by Tom Jones
Arcades’ eyes were drawn to the door that had just opened to his right. The fox watched as the two men from the upper catwalk were now in a plain view. The fox now was able to visually recognize the two men as the men that he had on video. Arcades knew that he could not let the men get away, for he had a feeling that they shared a great deal of responsibility for the doings of the Omega Foundation. The fox looked for his XMP-1, but he soon realized that he was missing the weapon. Arcades then remembered that he left the weapon in the L-ATV, so he now had nothing to attack or defend himself with. The fox turned his head, and he looked at the vehicle that was still blocking the path for more vehicles to travel through. Arcades knew that he would not have time to return to the vehicle. He looked at the helicopter, and he watched as the two men boarded it. He then watched as the ISG personnel climbed aboard the helicopter as well. The fox closed his eyes, and he took a deep breath. He knew what he needed to do.
The fox opened his eyes, and he sprinted towards the helicopter as fast as he possibly could. The men closed the helicopter’s doors, but they surprisingly did not notice the black and white fox that was sprinting towards the MH-60X. The helicopter began to increase throttle, and it was just about to take flight. The fox continued sprinting, and he jumped as the helicopter began to take off. Arcades clutched the helicopter door’s handle, and he began holding on for dear life as he began to be lifted off of the ground. The fox’s feet that previously felt the ground now felt the air as the helicopter continued to ascend. Arcades noticed that the men had not locked the helicopter’s doors, so he was now pulling the handle downwards. The helicopter door began to slide to the right, and the men inside looked out to see nothing. The laptop man was the first to speak, “What the fuck! Who opened the damn door?” The camouflaged man did not see anybody holding onto the door, so he was not sure what was happening either. Arcades was still holding onto the handle, but there was nothing he could push himself off of in order to climb inside of the helicopter. He had to rely on the little upper body strength that he had.
As the helicopter continued to ascend, the fox briefly looked down to see that he would surely die if he were to lose grip on the handle. The fox was not afraid of heights, but he was not too thrilled to know that a door handle was the only thing keeping him from turning into a splattered furry on the ground. Arcades knew that the men inside of the helicopter were armed, and he did not want to let them know that he was still holding onto the helicopter since he figured that they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him given the current pressing circumstances. Arcades heard footsteps approaching the door, and he could hear the voice of the camouflaged man, “Here, I’ll close the door.” When the fox heard this, he used his other hand to grab onto the door handle, and Arcades was now holding onto the door handle with both hands. Though the pads on the tips of his fingers and the top of his palm were holding the fox for now, he wasn’t sure how long he would be able to keep this up.
The camouflaged man pulled the door to its closed position, and the fox moved along with it. The camouflaged man now noticed that the door failed to close completely, and this was because the handle was still in the downward position. The door began to slide back open again, and with it, the fox. The laptop man was now growing exceedingly impatient once again, “Oh for fuck’s sake…” The camouflaged man delivered a guess that served as his diagnosis of the situation, “The door is broken.” The laptop man shook his head, “Then go fucking see what broke it then.” Arcades could barely hear the men speaking over the noise that the Stealth Hawk was making, but he knew that he now had a limited amount of time to once again make a move. The fox could now see that he was no longer inside of the complex, as the helicopter had now cleared the hangar. The fox looked to the daylight sky, and he could see that it was now later in the afternoon; However, this did not matter to Arcades. The fox knew that he still had to stop these two men from escaping.
Arcades looked at the floor of the Stealth Hawk, and he knew that he would have to make it in there some way or another. The fox then looked at the door he was hanging onto. The fox knew that if he would be able to raise himself high enough, then it would be easier for him to enter the helicopter. The fox decided that he would go through with this plan. Arcades used all of his upper body strength to lift his 130 pound body higher by putting all of his weight on the door handle. The fox hoped that he would not break the handle, but he figured that Sikorsky made decent handles for their line of S-70 helicopters. However, the fox still did not know if the handle was made by Sikorsky or an aftermarket third party. The fox was able to successfully pull himself up, but he had not entered the helicopter yet.
As the helicopter began to pitch downwards, it started moving forwards. Arcades could feel that his tail was blowing in the air, and this served as a reminder to him that he needed to stop the Omega Foundation personnel from escaping. The fox looked to his left, and he watched as a human peeked out of the aircraft. The camouflaged man was in disbelief when he saw Kurt Hofmeier hanging off of the door. The camouflaged man scrambled to construct a sentence as Arcades was preparing to board the aircraft, “HOLY FUCKING SHIT--!” The man’s words were cut off as the fox sent his bare feet right into the man’s torso. The camouflaged man staggered backwards from the unsuspecting blow to the chest, and Arcades planted his feet inside of the helicopter. Everyone in the helicopter looked at the fox with a look of shock.
