FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Love Front

Book 2: Broken

Chapter 1 Careful

Combined Special Forces' CP Brooklyn, New York 2102 Military Time

This was more than just dangerous, this could end with many soldiers dead all because of two furries. Sean and Emily were supposed to be leading this unit, a new unit that was barely used to it's own command and now was being a guinea pig test unit for all Federal cooperation, and they could barely control themselves. Sean was banging around more like an enraged wolf and Emily was sulking, feeling like she had really lost something.

The Spetsnfte unit however was warming up to Sean of all things. His irate state did really make him act like a wolf and his armor, which he was fully enclosed in, made him an imposing figure. Lieutenant Girgori himself was becoming quite fond of the fox and this was making Emily feel more and more like an outsider. Everyone liked him; why shouldn't she, his supposed mate of all things, like him?

They moved up the roads on foot, the unit had no vehicles, not that they'd be very stealthy in the city streets. Even though they were miles from the first search location all of them, except Emily, moved in a very careful, very stealthy, series of movements up the road.

The slow pace discouraged the rabbit even more, she couldn't fathom moving the full distance around the edge of this Island to the north in one night, twice no less. She prayed they found this stupid wolf so she could go home, she just wanted to go anywhere, anywhere in the Federation away from everyone.

It took at least two hours, maybe a little more, Emily didn't check her watch, for the forty furry team to make it to the northern end of the Island where their search began, in place called "Harlem." They then turned south to walk towards the buildings, the one in particular was called the "Hotel Theresa" on, what Emily thought was an archaic way of arranging roads, 7th Avenue and 125th Street.

Carefully they surrounded the building, breaking up into the simple units of 10, each stationed one block away from the building. Although Sean and Girgori didn't like it, they had to split up and had to let Emily command one of the squads. They didn't have much of a choice and neither wanted to make the female more irritated than she already was.

"Alright, all squads move in a spear formation towards the target building," Sean whispered into his COM unit. Normally he would have spoke like normal but he was the only one who had a fully enclosed helmet, everyone else's speaker was open to the outside.

Nonetheless the unit moved in like machinery, even Emily was able to stay in step with the rest.

When Sean reached his corner he looked to his left and right, saw Girgori's squad in well-concealed positions as was Emily's.

"Alright Lieutenant," he said into his mic, "since the doors are closer to you, you do the check and clear. You make contact, call in the Calvary."

"Roger sir," the wolf replied, he had come to accept the fox's command.

Sean saw the group of ten wolves get up and move, surprisingly well, towards the building and quickly breached and entered. They actually worked like a Ranger unit and Sean was becoming more and more sure that this would work seamlessly, minus any problems Emily created.

So not to leave a hole in their perimeter around the building Sean moved his squad around the front and in between the two corners where his and Girgori's unit were supposed to be stationed.

After about thirty minutes and no reports Sean keyed his mic.

"Yes sir?" the lieutenant replied.

"Anything?" Sean asked, brining up the map on his HUD and preparing to check it off.

"No," the wolf sighed, "this ones clean. Grimy fucking place but no Lyon."

"Roger that, well that's one less, eight left," Sean replied, "Pack it up and we'll evac."

"Yes sir," the wolf said and about five minutes later emerged.

Misha kneeled down by Captain Atric and licked the inside of his mouth eagerly, "You want to check the next target? This only took about three hours, we've got plenty of time."

Sean didn't want to displease the wolf but he wasn't sure if that was safe. They hadn't reviewed the next building at all and he wasn't sure of its building plans. Still, the fox was more than aware that the wolves liked him and he didn't want to jeopardize that so early in the mission.

"Alight," Sean said then turned on his COM system, "All units converge on my location."

It took a few minutes but eventually they all made their way over to Sean's position. The wolves and Emily kneeled down. Sean set up his data-pad and up came a display of the city with the next target building. This one was going to be a lot worse, it was a building called the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was on the edge of a huge forest or something stuck in the middle of the city and Sean couldn't figure out why nothing was alive in there of all places which, obviously, suggested something may be inside there instead of wildlife.

There was one problem with going there, if they took the long way, the proper way, it would easily be light out when they made their evac across the bridge to their CP and it wasn't safe to stay in the immediate area of where Lyon was, just wasn't smart. The only way to make the time frame work out was to go straight down an oddly placed forest and approach the building directly from the north.

