits did not disappear. But rather, they were lessened and tampered. He would still do things that others wouldn't, but he was willing to consider and hear out other options.
He shuddered to think of how different he would have been if he had never met Hidaki. "Try not to think much of it." The Terran said. "Now then, we got a Dragon General to kill."
"Right." With their brief exchange over, both men turned their full attention back to the Dragon General.
Its Bikaku swayed in the air as it waited for the two to make the first move. The remaining Dragon Hunters and dozens of other ghouls soldiers formed up around them. Squads of soldiers took up positions around the battle-torn street, aiming at the biggest threat in the area. Two heavy mechs trained their gatling guns at the Dragon General.
Meanwhile, all around them, the rest of the army press on with the rest of the battle. They gave the fight with the Dragon General a wide berth. Not completely ignoring it but keeping their distance.
After what felt like hours or days, the Dragon General frowned as it realized that it would have been the first to attack. Something about that felt off to Saren. While he knew their enemy would taunt them and was willing to wait for them to rush in. He also felt that the Dragon wasn't willing to wait forever, that his patience would disappear sooner rather than later. Saren didn't have much time to think this over as the D-General leaped into action.
In a blink, the Dragon General was charging across the street. Almost immediately, a continuous stream of bullets and Rc shards sailed towards the creature. The Dragon General weaved its way out of the way of the projectiles and blocked the others with its Kagune. Two seconds in, it jumped into the air, the streams of weapons fire arcing up to follow it. A gunship overhead fired at the Dragon General. It twisted around in the air avoiding the stream of projectiles, and its Bikaku shot out and arched around in the air. The gunship was impacted on its side, sending the craft spiraling towards a nearby building. Thankfully, the pilot was both lucky and skilled, as maneuvering thrusters fired off, preventing the aircraft from crashing. It hovered there for a few seconds before it took off into the air and turned around to leave the battle.
At the same time, the Dragon General lands just a few meters away from Saren. It Bikaku retracted back to its normal length. As it did so, it lashed around the street, taking out several soldiers terran, synth, and turian alike.
The moment the tail like kagune returned, the Dragon General bolted from its position, right for Saren. Two ghoul soldiers step into to its intending to slow it down or stop it. They were quickly and brutally dispatched by the monster. One fell over dead, the other clung to where their arm used to be. The Dragon General was still coming for Saren.
The brief exchange had bought the turian just enough time to get his Sekkaku out. A pair of fists impacted on the spindly red legs. Saren was pushed back by the force of the impact, but his legs held under the weight. It felt like he was hit by a mass accelerator round from a dreadnought.
The Dragon General wasn't done with its assault, however. Its Bikaku grew out again and arched around, coming for Saren's side. The Turian ready himself for the attack by extending his free Sekkaku out to intercept. One of the remaining Dragon Hunters stopped the attack with their quinque. At the same time, a shadow came over the Dragon General's face.
It pulled back from Saren, preventing Hidaki's fist from connecting to its face. As the D-General pulled back, Hidaki span around in the air, lashing out his Ukaku, aiming for a lateral slice at the creature. Unable to dodge the attack, the Dragon General used its arms to block the attack. Earning it a pair of gashes along its arms.
The Dragon General came to a stop. It did not get a chance to recover. Hidaki landed to the side and charged at the enemy. Saren did the same, shooting out his Sekkaku. The Dragon General was forced to backpedal under the assault of the two.
The Dragon General was on the defensive now, a rarity for its kind. This was something that no one was willing to pass up. A couple of the Remaining Dragon Hunters and several other ghouls joined in Hidaki's and Saren's assault. There was little thought put into the next several moments as the fight turned into a flurry of attacks, blocks, and dodges. The Dragon General was given no reprieve as it was forced to weave and dodge its way out of the storm of attacks coming at it from all sides. Occasional, it would block earning a gash or bruise on its body.
Saren mildly noted that the other soldiers were not firing on the Dragon General anymore. They probably didn't want to risk friendly fire. Saren was half tempted to yell at them for it. The General had to be taken down at all costs, even if met, they had to risk firing on their own people. He, however, had bigger things to be concerned about than chewing out some soldiers.
