//------------------------------// // Dragone Baby Gone // Story: Starbound // by Rytex //------------------------------// Starbound Chapter 10 - Dragone Baby Gone “DUCK!” Twilight didn’t need to be told twice.  She threw herself onto the ground just as the great skeletal beast swiped at her with its claws.  She could feel the brush of hair over the nape of her neck as the claws missed by inches. Next to her, Jack had gone prone instantly as well, but was already up and dashing around the giant dragon, yanking his new gun off of his back. “Time to use you in action,” Twilight heard him say to it, before he turned off the safety and took aim. Rather than the loud bang or the many pops Twilight was used to hearing, there came a shump sound, and something small and black hurtled toward the bone dragon’s ribcage. The moment it made contact, there was an explosion that made Twilight flinch.  It wasn’t big, but she wasn’t expecting it.  The bone dragon let out an angry roar as cracks appeared on its rib cage. “He sure didn’t like that,” Jack mused to himself as he pumped a handle on the bottom of the gun.  “Don’t think he’ll be liking any more.” Jack launched three more explosives at the same spot, and each time, the cracks in the ribcage grew more stark, until finally, as the fourth explosion cleared away, powdered bone crumpled to the ground. “Yes!” Jack pumped a fist victoriously, even as he dashed away from the dragon’s retaliatory hammerfist. But then, all the crumpled bone dust was suddenly sucked back to its spot in the dragon’s ribcage, fusing itself back into position and in mere seconds, it was like there had been no wound at all. “God damn it!”  Jack shouted, blasting a few more explosives at the dragon, though these just seemed to be to let off some steam.  “How the hell do we kill this thing if it can put itself back together!?” “Hide the pieces?” suggested Twilight, firing several blasts of magic at the dragon’s face to get it off of Jack. “Worth a shot,” Jack dodged the dragon’s errant tail as it flew overhead.  He fired off a couple of explosives at the tail in retaliation, and Twilight almost heard him smirk as the end of the tail fell off.  “Yank out a chunk of dirt, Twi.  I’m on my way with the tail.” Instantly, a section of the ground was ripped away and held at the ready as Jack grabbed the tail chunk and sprinted in her direction.  It didn’t take long, disregarding the bone dragon’s attempts to stop him, and a few seconds later, Jack had dropped the tail into the hole in the ground, upon which Twilight replaced the chunk of dirt. “Now I gotta make it more mad,” Jack commented, aiming his grenade launcher.  “Open wide, Spike!” Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle, despite the situation they were in.  Even as the bone dragon roared and shied away from Jack’s grenades, she felt any nervousness about the fight slowly melt away.  She was ready now. Fortunately, the chunk of earth containing the bone dragon’s fragment seemed to be holding strong.  For now.  Only time would tell if it would continue. The dragon lashed out at him with a claw, catching him on one of his shoulders.  Jack grunted in pain as he was tossed a fair distance away, several sections of his armor getting ripped from his armor as well. “Jack!”  She was off, dashing toward where he landed, but she needn’t have bothered.  He got back to his feet and jabbed himself with an injection pen full of presumably red stimpack. “I’m fine, I’m fine.  Stay focused on that blasted thing,” he barked, yanking the pen out as its work finished, and tossing away the casing. Twilight noticed his shaking hands as he did that though. Even in the midst of battle, that needle-phobia is getting to him, she thought, even as the wound beneath the gash in his undershirt slowly started to heal itself. “Go!” Jack repeated, dashing back toward the bone dragon, which was now lumbering toward them. Twilight, however, had a different idea.  She turned right around and fired a beam of magic so concentrated and so powerful, the very air around it hummed with a dangerous tone.  This beam of magic shot right at the dragon’s skull and pierced it at top speed, causing it to shriek in pain.  A quick jerk of her head as well was all it took to separate half of the skull and send it clattering to the ground. “What the…” she heard Jack say from somewhere.  “You seeing that, Twi?” She was.  There was a black, gooey-looking mass within the skull, just solid enough to look tangible.  Strings of it stretched away toward different parts of the skull, burrowing inside. That must be its brain! she realized, already preparing to shoot another spell right at it.  Destroy that, we destroy the dragon! Unfortunately, the dragon wasn’t going to make it easy.  It turned its damaged half away from her spell before she even got it off, and the broken half flew right back up to reform with the main half of the head, and to Jack’s tremendous irritation, the tail broke its way out of the earth and flew to reform with its stump, and like that, the bone dragon was whole and ready to fight once again. But now, they had a plan. “Alright.  I’m gonna try to get its attention.  You, slice open the skull, and give me an opening.  It’ll only take one shot.  Got it?” “Got it,” Twilight pawed at the ground as the dragon roared its challenge at them. Jack cracked his neck and readied his grenade launcher. “Ready when you are.” “Go.” Jack was off, dashing one way around the dragon and once again peppering the bones of the dragon with grenade after grenade.  