“And…you three are all that’s left?”
“Yes sir,” the Dragon averted his eyes to admit. Donellanus leaned back in his seat, long snout shaking side to side.
“How…did they overwhelm you? What sort of weapons did they use?” the Chairman asked next.
“More kinds than I’ve ever seen, and not WCC standard. I saw collapsible Chrysum swords, Fusion pistols and deployable mini-ships from the main freighter,” the green Dragon described, “They used this…this sound, too. Like a ringing.”
“It was the same Chrysum-disruption audio the crew of the Arcadia used,” another, purple-scaled Dragon from the unit interjected. “I remember it from the attack on Mukurus.”
“From the Arcadia?” Donellanus rumbled. “What did their uniforms look like?”
“Blue and gold. A pin of a three-headed dog on their jackets. Nothing like I’ve seen before,” the green Dragon told him. Donellanus wrapped his jaw in his long, jagged talons. He let his head down to comb every detail he had about the WCC’s elite task forces. Not one matched that description.
“I’m…very sorry for the ones you lost. None of us could have predicted this. Your resolve to return, however, has opened our eyes to a bigger threat. One we will be prepared for in the future. You’ve done us great good, and will be rewarded,” Donelannus assured the three shaken survivors. The words sickened him even as he said them. Through lessons he’d learned in blood and fire himself, no reward filled the wound of a lost friend. “You are dismissed.” The Higher Order withheld comment to watch the three go.
“What will we do, about this well-trained unit? They can boil our blood with a sound. We should employ-”
“You may make a proposal, Caullen. You may not dictate what your fellow council members should do,” Donellanus warned him. The light blue beast took a cautious pace into the chamber. His talons slid across the smooth glare of the table.
“I propose we track this ship until it docks. If we deploy a large unit of Faders, unaffected by the frequency without Chrysum in their blood, we can locate their audio device and destroy it. Then we can isolate the crew and eradicate them,” Caullen smoldered. A number of heads around the table bobbed in silent agreement.
“I appreciate the call for retribution. The limiting factor is our military presence. We just lost six Faders. We need a certain force here to maintain security. Any that we assign to the unit you propose, Caullen, are fewer that can accompany us on trade ship raids. If we can’t limit the humans’ trade, they can build a stronger military defense. This is something we need to revie-”
“I appreciate your call for conservation of resources, Chairman,” Caullen dared to interrupt, “but the time for reviewing resources has passed. We’ve been stricken. If we don’t retaliate, not only does it make us look weak, it leaves us open to another attack. This group is dangerous.” Donellanus’ claws cut into the outer coating of the table with his mounting frustration as even more heads joined the bob for Caullen’s proposal.
“How many Faders would you propose we assign to this unit?” Donellanus snarled.
“Thirty should give us a good security blanket,” Caullen said.
“Thirty… You’re talking about thirty lives, Caullen. So many, sacrificed for one vendetta. This…dog-pin group was in transit from Neptune to Saturn. Our Dragons attacked them. There’s a chance we may never see them again, if we don’t seek them out. And you want to throw away thirty lives to pick a fight,” Donellanus growled.
“Throw away? The Faders have volunteered themselves to our cause. The decision to go where we send them was theirs. And leaving this group be is a risk we can’t just ignore,” Caullen barked back. “Besides, we need to hold a vote. Need I remind you again that we have no King?”
“On that, at least, we agree,” Donellanus rumbled, “Who amongst our Higher Order votes for Caullen’s plan of attack?” Of the nine Dragons around the ornate stony table including Donellanus and Caullen, six lifted their talons. The Ch
airman forced his claws to unclench, no matter how he longed to do the opposite. He wanted to snap off a slab of the Fader’s gorgeous table and split it on Caullen’s thick, objecting skull.
“Thirty Faders. We’ll need at least half that number of our own to carry them. Does the council agree?” Caullen called a second vote. He received the same divided, but majority approval. He even chanced a fang-toothed smirk at his strategic victory.
“I’d like to present a proposal of my own. We need to start research on how to utilize Machaeus as a tool,” Donellanus countered. A subtle tremor of chatter arose from around the table nearly instantly. “The defensive and offensive capabilities cannot be ignored. We could halve our unit sizes, halve our risk and double our success if we incorporated Machaeus,” he roared over the commotion.
“Actually…I thought you might bring that up. Which is why I was in a meeting before those marauders came back. A meeting with one among us who had personal experience with Machaeus,” Caullen said, loud enough for someone to overhear outside the door. At this signal, she entered. A Dragon with ruby scales, her claws bound behind her back.
“You brought a prisoner here?” Donellanus screeched, silver smoke billowing through his monstrous incisors. Caullen raised his claws in surrender.
“In bindings. To act as an informant,” he amended, “Go on, Krystis. Give your input, before we take our vote.” The red-scaled Dragon named Krystis stood halfway between a slump and attention before the table of the Higher Order.
“Machaeus can’t be trusted. Not in any capacity,” Krystis growled, “That monster is the reason for my imprisonment. Most of you know me as your liaison to the traitor Drogan… I was branded a traitor by association.”
“This is absurd. You come here with loaded witnesses and prisoners to serve your own proposals, and discredit my own,” Donellanus almost scoffed. Caullen’s antics, however, seemed far less obvious to the rest of the Order.
“I come bearing information to help the council form their decisions,” Caullen assured him. He unfolded an arm to his red-scaled companion.
“I never knew Drogan conspired with Machaeus,” Krystis went on, as instructed, “I spoke with him before and after every assignment. I was always thorough, and suspected him of disloyalty more than once, but…I could never prove any treachery. This is the kind of secretive, conniving being you deal with, should you try to deal with Machaeus.” Donellanus gave Krystis a mock grin, and even clapped his claws together in an alarming clank.
“Brilliant performance. Really, very well rehearsed. Now, Caullen, if your theatrics are finished. I did make a proposal, and a proposal calls for a vote,” said the Chairman, “if we’re going to lead a full assault on this mysterious new unit, we at least owe our own the best protection we can provide. We need to explore every resource, including Machaeus. Who shares a mind with me?”
Donellanus began with the same confidence he’d had on the day he became Chairman. Born Prince, whose father set aside pride for the good of his people; who wouldn’t stand with him? Who wouldn’t raise a claw to protect their own? Chairman Donellanus was astonished as he looked out across a room of awkward stares and silence. Not a single talon. No one. He stood alone.