Dancing Dragonflies-Redux

Arc 1.5 (b)

/x/

Zhao Mei groaned as she watched the battered remains of the Morningstar being hauled across the sky by the combined strength of the two Muskets and a Brig class DRAGON. Every time the cables screeched when the weight of the jumbo-sized paramail strained at it, the chief mechanic of Arzenal felt a panic attack and imagined the giant crater caused by eighty tons of dragonium-infused steel as it plunged onto the runway. Mei reached into the red lined pockets of her orange overalls and fished out a walkie-talkie before she moaned when she was greeted by a blast of static from the device. She ran a hand through her purple hair tied up in twin buns while her yellow eyes narrowed as she checked for defects. With a sigh, Mei gave up and started to shout at the descending party.

"Maintain your altitudes! The cables will snap if you're not keeping the weight evenly distributed."

From the edge of her vision, a young woman with purple hair in an oversized coat approached while her right sleeve flapped in the warm evening breeze. Beige reptilian wings half her size twitched behind her back as the woman stopped to gape at the descending Morningstar, before she barked out a laugh and waved at Mei. Despite her visible limp and billowing hospital gown, her toned arm and frame still exuded pride when she strode towards the mechanic. Mei turned away from the potential disaster literally shaking in the wind above her, and gave the one-armed woman who towered over her petite frame effortlessly with a smile and nod. Mei's smile however melted away when she saw the fresh bandages on the winged woman's abdomen.

"Your injuries aren't stable yet, Medea," Mei said before her gaze dropped to the winged woman's pelvis. "Where's your tail?"

"They had to chop it off, but Dr Gecko and Riley already working on getting a new one for me," Medea shrugged while she scratched at the plaster over her bandaged left wing.

"Stop doing that, "Mei said while she slapped down Medea's scratching arm. "You'll just make it worse."

"Sure," Medea said before she resumed anyway. "Captain Salia's back from the mission?"

"Yeah," Mei's face broke into a large smile. "Matter of fact, your mom's right behind you."

Medea choked as she felt arms strong as steel wrapped themselves around her chest and squeezed, before she found herself spun around to face the glowering face of her mother. Medea felt a stab of guilt as she saw the bloodshot and puffy eyes of her mother and was about to speak when Salia pressed her head into her shoulder.

"Not a word, Medea." Salia said, her voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. "You're both my pride and joy, as well as the death of me. What mother will I be if I'm not worried sick when I see you hauled back with a limb missing and your life barely hanging by a thread."

"Mom, I-"

"I said, shush!" Salia placed a finger over her daughter's lips, before she cracked a smile. "I am very proud of you, Medea. Your broke through the envelopment, which allowed us to prepare our response rather than walk straight into an enemy trap. Though I wish you weren't Vice Captain, which made it necessary for you to stick your neck out like that."

"Hardly a professional sentiment for a Ragnamail pilot, squadron captain or a settlement governor to express, Mom."

"Yep." Salia said with a laugh. "And I'll deny it to the end if you tell anyone about this, much like how I'd deny every playing dress-up with my own daughter."

Medea blanched, and tried to inch away from her mother and her grin before she felt herself locked in position by Salia's grip on her arm.

"Mom, please. I'm wounded."

"Great," Salia smirked. "I'll bust out my doctor's coat that I bought from Riley."

Mother and daughter stared at each other, while the concrete of the runway rumbled and cracked when the Morningstar was dropped unceremoniously. The Brig Dragon which faltered and allowed the massive machine to slip from the harnesses roared in distress as he circled the crash site, in search for a spot to land. The storm of expletives from Mei captured the attention of the pair as they observed the mechanics mad dash to the crash site to salvage what she can, before they burst into laughter.

"Christ!" Medea said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Chief Mei's outbursts are hilarious, unless they're directed at you."

"I agree, Medea. Now how about-"

"Not putting on that damn magical girl outfit, Mom," Medea said with a long suffering sigh. "End of story."

"Spoilsport," Salia huffed before her expression turned serious. Medea's easy smile evaporated at her mother's switch in demeanour, and her posture stiffened as Salia began to talk shop.

"You're probably aware that I took up rear-guard duty along with Hilda after Naomi Squadron and the refugees were rescued. But has Captain Naomi informed you of what happened to the junkie reinforcements?"

