Stage 2 Day 20

Today is the last day of Stage 2, and we're finally bringing an Ankylosaurus into the paddock. The last 9 days have been a challenge, but we've managed to get Takara used to our weapons. Her level of trust with each individual in my team has increased significantly, to the point that each of us can aim our weapons directly at her without any aggression. Commander Riley and other Elitists aren't as lucky though. She only trusts us. Thankfully, we figured this would happen and kept outsiders safe on the opposite side of the fence.

If we fail todays training, we're still three days ahead of schedule so we can try again tomorrow if we have to. I'm mostly worried about whether or not Takara will attempt to kill Arthro the Ankylosaur. One of Viadon's most important laws is not to kill dinosaurs unless absolutely necessary, unless bred in captivity for food like the Torosaurus. Takara has to follow my commands and not kill unless she has to. That's a thing that I'm not sure she understands. She killed one of her siblings for threatening Elitist Handler Keys, so how is she going to react to another species of dinosaur coming at us?

Alaric, Oliver and I are in the paddock with Takara waiting for Commander Riley to press the button and allow Arthro into the main area. Since the Ankylosaurus is an armored dinosaur, and has a deadly clubbed tail, we're all required to wear helmets in case we're swiped to the ground. Our main issue will be making sure that we don't get hit directly by that tail. It's strong enough to shatter bone at full force.

"You all ready?" Commander Riley's voice rings through the ear piece attached to my helmet.

"In position," Axia says, her microphone muffled slightly. She's up on the balcony with the back up team in case we need help. It doesn't make sense to me though. You can't shoot an Ankylosaur in the back.

"We're good in here," Alaric answers, glancing at both me and Oliver.

Quincy, without a headset or helmet, watches from outside of the paddock door. He has all of his typical medical supplies with him, just in case one of us gets hurt. "I'm ready," He yells loud enough for us to hear.

"Letting in Arthro now," The Commander responds, and soon the buzzer begins to ring.

The metal door across from us begins to rise, which immediately gains Takara's attention. While still in her place beside me, she stomps her feet anxiously. Usually that door only opens for her. "Shh, calm." I tell her, "Stay there."

"You sure she can do this?" Alaric asks, his voice loud through the ear piece.

"She hasn't seen another animal since her last handler died, it's normal that she's acting like that." Oliver answers for me.

"Since she killed her last handler. How do we know other dinosaurs aren't a trigger for her to turn against us?" Alaric shoots back.

"Would you shut up and focus?" I roll my eyes at him and place my hand on Takara's neck to calm her. "She's going to do fine. It's Arthro you need to worry about."

As the door opens completely, the buzzing stops. For a few moments it's quiet, until at the other end of the hallway another door opens. Arthro enters into the narrow hall, and slowly begins making his way towards the paddock. The lack of light obstructs most of our view, but from here I can already tell that this is a very big Ankylosaurus. He's much wider than most Ankylosaurs on the farm back home, and is barely able to move down the standard sized hallway without his shell grinding the stone.

As Arthro reaches the end of the hallway, Takara starts to take a step forward but stops as I jet my hand out in front of her. "No," I command, "Stay there." She growls lowly, but doesn't push any further even as I lower my hand.

"Once he is completely out of the hallway I'll shut the door. Make sure to avoid that tail and don't let Takara attack him." Commander Riley says to us.

"No problem." I reply, focusing in on Arthro as he finally emerges from the darkness. As he waddles out, his stomach almost drags the ground. He really is huge. Since we're in front of him, he diverts to the left, not paying us any mind. Ankylosaurs are bred and raised on farms in Viadon just like Torosaurs. We don't use them for meat though. They usually just pull wagons and carts for the farmers since we don't have that many rovers to go around. If Arthro was raised with humans, there's no reason for him to see us as a threat, especially since Takara's being so quiet and still.