There was something else he noticed while fighting the Dragon General. Landing on the ground, Saren launched a Sekkaku, and sure enough, this seemed to confirm his suspicion. The Dragon General moved slightly out of the way of the attack, but not enough to avoid it outright, as it scrapped the top of its shoulder.
Saren remembered the first time he fought this thing. Though saying it was a fight was being overly generous. The Dragon General was powerful, swift, and brutal, an almost unstoppable force. Even Hidaki, who Saren knew was a powerful ghoul in his own right, came from a family of some of the most powerful ghouls in the Terran's history, had been hard press to survive against the D-General.
Now, well, he wouldn't say they were keeping an even pace with the D-General. But they were holding off better than he expected. Saren would like to think it was because in the months since their first encounter, he and Hidaki had improved. That may very well be a part of the reason.
Saren had quickly grown accustomed to using his new ghoul abilities, rapidly improving with each battle he fought in and each sparing match he had with Hidaki and other ghouls. He had even fought some of the lower ranks of the Dragon Generals and held his own, though not without some help.
Despite these improvements, he still remembered what the Dragon General was like. He knew that he was nowhere near ready to fight that monster. Hold out better than first, yes, but fight on even terms, no.
Which to beg the question. Why were they holding out this long against a monster that could tear through armies?
Saren jumped into the air avoiding a sweeping strike from the Dragon General's Bikaku. He landed on the ground beside Hidaki. "You noticed it too?" He asked as both charged in at the D-General.
They structured at the creature's exposed back. The Dragon General quickly noticed their presence and moved out of the way. As they passed, it lashed out its Kagune, to which he and Hidaki use theirs's to block the attack. They landed about a couple meters away. "I did. It's slower than before, more sluggish." Saren noted his observations.
"Yea." Hidaki agreed. "We're actually able to keep up with that thing. Even get a lot of hits in on it."
"I know we've gotten better since our last fight with it." Saren said. "But this doesn't feel right. The Dragon General feels weaker for some reason."
"You don't think it's toying with us like the last time?" Hidaki said. He fired off a hail of shards. The Dragon General saw them coming and jumped into the air. Two other ghoul soldiers leaped up at it. Both had Rinkaku, and both intended to skewer the Dragon General while it was in the air.
The Dragon General moved out of the way of both attacks and turned in the air. It grabbed one of its assailants by their kagune and threw them through the air.
The unfortunate ghoul went flying past Hidaki and Saren. Saren shared a brief look with Hidaki. "No, I don't think so. Not this time. The Dragon General is fighting with everything it has." Saren answered.
"So, then? Why aren't we dead yet?"
That was a good question. One that the two of them would not be able to dwell on for long, as both combatants charged back into the fight.
The Dragon General was distracted for the briefest moment as one of the surviving Dragon Hunters swung their quinque down. This allowed the ghoul turian to get in close to the Dragon General and swing out his talons. The Dragon General noticed the attack at the last second and bent its body to avoid it. But not before the talons were able to rack across its side. Keeping his momentum, Saren twisted around and tried to bury his Talons in the guts of the monster.
The D-General's hand shot out and grabbed the wrist of Saren's attacking hand. The turian almost yelped when he felt the bones in his wrist crack from the pressure exerted by the D-General. Saren looked into the creature's blacken soulless eyes, seeing the furry in them. Before the monster could act on its anger, an attack connected with the creature's face, sending it stumbling back. Feeling the D-General's grip loosen around his wrist Saren pulled himself back and got some distance between himself and his opponent.
Hidaki, the one that had just saved him, stood next to him. "I think I just noticed something else," Saren said. He hadn't noticed it before, but their talk had gotten him to pay more attention to the Dragon General. In the brief exchange he had a moment ago, he noted the Dragon General's injuries. Ones that Saren was certain his unit had not inflicted.
"By all means, tell me."
"It's injured." Saren said. His eyes narrowed in on the talon marks on its side, still present and bleeding. "And it's not healing. Just look at its body."
