Dragon's Pride

A night of much-needed rest followed the end of the mission to collect the data drive, Taylor not even stopping to adjust his class, instead collapsing into his bed and falling asleep almost instantly. Worries about Jackson's health plagued his mind for a moment, remaining at the forefront of his concerns even as he woke up. "Mmh… morning, Draconarius!" Okami chirped, scooting back as Taylor slid out of her grasp, slowly standing up from his bed and looking around at the interior of his quarters. "Ready for another day of protecting the galaxy?" Okami asked with a smile, Taylor looking over to her, having to wake up for a second before being able to speak. "...I guess." "Aww, c'mon, where's your energy, Taylor? You've got your first mission against Borgs coming up soon! You should be excited!" Okami proclaimed, Taylor shrugging his shoulders and rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'm just… worried about Jackson, is all. He almost died saving me, and I h - hope he's okay." "Of course he'll be okay, silly! The Asgorath Empire has the best medical services ever! They'll give him a new pair of legs, and he'll be out fighting again in no time!" Okami replied, scooting along the bed and placing her hands on Taylor's shoulders, smiling and turning him towards the communication center at his desk. "Now, you got yourself 20 levels in your first class during that mission, so now you can prestige and get a new one! You're already getting so strong, Draconarius!" "Uh… I, like… barely even learned this Frost Knight one, though." Taylor said, Okami shaking her head, getting off of the bed and patting Taylor on his shoulder. "That's okay! When you prestige, you'll still keep all your class' stats and passives and stuff! All that changes is that you get a new class and weapon!" Taylor nodded his head, resting a hand on his side while he looked over at the door leading out from his room. "I'll do all of that later, I… I wanna go check on Jackson really quickly." "Aww… okay. But try and be fast, okay? The station wants you ready to ship out in an hour!" "Got it." Taylor replied, opening his DICE menu and dressing himself in the standard Asgorath Empire formal garb. He stopped to look at this garb for a moment, taking in how the black and orange-colored, slightly futuristic-looking military uniform wrapped around his body, the tightness feeling a bit constraining. Something which was far more disturbing about this uniform was the orange armband with the Asgorath Empire's symbol present between two black lines, depicting a dragon's head. "Jeez, this… uniform's a little… Nazi-y." Taylor thought, shrugging his shoulders as he began to walk out from his quarters. "Eh. I guess it's a different culture in this realm. Maybe they never had Nazis here." He figured, trying to ignore the potentially fascist undertones of his uniform while he walked to the station's medical bay.

The halls of the station were bustling, far more than it was yesterday. Taylor found himself nearly getting lost trying to wade between the crowd, hearing nothing but chatter and equipment clanging together, broken only by the occasional announcement from the intercom system. "Remember: a true citizen of the Empire doesn't just ensure their own loyalty. Always remain vigilant for your family, your friends, your coworkers. The enemy is insidious, and can be anywhere, or be anyone." Taylor tilted his head, looking over at one of the speakers relaying the message. "What?" Taylor quietly let out, his thoughts interrupted when he bumped into an armored soldier standing at attention in the hallway. "S - Sorry!" Taylor let out, the soldier not giving any response, only staying in formation with the dozens of other soldiers creating a blockade in the hallway, leaving a clear path across the 4-way corridor. "Make way for the Prince of Toril, sir Argelius!" A soldier called out, Taylor looking over the shoulders of the soldiers, getting grazed by the other inhabitants of the station as they all gathered and watched the prince walk across the hallway. Taylor saw a tall, regal-looking Dragonborn man marching across the steel tile hallway, his orange-colored feathers forming a plume around his neck, and his orange scales. At a first glance, Argelius looked like a standard Dragonborn from Dungeons & Dragons, until Taylor noticed the set of feathered wings sprouting from Argelius' back, the prince's highly decorated military uniform specially tailored to cater to his race's characteristics. Taylor heard the familiar chirp of his bestiary, glancing away and reading the hud.

[--- DRACONIC SYSTEMS ---]

Bestiary Entry

Dragonborn

A race of celestial beings, blessed by the dragon gods of Toril to lead the galaxy. They are the epitome of lawfulness and good, having ensured the freedom of their people long before the Asgorath Empire took to the stars.

