Resurrection Dawn

by Marc Secchia

  Isska’s green fingers raced over his readouts. “Carno-only.”

  “Would the parameters recognise the difference between those and a larger winged predator?”

  “Hmm. Doubt it – not the photon cannon routines, anyways,” Dymand put in, getting a word of confirmation from Isska. “What the freak are you up to, Alomonster?”

  “Bringing in help without getting it blasted out of the sky. Dad, call this in to the Central AI. Pause on the photons, all plasma goes to short range while Isska reconfigures the systems to recognise a new ally. Got that?”

  “I … I …” Isska’s fingers froze mid-bud. They said, “Who or what is this ally?”

  “You’ll know them when you see them,” Alodeé assured her friend. “I know you don’t have a jaw, but it’s going to drop anyway.”

  Isska snorted, “Dymand, protocols are primed. You’re going to get hell from the top, sir.”

  Her father’s eyes hardened. “You be ready to mod those schematics stat, alright? Before they pull the plug on my authority. Check?”

  “Check, sir. Readying routines now. Welcome aboard, Alodeé!”

  Asmurti grinned, “Second that! Nice to have you taking over command again, my friend.” Her fingers stabbed the forward weapons, blasting into a group of carnoraptors.

  Her father growled, “Right. Let’s see what you have for me.”

  “Up top,” she said.

  “I swear you’ll be the death of me, Alodeé.”

  Wince! “I’m trying to be the life of you, Dad. Alright?”

  Throwing her the strangest non-apologetic, infuriated fatherly look ever, Dymand led the way to the back door. “Open up, Asmurti. You had better be so right about this, Alodeé. I’m calling shots on all our lives right here. Understood?”

  She nodded. “Trust me. If you aren’t happy with my army, you can fire up the photon cannons again. Stat.”

  Army? His eyes looked her over one more time. “Something’s … changed, about you. Can’t for the life of me figure out what it might be –” he blasted several carnoraptors casually through the gap as the door swung open “– but I will, trust me.”

  “Dad!”

  “I love you too, Alomonster-ish miracle. Alright? Command AI, prep for all-points Dymand override protocol STAT-4Z89 sub-command 9-0T1, on my mark.”

  “Check,” said a disembodied voice.

  They leaped up to the roof of the AVACS. Dad pressed a Comms set against her right ear. “Use this. Can’t tell you how happy I am to see you alive. Ready?”

  “Ready, sir.”

  “Command, on my mark, reduce all plasma cannons’ range to local targets only. Cut power to photon cannon batteries and reroute to main energy cell banks, rebuild supply. No manual overrides allowed. Mark!”

  Jumping up and down on the roof of her father’s vessel, Alodeé waved as wildly as she could. COME IN! ALL CLEAR!!

  Dymand gasped, holding his head. “Alodeé! When did you learn to do that?”

  She waved again. Come on! Quick!

  In the entrance area off to their right, the heads of the Oraman troops bobbed and weaved as they heard the change in firing patterns take effect. Far less support. An outraged squawk issued from her father’s Comms bracelet.

  Her neck prickled wildly as she saw the colours behind that faraway island change. Greens. Reds. Blues. Golds. Emerald, white, black and so many more. Pouring forth in a massive wave, thousands strong.

  Beside her, Dymand’s jaw dropped open and stayed that way. As his Comms bracelet yelled at him, he swore softly, staring into the distance. “Alodeé, what the freak is all … that?”

  “I’m bringing in the Dragons of Resurrection Dawn, Dad. Isska, scan body stats and read patterns for insertion.”

  “I … am. Holy – Alodeé! You can’t do this, surely?”

  Asmurti and Maruski whooped something unintelligible, but joyous.

  Orange bodies peeled away from the Dragons’ powerful advance like the curl of a wave. Tiny specks of light flashed here and there – Pygmies, doing their brutal, efficient work. Living flame gushed out of the Dragons’ mouths, from this distance appearing like tiny welding torches. Her heart throbbed wildly in her chest. Dragons!

  “I gave a direct order!” Dymand shouted at his bracelet, still unable to tear his eyes off the Dragons. “Allies incoming. Repeat, allies incoming!”

  The bracelet swore viciously at him.

  “Dragons?” Dad whispered.

