by Dan Thomas
With the pen open, Max beckoned them out, asking them to stand in the central space. The dinos lumbered out, obediently staying put while Max sorted through the array of saddle rigs sitting on top of horizontal logs.
Once he found the pair of Centrosaurus rigs, he pulled them off of their holders, dismantling one by unbuckling the bags from the straps, and then the leather straps from the saddle itself.
He then carried the main piece of the saddle over to Saturn, spinning himself around to build up some momentum to toss the heavy piece of wood and leather up onto her back. She didn’t budge, knowing the motions of being geared up.
With the saddle on her back, Max then began buckling the straps back on, running the three main straps around her chest, under her belly, and around her tail. Once everything was in place, he began to clip on the various bags and pouches onto the leather straps, repeating the whole process for Jupiter, who was a little fidgety.
Once they were both saddled up, Max led them out onto the yard, sliding the barn door closed behind them.
“Hey!” Raollin called from the door into the smaller stable.
“How’s it going, Raollin?” Max asked.
Raollin stepped out onto the yard, looking at the two Centrosaurus. “Yeah, not too bad. Taking these two out for a spin?”
Max nodded. “I’m on stone duty.”
“Ah, well, have fun!”
Max led Saturn and Jupiter over toward the storehouse, where ShadowHog was standing next to a collection of mining tools he had grabbed from inside.
“I think this should do us,” he said as Max approached. “We’ve got pickaxes, chisels, hammers, and shovels. I’ve grabbed a couple of spare tools in case anything breaks. And I figured we may as well take the auger to save us some time. I’ve got a few shells of fuel.” He patted the handheld machine.
Max grimaced at the sight of it. He hated the idea of using the tools that had been stolen from his Crew to repair the thieves’ base. Luckily, he had no intention of actually carrying out the repairs.
Between them, they managed to load the tools onto the dinos without wasting much time, along with several waterskins and food for both of them in the form of dried meat and fruit, as well as a sack of dried ferns and berries for the dinos. With one last check to make sure they didn’t need anything else, they each clambered up onto one of the Centrosaurus’ saddles and guided them toward the gates.
ShadowHog practically giggled with glee as he tried out commanding Saturn to follow Jupiter, getting her to speed up and slow down mentally via the Quartz Shard. “I’ve never really been in control of a dino. I’ve only ridden one a couple of times.”
Max patted Jupiter on the neck behind his bony frill. “Lucky for you these might just be the most dependable dinos out there. We’ll take it easy while you get the hang of it.”
Before they knew it, they were out on the plains, one of the newbies closing the gate shut behind them.
The mines were about an hour’s journey to the west, dug into the tail end of the ridge that also housed Max’s Crew’s base, which was much farther south. His Crew had often thought about caving in the Ravagers’ mine but decided that the damage they could do probably wasn’t worth the risk or resources.
They plodded across the area of open grass, joining the path of cleared jungle that led toward the ridge, just visible in the distance.
They made light conversation as they went, mostly ShadowHog asking Max’s opinions on how he performed during the raid, and if Max thought that he should have done anything differently. Max took note of everything he was saying, from the positioning that the Ravagers took, to what weapons they had been equipped with.
As he listened, Max kept an eye out for any dangers, but the jungle appeared calm. The small creatures scurrying around in the undergrowth or hiding in the canopy weren’t vicious enough to take on the stalwart Centrosaurus, who calmly walked on with the occasional grunt to one another. Max couldn’t keep his mind from straying to thoughts about how his Crew was going to take on the Ravagers’ base, thinking once again through all of the possible openings they could use to try and get inside.
“That’s a nice tune,” ShadowHog said abruptly.
“Huh?” Max pulled his train of thought back to the present.
“That song that you were humming. It’s really catchy,” ShadowHog glanced over at him. “I kinda recognize it, what’s it called?”
Max shrugged. “I don’t actually know. I was just humming, I guess.”
About an hour later, they reached another break in the trees, backed by a steep cliffside. Just inside the clearing was a high wooden fence that surrounded the patchy dirt, except for a section that had been knocked down and flattened.