When the Dragonborn were peacefully endowed by the dragon gods, each member of their species was blessed with heavenly powers, all to be used to ensure the safety of all those who lived under the Empire's banner. Immortality, god-like power, and completely uncapped leveling and prestiging of classes.

The Dragonborn have no weaknesses. But not to worry, for they prioritize the tranquility of the galaxy above all else, done so through a democratically-elected Emperor or Empress who reigns over the Empire for the duration of a century.

[--- ver 1.602.801 ---]

Argelius looked over between the crowd, narrowing his eyes as he noticed Taylor in the crowd. With a slight smile, Argelius waved Taylor over, the soldiers parting and giving Taylor passage into the hallway Argelius was walking through. "Huh… m - me?" Taylor asked, pointing at himself and receiving a nod from Argelius. Taylor walked forward, standing across from the Dragonborn prince and looking up at the considerably taller man. Unlike the more lizard-like Dragonborn Taylor had seen in his Earth video games, Argelius had a far more human and conventionally attractive appearance, his scales littering across his human-like face like freckles, highlighting his fiery yellow eyes and fluffy red hair. "You are the Draconarius who secured the data drive, are you not?" Argelius asked, Taylor nodding his head. "Yeah, I am. It's an, uh… honor to meet you, Prince." Argelius smiled, raising his hand. "The honor is mine. You fought valiantly out there, Draconarius Montana." Argelius stuck his hand forward for a handshake, Taylor returning the handshake, looking up to see a HUD displaying Argelius' status upon touching him.

[--- DRACONIC SYSTEMS ---]

Argelius Renatus

Home Planet: Toril

Prestige DICE.lang.StackOverflowError

Lv. 10087 Royal Dragoon

Health: 1,285,930/1,285,930

Mana: 480,700/480,700

Attack Power: 171,666

Defense Power: 167,575

[--- ver 1.602.801 ---]

"Hmm. I see you're due for your first prestige." Argelius warmly spoke, Taylor smiling slightly, nodding his head. "Haha. I guess I am." "Well… given you have helped me dearly, ensuring that the drive did not fall into enemy hands… allow me to help you." Argelius held his hand out, summoning what appeared to be a small medal between his fingertips. Some cheering came from the crowd as he handed Taylor the medal, the phrase "Draconis Deus!" echoing throughout the halls. "Wear this badge of honor proudly, Draconarius. Attach it to yourself, and you shall receive a boost in your experience gain." "Oh! Thank you, Prince Argelius." Taylor replied, Argelius smiling, giving a quick salute with his fingers, spurring many of the nearby crew members to all begin cheering. "Draconis Deus, Montana." "Draconis Deus." Taylor repeated, before turning and heading to the medical bay, now with a medal dangling from the chest of his uniform.

