#5 - "Dragon in the Crossfire"

I'm one of those lucky people. You know the type. I don't have to go looking for trouble. Trouble seems to go out of its way to find me. This was supposed to be a quiet day where I would get re-acquainted with absent friends. We would relax, catching up on the latest news, and generally have a good time.

But no, not this time. Of course, when the friend in question is the Huntress, one of the new kids on the block who is more than eager to prove herself to us 'old-timers', then trouble can't be that far behind. Inevitably, I ended up caught up in her latest endeavor. Not like there was a lot of pushing on her part to get my assistance. I have to admit that I secretly like the way these things work out. Some of the time, anyway.

For the last several weeks, the Huntress had been waging a private war against the Dragon Lords. The Dragons were the enforcement arm of the Golden Dragon Tong, one of the local criminal organizations that infested the Big Apple. They dabbled in drugs, gambling, prostitution, protection schemes and the like. Typical mob stuff, with a Chinese twist to it.

The Huntress decided to bug the Dragon Lords' meeting area to learn what criminal endeavors they were going to be involved in. That way she could alert the boys in blue to small crimes while she would target larger operations herself. A clever way of going about things, I suppose. Unfortunately, it would only be a matter of time before the thugs caught on to what was going down. But for now, it was a efficient way to combat this menace.

And so after spending a pleasant afternoon together, we put on our heroine costumes and got down to business that night in the Hunter's Lair. We watched via the Huntress' spider spy-robot the Dragons getting their orders for the evening. To our surprise, these serpent boys had big game scheduled for their nocturnal activities.

Oh, I should mention that we caught a real break in this particular case. You see, the Dragon Lords' orders were given in Chinese. Big surprise, huh? Well, the Huntress didn't speak the language and I didn't have the foresight to have Jaime load in a Chinese to English conversion program. But her mom, Felina, could understand Chinese. Enough to translate tonight's schedule for us anyway. Isn't it lucky how these things sometimes work out? Of course, I could have had Jaime load the translation program and review the tape, but who am I to steal Felina's thunder?

That's when things started to get interesting. Among the Golden Dragon Tongs many and varied sins is dealing with the art and antiquities black market. Just so happens that a high profile Ming Dynasty Exhibition was opening at the Met later this week. And it also so happens that the Dragon Lords had learned the secret route the priceless artifacts were to be taking. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what was going to happen next.

However, I doubt that there are any rocket scientists among the Dragon Lords. Sure, they're a small time gang, but in this instance we believed them to be out of their league. They didn't have a clue as to what they were going up against. The type of resistance and how high-tech the hardware they were going to have to contend with.

The exhibit was part of the private collection of one Henrietta Von Drotte, a name that needs no introduction. But in case you've been living under a rock the last thirty years, Henrietta was the head of Duchess Industries. DI was only the largest conglomerate on the planet while Henrietta just happened to be the richest woman in the world. It's a dirty job, but I suppose that someone has to do it.

Given all of that, wouldn't you think that the security guarding the exhibition would be, to say the least, daunting? Even the Huntress' mother, Felina, a skilled cat burglar thought twice about targeting this particular prize. Plus there were always the rumors about Duchess Industries and their alleged criminal dark side. All in all, it was a recipe for trouble and being the good Girl Scouts that we are, the Huntress and I were about to be thrust into the middle of it! At least life isn't dull.

"How much further," the Huntress asked from the back seat of the Sky Sabre. Having my own private jet made getting around New York City all the more easy. It wasn't any larger than a mini-van and had been engineered to be stealthy in flight. After leaving the Hunter's Lair, we climbed aboard the Sky Sabre and headed towards the location of the Dragon Lords' ambush.

"Approximately 26 more seconds," Jaime telepathically informed me. My cybernetic half was currently piloting the Sky Sabre and using our built-in sensors to locate the caravan that would be transporting the exhibit and the ambush location. We had just entered New Jersey a few minutes earlier.

