There was plenty to do, so the three humans and two Palicos began dividing the tasks.
The most important, and also the most dangerous, job was naturally to confirm the target Monster's location through reconnaissance.
Clawdia eagerly took on this mission. There was no one better suited for scouting than her — keen of hearing and smell, skilled in tracking, small and agile.
Altaïr was responsible for surveying the nearby terrain and refining the hunting plan and procedures previously drafted by Nymera. This part was equally crucial; the suitability of the combat terrain could often directly determine the success or failure of the hunt.
Isis, clad in heavy Armor, wasn't very mobile in the Jungle, so she was left at this abandoned outpost.
Coincidentally, she had the greatest strength, so the work of transporting and organizing supplies and converting the abandoned outpost into a temporary camp fell to her.
Sajji was busy searching for suitable materials to assemble his Rathalos Model-07 for use in the upcoming battle.
Only Nymera, partnering with them formally for the first time, found that all the tasks had been divided among the others, leaving her with seemingly no proper work to do.
After pondering on the spot for a moment, she decided to prepare some food for everyone, stocking up on nutrients and energy for the intense battle ahead.
—--
Altaïr set out from the abandoned outpost, spiraling outward from this point to carefully confirm the situation in the surrounding areas, bit by bit.
Despite the Duramboros' danger rating being 4★, in terms of ecological niche, this fellow was every bit as formidable as regional overlords like the Rathalos.
If it weren't for the fact that it was herbivorous, rarely actively attacked humans, and its desire to pursue was far weaker than Monsters like the Diablos, making it easier for Hunters to retreat if outmatched — the Guild wouldn't have been surprised to classify its danger level as 5★.
Therefore, Altaïr and the others prepared with the mindset of hunting a 5★ Monster.
From morning until the sun sank in the west, Altaïr spent a full six or seven hours meticulously confirming the forest environment within a radius of several kilometers.
As a result, he did manage to find several locations suitable for battling the Duramboros.
According to Ms. Nymera's description, based on her experience hunting Duramboros, its most threatening attack was the whirlwind-style attack, where it used its hind legs as a pivot to rapidly spin its body and swing its Tail Hammer.
The airflow stirred up by its massive body and Tail Hammer during the high-speed rotation could even generate a powerful suction force like a real tornado, pulling opponents toward it.
If hit by such an attack, losing combat capability on the spot would be considered mild; being crushed to pieces and killed outright wouldn't be surprising either.
The only silver lining was that this move had a relatively long wind-up. As long as one reacted in time and created distance early, one generally wouldn't get hit.
Beyond that, suitable obstacles could also block the Duramboros' assault to some extent.
For example, the wooded area Altaïr chose as the main battlefield consisted mostly of giant trees with trunk diameters exceeding two or three meters.
These giants had extremely lush and expansive canopies, monopolizing almost all sunlight, which kept the ground-level herbaceous plants and shrubs sparse, thus not hindering Hunter movement.
At the same time, these giant trees would also serve as obstacles impeding the Duramboros' movement, inadvertently providing Hunters with a significant advantage.
Beyond that, Altaïr also marked out an area overgrown with vines, suitable for setting traps, and a rocky hill area perfect for shaking off the Duramboros' pursuit.
By flexibly utilizing these terrains, they could quite possibly wear that thing to death if things went smoothly.
—--
After carefully marking these spots on the map, Altaïr returned to the abandoned outpost feeling quite satisfied.
Oh, no — now it should be called the temporary camp.
During his absence, Isis hadn't been idle either.
She wasn't foolish enough to renovate the entire outpost; instead, she found a small wooden cabin that was still intact, reinforced it with wood readily available, and set up many staggered sharpened wooden stakes around it to prevent certain Monsters from the Jungle from sneaking close.
The entrance to the underground storage was inside the cabin. Important supplies like Ammo, dry rations, and medicine had already been stored there. If necessary, they could also go down into the storage to hide.
She had even managed to get some bedding from somewhere and laid it out on the cabin floor — no more sleeping on hard floor at night.
Altaïr was twelve times satisfied with this temporary camp. He dared say that most Hunter's Camps didn't even meet these conditions.
They could fully rely on this camp to wage a war of attrition against that Duramboros — one day if not two, two days if not three, grinding it down slowly.