"Yeah," Medea nodded slowly, while she suppressed her urge to view the background drama of the assorted DRAGON and Paramails while they struggled to put out the fire that had engulfed the Morningstar. "Commander Ange used the Space Time Continuum Cannon on the approaching Manaist fleet."

Salia bared her teeth in a vicious smile that sent a shiver up her daughter's spine.

"Oh no, that's hardly the end of it. You see, we're not the only ones who were there. Someone else got greedy, and is about to pay the price."

/x/

Commodore Johanna Lehman stood ramrod straight, her gaze firmly fixed on the hologram that showed the remaining elements of the Enderant Union's invading fleet after they got whipped by the box dodgers and their Paramails. It was unprofessional, but the commodore allowed herself a bark of mocking laughter as she imagined the shame and fear those Union bastards must be feeling after this disgraceful showing. The plating of their hulls were pockmarked and burnt, while the glowing light of the Mana engines flickered unsteadily as the ships struggled to sail on its own power. A mere three vessels, one drone carrier and two missile boat escorts, were hardly the once proud Enderant Union fleet that had been the first to be able to project power in any organised manner post-Fall. A hologram appeared in front of her, and the expression of one of her vanguard destroyer captains can't be smugger even if she ordered him to be.

"They're running on fumes, Ma'am. No Mana beacon supplying them with energy anywhere among their hulls still floating."

A fitting end for a bunch of bandits, thought Lehman as her fleet moved to cut off the Union stragglers, currently steaming ahead in a decidedly haphazard manner. Those EU bastards will rue the day they decided to lord it over us after being the first to discover a Tuner's Legacy.

The sight of the bedraggled fleet brought her back to the darker days immediately after the Fall, when the Light of Mana vanished and then the world started to literally distort and collapse before their eyes. Though the world eventually survived somehow and began rebuilding slowly, her once proud Rosenblum Kingdom and the great Mana nations had ceased to exist in a coherent manner. Now, the gathering of factions that only pretended to be the old nations are run by characters who'd have no business ruling when things were just and right. Lehman cast a quick glance at her young XO, a man with brown curly hair who only knew the chaos of the post-Fall world and their struggle to recover whatever their leaders may or may not have stowed away.

Days are dark still, but maybe he will live to see our great nation restored according to the vision of this Tuner.

A momentary pause, as a pair of stowaways named Doubt and Introspection interrupted her train of thought.

Assuming the Tuner was one of our leaders anyway.

A quick glance with a nod to her XO, and the five Defiant class destroyers with their individual escort of three Fischer submersible Paramails surged forward in formation. The Fischers, with their large torso based turbines that allowed them to dart in the water and their webbed hands and feet that hid surprises was a point of pride for the Rosenblum. Lehman felt hope that her nation was getting back on its feet while thinking about the Fischer, for they were new designs they had developed rather than hulls and tech salvaged from a Legacy site.

Union bastards got lucky back in the day, Lehman thought darkly. But now, it's payback time.

A flick of her gloved fingers, and the commodore adjusted her peaked cap and white uniform as she tried to establish contact with whatever CO that the surviving crew of the EU fleet had elected. Perhaps they can avoid having to sink the ships? Functional vessels, trained crews and ammunition are so precious nowadays when use of the Light of Mana was rationed according to scarce dragonium supplies.

"Attention, Enderant Union intruders," Lehman spoke as her Mana connection struggled to find another party with whom to communicate on the EU ships. Her XO watched the hologram carefully, ready to press the button for all ships to converge and sink the EU stragglers if needed. While the Norma are unable to operate Mana vehicles themselves, they had managed to raise a group of once proud human traitors who licked the boots of their Norma mistresses and could operate for them.

"Attention, Enderant Union Intruders. This is Commodore Johanna Lehman of the Rosenblum Kingdom Home Fleet, Fourth Squadron," she said. "Identify yourselves."

The crew on her bridge watched as the seconds on the stopwatch trickled down as their leader's Mana sought a connection. Untrained civilians would not be able to establish a military Mana connection, so if the ship was captured by the Norma it simply means one less ship on the rolls and one more for the bottom of the ocean.

"Ma'am," her XO said as he reached for a button which would send a prefixed message to all craft in the fleet, "we're ten seconds away before we initiate Norma extermination protocols."

"Hold your fire, Lieutenant," Lehman barked. "Those Union scavengers might be murderous backstabbers, but they're still human."

