Two. Twenty-One: Neon God
Two. Twenty-One
Neon God
The doors to Aldurmaax’s palace deep in the heart of dragon territory thundered open, the booming of wood against stone echoing in the grand hall that stretched down at 5-degree angle to the great throne, the shrine of De’mah standing over it. The Equestrian Honor Guard bowed as Aldurmaax and N’por ‘Tumai walked down the hall, the Sangheili shipmaster looking at each and every pony that dedicated their lives to him.
“These Equestrians stayed loyal to the Dragon Empire and his people. They will be good warriors with the enhancements you can provide, my lord” Aldurmaax said to N’por.
‘Tumai nodded, studying the armor that the Dragons had adorned these Equestrians in. It was as ornamental and decorative as Sangheili armor, with a fiery orange sheen. The two leaders of the Empire reached the throne at the end of the hall, Aldurmaax taking his place on the large stone. N’por ascended the stairs that had been assembled which lead to a throne perfectly sized for the shipmaster, sitting on the cold brick.
Activating the voice amplifier built into his armor N’por established the uplink to the Zealous Faith’s broadcasting unit, which would signal his speech to every radio within the country. “Attention all citizens and soldiers of the Empire of the Dragons! This is N’por ‘Tumai, the Sangheili shipmaster of the vessel Zealous Faith! On this planet are a race of beings known as ‘humans’. They are weak, vile, and disgusting creatures! A stain upon the grand fabric of the universe! I have come to help your planet eradicate this vermin, but I may only help you should you be willing! And should you bow before I, and your Dragon god Aldurmaax!” N’por declared.
Standing from his throne and looking down at the honor guard N’por continued, shouting “you ALL will be the instruments in my hands! When you face the human soldiers on the battlefield, show devotion! Show faith! Show courage! Show honor! So that the humans may see what it is like to be a creature worthy of respect and glory before they die! NEVER show them mercy! And do NOT hesitate to kill all that you see!”
“FIGHT and DIE for the honor and glory of the Dragon Empire!”
On the bridge of the Faith N’por ‘Tumai stood, having taken his ship out to the many dragon training bases they had built for the Equestrians loyal to them and their cause to take a casual look. With such large numbers of Equestrians coming to their side there were simply not enough bases to train them all, but the dragons were doing their best.
They will make truly outstanding warriors when I take them all back to the Covenant N’por thought, settling in his command chair and looking at the displays.
Where are you hiding, humans?
It had been several days since they had engaged the human vessel, and they had not heard of hide nor tail of the vile creatures since then. N’por suspected they abandoned the planet like cowards, and felt that was reasonable to assume. With the humans gone, they would only have the Equestrians not allied with them to destroy.
Too bad, really. It’s always enjoyable to kill humans the Shipmaster mused.
As the Faith rounded a mountain the Shipmaster spied smoke billowing from a dragon training base, several human dropships bustling about the occupied base. The human ship was there, too, providing overwatch. At the sight of the mighty Covenant vessel the human ship turned to face them, their shipmaster no doubt arming their weapons and adjusting their heading.
Well, seems my wishes were granted.
“You know what to do my charges; alert the High Lord of this transgression and prepare to for battle. Arm all plasma turrets and defense lasers!” N’por commanded, watching as the human vessel turned at the sight of the Zealous Faith and began moving to a suitable combat position.
You are choosing only the spot that you will die in, humans.
“Alert detachment forces! Tell them to prepare to be deployed to the ground!” Shipmaster ‘Tumai ordered.
The human ship struck first in this battle, their kinetic strike cannon discharging. The hot iron slug bored into the Faith’s shields, doing naught to her. N’por laughed at their display, but nonetheless knew that their kinetic weapon was extremely lethal against an unshielded target, so he knew they would have to eliminate the human ship once and for all.
“Fire plasma turrets! Target critical portions of the human vessel!” N’por commanded. Red fire ignited and soared through the air, streaking toward the enemy ship. Turning to evade the human vessel fired back, their primitive missiles hammering the Faith’s shields like a drum. The charge faltered before the shield regenerated to full strength.
In a moment, the Zealous Faith’s bow camera flashed black as the High Lord Aldurmaax soared toward the human ship, the enemy firing their defensive cannons at the now-armored Dragon lord. His fiery orange armor glittered in the midday sun as he banked and dived to avoid human fire, spouting jets of fire when he could.
“REE’TEEMAH! RAK TORAI!” Aldurmaax thundered, the Faith’s translator immediately coming back with what the High Lord said. “Suffer for what you have done!”
We will ensure that they do, High Lord.
Following the human ship’s turn the Zealous Faith opened fire again, the plasma projector generating a beam that slashed across the sky, missing the intended target. With the shields down, the humans capitalized on the opportunity with their kinetic weapon. The heavy slug shearing off the right side round of the bow. Aldurmaax briefly turned to survey the damage to the Faith, to ensure it was intact, before getting back to his attack. That brief moment with his back turned allowed the human ship to fire one of its small missiles onto him, the explosion cracking his energy shields and throwing him to the deck of the human vessel. Climbing to his feet Aldurmaax took to the sky to let the Faith open fire again, taking the heat off of him.
The plasma turrets spewed forth again, sending bolts of fire through the sky again, the superheated plasma impacting on the hull of the human vessel, boiling the steel open. With the Faith’s shields down to fire, the humans returned the favor, missiles striking the hull of the mighty Covenant warship. Damage was minimal, but N’por took it all as a personal insult, like the humans had the gall to strike the property of the Covenant Empire.