So Hidaki did. Then Saren heard a hmm come from the terran. "Saren, I think I know what's going on. And it may very well allow us to kill this thing."
Saren felt his mandibles twitch. "Explain quickly." While they had the advantage right now, it was obvious to Saren that they were slowly losing it. Not that the Dragon General seemed to notice judging by the increasingly frustrated and angry expression on its face.
"What do you know of the Investigators?" Hidaki asked.
"Only that their top ranks of the Dragon Hunters." Saren said. Both had rejoined the fight. "You said something about them being sent in to eliminate the Dragon General.
"Will they did send in a unit to kill this bastard." Hidaki said, ducking under an attack aimed at his head. "General Xi herself confirmed it when I called in reinforcements."
"Well, obviously, they failed." Saren let out a frustrated growl. If people just did their jobs, then Hidaki and he wouldn't be in this mess.
"Yes, they did." Hidaki confirmed. "But they weaken in enough for us to be able to fight it. The Dragon Investigators use special weapons to kill their targets."
"Like those Quinques that the other Dragon Hunters use?"
"Yea, but the ones they use are coated with a special toxin." Hidaki explained. Both fighters lashed out their Kagune. Hidaki went low for the D-General's legs, while Saren went for the shoulders and head. "Not enough to kill, unfortunately." The Dragon General avoids the brunt of the attack, only taking a few small slices at the legs. "But it does inhibit their regenerative abilities." That was when the cogs in Saren's mind began to work."
"That thing just came out from a fight with the Investigators." Saren said. Getting a swift nod from Hidaki as they both swung around the Dragon General coming at it from the back.
That had to be the single dumbest thing that the Dragon General could have done. It had just come from a fight with a team of Investigators. A group he had learned from Hidaki, where some of the deadliest soldiers that the Terrans could produce, and while it had won, it did not come out unscathed. Looking closely at their enemy's injuries, Saren could see just how bad of a state the Dragon Orphan was in. Large gaping slashes closed just enough to prevent further bleeding littered its body, and purplish bruises some the size of fists were spread across its torso, arms, and legs. The Dragon Orphan was breathing heavily as well, indicating either its lungs were damaged, or it was tired. Ideally, it would be both.
That Dragon could have retreated from the battle and hung out somewhere while it recovered. That would have been the smart thing to do. That was what the Dragon Orphan of Taetrus did. But instead, it decided to jump right into another battle, exhausted and with fresh injuries. And it was paying for that mistake.
Granted, even in the sorry state it was in, the Dragon General was still an incredibly dangerous foe. A fact that was proven when the Dragon General's arm swung out, Saren avoided the attack. However, one poor soul wasn't, and their head was taken clean off.
"We have a fighting chance against that thing. Better than we expected." Hidaki said. "Dangerous as it might be right now, it's made a mistake. One we are going to make sure it doesn't live to regret."
Hidaki wasn't going to get any argument out of Saren on that. "Here's what I say we do. We- "
Whatever Saren's plan was, he didn't get the chance to explain it. A vicious roar tore through the air. It came from the Dragon General. Saren turned his attention to the Dragon General and felt a chill go down his spine. Someone had wounded the Dragon General. There was a hole in the left side of its chest, a good-sized one, maybe a little smaller than a terran fist. Through that hole, he could see the remains of a lung and a part of a beating heart. That thing should not be standing with a wound like that. Even though it was a Dragon General, Saren suspected it should be dead. And he had a good suspicion on what was keeping it alive.
Whoever wounded that thing was long dead, based on the messily torn body laying at its feet. Saren wondered if the last thing they saw was what he was seeing now. Whatever bit of intelligence and sanity the Dragon General had left was gone now. Replaced by a single raw emotion. Fury, pure anger was etched on its face and from the depths of its red and black eyes.
A few brave souls tried charging at the Dragon General, thinking it vulnerable. Before Saren could process what happened, they were dead. The Dragon General was behind them as their bodies fell to the ground. The D-General's Bikaku was flailing wildly in the air wrapped around the removed torso of one of the attackers.
