Vulpes Lupis - Escape From Paris
This story is part of my friend Yukigo Kurosaki's story series Vulpes Lupis, which is Latin roughly for Foxwolf. Yuki has mentioned that he's not very good at writing action, and compared to how well he writes yiff this is quite true. So I'm here to help lend him a hand.
http://www.sofurry.com/?pid=122531 - Link to Chapter 1
The story takes place in a dystopian future where humans are almost extinct, and the two surviving species, foxes and wolves, are engaged in a power struggle. You can read Yuki's stories to get the rest of the back story to the series, but in the meantime here's a brief summary of what's going on.
The UN is gone, and instead has been replaced with the Council of Sapiens, which acts as an international law maker. Each species had one councilman for every 1,000,000 members of their species. Humans are no longer on the COS, as their population dwindles at around 30,000. Foxes have about 2 billion, and wolves have about 3. The world recently just finished WWIII, and a super virus that effects only humans has nearly wiped out mankind. Taking advantage of their superior numbers on the council, several wolves who are members of a lupine supremacist group have started making laws to slowly eradicate the foxes.
In the last 20 years, foxes have been slowly killed off through forced birth control, genocide, and general enslavement. Foxes have been herded into massive ghettos controlled by armed police and para-military organizations. Thanks to their excellent propaganda measures, the wolves in the COS have managed to turn the wolves against the foxes, and racism is spread far and wide across the globe.
However, not all wolves share the same feelings as their leaders, and one wolf in particular is fighting back. Desmond Meyers, a former U.S. Army Captain has become the self-appointed leader of BRAGG, the Bi-Species Rebellion Acting in the Greater Good. BRAGG seeks to bring down the COS by uniting like minded wolves with foxes rescued from their ghetto encampments. Once strong enough, BRAGG will fight back with whatever it strength it can muster, but in the meantime its operations have been limited to small hit and run attacks and raids on supply bases.
Currently BRAGG only has about 300 members, with most of them at the organization's headquarters in New Orleans. A small group of BRAGG operatives have also arisen in Paris to keep an eye on things in Europe, as well as possibly find new recruits there. However, trouble has arisen as the group discovers that someone within BRAGG has sold them out, and the COS controlled Paris Police Department is sending everything they got to take down the BRAGG cell and its members. And so the story opens with our friends at BRAGG trying to make their escape to England via helicopter, only they have to "get to the choppa"first. ....okay I admit that was terrible, so I'll shut up now.
12:15 P.M. Paris, France - Vulpine Ghetto
Ben knew he was being tailed. He always knew. His former days in the Israeli Mossad had taught him much about the spy tradecraft, as well as give him a sort of sixth sense that let him know when he was being followed. And right now, the back of his neck felt cool, as if someone were gently blowing cold air on it. Checking the rear view mirror of his car, he noticed only a red sedan behind him with a woman on a cell phone in the driver's seat. That didn't do much to comfort him though, as he had seen a black BMW SUV following them on three separate occasions as he drove to his "terror" cell's safe house.
In reality, Benjamin Silverman was a member of BRAGG, the Bispecies Rebellion Acting in the Greater Good. He and his three compatriots had been assigned by General Desmond Meyers to oversee the possibility of setting up operations in Europe, due to the slightly laxer anti-vulpe laws, and the higher fox populations. France seemed like a good place to start, and so for the last month Ben and his team had been collecting guns, ammunition, explosives, body armor, and most importantly; soldiers. Over two dozen foxes, and surprisingly a total of ten wolves, had joined BRAGG. Most of them however had been shipped back to New Orleans to help Desmond's operations there. That left Ben with just two foxes, and two wolves. Three wolves, if you counted Ben.
"How we doing for time boss," said Clark Peters, the gray wolf sitting in the passenger seat next to Ben.
"We're ahead of them by ten minutes, maybe fifteen if they don't get their act together as quick as I anticipated," Ben replied.
Peters nodded, but said nothing else. He knew things were about to get very ugly. Just thirty minutes ago they'd gotten a call from the third wolf on their team, Gary Black-who was also their team's helicopter pilot-that the Council of Sapiens had learned of Ben's cell, and that a police SWAT team had been dispatched to shut it down. Ben knew that there had to be a traitor in their ranks who sold them out, but he had no idea whom it could be. He'd have to worry about that later. Right now, his focus was on getting to his cell's headquarters in the vulpine slums to rescue his two fox operatives, Michael Weston and Kane Girard.
Moments later Ben pulled up to the curb in front of a tall, brown brick tenement building. Quickly he and Clark stepped inside and raced upstairs to meet with their colleagues in a fourth floor apartment. Kane and Michael were both surprised as Ben and Clark burst into the room. Kane immediately knew something had to be up, as Ben rarely ever rushed except when danger lurked nearby.
"What's going on Ben? I didn't know you were coming over today," Kane said.
"We've been sold out, that's what!" Ben barked back while heading over to the small apartment's coat closet to open the secret stash of firearms the team kept hidden behind the wall paneling. "The COS knows about us and they're sending a SWAT team to secure us. From the looks of it they want us alive, but knowing those bastards they won't think twice about shooting a few of us first."
"They're sending a SWAT team?" Michael asked in disbelief.
"YES DAMN IT! Did you not hear a word I just said?" Ben asked angrily as he threw a large duffel bag onto the floor, along with several ammo boxes labeled 5.56x45 and 9x19.
"So what do we do?" asked Kane as he unzipped the duffel bag and pulled out the guns that were inside.
"First, Michael you need to wipe the hard drives on our computers. They list all our operations and if that info gets to the Council of Sapiens Meyer's is fucked," Ben ordered.
"That'll take at least twenty minutes!" Michael said as he pulled on his headfur, fear starting to overcome him. He was a computer hacker after all, not a soldier, and the thought of a gunfight was not appealing.
"Fuck! Okay we'll improvise then," Ben said. "Anyway, we're getting outta here. Gary says he can have a chopper waiting for us at the Hotel Lyon Marseille on the north side."
"The Marseille? That's in the heart of lupe territory," Kane observed, "It won't be easy to get me and Michael in there."
"Well it's the only place where Gary could park his helicopter," Ben replied. "Now shut up and load out, we're leaving in four minutes."
And so the group quickly went about arming themselves with the weapons they'd managed to procure from some friends in Germany. All four furs armed themselves with H&K USP handguns chambered for .40 S&W. Ben also made sure to pass around a single smoke grenade to everyone as well, in case they needed some quick visual cover. They also briefly stripped down to their underwear to don bullet resistant kneepads and armor vests. They then re-dressed, so that their armor was hidden under their clothes. Their kneepads did slightly bulge out, but it wouldn't be very noticeable in a crowd. Once they were armored up, they then each took their respective weapons.
