by Tom Jones
Arcades heard the noise of the collapse and felt the building shake as he prepared to swipe his keycard at another door, “Woah! Dang!” Jason held onto the wall as the building continued to shake, and he heard a faint explosion. Bocchino looked around at the MJ12 anthros, and they began simultaneously moving towards the direction of the disturbance after a few moments of them remaining idle. The cat commented on what he witnessed, “The fuck? All of those fuckers just went that way at the same time!” Arcades watched as the remaining anthros in the room proceeded to the nearest door which would take them closer to the location of the disturbance, “Wow… They weren’t doing that before.” Jason also commented on the anthros since they seemed to be urgently rushing towards the location of the crash, “Bloody hell, they’re not wasting any time!” Bocchino raised his ARX-160 at the last remaining anthro, and he considered firing. However, the cat lowered his rifle since he knew that shooting the anthro would make the fox unhappy. The cat turned to Arcades instead, “Kurt, do you even know where we’re going?” Arcades shook his head, “Nope, I’m just seeing what we can find in here. There’s gotta be something at least. This place is pretty big, and we haven’t explored too much of it yet.” The door opened after Arcades swiped his cloned keycard, and the three remaining anthros entered the next area.
The Dreadnought started driving again, and it was a very slow target for the pilots to hit. A missile fired by one of the F-35Cs impacted the rear of the vehicle, and the reactive armor in the area was now effectively depleted. The CIWS fired at the F-35C when it passed over, and the wings and fuselage were heavily struck by the incoming gunfire. The pilot heard warning alarms sound in the cockpit, and he suddenly found his aircraft losing altitude, “This is Door 1, my aircraft’s been disabled.” The pilot looked in his mirror, and he could see that he had gained some ground on the Dreadnought, so he decided that he would attempt an emergency landing on the rocky ground. The pilot flipped a switch to deploy the landing flaps, but they were too damaged to deploy. He also tried to deploy the landing gear as well, but only the rear gear deployed since the front gear was also too damaged. With only two out of three wheels to work with combined with the rough terrain, the pilot knew that he would have higher chances of survival by ejecting. After the pilot flew outside of the range he could foresee the CIWS firing upon him, he pulled the ejection handle after announcing, “Door 1 ejecting.” The canopy blew open, and the pilot was shot directly out of the aircraft. The parachute soon deployed, but the pilot was not facing the direction of the Dreadnought. Using basic parachute controls which were available, the pilot was able to spin himself around to view the carnage from afar.
The roof of the facility was on fire, and the Dreadnought was also still on fire in multiple areas. Some of the fires were caused by the Lightning II crash, but the other fires were started due to successful AGM attacks by the CDI aircraft. CIWS rounds flew through the air as the Dreadnought tried to attack the remaining jets, but it was still taking damage from the coordinated airstrikes. Another salvo of missiles flew through the air fired from the launcher behind the laser, and the parachuting pilot watched as a few of the Super Hornets deployed flares to avoid the incoming heat-seeking missiles. The targeted aircraft successfully evaded the incoming missiles, and they transitioned back into their intended attack pattern once their countermeasures and evasive actions proved successful. One of the F/A-18Fs actually fired an air-to-air missile at the Dreadnought. It was not guided like the other missiles were, but it did impact one of the vehicle’s treads. The tread section exploded, and the Dreadnought’s mobility was negatively impacted by the result. The XVP-1 became slower than it was before, but it was ultimately still able to drive even though it was missing a tread section.
The ejected pilot landed on the ground, and he held the PTT button on his radio once he detached himself from the parachute, “This is Door 1, I’ve landed safely about two klicks from the target area. Over.” The EW&C operator replied to the pilot, “Affirmative Door 1. Remain where you are, and we will pick you up when it is safe to do so.” The operator changed channels, and he spoke to the remaining ten aircraft, “To all remaining aircraft, the transport helicopters are coming in momentarily. Defend them at all costs as they deploy personnel. Over.” Several pilots acknowledged the operator, but the others were busy trying to attack the Dreadnought. The NH90s were told to enter the combat zone from an angle which the XVP-1 would have a difficult time firing upon them. Using Facility Zero itself as cover, the NH90s would not be able to be shot by the CIWS. They would also not be able to be hit by the laser even if it was still operable.
