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Shadow's sides heaved and heat built up again, her scales growing hotter and hotter, their dark sheen turning oily. The rain turned to steam before it even reach her and Bonnie squirmed uncomfortably as Shadow built the pressure, a fresh surge fury rising within her for what they had done to Jax. The walls of the town slipped by as they threaded through the laser fire and they flew odd patterns across the rooftops, searching for a munitions dump or fuel bowsers. He belly burned with the need to release and the muscles in her neck ached as she bit back on the urge to breathe her fire into the swarming Lishni beneath her.

Below them, running through the streets, Lishni troopers continued to scurry to their battle stations, a mass of bodies darting and milling in confusion in the streets and squares below. This was not their usual sort of attacker. They were more accustomed to machines running strafes and bombing sorties, tanks pounding against the curtain walls of their fortifications and starships mauling one another up in the star studded black. To have a fire-breathing monster, a creature of nightmares that could be barely seen or heard in the night had thrown their carefully trained minds into a near primal frenzy of fear.

Bullets and small arms lasers were fired into the air, but the sidearm attacks were deflected harmlessly by Shadow's tough scales. Bonnie fired a few shots into the streets when Shadow banked over a line of semi-detached flint houses and watched with grim satisfaction as a dozen of the amphibious bastards staggered in a spray of thick blood. Shadow surged across rooftops and released a torrent of fire into the crowded streets below. The perimeter cannons swivelled frantically on their rings with low the whirring moans of aged hydraulics, but stopped short of a full turn.

The AAL cannons couldn't track Shadow inside the town; they couldn't traverse their rings in a full 360. Either they had been built like that or they were damaged units sent to do duty on something that was otherwise deemed light duty by Lishni High Command; afterall, Thuba had been an easy invasion and was slated to be an easy conquer. The idea that the Lishni didn't think they needed full coverage for the town was laughable. 180 degree coverage per turret simply wasn't enough, especially with the possibility of stealth fighters sneaking in overhead for a bombing run or recon.

'That looks like a fuel dump for their airfield!' Bonnie shouted. A hail of bullets whipped past her head and she flinched. 'Crooked house, no chimney, next to the temple!'

Shadow looked down, searching for the location. Sure enough, a tanker truck that was partially obscured by camo netting was parked against the side of a house that was leaning drunkenly on its foundations, a gaping hole where a chimney had once been puncturing a gaping wound in the sagging roof. Half a mile away, the bulldozed buildings had been pummelled flat for a makeshift airfield. It was currently empty, all machines airborne, no doubt flying a sortie over some dug-in Thubans in the nearby city. Shadow snarled and unleashed a tidal wave of black fire into the roof of the house. With a roaring whoomph the house shattered in an explosion of masonry and roiling fire.

The tanker bounced off its wheels, flipping through the air on the blastwave, ribbons of liquid fire spiralling from ruptures in its body. It smashed into the houses across the wide street and finished them off, flattening whatever was left standing after the initial blast in a gout of fire and molten metal. Shadow banked away, using the pressure of the explosion to make a hasty get-away, breathing more dark fire down the streets as she went. Abandoned houses shattered and fleeing Lishni vanished in whirlwinds of screaming flame, their screams of terror cut short. Pavements and roads buckled and split under the heat, the parked vehicles getting caught up in the fire and adding to the chaos.

A tank trundled into view as she flew over the town square and she roared in fury as it sent an explosive shell through her wing membrane. Another shell tore through the smoke wreathed air and slammed into her wing. The shell exploded and Bonnie shouted, her armour scorching. There was the familiar feeling of breaking bones in her wing, near the root. Shadow gave a furious roar and she staggered through the air, alighting on the spire of the temple that watched over the town square. She ducked another shell with a snarl. Bonnie held Jax close to her and they pressed hard against Shadow's back for cover. Another tank grumbled into view. Lishni troopers with gauss rifles ran into the square behind it and took aim. Shadow clawed her way around the spire, her right wing hanging limp, seething with anger. The spire exploded above their heads, raining stone, slate and brass down on the three of them.

The group of Lishni opened up on them with their full force, the gauss rifles chipping away at the stone of the temple and the tanks biting huge, flaming chunks out of their cover. Bonnie wanted to pull some grenades free and throw them into the group, but she couldn't get a good angle, her view obscured by Shadow and the temple spire she clung to. Another angry roar and more heat welled up in her furnace as the spire swayed under the onslaught. Chunks of stone blew out between Shadow's hind legs and the spire started to topple backwards with a groan of grinding stone.

