THERE BE DRAGONS!
Chapter 17: Dragons to the Rescue
T-Bone was getting nervous as he flew behind the pair of dragons hanging in the air waiting. That gas cloud was just passing the end of Megakat International Airport's flight line and still no sign of dragons.
"Crud! Where are they?"
Suddenly something brightly colored passed over the cockpit. T-Bone blinked then more colors flew past. He whooped as he saw all the many colored dragons come flying from all directions to join the pair waiting.
Soon there were more than twenty dragons flying toward the gas cloud. He stayed where he was and watched in fascination as the flight of dragons formed a circle around the cloud and flames began to be seen.
As they began their work, T-Bone realized there might not be enough to do the job but he needn't have worried as more dragons began to appear until there were so many he could no longer really see the gas cloud any longer, only the flames flickering from over a hundred throats.
The flying wedge kept up with the cloud as it got smaller and smaller until it was no more, then the flight lead by a big red dragon, headed back to the plant and circled the area taking care of any of the gas still lingering from the exploded tank, the fire having already been put out successfully by the fire department.
As quickly as they appeared, the flight broke up and vanished high in the sky where no one could follow them except for the Turbokat who took off after them and vanished as well.
In the news chopper, Ann Gora, felt exhilarated. What a fantastic display of dragons and they got it all on tape. But the biggest news was finding out Commander Feral was a dragon. She could hardly wait to interview him. Wait...where had he gone? There had been so many dragons, some of them golden like Feral, she'd lost sight of him when they dispersed.
"Jonny did you see where Feral got to?" She turned to ask her camerakat through their helmet radio.
"Over there Ann, he's heading back to Enforcer Headquarters."
She looked out the canopy of the chopper and sure enough, there was a golden dragon winging toward the city. Calling to the pilot, she instructed him to follow that dragon. Giving a grunt and a sigh, the pilot simply turned his chopper and headed after the dragon.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Feral's heart pounded in his ears. He had hesitated a moment, trying to decide if he should return to his Kat form or go back to headquarters as he was. Looking down at the ground, he could see the fire department cleaning up and many of the plant workers still milling around.
As he circled to study the scene, he could see things were well in paw and one of his officers was already doing the investigation so there was no need for him to land. Everyone was pointing and staring up at him and he knew the word had already reached his enforcers about what he was.
Sighing, he decided he didn't want to be hassled or gawked at by those below, it was going to be hard enough facing his enforcers at headquarters. So he winged away from the plant and headed back to his office. He would send someone back for his chopper.
Flying through the city canyons felt rather exhilarating. An ache he'd had for so long eased with the freedom to soar openly. When he'd gone to see Adair, he'd gone under cover of night and hadn't veered from his established flight path at any time. This...doing it in the daylight...was amazing. He felt truly like a dragon for the first time in his life.
However, all too soon his flight was at an end as the huge enforcer complex appeared before him. Unwilling to land yet, he flew around the building slowly. He startled everyone in the control tower, who stared and pointed at him in excitement as he passed by the windows slowly and looked in at them. Delaying long enough, he came down on the flight line like a feather, folding his enormous wings to his back and eyeing the security force that had formed a line some distance from the main hangars with weapons drawn, uncertain of who he was or his intentions.
Standing behind them, watching worriedly were Steele and Sgt Fallon.
Feral walked cautiously forward while security remained where they were, waiting for him to make the first move. His golden eyes watched them warily, but he was pleased at their alertness and the fact they hadn't taken the reports they'd heard for granted. He could be an enemy dragon for all they knew and until he identified himself, they would keep him under careful watch.
Before he could give identification so they could stand down, the buzz of a chopper approaching caught his attention. Looking up he saw it was Kat's Eye News.
Since he'd not be given the right to land on a military platform, the pilot kept his distance and hovering, waiting for permission.
Sighing, Feral spoke up, his voice booming and very familiar to the troops. "I am Feral. Stand down. Steele...give the news chopper leave to land."
Everyone within the sound of his voice jolted in shock and amazement. The reports had been true, their leader was a dragon. Still stunned, Steele nearly dropped his radio as he hurriedly obeyed Feral's order.
The security team flipped their weapons to station keeping but didn't leave as they stood at attention and stared in outright fascination.
Meanwhile, the news chopper carefully landed on the flight line. As its blades began to wind down, Ann and Jonny climbed out and walked toward the dragon.
Steele and Sgt Fallon came through the still standing line of security to join them. Soon the four were standing before the huge golden dragon.
Ann quickly had her camerakat set up and began recording as soon as she was standing near the dragon. "...this is Ann Gora of Kats Eye News coming to you live from the enforcer flight line with Commander Feral who you can all tell is a bonifide dragon himself. He and his fellow dragons have just saved the city." She turned to face the Commander as Jonny changed the focus to the two of them.
"Commander, congratulations on being able to get your fellow dragons to come to the city's aid in snuffing out the deadly gas cloud that was created by the explosion nearly everyone heard from the Biochemical Plant. That was an amazing display of dragon capabilities and shows graphically how useful dragons can be in protecting the city they live in. You must be very relieved and proud as dragon kind have been rather nervous about coming out," she said brightly for the camera.
"Thank you Ann. Yes, I am very pleased so many answered the call and were able to overcome their fear of exposure. With this revealing, hopefully they will be more comfortable showing themselves more frequently. The danger at the Biochemical Plant is over. All the gas has been burned off and the tank fire has been contained. An investigation is underway to determine what caused the explosion in the first place," Feral said, in his usual manner for reporting such things on camera even though it felt odd doing it in this form.
