by Tom Jones
Jason reached the top of the stairs, and he noticed an open door with visible lights reflecting off of it. Jason flipped the safety off of his G36C, and he slowly pulled back the charging handle to make sure that a round was chambered. He lightly let the bolt travel back into battery before moving into the room. He saw that the two NSS soldiers were each using a communications device. Jason took aim, and Arcades placed his gloved hands over his large fox ears. The fox turned away, closed his eyes, and he heard a gunshot quickly followed by another. The fox opened his eyes, and he saw two bodies laying on the floor. However, Jason was not done. Jason stepped in front of the man who pushed him into the wall, and his eyes welled up with tears as he fired more shots into the corpse. Arcades let go of his ears, and he rushed up to Jason before slapping the rifle out of his hands. “Jason, stop! That’s enough! No more!” Once the rifle landed on the floor next to all of the shell casings, Jason collapsed and he began to weep. Arcades grabbed the wolf by the shoulders, and he dragged him out of the room. He retrieved the rifle and stepped over the bodies before closing the door. The fox then stood the wolf up, and he walked him back downstairs.
The fox sat Jason on a chair, and he sat the G36C down by propping it up against the wall. Arcades grabbed Jason’s shoulder a bit more firmly than he usually did, but Arcades tried to not make his voice sound angry, “What happened?” Jason continued to weep, but he eventually managed to speak coherently, “Kurt… They’re taking the anthros away to a train in Berlin.” The fox looked confused, “What? The last thing I remember was walking into this building, and then I woke up in chains.” The wolf waited before he was finally able to continue, “Those guys were talking about how they’re getting paid to capture anthros.” Arcades did not understand, “I thought these guys were trying to fight a race war. Why would they be taking anthros alive?” Jason looked up at the fox, “I don’t know Kurt… They spoke English too. They sounded like they were Americans almost. They’re going to ship the anthros off in a train to a camp.”
Arcades objected, “A camp? Well, that doesn't make sense if they’re killing all of the humans but leaving the anthros alive.” Jason looked back down and away from the fox, “Kurt, they said that if they delivered us, then they’d get a bonus.” The fox still looked at the wolf, “So, the NSS is full of hired guns that are trying to capture anthros, but the rest of them are actually supportive of the ideology? Hmm… Something’s weird. This doesn’t add up. We need to figure this out.” Jason started to cry again, but Arcades gently shook him, “Hey, come on we need to focus. We can still save those anthros in Berlin. If we can gather enough people to stop that train, then we can help them out before they get shipped away to wherever they’re going.” Jason covered his face before crying out, “How can human beings be so cruel?” Arcades knelt down in front of the wolf, “Look… That’s one thing I can answer you…” The fox took a pause before continuing, “We live in a fallen world. Since sin has infested in the world… Well, that’s why we have bad things, that’s why we have people more wicked than most. Man on his own will always rebel against God because of the fallen world we live in. Jesus died so that people can be born again to do what God wants them to do, and what God wants is righteousness rather than rebellion.”
After hearing what Arcades had to say, the wolf grasped the fox tightly, and he leaned over Arcades’ shoulder. Arcades patted Jason on his back, “Aww. Hey, don’t worry about it. We live here for only a short period of time. Sin won’t always exist. God is eventually going to get rid of it all when He makes the New Earth.” Jason continued to cry, but Arcades said more, “All we have to do is just trust in Jesus and repent of the sins that we haven’t. That’s all we need to do.” The fox let the wolf cry into his shoulder until the wolf finally calmed down. Once Jason lifted his head back up, Arcades said reassuringly, “It’s not hopeless. We can still do something. Come on, let’s get going.” Jason stood up, and Arcades handed him back his G36C. Jason grabbed it with his right hand, and then he wiped his eyes with his left hand. Arcades turned to the door and opened it to let Jason out. The fox then followed out, and he closed the door upon exiting. It was still the middle of the night. Arcades noticed and he said, “Gosh… It’s still dark out here. I think we better return to where the allied forces set up camp, and we tell them the intel that you acquired. Then, we can make our move in the morning. The fox noticed the wolf’s still distressed face. Arcades lightly patted Jason on the shoulder, “Hey, come on. We’ll set those anthros free and don’t you worry. Remember who to trust. Alright? And that’s not me by the way.” Jason silently acknowledged, and the two began heading back to the allied forces.
