Hours had passed since the Lucas situation.

Noah sat at his desk, staring at his computer screen, frustration building with each passing minute. Three hours he'd been at this, searching through databases, academic archives, historical records—anything that might contain legitimate information about dragons.

What he'd found was mostly garbage.

The screen displayed a forum post claiming dragons hoarded beast crystals the way ancient Earth legends said they hoarded gold. Someone had even created a photoshopped image of Nyx sitting atop a pile of glowing crystals, growling possessively at Storm and Ivy who approached from opposite sides. The caption read: "DRAGON ECONOMICS: Understanding the Crystal Standard."

Noah scrolled past it, shaking his head.

Another article claimed Storm could control weather patterns across entire continents. That one had a kernel of truth buried under layers of exaggeration—Storm's atmospheric manipulation was powerful, but continental scale was absurd. The author had apparently watched footage of Storm creating localized blizzards during combat and extrapolated wildly from there.

A third post theorized that Ivy could communicate with plants on a spiritual level, hearing their thoughts and emotions. Complete nonsense. Ivy controlled plant matter through her abilities, not through mystical plant telepathy.

The problem was simple: modern humanity had no frame of reference for dragons. Nyx, Storm, and Ivy were the first dragons anyone had seen in generations. Only King Aurelius had even claimed to own one previously, and that dragon had disappeared decades ago under mysterious circumstances. Without historical knowledge or biological understanding, people were making things up based on fantasy and speculation.

Noah pulled up Eclipse's public streaming archives, checking what abilities had actually been shown during their operations. Storm's Arctic Shroud appeared frequently—the frost coating that protected him and created environmental hazards. Lightning Dash had been showcased multiple times during combat. Winter Vortex showed up in maybe three different streams, creating localized storm conditions. Blizzard Legion had appeared once, briefly, when Storm summoned ice constructs during a particularly intense fight.

But abilities like Glacial Domination? Thunderbolt Strike in its full capacity? Those hadn't been necessary yet. Same with Nyx—people had seen his Inferno Storm and Fear Aura, but Volcanic Roar at full power or Magma Bomb had never been deployed on camera. Ivy's abilities were the least documented because she'd seen the least direct combat since joining Eclipse.

Which meant the public was working with incomplete information and filling gaps with imagination.

Noah closed the browser window, rubbing his eyes. Three hours of research had produced nothing useful except confirmation that finding reliable information about dragons through conventional means was impossible. Whatever was calling his dragons, whatever alpha signal they were responding to, he wasn't going to figure it out by reading forum posts and conspiracy theories.

An emergency alarm blared through headquarters, the sound cutting through Noah's frustration like a physical impact. Red lights activated along the corridor outside his quarters, pulsing in rhythm with the alarm.

Kelvin appeared in Noah's doorway seconds later, already moving at a pace that suggested he'd been sprinting from wherever he'd been when the alarm triggered. "Sophie's calling emergency briefing. You coming or should I tell her you're too busy reading dragon conspiracy theories?"

'Trust the technopath to know what you are browsing,' Noah thought for a second.

"I'm coming." Noah stood, closing his laptop. "Give me a second."

Kelvin lingered in the doorway, his prosthetic fingers tapping against the frame. "You good? Haven't seen you all morning despite the rumor that your night wasn't so bad."

Noah felt heat creeping up his neck despite himself. "I'm fine."

"Because if you need therapy too, we could probably arrange group sessions. Maybe Diana for putting up with me. Definitely me for having witnessed Noah Eclipse's dancing back at the academy—that trauma runs deep."

"My dancing was fine."

"Your dancing looked like a seizure set to music." Kelvin grinned. "But seriously, you okay? You've been holed up in here for hours."

Noah grabbed his jacket from the chair, pulling it on. "I'm dealing with something. Nothing urgent, nothing dangerous. Just complicated. I'll figure it out, but for now there's no point adding to the existing problems the faction has. I can handle this myself."

Kelvin studied him for a moment, clearly wanting to press for details, but ultimately just nodded. "Alright. But when you're ready to talk about whatever complicated thing you're dealing with, you know where to find me."

They walked through headquarters corridors together, passing Eclipse members who were responding to the emergency alarm by moving toward designated rally points. The alarm itself cut off as they approached the briefing room, replaced by the normal ambient sounds of faction operations.

The briefing room was already filling when they arrived. Sophie stood at the head of the tactical table where a holographic display showed a man's face—middle-aged, professionally groomed, wearing the kind of expensive suit that screamed office authority. Sam stood beside Sophie, his tablets displaying data streams Noah couldn't read from this distance.

