Breath of Fire Pt. 2

Posted on Mon Aug 24th, 2026 @ 10:22pm by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Lieutenant Kate Kono & Lieutenant James Phoenix & Chief Petty Officer Aaron Geiger

1,663 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Here There Be Dragons
Location: Draco IV

The dragon glared into the forest and then spoke "Get down." He let out a ferocious roar before it let loose a massive torrent of flame. The flame jet illuminated the dark forest, showcasing another dragon just beyond the fog; a vile, sinister looking dragon with green scales.

Deanna had her tricorder out and was recording everything. The fire this dragon was expelling was like a natural napalm. She looked back into the forest and scanned the other dragon. Same species, but different at the same time. Like a different ethnicity. She wondered if the green dragon also had a natural ability to breathe fire, or perhaps something different.

Kate whipped out her tricorder and fanned it at the flames while sprinting from the trees like a contestant on ‘Move Along Home’. The readout confirmed what her eyeballs already knew: same scaly species, different cultural vibe. Think 21st-century humans: some of them were out there sipping artisanal cold brew, others are aggressively redeeming EBT benefits the local marty-mart. Only in this case, the divide was between dragons who roasted marshmallows and dragons who roasted entire villages demanding back pay for the Bronze Age. This was not the type of drama Kate wanted in her life but nevertheless, here she was, running with the group in an effort to not become a statistic in Dragonbronx.

Callie had hit the ground as soon as their Dragon protector had said. Watching the flame filled battle commence before keeping low and scrambling forward to Jon and Deanna.

Irwin was like a kid in a candy store as the flames from the copper-colored dragon engulfed the forest and illuminated the area beyond the poison fog. Seeing the green dragon, he pulled out his tricorder and began taking readings. "Crickey...take a look at this beauty. It isn't as big as the copper fella, more the size of the red one that tried to gobble us."

"I don't think the green one shares your exuberance" Kuzma noted.

The green dragon came into view, the greenish-yellow fog pouring out its mouth like a gas line that had sprung a leak. It looked menacing, certainly not friendly. It approached slowly, the flame jets obviously harming it.

Seeing Callie run towards him, Jon ducked low and ran towards her, his arms outstretched to grab her and get her to safety alongside Deanna and the copper dragon.

Kate grabbed Irwin by the collar and hauled him along as she swapped her tricorder for her phaser rifle. "This is no longer a research project," she said, which seemed obvious given the circumstances, but Irwin was jogging backwards with his tricorder out and the expression of a golden retriever who had just discovered squirrels, apparently having misplaced his self-preservation instinct somewhere back near the tree line, which was on fire.

She caught up with Jon, Callie, and Deanna. The Chief would be along shortly, presumably.

The dragon, which had so far given every indication of being one of the good ones, lumbered back toward them. Kate reached up and tapped its leg.

"Hello!" The dragon's head was approximately four stories above hers, and the forest was on fire, which was loud, so this probably didn't accomplish much. But it seemed rude not to.

Callie smiled at Kate’s gesture. “Thank you for the warning” she offered a smile as she gave the dragon a nod of respect.

Jon looked around, "Where are Phoenix, the Chief and the rest of the security detail?" He asked, his eyes going to fire engulfed forest.

Aaron coughed, pushing out of the mixture of ash and pulverized wood. Looking around at the last he had seen of his fellow gold tunic'd shipmates. "Sound off! Lieutenant Phoenix, you up sir?"

Phoenix picked himself off of the ground and coughed. He dusted a bit of ash off, but it was futile at this point; his uniform was filthy. "Roger" he called out as he moved over to Granger and Weasley to help them up. As he did, he saw the immense wall of fire. Ashlynn was going to kill him for being in this kind of danger.

"You two alright?" he asked the duo before realizing another officer was missing. "Ensign Baldwin call out!" Nothing. Without looking at Aaron, he called out again. "Chief you good?"

Callie let her mind focus. “I can feel them, they’re alive but I’m sensing concern, someone’s missing.”

The green dragon pushed forward through the flames, its green scales tarnished and blackened. It shook off the daze it was in from the flame attack. The greenish-yellow fog still slowly poured out of its mouth. "Such tasty morsels. You shall not keep them from me" it spoke in a raspy voice.

"They are not for you. They are guests from far away. Proceed forward at your own peril" the copper dragon replied.