Bocchino could see two figures approaching in the dark night. He squinted, and he pulled out a pair of NV binoculars to get a closer view of the two figures. He could now see that they were anthros. He wondered if it was Arcades and Jason since he hadn’t seen them for several hours now. A few soldiers had their weapons raised in Arcades’ direction, but they lowered them as they saw that they were anthros. Bocchino moved up closer when Arcades and Jason got close enough. The cat spoke in astonishment, “Well, I’d be damned… You two have been gone for hours. I thought that you guys had gotten killed by the NSS. You gonna tell us what happened or what?” The fox took a sigh, “Well… It was kind of a long story, but I didn’t even get to hear half of it. Jason probably should tell y’all what happened.”
Arcades turned to the wolf, and he began to find the best words to explain the situation, “Well… We were going to stay in one of the buildings to get a head start on the assault tomorrow. However, a couple of NSS soldiers knocked Kurt out, and they took us captive. Apparently, the NSS is not out to directly kill anthros; they’re… They’re taking them to a train in the middle of Berlin to be shipped off...” The cat blinked a few times, “Lookin’ like I missed quite a bit. We don’t plan on getting to Berlin until after tomorrow’s assault. We don’t even have this city back under control yet.” The fox stepped up, “Then I guess we better plan some special ops. That’s what we’re here for, anyways.” The cat contemplated before saying, “Well, how do you plan on doing that, boss?” Arcades nodded and began, “In the dawn hours, we take us and whoever else wants to go on a helicopter. We fly it to Berlin and avoid any AA fire that the NSS might be trying to use to shoot down our helicopter. Then we fast rope down on the train, neutralize any NSS opposition, and then we can free the anthros.” The cat had a question, “Well, then they’re just gonna come in and take back all of the anthros that we save.”
The fox continued, “Not unless we have reinforcements coming in after we secure the train. Then, the NSS would have to defend Berlin on two fronts. That could make it easier for the attacking force to enter the city. Then, it would be ours.” The cat shook his head and shrugged, “I dunno, but I guess it could work. Whatever you say boss.” Arcades smiled, “Gather as many people as you can and find a minimum of three helicopters that we can use. We’re going to need the Bundeswehr to help us with this, too. One helicopter will actually fly us into the train station, and the other two will provide fire support from above to buy us some time. The cat acknowledged, “Alright boss. I’ll get right on it.” As he left, Jason walked up, “Kurt, are you sure about this?” The fox reassuringly touched the wolf’s shoulder, “Hey, we can pull this off. Just stick next to be, and you’ll be fine.”
Three NH90s were waiting in an improved landing area. Most of the soldiers entering the helicopters were from the Bundeswehr, but some of them were Fox Security operatives. The pilots began to prepare to take off and fly to Berlin while the rest of the soldiers were preparing to fully take the city of Potsdam. Arcades and his crew were some of the last to enter the third helicopter. They were bringing the same equipment that they had from the previous day. Arcades wore his M2 frames again, and he looked at the sunrise before climbing into the helicopter with the rest of the men. Before he could enter, Jason grabbed his arm. The wolf said, “You know, you’ve chosen the wrong
line of work, right?” The fox took no offence, evident by his smile, “Nobody here is perfect. Now, let’s go.” The fox gave the pilot the signal, and the pilot toggled the door controls. The doors closed, and the helicopters began to take off. Around the same time, the ground forces were also starting to move up. Arcades looked out the window, and he continued to watch the sunrise. He predicted that he would arrive at the LZ in about an hour. He looked at the other helicopter that was in his line of sight. However, he could not see the soldiers inside as they had also closed their door. All he could do now is wait.
“Approaching LZ. Get ready!” The pilot of Arcades’ NH-90 announced in English. The fox looked out the window, and he could see the train station with the train still waiting. Bocchino looked at it too before asking, “Boss, how are you sure that’s the right train? They could be gone already.” Arcades replied, “I guess we’re gonna find out.” The fox heard gunfire, and he looked out the window that was in the general direction of the gunfire. It was coming from above, and not from the NSS soldiers on the ground. Arcades could see one of the other NH-90s with the doors open, and a Bundeswehr soldier opening fire with an MG3 from the door. Several other Bundeswehr soldiers also opened fire with their HK416s, and G36s.
