Roadie smiles as the ‘mech’s reactor rumbles to life beneath his feat. Aile practically throws herself into one of the jump seats as the cockpit begins to shake and rumble. A familiar voice sounds off inside his helmet, pulling Roadie out of an alien world full of burning air and talking mythical creatures…

...and right into his comfortable zone.

Reactor: Online

Sensors: Online

Weapons: Online

All Systems: Nominal

Roadie presses down on the foot pedals to orientate the Centurion towards the dragon, and shoves the throttle as far forward as it would go. The old battlemech responds by moving right into a stride; charging straight at the dragon who busy doing something to not notice the 50 ton giant.

How does something that large not notice it’s being charged? Roadie ponders as a beep and hollow red triangle catches his eye. The sensors can get a lock on it? How can it- never mind. That just makes this a whole lot easier. Roadie presses a button to lock on to the dragon, and presses another to turn a yellow led in the cockpit green.

********************

Celestia grunts as she tries to get up. She only gets as far as raising herself part way up before falling back down. Slow thuds along the ground tell her the dragon is slowly closing in for the kill, and in her current state; there was nothing she could do about it.

No… I will not let my little ponies down! Celestia tries again, and succeeds in getting to her shaky feet.

“Oh good. You still got some fight left in you.” The dragon said as it glares right at the Solar Princess. “I've heard the legends of what you've done in the past, and was starting to worry that a thousand years of peace had made you soft.”

“As long as anything or anypony would threaten my subjects, I cannot and will not give up!” Celestia shouts as she charges up her horn. Before she can fire, there's a spark and she gasps as she falls onto her knees. Her ears flick as rapid thuds get closer.

“Really? Looks like you’re on your last leg. A pity, I really was hoping for something more glorious to tell when my brethren asked how I was able to defeat you. Goodbye.” The dragon inhales, but is thrown off balance by a pair of explosions. The dragon spins around to face the source as Celestia twists her head. Both of their jaws drop in shock at the sight of the steel giant standing there with smoke coming off it’s chest. A pair of green lights begin to glow, and there was a ‘click-clack’ noise from its arm.

What’s he doing? Celestia thinks. Her eyes widen as she comes to a realization. He wouldn't...

********************

“Uh Roadie, was that a good idea?” Aile asks as the dragon spins around, and roars at them.

“To be honest; probably not.” Roadie said. The dragon roars again as he charges towards the Centurion. “But we’re committed to the fight now. Hang on to something!” Roadie spins the ‘mech to the right and begins to circle strafe the dragon. Roadie unleashes more Streak SRMs at the dragon and fires the medium lasers. The missiles blow off chunks of the dragon’s scales as the lasers carve neat lines into them. The dragon roars in pain and unleashes a torrent of fire at the battlemech.

“No!” Aile screams as she holds her hooves up in a vain attempt to protect herself. Roadie twists the torso in an attempt to minimize the damage. He grins as his left arm and torso take almost no damage from the fire, and the ‘mech’s heatsinks quickly pump out the heat of the fire.

“Well that wasn't as bad as I -SHIT!” Roadie shouts as the dragon slashes at the Centurion’s chest, leaving massive claw marks in the armor across the torso. The Centurion stumbles as it tries to recover from the blow. “Fuck off!” Roadie shouts as he fires another volley of streaks, and a blast from his LB-10X auto cannon. The dragon lets out a scream of pain as more scales fall off and as several LBX pellets pierce his leathery hide. The dragon falls to its knees as it tries to recover from the auto cannon and missile strike. The Centurion comes to a halt in front of the dragon.

“This. Ends. Now!” Roadie unleashes an alpha strike at the dragon. The dragon lets out one last roar of defiance before falling onto the ground at the Centurion's feet. Roadie lets out a sigh of relief as he puts the ‘mech into standby. “Well, that was a thing. Are you okay back there Aile?” Roadie asks.
Aile doesn't reply. She sits there clutching the back of the jump seat trembling with her eyes opened wide, and her pupils tiny little pinpricks.

“Smooth one Roadie. First extraterrestrial contact in human history, and you traumatize the poor thing.” Roadie mumbles to himself.

Griffin Territory ---- hours

A squad of five griffins are making their way home after making what they felt was the most important discovery of the Griffin Kingdom. They found an alien ship, along with the bodies of several of the crew. They marveled at the wreckage of the giant ship along with the giant metal creature they had never seen before. It was missing its left leg from the knee down, and its right arm was lying at its feet with its arm consisting of 2 long barrels instead of a hoof, or talon. The griffins noticed its head was attached to the back its chest and had a face of glass. The glass had broken to reveal a seat with controls. The griffins could not believe what they it; the aliens somehow operated the giant creature.

The squad decided to return home to get a team out to investigate the wreckage. As they flew home, one of them notices a giant outline in the fog. Before he could react, both the outline's arms flash green taking down four of the griffins. The last griffin panics, and flies as fast as his wings could carry him. He never sees the second outline hidden in the fog, or the lightning bolt it fires.

“Was that really necessary guys? That was a massive waste of energy.”

“They had invaded our dropship. For all we know, they killed any survivors.”

“Only two of them were armed. They look like an exploration crew, not a strike team.”

“Silence, and how dare you question me.”

“Our star leader would not have-”

“Carns is dead, and I am the star lead now. I will lead us to victory on this rock, and when we return; we will be receive the greatest glories any clan warrior could hope to receive.”

“Conners…”

“Enough of this. Radick, and I will remain here. Once you are resupplied, take Kaiden, and begin looking for those filthy freeborn scum.”

“...yes sir…”

Author's Note

Well that was fun. I hope you enjoy it. As always constructive criticism is always welcomed.