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Dragon Harem

Chapter 15: Projects of War

Sponsored by Alix Felis

By Draconicon

Draconicon stepped through the portal into the lab, the outside world letting in a breath of warm air before he snapped the portal shut in irritation. Robert and Terrence flinched as he walked by, the fox and cougar looking at one another as the dragon stomped over to the observation window. He stared down at the reactor on the other side, his breath puffing through his nose in ragged fashion.

"Burned out the whole northeast sector with that demonstration. Someone, anyone, please tell me that we got anything but a bit of time from this," he muttered.

"Well, um, we learned that the emitters need more shielding," Robert said.

"...Something more immediately useful, please."

"...Not much, if I'm honest, sir. I did tell you that Project Firewall wasn't ready yet."

"You did."

"I was -"

"Stop. Just...stop."

The dragon took a deep breath, leaning his forehead against the glass barrier between him and the lab.

It had been necessary. He wouldn't have been able to stop Aldebran from charging forward without pretending that Shisan could do something to stop him. If there'd been time, he would have found some sort of illusion, or manipulated some of Shisan's soldiers into a better defensive position, or...or any number of other things that he might have come up with if he'd just been given the time to_think._

Instead, he'd gone overboard, blown out miles of emitters for Project Firewall, and pushed the project back to zero for that sector.

It took everything he had not to punch a hole through the glass and just step away from it instead.

"Okay..."

Draconicon took a deep breath, closed his eyes to hold it, and then let it out again. He opened them, looking between his scientific advisors.

"Imagine you have unlimited resource. What can you do in a week?"

Robert and Terrence shared a look. It wasn't a happy look.

The fox turned back to him first, shaking his head.

"The most I can think of doing, sir, is pushing the Super Soldier project. Project Firewall is powerful, but there's no way that we can even repair the damage that was done in a week, let alone reinforce the other emitters in that time."

"I'm...loathe to put the people under me on the front line. This whole thing was supposed to avoid that possibility ever becoming a real danger."

"I know, sir, but...Well, there's not going to be much else we can do." Robert shrugged. "We're working as hard as we can, as fast as we can, but there's only so much we can do. Dragon magic and our technology doesn't like to work together at the best of times, and if we're not careful, we're not just going to have it fizzle. It's going to blow the whole facility to the moon."

I'm starting to think that would have been the better place to live, Draconicon thought, sighing under his breath. He looked at Terrence, half-hoping that the cougar might have a better idea. All he got for his attention was a slight shrug, which was an obvious enough answer.

He sighed, rubbing his forehead as he looked back down at the reactor. The power core for the region was hardly something so fascinating. It was just something to focus on as he thought things through.

Both of his neighboring Overlords thought he was on their side, and would continue to think that for a little bit longer. Shisan would probably be pushing him to come over and take his proper place at her side, as she put it, and likely would try and drag him into bed to continue her seduction attempts. If he ever succumbed to that, tempting as they were, he doubted that he would be getting free.

Aldebran, on the other hand, would be hammering at him to find out a way through the defensive firewall. If he didn't provide his northern neighbor with a way through, then the asshole would just push his humans to smash through, expecting to lose them and not caring in the slightest.

War was coming, whether he wanted it or not.

"...How many volunteers do we have for the Super Soldier project?" he muttered.

"Two hundred, sir."

Two hundred. That wouldn't be enough to slow down the human side of either army, let alone the dragons that were serving under the respective Overlords. As for the Overlords themselves, they'd be more than willing to put him down after he lied to them, and while he would put good odds on being able to handle either of them, he knew he couldn't take them both at once.

Not enough fighters, not enough mages, not enough support with the other Overlords to call in favors...

Draconicon restrained himself from hitting the glass. Barely.

Okay. What can I do?

Project Firewall was going on the back burner for now. There was no use of it save for as a one-time burn, and that was only - only - if he could catch either Shisan or Aldebran in them. Otherwise, he had to assume that it was offline, useless, and out of his reach. Project Galilee would have been perfect for feeding his people, but that was a secondary concern for now. If he couldn't protect them, then feeding them was not really important.

Super Soldiers...He needed more than just the Super Soldiers that they were making. Something better. Something different.

"Robert."

"Yes, sir?"

"Get Deborah in here, and send a message to the military. We're going to upgrade."

"How far?"

"As far as we can. Use whatever resources you need. You have a blank check for this."

The fox was gone almost instantly, and the cougar followed after a look from his Overlord. Draconicon crossed his arms, taking another deep breath before letting it out. He would not scream. He would not scream. He...would...not...scream.

#

Whatever Robert had done, he'd done it well. Deborah had brought all the police in her city with her, filling the majority of the largest experiment chamber of the facility, and with them were a representative portion of the former human military. None of them looked particularly happy, nor was he particularly surprised about that.

Draconicon stepped through the door, his Doberman's eyes immediately turning to him. The other police followed, and the military followed after that. They didn't say anything, merely looked at him.

At seven feet tall, the black dragon could see all the way across the sea of heads. Most looked back at him with expressions of curiosity or annoyance, though here and there he could see legitimate anger. Mostly from the military, and no surprise. Worldwide, the dragons had reduced, if not outright eliminated the human military power, replacing it with a structure that they preferred. They had been out of a job, some of them probably for years.

