RSH- Hope

Story by SGTRedfield on SoFurry

, , , , , , ,

#9 of RSH


**SEXUAL CONTENT WARNING**

This story contains scenes of consensual sex between a Male Utahraptor and Female Human. Consider yourself warned.

Do not read if it is illegal in your area or you are underage.

I am not responsible for any damage or international incidents as a result of this story, to include mental and physical. Keep track of your own children parents.

I Copyright the RSH, soldiers and characters affiliated with the RSH and Spetsnaz, The NSO, and any (fictional) references and policies by all involved parties.

Any similarities of actual persons, places, or events is purely coincidental

Book two, chapter one

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

RSH- Hope

The night was cold and clear, a perfect excuse for most to sit inside in front of a warm fire and drink a hot chocolate. This was not the case for the ten pairs of coyote tan boots that tramped softly through the German countryside, searching for any sign of Russians that hadn't been seen in months. They moved with the heavy footfalls of people under burden, with ammo and body armor to thank. They kept it all just in case the Russians decided to come back and stir up trouble. However, this far west of Route 11, the soldiers of the New Soviet Order had long since abandoned their positions in favor of something farther north. Now, all that remained was the burned husks of tanks and strewn graves of soldiers killed in action.

"Sergeant, we've lost contact with the Alpha element. I haven't heard from them in about an hour." The Specialist carrying the radio reported, taking a knee as the column came to a stop. He tightened his grip on the rifle, just in case the Russians decided to make a show.

"Did you try to contact them?" The squad leader asked, joining his radio operator on one knee. All he got was a confirming nod.

"Send a report up to the TOC, let them know that we are deviating to look for them."

"Roger."

The leader watched as his soldier sent the report sailing up the chain. It was unlike the soldiers in Alpha to not make a periodic report. Probably got a bad battery from the Communications section again....

"Sergeant, TOC says go ahead. They were close to the end of the patrol route when they reported in last."

There was his answer.

"Okay, move out!" Came the order, once again resuming the march of brown boots. The NCO watched as the moon cast its shadows over the moving forms of his soldiers, dancing over the asphalt in a surreal pattern.

The soldiers moved for another half hour, listening to the silence and the steady shifting of their equipment with each step. They were tired, looking forward to heading back to base after they located the lost Alpha element.

"Halt!" The pointman called as they came to an intersection. Usually, their patrol route took them in a different direction, so extra caution was mandated in unfamiliar territory. They assumed their positions as if on automatic, navigating the danger area up the left fork. A destroyed T-72 sat between the arms of the Y, scarred hull sitting in mute testimony to the ferocious fighting that had taken place here.

The sergeant moved last, making sure every one of his troops got across safely. As he passed the destroyed tank, he looked up into the black, empty eyes of a skeleton perched on top. A gloved hand still jutted from it, no doubt pointing out a target that had long since moved on.

"Fuck this place." Muttered the leader as he moved back to his position in the middle of the formation. He couldn't help but feel the eyes of the skeleton on his back as he walked away.

"Headcount!" He announced once in position, watching as hands went up in both directions with the corresponding number of each soldier. The back of the formation came up with one short.

"Sergeant, Burns is missing!" Called a Private from the rear of the formation.

"When did you last see him?" The Sergeant shot back. Burns was carrying one of the squad's medium machine gun, an M240B.

"He was just here a minute ago!" Came the frantic reply.

"Find him!"

The private turned, seeing a shadow move atop the destroyed tank. An ear shattering roar pierced the night, sending the fight or flight instincts inside the soldiers into overdrive. They turned and ran for better positions as the rear man opened fire, sending a few wild rounds in the direction of the shadow. He didn't notice that it was already gone. Gunfire erupted from the other soldiers, filling the area around the destroyed vehicle with tracers. A few rounds ricocheted off of the tank's hull, shooting up into the sky before disappearing as the magnesium on the tracers exhausted itself.

"Cease fire!" The NCO yelled, bringing his soldiers under control. They all panted heavily, breath misting in the freezing air. Brass was piled at the feet of the machine gunners, and fresh magazines were rammed home. A ghastly silence swept over the scene, trapping all of the soldiers in its embrace.

A shadow sailed over the sergeant's head, hitting the man in front of him like a ton of bricks. The sounds of clothing and body armor tearing drifted to his ears, followed by the screams of one of his best friends.

"Contact!"

Gunfire rang out as soldiers fired at the shapes, trying to separate themselves from the horrors that were stealing their lives away from them. Another shadow came in from the left, breaking the front of the mob into a fatal funnel for yet a third attacker. A tail to the chest knocked the Sergeant down, pushing the wind from his lungs in one foul punch. The last image the Sergeant witnessed before he went under was the snarling image of a monster just feet away.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Goddamnit, this snow is fucking impossible." PFC Rivers cursed in frustration as he maneuvered the seventy ton Abrams towards the fuel point, riding the throttles in an effort to turn the beast in the white swath that had enveloped the landscape. The tank didn't have as much traction as one would expect, slipping wherever it pleased on rubber track pads. After around ten minutes of swearing and fighting, the crew of Ohio Two-Two managed to slide their vehicle up next to a waiting fueler and suck up almost four hundred gallons of JP-8 lifeblood. The combat operations throughout the night had left the vehicle almost empty with its constant idle. After a short stay at the fuel point, the tank returned to the waiting group down on the highway, slogging through the mud that was their primary tank trail. He slid into position next to the other vehicles and shut down, popping his driver's hatch and getting out to give the tank a quick once over. Sacke laughed as he heard him fumbling with the tank's bitch plate.

