When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.
Max Lerner
His breathing became heavy from the thickening smoke filling the room. Simultaneous explosions brought a ringing to his ear holes. He stepped out of the way as a steel beam fell from the demolished roof, crushing the wooden floor where he stood mere moments ago. His vision was blurred and his scaly hide sported numerous cuts from all the rubble that grazed him, but his violent coughing and rather imposing large frame had already betrayed his position.
And that's exactly what he wanted.
Can't let them get near it, it would spell the end for everyone.
He stumbled through the the doorway and into the kidsroom, he took a deep breath of fresh air through an open window filling his heaving lungs with much needed nourishment.
The window.
He gazed through the opening only to find the surrounding homes engulfed in smoke and flames. The sight of the once peaceful neighborhood in a firey blaze made his heart skip a beat, a guilt that rested solely on his shoulders, fully accepting that this was his fault.
What must be done, must be done.
Suddenly, thick, dark ropes plummeted with a dull thud from a large hole blown in the roof and a deafening crash emanated from the lower level of the structure. Almost simultaneously, a total of six unidentifiable creatures descended the ropes with their weapons drawn. Their species was hard to decipher due to the black fabric and body armor that adorned their entire bodies.
The fire dragon stood his ground, surprisingly calm despite his throat, mouth, and lungs feeling as dry as a desert. He took another look at the window, only to discover a lone militant rappelling the outside face of the building. The blinding light affixed to the lower rail of his weapon forced the instinctive dragon to screw his eyes shut. Shielding his face with a paw, he slowly stood up and allowed his gaze to adjust, taking in the new situation. He was surrounded.
Smoke began billowing throughout the room again. Its source unknown as the white collection of particles enveloping the entire perimeter of the house. Everything outside the home was a giant, heaping mess of chaos and destruction. He had expected this to go down more peacefully.
The screaming and howls of pain vocalized from the fearful citizens only proved his point further.
The militants trained their weapons at his hide, red dot lasers all over his scales. If he made any attempts of doing something stupid, he'd pay for it with hot lead blowing cavities in his chest and head. None of them would be able to miss, not at this close range, but the night vision goggles and gas masks on their faces probably made longer engagements troublesome.
"Don't shoot! Friendly here!" The fire drake spoke steadily, trying to suppress a stutter.
The group inched closer, their firearms not dropping. "What the fuck are you talking about?" One of them spoke out, clearly taken back by the dragons calm demeanor despite his house being intruded. The civilians in the the other residences would just scream and beg before being violently apprehended; Or, shot in the back when they tried their damnedest to run away.
The dragon raised a single talon and pointed behind a soldier to his right. "If you don't believe me, ask him. He knows."
One of thet invaders hesitantly checked behind them only to alert everyone's attention to another dragon that hat joined the scene, but none pointed their guns against him. "Major Volkron! Do you know this dragon?" The militant who climbed through the window exclaimed.
The electricity dragon ignored him and marched towards the other dragon in the room. His piercing glare always aimed at, him he stopped and opened his mouth to speak "You said you had what we want in this specific backwater shithole. We turned the whole place upside down looking for either you or the objective. I had to put my career on the line for the higher ups to allow me to lead this operation, so you better not disappoint"
"Don't get agitated at me Volkron. What you're looking for is right here and all you have to do is take it. Although I just can't help but ask why are you lashing out on these innocents, really that necessary, huh?"
"We just wanted to make sure no witnesses would be left, so we're just going to make it look like another attack from the local rebels and the whole thing will be swept under the rug."
"So it's that simple?" he responded with a slight smirk on his snout.
I can see right through you, bastard.
"OK, maybe I don't trust you enough. You could have the bright idea of hiding the egg elsewhere, so I took the liberty of rounding them all up, but this one… Well, according to my orders, I'll have to smash it to pieces"
"All right, let's get this over with." He felt a tie in his stomach.
The ground floor was already swarmed by the militants, they checked doors and corners for any possible threat, not that they had met any so far.
Crap, where is he? Haven't heard his voice since he went upstairs!
Elaina was scared. She knew they were being hunted down and she was the one who insisted that she and her brother should go far away from home to escape them, whoever they were. The hatch covered by the kitchen rug was her last resort. It lead to a space barely big enough to fit her adult dragon form. She wasn't a trained fighter and that made things all the worse. Tears were flowing in streaks across her cheeks as the stunning fire fire dragoness prayed for the only thing that mattered to her to be safe. And that was the two eggs she held onto as if her life depended on it.
Suddenly footsteps could be heard right above her. The militants used their goggles to check every possible hiding spot in the kitchen. Elaina could hear the wooden floor planks creak under their boots and held her breath.
"WAIT! Who's there?" A soldier standing right above her shouted.
She knew it would end there, so she shut her eyes preparing for the inevitable.
It was then that she heard a blood chilling scream, and a gunshot following afterwards.
"Did you get him? The fuck was he thinking hiding in those bushes outside."
The one who took the shot replied "It was just a mole. Remember, no witnesses."
"Alright room's clear, move on to the next one."
Elaine was still holding her breath even after they left, she felt there might still be a little hope for her. For her children.
The rest of the militants joined their teammates upstairs with the two dragons. "Major we searched the whole place and couldn't pinpoint the location of the objective. It would really help, if you actually told us what we're looking for . Our only orders are to shoot on sight. We don-"
"You said nobody's here?" Volkron asked.
"Y-Yes sir."