With the Zealous Faith’s weapons recharging Aldurmaax dove back into the battle, landing near the bridge of the human vessel. Roaring in his Dragon tongue, the High Lord reared his massive hands back, hammering on the bridge with the trademark fury of the Div. The hull was apparently too strong for Aldurmaax though, as he could not break it.
Then, as if they had heard the battle, several dozen other Dragons arrived, diving straight for the human vessel. N’por smiled, leaning back in the command chair. He was eager to see the Dragons perform against such a large aerial target. The humans might fell a few of them, but their sheer power and numbers would make the inferior species succumb.
As the new arrivals approached the human vessel, Aldurmaax looked up, immediately bolting into the air. The High Lord was about to spew his magical fire when he was rammed from behind by one of the other Dragons, knocking him to the hull of the human ship.
“What is this?!” Shipmaster ‘Tumai demanded, asking only himself.
“TRAIMAIS! AK’TORI TRAIMAIS!” Aldurmaax thundered, taking to the sky again as two Dragons took off after him. The others immediately began flying straight after the Zealous Faith.
“Traitors. Heathenous traitors” the translation software repeated in Sangheili. Not understanding the treachery the humans had perpetrated but understanding the weight of the situation Shipmaster ‘Tumai ordered the helmsmen to push the Faith full speed ahead, intent on ramming the human vessel right out of the sky. The humans unleashed a full torrent of missiles and turret fire, the weapons hammering the Zealous Faith’s shields. N’por didn’t dare drop the shields to return fire; he knew what kind of magical power the Dragons possessed, and didn’t want his ship to face that.
Engines firing at full power the human vessel began to accelerate towards the port side of the Zealous Faith, the Covenant ship missing by mere feet but already turning. The BattleNet showed the human ship rising up above the Faith. As she turned, the Covenant ship was suddenly slammed with a mighty blow; the shields dropped instantly, and the displays showed Dragons landing all over the hull. “STATUS REPORT!” N’por barked, the operations officer immediately turning.
“Their kinetic weapon struck our shield at the thin point on top of our vessel, smashing right through the shield, excellency!”
“Vile beasts. Fire the plasma turrets; eliminate these traitorous Div!” N’por commanded, standing from the chair. Aldurmaax hadn’t seemed surprised at the sudden arrival of the opposing Dragons, but he had been enraged.
As he watched the plasma turrets fire, N’por realized he had made a terrible error. When the Covenant weapons warmed, they drew power from the shield generators; both to generate their own power, and to ensure the plasma bolts and beams don’t explode inside the shield. With the shield down, the human vessel was able to open fire, supplementing the damage the Dragons were doing.
“AGGH! ARM VOIDDRIVE, TAKE US INTO THE BEYOND!” N’por thundered, getting looks from his officers.
“A void jump, IN ATMOSPHERE?! Your excellency, such a thing has never been attempted!”
“Do NOT question my judgement!”
The officers did as told and a black hole opened in front of the Zealous Faith, the shields struggling to charge again with so much power being taken from them. Most of the Dragons scattered at the sight of the unknown portal, the Faith dipping in, closing the hole behind them as they finished. In typical void-portal fashion the sudden tearing of space caused an explosive reaction in atmosphere, generating a massive ball of energy that crumbled all it touched.
“What happened back there?! What treachery did those Dragons commit upon us?!” N’por demanded, standing in the Master Room of Aldurmaax’s roost. The High Lord seethed with anger, not only at his own kind, assuredly, but also N’por for retreating from the engagement.
“The ancient Dragon Code... It speaks to all Div. It tells us to serve with unwavering dedication and honor. To never retreat, and to fall upon the field of battle only with the bodies of your enemies gripped in your claws...” Aldurmaax started, deriding N’por for retreating. “It also says that when our race is bested in war, to immediately bow at the feet of the species who defeated us, and serve them in all their interests. Some Dragons followed this tenet of the Code, and are now serving the humans.”
“Why didn’t all of your race turn to the humans, then?” N’por inquired.
“Because the Code demands a fair war! The humans did not wage a fair war against us! They used their cowardice, hiding behind ships of steel and sticks of fire to fell our mighty warriors!” Aldurmaax explained.
“Interesting” N’por commented, folding his arms over his chest.
“Why did you retreat, my lord?” Aldurmaax asked, the heavy question that N’por’s honor did not want to face, let alone answer. He was piqued with curiosity over the Dragon Code; it’s tenet of never retreating was the same as the Sangheili honor code, but even Aldurmaax had to know that sometimes codes and traditions had to be bent.
“The situation demanded it. Your traitors and the human vessel were rendering unacceptable levels of damage against the Zealous Faith. In the interest of survival, I enacted a tactical retreat from the combat area to have repairs made to the Faith. We were lucky, if I dare to say; that Void jump in atmosphere was quite the risky venture” Shipmaster ‘Tumai declared.
Aldurmaax huffed, blowing black smoke from his nose that dissipated in the air quickly. “I do not like it. I long to see the humans die by my hands, to see the Div restored to their glory and unity, and to see peace return to Equestria.”
“I did not say you had to like it, only to follow along with it. My power will lead your race to victory against the Equestrians, and the humans” N’por replied.
“The Equestrians...” Aldurmaax said, looking up at the colored glass shrine to De’mah ‘Tokam. “Long have I led my Div with honor and distinction in service of the Princesses. I was anointed leader of Dragonkind when our race lost the original war against the Equestrians, 1,000 years ago, when De’mah lost to the Princesses.”
“Tell me about De’mah, if you will...”
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