"This is quite enjoyable." Lelei told Tuka as she pulled on the controls of the TX-130T they were riding in.
Lelei had gotten a quick five minute lesson on how to handle the controls by Eila. Tuka quietly observed as she was to replace Lelei when she got tired of it. Eila herself was taking the time to go over some documents she would have done back at the base while Rory was at the gunner position with her head poking out enjoying the breeze. Yao remained silent, feeling content that it was only a matter of time before the fire dragon is dead. They would all rotate the driver position since their trip was going to take some time.
Their trip to the Schwarz Forest would take a little under a day and a half. Speeders would have gotten them there within a day but the 130 wasn't as fast. It was at least faster than an AT-TE. Still, they would eventually enter the Schwarz Forest soon enough when Yao would pointed it out when the treeline came into view. Yao would direct them to enter the valleys the Tuba Mountain range had, a little bit beyond the Forest. She insisted on them visiting her people first so that they would know she had brought help back. She would tell them her people had taken refuge in the caves the valleys had since being out in the Forest made them easy targets for the dragon. Exiting the tank, Eila questioned where Yao's people were.
"They should be around here." Yao said as she began looking around.
Unfortunately, going into a cave that she knew her people lived in before she left, it had turned out to be empty. Looking around the landscape, Yao kept an eye out for anything leading to her clan's current whereabouts. The surrounding landscape was barren with very little indicators that anyone had been around recently. Eila suspected that this was their way of avoiding detection from the fire dragon. Observing the rocks intently, Yao spotted a small unnatural marking on one of them. Realizing what the marking is, she told them to follow her. Taking the tank with them and delving deeper into the valley, they visited multiple caves that had the marking but they were all vacant with no evidence that anyone had even took up residence. After wandering around for the better part of a few hours, Yao was becoming worried that her people had either fled to where she can't find them or they had all been taken by the fire dragon. Taking a break from visiting another empty cave, Rory came close to Eila who sitting on the side of the tank.
Rory sighed in frustration, "How much longer is this going to take? Can't we kill that dragon already? We know where it is."
"Patience." Eila said, "We do know that the dragon is at Mount Tube but since Captain Koll crippled it, it may be somewhere else. We need Yao's people to confirm if it's still there."
Rory continued to pout about the long wait but would change the subject, "Eila, pull out your arm to me."
"Why?"
"Please, just do it."
Pulling up her sleeve, Eila wasn't quite sure what Rory was about to do until she took her arm and Eila felt her intent. Sensing what Rory was about to do, Eila quickly yanked her arm away just a Rory got her mouth close.
"Why did you do that?!" Rory complained, "I wanted to establish a contract with you!"
"By biting me?!"
"That's how we make contracts! We need your blood!"
"Forget it! Why do you want to make a contract with me anyway?!"
"To protect you!"
Eila stopped in surprise. She wasn't expecting Rory to just blurt out something selfless like that.
Rory continued, "The fire dragon is a dangerous beast. Creating a contract ensures that you won't be hurt. This is merely returning the favor for giving me a place. So, hold out your arm."
While Eila certainly felt flattered by Rory's sentiment, she would explain to her, "Thank you, Rory. But you don't have to worry about me. When we face the fire dragon, we'll fight together and come home together." Eila thought on her statement since they weren't 'all' technically fighting together.
Rory felt disappointed that she couldn't form the contract but she did feel optimistic that Eila is adamant that they will win. With their break finished, Yao was about to point them to another potential spot her clan might be at until Eila sensed a presence around them. Surely enough, they were immediately surrounded by a group of dark elves from every angle with their bows drawn. Although, as soon as they saw Yao, they dropped their hostility.
"Yao!" One of them called.
"Met! Where did you all go?" Yao said.
"We had to move again. The fire dragon increased its attacks against us after you left."
"Oh…but I've returned with help." She pointed to Eila.
"Her? I thought they were supposed to be a group of armored men?"
"She called them off for another job. She'll deal with the fire dragon."
