"I have it confirmed, sir," Lt. Donald Leduc, the radar operator said. "Two vee formations of twelve unknowns each, heading south over L.A. airspace at a leisurely twelve knots."
There was silence for a moment as everyone in the Nimitz's ops room digested the information. One man, a civilian that was obviously high ranking and belonging to some three lettered organization, turned to the Nimitz's captain.
"What did he say?"
"He confirmed the that the unknowns are really out there," the Captain told him, then added under his breath. "I think."
Donald didn't add anything. From birth, he had been cursed with a speech impediment that rendered anything he tried to say almost unintelligible. The only people who could understand him readily were his rich uncle and three nephews.
"Hmm, do you have any pilots available?" the civilian asked.
"Most everyone is on shore leave," the Captain replied, "but I think we can scrounge up a couple people."
"Then let's send them to investigate," the civilian said, taking a long draw from his cigarette.
* * *
Rynn drove the Runeblade straight through the Crimson Knight's back. With a ghostly howl, the Knight collapsed and faded from existance.
Meanwhile, Angel was beating on his Ebon Knight with surprising savagery. Only every other blow connected. The Ebon Knight kept phasing out, the Mourn Blade passing through its ethereal form. The Knight couldn't fade for long though; when it rematerialized, Angel's returning stroke bit into it. Rynn had never seen such an amazing combination of strength, speed, and endurance.
And then it was over. With a final blow, the last Knight collapsed and vanished. Angel just stood there, his back to Rynn, staring at the spot where the Ebon Knight had been. Mourn Blade hung loosely in his grip.
"Angel, I think we've..." Rynn began, placing her free hand on his shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" Angel growled at her, roughly shrugging off her touch. He seemed to be hiding his face from her.
"Angel?" she said tentatively. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry, Rynn, but..." He paused as if struggling with the right words. "This sword of yours...it brings things out in me that...well, you don't want to see." With some obvious effort, Angel forced himself to let go; Mourn Blade clattered to the street.
"Oh, nonsense," Rynn said impetuously. "You helped me. Now I guess it's my turn to help you." Putting her hand back on Angel's shoulder and spun him to face her.
"By the gods!" Rynn exclaimed upon seeing the twisted mask that Angel's face had become. Leaping back, Rynn put up her sword at the ready. "What are you?"
The man who had arrived with Arokh suddenly appeared at her side. "He's a vampire," the man said, looking none to happy.
* * *
Two F-14 Tomcats cruised above the two formations of Blade Dragons. In order to keep pace with the beasts, the two jet fighters had to slow down almost to the point where their engines would stall.
"Heathcliff, this is Garfield," the first Tomcat pilot radioed. "Do you see what I see?" Someone must have been drunk when they picked these callsigns, the pilot thought not for the first time.
"Garfield, this is Heathcliff, I see them," the other pilot replied. "What do you think? Is this a publicity stunt? Maybe Speilberg is making a new movie."
Gibberish warbled in "Garfield"'s ear. Great, Leduc must be on traffic control tonight. But the pilot got the gist of the message. "Topcat, this is Garfield," he called back to the Nimitz. "I have visual contact with what appears to be two flights of the ugliest dragons ever imagined flying south by southeast roughly two hundred meters below me. Requesting OH S***!!!" Something glowing green just sailed past the nose of his plane.
The two Tomcats immediately evaded as one flight of Blade Dragons attacked.
* * *
"So you see," Doyle summed up, "Angel's a good vampire now. You don't have to kill him or anything."
"Oh, you poor, poor creature," Rynn said to Angel. And she thought she had problems! At least she didn't have one hundred years of guilt to live with. "How do you live with it?" she asked as she put away Mourn Blade.
Mourn Blade's disappearance seemed to calm Angel. His face changed back to its human form. "I get by," Angel told her sadly.
"Huh. A vampire with a soul," Arokh's friend mused. "Will wonders never cease."
"'scuse me, but aren't you Kevin Sorbo?" Doyle asked.
"Yes..."
"Great! I just love your show. Can I get an autograph?" Doyle asked.
"Er..."
