by Tom Jones
The Prince wanted more information from Jim, “Why did they recruit you to be a pilot?” Jim looked at the Prince and answered the question, “I already said that one of the SOCOM guys found me after I got discharged from the Navy. I guess he felt that I was a good pilot or something. I don’t really have an answer for that.” The Prince asked another question, “Was he part of Alpha-Omega?” Jim shook his head, “No, but he was part of the regular ISG. He was actually in the helicopter with me when Kurt boarded it. Somehow, Kurt managed to clear the entire helicopter without hurting anybody himself.” The wolf looked at the fox with a look of astonishment before asking, “How did you do that, Kurt?” Arcades began to explain the events that took place the previous day, “I jumped on the helicopter as it was taking off. I was chasing those two guys that were in that one conference room at Omega when I infiltrated there the first time. I couldn’t let them get away with what they were responsible for.” The fox took a pause as he looked down at the deck. He again noticed that he was the only one that was still not wearing shoes. Jim had already noticed this fact about Arcades, and he never understood why some anthros would choose to be barefoot. However, Jim did not care enough about this detail to say anything about it.
The fox continued speaking, “When I got aboard the helicopter, the two of those ISG operatives tried to fight me, but they were killed by friendly fire.” Jason was confused, “Friendly fire? How did this happen?” Arcades attempted to explain the situation, “Those two guys really wanted me dead. So much so that they were willing to shoot through their own bodyguards to kill me.” The wolf was having a hard time believing the fox, so he decided to ask the human, “Is that how it went down?” Jim chuckled before speaking, “Heh, I know that foxes are seen as liars, but I figured that you’d at least believe the fox that you were so eager to see when he got back. Yes, of course he’s telling the truth.” Jason realized what was implied, so he turned to the fox, “Oh… I’m sorry Kurt.” Arcades didn’t seem to have taken offense, “Don’t worry about it Jason.” After the brief exchange, the Prince finally remembered the reason why Arcades left to begin with, “What about those anthros that were in the facility? Were any of them able to be liberated?” The cat answered the question, “CDI freed them after all of the Foundation bastards were killed. I have no idea what they plan on doing with them, but it’s probably miles better compared to what the Foundation was doin’ to them.” Jim shrugged, “Anything is better than Omega, man.” Arcades was the next to comment, “I just wish that I had some say in as to what happened to them. The bad thing is I wouldn’t even know what to do with them. How many did you say they kept there, Bobby?”
The cat remembered how many anthros Omega was holding captive before replying, “If I’m remembering this right, Omega had a grand total of three thousand eight hundred and five anthros locked up in that compound.” The Prince, Sean, and Jason all displayed looks of astonishment on their faces. The Prince commented on the sheer number of anthros, “Damn! Blimey, how much do those anthros even go for? Must be a bloody holiday for Omega!” Jim answered the question regarding the cost of an anthro, “It varies depending on the anthro’s race and willingness to serve. Anthros typically start at around five hundred thousand American dollars. However, at that price, you’d be getting a mixed race mutt that would be somewhat reluctant to do certain things.” The Prince was feeling rather curious, “What type of things, might I ask?” Jim decided to tell the truth, for he had nothing to fear now, “A $500,000 red-tier anthro would not typically be willing to do watersports, scat, or CBT. At that rate, they haven’t even been at the Foundation for very long at all. Though there were a few other things… Of course, many would just force them to do it. It’s really not that hard to get them to accept it after a little while, but you did ask me what the cheapest anthro you could get does.” The Prince looked puzzled, “Mate, what the fuck is CBT?”
Arcades stepped back and watched, for he already knew what the acronym stood for. The fox wanted to do something to intervene, but he felt that sometimes the truth was a dish best served cold. Jim spoke, “It stands for cock and ball torture.” The Prince winced, “The fuck? What the bloody hell are they selling those anthros for exactly?” Jim was quick to answer the question, “Sex slavery. Not sure if you knew this or not, but the financial elite of the world have recently been paying top dollar for some anthros. And I’m not just talking about the United States either, I’m talking international.” Arcades had a question for the pilot, “Is there a specific nation that you’ve seen a recent increase in purchases?” Jim raised an eyebrow for a moment while he thought. Suddenly, he remembered something important, “Yes, I do actually. Somebody in the Democratic Republic of Congo bought a few anthros somewhat recently.” Arcades raised both of his eyebrows, “Dang. That’s all the way in Africa! Something’s gotta be up over there. Right?” The wolf looked at the black and white fox, “What do you mean, Kurt?” The fox replied, “Think about it. Sub-Saharan African countries have been in pretty bad shape recently. Many of their nations have been plagued by war, power hungry leaders, and poor economic policies. This leaves many people in poverty with no easy way out. The result is only more problems that add-on to the problems that the nations are already experiencing. It’s really not a good place to be in. It’s even worse if you’re an anthro.”
