Red wakes up in the morning and yawns, then stretches out. It has been four weeks since the skirmish at New York City and he now has his full growth as a dragon. He was, to quote Clover, a 'flying tank,' even though most of his length was in his tail and neck. He was also muscular, probably because of the intense training he had been put through. He was also pleased to see he now looks exactly as he had before, when he had seen himself as a dragon in the Enduring Flame at first.

Starla had been to her father's funeral and stood there in human form, their training on that aspect pushed to the front. Now Red shifts down to being a human once more, though his eyes stay the same as in dragon form. He heads into the cafeteria, ignoring the pops and booms in the distance as high velocity tank guns are fired at the shooting range. The island had turned into a full fledged training ground, and each dragon had been divided up to which aspect of combat suited them best. With another yawn he pours himself a cup of coffee and goes to the main table the dragons sit at and sits down next to Starla. "How ya holdin up?" He asks, drinking some of the coffee.

Starla twirls her coffee a bit. "I'm doing...okay." She says. "I still miss him, but it's hurting less." She takes a drink herself. "I..."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" The angry yell comes from behind them, making them both jump, then slowly turn around to see an angry anthro Cynder glaring down at them. "You've got training...in fifteen minutes...and I find the both of you sitting here drinking coffee?!" Red can almost see the anger radiating from her and slowly starts to lean away, Starla doing the same. "GET MOVING!" Cynder yells, swiping at them, and both Red and Starla are off like shots, leaving their cups swirling on the table.

"You two have to be stronger to survive! You need to get MUCH STRONGER very quickly, so your training will be MUCH MORE INTENSE!" Cynder is yelling as she chases the two, lashing their backs now and then by doing a twirling hop and slapping them with her tail. "I can't even have time for my coffee?!" Red yells back pleadingly as he runs, Starla just trying to keep up. "NO!" Cynder yells, swiping again, Red getting thwacked on the back of the head before he could duck it. "When you have time to DODGE, you'll have time for COFFEE!"

People in the hallways just stand aside and watch as the trio of dragons go rocketing past, Cynder yelling all the way, and then promptly go back about their business. Clover just watches as they go. "Looks like Cynder has another looong morning in store for them." She says. General Mitchell nods. "Yup. Want some food? I hear it's pancakes and bacon today." He asks. Clover nods, smiling, and they head for the cafeteria.

Everlasting Flame

Chapter Five - Heavy Metal

Red groans, walking down the hallways of the training complex in human form. Cynder had worked them on cutting and slashing and flying 'on the edge.' On top of that, HE had to do it all with a couple hundred pounds of weight! And his run had him carting around a ton of weight on him! Literally a ton! His legs are still shaking! It was amazing he could still walk! Now he was going to meet up with the platoon of soldiers he was supposed to work with. As far as he was concerned, next week couldn't come fast enough. Next week was when they were going to be allowed to go home and see their families. Though that had come early for Starla, she too was going to go home. He comes around the corner and looks up at the sign. Five A. He walks into the room and sees a three captains and three sergeants. "Uh...hi?" He says timidly, coming into the room.

All of the soldiers look at him, and Red notices the patches on their shoulders. Old Ironsides. This was a group of tankers. Had he been assigned to tanks?! His eyes get all starry for a second as he imagines sitting on top of one of those tanks as it rushes forward into battle. "So you're the new blood we're supposed to be getting." One of the captains says. "My name is Bannon. I'm in charge of A Company. These men with me are B Company's Captain Parker..." he motions to one of the men, this guy was standing a bit back from him, getting some coffee, but manages to turn and nod before sipping some of his drink, "...and C Company's Captain Webb." He concludes, motioning to the final man, a black man with a smiling face and a hand stretched out. Red shakes it and smiles back, finally feeling a bit at ease. They were a lot friendlier than he expected.

"You're supposed to be trained to work with us and be the equivalent of our close air." Webb says in a gruff but kind voice. "That'll be great. I was watchin yall train earlier." He says, a twinkle in his eye. Red actually blushes a bit and scratches the back of his head. "Yeah..." He says, bashful. "Oh good, you're all here." Another voice says. Red turns around to see another man, this one a Colonel, come into the room. "I am Colonel Sawyer, and I'm the one in command of this battalion." He says, and offers his hand. Red shakes his hand, a bit shocked. This man had a stance, mode of speech, and just a general feeling that reminded him of Patton. "I'll get right down to it, Red. Do you know why you were put in the battalion?"

"I...uh...no sir." Red replies, but Sawyer waves it off. "You're going to do three things. First, you're going to be our close air. Second, you're going to drive a tank. Third, you're going to be heavy support on the ground." He says, smiling at the shocked look on Red's face. "They tested you out and determined that your scales are stronger than the armor on our tanks. When you fly, you're going to have a GAU-8 30mm autocannon. These guns usually go on A-10s but we got one special order just for you to fly with. When you're a dragon on the ground, you'll have the same 120mm gun that the Abrams has, with the same ammo."