He shook his head. He hated that he would need to employ them again.

"Everyone."

Nobody responded. Everyone just stared.

Either they're more aware of what's going on, or Robert was talking a bit more than I asked him to. Either way...

"You've been summoned here in response to the war going on north of us. Despite my best efforts, the war is heating up between Overlords Aldebran and Shisan, and there is no sign that they're going to back down without a greater intervention than mine.

"Worse, without proof that I am one side or the other, they will come after us. They will catch the Soaring Sound in a pincer maneuver, shredding us from either end. We do not currently have the numbers to fight one Overlord, let alone two."

"Then why don't you side with one of them?" someone shouted from the back.

"Because if I give either side an alliance, it ends our independence."

"So, people are going to die for dragon pride?" another voice called out. "Why?"

"It's not pride." Draconicon shook his head. "You have no idea what you're suggesting."

The crowd was getting rowdy. Before he could say anything, his Doberman, Deborah, turned and whistled. The few converted humans in the crowd whimpered, covering their ears, while the others went silent at the piercing sound. She glared.

"We're not here to question our orders. We're here to follow them. We're keepers of the law, and our Overlord is the law. Do you question that?"

The crowd mumbled and grumbled, but didn't protest.

"Then shut up and let him talk."

"Thank you, Deborah."

The chief of police nodded, crossing her arms under her breasts. The dragon cleared his throat and continued.

"It is not pride that keeps me from honoring an alliance. If I give either Overlord true support, then the alliance continues past the war. You do not just lose me as sole Overlord. You gain either a brute who sees you as nothing more than bugs to be squashed or a sadist that will use you for any experiment that crosses her mind.

"I am not perfect. I have never claimed to be. But I have kept you safe, and I have remained as hands-off as I possibly can during my time as your Overlord. You cannot deny that your lives, by and large, have remained the same. Yes - before you say anything - I did disband the military. But I did nothing to stop you from seeking employment, and you were given a generous severance package before you left. And there were reasons for removing you from your posts, then.

"Just as there are reasons for giving you your positions back, now."

That got the reaction that he was looking for. To a one, every eye in the back rows turned to look at him. The dragon held his hands up before they could start asking the questions he knew were running through their minds.

"However, I will be asking for your permission to do something. Something...drastic. Just as I will be asking the police for their permission for the same. I'm sorry for this, but I need every pair of hands that I can get."

"What do you need?" Deborah asked.

"I want to strip you of your humanity." The dragon let that lie for a moment, then continued. "You have heard of the Super Soldier project. I want to take that further. We have made a number of advances with chemicals, but nothing matches what can be done with magic. With the help of Robert, there is a way to channel my magic through you in a way that can be reversed. When the war is over, you will regain your human form with no pain, no discomfort. But until then...

"I ask that you become something big and monstrous in order to save everyone else."

It was a sacrifice. He knew that, and he knew that it was a big thing to ask someone else to give up so much for someone that they didn't like.

So far, he had transformed individuals, even given some of them the authority to transform others in his name. Deborah was a prime example of that. The Doberman had swept through the corrupt part of her department, ripped out the worst of those that worked there, and turned the rest into upgraded versions of themselves. Furred and fanged, they had become quite effective on the streets.

But now, he was asking a room of hundreds to give up what they had always had and become something else. It was too big a request to do without being up-front about it. Even if he eventually had to enforce a draft, he would never be less than transparent about it.

"Who is willing to volunteer?"

The crowd was silent and still. They looked at each other, then at him, then at the floor. Some muttered to themselves, while others were grumbling. Still others leaned their heads back and sighed.

And then, as one, they stepped forward, shouting a muddled mess of the sentence "I will" as they did.

"All of you?" he asked.

They nodded.

"Well, then...I guess we better get started."

#

It was like an assembly line. After separating the men and women into five-person groups, they were herded to different parts of the facility. They would go in five at a time, spaced out for the mechanized parts of the process, and then sent forward on a mechanized belt. Stripped down, then cleaned, then implanted in arms, legs, and...well, something kinkier in the back, they would be sent forward with a minimum of fuss.

The next room involved a fair amount of drugging, though with entirely beneficial chemicals. Muscle stimulants, a few steroids, and a couple of other things boosted the body towards a higher maximum potential, making it more receptive for what would come next.

Draconicon waited at the end of the belt, his magic weaving in colored streams of light between his fingers. By the time that the volunteers reached him, they seemed mostly over the embarrassment of being stripped nude. Mostly. There were some that still tried to cover themselves as they came through.

They stopped when they met the Overlord's eyes.

He made sure that he made eye contact with each and every candidate for the transformations. Male, female, intersex, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he gave them the respect that they were giving him.

For every person that came through, for every person that stood there, bare as the day that they were born, he met their eyes and bowed his head. In that moment, he thanked them. Wordlessly, but with the only respect that he could think to give.

And then, he unleashed his magic.

For the humans, it was simple enough to change them. He didn't bother picking out a different species for every individual. Instead, he went with what he'd already chosen.