The Prince sarcastically spoke in response to Arcades’ words, “Kurt, your speech was very inspiring. I think you could win the Nobel Prize.” The fox recognized the human’s sarcasm, but he did not comment on it. Rather, the fox switched back to the original topic, “Think about it. With how secretive Omega is, they’re willing to trust somebody all the way over in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Somebody over there must know something very important. Otherwise, why would Omega trust them?” Jim spoke up when the fox finished, “Kurt’s right. It’s next to impossible to contact Omega yourself. Somebody from the inside has to be the one to make first contact. They pick potential clients very carefully, and they work day and night to make sure that no information leaks to the internet. What Kurt did was blast them wide open.” The Prince scratched his neck, “Are you guys gonna go to Africa, then? Are you going to try and hunt down this mysterious Omega buyer?” Arcades looked to Jason, Bocchino, and Jim. All three of them stood blankly, and none of them seemed to want to respond. After Arcades saw that his crew did not appear to want to partake in the mission, the fox started to speak, “Uh… Guys? I mean --” The Prince smirked and dismissed the idea before Arcades could say anything else, “Well, I wish you lads the best of luck. Though feel free to let it go down in history that the Principality of Sealand was responsible for the downfall of the world’s most dangerous secret society. That’ll tell the United Nations to recognize this nation as an actual country and not a micronation.”
Jim thought of something when the Prince finished speaking, “Right. Speaking of dangerous, since Omega as of now probably doesn’t know that Kurt was behind the leaks, they’re probably going to think that CDI was the group that leaked the information. CDI raided Facility Five, and now Omega is likely going to go about bringing CDI down.” Arcades asked Jim a question, “Jim, how are they going to bring CDI down? They’re the largest international PMC in the world.” The pilot answered the fox, “Well, Omega is also a very large secret society. I’m not quite sure you know how many resources Omega has. Hell, I don’t even know half of it for myself since they won’t let me see it. Omega doesn’t even trust the people that do their bidding. Even somebody like me, I’m somebody who takes some of their best men to where they need to go.” Arcades frowned, for he knew that CDI would face trouble by Omega. He was beginning to wonder if Omega would go about recapturing all of the anthros liberated by CDI as a result of the raid. Once again, the fox knew that he was in a race against time.
The fox remembered one last thing that he wanted to ask Jim for now, “Jim, do you know what races of anthros were sold to Congo?” The Prince’s face grimaced, “Wait, why would
that be important?” Jim replied, “I mentioned earlier that certain races sell for more. It’s a valid question. Now let me remember…” After Jim had his moment of thought, he continued, “That’s right. Somebody purchased two red foxes. A male and a female. Some of the most expensive that Omega has at Facility Five even if they’re low on the training scale.” The Prince had another question to ask, “Hold on mate. Why are foxes expensive?” Jim replied, “Something that Omega believes. They see that purebred red foxes are the most expensive. Something that they’ve come up with during their research.” The Prince winced again, “I’m not even going to bother to ask what type of research they’ve been doing. From what I’ve heard already, I think I’ve heard plenty about the Foundation.” Arcades remembered the two anthros that he found on the train, “Jim, how were they transported?” The human replied, “Remember the two anthros that I flew out from Facility Eleven? That’s how Omega transports their cargo. Except they were foxes, so some extra restraints were probably added.” Arcades knew what Jim was referring to, for he remembered how the foxes were restrained when he liberated a few of them in Berlin. The pilot looked the fox over, “Kurt, you’re damn lucky that they didn’t capture you. If they did… Phew, you would have been fucked. Literally and metaphorically. They give foxes some of the most intense ‘training’ as they like to call it.” The Prince commented, “Training? Is that what you bastards call intense rape?” The pilot chuckled, “Yeah, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. That video Kurt got showed the lower level training.” The Prince’s eyes lit up.