Barely no doubt, but still better than the Norma.

Lehman's tightness in her chest eased when the hologram finally cleared up as a connection with someone on-board. Her eyes soon rose in curiosity as the sight of a woman wearing a white beret with an unfamiliar crest, short lime-green hair and a pair of half-rimmed red glasses showed up on the screen. The commodore's gaze studied the vaguely familiar uniform of a white jacket with gold epaulettes over a red dress shirt and dark blue pants, before she returned to the sharp featured face and brown eyes that looked so familiar.

"Emma...Bronson?"

Emma's eyes widened in shock at being recognised, before a wide smile grew on her face.

"Jo! You're Jo Lehman from OCS!"

"Which you had flunked out from, then got shipped off to Arzenal as a Norma sitter."

Emma rolled her eyes, even as her smile remained intact.

"Oh sure, make fun of someone you've not met in three decades. I thought you died!"

"You're the one who failed to make the grade as an officer," Lehman said with a grin before her face reverted to the cold mask. "What are you doing on an EU ship fleeing a rout? Piracy? Drifted to the Union after the Fall?"

"Oh, nothing much," Emma said while her expression morphed from delight to apologetic. "Just leading you into a trap."

Lehman blinked, while she gestured to her XO with her left hand that was hidden from the hologram's view to have their approaching ships and crew prepare to board. The commodore kept her face tight and her gaze sharp as Emma slipped a life-jacket over her head and began to inflate it.

"Never took you for a joker, Emma," Lehman said evenly. "Can you even use the Light anymore?"

"Oh yes," Emma proved her point as the life-jacket tied itself when the Light seized the reins. "But working with the Norma and the Auric Peoples have taught me the importance of not relying on a tool."

Working with the Norma? Disgraceful!

"You've gone native, Bronson. This is low, even for you," Lehman said darkly as she signalled to her XO to give no quarter. "Even a failure like you ought to have retained some pride in your humanity."

"I did. I merely remembered that humanity means more than just your DNA." Emma said as she exchanged her beret for a swimming cap and slipped on a pair of oversized headphones. "I was hesitant to go through with this at first, Jo. I still am really."

Emma whistled to someone off-screen.

"But then you reminded me how most of you were complete cunts to me except for my dad and Princess Misty, before and after I was shipped off to watch a top-secret death camp that was harvesting monsters with slaves."

Alarms blared across the bridge, as their sensors detected a singularity riff that opened over her fleet. Lehman turned her gaze to the hologram that monitored the boarding in motion to the alien but familiar sky beyond the portal, before an ear-splitting shriek burst forth from the screen. Lehman fought against the sudden vertigo as she grabbed the armrest of her command seat for support, and wiped her wet eyes as she saw several women? The commodore rubbed her eyes again in disbelief as she fixed her stare on the female figures, dressed in colourful robes that exposed their arms and back.

"Those women, something's wrong with them," Lehman muttered as she looked at the reptilian slits where their irises should have been. Disbelief turned to horror when her Fischers, which had surfaced and surrounded the three EU ships turned their webbed hands at each other before they unloaded an entire salvo of rockets.

"All ships!" Her XO, in an exemplary display of initiative had decided to seize the moment. "Open fire! Send those monsters and traitors to hell!"

The guns, and their crews remained silent despite the orders given and Lehman was about to repeat her orders when the destroyers swivelled their weapons on each other and opened fire. The entire bridge crew watched in mute horror as cannon fire from the Defiant classes ripped each other apart at point blank range, before a cough drew their attention back at Emma who looked shaken as her eyes darted around the smoke and fire that surrounded her ship.

"Jammers, now!" Lehman barked as she slid on a pair of headphones, which played a constant loop of white noise. She shuddered as she felt her inner ear twitch from the sounds, but took comfort it was a proven countermeasure to the Dragon's mind control.

Those scalies can disguised themselves as humans, Lehman fumed internally while she kept her anger in check. Now, we have more things to worry about.

"Last chance, Jo." Emma spoke, while her voice threatened to break like her plainly transparent facade of strength. "Surrender now and we'll let you leave in peace with your sidearms and personal supplies."

"Box dodging filth!" Lehman spat out as wounded pride swelled within her, while Emma's face darkened at the slur. "Whatever Norma tricks you've employed just now will not save you when we blow you out beyond the range of that scream!"

