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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Jcb112 on 2025-11-09 20:21:24+00:00.
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The Nexus. South-Eastern Quadrant of the North Rythian Forests. Local Time: 1910 Hours.
Emma
My body tensed, and so did Thalmin’s, as the blink blink blinking of the lost drone’s antenna was eventually hidden from view by the slow and purposeful twisting of the dragon’s flighted form.
Its focus, its attention, its entire gaze landed just beyond the killbox it created, over the ridge past the shrubs and through the foliage, before falling squarely on us.
Something that shouldn’t have been possible.
[ACTIVE CAMO: ONLINE]
There — hanging high above the forest — it loomed ominously, its wingbeats kicking up the fine detritus of both trees and former adventurers alike, swirling death into a cyclone that blanketed the whole forest in a thin layer of black and grey ash.
We didn’t dare move. Not especially as the ash started to accumulate atop the active camo tarp.
But this was precisely why we were running a two-layer system, with the tarp covering us beneath Thalmin’s dome of invisibility.
Yet in spite of this improvised union of magic and technology, the dragon’s gaze remained unflinching, its eyes scanning, roaming, and eventually locking on our untouched patch of forested overgrowth.
I turned to Thalmin, gesturing at the invisible magic dome, calling silently for reassurance if only to assess our next move.
The prince’s expressions, however… proved to be anything but assuring.
Ice ran through my veins following a sharp motion of Thalmin’s hands; a Havenbrockian gesture that meant only one thing — position compromised.
We both understood what needed to be done.
We had to move to Plan C.
With a practiced motion, I reached for the railgun, while Thalmin carefully gripped the hilt of Emberstride. Fear, uncertainty, and an overwhelming sense of dread smothered us whole… as the rehearsed motions of plans forged behind safe walls stood defiantly against the reality of a situation no amount of drilling could ever prepare you for.
However, no sooner did we make these moves were we saved by the cavalry, as the two drake riders — momentarily missing from the action — returned.
This time… they each unfurled something akin to oversized needles; tapered javelins with a circular pommel that had some sort of silk threaded through its eye.
I barely had time to register exactly what the weapon was before they struck.
Each of the four spears fired simultaneously, aiming not to pierce the dragon’s flesh but instead… to loop around it.
It didn’t take long for me to realize exactly what was going on and the horrible outcome that was to follow.
Thalmin clearly sensed this too, as he motioned for a massive change of plans.
Fall back.
We began crawling backwards into the underbrush, making swift work towards our two mounts primed for an immediate exfil of the AO.
Throughout all this, I kept one eye locked on the live feed of the skies as I watched in expectant horror at the two drake riders’ aerial acrobatics.
Each loop and every sortie further ‘bound’ the dragon in an intricate web of rope and silk, the thick fabric glowing and thrumming with some sort of magical enchantment.
For a second I thought I must’ve been missing something.
Perhaps there was some physics-defying magical logic that just didn’t come naturally to the earthrealmer mind.
The drake riders were just so clearly confident in this plan that there had to be something to it.
Surely they didn’t think some magical rope could bind and secure a dragon, right?
…
It turned out they did.
Or perhaps just massively overestimated their enchantments.
Because no sooner had they attempted to pull at the dragon, tugging it to follow their flight path, were they both suddenly tugged in the opposite direction.
The dragon wasted no time in making short work of their ropes, completely snapping each and every careful weave with the slightest motion and flex. It made sure to chomp hard on the thickest parts of the ropes leading to the drake rider’s leads. At which point, the tables were turned.
From there, it began twisting. Thrashing its head and twisting its body, forcing the pair of drake riders to become unwitting participants in a death spin that went faster and faster until suddenly… they were released.
It wasn’t clear whether the drake riders had managed to undo their leads or the dragon itself had just let go.
Whatever the case was, it was clear my hunch had been right from the start.
Or perhaps, their enchantments just weren’t strong enough to tackle a creature of this magnitude.
What was clear, however, was that the dragon’s… bloodlust seemed to have been sated. As that encounter was over, it seemed to promptly lose all interest in tracking us down.