Sean voiced this concerns to Emily and Girgori and they both insisted to do it anyway, each having their own reasons. Emily wanted to get this all over with and Misha wanted to show off what the Spetsnfte could do in combat. He had the sneaking suspicion that once the Federation and the wolves accepted each other, all of the wolf units would be enveloped by the Federals leaving no traces of a long standing military tradition and although the Spetsnfte were brand new, Girgori didn't want them to be lost. If he could prove how good they were, how well they worked maybe the Generals and the new Consular, who was a Special Forces Operator himself, may let the unit stay unique, be on it's own and stay purely wolves.

The fox caved and left the actual battle planning to Misha who took it graciously, seeing it as a perfect way to prove himself as a capable leader. Building full battle plans in the field was tough so it was though. The wolf brought up the full building plans, it turned out it was going to be much tougher than normal buildings too. Lots of tiers, levels, overlooking catwalks, gallery's with lots of corner's; a tactical nightmare. Still though the wolf worked out some... interesting entry procedures, more based on force than stealth but they worked.

As Girgori went over the plans with each squad leader Sean took a moment to look Emily over. She looked very sad, very uncomfortable, and very scared. She didn't like being in the dark, she had oversized goggles attached to her head, which easily turned night to day, but, having worn them himself, Sean knew that there was no comparison to a real helmet unit. And her fear was more than obvious to everyone, as her ears stood up perfectly straight atop her head, twitching at each and every foreign sound.

Also Sean noticed how... beautiful she looked. Although scared and emotionally distraught she looked beautiful. She looked like a soldier, something not usually associated with good looks yet Emily's physic and stance alone warmed Sean even just a little. He had an urge to talk to her, he wished she had a private COM system, anything to voice his wishes to be with her again but it wouldn't be fair to her to say this in front of everyone. He made a mental note to tell her back at the CP.

Lieutenant Girgori finished his briefing and they moved out, this time as one. They would be going through the park and it was better to be in a group rather than cut off units. It was only five blocks before they reached the beginning of the forest. The file said it used to be a massive park but whatever had taken place, or rather lack of anything taking place, had let nature retake the land and it was now a full size forest. Sean marked the location of the building on his HUD and advised the rest of the Operators to do the same. The fox wanted to tell Emily to stay close to him but he wasn't sure how she'd react to that since she just loved it when he tried to look out for her.

The forest was very dense. Dense enough that all the wolves eventually drew their various personalized cutting tools, some so big that they could be considered swords, and began hacking at the undergrowth. It took about an hour of this trek to come remotely close to the museum.

They converged about 100 yards in a perfect eastern line to the building and huddled up closely, Sean and Girgori in the center. They went over the entry plan one last time; Sean paying closer attention realized this might be too forceful. It called for and entire squad to make a forced entry right into the front of the museum, clear the immediate area, then the other three squads follow in and they all secure the museum. Yes it would take a fraction of the time but it was quite risky. But everything that the Special Forces were doing right now was extremely risky so it really didn't change much.

Girgori volunteered to take the first squad in but Sean wouldn't allow it. He set them up on the edges of the door with his squad in a staggered line by the tall series of wide steps in front to enter the front doors. The fox set up the breaching charge himself, 10-second delay.

The unit hunkered down and each prepared mentally for what they may find inside. Girgori's squad hid by a pair of huge pillars, Emily's farther along the walk around the building by some bushes and the last squad on the opposite sides of the door behind another pair of huge pillars.

Sean began counting down after hit the button; "10"

Emily whispered over the universal COM "Remember;"

"9" Sean continued counting.

"We need to capture,"

"8"

"Lyon so," Emily continued warning.

"7"

"Watch your,"

"6"

"Fire," Emily concluded.

"5"

"Quiet you!" Girgori barked in a hushed tone.

"4"

In a combative tone Emily snapped back at the wolf, "Don't tell me to,"

"3" Sean said, ignoring the pair.

"Shut up!" the wolf yelled more violently.

"2!" Sean yelled, trying to get the two bickering furries to prepare themselves.

"Sean!" Emily yelled in the same confrontational tone she had yelled at Girgori with.

"1!" he yelled back and gripped his rifle a bit tighter.

Whoever was in the lobby of the museum saw a huge bright flash of light, then the sound of boots entering quickly, then nothing at all.

Unfortunately for the entry team, no one was in the lobby. They spread out inside the huge lobby but it was clear from the beginning there wasn't a soul inside.