As the two titans engaged in a momentary lull of diplomacy, Deanna looked around, not only with her eyes, but with her mind, desperate to locate everyone. Callie was right, something was wrong. She stood and raced towards the forest, jumping through the flame and moving towards the green dragon. In the distance, inside the fog, she could see against a tree the motionless form of a body. Deanna knew from her readings that the fog was poisonous but needed to get to whoever that was. From her feelings, she feared it was Baldwin. Everyone else was accounted for.

A hand on her shoulder stopped her. "I see the body. I'll go, it's my job. I'm the leader." Jon said quietly. "I can hold my breath that long to get the body and get back here," he looked her in the eye. "No arguments Deanna."

Callie had hung back knowing that Jon wouldn’t have wanted them all in danger. Nonetheless she was worried about him, and for Deanna. The dragon that was protecting them had just what she needed but she couldn’t risk it being injured by the other dragon either. “The fog! We need to clear the fog!”

Deanna looked at Jon, "If you get in trouble, I'm calling for emergency beam out. You may be in charge, but it was my curiosity that put us in this mess."

Things took an interesting turn at that moment, as the green dragon gave a swift and power swing of its tail which shattered a line of trees that came crashing down around them, and momentarily creating a firebreak. The breeze created from that swing pushed of some of the fog, enough to at least see clearly that the person against the tree was indeed Baldwin, and he showed no outward signs of life.

“Hurry!” Callie’s voice called from where she stood, before she gave the Dragon an appreciative “Thank you.”

"Fair enough." Jon told Deanna as he took in a lungful of ari and sprinted towards the trees and the body there. Whatever was in the fog made his eyes burn but he pushed on and reached the body. Baldwin did look dead except for his eyes, his looked very much alive. Lifting the body, Jon threw it over his shoulder and headed back to the others. Reaching Deanna, he placed the body on the ground and let out a shaky breath. "Ahhhhhhh. His hand," He gasped. "His hand." He repeated pointing at the four inch quill in the back of Baldwin's hand.

Kate’s tricorder chirped as she scanned the nasty-looking barb lodged in Baldwin’s hand. “Well, according to this incredibly expensive piece of Federation hardware,” she announced, “this thing right here? Not supposed to be there.”

She squinted at the readout. “Toxin’s still active. Some kind of neuro-paralytic.”

“Yeah, nah, I know this one,” Steve cut in, his accent thicker than Vegemite. “Me mum talked about it. Not a biology whiz, but it’s like pufferfish venom, right? Reckon she called it… Tex-mex toxin? Somethin’ like that. Paralyzes yer muscles, but yer brain’s still goin’ off like a bag of cats.”

“Tex-mex?” Kate said, not looking up. “You sure she wasn’t just talking about dinner?”

“Don’t you take the piss outta me mum!” Steve shot back, mock-offended. “Sheila knew her poisons!”

“I’m sure she did. But it’s tetrodotoxin. T-e-t-r-o-d-o.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said! Tetrado! Tex-mex! Same difference!”

Kate sighed loudly and shoved the tricorder into his chest. “Alright, Dr. Dingo, you scan. I’ll pull this thing out before our friend here forgets how to breathe.”

“Whoa, hold up!” Steve yelped. “You can’t just yank it! What if it nicked an artery? Only a proper drongo would do that!”

“Well,” Kate said, pausing with a bandage in hand. “You’d know.”

“The hell’s that s’posed to mean?” Irwin questioned.

“Means stow it, Steve.” She began carefully wrapping the wound, leaving the barb right where it was. “Let’s just not make this worse.”

Jon looked at Callie and Deanna. "Our own comedy team." He sighed before addressing Steve. "Look Baldwin. Let Kate remove the quill. Your paralyzed savvy? And we're not carrying you around like a piece of firewood or we can send you back to the ship and let Sickbay handle it but once you're up there you aren't coming back down here."

Ed looked at Jon and Kate and groaned. It seemed he had his voice back after that whole ordeal. "Aye sir" he croaked. "Where's Phoenix and the rest of the team?"

Deanna was scanning Baldwin and the fog. "He isn't out of the woods yet, no pun intended. He needs to proper medical attention." =^=Deanna to Washington. Transport Baldwin to sickbay immediately. Medical emergency. Notify Sam, he is code blue, urgent. =^=

=^= Understood. Energizing. =^= the transporter officer replied over the comm.

Moments later, Baldwin dematerialized in a blue hue. Deanna looked at the others, "Back out of the forest before we become roasted, toasted, or made to look three shades of green."


TBC

 

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