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The Dragon's Nest, Ten Miles outside of Furth, Bavaria - 13th of May, 1996
“There’s nothing in the fridge.” Marta called, as she closed the appliance’s door and placed her hands on the island in the middle of the kitchen, her eyes wandering around the pale wood furnishings of the little cottage known locally as ‘The Dragon’s Nest’ due to its most respected resident. The people of nearby Furth, had long had connections with dragons of all kind, but the latest one to move in had proven to be more of a guardian then a rampaging monster, and the people there had unofficially adopted her as one of their own.
“Well since neither of us feel like grocery shopping,” Karl called from the other room, as he sorted through the assorted VHS tapes by the TV, “I’ll call up and get us a pizza while you pick a video for us to watch.”
“Raiders of the Lost Ark, no contest.” Marta stated, as she walked into the lounge and looked down at Karl, annoyance and exhaustion apparent alongside the slight amused look on his face.
“Yes because the ideal break from fighting Nazis for decades for us is watching a film about…Nazis.” Karl sighed as he removed the battered cassette case and placed it on top of the coffee table next to a vase full of wild flowers picked for the garden only a few days ago.
“Would you prefer Jurassic Park instead?” Marta asked innocently as she held out a hand to Karl to help him off the floor. "I didn't think so." She added.
“So pizza, I won’t be long.” Karl stated, “If you warm some plates in the oven I’ll be back before you know it.” He added, as he walked into the kitchen, grabbed the keys off one of the work tops and headed for the front door. Stretching Marta wandered into the west facing sun room and stretched out, her body rippling as dark scaly skin and bat like wings formed across her arms as she shifted into her draconic form. Karl would be gone for at least twenty minutes, more than enough time for her to catch some evening sun only to be interrupted by the sound of a large car or a van pulling up the drive. Whatever she and Karl had planned for their night alone would have to wait, they had unexpected company that evening.
**
Karl went out to the BMW and slipped into the driver's seat before heading off towards the nearby town to pick up the pizzas he had ordered, passing a green minivan coming the other way. As he left one of the gargoyles perched on the edge of the house shifted and then fired a small projectile at the fleeing car.
"This is Hawker, GPS tracker attached to target vehicle." Hawker buzzed as he watched a black haired girl of eight dressed in a girl scouts uniform got out of the van, followed by her mother dressed in a similar uniform save for a very low cut top and thigh high leather stiletto heeled boots.
"Caracal Alpha reads you, we're in pursuit." A female voice announced as a woman on a motorcycle darted out of the woods on the side of the drive. Dashing down the road, Karl looked in the rear view mirror before spotting the pursuing motorcycle speeding down the forest road. Waving her past, Karl did a double take as he saw her take a pistol out of her holster and opened fire on the car, the bullets slashing through the fuselage of the vehicle. Speeding up Karl watched as the motorcyclist switched to the other side of the road and pulled alongside the driver's side door just as the pair of vehicles came to a fork in the row.
"Goodbye." Karl whispered as he veered right whilst the motorcycle kept going down the left hand road. Focusing back on the road, he swore in his native tongue as he spotted the jack-knifed truck blocking the road, the driver climbing onto the roof of the vehicle, a sniper rifle in her hands. Slamming on the brakes Karl heard a shot ring out followed by a hissing as the front right hand side tyre was punctured, the combination of high speed, bad tyres and braking action sending the BMW into a skid until it slammed into the truck, the driver’s door pinned up against the larger vehicle. Groaning Karl removed his seat belt just as the motorcyclist headed down the road, and the sniper leapt onto the roof of the vehicle.
"Who are you?" Karl groaned as he slipped out of the car, the pair of assassins levelling their weapons at him, their eyes gleaming from behind their cat like masks. "Why are you here?"
"They call us the Caracals." The woman armed with the sniper rifle purred. "Our employer wants you alive, but our superiors have confirmed the kill order on your head. Professor Karl Elise, for your crimes against the People of Israel we sentence you to death! She snarled, as her sister pointed a gun at Karl’s head. With a roar of anger, Karl sprung forward, the speed and ferocity of the attack taking both the Caracals by surprise, even as he grabbed the woman in-front of him and slammed her into the wreck of his car.
As he did, his targets sister, slammed the butt of his rifle into Karl’s head, the blow bruising his scalp but doing little else but stoke his anger. Glowering up at the new attacker, Karl slammed his shoulder into the truck the Caracal was pearched on, the impact causing the hitwoman to stagger and almost loose her footing. Not waiting up, Karl ripped the passenger door off of his crashed BMW and flung it at the assassin, only for her to spring through the broken pane of glass and tackle him to the ground, the pair of them hitting the floor before rolling apart from each other.
“You have me confused with someone else!” Karl snapped as both he and the Caracal got to their feet, the Mossad assassin reaching for a curved dagger holstered on her belt. “I fought the Nazis during World War II, your people should have no quarrel with me.”
“Then you have forgotten your history with Director Eli Goldberg.” The second Caracal got to her feet, her hand on a pistol. “What you and your dragon did to him in Syria twenty years ago.”