Met smirked, "Kind of arrogant isn't it? One woman can't deal with that beast."
Eila spoke up, "I've brought weapons that can deal with the fire dragon."
"Oh! That's right! You're special magic weapons. Anyway, please come with us. You'll need to meet our elders."
Making their way further down the valley, they would finally enter the cave the dark elves were currently occupying. Rory fidgeted nervously as they went deeper into it. Looking around as they made their way to see the elders, Eila could see the many elves lining the rocky walls were looking absolutely miserable. Many of them looked malnourished. Reaching a large chamber in the cave, the group would be greeted by the dark elf elders.
Taking a seat in a circle, one of the elders started, "Welcome. We are pleased to be graced with your presence your holiness." The elder bowed to Rory and she returned the gesture. The elder continued, "And you must be related to the armored men."
"Yes," Eila answered, "I am General Eila Deova of the Grand Army of the Republic."
"A General?! For you to come all this way here must mean you have a personal vendetta against the dragon, do you not?"
"No. Not really. I just want to kill the dragon so that it stops being a threat to my men."
"Hmm, I see."
"If you please, can you tell us where the fire dragon is?"
"Yes. It still lingers at Mount Tube in its underground nest but its behaviour has become peculiar recently."
"Recently?"
"Yes. Before, the beast actively hunted us despite our best efforts to conceal our movements but around two days ago, the fire dragon has not ventured very far from its nest since. Our scouts have seen holes in its wings. It seems to have lost its ability to take flight."
"I see." Eila said feigning ignorance on the dragon's current condition.
"To defeat the fire dragon, we are willing to send some of our own to assist you. The young ones among us don't want to wait around for the dragon to die."
"Thank you for your offer of assistance and I understand the feelings your people have towards the dragon but we won't need your help." Eila bluntly stated.
"Oh?! But why, General?"
"I'm sorry, but don't feel insulted. Not accepting your help isn't out of some arrogant notion of overestimating our abilities. I'd just rather not risk more lives for this. Besides, even if I were to give a five minute lesson to your people on how to use our weapons, your people are likely to panic at the sight of the dragon when they're wielding an unfamiliar weapon. So I must refuse."
The elder nodded, "Hmm, I understand, General. I'll have to talk them out of it. But please, stay the night. Regain your strength before your hunt."
"Thank you. With your permission, I'd like to give your people some food and medical supplies."
The elder's face brightened at the suggestion, "Yes please do, General!"
Getting up, Eila asked Lelei, Tuka, Rory, and Yao to help her dispense the supplies but the elder would ask for Yao to stay. Once they were out of earshot, the elders would mention to Yao that her fortunes must be looking up since she brought a woman instead of a man. The elders would lightly joke to her about her chronic bad luck with men.
Back with the tank, Eila handed what extra food and medical supplies they could spare. As she gave another aid kit for Rory to carry, Eila would question her, "Rory, you seemed tense during that meeting. What's wrong?"
Rory hesitated for a bit but replied, "I—I don't exactly enjoy being underground."
"Underground? Why?"
"B—Because that's Hardy's realm."
"Hardy?" Eila then remembered that she had taken the time to learn about some of the gods in the Special Region from Lelei, "That's the goddess of the underworld, isn't it?"
"Y—Yes! And I'd rather not spend my last years being her bride!"
"A bride? Seriously?"
"Yes! She tried to get me a few times when I've ventured underground. I'd rather not take the chance see her again if I were to go underground again."
While Eila understood Rory's reason, she wondered what she would do with the fire dragon. "Rory, what are you going to do then when we face the fire dragon tomorrow? We'll have to go underground to reach it."
Rory's tone immediately changed as she gleefully replied, "I'll cheer you on from outside!"
Eila gave her a look as she couldn't quite believe that for all of Rory's skills as a merciless warrior, she was afraid of the underground. Still, Eila couldn't judge her too harshly given that their are plenty of people back home who were scared of going underground for far more mundane reasons. They at least didn't have a goddess gunning for their hand in an unwanted marriage.