"Clear!" one wolf yelled out.

"Clear!" yelled another.

"All clear! Teams deploy!" Sean yelled and the remaining thirty operators ran in past him, off to their own search zones.

Sean stood up and motioned for his squad to follow. He hadn't yet learned any of their names, it was still to soon in the operation but he could tell that either purposely or by consistence, Girgori had given him the best in the Spetsnfte.

The fox took his squad to the right, through a four tall pillars. His squad was to check the upstairs' levels but Sean was having a hard time finding a way to the stairs. He signaled to the closest wolf to take point. Surprisingly it only took the operator a minute to find a fire-way stairwell to the upper levels.

They walked along the various galleries. At first the operators tried to avoid it but soon they succumbed and everyone, wherever they were, started looked at the various paintings and works of art on the walls. There were plenty of empty places, spots where the art had been taken when the humans had left but some pieces remained.

"I always knew the humans were different," Girgori commented over the COM line, "but now I think they're just strange."

Sean agreed. From what he was saying he'd figure the artist that "made" these must have been insane. It could just be that these were left over from when the human's left and these were, as what Sean saw as, bad art, but then again why would they be in this museum if at one point some human had found them interesting?

This went on for about an hour before it was more than clear that no one was in the museum. Sean called out for all the team to regroup in the lobby and in less than a half hour all but Emily and her squad had arrived. Another seven minutes ticked by before she finally came walking into the lobby, a wolf in the lead. No one would say it but she looked mad as hell, likely from becoming lost and having to rely on someone else's lead, something she just loved.

"Alright let's bug out while it's still dark," Sean said and all forty operators moved out and began heading east.

Once they hit the coast of the island they began heading south. On the way in they had taken the southern-most bridge but being it was later than Sean had intended it to be they were forced to take the first bridge they came across, one Williamsburg Bridge. By the time the Spetsnfte made it to their CP the sun was just rising and the sky was a soft orange.

It had been a long march so half went to sleep right away while the other half would sleep later on in the day, all preparing for another night of searching.

Lyon Mackenzie's Base, Somewhere in Manhattan, 6:59 AM Local Time

"Have we found out what the fuck that was yet?!" Mackenzie, the rebel wolf leader yelled at his head subordinate.

The other wolf, angry that he wasn't able to satisfy his master sighed and replied, "No sir, but it's more than likely a Federation Special Forces team, likely Rangers."

"Fuck! Fuck!" Lyon yelled, knocking a stuffed animal over, "I knew hiding on this planet was a bad idea."

"So what do you want me to do sir?" Lyon's lieutenant asked.

Mackenzie sighed and paced back and forth for a moment. His lieutenant watched attentively, waiting to do whatever his master ordered him to do.

"Okay Rolf, here's what we're gona do," Mackenzie began, "You're gona stay here with a platoon or so while the rest of us find a new safe house."

"Yes sir," the wolf replied and bowed his head, "What do you want me to do if the Federals show up."

"Why kill them of course," he answered without hesitation.

Rolf grinned, "I meant afterwards."

"Report to me their strength and we'll figure out where to go from there," Lyon called back as he walked towards the rest of his security unit, to prepare them to move a better location, hopefully a less creepy one.

Combined Special Forces' CP Brooklyn, New York 1245 Military Time

Sean sat at the table in the unofficial "briefing room" in the run down old apartment building. He was going over the search locations and, seeing how quickly they were able to clear the two locations the night before the fox figured that they might be able to do three that night if they planed them out right.

A few minutes later Lieutenant Girgori walked in and sat down across from Sean.

Getting right to business Sean turned on the display on his data-pad and set it up; "Alright Lieutenant, I figure we can try and do more than one location again tonight, maybe more if we work this right."

The projection shifted to the 3D model of the island where all the search locations were, each one highlighted and a cross through the two they had checked already.

"These three," Sean pointed to three locations all relatively close along the western shore, "are all the highest probability and if we do them in the right order we can easily do them in one night, go around to the north and evac the same way we did last night."

The wolf nodded, "Sounds good sir. What's the situation at each of the targets?"

"Well," Captain Atric began, looking over his list, "the first target, which we were actually going to do last, target nine then but target one now, is about a mile or so from that big bridge, the first one we crossed last night," Sean scrutinized the name, "the... Brooklyn Bridge."

"Alright, what's the building?" Misha said, figuring this might be the night to really show off what the Spetsnfte could do.

