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Hope's War (Part 2)

By XP Author

The meeting was being called by Brenda, Hope's adoptive mother. Now in her late 40's, the sparrow still had a beauty to her, but age and stress had started wearing on the woman. Her white feathers were not as pristine as they once had been, having lost a little of their luster. She looked tired, but her eyes still had a vibrancy to them. She was a former police officer, having defected before Hope's egg had even been laid. She had been fighting this war for nearly twenty years, while also dealing with raising a nano-enhanced super-dragon. It was a wonder the woman hadn't gone insane.

"Glad you two could join us." Brenda said, only slightly disapprovingly toward Gina and Hope as they took seats at the planning table.

Hope blushed and Gina gave a polite salute. "Sorry, ma'am."

Brenda just grunted. "Well, I'll fill you in, then." She tapped a map on the table. It depicted a forested area leading up to the base of a mountain. Hope recognized the area. There had been a den there, lost some years prior to some PMC. "We've found where President Bennet Jr is holed up. He's got himself a bunker built into the mountain here."

One of the soldiers nearby scoffed. "An underground bunker? Is he an owl or a mole?" This was met by some chuckling.

Brenda was not amused. "Regardless, it's a problem. Getting in quietly will be a problem."

Hope spoke up. "Not for me it isn't."

Brenda countered. "It is. There's only one way in or out of the facility, and they've gotten some new motion tracking sensors. Apparently they can detect individual soldiers and supposedly are immune to cloaking and heat masking. So slipping in with a patrol won't work this time."

Another soldier spoke up. "So how are we supposed to get inside?"

Brenda clicked her beak in amusement. "By slipping in with a patrol." She was met by nothing but confused looks. She let the moment hang before continuing. "We'll have to make a sufficiently loud distraction outside. They'll send soldiers to meet it, and we can get an operative to slip in then."

Hope spoke up. "How will that be any different if I were to try and go in quietly?"

The sparrow nodded. "It won't, but the hope is that with the confusion, anyone watching the sensors will think it's just the panicked running around of soldiers. It will be made better if we can make them need to dive for cover as they try and exit." She tapped the forest nearby. "We can have groups hiding here and here to lay suppressing fire down, give them a real scare. Throw out enough fire that they'll think twice about marching into it."

A soldier scoffed. "You're sending troops into our own fire?"

Hope spoke up. "Unless you guys are firing some kind of new rifle I've never heard of, your bullets won't pierce my scales." She shook her head. "Still try not to hit me, though. They still hurt."

Gina spoke up next, frowning. "Speaking of ordinance, what kind of response are we expecting here?"

Brenda sighed. "A lot. This is the president we're talking about. They'll have big guns in there. Rockets probably, tanks definitely. If we're unlucky, they may even have VTOLs on standby."

One of the canines yapped. "VTOLs!? If they have those, we're fucked!"

Brenda scowled at the young soldier, who quieted himself. "Yes, they will be problematic. However, we know there is no helipad. Thanks to Hope's abilities, it was deemed too high a security risk. So any air support would have to come from the nearby military base, and that will take time. Time enough for everyone to get to a safe distance away from the hot zone." This seemed to quiet the fearful murmerings, but only so much. Brenda pressed on. "There may still be some secret escape route we don't know about, though. In fact, we have no detailed layout of the insides, for obvious reasons."

Hope spoke up. "So I'll be flying blind inside. Won't be the first time."

Gina frowned at her lover. "Don't get all cocky and get sloppy in the 11th hour."

Brenda nodded. "Yes. We don't know what kind of defenses will be inside the place. They may have other new toys like the motion sensors at the door."

Hope grinned, but her tone was serious. "Don't worry. I've got this. I won't go blundering into a mine field or something. I'll be cautious."

Brenda nodded once more. "Very well. We deploy at first light tomorrow. You'll be given your individual orders tomorrow during deploy. Get some rest everyone. We're taking out a tyrant tomorrow." This was met by cheers from the gathered crowd.

Hope clenched her fist, a wicked smile spreading on her face, one that sent a shiver down even Gina's spine. "It's time to end this lineage of oppression. I can't wait to rip his fucking heart out!"