“I think that’s enough for now. We have time later to talk about all of this,” Arcades spoke while trying to diffuse the situation. The fox knew that he had a lot of work in front of him if he wanted to overthrow the Foundation, and he knew that it would be even harder given the current amount of manpower and resources that he had available to him. Arcades mentally took inventory of what he had available to him as of present. The fox had one HH-60 Pave Hawk, one MH-60X Stealth Hawk, a small collection of firearms, tactical gear, and three men that were coming with him. He was not sure if it was enough to stop Omega’s contact in Congo, but he knew that he would be the only one that would ever attempt to find out. Arcades needed to get his men on board with his idea first before he would be able to do anything. Arcades knew that CDI would not be available for support this time because he believed they would soon meet their demise at the hands of the Omega Foundation. Arcades would have to use all of his resources, though he had next to nothing compared to CDI or to the Omega Foundation, at his disposal.
“Well, if you lads are ready to get inside, then you’re more than welcome to. I trust it that the blokes you lads called will hopefully show up tomorrow to fill up your helicopter?” The cat nodded, “That’s right. Kurt told me they should be here tomorrow around the middle of the day.” The Prince nodded as Sean, Jim, and Bocchino began to walk off. The Prince looked at Arcades, “Why don’t you get some rest. You’ve accomplished your mission. You deserve a good rest.” Arcades looked downwards and shook his head, “I wouldn’t say I deserve anything.” The Prince displayed visible confusion and raised his hand to the fox’s shoulder, “Ah, what are you talking about? You’ve accomplished this great mission. If it wasn’t for you, then those anthros would still be awaiting the worst of the Omega Foundation.” The fox brushed the human’s hand off of his shoulder as he looked straight up at him, “I’m still just a fallen being. The only thing we deserve is hell for our sins.”
The Prince’s eyes lit up again, “Shit.. That took a dark turn there, mate. You know what, I’ll let you figure this out with your wolf friend here. You can come in when you’re ready.” The Prince left Arcades and Jason remaining on Sealand’s main deck as he traveled inside of the platform’s main building. Jason looked at the fox, “Come on Kurt. You’ve done all of these good things.” The fox shook his head, “The heart of every man is exceedingly wicked. Anthros are no exception. Good works cannot earn someone everlasting life. That would be like bribing God.” The wolf rubbed the fox’s shoulders to comfort him, “Kurt, good works aren’t bad to God, are they?” The fox frowned, “No, they’re not… I just don’t really like hearing that I deserve something when I know that we all deserve death without Jesus.” Jason spoke to the fox again, “But you have Jesus.” Arcades slowly nodded, “Yeah…” The wolf began lightly pushing Arcades’ back to make him walk, “Come on. Let’s just get inside, mate.” Arcades remained silent as he walked with Jason to Sealand’s main building.
When Arcades and Jason entered Sealand’s main building, they descended down the stairs in order to return to the room that they stayed in when they first arrived. Once the two anthros reached the room they stayed in, Arcades looked at all of his equipment that was still where he left it. The fox said, “Ah, that’s good. Looks like all of my stuff is still here.” Jason did not touch Arcades’ equipment while the fox was gone. The wolf had a question to ask Arcades, “What did you bring when you went over there Kurt?” Arcades soon replied as he moved to a spot where he would be able to empty his pockets, “Not much, but I did pick up a few things while I was out there.” Arcades reached into his right pocket of his black tactical shorts, and he pulled out the empty Ruger Redhawk that he had taken before Facility Five’s Site Director would have been able to kill him with. Jason looked at the 4 inch stainless steel handgun that the fox was holding, “Crikey, mate. Where did that come from?” Arcades sat the revolver on the table, and he opened the cylinder to show the wolf that the handgun was unloaded. The fox said, “Those two guys in that video I took tried to use this to kill me. Luckily, I grabbed it before they were able to do that. However, at that point they already killed two of their own men.” The wolf replied, “Damn… Why’d you keep it?” Arcades looked at the handgun that was on the table, “I didn’t know what else to do with it. CDI let me keep it when they flew us back here. Also because this gun looks eerily familiar to me. I believe that I’ve used this same model when I was just a young fox.”