"Just about there," I passed on to the Huntress. According to all the newspaper reports, the exhibit was supposed to have arrived at JFK a few hours ago. Apparently, the Dragon Lords somehow discovered this ruse. In reality, the exhibit touched down at a small, out of the way airstrip in New Jersey and was going to be trucked in to the Met. I suppose that it made sense. Security at a small airstrip was bound to be easier than at JFK. That just left a sizeable trek cross-country which the Dragon Lords planned to interrupt.

"There they are!" Through my link with Jaime, I was able to see what our sensors were seeing. We spotted the Dragon Lords at the place they planned to launch their ambush. They had a pair of dump trucks with which to block the road. There was also a minimum of three vans as well. "We count at least eighteen men, heavily armed."

"Seems they're taking this very seriously," the Huntress observed as she vainly tried to make out what we were flying over. Given the darkness and the speed of the Sky Sabre, I doubt she could identify any specific details. "You want to find a place to land and take out these clowns?"

"Not just yet," I suggested. "Let's backtrack and see where the caravan is. That'll give us an idea just how much time we have. Obviously, our boys are not going anywhere."

"True."

At my mental urging, Jaime continued to follow the road. The next few minutes passed in silence, but I could sense that Helena was getting anxious. Heck, so was I for that matter. We were both more than ready for action.

"I've got'm," Jaime reported. "The convoy consists of a lead vehicle, two tractor-trailers, and a van. I can't be sure of the number of men or how much weaponry they're packing."

"Probably a lot on both counts," I replied back.

"What's that?", the Huntress asked. Oops. I sometimes forget and answer Jaime vocally in addition to mentally. Makes some folks think I'm a bit loopy talking to myself like that. I prefer the term 'eccentric' myself.

"We've spotted the exhibit caravan but are unsure just how many men and how well armed they are. Sorry 'bout that. I sometimes forget whom I'm talking to."

"Oh," was the Huntress' answer. After a bit of consideration she added, "Understandable, but a bit odd to us bystanders. I forget about Jaime being here too."

"We've got trouble!", Jaime interrupted. "Hang on!"

The Sky Sabre made a sudden and unexpected turn up and away from the exhibition convoy. In my mind's eye, I could see the problem that Jaime had spotted. A portion of the roof on one of the semis had opened and a weapon turret was emerging!

"What's going on?", the Huntress could only wonder due to the defensive course change. "What's wrong?"

Blaster fire streaked past the Sky Sabre before I could even answer. Two blasts sailed over us, another below. The streams of blue energy briefly illuminated the night sky like streaks of lightning.

"There's your answer," I finally managed to say. Jaime put the Sky Sabre into a sharp turn away from the convoy. We skimmed the treetops, further reducing their angle of fire. "They must have spotted us and thought we were a threat."

"All air traffic was probably routed away from this area," the Huntress reasoned aloud. "Therefore, anything up in the air along the route doesn't belong there and would be potential trouble."

"Sound reasoning. Shoot first and ask questions later," I replied back. "But why didn't you think of that before we got too close?"

"You didn't think of it either," the Huntress countered defensively.

"She does have a point," Jaime telepathically offered. All the while she continued to move us away from the exhibition caravan on a course back to the Dragon Lords' ambush location. "We didn't think it ourselves."

"Shush, you," was my comment to Jaime. She can sometimes be so annoying when she is right.

"Okay," I continued, this time out loud, "we have confirmed that the convoy is heavily defended and that they are not afraid to use their weaponry. We're on our way back towards the Dragon Lords." Unexpectedly, that brought a chuckle from my passenger. "You find that amusing?"

"Ironic, more than anything." After a beat, the Huntress explained further. "I've been fighting these guys for weeks. Now I'm on my way to save them from themselves. Had we any sense, we should just let DI Security mop the floor with them."

"That's Copperhead's approach," I noted. "We're supposed to prevent things like this from happening. Prevent needless bloodshed whenever possible. Not play judge, jury, and executioner. You of all people should be aware of this."