* * *

The sun hid behind a veil of clouds, as if it was afraid of the battle about to come. Three dozen troops of the rebellion were spread around in the forest, keeping under the shadowy cover of the trees. The massive doorway to the bunker was visible ahead of them, the metal doors closed shut. A squad of armed soldiers stood guard outside, unaware of the danger lurking just outside of their field of vision. Hope stood at the back, crouched low with the rest. The tension among the troops was palpable.

Gina's voice came over the comms. "Alright everyone. You have your targets. Take aim. Violet, you're up. Get into position."

Hope nodded, standing up. A few eyes turned to look at her as she stripped herself of her clothing. "Eyes front, soldiers. This isn't a show." All heads snapped forward again, though several tails wagged. She tapped her earpiece. "Ready. Going radio silent." She slipped her earpiece out, stashing it with her clothing.

She heard Gina's voice before it clicked off. "Gods be with you." Hope smiled. She took a breath and activated her camouflage, vanishing from view. The only evidence she had moved was the slight rustling of leaves as a burst of speed took her near the entrance. She waited, wishing she could keep her earpiece with her to hear the orders when they came, but a floating earpiece was a little too suspicious. She just had to wait.

She didn't have to wait too long. As soon as the order was given, trails of smoke launched out of the trees, rockets striking the mountain above the door. The explosions ripped the rock from the walls, sending debris scattering around and peppering everyone below. The soldiers shouted in surprise, crouching low and aiming their rifles forward. Gunfire strafed over the squad, sending three crashing to the ground dead in an instant, the others dashing for cover. One shouted into his comms, reporting they were under fire and requesting backup.

Hope had been worried that the squad would have been gunned down before one of them wised up and called for backup. She waited with anticipation as the soldiers started firing back. She had no way of knowing if any of her own troops were injured, but she watched another guard fall to a hail of bullets, gurgling out his last breath on the grass. She grit her teeth as seconds stretched on. Finally, the massive doors started to slide open, pulled apart by great mechanisms within. She readied herself.

Her eyes went wide as a tanks started to roll out of the doorway. It was some new model, more heavily armored than any she'd seen before. A rocket hit the front and detonated, but it barely scratched the surface. She was nearly knocked off her feet as the cannon fired. The forest exploded where the projectile hit, sending wooden shrapnel and broken bodies tumbling into the air. Another shot, and more of the forest was destroyed. More rockets hit the heavy armor, doing little more than giving the soldiers' positions away.

Hope grit her teeth as the turret started to swing towards the source of the rockets. She had to do something. She flew past one of the fallen soldiers, grabbing a handful of grenades from their belt. She leapt to the top of the tank, looking for the entry point. She saw a hatch near her feet and reached down, slamming her hand into the metal, denting it. She grunted, shaking her fist. The thing was tough, but she struck it again, and again. Soon there was enough of an indent in the metal for her to get a grip on the hatch. She growled as she ripped the metal up, tearing the hatch off. She saw several scared, confused looking soldiers inside looking up as their protection was suddenly gone for seemingly no reason. They were screaming in panic as the grenades landed at their feet.

She landed inside the entry garage as the grenade detonated inside, a gout of fire erupting from the hole atop the turret. A moment later, a secondary detonation ripped the rear of the tank open, the fusion power core exploding and turning the tank into an overpriced pile of slag. She heard one of the surviving soldiers outside screaming into his comms. "It's the aug-bitch! She's here!" So much for stealthy, but she couldn't just leave that tank to obliterate her comrades and friends.

She heard the reply from the soldier's comms. "Acknowledged. Deploy suppressor rounds!" She sword to herself as she dashed into the complex. Suppressor rounds were meant to disable nano-augmentations. Of course, they had to actually hit her for them to work in the first place. She left her camo up as she dashed through the carved hallways, even though using her abilities like this would burn through her reserves faster.

She swore at herself as she rounded a corner and barreled directly into a squad headed to the gate, knocking several of the soldiers over. "She's here!" Gunfire filled the hallway as they blind-fired where she had been headed. She ducked low under the fire, dashing forward to take out the squad. Her hand ripped into the chest of one soldier, blood splattering the floor. She kicked another so hard his body hit the corner and bent in half, his spine snapping. She became a whirlwind of death in the middle of the soldiers. Claws cleaved open a throat, blows shattered skulls, her tail bashing the head of one soldier clean off his shoulders. By the time she was done, she stood among their broken bodies.