Then its eyes landed on Saren. The Turian was struck with the same exact feeling he had when he first fought the Dragon General. The feeling that he was going to die. He didn't allow himself to dwell on the feeling, as the D-General was already in motion. A couple of ghoul soldiers tried to stop the Dragon General but were quickly thrown aside. Saren didn't know if they were alive or not, but they had slowed the enemy long enough for him to put up a defensive.
For what good that did. Within seconds the Dragon General was right on him, crashed right into his Sekkaku. The turian was almost sent flying back. But he was able to root himself in the ground at the last second.
The Dragon General was not done with its attack, as it tried to press in on Saren. Saren, in response, pressed his Kagune out with all the force he could call on. He felt himself smirking when the Dragon General was pushed back, stumbling at its feet.
Not wanting to give the enemy a chance to recover, Saren fired out his Sekkaku. His smile grew when one buried itself in the D-General's shoulder. Then it melted away at what happened next. Two of his Sekkaku were grabbed by the D-General, and a third smashed into the ground by a stomp of its foot.
Then pain shot through him, coming right after the sensation of something being pulled. Saren felt himself going into the air. His mind noted that two of his kagune were now discarded on the ground and felt a slight twisting in one that remained intact. Saren saw the Dragon General appear right next to him, preparing an attack.
Acting on instinct, the ghoul turian twisted around to avoid the attack. But too late, the D-general sent out a powerful kick that buried itself in Saren's stomach. Saren coughed up a globe of blood before he felt his body fly through the air. Then he felt the impact, he didn't know what, but he heard cracking noises. He couldn't tell if it was from the object he crashed into or if it came from his bones.
Saren's body slides down to the ground. He tried to clear his mind like the sights and sounds blurred together, forming a messy haze. His breath had become labored, and he felt his consciousness slipping away. The Dragon General was approaching him, intending to finish the job.
Saren wouldn't let it. He raised his arm, only for it to fall to the ground. The darkness was creeping in around the edges of his eyesight as the Dragon General was a couple meters away now.
"Bastard." He managed to get out. He saw the Dragon Orphan's kagune raise into the air. The last thing he heard before he saw black was the sound of a rifle going off.
Hidaki knew they were in deep trouble the moment that the Dragon Orphan roared. He just never how much until Saren was sent into a wall. The sequence of events had happened so fast that the young captain felt like he just blinked and missed everything.
Half a dozen were dead before their brains had the chance to process what had happened, two others lying unconscious on the ground open to attack from the other Dragon Orphans. Thankfully their squadmate had been quick to lie down suppression fire and drag them to safety. Then finally, Saren was lying on the other side of the street, a small indent in the wall of the build he crashed into.
He knew the Dragon Orphan was brutal, but this felt like another level. Said Dragon General was standing a couple meters away from Saren. Its Bikaku climbing into the air. It did not take a tactical genius to know what was coming next.
"Stupidity and Recklessness run in our family in equal measure. They have been deaths of more than a few Kaneki's." It was something his grandfather told him once when he had been a kid. He never did understand what he meant by that until now.
Hidaki fired his rifle and the shards from his Rinkaku. Both bullets and shards would find their mark in the Dragon General's back. For a moment, he thought that would be enough to put the monster down. Of course, the bastard wouldn't let a little old thing like having a body riddled with bullets and Rc shards stop it.
The Dragon General stopped in its tracks and slowly turned around to face Hidaki. The look of fury on its face having grown tenfold. Hidaki gulped. "Okay, Hidaki. Not your brightest idea." He said to himself."
"Captain Kaneki. Your reinforcements should be arriving within the moment." General Xi's voice. "Two additional squads of Dragon Hunter have been deployed to your position. With a third on its way."
Hidaki had a distinct feeling that he was going to be needing Dragon General lot a roar and bolted from where it stood. Hidaki braced himself for the incoming attack. The terran soon realized that action may have been unnecessary, as two figures leaped over him and charged at the Dragon Orphans. Both wielded a Quinque, indicating their position within the Dragon Hunter Corps.
Their weapons clashed with the D-General's Bikaku, slowing it down. But only just, as the Dragon General threw itself past the two Dragon Hunters, sending to the side. A third Dragon Hunter put himself between Hidaki and D-General. A mistake that would prove fatal to the man, as he tried to swing his Quinque out at the D-General.
