Diamonds aren't a Dragon's best friend
By Zinn
For Akeroh

	Four hundred kilometres where the Swiss Border no longer is.
Operation EGGNOG is on standyby as a no longer recognisable town smoulders. It was bombarded from the past two days from mortor fire, and defensive units were sniped from afar. Two amber eyes surveyed the scene of wanton destruction from an advantage point of a rocky hill. Around their feet was a collection the broken brickwork of a factory wall. A small promise for cover. The Beholder's maw turned to a hideous grin. “Now that's what I call satisfaction.” her throat rumbles, “Al'right Wyrms!” the official rank for her well-equipped teams, despite their lack of experience they were fairing professionally. “Set up Camp at Rendezvous point E, Team Foxkill and Skyfate: Search and Destroy.” Her voice roared, with it's own allure it instilled fear through her charges not just by a significant higher rank of Major. The bemused Spectator was the product of a share of four trillion in Mercenary Contracts. Muscles tensing beneath the dark urban camouflaged plated skin suit. Taping her helmet to scan through different optic settings, checking for any last challenge for the day.
	The teams silently organized on their intercoms. Twenty eyes all aware of each other from each team. Collective mind-links of the heavily armoured horde of dragon grunts. The felt the others tremors as they held a rifle, Their heartbeats with the sounds of mortar, they knew who flinched and who felt aroused at the prospect of bloodshed. No one could judge, for now, they were all one. They were all below Diamond. She was augmented beyond mortal limits. Her claws could could cut her namesake, and her refined neuro processes could anticipate bullets. Technology still twenty years away from Commercial availability. She would've been worshipped as a Goddess with her unique abilities, if she so commanded. For now orders were from above to raid Switzerland as part of a debt recovery process. It's entire fiscal reserve was planned to be requisitioned, given a few minor contracts fell through and stashed Drake Corp's pay within the Vaults. Operation EGGNOG now two years in the running, was meant to be a quick skirmish to make someone happy for Christmas, now a running joke.
	She turned on the top of the rocky outcrop to the only other person who's mind was not melded. “How's the orbital Jammer coming on, Runtface?” She had one hand gripping the handle of her rifle. An average without reinforced muscle fibres couldn't lift it with two hands. She stroked the top of the barrel as if the titanic length of steely death dispersal was a fuzzy pet. “Nearly Done, Major Pain-in-ass” Smirked Akeroh. Small green and no where as mean as the other wyrms. Fingers fidgeting with an iron device, about the size of a car engine. This iron mass of exposed cables, and dials, valves and a radio mast, erupted in a complicated sequence of clicks, and electronic beeps. “I'd demote you for that comment, but the only thing lower to address you would be the sound of my boot heel grating on your face as you eat dirt.” Diamond growled unamused. There were two reasons why Diamond put up with Akeroh. Besides how handy he was handling technical or 'intelligent' affairs, Akeroh was her only reliable aspect of social contact. Someone at least who didn't start every sentence with “We...” Still two years of exchanging taunts and insults back and forth, it'd be too soon for her to break down and waste him, speaking of which. Reason two, Akeroh was immortal. Ancient quantum quirk, Akeroh when killed respawns, over and over again. His mind intact, but his body going to a default state. He respawns “nearby” the point of death, but the process is poorly understood that the Wouslf Scientists of the Antimoon couldn't even theorize how to solve it. Still after covert measures failed to retrieve the missing debts, the entire world since then descended into open war. Drake Corp were at the top of the Disbanded United Nation 'law' enforcement food-chain. Friends were hard to find between ranks.
	“Almost got all frequencies. Blocked Public Radio, .. the Transit System, .. World Radio Six, frequency, which was the best radio and even though it was the best radio it still was cancelled.” The green Mechanic sighed. Diamond slumping against the wall, just watching him, “We're gonna get nuked if you don't work fast enough. She just watched him, looking over his runtish stature, and amazed through that odd quirk he couldn't be killed permanently. Same for her, but she wakes up in a solitary revive tank for a few weeks, consciousness transferred, and no entertainment. It would've been less boring if they gave her dreams or fantasies, .. would've made an interesting diversion. Although it'd raise serious ontological questions about the nature of reality if they can program dreams like that. Diamond, rarely with an introspective moment pries past the crater-size gap of factory wall up to the cool grey sky.  A Moment of calm, before the clouds were ripped apart as they sizzled from the heat of an ionizing beam. Coming down in thin red streaks, ready to sterilize the ground of the approaching invaders. “Hurry the fuck up.” Diamond shivered the Major, nothing made her nervous apart from heavy orbital ordnance. (Flesh eating Bacteria comes in a close second, but with regeneration technology she can grow back faster, of what it could possibly eat. A gruesome thought, and the worst STI to catch) The green drake continues to tamper with his potential storm-breaking machine. “Today's forecast should be cloudy, .. just cloudy. Fuck Lighting. However it's stuck on covering Ninety Two Frequencies.. um, not sure what else I can block..” Akeroh scratching his chin, and licking his cracking lips, “..Over-riding local landlines to boost the Jam~ We also could've damaged the town's infrastructure to much to use it against that thing.” Diamond took off her smoothly polished helmet, quick inspection of it's ragged marks for near misses, her facial scales a lustrous mix of red metallic hues. “Ain't the time for contemplating that we had too much fun. You're busting my joy if you think we should just kill the people only.” Switzerland the only nation to function as a giant ATM with eighty percent of it's population droids or with heavy cyborg enhancements. Wavy lines of ionic death shredded leaves from trees, and the broken trunks into pillars of fire. The tarmac slowly corroded and shrivelled with focused hot spots. “If I Survive...” Diamond swallowed, the scene was growing hotter than her superior's heat-lamped balls. “...I will fire the last of my bullets into your male pride.” Gunfire erupted from afar, causing Akeroh to flinch. Diamond tilted, to her naked eye she saw a tank rolled over walls right towards Foxkill. “Ninety Nine Point four frequencies blocked, .. I've stripped them of all communications, jeez if it's not working now, I don't … do you know where the training manual is?” Akeroh flipped a switch and grinned widely, popping a question. “Hey Diamond. If I've got this, would you hit me with ball and chain?”
	“Literally.” replied Diamond. She had joked in more serious situations and even if she was fried like a microwaved baked potato, she'd just be refined further into a better more efficient killing machine. “I'd also like you dragging from the Car's tank tracks as it crushes the skulls of everyone that would've possibly coerced me into consider marrying you.” Diamond looked back at him, “Why aren't we getting hit by the Ion Storm?”
	“Well how's the teams faring?” The dragon shot back. The Major fitting on her element and tapping the intercom for an update. “Fuck...” she uttered, “Foxkill has a rising level of psychosis, and Skyfate is nausated, and slowly dehydrated. There is a lot of visual interference between the two. Akeroh snuck up beside her, tracing a claw along her armoured thick hipped ass. “Well that's because they're using the frequency for the mind-link signal to disrupt them. The storm will subside as I've disabled the teams intercom and used it to jam their signal till they pull it together. We can also raid that tank for rations later.”
	“Your a Marvellous Fucker, Wyrm.” Diamond croacked, “But...” she continued observing the lighting came to a stop and faltered. Major strands contracted visible to Diamond's quicker eye. “...Sometimes I just want to tell you to eat a dick.”
	“Yours naturally.” Akeroh quipped. The storm calming as they slowly approached victory once more.