She panted heavily, having to struggle to keep her camo up. She swore at herself again as she looked at the dead bodies. She should have kept at least one alive to drain. Her muscles ached already, feeling her legs tremble. She had to keep a cooler head if she was going to get through the building without having to fight every soldier inside on her way. She dashed down the hallway again, feeling herself slower than she should be. Probably for the best in the moment, but she still needed to hurry.

She past a flight of stairs leading upwards and heard the heavy boots of more soldiers. She decided to find another way up instead of risking another fight in the halls. Instead, she found a flight leading down. She paused for a moment, thinking to herself. If she were a coward hiding from people trying to kill her, she'd rather be deeper than higher up. Safer away from explosions. She descended the stairs, looking around cautiously. She didn't see any immediate threat and continued onward, deeper into the facility. Explosions rocked the outside of the place. Good, the fight was still going outside.

She found herself panting heavily, exerting far too much of herself already. She winced as her camo dropped, her body becoming visible once more. She leaned a hand against a wall to catch her breath, her arms and legs shaking. "There she is!" She growled as she heard the soldiers behind her too late. She spun and descended upon them, like she had the previous bunch. Blood and viscera splattered against the wall as she tore into the soldiers like a wild animal.

She grunted as a soldier got a clean shot on her, feeling the impact on her chest. She looked up at the only living soldier in the hallway, his gun wavering with his resolve as her golden gaze fell upon him. He saw the look of something demonic, eyes filled with a bloodlust. She took a step towards him, undaunted by the suppressors he'd hit her with. He panicked, screaming in into his comms in fear as she kept coming toward him. "Oh gods! The suppressors don't work!" His gun clattered to the ground as he turned to run. "I repeat, the suppressors don't work! She's going to k-AHH!" He got two paces before a steely grip clamped on his head, dragging his head back. His scream was silenced as teeth pierced his throat, his body jerking. His wide eyes rolled back as she drained him of every drop of blood he had, his body going limp in her grip.

She ripped her head back, tearing the dead soldier's throat open before dumping him onto the floor. There was almost no blood left in him to leak out onto the floor. She spat his flesh out of her mouth, wiping her lips. "Thanks... I needed that." She felt her strength return, but she still wasn't at 100%. Her unique, combined nano-strain gave her a certain immunity to suppressors, but they still left her feeling a little sluggish. They knew she was here now, so she decided to go for speed over stealth, dashing away once more. The halls were a blur as she flew through them. She expected to find more soldiers as she went on, but none greeted her so far. She hoped it was just luck, not that she went the wrong way.

Another flight of stairs down, and she came upon what was clearly a vault door, a quartet of guards standing in front of it, looking in all directions nervously. She cracked her knuckles and readied herself. She still wasn't quite at her fullest, but if she had to bet, her target was behind that door. She engaged her camo, and bolted down the stairs. Two of the guards were dead before they knew anything was wrong, one falling to his knees as he looked at the gaping hole where his heart should be, the other with her head crushed into the wall. The last two spun, barely having time to raise their guns before she was upon them. She sliced the throat of the first, leaving him to gurgle her last on the floor.

The last she grabbed by the head, smashing her against the wall. She tensed as sharp teeth sliced into her throat, submitting to her need for more blood. Hope dropped her camo, closing her eyes as she drained the woman, savoring the moment. She was a fox, and Hope could not help herself. She would never drain Gina to her last drop, but the base desire was there every time, something she had to fight every day. This poor woman was no Gina, but it was the closest thing Hope would allow herself. She moaned as she took every last drop, feeling the woman give one final shudder before going limp. Hope pulled back, letting the drained body slump to the floor.

