Chapter 32: Chapter Twenty-Nine The Trouble with Nesting Dragons

The captain stretched as she slipped out of bed. She shouted at the person knocking on the door of her emergency shelter. It had been over a week since she gave the order to abandon ship. Surprisingly despite all the damage to the ship, from her crew of three hundred ninety, all but forty had survived. The dragon had ignored their pods, and those of other ships. Her crew wasn’t the only crew that had landed here on the fourth planet.

After landing here, they had set up emergency shelters and disassembled the pods. The escape pods were designed to be taken apart, and used as material for an emergency shelter. Each pod had a number of cheap titanium plates stored as well for that purpose. Along with enough medical supplies, and rations to last three months. Each pod also contained a distress beacon, short-range interstellar comm unit, basic tool kit, a small arms locker, and a small generator.

She sighed, it wasn’t exactly comfortable, but much better than nothing. Grabbing her uniform she started to get dressed. Already she was considering the problems they were facing. They could not count on help coming to them. In this little valley, they had two thousand people to worry about already. Her crew and those of the ships that had landed here with them. Perhaps more people were scattered across the planet. Not that she could worry about the others. Those here already had their hands full considering their immediate problems. They had food, water and shelter for now, but that would only last so long.

Well they wouldn’t have to worry too much about water, there was a river running through the middle of the valley, just west of their little settlement. There was some fish, and game in the area, and they had scouts looking for edible plants. As for shelter, no one would be content with the cramped emergency shelters they had now. The current plan was to build proper shelters closer to the river, and then recycle the materials of their current shelters.

Dressed, she slipped out of her single-room shelter. Where an ensign was waiting for her. One who seemed a bit nervous. She recognized the ensign. She was one of the youngest officers on her ship. The captain had taken the young ensign straight from the academy, where she had impressed a number of the instructors. Now she was kind of wishing she hadn’t. The poor ensign deserved better than being stranded on this planet.

Tiredly, she asked, “Report.” She just couldn’t muster the energy for her normal command voice. Thankfully she wasn’t the only one affected by their unfortunate circumstances.

The ensign stuttered a moment and then blurted out. “Dragon!...” 

She never finished that report. Both of them were suddenly startled, by the sound of a loud wing beat. She looked up, and felt her heart lodge itself in her stomach. Her throat tightened, and she felt her muscles lock up. Her eyes locked on the creature winging over their makeshift settlement. The very same monster responsible for them being stranded here.

It was huge, with majestic lines. Powerful wings coated in gleaming red, silver and purple scales beat slowly as it lazily flew through the sky. Its powerful-looking legs were tipped with long deadly talons. While the tail ended with a vicious looking blade that vaguely resembled a sword. Although it made even greatswords look small. It was at least four meters long, and that tail was more than double that in length. Not surprising given that dragons could grow to be hundreds of meters long. This one wasn’t that large, but she was still huge.

Her sight however drew her to the armored head. The smooth armored lines, the predatory eyes that swept over those below. It opened its mouth, and she was flashed with sharp silver-white teeth that could shred her in seconds. The dragon gave out a roar, and she felt a trickle of warm wetness below. Her mind froze, she didn’t know what to do.

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Uliera winged lazily above the valley below. She really was liking what she was seeing. The valley below was fertile, with plenty of water, and modest game. There were several promising mountains on the ridge that looked great for establishing a nest. Making the area even better was the fact that plenty of large game wandered the forests, and plains of this world. Not much large game could be found within the valley, but there were quite a few large lumbering lizards, and mammals just beyond the valley walls. There was even an ocean within an hours flight of this valley. The oceans were rich and fertile, blessed with large beautiful fish. This planet was looking great for a nest, especially with the recent influx of Neku.

That there was a modest settlement of Neku below was just a bonus. With a little work, they could prove quite useful. She let out a roar, as a warning not to run, and then picked a small hill just north of the Neku settlement. She wasn’t impressed with it, but they were clearly just a collection of emergency shelters. The Neku clearly needed help, as well. Might as well help them out. It might be a pleasant diversion.

With a few steady flaps, she set down with a bit of a thud. The soft soil gave a bit under her weight. Uliera folded her wings, and stretched her back lazily before focusing on the makeshift settlement nearby. Already her mind was fishing for candidates.

