The streets are awfully quiet. You keep an eye on the buildings surrounding you and your friends, watching for movement in the windows and shadows behind the curtains. Your claws clack and scrape at the pavement noisily as you proceed, tail swinging pendulously behind. You can hear the distinct patter of your compatriots' paws hitting the asphalt as well. As if abiding an unspoken rule, no one speaks.
You almost think it's your imagination when you hear the deep thrum of a helicopter in the distance. Not sure where the vehicle is coming from, you look to the sky while taking cover, your allies do the same. You haven't seen very much life in these streets and you know, now, the military is interested in scooping up the transformed and the mutated in some attempt at researching the phenomenon. You hear it coming closer.
You aren't long left waiting before the chopper comes into view, the noise it makes is absolutely deafening to your sensitive ears. You take a look at the low-flying thing as it passes overhead. A green military transport helicopter flies over your position in a hurry as it makes a beeline for something in the distance.
"Goddamnit..." You hear Anders cuss behind you, clearly thinking what you're thinking, "That chopper is heading straight for the labs..." You curse you disgusting luck as well. Why now? Why today? Well, you suppose there is nothing for it, you're on your way now so you might as well follow through.
"Come on, it's not too far out now, maybe we can see what they're doing from a distance then wait for them to leave..." You speak in a hushed tone to your followers. Amelia nods, an unusual look of concern on her face.
"I really hope they leave my stuff alone..." Amelia gripes a little. You look a her, a little incredulous.
"Really? Is that what you're worried about? The thought of getting shot or captured doesn't phase you, but the idea that they might touch your stuff is what has you worried?" You can't believe the priorities of that arctic fox at times. Truly, growing up in a lab couldn't have been good for her mental well-being. You keep this observation to yourself.
Amelia grins at you, "A foxy girl like myself has her priorities and you have your own... dragon-y ones, I 'spose." She sticks her tongue out at you before giggling to herself. Anders chuckles a bit as well at her antics. Things have been a little too tense, you suppose, guess it's good to lighten up a bit every now and again. You smile back at the two before continuing onward.
About an hour later you are within sight of the burnt-out husk of a building that used to be the laboratories. Using the buildings and alleys for cover, you approach the corner where you and Anders were nearly incinerated by an explosion. You grimace a little at the memory, Anders looks a little off-put as well.
The three of you move into a structure just across from the lab building, the windows are shattered but errant debris and some surviving curtains make it a decent hiding place with a good view of the labs. You all find a comfortable spot to keep watch.
"What do you think we need to be looking for?" You ask Amelia, she definitely knows the most about the goings-on at the laboratory. You turn to see her staring intently at the structure ahead of you.
She smirks a little with her response, "I don't know, really..." You let out a little sigh, guess you'll know it when you see it. Your ears perk a little when she speaks again, "BUuut..." She says in a slightly exaggerated tone, "If they start carrying out canisters and bins of paperwork, I'd say they have come here for a very specific purpose. If they don't leave with anything than they were probably just investigating innocently. If they start to torch what remains of the place..." She pauses for a moment, "...Then they must be the cleanup crew." She finishes with a grim tone.
Anders looks over, "What do you mean by 'Cleanup Crew'?" You can see a conspiratorial gleam in Amelia's eye as she puts together her theory.
"What I'm sayin' is: maybe the people who attacked the labs to begin with aren't quite finished with it yet..." She proposes, "Maybe, in all of this confusion, they've still been using the facilities and once they're through, they will destroy all evidence of their involvement and this shadowy organization disappears once again." You're starting to find this a little hard to believe.
"So you think the military is behind some kind of terrorist plot to... do what exactly?" You ask your white furred accomplice. Amelia puts a paw to her chin to think.
"Not the military, per se, but my be a private security firm? It would take a lot of money and influence to pull this off, but our research may have been worth..." She trails off before going into too much detail. You are going to pry, but something catches your eye.
A group of about a dozen military figures step out of the charred structure, they don't wear fatigues, instead they seem to be equipped with hermetically sealed rubber suits and full-face helmets. They look practically sci-fi, especially with their sleek, modern weaponry and enough munitions to start World War Three. This definitely does not look like a standard military operation.
"Who are they...?" You openly wonder, Anders points out something on a neighbouring building. The chopper that they flew in on is perched on the roof of a three-story walk-up, rappelling gear hanging off the side of the impromptu landing pad. An insignia is clearly visible, you don't recognize its design.
"What is that? It looks like some sort of gryphon... And latin?" You try to identify what you're seeing. A golden gryphon lays superimposed upon what can only be Earth and is encircled by an olive-branch wreath with a banner above and below containing the latin words: Per scientiam, ad bonum orbis terrarum. "Anybody know how to read dead languages...?" Anders shakes his head, but Amelia speaks up.
"I can't give you a direct translation, but... I think it means something along the lines of 'Through science, the world' ...Or 'A better world through science?' I dunno." She shrugs and you just shake your head. Of course she knows latin, you think sarcastically, What a privileged upbringing being a lab experiment must have been. I bet she knows calculus, too.
You have to readjust your wings a little, it seems they tend to cramp a little when you hold them to your sides for too long. You assume they need to be fanned out occasionally and the idea of testing if you can really fly with these things comes to mind. You shelve that for later, you can experiment with your body's capabilities when you get back to the station.
"Well, I guess the private security idea holds some water, but why are they so heavily armed? What are they doing down there?" You think out loud and don't receive much more than a grunt from Anders and a shrug from Amelia. "Wait... Where did those military guys go? Anyone see?" You scan the area in front of the labs, but don't see anything. You swear you just took your eyes off of them for a second.
Anders delivers some intel, "I kept an eye on them, they went around the rear of the lab and moved out of sight. There must be another entrance back there." You nod and turn to Amelia.
"So, speaking of entrances, how are we getting in?" You ask the white-furred vulpine, hoping the answer is in the opposite direction the soldiers went.
"There should be an easy way in through the back where the soldiers are..." She says as you groan a little at your second bout of bad luck, "But, if it's still there, there should be a hatch to the lower testing areas that we can access through the front and down through the west wing of the building." You just stare at the building as she talks. Either way, it doesn't look like those soldiers are going anywhere soon.
"Well, that certainly sounds better than handing ourselves over to this mystery cabal. Should we wait until dark?" The group around you nods and you step away from your vantage point, "Guess it's time to get comfortable-" You hear something clatter across the floor and land by your feet.
"GET DOWN NOW!" Anders dives at you, but the flashbang at your foot goes off, deafening you with its concussive blast. You sprawl across the floor in a daze. Looking around, you see figures moving into your hideout, Anders goes for his weapon, but the heavily armed squad already have their guns drawn and aimed.
You can't hear what anyone is saying, Anders places his sidearm on the floor and raises his hands in the air. One of the attackers gets him down on his knees and secures his wrists to his back. Three of the ensemble run after Amelia and corner the agile fox and force her into restraints as well. You look back at the rest of them, unable to move your body. The supposed leader of the group singles you out to one of his men.
A figure approaches you and leans into your face, you can't see through his visor. If he is talking to you, you can't hear it, all you can do is shake your head in confusion. This seems enough for the man as he gets back up and immediately drops a kick right into your stomach. You groan in pain and tears well up in your eyes, a fury sparks in the back of your mind. The dragon wants out. You try to pull yourself together to heave a ball of fire their way and incinerate the fools! You open your maw and... The bottom of the man's boot is the last thing you see.