>readfile ~/loreserver 406
[LORE DRIVE DAMAGED: CAPACITORS OVERLOADED]
[LOCATING REMOTE BACKUP . . .]
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Althea was never one to back down from a fight.

The volcanic eastern dragon's obsidian-doped hairs bristled as she stood her ground, perched on the lip of young Mount Yellowstone's scorched igneous peak. She was no stranger to humans and their technology, but none other than concerned geologists and curious biologists had dared to ascend her slopes since she'd set up her den there. Those who had, always made sure to let her know their intentions long before climbing the ascent, and usually came in groups no larger than four or five. This time was different, however.

A bulky truck, far larger than was usual for survey equipment alone, was grinding its way directly up the slope, and no man had yet to call out to her with a request or information of any sort. Its hard white edges gleamed in the morning sun as it mounted the terrain with an ease not familiar to the dragoness.

"Why have you come?" called out the low, smooth voice of the female, the tone commanding respect. There was no response from the armored crawler, its tinted windows too dark for even her eyes to pierce. Its ascent continued, and with a scoff from the long dragon, she flicked several quickly-hardening spikes of magma at the vehicle's wheels from her tail. It ground to a quick halt at her sudden movements, but the impact on its wheels only shattered the projectiles in an instant. "I advise you return to where you came from!" shouted Althea, hairs like quills standing on end, her pelt pulsing with slow-moving volcanic energy. Finally, as the crawler passed what the dragon considered an acceptable distance from her den, she let out a low snarl, darting down the hillside with quite some momentum. The crawler lifted a panel from its roof as she took off toward it, revealing a strange weapon of sorts, and with a bright flash of electric light.....

Althea would never back down from a fight.

[PARSING . . .]

"Ugh! Un.. -hand me!!" barked the dragoness, tail leaving scorch marks along the reinforced concrete walls as her long body flailed about, trying to pull her head and forelimbs out of the energy harnesses and back into the cell. If the strange purple dragon entitled Upsilon was to be believed, whatever experience was about to be forced on her by these humans was not going to be pleasant. The group of burly guards shouted commands between themselves as she tried to pull free, but she was too furious to hear their chatter. Eventually, with an extra pair of restraints on her hind legs and another on her tail, the lengthy dragon was escorted down the hallway, never letting her guard down nor letting them have an easy time of relocating her.

Almost a full hour had passed now, as the clamps of the table in the middle of the lab room finally managed to latch onto Althea's limbs. Still she jerked and growled, resolve never faltering as she glared up at the tinted glass of the observation room. "Do your worst!" she snarled, muzzle finally freed now that the experiment table had her in its grasp, "You will regret it!" Behind the glass, soft murmurs could be heard from various scientists, minutes passing as Althea's rage and defiance remained in full.

A low whirring broke the relative silence, prompting her to look up with a snarl. A large, circular machine of metal, glass, and runic stones was slowly spinning up, a glowing orange crystal suspended within its central glass chamber. "What in the..." she murmured, before shaking her head with a growl. "Try me!" she shouted again defiantly, pelt bristling up again as she glared at the observation room. Eventually, the machine's whirring hit a fever pitch, holding steady as the occasional arc of orange lightning jumped from its downward-facing output to the dragon's fur. Althea's gaze was fixed hatefully on that window as she let out a low snarl, slowly growing in intensity just as the arcs grew in frequency. Each moment that passed lit the room a brighter orange, a beam of strange magitech energy flowing down into the eastern's back and through her form.

Time slowed in the dragon's mind as her body's pain receptors lit up like a slowly building static charge. Each moment that passed brought her to higher heights of pain, teeth bared in rage and hate, eyes unwavering as she took it all in. Her stony fur arced with strange electricity, pelt acting as a huge capacitor as more, more, yet more unbridled magical energy was forced from its crystal home into this beast of will and anger. Her ears deafened, senses reduced to that of sight and rage, the entirety of her being focused on the goal of letting the humans behind that glass suffer the pain that they had brought on others like herself. Orange light filled her vision, and as she finally let her eyes close and maw open wide, all of that residual energy was released. Glass shards flung out into the air, alarms blaring in slow motion as her world shrank down to nothing, all that vindictive rage finally released.

Althea never did back down from a fight, not against unwinnable odds, not against superior weaponry.
Not against the elements.

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[END OF FILE]


Line author - by Methadone
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