by Tom Jones
Kitchi, Koh-Koh, and Kohei were now in front of the outer wall of the facility. The facility’s wall was colored half sky blue and half gray. Several United Nations flags were flying above the facility, but the three cats did not currently see any patrol units that they were at risk of alerting. Koh-Koh knelt down, and he removed his tan backpack. The cat unzipped one the zippers, and he removed a plastic demolition charge from his pack. The charge even had a detonator directly wired to the plastic explosive. The cat removed the covers from the adhesive points on the charge, and he affixed the charge itself on the lower part of the wall while his two brothers watched. Once Koh-Koh successfully planted the charge, he signaled his brothers to move to a safe location whilst carrying the detonator to the charge. Kitchi and Kohei all maintained a high level of situational awareness in order to watch to make sure that nobody noticed them planting the explosive device.
Koh-Koh moved behind a medium sized boulder he figured would provide sufficient protection against the plastic explosive’s blast and associated shrapnel. Koh-Koh’s two brothers soon joined him behind the boulder, and the cats now prepared to detonate the explosives. Koh-Koh flipped the safety lever on the detonator, and he contacted Spectre with the radio, “Spectre, we’re in position, and the explosives are armed. Over.” Spectre answered the transmission, “Copy. I have a confirmed visual on multiple armed personnel within the compound. I’ll contact Arcades. Standby.” The cat switched her channel on her radio, and she contacted the fox, “Arcades, this is Spectre. We are in position, and we have explosives set to detonate when you are ready. Tell us when you’re ready to begin the assault. Over.” The fox heard the transmission as he saw the wall that his crew was approaching, “This is Arcades. We are approaching the wall. We will let you know when to detonate. Hold your fire until the assault begins. Out.”
The fox, wolf, and cat were now in front of the wall. Arcades noticed the wall’s color scheme, “Looks like they wanted to make this look as much like the United Nations as possible. I’d say it deters people from snooping around.” Jason pointed out a small gate towards one of the corners of the wall, “Mate, check that gate out over there. Looks like an entry point we can use.” Arcades looked towards the gate which Jason was diverting his attention to, “Alright, how about that? Let’s have a look. On me.” The trio made their way to the gate. After a brief moment of walking, the fireteam arrived at the gate, and Arcades inspected the locking mechanism. The fox noticed that the gate featured a familiar keycard slot, “I think this one uses the keycard I grabbed.” Bocchino was somewhat skeptical, “Are you sure that one will work? You grabbed it from Utah, and we’re in the Congo.” Arcades readied the keycard in his hand, “Well, there’s only one way to find out. I hope this card doesn’t trigger any alarms.”
Arcades inserted the keycard into the slot, and a small light changed from red to green. The fox pushed down on the gate’s handle, and the gate proceeded to open. Arcades held the door open to let his comrades enter first before moving inside himself. The rear courtyard seemed to be clear of guards, and there were no visible security measures presented in the rear courtyard either. Arcades spoke on the radio to the other team, “Spectre, this is Arcades. We have entered the courtyard. You are cleared to engage any targets at your own discretion. Over.” The female cat replied, “Affirmative, Arcades. This is Spectre. We’ll watch out for you. Do you want us to make our entry yet? Over.” Arcades made a suggestion while still standing still, “You can use your suppressed weapon to eliminate the guards in the courtyard. When you are discovered, detonate the explosives. Over.” Spectre sighted in one of the ISG members, “Affirmative, Kurt. This is Spectre. We will detonate upon alert. Out.”
Arcades heard the transmission, and he silenced his own radio since he took it that the cat would not speak to them within the foreseeable future, “When we hear an explosion, we can move inside the main building. If we can find an entrance before that happens, we’ll be able to slip in during the confusion.” Bocchino held up his XMP-1 with one hand, “I’ll make sure none of them get the drop on us.” Arcades nodded his head, “Sounds good. Come on, let’s get going. The sooner we get to an entrance, the easier it’ll be for us.” The trio began moving closer to the main building contained within the outer walls, and Arcades looked up and down the building while trying to locate an entrance that wasn’t likely to be heavily guarded. The fox was already surprised by the lack of armed personnel stationed around the exterior walls, but Arcades figured that not too many people would try to infiltrate a supposed United Nations facility in the Congo of all places.
