Conspiracy 6

PART ONE: ICE WORLD

Chapter 4: Escape…For Now

Docking Bay. The dragon saw the sign and he took an extreme right as more troops were staring to impede his progress. He held his armored wings in front of him and the laser rifle shots pinged off them as he bulled through the guards. The screamed as his lethal knife-edged claws cut through their body armor and Markal looked up at the dragon. He would be protected.

The dragon jumped into the expansive bay and he landed on a fighter, the cockpit was crushed and he leapt off it leaving a much mangled pilot. The dragon covered them again as a starship's guns opened up on them, the shots slammed him back and he threw himself behind a fighter as he looked for a way out.

"Are we going to die?"

"No, just stay calm Markal." The dragon looked over the fighter and he saw the docking bay door closing. If they shut, he would be locked in and then killed. "I have a way out." His wings unfurled and he lifted off. The dragon did some barrel rolls to avoid the gunfire and he slipped out of the bay just as the doors closed.

Kariston felt a fire in his stomach and he manages to open his eyes as four techs were around him.

"Sir, you have been badly wounded please lie still." A tech said and Kariston felt his clothes being removed. The techs examined him and the one who spoke turned on a machine, it beeped and he threaded the needle into his arm. "Ok, you've sustained some pretty nasty injuries…" The tech adjusted the machine and it let out a long beep. "Ok recalibrating…sir, you should be fine if you just rest." Kariston yelled and the tech gave him an injection of Morphine, he sighed and the techs left him.

"Dragon, I am going to capture you. Then you will die slowly along with that lupine, Markal." His Comm rang and he answered it. "Kariston."

"Sir, there was a problem with the capture."

"A problem?" The face at the other end adopted a worried expression and he nodded.

"The dragon and the lupine escaped." If Kariston hadn't been in his weakened condition, he would have gone down there and personally killed the guard himself.

"Send out patrols for them, they couldn't have gotten far. You make a mistake like this again and I will have you flayed and ripped to shreds."

'Y-yes sir." The tech said and Kariston killed the device. He lay back down and sighed as he rolled onto his side.

The dragon would pay.

Markal shivered as the dragon landed in a cave, he had tried to keep warm but his thick fur did not offer enough protection from the subzero chills. The lupine huddled with his tail and the dragon walked over, he wrapped around Markal and tried to keep him warm.

"Are you alright Markal?"

"Y-y-yeah, I'll b-b-be fine." He chattered and the dragon looked out the cave opening, night was falling and the lupine would not make it if they did not find someplace warm. His body heat was helping but even though the dragon was not affected, the lupine would be an icicle if he did not do something. A group of patrol ships shot by and the dragon considered his options; he could run, fight or he could let the lupine die.

The patrol craft would keep looking until they found their prey. The dragon looked down at the lupine and Markal tried to huddle closer as he was freezing to the touch.

"Markal, do you want me to put you out of your pain?"

"N-n-no, I need to stay a-a-alive for a-a-as long a-a-as I c-can." He replied. The dragon nodded and a patrol craft landed outside, there was sound of weapons drawing and footsteps.

"Markal, I'm going to have to leave you for just a few minutes."

"No, I c-can't s-s-stand that." He replied and the dragon looked over, four figures came in and they held up their guns.

"Where is he?" One asked through the Environ-Suit.

"Fan out, if you find him, just paralyze him. Kariston wants the dragon alive and unharmed; the lupine you can leave." The four fanned out and one looked behind a corner, there was a soft, almost silent whooshing sound and he vanished. The leader turned and he frowned. "Kari? Are you alive over there?" No voice answered him and the leader cautiously walked over as he poked his head around it.

Nothing. The leader silently walked down a long ice covered hallway and he looked at his radar, a giant red dot was behind him and he whipped around. A massive paw smashed into his visor and the gun was ripped from him as his suit was torn to shreds. He was ripped out of it and the cold bit at him as he immediately began shivering; the leader looked up and the dragon stepped on his neck as his claws pierced. Red blood exploded onto the snow and he gagged as the dragon bent down, his muzzle bit off a chunk of flesh and the leader didn't even have a chance to scream. His head was separated from his body and the dragon swallowed a chunk as he bit another piece of meat off.