The area within was scattered with boulders of gray rock, some had been cut and chiseled into mostly square shapes. There were piles of rubble strewn around, a lot of it looked as though it had once been neatly stacked blocks of stone that had been smashed into pieces.
Max hopped off Jupiter and undid the gate, telling him to walk through into the fenced area, Saturn closely followed. Once both dinos were through, Max swung the gate closed, tying it shut.
ShadowHog slipped to the ground, looking over the quarry area toward the wooden supports at the entrance to the mine in the cliff face. “Do you think this was just wild dinos?”
Max glanced over at him. “Have you ever seen wild dinos go out of their way to smash up building supplies?”
“I’ve seen little Ornithopods chewing up cut logs before,” ShadowHog said.
“Fair point.” Max grabbed a pickaxe from where it had been tied onto the saddle rig. “Let’s get these tools out and make a start. We could be here all afternoon if we don’t get to work.”
Just as quickly as they had loaded the tools into the various bags and clips on the saddle rigs, they unloaded them and laid them out in an area of empty ground by one of the partially harvested boulders.
“Do you want to fix up the fence, ShadowHog? I’ll start on the stone,” Max said.
“Sure thing,” ShadowHog grabbed one of the mallets and headed for the downed piece of fence.
Max lifted the auger by the handles on either side of the fuel tank, resting the machine on the ground by the long metal drill bit. The thing was looking in rough shape, it had obviously been used a lot since Max’s Crew lost it and had not been taken care of. He unscrewed the cap on the fuel tank, which took a bit of persuading, and balanced the auger with one hand.
He grabbed one of the large Ammonite shells by the handle carved into the mouth of the carapace, pulling it toward him. Max then pulled on the rope attached to the cork, which was wedged deeper inside the opening, that popped out with a tug.
Steadying the fuel tank between his arm and leg, Max tipped up the spout end of the shell, pouring the fuel into the fuel tank, spilling a fair amount of the acrid-smelling liquid onto the ground before tossing the shell to one side.
“Let’s see if you still even run.” Max replaced the cap and took hold of the starter handle. The machine started sputtering before the sound of mechanical parts smoothed out into a choppy hum.
The thick drill bit began to spin when Max squeezed the trigger on one of the handles, the whir of the auger increasing in volume and pitch.
Taking a fighting stance, Max grunted as he lifted the auger up, angling the spinning drill bit toward the weather-marked rock of a large boulder. Dust began kicking up into the air as he drilled into the stone, boring about a foot into the rock before pulling out the bit and starting another hole next to it. Max carried on this process until he had outlined five chunks of stone with holes.
He then put down the auger and picked up one of the pickaxes. He spun it between his hands a few times before raising it above his head and bringing it down. Shards of stone flew into the air as the metal tool dug into the small amount of material holding the boulder together. Max swung the pickaxe another few times, and with a crack, a mostly square block of stone split
away from the main boulder.
Max wiped the sweat from his brow, already feeling his hunger and thirst increasing from the exertion, and began wishing that he had unlocked more resource-gathering Traits to make the process faster and less taxing. He just needed to get the saddlebags full so that he could get back to snooping.
He glanced up at ShadowHog, who was struggling to hammer the wooden posts back into the ground with the mallet.
This is going to be a long afternoon, Max thought. He didn’t want to spend any unnecessary time here, when he could be looking for the secret exit he was sure that the Ravagers had.
Chapter Forty-Seven
“Sonofa!” Max yelled as he yanked on the starter handle again, the auger spluttering pathetically.
ShadowHog peered over Max’s shoulder. “Are you sure that it’s got enough fuel?”
“Yes!” Max snapped, then took a breath. “Yeah, it does. I think it’s overheated.” He halfheartedly pulled the handle again; the machine didn’t react. “Gah!” Max threw it down on the ground, wiping the perspiration out of his eyes.
ShadowHog watched as Max sat down panting. “Is it broken?”