The next day, Eila, Rory, Lelei, Tuka, and Yao finally made their way to Mount Tube. Although, as they approached the mountain, they had to leave the tank behind since the path to the dragon's cave was too narrow. To take all the supplies with them, Eila had brought a repulsorlift table that would follow them along. Yao would pass on some intelligence she had been told by the elders and by the elves who wanted to join them the day before.
"The fire dragon has made its nest inside the caldera of Mount Tube."
Eila looked back at Yao out concern of that the mountain might be more dangerous than the dragon.
Yao would reassure her, "Don't worry, General. The mountain is no longer active." She would state.
"How do we get in?"
"The tunnel that leads to the dragon's cave is not too high up on the mountain. Met and his scouts had a good look at its nest when it was sleeping by taking that path. Met and his scouts say that it climbs out of the opening now rather than fly out."
Feeling confident in what they were about to do, Eila gave her order to Rory who would stay outside, "If the fire dragon tries to run out of the mountain, kill it. It should be much easier for you since it can't fly."
"Oh yeah! Sure thing!"
"Here, have this communicator. Just tap the button and we'll be able to talk." She handed Rory a comlink.
Leaving Rory to herself, the rest entered the tunnel. As they walked through it, Tuka would mention that she could see small glistening shards of crystal all over the place. Lelei would mention that they were mostly irrelevant. The small crystals they were seeing weren't valuable. Only larger crystals were coveted. However, Eila felt strange as they continued to walk. She couldn't explain it to herself. Upon reaching the dragon's nest, she gauged the layout of the chamber. Luckily, the chamber was unoccupied at the moment but it was definitely large enough to actually house a litter of dragons. A concept that unsettled her and made her suspicious when she saw broken eggshells nearby. Lelei would try to comfort her that the eggs were clearly years old and that there had been no other sightings of other fire dragons. Still, she remained suspicious. Another thing that was clearly years old were all the scattered weapons lying around. Some were broken while others were either rusted or just needed a quick wash. Yao would grab one and mention that it was an enchanted blade of elvish make but it didn't belong to her clan. Lelei would deduce these weapons were from all the people who had chosen to challenge the fire dragon and were obviously killed for it.
Wasting little time, Eila would task the others to take a pack of thermal detonators and begin planting them all around the place. She would bury a full pack under where she assumed the dragon was sleeping judging from all the flattened dust compared to the rest of the chamber. Using the Force to help dig and conceal the pack made the work go by faster. She intended to bury the dragon under rocks when it returned and when it got close to the ground, the pack would finish it. Once everyone had finished their jobs, they retreated back to the exit of the tunnel and waited. Eila armed the detonators and a faint pinging sounded signaling the explosives were ready. Despite the trap being set, she kept the repulsorlift table close to her that now only had rocket launchers on it. She didn't want to take a chance if the plan was unsuccessful. After waiting for almost two hours, Eila's comlink began to sound and Rory would notify them of the fire dragon's approach.
"It's here." Rory said, "It hasn't seen me but it's climbing up to the caldera."
Acknowledging Rory's report and readying her thumb on the remote for all the detonators the others scattered, Eila and the rest of them began to feel vibrations all around them as the fire dragon began its descent into the chamber. Unfortunately, the fire dragon was no fool. It stopped midway in its descent as it could tell its nest had been disturbed and it could hear the faint pinging of the thermal detonators. As soon as Eila realized it had figured out what they had done, she lunged to grab a rocket launcher but before she could even fully grasp one, the fire dragon began shooting its flames all around the chamber walls. The intense heat of its fire caused the detonators to either melt or go off prematurely. The force of the explosions that came with it knocked them all down while the dragon dropped to the chamber floor, content that its flames had dealt with the detonators and itching to find its prey.
