Dragons Schmagons

There weren’t always dragons in the valley.

Ever since the most recent gate opening, there are now dragons in the valley on Ptalis. Just another creature to watch out for is how I look at it. We’ll need more intel in order to figure out where they fit in with the hierarchy of the planet, but we’ll get that…eventually. They can’t hide. Too goddamn big. They also can’t be apex predators or else they’d be causing way more damage and chaos since their arrival. No, they can’t be apex. Who knows, maybe they’ll turn out to be a reasonable addition…something to train to help us, perhaps. But that will all require time to observe, and I don’t have the time and am already having doubts.

According to the records I found 50 years ago, dragons haven’t existed on this planet for over 10,000 years. Why bother coming now? That is the Jeopardy final bonus question answer. Do we need to know something that nobody is telling us? Sure, there’s hope that maybe they can be trained… to seek out and hunt down our enemies…to help us. Who knows? It’s definitely an idea worth pursuing with Council permission. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what their motivation was to come here. But yeah, now we have dragons in the valley. Hoorah.

I just hope they contribute more to the planet than the hundreds of Treymoth Trolls that came through the last time the gates opened 100 years ago. Seriously…an eyesore and nasty creatures they are. Ugly little critters and useless AF. They have been nothing but a nuisance. Sure, it’s great when we have bottom feeders who clean up the dead. But they’re an angry lot with no manners and no morals. And they contribute nothing to society whatsoever…except eating the garbage and producing more methane for our already fragile atmosphere. Fucking trolls. Oh, and they seem to reproduce like rabbits. Ugh.

At that moment, Justinian staggers in with her hair a mess and dirt smudged on her face. “What?” She asks when she catches me looking her over.

“Nothing. Just looking is all.”

“Uh huh. Do I have shit on my face or something? You’re giving me that look like there’s something on my face, something that isn’t normally there.”

“Um, yeah you do. Have shit, or possibly dirt, on your face. Let me guess… You were out playing with that rodent-wanna-be Felix. What exactly is the attraction there, if you don’t mind me asking. Is he like a pet to you? A friend? A lover? What is up with that? You spend so much time together it makes me worry. And makes people talk.”

“We’re just friends if you must know, although it’s really none of your goddamned business. He is one of your Sector leaders, so you must have some sort of respect for him. Maybe I just prefer his company to yours?”

Ouch. “Yea, okay… Just make sure you remember who’s got your back, that’s all. Toss me aside, whatever. It’s easy for you to do that. Always has been. But just keep that in mind.”

God, why was there always so much tension between us when we were alone together? I know why and can’t help it. I have never gotten over her. That’s why. And fuck me if that just doesn’t suck Troll cock. She’s obviously moved on. Why TF can’t I?

“We’re having a security meeting in about an hour. Are you planning to join us or are you still playing with your rat? Wait, isn’t he on duty right now?”

“I’m heading for a shower and going to find something to eat. I have every intention of being at the meeting, unless of course my rodent-wanna-be makes me a better offer. And yes, he’s on duty, but he can multi-task. He has no problem performing his job and entertaining me at the same time, FYI.” And with a grin on her face, she whisked herself away down the hall.

Why the fuck did I still care about her? I cannot purge her from me, and I absolutely need to. It’s been nearly two years for fucks sake.

Suddenly the alarms go off and that hasn’t happened in close to 30 years. What the fuck is going on?

On our shoulder two-ways I shout out, “Report in. Every sector. Report in NOW.”

Surprisingly, Felix was the first to respond. “Sector 14 reporting in. Not sure sir. Looking for anything in my sector to cause a disturbance but don’t find anything amiss, sir. Checked all camera feeds. Still coming up with nothing so far, sir.”

“Ten -four. Anyone else have anything to report? I’m waiting here like a soufflé hoping to rise.”

“Antoine here, Sector 7, sir. Nothing to report in my sector either, sir. Cameras show nothing. Mikes picking up nothing but the wind.”