"Jo, please," Emma pleaded, "don't thr-"

"Enough, traitor," Lehman said before she cut the connection. Another screen appeared, this time streamed from the troop transport closest to the now destroyed ships. The commodore grit her teeth as she watched the traitor Bronson step onto the deck of the EU drone carrier and leap into the sea, before her rage was mixed with confusion as the robed women got on all fours and began to change. She watched fascinated as their bodies expanded, their hair withdrew into a neck and head that extended and grew and a layer of pink scales enveloped the increasingly reptilian shape. Lehman could almost feel the wind and hear the flapping of their wings as the creatures took off from the deck, and one of them dived into the sea like a bird of prey before it emerged with the traitor in her claws.

Her remaining Fischers and ships opened up on the dragons, streams of automatic fire and rocket volleys blowing apart waves of the pink lizards as they fell upon her fleet. Despite the damage and shock caused when several of the dragons closed in on her paramails

The bridge shook and the screech of rockets being released caused her ears to ring. She watched the feed from the external cameras that showed what's happening outside the armoured, windowless bridge and gaped as she saw the remaining ships and their Fischer paramail escorts engaged in a firefight with a forty feet, red scaled dragon with eight eyes and two twisted antelope horns on the head. Grey skies and seas lit up as the nozzle flash from the firing cannons and the fiery blossom of exploding rockets was met with circles of light that glowed with unknown script that deflected the fire directed against the lizard.

The dragon circled around the Rosenblum fleet and several Fischer paramails unleashed their arsenal of rockets and auto-cannon at it, only for the ordnance to either fail to reach the flying lizard or explode harmlessly against the shields.

"Drones!" Lehman yelled frantically. "Unleash the drones!"

"Commodore," her XO said, "If we use the drones on our limited supply of dragonium, we will be dead in the water after this."

"If we don't use the drones, then we'd just be plain dead!"

The metal grey decks of the drone carriers retracted, and a green light ran across the surface of the saucer shaped drones before they came to life and sprung out of their resting places. The drones levitated, and fin-shaped blades seven feet in length sprung out from their sides before they began to spin. The drones sliced through the air like a swarm of locusts, the light from their mana reactors leaving behind a trail as they closed in on the red dragon.

The dragon threw up yet more shields in the path of the Blade Drones while its maw opened, revealing rows of teeth and a glowing, crackling ball of energy. The ball turned into a beam, which engulfed and atomised the drones caught in its path, while knocking the nearby saucers off kilter. But more drones, coming from different directions kept swarming forward. The first few would knock themselves against the shields, before the wave behind it will go above and tear into the scaly body of the dragon.

Lehman heaved a sigh of relief as the Paramails and ships of her fleet began to capitalise on the chance and followed up with their own barrages. The commodore slunk back into her seat and opened a connection with the nearby Mana relay station to send a message to shore when the alarms screamed again. More holographic screens opened, and Lehman fell into the deepest despair as she counted the enemy streaming out of the portal above her fleet.

"Ten, twenty, thirty?" She covered her mouth in shock to keep from yelling in frustration as the numbers mounted, then she felt her last ember of hope snuffed out when she saw the dread shape of a crimson paramail approach from the rear of the dragon armada. Lehman's knees buckled as she took in the sight of the mail with its sharp, helmeted head with twin golden antelope horns, wings of multi-coloured fire and how the world around the red and white machine seemed to distort as it drifted among the clouds of the alien sky beyond the portal. But while the world beyond the rift was wine red sun and citrus orange clouds, the sky here was grey, thunderous and wet. The commodore heard distant thunder as she spoke.

"Ragna...mail?"

/x/

Salamandinay watched with a smile of approval as her fellows and followers of House Freyja swooped down like a hawk on a hare onto the dispirited fleet of the Manaists. That the clan she led was given the honour to both avenge the wrongs inflicted on the auric peoples for over five centuries and prevent the people of the false world from being ever able to do so again was something her House embraced with great relish. Her smile dimmed somewhat however when she saw the enemy Paramails regained their footing and started firing in ranks and engage in a systematic defence. That her kin was to suffer completely avoidable casualties due to antiquated tactics and leadership was completely unacceptable.