She looked at the vault door before her. Her muscles tingled, feeling strong again from her feeding. She gripped the edge of the vault door, clenching her hand. Fingers bent metal, digging into the heavy door. She grunted as she yanked back, hearing the heavy hinges protest. The lock snapped audibly, echoing around the hallway. With a horrible screeching, she ripped the door from its hinges, flinging it open. The slab of steel clattered to the side down the hallway, slamming into a wall and sending chips of stone to the floor. She stood in the doorway, panting from the exertion, but with a wild grin on her face and a feral look in her eyes.

The room inside the vault was well decorated. A fine, carved wood desk sat to the side, a computer terminal showing a readout of the battle outside and the reports from inside. The walls had paintings hanging from them, portraits of the previous and current president, as well as a family portrait. There was a single bed, plush mattress covered in a blanket of soft silk. A single, stuffed chair sat in one corner, next to several bookshelves, each lined with myriad titles. Sitting in the chair was a single individual, a snowy owl in his early 30's. Dressed in a well made, charcoal gray suit that likely cost more than most people saw in a year.

President Jeremiah Bennet Jr simply looked at the naked dragon entering his private chamber, looking amused. "You could have simply knocked." He raised a pistol and fired a shot at her.

She took the shot, hitting her square in the stomach. She tumbled back a step, only to laugh. "Oh, Junior." She reached down to pull the dart out of her belly, tossing it to the floor. "Hadn't you heard? Suppressor rounds don't work on me!"

The bird set his gun on the table beside him. "Yes, I had heard." He still seemed unconcerned with her arrival.

She scoffed at him. "Arrogant to the last." She took a step forward, then stopped. Something was very wrong. Her breath caught in her lungs, her limbs feeling heavy. Her whole body felt heavy, more sluggish, like she had burned through her power in one go. A coldness crept through her body, like ice ran in her veins. She grunted, trying to take a step forward, only to fall to her knees. It felt like she'd suddenly stepped into a freezer, an unnatural cold biting her to the core.

Bennet stood up. "I could say the same for you." He walked forward, keeping a pace away from the shivering dragon. "You nano-augmented kind always think yourselves invincible." he motioned to the discarded dart to the side. "Something new I had made special, just for you. Chill rounds, designed to incapacitate cold blooded reptilians like yourself." He walked to a nearby wall, reaching up to take hold of something from a display. She couldn't get her eyes to focus enough to tell what it was. "You see, I've always had a real fascination with your kind. Dragons, that is. It's a real shame you're on the other side. I could show you so many delights if you were to join me instead."

Hope managed a shaking laugh at the very notion. "N-not... happening." She grunted as she tried to stand, but her legs would not respond. "I'm... going to tear... your throat open with my bare teeth i-if I h-have to."

The bird stepped closer, and she saw the object he'd taken was a curved blade. "Yes. I'd heard you had a fondness for blood." He brought the blade up to her neck and dragged it across her throat. "You can drown in your own." Her eyes went wide as the surprisingly sharp blade sliced through her scales. Her blood started to gush from the wound, splashing onto the wood floor in great spurts and run down her chest. She reached a shaking hand up to the wound, only to collapse onto the floor.

He shoved her over onto her back, staring down at her. Her eyes, though filled with fear, still looked at him with rage and hatred. "Ah, such an expression. It will look perfect once I mount your head on my wall!" He swung the blade down at her, the blade once more cutting through her scales. His swing was true, cleanly cleaving through her neck. Her head rolled to the side, her body jerking and thrashing on the ground. Her blood poured freely from her stump, gushing all over his floor.

He sighed, wiping the blade clean with a handkerchief. He set the sword back on the display, then looked at the dragon's twitching body. "A real shame, my dear. You were so pretty." He stepped closer to her again, watching her chest as it rose and fell repeatedly, trying desperately to breathe. The heart inside pumped her vital essence out of her, rapidly voiding her body of what it tried to circulate. He was fascinated by how long she struggled. He also found himself more than a little aroused by the display. She had been quite a pretty specimen.

He disrobed, pulling his expensive suit off and setting it neatly onto his bed. He exposed his snow-white feathers, covering a frame slightly overweight. His shaft was already presented, throbbing in the cool air. He clicked his beak as he stepped to her twitching body. "Now, I would normally never resort to such base acts. But for you, my dear... I think you deserve one final act to rob you of your pride." He spread her quivering thighs, looking at her trembling slit. "Once I'm done with you, I'll let my soldiers have their turn. Your ruined body will be found in a gutter, the seed of a hundred soldiers leaking from every hole."