"Okay Rivers, are we okay now?" Sergeant Keat asked as he heard the driver jump back down in the hole. The tank commander was also performing his checks over the equipment once more before they rolled out.

"Roger, fluids are good, fuel is full in all four cells, and the heatis nice and toasty."

"I can deal with toasty." Sacke piped in, cooling down the thermal unit in preparation for their push up the highway. For the past two weeks, they had tried almost five times to crack the Russians from their positions, but heavy anti-air and bad weather had kept them from gaining the advantage. Today, however, they were hoping for some clear skies.

"Okay Gentlemen, let's do it for real this time." Ohio Six came over the net, followed by the ten count for startup. The crews flexed nervously, waiting to make a push that could be the last minutes of their lives. The Russian tanks functioned better in the cold, not to mention the fact that spare parts hadn't reached the Americans in more than three weeks. Hell, Charlie Three-Nine didn't even have hydraulics.

"Three."

"Two."

"One, go." The radio chimed, giving Rivers his cue. The starter clicked, bringing the familiar turbine whine to the ears of the crew. With the temperature stooping so low, maintenance had switched from a burden to a nightmare, and Staff Sergeant Keat thought it was a miracle that the damn thing had even started. He noticed one of the other M1A1s abort with a large white puff of smoke.

"You know, Ohio State won today." Wag mentioned, listening to the turbine winding up to speed beneath them.

"Maybe that'll give us some luck." Sacke muttered, looking at his pictures for a split second before tucking them back into his CVCs.

"Okay, turbine's sped up." Rivers echoed through the headset as the green 'started' light appeared on his instrument panel. The tank was ready to roll.

"All Ohio elements, this is Powerhouse Six, roll out. Predators show that the Russians are moving their reinforcements up the maintenance road, so be prepared for contact. Remember to identify those targets, the Germans are out to our right flank. Your secondary objective is to be on the lookout for Sierra element. The scout group did not return from this morning's recon."

"You heard him gentlemen. Battle carry Sabot!"

"Sabot Index." Came the familiar gunner's call as he slipped the computer switch into Sabot.

"Up!" Yelled Wag, slamming the main gun round home into the breech. He waited only a second before jumping up onto his seat and taking up position behind the M240 atop the turret. If any antitank troops decided to mess with them today, he was ready.

Everyone held on as the tank lurched into gear, gliding gently onto the frozen hardball of the highway a moment later. Ohio Two-Two fell in behind several First Armor tracks, allowing them the point position. Keat popped his head out for a moment, getting a blast of cold air for his troubles. The wine of the tanks as they moved out, heat blooms waving like a highway in summer from their exhaust vents was something that one needed to experience to fully grasp. Every crewman couldn't help but feel good in their tracks, knowing that the armor was the best even if the upkeep was unforgiving.

"I'm picking up something on thermals at five thousand meters!" Shouted Sacke as he pressed his face to the Gunner's Primary Sight. Keat pressed his own eyes to the commander's optic, seeing a clump of heat that slowly took on the shape of one of the squat Soviet Main Battle Tanks.

"Ironside, this is Ohio. You got a fix on that Victor?" Jake called on his B radio, sticking his head out once more to look at the commander of Ironside One. He gave a thumbs up before dropping back inside.

"Roger Ohio, we're about to take the shot."

"Gotcha, kill him."

The M1A2s of First Armor were tracking, aiming their 120mm cannons straight at true. Everything was going the way it should, with Russian tanks on the negative side of American guns, when the entire situation turned upside down. Ironside One detonated mere meters in front of Keat's tank as a Russian main gun round struck home at an oblique angle, sending the M1A2 up in a shower of exploding fuel.

"Shit! Where did that come from?" Sacke shouted, traversing the turret madly in search of the new threat.

"Ten o'clock high!" Wag yelled from atop the turret as he saw a pine tree tumble down the side of the northbound embankment. At the top, a Russian tank was repositioning for another shot. Sacke drew a bead just as the Russian tank loosed another round, striking Ironside two right through the engine compartment. The powerpack shrieked and went up in an explosive fireball, shaking the ground beneath the entire column.

"Ironside One and Two are down, Ohio Two-Two taking the lead." Keat called over the net, watching as the destroyed hulks slid past his viewports.

"Target tank 800, two-four-zero, hit the fucker!" The Staff Sergeant yelled, watching the Russian monster through the cloud of smoke. The main gun's reticule traced over the squat turret, stopping just over the gun mantle.

"Fire!"