Max nodded. “Yeah, it’s screwed. It’s not supposed to be used in the heat and humidity for long, and it hasn’t been maintained for like a month. It’s done. And so am I.” It could only get worse if the damned thing just decided to blow up with half a tank of fuel left in it.
Max looked up as ShadowHog reached down, a waterskin in his hand. “Thanks, man.” Max took long gulps from the skin, immediately feeling the relief of his character’s dehydration fading, its stamina recovering.
“Are you sure this is going to be enough?” ShadowHog asked.
Max looked up at the pile of shoddy rock bricks, and the half-filled bags on the Centrosaurus. “Probably not. But those two aren’t going to carry much more, and I’m not digging anymore.” Max pushed himself to his feet. “Let’s get the last of this loaded up and get back.”
He stowed the waterskin into his bag, and picked up a brick in each hand, heading for the dinos. As he lifted them into one of Jupiter’s saddlebags, Max mentally cursed himself for coming up with this whole idea. All he had done was waste time.
Max took another deep breath to try to calm down and laid a hand on Jupiter’s scaly skin. The stocky dino let out a low hum at his touch. If the Coprolite Crew caught a break, the two Centrosaurus would back where they belonged, and the Ravager base would be broken, and the Crew crushed. Max just hoped everything was going to be worth it.
They worked quietly, loading up the last of the rock, stowing the tools away onto the rigs.
“Okay. Well, let’s get this back to the base, and then we can start on the repairs,” ShadowHog said as he led Saturn toward the gate. “I’m quite happy with how that fence turned out.”
“Hm? Yeah, you did a good job,” Max said from behind Jupiter, pretending to adjust the large packs down his side.
This was his chance. All he had to do was come up with a reason to leave ShadowHog on the journey home. Then he could double back and search for the entrance or tunnel into the base.
But what to use as an excuse? His mind went blank and he fumbled with the equipment tied behind the packs.
His eye drifted past the dino to the auger, discarded next to the boulder they had been mining. Running around the back of Jupiter, he grabbed hold of the damaged tool and hefted it into one of Jupiter’s emptier packs.
He then climbed up the rig into the wide saddle across the dino’s shoulders. Max patted the dino’s bony frill. “Come on.”
Jupiter walked on, Max could feel the dino straining under the weight of the stone, but he could manage.
ShadowHog closed the gate behind them before mounting, and they began their journey back. It didn’t take long before ShadowHog struck up conversation once again about the attack and began talking about how he would change and improve the defenses at the Ravagers’ base. Max let it wash over him and only made the odd comment here and there while his mind wandered.
He needed to drop the auger somewhere he would easily find again since he’d have to double back and get it. He didn’t want to come back too far, he needed as much time as possible to locate any tunnels without anyone getting suspicious or sending someone out to track him down.
“I would definitely make more gun turrets,” ShadowHog continued. “And I’d build a double wall so even if the first got breached the second would hold them back. Or maybe I’d even place traps between the two walls.”
“Good idea.” They approached a bend in the trail, to the left was a fallen Uknuk tree, to the right a bunch of Strangler Vines. Max slowed Jupiter down and reached for the auger. As soon as ShadowHog went around the bend and disappeared out of sight, Max heaved the auger out of the bag, tossing it to the side of the path. It didn’t go far and landed with a heavy bang before rolling under the fallen tree.
Max pushed Jupiter on. He stomped his way around the bend to rejoin Saturn, who had stopped, ShadowHog twisting in the saddle to look back down the path.
“You all right?” ShadowHog asked.
“All good, Jupiter just tripped over something,” Max said as Jupiter pulled up beside Saturn.
“Do you think I should make these suggestions to the core Crew?” ShadowHog half-turned to look at Max.
Max looked at his friend’s conflicted expression. “Why don’t you just leave, go and start your own base?”
ShadowHog fiddled with a loose strap on the saddle. “I, uh, I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Why not?” Max asked. “You’ve got a good set of skills behind you, and you’ve got some really good ideas. Isn’t it time you went and made your own way in the game?” Max hated the idea of ShadowHog getting caught up in the upcoming battle, especially if Max had to take ShadowHog out himself. It would be the ultimate betrayal.