"I know," Helena sighed. "We'll just stop them and let the proper authorities deal with them."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I'm on the ground," I telepathically informed Jaime as my sabre line let go of the Sky Sabre and retracted into its hilt. Back near the site of the Dragon Lord's ambush, we had dropped the Huntress off on one side of the road. We sat her down some two hundred yards behind the Dragon Lords. It was as close as we dared, even with the Sky Sabre's stealth flight mode. That task completed, I was dropped off on the other side.

The plan was to strike both sides from surprise and disrupt their operation enough so that they would pose little or no threat to the convoy. I could take care of myself against this type of criminal and I was confident the Huntress could do the same. If she couldn't, then she shouldn't be wearing that costume. I'm not her mentor and I'm not her babysitter. She's a big girl and can take care of herself. Besides, Jaime would keep an eye on her just in case she got into trouble.

"Acknowledged." Jaime moved the Sky Sabre off so that she could observe from a safe distance while I crept towards the unsuspecting thugs. Based on our calculations we had only five or so minutes before the exhibition caravan would be rolling past. Time to move!

The Dragon Lords had set up their ambush in a wooded area. It would serve to conceal them until they were ready to pounce. Little did they realize that they were trying to catch a tiger with a mousetrap. Boy, were they going to be surprised. In more ways than one.

The night was clear and chilly as I snuck through the woods. Thanks to the nightvision goggles I was wearing, it seemed much brighter out, with a greenish tinge. Not as good as a bright sunny day, but good enough for my purposes. The Huntress had similar lenses built into her mask. All she had to do was lower them into position to achieve the same results.

High up in the Sky Sabre, Jaime continued to monitor our movement with her sensors. She continuously updated me on the position of the Dragon Lords. There were three of them near one of the dump trucks; one in the driver's seat, two in the back. Four more were spaced out around two of the vans; again one in each driver's seat, the others close by. Lastly, there was a lone dragon keeping watch on the road. He seemed to be the easiest target to take out, so I picked him first.

Fortunately, he was far more intent on watching the road than watching his back. I was able to sneak up behind him without notice. I thumbed the controls on my energy sabre, putting it in solid mode. In this state, the scarlet magentic field was like a baseball bat. The sabre's cutting mode would probably fillet these guys and that could get messy. You ever try to get bloodstains out of tights? It's just something I'd rather avoid if possible.

The Dragon started to turn at the sound of the magnetic field forming. It makes a cute little 'whooshing' sound when activated. Halfway into his turn, the Dragon Lord realized that he was in trouble. I could see it in his eyes. However, before he could utter a sound, I whacked him with the sabre with all my might. I may not be all that big and I may not be all that strong, but I can play 'whack-a-thug' with the best of 'em! One hit and he was in dreamland.

"That was easy," I noted, primarily to myself as I slipped back into the forest. If any of the other thugs noticed, they gave no indication. Good thing too, as that particular Dragon Lord was carrying an AK-47. Assault rifles were definitely an upgrade for weaponry on their part. From what the Huntress had told me of her past dealings with this gang, they normally used martial arts weapons.

"One down, eight more to go," Jaime telepathically informed me. "Helena has already bagged three dragons. You're going to have to do better if you want to keep pace."

"This isn't a competition, Jaime. No one's going to be handing out metals for who trashed the most thugs. Helena's the one trying make a name for herself, not me."

"I know," Jaime answered. "However, you should pick up the pace. You've got only a minute or two before the convoy comes into sight."

"I get the message."

Using the trees to cover my movement, I advanced on the two vans. They were parked, one several yards behind the other. Nearly forty feet ahead of them was the dump truck. The creeps were too close together for comfort. Now the fun began.

Crouching in the shadow of a nearby tree, I moved as close as I could to the rear guard. He also had a rifle slung over his shoulder, as did his counterpart by the first van.

"I have the convoy in sight," Jaime alerted me. "I estimate you've got less than a minute before it'll be in range."

I couldn't afford to wait any more, so I activated my sabre into club mode once more and rushed out of the darkness. This time I wasn't so subtle and smacked the thug across the back of the head. He'd probably wake up with one whale of a headache, maybe even a concussion, but at least he'd still be alive.

