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"Are all the Servitors up?" He looked up at the hologram, still fidgeting with the Amulet in his fingers. The hologram took a couple steps closer to him, placing a incorporeal hand on his shoulder. "Yes, dear... Are you okay? You've been a little on edge lately... Should we, head to Terra?" He shook his head, a simple no, and looked back down at the Amulet.
Fufufufufu, scared of dragons, Blackheart? Bezalel detached from the Captain's shadow, forming a shadow black hound, tongue lolling, and red eyes locked hungrily onto Blackheart. Captain just sighed, and kicked his feet up, "Experiencing trepidation, more like loathing returning to Terra..."
He stopped, staring at Blackheart from behind his Helmet, which also vanished in a flash of Golden Light, revealing the young but wise face beneath. Golden Draconian eyes with corrupting swirls of purple observed the man, narrowing slightly, then moved to the Amulet. "I am here for the Emerald Eye." Irral said calmly, not moving.
"Do you know what it is for?" he asked, curious as to how much this human knew. He sensed the pang of fear and shadow Magic, and his eyes narrowed again, focusing squarely on Blackheart's Shadow, where Bezalel hid, now manifested as a hound. Irral resisted the intense urge to kill it and the man before him. To purge the Multiverse of more Darkness similar to Draco. A low Draconian growl rumbled in his throat as he exhaled.
Servitors began to march up from deep in the ship, to where Blackheart was, just in case things might escalate. The Captain just sighed, looking up at the dragon person and raising an eyebrow. "Where I come from, it's polite to ask permission to board... No matter i guess, saved me the trouble of looking for you." He snapped his fingers, and a hologram of the galaxy appeared before him. It zoomed into the Orion Spur of the Milky Way and down to a system that revolved around a sun called Sol, containing the planet Terra.
"I know it's an artifact trying to drag me along to this Godforsaken Earth-ball. Further analysis seems to reveal it's a key, though incomplete. I can only assume you have the the pieces to complete it." Blackheart sighed, reaching into his jacket pocket for a flask, undoing the stopper and taking a long swig. "So, what... you're like my... honor guard? A glorified escort here to ensure my safe passage to Terra?" He snorted, "They couldn't send, like, a hot chick or something?"
"I am here for the Amulet. Not for you. How I acquire it does not concern me, what does is that I bring it back with me." He said, ignoring the snark in the man's voice as much as he could, annoyed by it. Slowly the Dragon held out his left hand, palm up, as if waiting for the Emerald Amulet. The Claws of his gauntlet gleamed in the light, and the tough Leather that formed the rest of the glove was smooth and battle-hardened. Irral did not speak, but his request- no, his command was clear:
Hand over the Amulet.
A hologram appeared behind Irral, a girl made up of blue and white light. "His mind is weak and his soul broken. What lie after the door will surely cause him to lose himself. Could you live with yourself, my dearest Captain, knowing full well that you unleashed such a heathen upon the world?" The question was rhetorical, the AI knew her Captain had a soft heart, and wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.
Dragons make good servitors, shouldn't we gut him and get to work? The demon wasn't wrong, but Blackheart wasn't in the mood for violence. "Be a good little pet, lizardman. Sit in the corner and eat your grubs, we'll be at Terra soon enough."
A ball of Pure Light Energy appeared in Irral's outstretched hand, the sound of harps playing melodiously in the back ground would seem soothing to the human, but more than likely agonizingly painful for anything Demonic or Dark. The Hologram was right about only one thing: Irral's soul was Broken. But even then as a Dragon he was more than capable of taking on anything behind that Door. His mind was secure, and how a mere program would be able to tell the mental or spiritual state of a Dragon. The FIRST Dragon born from Light the All-Mother herself, was beyond comprehension. But this blatant disrespect, nay, heresy against Dragon-Kind would be punished.
The sphere of energy began to expand, filling the room slowly, harmless for now. "I give you one last chance, human. Hand over the Amulet, and you may yet live." This was not a threat; but a promise. Irral was the Most Powerful combative Dragon in creation, and a mere Demon-enhanced Human dared to challenge him. The ship around them began to rumble around them from Irral's sheer presence alone, his Lance descending from its holster and into his other hand, gripping it tightly, ready to strike immediately.
A swarm of nanites arose from his coat, creating a silvery wall interposing itself between Irral and the Captain. " Ianuae Magicae" Behind the wall of silver, Blackheart vanished, no longer on the ship and now light-years away. Though gone, his voice continued to echo throughout the ship. "That's the issue with you dragons, it's always physical might this, combative prowess that. You never learn to appreciate a little guile."
The hologram's third eye shone quietly, looking Irral up and down. "Your aura is damaged, wildly swirling like that of a madman. You're the first dragon I've seen with such an unhinged psyche. If my emotional software was running, I'd feel bad for you. Worry not, the Captain forgives you, as you know not what you do...." The hologram almost looked plaintive and almost sad. However the undead Servitors, loaded full of explosives, thermite, and other chemicals designed to inflict collateral damage when they die, continued to stare at Irral with blank faces, weapons at the ready.
Blackheart's voice echoed once more through the expansive frigate, "See you on Terra, Gecko."
Upon close inspection, they would be revealed to be warships of the Aschen Empire; a Command Carrier and her escorts, which quickly began to move into attack formation, and advance towards the planet.
Meanwhile, a young thief with big dreams hadn't stopped watching the sky from Knightheart Valley ever since the moment she lost everything she had.
At the same time, the owner of a bakery would swear to himself that his day was far too long, and surely he was hallucinating.
He had the other Amulet, so he wasn't worried about Blackheart opening the Door without him, that would be impossible. Turning, Irral turned his Gaze to the incoming Aschen ships, sensing their hostile intent. His body began to radiate Holy Draconian Light, and his Lance gleamed in the sunlight. If they wanted to try their luck against the Dragon of Light, they were welcome, but they'd only find their death.
"Pride doth goeth before a fall," she whispered to herself, watching Neumann self-replicating Nanites play out the ship crumbling and crashing to the ground through complex holograms or shaping themselves into pieces of the ship. She even allowed a few servitors to be sucked out of the ship, burning up on entry into the atmosphere. It was harder than it would have been had she been connected to more of her mega-structures, like a few dozen Dyson Swarms, but she managed.
Neumann Nanites quickly rebuilt the pieces of the Frigate that had been purposefully damaged to fool the dragon, until the ship was whole. A half-sphere of femtometre sized robots, invisible to the naked eye, floated around Irral shielding the vessel from his sight, and projecting exactly what the dragon wanted to see. All the while, Omnia and the Frigate drifted away, soon they'd warp to Terra, but not before ensuring the Aschen wouldn't open fire on them.
"Ave, Aschen Mothership," the broadcast went out on an encrypted Aschen channel, one she'd bought the cipher for not too long ago. She hoped the ship still used it, Gods knew how quickly Aschen changed their encryption. "I am an Omnicompetent Meta-Intelligent NUMA Inspired Artilect, you may call me Omnia. My vessel is currently empty of living organic life, and we are willing to comply with orders, but it is imperative we end this matter quickly as I must be going. We are an independent contractor and owe no allegiance to enemies of the Empire."
Great pieces of debris fell, catastrophically, across Trivington Hills. News of the event hit the press immediately, papers from Abingdol Falls to Goldengear discussing what fell from the sky.
He shook his head and decided against calling the attention of his client.
Samantha Himmel, however, was entirely spooked. She was glad when they reached the foot of Knightheart Valley, glad the safety the mountains provided from the strange happenings in the sky.
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