The first men that attempted to do something were the two armed guards. Both of them raised their XMP-1’s, but they struggled to find the safety on the weapon since they never had to fire under such conditions before. Arcades saw the weapons, and he instantly remembered the unarmed combat techniques that he had taught himself. The fox grabbed the upper receiver of the weapon, and he pushed it to the left and away from his body. The fox then pushed himself into the man, and he positioned himself behind the operator so that he would be somewhat protected if the other armed guard were to open fire. However, this did not happen as the man did not want to risk accidentally shooting the wrong thing inside of the small enclosed space. The fox reached for the magazine release of the rifle, and he was still struggling against the man which weighed a great deal more than the six foot tall fox did.
As the two humans struggled with the anthro, the laptop man recognized who was now aboard their helicopter, “Is that motherfucking Kurt Hofmeier?” The camouflaged man replied as he stood back up, “OH SHIT! That’s fucking him! How the fuck is he alive?” Arcades lost his balance during the scuffle, and he started to fall backwards. Fortunately for the fox, he caught himself on a rail that was on the ceiling of the helicopter. The fox quickly remembered that the only way out was down, and he would not let himself be the one to fall out of the aircraft. As the camouflaged man watched the struggle, he wanted to get rid of the fox once and for all. The Security Chief removed a Ruger Redhawk from his oversized holster, and he spoke, “Fuck this. I’m ending this bitch once and for all!” The fox perked up an ear as he heard the hammer of the revolver being pulled back. The fox looked to his right, and he saw that a .44 magnum was now being pointed directly at his head. Arcades knew that he would die if something did not happen fast. As the Security Chief’s hand began to shake from the stress, he placed his finger on the trigger. When the fox noticed this, he immediately fell limp in order to avoid the shot.
The camouflaged man fired the revolver, but the round ended up in the neck of the man that was currently struggling with the fox. The round went right through the man’s neck, as it was not protected by a ballistic vest or any other protective equipment. Human blood squirted in the air, and the guard immediately stopped struggling with the fox as he began choking on his own blood. The man held his mortally wounded throat in his hands, and he now recognized that he had less than a few minutes to live. The man turned towards the Security Chief, and the camouflaged man returned an equally shocked expression. The Security Chief watched as more blood began to drip down the man’s clothes, and some even landed on Arcades�
� light gray fur. The blood was very visible on the fox’s neck.
The pilot of Rattlesnake saw the MH-60X with his eyes, “Oh shit. That’s a helicopter.” The gunner did not see the Stealth Hawk, “Where’s that at?” The pilot replied, “Bearing… Uh… Let’s call it southwest. Here, I’ll turn so you can see it.” The pilot yawed the helicopter to the left and was trying to help the gunner acquire a visual of the helicopter. The gunner looked at the radar, “I don’t see any radar signatures.” The pilot replied, “That thing doesn’t look like an ordinary helicopter. It might be some type of advanced stealth helicopter.” As the pilot continued to push down the left rudder pedal, the gunner was able to visually spot the MH-60X, “Oh, I see it now. I can’t tell what that thing is. Wait, is that a Black Hawk?” The pilot shook his head, but the gunner was not in a position to see this, “No, I don’t think so… Well, maybe. I dunno what that’s supposed to be.” The gunner began to zoom in with his targeting scope; However, he could not get a clear picture of what was happening inside of the helicopter.
The mortally wounded man grabbed the shoulder of the Security Chief in a vain attempt to request assistance of any kind, but the camouflaged man knew that this was futile. He was now becoming tired of being bled on by the ISG member. Arcades was only watching in horror as the man was choking to death on his own blood. The fox couldn’t bear to watch the man suffer as he knew that there was nothing he could do to prolong his life save for repenting and trusting in Jesus for eternal salvation. The man now had seconds to live.
The Security Chief grabbed the ISG member’s shoulder, and he shoved him out of the helicopter. The dying man tried to shout in protest, but this was unfruitful as there was only blood in his windpipe. Arcades looked up at the camouflaged man who now aimed the revolver back at the fox. Since the trigger pull of the Ruger Redhawk was pretty heavy, the camouflaged man was preparing to pull back the hammer manually in order to make it easier for him to fire the weapon accurately. He did not want to miss again.
The other armed guard did not like watching his colleague get shoved out of the helicopter, “Hey man! What the fuck did you do that for?” The man aimed his XMP-1 at the camouflaged man. Arcades now was on the ground, but he was watching this drama unfold as he was watching the angry ISG man aim his rifle at his superior. The camouflaged man looked at the weapon barrel that was now pointed at him, “Stand the fuck down. Sit the fuck down, too. Stay out of this. This fucking fox right here is responsible for all of this!” The ISG member replied, “You threw him out of the fucking helicopter!” The fox watched as the revolver went from being pointed at him to be pointed at the last remaining armed ISG member. The camouflaged man spoke impatiently, “I won’t hesitate to make you the second one that gets a free ride to the ground either.”
The fox scooted himself backwards towards the cockpit of the helicopter, and Arcades looked upwards to see that the singular pilot of the helicopter had briefly peeked back to check on the situation that was now unfolding in the helicopter. The laptop man spoke next, “Just fucking kill him already! You still have five rounds left!” The camouflaged man then locked back the hammer of the revolver, but when the ISG member heard this, he pulled the trigger on his own rifle. The camouflaged man felt himself get shot in the torso, and the laptop man immediately went to go and grab any weapon. He now wanted to kill Arcades and anyone else who may stand in his way. However, he stopped as he watched the Redhawk was now raised directly in front of his face. The Security Chief fired the revolver.