Arcades looked back at the ground, and he could see some NSS members already exiting the train station in order to return fire. While they were being drawn out, Arcades’ helicopter began moving in a different direction. The fox checked his weapon, and Jason also checked his. Arcades went over a recap, “Alright, I’m going to free the anthros that are in that train. I’m gonna need all the cover I can get. Once I free them, we’re going to defend the location until the helicopter comes to pick us all back up. If you can find out where the NSS are coming from, we can call for an airstrike on their entry path.” The helicopter was now close enough to the ground. Jason asked, “I thought we were supposed to fast-rope down?” The fox stood up, and he waited for the automatic door to open, “I guess we have a change of plans. No matter, let’s go!”
The three operatives jumped off of the helicopter before the doors closed, and it began to retreat to a safe distance while the Germans continued to lay down cover fire. Arcades could still see the other two NH-90s in the air with their gunners giving them cover fire as well. Many rounds ricocheted off of the ground, and Arcades could see them impacting nearby buildings. Arcades approached the side of the train station, and he waited to peek around the corner. He saw that the hall was clear, so he started to head down it. Jason and Bocchino had their rifles up, and they were checking every corner. Bocchino spotted one NSS member with an AUG, and he fired eight rounds from his HK416 into the human. The human collapsed, and Arcades looked to the human who had just been shot. The loud noise echoed in the hallway, and it made the fox’s ears ring. The fox advised, “Watch out. They definitely heard that! Reinforcements are probably on their way. We better hurry.”
Arcades then held the PTT on his radio, “Bravo Two, this is Arcades, what’s it looking like outside? There are only a few NSS members in here. Over.” Bravo Two promptly replied, “Arcades, this is Bravo Two. Most of the NSS members are still out here trying to take down the helicopters. We can’t stay up here for too much longer as most of our men are running low on ammo. We’re also taking heavy fire. Over.” The fox then finished the radio conversation, “Copy. Out.” Jason heard the communication and asked, “Boss, are they gonna start flooding back in here when our support leaves?” Arcades nodded, “Afraid so. We’d better hurry. There’s no way we can take on all those NSS guys from outside.”
The small fireteam moved down the hall and began to ascend a small flight of stairs. They reached the main train station, and they could see one of the trains in the middle of the station. There were several NSS soldiers standing nearby with MG 74s mounted on tripods. Arcades turned to Jason and Bocchino, “I’m gonna need some cover if I want to get by those guys.” The cat went prone with his HK416, and he crawled around to find a good position to fire from. He found a good position that allowed him to see the gunners, and the gunners probably would not be able to see him. He gave a thumbs up to the fox, and the fox nodded in acknowledgement. The cat laid his finger on the trigger, and he lined up the shot with his Aimpoint scope. He held the trigger down and fired. The gunners collapsed, and Arcades ran behind Bocchino in order to move up closer to the train. The fox slid, and he found himself behind one of the benches in the train station. The line of sight that he had enabled him to see a lone NSS member that turned around from the noise of the gunfire. He raised his AUG, and he ran to go investigate the source of the disturbance. Arcades lined up the human’s plate carrier with his EOTech, but he did not take the shot. The soldier ran past him, and the fox found this as his opportunity to move up. Arcades stood up, and he ran towards the train. He could hear footsteps coming from the other side of the train, and he knew that the NSS would find him if he did not hurry.
Arcades examined the train car’s door, and he saw that it was not even locked. Arcades thought to himself, ‘Huh? This is very strange. What’s happening inside?’ The fox looked at the train’s exterior while trying to peek inside, but it lacked windows. The fox heard gunfire coming from the other side of the train, but he tried to ignore the fighting and focused on his mission. The fox pulled the door handle, and the door slid to the side on its own. Arcades’ eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he took in the sight. The train car was full of upwards of over a dozen anthros. The anthros were all barefoot, but otherwise fully clothed in civilian clothes. They were all wearing blindfolds and muzzles, which prevented them from seeing and speaking. This also made it difficult for Arcades to recognize what race of anthros they were. The anthros were all kneeling in front of a pole that went from the floor of the train car, and it traveled all the way to the roof of the car. A pair of rigid cuffs fixed on the ground kept the captives in the kneeling position, and a chain that was hanging from the ceiling was latched onto the rigid handcuffs that the anthros were wearing behind their backs. They had a short chain that connected their handcuffs to their ankle cuffs. Being restrained behind the pole meant that even if the anthros were being held by the floor and roof, they would not be able to move as their limbs were restrained behind the pole. Arcades took a glance at the anthros and could vaguely recognize their races. About half of the anthros were canoids, but the other half were feloids. He spotted a couple fellow foxes, but he noticed that they were restrained even more than the others. To make matters worse for them, they wore a pair of rigid thumbcuffs on both their thumbs and big toes. This gave them even less freedom than all of the other captive anthros. All of the anthros were wearing collars as well, and the collar was strapped to the pole in order to keep them from moving their neck away from the pole.
