Dragons

These large reptilian giants rise from the sea, with wings large enough to cause tornadoes, swords for teeth,and nearly impervious scales. It's often believed that the world was full of continents and not scattered islands, but that was before the dragons attacked. Others say that the dragons generated so much heat that it caused the caps to melt and global warming to accelerate, turning the world into the tropical apocalypse it is today. And others will adamantly tell you that the Dragons came to be because of our own sins and is the planet's way of eradicating all sentient life. But whatever you believe, logic, science, religion, or insanity, the fact is that nobody likes dragons and they don't like us.

In days of old, Dragons were battled with large ships, manned with 100s upon 1000s of men and women who were glad to give up their lives to fight these beast. But as it stands, the strategy of confronting Dragons with ships is almost certain death. Dragons can lay waste to ships and have the ultimate advantage of being able to maneuver with unrivaled agility. But then a pair of brothers had an idea that, for the time, was like the ravings of madmen.

Take the fight to the sky.

That is why these brave individuals are on Apple Island, ships on a run way for them to take off into the air. They've all been told that in the following hour or so, a swarm of dragons will be within sight and it's their job-a job that pays them quite well-to go in and intercept the murder of Dragons.

Pretty standard job. Go in. Take them out of the sky, and get out.

Along with contract fighters were various Military Manned Planes, easily distinguished by the United Nation of Islands(UNI) logo emblazoned on their red shirts and various standard planes. Some of them mumble among themselves, mostly spitting on the idea of hiring Contract Guns to kill these dragons. After all, they're just mercenaries, untrained bumpkins that got their hands on a plane and called themselves professionals. They're just throwing themselves out there as canon fodder.

—-

(All Characters are on or around the runway and waiting for the Dragons to arrive. There are 20 UNI Soldiers on the runway. Interacting with them is optional.)

Apple Island, Airbase, Hangar

Minerva and her crew were currently standing around a table, looking at a map of the surroundings with small models for the dragons and their predicted course as Minerva briefed them on their mission. The payload in the form of two torpedoes had already been loaded and both planes were ready. As they were finished with the briefing the group dispersed. Minerva and Aydan were the only ones left with the planes right now.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Apple Island, Airbase, The Docks

A few docks down from the Do-217 Jaros was at his computer again, reviewing the data of the last few attacks Apple island had to suffer under. He stops as he looks at his trusty partner, cursing under his breath as he stands up and pushes a tiny cable on HellWings "exposed" nose to the side.

"That would have been an annoying itch. I would predict a performance drop of at least 5% if I had not caught that."

Apple Island, Airbase

Jesse and crew sit around a table in their hanger, playing some sort of card game and talking loudly and laughing. The Lilias floats behind them, tethered to the ground with a rope let down the side of the deck. None them seem particularly nervous or scared. Jesse himself looks pretty excited.

edited 29th Apr '17 10:31:46 AM by Skiller2

"Ehh what do you, mean that this won't work" said Kevin to a random npc He seemed to be saying that his sad excuse of a aircraft that looks like a space craft wouldn't last ten seconds before a dragon "it may not look much but it has two guns TWO" But he knew deep in his heart that everything was dependent on him and syn. "Syn online systems are a go... And please next time do pay the mechanic, he did considerable damage... Like he removed a core now we are dual cores... Dual can you. Believe it" "Wow that Ai can talk" Kevin would think but other than that he knew that this was his first mission, and this is where it counts

Boku wa kami sama desu kara... And i have to use this mortal shell, this is dumb, he's soo weak and frail and thinny

"He's saying that it won't work because your plane's a pile as scrap!" One of the UNI soldiers call out from across the hanger, walking his way over to Kevin so he can say it up close and personal. "And no matter how you try to piece that hunk of junk together, trash is still trash."

He was of a higher rank than the other UNI Soldiers, with a badge on his chest to show his authority and a mauve shirt as a sign of elevated status. There was a scar across his right cheek and his black hair was mostly kept under an aviator cap.

He snorted as he looked over the other aircraft, "of course, if I had it my way, none of you would be getting off the ground. You'd be of better use scrapping those amalgamations you all call aircraft as oppose to flying with them." His fellow soldiers give a loud cheer at their leader's 'criticisms'.

"At least I know how to fly crap like this."