As Eila picked herself up, she looked around for the rocket launchers which were now buried along with the repulsorlift table by rocks. Thinking of what to do next without that ordinance, she noticed that Tuka was on her knees frozen in terror as she looked upon the fire dragon. Eila then realized she had brought Tuka without thinking that facing the fire dragon would be traumatizing to her. Surely enough, Tuka began to mutter on about her father. She went into inconsistent rambling of questioning where he was, to placing blame upon herself for getting him killed. Tuka would go into random bouts of hysterical screaming and laughter when she couldn't find an answer. Her screams and laughter would attract the fire dragon right to them as the dragon locked its eyes on them. Just as it began to breathe its flames at them, Eila jumped in front of everyone and used the Force to block the flames. Seeing that its flames weren't going to finish the job this time around, the dragon began to approach them intending to crush them with its own strength.
Eila quickly gave orders, "Yao! Help me distract it! Lelei! Take Tuka and get out of here!"
Yao would ready the bow she brought with her and moved in the opposite direction to where Eila would try to distract the dragon. While Yao distracted the dragon by taking potshots at it and Eila approached it directly with her lightsaber drawn, Lelei had thought of dragging Tuka out but decided against it. She realized that this needed to end. Ever since she met Tuka, she knew something was wrong with her. As time passed and she hung out with Tuka for longer periods back at the base when they weren't travelling or were with the clones, she had pieced together that Tuka blames herself for the fire dragon killing her father. She knew Captain Fordo and the other clones had taken notice of Tuka's condition and had likely informed Eila about it but they had chosen not to act which she deduced as them simply respecting Tuka's privacy. While Lelei understood their reasons, she knew Tuka needed closure and getting revenge on the fire dragon would be the simplest way of doing it.
Walking to Tuka, Lelei shook her out of her hysteria, "Tuka!" She shouted in which if Eila had been paying attention to her, it would have looked out of character for her.
She continued, "Tuka, fight! That thing killed your father! So fight and avenge him!"
"B—But I know he's alive! He's just—"
"He is gone! Look! Look!" Lelei took hold of Tuka's head and forced her gaze on the fire dragon, "Remember, Tuka! Remember what happened to your home!"
Unpleasant memories began flooding back to Tuka as she remembered her father in her village's final moments. She remembered him dragging her by the arm knowing that the battle against the fire dragon was lost. She remembered the well that her father pushed her into. She finally remembered catching one last glimpse of him as she fell before he was consumed by the flames.
"N—No! No!" She tried to fight Lelei's control over her head.
"Do not avert your gaze!"
"N—No! H—He died. He died saving me!"
"Do not blame yourself! I know losing your father is terrible. I am sure, it is something you will never truly overcome. But you lost your father to that beast just as I have lost my home and my friends to it too. Look!" She moved Tuka's head to see Eila and Yao, "Our new friends fight for us! If you at least want to find some peace for your father, we can honor his sacrifice and the many others that beast has taken now if we fight! Do not let our new friends die to it too!" Letting go of her head and standing in front of her, Lelei offered her hand, "Fight with us."
Feeling Lelei's impassioned words, Tuka found a renewed sense of confidence and a redirected rage as she took her hand and nodded. She immediately began muttering a spell calling on lightning to strike the fire dragon down.
As she continued with her lengthy spell, Lelei turned her attention back to the dragon where she had intended to cast an explosion spell she had been working on ever since they returned from Coruscant. Unfortunately, she decided against it as she could see that Eila was too close and she wasn't quite sure how destructive her spell would be. She did limited testing back at the base and it was certainly powerful as her teacher commented on its strength. To her, it seemed to have the same explosive power of at least two thermal detonators. Although, she feared it could bring the mountain down upon them if it were to miss its target since the dragon constantly danced around to Yao and Eila's actions.
While Lelei considered other options, Eila took a swipe with her lightsaber against the dragon. Her saber connected but didn't give a deep enough cut. The dragon thrashed because of the cut and while she ducked out of its way, she felt like she was trying to cut through a blast door whenever she attacked. She came to resent the dragon's scales as its heat resistant properties offered some protection against her saber. The scales were also causing problems for Yao as her arrows couldn't pierce them but her actions would serve as a useful distraction to divide the dragon's attention.
