by Tom Jones
“I think they’re rigged with some sort of tracking device too.” Arcades spoke. Jason was having a hard time digesting all of the information he was receiving in the past few minutes. After the fox received no response from the wolf, he spoke again, “Their collars probably have some sort of tracking capabilities in them. We need to get them off before we can take them with us.” When Jason heard Arcades, he spoke again, “Wait, Kurt. You’re taking them with us?” The fox nodded as he inspected the collars, “We can’t just leave them here to be taken by Omega. These are living and breathing anthros! They’re anthros that were created by God, we can’t just leave them here.”
“This is Alpha 4, I am right outside of the car containing the cargo. Beginning investigation. Over.” Alpha 4’s squad leader replied, “Copy Alpha 4. Proceed with caution. Out.” Alpha 4 began to work on opening the door that would lead him to the car that Arcades and Jason were in. He did not hear the fox or the wolf, so he was still unaware that there were other personnel aboard the train. Alpha 4 gripped his XMP-1 in one hand while using his other hand to open the door. As the door was becoming close to be opened, the anthros on the other side were now able to hear the human as he was opening the door.
“I think I hear someone about to come in,” Arcades said as he stood up from where he was kneeling. Jason raised his HK433 at the door while Arcades dragged the two anthros to a safer place that would be out of the way of a potential bullet trajectory, so he moved them behind a few other boxes. Since they were free from the restraints, it was easy for Arcades to move them over to a covered area. Jason took a few steps back but remained in the middle of the train car with his sights still trained on the door. Arcades looked at the two anthros which were staring right back at him. The fox said, “Stay here and don’t make a noise. We’ll get you two out, so don’t worry.” Arcades stood up after hiding the anthros, and he held his rifle in his hands. The fox was unsure if he wanted to chamber a round. He didn’t want to shoot anybody, but he did not know if he would have to this time.
Alpha 4 opened the door, and he stepped inside to see Jason aiming a rifle at him. Alpha 4 immediately raised his XMP-1 while he screamed, “Hostile!” Jason was the first to fire at Alpha 4, and the human began to return fire as the 5.56 rounds struck his plate carrier. However, Alpha 4 did not have a chance to properly aim at the wolf, so he was practically firing from the hip. Several rounds ricocheted off of the ground and the ceiling, and Alpha 4 began to keel over as more rounds fired by the wolf now pierced the plates that were in his plate carrier. Alpha 4 did not stop holding down the trigger on his XMP-1, so more rounds were being thrown in both directions. Jason did not move from the position he was in, and he was amazed that he was not shot by the human that had just been gunned down.
Jason heard a click coming from his rifle, and he looked down to see that the ejection port of the HK433 was locked open. The wolf then heard another click, but this click emitted from the human’s weapon. The XMP-1 had depleted its magazine as well. Jason dropped his magazine, and he quickly loaded another one before dropping the bolt back into its ready position. He looked through the sights again, and he was looking to see if any other humans were entering the car. However, everything fell silent again, and nobody else entered the car. Arcades removed himself from his covered position, “Jason, we can’t stay here too much longer. They’re going to be sending in more reinforcements. We need to get these two anthros out ASAP.” Jason picked up the empty magazine that was on the floor, and he placed it in his dump pouch. The wolf nodded to the fox before moving towards him.
“Alpha 4, this is Alpha 1. We heard shots coming from a nearby car. What is your status? Over.” There was no response given back to Alpha 1. The operative waited a moment before sending the transmission again. After a second round of silence, the operative switched frequencies to report the situation, “Omega 1, this is Alpha 1. We have a situation. Hostiles may be onboard this train. Please advise. Over.” Omega 1 heard the transmission as he stood next to the engineer. The operative replied to his colleague, “Roger, Alpha 1. This is Omega 1. We’re going to stop the train. Neutralize the hostile forces if you can and reclaim any stolen cargo. Out.” Omega 1 turned to the engineer and said, “Stop the train now. We have hostiles onboard.” The engineer immediately applied the train’s brakes, but he knew that it would be several miles before the train would come to a complete halt.