Ben and Clark each had an H&K G-36C assault rifle, and ten magazines of 5.56x45mm ammo to go with them. Clark, being the squad's designated marksman, had also put a x4 telescopic ACOG scope on his rifle.
Michael, being the smallest of the group-standing just at 5'9"-was armed with a lighter but still deadly H&K MP-5K chambered for 9x19mm bullets, and had fifteen magazines to go with it.
Kane had the most unique weapon of the group though; a FN F2000 bullpup assault rifle with a x2 laser reflex sight and under barrel mounted 40mm grenade launcher. Being left handed, Kane had naturally picked the F2000 for its ambidextrous design and fairly light weight. With ten magazines of 5.56 ammo, and four 40mm grenades, Kane was armed with enough firepower to annihilate a SWAT team three times over. Still, none of the team wanted to enter a gunfight unless it was absolutely necessary to escape, as bullets have a funny way of shortening one's life expectancy.
"Alright we're good to go," Clark said as he slapped a clip into his G-36 and chambered a round.
"Good, everyone downstairs to the car now and..." Ben paused as he heard several wailing police sirens. Looking out the window from the apartment, he could see four police cruisers, along with an armored SWAT van pull up and begin setting up a road block in the street.
"Fuck," Kane cursed as he saw nearly two dozen heavily armored wolf police officers start to clear the streets of civilians. "We're dead if we try to get to your car. Quick, follow me out the back."
The others began to follow Kane, but Ben remained behind for a second to pull out one last item from the duffel bag; a trio of Molotov cocktails. Pulling out his BIC lighter, Ben lit the gasoline soaked rag on each one, and then threw one in each corner of the apartment. He then charged out down the hall after his comrades as the fire began to grow incredibly fast.
Meanwhile, Kane led them out the back into a large open courtyard filled with dumpsters and discarded furniture. He then led the group down an alleyway and onto the adjoining street, where they were quickly noticed by the dozens of pedestrians walking about. After all, four men armed with military grade rifles running from the sound of police sirens isn't something one sees every day. Several people backed away as Kane ran out into the street and stopped an approaching Range Rover SUV by pointing his F-2000 at it. The driver slammed on the brakes and stopped a mere three feet short from Kane's legs.
"What the hell is this!?" the angry wolf shouted as Kane ran over to the driver's side door and opened it.
"We're taking your car, mon ami," Kane said with a smile as he punched the wolf across the face and pulled the stunned man out of his seatbelt and into the street.
The wolf simply rubbed his aching jaw as he watched Kane slide over to the front passenger seat while Ben took the driver's seat, and Clark and Michael got in the back. Ben sped off, but at a careful enough rate so as to not hit any fleeing civilians. Several people had witnessed the carjacking and were now running away in panic. A few had also called the police, and the SWAT team one street over soon realized that the fire in the building they were searching was no accident. Quickly the officers returned to their vehicles and began heading to the stolen Range Rover's last known position.
A few minutes later Ben saw flashing blue lights in his rear-view mirror. He looked at the dashboard clock and saw that about six minutes had passed since stealing the car. Quickly he did a mental calculation to try and figure out how far he was from the Lyon Marseille. Suddenly a bullet shattered the car's back window, and so Ben shoved the math into the back of his mind as he swerved into the next lane, knocking a small hybrid car to the side with ease. Horns blared from all around as he slammed the gas pedal and laid on the horn, making the cars in front of him part like the Red Sea as he pushed north.
"They're still on us Ben!" Clark shouted as he looked out the back.
"Well bloody do something then!" he shouted back while dodging a Toyota sedan that actually stopped for a red light at an intersection.
Two police cruisers also ran the red light, and followed a mere fifty feet behind the Range Rover. One of the police officers was sitting on the edge of the passenger side window-so that his body was actually outside the car-and shouldered his MP-5N sub-machinegun. He switched the weapon to three-round burst, and began methodically spraying down the back of the SUV. Clark and Michael ducked as fifteen 9x19mm bullets ripped into the back hatch and seats, filling the air with shredded foam stuffing and upholstery. Clark folded the buttstock on his G-36 to make it easier to maneuver in the car, and then switched the selector to single shot. Just then Ben made a sharp right turn, and Clark was thrown against the left side door by the inertia.
"Damn it Ben, I can't shoot them if you're friggin' jerking us around back here!"
"Deal with it!" Ben angrily yelled back as he narrowly missed a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Clark turned back around and aimed out the rear window, the police cars coming into view as they rounded the corner and quickly caught up to the Range Rover. Sure enough that same cop with the MP-5 was sitting on the window sill, waiting for his partner to get him close enough to shoot out the tires. Clark looked down his ACOG scope and put the man's chest in the crosshair.
BLAM!
Clark flinched at the concussion from the rifle shot, and his right ear rung from being subjected to the 130 decibel blast. Looking down range he saw that his bullet had gone wide, and instead struck the officer's gun, shattering the plastic stock and knocking out of the wolf's paws. That didn't stop him from drawing his Sig P226 pistol though, and soon he was firing away at the SUV's tires. Clark quickly put three more bullets down range, this time managing to strike the officer who was knocked clean out of the window. His body hit the pavement hard, breaking his collar bone and right arm on impact, while also cracking several ribs which in turn punctured his lungs and heart. By the time his body had finished rolling he'd been dead for three seconds.
Suddenly Ben made a hard left, nearly rolling the top heavy Range Rover as he did so. Several other cars were knocked aside as Ben floored it and continued heading north. Clark in the meantime continued to fire at the two police cruisers, and ended up knocking both out when he hit the driver of the lead car, which sent it spinning out of control and into the second car. Clark lowered his rifle and let out a relieved sigh.
"The heat's off for now," he reported.
"Not quite," said Michael as he looked out the window, "We got a police chopper following us!"
Two hundred feet above the SUV, an AS350 police helicopter tailed them like a hawk. Michael watched it intently as the chopper lowered itself to 100 feet and started to line up directly behind the Range Rover. Then the left side passenger door on the chopper slid open and a SWAT officer leaned out...armed with an FN Minimi light machinegun. Seconds later the officer opened fire, 5.56x45mm rounds raining down as a stream of bright yellow tracers flew forth. A string of holes were punched through the roof, letting shafts of sunlight through as the bullets landed in the floor and back passenger seats, miraculously missing the wolves and foxes inside though. Ben swerved the Range Rover back and forth, trying to throw off the officer's aim. But it was no use, as he simply raked the Minimi back and forth and continued to shred the SUV like tissue paper.