Shadow flexed her wings, tucked them in tight and twisted around, leaping from the falling spire onto the broad, peaked roof of the temple. She scrabbled along its length, feeling it bow under her weight. Bonnie seized the opportunity and plucked a pair of grenades free from her bandoliers. She pulled the pins and tossed them into the square below, listening to the satisfying booms of their detonation and the cries of injured troopers.

Behind her, Jax pulled himself upright and looked around blearily as Shadow slid down the slate tiles of the temple roof and hunkered low beneath the arches of the building's eastern buttresses. Another shell slammed through the roof, piercing the tiles just above her head, sending chunks of masonry scattering. She crawled along in a low crouch, moving more like a crocodile than a dragon as she tried to regain some semblance of stealth. She rounded the edge of the temple, balancing on one of the lower level buttresses, muscles coiled to leap across to the neighboring roof.

She waited for a lull in the gunfire and then leapt to the other roof, landing in a cascade of wooden shingles, the beams beneath her feet groaning in distress. Another hail of bullets and the tanks tracked her movement, the turrets rotating on smooth tracks. A corner of the building she was hurrying across blew out. The roof sagged and stone started to grind as the building slowly collapsed at one end, raining masonry and glass into the street below.

'Those little fuckers...' Jax slurred in annoyance. He gathered what was left of his strength as Shadow navigated the rooftops, seeking a way off the island that wouldn't get them killed and hefted his beam weapon in one hand. He rested it on his shoulder, nudged the baffle release with his nose and used his stump to free the safety, 'Beam weapon hot!' He announced as he sighted down its length. He had one last shot left. He let loose a spear of devastation, the capacitors buzzing in his ear as the batteries were drained dry. A tank bounced on its tracks and a torus of fire, smoke and shrapnel was sent skyward as its magazine was lit up. The troopers on the ground were flattened by the tank's death and those farthest burned like toads thrown into a furnace as the heat washed over them.

He managed a strangled whoop of delight before his vision blurred and went dark, his grip loosening as he slouched forward. Bonnie twisted around as Shadow scrabbled across the rooftops, dodging the heavier weapons the Lishni fielded and gusting clouds of fire onto their heads when the opportunity presented itself. Bonnie clung on with one hand and patted Jax on his good arm. His beam weapon was hanging loose, the strap taught across one side of his neck, the baffle glowing cherry red with a soft sizzling of rain. Jax was unresponsive.

Bonnie cursed herself for allowing him to talk her into this attack. She cursed herself for getting caught up in the moment and taking more risks than necessary. It had cost him his life and she felt the anger in her heart well up and her trigger finger twitch against the trigger guard of her gauss rifle. There was a hard jolt as Shadow leapt over a narrow cobbled street and landed heavily on the roof of a drunken house, a torrent of black flame pouring out of her wide jaws as she swept across the roof.

Bonnie accessed a submenu that was presented to her through the hardline she shared with Jax for their comms. She brought his vitals up in her field of vision even as she released the final bullets in her magazine into the street below, scattering the crew of a 16 pounder artillery piece. Jax's heart rate was erratic and his breathing shallow. His air mix was stable but his suit was loosing power. She kicked Shadow again, gaining a sliver of her attention as the weredragon battled past a mob of Lishni troopers with flame throwers, vehicle mounted machine guns and RPGs.

'Jax is out cold! Vitals are bad! Can you get airborne again?' Bonnie shouted as she slapped the mag release on her gauss rifle and tugged a fresh one from her belt, slamming it home. Bullets rattled past her as she worked and she snarled a curse.

There was a low, rumbling growl in response and Shadow dropped into the street below, flatting some of the troopers firing at them. Bones shattered and blood spattered across the wet cobbles as the squat Lishni burst beneath her weight. She swiped at one of the vehicles with her claws, tearing it open and came away with loops of purple intestine wrapped around her talons, a howling Lishni attached to the other end. She snapped at another, tasting his bitter blood on her tongue as his hips and legs flopped to the cobbles.

She spat his torso at another and the flailing lump of meat slammed into him, knocking him off his feet, bullets meant for her spraying into the air. Astride her back, Bonnie was firing into the crowd. Lishni sagged and stumbled, bursts of blood spraying into the air as her bullets tore into them, silencing their guns. She lobbed a grenade and limbs scattered, their owners consumed by the detonation, RPG munitions adding to the chaos.