Taylor stepped into the wide expanse of the medical bay, looking around to see medical drones zooming between the patient beds. At the back corner of the room, Taylor saw Jackson laying in his bed, with what appeared to be a box television on a wheeled stand across from his bed. It contrasted heavily with the more futuristic appearance of the space station, a tinge of nostalgia tugging at Taylor as he walked over to Jackson's bed, watching as the older man played Ninja Gaiden on the original Xbox hooked up to the television. "Hey, Jackson. You feeling any better?" Taylor asked, Jackson nodding his head, pausing the game and sitting up on his bed. Taylor looked down to see a set of mechanical, armored prosthetics in place of Jackson's legs, them whirring slightly from the cables plugged into them. "Yep. Said I'll need a few days to recover, but then after that, I'll be…" Jackson sighed, slowly turning his head from side to side while he spoke in a gruff tone. "I'll be out fighting again." Taylor tilted his head, standing beside Jackson's bed, looking down to see a pensive look on his face. "You don't seem that excited about it." Taylor said somewhat jokingly, him and Jackson sharing a chuckle. "You'll get it once you've spent more time in this place, Taylor. Right now, everything's new, everything's all vibrant and shit… the video game character shit we have, the… replicant all specially designed for our desires… I'll admit, I liked it when I first came here, too." Jackson began, exhaling sharply before scooting closer to Taylor, speaking in a quieter tone. "But sooner or later, the illusion they got going here, it's gonna wear off. You're gonna see more people die, gonna get sent to do sketchier and sketchier shit, and…" Jackson snorted. "And you're gonna realize that you're being lied to. That we're all being lied to." "What do you mean we're being lied to?" Taylor asked, tilting his head at Jackson as he spoke again. "Are you trying to say the Empire's evil or something?" "It's hard to say. They tend to keep us out of the know. Especially me." Jackson frowned, his head bowing down while he tapped his fingers on the base of his prosthetic legs. "Like the rest of us Draconarii, I died on Earth before ending up here. Was truck driving for years. Put a down payment on a rig to try and scrape together enough cash to get me and my family out of the shitshack we lived in back in Louisiana. My wife was pregnant, and I didn't want my kid to be raised in some… poor, crime-ridden shithole like how I was." Jackson sighed, shaking his head and looking up at Taylor. "I was hauling as much as my body let me. Staying awake for days on end, paying off the truck I had, then going all over the country, taking whatever jobs I could. For a moment, I thought it was gonna work out. Had some money saved in the bank, had me and my wife's debt paid off… things were looking up for once." Taylor nodded his head, listening quietly as Jackson continued. "But one night, I was… I was just out of it. Was up for 3 days straight, running on nothing but energy drinks and pills. Was flying down a highway, heading into a city… and barely even saw some little car cutting in front of me." Jackson inhaled sharply. "Managed to stop, but rolled the fuck over in the process. Last thing I saw was me crashing out the windshield, then I woke up here." Jackson chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Guess it was a good thing I got life insurance before all that." Jackson jested, Taylor laughing a little, nodding his head while he replied. "I guess that was good timing, yeah." "But see… this shit, it happened… fuck, had to have been years ago." Jackson revealed, Taylor raising his eyebrows. "...really? Years?" "Mhm. My daughter's probably all grown up now, just… surviving with her mother… experiencing life without her father." Jackson glanced over at one of the station's officers walking into the room. "They told me that they could bring me back. That I could wake back up on Earth, so long as I do my part. But every day that passes, every soul I take for these people, it seems more like they're leading me on." Jackson exhaled and shook his head. "But it doesn't matter to me. If there's even a slight chance that I can see my daughter, that I can be in her life… then I'm taking it." Taylor looked at Jackson quietly for a moment, seeing the determination in Jackson's eyes, the way he tensed up slightly whenever he spoke about his family. "I…" Taylor drew in a deep breath and placed a hand on Jackson's shoulder, a HUD displaying Jackson's status in front of him.

[--- DRACONIC SYSTEMS ---]

Jackson Lee

Home Planet: Earth

Prestige ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Lv. 174 Brute

Health: 11,781/19,000

Mana: 1,200/1,200

Attack Power: 2,200

Defense Power: 2,100

[--- ver 1.602.801 ---]

"I'll help you get back to your family, Jackson. I promise." A smile grew on Jackson's face, him nodding his head in response. "Maybe at the end of this, we'll both get back home. Even if it's a whole lot different from when we left it." Jackson said, Taylor clicking his tongue, shrugging his shoulders before he responded. "Eh… I don't really… have much waiting for me at home." Taylor admitted, a hint of embarrassment coloring his face while he rubbed at the back of his neck. "It might sound ridiculous, but… I think I could find myself here. I was just a… depressed retail worker back on Earth. But here, maybe I can… be something more. Maybe I can finally find myself." "Nothing wrong with that, Taylor. We've all got our own journeys and shit, and maybe yours is here." As Jackson spoke, Taylor felt a voice begin to speak in his head, Okami's voice overpowering Jackson's as she talked. "Hey! Draconarius, you better hurry up! You gotta go in, like, half an hour!" "Oh." Taylor looked down at Jackson. "Guess I gotta get going. I'll talk to you later, alright?" "Alright. Cya." Jackson said, waving Taylor away as the latter hurried out of the medical bay.

Figuring he'd have enough time for a class change, Taylor quickly made his way back into his quarters, stepping in to see Okami having already prepared the class selection screen for him. "Okay, Taylor, I already picked out a class for you based on your earlier combative performance. We don't have a lot of time here, so," Okami stepped to the side as Taylor marched forward, reaching his hand out to the projected class selection screen, seeing the icon for the class Okami had picked as a magical staff crossed with a shield.

