An Epic from the Age of Cold Weapons

Scientists in later generations studied and dissected the corpses of dead dragon bugs. They determined that the creature's primary genes came from rock centipedes, iron beetles, blade mother bugs, and finally the gravel dragons at the top of New Jade Gate's food chain.

So that raised the question: the bug dragon had appeared. Where had the gravel dragon that served as its genetic blueprint gone? Had the alien bugs simply eaten it? That didn't fit the swarm's usual practical, waste-not, energy-efficient approach. If they only wanted food for energy and protein, there were plenty of other animals—but a powerful "phantom beast" wasn't something they could always get their hands on.

Now, it had appeared!

...Though it probably hadn't wanted to.

Yu Lian guessed that the thing had climbed high into the sky early on, to a height where nobody could spot it with the naked eye, then plunged down in a free-fall dive. Despite its enormous body, more than ten meters long, and its vast wings, it could still keep its dive quieter than a mosquito.

In a sense, those dragon bugs, along with the ground-dwelling zerglings and roaches, were all just a cover. This was the real trump card.

The monster certainly looked imposing. Elegantly put, it was like a neckless dragon—the Western fantasy kind. Less charitably, it looked like an oversized bat with an extra tail. In the common tongue, everyone called the creature a "gravel dragon." Not only could it fly, vanishing without a trace or a sound, it could also hide beneath the gravel, lying in wait for days without eating or drinking until suitable prey came along. Before human colonists arrived, they had been undisputed rulers of the planet, with no natural predators. They even dared to attack large sandfolk settlements.

After human colonists arrived... well, they wouldn't dare attack large towns or military outposts, but they'd still go after ordinary travelers and smaller farms and mines.

Ordinary farmers and miners found the creatures a real headache. For one thing, they were genuinely powerful; even a small, well-equipped military unit wouldn't fare well against one. For another, the creature was now listed in the Galactic Civilization Council's Environmental Bureau catalog of "Rare Cosmic Phantom Beasts." It could kill your cattle and sheep—or even you—then flap its wings and fly away. But kill one yourself, and you'd be breaking the law.

Besides, it was called a "dragon" only because humans were in the habit of calling anything large, predatory, and reptile-like a "dragon." Its lineage had nothing to do with the mythical creatures of legend.

And, well, though it wasn't a creature of myth and legend, it did have something remarkable about it, as you'd expect of a "phantom beast."

For example, somehow this utterly unscientific body could fly.

And somehow, a body that huge could soar through the sky without making a sound.

And, for another example, being a "phantom beast," it had abilities akin to psychic powers.

"Ina, watch..." Yu Lian shouted toward the gun emplacement opposite him, but he'd barely started when the sergeant had already opened fire. A great burst of autocannon rounds sped toward the dragon's head!

Then an air vortex opened in front of the creature, instantly sweeping up all the bullets. After swirling them around, it spat them right back. Several unlucky people on the wall were knocked down, and cries and screams rang out.

Of course, the bullets had lost a great deal of momentum when they were sent back, so they weren't likely to kill anyone. But they were still 20 mm high-carbon steel slugs! Even a hit from one could be fatal.

Gravel dragons really did have that ability. They could raise a field much like a psychic barrier, resisting or even deflecting most kinetic weapons.

Killing one was easy, too. First, use a high-powered energy weapon. Second, use high explosives. Third, use a really, really powerful kinetic weapon.

...But we're just a bunch of nobodies in a lousy security force. We don't have any of those, do we?

Should we try a fourth option? The thought had barely crossed Yu Lian's mind when the giant flying beast was already less than a few meters from the wall. Then it headed straight... straight for him.

What did I do to deserve this? The thought flashed through Yu Lian's mind. He dragged himself and the half-torso dangling from his belly, along with half a canister of nanomachines, off the turret. But he still managed to hit it with the psychic shock he'd only just learned to use.

For a sensitive who hadn't opened their star ring, even using basic psychic techniques now and then was a matter of luck. But Yu Lian was different. He was an old hand inhabiting the body of a twenty-year-old pretty boy.

Pia! The gravel dragon probably hadn't expected him to have that trick. It faltered for a moment, but its attack didn't slacken at all. With a thunderous crash, it slammed straight into the turret, and the steel-and-machinery structure collapsed like a pile of blocks. Luckily, Yu Lian had already rolled a good distance away.

He picked up a gun from the ground, only to find a severed arm still hanging from its stock. He glanced at the turret's ruins, now a tangled heap of rubble and steel bars, and sighed inwardly. But his hands never hesitated. He fired a burst at the batlike wings on the gravel dragon's back.

The gravel dragon couldn't keep its defensive field up in every direction, twenty-four hours a day. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a "phantom beast," but a "divine beast." Even so, a junky C10 rifle like this couldn't pierce its back or wings. It could only scatter a few sparks against the creature's heavy armor.