The door slams shut as Arthro moves away from the hall, startling him. He slams his tail hard against the ground, and we all take steps back in surprise. The impact left an indention bigger than my head in the ground. After the initial shock, however, the Ankylosaur turns away and begins grazing on a patch of grass .

"Have her roar at him. He's just ignoring her right now," Commander Riley says through the radio.

"Taka, threaten." I say calmly, gesturing towards Arthro with my head.

With that, the furred dinosaur steps forward quickly. Ferocious growls erupt from her as she nears Arthro, but she stops a few feet away. As the Ankylosaur faces her, Takara roars angrily. At the threatening noise, Arthro runs past Takara and barrels straight for Alaric. Instead of moving, however, the man just stands there with his mouth open in surprise.

"Move, you idiot!" I yell at him.

Oliver quickly jumps to the rescue, shoving his friend out of the way before diving in the other direction to safety. As Arthro bolts past, his tail swings, just barely missing Oliver's head. "What the hell, Alaric!" He yells.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Get up before he comes back around to you," I say, my eyes following Arthro as he makes a wide circle around us in full sprint. Oliver and Alaric quickly get up from the dirt. "Taka, separate!" I exclaim as Arthro turns back towards us. Following my command, Takara cuts him off before he can get to us. With her in front of him, Arthro stops running, and instead takes a defensive stance. He holds his tail high, ready to swing at any moment if she gets closer. "Stay and threaten," I tell Takara, knowing that if she was hit directly, Arthro's tail might kill her. She stomps her feet anxiously, but stands her ground obediently. I can hear her vicious growls from across the paddock.

"Good, she's got him in a stand off. That's exactly what we want," Commander Riley's voice rings happily, "Now take him down."

Alaric and Oliver go left and right, while I move forward behind Takara. It would normally take about 4 low dosage darts to take down an Ankylosaurus, but with Arthro's size, I have no idea.

"Are we ready?" Alaric asks, hints of anger peeking through his voice. He's probably mad that he had to be saved.

"Yep." Oliver retorts.

Without warning, Alaric shoots, his dart hitting Arthro directly in the front leg. At the impact, the dinosaur swings his tail angrily towards Takara but is too far away to actually hit her. Glad that he didn't try to flee, I quickly raise my rifle and shoot. My dart sticks directly under Arthro's shell, just barely hitting his stomach. Then Oliver shoots as well, hitting one of the Ankylosaurs back legs.

At the third shot, Arthro does bolt, running directly towards Alaric, again. Takara jumps to his rescue, using her long legs to leap over him as he dives out of the way, effectively diverting the Ankylosaurus away from him. She roars at Arthro once more, continuing to step in front of him as he tries to flee. He swings his tail, but she swiftly avoids it and roars again, asserting dominance. For a moment, I'm worried Takara will attack but she never does.

"I got a clear shot," Oliver calls out.

"Shoot then!" Alaric barks, jumping up from the ground quickly in an attempt to get further away from the dueling dinosaurs. It may not be a real fight, but the growls are enough to send shivers down my spine.

Oliver does as he's told, but the dart hits Arthro's armored shell and bounces right off. "Shit," He growls to himself, just loud enough to be picked up by our microphones.

"It's okay," I say, "we all miss sometimes." I raise my rifle and shoot, hitting the Arthro's leg perfectly.

As the sedative begins to take affect, Arthro stumbles and he tries to swing his tail. That failed so the large herbivore then attempts to bolt again, but his movements are significantly slower than before. Takara cuts him off easily, and keeps him cornered.

"One more dart will put him to sleep!" Commander Riley exclaims.

"Alaric, go for it." I say, "You almost got trampled twice, might as well get the last shot."

He complies and quickly shoots a fifth tranquilizer dart into Arthro's stomach without hesitation. A few seconds later, the Ankylosaur falls to the ground asleep.

"Yay!!" Axia's voice rings loudly through the headset, "You did it!"