"Clark take that thing out damn it!" Ben shouted as the windshield started to crack from the two dozen bullet holes in it.
"I can't and...wait it's peeling off," Clark said as he looked out the back to see the AS350 climb to 300 feet and fly over them.
What they didn't know was that the chopper gunner needed to load a new ammo belt into the Minimi and was simply having the pilot put some distance between the SUV and the helicopter. Once he was reloaded, the gunner instructed the pilot to bring them back around and line up with the passenger side of the Range Rover. However, just as he was lining up for another shot, Ben pulled the car down a narrow side street. The AS350 pulled back up to 500 feet and began waiting for the car to come out the other side.
"Great, just great Ben. We're trapped in this alleyway like rats, you know that?" Clark said as he looked his friend in the eyes.
"Clark, do us all a favor and shut the fuck up for the next five seconds, okay?" Kane asked with an exasperated sigh.
Ben simply opened his door and said, "Everybody out, NOW!"
"But we'll be sitting ducks if we're not in a car!" Michael cried as everyone else piled out.
"Not if they don't know we're out of it," Ben said as he picked up a loose brick lying on the alley floor and placed it over the gas pedal. "Now get out!"
Michael leapt out of the Ranger Rover as Ben shifted it back into drive and dropped the brick on the gas. The engine roared to life and the SUV sped down the alley. The steering wheel started to twist to the right, and so the right side dragged along the alley walls. Then, just as it flew out into the street it was met with a fresh hail of bullets from the waiting AS350. This time the bullets struck low, and one managed to find its way into the gas tank as it punched through the thin aluminum floor. The SUV flew thirty feet into the air as its nearly full tank of gas erupted in a massive fireball, sending the metal shell of the car crashing on its roof on the sidewalk across the street. Horrified pedestrians fled and screamed, wondering how in the hell their city had turned into a warzone. Meanwhile, police cruisers pulled up and started to detour traffic down other streets while SWAT officers carefully examined the burning wreckage from a distance.
Meanwhile, Ben and company exited out the alley from the opposite side of the crash. Ben knew that they'd have to keep moving fast, as the police wouldn't take long to notice the lack of bodies in the wreckage. And so they charged forward, running to the north toward the Seine River, which divided the city between the wolf only districts and the bi-species ones. It didn't take long for them to be noticed by the hundreds of civilians walking about, and at one point a pair of wolves actually ran after them and tried to confront them.
"Hey! It's those terrorists from the news! Stop right there you devils!"
Surprisingly, Kane did stop. The others turned and watched in awe, as it wasn't like Kane to take orders from a wolf. However, they then saw a smirk creep across his face as he turned and pointed his F-2000 at the wolf, who in his haste to be a hero had overlooked the fact that he was charging an armed fox.
"Were you saying something to me, mon ami?" Kane sneered as the wolf stopped in his tracks and raised his paws while wearing a weak smile.
"Uhh...no not at all friend, not at all."
BLAM!
The wolf screamed as Kane shot him in the left arm, knocking to the pavement as he thrashed on the ground in pain. Kane spat at him and then turned to catch up with his friends. "Fucking lupe," he muttered.
"Kane, what've I told you about letting your temper get the better of you," Ben said as they jogged forth.
"Forgive me, it won't happen again," Kane replied sincerely.
"It better not. Pulling shit like that when we're on the run can get us killed."
Michael then spoke up and said, "So where are we headed? It'll take us nearly an hour to get to the Lyon on foot."
"First let's just worry about getting across the bridge into the wolf district. The police are bound to have blocked off the road portion, so our only hope is to cross it on foot."
"On foot!? They'll have at least a platoon of officers there, not to mention armored cars and that damned helicopter," Michael lamented.
"Just shut up Mike, the bridge is right around the corner," Clark said as he exchanged his half empty clip for a full one.
And sure enough it was, for as the group took a left at a four way intersection, they were greeted with the Ponte de la Concorde Bridge-one of the few remaining bridges that crossed over the Seine River into the bi-species districts and fox ghettos. For after the Council of Sapiens had been taken over by wolves and forced the foxes into their own districts, they had decided to knock out several of the bridges over the Seine to make sure the foxes stayed there.
"Kane! Police roadblock 150 yards ahead! Use your forty to take it out!" Ben shouted just as a volley of gunfire erupted forth from the French police taking cover behind a line of concrete barricades and sideways police cruisers.
All four of the BRAGG soldiers took cover behind parked cars in the street, making sure to keep low as a pair of fixed Minimi machineguns erupted forth and started to eviscerate the dozens of cars that lined the streets. Clark peeked his head around and started laying down covering fire while Kane loaded a 40mm grenade into his launcher.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
RATATATATATATATATAT!
The streets echoed with a chorus of gunfire, punctuated by Clark firing a trio of single shots at the police, only to be answered by a fierce volley of fully automatic fire from the fixed machineguns. Glass shattered and littered the street, car alarms tripped off and blared while police sirens wailed in the distance as reinforcing SWAT teams tried to maneuver in behind the Ben and his crew. Michael bit his lips and cringed while covering his ears, as the torrent of gunfire mixed with the sound of bullets ricocheting off the cars and street wore away at his nerves and threatened to drive him insane. A pair of cars exploded in flames as their gas tanks ignited.
"AAARRRGHHH! MAKE IT STOP!" he cried. "I CAN'T DO THIS! MAKE IT STOP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!"
Clark looked over and slapped him across the face. "Snap out of it man! Don't focus on the shooting, focus on killing those SOBs!"
Just then Kane fired his grenade launcher, sending a loud FWUMP echoing down the streets.
KA-BOOOOOM!
The armor piercing grenade sailed true, landing in the middle of a police car. The gas tank erupted and sent a fireball raging out in all directions, flash frying a pair of wolf cops taking cover behind it. Another cop had gotten hit with the front fender as it flew off the car and connected with him, taking off his left arm as it continued flying across the bridge and into the river. Just then the sound of thumping helicopter blades thundered through the streets, and looking behind them the BRAGG operatives saw that the AS350 had returned.
"INCOMING FIRE!" Kane shouted as he charged forward towards the bridge and took cover between a BMW and a Renault Clio sedan.