The Dragon General crashed into the man sending him to the ground just a meter away from Hidaki. His Quinque had flown into the air where the D-General grabbed it and plunged it into the man's chest. The Dragon General was not done, though.
Using the embedded weapon for support, the D-General swung its out, sending out a kick aimed at Hidaki. The terran was already prepared for the attack, so the kick impacted his arms. That did not stop the grunt of pain from escaping him as he felt the bones in his arms crack.
The Dragon General then bent upward and brought a clawed hand down on Hidaki's face. Hidaki quickly recovered from his stunned state and stepped back, narrowly avoiding the claws. The little space between him and his enemy quickly vanished when the D-General lunged at him. Both of the terran's Rinkaku reacted. One blocked the attack, and the other lashed out and cut deep into the D-General's arm.
Something like that should have had the monster backing off him. Instead, its forward momentum continued. The fist that landed on his Rinkaku pushed back on the wing-like appendage. Then it broke right through the structure, and Hidaki barely had time to dodge the attack. The fist sailed inches away from his face, feeling the rush of air from it.
He softened his kagune, allowing it to slip off the Dragon General's arm. Within a second, the hole in it closed as Rc cells worked overtime to knit themselves back together. Getting in a little space, Hidaki aimed his rifle. The Dragon General was on top of him instantly, grabbing the barrel of the weapon. He could only get off a single burst into the creature's lower abdomen before it crashed the barrel and pulled it out of his hands.
Now without a weapon, but not defenseless, Hidaki jumped back. The Dragon General lunged at him again. The next few seconds were a blur of action as the Hidaki desperately tried to stay alive under the D-General's assault. Narrowing dodging or blocking every punch, swipe of a claw, every kick, and every lashing of its Bikaku. In the spaces that frequently showed up, Hidaki would send out a counterattack, and to his surprise, most would connect. Cuts, scarps, bruises, and other smaller injuries formed on the body of the Dragon General. Most of them around the torso, and a few on the arms and legs.
A couple times, Hidaki almost got an Rc shard through the hole in its chest, where it could have nicked its heart. Normally the Dragon General would have never allowed such injuries to happen in the first place. Hidaki had long since figured out that this fight was not a normal one. If such a thing can be applied to a fight against a Dragon General.
The D-General was in a pure berserker state and was solely focused on one thing and one thing only. Killing its target, i.e., Hidaki and probably Saren, after it was done with him. It didn't care what injuries it suffered or who or what got in its way. It didn't care if it died, so as long it took its prey with it.
That was when Hidaki realized, in a sort of terrified satisfied way, the Dragon General was going to die here. With its regenerative abilities inhibited, the injuries were too severe and numerous for it to survive. The only thing keeping it going was pure anger and adrenaline. Once those ran out, Hidaki fully expected the monster to drop dead. The question was, how long would that take? How many more lives would be lost before it died? And would Hidaki live long enough to see that happen?
Hidaki gritted his teeth. No, he was not going to die here. He was going to live and see his family again. He was going to give his wife the biggest, most passionate kiss, twirl his son around in the air, and hold his newborn daughter.
Hidaki grabbed the Dragon General's arm as it shot out and twisted it around behind it. The D-General's other arm bent around to grab Hidaki, just as wanted. An Ukaku lashed out an upward swing, separating flesh and bone. Hidaki put his foot on the Dragon General's back and kicked out. The D-General was stumbling forward just as its severed armed landed on the ground.
The Dragon general turned around, for once another emotion playing out its face. Surprise. Looked down at where the lower part of its arm used to be, as though it were trying to process the image it was seeing.
Hidaki smirked at his opponent, half tempted to gloat. A smirked that all but vanished when the Dragon General's anger returned in full force. In an instant, the Dragon General was right in front of him. It swung out its other arm, hand curled into a fist.
Hidaki tried to move out of the way or block the attack. But the Dragon General had gotten in too close, too quickly for him to react in time. The fist smashed into his cheek, searing pain shot through his mouth as he felt his jaw become dislocated.
