Re: Steel and Gunpowder

"With steel, you fat bitch!" Voss roared at the top of his lungs. "Brace the line! Forward! Do not let it break the center!"

The giant glacier bear did not hesitate. It let out another deafening roar that sprayed hot saliva and fresh blood all over the snowy ridge. And then it charged.

The front line of the Jaegers thrust their long iron rifles forward, creating a prickly wall of deadly bayonets.

The white monster slammed chest-first into the Swabian steel.

The sharp blades easily pierced its white fur, but they stopped dead when they hit the dense layer of blubber underneath.

The bear simply swung its right paw, smashing into three Jaegers at once.

The three young soldiers were thrown brutally through the air like broken ragdolls. They crashed into the jagged gray rocks behind them.

"Hold the line! Surround it!" Voss screamed. He dived under another huge swipe of the beast’s claws.

The bear snapped its jaws. It was entirely focused on the annoying little creatures poking it with sticks.

It reared up on its hind legs again, towering over the panicked men. It was a true monster, a king of the frozen alpine peaks that had never known fear.

"Hey! You ugly white dog!" Hans roared.

Hans gripped his steel mace with both hands. He let out a crazy battle cry and swung it directly at the bear’s exposed left ankle.

The bear let out a sharp yelp of pain. It dropped heavily back down onto all fours. Its injured leg buckled slightly under its heavy weight.

"Now! Hit it now!" Voss yelled, seeing the brief opening.

Voss sprinted forward, using a rock to launch himself into the air.

He raised his mace high above his head. He brought it down with all his strength, aiming right for the back of the beast’s thick neck.

The monster shook its body, entirely throwing Voss off its back.

Voss crashed hard into the snowy dirt, losing his grip on his mace. The bear spun around, its black eyes locking onto the Swabian General.

It opened its huge jaws, ready to bite Voss’s head entirely off.

Suddenly, a young Jaeger sprinted directly in front of Voss. He shoved the long iron barrel of his rifle directly into the giant bear’s open, roaring mouth.

The boy pulled the trigger.

*BANG!*

The muffled explosion echoed thickly. The back of the bear’s skull blew outward in a shower of red and white.

The huge beast entirely froze for a single heartbeat. Then, like a falling pine tree, the giant glacier bear collapsed.

Voss lay in the snow for a moment, his chest heaving as he stared at the dead monster.

Hans dropped his bloody mace and fell to his knees in the dirt, wholly out of breath. "I... I think my heart actually stopped. Tell me it is dead. Tell me it is not going to wake up."

"It is dead," Voss gasped, slowly pushing himself up from the snow.

"Good shot, kid," Voss said, forcing a proud smile.

The young soldier managed a frightened grin before collapsing onto his backside in the snow.

Though they had achieved a huge victory against an impossible beast, Voss’s mind would not let him celebrate. "We scared the giant pigs into the caves. We are right back where we started."

Hans looked down at his empty stomach. "So what do we do? Do we just start walking back with a dead bear and tell them to eat slowly?"

Voss turned around. He looked at Klemens.

The Austrian hunter was still lying flat on his stomach near the edge of the cliff. He was staring at the dead glacier bear.

To Klemens, this beast was an unkillable demon of the ice. And these strange men in charcoal coats had just blown its head off.

Voss walked over, grabbed the rope tied to Klemens’s waist, and roughly hauled the hunter up to his feet.

"Listen to me carefully, Klemens," Voss said. "We proved that we can protect your people. But I need more meat. You know this mountain. Where did those iron-tusks run to?"

After hearing such words, Klemens swallowed hard.

"They... they do not run far," Klemens stammered. "The iron-tusks are heavy and lazy. When they get scared out of the White Jaws, they usually just scramble through the ice caves to the next snowy basin. It is called the Gray Basin... It is only a ten-minute run from here."

Voss’s eyes lit up with a huge spark of hope. The food was not gone.

"You beautiful bastard!" Voss laughed. He slapped Klemens hard on the shoulder. He turned back to his men. "Did you hear that, Jaegers?! The meat is just around the corner! Leave twenty men here to butcher this bear! The rest of you, grab your maces! We do not use the rifles this time! We bash their skulls in quietly!"

The men, fueled by the clawing hunger in their bellies, let out a quiet but fierce cheer. They drew their heavy steel maces and followed Voss along the top of the volcanic ridge. They ran as fast as their freezing legs could carry them.

They followed Klemens’s lead, wrapping around the sweeping rock cliff face until they reached a smaller, hidden basin sheltered from the alpine winds.

Voss dropped to his knees and peeked over the edge.

There they were. Dozens of huge, fat mountain boars had dragged themselves out of the ice caves and were resting on the snow-covered ground. They were exhausted from their panicked run.

"Look at all that food," Hans whispered, actually drooling slightly onto the collar of his coat.

"Quietly," Voss commanded, signaling his men to slowly climb down the rocky slope. "Surround them. Do not let a single one reach the caves again."

The soldiers crept down the cliff side. They spread out across the white snow, cutting off the heavy beasts from the tunnels.

"Now!" Voss yelled.

The iron-tusks tried to drag their bodies toward the rocks, but the Jaegers were too fast and too desperate...

Within minutes, the Gray Basin was silent. The snow was painted bright red, and dozens of huge alpine boars lay dead on the basin floor.

The men hugged each other, laughing and cheering in relief.

"Start tying the ropes!" Voss ordered, a genuine smile on his face. "We build wooden sleds from the pine branches! We drag this meat back to the fortress and feast like kings tonight!"

The men eagerly set to work. They pulled their hunting knives to start the butchering process.

But as Voss walked across the bloody snow to check on the sweeping haul, he noticed that Klemens was not celebrating.

Klemens was staring at the sweeping wall of solid ice that wholly covered the back of the hidden basin.

Voss frowned, walking over to the hunter. "What is wrong with you now?"

"This basin has been frozen solid for as long as my father has been alive... No one has ever seen what is behind this ice wall," Klemens whispered.

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