Her blue eyes shone with determination, and she brushed her black hair aside as she leaned forward to the microphone of her Enryugo. Her cheeks retracted as her mouth widened, while her eyes bulged out and became more reptilian as she barked out a series of high pitched hisses and roars.

"Goro! Kai!" The speakers of the Enryugo blasted out her instructions in Draconic. "Target the paramails with the extended radar arrays and hit the ships with the glowing beacons!""

"Yes, Mother!"

"Stop calling me that!" Salamandinay snapped before she realised she had used her Mom Voice and quietened down. "Address me as Guardian or Princess when we're on the field."

"Yes, Mother!"

Salamandinay bit her cheek to prevent from sighing and instead turned her gaze back to the battlefield. Her cheeks and mouth retracted to a more human form before her smile regained its former radiance, finely honed instincts told her this would be a good day. Goro, with his red scales shining in the dim sunlight, flapped his wings as he conjured up the wind and sent waterspouts bursting out of the surface of the sea when he directed his dragonium infused powers into the water. As the waters too fought the Manaists, his sisters, aunts and potential mates were able to swoop in unhindered by enemy fire. Soon claw, wing and tail turned red with the blood and steel of the enemy. His brother Kai too did her proud as his deep purple scales reflected the wave after wave of directed dragonium lighting he spewed at the enemy, and he had the good sense to aim for the glowing beacons that spread dragonium radiation to power their Manaist enemies.

Not bad for their first sortie. At this rate, I'd have nothing to do, Salamandinay thought as the enemy ECM faded once the Rosenblum command vessel fled towards the horizon with Kai and his flight in hot pursuit. Confident that the four eyes and superior smell of Kai's Galleon Dragon form will allow him to finish the enemy with minimal ease, the Auric priestess laid back into her seat before she heard a high pitched chime that raised red flags in her mind.

"Princess...," the female voice crackled as the radio came to life, "danger!...run!"

"Naga?" Salamandinay said while her alarm grew at the evident distress in the voice of her long-time bodyguard. "What's going on?"

"Unknown...enemy!...broke...coming...you..."

The eyes of the Enryugo lit up in a series of flashes, and the kin of House Freyja reformed into a defensive formation in response to the signal from their leader. Salamandinay bit her lip as frustration and worry boiled over, even as she struggled to get a clearer picture.

"Naga?!"

"Kaname...shot...down...rescue...ongoing...run!"

A high pitched whine as her machine's sensors picked up incoming heat sources was the only warning Salamandinay got before she banked hard to the right, and a dark purple beam from above sliced the Enryugo's right arm clean off at the shoulder.

The STC, the Auric priestess thought in alarm as she realised her most potent weapon in the form of the Space Time Continuum Cannon had just been crippled. With her beam rifle and its attached bayonet now sinking into the sea, Salamandinay whipped out her sub-beam machine pistol and turned upwards for the assailant.

"Kai!" Salamandinay shouted as her youngest son finished off the last of the Rosenblum fleet with a swipe of his tail, before he flew upwards at a frantic pace to her.

"Stay away," Salamandinay ordered while she dodged and shot down a volley of missiles, as her eyes swept the skies for her prey.

The priestess bared her teeth as she finally saw her enemy, a Hunter Paramail painted in eye-catching black and purple. But what's really unusual about the unknown mail was the long mess of cables that flowed down to the waist of the Hunter, like a full head of hair. The glow from the Hunter's mono-eyed camera seemed to mock her as an axe sprang out from its right arm, and the edge glowed a hot red before the enemy mail began to swing at her. The Enryugo pistol sprayed a shower of beam bullets, and Salamandinay watched as the black Hunter burst out of range of the buckshot. The mana-light wings flared a brilliant blue as the Hunter shot upwards, leaving behind a trail that glowed. The Auric priestess focused her sights on the Hunter, and her beam pistol roared out its challenge as volley after volley of heated light pounced after the Hunter's form as it fleeted and darted among the dark clouds now lit up with the light from their weapons. The Hunter creaked its head backwards while it fled from her attacks, and returned a few tepid bursts from a shoulder mounted auto-cannon which the Enryugo dodged with almost contemptuous ease. Below, her clansfolk spread out in a loose formation with her youngest son Kai taking the lead. Kai would roar out in Draconic, which was answered with screeches from the smaller pink Scuna dragons as they moved to box in the Hunter.

