BETH

“Incoming,” Elzrig said, peaking his blue colored head inside the chamber.

Beth rubbed her eyes and stretched. She was well rested. The smell of dragon, her snoring companions and her bed made out of fluffy blankets, it created the perfect circumstances for a good rest.

“Rahgon. Outer swarms are detecting incoming ships,” Elzrig said.

There was a grunt on Beth’s side and she rolled around. Rahgon got up on her thick limbs.

“The king is marshalling all swarms into space,” Elzrig said. “War is here.”

Rahgon stretched her muscles body, ending with cracking her neck. “Elzrig, fly with me.”

“Beth, get up. We are moving to the top side,” Tern said, floating by her side. “Freet, are the households notified?”

“Yes. All our forces are rallying, all households are taking defensive positions. And following the activity of the dragon swarms,” Freet said. “Just in. The scopes are showing incoming ships. Not just ships. Households. Another clan is invading us. No wait. Two. Three clans are approaching. A thousand households.”

A thousand households. A household was an omf starship, which included dozens, if not a hundreds of omfs and their companions. A thousand of those meant a big invasion force. She got up on her feet, she was already in her overalls and only had to zip it up.

Rahgon and Elzrig flapped their wings and flew up the chamber’s private exit, through the gap which opened in the ceiling. Freet flew after them.

“Around me,” Tern said, underneath the gap.

“Come on.” Beth helped Leo and Birgitta to their feet. With a trickle of sweetness into her mouth, she grabbed her mace and rested it on her shoulder. The Branch of Compansionship’s holster was attached to her belt.

Tern’s bubble rose up around them, giving them a protective atmosphere, before he started the ascent.

“Did Freet just say a thousand households?” Leo asked. “All that ruckus.”

Beth nodded. She looked into her mind, her water deposit was full to the brim. But she was unsure if it would be enough to win this day. “Maybe a hundred thousand omfs or more. With their companions and any alien allegiances they have made.”

“It’s a show of force. They mean business. They are not here to negotiate. Not a chance. They want the planet, they want to destroy the Celeste Clan,” Birgitta said.

Through Rahgon’s chamber and its private ceiling path, they arrived at the mountain’s blessing and turned straight up, Tern lifting them up through it. It was crowded. Dragons of all colors and sizes were on the ascent. Puffs of flames were exchanged, tempers were short. Dragon roars echoed through the cylindrical shaft.

A very particular green colored dragon flapped its wings and passed them, giving them a harsh glare. Wyrhgon.

Beth snarled back.

“The talkative brother is also sent out. Interesting, I thought since he had a better position by the king’s side he would sit this one out,” Birgitta said.

Leo pointed at all the passing dragons. “I am pretty sure no one is sitting this one out. If they fail to protect the planet, what happens then? They need the mud and its mountains. This is their home.”

“You are being observant! I knew it. You are not an alien hater or self absorbent after all,” Birgitta said.

Beth sighed. “Don’t get ahead of yourselves.”

“We are leaving it at that.” Leo fiddled with his hand terminal. “The shuttle is warming up, we can fly at once.”

“Great,” Beth said.

“Does Leo hate me?” Tern said. “Leo, do you hate me? ANAL PROBE IS WARMING UP.”

“We leave it at that, I said!” Leo said. “Tern, I have opened the shuttle’s rear hatch and positioned it so you will just have to fly us straight in.”

Light started seeping into the mountain’s blessing from above. Then they broke the surface. Beth shielded her eyes from the bright sky. No clouds covered the system’s sun. A fast moving and dotted cloud came from nowhere and suddenly the sky turned dark. But it was not a cloud. It was a swarm of dragons.

“There are so many of them. I hope it will be enough,” Beth said.

The shuttle stood ready and its rear hatch was open, just as Leo had told them. Tern flew them straight in and disengaged the bubble at entry. Beth scrambled to her seat behind Leo and beside Birgitta, keeping her mace close at hand. Leo jacked in and the shuttle rose off the mountain’s surface.

The dragons were split into several swarms, but one of the swarms were larger than the others. The green colored Wyrhgon lead it. Rahgon and Elzrig were flying together but in a different swarm, with Freet between them.

“After Rahgon,” Tern said from his hollow.

The shuttle shot through the sky and away from the mountain, following Rahgon’s swarm.