  “Yep. And Lightning Pygmies. This is the cavalry, Dad. Be nice to them.”

  “What the hells are you talking about, man?” the bracelet screamed. “Dragons? Are you completely freaking mad? Somebody rescind that order! Now!”

  “I’m in,” Isska breathed.

  “Jam Central direct 9-2/57V,” Dymand said quietly. “That should keep them quiet for a min. Alodeé … I don’t know what to say. They’re friendly?”

  “As friendly as Dragons get,” she smiled. “Now, Dad, how can I best help?”

  “Patterns uploaded and set, sir,” the Troome confirmed.

  “Holy Resurrection Dawn, Alodeé, you’re simply incredible,” he breathed and kissed her upon the cheek. “I don’t suppose you’d consider giving the Oraman regiment a hand? Seems the doorway’s gotten busy.”

  “On it, stat.”

  Snapping up her swords, she saluted him. “Sir!”

  His hand had barely twitched from his side by the time she was 10 mets away, kicking another unhappy carnoraptor in the ribcage.

  * * * *

  Dymand had situational eyes in the back of his head. She should have known that while he was goggling at the Dragons, his other senses already knew that the situation between the blast doors would turn sour far too quickly. Carnoraptors tore through the pile of their own dead to get at the heavily pressed Oraman regiment. Knots twenty to thirty individuals strong hurled themselves through the gaping gap above where the doors should have been. Although most were shot, heavy, thrashing bodies dropping into the ranks did not help. They would be forced to retreat soon.

  Behind the 500-strong Oraman regiment, engineers worked frantically to weld a new barrier into place. That was going well. They kept getting in the way of soldiers fighting to keep them all alive.

  Over the open all-Settlement Comms link, someone cursed the living hells out of their Head of Security. The Oraman soldiers down here could not see, but Dymand’s voice broke in, calmly explaining that an army of allies was coming. Mid-sentence, the link snapped off with an outraged squeal of electronics.

  As predicted.

  Racing down a staircase made of mad carnoraptors, Alodeé let her inner beast take over again. Nothing to it. Just ravage the hostiles. She plunged down into the doorway amidst a flight of carnoraptors, ripping them apart with her swords before they could force entry. Boom! Boom! Blasts from the huge photonic hammer blows shook the air around her. Landing lightly atop a pile of bodies, Alodeé blurred into action before the CLB blasts from behind could target her. Yep. Two stray shots ricocheted off her body armour already. She swept across the grey plascrete a couple of mets ahead of the regiment, out of reach of their hammer blows but close enough to see the confusion register behind the visors as a slight, green-skinned waif armed only with a pair of swords cleaned up ahead of them in a spray of ichor and flying carnoraptor body parts.

  Crouching, she shot upward to engage a flight of carnoraptors barrelling in from above. The thunder of Dragons built in the sky as she completed her bloody work and rode a carnoraptor corpse back to the ground.

  She saluted the Oraman. “Tomaxx, are you – unnnh!”

  Something slugged her in the gut like the kick of a Dragon. Plasma blast! Dimly, falling, she saw a soldier lifting their smoking plasma rifle just a few steps away. Must have run up beside the Oraman to take his shot; a huge armoured white hand reached out from behind to chop him down.

  She fell, winded. No smoking hole in the armour. Her mouth gaped. Air? Where was her air?


  Glorious moment.

  “Alodeé!” someone roared. The sound came at her in waves, strangely elongated. White bodies charged forward, their hammers smashing a group of would-be carnoraptor backstabbers out of the way.

  “Squad! Brace and cover!”

  “Salianixx?” she wheezed horribly, scrabbling at her armour. “Can’t …”

  A pair of well-known, powerful hands gripped her midsection, squeezing until her torso armour popped unhappily and released her sternum. Kneeling ponderously over her, the colossal 256-cent Oraman reached for his combat helmet and ripped it free.

  Tomaxx!

  Oraman knelt around her, backs turned inward; others stood upright, creating a living cocoon with their massively armoured bodies. In that space, Tomaxx’s forearm slipped beneath her body. His mouth formed the word, ‘Alodeé?’ but although his throat worked, no sound came out. A gloved hand touched her bruised cheek, teasing a hank of titian hair out of her mouth.

