When Henry finally parked this bike mecha inside his garage, he got out of there and headed to the door that led to the kitchen. He stopped when he heard his father speaking on the phone.
When his father finished the phone call, Henry came out of the garage and said "I need to speak with you.". Most of the time both argued for long periods of time when they tried to initiate conversations, so he hoped this time it wouldn't be the same. "I need to speak with you too. Would you like to go first?" Simon said to him, making Henry a bit surprised when he heard this. "No, I think you should go first" Henry said. "Alright. So.......the military is recruiting you to battle training. They've seen your great potential with your homemade mecha. You start tomorrow from 8AM to 10AM every Wednesday to Friday." his father said.
'Wait, what? This soon?' Henry though with worry. In response he said "Aww man, I should have gone first. 'Cause I was thinking I could let them have my net missile and bazooka to make more. So that I can be at a safer distance, don't you think?" Henry tried reasoning when his father brought him a pistol and placed it on his hand. "You'll need this" his father said, to which Henry replied "I really don't want to fight dragons.". In response to this, his father said "Come on. Yes you do.".
"Let me repeat myself: Dad, I can't kill dragons"
"How come?"
"Because I'm extra sure that I won't"
"The time has come for you to become a soldier"
"Can't you at least hear me out?"
"This is serious, son. When you go out there, you fight for all of us. Which means you will do exactly as you are told to, fight like the rest and die like the rest. No more of this...nonsense."
"Dad, you just finished pointing it all to me"
"Deal?"
"This conversation is beginning to become another strong argume—"
"DEAL!?"
Henry sighed in defeat, then said "Fine. Deal"
"Good. I'll see you in a couple of weeks." Henry's father said as he headed towards the door. "Wait. Hold on. Where are you going now?" Henry asked as he got beside his father. After a long moment Simon replied "I am going on another strike mission to the dragon nest. They say that the tactic used on the plan will work surely. Don't worry. I'll come back home safe. In the meantime, train hard and don't get killed", then exited out of the house.
"Good luck, dad" Henry said as he closed the door.
————————————————————————
The next day~
After he digitally signed up, Henry took the elevator to the given floor on his registration papers. As he waited to reach the floor, he thought about what would happen if the ones in charge didn't accept his mecha.
A few parts of it were considered unworthy in military specifications, which Henry feared that they may reject it. The train of thought was interrupted when the elevator descended to the second floor before the indicated floor, and revealed his bike mecha standing right in front of the elevator door. A written message taped on the entrance hatch of his mechine said:
( Unit accepted. ;) )
'Unit accepted? And who the hell ends this message with a smiley face?' Henry thought. Was it his father? Gideon? Another guy he didn't know?
When he reached the designated floor, he spotted a few of his older high school classmates. Were they here because...oh, they had the same papers as Henry did as he noticed what they were carrying in their hands.
There was Alice Heda, a beautiful yet strong girl who doesn't associate with any guy. Fernando Iglesias, a chubby and squirmy kind of guy. Scott Jefferson, a guy that acts handsome and full of himself. And the Tucker twins, Travis and Rachel, who didn't seem to stop arguing.
Henry decided to wait until the entrance doors opened and come from behind.
When they finally exited, he entered the battle dome.
It seemed more like a testing area rather than a battle room the size of a soccer field. Right around the dome edges were the students' mechas: two kuratas and three yumboros which he didn't know which belonged to which pilot, along with Henry's bike mecha.
"I hope we get serious blisters" Travis said as everyone stared above the dome ceiling.
"Yep, only fun if you manage to get a scar out of it." Alice replied.
"No kidding. Pain: awesome." Henry replied sarcastically as everyone turned around to face him.
"Oh great. Who let you in? Your dad?" Travis groaned.
Henry showed him his papers and said "The military, not my father the Lieutenant, genius."
Right at that time a voice in the loudspeakers above said ["All pilots please enter your mechas, close your cockpits and place your belt straps and helmets immediately. Standby for further instructions"], which clearly sounded like sgt. Gideon's voice.
After everyone got in, closed the cockpit doors and activated their mechas, they went to then center to face a hanging robot which looked like GLaDOS(but with multiple arms tucked behind).