"Alright, that's about enough," Altaïr called out to Isis, who was still vigorously pounding sharpened stakes into the ground around the cabin. "Is Clawdia back?"
Isis put down her tools and wiped her sweat. "She came back at noon. She said she'd confirmed the Duramboros' trail and then went to rest.
She's on night watch duty tonight, so we'll call her at dinner time."
"Hmm, and Sajji?"
Isis pointed to another cabin not far away. "Over there. He went out earlier and somehow found a Bonepile, dragged back several sturdy Monster Bones, but I don't know what he's doing."
"You take a rest. I'll go check on him."
"I'll rest after I finish this one!" Isis hoisted the wooden mallet again. For some reason, she seemed to have fallen in love with this kind of manual labor.
Altaïr pushed open the cabin door and was slightly startled by what was inside.
"What is this?!"
Sajji, his fur all messy, looked up excitedly. "How about it, boss, meow? This is the Rathalos Model-07, meow!
This time, I'm not planning to add armor plates to it, meow. After all, without an engine drive, its mobility is ultimately a bit slow, meow. Reducing weight load would be better, meow. We'll need to carry a lot of Ammo later, meow."
"Wasn't the Model-06 still a bazooka? You and Nymera tinkered for two days and turned it into a tank?!" Altaïr asked in disbelief.
Was Nymera some amazing mechanical craftsman?
As if sensing Altaïr's thought, Sajji shook his little head. "Actually, the most crucial transmission device part was finished long ago, meow. Boss, do you remember what I told you before that Nerscylla Urgent Quest, meow (Chapter 169).
Unfortunately, that time was urgent, and the chassis integration wasn't complete yet, so it couldn't be used, meow."
"You mentioning it, I do seem to have some impression."
Sajji placed his paws on his hips and puffed out his chest. "But this time! With Nymera sis's help, the tank's chassis is finally done, meow!"
"Then we just need to reinforce the key parts a bit with materials found in the hunting grounds, install the cannon, and it'll be ready to use, meow!"
"Hmm, that's really impressive." Altaïr first praised him, then asked, "This thing looks pretty big, and it doesn't have an engine. How is it supposed to move?"
"Just like this, meow!" Without another word, Sajji jumped onto the tank.
He grabbed the cannon's grip with his front paws to stabilize himself, then placed his hind paws on a pair of pedals connected to the treads and started pedaling rapidly.
"Charge, meow!" With Sajji's shout, the cannon vehicle "whoosh!" surged forward a distance.
Altaïr: "..."
*Physical strength powered!?*
"Because we tried to reduce weight as much as possible, we didn't even install armor, so it's surprisingly lightweight, meow!" Sajji pedaled to drive the tank back and forth, nimbly circling Altaïr.
Only then did Altaïr realize that the cannon seemed to also function as a steering wheel — wherever the muzzle pointed, the tank would go in that direction.
This design reduced the flexibility of firing the cannon, but at the same time, it greatly lowered the operational difficulty and the complexity of the mechanical structure.
Considering that Sajji was the only Palico driving this thing, this seemingly crude control method might actually be the best.
"Although it's pedal-powered, meow, we installed a labor-saving gear set, meow. At full speed, it can get quite fast, meow, not much different from running normally, meow!
Even when fully loaded with ammo, the speed won't be too slow, meow. It's much better than the previous handcart form, meow!" Sajji explained while driving the tank all over the room.
Altaïr also snapped out of his earlier speechlessness. Honestly, the idea of his own Palico driving a tank to participate in a hunt... was actually pretty cool.
Just then, Isis's call came from outside the house, "Nymera sis says dinner's ready! Everyone, come out!"
Altaïr lifted the overly excited Sajji down from the tank. "Great job. We'll finish up the remaining work later. Let's go eat first, Isis must be getting impatient.
By the way, is dinner prepared by Miss Nymera? What did she make?"
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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TL NOTES — LORE SECTION
Some terms and creatures referenced in this story may be unfamiliar to readers new to the Monster Hunter universe. The following entries provide additional context.
CONCEPTS & SYSTEMS
Bonepile — A type of gathering spot found throughout hunting areas, identifiable as a deposit of bones and skeletal remains left behind by monsters. Hunters can forage through these piles to collect Monster Bones of varying grades, materials used extensively in crafting and upgrading weapons and armor. Bonepiles are a reliable source of raw bone materials in regions where large monsters are or have been active.