So that's why they were all so friendly, they must like the idea. The Colonel doesn't even pause. "You'll also be our eyes in the sky. You're going to learn tactics and ground maneuvering so if you see an opening while we're in combat, you can relay it to us and we can act on it. On top of all that, you're going to be put in your own tank when the situation does not call for air support or a dragon. After all, we might not be deployed to fight Bordraab for a while and you'll need to be able to get more seasoning."

This has Red pumped up. He actually KNOWS what they expect of him now. "Well, I'm all for it and ready whenever you are, sir." He says, smiling. Sawyer holds up a hand. "Hold on there, cowboy." He says, smiling. He likes the enthusiasm. "First, you need to be trained." He looks to Webb. "Captain Webb, you've got him today." Webb nods. "Yes sir. I'll put him through the basics." He says, and leads Red off.

"He's got some potential." Bannon says. Sawyer nods, "Yeah, especially with his size and speed. I think he'll do fine as long as he can learn it all." Parker stands up straight and throws away the styrofoam cup he was drinking his coffee from. "First 'don't ask don't tell' gets repealed, now we have dragons... what's next, unicorns riding on fucking rainbows?" He says as he walks out, not knowing that Red was able to hear all of that. Red feels a little bit hurt even though knows it's only natural. He's got to prove his worth, and he's got to work even harder than others because of what he is.

He looks to Webb who seems to pick up on it. "So...Did you ever think you'd be stuck on the ground learning to drive a tank?" He asks. Red shrugs. "Up until a few months ago, I was a normal guy in college." This catches Webb off guard. "You weren't born a dragon?" He asks, shocked as Red shakes his head. "Nope, I was born human, and got offered this." He says, lying a bit. Well, lying a lot. But he can honestly say the reward outweighs the loss. He can't imagine not flying and not being a dragon now. Now, he's having his first upsetting moment, but he feels a certain link with Webb. "How long ago did you join up?" He asks.

Webb smiles, seeing right through this. "About twelve years ago. You'll probably be going through something like what I went through. Back then, they didn't treat blacks the same as they do now. People are gonna try to tear you up. They're gonna try to wear you out and put every obstacle in your way. But you've got an advantage that I didn't have." He says, stopping and facing Red. "People's eyes are more open now than they were in the past. The more hurdles you overcome, the more respect you'll earn. As long as you prove yourself competent, people will start treating you normally."

Red nods and smiles. "Well, let's get started then." Webb says, and walks on down the hallway to a door. Inside are a desk and a chalk board. Now this is familiar territory. "Since your weapons can only be learned hands on, you're going to spend your classroom time learning about tanks, their strengths and weaknesses, their tactics, and most importantly, their systems. You're going to be put in your own tank, with your own crew, so you're gonna need to know how to operate it. Now pay attention, because all this WILL be on the test." He says, and gets started.

Six hours later, Red is sitting down in his room and thinking about things. There was a whole lot more to armored warfare than he thought. Maneuvers, formations, which side was stronger, how to defend against certain things, how and when to use which kind of ammunition, all of this was force-fed into his head today, and he's trying to take the time to let it sink in. As he does this, he starts to fall asleep, and spends the night dreaming of the stuff. In the morning, he is up on time for once and heading to the training room, where Captain Bannon is waiting for him. "Alright, let's get started on your hands on training." He says, leading Red to the back of the room. "Your tank is special, Red. You have an autoloader. You will have a driver, but he's still on the way here from the States. You'll be doubling as commander and gunner. Your success, or lack of success, will determine if all the other tanks in the army will share these features."

For the next week, Red trains with the simulator, just as the others train with their specific tasks. All except Cynder. She's done enough air combat that flight is easy to her. All she has to do is learn the technical aspects of the plane she's flying, which is simple enough. On Monday, as Red walks to his room, Cynder is waiting outside it. "How are things going with you, Red?" She asks. Red shrugs back. "It's good, the work takes up everything I've got." Cynder smiles, "Good, because your tank and your driver just arrived off some God awful big plane. You'll probably get into the real thing sometime soon."

"He sure will." Colonel Sawyer says as he comes up to the pair. "Red, your tank is here, so is your driver, and you're going to get that hands on today." He says. "First part will be a test for your driver on a driving course. Then you'll get in some gunnery practice. You do good, you'll go into training with the rest of the battalion." Red is all smiles at this, ready to take on the real thing. "I'll be watching you today." Sawyer says, amused to see the smile drop off Red's face. "Cheer up, from what Bannon and Webb have told me, you'll do fine."