The pilot of one of the NH90s addressed the sixteen CDI members waiting to deploy, “You guys are gonna need to jump fast. The AO is hot, and we cannot stick around for more than ten seconds. If you guys can’t jump in that time, we’re pulling out regardless if you are on the ground or not.” The troops did not verbally acknowledge the pilot, but they did hold their weapons in their hands as they saw the ground approaching. The pilots of the jets, on the other hand, saw the NH90s approaching, “Here comes the heliborne assault. This is Roof 1, draw the attention of that thing away from the transports.” The Super Hornets proceeded to flank the Dreadnought until they were at a position so that the XVP-1 would have to shoot at them before targeting the transports. High explosive CIWS fire flew through the air and was able to strike the starboard side of one of the Super Hornets. The wing blew off, and the starboard vertical stabilizer was also struck by the high explosive rounds. The aircraft produced smoke from the affected areas, and it immediately inverted before spiraling out of control. The pilot and the navigator both ejected from the aircraft after only briefly announcing their need to eject, “Roof 4 is hit! Ejecting!” Both pilot and navigator unfortunately ejected when the aircraft was facing downwards, so the ejector seat thrusted them directly to the ground. The pilot and navigator were both killed as they impacted the rough terrain while traveling at a considerable velocity. The downed Super Hornet flew past the Dreadnought, and it collided with Facility Zero at its western wall. The aircraft barreled into the building and ignited.
“Crikey, there’s another one!” Jason shouted; he felt the building shake as the second vehicle made contact with the facility. Arcades knew that they could not leave the facility yet, “We have to ignore it. We still need to find out who’s running this madhouse.” Bocchino held onto the wall as the building shook again, “Dammit, we’re gonna fucking die out here.” Arcades shook his head as he began walking faster than he was moving before, “Not yet!” Jason picked up his own pace as he tried to keep up with the fox, and Bocchino began to kick his pace up a notch as well. The wolf found that keeping up with Arcades was not too easy since he was carrying far more weight than the fox was. Bocchino removed his weapon’s magazine, and he realized that he had not replaced it since he used it. The cat placed the empty magazine in his dump pouch before picking up another STANAG from his pouch and inserting it into his rifle. The cat pulled the charging handle back to chamber a round, but a round ejected from the weapon since he still had a round in the chamber in the first place.
“Move, move, move!” The NH90 pilot shouted as the door of the helicopter opened. The sixteen CDI operatives quickly leaped from the helicopter and scrambled to their feet as they ran towards the building for cover. Though they did not have visual contact on the Dreadnought, they were still concerned that the XVP-1 could potentially carry some sort of armament to attack the helicopters from where it was currently located. One of the CDI members shouted as he saw missiles in the air, “Woah! Get the fuck out of the way!” The remaining CDI members disembarked from the helicopter, and they all sprinted away from their landing zone. The missiles, fired vertically, spun downwards and flew directly to the NH90s. All sixty-four CDI members were on the ground, but only three of the helicopters worked on exiting the landing zone. A few of the pilots saw the missiles incoming, and they deployed chaff and flares to hopefully avoid the missiles, but the
missiles did not steer themselves to hit the flares instead. The missiles impacted all four helicopters, and they exploded before dropping a mere one hundred meters to hit the ground. The four helicopters created a violent explosion as they crashed, and the fireball flew relatively high. The urgency was motivation enough for the troop of CDI members to get moving.
The EW&C operator noticed all four helicopters disappeared from radar, “Cabinet 1, what is your status? Over.” With no response, the operator spoke again, but he tried to speak with the other flights, “Cabinet 2? Cabinet 3, do you copy? What is your status? Over.” The operator heard a transmission, but it did not come from his intended recipients, “Control, this is Vent 1, the vehicle is capable of firing VLS. It shot down the transport helicopters. Please advise. Over.” The EW&C operator grumbled to himself before speaking over the radio again, “Dammit! Shit… Did the attack team deploy successfully? Over.” Vent 1 looked out of his cockpit as he made visual contact with the CDI operatives on the ground preparing to use an explosive charge to enter Facility Zero, “Affirmative. I can see them from here. I can’t tell if all of them made it though. It’s hard to count all of them from -- Ah, shit!” The pilot’s response was cut short as he heard the aircraft’s missile warning sound. The pilot pulled the stick towards himself and deployed chaff and flares to hopefully throw off the missile, but it was a radar-guided missile and not a heat-seeking missile. The Rafale M was struck directly in the center of its fuselage, and the explosion tore apart the plane into two pieces. The pilot tried to eject right when the missile struck, but only the canopy successfully blew. The pilot was unable to exit the aircraft since the ejection system was destroyed by the explosion. The cockpit of the aircraft collided with the building itself, and the engines collided with the Dreadnought. The Dreadnought was stuck in the fourth compartment, and this was the location where the reactive armor was worn out. The Rafale M’s remains combusted due to the fuel catching fire, and the Dreadnought caught fire as well since fuel doused the vehicle. CDI now only had half of the jets they deployed.