This would be a battle of attrition, Beth would need to spend her sweetness carefully.

“Do we even have weapons on the shuttle?” Birgitta asked.

“No,” Leo said.

“So what are we trying to achieve here?” Birgitta said. “I am not keen on being blown up.”

Beth pulled at the cord on the mace’s handle, it was still attached firmly. “Get me and Tern close to one of their ships, one of the households. Then fly the hell out of here. This is not a warship, we will not be targeted or prioritised. They have thousands of dragons to contend with.”

“But how will you come back, if we leave you?” Leo said. “I have designed some awesome patterns and which only someone with these kinds of controls are able to perform.”

“No. We will solve that. You just have to go back to the household. No, return to the mountain. That will be the most secure place. Our household will be locked in battle,” Beth said.

Leo steered the shuttle up and behind Rahgon and Elzrig. Rahgon turned and nodded at them. They would prove their worth.

“Yes, stay behind these thick dragons,” Birgitta said, she dug her fingers into the seat’s armrests. “No laser beam will cut through those scales.”

Leo pulled up a new view onto the main view screen. A closer look on the incoming bulbous households. The black spheres rolled over each other, adapting the households into new configurations.

“Look.” Beth pointed. “Tern, are they going into battle mode? I didn’t know they had one.”

“To easier ward off incoming attacks and also to provide their own weapons with the best possible angles without overexposing them,” Tern explained. “They will have rays of scatter and void torpedoes.”

“What are those?” Beth asked.

“The scatter laser I have a module for, remember the incident back on the Au-delà? Similar to that, but bigger. Void torpedoes create micro black holes which suck matter into them and spit it out somewhere in the Universe,” Tern said.

Beth turned to her companion. “Why did you not mention this to their king? This is important.”

“Did we attend the same meeting with the king? They were not going to heed our words. They are shortsighted and condescending, and only caring about might. We have little say in anything unless they think us mighty and which they don’t,” Tern said.

Beth nodded. “Sorry, you are correct. I didn’t mean to raise my voice.”

“Don’t worry about that. Worry about what comes next,” Tern said.

“Split the line and charge when they open fire. Let’s move as close as possible before it starts. Spinning maneuvers to avoid threats and give each other plenty of room,” Elzrig said. “Our weapon platforms stand ready to add supportive fire.”

Rahgon roared, addressing the swarm they flew in. “Our flames melt their hulls, our claws shred them to pieces, our teeth crushes them!”

“Brace for battle maneuvers,” Leo said.

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Beth put the mace in her lap and clenched her jaw.

“Inertia meshes are activated at full, but I cannot guarantee that they will keep us safe with the maneuvers I am planning to make,” Leo said.

A speck of green sparked into existence on the surface of each enemy household. The speck grew, sharpened and its color grew distinct.

“Leo, always keep some form of matter between us and the expanding green energy. Our hull is not as strong as their scales,” Tern said.

“I will keep that in mind,” Leo said, sweat prickled on his forehead.

Beth gripped her mace tighter.

A speck of green discharged, turning into a laser beam which travelled the distance between the two fleets in an instance. A dragon of a different swarm was struck, but on impact a bubble of the same green energy was created and expanded outwards. Slicing and burning at everything in its path. Three dragons died instantly and another four were injured, but they were able to escape the energy wave. The expanding wave stopped growing after a certain size and faded. But the households kept firing.

“Swarm, maneuver!” Elzrig commanded.

The swarm split into several smaller groups and distance was put between them. They charged the enemy, spinning and avoiding the incoming discharges.

Leo steered their shuttle right behind Rahgon, who was the largest dragon in this swarm. “Tern, do you have the specifics on those scattering energy bubbles? Speed of expansion and final size? We might need to outrun them.”

“Clever idea, Leo!” Birgitta said.

Tern splashed the requested numbers onto the main view screen.

“I will design some flight patterns,” Leo said.

For every discharge of a ray of scatter, dragons died or were injured, but they kept the charge and the distance closed quickly.

Rahgon was big and heavy, but she also flew the fastest through the vacuum. How their wings functioned in vacuum was still a mystery.

There was a small explosion on the left flank of their swarm and which transformed into a whirlpool of black swirls. Two dragons were sucked into the synthetic black hole before it closed. That was a void torpedo.

