Super Science
Ch 105: First Mission
After their disastrous last test, the hunters never got a chance to retake it as they got into an emergency dragon situation that required their skills—forcing Genus to send them into battle earlier than he wanted. So the hunters geared up, stocked up and loaded themselves on a jet to the Philippines. After a brisk and quick flight, they hovered over the island and landed on one of the smaller ones, less populated by tourists and more for the locals. They zip-lined down with the hounds being lowered by the min crane, and once on land, the jet took off. Fujitora let the hounds spread out and sniff for any signs of dragons while Rei allowed Yoko to scan the skies with her. Kai tried to fix his new wiggler headpiece, which he thought was cool and useful, but everyone else thought it was stupid.
With nothing but the island ahead of them, Keanu went to his earpiece and called to Anima, asking the man, "So, profess, do you have any idea of what we're dealing with?"
"I have no clue; locals in the area say they've heard strange noises at night and seen a large beast flying overhead. Things sporadically catch aflame, etc. " Genus replied through his ear.
"Guy. I think I got something.", mmRei told them, making the men go quiet as she described, "About three clicks from our position. Three draconic-shaped creatures are lying under the foliage."
"Three?!", they all said in shock.
"The locals did say they saw anywhere from three to ten individuals.", Genus confirmed.
"Let's hope it's just three and nothing too big," Keanu pleaded with a sigh.
The last thing they needed was to fight three horse-sized creatures that could fly and breathe fire. So they followed Rei to where the owl was looking, and within the next hour, they had made it within 300 yards of the dragons. Luckily for them, they didn't move from their original spot. Laying low in the brush with the hounds keeping absolutely quiet, Rei used her quirk to pinpoint the animals and eventually looked over to one place of small trees in a thick brush that giggled ever so slightly more than the wind.
"It's right over there.", she confirmed.
"How should we do this?", Keanu inquired.
"Let's try a discreet tactic. Do you have the cage net launcher?" Fujitora asked as Keanu smiled and pulled out a large contraption.
Rei also aided and placed the net function at the end of one of her arrows, aiming carefully at the spot where the dragons were. If they could grab one or, best of all, two, it would make things so much easier to take down the third. The two focused breathed out simultaneously, and launched their attack! The nets flew into the brush, where several screeches and squeaks could be heard! They waited to see how many they caught, but when nothing rushed out or tried to fly away, they realized they had caught all three simultaneously!
"Got 'em!", Keanu cheered.
With high fives and congratulations going all around, Keanu ran out to secure the dragons in the nets and take stock of what they were. To his surprise, they were much lighter than he had realized, and he could pull all three out at once. It could be some young dragons. But when he did get a good look at them, his demeanor changed, something that the rest of the hunters realized.
"Wait, is that it?!", he exclaimed.
"What?", Fujitora asked as they all left the hiding spot.
"I can't believe the locals were scared of these things. They don't even breathe fire or spit venom.", Kenau continued complaining.
"What is it?", Rei asked in confusion and concern.
When the hunter finally met the man, they all saw what he was seeing and said in shocked unison, "A pack of Mocking Drakes?"
"Well, that's a relief. I'm sorry your first real mission turned out to be a dud." Genus said to them over the coms, hearing the whole thing.
The mocking drakes were wyvern-like dragons the size of ponies. Steel gray in color with off-white bellies. Two short horns, a small nasal horn, a tiny chin spike, a beak, feet like a bird of prey, and frills like a frilled lizard. They are given their names because they can mimic any sound they hear. They all squirmed and kicked with all they had to escape but couldn't. Eventually, one of them took a deep breath, filling their throat pouch with air until it turned bright pink, and let out a roar that definitely shouldn't come out of a creature of that size! The hunter closed their ear as it roared, trying to wait it out, but soon the other two joined in.
"Youch! These guys are really screaming something fierce!", Keanu yelled over the noise.
"Well, they are Mocking Drakes. They mimic anything they hear.", Anima told him as their roars finally died down.