Shadow lowered her head and butted an armoured vehicle out of the way, the trooper in the cupola yelling then going suddenly silent when the weight of the vehicle crushed the life from him. She charged through the tangle of metal and twisted bodies, vaguely aware of Bonnie shouting obsceneties as she tossed grenades in their wake, emptying mag after mag into the Lishni. A tank rolled across the road and Shadow leapt over it, careening around the corner. It fire blindly through the buildings and masonry scattered into the street behind her.

Bonnie reached back and snagged one of Jax's unspent magazines, pausing as a warning flashed up on her HUD. No, not a warning. An alert from the carrier Ingrid Fae, the one mass carrier Tuven had spared for the conflict; all their others were busy elsewhere, dealing with Tuven's own problems. She forced the magazine to lock into position as she read the alert. Relief surged through her and she kicked Shadow again for attention.

'We have Tuvenese support!' She shouted over the clamour of dying Lishni and rending metal, 'Air support inbound!' She rocked back as Shadow surged down the street, her head lowered, mist cascading in dark puffs from her wing membranes. Her midnight blue scales took on a oily sheen and a battle tank flipped through the air, crashing into the warehouse at the end of the street. Bonnie watched, her mouth open, the alert forgotten. She cast a glance at the mist rising from Shadow and her joy slipped away some, the grip on the spike infront of her tightening. She opened her mouth to mention it, to point out that Shadow's wings were smoking, wondering if it was a side effect of breathing fire so often in such a short amount of time or if was something else.

Shadow rocked back, her head raised high, her sides heaving. There was a rattle of chains and the grunting of heavy engines. Thick plumes of exhaust rose above the surrounding rooftops. The biggest tanks Bonnie had ever seen under Lishni command shuddered to a halt at the end of the road, their twin-gunned turrets rotating smoothly on wide rings. They were plated with starship armour, the reflective surface glowing with the orange reflections of nearby fires. A low growl vibrated through Shadow, the bass shaking Bonnie to the core. Bonnie ducked low, curling up on Shadow's back as best as her make-shift harness would allow as the dragon's sides heaved in the telltale reflex of a building fire. A spear of dark fire erupted from Shadow's parted jaws, enveloping the tanks in a rush of heat.

She flapped her wings as she exhaled, climbing into the air on broken wings, sweeping the column of four super-heavies with a jet of flame so hot the surrounding houses smouldered, the stonework running molten. The air screamed and whistled as she pumped more heat into the spear of fire, trying to defeat the tank's armour. Bonnie whimpered as her own armour struggled to compensate for the spike in temperature. It was registering the heat to be three times hotter than the last flame bursts and those had been more than Shadow's usual output. Shells slammed through the air even as the dragon raked the line of armour with a screaming jet of flame. The crashed tank behind them erupted, showering everything with stone and metal and charred limbs, the explosion crushing the buildings and blowing out windows. The super-heavies rocked on their suspension and Shadow's ears popped with the pressure.

The super-heavies wilted, their superior armour at last succumbing to the heat. Shadow, her nostrils flaring as she pulled more air into her lungs to keep up her jet of fire, increased the pressure, her chest heaving, her vision blurring and spotting with effort. Violet flames streaked through the black and grey of her fire as she increased the pressure and the tanks erupted like small nukes. Shadow snapped her jaws shut, her vision turning grey as the explosion slammed her from the sky. They hit the cobbles hard in a splash of molten stone and writhing flame. She clawed herself upright, her limbs quivering with exertion, her lungs heaving as she gasped, sucking down the scorching, ash filled air. Around her, the town was ablaze.

Lishni troopers screamed in the distance as they were burned alive and crushed by collapsing buildings. Ammo stores detonated in the searing heat, shaking the place to its foundations and the lone jet that had been hunting her and her squadmates was orbiting the stricken town, its pilot watching in horror as over ten thousand troopers died. On her back, Jax's life was fading and Bonnie was suffering from the heat, the heat resistant metal of her battle armour dripping, overwhelmed by the furnace. Steam from the rain hissed in the air high above, turning the clouds of smoke and flitting embers into dark, whirling streaks.

Shadow got her feet under her and pounded down the street, back the way she had come, smashing through abandonded vehicles, looking for a way out before her squadmates perished. She ran out onto the main road, colliding with a speeding APC that was heading in the same direction as she. It tilted drunkenly, lost control and rolled into a store front. Glass shattered and the building sagged across it, pinning it down. Shadow sprinted past it, seeing the tower of the southern gate looming over the stricken, flame-licked town. And above that, streaking through the midnight air, specks of light, flickering high in the sky, piercing through the cloud cover. A roaring howl of triumph echoed off collapsed walls as she recognised the shapes and hope bloomed in her chest.