Privately, he appreciated her unexpected approval and support of what they'd done. It was just the right thing to say to help their cause.
"Thank you, Commander. Would you return to your normal form so those watching will believe what I've told them?" Ann asked.
Feral nodded, understanding her need to do this and in the blink of an eye, he was once more the familiar dark tom in the enforcer uniform.
Smiling in the camera, Ann said, "Thank you Commander. There you are folks, our own Chief Enforcer is a beautiful golden dragon. For those who are just tuning in please catch the news at seven and eleven to see the amazing footage on dragons saving Megakat City. Hopefully, if he consents, I'll have the lowdown on why the Commander felt the need to hide what he is. Until then, this is Ann Gora of Kat's Eye News signing off." Grinning happily at the scoop of a lifetime, Ann signaled Jonny to cut the broadcast and handed her mike to him. He walked off, heading back to the chopper while she paused to speak to the big tom.
"When you have time, Commander. Could we set up an interview to answer the question the viewers are going to ask about why you felt a need to hide yourself?"
Grimacing, he looked off over the flight line a moment. He knew this was going to happen and wanted to speak to Jake about how to handle it. Personally, he didn't want to talk about it at all because it might give Kats the wrong impression about him. He certainly didn't want them to realize he was but a hatchling and not considered an adult at all by dragon standards. Chewing his lip, he didn't know how to answer her right now. An unexpected light touch to his arm, startled him. He blinked in surprise as he stared into a concerned pair of brown eyes.
It hadn't missed Ann's sharp eyes how reluctant Feral was on this delicate subject despite how cooperative he'd been during the broadcast. Having read up on everything she could about dragons, she understood the main reason for their hiding centuries ago but not why they still did so now. She had hoped Feral might give her a clue but it seemed this might be very difficult for him by how he reacted to the request.
"You seem...uneasy...this is a scary subject for you isn't it?" She asked, carefully, concern shining from her eyes.
He blinked at her in surprise. Ann wasn't normally known for being concerned for others welfare especially if it meant getting a juicy story but in this instance, she seemed genuinely concerned about what he was feeling.
Eyeing her a moment longer before coming up with an answer, he said cautiously. "Let's just say, I'm a little tense about how I had to reveal myself for the first time and will need time to adjust and yes, it's a bit scary and life changing for me."
Her eyebrows rose as she eyed him intently. "Really? I must say, if you were that afraid to reveal yourself, you showed just how brave you were to do it anyway. Look, this needn't be a tell all type of interview...only speak about why you hid and what your plans are for the future. The public does not need to know your whole life story."
He stared at her in stunned disbelief. This was a side of Ann he'd never seen before. It left him a little off balanced and confused. "Okay, that sounds alright to me but give me a little time first."
"Sure, no problem. When you're ready just contact me but don't wait to long or the public might form their own opinion and it may not be favorable to you," she warned, gently.
Feral nodded his head, she was very right about that, as he well knew having dealt with the fickle public enough himself. "I promise...it will be very soon and thank you for your understanding."
"You're welcome," she said, flashing him a warm smile that seemed to hold more in it than he could interpret. "See you later, Commander." She turned and went back to her chopper. Minutes later, the chopper lifted skyward and headed toward the Megakat Broadcasting Building.
Feral was still a bit stunned that the normally aggressive reporter had shown a more soft side, as she tried to soothe him as well as congratulate him on his brave action. Shaking his head, he filed the oddness away and headed toward the hangar with Steele and Fallon trailing behind at a discrete distance, seeming uncertain how to approach him.
As he walked through the pilot prep area, he was hard put to ignore the many nervous and questioning looks he was getting.
Sighing mentally as he caught an elevator, he realized he needed to call a mass staff meeting asap to halt any panic, anger, and upset among his troops. Also, he needed to send someone to retrieve his chopper and check with the officers he left on the scene about the status of the investigation into why the tank exploded.
It was going to be a long day.
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High in a cloud bank, Adair soared close to the Turbokat that was holding position not far away and glided close to the door he'd leapt through just a little while ago. Grasping the door with a firm claw, he changed from dragon to Razor once more and swung the rest of the way inside then sealing the door firmly before moving across the cargo hold and up the ladder to his seat.
Latching himself into his ejector seat, he called out to T-Bone over their comm, "Let's go home, buddy."
"Copy that!" T-Bone said, happily, switching from VTOL to forward and flying the jet toward their hidden hangar. "Hey, Razor. How do you think Feral will do handling his enforcers now that they've found out he's a dragon?"
"We talked about it. He planned on having a staff meeting and getting the word out to his troops as soon as possible to stave off a possible riot among his troops."
"Aww...it really shouldn't get that bad..."
"No, but...things have been happening too fast, T-Bone and no ones really had much time to adjust yet. Hell, it might take a couple of years before everyone is at least comfortable with the idea."
T-Bone snorted at that comment. "Hey, this is Megakat City you're talking about! The weird is a regular occurrence around here and we adjust pretty darn quickly, if you ask me."
"Yeah, you're right and that's why I'm glad we did our reveal here." Razor sighed, relaxing.
He was truly happy at how the day had gone and grateful they finally showed themselves in force for the first time in centuries. He hoped the momentum wouldn't slow and that more of his kind would brave the skies and fly about in the daytime at last.
Only time would tell. Though T-Bone was right about Megakat Katizens adjusting more quickly than anywhere else, it didn't mean things would go that swimmingly yet. Troubled times were coming, he was certain of that.