“Arcades. We heard gunfire. What is your status? Over.” Noah asked the fox via radio. Arcades heard the transmission as he was working on picking the lock that had the collar locked on the two anthros. The fox paused to answer the transmission, “This is Arcades. Jason engaged a hostile Omega operative, and now it sounds like they’re starting to stop the train. Get here as fast as you can. They’ve got two anthros here as cargo, and we’re gonna extract them. Over.” Arcades went back to lockpicking. He then heard Bocchino’s voice over the radio, “Affirmative Arcades. We are on our way. Standby, and make sure that you check your fire.” Jason stood next to where the fox was kneeling while he was unlocking the collars. The wolf asked, “What do you want me to do, mate?” Arcades did not stop lockpicking this time when he spoke, “Make sure none of those other guys get in here. That guy was a human, right?” The wolf looked back at the corpse that was still bleeding from the gunshot wounds. The wolf said, “Yes. He was a human.”
Arcades thought about what he had seen and what he had heard. He began to add it all up in his head, and he did not like where this was all going. He decided it would be best to not think about it as of now. He still had to get these anthros out, and he had to prevent Omega from tracking them back down. Arcades finally managed to get the collar off of the lynx. He still had to remove the collar from the jackal. Arcades knew that he had not removed the vibrator from the lynx. Since they had followed everything he had told them, he decided to see if he could get them to remove it themselves. Arcades looked at the lynx and said, “Remove anything in your orifices.” To the fox’s surprise, the lynx actually began to unzip the crotch zipper, and she began to pull out the vibrator that had been jammed in her anus. Arcades looked away, and he wanted to focus on what he needed to get done. However, he noticed that the jackal also was unzipping his crotch zipper. The fox took a step back. He didn’t know what to do.
Bocchino finally was in front of the door that would lead them to the car that Arcades was in. Since Arcades did not lock the door behind him, Bocchino began to open it easily. The cat stepped in to see Arcades standing in front of two anthros that were currently pulling sex toys out of their orifices. The cat immediately spoke, “What the fuck is going on here?” Arcades heard the cat, and he turned to face him. The fox said, “I promise I’ll explain everything to you, but now is not the time. We need to get these two out of here ASAP.” The cat noticed that the wolf’s attention had been captured by the two anthros once again. Bocchino pointed to the door, “Fucking hell man! Watch the damn door if you don’t wanna get shot!” Jason snapped out of looking at the anthros, and he turned back around to face the door. Arcades could feel the train was moving slower, “They’re stopping the train. They’ll be coming for us once it stops. We’re going to need exfil to get here as soon as they can.”
“Yeah? You mean the friends of that dead guy right there?” Bocchino pointed at the corpse that was nearby the door. The fox looked again at the anthros, and he saw that they had finished dragging sex toys out from their bodies. He took a brief look at the toys, and they were larger than how he imagined them to look. Arcades wondered how long the anthros had the toys inside of their bodies. Once the jackal zipped back up the crotch zipper, Arcades went back to unlocking the jackal’s collar. He was being extra careful not to step on the sex toys that were lying on the ground. A total of three were on the ground. Two of them were from the lynx, and one was from the jackal. Noah and Jacob moved past Bocchino, and they were going to the door in order to help Jason secure it. Arcades spoke aloud to Bocchino, “I’m gonna need you to radio
in for exfil. I’m trying to get the collar off of this one.”
Bocchino cycled the frequencies on his radio before holding down the PTT to speak, “Bravo Actual, this is Alpha 1-5. Requesting immediate exfil from the car in front of the one we were deployed at. We are bringing two more with us. Over.” The pilot soon replied, “Copy, Bocchino. The train is about to stop. What happened in there? Over.” Bocchino was still a bit agitated, “A lot of shit happened. Security forces are probably gonna bust in here soon, so you’d better hurry the fuck up. Over.” The pilot replied once more, “Affirmative. I’m on my way. Standby for exfil. Out.” Bocchino looked back at the fox, and he could see that Arcades had managed to successfully get the collar off the jackal. The fox stood up when he finished, and he looked to the cat again, “Do we have an ETA for exfil?” The cat shook his head, “Well, I sure as hell don’t. Bravo said he was going to get here as fast as he could, so we’d better be ready for him.” Arcades turned towards the two anthros that were now kneeling and facing the wall. Bocchino was wondering what was going on, “The fuck they doing that for?” The fox shook his head, “I dunno. To tell you the truth, it looks like some trauma based mind control or something.”