“Breaching!” One of the CDI members shouted as he detonated a plastic explosive charge placed on the wall of Facility Zero. The charge exploded, and the hallway was now visible. Sixteen of the sixty-four members entered the hole in the wall while the other operatives proceeded further down the wall so they would be able to enter at a different spot. It did not take long for the MJ12 anthros to encounter the humans entering Facility Zero. As soon as the anthros recognized the attackers as humans, they began firing upon the CDI members. Two CDI operatives were struck in the initial gunfire, but the men who had already entered the facility fired back and struck the anthros who fired upon them. One of the anthros was seriously wounded, but it still stood up and continued to fire at the CDI assaulters. The CDI member rushed the anthro and knocked it on the side of its head. The anthro fell to the ground and its blood splattered on the floor. The human grabbed the ACR hanging off of his sling, and he shot the anthro on the back of its head. Blood shot out from the anthro and went as far as a few meters from where it was shot. The CDI member peeked out from one of the corners, and he could see that more MJ12 anthros were incoming. All of the anthros were wearing the same latex suits and gas masks, so the humans were unable to identify what race they were part of. The human called out to his colleagues for support, “They’re sending reinforcements! Get over here now!”
The MJ12 anthros raised their XMP-1s and began firing at the humans before they were able to fire back. Some 5.56x45mm rounds broke through the walls, but they lost most of their power since the walls were relatively thick. A CDI member wielding an RPK-16 stuck his weapon around the wall and pulled the trigger. The MJ12 anthros, struck by the hail of gunfire, quickly collapsed due to their injuries. The gunner peeked his body out from the corner, and he held the RPK-16 up to his shoulder as he took a couple steps forwards. Seeing that their comrade was not killed upon exiting cover, several other CDI members emerged from their position as well and looked around for remaining hostile anthros. The CDI operatives broke off into groups due to the fact that the hallways were relatively narrow. They did not want to get bunched up and taken out by a single attack. The humans continued the assault on the facility, and a few MJ12 anthros would emerge from several locations. Most of them were dispatched quickly by the CDI assault team, but a few of the humans were killed by the anthros defending the facility. The CDI assault team would not stop to render aid to their own fallen; they prioritized their objective to capture the facility.
“That’s gunfire!” Jason exclaimed. Arcades nodded, “Yes, that means we should probably stay away from the conflict. I bet that’s CDI. They probably made it inside this place by now, so that means we have to hurry up. The guy running this show is probably looking at leaving soon.” Arcades approached a door, but this one looked different from the other doors. The door was a darker gray rather than a lighter shade. The fox scanned his keycard, and the door opened. The fox saw a human in the next room, and the human pointed towards the intruders, “Shoot them!” The MJ12 anthros in the room raised their XMP-1s to open fire, but Arcades heard the human shout. The fox withdrew himself from the doorway, but Bocchino did not exit the doorway in time. The cat was struck three times in his AVS, but the NIJ Level IV trauma plate carried in the vest took the rounds. Bocchino fell backwards and held down the trigger of his ARX-160 as he collapsed. The rounds impacted the ceiling as well as the walls, but they did not hit the attacking anthros. Jason stood his ground and fired his HK433 at the MJ12 anthros in the room, but he had to move out of the doorway to prevent himself from being hit.
