Dragon Hunters ((IC))

[Chari]

Dragon Hunters

IC | OOC

It was back in the 1400’s that dragons were first discovered to be real. Dragons have probably existed for as long as we humans have, perhaps longer, but that is something that has never really been discussed in all the talks that have ever happened between the races. The main reason for this is that the races have always been at odds, and had been in a near constant, if secret, war. The “Dragon Hunters” were first formed as the human races defense against dragons, and they had been on the frontlines for as long as the war went on. The war lasted all the way up until the 1930’s, were a different sort of war put everything on hold. After the human conflict was over, dragons and humans relationship started to improve. The war was no longer, and the job of the Dragon Hunters began to change. It became an organization that maintained the peace between dragons and humans, consisting of representatives of both races. But not everyone was happy with this peace…

Recently, the peace between the races had begun to erode. Humans and dragons are now sporadically fighting, with Dragon Hunters rushing to bring back the peace. The Hunters and the Snow Dragons are about to make an agreement to do all they must to bring back the peace. And this is where our story starts…
_______________________________________________________________

Sync calmly stepped out of the helicopter, apparently unaffected by the cold Arctic gale the flowed around him. He turned to watch as the helicopter left, back on its way to the ship to bring in more DH members. He switched back to the opposite direction, walking toward the ice tunnel that he knew would lead to the cavern below, the kingdom of the Snow Dragons. This meeting would be the largest peaceful grouping of humans, dragons, and other mythological beings in recorded history, not something to be forgotten. All the dragon kingdoms would be represented here, and many from the other races around the world. Sync, while not one of the delegates chosen by the DH high command, would take part in the work by chaperoning the Snow Dragon princess Ami, not exactly the job he had expected. A snow dragon appeared beside him and motioned for Sync to follow. Well, it was better than not doing anything here at all.

[triblade]

Watching the helicopter return to ship Blade looks around himself seeing only a few other than him able to stand the wind he thinks well this could be a long day for those guys. Interupting his train of thought a radio broadcast says "this is the helicopter we are unable to come much closer than this the wind is tearing us up." A slight smile crosses Blade's face "well who wants to go to the helicopter?" Blade asks grabbing a rope with two hooks on either side. Attaching one to the side of the boat he leaps off the ship decreasing his gravity enough so the wind would carry him right to the boat. Attaching the other end of the roap helicopter he says " I'm going to go on a head don't forget to detatch the rope from the helicopter when you start to leave." Dropping down and landing on a small piece of ice Blade beging to leap across from iceberg to iceberg landing expertly nearby on the main piece of ice. Looking around he spots two vague figures one of a dragon and one of a human. Blade then begins to run toward the two figures.

[Chari]

Sync watched Blade as he caught up to then fell in stride with them. He nodded back to Blade. He had seen him around DH headquarters, but they had never talked or anything. The snow dragon smoothly led them down the tunnel, emerging into the massive ice camber below. Within the camber you could have fit all of Manhattan, and that wasn't even the extent of the cavers. More tunnels led down, deeper into the ice were most of the homes were. This top are is what would have been called the commercial district. It had dragons hustling back and forth between buildings carved out of ice, and some made from small halls off of the main chamber. Standing in the back of the chamber was the Crystal Palace, a giant palace made almost exclusively of high grade quartz. It was one of the only things here not made of ice, and when the light of the magically projected sun hit it, it created rainbows for all to see. Sync told the dragon leading them that they could take it from here, and Sync headed off for the palace, Blade following behind.


Ami was on pins and needles for the people from the Dragon Hunters to be there. This was the first time she was meeting anyone besides her parents and the housekeeping staff. Then she would be out of the palace for the first time in her life! Even though it was to attend some boring ceremony or something, she was happy to be getting out of her crystal cage. She jumped on to the bed, humming loudly to herself.

[Lightning Flash]

Rachel waited at the bottom of the stairs to the deck of the ship cleaning her Colt. She absently glanced at the people going up to deck to go over to the meeting. There was no way she'd go out there right now, way too cold and windy. She didn't exactly have on her winter gear anyway though. She wanted to see this historic event, and she thought that she had actually been assigned to go guard the meeting. But that had changed. She didn't even have a partner anymore...