"On the way!" Came the answering confirmation as Sergeant Sacke squeezed the trigger, sending forth a red hot sabot at almost a mile a second. The boom shook the snow from the streetlamps, and the singed aft cap spit onto the floor of the turret as the main cannon spat forth.

"Up!" Yelled Wag, hitting the gun's arming lever and watching the light change from white to orange. The main cannon jumped once more, sending yet another sabot downrange and into the belly of a T-72 that made the mistake of showing its exposed side. The expansive reactive armor detonated as the turret sailed skyward, killing a group of rifle infantry that was unfortunate enough to be only ten meters from the vehicle.

"Two-Two, count five behind you. Take command and push up the access road."

"Roger, Two-Two taking command." Keat announced as he stuck his head up and out, looking at the wedge of tanks to the rear. The two M1A2s that had been Ironsides lay burning in the road about three hundred meters to the rear, the crew of one of those vehicles trying to evacuate the others from their sister vehicle.

"BMP, 2000. Firing!" Sacke yelled seconds before squeezing the trigger, barely allowing for Keat to prepare for the shot. He threw an eye to the commander's thermal viewer as the round left the main cannon and sailed straight and true, slicing through the front glacis plate of the armored carrier and impacting the ground behind.

"Up!"

"Okay Sacke, fire at will. They're trying to push on us!" Keat yelled as a line of Soviet battle tanks appeared over the next crest. They fired first, answering with the bigger five inch cannons.

Rivers jammed the yoke left, coming within inches of striking the guardrail to the left. The Russian gun round went wide, streaking past with a loud swoosh.

"Firing!" The 120mm main cannon jumped once more, rattling everyone's skull inside their CVC helmets with each kick. The smell of propellant drifted through the turret with each spent aft cap. The smell of battle.....

"Ohio, keep your heads down. CAS Alpha inbound!" Came a welcome voice over their headsets as three A-10 Thunderbolts streaked overhead. Their massive roar could be heard even through the noise canceling CVC helmets. Keat watched as one of them released a volley of 30mm cannon shells into an uparmored T-80. The Russian tank's reactive armor detonated in a cloud of smoke, followed shortly thereafter by the pinkish-red flash of exploding ammunition. The turret shot skyward, landing several meters away from the burning hull.

"Rivers, take the maintenance road!" Jake yelled, taking advantage of the close air support. Sacke kept the main gun to the flank, lobbing two at targets of opportunity that had made the mistake of showing themselves.

As they crested the embankment, the sounds of the battle began tapering off until they were almost nonexistent. The tank reeked of the smell of battle, a light fog held in the stale turret air from the firing. Rivers slid to a stop behind one of the abandoned Russian berm positions, keeping his eyes open as much as possible through the limited field of view that he had.

"Ohio Two-Two holding position. We're okay."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Good to see you back Sergeant Redfield, I trust Meryl is okay?"

"I think she'll be alright Colonel, the wounds weren't as deep as I had originally feared. Doc Evers says that she should be good to go in a few weeks. Though, she says she's been having some pretty crazy dreams." Jay offered, sitting tiredly in the commander's office and recounting his story for the umpteenth time that evening.

"Good to hear Sergeant, I was worried when I heard the report that you'd bitten off a little more than you could chew. Nymev is our number one man now."

"Indeed Sir, the Russians moved even more units from southern Germany while we pulled back. Apparently they noticed the absence."

"Well, there are rumors that armor from Chechnya is on its way north as we speak. Efremov is playing the world stage like it's our fault that half their army is occupying eastern Germany. The Navy is still fighting to get their ships across through those damned subs, and there is a whole lot of nothing going on with our so-called 'Allies'. We haven't even gotten a full resupply in over a month." Colonel Estes explained while he flipped through a notebook, propping his feet up on the desk for even a moment's worth of relaxation.

The situation since Nymev took command of the New-Soviet Contingent had deteriorated rapidly, with bombings and artillery strikes on civilian targets and heavy industry increasing twofold. His understanding of American tactics was a thousand times better than the tool that he had replaced.

"I haven't seen any reinforcements, but the troops that operate around the bypass are extremely good. They haven't allowed us much rest as far as always trying something."

"So much for the Russians being inept and technologically inferior, eh?"

"Well, when a man's family is fed he will probably do everything in his power to keep it that way."

"What would you think about going back out there?"

"I'll do it, but I don't think I'm so comfortable without Meryl." Jay answered, looking at all of the pegs stuck into the map around his AO. He made note of the pin that represented his pack.

"Sergeant, we've gotten a few reports of some strange attacks far inside our lines. Normally, we'd pin it on Spetsnaz and send a reaction force, but these attacks were different."

"Different?" Jay questioned, leaning forward in his chair. Any time it was different, more trouble was caused for the pack.

"The soldiers that were involved were killed slasher style."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

"Hey girl, I brought you some chow." Jay announced as he pushed open the door to Meryl's room, catching a glimpse of the female as she lay on a padded mattress of blankets. Her armor was on a pair of sawhorses, torn, broken, and stained with blood. Jay had already made a mental note to solve the problem that had almost killed his female as soon as he got back to his sleeping area.