From the moons all throughout the system, mountain sized cannons discharged their payloads, which exploded in corrosive and burning liquid fire on impact. Weaponized dragon fire. They ate through the enemy households’ hulls. A cheer echoed through the swarms.

“By the mountain’s blessing!” Rahgon roared and discharged her fire at the closest household, before flying in close enough to begin clawing at it.

Leo kept their shuttle close after her tail. Fragments of the hull flew past them. When the gap was cut down, the dragons had gained the advantage.

“Closer to the center of the cluster of households.” Beth pointed.

They flew along the surface of a household, skimming its hull. More dragons from the swarm came close enough and engaged the enemy. Pieces of debris and sliced up dragons floated around them. For every household that fell to the dragons’ might, dozens of their individuals were killed or injured.

“Tern, we are moving,” Beth said and leaped to the rear airlock. She stepped into her vac suit and with the sweetness on her tongue, her skin flowed into metal. “You leave the battlefield, Leo. Promise.”

“Roger, mam,” Leo said.

Tern activated his segmented armor before the bubble came up and around her. The airlock ran its cycle and the outer door opened. Tern flew them out.

-

A dragon claw had already punctured the household she targeted. Tern flew them inside and put them down. As the bubble disengaged, Beth leaped forward with her mace held high.

Maybe it was the shock of them boarding their household, but something made the omf hesitate as her mace slammed down on the first alien orb. The omf shattered, it had no time to raise its shield or armor, and the floor underneath cracked. Or rather it was the walls, since the household’s gravity was shifted as usual.

Beth grabbed lower on the cord and spun up her mace before launching it. Another omf cracked into pieces when it was hit. She tugged the mace back and swung it over her head, striking the head of an unknown alien companion.

But their hesitation wore off. The omf came to and focused on the two-man boarding party. Tern’s bubble came up and shielded her from an omf’s scatter beam. With the bubble around them, Tern rose and flew up and over the household and across the spheres.

“To the gravity core,” Tern said. “Smashing it will screw them over.”

Beth nodded, spinning her mace lightly, always ready. “Clever, Tern.”

Rays of scatter and other weaponry struck Tern’s bubble, but it held fast.

They landed in the center sphere and the bubble disengaged. Sweetness flooded her mouth and she leaped forward again, launching her mace at the closest target. She tugged the mace back and prepared to swing it back again, but something struck her and she stumbled backwards, crashing into the wall. Her vac suit sparked as the scatter beam had breached it, but her metal skin underneath was unharmed. Tern’s discharged his own scatter beam at the culprit.

Beth got up on her feet and grabbed for her mace, but it was lying several meters away. It must have been launched as she had been hit.

An omf crashed into her, its scatter beam discharged over and over again, damaging her vac suit. A burning sensation shot out from her skin.

“Fuck.” Beth grabbed around the omf and pressed with all her might. The omf’s body gave away and shattered into a million pieces when her hand came together. She let go as the omf crumbled between her hands. Her vac suit was leaking badly, but she had a few minutes left before it became constraining.

Another omf accelerated towards her and she offset her feet, letting the sweetness provide her with strength.

A dragon’s head came through a rent in the hull and caught the omf between its rows of teeth. The dragon chewed twice before gulping down the pieces. It turned to her.

“How are things here?” Rahgon asked, still chewing on smaller and tougher pieces of the omf.

Beth nodded. “It’s going well. How about you?”

“This battle will go on for many days,” Rahgon. “Much death. Many dragons will fall.”

“Watch out!” Tern yelled.

Four more omf orbs flew into the chamber, at the sight of her they discharged their scatter rays, sending expanding circles of green energy. Beth ducked underneath the first couple of waves, but more kept coming and at different heights and angles. With the sweetness flooding her mouth she pushed away from the floor and rolled in the air avoiding the beam that flew right above floor level but not high enough to get her vac suit’s helmet sliced off. Another set of waves were discharges and their pattern was too tight, she would not be able to dodge them.

Tern flew in from the side and placed himself between the expanding energy waves and her. His segmented armor was already up, but he raised the bubble shield also. The bubble shield tanked the wave attacks.

“Thank you,” Beth said.

“Don’t worry. And here,” Tern said, using a gripping module to hand over her mace. “Charge, shield drop and stop?”

