Blaze vs Zephesis : Search for the Solution

Context: It has been six months since the initial Zephesis outbreak. The people of the Blaze Empire are permanently scared and hiding, and the government is desperate to find a more permanent solution than shooting each dragon down individually.

MKF is sitting behind his desk. On one wall is a bank of screens showing footage of zephesis attacks. Opposite, in the corner, is a pile of empty Coke cans. MKF looks at his chief advisor, who is currently on his twenty-third can of Coke.

MKF : You're stress drinking.

Advisor (shaking from caffeine overload) : Who, m-m-me? *empties can*

MKF : Yes.

Advisor : No w-w-way, sir.... *faints*

MKF motions to one of his other advisors.

MKF : Caffeine overload. Someone take him home and get him water. Meanwhile, does anyone have any ideas about the Zephesis issue?

One of the other advisors : Well, we know that they can be taken down. If we could gather a huge army in a good location and bait them... *mimes a finger gun*

MKF : Hmm. But what would we use for bait?

Advisor : Well, we can work on it.

MKF : OK, you do that. I have an idea too, but it's a bit of a long shot...

MKF opens up a drawer in the desk to reveal a shiny console.

Advisor : The top-secret inter-emperor communicator!

MKF : I'm going to message ducklingpanda. Who knows if they even have one of these, but that's our best bet for any info on the Zephesis.

He types a message and sends it.

Solomon_Blaze_3: these dragons are mutating! they're huge and terrifying and attacking stuff everywhere! I some kind of information on the Zephesis so I can bring my empire back to safety!

Trent had become one of the best Zephesis shooters in the Blaze military. Since that first kill, he had shown time and time again that he was naturally skilled at shooting dragons out of the sky. He had been the first member of an elite squadron that chased Zephesis swarms across the empire to eliminate them.

Reports of Zephesis swarming in eastern Uzbekistan had come flooding in they day before, and now the task force was setting up base not far from the place where, according to the reports, there were at least sixty of the dragons circling a mountain. The soldiers sat down in the main tent to strategize their attack. They would move out after sunset, and use the final hour of twilight to shoot the unsuspecting dragons.

Trent had used to feel bad about the heartless killing, but he was soon desensitized. In places where the dragons weren't killed, they ended up terrorizing innocent villagers and causing mass panic. He only wished there was another solution...

*DING* 

MKF spun around in his chair. The top-secret-inter-emperor communicator! ducklingpanda had left a return message!

duckling-panda-king-of-middle-earth: Oh dear. I had hoped that wouldn't happen. Well, the dragons are attracted to this rare mineral called Zargonite. Maybe you can use some?

Solomon_Blaze_3: Zargonite?

duckling-panda-king-of-middle-earth: Yeah, it's this strange ore full of softy glowing purple crystals. The Zephesis around here are always attracted to it.

Solomon_Blaze_3: Can you get me some??

duckling-panda-king-of-middle-earth: Oops, sorry, gotta go! An army of orcs are trying to overrun my castle. Bye!

MKF: Well, that could have gone better. But where on Earth can I find Zargonite?

Random Advisor: Maybe in Uzbekistan Province?

MKF : Huh? How do you know it's there?

Advisor: Well, the Zephesis Strike Force is in Uzbekistan now, after some reports of Zephesis swarms circling a mountain. The dragon's numbers are growing by the hour and the Strike Force is going in to clear them out.

MKF: Quick! Get them to look for the Zargonite before they take out the dragons. Maybe we can use it for bait in some kind of trap.

Trent's team got the message about the Zargonite just before they were about to attack. The soldiers quickly changed their plans and started hunting for the ore, moving around and shining spotlights onto rocks in the area. Not everyone was happy about the new arrangements, though. One of the squadron's most intuitive shooters, Ali, voiced his discontent.

Ali: I'm a soldier, not a geologist. I came here to shoot Zephesis and I'm stuck looking for pretty stones.

Some of the other soldiers murmured in agreement. Trent shook his head.

Trent: These are orders directly from the Emperor! Finding this ore could be key to beating the dragons once and for all. And besides, you'll all get to-

Trent broke off midsentence as a small pack of Zephesis swooped out of nowhere upon the soldiers, who quickly moved to defensive positions. Ali coolly fired two rocket rounds into a dragon, before neatly reloading and swiveling to fire and bring down a second.

Trent's first rocket missed his target and blew a crater in a rock wall below, revealing a large shining purple crystal. Trent gasped. Could it be? The Zargonite that was attracting the dragons to the area? He turned a spotlight on it, creating a ray of purple light that reflected back across the mountain. All the Zephesis began flying toward it.

However, when the first dragon reached the purple beam, it suddenly dropped unconscious and fell from the sky. The soldiers watched in amazement as every Zephesis flew into the purple beam before falling far onto the rocks below. The beautiful mountain scene suddenly became a place nobody wanted to look upon. But a solution had been found.

Two months later...

MKF leaned back in his chair, contented. The Zephesis issue was largely solved. After the Zargonite discovery that day in the mountains, the alternative weaponry team quickly devised spotlight weapons with Zargonite lenses, which were issued to military and civilian alike. Across the empire, people were bringing down dragons easily and cleanly every day. Large spotlights were set up around major cities, and the Zephesis population plummeted.

Petting zoos still kept and bred small Zephesis, with the Zargonite torches as safety for whenever one mutated huge. Life in the Blaze Empire returned to normal. The citizens could finally enjoy the peace and prosperity afforded by the Lunar Treaty.

Another corner of the DOTJE world became at peace- but for how long?