"Yeah, but like, this is different. Almost like the call of another dragon.", Kai observed.
This made the other stop and ponder this thought. Then, as the realization and stress set in, Fujitora linked to Anima and asked him, "Are you sure there aren't any other dragons out here?"
Anima was quiet for a while and told them, "Send me a voice clip.", After provoking the dragons to roar again, they recorded the sound and sent it to HQ. After a few minutes, Genus came back and said, with worry in his voice, "Uh guys, I think your first mission got a whole lot more complicated."
"Whaddya mean?", Rei inquired.
"That cry you heard the Mocking drakes make came from a Great Kinsbane. It is one of the most powerful and vicious dragons alive, with fire breath so powerful it melts and explodes," Anima explained.
Hearing this, a sense of dread filled the hunters as they knew they were entirely unprepared for this. A couple of small dragons or wyverns was one thing. But a Great Kinsbane was a whole different kind of animal! If what they were on was a D-rank mission, then this would be an S-rank!
So, with no one speaking up, Fujitora told the scientist, "We're gonna need some help."
"Sending an envoy to come retrieve the Mocking Drakes and send the Lightning Beats alongside a couple of Gritmares.", Genus informed them.
About an hour later, a carrier plane landed on a nearby runway and took the mocking drakes to be relocated back to Pacifica. In addition, the lazy Lighting Beast was brought alongside the gritmares. These creatures were like horses but were created for the purpose of dragon hunting. Long slender bodies, shaggy course coats to prevent fire, cloven hooves for climbing, secondary claws like chestnuts for tight turns or gripping, and a long tail for swatting fire off.
Unlike conventional horses, the gritmares were much more feral and would fight a dragon if pressured; they could go days without food or water and were all terrain. Able to scale mountains, dunes, and rocky terrain with ease!
During this time, Kai found signs of the Kinsbane and gave them to the hounds to track. By midday, they were following the barking dogs deep within the jungle! After going through the far less explored parts of the island, they saw what looked like a jungle temple! But after consideration, they realized it was just an abandoned military base. They kept the gritmares at the base of the stairs leading up to the base in case they had to escape quickly. Fujitora commanded the hounds to stay quiet, and they made their way up the stairs to explore.
Once at the top, they quickly saw how the front of the base had a huge hole borrowed through it. Like the wall has finally fallen in or something big broke through. Kai observed the area, his ridiculous wiggler heat piece flopping around with every moment. He found footprints, scales, and dung. All of which cane from a Kinsbane. The other clue was how silent it was; this dragon loved silence and hated guests.
"This is where the hounds have led us. The Kinsbane must be in there.", Said Fujitora.
"It's our first day on the job, and we just went from taking a D class mission right up to an S class," Keanu complained.
"How in the hell are we gonna do this?", Rei asks in irritation.
"We go in, kill the dragons, go home.", Kai said simply.
Everyone stared at him weirdly, but they didn't know whether to stare at him or the wiggerhead. So Rei told him, "Easier said than done. We're dealing with a hyper-evolved reptile built like a steel mill, with the behavior of a pit bull that hasn't had enough preschoolers and can breathe fire so hot and powerful it may as well be considered a living blast forge."
Now everyone was staring at the woman, and the only one to reply to her was Fujitora, who said, "That's a…colorful way of putting it."
"Anyone remember how to fight this thing?", Keanu asked them.
Before Rei or Fujitora could answer, Kai listed off like a teleprompter, "Massive body and weight, forward heavy, powerful charging attacks. Dodge or make hard turns—heavily armored head, body, and tail. Avoid tail, don't strike back, find kinks in the armor, or expose a softer belly. Fire breath takes time to charge and comes in a straight line or scattershot. Avoid direct confrontation; the jaw is weak when held closed. Slow but powerful flight, used in ramming. Intelligent, likes to play dead."
"Thanks for the refresher.", Keanu said, and everyone looked at the boy in shock.