It was not the first time Bocchino heard Arcades mention the phrase ‘trauma based mind control’; However, the cat was too frustrated to pressure the fox further. He decided that he should just wait, and hopefully Arcades would explain what happened later. The fox spoke to the two anthros, “Get up. We’re about to leave. Follow me and you’ll make it.” The two anthros immediately stood up, and they faced Arcades. Bocchino was surprised by how promptly the anthros listened. The cat said, “Shit. They listen to you.” Arcades nodded, “Yeah, I don’t quite understand why. We should get them back home before we get lost out here thinking about it.”
The train had now come to a complete stop. A few Omega operatives stepped out from the side. They all noticed the HH-60 that was closing in on the train. One of the operatives shouted, “Enemy helicopter!” The humans began to open fire on the helicopter. The pilot took evasive action, and he worked on trying to get out of the operatives’ range. However, he did not realize that the operatives were wielding weapons that launched airburst projectiles. One of the operatives switched the weapon over to HE, and he took aim at the helicopter. After properly zeroing with the digital rangefinder, he took a shot with the XMP-1. The round flew through the air, but the helicopter was still travelling backwards. The airburst round detonated in midair, and the pilot was unsure of what exploded. In response to the attack, the pilot rolled towards the right, and he increased pitch in order to evade the attacks. The pilot decided to fly above the trees at an angle that would make the helicopter hard to hit by the operators on the ground.
“I think I can hear our exfil out there,” Arcades said as he listened for the helicopter’s rotors. The fox looked at the side door of the train, and he was prepared to open it. When Jason saw that Arcades was going to exit through the side door, he moved over to help him open it. Arcades unlocked the side door from the inside, and he began to slide the door open. He was immediately met with gunfire from the Omega operatives. Multiple rounds ricocheted off of the train car, but Bocchino was the first to return fire. The cat was letting some of his anger spill out as he shouted, “Die you motherfuckers!” Arcades watched as the cat put 5.56 rounds of his own downrange, but the fox was more worried about protecting the two anthros. Arcades heard the pilot’s voice over his radio, “Arcades, this is Bravo Actual. I can see from here that you’re engaged with hostiles. How should I proceed with the exfil? Over.”
Arcades watched as Bocchino was joined by Jason and Noah. Jacob was the one that was left to guard the door. However, it did not sound like the operatives were planning to open a door that had already been locked again. Arcades looked at the XMP-1 that was lying next to the dead Omega operative. The fox quickly moved over to retrieve the weapon. When he grabbed the weapon, he noticed that the Alpha 4, the previous owner, already had a sling attached to the weapon. Arcades threw the sling over his left shoulder and stowed the weapon away after setting it to safe. He decided to take one XMP-1 with him after all.
Arcades watched as Bocchino took cover after an airburst round was fired at him. The cat saw shrapnel ricochet off of the walls, “Holy fucking shit! That was way too damn close.” The cat reloaded his ARX-160, and he continued to fire once a new magazine was loaded. Jacob now moved up to assist with the gunfight. The fox then realized that he had not contacted Bravo again, “Bravo Actual, this is Arcades. We’re going to need you to come in and try to pick us up right now. We’re trying to take out as many of them as we can, but they’re likely going to regroup if we give them any more time. Over” The pilot replied to the fox, “Arcades, are you sure of this? This is a risky exfil. Over” The fox replied to the pilot, “I’m sure of it. The quicker we do this, the better. As soon as you land, we’ll be aboard. Over” The pilot sighed before finally saying, “Well, let’s hope you’re right. Standby for exfil. Out.”