[--- DRACONIC SYSTEMS ---]

Gray Mage

Attack Power: ★★★☆☆

Defense Power: ★★★★☆

Support Power: ★★★☆☆

Range: ★★★☆☆

Mobility: ☆☆☆☆☆

Weapon Type: Staff and Shield

Description: A well-rounded magical class capable of a variety of offensive and defensive magics, but has a partial speciality in Abjuration magic. It is capable of casting protective barriers on itself and allies, and in later levels, is capable of removing beneficial effects on enemies.

[--- ver 1.602.801 ---]

Without much thought, Taylor changed to the class, feeling a yellow shimmer exit his body as a faint hum came from the DICE system embedded in the back of his neck. As one of the stars in his status filled in, Taylor felt his outfit change, his earlier thicker armor turning to a set of armored robes, with a wizardly hat appearing on his head, all colored various shades of gray.

[--- DRACONIC SYSTEMS ---]

Gray Battlemage Robes

Lv. 22

Defense Power - 350

Passive: Channeling Empowerment

Increases mana regeneration by 33%

[--- ver 1.602.801 ---]

His ice-themed shield turned to a more round one, losing its earlier frost theme and instead having magical sigils carved along the metal. Taylor raised his staff that was now in place of his sword, admiring the thin, silver magical catalyst for a moment.

[--- DRACONIC SYSTEMS ---]

Silver Scepter

Lv. 22

Attack Power - 300

Passive: Banishing Bolt

User can channel their mana into this weapon to fire an arcane projectile which deals 125% Attack Power as damage. Can be charged to consume more mana and deal 300% Attack Power.

[--- ver 1.602.801 ---]

"...alright. Thanks, Okami. See you later." "See ya, Draconarius!" Okami chirped, waving Taylor off as he went to get ready for his next mission.

Taylor sat in the transport shuttle by himself, a bit surprised to see that he managed to get here before everyone else. With a bit of unexpected free time on his hands, Taylor reached his hand back and pressed the button on his DICE system, watching as the HUD for his classes opened before him. He had yet to have a moment to see all the passive and active skills he gained from the burst of levels he received yesterday, looking up at the HUD and scrolling through them for a moment. "...can summon ice armor around myself… elemental resistance… 'ice age', guess that's… a little cliche for an ice class… passive water generation?" Taylor stopped, narrowing his eyes at the passive skill labeled "Anti Thirst", which granted him the ability to create drinkable water from his mana. "I'm not sure how useful that'll be since they can just summon rations and stuff in our hands. Maybe it can be helpful if I ever lose contact with a station?" Taylor theorized to himself. While he thought about this, he looked over to see a screen in the shuttle playing what looked to be some sort of interplanetary news channel, his attention gradually shifting to this as the Myani newscaster with brightly colored hair began to speak. "Hello, loyal citizens of the Asgorath Empire! I'm Misses Mewwy, and I'm here to give you all your morning report! Well… if it's morning where you currently are. Hehe." She jested, giggling a little before speaking again. "Ooh, this is a big one! We're coming on the 5th anniversary of the Fires of Minas, the horrid tragedy that led to the Hellhound beginning her unholy crusade against our freedom!" Mewwy inhaled, pursing her lips while her cat-like tail flicked behind her. "For those that are BIG DUMMIES, the Fires of Minas was when the Hellhound made her first attack on the planet Minas. It was a super loyal and brave planet, where lots of officers and veterans lived." Mewwy frowned deeply, a slight tear pricking at her eye while she scooted closer to the camera. "The Hellhound, after sacrificing all her friends like the total maniac psychopath she is, went on the planet and attacked it all by herself. Our soldiers of the Empire fought bravely, but the Hellhound used her devil magic to burn up the entire planet!" Mewwy gasped, placing both of her hands on her cheeks while she continued to speak. "Billions of innocent civilians, loyal officers, and honorable veterans all died in seconds! The atmosphere burned up, and anyone who didn't die in the fire wound up suffocating!" The footage then cut to the immolated, ash-covered sphere that was once the planet of Minas, a couple of broken satellites slowly orbiting around the planet. "The Hellhound is a demon, and if we want to keep our people safe, we all need to stop her! Right, girls?" Mewwy cooed, the camera turning to reveal dozens of other myani women all cheering and waving their arms around. "...jeez. What made the Hellhound that mad, to… destroy an entire planet?" Taylor thought, resting his head on his hand while he looked up at the screen. "I guess she really must be some kind of demon queen. I don't know why else she'd kill billions of people like that."