"Whoo-hoo!" I yell, slipping the helmet off my head. "Good job, guys!" I smile widely at Alaric and Oliver, who both still seem to be mad at each other. Oliver ignores my praise and immediately goes over to Takara, while Alaric leaves the paddock. I think the latter is embarrassed of freezing up, and the other's mad about having to save him.

I shrug my shoulders lightly as I look between them and then walk over to Takara. "Is she okay?" I ask Oliver, who's already inspecting to see if she was injured.

"I didn't see her get hit anywhere, I was just making sure." Oliver grumbles in return, though smiles amusingly as Takara gets close to his face and sniffs loudly at him. "What are you doing?" He laughs now, and uses his hand to gently push away her head.

I cover my mouth to stifle a laugh, "She's thanking you for making sure she's okay," I joke, then step towards Takara and reach out to pet her.

"Oh, yeah sure," Oliver rolls his eyes mockingly, but looks towards the dinosaur with a smile.

"You did well out there, you know." I state seriously, "So did Alaric,"

"I missed a shot and he froze for the first time ever. I wouldn't call that good,"

"We haven't really trained with a real dinosaur threat since Testing Day, Oliver. Takara doesn't act like a threat towards any of us anymore, so I don't count her. Plus, we've never actually trained with Ankylosaurus', you can't say that wasn't scary."

Oliver sighs, "Yeah, that one was huge. It galloping towards Alaric like that probably did catch him off guard,"

"Exactly. Cut him some slack, he can't be a fearless leader all of the time." I give Oliver a small smile and turn my attention back to Takara. I put my hand on her snout and gently pull her head towards me, "You did so good. Tomorrow you'll do even better."

Takara trills happily in return, and leans down to press her snout to my forehead. I figured out during the first stage of the experiment that this is her way of showing affection. Watching her first handler die, and then killing her other 2 must of made her realize how fragile humans can be when up against something bigger. That's how I like to think of it anyway, there's no real way to tell, but she is very gentle and soft with all of us.

"I have wonderful news!" The Commander comes into the paddock with Alaric and Quincy in tow, "The Chieftess has given permission for us to end the experiment early if you pass tomorrow's training,"

"What?!" Axia yells excitedly from the balcony, "Really?"

"Yes! Since today's training with Arthro was a success, the Chieftess is saying that it's the best results we've ever seen. If you can get past the Carnotaur tomorrow, she'll allow us to gather more Dryptosaurs for the experiment." Commander Riley smiles happily.

"That's amazing!" I exclaim, "What's the plan for tomorrow then?"

"Well, there's a catch," The Commander looks at me, a frown crossing his face, "you can only have one other person in the paddock with you. There'll be less back up for a more aggressive target. I suggest you choose Alaric,"

"Okay, done. It'll be best if Oliver's on standby in case Takara is bitten or rammed anyway. Alaric and I can handle a Carno." I look towards Alaric and nod, giving him a small smile of encouragement.

"Good, you all can form a plan yourselves. The Carno will be released the same way Arthro was, so just work with that. You'll both be given high dose tranquilizer darts, so it'll only take 3 shots. The entire council will be here to watch this "graduation" so you need to be ready. Give Takara a chance to show her skills." Commander Riley informs us.

"The entire council? Even my dad?" Oliver asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, he'll be here too. If you succeed tomorrow, we'll be inviting your mother, and the rest of your families," He gestures to everyone in the team, "to come here and spend a day... as a reward for being the first successful team in Experiment Drypto."

"Mary and Kari too?" Quincy asks, his voice excited at the chance to spend time with his sisters.

"Mhm," The Commander smiles at Quincy's excitement.

"That sounds awesome! All the more reason for us to actually pass tomorrow," I say, looking around happily. I'm hoping I'll be able to introduce my parents to Takara. They'd have a fit seeing me in a pen with an actual carnivore. They knew what we had to do in training, but actually petting one? That'd blow my dads mind.