Instead, it began a mad dash out of the kill zone, prompting me to immediately turn towards the EVI.
“EVI, send Survey Drone 03—”
[Mission Already in Progress.]
“Right.” I acknowledged with a sigh, turning to Thalmin, who regarded me with an expression of relief.
“I’m glad we touched on Havenbrockian hand signals beforehand… otherwise, we may not have been as fortunate.”
“While I still think the railgun could take it… I’d be lying if I said I’d rather not chance it, at least not when it’s in full-blown rage mode.”
“A wise decision.” Thalmin concurred.
“Regardless, we now have a clear lead and with a drone tracking it down, we should be able to locate its hideout soon enough.”
“And then what, Emma? You’ve seen what it’s capable of.” He warned.
“We shoot it.” I declared bluntly. “From a distance, of course. Because if there’s one thing this baby’s good for, it's its range.” I paused, tapping the railgun compartment firmly. “I’ll probably be able to take out a crystal from at least two klicks away. At which point, we can just lay low while it freaks out and then return to snatch our ill-gotten goods when it flies off.”
The plan was foolproof.
It had to be. It was Plan B after all.
However, as was often the case in the Nexus… things weren’t always that easy; the EVI would be quick to remind me.
[Secondary Objective: Confirm Status of SUR-DRONE03… COMPLETE!]
[Priority Reminder! Denial of Asset to Unauthorized Parties Protocols (DAUP-P) in Effect!]
[New Secondary Objective: Asset Recovery and/or Termination of SUR-DRONE03!]
The rug was pulled right out from under my feet.
What had been a surefire plan, a clear-cut path, and a carefully charted trajectory… had just become the unwitting first act to an unnecessary twist.
“Damnit.” I let out reflexively, flinching nervously at a reprisal from Aunty Ran that never came.
“What is it, Emma?”
“There’s been… a bit of an unexpected development.” I began with a sigh.
Thalmin, either out of exhaustion or adventuring fatigue, placed his snout in between both of his hands, forming a triangle with which to poke it through.
“It’s never ever simple when it comes to you or Earthrealm, now is it?” He questioned rhetorically under an exasperated breath. “Go on then. What is it now?”
“Wellll… I’m not sure if you noticed this during the fight, but there was a flashing red light on the dragon’s back.”
Thalmin responded by narrowing his eyes at my lenses, leveling them through what I was now reading as a lupinor facepalm. “I can’t say I noticed, not with the radiance of a raging inferno reflecting off of its crystals.”
“Yeah, well, here—” I grabbed my tablet, pointing at the recorded footage. “If we zoom in there, we’ll see that one of my survey drones is wedged in between its crystals.”
The prince took a moment to consider this, and in a scant few seconds, he let out another bemoaned breath. “From the warehouse incident, no doubt.”
“Yeah. It probably flew into it on its way out. So, good news! I’ve now confirmed that GUN assets have not fallen into the wrong hands!”
“Bad news… is that you’re going to need to retrieve it, aren’t you?” Thalmin muttered out darkly.
“Yeahhh… that’s… more or less part of the deal now.” I offered with a nervous chuckle.
“And there’s no other way? No other option besides retrieval?”
“Wellll… there’s destructive asset denial, which is exactly what it says on the tin.” I offered.
“And will you be able to do so from a distance…?” Thalmin questioned intently.
“We have one shot for the crystal, and another for the drone. Maybe, just maybe, I can kill two birds with one stone.”
“And if not?”
“Then we’ll just have to find some other way to either destroy or retrieve it.”
The prince nodded firmly, smiling before standing up to place both hands on my shoulders.
“You know there’s a saying in Havenbrockrealm. Being a good soldier is hard, but being comrades with a good soldier is hell. I’m starting to see what my men meant by that…”
“I’m sorry, Thalmin, you don’t have to—”
I stopped as Thalmin squeezed my shoulders, leveling his eyes with a determined gaze. “But there’s another saying… Better the fires of honor than the shade of...
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