Part 5-The Vault of the Dragon

8/2/2019 Part 5-The Vault of the Dragon

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Written by

Andrew Roberts

These stories are based on

characters and settings by Pinnacle

Entertainment and Great WhiteGames.



Mandaru, South China Sea – 1936

Buck Savage was frantically trying to dislodge the bricks sealing the handholds as the platform

lowered towards the snake-covered floor.

“You got any ideas, Danny?” Virginia asked. Danny was pacing wildly, trying to think of a solution

to Buck’s predicament. As Buck continued in his attempts to create a handhold, Li Kuang swung in

from a low-hanging light fixture, brandishing his dao. Buck pulled the stolen dao from his belt and

swung at the new threat.

“The Dragon is mine!” Kuang screamed, parrying Buck’s swings, “I swore to keep it on Mandaru to

honour my ancestors!”

“The Dragon was rightfully owned by Polo!” Buck replied as their swords locked.

“The Polo family is long dead! As are the Doges he wanted it for!”

“Then it belongs in a museum!” Buck retorted. He swiftly brushed Kuang’s dao away and kicked

him in the stomach, sending the fierce pirate into the snake pit while jumping towards the fixture

and swinging across the pit. Virginia and Danny watched and grimaced as the poisonous vipers

smothered Kuang, biting him repeatedly. Using the last of his strength, he stood up and wadedthrough the venomous snakes and clambered to their point in the room. They helped him to the

floor and examined the swelling where he had received the bites.



“I have failed the Mandaru Brethren.” He said weakly, “I fought hard to keep them alive. Disease,

infighting, anti-piracy crackdowns and desertions have weakened our fleet. Mandaru has fallen.”

He handed Virginia a scroll. “Take this. It’s a map of the island. There will be someone at the

village to take you back to the mainland.”

He fell silent. Virginia closed his eyes. As she stood up, the bars blocking the doorway rose. She

left with Buck and Danny, meeting Doc Gold and Zhou in the corridor. They were carrying theSword and the Shield of the Guardian

“What happened to Kuang?” Doc asked.

“He’s feeding the worms.” Buck replied.

Before anyone could say anything, the citadel was rocked by a large explosion. “Blast!” Doc

yelled, “I didn’t think they’d be here that quickly!”

“What the hell’s going on?” Danny asked.

“It’s the Portuguese Navy from Macau!” Zhou explained above the noise of further explosions,

“They’re shelling the castle!”

“Let’s get out of here!” Buck yelled, “We’ve got what we came for!”

Masonry began to fall as Buck’s companions fled from the citadel. They escaped just as the main

gates were blocked by falling rubble. Buck noticed many of the pirates who had also fled from the

citadel. One of the higher ranking men strode up to Buck and laid down his dao.

“Li Kuang is dead, and our stronghold has fallen.” He said solemnly, “There is nothing for us here

now. Kuang would never part with that map you have.”

“What are you planning now?” Buck asked.

“We are surrendering. Many of us have families in the local fishing village. We want to keep them

safe.”

“What about the vault?” Virginia asked.

“You have the three keys. When the Guardian fights in the West, the Vault will open. It’s incaverns on that map. But there is one more thing; some hunters from the village reported some

soldiers exploring the caves. They wore the uniforms of the Imperial Japanese Army, but were led

by a European.”

Buck watched as the other men left. He turned to his companions.

“Zhou, you try and arrange transport back to the mainland.” Buck instructed, “We’ll need it if we

can get the vault open.”

The group searched around the ruins of the fortress, coming across a paddock with several

horses.



A few hours later, Buck’s party was riding through the island before arriving at the cavernous

mountains. A small camp had been set up near the bottom of the hills. They dismounted and

approached it. Through her binoculars, Virginia could see that the path leading up to the caverns

was being guarded. “We need to find a way around.” She whispered.

“I’ve got an idea.” Doc whispered back, “I could create a distraction while you and Savage sneak

past the guards.”

“If you’re doing that,” Danny added, “I’ll watch our escape from up here. If something happens, I

can try and signal you.”

Virginia handed Danny her binoculars before following Buck down to the camp. As they reached

the mountain path, they hid behind the rocks to avoid the two Japanese soldiers standing guard.

As they waited, Doc had crept up the opposite end of the path and dislodged several rocks. As the

two guards went to investigate, Buck and Virginia emerged from their hiding spots and slugged

them both on the back of the head.

“That should keep them out for a while.” Buck said, “Now let’s get this Dragon.”

When they ascended into the caves, Doc remained at the entrance and hid behind the rocks with

his Electromagnetic Dischargement Apparatus primed. Buck and Virginia took the three artefacts

and cautiously moved down the dark passageways. After a short trek, they found themselves at

the heart of the cave. A stone figure was standing there. Buck examined it.

“This must be the Guardian.” He said.

“That is correct.” Viteri’s voice said behind them. Buck and Virginia turned around to see Viteri and

several Japanese soldiers holding them, along with Doc Gold, at gunpoint. “Hand th e relics to the

Guardian. Open the vault.”

Buck placed the Sword and Shield in the hands of the Guardian, eager to see the sight of the

Dragon. When Virginia placed the Helm on the Guardian’s head, the ground began to shake. The

cavern wall slid down, unearthing a new chamber. Everyone looked inside. The Dragon of the

Khan was staring at them in all its glory. Forged out of solid gold and covered with jewels, it shined

like the sun in the light from the group’s torch beams. A vicious -looking Japanese officer entered

the chamber. He barked an order in Japanese and several soldiers lifted the Dragon up and

carried it out of the chamber. Buck, Virginia and Doc were escorted out of the caves and brought

back to the camp.