Nicholae...

He had only been her age. He even had plans for after he left the dragon hunters. He wanted to be a musician, and the worst part was that he would be able to do it. She had heard him play drums a few times before and she knew he would be able to do it. Not anymore. Now he was just another name on the list of dead, another number on the sheet of the death count. A statistic. She had been there when he died, some human shot him in the back. She had been there when they told his parents what a courageous man their son was. She had been the one to give his sword to them. She had been the one that they gave the sword back to.

Now she was stuck on an assignment they had already been given. Stuck in the middle of an ocean waiting for a confrence to finish. Waiting for someone to come and take Nic's place. She shook her head. It's not wrong. She needed someone there, to fight with. Maybe it would even ease the loss of Nic some. Now she had to just sit here and await orders from headquarters, orders about her new partner.

She snapped out of thought and realized she had started to polish her sword, Nic's sword. She stood and stopped polishing it. She sheathed the blade and started to walk to her cabin. Maybe she should go onto deck. Some fresh air might do her good.

[Chari]

Sync briskly passed by the guards outside the palace. Having memorized the floor plan of the palace earlier, he knew exactly where he was headed. There was maybe a half an hour left until the signing of the treaty, and Sync had to escort the princess down to the place they were going to sign, somewhere down in the lower recesses of the ice tubes. He walked into the room. "Princess?"


Ami looked up as a green haired guy with cold-ish looking eyes. But maybe she wasn't a good judge of that yet. "Hello Mr. Dragon Hunter guy! Let's go!"

"Fine, let's go." Sync lead her out of the room, but pulled a radio to his mouth. He had a bad feeling here. He radioed the ship softly, so Ami couldn't hear. "Base, this is Sync. Send in more people to act as lookouts and guards. I have a bad feeling..."

[Lightning Flash]

Rachel exited from her cabin with her winter gear now on. Now, time for a little time on the deck. Mabye she could even get a few flimpses of where the meeting was bieng held. From what she'd heard in passing about the meeting, it was bieng held in the Ice Dragon Clan's home, which they said was a cave. She assumed it wouldn't be too hard to spot, after all there couldn't be that many caves, could there?

Rachel came up the stairs she had previously been seated on and exited to the deck of the ship and was nearly knocked over by the wind. So much for seeing anything. She walked along the deck when shortly the helicopter returned from shutteling more Hunters to the land. The pilot seemed exasperated. After all, he had every right to be. It was no walk in the park manuvering a helicopter in this weather and he had to do it so many times, poor guy.

The pilot jumped out and yelled over to her. "Hey get on!"

Rachel was stunned "Me?" The pilot rolled his eyes. "All sensible people are inside. You are the one I'm bringing over, right?" Rachel started to say no but then caught herself. Hadn't a few people gotten seasick on the way here. It's possible that one of them was supposed to be the one on this trip. And the pilot was right, she was the only one there and no hunter would miss a time like this. They must be sick.

Rachel yelled out "Sure, I'm coming"

Rachel boarded the helicopter and watched the deck shrink as it took off into the sky.

[Eragon the sniper]

Nikoli typed on a computer, orginizng files and typing reports for the Dragon Hunters. Even though he was only been appart of the Dragon Huners for 4 months, he has done more computer work then many others have done in eight months. After typing a long report about a human and Dragon etanglment a few days ago, he printed it, took the rest of his reports and filed them. He walked over to the break room and grabed his Arizona tea from the refigriator. He opened and sat next to Montey.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked

"Ahh, nothing. Just typed up 19 reports" Nikoli replied.

"What the h e double tooth picks are you doing in this stupid office work!? Your ex-spetsnaz! You should be teaming up with a Dragon and ensuring peace. You have better qualifications then most of the combat Dragon Hunters!"

"YOu have to work you way up. That is how capitalism works. Self relian......"

"Nikoli Alexandrov. Report to TIberius Jackson's office NOW!" A voice over the intercom said.

"What have I done now?"Nikoli moned, and he walked to the office of the man-in-charge.

