Tryasche seperated from Felicity and limped over to the top of the hill. He looked down at the valley. The ground was scoured and pieces of the Ark littered the area around the river. The main structure had fallen into the river, its main body had collapsed into two parts after making contact with the ground. Tryasche narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists.

"My love, I offer this gift to your peacceful rest. Father and Mother, I have written your revenge with the blood of the wicked. My people, your sacrifice was not in vain. The Dragons will rise again in a new world without this stain marking our new history."

Felicity walked over, hugging Tryasche from the side. "Father, you can barely stand. Come. We have a car waiting for us. It will take us home."

Tryasche walked with Felicity’s assistance towards the car that was waiting for them. As he passed Eric, he paused. "Master Sergeant, with this battle I declare the Dragons and humans of 6-8 as lifelong brothers and sisters in arms. Your people have helped slay an enemy that wrought dominion for three hundred years. Due to that, here is my token." He tossed Eric a Golden coin. On the front of the coin, a woman with straight hair and piercing eyes. On the back, a large dragon with cold eyes stared back at him.

"Show that to any Dragons manning our gates. They will ensure you are treated with the best hospitality and care we can offer."

Eric ran his thumb along the ridges of the coin. "Thank you, your majesty. Both of our peoples have suffered greatly. Our friendship will grow stonger as the years go on."

Tryasche shook his head. "To you and Michael, I am no longer your majesty save for formal gatherings. When it is just us, refer to me as Tryasche."

Eric’s eyes widened. "Bu-"

"I will hear none of it." The dragon king said as he tossed another coin to Eric. "Give that one to Michael."

Before Eric could protest, Tryasche walked into the car waiting for him and Felicity. The rest of the dragons bowed to Eric before changing into their dragon forms and flying away.

As the dust settled, Eric sat against the hood of his truck with Michael. Michael was observing the coin as radio chatter in the background broke the still atmosphere. Eric tried to listen, but he couldn’t focus. Michael took command and issued orders. Michael knew what Eric was feeling. After Dresken, he had experienced that same feeling of helplessness mixing with relief.

Michael walked over after issuing the last orders to Echo team. ISR had confirmed that there were no hostile forces in the area, so Medics from Echo were going to go down and check the molten pile of steel for surivors. He patted Eric on the back. "We only lost three tanks, Eric. The platoons of that tank suffered major injuries, but there were no deaths among the ground forces. Six soldiers will likely need to have surgery, and will probably never fight again..."

Michael sighed, closing his eyes.

"But at least they’re alive."

Eric looked at the ground. "We lost two jets, Mike."

Michael looked down into the valley. "We got lucky that it was only two, Eric."

The two leaders watched as soldiers walked listlessly around their Area of Operation. They were collecting pieces of the Ark that had spread as far north as their current location. As Tryasche was releasing his last breath, Felicity, Jessica, and Justin had to produce a barrier around the hill they were on to protect the soldiers from debris.

Eric then looked out to the destroyed forest around them. Crews were beginning to clear away the shattered remains of what had once been a lush forest.

"I know we got lucky, but every time we have losses, I always ask myself what we could have done differently."

Michael rested his hand on Eric’s shoulder. "I get it, but we can’t dwell on it. You have told me so many times that in order to build this world the way it needs to be, people will be lost. We can remember each loss and mourn, but there is still work to do."

They watched a soldier grab what looked like a pipe, throwing it into a pile of steel nearby.

Eric nodded and took a deep breath.

"Alright. Let’s get back to work." He muttered as he grabbed the radio. "I need all leaders of Operation Broken sky to meet me at the command truck within the hour." He ordered.

An hour later, a group of men and women stood in front of Eric. They had their notebooks in hand, faces heavy with exhaustion as some could barely stand. Michael observed the group from inside their truck. He was receiving information from ISR, and sighed. "Still no sign of enemy forces." He said to Eric. "I think that we are clear to collect what we can and leave."

"Did General Milano say to leave that thing?" Eric responded, pointing to the remains of the Ark.

Michael shook his head. "He will have a different outfit come here and pull guard. Hammond will take point with Captain Smirkoff."

Eric rubbed his face, feeling the grime of sweat coat his fingers.

"I see. Alright. I’m gonna tell these guys to start heading back to Hood Hill. We have the engineers and dwarves coming to collect the scraps they collected."

Michael abruptly turned to Eric.

"Eric."

Eric tilted his head, confused as Michael seemed excited.

"What?"

"Dwarves, Ark. Materials. Think."

Eric narrowed his eyes. "Why are you talking like a child?"

Michael sighed.

"The dwarves can build an Ark."

Eric shook his head. "Kill that idea right now, Mike. The Ark left a crater where Killeen used to be, and killed most of the Dragons. I don’t think rolling out with one ourselves is a good idea. Besides, the Dwarves were literally enslaved to build it. The Elves were used as slaves to power it. All of our new allies were involved in this thing. We will not dishonor their legacies or our own by building one. Besides, you felt how wrong that thing felt. Such a thing should not exist."

Eric opened the door, leaving Michael to think about what he said as he turned to address the leaders.

"Before we start, I want you all to know that the soldiers who were injured are expected to survive. Private Ramos was burned severely. Please make sure his wife knows that he will be okay. As for Staff Sergeant Rimika, he had to have his arms amputated. He is currently still recovering from surgery."

A lieutenant in the back of the formation dropped to her knees. "It’s all my fault." She whispered as she laid down.

Eric walked up to her and glared down at her. "Which section were you in?"

The lieutenant shuddered under his intense gaze. "Sector one alpha. I am in charge of one of the tanks that got hit."

Eric shook his head. "Get up, kid. No one could have expected what happened here. The fault lies with no one. It is a miracle that we survived. So get up and stand with pride. We took down a weapon that was meant to end the world."

As the lieutenant stood, Eric looked around the formation. He glared at each leader. "I hope you have all learned the importance of planning and intelligence gathering before a mission. If we didn’t have the knowledge we did prior to engaging the Ark, we would have lost more than Killeen. We did a good job here."

A collective sigh of relief echoed throughout the formation as the leaders began putting away their notebooks. "Alright, take your units and head back to Hood Hill. Captain Stryer and myself will stay back with our element to pull security. Any questions?"

No one raised their hands.

"Good, dismissed. Those of you with destroyed vehicles can join Delta. They have room in their LMTV’s."

Eric joined Michael back at the truck. Michael was already asleep, and Eric shook his head. "Of course, the officer sleeps, and the NCO does all the work." Eric grumbled while pulling out his phone. He texted Mia: 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"We did it. The Ark is down, and everyone made it out."

The response was almost instantaneous:

"Are you okay?"

Eric sighed, looking at the phone. His fingers traced over her message. He knew bravado wouldn’t work on her.

"Yes and no. We still lost people. I can’t help but think about how we could have done something differently."

He watched the dots as she responded. His eyes blurred when he saw that she had sent him a video of Liara walking. The baby had bumped into a table and began screaming. Eric had the volume down so as to not disturb Michaels rest.

"When you get home, you get her for a full day. No war talk, or planning for the next operation. You will spend time with our daughters."