The bullet from the revolver impacted directly between the eyes of the ISG member, which killed him almost instantly. The man began to fall backwards, but he was still holding onto the trigger of his XMP-1. The result was that the camouflaged man caught a few more rounds in his torso than he initially had, and this equated to half a magazine’s worth of rounds to be exact. The Site Director was faced with the scorching hot gas from the handgun. This gas went right into his eyes, and this blinded him. Not only was he now blind, his face was also seared from the scorching heat of the gunpowder. The laptop man screamed in agony, and Arcades could only sit back and watch. The now dead ISG member fell backwards on the other helicopter door while blood from the human’s head began spilling all over his face. The camouflaged man had fallen outside of the other door. He was the second man to fall from the helicopter.
The laptop man heard the noise of the revolver dropping on the ground, but he could not tell where the revolver was. As a result, the Site Director, who was still in excruciating pain, was trying to locate the handgun. The man felt around for something that felt like a handle, so he stepped over the dead ISG member to find the weapon. While he was looking for the weapon, Arcades quietly reached over to grab the revolver. The laptop man did not forget that the fox was his target, “Fuck you! You damn fucking bitch ass fox! You’re the motherfucker behind all of this, you damn cunt! I swear on my fucking life, I’m going to kill you myself if it’s the last thing fucking I do!” Arcades did not shoot the man, but he watched as he blindly felt his way around the helicopter. At one point, the laptop man began grabbing the side of the closed door. He thought that he was reaching for the ISG member’s XMP-1, which was still aboard the helicopter. Arcades watched as the human was actually grasping the helicopter’s second door handle.
The laptop man tried to perk a smile through the pain, as he thought that he had found the XMP-1, so he pulled upwards in order to grab it. However, when the man did this, the door swung open. The dead weight of the ISG member began to fall backwards as he no longer had the door to prop himself up against. The Site Director lost his grip on the handle as the second door swung open, and he began to yell as he discovered that he was about to fall. As he tried to keep himself inside of the helicopter, The XMP-1 that was connected to the ISG member’s sling swept the Site Director off of his feet. The laptop man began to scream as he realized that he was falling out of the helicopter, “OH DAMMIT, OH FUCK, OH SHIT, OH DAMMIT! YOU FUCKING FOX! YOU MOTHERFUCKING SON OF A BITCH! FUCKING FOX!” The laptop man finally lost his footing, and he fell with the dead ISG member. Arcades watched as the blind man plummeted to his doom along with another man who had already met his doom. Arcades was still holding the Ruger Redhawk in his hand, and he looked at the gun for a brief moment before looking back at the door. He did not understand how humans could be so cruel.
“Holy shit! That’s the fourth one to fall. Two more of them just fell out of the helicopter.” Rattlesnake’s gunner spoke as he watched the last two humans fall. The Hind pilot then asked, “We don’t have anybody in that helicopter. What do you think happened there?” The pilot was able to see the gunner as he shook his head, “I dunno man. Whoever is in there though is a fucking legend. Nobody takes down four people in a helicopter by shoving them out.” Little did the crew of Rattlesnake realize that Arcades did not harm a single human inside of that helicopter. The gunner then asked, “Are we going to shoot that chopper down?” To which the pilot replied, “No. We should track its location though, and we should see where it goes. Maybe the guy who took them down is somehow important. That Italian cat anthro told us about someone that he wanted to find here.” The gunner shrugged, “Alright then. I’ll alert one of the Mi-18s to go and follow it.” The gunner began speaking over the radio.
Arcades looked at the pilot that was still flying the helicopter. The fox looked around the now empty crew space of the helicopter. Everyone who was in the helicopter with him was now dead, and the fox did not even harm any of them. Arcades looked at the blood that was on the floor, and he was careful as not to step on it. The fox closed one of the helicopter’s doors before checking to make sure that there were no more weapons inside of the helicopter. He looked back at the pilot, but he did not see to it that the pilot was armed. The fox opened the revolver’s cylinder, and he looked at the spent shell casings that were still in the cylinder. He could see the point on the center of the round where the hammer had hit the round. As Arcades inspected the weapon, he
heard the pilot speak, “Are you going to kill me?”
The fox looked at the human pilot and frowned. Arcades closed the weapon’s cylinder before opening it yet again. He recognized the Ruger Redhawk, as it was a revolver that he had used way back when he was a teenager. The fox emptied the weapon’s remaining ammunition into his hand before tossing the both the live and spent rounds outside of the helicopter. After the fox completed this, he sat the empty handgun on one of the seats before standing back up next to the pilot. Arcades looked at the pilot, who was wearing a navy blue flight suit, and he stepped over the center console unit. This uniform was very similar to the ISG members that Arcades witnessed when he infiltrated Facility Eleven. Arcades sat down in the second pilot seat before speaking to the pilot, “Buddy… The last thing I want to do is kill somebody. I hate it when people kill other people.”