Hidaki flew into the air, crashing into the ground several times, like a pebble skipping on water. His body finally came to a stop as it crashed into the turian equivalent of a light post.
Hidaki shakily got to his feet. He brought up his hand to his face, he coughed. A glob of blood landed on the palm of his hand with a few fragments of his teeth. The world around him was spinning. Then it stopped when he felt something smash into his gut coming from below him. Hidaki coughs up more blood as his body briefly goes into the air. He had enough time to realize that Dragon had used its knee to send him into the air before it brought its intact arm down on his back. The man felt a few of his vertebra crack as he was sent flying back into the ground.
Darkness was seeping into his vision as he tried and failed to lift himself up. He managed to prop himself up on one elbow, looking at a pair of feet in front of him. He looked up at the body attached to them, seeing the Dragon General staring down at him.
He reaches out his hand to grab the monster by its leg. A final vain attempt at fighting. The Dragon General stomped its foot down, smashing the offending hand. No sound escaped Hidaki, as he had no strength left to do anything.
He looked his killer in the eye, sending what amount of defiance he could at the monster. He thought of his family and how they would be affected by his death. He prayed they would have the strength to get through it. "I'm sorry. Looks like I'm not coming home."
The Dragon General's Bikaku raised into the air and was ready to come down on his head. When four red spikes tore through the Dragon General's body.
When Saren came to, he knew one of two things had happened. Either he died, and there was, in fact, an afterlife. Or he was still alive. He was bidding on the latter, judging by the sounds of fighting all around him.
He opened his eyes, seeing that he was still in the street, lying up on a building. Looking around, he up to his feet, feeling like they could give out under him at any moment. He saw that the army was tilling fighting the hordes of Dragon Orphans. But instead of pushing them back, the advance had come to a halt. From the looks of things, the Dragon Orphans were threatening to push the allied army back.
His gaze followed a trail of bodies, his head was spinning, and the darkness threatened to claim him again. None of that mattered when his sights came to the end of the trail. Hidaki was fighting the Dragon General alone and was on the losing side of that fight.
Without much thought for his current condition, Saren threw himself back into the street and charged at the Dragon General. Hidaki just needed to hold out for a few seconds, just a few, and he would have help.
When the terran cut off the Dragon General's arm, Saren felt elated. Then horror took over when the D-General sent Hidaki flying with a single punch. Saren picked up his pace, heedless of the pain shooting through his body. Just a little longer.
The Dragon General appeared in front of Hidaki just as he got up, sending him into the air with a knee to his chest. Saren was just a few meters away from them. Hold on, Hidaki.
The terran ghoul was sent crashing back into the ground. The edges of Saren's sights turned black. He felt like his body was about to collapse. The Dragon General stood over Hidaki, smashing its foot into Hidaki's hand. Just a few more seconds.
A Bikaku raised into the air. Saren jumped forward and shot out his Sekkaku. Time slowed as the Dragon General's Bikaku began its descend, and Saren's Sekkaku sailed through the air. Now it was a question of which hit their target first. The Dragon General, or Saren. The Fates were smiling on Hidaki and Saren this day.
One Sekkaku pierced through the Dragon General's back, coming out from the chest. A second one came out right next to it, going through its heart. The other two pierced through a little below them.
The Dragon General's Bikaku stopped as the monster was stunned. Saren wasn't about to give it the chance to recover. He pulled himself in, getting within inches of the monster, and shot out both his arms. His talons tore into the back of his enemy. Then he pulled.
He pulled, pushing outward with all four of his Sekkaku and both of his arms. He pulled with every last drop of strength he had left and kept pulling. Flesh and muscle began to separate from each other.
The Dragon General roared in outrage as it thrashed everywhere to get the ghoul turian off it.
With one last push, Saren shouted. "Die, you bastard!" There was a sickening tearing sound and then. And then the Dragon General just exploded.
Saren's arms went limp, now they no longer had something to hold on to. His Sekkaku fell to the ground where they seemed to wither. Saren felt something raining on him, but he ignored it.