The gunner in the AS350 opened fire again, hosing down the street and sidewalks with a stream of tracer bullets. Clark and Michael ducked down an alleyway on the left side of the side, just narrowly escaping a salvo of bullets as they made a line of holes in the sidewalk. Cement dust and smoke began to fill the air as downtown Paris devolved into pure chaos. A second AS350 flew up and hovered over the bridge, this one equipped with a pair of officers armed with FAMAS assault rifles with under barrel mounted M203 grenade launchers.
"Everyone on Clark! Flank left, flank left!" Ben shouted as he and Ben moved across the street and joined Clark and Michael in the alleyway.
A pair of explosions erupted in the street, as the officers with FAMASs each launched a 40mm fragmentation grenade into the lines of now flaming cars. Ben retook the lead and ran down the alley, then turned right down another alley that intersected with the street running in front of the bridge.
"Popping smoke!" Ben shouted as he pulled the pin on his smoke grenade and tossed it into the street.
In a matter of seconds a thick billowy cloud of white smoke began to fill the streets, making it impossible for the helicopters to see Ben and company running across the street to the stone wall that ran alongside the river. Ben and Kane were in front, rifles raised and unleashing hot lead into the line of SWAT officers. The twelve police officers were caught off guard, as they hadn't expected a flanking attack to come so swiftly.
Ben took aim at a pair of officers just as they finished loading their Minimi and let loose two four round bursts of 5.56 into each of their skulls, effectively bursting their heads like a dropped pumpkin. Kane was equally brutal, as he methodically brought his rifle to bear on the right most officers, and then with a single shot to the face he put the wolf down, and then began working his way to the left, firing one or two rounds per new target. In only six seconds he'd dropped ten wolves with eighteen bullets. Clark and Michael looked on in awe, staring in disbelief at Kane's display of marksmanship skill. Just then a burst of automatic fire came from above, and looking up the group saw that the helicopters had repositioned themselves so that the towering smoke cloud no longer blocked their view.
"Kane! Grab a machinegun and take out those helicopters!" Ben shouted as he, Clark, and Michael ran for cover behind the gatehouse that controlled the toll gate on the bridge.
Slinging his F-2000 on his back, Kane sprinted over to the freshly reloaded Minimi and lifted it off the concrete barrier it was fixed to. He racked the charging handle, prepping the open-bolt firing mechanism to load and fire the first round when he pulled the trigger. Just then a hail of gunfire bounced off the barrier, forcing him to duck behind it as the AS350 with the Minimi gunner hovered at a low fifty feet above the ground while the officer cut loose with his machinegun. Kane gritted his teeth and huffed for breath, trying to calm his nerves to he could shoot straight. He knew they were aiming for his last known position, so he carefully crept along the line of barriers until he came to the destroyed police car he'd hit with the grenade. Then he popped up and shouldered the Minimi.
"Mourez les loups! Mourez!!!!!!!"
It was on that second "die" that he depressed the trigger and sent a volley of bullets streaming for the first helicopter. He held down the trigger for a full five seconds, showing incredible resolve and control as he managed to keep the weapon from jumping in his paws. Time seemed to slow around him as the Minimi fired and cycled in a new round every .0675 seconds, sending a constant river of bullets that pelted the cockpit and soft underbelly of the chopper. Being only a police chopper, the glass wasn't bulletproof, and it only took a few hits before it shattered, followed by twenty more rounds that cut the pilot to ribbons. His corpse then slumped to the right, pulling the joystick with him and causing his chopper to enter a fatal spin and crash into the side of an apartment building. Kane flinched as the fireball erupted, followed by a secondary explosion as the exterior gas line on the building lit up and an explosion of burning natural gas further glorified Kane's victory.
The other helicopter, fearing a similar reprisal, quickly gained altitude and maneuvered away and out of range of Kane's machinegun. Kane smiled as he observed the carnage around him; burning buildings, derelict cars, dead wolves. To many this image would be horrifying, but to him...it was just another day in his life as a fox in a world that had decided his species wasn't fit to exist.
"Kane, quit standing around and get over here," Clark shouted to him as his comrades emerged from their hiding spot and continued down the bridge. Looking over his shoulder, Kane could see several more police cars arriving, along with that same pesky SWAT team that had been tailing them earlier. He dropped his Minimi and shouldered his F-2000, dropping his near empty magazine and grabbing a new one from one of the dead SWAT officers on the bridge. Even though the F-2000 and FAMAS assault rifle were two different weapons, they both used STANAG magazines, and therefore can use one another's clips.
Upon rejoining his comrades, Kane discovered that Ben had managed to hijack a police cruiser, as the officers had carelessly left the keys in the ignition. Kane retook his place in the front passenger seat while Clark and Michael sat in the back. Ben drove carefully now, knowing that the bulk of the French police force was on the south side of Paris, and it would be a while before they learned that their prey had escaped to the north. While stopped at a red light, he pulled out his cell phone and pressed #6 on the speed dial.
"This is Black," came the voice on the other end.
"Gary it's Ben, what's the word on that helicopter?"
"Not good. You guys have stirred up one hell of a shit storm. They're locking down all the bridges leading out of the vulpine ghettos and grounding all air traffic save for police helicopters," Gary replied.
"Damn, so how the heck do we get out of Paris?" Ben asked.
"Michael sent me a modified black box that can mimic a police chopper's tracking signature, but it'll only work for a little bit before they realize they can't contact us and that we're flying east. I'll get the blades spinning up when you arrive at the hotel. Call me when you arrive and I'll be there in seven minutes."
"Got it. See in a few Gary," Ben said.
"Oh and Ben, try not to bring the entire police force bearing down on you. We're not likely to escape if they see you four entering my helicopter."
"Understood Gary, we'll keep a low profile. And get those blades spinning now, we'll be at the hotel in five minutes." Ben hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.
"Five minutes? Ben at the rate we're going it'll be at least three times that," Michael said as he mentally calculated the trip.
Ben didn't reply. Instead he flicked on the police siren and put on the lights as he sped down the street, the surrounding cars pulling to the side as he floored the gas pedal and headed for the Lyon. Oddly enough, no one seemed to notice that a fox was riding in the front passenger seat of the police cruiser...in a wolves only district of Paris. Ben guessed that everyone who did see them assumed that Kane was an undercover agent, as the COS did use foxes as double agents to spy on BRAGG activity-the foxes were usually convinced to do so through bribes, or through forced co-operation by holding their family hostage at gunpoint.
True to his word, Ben made it to the Lyon in five minutes. The streets were crowded with cars and so he simply pulled down an alleyway and into a back lot full of dumpsters. He figured this way the car was out of sight and wouldn't attract much attention until the police inevitably tracked it down through its black box. Even so, Ben and company would be long gone (hopefully) by the time that happened.