"It's about time." She chided, laughing lightly so as not to aggravate her wounds. The foliage green gauze covered her entire chest, providing the healing conditions that she had so desperately needed.

"I don't think you're too hungry though, so I'll just set this outside." The NCO laughed and turned around, heading back towards the door at a quick stride. A low growl emanated from his six o'clock.

"Not if you value your life."

"Point taken." Jay responded, performing an about face with the heavy chow. He had brought her something that Major Evers had said would be light enough for her. The last thing that Jay needed while she was recovering was malnourishment.

"What did you bring me?"

"Turkey." He responded, pulling the plastic wrap from it and setting it down in front of her. The Raptoress tore into it ravenously, downing the meat faster than Jay had ever seen.

"I don't know if Triptofan effects you like it effects us, but you'll be tired."

"I don't know either. What time is your board?" She asked, pushing the now empty plate away with her snout. The female was worried for her guardian, for the bureaucrats weren't holding him in very high regard at the moment.

"Three hours." Jay muttered, stress visible on his voice. The NCO didn't want to have to defend his actions to a board of people that didn't even know how an RSH field unit conducted their business.

"Colonel Estes is sending me out to investigate some strange circumstances in the deaths of some soldiers. He says they were all slashed up when they found 'em."

"Slashed up? Any footprints?" Meryl wondered, tilting her head sideways in wonder.

"From the printed report that he gave me, it says that no footprints were present. Either the story has been misconstrued since it left their TOC, or we may be dealing with something more." Jay answered, lowering his tone so as not to be overheard.

"Something that fights like us." The female muttered, deep in thought.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Sergeant Redfield, are the events of 07 December true to the best of your knowledge based on the situation report received?"

"Yes sir." Jay answered smartly, standing at parade rest in his class A's before the tribunal that was to decide his fate. The twelve that held his guardianship in their hands were busy examining the mountain of paperwork that Redfield had been required to fill out, scrutinizing every detail of it like a physician on an important chart. They didn't seem happy.

"How is it that these soldiers were able to penetrate your perimeter on that night?" One of them, a major, asked as he looked at the report through glasses.

"Richter and Aud were on guard duty at the time. We were hit by Osnaz soldiers belonging to the GRU. They were well trained, well organized, and they knew how we operated. They knocked Audwin unconscious and shot Richter. After that, Guardian David Stear and his Utahraptor Rachel came to my call for assistance and helped me find the Russians that captured Aud. We engaged them and they fled, leaving behind the body of our missing team member. He had been tortured and executed by an unknown party. An Ohio National Guard unit swung by later that night and picked us up, bringing back the body and dropping us at RSHCOM."

"Have there been any problems with them as far as security goes?"

"Not that I am aware of Sir. From what I am told, they are still held here under containment."

"Do you suspect that these Osnaz soldiers that attacked you just stumbled upon you?"

"Negative Sir, I did at first, but I know now that those soldiers were there specifically for us. Their attack caught us off guard, deploying immobilizing agents and utilizing snipers to keep us from uniting against their attack. Their actions were too rehearsed and too coordinated."

"You're basically saying that the RSH has been outsmarted by a group of Russians?" A colonel stood from behind, his name reading Ackby. Redfield knew this man was not friendly, to him or to the RSH.

"I didn't say that at all Sir, what I'm saying is that the Russians are starting to adapt. They're doing things that we never expected them to do. It is as if their entire doctrine has been thrown out the window in favor of something more.:"

"We'll get back to this at another time Sergeant. From what I understand, Colonel Estes has another mission for you."

"Yes Sir, he does."

"And what is that?"

"I'm afraid I cannot discuss my mission at this time Sir." Redfield answered, noticing the evident displeasure on part of the Colonel.

"Understandable Sergeant, Dismissed."

Jay saluted smartly, performing an about face and stepping out. How dare they try and test him like that! Before anything else, Jay swung by his quarters to gather the gear he would be needing for his mission. The Russians were definitely up to something, but what, he couldn't quite place.

A quick visit by the Infirmary showed Meryl asleep, twitching as dreams danced through her mind. Jay hoped that she was having a good one as he boarded the elevator to the surface.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Colonel Nymev's team, fresh from the GRU proving grounds, slipped over Highway Eleven around dusk. They wore overwhites, but maintained their maroon berets in the dying light. Two sets of eyes watched them climb hill 326 ten minutes later, finding the hidden Jumpstart radio transmitter relay that was secured underneath a pile of rocks. The operators quickly latched an electronic device to the normally secure equipment, rendering transmissions from beyond the hill unreadable.

"Sergeant Redfield, this is Sergeant Stear. Some GRU troops just bugged the Jumpstart at Echo Two Five. Changing to Five-Eight Push, over." He called, making a quick adjustment on his radio that locked out the compromised piece of equipment. The system would then transfer them to another working relay.

"Damnit! Roger Stear, we're on our way, out." Redfield responded, already entering the course on his DAGR navigation unit.