But several bullets had hit the wing membranes, affecting the gravel dragon's flight path to some degree. It instinctively beat its wings hard a few times, pulling its whole body sharply upward as it skimmed past the turret where Ina was stationed. If it hadn't climbed just then, it really would have knocked the turret over.

The sergeant, having narrowly escaped disaster, didn't seem frightened. She kept firing. The shells formed a devastating lash of fire, hammering the gravel dragon's back. One shot even precisely pried open part of the scales there, spraying out a cloud of reddish-brown blood. The creature lost its balance for an instant, twisted its body, and crashed awkwardly into the barbed wire along the wall. Then, with a duang, it slid down the smooth metal wall panels. Its body clearly wasn't suited to crawling on solid ground, and for a moment it couldn't even right itself, looking thoroughly miserable.

A few soldiers worked up the courage to move closer and unleashed a volley from their rifles.

The gravel dragon was a wild animal, and in theory it should have had some instinct for self-preservation. Under normal circumstances, an injury like that would have made it think about retreating. But this ferocious giant didn't run, or even groan. It merely lifted its head with indifference, like a hard-bitten hero who'd suffered countless wounds but kept fighting. It was cool as hell.

The soldiers who'd approached shifted their aim, preparing to shoot it in the head.

Yu Lian couldn't help shouting, "Spread out! Spread out, you idiots!"

Why were they all huddled together? Having a hot pot? Keeping warm? Playing with a giant shit-stirrer?

The soldiers probably hadn't heard him. They didn't even move. But before they could pull the triggers, the gravel dragon opened its mouth. Its razor-sharp teeth parted like two gates, and a brilliant ball of light shot out with a whoosh. It slammed into the center of the group, then exploded with a boom into a blinding flash, engulfing everything within five meters in a scorching blast.

Three soldiers were swallowed whole, their bodies left unrecognizable. Two others on the outskirts were flung several meters away, their bodies twisted. Even if they weren't dead, they'd surely been crippled.

This was another one of the gravel dragon's psychic-like talents. It spat out a concentrated explosive sphere of light. Even a light armored vehicle or an airship would be killed in a single hit. Its power rivaled that of a low- or medium-powered phase-pulse cannon. The same ability was even more apparent in the later-evolving bug dragon, the aerial guard bug, making it one of the swarm's most powerful air-to-ground suppression units.

But if those soldiers hadn't been standing in such an amateurish formation, at least they wouldn't have suffered such heavy casualties, would they?

Yu Lian sighed silently. He missed the Phalanx back home. If he and Ina had been using one of those, that super-sized bat wouldn't have gotten anywhere near them. Even gunpowder weapons were better suited to close-in defense in a situation like this than railguns with their unimpressive rate of fire—and they weren't lacking in power, either.

"More advanced technology" didn't necessarily mean something was more useful, but it seemed like a lot of people just couldn't understand that simple point.

He missed the soldiers back home even more. Their weapons were "primitive"—at least, compared to this vast universe where starships filled the skies, they were. But at least they didn't bunch up in a fight. He'd spent his whole previous life missing them, and he'd probably have to miss them for a long, long time in this life, too.

After swatting away the little bugs that had been pestering it, the gravel dragon finally got to its feet, looking pleased with itself. It wanted to lift its head and give the soldiers on the wall another shot, but then realized it didn't seem to have a neck. So it spread its wings and flapped hard, stirring up a violent gust before hauling its huge body several meters off the ground.

It opened its maw again, aiming at the densest crowd on the wall, and let out a silent roar. Blinding white light gathered once more between its razor-sharp teeth. But the soldiers all stood there, dumbstruck, neither knowing to fight back nor remembering to scatter.

Naturally, their fire grew sparse.

Out in the distant wilderness and sky, the remaining alien bugs were of course not about to let this opportunity go to waste. They charged faster.

Yu Lian gritted his teeth and held his breath, slowly aiming his gun at the gravel dragon's eye. Whether it would work was anyone's guess. A gravel dragon's eyes were fragile, sure—but compared to what?

He pulled the trigger and fired a burst. Almost at the same instant, there came a duang, and the gravel dragon suddenly jerked as if struck by an invisible bolt of lightning. The energy shot in its mouth never came out. Its wings went limp, and with a pia, it dropped back to the ground.

Yu Lian knew it couldn't have been the power of this lousy gun. The armored plate that had slammed into the dragon's head was clearly what had done the trick. He turned and saw that Sergeant Baka, the bear-man, had somehow made it to the gate. He roared with a voice every bit as mighty as a real Kodiak bear's, then snatched up a broken steel bar from the ground and hurled it like a javelin.

"For the Commonwealth!"

Lieutenant Mondsan, chainsword in hand, raced past Baka. Using the "javelin" as cover, he launched a charge as fierce as thunder. The setting sun formed a halo around his hard-edged powered armor. Like a legendary knight charging at a fearsome dragon, he was already an epic hero.

...An epic from the age of cold weapons.