“Ten-four.” Okay, seriously…WTF? “Anyone else? Where is everybody? We have shifts and sectors for a reason damnit. Report in NOW.”

Radio silence. There are thirteen other agents covering sectors out there. Their job is to make sure their stations are safe and guarded with at least 50 armed guards each. These posts were designed to protect and ensure the enclave…our human community. It is imperative for the survival of our species’ in this wasteland of a planet. Two reported in. Only two. What am I supposed to think now? Seriously…WTF?

One by one, the other Sectors finally squawked through. Nothing unusual to report…in any of them.

Suddenly I hear a loud noise, just as I was about to call out again on the walkie for everyone to do another sweep. The noise came from the roof. Thump. It sounded like something landed on it. Then another… thump. Then another. I waited for more noise, more movement, more anything. Nothing. Until a voice called out “We are here and have reasons for that. It was not my intention to bring us back to this god-forsaken-armpit of a planet. But here we are. I need to speak to the human in charge. Now. Show yourself or I burn this entire facility down. All of you, every last one of you, will be ended.”

Okay. I guess I am meeting my first-ever dragon today because that’s what the roof feed showed me was out there. Geez I hope it goes well. I am going to assume (and that’s never a good thing to do) that trying to train them to help us measly humans will never be an option. Not today anyway. Okay. I am ready for this. I’ve faced a lot of shit before. Sebastian, you can do this…giving myself a pep talk.

I walk outside the command building, the one right on the perimeter of the community border. I follow the direction of his (her?) voice. Three of my best guards make a move to follow me but I signal to them that they should stay back. Mind to mind, I tell my second in command “Whatever happens, Frank, you must protect our kind. We are the very last on Ptalis. You are my second. The forces will need leadership if something happens to me. You know this. You must rally all that are willing to fight if it comes down to that. Stay back and record what you can of this encounter. Call ALL guards patrolling outside the perimeter, as well as all sector leaders and their teams. Now. I do not our guests to feel as if they are being ambushed in any way. Call them all in. But you must protect the community. Do you understand me?”

My second, Frank Smith, simply nodded then whispered the orders into his shoulder radio on the designated emergency channel. Who knew what kind of hearing our new friends had.

I walked outside the building. I kept going until I came to the border of our community enclosure… the border separating us from the rest of the planet actually. We have never needed to defend our space. Not in the four hundred years we have been here. Now I didn’t know what to think.

There they stood.

“You are Sebastian Fox, are you not?”

Holy crap! First of all, there haven’t been dragons here in forever. Now there are several and this bastard (bitch?) knows my name. What TF is up with that?

“Yes, I am Sebastian Fox. I command the human security forces here on Ptalis. With whom do I speak?”

“In your language I believe I am called Tenacious. My companions behind me are Persistent on the left, and Insistent on the right. We arrived four days ago, as I am sure you are aware. We brought along a few others for …protection. It has been many years since we last visited this shithole of a planet and we didn’t know what to expect once we arrived. It was not my intention to come back to this hell believe me. But my father, Sedulous, King of Dragons in the Eurditae realm, insisted and ruled it so. I would have preferred to be fireless for the next two thousand years as punishment than to be sent here. Yet here I am. I have no intention of starting any problems. I did not mean to threaten you. I come as a courtesy to discuss a few matters that are happening in the neighboring galaxy and will continue to creep closer to you in the next few, how do you call it, months? My measurement of time is different from yours.”

Holy fucking shit on a shingle. What next? We only just got over the uprising from 30 years ago with those fucking trolls. Now this. And I’ve heard nothing about it. Dear gods---ALL GODS---please help me and my species in our desperate time of need.

“Yes, of course we can discuss this. Um…we have an open-air amphitheater nearby which I think may accommodate you and your companions’…er…size… better. I will show you the way. It’s not far.”

A six-foot-two human led a posse of three twenty-foot-tall-fire-breathing-scaly-assed dragons to the amphitheater. This was definitely not what he expected when he woke up this morning.