Twilight stayed rooted to her spot, gathering energy to let loose in another blast, ready to cut right through the beast’s skull to give Jack his opening. There was a mighty roar as Jack managed to get a particularly well-aimed shot of the grenade launcher to hit directly at the center of one of the dragon’s claws, and with a mighty crunch, the claw crumbled away. “Nice one!” Twilight called.  “Almost there!” She heard Jack grunt with triumph, before he began peppering the other claw as much as he could. “Keep it up, keep it up!” called Twilight.  The beast was hurt.  Without its claw, it had to constantly shift and turn as it tried to block Jack’s incessant assault. But then, something happened that made her heart freeze. Jack fired one more shot, right for the beast’s eye.  But the beast, with a flail of its unharmed hand, batted it right back at him before it could go off. Jack had absolutely no time to react as the live round came flying back toward him, before detonating just before it hit the ground. “NO!” screamed Twilight, channeling magic in desperation. But then, all sound around her ceased.  In fact, everything around her ceased.  Everything instantly froze, mid-movement, including the explosion that had caught Jack completely by surprise and had him dead to rights. Twilight stopped in confusion.  What had she done!?  What was this?  She had never cast a spell like this before! It was like… ...like everything just stopped.Like time stopped! And now that she could pay attention to it, now that she had nothing else to focus on, she could feel the drain on her reserves.  It was rather substantial, and she didn’t think she could hold onto it for very long. But maybe… she thought, already feeling exhaustion set in, maybe just long enough. A second spell was channeled, and Jack was pulled away from the explosion, his body frozen midway through flight as the force of the impact had caught him. A trickle of blood seeped from her nose as the toll of the magic grew steeper and steeper, but Jack grew closer and closer, away from the explosion, before she started to lay him on the ground to try and cushion his body from the force as much as she could. But even after he was safe, and even after she felt he was going to be as fine as he could be, she had one last thing to do. Even as her strength began to fail, as her eyesight dimmed, a beam shot from her horn and sliced open the skull of the dragon, exposing the tendrils once again. And after that, the last of her strength and concentration left her, and she swooned as everything around her went black. The last thing he heard was “NO!” The next thing he felt was an explosion next to him. And then to complete the Trifecta of Confusion, everything around him changed in an instant to suddenly lying on the ground several feet away while the dragon roared in pain. A small explosion went off several feet away as he looked up, trying to get the measure of his new surroundings.  He was definitely still in the same general 30 yards or so.  The dragon was roaring painfully.  There was that too. Where was-- “TWILIGHT!” She had fallen over, completely non-responsive, and she was bleeding profusely from her nose. “What the hell…” Jack breathed, checking for a pulse.  “What happened?  Did you…  what did you do?” Once he was able to ascertain there was a pulse, he stood up and turned to face the Bone Dragon.  It was roaring in pain and swinging wildly with its remaining claw, but the skull had been cut in half, revealing the black substance inside. Jack ground his teeth as he tossed away his grenade launcher in disgust, and instead grasped a retraced sniper rifle from his back.  With the press of a button, it all snapped into form, and he instantly raised it to firing position, taking aim. The dragon wasn’t making it easy.  It was roaring and writing, swinging, turning… but he had to take the shot before the head started to reform. There was a loud CRACK! The tail had whipped around and hit a tree at the edge of the clearing, sending it crashing down.  If Jack wasn’t careful, that tail would be coming for him next. He took a deep breath… ...took aim, slowly, deliberately… and fired. “Please don’t bother me, Ramirez,” Timaeus sighed, before the human intern could even get a word off.  The poor boy, always so eager to make a strong impression, but too far out of his league to do that.  “I’m in the middle of something rather important.” “I wasn’t going to bother you!” protested the young black-haired man, his green eyes fixed on Timaeus with indignation.  “It’s urgent news.” He offered a datapad to the apex, which Timaeus took and glanced at. “Thank-you, Ramirez,” he said, standing up and adjusting his white uniform, before handing it back and stepping away.  “Tell Travers I’ll be back when I’ve seen what the Council wants.” “Yes sir, Mr. Timaeus,” the human bowed. “Ramirez,” Timaeus snapped, though not harshly, “I’ve told you time and again that bowing isn’t necessary.” “Y-yes sir,” the teen winced.  “Sorry sir.  Won’t happen again.” “That’s what you’ve said the last twelve times,” Timaeus turned around and started to stride away.  “As you were.” His walk took him out into the main laboratory, where a pair of Fatal Circuit Mk. II models were lumbering around in drill formations. Good to see that project bearing fruit. Especially after its… setback.  