((5/4/10: Finally got around to editing it. I am a lazy a** who hates editing. So, y'all got Falcon's Hyperdrive to thank for this. Her review about a mistake finally spurred me into action.))
Before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life. That was how our race was born. For a time, we lived in harmony, but like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil. And so began the war - a war that ravaged our cities until they were consumed by death, and the Cube was lost to the far reaches of our planet. We scattered across the world, hoping to find it and rebuild our home, searching every sea, every mountain. And just when all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown place populated by creatures called...Humans. But we were already too late.
High in the sky a giant dragon flew swiftly though the clouds. It was but a dumb animal, moving by the guidance of it's pilot. Aboard its back sat five military men, all heading back to their base in Qatar, after a successful mission. Though not a word was spoken, it was obvious to each of the men that they were all exited (the high winds rolling around them prevented idle chatter). This was to be their last mission before starting the return trip home.
A Mexican man named Fig was happily daydreaming (in Spanish) about his mom's home cooked crocodile. Another, named Epps, was fondly thinking about his small apartment in San Francisco, and the free time he'll have off back in the States. Their squad leader, Will Lennox, was getting exited at the prospect of holding his baby girl for the first time.
The beast landed on the ground with grace, carefully not jostling its passengers. It then settled on its haunches, allowing them to disembark. The squad then left the tarmac heading for showers, and in Lennox's case, to video-chat with spouses.
Up in the command center, however, things were less peaceful. An unknown dragon was heading for the base, and all attempts to contact it had been futile. The commanding officer sent two Flying-class 22s (F-22s) to escort the beast to the base. The F-22s flanked the more heavy set creature and used their strong, lithe forms to maneuver the Copter-class to the tarmac. In the confusion of the upper atmosphere, no-one noticed that the Copter-class had no pilot.
It was harder not to, however, when it landed and the wings settled, revealing the empty back. The troops sent out to surround the beast could only gape silently, and they received no warning before it lunged. The powerful tail whipped around and most of the stunned troops were caught in the first swipe.
"What the..." The commanding officer stared with dawning horror as the creature then started to rip the base apart. Dragons were generally very docile creatures, taking care not to hurt anyone, unless they were specially trained to, despite their huge mass. To see one act violently, without anyone directing it, was like someone saying the sky is green, and then discovering it actually is.
Epps had been trying to convince Fig that, despite it being his native language, no-one really spoke Spanish that fluently around the base, and it made it hard to understand him. He was about to go into the merits of English, when explosions and screams interrupted him. Looking towards them he spotted a rogue dragon destroying all that was in it's way. Even more troubling, it didn't have a pilot. Damn. So much for persuading Fig to drop the Spanish.
They both raced away from the terrifying sight. Epps tripped however, and after taking a brief moment on wondering how he could be so uncoordinated, then remembering why the ground was shaking so much, he turned around. He was greeted with the sight of the pilot-less dragon with his back to him. Epps hastily unpacked his camera and pointed it at the sliver bulky beast, capturing the frightening sight as it ripped apart buildings and people. However, the dragon chose that moment to turn around.
It immediately spotted Epps holding the camera. Epps let out a strangled curse as the beast leveled its red eyes on him, and he hastily backpedaled and ran for his life. The beast then dismissed him as a threat but not worth its time. It already had a busy schedule to keep, so it flared the plates that protected its vital organs and a smaller, but still big scorpion-like creature fell out. It gave one look towards the dragon, its master, before scrambling along after Epps. The dragon turned, and started to reek more havoc to reach its destination.
The dragon broke through the roof of it's target building; the operations bunker. Somewhat hastily it used ultra sonic waves to disrupt the fire walls surrounding the server's information. It then started to use an odd device attached to its foreleg to hack into the mainframe. It did not get far, however, before the very brave/stupid base commander severed the physical hard line and ended its connection, before it could discover anything more about something called Project: Sentience. The creatures first objective now unobtainable, it continued with its second: destroy the human base.
Meanwhile, Epps was still running for his life, though now he wasn't too sure what he was running from. Explosions continued to sound from behind him as comrades tried to fight the beast, but something told him that if he stayed there and fought, he wouldn't live much longer. Turns out his team had the same idea and they soon found each other after Lennox radioed a meeting place. They could not get any long wave communications up, however, and thus no-one knew of the only survivors of the attack now wandered in the desert, looking for a young Arabian acquaintance of theirs home village.
And so, the destruction of a base in Qatar aired on the news the next morning broadcasting into the, for now, quiet home of Samuel James Whitwicky, who--hopefully--after today, would be the proud owner of his very first dragon.