  Such beautiful eyes. Pearls. How had she never noticed before? She always had wanted to swoon into them, she thought absently, but had forced herself not to.

  Alodeé murmured, “Surprise?”

  From his helmet Comms, she heard Salianixx’s voice order the squad to keep tight. Then, she glanced over her shoulder and said roughly, “Boy, you know what to do. Get on with it.”

  Get on with what, Mister …

  Despite that a white blast detonated against his knee, Tomaxx leaned in with a convulsive movement, and pressed his lips to hers.

  His tenderness stole her breath away.

  The very next instant, the full brunt of a Dragon bombardment struck the Human base. Sheets of fire 15 mets high rolled across the plascrete apron in front of the ruined blast doors. Heat shimmered in the air as they torched the carnoraptors, dead or alive, it did not matter. She heard the distinctive crackle of Lightning Pygmies making their leaps to attack airborne hostiles. Thunderous Dragon song shook the ground she lay upon. On and on and on the assault rolled, the bedlam drowning out the sharper barks of plasma cannons, AVACS blasts and the lighter weapons fire. She distinctly saw Rainflash appear beside her, check on the progress of a never-ending kiss and disappear again within half a sec.

  What were friends for?

  “Alodeé?” he murmured, his eyes full of questions as he drew back. “Did I –”

  Make a mistake? Never.

  Winding her hand about the back of his neck, she raised herself onto her tiptoes and growled, “Stop right there, soldier. You deserve an answer.”

  With that, she kissed him. Fire to his fire. Sweet passion ignited their fused mouths.

  Oh, he definitely got the idea.

  The air reverberated with blasts. Acrid smoke curled around them. Photonic hammers rose and fell in concussive blasts as the Oraman squad spread out, taking command of the immediate area around the blast doors, while a second massive squad jogged forward with military-perfect timing to fill in and support the lines.

  Her squad stood firm. Not that she really noticed. After all, when the daughter of a true Dragoness kissed her chosen man, doing a half-job was simply not an option.

  In her ear, Isska approved, “Nice one, Alo!”

  Asmurti yelled a few words about Dragons and insanity, hammering away with her blasters.

  Dad sounded as if he might be choking on something.

  Heh. Forgiveness later, Dad?

  Alodeé? Mom’s voice.

  Coming. Let’s do this. Got to get our Dragons safe.

  She ended the kiss reluctantly. Oops. Might have been a gratuitous nibble at the upturned corner of his mouth there. Maybe two. Alodeé wriggled to her feet, palming her swords.

  “Later, Tomaxx. Work to do.”

  With a touch of minds, she worked out exactly where the Dragoness of Emerald was.

  “Alo! Where are you going?” he asked.

  Despite his gorgeous, quirky half-smile, she had to keep her mind on important – well, other important – things. Like staying alive and finishing this rescue properly.

  “Flying with the Dragons,” she said. “Tomaxx, you Oraman were always right, about everything.”

  Coiling her legs, she rocketed skyward, catching the talon of a huge emerald paw as Mama Dragon swept by, collecting her baby.

  His jaw dropped so fast, it almost clanged on his chest.

  * * * *

  The combined Dragon-Pygmy force surged through the sky, downing carnoraptors faster than Alodeé could follow or think about. Someone had reinstated Dymand on the Comms link. They worked together to evacuate hundreds of people who had been forced into lockdown in the Residential, Industrial and Medical complexes. One of the patients was Medic Tamanzi. Critically ill and unresponsive, Dad reported briefly.

  Later. Her heart ached at the news.

  Most of the outlying Settlements had been evacuated successfully ahead of the super-migration, but two had been entirely overrun and Hazmuri Falls had been the site of a full-scale mutiny which had spread to Central just hours ahead of the carnoraptors.

  Once the Humanoids were inside, Ssirinssar organised a tactical retreat. The entry apron was large enough for single Dragons to fly down without any trouble, but with thousands still aloft, this took time and skill to negotiate without snarling one another up. They could be housed in several of the colony ship’s old cargo holds, Dymand ordered. 7 cubic kloms of unused space down there. Should work, even for Dragons.