Male or female, their skin grew scaly, pebbly rather than the smooth armor of a dragon. It always started at the center of the throat before spreading out, running over their shoulders and down their backs. Women averaged out at the high B cups, their chests growing and shrinking by turns, and their nipples were covered over, leaving them curved but without that little thing to tease.

As their bodies turned reptilian, complete with shredding, blade-like fins along their arms and shoulders, they also grew stronger, thicker with muscle under their scaly armor. He stretched them out with his magic, raising them to nearly his height, leaving them standing just under seven feet tall.

At the crotch, males had their cocks pulled back inside of them, leaving no vulnerable parts hanging out. Females found their pussies getting a bit bumpier on the outside than they probably wanted, but it would serve as protection until they were able to get armor to cover themselves properly.

By the end of the transformation, they had gone from humans to lizard-people, thick-limbed and well-protected from the old weapons. Small-caliber bullets would be able to harm them, still, but by and large, they were about as safe as he could make them without the individual attention that he had given members of his harem.

The others, however...

Deborah was in the first batch to come through, the Doberman woman naked as ever and showing off everything she had. The police chief crossed her arms as she came before him, standing with feet shoulder-width apart and shaking her head.

"You better have something good for me, sir. After all that mess, you better be making me into something worthwhile."

"I wouldn't bring you here if I didn't have some sort of idea for it."

"You better. From what you're telling me, I can't help you unless you give me something better to work with."

"Trust me." He smiled. "I will."

Modifying someone that had already been transformed wasn't quite as easy as changing someone that was, metaphorically, virgin to the process. With magic already in them, they had a certain resistance to big changes. He supposed that was partially an evolution of sorts, protecting them from being changed by someone other than their master.

Whatever the reason, it meant that he couldn't give her a new body. What he could do, however, was tweak the one that she had.

Let's see what we can do here...

#

It was midnight when the dragon was done with the transformation process. It had been grueling, but profitable.

1,200 reptilian soldiers, 400 reptilian police to be trained as soldiers, and 60 special forces canines.

The dragon walked out onto the catwalk, looking down at the people that he had created. The former humans of the police and military were taking up the weapons that Terrence had prepared for them, getting ready for the fight of their lives, while further down the line...

He glanced towards the far side of the room. Deborah and her previously converted cops shimmered out there, and for good reason. He hadn't been able to give them scale armor, so he had transformed their fur into a nearly-impenetrable layer, essentially forcing a dragon Overlord to use extensive amounts of magic if he wanted to cause any harm. Or call in humans with armaments that no dragon wanted them to be using again.

And that wasn't even counting the other upgrades that he'd given them. Upgrades that would make them incredibly difficult to kill, incredibly lethal...and more likely to come home after a fight.

He just stared at them as the weapons were passed out. The plan was that they'd mobilize through the night, making their way up to the battlefield. The former military personnel had already been advised to take charge under Deborah's supervision, and she'd been told to keep their advice close, to only defy their expertise when there was a clear and present danger that they could not deal with under their training.

They would take up positions on the border, keep an eye on all parties involved, and make sure that there was a foothold for the next batch of converted soldiers that he managed to create. As long as Deborah had a good holding point for them, he could open up portals and drop more and more of them right on top of the battlefield, giving them a potentially endless stream of reinforcements, as long as he had the people to throw through it.

And I put out orders for R&D to find a way to block teleporting in and out of my land, to spread that spell across the borders...if I can just hold them, then I should be able to buy myself more time. Maybe enough to get Project Firewall off the ground.

That one demonstration had been enough to assure him that it was the right tack to take. That fire had obliterated everything in its path without causing that much damage to anything that was past its line of effect. Sure, it had blown up the emitters, but they could fix that. They just needed something that would provide sufficient power and not get completely destroyed by channeling it.

As soon as they figured that out, he could isolate his land. He could seal it off, even take it out to sea if he wanted. Nobody could take it from him then. His people would be safe, forever.

Click, click, click.

He turned, seeing Robert the fox approaching. He shook his head, looking back at the assembled soldiers.

"I hate this, you know," Draconicon muttered.

"You think any of us like it?" Robert grunted. "We're getting ready for war. I came over here to work with magi-tech stuff. Not...this."

"And I just wanted to live a fun life as a dragon Overlord. Looks like neither of us get what we want."

"Guess not."

The fox sighed, sidling down the railing to stand beside the dragon. Draconicon made room for him, giving his chief researcher a spot against him. As Robert leaned in a bit more, just short of a full cuddle, the dragon sighed.

"We do what we have to do. Just hope it's enough."

"If we never have to do this again, I'll be happy."

"Well, get that firewall up and running, and we won't have to."

"Ugh, I told you. It's impossible. I can't figure out the power distribution."

"If you can't, Robert...Find someone that can." Draconicon looked down at him. "I'm aware that I'm asking for something difficult. But if you can't do it, find someone that can. I don't plan on replacing you, but either find a way to help or get out of the way. Because people are going to die if we don't find a solution."

"..."

The fox stared at him, mouth working soundlessly. Draconicon sighed, patting his back.

"Good luck, Robert."

And then he left, portaling away to his quarters.

The End