Arcades could hear the helicopter was now approaching faster. He knew that it would kick up dust, so the fox put his M2 frames back over his eyes. The fox watched as his small squad was still engaging the Omega operatives. He looked at the two anthros that were out of the line of fire, but Arcades was not sure how they appeared to be completely calm. For all the fox knew, they could be absolutely terrified to be in the situation. The anthros were still looking directly at Arcades, so Arcades spoke to them, “Alright, you two better not get too far behind. If we hurry, we’ll all make it out of here in one piece.” The anthros seemed to silently acknowledge the fox. Arcades had still not heard them speak, but he decided that he would figure it all out soon enough.
Bocchino briefly looked upwards, and he could see the HH-60 was now descending in a clearing that was near the train tracks. The cat alerted Arcades to the helicopter, “Kurt! There’s exfil! We need to go, NOW!” Arcades glanced at the helicopter, and he decided that it was now an ideal time to get moving to the extraction point. Arcades gave the order to proceed, “Let’s go! Quickly, before they disable the helicopter!” Bocchino was the first to exit the train car, and he began sprinting while shooting at the Omega operatives to his right. Multiple airburst rounds flew by, but not all of them detonated at the right distances. Jason and Noah exited the train next, and they laid down their own suppressing fire on the Omega operatives. Arcades racked the charging handle on his Salient GRY, and he thumbed off the safety. He jumped off of the train with Jacob and the two anthros right behind him. The fox began laying down semi-automatic suppressive fire in the general direction of the Omega operatives, but he was sure that he was not hitting any of them.
Bocchino was the first to board the helicopter, and he immediately reloaded upon entering before laying down cover fire for his fellow squadmates. Jason and Noah entered the helicopter next, and they began doing much of the same. Arcades entered the helicopter after taking a few pot-shots at the operatives, and he helped the anthros enter the helicopter. Jacob leaped inside of the helicopter, and the pilot immediately gave the helicopter throttle as soon as Jacob entered the helicopter. The HH-60 began rising into the sky, and most of the occupants inside of the helicopter were still firing back at the Omega operatives.
Arcades finally closed the door once Bocchino spent one last magazine. The fox was panting from the adrenaline rush. Jason noticed the XMP-1 that Arcades was carrying on his back, “Mate, is that one of the guns they have?” Arcades remembered that he did indeed grab one of the XMP-1’s, “Oh, yes. I grabbed this one off of the guy that you killed.” The way the fox said that sentence made Jason feel guilty, “Mate, I’m sorry he had to die.” Arcades caught his breath before saying, “Apologize to God. Not to me. I can’t do anything about it.” The cat spoke after the two finished speaking, “Yeah, so we got the cargo out of there? Did we complete the mission?” Arcades looked to Bocchino. He then looked at the two anthros that were seated in the helicopter before sayin
g, “Yes. We did it. We got them out. Mission accomplished.”
The fox took his seat after setting the XMP-1 on the helicopter’s floor. Bocchino looked at the weapon before saying, “Is that the gun that they’re using?” Arcades silently nodded. The cat figured that it would be best to wait until they got back to Fox Security before asking more questions. However, Bocchino was still wondering all about the two anthros that Arcades rescued. It reminded him of the car that he searched with Noah and Jacob. The cat then remembered what Arcades had to tell him about the mission from the previous night. The cat shuddered. He knew that whatever was going on surely was not anything good.
Chapter 10
Internal Flaws
Arcades dropped the magazine of his Salient GRY that he had used during the mission, and he tossed it aside on his bed. The fox pulled the charging handle back, and he held it while he depressed the bottom of the bolt release in order to keep the bolt locked back. Arcades looked in the chamber to make sure that his rifle was safe before dropping the bolt forwards by pressing the bolt release button. Arcades unclipped his sling from the Magpul MOE stock, and he removed it from his person before setting the rifle up against a stand that he had in his room. Arcades took a step back to examine the rifle’s ‘jailbreak’ muzzle to check for powder that might be on the end of his rifle. Arcades figured that he would clean the rifle the next time he used it, as one magazine did not cause too much powder to build up.