"Okay Rachel, they're on the way. All we need to do is follow them until the rest of the pack can get here." Stear briefed the female, giving Rachel a glimpse at the map for orientation purposes.

The two moved out shortly thereafter, following the formation of Osnaz as they navigated through the dusk. The RSH troops followed for nearly an hour, speed hampered by the deep snow as both units slogged onwards, reaching for an objective that was not quite clear as of yet.

"Stear, Redfield, we are on the hill directly to the north of you. Can you confirm that those are our GRU guys down in the valley?" He got the call over the radio, sending the confirming message back up to the NCOIC.

Redfield peered across the valley, seeing the hilltop on which their surrogate pack members were stationed on. Soon however, Stear and Rachel would have to reposition so as not to lose sight of the Russians. Jay studied his map, working out the Russian azimuth of travel. It led to a village about a click north, a village with a dot plotted next to it. Any dot on Jay's map was never a good thing, especially when it was inside friendly territory. It had been on there so long the Sergeant didn't even remember what it was. If the Russians were indeed heading there, they needed to reposition, and they needed to reposition now. He gave the move out order to Meryl, and she passed it on down to Learn and Jericho.

"Rachel, do you know that village northeast of here?" Jay called on the radio, putting the new coordinates in his DAGR as they moved. He had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Yeah, what about it?" She responded, already on the move from the sound of it.

"Is there anything there?"

"There are a few civilians hanging around, and a prewar radar array." She answered, having seen the village many times since the start of the war. It didn't lie in a very good tactical or strategic position, and like the chateau, had remained largely untouched by the fighting.

"Oh shit, LINK! That radar is a LINK array!" He practically yelled into the radio, catching himself at the last second. That complicated things a bit...

"If they get one of the LINK arrays, they could play all kinds of havoc with our system!" Sergeant Stear gasped over the radio, turning the simple tailing mission into a race against time.

"Pirate, this is Charlie Two-Two actual, priority, over!" He called on the RSHCOM net, getting nothing but static through the receiver.

"The goddamn Jumpstart! We locked ourselves out of the only long range Jumpstart in the area!" Learn called, changing their situation from priority to desperate. Too much was going wrong at once, but Jay wasn't going to let the Russians one up him this time.

"Meryl, Jericho, see if you can get ahead of them and sit on that LINK. I want eyes on! Stear, you and Rachel come up with me. I want to take these bastards out before they take our early warning system offline."

"Roger."

Each member of the team split off on their assigned missions, racing the Russians through the late evening cold.

+++++++++++++++++

Sergeant Stear watched the Russian column as it came to a stop amongst one of their protected villages. So far, the Russians had not bothered to try anything in the southern edge of the AO, and their presence here today is what sparked his interest.

"Rachel, can you tell what they are doing?" Dave asked, view of the square blocked by a large historic building. The female was at a different angle

Nymev's GRU team made it through the gauntlet of hills without incident, coming up on the village as the day turned to night. They formed a perimeter around the cluster of homes and moved in, knocking on doors and barging into homes. Gunfire lit the darkened windows, and horrid shadows contorted through the flashes as Jericho and Meryl watched the carnage.

"Jay, they're killing everyone." Jericho called over the radio, getting angrier and angrier as the seconds passed. He witnessed a girl run from the house, slipping past the GRU men in the street and taking off at a dead run down the street. The Osnaz soldiers were quick to cut her down with a full auto burst.

A shotgun blast shattered the night, and a blood-spattered Russian corpse was propelled out of a second story window moments later. The house erupted in gunfire as the Russian troops sprayed it on fully automatic. One of the men threw an RGO frag grenade through the upper window, buckling the walls outward as it exploded. The gunfire died down as the last of the civilians were eliminated. The radar control center was next. The GRU troops stacked on the concrete structure as they had practiced a thousand times before, keeping their weapons at the ready with the go code. ...

"Comrade Colonel, we have secured the radar site!"

"Exactly so, begin phase two of the operation." He responded, picking through the broken front door of a storefront. The Colonel stepped it out towards the radar site, taking up a position near the doorway. He glanced from the silent wood line to the control team and back again, not fully satisfied until his software was installed into the array.

The intrusion took only a few more seconds,

Stear halted the column as soon as the dome shaped radar array came into view. There were soldiers standing around it, no doubt keeping their eyes open in all directions. The Russians were definitely in.

"Raid warning! Possible supersonic bomber raid inbound over Poland bound for northern Germany at 290." The RSHCOM net boomed, powerful antenna taking over the airwaves as the message filtered down from Colonel Estes' office. Their eyes turned from the radar array

"There is no raid!" Sergeant Stear called into the radio, nothing but static answering him back.

"No, there is! Look!" Rachel said, pointing her nose to the sky. White contrails headed west, painted by shining silver Backfire bombers as they streaked towards their objectives.

"That raid isn't heading at 290! more like 320!" Stear called, giving a rough estimate of their course.

"If they are running anything close to that heading, they can hit one of the ports in a matter of minutes." The Raptoress realized, throwing a panic-stricken look to her Guardian.