"Alright, fold up your gunstocks and sling your weapon's over your shoulder so they hang loosely by your sides," Ben instructed, "No one should be able to see it under your trench coat, so just keep your paws in your pockets and you'll be fine, okay?"
The others nodded in consent. Clark and Ben had no trouble folding their gunstocks, as the G-36C's stock neatly folded onto the right side of the gun, making it nearly half of its original size. Michael's MP-5K was small to begin with, and since it came without a stock he simply hung it from his shoulder as instructed. Kane on the other hand had a problem. The F-2000's bullpup design made it smaller than a standard assault rifle, but it also couldn't be made any smaller. In the end, Kane solved the problem by slinging it across his back under his coat, and then wore a backpack from the police car's trunk to cover the obvious rifle shaped bulge on his back.
Leaving the alley, Ben casually led his team into the Lyon, figuring that they could wait in the hotel's café until Gary arrived. However, things didn't go as smoothly as he hoped.
"Hello and welcome to the Lyon Marse...ahem. Excuse me, but we don't serve your kind here," the concierge said as the four furs walked into the hotel lobby.
"What are you talking about?" Ben said defensively.
"I'm talking about your vulpine friend here," the concierge snottily replied. "Don't you know this is a wolf only district? How in the world he managed to even get into this part of the city without being arrested is beyond me."
"Look pal, he's with me, so just shut up and give me and my friends here a table in the cafe and we'll be on our way," Ben said impatiently.
"Absolutely not! This hotel has standards, and I will not sully this establishment's good name by allowing vermin such as these," he said while pointing to Kane and Michael, "to so much as set foot in here. Now, if you two don't leave immediately I'll call the police and..."
The concierge was cut off as Kane drew his USP from his coat pocket and held it six inches from the wolf's face. Kane simply looked at the wolf, giving him a hard, cold stare that breathed an inferno of icy rage.
"Kane..." Ben said calmly, trying to get his colleague to put the gun away and not overreact.
Kane didn't flinch. He simply took a breath and said, "Turn around lupe, and maybe I won't kill you right here, right now."
The concierge did as instructed, instinctively raising his paws in surrender as he turned and faced away from the group. The next thing he felt was Kane punch him in the back of the head, effectively knocking the wolf out as he collapsed in a heap on the floor behind the front desk.
"Damn it Kane," Ben said while shaking his head, "When we get out of this, you and I need to have a talk."
"Yes sir," Kane said coldly, still admiring the unconscious wolf who'd insulted him mere moments before.
Quickly but calmly, Ben ushered his fellow operatives into the café. The lobby had been empty thankfully, and no one had seen the little altercation that had taken place. Still, someone would find the wolf's body in a few minutes, and then the alarm would be raised. Taking a seat at a booth, the four friends sat and kept a sharp eye out for any signs of hostility from the other guests, many of whom were curiously looking at the pair of foxes sitting in the back booth. Ben paid no attention to them however, as he was busy sending a text message to Gary. A few seconds later he got a reply.
"En route. 5 min," it said.
Ben sighed as a bout of anxiety started to ripple through him. Here he was at the end of the line, and yet his fate was not held in his paws, but rather those of a wolf in his late thirties who used to work for a Paris radio station's traffic report crew. It wasn't that Ben didn't trust Gary; it's just that Ben hated not being in control of a situation. The earlier battles in the street, however tough and horrifying they may have been, were still preferable to having to rely on someone else because Ben knew that he could choose what to do and how to do it. Sure, that in itself was a lot of pressure, but his years with the Mossad had taught him that he not only could work under pressure, but that he could also excel while under pressure. But this, waiting for someone to come rescue him, this was not his element. This was not his forte, and it most certainly wasn't his...
"Ben, we got company," Clark stated.
Ben was jarred from his thoughts as he looked up at Clark. "Hmm? What do you mean?"
Clark didn't have to explain though, as the sound of police sirens arriving outside did that for him.
"Damn," Ben swore, "They must've tracked the police car faster than we thought. Alright, get ready for action guys, this is gonna get hot."
"When's Gary getting here?" Michael asked nervously while trying to check if his MP-5K was still loaded.
"Four minutes, tops. Now no one shoot until I give the word, they don't know if we're here yet and if we keep low they might just breeze over us and..."
"Hey officer! There's a couple of foxes sitting over there in the café," shouted a random guest from the lobby, causing a pair of wolves in full SWAT gear to look over in Ben's direction.
"FUCK!" Ben swore again.
The two officers walked over towards Ben, who stood up and met them halfway between the café's entrance and the table where the rest of the BRAGG operatives were sitting.
"Sir, let me see your paws please," said one of the officers.
Ben held up his paws, casually tilting his head and saying, "Sure, sure. Anything wrong officer?"
"The concierge over there was assaulted, and one of the guests here claims he saw your fox buddy over there do it. So if you'll please just step aside we'll be out of your way and you can go back to your lunch," the officer replied.
Ben's mind raced. These officers weren't assigned to look for them, they'd been called to deal with Kane's act of stupidity. That meant there might not be that many of them waiting outside, which meant shooting their way out wasn't out of the question yet. Still, Ben didn't have all the facts yet, and he figured he'd let the situation play out a little longer before he got the police riled up. He stepped to the side, but just as the officer was about to walk over his colleague grabbed his shoulder.
"Hey Peter, look," the second officer said while pointing to a picture of Ben on a PDA. Both officers looked at the picture, and then read the description below that detailed Ben as being a wanted terrorist. Both wolves looked at Ben and started to reach for their MP-5Ns, which at the time were still slung over their shoulders and hanging loosely at their sides.
Cold fear rushed through Ben, as his mind raced and he thought, Oh dear God...I'm fucked!
"Descendez-vous à la plancher!!!"
BLAM BLAM BLAM!
"OH MY GOD HE'S GOT A GUN!"
Panic erupted throughout the café as the guests jumped from their seats and knocked over tables and chairs as they rushed for the exit as another trio of gunshots rang out through the restaurant. The two SWAT officers ducked behind a table and stayed low, while Ben turned and fled back to his table to see Kane holding his USP over his head. Ben smirked, knowing that if Kane hadn't just discharged his sidearm into the ceiling he'd probably be dead. Michael and Clark were already standing, their weapons drawn and shouldered as they prepared to engage the two swat officers hiding behind a line of booths that rand through the center of the restaurant.
"This is officer Kolacki, I've engaged the BRAGG terrorists and am under heavy fire! Requesting immediate ground and air support!" one of the officers shouted into his radio.