Salamandinay's face darkened, as her skin tingled when her honed predator's instinct wailed about a prey that had been herded too easily. The Enryugo's eyes flashed out a signal, but the bloodlust had set in.

A flight of four Scunas that had swooped just above the foamy sea soared upwards towards the Hunter's back while it flew lower to escape from her attacks, while a triumphant screech burst forth from their snouts. Even Salamandinay, seasoned as she was felt the surge of primal excitement of her kin as they were about to bag their prey.

Then tragedy struck, as the cables on the back stiffened and came alive. The cables crackled with electricity and Salamandinay choked on a shout when they pierced the Scunas as they ascended towards the prey now turned predator. The black strands formed into rods and cut downwards before muscle, scale and bone that could tear into reinforced steel gave way with minimal resistance. Yet more Scunas dived in, their wings extended, their claws and fangs ravenous for blood and metal. The dark paramail charged, all pretence of weakness now gone as she delivered fatal axe blow to the skull in one moment before the cables turned rods impaled and split another.

"Kai?! Stop!"

Salamandinay did not know if her son had heard her, as his gargantuan purple frame barrelled towards the Hunter like an arrow released from the bow. The length of his neck bulged and glowed as Kai reared his head back, before the grey sky lit up when a red and black beam caused the air to ripple and burn when it burnt through the rain and cloud. The pillar of light was massive, and it threatened to engulf the paramail whole before the rods transformed once more into a shield. Kai's fury, captured in the blast fizzled out as the shield deflected the beam harmlessly into the sky and sea. The dragon pressed on, and soon the form of the Galleon dragon was upon the Hunter as its snout snapped forward with a roar that deafened and rows of fangs.

Salamandinay envisioned the cold sneer as the paramail sidestepped the lunged bite, before it removed Kai's left wing with an axe strike. Blood flowed from the stump, and the Hunter's left hand glowed when it went behind Kai and pulled the neck skyward before it moved. A trail of smoke followed the heated Hunters hand when it snaked down, before it stopped at the chest. The Enryugo surged forward, with the remaining Scuna clustered around their clan head in a bid to stop the inevitable.

Flesh and scale was melted and pulled aside, when the hand reached in and pulled out Kai's heart that was encased in clear crystal. The eye of the Hunter admired its catch, before it gave a disdainful glance at Kai's body. The paramail shrugged and dropped the dragon into the sea before it returned to the admiration of its bounty. Salamandinay froze as she watched her son sink beneath the choppy surface, deep blue turned into dark red as Kais blood flowed.

"Clear as day," a female voice said from the Hunter's speakers, in an accent that Salamandinay could not place. "Truly dragonium crystals fresh from the male DRAGON are the best-"

The Hunter twisted as it dodged a hail of beam buckshot, while the shield transformed into an array of spears that surrounded their mistress like a hedge of pikes. The Enryugo broke away from her Scuna escorts, as yet more wild barrages of shot spewed forth from the beam pistol before the nozzle glowed, but nothing came forth.

"Check," the Hunter sneered as the hedge reformed into a lance, and the paramail charged forward ready to deliver the final blow. As the black tip of the spear neared the Enryugo, Salamandinay growled in satisfaction.

"Mate," hissed the dragon princess.

The Enryugo dipped below as the lance clipped off a golden horn, as the tail behind its head turned white hot and split off before they slammed into the torso of the Hunter. As the paramail fell back, the Enryugo dropped thrust forward and a golden arced blade burst forth. A shower of sparks, as golden blade tore through metal and the crystalline heart before the Hunter kicked the red mail away.

"Well, that's a waste of time. But I'm impressed, Princess." Salamandinay trembled in fury as the Hunters pilot spoke. "I'd thought you mad with grief."

A bluff, a spy amongst us, or she understands Draconic?

"I have seen my uncles, brothers, sisters and even my father perish at the hands of the Norma." Salamandinay intoned. "Now you will join them."

"Me? What do you-"

The Hunter soared above, as a red-black positron beamed zoomed past and missed by a few metres. Salamandinay heard her remaining clansfolk screech their victory and relief as Hilda in the Theodora approached, her frame glowing blood red with half a dozen Musket paramails behind.