The driver, Russell Grey, hardly has a chance to say hi to Red before they are sent off to the course, but he is skilled to say the least, driving the tank around the track at a breakneck speed and getting them to the firing line in no time at all. Red does his part just as well, flicking to the right ammo, firing the rounds downrange, hitting targets three miles away no problem at all. Sawyer comes to the tank after all is said and done. Red pops his hatch and looks down at the colonel. "Well, you'll do nicely." Sawyer says. "Your tank will be next to mine when we are in formation." He says, waving for Red to come down. "Get on down and let your driver have some time off. You've got other equipment to try on."

Apparantly all the dragons did. As Red walks over to the ammo depot next to the firing range, Cynder flies overhead with two F-18s on her wing. Red is surprised to see Cynder lift up her right arm and fire a cannon off at a drone flying in the air. A second later, after banking around, the F18s staying perfectly on her wing, she has a missile drop clear of her body. The missile's rear lights up and streaks off, finding another drone nearby and detonating it. Her equipment seems to be working just fine.

When Red goes into the bunker, his jaw drops. The bunker was standing next to a helicopter pad, and on the pad was a GAU-8 Avenger autocannon in all its glory. It had an odd assembly to it though. "You have a crew that'll help attach it to you." Sawyer says, motioning to the three men standing nearby. "Why don't you shift up so they can put it on you?" He asks. Red is all too eager to comply and goes to the center of the pad and shifts up. The crew, and Sawyer, are a bit impressed when they see Red at full size. Red walks over and stands above the cannon, then lifts it up and holds it in place while the crew attaches it to him. "The gun has a laser system on it." Sawyer says. "That laser's only purpose is to make sure you're not in the way of the gun when it fires. You need to fire this gun in short bursts because it will push you backwards through the air if you lay on for more than two or three seconds." Red nods, watching as the crew puts it on him.

"To fire it, you put both hands on the grips here and here, then squeeze with both hands. Try it now." Sawyer says, then steps back. Red does so, the barrel starts spinning and does not fire since the ammo belts aren't connected yet. "Good." Sawyer says. "This piece here..." Sawyer says, slapping what appears to be a pair of sunglasses for a dragon, "...is your hud." He says. "You'll have the same kinda hud as our Hog drivers have, and you're directly linked to my tank and to command." He says. "Put it on." Red does so, grinning. He imagines he looks pretty badass now, and as the hud clicks on, he can't help but ooooooh in amazement. The glasses show a hud, with altitude readouts and speed readouts, and after a few seconds, it detects the cannon he has and registers how much ammunition he has, as well as displaying a gun reticule. "Sweet." Red says. "How do I look?" He asks, looking down at Sawyer, a little surprised to see that the gun reticule stays still when he looks around, so as he looks at Sawyer, he can't see the gun's reticule.

"Like a fuckin' badass. Now, let's get some ammo attached and go out to the firing range." He says, smiling. This was gonna be good. Soon after, the ammunition is all linked up and Red takes to the air. This would take some getting used to, the cannon was a LOT heavier than he was used to flying with, but at least now he knows why Cynder was having him fly with weights all of a sudden. He's so focused with his new hud and keeping in the air that he doesn't notice that half the tank battalion was watching him. "This is Bannon. Red, can you hear me?" Bannon calls over the radio. "Yeah, I can hear ya." Red says. "Right, your callsign from now on is Big Red. You've got an old T-80 sitting out there on the range, surrounded by several BMPs. Your task is to destroy the T-80 first, then hit the BMPs. How copy?"

"Good copy, on my way." Red says, seeing the blips indicating the targets spring up on his hud. He could see where the friendlies were. The tanks on the range had no blips on them, just a target area marker. He grins and goes into a shallow dive like he saw those A-10s do at the air shows he went to. He takes a few seconds to align his shot, grabs onto the gun with his hands, and squeezes. The gun spins up in less than a second and rounds spray out with a ripping sound. The rounds land short for a half second then slam onto the target. Red stops firing after a count to two and pulls up.

To the soldiers on the ground this was great! They were impressed that he hit the tank dead on and was able to pull up, and even more than that they were grateful. They had air support on demand! They watch as Red circles around again and fires off at the BMPs. "Big Red, I think you're a natural. Come on back to base." Bannon says, then watches as Red backwings and heads straight back to where he lifted off from.

The next morning, Red is there early with the others, all of them wearing some of their new equipment so they can get used to its weight. All of the dragonesses seem excited, though Starla looks over Red's cannon very intensely, almost nerding out over it. Soon Cynder shows up in her gear as well, smiling at the four other dragons. "Good, I don't have to have any of you go back and get on your stuff." She says. "Now, let's take a few times around the island to warm up, then we'll take to the sky."