“I’m not ready,” ShadowHog mumbled.
“You were ready as soon as you entered the game,” Max told him. “You just decided to learn off more experienced players, get a grasp on the game first.”
“So did you,” ShadowHog said accusingly.
“Yeah, I know. But I don’t think I’ll stay around for much longer.” Max looked away. “Hey, I just realized we left the auger back at the mine.”
“So? It’s broken,” ShadowHog said.
“It can be repaired. Tools like that aren’t exactly easy to come by, I’m sure they’ll want it back. It won’t take me long to run back and get it.” Max slid off of Jupiter.
“But...” ShadowHog hopped down from Saturn and jogged over to Max. “Listen,” he kept his voice low. “If you are planning on leaving, I’ll leave with you.” He looked Max right in the eye. “I don’t want to go out there alone. But I’d go and build a new base with you and start our own Crew. You’re already so good at the game, you stand a chance. I’ll never make it on my own.”
“ShadowHog.” Max glanced up at the canopy. “I don’t think I’m in a place where I’d start my own Crew...I’m going back to work soon; I won’t have much time for playing.” Damn, he felt lame. All he had to do was invite ShadowHog to join the Coprolite Crew. But Max hadn’t broached the subject with the other members of the crew, and he could not risk ShadowHog running his mouth off at the Ravagers’ base and giving away their plan. Plus, Max was not one hundred percent certain he could trust ShadowHog not to tell the Ravagers. There was still a lot of hero-worshipping going on in ShadowHog’s head and he might not want to see his heroes brought to their knees. And, hopefully, have their faces pummeled in the dirt. Or dino poop.
“Ah, okay. Understood.” ShadowHog nodded. “Look, if you think you should go back and get the auger, then go get it.”
“Will you take Jupiter with you? I’ll travel faster on my own.” Max gave Jupiter a mental command to follow ShadowHog then he turned and ran back along the trail before ShadowHog had a chance to answer. Now wasn’t the time to get sentimental over another player. They were
close to getting their revenge and that had to take precedence over everything.
Max ran back to the fallen tree, grabbed the auger, and rested it over his shoulder. Now wishing he had chosen a lighter alibi, he set off through the jungle, putting some distance between him and ShadowHog as he headed in the direction of the base.
The jungle wasn’t too thick here, but it was harder terrain than the road. Especially when he was carrying heavy machinery by hand. With fits and starts of running and walking, Max kept alert for wild dinos as he traveled.
It didn’t take too long before Max could see the end of the trees, and the grassy area leading up to the Ravagers’ hill fort.
With only a sliver of stamina left, Max came to a stop, dropping the auger to the ground. He crouched down on his haunches, taking a few seconds to listen to the wildlife around him. There were the usual scurrying sounds and calls of small animals, but nothing that sounded like it was going to cause him trouble.
“Time to look for clues.” Max leaned the auger against a tree, and carried on toward the edge of the forest, staying low to make sure he wasn’t seen. Peering around a trunk close to the tree line, he could see right across the open area around the hill, and up to the walls. He spotted a small figure walking along the top of the wall; someone was on lookout duty. Taking his gaze toward the front of the base, ShadowHog was still nowhere in sight. Max still had a little time.
Turning back to the closest part of the base, he could see the wreckage of the ballista some one hundred yards away from him.
Keeping the remains of the battle in sight, Max began to carefully make his way along the tree line, keeping his eyes moving across the ground, looking for tracks and damage to the undergrowth, as well as looking higher for broken branches.
ShadowHog had said that Remington had appeared on the Majungatholus. It wasn’t a small dino by any definition of the word, and Max doubted that it would have been able to move through the jungle without leaving some sort of trail to find.
Max spent the next twenty minutes picking through the sparse jungle, moving back and forth along a stretch of thirty yards or so. As he worked, a light breeze picked up, which cooled his body off but did little to cool his frustration as he failed to find a trace of anything bigger than the occasional Iguanodon moving through the jungle.