His hunger was soon sated and he climbed the wall over to where Markal was; the Environ-Suit was practically undamaged and Markal was inside it. He would survive. The dragon smiled at the sleeping form and he covered him with snow to hide the lupine; now for the others. He blended in with the ice and snow and he hung to the wall as another searcher passed below him. The dragon waited a few seconds and then dropped effectively killing the figure. He quickly hid the body under the snow and then there was one left.

The fox looked around apprehensively as his mates had dropped out of contact, his radar showed no one and he checked the clip in his gun. It was still full at the count of 50 and the setting was AUTO, one point and it would drop his prey.

That is, if he was the hunter. The fox whipped around and he was alone. The dragon was using physiological warfare and he was winning against the vulpine. The vulpine tripped and he slid down a long tunnel, he tried to stop himself but he found no purchase as he hit the bottom of the tunnel.

"Oh no, oh dammit." He managed to get up but his leg was broken as he could not move without severe agony. He let out a scream and his heads up display registered a contact, it was very large and it was coming nearer. "No, oh God please no." He whimpered as his paws were empty. "My gun…" He whispered and the vulpine tried to get up, with the support of the wall he could but there was no way he was moving. He slid down again and the dragon walked over to him, the vulpine cried as the claws slid to the visor. It caught under and with a feral yank the visor came off exposing him to the numbing chill.

"Now you will see what it is like to be alone and dying." The dragon said and slit the Suit down the middle with a razor claw. The vulpine saw his visor smash against the wall and his eyes froze shut as the tears iced up.

"No, please, help me!" He cried. There was no answer. "Help me! PLEASE!" He screamed and the cold bite him hard as he started to shiver violently. Death had an icy paw and it grabbed him as he died.

Markal awoke and his vision was white. He struggled and the snow cleared as he sat up, the dragon was in the corner and it looked like he was eating…

"My God…" Markal said as he saw that the dragon was eating one of the team.

"Want some?" He held out an arm and Markal almost retched.

"No, please." The dragon nodded and finished it off. The torn Environ-Suit was beside the dragon and it was covered with a crimson liquid. "Why did you eat him?"

"I'm hungry; I haven't been fed in a long time. And this is to keep me from eating you also. I don't want you to die since you are the only one someone will believe. And also to fly the craft that is out there." Markal stood up and he felt that he stepped in something soft, another Environ-Suit was there and it was empty.

"Shit, how many of them did you consume?"

"This will be my third, don't worry you will safe." Markal kept away from him and looked out the cave entrance, a retrofitted craft sat there and he looked up into the night sky. That was his way off this planet, this was his way to expose the truth, and he would get the dragon off the planet. The dragon walked behind him and he looked down at Markal. "Can you fly that?"

"I can try." They walked into the craft and he looked around, it was much more luxurious than the one he shared with his brother and he walked into the cockpit. He sat down and took the controls. "I can fly this but I am a bit rusty so you might want to take a seat." The dragon grabbed a paw hold and nodded.

"I will be fine." Markal lifted the craft off and it shot over the snow as he input coordinates for space.

A few minutes later, he had enough power to break the orbit but something stopped him. In the distance, there was a flash and he saw a mammoth craft being pursued by twenty or so other craft. They were making guerrilla attacks on the massive silver craft and the ship's guns were striking back. It was doing a fair job when artillery started to fire. The missiles slammed into the craft and parts of the ship were blown off as the armor took the hits.

The craft changed course and it tried to break out into the sky but more artillery slammed into it, bringing it down. Markal turned on the Comm and there was a voice.

"Great Fox going down, I repeat, Great Fox going down. Assistance is required to any craft that can hear us." A metallic voice said. Markal watched as the Great Fox hit the snow and part of it exploded.

"Markal, we have to see if anyone is alive."

"I can't, we would get captured again." The dragon got in his face and growled.

"Then I am going to rescue the crew, you wait here." Markal was not going to argue. The dragon opened the hatch and he spread his wings as he jumped out.

END OF PART ONE