["Alright! Let's get started. Welcome to Battle School. Down here you will learn how to fight against real live dragons that we have managed to lure in and trap during the last raids. Believe us, it's more harder to capture one of each of the common species with mechas. I know many of you are wondering if some day we may include a special occasion like capturing the more rare and hard-level species of dragons out there, but that is for another day. The most important thing is that you will either fight alone or as a team if it suits you best during your time down here. Each of your scores will depend on performance levels each time you fight. If you get to a certain level of points, you shall be granted the privilege to customize your mecha as you please. The final exam will consist of killing a designated dragon to determine your rank in the army. Now, are there any questions you may have in mind?"] Gideon's voice explained through the hanging robot.
["Henry already took down a night fury, so....does that disqualify him or boost his score? I'd like to transfer to a better class."] Scott said while the twins hid their laughter.
Henry simply ignored that as Gideon continued explaining the game.
["Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight. Such as the Deadly Nadder, the Hideous Zippleback, the Monstrous Nightmare, the Terrible Terror, and the Gronckle."] Gideon continued, motioning their views to the large doors behind them. Then, he reached out with one arm to the lever that would open the Gronckle's cage.
Scott noticed this and immediately said, ["Woah! Wait a minute! Aren't you going to teach us first about how to fight it?"]. ["I believe for this lesson, you should learn on the job...and quick!"] Gideon said as he abruptly pulled down the lever and a countdown started.
There was no time to get ready as the countdown hit zero and the doors opened abruptly. Out flew the dragon and charged at the mechas. The screeching of tires filled the air as everyone floored on reverse away from the dragon. Henry's mecha was the quickest, so he left everyone in front while everyone tried to evade. The Gronckle crashed into the side of the wall and then quickly got up.
["Quick! What's the first thing you will need?"] Gideon asked from above the ensuing battle.
"A medic on standby?" Henry suggested.
["Nitro?"] Fernando tried.
["Shield and ammo!"]Alice said.
["Good one! Go pick your desired weapons!"] Gideon's voice said as weapons and shields lowered from the ceiling for them to use.
When Henry tried to pick up a shield, a message showed from his screens: [LOCKING ERROR]. "Oh screw this!" Henry cursed as he threw the shield at the dragon hovering above and drove his mecha around quickly to hide behind some steel barriers. Meanwhile the others were trying their best to get clear shots and evade the Gronckle and its explosive fireballs. One fireball destroyed a missile launcher that the twins were fighting over ownership. The two mechas were thrown back and eliminated from the scoreboard. The same went for Scott and Fernando as their attempts to wash the Gronckle with machine gun fire didn't go as planned, their shields getting destroyed too and getting eliminated with metal limbs blown off. Only Henry and Alice remained standing.
"Guess its just you and me?" Henry said to Alice. ["Nope. Only you."] Alice said as she jumped up. There was no time for Henry to react as he noticed the Gronckle's fireball head straight for his mecha's feet. The ball exploded underneath and threw the mecha to the wall, damaging the booster engines.
[SYSTEM ERROR] was written on the screen when Henry recovered from the crash.
"NonononoNO!! Come on!!! Hurry!!!" Henry shouted as he tried to move mis mecha out of the way by frantically moving the joystick and throttle, but immediately realized he got cornered.
The Gronckle was about to end Henry's life with a fire blast when the hanging robot came out of nowhere from above and tugged the dragon's jaws, causing it to misfire. ["That's enough for you today! Now go back to your cage you overweight salamander!"] Gideon said as he secured the dragon with multiple mechanical limbs and virtually threw the dragon back to its cell. ["You'll get another chance. Don't worry."] Gideon said as he pulled the lever up to its previous position.
Everyone exhaled as they relaxed now that it was over.Gideon's hanging robot turned to face everyone, including Henry, and said:
["For today's lesson learned: Remember each time that a dragon will always — always — go for the kill. They won't hesitate, and neither should you. That is all for today, nice work."] Gideon said as the hanging rose up back into the ceiling, the others groaning and driving their mechas away to park them and come out of their cockpits.
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How To Train Your Dragon 4: Near Horizon
قصص الهواة"There were dragons when I was a boy. Some say they crawled back into the sea leaving not a bone or a fang to remember them. Others say they were nothing but folk tales to begin with. But maybe one day, a time may come where the dragons will return...