"We have to get down there and get that array!" Redfield said, indicating towards the bunker. Several soldiers stood outside, focusing outwards.

"Okay, let's get this one done quick and clean. Meryl, Jericho, hit left. We'll go right through. Storm that bunker and leave no Russian alive." Jay called, easing the bolt back on his M4 to make sure a round was chambered.

"Everyone move!" He called, throwing himself up in front of Stear. Redfield eased his selector onto semi as he moved in the strange loping run that deep snow forces upon man. The guards outside of the bunker didn't see Jericho and Meryl as they fell silently from the shadows, crushing skulls and spilling organs with surgical accuracy.

"Making entry!" Meryl called, throwing her bodyweight against the heavy steel door of the radar bunker.

The portal crumpled as if hit by a compact car, and the female slid easily inside. She met a black-clad Russian face to face, red beret signifying that he was indeed one of the GRU men. The man screamed in incomprehensible Russian, bringing a submachine gun up to his shoulder. Meryl barreled into him, delivering a jugular severing blow with her forepaws without even pausing. The man gurgled, crumpling in a heap at her feet. The female stepped over him, entering a door labeled 'control room'. She barged in, startling a group of Russians manning the computer equipment. They all reached for weapons as soon as Jericho stepped through the door, getting over their dumbstruck looks in a heartbeat.

"Things are about to get fun!" Jericho yelled as the first Bizon submachine gun shredded a computer console an inch from his head. The male launched himself over a table, taking care not to knock himself out on the heavy metal light fixtures above as he crashed into one of the Russians. Blood stained the concrete as Jericho ripped the man to shreds. The other three backed out of an opposite door as their partner distracted the other two.

"Go for it Meryl!"

"Cover me!" The female yelled as she splintered the entrance, running headlong into a wall of gunfire. The Raptoress caught one Russian behind the doorframe with her tail, sending the man flying into a metal utility shelf across the room. His comrades, already in fear for their lives, targeted the female with the 9mm submachine guns they carried. Before they could fire, the room seemed to disappear around her, fading into a wide open field.

"What the hell?" Meryl spoke aloud, glancing back and forth at the waving grass. The wind was blowing, sending warm air down through the cooling channels of her armor. The sun sat low over the horizon, bathing everything in orange light. The Russian soldiers had disappeared....

"Jericho? Jay?" Meryl called over her radio, getting only static in return. After several attempts, she released the call pad in frustration and began to walk.

"Meryl?" A familiar voice from the past called softly, turning the female completely around. A male Utahraptor stood before her, tall and muscular.

Audwin.

"Aud? Is it you?" She questioned, crouching down in a semi-defensive stance. The female cautiously approached him, studying all of the details at the same time. His body was perfect, not a scar or wound in sight. Two smooth spots on his hips indicated the burden of armor. As Meryl looked deeper into the strange male's eyes, she confirmed what her mind had been telling her. It was Aud!

Meryl abandoned her defensive posture, running towards him in excitement.

"Meryl Stop!" Audwin commanded, bringing the Raptoress to a screeching halt. She didn't understand, but complied nonetheless. The only thing that mattered to her was that Aud was back!

"Aud, what? Why?"

"Meryl, I came to warn you."

"Warn me? About what?"

"So that the same thing that happened to me doesn't happen to you. I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you Meryl, but I'm sure you understand."

"I do."

"Colonel Nymev is planning something worse than the executions Meryl, something that could tip the entire world into this war."

"Something worse?"

"Something worse."

The field around Meryl faded to brown, trees shriveled and the grass that waved died. Bodies seemed to appear, stacking upon one another. Russian and American lay together, blood seeming to seep from their very pores. Eyes looked to the sky with a red haze, and blood pooled beneath them without seeping into the ground. Meryl looked in terror as Jay's body appeared in front of her, staring up at her in death.

"Jay!"

The field gave way to a city street, crumbling under the shadow of a mushroom cloud. Dust blown by a hurricane wind pelted her face, and skeletons of once living people littered the streets as far as the eye could see. The crumbling remains of St. Basils cathedral hit her hard. This was Moscow!

"Meryl, trust your instincts."

With that, Meryl jumped awake. She looked about the darkened Infirmary with a panicked eye, relaxing once she found that she was alone. No more LINK array, no more Russians, and no more Aud....

The female wobbled to her feet, doubling over in pain before regaining her balance. No matter her condition, Meryl had to make it out to her Guardian. She had to warn him.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Staff Sergeant Kenny Davies awoke fitfully, jarred out of an equally fitful sleep by an image of the monster that he had witnessed two days before. He stood, peering from the ajar door to the hayloft and out into the field beyond. On the other side, a deserted two lane road ran north to south past a destroyed farmhouse. Since his flight from the massacre, Ken's mind had been playing tricks on him, seeing things that were not there. Behind every tree, behind every rock, a creature waited to tear his soul clean away. However, if the Sergeant had any choice in the matter, they wouldn't succeed.

"What the hell was that?" He spoke to no one, pacing back to the opposite side of the hayloft. The best image in his mind was a dinosaur, but the possibility of their existence was nil. However, the screams of his soldiers didn't lie and neither did his eyes. He had seen what had happened.