"Alright, well in that case we're done for the day. You're all dismissed. I'll have the backup team move Arthro out of here since we know Takara won't attack him," With that, Commander Riley takes his leave and exits the paddock.

"Oh, I can't wait to see my sisters!" Quincy gushes, turning to look at all of us.

"Speaking of your sisters, you look nothing like them, why?" Alaric chides.

"They're adopted, they have the same birth parents though." Quincy answers innocently, ignoring the attitude that radiated from Alaric's voice.

"Oh really? I couldn't tell with them looking exactly alike." Alaric rolls his eyes, "Anyway, I'm out. Have a good day," He then strolls out of the paddock, leaving the door slightly propped open so we can leave too.

"Why's he always such a jerk? There was no reason for him to say that at all." Quincy asks once he's gone.

"It's just in his nature," Axia replies, finally making her way down into the paddock. She casually walks to Takara and begins brushing through her fur with a wooden brush. "Did I miss anything important?"

"If we pass tomorrow, our families get to come visit. Also, tomorrow the entire council will be here to watch." I reply, quickly giving her the rundown of what the Commander had told us.

"Oh so that's why I saw my dad here this morning," Axia nods, "I'm glad that tomorrow will be our last day with the experiment. I'm excited to see how Taka does outside of the fence. I assume they'll send us out with her to help collect more Dryptosaurus'."

"I really hope so, she definitely needs the actual field training." I reply.

"Technically the first time we take her out will be her Testing Day," Quincy jokes, letting out a soft chuckle. He then goes to stand beside Axia and begins praising Takara for the work we did today.

"Arthro's not gonna wake up anytime soon, is he?" I look at the sleeping Ankylosaur and then back to Oliver, who's standing quietly on the other side of Takara.

"No, he shouldn't. Those low dosage darts work just as well as the high dosages do on large dino's. We'll be fine." He replies stoically, "I'm going to head out as well, I'm getting hungry."

"I'll walk with you, I want to head back to the dorm." I reply, then give Takara one last pet on the snout before beginning to follow him out. "See you two later!" I say, waving to Quincy and Axia just before we leave the paddock.

"Why's it always us two who end up alone together?" Oliver gives me a sly look before continuing, "You follow me everywhere,"

"I do not! If I was following you, I'd be going to the cafeteria. I'm going to the dorm." I side eye him and chuckle, "Weirdo."

"Well, honestly, I'm relieved." He lets out an exasperated sigh, "You're pretty and all, but you're too tough for me." He laughs now, shaking his head.

"Too tough for you, huh? Is that a compliment?"

"If you think the fact that you're horrifyingly scary sometimes is a compliment, then sure, why not?" He shrugs his shoulders, smirking.

"Oh, that's rude," I give him a mock frown, "I'm not all that scary."

"You, literally, give commands to a dinosaur,"

"She listens to all of us,"

"Oh whatever, you know what I mean. Then, you're going to be the youngest Elitist Commander since the first, Emelia Dracon, who was 20." Oliver rolls his eyes.

"Now I'm starting to think you're the one with an obsession," I smirk playfully and stifle a laugh.

"No one said anything about an obsession, Lexa. Is that the word that comes to mind when you talk to me?"

"Ha-ha, very funny." I give him a blank face before laughing once again. Really, the joking banter between us is refreshing. Oliver can be a jerk like Alaric most of the time, but when he's not with Alaric, his attitude changes. Lately we've all been slightly split up. Axia has been doing extra training in her tech field. Quincy and Alaric have both been busy in their "free" time as well; Q has been doing training for field surgery, in case anything bad ever happens. Alaric has been helping other Elitist's train. Oliver has been assigned as Takara's primary veterinarian, so most of his training is spent with her, and me. The only time we're all together for training is when Takara has a big day and we need the extra back up, like today.

