Ancient map makers supposedly used the term to mark the unknown or to serve as a warning. Supposedly, it never appeared on any real map, but was a creation of literature. It was most likely derived from the various different creatures or monsters that adorned the maps of old. After all, Dragons weren’t real, and were creations of human imagination. Either way, the meaning was the same, beware the unknown.
The badges and medals accumulated, Unit 1 left in his locker, packing only the tools for the future. The past would be cumbersome, and he needed to be sharp, for There Be Dragons…
It wasn’t that he wouldn’t miss his AFF brothers and sister, or all the memories. He definitely appreciated all the tactics and training that he received from the AFF elite and commanders. Under AFF tutelage he racked up one Gold Medal for the 3302 Faction War, six Gold Medals and one Silver Medal in Clan Wars, and a Silver Medal during the Mechalympics. Not to mention the nearly countless KOTM Gold, Silvers and Bronzes and occasional Circuit Fight medals. Not bad for a mecha pilot that had trouble closing the cockpit hatch just 9 short years ago. It has been a long learning process with the folks he came to see as his family.
But family was a foreign concept to a Simulacrum, and the mission dictated that stagnation and inaction were not in the cards. There would be no growing old with old friends and hanging onto earned allegiances. There was a mission to accomplish and the Benefactor had grown impatient.
When the Mastermind approached him about the change in scenery, it was an easy decision. I could follow the Heart or I could follow the Brain. The Heart had no place in Unit 1’s world of logic.
The Burly Leader had been a kind friend and mentor, but his way of rule was antithesis to the order and discipline in which Unit 1 preferred to live. The Benefactor would have pushed for a move to a new clan in time anyway, so the timing was right. With the long term stasis of the Imperials on the near horizon, the seven known FJBROS Units would need to step up their time tables to complete the mission. The wars and raids always revealing more and more information, and the closer to the top of the clans, the information was unspoiled to those who knew what to look for.
Unit 1 realized that that “There be Dragons”, wasn’t a warning for him or his new comrades. It wasn’t a forewarning of the unknown future or unknown paths to tread. It was a warning for everyone else, for there really are Dragons, and he was one of them.
Submitted by FJ Bros#885020