“Arcades, what is your status? Over.” The radio communication broke Arcades’ petrified state, and he remembered that he had to answer his squadmates. He noticed that both of his hands were free as he had dropped his HK433, and it was hanging by its Multicam rifle sling. Arcades blinked twice as he wanted to unsee what he had just witnessed, but this was only a vain attempt. The fox’s eyes blurred, and he wanted to look away. His radio went off again, “Arcades, this is Bocchino! The NSS has retreated to regroup. If you’re not in the train, now would be a good time to enter. Requesting status update, over!” The fox held the PTT button, “B-Bocchino, this A-Arcades… I’m inside the t-train. It’s the… Correct one… Standby….” The fox did not even know what to say next, but he knew that he had to free his captive brethren.
Arcades began to move down the line to free the anthros that were the closest to him. He removed his keyring, and he quickly sprang into action. His gloved hands were slightly shaking as he could feel the stress take its toll on him. A white wolf was the first anthro that he went to save, and he examined the restraints in order to find the best way to undo them. He decided to start with the handcuffs, and then work his way down to the other restraints. The fox unlocked the wolf’s han
dcuffs, and he watched as the wolf’s hands dropped as if they were limp. He then unstrapped the collar from the pole, and he removed the blindfold and muzzle. He finally unlocked the wolf’s legcuffs, and the wolf was about to fall forwards. However, Arcades caught the male wolf and sat him gently on the train car’s floor. Arcades looked at the unconscious anthro and thought to himself, ‘What? Are these anthros drugged?’ The fox pulled the Oakley M2 frames from his face, and he tossed them in his dump pouch. He could still not believe what he was seeing. He moved to the next anthro and worked on freeing the captive. As he freed the next anthro, he discovered it was a female leopard who was also unconscious. Arcades sat the leopard gently on the ground, and he shook his head. He spoke aloud now, “Two in a row? W-what?” The fox moved to the next anthro in the row. There were four rows with four captive anthros in each.
Arcades recognized the next anthro’s tail to be a feloid, and he began to free the next captive. As Arcades finished, he saw that it was a male cheetah. One odd thing that was similar about the anthros that he had saved was that they were all around the same age, young adulthood. The fox brushed this off as a coincidence, but deep down inside he felt that something more sinister was going on. The final anthro Arcades freed in the first row was a brown female wolf. The entire first row was completely unconscious, and the fox feared that would be consistent for the rest of the rows. He now had three more rows of captive anthros to free, so he moved to the next row. This anthro was a female red fox, and Arcades saw that this was evident by the additional restraints. Arcades was thankful that the restraints all used the universal ZAK Tools key, or at least he thought. When he moved to unlock the fox’s thumbcuffs, he noticed that his key was not compatible. He first thought he was not pushing the key in hard enough, but his second attempt proved to be ineffective as well. Arcades took a closer look at the thumbcuffs, and he recognized them as being manufactured by Yuil. He then remembered that all Yuil handcuffs used a proprietary key. Thankfully, the fox kept the Yuil M-05 key on his keyring. He flipped to the proper key, and he unlocked the thumbcuffs. While he had the key out, he unlocked the captive fox’s bound toes with the same key. He then switched back to his default key to unlock the rest of the restraints. Arcades had changed the order of unlocking the restraints so that the last restraint he would undo would be the collar that was strapped to the pole. This would allow Arcades to be more prepared to sit the unconscious anthros on the ground as gently as he would be able to. He knew that a blow to the head while unconscious could potentially spell death. Arcades unlatched the collar from the pole, and he held onto the vixen’s shoulder and her head as he sat her on the ground. Once he finished, he moved onto the next captive.