Mystic Trio 19.5: A Disaster In the Making or, a teaser post so I don't get axed.

The vessel set down lightly, or almost set down at least. It managed to remain suspended a good foot above the rocky foothills of the Great Source, and the wind stirred up by the powerful rotating blades blew back the sparse brush. They all turned to Dreggs Ironside, every last one of them, for their courage or their orders or both. With a slow nod and a gesture, he gave them their awaited command, and the world exploded with the sound of igniting gunpowder. The stench of fire and sulfur burned in the air as shells as large as any dwarf's head burst through the side of the invading ship. Timbers ripped asunder before their onslaught, one cannon firing after another as his men followed his word as they word of God.

He had no idea what they were firing on, but it came from the sky and looked like it belonged in water, and either was enough to make the bravest dwarf uneasy. The earth was their home and their haven, their provider and their protector against the harsher elements which strove against their kind. The ground dwellers, the salt of the earth.

With a gesture that sliced through the air, he called off the firing and almost immediately the dust began to clear. In the new silence, it was apparent the vessel was badly damaged; its engine was smoking and coughing, and parts were plainly visible through the great holes in the hull. With a crash, it fell the last foot to the craggy earth, tipped, and came to rest vaguely upright against the side of the mountain. With a final screech of grinding metal, the machine died.

Dreggs pointed twice and waved his hand, motioning two of his units closer. With a great rumble of gears and chain, two of the armored cannons rolled towards the downed ship. All of them, six in total, kept their turrets trained on the ship. When the back wall began to recline like an opening hatch, Captain Ironside waved his troops back and stood before the rear of the vehicle. He adjusted his helmet so that the horns tilted forwards just a little, and held in his two hands a battle axe.

It was something like a sand demon that hurtled down the platform, crashing into Dreggs Ironside. The massive creature moved like a snake, but its form was as great and powerful as any granite beast. It roared like a thousand rock worms as it hurled the Captain of the guard aside. Dreggs hit the hull of an armored unit hard, dropping his axe. His helm rolled and rattled against the rocky earth, coming to rest at the feet of his attacker.

"Finally," Ozzie growled, "Somebody shorter than me. And uglier, too." One of the cannons fired with a clap of thunder, and yelping, Ozzie disappeared into the back of the ship again.

He came back out snarling, flanked by Slash and Flea. At the dwarf's helmet, he knelt and picked up it up, dropping it on his own head at a jaunty angle. He sauntered towards the downed dwarf, and this time no weapons fired on him. "I'm impressed by your stupid machines, you lousy peck. Unfortunately for you, you are dealing with a man on a mission from god."

Slash and Flea exchanged a look, and Slash shrugged.

Clambering to his feet, the dazed dwarf growled, "I'll have ye head on a pike."

Ozzie laughed, a wheezing giggle rising deep from within his belly. "That's no way to treat your new boss, peck! And make no mistake; by this time tomorrow, your craven King will bow down before the name Osric Dragonbane."

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