A snorting diesel engine drew him away from the thought, coming from the other side of the farm. Davies looked through a crack in the wood, spotting an armored vehicle covered in camouflage in the middle of the farm's field. He brought his M4 up and used the ACOG scope as a monocular, identifying the vehicle as Russian right off. Some kind of scout?

The vehicle stopped, sitting still for a moment before moving on. The little troop carrier took up a position by the gutted house, staying put and taking a good field of fire down the road.

"Come on, move along." Urged the Sergeant, wanting to move his own position. Russians here didn't bode well for offset American forces.

Ken spun with his weapon at his shoulder as a farm implement fell to the floor below with a loud crash. He soon realized that no human had caused it, but that the entire earth seemed to shake. The NCO looked back outside, nearly dropping his M4 in shock.

Russian tanks of all shapes and sizes rolled through the woodline, dropping trees as if they were grass. Large lumbering self-propelled howitzers followed behind, coming to a rest in the field. The tanks continued forwards, filtering out onto the road and assuming a security interval. The Russian guns pointed skywards, already in position and unpacked. Support trucks followed, trundling through the muddy ruts left by the tracked vehicles. A group of squat, gunless, tracked vehicles sat on either side of the battery, personnel running around like ants performing various tasks. It didn't take long before the long flames of artillery fire and thunderclaps deafened Davies, pushing him back to the opposite side of the barn.

Thank god for ear protection... He thought, glad that the Army had always insisted he wear the devices. For several hours, the firing went on, pinning the NCO against the wall of the barn. Several times, Russian soldiers came near to compromising him, but were called away at the last second. It was like this that Davies spent the rest of the day.

After night fell, the Sergeant exfiltrated the area via the road, stepping over the muddy tracks of the Russian tanks. He continued north, away from the booms and towards the ghastly glow of burning fires. There had to be American units here somewhere.....

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Redfield tramped quietly through the snow, looking up at Rachel as she brushed through a thicket.

"These plants are sharp." She commented over the radio, brushing the shrub to the side with a forearm.

"Don't get hung up in them." Stear instructed from the opposite side of the triangle, laughing softly into his microphone. They were approaching the sight of the massacre with every step, unsure of what they would find. It didn't take long before it was in sight. The bodies had all been removed, but the evidence still remained of what had happened there. Blood and spent shell casings littered the ground, painting a grim picture for all. Of course the recovery teams had trampled all the snow down around the road, scratching footprints out of the equation.

"This isn't a very good spot for an ambush. I would've let them go about three hundred meters up the road where it is raised on both sides." Redfield commented, studying the surrounding woods with curiosity. It was an embankment to one side, and an open patch of grass with more woodline behind on the other.

"If we'd laid that ambush with our Utahraptors, that is where we would've done it." Dave answered, pointing to the spot just at the apex of the risen embankment. Jay turned and walked to the top, making eye contact with the two of them as they stood and watched. After a moment of thought, he shook his head in confirmation.

"You're right."

The Sergeant turned and walked a few feet into the woods, looking at the various bootprints strewn about from both the Russians and the Americans. After a few minutes he turned to leave, not able to find anything significant. As he turned, a single print stood out from the rest, making Jay crouch to get a confirmation.

It was a simple, three-toed W.

"We've got problems." He yelled over just as rumbling thunder echoed through the air. Jay turned and ran back over by his two comrades after snapping a digital photo of the print.

"There is a Utahraptor print up there." He told them, catching his breath and looking south.

"We'd better get back." Stear suggested, much to Jay's approval. They weren't equipped to handle any significant contact, and Redfield wasn't about to risk it. He needed to report to Colonel Estes. The FMTV truck that the RSH team had brought down with them was about seven hundred yards away, sitting off in the woods in a secured position. Redfield did a quick check of the vehicle, making sure no one had come along and tampered with it before climbing up into the cab. He dialed in the radio, making sure that the encryption was in place.

"Pirate Six, this is Guardian Two-Two over."

"Go ahead Two-Two, this is Six."

"Flash for Codename Estes, Uniform Romeo prints found in vicinity. Not friendly, I say again, not friendly."

"Roger Two-two, move to Phase Line Hammer and stand by. More instructions to follow, over."

"Affirmative Six, Two-Two out."

They boarded the truck, leaving the area as fast as the vehicle would allow on the winding roads.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"What do you think?" Learn asked from the other room, interrupting Jericho's television program. The two had finished early, and with Jay and Stear out of the area, decided to take the opportunity for time off.

"I don't know. Run up to S1 tomorrow morning and get our files. You know I don't understand the way they do that paperwork." The male answered, fully engrossed in a special about rain forest insects.

Learn shrugged from the opposite room, sorting through the mountain of paperwork that had been sent down from Personnel. The Sergeant didn't know how S1 managed to lose so much paperwork, but they did. Jericho enjoyed the relaxation that RSHCOM offered, giving him more time to spend with Jordan as well as get an uninterrupted night's sleep.