The other officer quickly shouldered his MP-5 and flicked the selector to fully automatic. Holding the weapon over his head, he pulled the trigger and blind fired madly around the café, sending bullets flying into windows, lamps, and tables. Clark fired three shots back at the wolf, and then turned and followed Ben who led the way out the back of the restaurant into the hotel's lush garden courtyard.
The courtyard was about 100 yards in length, and fifty in width. In the center was a large circular stone fountain, with matching stone walls that surrounded it. The walls were only three feet in height though, and their main purpose was to act as a bench for people sitting around the fountain. Hedge bushes, flower beds, and a few assorted trees also dotted the landscape, but at the moment Ben's only concern was the fountain. The stone walls around it were the only cover in the area, and it would have to be where they made their stand until Gary showed up.
"Take up positions men; we'll each cover a flank and hold out until Gary arrives," Ben calmly shouted to his squadmates as they each took cover behind a stone barrier. Just then Ben's cell phone started to ring. "Gary? Where are you man? We're taking fire down and..."
"Ben, what the hell happened? I've got police choppers telling me to land this thing or they'll shoot me down!" Gary shouted over the phone.
"We got compromised before you showed up, that's what happened. Can you still get over here?"
"I'm trying! I'm almost there, but I got a damn AS350 on my tail and I don't know how much longer he'll wait before he opens fire," Gary said, panic evident in his voice.
Ben gritted his teeth as he thought ahead. Even if Gary made it, the police would still shoot them down shortly after they were rescued. "Grrrr, fuck it! Gary get the hell outta here. Forget about us."
"Are you nuts? The police are all over you; there's no way out of there!"
"I know, but there's no reason you should die either. Get out and tell Desmond what happened. But damn it, don't waste your life, BRAGG still needs pilots and you sure as shit can't be of much help if you're dead."
"...if those are your orders Ben, I'll follow them. I won't forget you man, you'll be avenged one day. I swear it."
Ben hung up the phone and then smashed it against the stone wall in anger, watching as the sensitive components broke apart and littered the brick path below.
Michael looked over at Ben and asked, "What's going on man? Where's our evac?"
"It's not coming, the police got us boxed in," Ben solemnly replied.
"Oh god...then...that means we're dead doesn't it?"
"Pretty much. So get your spare clips ready and stand fast. We die with bullets in our chests, not our backs and our guns empty and hot, not loaded and cool."
Kane spat as he pulled out his spare clips and laid them on the ground next to him as he crouched behind the stone wall. "Let them come. Those lupes will rue the day they crossed paths with me."
Ben looked over and noticed Clark looking around nervously as he punched a number in on his cell phone. "Clark forget it, I told Gary to back off. There's no way he's coming back now."
Clark ignored him and instead surprised Ben by speaking in English rather than French to whomever was on the other line. Ben didn't quite understand what was being said though.
"Full Moon leader, this Husky 1-1. I'm pinned down at the Lyon with two platoons of COS police units and three enemy helos. Recommend you come in hot with the Predators and keep the Nighthawk above 1500 until you reach our AO."
"Clark, who the hell are you talking to?" Ben shouted just as an explosion rocked the ground beneath him.
"FUCK! Full Moon I'm under fire, get your butts over here in the next three minutes or we're gonna be dead!" Clark shouted into his phone while continuing to ignore Ben.
"Roger that Husky, ETA One-Five-Zero seconds, just hang in there," said another voice in English over Clark's phone.
"Contact south!" shouted Clark as he hung up his phone and took aim with his G-36.
Sure enough, to the south was a row of eight wolves equipped with full metal riot shields and Sig P226 handguns. They advanced in line, keeping their shields together while a second row of six cops armed with FAMAS assault rifles followed closely behind their shielded comrades. Clark opened fire, either shooting at their feet when they made the mistake of lifting the shield too far off the ground, or shooting at right paws when they stuck their P226s around the side of the shield.
A few of the cops flinched as Clark's bullets ricocheted off their shields, but the three-quarter inch thick titanium coated steel plating was more than capable of deflecting a measly 5.56 round. Clark ducked as a barrage of fire covered his position, bullets tearing the stone wall apart as the cops armed with FAMASs unleashed a full auto torrent of led, sending 200 5.56 rounds downrange in three seconds flat.
"I'm pinned down! I need some help over here!" Clark shouted while he reloaded his G-36.
Kane turned and took aim with the grenade launcher on his F-2000. Carefully he adjusted the arc before unleashing a 40mm grenade.
FWUMP! ....KABOOM!!!
The grenade landed on the left flank of the advancing phalanx of SWAT officers, killing one shielded cop and one FAMAS cop. A third shielded officer was knocked forward on his stomach by the grenade's concussion, and Ben made short work of him with a three round burst into the man's neck and shoulders. Kane quickly loaded another grenade and let it fly, this time hitting the right flank and killing two of the rear FAMAS equipped officers, along with another shielded officer. One of the rear officers popped a smoke grenade, throwing it next to the fountain to create a thick white cloud that soon encompassed the BRAGG operatives.
"Fuck, I can't see anything!" Kane shouted as he finished loading his last 40mm grenade into the launcher. "Stay down! I'm going to try and flank them."
Before Ben could protest, Kane leapt up and headed for the eastern side of the courtyard, keeping low behind a row of hedges. Amazingly, he managed to get completely perpendicular to the surviving officers. "EAT THIS YOU LUPINE SCUM!"
Kane depressed the trigger and unloaded a half of his clip into the rear row of officers, nailing each of them in their chests and heads. He then switched to single shot, taking a little more time to aim as he carefully picked off each of the shielded officers. The shielded officers had no idea they were being flanked, as the suppressive fire coming from Ben and Clark made them focus on keeping their shields pointed towards the incoming hail of bullets from the fountain.
As the last officer fell Kane ejected his spent clip and loaded the only other one he hadn't set down by the fountain. Then he heard the familiar thumping of helicopter blades, and looking up he saw a trio of AS350s hovering together at 300 feet. Two were equipped with door gunners armed with Minimis, while the third he recognized from earlier as the one with two cops armed with FAMAS assault rifles and M203 grenade launchers. Looking down at his F-2000, he remember he still had one grenade in the launcher. He aimed up, carefully studying the helicopters' patterns as he picked out the one with the FAMAS door gunners, as he knew their M203 launchers were a bigger threat than the ones with Minimis.
FWUMP!