Spectre had a clear shot of an ISG guard. The guards that Spectre could see were all wearing modern M81 woodland patterned combat uniforms, OD green load bearing equipment, and blue Enhanced Combat Helmets with white ‘UN’ lettering printed on the sides. Spectre also noticed that the guards were wielding a peculiar weapon which she was not familiar with. Though the cat did not know about the XMP-1, Spectre did remember that Bocchino carried a weapon which appeared identical to the rifle the ISG carried. The female cat made sure that her rifle’s bipod was stable on the ground, and she used her left hand to hold the stock firmly on her right shoulder to prevent the rifle from rocking too much. While trying to keep her rifle steadily trained on the guard she was looking to fire at, she looked at foliage closer to the ISG operative in order to judge how strong the wind was blowing. She did not want to have her shots blown off-course by the wind, for this would risk the guards becoming alert to the sharpshooter’s presence.
Spectre placed her crosshair slightly above the guard’s blue helmet in order to compensate for the distance that she was away from her target. Since the light wind did not pose too much of an issue at the current distance, she placed one of the lower bars of her crosshair directly in the middle of her target’s head to compensate for the distance she was firing from. The cat’s scope was not zeroed to strike her target at the distance she was at. Though the guard was standing completely still, Spectre was still waiting to make sure that nobody was approaching the guard from either side. The cat disabled the weapon’s safety, and she placed her finger on the trigger. Spectre did not wear gloves, so she was able to feel the trigger and pull it in a more smooth manner. The cat slowed down her breathing, and she was now preparing to pull the trigger. After making sure that her weapon was as stable as it was going to be, Spectre took in a deep breath, and she let it out very slowly. After she let out her breath, she held what breath she had left as she applied pressure to the trigger. Spectre pulled the rifle’s trigger.
The bullet landed directly in the forehead of the ISG member. The bullet passed through the helmet, and it entered the head of the human. The round did not exit the ISG member’s head. Rather, the .338 lapua magnum round left significant deformation on the back of the Level IIIA rated helmet. The ISG member immediately collapsed to the ground with no idea of what hit him. Luckily for Spectre, she was far enough away from the ISG members so that they did not hear the sound of her suppressed rifle. The female cat cycled the rifle’s action, and she chambered another round into the rifle. Spectre then looked around the courtyard to locate her next target. Since her first target was standing alone, there were no witnesses that could see the first ISG member fall down, but she hoped that the noise generated by the bullet’s impact would not alert any personnel adjacent to her first target.
Spectre noticed another ISG member that was standing alone in the courtyard, and she took notice of how far away the man was standing relative to the distance that the scope currently held as its zero. Since this target was closer than the last, the cat did not aim as high as she did before. Spectre placed one of the bars closer to her crosshair directly on the man’s helmet this time, and she once again prepared to take the shot. She took in another deep breath, and she still used her left arm to stabilize the stock of the rifle on her shoulder. The cat began to slowly breathe out, and she held her breath once she was ready to take the shot. Spectre squeezed th
e trigger again, and she watched as another man collapsed from a .338 Lapua Magnum round to the head. Spectre chambered another round into the rifle, and she began the search for her next target.
“This looks like an entrance we can use,” Arcades spoke as he stood in front of a backdoor which appeared to lead into the facility. The fox removed his keycard from his pocket again, and he prepared to swipe it. However, Arcades was not sure if he was ready to enter the building or not. Since the building did not have any visible windows, the fox could not see if there was anybody standing in the general vicinity of the door that he wanted to open. Arcades knew that he would be able to enter the building if the explosives were detonated, but he did not know if he should enter before the assault started.
“Did you hear something? Sounded like an impact,” an ISG member spoke to one of the other members in the courtyard. The second ISG member spoke, “I heard it too. That was the second one actually…” The first member said, “I’m gonna go check it out. Maybe something fell from above?” The ISG member began ascending a small flight of steps before reaching a higher level on the courtyard. He immediately noticed a body on the ground and spoke over the radio, “This is Theta 2-7, we have a body in the courtyard! We are under attack!” Immediately, the ISG member hid himself, for he knew that there was a sniper somewhere that was able to shoot at men in the courtyard. Several more ISG members assumed an alert stance, and they all made haste to get out of the way of the sniper.