  Together with Samodeé, Alodeé helped fight off the continued influx of carnoraptors. Bodies piled many mets high now. The plasma cannons could at last do their job efficiently. They hammered away in devastating array, keeping the hilltops and the spaces between clear of carnoraptors, while the Dragon force flew repeated sorties against the millions still rolling in from the northwest. No end in sight. Nothing to do but get under cover.

  “Fifteen, ten, seven go!” Ssirinssar fluted.

  Dragons peeled away, shooting into the entryway at high speed. Their wings buffeted the Oraman regiments standing guard.

  Alodeé scanned the ground. “Oh no! Child!”

  “Where?” Samodeé yelled.

  “That house; sure I saw movement …”

  A little blonde Oraman girl, clutching a pink soft toy, wandered into the open. How had they missed her? She must have been hiding behind her house. Carnoraptor stalking – Alodeé stiffened in her mother’s paw. Oraman were family. Family were one.

  “Let’s go!” she shouted.

  The Dragoness surged through the air as she cried out, her four wings pumping in concert. Shooting in low, Samodeé threw her daughter ahead of her as the carnoraptor blurred forward, fangs and claws poised to end the girl’s life. Too far! Mid-air, she hurled her sword overhand. Straight into the head. Alodeé followed up with a vicious kick to the neck as the creature snapped at the girl. Got it! Just a cut on her arm. With her second sword, she stabbed the carnoraptor through the eye. Done.

  She turned to the girl, beckoning. “Come with me.” Maybe she was 4 years old or so, already Rainflash’s height. Little arms wound around her neck as Alodeé picked her up. “Anyone else hiding around here?”

  Headshake.

  “Do you want to fly with a Dragon?”

  “No … too scared.”

  “I’ll hold you. She’s an amazing Dragoness. Look, she has wings and paws just like in the stories and she can breathe fire, too.”

  Yep. Best polish that speech. Figured she’d be repeating it a thousand times before sundown.

  As they launched into the air, Samodeé said, “Was that Dymand on the Comms?”

  “Dad’s good, yep,” she said.

  They both scanned the Residential zone for any further movement. Through the Comms, she reported the girl and asked her Dad to send out one more call. How many others might be in hiding that they did not know about? Too late for that. The retreat had reached that critical stage of balancing forces still fighting with those going into hiding. Landing near the entrance, she ran over to t
he Oraman troops with the girl.

  “Anyone know –”

  “Serinixx!” A man rushed forward from near the back. “Darling, where – how –”

  “A Dragon got me, Daddy!”

  Now it was exciting? Kids, right? She smiled absently. The engineers almost had the temporary doors ready. She reported progress to her Dad, noting that Dragons could hold them in place for the welding teams. “Do it,” he ordered.

  Salianixx ordered the man to break ranks and see his daughter to safety. He spluttered something about his wife being injured and in the rush – “Go! Gotta clear the area,” she roared. That would be because the Dragons had begun to land their Serpent charges. Pygmies flashed up on the hilltop above the entrance, keeping the carnoraptors honest.

  Well, dead honest. Snigger.

  Alodeé reached for Ssirinssar. I need four Dragons to shore up a temporary door in here.

  Dymand said, “We’re tight. Scanning the base for any more Humanoid life signatures. Get that final retreat ready, Alo.”

  “Check, sir.”

  She had her Mom relay the message. Stupid head. Pounding like an Oraman hammering away in there.

  Tomaxx, front and centre, loomed taller than most of the Oraman regiment. He gazed curiously at her, standing beside Samodeé. Struggling to make the connections? She nodded slowly, almost grimly, but most of her attention was focussed inward. Could there be one more attack? Could it be an Obsidian Shaman Flyer – the presence flitted away from the edge of her mind. Gone.

  She tasted bile in her throat. They would be back.

  Ssirinssar bugled for the retreat.

  Alodeé ran forward, waving to Salianixx. “Stand aside and fall back steadily! Final Dragons incoming!”

  For a sec, it looked improbably as if she were attacking an entire regiment of Oraman on her own. Then, the orders rang out and the men and women peeled aside. The Serpent Dragons rushed for cover, with winged Dragons raced overhead every 1 to 2 secs. Ten Oraman dashed forward in a group to stymie a speculative attack around the flank. Boom! Flash-boom!

  One more thing. Turning to her mother, Alodeé said, “Let’s bring them in. This is our job.”

  Chapter 28