Chapter 22

Mia watched as the battle went on in the distance. She had been running around the control room. This machine wasn’t designed to be operated by a single person; she found that out the hard way.

“This button here… then here… Ah! Right!”

She ran to the other side of the control room, flicking some switches. She then went to the center and pulled a lever. Operations that should have taken at least three people she did alone. For the first time in many years, the railgun moved once more. She turned it right toward where the battle took place. It glowed bright, clear, even from a distance. Fire consumed the area like a bonfire.

“We need help-”

Mia heard the sound of clanging metal, and then nothing else. Silence.

“Captain! Hakade! Can you hear me!?”

No reply came. She couldn’t wait any longer. The railgun may be powerful, but aiming took time, and if she missed, everything would be over. She couldn’t bother with it.

She decided to abandon the railgun and help. She reached for the assault rifle on her back.

“... Huh? Where is it?”

The color drained from Mia’s face as she realized she had once again left her assault rifle on Scorpion.

“Wha- What do I do!?”

Mia panicked, her breathing growing heavy. If she didn’t do something quickly, Hakade, Ana, and Ann might die. She couldn’t let that happen.

“Mia.”

“La- Laurel!? Laurel! They need our help!”

“I know.”

“I left my rifle on Scorpion-”

“You cannot kill the dragon with your rifle.”

Laurel was right. If Scorpion, a tank with a 120mm cannon, couldn’t kill the eldest dragon, then she had no hope with her puny little assault rifle. Even if she had brought it, she wouldn’t have been able to do anything.

“Wha- What should I do, then? I cannot just stand here and do nothing!”

“... I need your help. This is something only you, our engineer, mechanic, and gunner, can do.”

“... What should I do?”

“I need you to hit the dragon. When I give you the signal, fire.”

“But-”

“It’ll be difficult, but it’s something only you can do,” she said with calmness, putting her trust in Mia.

“... Alright.” Mia nodded.

She reached for the controls and aimed the railgun straight at the dragon. The weapon shook, letting a loud creaking noise as it moved. This weapon was designed to hit immobile targets from thousands of kilometers away, not a moving dragon. The railgun had one last shell loaded, a shell that never got its chance.

She had one shot.

“But, what are you-”

She heard the sound of a diesel locomotive passing right next to her.

“... I see. So you’ve decided.”

“If Ann can do this, why can’t I?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

•••

Laurel had her left hand around the lever. She had pushed it the furthest it could go, but she kept pushing it, trying to make the train go faster. She had her eyes on her target. It floated high in the sky, right above the tracks. She had done her calculations. It will work.

Her right hand flicked a switch on the driver’s console, activating the first phase of the boosters. She felt a sudden jolt as the boosters came to life. It pushed the train forward, reaching one hundred thirty kilometers per hour. She flicked the switch next to it, and the train accelerated to one hundred seventy. Third switch, two hundred ten kilometers per hour. The distance between her and the dragon shrank rapidly.

She opened the protective casing for the fourth switch, the most powerful of them all.

“Now!”

A large boom echoed from behind her. It smashed the dragon on its side, knocking it down onto the rails right in front of her.

Fourth switch.

Three hundred kilometers per hour.

•••

Hakade couldn’t get Scorpion to move, no matter what he tried. Even if he could, he couldn’t operate it without the cameras giving him information. Many of the systems and sensors had been damaged as well.

“... A magic attack is coming,” Ana murmured, her voice in eerie calmness. “A large beam, something that will erase us from existence."

Hakade felt helpless. For a moment, he regretted not following Ann’s warnings. He shook his head. They couldn’t admit defeat. Not now, not ever.

He struggled till the end. If he were to be erased anyway, he wanted to fire everything he had.

A loud boom came from outside Scorpion. He heard some weird cracking noises coming from above him, followed by a loud crash.

“... The magic is gone!” Ana shouted.

Figuring this was their chance, he forced the emergency hatch open. The dragon lay on the ground, flapping its wings. It roared, a railgun shell on its side. Even from a glance, Hakade could tell it hadn't been seriously injured. If it was injured at all.

“Take my hand!”

He pulled Ana out. She had blood all over her face, her left hand touching her cheek. He then pulled Ann out after her. Ann seemed much better in comparison.

“Can you move?” Hakade asked. Ana looked back, but he knew she could heal herself.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m healing,” Ana replied, then her eyes widened in shock. “Hakade!”

Hakade turned around, following her gaze.

A red and gold diesel train came running down the tracks, its boosters shining blue. It flashed its lights and honked its horn, soaring like a bullet. It screamed across the track, at the top of its limits. It went beyond its original design, defying those who once built it.

Their train roared down the tracks at beyond three hundred kilometers per hour, heading straight for the dragon.

•••

When they purchased this train some years ago, its previous owner had given it a name. Hakade never used it, saying it sounded too cringey, but he never changed the name. A diesel locomotive, dressed in red and gold.

“Go forth! Iron Lung!”

Iron Lung smashed into the dragon at three hundred kilometers per hour, obliterating the ramming device, destroying its own shield, and dragging the dragon with it. Some parts of the ramming device came flying, smashing the windshield, causing visible cracks, yet Iron Lung didn’t stop. It continued on.

The locomotive jumped up, sliding over the dragon’s body and tipping to the side. Laurel held on as the train tilted. From outside the window, she saw three people come running. The train pulled to a stop, pitting the dragon against a warehouse, but even that wasn’t enough to kill it. It flapped its wings, smashing the wall into pieces. Its movements caused the train to wobble.

The train slid off it and crashed onto the snowy ground. Laurel knocked her head on the metal walls, her skull ringing. She held her head, opening her eyes. The angered dragon stared at her and opened its mouth. But what came after that wasn’t a fire breath. Instead, a high-pitched screech. It thrashed around, then fell silent, and disappeared as if it never existed.

Laurel forced herself upward, finding balance in the train that now lay on its side. Standing in front of where the dragon used to be was Ana, her staff in her hand. She turned her way and smiled. Her mouth moved. Laurel couldn’t hear her voice, but she could read her lips.

“We did it.”