A full wing of Tuvenese multi-role starfighters swept in over the Wandermoore Flats, guns flickering with muzzle flare as they engaged an enemy Shadow hadn't noticed was there in her frenzy to burn everything in sight. Lishni V/TOL aircraft dropped from the sky, trails of fire chasing them down, fragments of torn fuselages cartwheeling through the air. Dull thuds and distant explosions signalled the death of more Lishni pilots. Attack shuttles and drop ships broke through the cloud cover as she charged beneath the raised portcullis of the gateway. She sprinted across the ancient stone bridge, body aching, wing trailing, blood blurring her vision as she hurtled into the night, leaving the Tuvenese reinforcements to mop up the dregs and secure the Flats.

Drachen Wylde Fleet Warship, Marauder

She had visited Jax in the medibay, desperate to know how he was doing. The fox had been in good humour, even though what was left of his arm was bundled tightly in thick wadding. Various cables and medical tubes had been threaded into the wrappings from all angles and Shadow presumed that he had opted for a prosthetic and was being healed in such a way that one could be fitted sooner rather than later. He was covered in large swathes of gauze to heal the burns he had suffered, but none of those injuries seemed to bother him. She put it down to the vast amounts of medication he was on; he was on an IV full of strong pain meds. They had chatted until the CMO had shooed her away and she had drifted across to the bed where Bonnie had been put whilst Jax's wounds were redressed. The horse was dressed in a mint coloured smartweave one-piece suit. It was a specialist suit, designed for the medical industry to aid burns victims with the healing process.

The smartweave was cool to the touch and excreted a thin layer of soothing anti-bacterial balm to help her body heal the scars her armour had left when she had had it cut off her body. It's exterior layer had run molten and seeped into the joints, burning through her smartweave and cooling rigid. Her hooves were scorched a dull black and large patches of fur had been seared away. Her entire smartweave suit had melted to her body and beneath the thick layer of medical smartweave, Bonnie was pink and raw from jaw to hoof. Shadow had apologized profusely, wracked with guilt for both of the stricken Legionnaires, but the two had waved her off.

'It was my final decision that sent us into that mess.' Bonnie had said sternly, 'And no one was to know that you would have a wing broken or that the Lishni had super-heavy MBTs. Besides, we got 'em. Reports say the whole town burned deep and long, and no Lishni survivors have been found within its walls or under its foundations.'

Shadow nodded in response. She had seen the BRs - battle reports - and the news. The entire island was a blackened lump of melted rock, studded with the remains of the town. Nothing had survived and the Lishni forces in the area had fallen back to the coast in the north and were currently under constant attack from Tuvenese bombers flying sorties day and night. The Tuvenese starfighters had intercepted half a dozen squadrons of Lishni jets in the three days since the town had burned down and the Lishni were struggling to retreat under the Tuvenese and Thuban onslaught. The allied forces had established a base in the valley and had relieved their stragglers to medical care and light duty whilst the allied starships chased the Lishni's captured fleet out of the star system.

The Lishni had been put on the back foot and were now desperately trying to abandon Thuba, their retreat efforts badly hindered by the Thuban forces who wanted to exact revenge in any way they could. Massive chunks had been bitten out of the invading forces and the Lishni frontlines had been temporarily stalled whilst their High Command worked out what to do next with the small agri world; throw another, bigger wave of bodies at it or work around the entire star system?

'It's time to see what they'll do next.' Bonnie added.

'Probably something stupid.' Shadow replied.

'How's your wing?'

'Healing fast.' She had paused, rocking uncertainly on the balls of her digitigrade feet, 'Faster than usual.'

'You need to go see the captain about what happened. I told him everything, he's seen the BRs and he wants to know- well. You know JD.' The horse had added in a low voice so no one else could overhear her.

'Yeah, I know.'

And now she sat in the captain's office, waiting on the next question. JD sat at his desk, his eyes sweeping down the text on yet another datapad, his crimson skin bathed in the glow of his gold framed computer screen. His dark brows knitted yet again and he looked up, a touch of concern burning in his glowing eyes.

'I've never seen fire like this. Not from you, at least. Kieron? Yes. That's to be expected.' He tapped the back of the datapad with a nail, his expression clouding, becoming unreadable. He added, 'Considering what he is, it's to be expected.' He looked at Shadow again the second the final word had slipped past his lips and she suddenly felt as if he had pinned her to the chair.

