Beautifully rendered, deadly in purpose, and incredible in devastation, it was with a hushed breath the world waited, all was silent, and then a roar of force that the two Locate-City-Nukes went off in a beautiful display of flame and force.

They went off, but did not explodes in fire and death and localized waves of undeniable force. They went off, but did not kill those who had come to disarm it.

No, killing would have not been a fitting end to those heroes who had risked so much to save a nation, to save a belief, to save the world from all who would see it burn, turned to their own ends without a thought to any crushed in their path.

No. A group of heroes stopped it - soldiers of the highest order - the elite guard who went where others feared, and used their skills in ways that challenged all belief of possible.

Rangers.

Rangers, who lay in a field, under a strange sky, and tried to make sense of where they were. The wind was odd and it was much too cold for this time of year - and the fortress was missing, from where they had stood and looked upon an old stone place loaded with the most dangerously potent choice of weapons in this modern era.

"Lamirez, you copy?"

A grunt, undignified, replied from a tangled heap of scale, coil, hide and hair, a creature bruised and battered and dizzy from a sudden rush of power and force. Her head lifted, golden-green eyes squinting, and one forced closed with unflattering bruising around the wide pupil. She grunted again and sat up - her armor battered, and her rifle strewn a few feet away from her.


"Good, you are up. Anyone know where we are? Where's the Fortress? Where's the helos?"

It was quiet, but for wind, and the sound of thunder in the distance. A butterfly fluttered up from the long grass and landed on a serpentine nose, before the Lamia swatted it away and grunted, feeling a large wind brush on her. It was chilly. Thankfully, the inter-woven amulets would keep her warm. Rangers only got the best, in theory.

"Somethings wrong with the stars. I can't find the Eye of Broketail anywhere." Thompson sat up, looking away from the sky and the distant moons, then back to his C/O who fiddled with his radio, attempting to contact headquarters.

"No idea, damn wizards."

Lamirez stared out with her 'nocs, the tri-eyed scopes settling in, giving a reading in heat signatures and in magical radiation - one more familiar for the lamia, the other a useful tool in some situations. The scopes zoomed in on the horizon, where a strange sight caught her attention. She sat up, wincing at a wrenched disk, and forced herself to stare out.

"Centaurs." She murmured into her transmitter. "Armed with swords. Heading our way. 1500 meters."

"Damn. Take perimeter, but don't fire unless they take hostile action." The squad assembled, ignoring their injuries to take up a firing line. Lamirez dropped her rifle and slithered prone, to take bead.

"They are in mail, sir. Light magical properties." She hissed, and clenched at her 'tags around her throat. She murmured a prayer for guidance, and waited for contact...


"Come in, come in. This is K-080-LD Crew. Anyone there, respond?" It was a small crackling, the distance would be vast, but there. Heard over the heavy wind and the thunder of approaching hooves, it buzzed the ear of Lamirez and the rest of the Ranger Squad.

"This is Ranger Squad 6, Identification 0f-1d-1a-1n, we are at an unknown site. We are being approached by Centaurs, and they are armed. Backup would be appreciated if you would be so inclined. We will flare, now."

And with a word, Rodriguez raised a small tube from his pouch and aimed it skyward - and murmured 'Mandlik', setting off the flare to explode into the sky. That would give the tank crew a chance to find them. It was friendly, they had been a help during a mission not a few hours ago.

The Centaurs raced closer on the flare of magic. But so did a great metal beast from behind the squad, with its great neck stretched and mouth open, preparing to launch death with but a word. A kobold sat on top of it with binoculars to his eyes, while painted along the side was a lurid image of a dragon in flight. Scrawled along the side was a rather rude message in draconic. Forged of adamantine and the finest of magitechnology, the tanks of the Kobold Engineer Corps were the most dangerous on the field.

If small and cramped for the average sized person.

"We see you. ETA, 2 minutes."


"Copy."

The Centaurs slowed, and a rather large one stepped forward, his sword lowered to rest against the earth, and a heavy spear to his back, set to charge if he needed to. It crackled with crude energy, a weak spell of power placed into it.

"Wer bist Sie? Sie übertreten am Bundesland über König Heinrich die Fünft-! Identifizieren sich oder auch sein getötet!" He spoke, his dark lips moving quickly. Brows furrowed.

"What language is that?"

"German, sir. Er, sounds like it. It's not quite, uh, I am not sure." Rodriguez said, while squinting at the centaur. He rubbed the back of his head, the gnoll feeling itchy, but thankful for the warm fur that kept out the chill. The moons were on the wane.

"Sprichst Deutsch?" He tried. Heads tilted amongst the centaurs, before shaking at the obvious question. "Vos agnosco mihi?"

The centaurs paced, blades ready, while rifles remained down - ready to snap a shot off in an instant if they made a hostile gesture. The rumble of the tank became audible, over a hill in the distance.

Blades were raised, and words were shouted again, in the odd germanic tongue. Battle was to be joined, with these alien invaders, possibly barbaric Slavs or Poles. The lead Centaur snorted. He hated Slavs, and Poles, and Lithuanians.

And then the Tank breached the distance like the roar of an angry dragon, and the kobold-crewed vehicle thundered forward, to the relief of the Rangers, and fear of the Knights, who turned, and charged away.

No one wished to deal with a metal-covered war-golem! They had to alert the lord and the courts! War was coming!

"Just in time." Lamirez murmured, clicking the safety and checking the magazine before shouldering her great rifle. "Just in time."