Resistance C71: Choppers

Resistance
Chapter 71: Choppers

Fenek must have been watching my own memories unfold in my mind. He seemed as shocked as I was on the day itself. He sat there for a moment, shaking and staring at me. I had to punch his shoulder to get him back to reality.

“You see, Fenek, this is why. We didn’t get to defend ourselves. You people didn’t negotiate. If they did, there would probably have been a favourable outcome, especially since your world was dying. Millions were killed, and the majority of them were not military. The Council massacred unarmed civilians, Fenek. That’s what the glorious dragon victory was. It was murder.”

As expected, Fenek sat there in silence. Didn’t blame him, though.

“If you have a question, just spit it out, Fenek. No point sitting there and sulking.” I remarked pointedly, throwing a pillow at him.

The brown dragon started, but caught the pillow and tossed it back over. “You described days, not weeks…”

“Well, Singapore was a tiny country. Other nations probably put up more of a fight, or had you people take more time to consolidate the technology and other nonsense. Take the United States for example. They span practically half a continent, and had a way better military.” I replied with a shrug, catching the pillow and putting it down. “Either way, from what I heard, other people had more or less the same experience. No surprise, since magic is a thing. From what I heard, it was a simultaneous attack on everyone. Honestly, if it wasn’t, you all would have been massacred.”

“That…is not what we were told. They said that no matter what, we would have won…” Fenek seemed to mutter for a moment.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Take my word for it, Fenek. The Air Forces of the old world would have made short work of all of you. You’re all big. Slow. Sitting ducks for the fighter jets. Those fly faster than sound can travel. You won’t even hear them coming.”

Fenek stared at me for a moment. “Perhaps you’ve been a dragon for too long. Humans can’t fly.”

I smirked. “No they couldn’t, but technology let them. We had aeroplanes. Some built to carry hundreds of people and their baggage across continents, while others were built for war. Small and nimble, they could outmanoeuvre any dragon out there. Too bad the runways are gone. They can’t launch.”

Before I could really say more, however, Victor crashed in, flinging the door open as he started yelling. “Bro, bro! You remember the storehouse they gave us?”

Yawning, I nodded. “Yeah. What about it? New guns?”

Victor gave me a huge smile. “No! Better. We got helicopters. Army helicopters. Ammo also. They were mounted on trailers. We just towed them in. We even found pilots for them.”

I stared at him. “You’re joking.”

“Nope. Come and see for yourself.” He replied, beckoning for me to follow as he left.

“Bollocks. I was just going to sleep, you shit.” I muttered, getting up and dragging a very confused Fenek along.

Victor flashed a huge smile. “You’ll eat those words once you see them.”

Yawning again as Victor brought me out of the building, where three trucks were parked, and behind each vehicle, as promised, sat a trailer, on which a helicopter sat. I couldn’t identify the model or make, but from the paint and the fact that they were armed, they were definitely military issue.

I stared for a moment… “…Pass the ketchup. I’m eating the words.”

Victor smirked, as I noted the people scurrying around. “They’re being checked over again before we do a test run. You can stay if you want.”

I nodded and plopped myself on the floor, motioning Fenek to do the same.

The brown dragon, however, didn’t seem very impressed. “I don’t see any wheels on those. How do they move?”

“This is not a land vehicle.” I replied flatly, as one of the men, presumably the pilot clambered into the nearest helicopter.

“That thing will never float!” Fenek protested, pointing at the body of the helicopter. “That hull makes no sense! You’re the one who studied all this, you should know!”

I heard one of the engines splutter, and the same helicopter’s exhaust spat a cloud of blackish smoke. “Oh, Fenek. So narrow minded. It’s not a navy ship.”

As the helicopter’s blades began to spin up slowly, Fenek shot me another confused look. “I…I don’t understand!”

“That shit’s airforce. You know, like air, as in in the sky?” I replied calmly and slowly, giving the blades time to spin up. I had to furl my wings a little tighter so that they didn’t catch the buffeting wind caused by the downdraft. Meanwhile, the other two engines began spluttering to life. People ran about, removing any stray straps and such.

Fenek cocked his head, still confused. “Sky?”

The first helicopter began liftoff. Unsteady at first, but was soon hovering nicely above the truck. All those watching, me included, got up and clapped, cheering.

Fenek’s jaw dropped. “I…Impossible!”

“Nah. Just precision engineering.” I replied with a smirk, as Victor came walking over.

Victor simply remarked, “They’re going to trial the guns at the range for now. We’ll be taking them with us tomorrow.”

I nodded. “Sounds good. You know, I might have to check my eyes. I think I saw speakers inside one of them.”

“Ah yeah. You saw right. Even has a USB port. I have an idea or two.” He replied with a smirk.

“Hah! Sounds even better. Surprise me.” I replied, as we returned to the building to sleep.