Apple Island, Airbase, Hangar

Hearnig the UNI soldier talk Aydan looked up "Is that so? Well I prefer this 'amalgamation' over your fancy aircrafts." He looked back to Minerva and muttered - pretending as if only wanting her to hear but loud enough that the UNI soldier and the others near them probably would hear as well. "Probably they need to oversell their aircrafts because if they would compare by pilots we would win by a large margin." Minerva only rolled her eyes at that although kept quiet.

edited 30th Apr '17 4:38:42 AM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Apple Island, Airbase, Runway

Riley pops up from under the propeller of her Camel. She ambles over to the soldier, fiddling with something metallic in her hands, and gives a grin that shows a lot of teeth. Sharp teeth.

"Piece of scrap, eh? Well, tell me, have you shiny little redsters ever dodged a talon and shot a dragon underneath the claw? Made an emergency landing on a dragon's corpse while its mate tries to char you to a crisp? Flown a plane straight into a great whopping alpha male's eye and jumped out? No? Good, now get back to your kites."

She marches back to her plane, but pauses to jovially whisper into Minerva's ear, as if sharing a joke with a close friend.

"I haven't actually done any of those things."

edited 30th Apr '17 6:04:36 AM by BlackSocks

He looked at the sad excuse of a pilot who said that piece of junk won't fly...

"syn" he said, "lift off" And somehow, making a sound of groaning pig the thing flew... It actually hovered... Strange but it flew

He smiled like he won a petty victory as he took off

"syn sta-" "this sad excuse for a aircraft can take five hits not even from a dragon though... I hope you have my backup "

The backup file that contains the son's code, and he has one... Sadly..

Boku wa kami sama desu kara... And i have to use this mortal shell, this is dumb, he's soo weak and frail and thinny

Apple Island, Airbase, Hangar

While this happened Jesse and their crew would notice that some of Minerva's crewmen, specifically the siblings Ezekiel and Zenobia Ashton, were heading towards their table. "We allowed to participate?"

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Apple Island, Airbase
Jesse pointed to a extra few chairs leaning against a wall. "Yeah, sure. Now, if you'll excuse me." Jesse gets up and walks over to the higher rank UNI soldier, and stares him down with his imposing figure. "I'd like to see you try an' take The Lilias down in one of your little shitty planes. I bet you won't even survive the dragons. So why don't ya shut your mouth before I break your jaw."

Jesse gives him one more glare, before walking back to the table and sitting down. They continue their card game, Jesse quickly turning back into his regular self.

I'm kinda assuming that the UNI officer is really short, here, because it makes all of this funnier.

Lyleth stood by her ship, arms crossed behind her back and just generally looking regal. Currently it was just the waiting game. The Lucent Glaive floated, her crew performing the last pre-flight checks. Shylaste popped a head over the side, looking down at Lyleth, who was tactfully ignoring the UNI soldiers' insults. "Shaina, all systems green. Good to go." She gave a smile and a thumbs up, before fumbling around as her glasses nearly fell off and to the ground.

Lyleth smirked, nodding. "Good. We'll be ready for the beasts, then."

Then their commander spoke. Lyleth was not an easy person to anger. Truly anger. This idiot had done it. His soldiers had insulted and belittled them - their supposed allies since they'd gotten here, and, instead of cracking the whip and telling them to cut that shit out, you're fighting along side them, he added fuel to the fire. Her crew had come over to the side of the ship to watch everything go to hell. Shynri was quietly egging her on, Anashide quietly muttering insults about the UNI officer's parents, specifically relating them to dragons, and Shylaste was meekly and not at all effectively trying to calm the situation down.

Lyleth strode over to the UNI officer, about a foot taller than him. She gave him a stern glare. She was tempted to lift him by the scruff of his collar, but she decided that would probably get her shot, so. When she spoke, her voice was melodic, and absolutely dripping with sarcasm. "And you, good 'sir,' would be shot for incompetence where I come from, and fed to the spiders because your idiocy doesn't even merit a burial or cremation."

She spun around on a heel, slowly walking back over to her ship, practically inviting the officer of one of his cronies to start something.

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.

The Higher-Ranking UNI soldier was going to say something, but almost every time, his tongue was tied by the constant verbal lashing that came from the various other mercenaries. It was very clear that he had no idea how to come back from the torrent of words that came his way. But his men looked pretty riled up. No, they weren't gonna take that and neither should their commander.