Beth nodded and held a strong grip on the mace. “Charge, shield drop and stop.”

Beth turned. Rahgon’s head was still protruding through the rent, the dragon was chewing on a new omf.

Tern floated forward and Beth kept her legs bent, ready for the moment. Tern stopped just before crashing into the enemies and dropped the shield. Beth launched herself and swung the mace. She struck one, which was sent into Rahgon’s waiting mouth, who bit down, shattering it. Her mace came down on the second one, slamming it into the floor. She threw the mace at the third omf before throwing herself into a roll, avoiding the fourth omf’s beam attack and the distance was cut. She kicked the fourth omf and Rahgon caught it in her mouth, it shattered into pieces when she chewed down on it.

Rahgon nodded at her, looking pleased.

With his gripping module Tern held the third omf fixed and with another module he discharged rounds of liquid plasma. The second omf had dislodged itself from the floor and flew towards Tern, charging its weapons.

Beth strode forward with the sweetness powerering her leg muscles. “Not so fast!” She plucked the omf from the air by grabbing at a dent which her mace had created in it. She turned and threw it away with a roar. Rahgon’s mouth was ready and the omf shattered between her giant teeth.

“Beth!” Tern said. “Over here.”

“I have to go. Good luck,” Beth said.

“Happy hunting, human.” Rahgon pulled her head back through the rent.

Beth came around the bend, picking up her mace in mid stride.

The gravity core floated above the floor and it looked like a simple, hovering black ball. Nothing looked hooked into it. But the physical pull grew stronger as she neared the ball.

“Stop, right there,” a voice leaked into the mental channel.

Beth turned.

Argus. It was Chieftain Argus, the Chieftain of their former clan, the Devou Clan.

“This household does not bear the markings of a Devou ship,” Beth said, widening the placement of her feet and gripping her mace tighter.

“The Devou Clan was shattered because of your childish actions. This is that wake. We do what we can in this world to survive,” Argus said, his segmented armor was already online and there was a light shimmer around him. Was it an invisible bubble shield?

“Stand down, Argus,” Tern said.

“The young ones are always so naive,” Argus said.

Tern charged.

Argus discharged an energy weapon, which launched Tern out from the household, through hull and metal. Argus charged at her.

Beth stood firm as the omf crashed into her, and was not knocked over. They struggled against each other. She tried swinging her mace, but the omf was too close and too nimble to be hit. It was as if her mace slid off the invisible bubble. He backed off and crashed into her again, discharging his energy weapon, poking holes in her already leaking suit. They rolled across the floor.

The omf was stalling and she had little time left.

She roared and managed to get away from him. She spun up her mace and launched it. The gravity core shattered and the pull to the floor vanished. Both she and Argus floated off the floor. She turned back to him, as Tern’s bubble came up around her. With a smile she raised her mace high.

Argus fled.

They couldn’t chase after him.

“Good work,” Tern said as he maneuvered them through the damaged household. “I never liked Argus, but I never thought him to be the omf that changed allegiance that easily.”

“He might not have had a choice. If this bigger clan forced him. You heard what he said, ‘we do what we can in this world to survive’,” Beth said.

The omf crew scattered and flew in different directions, they were obviously in distress, trying their best to stay alive. The desperation in their movements surprised her. They were in full panic mode.

“Don’t feel pity for them. They would have done the exact same thing towards us if given the opportunity,” Tern said. “Clan wars are nothing new, even though they are extremely wasteful. Especially wasteful against life.”

“But you don’t feel anything? They are your kind,” Beth said.

“Of course I do! But they will follow their Chieftain’s orders into their deaths just as much as we do,” Tern said. “It’s just how it has always played out.”

“Beth, Tern!” Leo said through the mental channel. “We need you down here. The households are dropping surface armies and they are assaulting the mountains. Hurry!”

Beth bit down as they exited the household. It was ruined and turned into rubble, the gravity core being offline and not able to hold the damaged spheres together anymore. They entered the battlefield in space. It was enormous. Rubble of households and bodies floating all over. Skirmishes took place between it all. The battle stretched far longer than she was able to see. It was too much.

“Beth!” Leo yelled. “Please.”

“I am taking us down again,” Tern said. “Prepare for landfall.”

Beth sighed. “Leo, we are coming.”