The grenade sailed true, although the AS350 moved slightly due to turbulence and was struck on its tail. The explosion rocked the helicopter, disabling its stability controls and sending it into a fatal downward spiral. Kane shielded his face as the helicopter flew directly over him and crashed onto the roof of the hotel behind him, sending shrapnel and flying chunks of glass and metal all over the courtyard. Kane wasted no time in beating a hasty retreat back to his comrades, where he retook his place at the fountain.
"Damn Kane, with moves like that we might actually make it out of here alive," Clark said rather jovially.
"Shut up Clark," Kane replied
"Geez, what's your problem?"
"My problem? I'm going to die in about two minutes at the hands of my sworn enemies. And in the end it will mean nothing, because the lupes will still be in power, and my species will be pressed all the closer to extinction."
"Just hang on man, I got a feeling we might make it out of this yet and..."
KA-BANG!
Clark was stopped mid-sentence as a bullet tore into his shoulder and knocked him to the ground. The bullet had missed his armor and instead passed near the joint of his right arm, dislocating his shoulder and knocking him unconscious as a flash of colors flooded his vision.
"SNIPER!" Ben shouted as he retook cover. "Mike, can you see him?"
"Yeah, he's on the roof, south side!"
Ben reached over and picked up Clark's G-36, as its ACOG scope would give him the visual edge he'd need to pick off the sniper before he could get off another round. Popping up from behind the stone wall, Ben spotted the sniper's silhouette against the white haze of the overcast sky and opened fire. The sniper fired again, but missed as he was forced to duck behind cover. Ben cursed as he knew he'd missed the sniper, which meant the sniper would now go and find a new hiding spot before taking another shot at them. To his left he heard Kane open fire, and looking to the eastern side of the courtyard Ben saw a six man squad of SWAT officers moving in and taking up positions behind the hedges. Bullets wizzed overhead at a frightening rate as the police laid down heavy suppressive fire so that they could advance closer.
KA-BANG!
Kane spun 180 degrees as he fell to the ground. Ben looked up and saw the sniper had emerged from hiding, and so he quickly aimed his G-36 at him and unloaded, this time managing to knock the sniper out of action as a pair of bullets tore into the wolf's left arm. Ben then turned his attention to Kane, who was gripping his chest in pain.
"Kane! Get up, come on you have to get up man!" Ben cried as more bullets richochetted off the walls and the fountain behind them.
"Argh, fuck!" Kane cursed as he spat to the side. "My vest almost stopped it. I can feel the bullet lodged in my ribs," he coughed out.
Meanwhile, Michael tended to Clark, who had woken back up and was sitting up against one of the stone barricades with nothing but his USP and the two spare magazines he had for it.
"Kane's down," Ben reported over his own gunfire as he tried to keep the SWAT team from advancing closer.
Clark looked up at Michael and said, "Quit cowering and fire your weapon Michael! We're not gonna get outta here if they reach us."
"There's no evac Clark, what's the point? We might as well throw down our weapons and..."
"NO! I swear to Alimghty God Mike, if you try to surrender I'll shoot you myself, is that clear?" Clark growled. "You know too much about BRAGG, and if COS gets its hands on you you'll spill your guts and kill all of us. Now grow a pair, AND FIRE YOUR GOD DAMNED WEAPON SOLDIER!"
Michael turned to look at Ben, hoping that maybe his team leader would have more sense and be willing to surrender, but just as he looked he saw Ben take a hit to the chest and fall on his back, huffing for breath as he lay on his side and tried to pick his G-36 back up. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, a SWAT officer managed to get close enough to chuck a canister of tear gas behind the stone walls. Michael turned and jumped over Clark's wall and made a mad dash for the west side of the hotel, which at the moment was surprisingly free of enemy troops.
"MIKE! Get back here you coward!" Clark shouted as he tried to turn and make good on his promise to shoot Michael. However, the tear gas spread quickly and soon his eyes burned like acid and he found it hard to breathe.
Looking back from behind a hedge, Michael saw the SWAT officers arrive at the fountain and begin flipping his friends onto their stomachs to cuff them and arrest them. They hadn't seemed to notice he'd gone, which meant he might be able to get out of here and...
"HANDS IN THE AIR!"
Michael whirled to his left to see three SWAT officers, MP-5s raised to their shoulders and pointed at him. Without even thinking Michael brought his MP-5K up and began unloading into the officers, shouting in panic and rage as he did. The officers fired back of course, but their 9mm bullets only glanced off of Michael's body armor. By taking the first shot, Michael had made the officers panic, and so they hadn't taken the time to aim at Michael's head, but rather had instinctively aimed for his center of mass-aka his well armored chest. Michael, on the other hand, had aimed for the head and managed to spray several bullets into each officer's skull.
Michael coughed for breath, as the impact of the bullets against his armor had still hurt-a feeling similar to being hit with a pitch in baseball. He quickly reloaded and then charged back towards the fountain as a sudden rush of adrenaline made him feel utterly invincible. Screaming his lungs out he opened fire on the officers standing over his downed colleagues, killing two of them while the other four officers took cover and called in backup. Michael turned to run to the north side where he planned to hide behind a row of hedges and work his way over to the east side of the courtyard, but in his haste he ended up tripping on a stone and fell to the ground. He gasped as he felt the wind get knocked out of him. Forcing himself to stand up Michael tried to trudge his way back to the north, only to feel a bullet strike him in the back, knocking him down again.
He rolled over and drew his USP, as his MP-5K was still empty and he didn't have time to reload it. Two SWAT officers were approaching him, FAMASs at the ready while above he saw the two other AS350s fly overhead and hover over the roof of the eight story hotel. Michael fired at the officers, taking his time as he tried to bracket their heads in his sights. His shots missed however, and mostly flew over their heads or to the side. The officers split apart, ran off to the sides and went prone in the grass while the two helicopter door gunners took aim and laid down heavy fire with their Minimis. Michael rolled to the side just as a line of bullets swept over his position, narrowly missing him by only a foot.
Clumsily getting to his feet, Michael sprinted to the north just as another twenty SWAT officers entered the courtyard from the south side, several armed with riot shields and FAMAS assault rifles, while a few others carried MP-5s and even a Minimi like the chopper gunners. Michael could feel the bullets passing overhead as he rapidly turned to the left behind the hedge and kept running along the north side of the courtyard. Bullets ripped the hedges apart as the police carelessly sprayed wherever they thought Michael might be hiding. Michael noticed the helicopters were no longer training their guns on him however, and as he peaked around the hedge he saw that his comrades hadn't been cuffed by the police after all, and that they had managed to overpower the officers near them and reacquire their weapons.
