Another soldier came up to them as she finished, an older woman wearing a bright-orange vest that read LOGISTICS and carrying a heavily armored metal box the size of a picnic basket. Emily grinned when she saw it, clearing the table so the soldier could set the box down. The woman was still saluting when Emily popped the locks and threw the box open, revealing an array of complicated-looking military gadgetry packed inside custom-cut black foam.
“Here,” the general said, grabbing what looked like the world’s most expensive black plastic headband and holding it out to Julius. “Put this on.”
“What is it?” Julius asked, taking it from her.
“Coms rig,” she replied, grabbing a second one to place over her own head. “It’s got a full AR interface, a camera, a phone, and an old-fashioned radio, just in case things go really south. There’s also GPS, though with the Leviathan blocking the satellites, that’s probably useless.” She pointed at the satellite pictures that showed nothing but a wall of black above the entire northern border of the Midwestern US. “It’s also got military-grade mana-contacts that are better than anything on the civilian market, so it should work in your dragon form as well as your human one. Just make sure at least one side stays in contact with your skin at all times, and you’ll have full AR sound and capability.”
That sounded extremely useful, but… “Why are you giving it to me?”
“Because you’re in charge,” Emily said, looking at him as if she couldn’t understand how that was a question. “I overheard your dragon powwow. It’s clear you’re the one the others are looking to as the leader of this assault.”
“That’s only because Amelia told them I was running things!” Julius said quickly, putting up his hands. “I’m not—”
“It doesn’t matter how you came to be in charge,” the general said brusquely. “You are, and to be frank, I’m delighted. Despite the bad blood between us, you’ve been extraordinarily fair and reliable. Those are rare qualities in a dragon, and priceless traits in an ally.”
Julius was glad to hear it. He knew the others didn’t share his sentiment, but the UN general was a good ally for them as well. Dragons were powerful but, as he’d recently discovered, not nearly as numerous as he’d been led to believe. If they were going to keep his promise and hold out until Marci was done, they needed all the help they could get.
“I’m always ready to make an ally,” Julius said. “I’ve already told the others not to attack any of your planes, even by ‘accident,’ but I need you to make sure your soldiers do the same. If a dragon gets shot down, I can’t guarantee this won’t dissolve into a brawl.”
“Don’t worry,” Emily said. “My people aren’t stupid enough to pick a fight with this many dragons. So long as no one claws a jet out of the sky, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
She shot a sideways look at Fading Smoke as she said that, and Julius winced. “I’m picking up that you two have history,” he said quietly. “Is that going to be an issue?”
“That depends on how much stock you’re putting in Arkniss,” Emily said, her mechanical eyes whirring as she refocused on Julius. “I know saying a dragon is untrustworthy is like saying the sky is blue, but Arkniss is special. A decade ago, my superiors in Copenhagen made a deal with him for safe access to airspace over the Mediterranean. He invited us to his fortress under the Rock of Gibraltar, signed the treaty, and then betrayed us before the ink was dry. All of my subordinates died, and I was taken captive and tortured for four months before Raven got me out.” She looked down at the scrap-metal hands Raven had rigged up for her with a sigh. “Bastard cost me my last real limb.”
“I’m sorry,” Julius said, horrified.
The general shrugged. “Price of being a dragon slayer. Point is, Fading Smoke is not someone I trust with my soldiers. Normally, that wouldn’t even need to be said, but since we’re enemies of an enemy together, I feel it would compromise mission integrity if I didn’t warn you.”
“I’ll make sure he’s positioned as far from you as possible,” Julius promised. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Thank you for caring,” she said, turning back to her maps. “I have to stay down here and coordinate UN forces, so I’ll be counting on you to be my eyes in the sky. I’ll be feeding you real-time positions for all human units, so make sure you keep that headpiece on at all times. I’ve instructed my pilots to obey any orders from you the same as they would from me, so don’t be afraid to send in the jets yourself if you need them.”
Julius swallowed. Being in charge of a dragon clan was one thing, but he was used to Heartstriker. Ordering military air strikes felt much scarier, somehow.
“Don’t make that face,” Emily said. “I know you’re not a killer, because if you were, I’d be dead. But I like that in an ally. I know I can count on you not to waste my soldiers’ lives.” She lifted her head, giving him a sincere smile. “I’m glad you’re the one I ended up with. We didn’t get off to the best start, but if we die today, it’s been an honor to work with you, Julius Heartstriker.”
Julius had no idea how to reply to that. He felt obligated to say “You too” or something similar, but he couldn’t, because even though she’d come back, he still hadn’t forgiven the general for killing Marci. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to look at her without that old hurt and anger coming up, but there was a practical, eyes-on-the-prize honor to Emily Jackson that he couldn’t deny. She wasn’t kind or compassionate, but Julius trusted her to fight for humanity’s survival—and by extension, all of theirs—to the bitter, bitter end.
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
The general nodded and turned back to her map, using her fingers to redraw the battle lines on the projected maps that she’d originally drawn in chalk on the door-turned-table. Duly dismissed, Julius stepped away to fiddle with his new piece of military hardware. The headpiece was easily the coolest gadget he’d ever used. The mana contacts barely needed to touch his skin to hook into his personal magic, and the AR interface was the fastest and most responsive he’d ever seen. He was poking through the floating menus when he felt something loom over him. That was all the warning he got before a giant arm wrapped around his neck.
“Ack!” he cried, hands flying up instinctively to fight off his attacker before he realized the arm belonged to his brother. “Justin!”
The knight of the Heartstrikers cackled in reply, lifting Julius off the ground with a wicked grin. “Look at you,” he said, grinding the knuckles of his free hand into Julius’s scalp. “Got the Phoenix herself eating out of your hand. I knew I’d make a dragon out of you someday!”
“Justin…” Julius gasped, slapping his hands against the vise of his brother’s arm, which was still locked around his neck. “Air…”