Unfortunately, the sneak attack revealed my presence to the other Dragon Lords. The driver of the nearest van spotted the assault and began to yell in Chinese. Jaime told me that it was something along the lines of "We're under attack!". But it did get the attention of the Dragon Lord further ahead. He unslung his rifle and cut loose in my general direction!

Naturally, I had no desire to serve as target practice for this bozo, so I ran like heck back into the woods. My costume was made out of newly created ballistic cloth that we had test run a few weeks back. It hugged my body like a second skin and was highly resistant to penetration. We had tested it against bullets in the lab and it held up rather well. However, I'd rather avoid doing a field test to see if we would get similar results. Especially while I was wearing it!

I shut down my sabre once more, since its red energies stood out like a beacon in the darkness. I'm certainly not going to make it any easier for him! I made it into the trees, bullets dogging me the whole way like a swarm of angry wasps. I moved to a spot out of the gunman's sight behind a large tree to take stock of the situation.

"They're aware of your presence," Jaime casually informed.

"Tell me something I don't know." She sometimes has this talent for understatement. Probably goes along with her not really being real. You know, not corporeal. Bullets might annoy her, but they wouldn't necessarily kill her. Wish I had that problem.

"Okay, the drivers of the vans have joined the Dragon Lord with the rifle and they are searching for you. Oh, and one of the gentlemen in the back of the dump truck has a rocket launcher." And people complain that I'm too literal at times. Sheesh.

"Time for me to get on top of the situation," I announced, again mostly to myself and not Jaime.

"You want me to pick you up?", came Jaime's query. I should have seen that coming.

"Just stay put." I quickly shimmied up the tree. Between the night goggles and my own gymnastic skills, doing a Tarzan imitation in the dark should be a breeze. Moving quickly, I made my way back towards the waiting goons. They had spread out a bit as they searched for me. A smile came to my face as a plan of attack presented itself.

I activated my force field belt for further protection considering the firepower I was about to face. This wondrous little gizmo would encase me in a shield of energy for about a minute. It was stronger than my costume and between the two should protect me from what these guys were packing. Being shot would still hurt, but there wouldn't be large bullet holes in my body. On the downside, the field had a soft white glow to it. It made me a terrific target, especially at night. I'd have to keep moving, which was part of the plan anyway.

Spying a large branch overhead, I sent my sabre line out towards it. Once making sure it was secure, I stepped off the branch executing a perfect swing. At the bottom of the swing I slammed feet first into one of the Dragon Lords. The momentum of the collision hurtled the unfortunate man into the side of the van with great force. He staggered back from the van in a daze as my back swing took me back up into the trees.

It happened so quickly that the other Dragon Lords never did catch sight of me. They rushed to check on their buddy. Silly criminals. They never learn. By going to check up on their friend, they put themselves right in my sights.

I leaped out of the tree once more, swinging towards my new targets. They were close enough that I could plant a foot into each of them. We collided and they were sent backwards into the Dragon Lord I nailed with my first swing. He collapsed after this attack, but his buddies still had their wits about them. This time I recoiled my swinging line and since I was staying on the ground, I switched the sabre back into club mode.

They were disorientated enough for me to get the drop on them. I smacked one guy square in the stomach with the sabre, while I kicked the rifle out of the hand of the other. Spinning back the other way, I hit the now rifle-less thug with my sabre, knocking him back into the side of the van. I carried through with my swing and clipped the first guy again, putting him down on the ground.

"Jess! Look out!", Jaime screamed into my head.

Acting more on instinct than anything else, I leaped into the air and flipped onto the top of the van. Down below, a flurry of bullets tore through the Dragon Lords. This new attack came from the back of the dump truck. Those poor men were being killed by their own pals!

"They're maniacs!", I cursed in astonishment as I dropped and flattened myself against the roof of the van, making myself less of a target. I never dreamed that they would actually fire on themselves! That'll teach me to underestimate the stupidity, or ruthlessness, of the enemy. We were suppose to be keeping these guys from getting killed and here they were doing the job themselves!

Of course, things then took a turn for the worse. Apparently, the guy with the rocket launcher decided to join in on the fun. And so he fired at me!