There had been one hell of an inquiry on that.  Timaeus still hated the mere sight of lawyers. The TSPC Research and Development Laboratories were not all that far from the Citadel, a central tower that was at least a good fifty feet taller than the considerable skyscrapers around it.  Atop the citadel was also the main generator for the energy shield.  A rather convenient place for it, since the citadel was where the TSPC were headquartered. What do the High Council want with me, exactly? thought Timaeus as he strode along the walkway, ships zooming overhead and other passers-by chatting with each other.  The TSPC already have a representative on the High Council.  Does this have anything to do with the Fatal Circuit project troubles?  They’ve already moved me to something else, so probably not. Entering the Citadel wasn’t as long as he thought it would be.  A quick identification check and biometric scan, and he was striding through the lobby toward the lifts, noticing every one of the various citizens of the city, from the hylotl behind the information desk to the novakid, geeking out over the informational map. He did enjoy coming here.  Despite the unflappable facade, he did always enjoy seeing so many different species cooperate for something greater. But he couldn’t linger.  He was expected. The main terminal for the lifts was a large round room with different doors, and everyone seemed to be in there, but they were waiting for different ones than he was.  The lift to the Council Chamber was a private one, one that he was able to step in almost immediately and ride to his destination. The lobby of the Council Chamber was very simple, a plain cubical room, with a door that led to the titular room itself.  There was security, naturally, but as soon as they saw Timaeus, they waved him through, allowing him to step into the round room. Seven seats arrayed in a circle, around a table with an opening and  gap in the center of the circle for someone else to step in, and the seven seated beings were arguing furiously. “...cannot possibly be considering this proposal!” one of the councilors roared, standing over his desk as he glowered at all of the other councilmen in their immaculate robes.  He was an older man, with dark skin and wispy white hair.  “The USCM are an organization of tyrants and sadists!” “What other choice do we have, Councilor Adams?” a human female answered, lighter-skinned, though middle-aged and grey-haired.  “Do I need to show you the tape again?” “Once was enough,” sighed Councilor Adams, falling backward into his seat heavily.  “Millions of lives lost, twice that many doomed unless they can escape the planet in time… we cannot negotiate with them with the amount of nonhuman life in this city.” Councilor Critias, the councilor representing the Terra Stella Peacekeeping Corps, who happened to be an apex like him, noticed his presence and stood up. “Fellow councilors, perhaps we can come to an agreement on what to do in this situation now that our guest has arrived,” he motioned for Timaeus to stand in the center.  “This is Timaeus, one of our Research and Development officers, and I believe he has had some contact with the two beings mentioned in the message.” A small amount of alarm shot through Timaeus as he heard that.  There was no doubt in his mind who “the two beings” were. “Good afternoon, honored councilors,” he inclined his head respectfully as he stepped into the middle.  “You summoned me?” “We did, Timaeus,” Adams sighed, and he held out a hand toward one of the other councilors expectantly.  “We have received a… message.  An ultimatum, to be more specific, from the USCM.” The other councilor, a green hylotl who looked completely shell-shocked, passed Adams a remote with a shaking fin. “You… had best see it for yourself.” Adams clicked a button on it, and on a screen that was posted above the path to the lobby, a screen came to life.  A man was sitting on a simple rotating chair in the camera, and he was looking at the camera with barely-concealed distaste.  He was wearing a white uniform, with golden epaulets on each shoulder.  His jaw was square, his face young, his eyes cool and grey, his cheeks hollow, and his aura unforgiving. “To the High Council of the city of Terra Stella,” the man said, his voice the only thing that showed his age, and even then, it couldn’t have been older than forty-five.  “I am Admiral Charles Drogun of the USCM.” The man named “Drogun” rose from his seat and gestured to his side.  Behind his chair, out in the vastness of space, was a planet.  From first glance, it appeared to be entirely an aquatic planet, though there were polar ice caps that were visible. “Behold planet four of the Delta Tertius stellar system.  If you take the time to look up this planet in your records, you will find that it is a planet that was colonized by the hylotl race, and if my information is up to date, then Councilman Rakiga, this must be your homeworld.” Timaeus glanced at the hylotl councilman,  who had his eyes clenched shut and was quivering from head to toe. What in the… “Behold the Valkyrie,” the admiral continued, and the screen shifted to reveal an absolutely monstrous battlestation.  The camera was clearly mounted on a regular ship, as it panned around it at an incredibly slow rate to show the battlestation in its entirety.  