“That’s interesting mate,” Jason commented, and he then decided to continue speaking, “What did you bring there originally?” Arcades opened his right thigh pocket, and he pulled out his necessary travel documents along with an Omega Foundation Level 5 keycard. After Arcades placed the items on the table next to the handgun, Jason commented, “I guess that seems about right. You had the keycard to open the doors in there, right?” The fox nodded, “That’s correct. I had to bring my travel documents because I took a civilian flight there.” The wolf remembered one thing about Arcades, “Where’s your keyring? You brought that didn’t you?” Arcades knew what Jason was talking about, so he opened his left back pocket. The fox pulled out a collection of keys that were held on a carabiner. “Heh, you never leave here without that, do you?” Jason remarked. Arcades sat the keys on the counter with the rest of his items, “That’s right. You know, I was actually expecting to use this when I went back there; However, I didn’t even need to use it.” The wolf nodded, “I suppose that’s a good thing…” Jason paused as he noticed that Arcades seemed to have another item in his left pocket, “What’s that in your left pocket, mate?” Arcades opened the velcro tab on his left thigh pocket, and he pulled out a pair of ASP Ultra Hinged Handcuffs. Noticing the pair of restraints, Jason commented, “Kurt, I thought you said that you don’t bring those on missions.” Arcades replied, “I don’t. Bobby gave these to me.” Jason was confused, “Why did Bobby give those to you?” The fox answered the question, “He said it was because he was sorry for the way he left us before I went back to Facility Five. I guess he knows I like to collect these.” Jason asked Arcades another question, “How did he figure that out? You don’t really tell anybody that you collect those.”
The fox shrugged and took a deep breath as he prepared to reply to the wolf, “He told me that he can hear me using these when he walked by my room sometimes.” Jason remembered what Arcades told him previously, “I thought you only try those on during weekends when
nobody’s around.” The fox nodded, “Oh, I do. Bobby sometimes keeps his stuff with me since some of it he’s not legally allowed to technically possess, and he would come and get it when he needs something. He wouldn’t really tell me ahead of time, so he’d just show up almost at random. I think he saw me wearing a pair of leg shackles one time when he came to get something.” The wolf chuckled, “Hah, you think? What do you mean by that?” Arcades tried to clear some ambiguity, “Some weekends, I wear restraints for hours. I'm pretty used to it, so I don’t really notice that I’ve got them on.” Jason watched as the fox cycled the action of the restraints before he placed them on the table next to his keyring and his handgun which he procured on-site. The wolf decided to ask Arcades a question, “Kurt, would you be willing to let me put you in those again?” Arcades looked up at the wolf when he heard the question, “I did say that I would let you do it again... However, you just need to promise me one thing. I think you know what that is already. I really don’t want to keep reminding myself about it.” The wolf frowned as he did know what Arcades was mentioning, “Kurt… I promise you that won’t happen ever again. I’m sorry you had to see that.” Arcades replied to the wolf, “I already forgave you for that. I hope you already sought forgiveness from God for that as well.” The wolf nodded, “Yes, I have done that already.” The fox displayed a smile on his face, “That’s good. In that case, you can restrain me however you like.”
The wolf smiled after hearing the fox’s last sentence. Jason turned and saw Arcades bag that held his collection of restraints sitting next to his Salient Arms International Tier 1 GRY AR-15. The wolf walked over to the bag and unzipped it. Jason looked at the fox’s large collection of modern tactical restraints. The wolf dug through the restraints, but Arcades had something to say first, “Hey before we start with that, I should probably change. I’ve been wearing this for at least a full 24 hours.” Jason stepped away from the bag when he heard the fox. Arcades noticed this, so he said, “No, you can keep looking through the bag. I just need to change real quick.” The wolf stepped back in front of the bag, and he crouched down as he searched through the bag’s contents. Arcades moved to another one of his bags, and he grabbed a black Under Armour polo shirt and a pair of olive drab Tru-Spec shorts. He started by removing his black t-shirt which had Multicam Black sleeves. He tossed the shirt aside, and he also dropped his black tactical shorts after he took the belt off. Now only wearing his underwear, Arcades grabbed the olive drab shorts he took from his other bag, and he began pulling them to his waist. Jason had looked at the fox in his underwear, but he looked away after he remembered the promise he made to the fox.