"Humph, and I thought royalty was supposed to be polite," the Hunters pilot pouted. The air behind the black paramail burnt, as a pillar of light appeared and widened into a door. Norma and Auric craft fired their weapons, but watched as the Hunter slipped into the light and blinked out of existence. As the Enryugo stared at the now empty air, Salamandinay grasped the front of her robe when the realisation vengeance was denied sunk in, The Theodora glided slowly towards the red machine and placed a comforting hand on the shoulder.

"C'mon, Princess. We have things to do," Hilda said as they both turned their gaze to the sea where the blood was already being washed away. "Let's get your son's body back."

/x/

Ange sunk into the leather lined cushion of her chair, and swivelled around as the message sunk in. She slammed a hand onto her desk to halt the chair's movement and gave a hard stare to a grim looking Hilda.

"We got Kai and the others bodies back at least right?"

"Yeah," Hilda nodded slowly. "This ambush got turned right on us bad, Ange. We're lucky Gecko and Riley are on our side, otherwise we'd have lost Kaname too. Pity about the Heikiryugo though."

"That's fine, "Ange dismissed with a wave. "It was due for an upgrade anyways. Anything else?"

"Yeah," Hilda spoke slowly while her eyes shifted away from Ange. Red eyes narrowed as Ange noticed her wife's unease, and she leaned forward.

"Alright, Hilda. Spill it."

"The Dragons are demanding your presence at the Dawn Pillar settlement on Earth Aura," Hilda spoke, her voice grave. "While House Freyja under Salako isn't raising a huge stink, having accepted the losses as due to unforeseen circumstances the other great clans aren't so understanding."

"Oh? Typical," Ange huffed. "What are they complaining about now?"

"That we Norma aren't keeping our end of the bargain to prevent the Manaists from rallying, and that we're letting the Dragons die on our behalf."

"Oh fucking spare me, those scaly fucks," Ange said while she rolled her eyes. "If the Dragons had done their jobs and had their people scout properly, Naomi and my girls won't be trapped when we went to retrieve the new Norma and their families."

"To be fair, Ange," Hilda countered," we didn't know that there was a Legacy site in that area."

"Yeah, they're Embryo's projects he lost interest in and left behind on Earth Mana, or one of the Mana government's insurance policy in case Embryo fucks them, right?" Ange shuddered at the memory of the blonde scientist turned "god". "But this one's an Ancient Human one, isn't it?"

"Yeah, filled to brim with tech from their war against Embryo and the Manaists," Hilda nodded in confirmation. "So, when are you coming back? Jasmine needs you in Arzenal to chair the meeting before we meet Aura and the House leaders."

"Soon, got some domestic matters to attend to. I'll make the deadline, don't worry."

"Don't worry? Ange," Hilda said with a sigh, "Can't the recruit be handled by-"

"Love you, Hilda. Say hi to Claudia for me."

"Ange! You-"

Ange pushed her chair towards the wall as the screen went dead. She stood at her desk while she drained her mug of the cold coffee, even as her mind wandered in dark places. Her eyes wandered over the office modified from her house's basement, before it rested on the hand-sewn flag of Arzenal. A small smile grew on her lips, as a stain on the lower right edge of the flag reminded her of the time Taylor and Claudia got into a fight and spilled their ice-cream onto the banner. The light green background on which Arzenal's crest laid on was an uneven shade, due to the availability of the cloth that Danny was able to procure on short notice when he made it a family project. Her good cheer however evaporated however, when the coiled dragon on the flag reminded her of her responsibilities.

I only wanted to have four children and open Café Ange. Is that so difficult for the universe to grant me?

Ange slammed the cup onto the desk, and the doors leading upstairs swung open as a green light took control of the door knob. As soon as Ange emerged from underground, Momoka stepped forward to her side, a black armband tied to her right.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Momoka and I'm sure Salako if she knows does as well," Ange said, her voice barely above a whisper. "But considering how things might heat up, I'd have to ask you to remove that black ribbon while we're still here on Bet."

"Lady Angelise," Momoka's distraught look caused Ange to look away, "can I at least wear this in the house until the wake for the members of House Freyja is over?"

Ange sighed, before she nodded and trudged softly up the stairs, while Momoka followed closely behind in silence. The door to Taylor's room creaked open, as Ange peaked past the small crack into the room. The moonlight was unusually bright as it shone past the drapes and illuminated her daughter's dirty blonde hair that was a mix of her husband's and her own. Ange fished out her phone and used the light from the screen to check as she brought it from top to bottom, a proud smile formed when the light showed at least three wires almost invisible to the naked eye.