“I haven’t forgotten.” Karl replied, as the assassin with the knife lunged at him, only for her blow to be caught and thrown back. “He was planning to kill hundreds of innocent children to terminate a single man, those losses were unacceptable to me, to us so we acted.” He added, as he turned to face the woman with the gun. “If having morals is a crime then shoot me.” He hissed, his attacker squeezing the trigger as he lunged forward, the sound of a gunshot accompanied by a guttural scream and the thud of a body hitting the floor.
**
Marta, now returned to her human form, opened the front door to see a little girl of about eight or nine standing on the door step, a stack of boxes cradled in her arm.
“Hi do you want to buy some cookies?” The young girl chirped as she flashed a big smile on her face.
“I don’t know, isn’t it a little early to sell cookies?” Marta asked cautiously, as she caught sight of the girl’s mother watching for afar.
“Tell me about it.” The girl sighed. “I was this close to catching a dratini from the Safari Zone, but then my mum told me I that I had to go out and clear out the last of the honey cookies.”
“Well I do have a weakness for honey cookies, give me a second.” Marta replied with a big sigh, as she nipped inside to grab her purse before sprinting back outside, just as a gunshot sounded and a bullet crashed through her chest, the woman she’d seen outside holstering the weapon and drawing a sabre from the scabbard slung across her back. Retuning to her draconic form, Marta snorted a jet of black fire at the assassin, just as something bulky and metallic dropped into the path of her attack, blocking the flames.
“Looks like the thermal layer is holding up.” The new figure stated in a crackling mechanical voice, as he balled the gauntleted fists of the power armour he wore. “Let’s see how it handles throwing a punch.” He announced as he slammed a metallic fist into Marta’s chest, the blow winding her, before a second blow landed on her sternum, the bone cracking under the impact. Wheezing with pain Marta waited for a third blow, before slipping under her attacker’s punch and raking her raptorial talons across the lower chest armour of the power suit he was wearing, hissing sparks radiating off of the impact between hi-tech ceramic and sharpened keratin.
“And score one for the state of the art Hawker Pioneer armour against the tired old lizard.” The man in the armour stated, as he grabbed Marta by the neck and flung her out onto the drive, the woman with the sword moving to press the blade against her targets neck seemingly oblivious to the sound of her child crying as she cowered in the front garden.
“I’ll admit, your suit is interesting and that I am rusty.” Marta hissed, as she felt the sabre’s blade press against her neck. “And I’m old, but with that age comes experience. For example, when I’ve just breathed fire my body is hot enough to melt steel.” She hissed, as she lashed out, her talons cutting through the molten sabre with ease, drops of burning metal spraying over the woman’s face, causing her to recoil in pain. “And there is one thing that men in power armour always overlook.” Marta added, as she stepped into a crouching position, before swinging her tail forward, a shower of dust and gravel striking her armoured attacker.
“This suit is state of the arc, I haven’t forgotten a thing.” The armoured assassin snapped as a shoulder mounted machine pistol popped out of the armour plating. Seconds later another jet of fire engulfed his Hawker armour, the heat travelling down the exposed shoulder joint causing the entire left arm to overheat and expand, the armour plates cracking.
“Your kind always forgets about the vulnerability of the man inside.” Marta snapped, as she balled her fists, the scales glowing with the ambient heat her body was producing. Taking two steps forward, Marta stopped as the little girl screamed again, as a massive bare chested man with long sickle like claws strapped to his knuckles held her against him, blades resting against her throat.
“Surrender Dragon and I won’t kill the child.” The new comer growled in a South African accent. Looking over to the child’s mother, Marta wasn’t surprised to see the woman hadn’t reacted at all to her daughter being kidnapped, but instead had simply opened a box of cookies and removed a belt loaded with packets of C4 explosive.
“Mummy help, please help me!!” The little girl screamed as she tried to squirm free.
“Hush Danika, you must be strong!” The female assassin snapped in a stern voice. “Put the belt on and my associate won’t kill the child.”
“Why would you do this?” Marta hissed, as she saw a drop of blood drip off the talons and onto the floor.
“Because I know your weakness, not the sugar cravings but your maternal instinct, you were built to mother a generation of weapons designed to win a war but it never came to fruition.” The woman stated, as she threw the belt at Marta’s feet. “Shocked She-Drache, we know all about you, and what you’re about to become. Now put the belt on, and get in the car or the child dies.” She ordered. Slowly Marta reached down and picked the belt up, before returning once again to her human form.
“I’ve fought a lot of monsters in my time.” She growled as she slipped the belt around her waist. “But none of them threatened to kill their child in-front of me.” She added, as the South African released the little girl. Running towards her mother, Marta watched as the assassin slapped her daughter round the face, the blow knocking the child to the ground.
“You cried, you’re a disappointment to the family name!” She hissed, as the South African escorted Marta into the back of the mini-van. “I’ll see you back at home.” She added, as she climbed into the driver’s seat and locked the door, the little girl pawing at the side of the vehicle in a vain attempt to get inside. As the van started up she screamed, her cries filling the evening air as she was left behind in the dying light.
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