Michael saw them laying down heavy suppressive fire into the crowd of officers, many of whom were being forced to duck behind their shielded comrades again. Kane didn't have any grenades with him this time though, and Michael knew that it was the beginning of the end. He thought about what Ben had said earlier, about dying with bullets in their chests rather than their backs. Gritting his teeth, Michael prepared himself as he planned to sprint back to the fountain and die with his brothers in arms. He stepped out, running as fast as his vulpine legs could carry him and...
FWUMP- BOOM!
Michael felt as if he'd been shoved from behind as he flew forward and somersaulted twice, ending up on his stomach. He shook his head, unable to realize that a SWAT officer had landed a 40mm grenade behind him and the blast had knocked him down, as well as pepper the backs of his legs and arms with razor sharp shrapnel.
"Michael!" Ben wheezed, as the tear gas hadn't entirely dissipated yet and it was still a bitch to breathe.
Just then everyone looked to the sky as they heard the thunderous pounding of helicopter blades, but even louder than that of the two AS350s. It was as if a hoard of cavalry was stampeding across the sky...and in essence it was. Suddenly a whooshing filled the air and a pair of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles flew from the sky and impacted directly atop the crowd of police officers on the southern side of the hotel. The massive explosives ripped the outer walls of the building to shreds, sending chunks of concrete, plaster, and glass into the air. As quickly as the first two missiles came, another pair of rockets flew forth, one striking each of the AS350 helicopters. The explosives in the Hellfires were so powerful they simply shattered the helicopters into millions of pieces, leaving little wreckage to fall to the ground.
Looking up, Ben saw a pair of RQ/1 Predator UAVs fly by overhead, their wing pylons each still loaded with another pair of AGM-114s. And then the source of the thunderous pounding revealed itself as a MH-60 Nighthawk helicopter slowly flew overhead and carefully lowered itself into the courtyard. The pilot took his time, as the large helicopter had to be carefully guided in as he slowly set it down on a large patch of grass just to the right of the fountain. Then, amazingly, a squad of four soldiers, human soldiers, wearing ACU digital camo and armed with M416 assault rifles stepped out from the helicopter's cargo area and rapidly proceeded over to the fountain.
"Who the hell are you," Ben asked as the soldiers walked over to the fountain and gathered around Clark.
The soldiers all looked at the apparent leader, who turned to Ben and said, "The guys who are saving your lives, it looks like. Forgive my men, they don't speak French."
Both Kane and Clark had fallen back to the ground during the air strike, as their wounds started to grow worse and weaken them to the point where it was difficult to stand. Two of the soldiers helped Clark to his feet, having him wrap an arm around each of their necks as they helped him limp his way to the awaiting helicopter. Ben followed them and climbed into the helicopter on his own, as he'd only gotten the wind knocked out of him as a 5.56 round impacted his vest. One of the soldiers stayed behind and started to attend to Clark's bleeding shoulder.
"Clark, is there something you'd like to tell me now?" Ben asked
Clark chuckled and said, "You have no idea. Be patient though, you'll find out in a couple of hours."
Looking out the helicopter doors, Ben saw the other three soldiers returning with Michael and Kane. Kane stumbled slightly as he walked, but being prideful creature he was he refused the human soldier's help. Michael wasn't in quite as a good a shape. One of the soldiers had to use a fireman's carry to bring him back to the helicopter while the other one kept a close lookout for any surviving SWAT officers. From the looks of it though, there weren't any stupid enough to stick their heads out while a pair of Predator drones flew overhead. Moments later the humans and BRAGG operatives were all seated in the helicopter as it began to climb back to 1500 feet and fly east towards Germany.
"So, Clark. I take it your friends here are Americans, yes?" Ben inquired as curiosity began to boil over inside him.
"Indeed they are sir," Clark nodded. "Is that an issue?"
"No, although I would like to know how you managed to find some surviving humans in Europe. I thought the COS had wiped them out on this continent."
Clark smiled as he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. "That's what a lot of people think. And frankly, we don't mind either."
"We?"
"Oui," Clark replied with a chuckle. "Now sit back and shut up Ben. And before you cite me for disrespecting a BRAGG officer, just know that I no longer work for your organization and therefore I'm not obligated to show you such courtesy. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride."
Before Ben could reply Michael drew everyone's attention as he groaned from the floor. With all the shrapnel in his thighs and back, it was too uncomfortable for him to sit, and so he preferred to lie face down on the floor.
"Uuggh, god that hurts," he commented as the medic among the human soldiers pulled a loose piece of glass out of Michael's left shoulder with a pair of tweezers. "Clark, do your friends here know that the COS owns the French Air Force, and that they'll have a half-dozen Mirage 2000s barreling down on us in about fifteen minutes."
"Meh, I wouldn't worry about that," Clark said. "As far as the French Air Force is concerned, this helicopter is a VIP military transport being escorted by two American UAVs into German air space to assist in planning a joint military exercise."
"Nice. Tell me, why didn't you have your little pals here show up BEFORE I got shot?" Michael asked indignantly.
"Because I have some friends in high places that want to talk to you, and if you had escaped to England they wouldn't have gotten the chance, now would they?"
Ben spoke up at this point. "And just what do these 'friends' of yours want?"
"The same thing you do Ben. It's just that unlike BRAGG, we haven't made ourselves widely known, and therefore the COS tends to leave us be."
"Uh-huh. And what about the high places where they sit? How can they possibly have the influence to call off the French Air Force?" Ben asked, still unsure of what to make of the whole situation.
"Oh you'd recognize it, as it's the same council that sent all those cops and helicopters after us," Clark replied with a grin.
Ben's eyes flashed wide open and he started to reach for his USP, only to have two of the humans point their side arms at him before he could pull it from his jacket.
"Take it easy Ben," Clark said reassuringly, "If I wanted to kill you I'd have done that by now. And do you think that I'd be friends with a group of humans if my employer shared the same beliefs as the rest of the Council of Sapiens?"
"I...I guess not," Ben said, slowly relaxing his paw and bringing it out of his jacket so that the humans could see that he was no longer armed.
"Don't worry Ben, all your questions will be answered in due time. But for now, relax. Okay?" Clark said forcefully. "It's been a long afternoon and I hadn't planned on getting shot and having to finish my lunch hour with a shot of morphine."
Ben nodded and leaned back in his seat as well, silently musing on what he would find in Germany, and if his friend Clark truly did hold a way to strike at the very heart of the Council of Sapiens and finally bring twenty years of tyranny to an end. I guess I'll find out soon enough, he thought as he slowly drifted off to sleep.