'You accusing me of something?' She replied, her voice low, a note of accusation carried in her tone. Her throat still burned and her lungs still ached from the experience. There was a dull throb in the roots of her teeth and she had lost a layer of skin from her tongue. That was far from normal. Bonnie had told her everything she had seen whilst astride Shadow's back and since then, she had felt a little out-of-sorts with herself. She absently scratched at one of her many bandages. The Lishni bullets and lasers had been unkind in their overwhelming numbers.

JD's eyebrows shot up and a look of hurt flashed across his face. He shook his head, 'No, of course I'm not. It's just...' He paused, trying to find the right words, his lips thinning as he thought. 'What Bonnie told me is true to the BRs. The armour footage and the written reports. Your scales changed colour, your flame took on a purple core and mist poured from your wings. Black mist, Shadow. Not steam from the rain and certainly not smoke from the attack. It was being emitted by your body.'

Shadow's gaze dropped. She still felt awful for almost burning Bonnie and Jax alive. JD rubbed at the faint scars on his face as he thought, absently tracing the hair-thin lines of the Jinx's demise at Impart Station.

'The thing with my wings...' She started carefully, 'I've known about that for a while. A year, at least. It first happened back on Nuam when I went hunting for our solstice dinner last year.' She shrugged, feeling a strange wash of relief for finally admitting it, 'It was late and it had cornered me and tried to gore me with its antlers and I lost my temper.'

'Explains the pre-cooked venison.' JD commented, his smooth tenor carrying a note of genuine amusement.

'It's happened twice since then. Seems to be triggered by stress. The other stuff, the scales and fire, well, that's new to me.'

'How's your magic coming along? Got it back under control yet?' He asked.

Shadow shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked a little sheepish, 'I er, almost took Lemur's head off earlier...' Shadow raised her hands in placation, her attention snapping back to him as he sat a little more upright in his chair, his mouth opening to speak, 'She's fine! Honest. A little miffed, in need of a hair cut, but fine.'

'And you?'

'I kind of singed my fingers.' She showed him her blunted nails and the recently-popped blisters on her fingertips. She then dropped her hands into her lap once more. 'Am I being put on medical leave?'

'What? No. I don't think so... Not unless Doc Priven says anything. Did she say anything?'

'No. And yes, I told her everything. Honest.'

'Hmm.'

'I did!' She exclaimed. He still looked skeptical, but let it go with a shrug of indifference.

'I haven't had any recommendations from the Doc about doing such a thing, so for now, you're safe.'

'I hear a but coming.'

'The next time something odd like this happens, I want you to report to the medibay for a full physical and psychological evaluation. No excuses. As your captain, anything that poses a threat to my crew and ship will be dealt with accordingly, especially if it comes from within. As your husband, I don't want you to suffer. I'm happy if you're happy. And healthy. I want to find out what's causing this as much as you do.' He paused, an idea ocurring to him, 'Have you spoken with Lemur about these changes?'

'At length, yes.' She replied blandly. She had spent hours being grilled by the sorceress about why her magic was back-firing all of a sudden and about the state of her dreams. 'I've also been interrogated by kieron. Weirdest interrogation I've ever undergone.'

JD made a questioning noise in his throat, the Helcorian way of saying 'Eh?'

'I got a long list of questions hurled at me. You'll have to ask him. Just thinking about it exhausts me.'

'I'll put that on my to-do list. In the meantime, I have a stack of paperwork to do and we still haven't reached the jump point and re-joined the Tuvenese task force.' He ran his hands through his black hair, mussing it and leaned back in his chair, exhaustion writ plainly on his face.

It had been a long battle and the Lishni had brought a full squadron of heavy cruisers, two squadrons of destroyers and more frigates and corvettes than anyone liked to think about to the fight. The Maurader and her crew had fought hard, slogging their way through days of continuous fighting, their manoeuvring putting them at odds with Thuba's gravity well on several, terrifying ocassions. She saw his exhaustion and stress. His uniform was rumpled and a cold mug of s'ryn sat ignored beneath the crystal monitor of his computer.

'Is there anything else, Captain?' She asked.

'No, Sergeant, not at the moment. Just keep me appraised of how you're feeling. And maybe see if you can swing by my quarters at the end of the shift. I think we could both do with some stress relief.' She smiled and bobbed her head, liking the suggestion. 'Dismissed.'