I was so surprised that I couldn't even think of something to say. If I had, it probably would have been a very colorful metaphor. Not the kind of language that I am prone to use. Bullets are one thing, but I had no desire to test out how well my force field belt would work against rockets! I just jumped to my feet and dove off the van for safety!

Fortunately, depending on your point of view, the guy's aim was low. The rocket slammed through the windshield of the first van and exploded a split-second later. A giant fireball consumed the van, sending shrapnel every which way. The blast illuminated the night briefly, making it seem nearly daylight for a few seconds.

"Are you okay, Jess?", came Jaime's frantic voice in my head. "Please answer me!"

"I'm still here," I wearily answered, picking myself up off of the ground. "Quit shouting."

"Sorry, I was very worried."

"You're not alone in that sentiment, Jaime."

"Anyway, you may want to get to cover. Here comes the convoy!"

"It's always something," I muttered as I ran for the woods. If they weren't aware of the impending ambush, then that explosion had to remove any and all doubt. This was confirmed as Jaime showed me what she saw via the Sky Sabre's cameras. Several weapons turrets had emerged from the tops of the semis and were actively looking for targets! I didn't plan on being one.

I ran several dozen yards into the woods and took shelter behind a tree. Behind me, blue blaster fire lit up the night. Explosions rapidly followed. The second van on my side of the road was blown to kingdom come, as was one on the other side. Thanks to Jaime, I could see the dump truck nearest to me attempted to block the road. This drew heavy blaster fire and after a few seconds the engine exploded in a small ball of fire. The driver never had a chance, but the men in the back managed to leap to safety.

As quickly as they arrived, the caravan rolled off into the night. The whole attack took only twenty seconds. They were here, blasted away the would-be robbers and then were gone. DI security finished what me and the Huntress had started with a cold, ruthless efficiency.

The excitement over, I made my way back to the ambush site. The first guard I encountered was alive, but still unconscious thanks to my earlier attack. Unfortunately, all four men near the vans had perished between both vans exploding and being shot by their own men. It was very disheartening. This was certainly not that way we wanted it to play out.

The two that had survived from the dump truck wisely ran off into the night. They had dropped their weapons and weren't going to pose much of a threat. I wasn't going to bother hunting them down. A failure of this magnitude wouldn't sit well with their superiors. Their punishment was surely going to be worse than anything I could do to them. That was until I saw the Huntress giving chase. She's persistent, I'll give her that.

The heroine had dropped both men by the time I reached her side. "You're turning into a real show off," I noted. She had used her hand-crossbow and struck both men with blunted shafts, knocking them out.

"I hate leaving loose ends," the Huntress explained. "I'll say one thing though, Duchess Industries throws one heck of a party. They nearly got me in the fireworks as well." The Huntress retrieved each man and bound their hands behind nearby trees using her tie-wraps.

"Serious overkill on their part. Unfortunately, I counted five dead on my side."

"At least two on mine," the Huntress grimly reported. "I took out the dump truck first, but they blew up the van. I would have rather seen them stand trial for their crimes."

"Jaime has alerted the authorities. They're on their way to pick up these guys."

"Then that takes care of that. Another serious blow struck against the Dragon Lords. Pretty soon they won't be around any more. Especially if they keep trying stupid stunts like this."

Looking around one last time, I was somehow satisfied with the results of our night's adventure. Sure, I didn't want to see anyone get killed, but things could have been much worse had we not interfered. They could have all been killed. It wasn't much of a consolation, but it would have to do.

"Let's get out of here," I announced. Nearby the Sky Sabre touched down. The hatch opened as we approached.

"Thanks for the assist," Helena stated gratefully as she placed her hand on my shoulder. "This is one instance were I might have been in over my head."

I almost did a double take upon hearing that. "Wow, you really have changed," I laughed. "It was my pleasure."

Once on board the Sky Sabre, Jaime plotted a course back to the Kirby Mansion so that we could drop the Huntress off. The fires below were still burning bright as we rose into the air. Soon they were out of sight, fading into the night.