[Lightning Flash]

Rachel watched as the helicopter slowly approached the land where the Ice Dragon's home was. If she really looked closely she thought she might be able to see the entrance to the cave. She smiled shortly but was soon inturrupted by the pilot. He yelled over the din of the prop blades. "Gotta go down by basket or rope. Wind's been picking up, can't risk landing." Rachel nodded and stood up from her seat. Well, stood up but bent over. The helicopter was too short to be standing up all of the way in and she really didn't want to hit her head. She shuffled to the back of the chopper and grabbed a long rope. Rachel looped it around her arm and brought out some gloves from her pocket. This was going to be a long climb.

She tied the rope to the landing blades on the helicoptor and threw the rope down. She held on tightly as she watched the rope sway wildly in the furious gusts. She took a deep breath after making sure the rope was long enough and grabbed onto the rope. Her arms immediately tightened as she swung over the side only the rope supporting her weight. Then she got into habit. One hand below the other, just like she was taught. She frequently paused as the wind whipped up harder, blowing the chopper a little and throwing the rope wildly. After what seemed like an eternity, she neared the ground.

She dropped down the last few feet, rolling to dim the impact covering her heavy jacket with snow. She stood up and made an effort to raise her arms and give the pilot a wave to signify he could go. Then her arms dropped limply to her sides, aching from the excruciating climb. She looked up, rubbing her arms. She soon spotted another figure running off in a definate direction. They must be a hunter too. And they must know where they're going, unlike me. Crap! Can't let them out of my sight! Rachel started to run off after the figure across the tundra.

[Chari]

Sync led Ami down to the lowest ice tubes of the Snow Dragon capital. The walk was silent, and almost eerie. The few lights in here were dim, and just reflected of the walls, lighting them both in an unearthly way. They reached the final chamber, a largish room with a table in the center. On the table was the treaty, surrounded by the bigshots of the world. The DH chief wasn't there, but the second highest Hunter was, and the third had just walked in, having been assigned the humiliating duty of escorting a small dragon princess. The Snow Dragon king stepped forward. "Now that we are all here, we shall commence the signing. The Dragon Hunters go first." The second in command of the Hunters swaggered up to sign the document. He was a nasty man that hated Sync, and Sync hated him back. He was too ambitious, and secretly hated dragons, though he though he hid it well. Next, the Snow Dragon king stepped forward, and started signing. Just as the took the quill pen they were using of the paper, and explosion shook the world, emanating for the main chamber of the city. Then came another. Suddenly the second in command ran off. Sync chased after him, and unbeknownst to Sync, Ami followed too.

[Eragon the sniper]

"Come on in." said Tiberius, looking down at some papers. Nikoli sat down on a chair in font of the desk. Then Tiberius looked up at him."I have noticed your work. You've been working longer and harder then any other employee for the DHOD. And on your records, you've been in the Russian army for 1 year and the Spetsnaz for 3! AND your a member of the Alexandrov family. Both of those are big pluses for you! I have just received order of the THird DH in charge to promote you to field work"

"Really! Thanks! When do I start?" asked Nikoli, standing at attention.

"I've received orders that you need to report to the helicopter in the airstrip outside in the next few hours. They need some men for patrol duty, for they are signing a document in the Snow Dragon capital. Report to the armory, suite up, and get to the air strip"

"Yes sir!"

*****************
(7 hours latter)
"God it's cold" said a troop, who was shivering in his seat. Nikoli just sat in his seat, tapping his foot, and listing to his I-pod. THe other new DH looked at him, bewildered. "Arn't you cold?" asked one of the troops. Nikoli just shook his head.

"No. I was born and raised in Russia, I'm use to this cold"

"WHAT!" said the pilot, holding down his ear pice.

"What is it?" asked Nikoli

"THey say there under attack! You guys need to get ready for a fight!"

[Chari]

Sync trailed behind the second in command, drawing his gun to his hand. The second... no, former second also drew a gun and fired without looking. It was far off from Sync, and Sync shot back, going straight through the hand that held the gun. The gun flew from the second's hand, and he tripped over, sliding on the ice. He turned over, looking at Sync. "Please, no, don't kill me! They forced me to do it!"

