Understood.

  Securing exterior doors, manoeuvring away from the dock. For your information, Captain Lionel, the shield’s framework is restricted to one-directional travel. Rover will be unable to re-enter until the evacuation procedure has lifted.

  “Continue.” He took his seat at the helm.

  A warning flashed on his screens, informing him that he was leaving without meeting the required evacuation protocols and that he may incur fines. He dismissed it with a wave of his hand. So far no one had tried to board Rover, choosing instead to target the larger, more familiar ships first, but it would only be a matter of time if he stayed.

  Rover flew upwards providing a bird’s eye view of The Dump.

  He felt a whomp against Rover as they passed through the barrier and the chaos beyond sharpened. Outside of the shield, the ships had easily doubled in number with new ones appearing every few minutes. His interface began pinging again: warnings, fuel requests and heartbreaking call-outs for lost loved ones.

  “Harriet, silence interface for all messages unrelated to Aura or me.”

  He needed to stay focused.

  An ear-splitting tear severed the stars, cutting a jagged fissure into space. From the black hole emerged a colossal dragon. It dwarfed the nearby ships as they scurried away like ants. The dragon paid them no concern, it hovered at The Dump’s edge, its ice-blue eyes unblinking while it surveyed the surroundings. There could be no doubt this was an apex predator; its silver scales were impenetrable, atop its head were two coiled horns and a fringe of spikes ran down its long neck. It gave a wicked grin exposing a row of sharp teeth.

  Aura peeked out the window examining her brethren, her wings wrapped protectively around herself.

  All around them, ships that could jump disappeared, and on The Dump - panic erupted. From his viewpoint, Lionel watched the evacuation progress, his stomach clenching. Stairs flooded with crowds, people jostling and shoving to get down, crushing those in front within a suffocating press of bodies. The docks were no better; thin rails guarded the platforms, and they began to bow as scavengers struggled to board any vessel; some ships had been drifting back.

  The dragon appeared to be in no rush. Their grin widened as they watched the mayhem their presence created. And with a flare of their wings, they launched into the air, circling The Dump eagle-eyed.

  “Little hatchling, I have come to take you home.”

  He knew he shouldn’t be able to understand her.

  Her voice screeched like an untuned violin and Lionel's ears rang from the sheer volume. It was nothing like Aura’s melodic flow, but the power behind it was unmistakable.

  “Come out, come out, little hatchling.” She called before switching to a lower tone that failed to hide the excitement in her voice, “or I will smoke you out myself.”

  The dragon inhaled, and with a continuous breath rained fire down from above. The inferno blasted against the shield fanning out to encompass half the barrier. The triangles cracked and fractured - but held against the enemy.

  The dragon’s eyes narrowed, her claws raking down the barrier with a screech, glass shards falling like knives.

  “I was instructed to find you but I won’t turn down a free meal.”

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  She rolled, almost lethargic, exposing her underside and a scarred missing scale. Then in one swift move, she drifted through the opening. She paused inside, relishing the screams.

  Lionel realised this was a performance for her. She was under no threat from anything The Dump could offer.

  As if summoned by his thoughts, cannons fired, energy-balls exploding in a burst of light. They shot at her, their force propelling her backwards but each one fizzled on impact. How could they ever compare to a dragon’s fire?

  Target her weakness. Lionel wanted to scream.

  But the ship’s machines were running through coded systems, missing details that humans would notice.

  “My turn.” She cackled.

  Lightning forked along her body, her silver scales flickering like a building storm. It released with a crackle aimed directly at the tower of weapons and lit up in a flash of blinding white light.

  She wasn’t done though.

  Lionel couldn’t look away. His mind was racing. Rylan was down there with his friends, he even started worrying about the cafeteria workers who served him each morning. Had they evacuated in time?

  She released a stream of fire, tilting her head as she circled the elevators deliberately cutting off that escape route.

  Steel burned, coiling into sculptures of metal. Evacuation ships ignited becoming kindling as the fire leapt from one unit to another. Screams rent the air ringing clearly and Lionel knew the sound would haunt him.

  Due to the Rover’s proximity to the heat source, there is an increased risk of overheating.

  Lionel responded, his hand pulling back on the controls as Rover retreated a few metres.

  At some point, Aura had come to stand beside him. They witnessed the carnage together.

  Rylan’s ship remained in the dock. Lionel clenched his fist.

  “Come on “ he whispered, a prayer to anyone who would listen. His body was cold, shaking with unbridled fear.

  CS 4897 is compromised. The recommendation is to travel to an alternate location.

  Survivors of the initial onslaught raced to escape the fires, some lowering themselves over the railings and dropping into darkness, desperate to reach any evacuation ship. The dragon tucked her wings close dive-bombing to snap them up, twirling between the floors like a macabre ballerina; some people chose to burn.

  Around him had disintegrated into mayhem. Ships crashed, some out of fuel and drifting, while others fled unable to jump and relying on their piloting skills.

  Floating debris from CS 4897 poses a risk of potential engine failure. The recommendation is for relocation.

  The dragon, growing bored of their dance, landed on the spire, their weight bending the metal and shattering the top floors.

  Lionel knew integral systems would be breaking. Gravity would intensify pinning anyone onboard in place, the artificial atmosphere would falter and breathable air would fail shortly after.

  Eventually, someone would search for survivors but there would be few.

  The silver dragon roared and Lionel covered his ears; beside him, Aura shook.

  “If you’re here little hatchling. We’re coming to find you.”

  Such kind words delivered with a lick of menace.

  For a moment, everything burned. Then the dragon flicked their spiked tail demolishing the lower levels. They launched back into the air, circling and breathing fire at intervals. This wasn’t random; they wanted total destruction and they were enjoying delivering it.

  With a final blast of fire, the dragon retreated beyond the shattered shield to assess their handiwork.

  They snapped at a few ships but it held little interest other than a game of cat and mouse.

  Recommend immediate departure.

  Below him, The Dump was a mass of fire and cloying smoke. Violent explosions erupted as fuel tanks burned and failed, only adding to the inferno. His home lay broken and destroyed.

  Lionel fell to his knees.

  He screamed his voice raw. The only home he’d ever known was burning; his friends were burning too. He threw his arms back and screamed to the sky.

  He’d never felt so angry before - so indescribably heartbroken. His vision shifted to white, his muscles contracted but he barely noticed. He was burning too but he relished the warmth comforting his ice-cold body. An energy burst from his chest, weak and new but there just the same. It reverberated outwards, a drop that rippled through space. Aura roared matching his pain.

  Critical directive - schedule jump Captain Lionel.

  The dragon turned looking through the mass of ships and debris, eyes locking onto Rover.

  “Initiate jump.” Lionel croaked.

  The dragon hurtled towards them, knocking any obstacle out of their way, their jaws spread wide.

  Before it could swallow them whole, Rover disappeared.

  “Survive today. Fight tomorrow.” Lionel whispered, slumping onto the floor in shock as an aura of colours surrounded them.