He slid closer, pressing his tip against her slit. He pushed forward, spreading her lips and slipping up into her cunt. He moaned as he felt her cool inner walls around him. She was quite tight, and her body still struggled, making those muscles quiver around him. He grunted and thrust forward, determined to enjoy her final struggles to the fullest. He hooted in pleasure as he penetrated deep into her. He reached his talons down, gripping her thighs and lifting her legs up, his hips thrusting into her.

He watched as her body finally stopped struggling, her chest laying still once more. The twitches around him finally ceased, her muscles going slack and allowing his thrusts into her with more ease. He chuckled to himself. "So ends the demon dragon of the rebellion." He grunted. "Bled out and fucked in her dying moments like a two bit whore." He thrust harder into her, her body rocking every time his hips slapped against hers. He reached out with one hand to grip one of her firm breasts, his talons scratching the scales as he squeezed it. "Ah... stupid girl. If you had been on our side, this war would have ended, and you'd be alive to scream the pleasure I can give you."

He slapped her breast with his talon, watching it wobble atop her chest. His grip went back to her leg, thrusting harder into her. He grunted as he shoved himself deep into her slack cunt again and again. The cool, smooth feeling around his cock had him twitching inside of her already. He grunted again, his beak parted as he fucked her. He had wanted to enjoy her longer, but he found himself already at his limit. "Maybe I'll keep your body as a play thing." He grunted at her. "So I can fill you again... and again..." another grunt as his cock pulsed inside of her. He tilted his head back as he thrust deep into her, his cock spraying his seed into her insides, pouring hot cum up into her depths. He let out a squawk as he came, pumping more cum into her than he thought he had, emptying himself into that cool tunnel.

He held himself inside of her for several moments. He eventually pulled back, slipping his cock free. A trail of cum followed his drooling cock, leaking from her slit slowly. He chuckled to himself. "I'm definitely keeping you as my personal sex doll." He took a few seconds to catch his breath. His eyes looked to her head, seeing where it rolled to. He moved himself over to it, picking her up by her horns. Her mouth hung open, tongue hanging freely. Her golden gaze still held her hatred, but stared blankly at nothing. He took both horns and brought here mouth to his cock. He ran his drooling shaft against her tongue, moaning again.

He started to thrust into her mouth, his cock poking into her severed throat. The feeling had him throbbing again already. He used her horns to thrust her head along his cock. He chuckled to himself. "If only father could see me now... bastard would probably love this." he grunted as he felt himself growing close again. He didn't try to hold back this time, simply thrusting himself into her mouth harder. He let out a cry as he came a second time, his seed drooling out the bottom of her throat and dripping onto the floor with her blood. He sighed, thrusting a few more times and rubbing himself against her tongue to clean his spent cock. He brought her head up to look into those rage filled eyes. He shrugged and tossed her head to the side. It landed with a thud beside her body.

He let out a sigh, feeling quite pleased with himself. He'd have to find someone to preserve her body, but he had decided he was definitely going to keep her. He'd have to get her head mounted properly, as well. He suddenly remembered that the base had been under attack before she had come barging in. He shuffled his way towards his desk, looking for the radio to contact the head of security. He got three paces toward the desk before his chest was awash in pain, his ribcage exploding from within. Blood splattered out onto the desk. He looked down to see a bloody, purple scaled hand sticking out of his chest, holding something thick and meaty, pulsing desperately. One horrified moment later he realized it was his own beating heart.

A scaled mouth was beside the side of his head, a voice whispering to him. "Thanks for the warmth." He let out a scream as she ripped her arm free, sending him crashing to the ground again.

He saw the dragon standing above him, a sadistic grin on her lips. "H-how..." he couldn't manage more, coughing up blood.

Hope laughed. "Didn't you hear? You can't keep a monster down." She brought his heart up to her mouth and bit into it, blood drooling down her chin. "And I'm the worst there is!" As she bit into his heart again, darkness took him for good.