Continuing the fight, Lelei eventually saw a solution. Taking one of the many metal weapons that littered the chamber, she used a levitation spell to throw it at the dragon. Seeing a need for more speed as the weapon had bounced off, she took another one which managed to pierce its scales. Feeling giddy at the result, she invoked a stronger levitation spell, which took all of the fallen weapons and positioned them to pierce the dragon all over.
"General! Ms. Dushi!" She called, "Move away from it!"
Hearing her call, Eila and Yao backed off as Lelei sent all the weapons at the fire dragon, effectively turning it into a pin cushion. Timing it in conjunction with Tuka's spell, Lelei called to her, "Tuka, send that lightning on all of the weapons! Electrocute it!"
Complying with her demand, Tuka's sent a powerful lightning strike on the dragon which was amplified by all the metal weapons sticking out of it. The dragon howled in pain as it dropped to the ground right on top of the pack of explosives Eila had buried. Reacting quickly, Eila asked everyone to head into the tunnel. Running into the tunnel with them, Eila pulled out the remote detonator and set off the last batch of explosives.
BOOM!
The pressure wave and the resulting plume of dust knocked them all on the ground in the tunnel. For a few moments, they no longer heard any continued roars or heavy breathing but only the occasional sound of a boulder falling. The explosion had also made the tunnel's opening into the chamber bigger. Tuka burst into cheers.
"Y—Yes! Yes!" She shouted and then began crying in between laughs, "I—I did it, father! I finally did it!"
Getting up, Eila noticed that Lelei had a smug grin on her dusty face. Yao was also in tears but smiling, feeling that a great weight was finally off of her. Believing that the explosives had done their job, Eila was about to declare their mission over until the happiness from the others faces suddenly faded.
Feeling a dangerous intent behind her, Eila turned and saw the fire dragon's head in the tunnel opening. Still alive, with its mouth open, and ready to send out its fire. Raising both hands, she stopped the point blank shot with the Force. The intensity of the flames being so close began to push her back as Lelei, Tuka, and Yao cowered behind her not believing that the dragon continued to endure despite all the damage it had taken.
'How?!' Eila thought, 'How is this thing still alive?!'
Unfortunately, the fire dragon was quite the hardy creature. The explosives had indeed given it a mortal wound as there is now a gaping hole in its torso and most of its digestive organs had spilled out or been obliterated. But it had a sheer rage for them at being continually humiliated that the dragon intended to take them with it in death.
Feeling her powers waning as the palms of her hands were starting to burn from the intense heat, Eila felt panic as she was starting to regret her choice at doing the job alone without her troopers. More regrets began to fill her head. She hadn't seen a complete end to either war in the Special Region or back home. She hadn't found her friend or any of the missing people. She most of all regretted not confiding in Wrench. Senator Dod's words during the hearing had gotten under her skin. Doubts in her troopers' abilities to always come home since the attacks on the other recon teams and on Koll and his wingman had affected her choice in handling the fire dragon. Wrench would have chastised her for being headstrong in her choice. He would have also told her to forget about the things that bothered her and just do the right thing. The right thing would have been for all of them to take it on together with superior firepower at their side.
Being reminded of him, Eila felt a growing resolve as she thought to herself, 'No! I won't die here! Not now!'
Unbeknownst to her or to Lelei, Tuka, and Yao, the crystal shards they passed by earlier in the tunnel began to glow. Feeling a sudden surge of power in the Force and a determination to not die just yet, Eila forcefully pushed her hands forward and she managed to knock the dragon's head back out of the tunnel. The fire dragon recoiled at the invisible force that had pushed it back but intended to continue its murderous intent with its last bits of strength. Not wanting to give it another chance, Eila quickly approached it and pushed both her palms down. Suddenly, the fire dragon felt as if the whole world was now on top of its body. Eila intended to flatten the dragon into paste. The dragon tried to resist the pressure but she continued to press down.