It appeared to be a large, rectangular ship, but at the center of its front face, there was a large round indentation, with what was very clearly a laser-emitter of massive scale.  On each side were several hangars, from which Timaeus knew the fighter-ships would be docked, as well as several places for the larger capital ships as well.  Also noticeable were the large afterburners and engines on the back and smaller ones one the sides of the battlestation, to allow it to move and maneuver as best its size would allow. “This is the weapon with which the USCM will strike down all of its enemies.  Completely impregnable to any external penetration, whether by projectile, laser, or missile.  The result of years of research and construction.  And now, I would like to give you a demonstration of its offensive capabilities.” The camera switched to the admiral again, who was watching the planet from his viewing room. “There are a documented nine-billion, three-hundred-forty-eight million, six-hundred-twenty-two hylotl who call this planet their home,” Timaeus felt revulsion as it was dawning on him what was about to happen.  But what was worse was the admiral’s satisfied smile as he waited.  “I know it is rather hard to wrap your head around that many beings, especially if you’ve never met them, but I am sure Councilman Rakiga’s reaction will suffice.” The admiral raised a communicator to his lips. “You may fire when ready.” At once, they could hear a dull roar as the ship prepared to fire its weapon.  The admiral had nothing to say, choosing instead to stare with rapt attention at the planet. It felt a lot longer than it actually took.  After several seconds of charging, the dull roar intensified, and from the laser emitter down below, a massive beam of golden energy blasted out of the ship and struck the planet dead on, perilously close to one of the ice-caps. The effect was immediate.  Clouds were pushed away, the closest shores of the ice cap all but vanished, and Timaeus, even from this great distance, could see the tsunamis forming from the point of impact. “You perhaps are wondering why I didn’t choose to simply destroy the planet,” Drogun continued.  “The reason for that, of course, is quite simple,” the admiral turned back to the camera.  “The weapon was only fired at ten percent capacity.  Enough to boil the water, melt a large portion of the ice-caps, and irreversibly damage the planet’s ecosystem.” A report appeared on one of the sides of the screens, clearly a life-scan report, and the number was plummeting.  In mere seconds, over 300 million had vanished, and the number continued to drop. “All beings in the immediate radius of one-hundred miles from the point of impact were instantly killed, the surrounding four-thousand miles will see devastation from the abrupt rise in temperature, as well as the current from the waves above and the rapid push of water away from the impact point as well.  The planet’s average water temperature will increase by over twenty degrees Celsius, meaning that in a few short years, the ice caps will be but a memory, and no organism currently alive within the sea will be able to survive.  Short term estimated loss of life, 2,572,000,000.  Long-term, assuming no one leaves the planet?  Total annihilation.” His satisfied smile vanished. “I am not without mercy, councilors.  I wished to send a message, but I will not take needless lives.  The hylotl who haven’t yet perished have approximately six months to find a ship and get off the planet before it becomes uninhabitable to their race.  The Valkyrie is capable of far greater damage, including wiping the planet on which your wretched city is built to pieces, but there is no need for a senseless massacre.” A graphic appeared on-screen of a strange vessel.  It was large, white, and resembled a palace, with golden towers and patches of purple metal decorated with stars. Timaeus recognized it instantly. “We have uncovered this ship, and are quite aware that it has been making frequent visits to your city.  Its design matches that of no species, and its energy output readings are… unnatural.” The admiral had a look of complete distaste cross his face as he said that. “It is traveling with a human Sparrow-class vessel.  Our demands are simple, councilors.  You have one month to take the alien being in control of that white ship into your custody and turn it over into our care.  If you are faithful with this, we will allow your city to continue its existence, and we will even refrain from interfering with your day-to-day life.” The admiral’s mouth became a snarl. “You have, as I said, one month to make your choice.  Make sure it is the right one.” And then the video cut. For what it was worth, Timaeus was secretly quite glad that years of apex conditioning had helped him learn to keep his emotions in check.  His lack of an expression could prove to be an advantage.  The councilors wouldn’t be able to read his reaction. “You were brought in here because we know you have had extended contact with the visitor and her human companion,” stated Councilor Adams, an impassive expression on his face. “I have,” Timaeus dipped his head.  “Though I’m afraid they are off-planet at the moment.” “And you have no idea when they will return?” Adams asked. “None,” Timaeus shook his head.  “They come and go as they please.” “I see,” Adams grunted.  “And you have no idea where they are?” “None,” Timaeus lied. In truth, he knew exactly where they were.  