"Who's Kevin Sorbo?" Angel asked perplexed as Rynn felt.
"Don't you watch TV, man?" Doyle asked insulted.
"No," Angel replied simply.
"Uh, while my career might be interesting, can I ask a question?" Without waiting for a reply, Sorbo pointed into the sky. "What are those?"
Everyone looked up.
"Blade Dragons!" Rynn cried in horror.
* * *
"And where do you think you're goin', sucka?"
The Death Mage found himself staring down the barrel of the noise weapon that had so easily dispatched several Crimson Knights.
"Beware, human," the Death Mage intoned without showing an ounce of fear that he felt. "You know not what forces you are dealing with."
"Perhaps," rumbled a voice above him. The Death Mage looked up and saw the dragon looking down at him. "But the human is intelligent enough to know who his enemies are. And he happens to hold a powerful weapon in his hands."
"You got that right, sucka," the human added.
"Ah, quite," the dragon continued. "Perhaps you would be so good as to tell us why and how you are here in this place."
"Or what? You'll kill me?" the Death Mage sneered.
"Indeed," the dragon agreed. It examined its own claws closely. "Of course, your demise may either be quick...or lengthy. Your choice of course."
"Er, um..." Where were those Blade Dragons? It's just like them to be late. "Ah, we followed you through the Rift..."
"Please," Arokh yawned. There was a hint of flame there. "Tell me something I do not know."
"Uh...we seek the Runeblade."
"You already told us that, fool," the human prodded.
"Oh, pizzles! My master wants the Runeblade, because with it, he can open Rifts to any world. All these worlds, not just Drakan, will be open for him to conquer!" the Death Mage babbled.
"Interesting," the dragon said thoughtfully. "Tell us more."
"No! I will not!" the Death Mage cackled. "For behold! My reinforcements!"
The dragon and human turned to see the arrival of the first wave of Blade Dragons. While they were distracted, the Death Mage slipped away into the shadows. Even this combined group of would be heroes were no match for this many Blade Dragons.
Then the lead Blade Dragon exploded.
* * *
Blade Dragons were a twisted parody of true dragons. By horrendous magical means, bird and dragon were combined to produce this horror. Their breath weapon was a blast of vile poison, capable of harming any creature with its clinging touch. Their hides were covered with metallic feathers, which provided excellent protection against attacks. At least, they did on Drakan.
On Earth, their metal feathers reflected radar pulses with great efficiency. Thus, the radar of the USS Nimitz easily spotted them. So did the Tomcats. So did the targeting radar of their AMRAAM missiles.
If the Blade Dragons had been entirely organic like, say, Arokh, radar would never have spotted them.
The Tomcats fired off AMRAAMs as if the Navy had bought them at a garage sale. For every missile fired, a Blade Dragon exploded. The Tomcats moved far too fast for the Blade Dragons to hit them, dodging in and out of their rapidly disintegrating formation.
That was not to say the the Blade Dragons didn't hit the Tomcats at all. On the contrary, due to sheer numbers, they actually landed a few hits. But being machines, the Tomcats weren't bothered in the least by organic poisons. And their cockpits were sealed against chemical attacks anyway.
When Garfield and Heathcliff ran out of missiles, there were still eight Blade Dragons left. That was all right. The Tomcats still had their twenty millimeter cannons.
* * *
The civilian listened to the battle report. Exhaling a noxious cloud of cigarette smoke, he told the Nimitz's captain and the radar operator, "I was never here." It was time to call the clean up crew. Maybe Agent Mulder will stumble over this one too.
With that he departed as mysteriously as he came.
* * *
"Impressive," Arokh murmured as he and his allies gathered together. With such weapons as these, what could this world fear from Navaros and his ilk? Never had he seen so many dark creatures dispached so easily.
"Thank the U.S. Navy," Angel added as the F-14s streaked by overhead.
"Hey, it might be a good idea if we all snuck off somewhere private," Hercules suggested. "Someone is bound to come investigate." He gestured around them. The taxi was a wreck. Lights were coming on in the surrounding buildings. "I don't think we want to be answering any awkward questions."
"Er, I know a good place," Doyle said.
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