* * *

The surviving members of the raid sat around the table, every one of them sitting with a look of sorrow or forlorn loss. Gina leaned against Brenda, no longer sobbing her grief, but still sniffing. It had been over a day, and no one had heard any word from Hope. They had fled the battlefield when reports of approaching VTOLs came, evacuating before the certain death the air support would bring with it. Half the troops that deployed were lost, and half of the survivors had been wounded. It was a devastating loss to the rebel group, one they likely would never fully recover from. And it seemed that it had all been for nothing.

"Sir!" The voice of one of the rats on lookout came blaring over the comms. "We've got movement to the north!"

Brenda motioned and the radio was brought to her. She clicked it on. "Is it the military? Have they found us?" Every breath was held, waiting for the response. If it was the military, they would never be able to hold them off.

"Negative." There was a collective sigh of relief in the room. "It's just a single person. Hold on..." Gina looked up, daring to listen. "It's Hope!" Every head raised. "She's... holy shit... Sirs... you better get out here. And bring the doc." Gina was up and out the door before anyone could respond.

Hope dragged herself forward, her breath coming in rasping breaths. She was still naked and covered head to toe in blood. Her vision was so blurry, she barely registered where she was. Something warm and fuzzy slammed against her. Her instinct should have been to lash out, but something made her just lean against it. It was a person. The person was talking. Saying her name, over and over again. She forced herself to try and focus. The effort of moving her head up was almost too much, but she managed it. Her eyes fell upon the most lovely thing in the world, the smiling, tear-filled face of Gina.

Hope lifted her right hand with a great effort, holding up the thing she'd dragged all the way here. "Miss'n... successful..." Her words were hoarse and slurred. She showed the severed head of President Bennet. "I got 'im..." She managed a weak smile before darkness finally claimed her.

* * *

The world came back with a painful vengeance. Hope wished it hadn't. Everything hurt. Her muscles screamed at her, the flesh under her scales crawled, her scales felt like they wanted to flake off of her, her bones felt like they'd been shattered, her blood felt like it had boiled away to nothing in her veins... Even her teeth hurt! And there was a constant pulsing ringing in her ear that would not stop. As she swam back to the surface of consciousness, she realized it wasn't a ringing but a beeping, in a constant pace. A heart monitor.

She groaned, forcing her eyes to open, even slightly. The brightness assaulted her vision, but she forced herself through it. The room was actually pretty dim once she managed to force through the initial pain. She blinked slowly, staring at the ceiling of the medical ward. She slowly shifted her gaze down to her left arm. A red tube was hooked up to her wrist. She followed the tube upwards to see it was connected to a red plastic bag. It took her several seconds to connect it was blood. She felt pressure on her right arm and slowly turned her head to see what had been hooked up to that one. She instead found the head of a beautiful fox resting against her forearm.

Gina was sat in a chair at the side of the bed, her head slumped over against her love. She'd dozed off at some point during her constant vigil. Hope slowly lifted her hand, sliding it out from under the fox's head and instead resting it gently atop it, brushing fingers through those fire red strands. Gina stirred, groaning for a moment. She gasped as she saw Hope was conscious. "Hey! You're awake!"

Hope gave a weak smile. "Y-yeah." Her voice cracked, barely a dry whisper. She coughed from the effort.

Gina quickly poured some water from a pitcher beside the bed. She held the plastic cup up to Hope's lips. "Here. Easy now." She tilted the cup up to slowly pour the water into the dragon's mouth, letting her sip from it several times. "Better?"

Hope nodded. "Yeah..." her throat still felt like a desert, but at least the cactus had been removed. "How long..."

Gina smiled. "Six days." She sat up. "A lot has happened while you were asleep." She started to list things off. "The announcement of President Bennet's assassination broke the news. They're calling it 'the worst act of terrorism Besarta has ever seen.'" She giggled softly. "Something about his mutilated corpse being found hanging by his feet. You really did a number on him."

Hope gave a weak laugh. "Only gave him what he tried to give me."

Gina looked a little nervous. "Yeah... about that. The docs say that your throat and neck were... uh... showing signs of being cut?"

Hope nodded. "Yeah. Turns out, I can survive having my head sliced off..."

Gina's eyes went wide. "You... WHAT!?"

