Once again and for what seemed like the millionth time, the sun had set over the horizon unleashing a deep darkness and the dark terrors that wreaked havoc in the world below. A young man stared out over a balcony, watching intently as the sun disappeared beneath the redden sky. All around him silence reigned same as every day at that time at dusk. Regardless of the fact that they were in a town, everything had come to a standstill just as the darkness had rolled in. It was the way of the town. The way of the people of Bethesda and as he continued to think upon this, a dark shadow covered the entire evening sky above him and the young man took a step back into the room that behind him. As he did so more shadows filled the sky and a roar erupted from the very first shadow that had appeared above him.
More roars followed, echoing the first call of the first terror and balls of orange flames erupted from their dark forms filling the night sky with their eerily light in orange hues.
It had begun.
The young man let out a tired sigh and dropped the visor to his black helmet which was connected to an even darker suit. A black suit that was made up of nanoparticles armoured with weapons and the kind of software that could not have been found anywhere other than the central Hub of the little sea port town of Bethesda.
The man picked up their newest weapon. A newly formulated directed energy weapon that shot out a particle beam so strong that it could disintegrate a building with just a blast and hoped that this time, this new weapon would work against the terrors.
"Okay men, and lady..." he said, turning to the only female that was present in the group. "Suit up and let's get going."
The little group of five dropped their visors and picked up their weapons before gently dropping from the balcony to the ground with their weapons drawn. They quickly melted into the shadows, camouflaged by their dark suits which also served to dampen their thermal prints as they advanced forward and towards a group of almost ten winged shadows that had congregated around a two storey apartment that was quite near the ocean front.
"There are people there. " One of the men, a young lieutenant with a black tablet in his hands said. "Two on the ground floor and three on the first. One of them is a child." He said as he finished scanning the rest of the sea front for heat signatures using the infrared heat sensor that was aboard the little black tablet stashed on his arm. Having sent the images to the rest of the group, the man projected the same images to his own visor, and stowed away the tablet in a glove that in his arm even as he awaited further instructions from the leader of the group.
"You four try to get them out. I'll go yonder and act as a decoy. " The young captain said as he turned to his teammates. "Hopefully, this baby will work this time..." he added as he gently patted the new weapon that was slung from one of his shoulders.
"But Captain! That is suicide." The only female in their group protested.
"There is no other way Sergeant and I would rather it were me than any of you. Now get going and that's an order." with that he turned around and ran to the path of light that was burning with the same flames that the monsters were issuing out from the large maws. Satisfied that he was far enough from the team, he turned off the shield that had been cloaking his thermal signature and one shadow that was directly facing him lifted up its three horned head as it trained its red irises on him.
Without intending to, a shiver racked his body and the young captain was tempted to turn back and run the other way for his dear life. But he forced himself to hold his ground even as he unhooked his weapon before turning it on face of the now alert demon. The lizard bent its head to one side and glared as if daring him to go on.
Slowly the captain heaved out a heavy sigh and pulled on the trigger, releasing a beam of high particulate energy that flew right to its target and the monster's armoured chest.
The young man watched as the blue beam hit its target and the black dragon let out such a roar of pain that it attracted the attention of its other comrades. Eight pairs of red eyes turned on him and the captain swallowed a gulp of air, swallowing down his fear even as he continued to tremble in his armoured boots.
The wounded dragon let out another roar of pain and the others echoed its roar before turning their entire force to face the captain, their initial target forgotten in a spurt of rage.
The captain swallowed another gulp of air and with it his fear even as he took a trembling step backwards as one by one the terrors that he had feared his entire life began to stretch out their huge black wings and take flight heading straight for him.
"This is hardly fair." he complained in his mind even as he turned to escape the oncoming onslaught of orange flames and glimmering sharp claws. "On the plus side, the distraction worked." He chuckled just as he jumped and rolled out of the path of a huge ball of orange flames. Another angry roar filled the night sky and the man sobered up immediately. He chanced a glance behind him to look at his pursuers and sure enough they were all hot on his trail. Enabled by his nanosuit, the man quickened his pace and rushed towards that part of town, the ghost town that had no residents living within it and as he did so, he felt a blast of wind and crouched low as one of the monsters swooped down to capture him.
Just when he thought that he had escaped that dragon, another swooped in and he cried out in pain even as its sharp claws pierced through his dark armour. He tried to turn and look, but the weight of the dragon's foot kept him down. The claws dug deeper into his armour and he cried out again even as the sharp blades penetrated his flesh and the dragon's thick sulphur fumes enveloped his visor. A low growl erupted near his ear and he was turned over to stare into the crimson eyes of the very same dragon that he thought he had wounded. A groan of frustration escaped him followed by a chuckled at the thoughts that had flooded his mind. Thoughts of how he could possibly be more concerned about his laser gun and how it had not worked to harm the dragon, rather than the very perilous position that he now found himself in.
"I must be going into shock." He said to himself as he felt the warm liquid that was slowly filling his armour and wetting his clothes. As if sensing his humour, the dragon dropped lower, exerting more weight on the foot that was placed on his mid - section and the claw dug in deeper, causing him to cry out in more pain. As if satisfied with the out outcome of its actions, the dragon bared its teeth at him and let out another ear splitting roar. All around them, the other dragons answered its call and for the first time, the captain realised that he was surrounded.
"I just hope that they saved them." He thought, thinking back to his team and the civilians that they had set out to save. "If this is how I die, at least I know that it was for a worthy cause."
The sulphur around him grew thick and the concrete shook as the other dragons moved in snuff him out. "This is the end," he thought again even as he closed his eyes and prepared himself for the decapitation As he did so, blue light filled his vicinity and the dragons let out roars of pain as beam after beam of high particulate energy hit their bodies from every angle. The leading dragon let out another roar and took to the sky with the young captain's body still attached to the claw. Mimicking their leader, the rest of the dragons spread out their wings and took off after it carrying the captain to wherever it was the pack was going.