"Fuck!"

Jericho laughed as the sound of a stack of falling papers drifted in to the common area, Jordan's frustration making it all the more entertaining.

"Glad it's funny to you, ass!" She yelled, attempting to catch a second falling stack. She didn't succeed, and even more important paper dropped onto the floor. He heard the light click off a moment later, signaling that all hope was lost. Learn exited the other room a moment later, sliding her reflective PT belt off from around her waist. She settled down against Jericho's chest, getting into a comfortable position to watch TV.

"Give up?" Jericho asked smugly, stupid grin still present on his face. The frustration in Jordan was evident, and the male felt the need to aggravate.

"Haha. I don't suppose you want to go pick all of those up?" She responded, delivering a swift elbow to the ribs. Jericho grunted with the hit, retaliating with one of the licks for which Meryl was famous.

"Eww!" She responded, wiping her face and smearing the wet kiss back on Jericho's muzzle.

Jericho could smell the pheromones rising from his Guardian before she even knew what she was feeling. He drew in her distinct scent through his nostrils, enjoying the pungent odor of his Human female. Someone was horny....

"You asked for it."

"Maybe so."

"Why are you complaining about a little kiss?" He asked smugly, drawing his face almost up against hers. He'd hoped and prayed since their last rendezvous that she would kiss him again. The sensation that had surged through his body by the simple contact was something that no Utahraptor could ever replicate. Jordan leaned in and pressed her lips to his, grasping the sides of his head and pulling him even deeper. The Utahraptor's heart fluttered as the pleasurable nerve impulses flooded throughout, causing him to half close his eyes. Learn prolonged it as much as possible, laughing to herself at Jericho's slight shiver. She soon pulled away, leaving Jericho to catch his breath.

"Do all Utahraptors have sensitive lips?" She asked, noting how fast his breathing had become. Another reaction had been coaxed forth by the kiss, and was visibly displayed between Jericho's legs. Learn eyed it pensively, thoughts running through her head at millions of miles per hour.

"I guess so. I never noticed it before."

Learn drew closer to him, sliding her hands down his soft belly. She found the objective of her pursuit between his legs and wrapped her hand around it, enjoying the satin feel of his softest of parts. She caressed the base of his manhood, watching the enjoyable reactions that she got out of him. The male's eyes were closed, and he threw his head back and forth as she continued to rub.

"Ah....Don't stop." He managed to squeak out as Jordan slipped her head between his legs. He felt warmth slide over the head of his member as Learn wrapped her mouth around him. Her tongue examined him inside her mouth, drawing squeaks when a particularly sensitive area was rubbed. Jericho's Guardian slid more of his length into her mouth, moving her head up and down to accomplish the desired result. The male moaned as she stood, watching as PT shorts slid down to the floor. Jericho shifted a bit, looking down at his glistening member before glancing back at Jordan. He examined her toned body, getting even more excited as he glanced at her naked form.

"Staring isn't nice." Jordan muttered as she laid back down on his Mat, scooting up against his chest.

"Maybe not, but I'm content with it anyways." He responded a moment later, grasping Learn's hip with one of his clawed forepaws. He pushed upwards, spreading her legs apart just enough to squeeze his length between them. Learn gasped at the initiative, but didn't dare stop it as she felt Jericho press his cockhead against her opening.

"My turn." He whispered into her ear, pushing his hips forward and burying his member inside his human Guardian. She gasped, not expecting him to be so forceful. She pressed her head into the mat as her male began to thrust, filling every inch and then some that Learn didn't even know she had. Jericho's powerful thrusts were unlike anything she'd ever experienced, and she intended to make it worth his while. The male threw his head over her shoulder, sliding onto his knees a moment later and taking Jordan with him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kept up the steady tempo, slowing it down a bit as he felt Learn's body reacting to the steady gyrations.

"Damn." Learn gasped, feeling the sweat that was beading on her forehead from both the closeness of their bodies and the activities in which they were engaged. Jericho's grip tightened around Jordan's abdomen as he felt her body finally give in to the precise torture he was delivering. Her muscles tightened around him, and spasms rocked her entire form. The male continued to thrust through, only lasting about fifteen more seconds before his own orgasm struck with the force of five hundred pounds of TNT. He thrust as far into Jordan as possible without hurting her and deeply released his life-giving seed.

Learn gasped as the hot cum settled within her, forming warmth that wasn't usually present. Some of it leaked out and ran down the insides of her thighs and just about everywhere else. There was no keeping all that in...

She turned and delivered a kiss to Jericho right below his left eye, listening to his heavy panting as he withdrew himself. Even more seed followed him out, dripping lightly on the mat. Jericho collapsed onto the mat next to her, eyes closed in exhaustion.

"Hey, you alright?" Learn laughed, curling up around her male. A leg cocked up with his, and an arm clasped around his taut neck as she readjusted herself.

"I'm excellent, just exhausted." He panted back.

"Sex really is draining for you guys, isn't it?"

No answer came, because Jericho was already asleep......

"Goodnight Jeri, my love...."

To be continued......