Continuing and increasing the power in the Force, she got a good look at the dragon's eyes. They were heavily bloodshot as the pressure was forcing blood into its eyes. Despite that, she could see that the dragon's rage was now replaced with fear.
'Good.' She thought as she clasped her hands together to deal the deathblow. A sickening crunch soon followed as the dragon's bones and remaining internal organs collapsed in on itself. The walls of the chamber would become awash with brain matter, blood, and bodily fluids that spilled out of every orifice. Eila stopped pressing down and admired the result.
'Heh.' She thought before losing consciousness.
Falling to the ground, the others called out to her as they all rushed to her side. They were all partly concerned about her and partly terrified to never try to anger her having seen that impressive display of power. Tuka quickly cast a healing spell as she also got a good look at Eila's severely burnt hands. Waiting for the healing spell's effect to take hold, Lelei, Tuka, and Yao looked over to the flattened remains of the fire dragon. While they were certainly happy that this time it was definitely dead, they also felt a somewhat uncomfortable taste in victory given the method that was done to finish off the dragon. They didn't feel pity for the dragon; more disgusted that its innards now decorated the walls. However, that unpleasant feeling quickly faded as they refocused their thoughts that all the people they had lost to it, had finally been avenged. Continuing to stare at the fallen beast, they turned their attention back to Eila who began to stir.
"General?" Lelei questioned.
Still feeling groggy, Eila managed to answer as she looked up into Lelei's face, "Y—Yeah?"
"You have completed the mission. The fire dragon is dead." She said having returned to her usual monotone.
"T—That's good." She replied as she tried to stand herself up. But she would cry out in pain and fall back into Lelei's lap, feeling as if hot needles were embedded all over her hands.
Tuka spoke up, "Hang on! Take it easy. You're hands haven't completely healed."
Relaxing into Lelei's lap while waiting for the healing spell to finish, she remembered what she had put Tuka through. She would apologize to her after a brief silence, "Tuka, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put you in this situation. Memories of your father must have been…difficult when you saw that thing."
Tuka didn't answer immediately feeling some surprise that Eila had surmised she dwelled on her father, but she shook her head as she responded, "You don't need to apologize, General. I knew, somewhere deep down that my father had passed on from this world but I didn't want to believe it. I constantly searched for him. Disappointing myself when I couldn't find him and spiraling into a deeper pit of despair because of it. I only hurt myself in the process and made everyone worry." She turned her gaze to Lelei, "I needed this. The satisfaction that the fire dragon will never hurt anyone again. To move on. My father would have wanted that." Lelei nodded back to her.
Eila didn't answer back but instead slowly got up as Tuka finished her spell. Turning to see the results for herself again that the fire dragon was truly dead, she now felt conflicted when earlier, she had felt satisfaction. Her conflict arose from having allowed her emotions to dictate her actions But, she reasoned to herself that it was necessary, to protect her own life and that of her friends. Sighing, she declared the mission complete.
Making their way back to Rory outside, Eila noticed that the crystals they passed by earlier seemed to glisten more brightly than before. While Lelei continued to dismiss its importance that only larger ones were useful, Eila became curious as to why she now felt drawn to them. She hadn't felt that way earlier when they first entered, only feeling strange when she did pass by them. Picking one up, she was starting to feel that she knew exactly what this crystal was but was still skeptical. To know for certain, she decided to pocket one and send it back back home to Coruscant. Before she could contemplate further on if the crystals were exactly what she believed them to be, they all heard heavy crashes at the end of the tunnel. Rushing to the tunnel's exit and out into the world again, they would be greeted by Rory who was using her halberd to keep herself standing, looking a little roughed up.
"Geez!" She complained, "You guys certainly took your sweet time!"
"What happened?!" Tuka questioned as they all rushed to her side.
"Oh, just her!" Rory pointed to the blue-skinned winged humanoid woman she had been fighting.