"Lair. Everyone knows your feelings about dragons."

"But, please... I don't want to die!"

"Then don't. Just rot in jail, for all I care."

Ami was just beside Sync, and suddenly her eyes unfocused. She suddenly cried out, "Mr. Dragon Hunter, look out!" Sync suddenly saw something that made him force the princess to the ground and cover her with his body. The second detonated, caving in the ice above his head. Sync got up and looked at the collapsed ice. He was covered in superficial scratches. "Magic bomb. Must of been planted to prevent him from talking to much." He then turned to Ami. "Let's get you back."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A bunch of shadowy figures watched the carnage in the main chamber of the ice dragon capital, standing in an ice tunnel far above the floor. A small girl giggled. "Lookit, lookit, all the stupid dragons are just running around like mad! Won't they be surprised when the real stuff begins?"

"Yeah." Said the tallest, towering over the little girl.

"Well, this is just the beginning. But, we need to watch out. Even though the dragon governments won't be able to strike back, there are dragon groups who hate humans like we hate them. Let's get back to base." The final man had a cold voice, as if death and destruction were the norm of the world. A circle filled with a rainbow light appeared beneath the three, and they disappeared.

[Eragon the sniper]

(OOC: why do the dragon's look human??)

The helicopter raced forward, then it stopped, hovering. On either side of the helicopter, ropes drop. One of the new DH grabbed one of the ropes and Nikoli grabbed the other. The DH on the other side slowly lowered himself down, but Nikoli sped down the rope.AS soon as he landed, he unstrapped his AK-74U, aimed it forward,and crouched-ran towards the entrance, far ahead of the other new DH's.

As soon as Nikoli got to the main chamber, he saw dragons running all over the place. He saw 2 men and a small girl disappear in a flash of rainbow colors. He lowered his Ak-74, for he saw no threat. After about a minuet, the rest of the new DH came behind him.

"Ok men, fan out. I want all the rooms searched, bring any suspicious people back to this room"

"Uhh yes sir?"

"DO I have to remind you of my experience?"

"No sir, NO!"

"Then get going!"

[Lightning Flash]

Rachel had just arrived in time for the chaos. And was it ever chaos. The dragons were running all over the place and the Hunters were nowhere to be seen. What the hell could have happened. Rachel left her sword sheathed as she walked around assessing the room. What happened? Where was the second and his escorts?

BOOM!!

To hell with what happened, that was a BOMB!! That takes priority now. Rachel fought her way through the dragons to the pathway the blast had come from. Now that she was clear of the main chamber it was a much clearer path. She drew ser gun from her holster and started to run down the pathway, slipping on the ice briefly. What the hell happened here? She had never met the second personally, but there were rumors he wanted the Dragon Hunters to live up to their name, as hunters not protectors. She eventually came to what she figured was the blast site. A huge cunk of the cieling had caved and there was one figure, possibly two that had just escaped the blast. She walked a few steps forward and yelled at the figures "Are you okay!?"

[Chari]

"Fine. We're fine." Was all Sync had to say in response to the query. The princess was following behind him wordlessly, still shell shocked. "Go secure the VIPs down in the signing room, they're the ones in trouble. Princess, follow me and we'll get you out of here." And so Sync left, the Princess trailing behind him, winding their way back up to the main cavern. There, it was a scene of utter chaos.

There were a bunch of large craters in the middle of the market section. A bunch of people in pseudo-military clothing were firing upon the dragons. On their right-shoulders were patches with a strange symbol with an H and an F superimposed upon it. Some turned to look at Sync and the princess, and raised their guns. A cry of, "There's the princess!" came from underneath a few of their gas mask like coverings, and shots started to ring out. Sync had already been out of the way, however, somehow pulled by the little princess behind him. Her eyes had the same unfocused quality they had had in the underground tunnel. It was like she had seen this coming... But that wasn't possible, right?