“They’re onto us. Detonate the explosives now,” Spectre said over the radio as she saw the ISG members retreat. Koh-Koh spoke to his brothers, “Here it comes. Watch out!” All three cats hid behind the boulder, and Koh-Koh pressed the button on the detonator. Immediately, the plastic demolition charge detonated, and there was now a clear hole that was blown in the wall. The three cats stood up, and they readied their weapons to fire at any human personnel within the walls. Since Kitchi used a submachine weapon, he was the first to approach the newly formed hole wall. Using the smoke caused by the explosion for visual cover from the ISG, all three cats moved inside the walls of the compound. Kitchi was the first to come in contact with an ISG member, and he held the trigger down to fire upon the guard. The guard lacked torso armor, so the 9mm rounds fired by the Milkor BXP easily tore through the flesh of the human.
Though Kitchi’s weapon was suppressed, it was audibly heard by all nearby ISG members. The three cats could hear several of them shouting, “Intruders attacking the facility! They’ve blown a hole in the wall, and they’re in the courtyard!” Kohei moved in front of Kitchi as the cat checked the remaining rounds in his weapon’s magazine. Kohei pushed forwards into the open, and he could see a few ISG members were running down the stairs. Kohei used this opportunity to fire on both ISG members with his Vektor R6. Though the humans wore plate carriers fitted with Level III+ plates, the sheer impact of the 5.56x45mm rounds was enough to make them fall over. Koh-Koh knew that the two men were still alive, so he used his Vektor Mini-SS Compact to place more rounds into the humans. The two ISG members screamed out in pain as they felt the bullets rip through the flesh in their arms and legs. One of the humans looked directly at the three cats, and he was only met with a round that landed directly in his face.
Arcades was the first to realize the sound that he heard was indeed the explosion he was waiting for. Upon hearing the initial blast, the fox swiped the keycard, and he barged his way in the facility. When Arcades entered the building, he could see several confused ISG members that were already scrambling to grab their weapons, “Woah! We’re compromised! Anthros breaking in!” Bocchino immediately rushed in, and he squeezed the trigger of his XMP-1 to dispatch the Omega operative that was within the room that they had entered. The Omega member took three rounds to the chest which knocked him down. Since the operative was not wearing a plate carrier, the three rounds fired by Bocchino was enough to fatally wound him. The human was left squirming around on the ground in pain from his fatal injuries. The cat rushed up to the dying human, “Die you motherfucker!” Bocchino squeezed the trigger once more, and he watched as the bullet tore through the human’s face. A small pool of blood soon formed on the ground, but blood from the headshot already smeared on the floor.
Arcades was dumbfounded from what he had just witnessed. The fox looked directly at Bocchino as the cat turned around to face Arcades and Jason. Arcades reviewed the last few seconds in his mind over and over again. Jason looked to the fox, and he noticed that Arcades was clearly showing the thousand yard stare on his face, “Kurt, come on!” Arcades was staring at the lifeless body that was now bleeding a sizable puddle on the floor. Arcades’ stare was broken by a hail of gunfire he heard directly above the floor he was standing on. The fox’s head immediately shot upwards at the ceiling, “Gunfire? How could they be here already?” Arcades knew that he should not waste anymore time, “We gotta go up there now!” Jason ran towards the stairwell, and he opened the door since it did not require a keycard to enter. All three anthros entered the stairwell, and they began proceeding upwards.
Kohei moved up the steps as he kept his rifle trained on what was higher than him. The cat was anticipating more humans emerging, but he was surprised to see that no more had emerged to fight him. Kohei was soon joined by his two brothers, and all three cats were now climbing up the steps to the main building. Spectre was also searching for more ISG personnel to fire at, but she did not see any emerge from the building. She assumed that reinforcements were all waiting for the three cats from inside the windowless building. The three cats now reached the top of the flight of steps, and they checked their flanks to make sure that there were no ISG members sneaking up on them. All three brothers were surprised to see that there were no other operatives present to confront them. After they were entirely sure that they had control of the courtyard, the three brothers stacked up at the front entrance to the building, and they now had to decide how to make an entry.