He looked down at the prone body of his friend and was worried that he had been too slow. Then Hidaki's head moved up. Saren couldn't tell what kind of expression he had on. He was just glad that the man was alive. "Hida.." That was when the world turned upside down, and for the second time, darkness took over.
.Beep!
When Saren came to, he heard the sound of a heart monitor. He opened his eyes seeing an unfamiliar ceiling. It didn't take too long for him to figure out where he was. Slowly Saren sat up in his bed, knowing he needed to take it easy.
He starred out into a wall for several minutes, the events of what brought to this room slowly drifting back into his conscious mind.
"Afternoon." A familiar voice said.
Saren looked over to see Hidaki sitting next to his bed. "Hidaki. You're alright?"
Hidaki smiled and nodded. "That Dragon General gave me a real beating. Gave me a few injuries that even ghouls would struggle to recover from. But I was just fine within a couple of days, the perks of coming from a family with an absurdly high healing factor."
Saren nodded. "How long was I out?" He asked.
"About five days." Hidaki answered. "You were actually all healed up within three, but I guess your body was worn out after the battle."
Again, Saren nodded, he still felt tired. He asked his last question. "What of the Dragon General?" He wasn't sure if the last memories were real or not, or if they were that the Dragon General had somehow. "Is he?"
"About as dead as you get." Hidaki answered.
"I see." Saren said, feeling… feeling nothing, really. He didn't know if it was because of his tiredness and that later he would feel overjoyed. After all, the Dragon General had been the one leading the D-Orphans on Brytus, killed spirit's knows how many people, and yes made him what he was today. He should feel happy that the monster was dead and that he was the one to kill it. But strange as it was, he felt nothing about it, just another death in this war, another kill under his belt.
"I assume our forces were able to take the Dragon's Nest?" Saren asked after a moment of thinking.
"Yes." Hidaki answered. "With the Dragon General dead, the rest of the swarm fell into chaos. Allied forces pushed them back all the way back to the D-Nest within hours. When night fell the next day, we secured the D-Nest. Since then, it's just been clean up. Brytus is free. We have you to thank for that." Hidaki finished his explanation.
"I was just doing my duty." Saren laying back in his bed.
"True." Hidaki said. "But more than few people want to give you a medal for your actions. I'm inclined to agree with them."
"So as long you get one too," Saren said, almost yawning. "You helped kill that thing."
"Perhaps." Hidaki said, with his expression softening. "I should let you get some more rest. I'll let the doctors know that you woke up."
Some more rest did sound good to Saren. "Just don't expect me to stay here forever. I'll be back in the fight soon enough."
Hidaki smiled as he stood up. "I would be worried if you didn't. Before I go, I want to thank you."
"For what?"
"For saving my life." Hidaki explained. If you had just been a second slower, I would be dead now. I got a line with my wife a few hours ago. I got to see my son and daughter. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten to see them."
"As I said, I was just doing my duty." Saren said, shifting around in the bed, getting comfortable.
"I get the feeling that there's a little more to that." Hidaki said. "Still, thank you. I owe you my life. My family also wants to thank you. The next time I contact them, I'll let them know how you're doing. Maybe even introduce you so they can thank you themselves."
"I don't think that's necessary." Saren knew he wasn't a people person. He was surprised he had gotten along as well as he did with Hidaki and a couple of others.
"Nonsense." Hidaki scoffed. "You saved my life, so you're going to have to live with the consequences." He said, turning around and walking away. "After all, what are friends for?" Then he left, leaving Saren alone.
Another chapter done and just a few more to go.
So, yea Saren got his revenge on the Dragon Orphan in a suitably brutal fashion. These things are dangerous, but they can be killed, it just takes a lot of effort and luck. It doesn't hurt that some of them don't make the brightest of decisions. They might be intelligent but that doesn't mean they'll make the proper use of that intelligence as shown with this particular Dragon General.
So, we've all survived into a new year. Here's hoping that it will be a good one. Or at least a better one than last year, we can only dream. I look forward to writing and reading more stories. Hope you guys are looking forward to the next update, and Happy Belated New Years.
