Catalina had a smile on her face as she scrubbed the weapon in front of her. She remembered the moment she was summoned by the commander. At the time, she had been practicing with her bow at the training center when she got the good news, she too had been approved.
In the past couple of days, a few officers were being handpicked and taken to some secret training in the forest. It was all very hush-hush and everyone who was selected kept the whole affair under wraps. Now she too had been selected to go for the training.
That was the first day she got a rifle. She too had been perplexed as everyone upon seeing it. She wondered what it was, but she preserved her skepticism since everyone who had come from the training had been very enthusiastic.
However, all that changed the moment she fired her first shot. Firstly, she was not a very powerful bowman therefore in terms of range she was at a disadvantage. However, she was extremely agile and flexible. Her dexterity was off the charts. She may have had a limited range, but she was feared for her tendency to dispel several arrows downrange in rapid succession. Moreover, she was an excellent shot, hardly missing a shot.
The rifle had first felt unreal and unnatural as compared to the fluid motion of the bow and arrow, but she was not complaining. It felt as though the weapon would come alive, seeking to jump free off her grasp. The recoil felt like she was wrestling with the weapon, trying to keep it in check.
However, she was experienced with the crossbow enough to adjust easily. What fascinated her was the endless bullets. Shooting 30 times at a go was a record for any archer, but with the new weapons, it was a breeze.
Using the iron sights provided by the rifle, she could target the enemies more naturally as opposed to how a bowman does. Nevertheless, it had taken almost half an hour for her to even hit the target, but she quickly realized that the problem wasn't landing the first shot, but the subsequent ones.
After a whole day of firing multiple bullets and wrestling with its power and thrust, she could sufficiently say she was hooked to the weapon. She had also learned how to dismantle and put it back together. A feature that made many of the soldiers regard the weapons as physical, not magical. At first, many had believed it to be a magical weapon, but after seeing the insides of it, some waived.
Catalina believed the weapon to be magical. Not in literal terms, but the feeling it gave her, the sense of power and destruction it wielded were unparalleled. Barda had joked that it was a weapon that could be used even by children, and many had laughed, but they saw the truth in the words.
On that day, she had been cleaning it and the magazines. Before the party, they had received a fresh barrel of bullets after the previous ones had been used up. A curious thing Barda found was that the soldiers did not discard the magazines after spending the bullets, but put it back for refilling.
It wasn't something he had said intentionally, but since these soldiers were not used to tossing the quiver once the arrows were done, they also wouldn't do the same for the magazines. Barda had at first been tickled by it, but on thinking about it, he saw nothing with it. Matter of fact, there were a few upsides, such as reduced costs o production.
Therefore they had started a weird tradition. Every soldier was given 9 full magazines on the day of training. Subsequently, they would receive a barrel of bullets for them to fill their magazines, and that was what she was doing.
Catalina was not out partying that night as many of the other soldiers were. They had received a fresh barrel and she had decided to refill her magazines. After she was done, she had decided to clean Tina as well. Tina was her rifle's name.
Just as she was finished putting all the pieces together, she heard it. The rumbling seemed more like earthquake tremors than an actual sound until the beast roared. She was aghast with fright and horror when she saw where the beast had chosen to attack.
It had been a festive moment and many people were out celebrating. The taverns and social halls were packed to maximum, and it was in such a place that the beast came out. Moreover, it was less than 400 meters away from her. She could see the monster emerge from the ground with its maw opened, and many people in there.
Catalina was not one to cower or run away screaming. Seeing the beast, her ace got very determined. She gripped the rifle tightly and unleashed its payload on the beast.
***
"What just happened?" The Queen emerged from her chambers furiously marching to the war room. One minute, everything was going on well, the next she could barely understand what was going on.
Barda didn't run to the situation room to be given a report, he went to the ground and appraise himself. This was the weirdest thing he had ever scanned thus far. One moment, nothing was happening. The next, a massive monster popped up in the middle of the city.
What bugged him the most was that he didn't see it coming. It was not aerial since he could have sensed its approach as it swooped down. It wasn't also land-based since he could have detected it coming, it just wouldn't have emerged out of thin air.
There was only one other option, the beast had been underground. While Barda had scanners that could even penetrate the ground, they were extremely taxing and consumed a lot of energy, and therefore could not be used passively. He had to activate them, and at the time, they were not active.
As he speedily crossed the buildings, Barda heard the report of a rifle, and not just one. Several people, up to 13, were offloading on the beast from different points in the city. Ever so often, a minor explosion would be heard around the area. That way, by the time Barda got there, he hoped to not find the beast but a mangled piece of meat, barely recognizable.
It was okay for one to hope, but that didn't make it true. Barda found his people offloading on the beast, but the monster's hard exoskeleton did not bulge at all. Be it bullets, ordinance-tipped arrows, nothing broke through.
Meanwhile, the beast was busy thrashing about wreaking havoc, destroying anything and anyone in its pass. Its mighty tubular body wrung around like a snake, and as it did, nothing was spared.
Moreover, the beast kept releasing a dark green gas. One look at the gas and one could tell it was nothing one would want to get near. Those that couldn't get away in time were holding their throats and mouths suffocating. The gas was poisonous, no doubt.
Looking at her people dying, Catalina was at a loss on what to do. No matter how awesome the gun was, it was unable to help her. The loss of life before her eyes was so disastrous she could not bear to see it.
Suddenly, she felt a tap. Looking back, she saw the genius himself.
"When the others stop shooting, make it come to me," Barda said as he rushed to the ballistae. From where he was, he could scan and pick out an unfired bolt in one of the ballistae. He quickly loaded it. He then grabbed a fallen bow and an arrow and shot at one of the men firing the guns.
Upon arriving at the scene, Barda had noticed where the problem was. The beast's exoskeleton was too hardy that no matter what they threw at it, it couldn't be damaged. Moreover, other than the mouth, the beast didn't seem to have any other weakness.
As an underground beast, it didn't have eyes, just small sockets. Barda was not sure if they were heat-seeking or for sniffing purposes. Barda had seen the bullets hit that area a few times, but none had been able to go through.
The beast's movements seemed erratic, but in truth, they were organized to protect the beast from the oncoming attack. Luckily, all movement is based on patterns, and Barda easily recognized the pattern. It was just a matter of plotting the flight path.
All the guns went silent except one, Catalina's. With that, she successfully pulled the beast's aggro to herself, making the beast change its direction. Previously, it was just defending, but now it had a target.
When the beast was near enough, it swung its massive tail at the woman, ready to squash her to jello. At the same time, a bolt was released from Barda's ballista.