"My, oh my, Sister Rory! In a straight fight, I wouldn't have been able to beat you. Maybe only drive you away, perhaps. But, it seems to me your time with humans and elves has dulled your skills. Rather troublesome for an Apostle! You were distracted during our whole fight because of them!" The woman said as she whipped her scythe around and pointed at Eila, Lelei, Tuka, and Yao.
"Come a little closer and say that directly to my face." Rory threatened. The woman laughed it off. While the woman continued laughing, Eila would question Rory what happened to her comlink and she would say that the woman had crushed it early in their fight. Understanding the situation better and stepping in front of Rory, Eila questioned who the woman was.
"I am Giselle! Apostle of the Goddess Hardy! I was a little confused as to why my fellow Apostle was lingering around this mountain but I took this as an opportunity to deliver Sister Rory to Hardy to become her bride. Now I can see you are the reason why she was here. Speak! Tell me why you are here?"
Seeing no reason to lie, Eila bluntly stated, "To kill a fire dragon."
Giselle's face changed to one of confusion, "Huh? Kill a fire dragon? Rather bold for a mere human to make such a claim."
"We already did it."
"What?"
"We already did it. The fire dragon is already dead. You can see for yourself."
Giselle grimaced as she couldn't see any indicator on Eila's face that she was lying or acting arrogantly. Eyeing them suspiciously, she flew off to the caldera.
After a moment, Yao spoke up, "Are we going to wait for her?"
"No." Eila said and turned to Rory, "Let's get you cleaned up." Helping Rory along, they all began to walk down the mountain back to the tank they left behind.
However, they wouldn't get very far as Eila would ignite her lightsaber and lock her saber with Giselle's scythe who had quickly flown back to them. While Giselle was surprised that something could parry her scythe and that it was a blade of light, she was absolutely furious at what they had done.
"You're going to pay for that!" She hissed. Eila shrugged off her attack and Giselle moved back, ready to strike again. "I'm going to carve you and your little friends to bits. And Sister Rory will get the front row seat to your screams." She threatened. Raising her scythe, two medium sized dragons would land next to her. While Tuka, Lelei, and Yao would be shocked that there were more, Eila frowned that her suspicion about the eggshells she saw earlier came true.
"It was you!" Yao yelled out, "You awoke the fire dragon!" Giselle didn't respond to her. "Why!" Yao continued, "Why attack my clan! We worship Hardy!"
"Because we Apostles, like the gods, are not supposed to sympathize with lesser beings." Rory answered as she readied for another bout.
"Quite right, Sister Rory! You lesser beings are just cattle! You should all be just minding your own business and wait for the slaughter!"
Yao gritted her teeth at the callousness of the gods. As Rory readied to strike back, she would be stopped by Eila. Stepping forward again, she said, "And that just how it's supposed to be?"
"Huh?" Giselle reacted.
"Is that how it's supposed to be? I've read what Apostles are supposed to do around here." She looked over to Lelei before looking back at Giselle, "You cull civilizations that grow too big for their own good. A sensible idea if it was to curb reckless power. But you don't do that. You just destroy anyone who can potentially challenge your power. It's the reason why there's very little progress around here, whether it be societal or technological. You and the gods live in fear of what 'lesser beings' can do."
Giselle's face contorted in anger as she shouted, "Shut up! You dare insult us, human! Towato! Mowto! Time to avenge your mother!"
Before she could make the first move, she would hear Eila respond, "I'm no ordinary human."
Suddenly, Giselle felt herself getting lifted not under her own power. She was confused at what was holding her in place and would see Eila's hands raised against her. Unable to break whatever was holding her, she whistled for her two pets to attack. Her bloodlust would soon be drained as she would be casually smacked onto a rock face and be held there. She would then gawk in absolute terror as she would see the heads of her pets crushed by an unknown force and there bodies tossed aside. She began to tearing up having invested a lot of time in caring for them while their mother did the business Hardy wanted.