They never got the chance to saying anything, though, when an elderly Dogman started walking into the airbase. He wore a blue suit decorated with medals and when his cane clanged in the hanger, the UNI Soldiers all seemed to abandon their unwarranted beef with the mercenaries-for now.

"General Poole." The short-of-stature UNI soldier saluted, as did his men.

"Captain Newman." The Dog gave a nod to him, "I see that you're still suffering that Napoleon complex. I do hope you do something about that before it gets you killed." The words made Newman's face cringe, as well as his men deflated. The General then turned to the mercenaries as he cleared his throat.

"On behalf of the UNI Militia, I do apologize for my underling's misconduct. They have good intentions, but few of them have the sense they were born with. Tragic handicap, really." The General had another coughing fit before he gave a more prompt introduction, "Anyway, my name, whatever it means to you all, is Weston Poole. I'm the guy who's cutting the check for you lot to risk your necks and, apparently, babysit these idiots. If I had known they'd be so disrespectful, I would've given you all a bonus."

The old dog gives a chuckle as the redshirt-wearing soldiers lower their heads. Newman is red with rage and holds his tongue from lashing out at his superior.

"Wait wait wait, y'all! I figure he's probably got a point though!"

One of the other mercenaries, finally disembarked from her aircraft, and finally having caught up to the assembled crowd of pilots, ran to the dude's defense. Like, literally stepped between them. "Have you guys seriously never gotten killed by some dumbass gloryhound hotshot, or seen a dude's engine misfire and explode?"

She had darker tan skin, and was dressed lightly in capris and a bermuda. She pointed to her own ship, one of those bipedal construction machines, crouched on the runway. "Charlotte Ansible. Howdy. I figure you should maybe give him the benefit of the doubt, and also maybe not make jokes about people's heights. You know," She frowned for a second and tapped the tip of her right toe against the ground. "I'm not that tall either, so I can't help but feel a little caught in the backblast."

Apple Island, Airbase, Hangar

Minerva actually Face Palm'ed somewhere before the General came in - although one should also note she did snicker shortly. After sighing she bowed slightly in the direction of the General before going back to maintenance, although not before calling out to her crew. "I'd finish that quickly, those dragons are supposed to be here in 1 hour - meaning we'll start in 30 minutes to get to altitude."

edited 30th Apr '17 4:53:46 PM by Sergey_Smirnov

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Apple Island, Airbase, Hangar

Jaros looks up from his computer. "We have also seen the deaths of those not fit for this job, of those that do not respect their fellow pilotes. I do respect that this man is such a great solo fighter, though. The instance we were assigned to the same job, we are part of the same unit, we have to have each others back, we have to respect each other if we want to survive."

"And nobody's doing that." Charlotte replied, with another tap on her foot. "Man stepped to you with the real-ass concern that none of us are as coordinated as the UNI, and by my reckoning his fears are a lot more valid than yours that he's not a good pilot." She stepped closer to the robot, moving from a defense to start really coming at him. "Are you trying to imply the UNI, the police force responsible for keeping all of us safe, wouldn't have damn good training and examinations? Excuse me if I'm a little skeptic."

Lyleth, mildly disappointed that none of them took the bait, but relieved to see someone with sense show up. "A tragedy, most certainly. Greetings, general." Then more people without sense showed up. She gave Charlotte a disappointed look. "No, sera^* For the linguistically inclined, they'd know that this was the Shireni equivalent to 'dear,' roughly, most often used in a sarcastic manner. Descends from an old nobility particle, he stepped in with an insult. The validity of his concerns, whatever they may be beyond simple prejudice, is besides that." She nodded to Jaros. "What he said. And to answer your question - no, I've never been killed by a glory hound, as I am, in fact, alive and well. I've seen people killed by them, though, and the vast majority of the glory hounds have been UNI forces themselves."

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.

With so many people, Kevin was feeling rather, annoyed... "syn why are there so many of these guys, is it so hard to have a normal team? " Yes, yes it is... He Would think.... But enough of that... He looks around.... Almost everyone of them was an aristocratic idiot who had a great flying machine.... Isn't it? But why is he feeling left out? Well....