"No doubt you already knew it was me, wasn't it Taylor."

"Yeah, I figured it was you when you came up the stairs." Taylor replied as she slipped her handgun back underneath her pillow and sat up. Ange felt a pain in her chest as she saw Danny's eyes stare back at her, but suppressed the feeling as she reminded herself he will be back soon. Taylor looked at her expectantly, her shoulders tightly wound and ready to spring into action despite her half lidded eyes.

"So, what do you want, Mom?"

"Remember Kai? Salako's eight son. You met when you were eleven and was being treated at the Dawn Pillar on Earth Aura."

"Oh yeah," Taylor's face lit up, "kinda chubby and tall. He's an adult now, so he's one of those big multi-eyed dragons. What happened?"

"You…" Ange hesitated, "may want to hear it from us face to face, Tay."

Taylor's face darkened at her mother's tone and pressed the door shut gently. Ange stood on the other side of the room as sounds of wires being unwound and some shuffling of canisters before the door opened wide this time round. Taylor's eyes fell onto the black ribbon her maid wore, and she clenched her fist before she faced her mother.

"So," Taylor said as she stood inches from Ange's face, "who did it?"

"We've got suspects, but no smoking gun," Ange said. "But the paramail was a modified Hunter, with some kind of new weapons platform that's like a mane of quote, "living, transforming hair," unquote."

"Sounds fancy," Taylor growled. "I'm going to-"

"Do nothing that'll get you killed," Ange said. "You're going to stay the hell away from this new threat until I found out what or who the hell it was, before you even think of taking it on."

"I'm hard to kill, Mom," Taylor said. "At least, on a permanent basis."

"I know that!" Ange snapped. "But you think I want to risk Embryo's quantum reset resurrection not working, or you ending up in a situation where you'd die and respawn again and again trapped somewhere?"

"You shot yourself in the head to test it Mom," Taylor shrugged. "I saw the videos. Besides, it's not like I've not tested out something like that myself."

"You what?!"

"Killed myself to test it." Taylor spoke plainly, like how others would recall a normal day. "After Riley, Maggie and Aura were done stabilising the quantum reset triggers in my DNA, I found Riley alone in her lab and asked her for a favour."

Ange groaned as she saw what's coming.

"I don't wanna know, Taylor."

"Telling you anyway." Taylor said with a vicious smile. "She heard what I wanted, and she obliged by releasing some kind of plague that gives fatal, instant heart attacks."

Taylor took the hand of her shocked, unmoving mother and placed it on her chest, which would allow her to feel her heart as it beat.

"See, I'm right as rain and as alive as can be. I'm your kid after all, Ange Hebert Missouri. We're both a little crazy."

"Fuck," Ange said after a lengthy pause. "I was hoping you'd get more of your father's genes rather than my crazy ones."

"Feeling some regret, Mom?"

"Should have used the other option for dragonium radiation survival, and had your DNA modified with the D-Type Genotype into a DRAGON instead," Ange sighed. "At least you'd be less like my younger self."

Ange rubbed her face, before she turned back to her daughter.

"Alright, change of topic before I kill you myself. Can you and Sophia miss a week or so of school?"

"I don't think Winslow gives a shit, Mom. Hess however has an upcoming track meet."

"Right, I'll just blow up the venue where they're supposed to meet, no problems on that front," Ange said as she mentally made a note to find out which stadium needs a packet or ten of C4. "Now, the issue is this. Those pearl clutching scalies in the other Auric Houses are having a total cow over this new threat that's likely a Manaist plot, but I've got to have you and Sophia do the week long jungle survival training."

Taylor felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"So what's your plan, Mom?"

"I drop you and Sophia with five days' worth of rations and water, with ten days' worth of ammo and spare parts for your assault rifles in the jungles off Annam Settlement."

Hoo boy, this is gonna be like the time Mom sunk a docked Coast Guard cutter after they impounded her hoverbike. Taylor thought. She had to brave Ellisburg to get off Uncle Sam's shit list.

"And where," Taylor asked carefully," is this Annam Settlement?"

"Earth Mana," Ange replied with a self-satisfied smile. "No dragonium radiation for the next hundred miles radius because they never built a reactor there, and plenty of hostile wildlife and locals to really test your limits."