[shinigamivixen]

From a top a building Rayne watched the whole skirmish with a sort of passive look on her delicate face as if already had been through alot of wars which is partly true. Adjusting her hood as she saw a boy no older than 14 with a girl she knew was the princess of the snow dragons. "wonder what theyre doing here and not inside there with the other dragon hunter?..." She muttered slight footsteps were heard behind as she quickly looked back just in time to see a person in a psuedo-military uniform took aim at her. Her eyes narrowed and in a blink of an eye was infront of the man claws out which was now through the mans chest. Pulling her now bloody arm from the body as she let it fall to the ground before taking the gun "sorry your a hundred years too early to surprise me with that tactic" She spoke her voice devoid of any emotions as walked over the body waiting to see what else would happen debating either ot help or not as she owed to dragon people nothing but she just cant watch them get slaughtered like these. Would she help or not a question starting to plague her from the deeps off her mind.

[Lightning Flash]

Rachel turned as the presumed Dragon Hunter ran away. So she had to get to the VIP room and secure it by herself. Damn, where was that? She hadn't been briefed on that. If Nicholae were here he'd know what to do. He had the knack for luck... Oh well. She had to find it. She turned and sprinted after the Hunter and arrived at the market area. As she entered she took cover behind some buildings and observed the battlefield, having nobody taken her as a target. The Snow Dragons were presumably taken by surprise as the fake military had most tactical positions on top of the buildings. Rachel thought for a minute "To get to the VIP room I'd bet I have to get through here. Change of plan. Rachel started observing again when a bullet struch the building next to where she was. So much for planning, she thought as she ran down a nearby alley, she was going to have to flub it. Alone.

[Eragon the sniper]

Nikoli walked around, seeing if the injured dragons were ok. He walked through the palace untill he came to the snow dragons, a few other dragons were around. He saluted them.

"Staff Sergeant Nikoli Alexandrov. Dragon hunters, North USA division. What happened here?"

[Chari]

The snow dragon king looked quizzically at Mikoli before responding. "Surely I'd think that you, the Dragon Hunters, would know more than us. We've been in here the entire time. How could we know?" The king soon noticed that Sync and his daughter were not among the dragon hunters that had entered the room. So he had to ask, "Where is my daughter?"
-----------------------------------------------------------

Sync had been dragged behind cover by the little princess, but not before noticing a girl some distance away. The cold air that he had sensed, even from that distance away, had made him wonder who she really was. But he didn't have too much time to think about it. As on of the men shooting at him tried to get behind the cover at them, Sync delivered a kick to his hand, breaking it and forcing him to drop the gun. In the same motion, he spun around and grabbed the princess, hoisting her up with both hands as he sprinted across the barren landscape. Shots bounced all around them, many coming perilously close to going straight through them, but none ever did. As Sync approached the exits, Dragon Hunters just arriving from the ship started to pour in. This little riot would be quelled in no time. Sync was more focused on the person who sat behind the rush of troopss looking old ad decrepid with his cane and his long, silver-white beard; the Commander.

[Eragon the sniper]

"I'll go find out said Nikoli, and he left the room." Nikoli left the chamber and started to call around. "AMI. AMI!" Nikoli called around. After about 10 minuets he finally spotted her. "AMI!" he shouted, as the ran over t her. Another Dragon rider was next to her. He stopped in front of them. "THe princess's father is looking for her. He told me to bring her to him."

[Chari]

The wrinkled old Commander spoke up to the newcomer. Nikoli was his name, if Sync remembereed correctly. The commander said, "I'm afraid we can't do that, Nikoli. King or not, it would be terribly dangerous for a little girl to cross that warzone, especially since they seem to be targeting her directly. He will, most unfortunately, have to wait until the danger is passed. Princess Ami, would you be so kind as to follow John here up onto the helicopter?" Ami, still in a catatonic state from all the violence she had just seen, complied. The helicopter left, and only Sync, Nikoli, and the Commander were left on the top of that barren iceburg. The Commander spoke up again. "Nikoli, Sync, if you have time to be standing around up here, you should be down there clearing out the rabble-rousers. Go." Sync obeyed. He took out his pistol, and started down the slope into the area of pure chaos.