Hope laughed at the reaction, only to start coughing again. She shook her head as Gina reached for the water. "I'll... explain it more later. But... I guess my nano-strain can do that..."

Gina slumped back in the chair. "That explains some things." She motioned up at the blood bag. "You were so drained when you came back, Doc thought you were going to die on the bed. It's probably a good thing you lost so much of your blood, though. It was so toxic that it was practically acid in your veins. Half the base donated."

Hope nodded slowly. "Yeah... make sure to thank everyone for me, okay?" She closed her eyes again. "I think I'm going to rest a bit more."

Gina nodded slowly. "You do that." She leaned up and planted a gentle kiss to the dragon's cheek.

Hope mumbled, already slipping back to sleep. "Love you..."

Gina smiled at her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "I love you, too." She sighed as she looked at the dozing woman. "You silly dragon."

* * *

"Peace talks have officially started between newly elected President Neegan and General Wolgrave, leader of the Coalition for Besartan Freedom. While many are hopeful this is the beginning of the end for the civil war that has brought so much death and destruction to our world for the last thirty years, there are some that remain dubious if the peace talks will lead to a permanent cessation of violence. It has only been three months since the brutal assassination of President Bennet Jr at the hands of the rogue rebel fighter known as Hope Greenfoot. The nano-augmented dragon fled into hiding the brutal murder and has not been seen since. There are many that still do not believe General Wolgrave's claims that he did not condone the attack that led to the brutal murder of the former president, and that he is hiding her somewhere. Some say that peace talks should not continue until she is turned in to pay for her crimes. In other news..."

The feline continued with his broadcast, most of those in the city ignoring it. There were some that glanced up at the giant vid-screen, mostly only half-listening as the news repeated itself yet again. The same broadcast had been on loop for most of the day. There were two only just seeing it for the first time, staring up at the screen as they stood close to each other. They wore matching travel cloaks of brown, the hoods up to cover their heads.

"Still can't believe she did it." The male of the pair said. A big grin spread on his face.

The female chuckled, leaning gently against him. "Yeah. Guess she's the better monster." She sighed slightly. "I just wish there were more pictures of her with clothes on..." Most of the captured images of Hope were of her totally nude, censored for the news.

The man shrugged, nudging the dragon beside him. "Eh, let her show what she wants. She's got a great body to show off."

The woman looked at him, her mouth open. "What... that's your daughter you're salivating over!"

Daz chuckled. "Hey, I'm a rat. You know we're not picky about that kind of thing."

Fran shook her head. "Unbelievable..."

Daz turned to face his lover. "Hey, don't worry. I've only got eyes for you. You think I'd get married to just anyone?"

Fran still shook her head, sighing at him. "Right, but you're still not picky." She sighed again. She then groaned, leaning heavily against his shoulder, her legs suddenly unstable under her.

Daz put a hand around her shoulder. "Easy there. I guess it's time for another feeding."

Fran fought off a wave of dizziness, letting him keep her stable. "Ugh... it's been almost twenty years. How long is this going to go on...?"

Daz shrugged. "Normally ten years before you're fully in control. But you're using a borrowed strain, so it's hard to tell. You're lucky my strain adapted to your biology anyway. It should have just killed you."

Fran nodded. Eighteen years ago, she had died. They both had, but the Nosfera-strain of nano-augments had a side effect very few knew. After prolonged usage, over a century at least, the user could heal from incredibly grievous injuries, fatal ones. Even the loss of a head, provided a source of blood was nearby the body. Daz had such a strain, and had passed it onto her, as well as their daughter. Fran's body was struggling to adapt to the mixed strains within her. It had been hard at first, a blood lust nearly driving her mad. She was better at controlling it now, but she still needed to feed on blood regularly.

Fran looked up as the wanted picture of Hope was again displayed on the news broadcast. "Do you think we should have found her?"

Daz looked up, then shook his had. "No. She doesn't know us." He led Fran down the street. "Let her live her life. I'm sure she's happy."

Fran nodded. "I hope so." She smiled a little more. "No... I know so." She grinned at her husband. "After all..."

He completed the thought. "Hope lives."

* *END* *