Soon we reach the dorms hallway and I split away from Oliver as he continues on to get lunch. The rest of the day is spent reading Handler Keys' journal. At this point, I've read the entire thing at least 5 times, but it's always good as a study guide. Remembering all of Takara's commands is difficult. Once Alaric finally comes back home, we sit down and discuss a plan for taking down the Carnotaur. We're both more concerned for Takara's well-being during the battle more than ours. He still doesn't completely trust her, but after today he sees how she can protect us. After Alaric and I come up with a plan, the entire team eats dinner together and we all head to bed early to get plenty of rest.

The next morning, we all eat breakfast and immediately go to Takara's paddock. As we enter, our attention is drawn to the balcony by a crowd of voices. Through the fence, we can vaguely see the balcony is crowded with ten extra bodies.

"I see my dad," Axia says quietly.

"Me too," Oliver adds in.

We make our way to Commander Riley, who's waiting for us by the entrance of the paddock. "All 5 of you will have helmets on for communication. No one else, including me. Axia, it'll be your job to let the balcony team know if they ask for help, otherwise they'll just do it if something bad happens." He informs us, his eyes lingering on Axia until she nods in agreement. "Oliver and Quincy, you'll both wait outside of the door in case Takara or those two get hurt," He then gestures to Alaric and me.

"Got it, I've got all of my equipment." Quincy replies, holding up his medical bag as proof.

"Great. Now Alaric and Lexa, you know what you're supposed to be doing. Just remember to let Takara show off a little bit. Every single council member is here to watch her preform today. You two are just an added bonus."

"As long as she's not in any danger, sure." I nod, hoping that he'd understand my reluctance. I'm not willing to risk Takara's life over a test.

"As long as you all survive and take down the threat then the experiment will be successful." Commander Riley assures me. He then quickly hands each of us a helmet, "Everyone get in position. Lexa or Alaric give the signal to let the Carno in when you're all ready."

"You two got this!" Axia says as she walks back past us and towards the exit. She'll be on the balcony with the back up team so she has to make her way up to the second floor.

"Be careful, you two." Quincy gives us a smile before handing us both loaded rifles, along with waist pouches of extra darts. He then begins sorting through his medical packs, and listing things for Commander Riley to have someone retrieve for him in case of emergency.

"Don't freeze up today, your mom is here," Oliver says to Alaric, his mouth turning up into a friendly smile.

"Ah, shut up." Alaric retorts, though he smiles too. They must have made up or talked it out sometime last night. "Thanks again for not letting me get trampled."

"Couldn't very well let our future Chieftain get killed by an Anky, could I? For real, be careful. Don't get eaten, either of you." Oliver then looks from Alaric to me, "We'll be right outside if you need us."

I wrap the sling attached to the rifle around me, and quickly attach the waist pack to my belt. "We'll be fine," I say nonchalantly, "No one's even gonna get bitten."

"After your impressive escape on Testing Day, I honestly don't doubt that." Quincy jumps in.

"Hey man, that was all you. I'd of been chow if you didn't have such long arms." I reply, pointing at him with a wide smile. He laughs shyly and goes back to checking his supplies.

"Are you ready?" Alaric asks, tapping my arm with his finger.

"Yeah, let's go." I reply, turning to the door. After unlocking the locks, Alaric and I head into the paddock with Takara. As we enter, she approaches and sniffs us as usual. "Hey, girl. You ready for today?" I say, slipping my helmet onto my head. I quickly adjust the ear piece to fit right and then reach out to pet her. She purrs in response while we continue walking towards the center of the paddock.

"Let's get this over with," Alaric says, his voice coming loudly through the ear piece. "Axia, you in position?"

"Getting there now," As her voice comes through the radio, the door on the balcony opens and she quickly emerges. "All good," She adds, laying down on the floor and positioning her rifle to shoot. The rest of the balcony team does the same, each of them at a separate corner. Between them, I can see the Chieftess and 9 other Council members. Axia's father stands close to her position, easily recognized from the rest.