As the hunters drew their weapons, they walked into the room carefully and quietly. They spread out and checked every possible place they could without making noise. Almost everything in this base had been taken over by nature, and what was left had been broken. Eventually, they came to a set of enormous concrete stairs leading deep into the hilltop hideout. Scratch marks from the dragon's talons and spiked tail are carved into the rock, showing its use. The dragon was definitely below.
Reaching the bottom, they found an enormous meeting and panic room with several half-broken walls and pillars, making it even more open. In the center was a nest composed of jungle foliage and bones, with the Great Kinsbane sleeping in the center! The Great Kinsbane was a huge hulking dragon so massive it looked like it shouldn't be able to fly, even with its massive wings. It was heavily armored with bumpy spikes along its back and tail! Gnarly sharp teeth and horns that protectively overlapped its eyes and colored in different shades of gray. An absolute beast of a dragon! And…at least it looked like it was sleeping. The thing was so it didn't breathe, snore, or stir, making it look dead. But they knew better.
Peeking from behind a wall, Keanu said in glee, "Is it sleeping? This'll be easier than I thought."
He tried to make a move, taking off his light bow gun and attempting to walk out, but Rei held him back and said in a firm yet low tone, "Remember your training. Kinsbane can pretend to sleep or awake instantly."
"There's always a catch.", Keanu complained.
"Focus, you two. I have a plan.", Fujitora told them as they all huddled up, and the older man explained, "Only a few pillars are holding this place up. Even if everything is thick enough to withstand a bombing, it should collapse. So we'll sneak around the dragon's sides, placing barrel bombs and setting them off. If the ceiling falls, go to town on its head until it's unconscious or dead."
"I like this plan.", Keanu said with a wry smile.
After they broke, the hunters all got into crouching positions and snuck around the huge animal as it slept. Fujitora told the hounds to hang back as they did this. One by one, they placed barrel bombs all around the dragon's sides, avoiding its face and tail. Once all their barrels were set, they snuck away and returned to their hiding spot, where Rei did the honors. Charging up an exploding arrow, striking it along the ground, she aimed for one barrel and fired!
All at once, the barrel bombs fired off in sync, making the dragon wake up with a roar as the roof of the base fell on top of it, pinning it under! The hunters waited for the dust to settle, and when it did, they saw the Kinsbane held under the massive amount of reinforced concrete. The only thing it could do was squirm around and snap its jaws.
"Attack!", cried Fujitora as the hunters came in on all sides to strike its head.
Only to be surprised when the massive dragon suddenly lifted up and broke the concrete, pinning it down with a roar! The hunters stopped in their tracks and stared in awe at the creature's strength!
"What now!?", Rei cried out.
"Kill it!", Keanu yells while unloading his bow gun.
Rei began to assault the dragon with a flurry of arrows as Yoko perched above from the broken ceiling; Fujitora took out his hammer while calling the dogs to surround the beast. Kai stood back and sent confidence to the other three. The dragon tapered as it was pelted with arrows and bullets while the dogs nipped at its heels and tried to bite down on its tail! But its armored and spiked hide was so thick that the hound's teeth couldn't penetrate!
The Kinsbane whipped its tail around, one hound still on it, and tried to hit the other hounds and the hunters, but they all managed to dodge while Fujitora hit the tail with his hammer, bringing it to a halt! The hound let go as the other converged on the dragon! One bit its leg, another its wing, and the last around its throat! The Kinsbane roared and tried to shake them off, but to no avail.
When it tried to charge, Kai threw down a scent pod that drew the dragon's ire. It charged towards the scent just as the young man put down a shock trap. He jumped out of the way, and the dragon ran straight into the trap, seizing up from the electricity!
At this point, Keanu finished loading some sleep ammo and blasted it into the monster's face! The dragon fell unconscious, and Fujitora ran in while smashing it in the face repeatedly before giving it an underhand swing, knocking it back to consciousness and onto its side, where it kicked at the ground in pain, trying to get up! But the hunters and hounds went to town on its softer belly! When the dragon finally got ahold of itself, its movement ceased, and it appeared dead. Seeing this, the hunters took a moment to breathe. When one of the hounds went to investigate, it got kicked away by one of the feet, and the dragon quickly stood up before launching a fireball at the team, who jumped out of the way!