“Agh! Motherfucker! Shit! Dammit! Fuck! Cunt! Bitch! Asshole! Whore!” Bocchino shouted everything he could think of as Arcades dragged him by his shoulders out of the doorway. The fox stopped once he moved Bocchino far enough from the killzone, and he looked back up at Jason. The wolf had managed to successfully eliminate the anthros attacking them from inside of the room. Arcades looked at the wolf and gave an order, “Jason. Stay here with Bobby. I’m going in there myself.” Jason was concerned for the fox, “Kurt! Wait!” The fox did not wait, and he rushed into the doorway and ran straight to Zero. Zero saw the fox coming, and he quickly grabbed a Magnum Research Desert Eagle from his desk and fired at the fox. Arcades took notice of the oversized handgun, and he sidestepped to avoid the incoming fire. Zero fired three rounds at the fox, but all three rounds missed. Jason wanted to fire at Zero, but he hesitated because he was worried that he might accidentally shoot Arcades instead. As Zero moved backwards, he grabbed a shelf and pulled it downwards to impede the fox’s progress. Arcades saw the collapsing shelf, so he jumped forwards and dived to avoid the falling shelf. The fox landed right in front of Zero, and the human went to pull the trigger again, but to his surprise, a shell casing had failed to fully eject from the handgun. Arcades looked up at the human pointing the jammed pistol at him, and he quickly rolled to the side to avoid an attack. The human racked the slide to clear the weapon, but he accidentally pulled the trigger too early. The newly fired round flew right past the fox’s face and impacted the wall. Though Arcades was disoriented by the gunshot, the loudness of the .50 AE round also deafened Zero, and this auditory disturbance disoriented him as he tried to make his escape. Though the fox did wear electronic earplugs, the loudness and concussion of the handgun still disoriented him, and he could hear his ears ringing as the handgun was fired yet again. Luckily for Arcades, the round impacted the floor and ricocheted away from him.
Zero placed his hand on the RFID scanner, and a door opened behind him. The human rushed past the fox with three rounds left in the Desert Eagle, and the fox quickly shuffled to his feet and ran into the doorway before the door could close. Arcades adjusted his boonie hat which had shifted to the side of his head, and he also quickly racked the charging handle of his Salient GRY to chamber a round. The fox considered that he might actually have to use his rifle. He knew that it would not be a sin to kill Zero because the human wa
s already trying to kill him, but he still did not want to take anybody’s life at all. The fox disabled the safety of the rifle, and he set the rifle to fully-automatic. Arcades rushed forwards while forgetting to turn on his EOTech reticle, and he turned a corner to see Zero sprinting away from him with a Desert Eagle in his hand. The fox stopped at the corner, and he quickly raised his rifle and pulled the trigger without the use of his weapon’s sights. Two rounds impacted around the human, and Arcades realized that his reticle was indeed disabled. With his gloved hands still shaking with adrenaline, the fox pressed the up-arrow button on his reticle to enable the holographic sight.
Zero turned the next corner, and Arcades now began running with one hand on his rifle hoping that he would still be able to catch the human. The fox did not even realize that he had just attempted to shoot Zero since the adrenaline was still flowing through his blood. Arcades followed the human and was now starting to catch up, but Zero leaped the railing once he was able to find a place to jump from. Arcades briefly took in the environment. The environment was darker than the previous rooms he was in, and there were many tubes around which seemed to hold anthros of varying ages. The anthros were floating in some kind of liquid, but Arcades did not stop to think about what the tubes may be used for since he still knew that he had to stop this human. Zero ran past many of the tubes, and Arcades jumped the railing as well. When the fox landed on the ground, the human stopped and fired one of his three remaining rounds at the fox. Arcades saw the human look at him with the handgun, so he jumped forwards to avoid the round. The bullet impacted the wall behind the fox, and Arcades looked at the human with his reticle and pulled the trigger. Zero backed up and sidestepped, and the fox’s rounds impacted a couple of the tubes. The glass shattered, and liquid poured all over the ground. An anthro fell out of the tube, and it struggled to breath with smaller tubes still in its mouth and nose. Zero was splashed with the liquid, and he was unable to aim for the fox to take a second shot since he could not see with liquid in his eyes. The human quickly wiped his eyes and began running again. Arcades gave chase, and he leaped over the anthro which fell out of the tube as well as the liquid on the floor. The fox held his weapon upwards with the Magpul stock pressed up against his shoulder and kept running. Zero had two rounds left in his handgun, so he decided that it would be best for him to lead the fox into a trap. The human ran towards the center of the large room while Arcades gave chase. Every now and then, Arcades shot at Zero, but all of his rounds either missed completely or struck the glass tubes and released another anthro.