Diana and Lila were already present, along with Seraleth. Marcus and Reyna stood near the back—both had been with Eclipse since the early days, had proven themselves reliable enough to be included in operational planning.

"Now that everyone's here," Sophie said, her voice cutting through the low conversations, "we can begin. Eclipse has been hired to provide security escort for Leo Sebastian, governor of the eastern cardinal."

Kelvin's eyebrows shot up. "The governor? Why does he need us? Shouldn't EDF be providing military escort? That's literally their job."

"EDF resources are stretched thin," Sam replied, pulling up deployment data on one of the displays. "The Harbinger war has escalated significantly over the past six months. Most military assets are being deployed to front-line colonies and defensive installations across human space. Convoy security for Earth-based political figures has been deprioritized."

"Because there's no eastern cardinal to govern if the colonies fall," Diana said, understanding the logic immediately. "Military leadership is gambling that Earth-side threats are manageable enough to redirect forces outward."

"Precisely," Sophie confirmed. "Which creates opportunities for private military contractors like Eclipse to fill gaps."

"But why us specifically?" Marcus asked from his position near the back. "There are older factions with more established reputations for this work."

Lila answered before Sophie could. "Because Eclipse leadership is composed of top military prospects. Not just from Earth's academies, but from the Vanguard program. Noah, Diana, Kelvin, Sophie—all of them were stationed at humanity's last line of defense. Where they've fought category four and five threats, conducted operations that would break conventional units. They've proven competence under pressure, and more importantly, we stream everything. Sebastian probably figures transparency makes us trustworthy."

She paused, her pale blue eyes scanning the room. "Plus, we technically didn't desert. I mean, maybe I did. But you guys served in existential crisis situations, which is the fulfillment condition that lets soldiers retire when they want. You guys have fought two horn Harbingers, survived encounters with four-horn threats. Sebastian's done his homework. He knows what we're capable of."

Sophie nodded. "There's one more factor. This escort isn't local. We'll be traveling off-world."

That got everyone's attention. Diana straightened. Kelvin's expression shifted from casual to focused. Even Seraleth, normally composed, showed renewed interest.

"Where?" Diana asked.

"Raiju Prime," Sam replied. "The governor has diplomatic meetings scheduled with Grey family leadership. Given current political tensions and resource allocation challenges, this trip requires security that can operate independently of EDF infrastructure."

Reyna let out a low whistle. "So we're escorting Earth's governor to meet with one of the original seven families. No pressure."

"Mission duration is five days total," Sophie continued. "Two days travel there, one day on-site for meetings, two days return. Standard security protocols apply—threat assessment, route planning, emergency contingencies. Sam and I have already begun preliminary planning."

"Who's deploying?" Kelvin asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.

Sophie pulled up a roster on the tactical display. "Recent events taught us we can't field just anyone on operations this sensitive. The faction was threatened, our network was compromised, and we're still rebuilding security infrastructure."

Kelvin raised his hand immediately. "I'm volunteering to sit this one out."

"You're staying regardless," Sophie replied without hesitation. "We need you here. You're invaluable as a leader and morale boost. More importantly, if another attack happened while key personnel were off-world, we'd need our resident genius present to coordinate response."

Kelvin dropped his hand. "See, this is why I love you, Sophie. You find such diplomatic ways to tell me I'm stuck with babysitting duty."

"Diana," Sophie continued, ignoring Kelvin's commentary. "I can't deploy you either. Too many recruits depend on your training programs. Pulling you for five days would hurt their development at a critical stage."

Diana nodded. "Understood. The new recruits are still struggling with basic combat forms. They need consistent instruction."

"Seraleth, same reasoning. We need at least one powerhouse member on the ground. Your combat capabilities and tactical knowledge make you essential for headquarters defense."

Seraleth inclined her head in acknowledgment.

"So that leaves Noah and me," Lila said.

"Actually," Sophie replied, "that leaves Noah, you, and myself."

The room went quiet. Sophie deploying personally wasn't unprecedented, but it wasn't common either. Her role as operational coordinator usually kept her at headquarters, managing logistics and strategy rather than conducting field work.

"I'm going because between Noah and Lila, neither of you understand diplomacy and political protocol the way this mission requires," Sophie explained.

"Hey," Noah protested. "I can do diplomacy."

"You can do basic social interaction," Sophie corrected. "This is high-level political theater with original family involvement. That's different. Lila, you have a short fuse and limited patience for bureaucratic nonsense. I'll serve as buffer and ensure we don't accidentally insult anyone important."

"Harsh but accurate," Lila admitted.

"Wait," Kelvin interrupted. "You're saying Noah is bad at diplomacy? The guy who was having a casual chat with the military tribunal? Who talked down multiple hostile situations without violence?"

