North-West of Veilwood Forest
The forest did not want them there.
Five kilometers from the bunker, the trees grew close enough that their canopies filtered the sunlight into green shafts. Thick roots, the size of a mans torso, broke through the mossy ground and each step was slightly indented in the soft humus. The air was cool and smelled of decay, and growth, and insects the size of sparrows flew between ferns that came up to a man's chest.
Sgt. Anderson Ford, call sign Falcon moved at point, his Mk.VII exosuit whining with every step. He was former Anti-Machine Combat Force, blond, late twenties, his face still tight from cryo. Behind him the four Marines in black kept a loose diamond formation, guns low but ready, sensors sweeping.
"Raven, left. Viper, right. Bulldog, rear. Spartan, on me," Falcon said into his short range comms, "Science team, stay inside the diamond. Don't touch anything until Zhang clears it."
The science team was in the middle, five people in white thermal suits stained green and brown. Dr. Zhang Liang led the team, a scanner in hand. Beside him Dr. Maria Rodriguez, Spanish archaeologist turned botanist after the virus, was fastidious and curious. Dr. Marco Rossi, Italian geophysicist, continued to glare at the ground. Dr. Rachel Kim, Korean-American biologist, was taking pictures of everything. Dr. Rohan Desai, Indian systems tech, had the heavy pack which linked their scanners back to the bunker.
"It's remarkable," Rachel whispered, brushing her fingers over a leaf that towered over her, "these species, this is not Earth flora. Or at least, not Earth as we know it. Denser cellular structure."
"Breathable atmosphere, but the background energy is off the charts," Rohan said, watching his displays, "like we were inside a low level reactor field. Talia was right, this entire forest is emitting."
Ford halted and tossed a fist in the air. Everyone froze.
"Contact thermal, hundred meters ahead," he said quietly, "large, stationary. Could be a boulder. Could be something else. Raven, check?"
Corporal Lisa Nguyen, call sign Raven, switched her visor to thermal imaging. "Confirmed, massive heat signature about eight meters long, low to ground. Hotter then us by forty degrees. No movement."
"Could be a geothermal vent," Marco said hopefully.
"Geothermal vents don't have a shape," Zhang said pointedly as he moved forward, the others following closely, brushing through the ferns. They emerged in a clearing, in the center of which was a mound covered in thick moss, punctuated by pale mushrooms. It was roughly the size of a Terra Mauler's cab and was draped with vines, and looked as if it had been there for centuries.
Dr. Maria crouched beside the mound, plucking at the fungi. "Look at these, they look to be edible. Similar to Shitake mushrooms only with bioluminescence." She pulled out her hand held scanner and passed it over the clusters of pale caps. It chirped.
Then it screamed.
"Dr. Zhang, over here!" Maria called out, "I found this rock, but the scanner is picking up massive heat from inside it! It's not a rock!"
The research team surged forward, clustering around the mound, even the Marines lowering their rifles in curiosity.
Deep within the mound something stirred.
The annoyance which had been building in the Great One was punctuated with irritation. For ninety long years, the Great One had been sleeping, healing the wounds left from that lightning striped tiger ninety five years ago. He had tried to swallow a small human city in the north, a snack, but the tiger had intervened, her claws full of storm, and he had fled to this quiet place in the Veilwood to sleep, to heal, to dream of revenge.
And now these wretched little things were prattling and poking at him.
A cold touch against his nose woke him. He opened his eye, revealing not a rock, but something else. An eye the color of amber as big as a dinner plate, split pupils staring straight at Dr. Maria. The moss cracked, the ground trembled and the mound rose.
"How dare you disturb the Great One?" The voice came from... nowhere, echoing in their skulls, and was ancient and angry.
The clearing erupted into motion.
The serpent's great head rose on a neck the thickness of a tree trunk, the scales as black as coal, crusted with lichen and moss. Its body uncoiled behind it, as long as a school bus, rolling the ground and the ferns. It stared at Maria, who had poked it, her head twisting back and forth, fangs as long as a mans arm, dripping clear liquid that hissed.
"Dr. Maria, watch out!" Falcon yelled.
He surged forward, his exosuit servos screaming, grabbing her thermal suit by the arms and yanking her back just as the serpent's jaws snapped shut where her head had been. The fangs hit the ground, leaving two smoking holes.
"What the hell is that thing?" Viper shouted, already bringing his KPR up.
"Contact! Contact! Exosuits online! Weapons free!" Falcon roared.
The five Marines' exosuits flared as combat power came online, joints locking, strength increasing, and they raised their Kinetic Pulse Rifles.
"Engage! Kill that snake!" Falcon ordered.
The forest was filled with the sharp crack of the KPRs firing in unison, the magetic darts leaving blue trails as they hit the serpent at Mach 5. A few sparked against the ancient scales but the relentless assault found crevices and pierced the black blood that hissed on the ground.
The serpent roared, feeling it in his bones. "Insolent fools! I will devour you all!"
It lashed out with its tail, Bulldog and Viper diving as it smashed a great fern trunk behind them to splinters.
Raven fired in controlled bursts, aiming for the head. "Scales are deflecting! Need heavier!"Focus weak points!" Falcon shouted, "Eyes, nostrils, gaps in the armor!"
Raven's KPR suddenly whined, venting hot gas. "Raven down! Overheat! Cover!"Covering!" Viper and Bulldog provided suppressive fire, darts sparking off the serpent's snout, forcing it to recoil.
The serpent, scorched and bleeding realized that these little metal things were hurting it. It changed tactics and saw the five white suited scientists fleeing toward a shallow trench to the south, and lunged for them, jaws wide.
"Protect the research team!" Spartan yelled.
Private Tom Bradley, call sign Spartan, ran straight into the path of the serpent. He lowered his shoulder and activated his exosuit's impact bracing. The two collided with a force that sent tremors through the trees, sending leaves flying. Spartan was thrown ten meters, his exosuit's integrity alarm wailing, and his visor cracked. Blood trickled from his mouth inside the helmet.
"Spartan, this is Falcon! Status!" Falcon shouted into the radio as he hauled Maria towards the trench.
"Alive! Suit compromised! I can still fight but not long!" Spartan coughed, forcing himself up on his elbows, still clutching the rifle.
Ford shoved the scientists into the trench. "Stay down! Stay hidden! Wait for signal!"
Raven had rebooted her rifle. She analyzed quickly. "It's weakening! We need to finish it off! Concentrate fire on the head!"
The Marines concentrated their fire on the weak points of the serpent. It's thrashing slowed, its large body heaving, black blood pooling around it. Its movements slowed under the relentless hammering of science made weapons.
It should have died then. Any Earth animal would have.
But this was Veilwood.
The serpent's throat began to glow. First dull red, then bright orange, then intensely white blinding light, and the air around it distorted from the heat. The moss on the nearby trees began to smoke without touching.
Rohan's relay pack, still linked to the bunker screamed a warning that Talia in Command would hear seconds later.
"Massive energy buildup in its throat! It's not biological! It's powering up something!"
Ford saw the glow and had it all make sense in the way the Great One had said it. He never understood how anything could have so much energy, but it did.
"Incoming! Take cover! Take cover now!"
The Marines threw themselves behind logs and roots as the Great One opened its jaws.
Dragon's Breath was about to fire.