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The captain watched the dragon slowly descend towards a hill. It didn’t seem to be leaving. She felt her legs give out under her. Nearby the young ensign was already collapsed in a pile, and breathing roughly. It made her feel a little better that she wasn’t the only one so affected. It didn’t help that she kept seeing images of that fateful battle just over a week ago. Her training told her that she had to be strong in front of her officers, but she didn’t see how that would apply to their present situation. Not against that monster that had wiped out the entire invasion fleet. She seriously doubted that a creature that had shrugged off starship weaponry could be fought off with plasma rifles, or the handful of grenades or rocket launchers a few individuals had thoughtfully brought with them. Nor did she think the collection of titanium and duranium plating their makeshift settlement was made of would protect them. The caves in the valley wall were too far, and even if they were closer she didn’t think they would help much either.

While her mind was drawing a blank on what to do, apparently her body already had ideas. Suddenly she found herself getting up. Her wobbly arms pushed herself off the ground, and after a moment she found her balance on her jellied legs. Her muscles quickly tightened up a bit, and then to her shock she started undressing. She panicked for a moment, and tried to stop herself, but none of her limbs were responding. It took her another moment to realize that her body was no longer under her control. That lump in her throat suddenly swelled a size, as images of the teeth she spied just minutes ago flashed before her eyes. 

She had no idea how she was being controlled but her panicked mind already picked a culprit. It must be the dragon that landed moments ago, and she was imagining herself being made to walk right to it, where she would be eaten.

As her underwear dropped to the ground, she found herself walking away from her shelter and clothes. The direction being towards the dragon, which only reinforced her fears. Idly she noted other women walking by in the same manner she was, and completely naked as well. Her mind barely registered that, instead she focused on trying to wrest control of her limbs but to no avail.

Before she knew it, she found herself and a number of others gathered before the large dragon. Up close it looked both fierce and majestic, with its gorgeous red, silver, and purple scales. Sleek predatory lines, dangerous sharp-looking front claws, vicious talons, and that deadly tail swinging lazily behind it. A creature clearly bred for battle. She wanted nothing more than to run away from it, feeling quite vulnerable right now. Especially now that she was naked and unarmed, but her body still refused to obey her commands.

The air itself suddenly began to vibrate around her, and a voice spoke. It was regal, majestic, feminine, and somewhat predatory. “Hmm, yes. Very nice. I think you all will do very nicely. After I fix that little problem of being brainwashed by someone, that is,”

Now she was confused. The captain had a feeling that the dragon had just spoke to them. That seemed contradictory to everything she thought she knew about dragons. No attempt to communicate with them had ever worked. They had wiped out entire fleets, and were known ship eaters, but this one was speaking to them. In their language no less. What it just said to them was just as confusing as the dragon speaking, however. A small part of her told her that maybe being eaten wasn’t on the table, but that did nothing to assuage the fear she felt. As her heart continued to beat so rapidly, she feared her chest would burst. The bit about brainwashing didn’t even register with her panicked mind.

She barely even noticed what the dragon was doing. Idly she noticed one girl after another walk up to the dragon, who seemed to look over them for a moment or two. Then they joined a second group that just stood off to the right. Her mind was elsewhere, but she suddenly came back to the here and now when she found herself standing before the dragon.

The dragon looked her over, and she shuddered. Its gaze terrified her, but she didn’t know what to do. A giggle echoed in her mind, and then said, “No need to be so terrified. I’m not going to hurt you. Although you may feel a little discomfort when I break your conditioning. Try not to be alarmed.”

Before she could really process that, her mind was suddenly bombarded with the sheer weight of another mind. It was massive, and forceful. She felt quite fragile before the weight of the alien mind that was intruding upon hers. Nothing could have prepared her for this, and she knew that if the dragon wanted to she could snap her mind like a twig, or worse. She felt something snap in her mind, and then that weight vanished as quickly as it appeared. With it came a flood of thoughts and impressions as she suddenly became aware of gaps in her memory. Gaps she knew the dragon before her was not responsible for, and at the same time she became aware of things she had not thought much of before.

As her body just walked towards the group of girls who already had their encounter with the dragon, her mind was busy trying to reconcile the implications of what just happened. A part of her felt relieved that she was still alive both in body and mind after that encounter. She knew intimately how insignificant she was to the might of the creature that stood less than ten meters from her. Not only did it dwarf her in size, but it was powerful with a mind that could break her in two as easily as she could snap a twig. Distantly she became aware of her limbs being restored to her, but she didn’t run. There was no point, she merely sat on the ground, praying the dragon would let her go. Waiting for it to pronounce her fate, whatever that may be. Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long for that, but she wasn’t sure she liked what she was told.

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