As the Japanese were preparing to break camp, Buck and his companions were loaded into one

of the cargo trucks by the officer working with Viteri.

“Where is your brother?” he asked Virginia. She said nothing, but was concealing a look of relief

upon hearing that Danny hadn’t been captured. As they were being questioned, Buck noticed the

Dragon being sealed in a crate and loaded onto another truck.

“Captain Fujimoto, how long until we leave?” Viteri asked as he walked past.

“Not long.” The captain replied, “We need to radio headquarters and arrange for a pickup back to

Tokyo.”



Buck and Virginia contemplated the situation, wondering how they could escape and recover the

Dragon. As they sat in the truck, they heard some promising sounds; a truck starting up, followed

by shouting and gunfire. Viteri ran up to Captain Fujimoto in a panic.

“Captain!” he shouted frantically, “Someone’s stealing the truck with the Dragon!”

“Danny’s still alive,” Buck suggested to Virginia. As the soldier guarding them listened in, Buck

quickly punched him out and ran from the truck. Virginia and Doc followed him, eluding thepursuing soldiers. Trucks, motorcycles and scout cars were being prepared to pursue Danny.

Buck primed the Arisaka bolt-action rifle he’d stolen from the soldier guarding them. Taking aim,

he fired at one of the lead trucks, killing the driver and sending it careening into a tent full of

munitions. As they both exploded, he slipped away and recovered his horse, noticing Virginia and

Doc stealing an abandoned reconnaissance car.

Danny had managed to get the Dragon far from the camp and onto the road back to the village.

Looking out of his wing mirror, he noticed a motorcycle closing in on him. A soldier on the sidecar

was preparing a Type 11 light machine gun. He ducked down as the soldier fired a burst at the

cab. As he looked, he saw Buck lashing his horse onwards towards them. The soldier operatingthe bike noticed Buck, setting the bike to full throttle. Buck drew his reclaimed revolver and fired a

shot, hitting the driver and sending the out of control motorbike into a ditch. Danny saluted to Buck

before noticing a scout car coming up the road. Buck brought his horse level with the car and leapt

aboard, wrestling with the occupants before throwing them out of the car. He kicked the driver out

his seat and took the wheel.

A staff car carrying Viteri and Captain Fujimoto was approaching them. Fujimoto leapt onto Buck ’s

car and drew his katana. Buck attempted to avoid the downward slash by swerving, knocking the

captain off balance. As they struggled, Viteri fired at the car with his Luger, taking out one of the

tires. Buck noticed Virginia and Doc’s car approaching. “Come on Doll,” he muttered. He grabbedthe katana and slashed Fujimoto across the chest before leaping to Virginia ’s car. Viteri continued

to fire at them with his Luger.

“Give it up Mr Savage!” he yelled, “You will be meeting Professor Sawyer again soon!”

Buck’s eyes burned with anger as he heard the remark.

“Sawyer was working with me in Venice!” Viteri continued, “I must have the Dragon! General

Franco hired me to find it so he could raise the funds for his campaign!”

Buck remained speechless. Viteri fired another shot, hitting him in the shoulder. Buck reeled back

in pain, grasping the wound. Doc turned and pulled out another bottle of his Wonder Tonic. Viteri

fired another shot, hitting the bottle and showering Buck with the shards.

“Bugger! That was my last one!” Doc yelled above the commotion. They noticed Danny attempting

to ram the staff car off the road. It span out into a tree as Danny quickly escaped with the Dragon.

Viteri continued to pursue him. The trio looked in horror as Viteri attempted to stop them by

throwing grenades onto the road. Two grenades exploded on near the car, too close for comfort.

Buck cried out in pain, gripping his shoulder as the car went over the new craters. He noticed

Viteri pulling the pin out of another one. Thinking quickly, he aimed his revolver and fired. The

bullet hit Viteri in the arm, making him drop the live grenade. The staff car exploded in a fireball,

killing the remaining occupants.

“Who needs fire breath?” he said cockily as they drove past.



A short trip later, the group met with Danny in the local fishing village. The crate carrying the

Dragon was being loaded aboard freighter by several Portuguese sailors. Zhou was waiting for

them.

“So we’re successful then?” he asked. Buck nodded.

“We had a rough encounter with the Japanese though.” He told the fisherman.

“They wanted the treasure as well?”

“They were working with a man who had been a persistent thorn in our side. ” Danny explained,

helping Buck aboard the boat with Virginia.

“Do you think that they’d stay on Mandaru?” Buck asked.

“Not likely,” Doc replied, “Without the fortress, Mandaru would hold little interest for the Japanese.

Anyway, we should focus on getting this Dragon back to England.”

“I agree. There’s a handsome finder’s fee waiting for us. And there may be something else as

well.”

The freighter set sail. As Buck lay down on the bed in his cabin, Virginia viewed the setting sun

from the porthole.

“How much do you think we’ll get for this thing?” Buck asked.

“I’ve no idea.” Virginia replied, “It’s probably enough to buy Mandaru.” She sat down on the bednext to Buck. “It’s going to be a long trip, so we might as well make the most of it.”

i Savage Worlds, Smilin’ Jack, Deadlands, and all of our other Savage Settings, and the Pinnacle logo are Copyr ight

Great White Games, LLC; DBA Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved.

iCharacters by Shane Lacy Hensley.

Written by Andrew Roberts.

Part 5-The Vault of the Dragon

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