"Noah is competent in crisis diplomacy," Sophie said. "But structured political environments require different skills. Knowing which fork to use at formal dinners, understanding protocol hierarchies, recognizing subtle social cues that determine offense or respect. That's not Noah's strength."

"That's fair," Noah admitted. "I'd probably insult someone's ancestry by accident within the first hour."

"Exactly my point," Sophie said. "Strategically, Noah is our strongest asset and most versatile combatant. Him leaving doesn't hurt us because he can teleport back instantly if someone needs him, thanks to his domain link with everyone here. That makes him ideal for off-world operations where conventional recall would be impossible."

Sam pulled up travel logistics. "Transport departs in four hours. I'll coordinate final equipment checks and briefing materials. You'll rendezvous with Governor Sebastian at the spaceport."

"What's the threat assessment?" Diana asked. "Are we expecting hostile action or is this precautionary?"

"Precautionary," Sam replied. "But given the governor's profile and current political climate, we're planning for worst-case scenarios. Extraterrestrial attacks from you know what during travel, potential sabotage attempts, assassination risks—standard high-value target protocols."

"Rules of engagement?" Marcus asked.

"Defend the governor at all costs," Sophie said. "Lethal force is authorized if necessary. But remember this is a diplomatic mission. We're representing Eclipse on an international stage with original family oversight. Professional conduct is mandatory."

"So no Kelvin-style improvisation," Reyna said with a grin.

"Hey, my improvisation has saved lives," Kelvin protested.

"It's also nearly gotten us killed multiple times," Diana replied.

"Details."

The briefing continued for another twenty minutes, covering equipment requirements, communication protocols, emergency contingencies. Eventually Sophie dismissed everyone to prepare, and the room began emptying.

Noah caught up with Sophie in the corridor outside, waiting until they had relative privacy before speaking. "Why are you really fielding yourself?"

Sophie didn't stop walking. "I explained in the briefing."

"You explained the official reasoning. I know for a fact that I'm not as bad with diplomacy as you painted me. And sure, Lila has a short fuse, but I can handle her. Two of us should be more than enough escort for one governor."

"Noah—"

"Babe," he said, grabbing her hand gently, turning her to face him. "Tell me the truth."

Sophie's expression wavered, her professional mask cracking slightly. She looked away, down the corridor where other Eclipse members were moving past, before pulling him into an empty office and closing the door.

"Everyone in the political spectrum associates the name Reign with corruption and terrorism," Sophie said quietly. "My father was Minister of Defense. When his Purge connections were exposed, every person who'd ever worked with him came under suspicion. Every decision he made got questioned. Every policy he supported became tainted."

"So this is about clearing your family name?"

"No." Sophie met his eyes. "It's about doing the job well enough that people make a new association. Sophie Reign the faction coordinator who successfully escorted Earth's governor on a diplomatic mission. Sophie Reign who built Eclipse into something that matters. Not Sophie Reign, daughter of a terrorist."

She turned back to her packing, folding clothes into a tactical bag with precise movements. "I can't change what my father did. Can't undo the damage his choices caused. But I can make a new name. Build a reputation based on my actions instead of his."

Noah watched her work for several seconds, understanding settling over him. "You're taking this mission because you need people to see you as something other than his daughter."

"I'm taking this mission because I'm qualified and it needs doing," Sophie replied. "The fact that it also helps rebuild my professional credibility is secondary."

"Bullshit," Noah said, but his voice carried affection rather than accusation. "It's primary and you know it."

Sophie didn't respond, just continued packing. Noah moved to help, pulling equipment from storage lockers, checking charge levels on portable devices, doing the mechanical tasks that needed doing before any deployment.

They worked in comfortable silence until Sophie's bag was packed and ready. Then she looked at him, her expression carrying the vulnerability she rarely showed.

"I need this, Noah. Need to prove that I'm more than just collateral damage from my father's choices. This mission, this governor, this diplomatic success—it matters beyond just the contract payment."

Noah pulled her close, kissed her forehead. "Then let's make sure it goes perfectly. No complications, no disasters, just five days of professional security work that makes everyone remember you're brilliant regardless of whose daughter you are."

Sophie smiled, small but genuine. "Now go pack. We leave in three hours and you haven't even started."

Noah left her in the office, heading back to his quarters. His mind was already running through the mission But underneath all of it, a small part of his consciousness stayed aware of the domain, of three dragons still responding to something he couldn't hear, still circling restlessly in response to an alpha's call he didn't understand.

One problem at a time, he reminded himself. First the governor's escort. Then figure out what was calling his dragons.

The dragons could wait.

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