Jack had attempted to keep their location on the down-low, as apparently someone had gotten into their ship and planted coordinates to a system in the Delta Sector, but what they didn’t realize was the Starmap he had installed on the Equestrian vessel was fitted with a tracking device. Twilight Sparkle was the first of an entirely new intelligent species to appear on the galactic landscape.  He wasn’t going to simply allow them to run around the galaxy unmonitored. “I see,” Adams watched him carefully.  “Very well then.  You may go.” “Sir?” Timaeus surveyed him just as close as he was sure Adams was watching him.  Something’s wrong.  “Are you certain?” “Completely.  You are dismissed, Timaeus.  You may return to your work.” “By your command, sir,” Timaeus inclined his head, turned tail, and marched out. The USCM’s ultimatum aside, there was too much to ignore.  The Council were acting strangely.  Adams hadn’t spoken for them the way he had that day before. They must be… dealt with, he thought.  It seems the Council are going to need to be neutralized. But that would have to wait.  Preparations would have to be made, and with the USCM ultimatum hanging over their head, he would need to be quick about it. Jack’s throat was completely hoarse by this point.  He had yelled out in frustration so many times by this point, yet the bone dragon was resisting every one of his ideas. His sniper shot had been blocked, every time he shot a grenade it was batted away… He was running out of options.  And Twilight was still down.  She would have thought of something by now, he knew it. But he was back to being on his own again.  All he had were guns. Wait… Guns, and something else! Well, it wasn’t a gun, but at this point, nothing else was working.  Desperate times called for desperate measures. With a grunt of irritation, he threw his rifle away, coming to rest next to Twilight’s unconscious form, and pulled out the matter manipulator. The dragon glared at him from its spot on the ground, but then roared its challenge to him, daring him to attack it.  It could piece itself back together.  What could he hope to do? Frankly, it was a miracle he had managed to avoid getting hit at all.  Well, outside of the time Twilight had pulled him away from a returned-grenade… Maybe he wasn’t as lucky as he thought. But at this point, luck wasn’t going to help him. He raised the matter manipulator to eye-level and took aim. “Work, damn it,” he muttered just as he lined up his shot right where he wanted. The bone dragon was just watching him now, perhaps curious to see what his new strategy was.  Either way, what had it to fear? A blue beam shot out of his manipulator at a high speed as he pulled the trigger, grabbing hold of several chunks of the dragon’s face.  And with a yell of exertion, Jack wrenched the manipulator back over his shoulder, as if pulling a rope tied to a boulder. With a screeching crunch, the manipulator fractured the bone plate, causing the dragon to let out a roar as the top of its sull was broken open to reveal the shifting mass of black within. Not waiting for another moment, Jack whipped around and fired another shot, aiming directly at the black mass before the dragon could react. This time, thank fuck, he connected. And with a yank, he pulled the black mass right out of the dragon’s skull.  The moment it was pulled free, the bone structure collapsed, falling to the ground with numerous thuds. The black mass, whatever it was, was struggling against the hold of the light of the matter manipulator, but it wasn’t going anywhere.  And now that it was beaten, it wasn’t going to be causing any more damage. With a quick flick of the compression setting on his improvised weapon, the field the black mass was confined to imploded, and with a sickening squelch, the mass was crushed and destroyed. It was over.  The bone dragon was beaten. And with a sigh of exhaustion, Jack collapsed, the exertion in his legs and his body in general finally catching up to him. It really is a nice planet when you’re not being attacked by a bone dragon, he thought dimly, watching the starry sky above him as he lay in the grass, trying not to fall asleep.  Sure, the planet’s atmospheric composition was breathable, but he was worried about that structure and its inhabitants nearby. There was no way they hadn’t heard the dragon.  And unless they were some of the slowest beings ever, there were likely two or three of them that had been keeping an eye on their battle. Whether or not they were friendly was not something he wanted to chance. “SAIL,” he mumbled inside of his helmet. “prepare to beam us aboard.” “PREPARING TO TRANSPORT.  STAND-BY.” Jack chose the opportunity to retrieve his weapons and situate himself next to Twilight’s unconscious body.  The sooner they were off this planet, the better.  The bone dragon had been the least of their concerns. “ERROR.  TRANSPORTATION IMPOSSIBLE.  SIGNAL CANNOT BE ESTABLISHED.” Signal can’t be established? Jack thought, alarmed.  He leapt to his feet.  Transporter-jammers were the only thing that could stop them from trying to transport in a clearing like this.  But where were they? A flash of light caught his eye in the forest around them, and his heart sank.  They had been found.  Out of the trees stepped several beings, humanoid in appearance.  All of them were wearing a standard issue of armor, all of them were marching toward them… And all of them had, branded on their shoulder-plates, the letters “USCM.”