She tried to thrash wildly, trying to break the hold on her, "I'll kill you!" She screamed, "I'll kill you for that!"
Seeing she hadn't learned her weaker position here, Eila decided to smack her hard against the rocks a few more times. At this point, Eila didn't want to bother engaging in a prolonged battle. She still felt tired fighting the fire dragon despite Tuka's healing spell. She just wanted this over. And seeing that Fordo was going to report her for this mission to the Temple and the Military Oversight Committee, she felt she didn't have much left to lose acting this way. A few more hard smacks later and Giselle was reduced to a bloody mess.
"S—Stop…" She weakly begged, "N—N—No more…"
Eila dropped Giselle before their feet. Crouching down to her level, Eila whispered into Giselle's ear while showing the Galactic Roundel on a piece of her armor, "If you or anyone who threatens the people of this world ever see this insignia of the Galactic Republic, I suggest you all turn around."
Before they could leave Giselle in the mess she was in, they would all be interrupted at the sight of a flight of ARC-170s fly overhead and three LAATs land near them. Troopers began securing the area as Fordo and the rest of RT3 came to greet them. Wrench would come up behind them.
"General." Fordo saluted.
Eila was stunned that Wrench was there with them but she returned the gesture. Wrench would motion to her to join him privately as Tuka, Lelei, and Yao regaled Fordo and the others on what has happened. Ramius would take Rory aside to clean up her appearance but her injuries were healing well enough on their own. Other troopers would secure Giselle, taking her prisoner based on the quick info Tuka, Lelei, and Yao had to say about her. She didn't resist having been overwhelmed at sight of the newcomers and not wanting to experience getting thrown around again if she did.
Alone with Wrench, Eila began to explain herself, "W—Wrench, I…"
"No, Eila." He interrupted. Eila prepared herself as Wrench's tone was unusually calm for someone that she could feel was angry with her, "You may be my commanding officer and a General but this time, you need keep quiet and listen."
Sighing, he began, "What you just did was perhaps the most reckless and short sighted thing I've ever seen you do. You could have gotten yourself and our friends killed. And since you decided to keep this mission a secret, for all I knew, you could have died and I wouldn't have known about it until I can force it out of Fordo which would practically be impossible for an ARC trooper like him."
She tried to defend herself, "Wrench, I did it to protect…"
"No, no, no." He interrupted her again, "I'm not done. I know you told Fordo not to tell me about the truth behind the change in orders. Don't bother blaming him about ratting you out because he wouldn't tell me why he was trying to get around me in filing a complaint to the Jedi Order and Military Oversight Committee when I caught him. He followed your order to the letter. I eventually figured it out for myself when I went to Italica to look for you with your 'economics' talk with the Count and asked around for those guys." He pointed at Rory, Lelei, Tuka, and Yao, "I couldn't believe it when it all came together for me that you acted on something so stupid."
Eila shrank back feeling his words pierce right through her.
Softening his tone, "Eila, you said that you believed in us. So let us help you fight. I know what you did was to protect us as you always have, but troopers die. That's an unavoidable consequence of war. But remember that in any fight with us, you'll never be alone when we all have to face that consequence."
Satisfied that she felt the full weight of what she did was incredibly stupid, Wrench gave her more enlightening news, "I stopped Fordo from filing the complaint. This is something we're going to keep between the men only. But if you ever try something like this again, I'm not going to stop someone like Fordo from filing a complaint against you and have you removed from command. I've said it before to you, Eila. I wouldn't be a very good Commander if I didn't think about your safety."
Eila didn't respond and simply followed Wrench along as they all boarded to gunship to be taken home.
Author's Note: Well, there you go. The fire dragon's finished. Unfortunately, this will be the last update in a while. I want to give myself some time to write more chapters before releasing them again because I do feel like I'm slowing down. Don't know if it's writer's block coming at me. Regardless, I just wanted to give another thank you to all of you who have followed this story along. I never expected this story to get as much attention as it is.