The dragon then charged horns first at a downed Rei, but Fujitora grabbed and threw her out of the way! Only to come face to face with the dragon! He tried to use his hammer to block, but that didn't stop the dragon, which crushed him against the wall! When Keanu tried to get closer to call its ire, it swung its tail and launched him away! Seeing her friends get pummeled, Rei got pissed and began to dash and flip around the room, firing arrows into every weak spot on the dragon!
This called it away from Fujitora, and Rei kept pulling it away and keeping it out of range from its attack! Jumping over, on top, or underneath the dragon and implanting it with so many arrows, it looked like it had more spikes than ever! However, because she focused solely on the dragon, she needed to look where she was going with her quirk and ended up tripping. The dragon took the opportunity and breathed a massive stream of fire that engulfed the woman!
Rei lay unmoving on the ground, but before the dragon could finish her off, Keanu came in with a clutch claw and hooked onto the dragon's face, pulling himself to it! From there, he shot a blank into it to make it turn and then unloaded a slew of rounds before blasting it in the face with a charged shot, causing the dragon to charge into a nearby wall and make another section of the ceiling fall onto it! Keanu fell to the floor and let himself breathe.
But then he felt his strength return, and when he looked up, he saw that Fujitora and Rei were also back on their feet. Looking to the side, he saw Kai gulping down Max health positions, Might juice, and Stamina pills. They thanked the boy, and the three of them surrounded the dragon with weapons at the ready!
Unfortunately, things didn't go as they would've liked. For the next hour, they hit the dragon with all they had, but very little damage was done due to its thick hide! The dragon just seemed to take everything and just got madder! It blew out so much fire at this point that the whole area was more of a lava-filled minefield! First, they lost one hound after the other, followed by Kai running out of first aid, and then the fatigue and injuries piled up until they were up against a wall with the dragon looking tenderized at the most.
"Why won't this thing just die!", Rei cried as she shot an arrow that only cracked one of its horns.
"I think we might, though.", Kai said in fear.
"It's been an honor.", Fujitora told them.
"Where the fuck is that Lightning Beast!?", Keanu yelled before whistling as loud as he could.
Within seconds the Lightning Beast came running in before falling through the open ceiling and landing in between the hunters and the dragon with pissed off expression aimed towards them, like a teenager who just got woken up for a fourteen-hour nap. But the dragon stayed unperturbed and spat an explosive fireball at its back! The lightning beast cried out in pain before turning its head around and glaring at the dragon so hard that it caused the fearless dragon to step away in fear!
The lightning beast turned its body around, growled, and then let out an electric roar! The Kinsbane tried to shoot another fireball, but the beast shot a beam of lightning, destroying the fireball and hitting the dragon's mouth! The Kinsbane was shot into a stammer, allowing the beast to attack! Using its quick movement, it flashed the side of the dragon before going to the back, where it bit down and ripped off the dragon's tail at the base!
The Kinsbane let out a screech of pain, but the beast then set to shred its wings apart using its claws! The beast then raised its tail and brought its firearms hard on the dragon's back, shattering its spines! But that wasn't the end! As a finisher, it grabbed the dragon's neck as it tried to wiggle helplessly and then charged up its lightning! But the Kinsbane could do nothing as the beast let loose a blast of electricity that severed its head! With the head rolling to the ground and the body lying with smoke and electricity, the beast turned back to the hunter, who looked on in shock!
Expected for Keanu, who yelled at the beast, "About freaking time! We could've used your help an hour ago! Five more seconds, and we would've been goners! Honestly, what the hell did the profes do when cooking you up in that-.", only to be cut off as the beast whacked him with his tail, knocking him out and then going back to sleep.
Fujitora then called Anima and gave him the rundown. By nightfall, the dragon's body, along with the injured hunters and the hounds, had been collected, leading to the hunters' first successful hunt.