Volkron turned his gaze to the dragon "You lying son of a bitch, you're protecting your sister!" As he said that he pulled a handgun from his waist holster and cocked it right at him.
"I think I made it clear way before that I will only cooperate with you and you only" he said trying to keep his cool.
Volkron gazed at him hatefully and lowered his weapon "Fine, everyone out of here, move to the next location and as always don't leave anyone alive."
The militants nodded and swiftly left the area leaving the two dragons alone.
"Let me take you to her"
Elaina was relieved to hear the soldiers leaving the house, all she was worried about now was her brother. Listening to the house's foundations rumbling from the heavy punishment it had sustained during the invasion sent a chilling sensation down her spine.
Her moment of respite didn't last long as the hatch abruptly opened and she went face to face with an electric dragon she had never met before.
"Hey there pretty"
Elaina shrunk into a curled position out of fear but as soon as her stare met with her brother's her head perked up and she asked confused "M-Mercer?"
Mercer gave her a blank stare "I'm sorry Elaina, give it to me." He extended his paw and waited, while Volkron was beaming in anticipation.
Elaina was curled around the two eggs concealing them without applying too much pressure. She hesitated and just broke into tears "N-No, I-I-I-I c-c-c-can't." Her crying broke Mercer's heart.
"It's necessary, you'll understand."
There was no giving up on her offspring that easily. The paw tightly grasping the red egg wrestled valiantly with Mercer's own paws. After a few squeaky whimpers and silent pleads the precious bundle was slowly dragged away from her protective clutch, her broken spirit only focusing on covering the other one with her tail. Volkron then quickly snatched the red egg with a huf and inspected it. "So this is what I'm looking for. I expected it to look more special. I don't get why the higher ups want it smashed so badly. Are you sure that's it?"
"Of course. Elaina had only one recorded birth at the hatchery and the egg that was born got the attention of the superiors."
Elaina followed the conversation still frightened and never losing her hold on the second egg
"Hm, seems about right." Volkron replied with a devious smile.
Elaina's eyes widened "Wait-"
Before she even finished Volkron slammed the egg on the floor and immediately crushed it with his claw. As soon as Elaina's mind processed the event she started sobbing violently once again.
Mercer was trying really hard at this point not to get down there and comfort her. Instead he pulled himself together after witnessing that hideous sight. "So, your work here is done".
As he wiped his paw on a nearby wall Volkron responded "Certainly, but yours isn't ."
"I acted according to my orders, so I expect a new position for the information I gave Mercer placed a paw on Volkron's shoulder "I want in on the inner circle, I'm not a grunt anymore."
"Of course you aren't. You proved your usefulness today, but…'' Volkron grabbed the paw holding his shoulder and shined him a smile "Your loyalty issue still remains. The bosses need to know you have severed all ties to your past."
He pulled his gun from the holster, held it by the barrel and presented it's grip at Mercer. "She is still a witness, you know what you have to do."
Mercer froze. That wasn't planned from the start "Volkron, please, maybe we can take her in."
"Ain't gonna happen pal. I had to sacrifice my own personal life for our work, you knew this when you signed up."
Mercer nodded understandingly and took hold of the gun. He aimed it at Elaina's direction.
The sad reality dawned on the fire dragoness the warmth of her remaining egg reminded her of her incompetence to be a good mother. She was afraid of death sure, but the thought of the egg being left abandoned made her shiver. "Why Mercer? W-W-Why turn your back on me"
Mercer just stared at her tear filled eyes. He couldn't do it. He was already bottling up with guilt and on top of that he didn't have the guts to go forth with such an atrocious act.
He dropped the gun and swiftly charged Volkron. He pushed at his chest with all his might sending them both flying through the glass door of the kitchen and outside into the street.
Now he was on top of Volkron and was about to slash at him with a claw when the electric dragon grabbed his leg and delivered an upward kick with his hind feet sending Mercer into the air. Volkron took that moment to speak through the comms in his ear hole. " Attention to all units, this is Major Volkron. Hit the house at my location with everything you've got, raze it to the ground, over."
As soon as he barke that order he used one paw to grab Mercer's right leg, pulled it upwards and twisted it, while he used his free leg to elbow the fire dragon's neck and the pinned him to the ground.
"Major, this is Morpho 1, we're the closest team preparing to strike with heavy duty explosives, over."
Volkron laughed as he placed a claw on Mercer's throat "See? You can't go up against us. You either join this side for good, no unfinished business left, or you die.
I want you in on this Mercer, even if you don't believe, so I'll do you a favour and take care of your lack of spine."
"Elaina, NO!'
That was the only thing he got to say before a rocket connected with the already damaged kitchen wall making the west side of the house collapse rather quickly. Soon after a second explosion happened and a third one. Even though the first floor still existed the roof was practically destroyed and the lack of supporting walls on the ground floor signaled that the building would go down anyway.
A group of militants approached the two dragons. "Sir everything OK?'
"People, i am happy to inform you that we are on our way to extraction." Volkron opened up his comm device "All units, this is Major Volkron, mission parameters achieved, RTB"
Volkron glanced at Mercer and said "Don't mind this one, he is with us, right Mercer?"
Mercer still gazed at the house holding back tears "Yes, Major." he swallowed hard.
And with that they all took off towards the extraction point.
Meanwhile among the debris lay the impaled body of the once beautiful dragoness. Her red and orange scales shimmering against the light of the raging fire that was devour her body, along with an egg she'd hold tightly until her very last breath.
A purple egg at that.