Boku wa kami sama desu kara... And i have to use this mortal shell, this is dumb, he's soo weak and frail and thinny

"Ah-ha, see?!" Newman practically rushed over to Charlotte as he held a big grin on his face. "This woman here is the only one of you all talking any actual sense." Weston seemed to roll his tired, old eyes at his underling's naturally brown nose. But before he could say his piece, the sirens inside the hanger started to go off.

"Well, would ya look at that. It looks like the Dragon's are in our scouter's horizontal sight." Weston said it surprisingly casually, "that cloud will be here in about 30-45 minutes, so I'd suggest you all get your birds in the air to meet 'em."

Newman and his followers saluted, "sir, yes sir!" The men all started to assemble as they started to get into their biplanes. They were all uniform, sharing the same green paint job and looking to just have a pair of front mounted machine guns and 1 missile underneath. Newman, on the other hand, had a more impressive-looking Grumman-styled ship. It's dual engines started firing up once Newman got into it's cockpit as the other planes started to get ready for their own ascension, moving like clockwork.

Apple Island, Airbase, Hangar

Aydan was about to say something in response as the siren cut him off. Minerva quickly finished the check she was doing, the crew all the while was already running towards the airplane, Aydan was already in his small fighter. Moments after the exhaust pipes of the engine started emitting black smoke shortly follwed by dark gray steam as the plane came to life, the same went for Minerva's bomber. Both taxied to the runway with Aydan starting first, shortly followed by Minerva. Both planes left a trail of steam and smoke in their wake as they roared towards the sky, slowly gaining attitude. As they were far enough away Aydan flew under Minerva'S bomber, connecting with it via a set of hooks as he for now let the engine on no-load.

"One may feel fear in the face of danger so long as one banishes fear when danger actually arrives"

Riley gives a whoop and bends over the engine once more, then steps back as the propeller puts to life and begins spinning.

"See y'all up there. Try to keep up, Newman!"

The plane gives a few coughs and a thin trail of grey smoke emerges from the back. She zooms down the runway and roars towards the sky.

In the cockpit, Riley rubs her apple necklace, a determined look coming over her face.

edited 3rd May '17 2:55:09 PM by BlackSocks

"Agree to disagree. I'm not gonna make this a knockdown-dragout fight." Charlotte replied, holding her hands up plaintively, then started stepping back to the VCV. "We all got dragons to kill, after all."

And then as if on cue the alarm started blaring.

"As if on cue." She said without any irony, then turned the backwards walk into a full jog back to her machine. It currently just looked like any other muscle plane, really (you know, like a muscle car, but a plane), but because of the short notice its most vicious armaments were not yet mounted!

She settled on two: the containers slammed open to reveal a buzzsaw and a clamp, industrial machinery, sized hundreds of times up past human reckoning. Charlotte wheeled the things over to the VCV38, then threw a lever to send clamps swiveling up to attach to the bottom of the engines. A short climb later and Charlotte was positioned on top of the VCV38, because the monstrous thing lacked an actual cockpit for fear of baking the pilot. The engines hummed to life as she stared at the oncoming storm, and the props started spinning up. The dragons were still there. Her parents were still not avenged.

"Fuck it." Charlotte cranked a lever, and blew the open secret of the Canes's planes early. The VCV38 did not taxi, but instead sprinted down the runway, legs transformed into a pair of ungainly clawed legs that stomped along o push her into the air. As the props hit the speed they needed Charlotte threw the lever back and sent the legs folding back up into proper wings, flying up into the sky. She quickly slapped on her swimming goggles and pulled a headset on, tuning to the local radios. "Charlotte Ansible, VCV38-A, launched. Standing by."

Lyleth rolled her eyes. "Hope your bite worse than your bark." She grabbed the ladder on the side of her ship as it took off, climbing up and hopping over the railing as the airship lifted up into the air and the engines kicked in to propel it forward. She nodded to Shylaste, who was actually navigating, putting on goggles and a scarf to protect from the high (and cold) winds they would be experiencing very soon. Her crew did the same. "Everything loaded?" Anashide and Shynre checked the turrets, nodding and saluting in response. Lyleth grinned. "Hand signals from here out. Time to hole some wyrms."

All are significantly abnormal in a normal world... All are significantly normal in an abnormal world.