Jason was the first to reach the top of the stairs, and what he saw was shocking. Jason froze and watched in horror as several ISG members were executing collared anthros that were restrained. The wolf snapped out of his shock, and he immediately began to fire on the humans. The ISG quickly responded by returning fire of their own. Bocchino soon came to join the wolf, and he also used his own weapon to fire upon the ISG members. Several anthros in the room had not been killed yet. Some of them cowered in fear, while some of the others merely stood on their knees as if a gun battle was not being fought in front of them. Though some of the ISG members returned fire and fired back at Jason and Bocchino, the others continued to execute the remaining anthros which they held at the facility. Jason continued to fire his HK433 in full-auto, but he aimed too low, and he accidentally shot a few of the anthros that the ISG was trying to kill.
Arcades raised his GRY to his shoulder, but he couldn’t raise the barrel of his rifle upwards to aim at the ISG. The fox watched as Jason accidentally shot and killed several of the anthros that they were supposed to rescue. Arcades then looked to Bocchino, and he saw much of the same. Bocchino was the first to run out of ammo for his XMP-1, and he immediately sought cover to reload his rifle. As he dropped the magazine currently in his weapon, he heard a scream of an anthro followed by a gunshot. Bocchino remembered that the ISG was in the process of executing the remaining anthros. In his own rage, the cat dropped his XMP-1, and he drew his combat knife. Bocchino sprinted out into the open room, and he slashed the throat of one human with his knife. Another human turned around, and he was met with a knife that was quickly planted between his eyes. The cat twisted the knife before pulling it out, and he searched around for another target. Bocchino spotted an ISG member retreating while holding onto a restrained anthro to use as a shield. The cat held the handle of the knife, and he threw it at the ISG member.
The ISG member saw the knife coming, so he moved the anthro that he was holding in front of himself in order to block the incoming knife. The knife landed right in the chest of the captiv
e anthro, who then proceeded to yelp in pain. Bocchino, realizing what had just happened, scrambled to pick up another weapon from off the ground. The cat located an FNP-45 that was lying on the ground, and he immediately began shooting through the captured anthro to kill the human. Jason attempted to shout at Bocchino to make him stop, “Bobby! Hold your fire! You’re gonna kill that ---” The wolf’s words were cut short by the gunfire from the handgun. The anthro fell limp first, but Bocchino continued to shoot in hopes that he would kill the human holding the anthro.
After five more shots fired from the FNP-45 landed in the anthro shield, the handgun’s slide was locked to the rear. Bocchino looked at the weapon’s chamber, and he realized that the weapon was now out of ammunition. The cat threw the handgun at the human, but it fell short by several feet. Bocchino then sprinted towards the human, and he grabbed his own knife that was still lodged within the chest of the anthro which the ISG operative still held on to. The cat held the human up against the wall, and he began stabbing the human’s throat multiple times. The cat looked directly into the eyes of the human as he continued to stab the Omega operative. Blood continued to pour from the human’s gaping wounds, and this blood began to cover the cat’s gloves and shirt. Blood from the now deceased anthro also began to spill on the floor as well. Arcades pushed Bocchino aside, “Stop it!!” Both the anthro and human collapsed from their combined injuries once the human was unable to hold onto his meat shield any longer. Bocchino struggled in the grasp of Arcades, and he was easily able to push the skinny fox aside. Arcades shouted, “Bobby! Don’t do that!”
Without speaking further, Bocchino placed the well-bloodied Case XX bowie knife back into his sheath, and he went to grab one of the several XMP-1s lying on the ground. Upon picking up one of the rifles, Bocchino removed the magazine to make sure that there were rounds still in the rifle. Jason also dropped his empty magazine and placed another one inside the magwell before pulling the charging handle to chamber a round into the empty HK433. As Arcades’ ears began to stop ringing from the indoor gunfire, the fox began to hear some noises behind the door that the dead ISG member was lying in front of. Bocchino heard the noise as well, and the cat grabbed the door handle. Bocchino shoved the door open to make his way inside with his newly procured weapon at the ready. Jason followed next, and Arcades decided to enter and not to take a second look at the massacre which he just had to witness.