"Oliver? Q?" I then say, looking towards the, now locked, paddock door. Through the fence I can see them both watching.

"We're ready when you are," Quincy replies.

"Okay, we're going to move back some so we're not so close. Once Takara is between us and the hallway door Alaric can give the signal." I inform our team mates, before backing up further away from the door. Alaric and Takara follow suit, until we're about 10 feet from the fence behind us. With ample room for escapes, I then command Takara to separate and she steps in front of us.

Alaric and I stand behind Takara on her left and right. Our plan is to get a few darts into the Carnotaur right off the bat. They should slow down him down a bit, and we'll be able to let Takara show off her skills before we eventually take him down.

"We good?" Alaric asks, his eyes watching me.

"Let's do this." I reply, nodding my head once at him.

Alaric hesitates a moment before balling his hand into a fist and raising it. At this signal, Commander Riley pushes the red button outside of the paddock and the buzzer begins to sound. The metal door begins to rise, and unlike yesterday, footsteps are heard coming down the hallway. They didn't wait to release it like they did with Arthro.

As the door reaches halfway open, the Carnotaur rushes through, his body bent down in an effort to avoid the low door. Takara, startled by it's sudden appearance, roars ferociously at the predator, and in turn gets roared at. The Carnotaurus sounds much more threatening than our companion though, it's roar more like a high pitched scream overlaid with a deep bellow. How a creature could make both sounds at once, I don't know, but it's enough to make me step back in fear.

"Shoot now!" Alaric yells.

I do as I'm told and quickly raise my rifle to aim at our target. As I shoot, the dart strikes the Carnotaur in the neck. I can't see whether Alaric's hit, but by the way the it's attention is drawn to him, I know mine hit first. The Carnotaur charges towards Alaric, and as predicted, it's movements are slightly slower than they should be.

"Taka, distract it!" I command.

Takara complies, and quickly charges towards the larger predator, using her head to hit it and throw it off balance. Alaric moves towards me to get out of the way as the Carnotaur falls hard onto it's side.

"Stand down and threaten!" I yell to Takara, who now begins to back away from the fallen Carno. Once she's a few feet away, she roars once again. Her distance allows the Carnotaur to stand up again, and it aggressively moves towards her to attack. "Keep separating!" I tell her. With this command, Takara swiftly dodges the incoming attack and continues to do so as it tries to bite at her over and over.

"One more dart should slow him down enough to keep him from hurting Takara, but I can't get a good shot," Alaric says through the radio.

"I got one," I say, raising my rifle. With Takara on the Carnos other side, I'm easily able to shoot directly into it's side. At the impact, though, the beast turns my way. With a burst of energy, it charges towards me. Behind it, Takara follows, trying to catch up.

"My weapon's jam-" Alaric pauses, "Shoot it!"

I raise my rifle to shoot, only to realize that I haven't reloaded. I lower my weapon in shock, and dive out of the way as the Carnotaurus draws close. However, it's quicker than I am and turns the way I jumped, it's sharp teeth clamping down on my thigh as we hit the ground together.

"Alexandria!" I hear Alaric yell, but can't respond as the throbbing pain erupts throughout my leg.

A shriek of pain escapes me, but soon the pressure disappears, as well as the Carno's mouth from around my leg. I quickly reload my weapon, not questioning why the aggressor let go. As I finally put another dart into my rifle and look up, I see Takara standing on top of the Carnotaur's large body, one foot planted firmly into it's neck to hold it down.

I quickly shoot the Carnotaur, and seconds later it's asleep. "Takara, stand down." I tell her, unwrapping my rifles sling from around my body and to the floor. Before I can look down at my leg, a wave of dizziness rushes over me along with an indescribable pain.

"Alexandria?" I hear vaguely, and look up to see Alaric standing over me. I blink a couple of times to try and focus my sight, but it only becomes more and more blurry. "Quincy, hurry up! Her leg is bleeding badly!" He yells just as everything turns black.