Of Mountains and Machines

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Then again, there wasn't always much of anything here. Back when I was a young boy, the only action between these mountains was the excitement of the annual hunt led by my grandfather, and the thrill of taming the roaming mechanical Tartua horses with my brother Agnar. Believe it or not, it takes a rather extraordinary amount of skill to remain on the back of one of those beasts while running a domestication program without getting bucked off.

Times are different now, several centuries later. I've seen so much and the memories of my youth are but flittering flashes behind my old eyes. But you aren't here to listen to an old man ramble on about his boyhood, you're here because of the matter at hand. The Dragons, as people have taken to calling them. Those vile, depraved chimeras that our enemies have forged in their laboratories and foundries. At nearly two thousand meters long and resembling a lizard with 6 sets of bat-like wings, they are a truly fearsome thing to behold. And it's little wonder how they got their name, considering how they spew burning ionic plasma from their mouths. Our intelligence suggests that these mechanized beasts are piloted in conjunction with a new form of AI by the elite amongst our foes, the Quintaræ from the South. Thankfully, as you have no doubt heard by now, there have been only three sightings of these abominations within our valley walls. And on each of those occasions, they have shredded our defenses into little more than piles of scrap metal marred by the stains of blood from our sons and daughters who manned their stations.

Even though we, the High Eldarians, are more technologically advanced than our enemies, you must remember that we are at the edge of the kingdom here and therefore we find ourselves lacking many of our military's finer creations that could be used to fend off this newfound threat. Unfortunately, the Quintaræ are by no means fools, as the first thing they attacked was our communications outpost. That has left us completely unable to call in any reinforcements. Oh what I wouldn't give to be able to call in an orbital strike from one of our Thorson class Destroyers, their kinetic tungsten munitions would easily solve our dilemma and we could go about our quiet lives in peace. But I am afraid this fight will not be so easy. And that, I suppose, is where you come into the picture.

I am aware that you are something of a new face around here. I wish that circumstances were different and I could show you around these mountains in the tranquility that I was afforded for so many years. Anyways, I overheard Thuldæ talking about you to my comrades in the dinner hall last night. He mentioned that you had served off-world with some distinction as a Lieutenant in the 7th Army as an expert in guerilla warfare, leading your troops on some rather tricky expeditions well behind enemy lines. I myself served in the Imperial Navy, as an Officer in the 3rd Fleet. While I never got as close to the enemy as you certainly did, I can see we both have had our fair share of wars and cheating death. It's the look behind the eyes that gives it away, that quiet stare reaching a thousand meters into the nothingness… Back to my point, I have been working on a plan with some of the other Elder warfighters and I believe a woman with your experience is precisely what our plan needs.

We are a rather small community here, but almost all of us have extensive fighting backgrounds spanning all types of expertise. We have put together a team of our most capable and daring veterans. However, I won't beat around the bush anymore, the only person we don't have on the team is someone who has the leadership experience and expertise such as yourself with regard to guerilla tactics. I, we, need you to lead this team when the time comes. Are you up for the task, Lieutenant?