"It was the uh," he read over the data which was a few millennia old, "City hall, apparently. Shouldn't be that big of a deal, we actually have the plans to go along with it so we can really make a good strategy. The second target was originally target seven is called the Jacob Jarvets Center... or something along those lines. It's a big giant building and I'd put good money on it not having anything in it but it has the second least amount of life in it compared to any part of the city."

Misha chuckled, "Which one has the least?"

"Well actually tonight's target three, which was the overall target three," Sean replied and bit his lower lip, "This ones gona be a problem though. Not only do we have no information on it, it's apparently going to be a freak house."

The wolf tilted his head in confusion.

"Apparently," he began, "before the humans left this planet they had a big museum dedicated to all the different biological crap on this planet. It's not like the museum we were in last night though," the fox warned, "it's more like the normal museums, from the description at least, that you'd see on..." Sean trailed off.

"On what sir?" the wolf asked.

Sean grinned uncomfortably, "On uh... he, I was going to say Conakry."

"See that's going to be a problem," Girgori replied, masking his own discomfort quite well, "I've never exactly been to a museum there."

"Ya..." the fox shook his head and went back to the briefing, "It's supposedly has many, many rooms, a huge underground structure and a maze of passage ways and shit that's a tactical nightmare."

In a very proud tone Misha said, "The Spetsnfte can handle it, we're better than anything that shit-head Lyon has."

"Good, good..." Captain Atric commented, more to himself.

Lieutenant Girgori looked around, "Why isn't Captain Gates present? Isn't she supposed," the wolf growled a little, "lead one of the squads?"

The rabbit was only fueling Misha's extreme distaste for females. She was cold, cruel, mean, and, for someone who was supposed to be his mate, treated Captain Atric like shit. The wolf refused to refer to her as his mate anymore because of that feeling that if the fox saw females as necessary in general he deserved a better mate than her. Also, Misha didn't trust her. She was supposed to be leading some of his Operators but from their reports she was an overseer. Emily was distant and lost in combat, not someone that should be commanding one of the strongest groups of soldiers in the galaxy.

It took a few seconds for Sean to register the wolf's words but he soon answered, "Yes."

"Then shouldn't she be aware of our plans?" he reasoned, although he was glad the female wasn't present.

"Uhh..." Sean said stuttered, a bit distracted, "No, no. We'll brief her in the field but there's nothing she's really need for here," then, under his breath Sean commented, "She'd make things worse anyway."

Girgori heard him and was going to let it go but he was interested in this, it made no sense and that intrigued the wolf.

"Sir?" he began, "Can I ask you a question about her?"

The fox shrugged, "I guess. Why?" Sean shook his head quickly and said, "What about I mean?"

"She's supposed to be your mate right? Well why does she seem to... well hate you? I mean you don't seem to be a fan of her either, I don't blame you but still?"

Sean stared at him for a moment and sighed, wishing what he was saying wasn't true.

"What is it that you see in her that makes it worth it?" the wolf added.

"I guess," the fox said, very quietly, "I don't know, I mean I was sure I loved her and that she loved me. I mean... I don't know."

Lieutenant Girgori shrugged, "Personally I don't see what you were going to get out of that."

To himself Sean whispered very, very quietly, "And we were supposed to have a family..."

The wolf shrugged again, he didn't see any use in that either. He didn't care for females on any level, sexually or for friendship either. They were nothing more than annoyance to him.

He looked Captain Atric over and saw a stare of deep though and, without a word, Misha stood up and left the fox to his thoughts, figuring he was best off that way.

"Maybe he'll come to his senses and figure out his better off without her," Girgori thought to himself.

After grabbing a viewfinder the wolf walked up to the roof, figuring he'd get a chance to look around this strange city in the daylight, maybe even catch a few careless fools of Lyon who might wander too far. Unfortunately for Misha, he found Emily upstairs, staring into the distance deep in thought.

She looked over at him, at first with excite but her face soon turned to disappointment and she looked back into the distance.

Being that he wasn't going to accommodate for some rabbit, a female no less, Lieutenant Girgori walked right over to Emily and in a gruff voice said, "Go downstairs, I'm going to have a look around."

"Fuck you," she replied quietly and didn't even look at the wolf.

"Hey, I didn't ask you," he yelled at her in a bellowing voice, "I'm telling you, get the fuck off this roof!"

She looked right at him, she looked dead inside yet unafraid, "Up yours. I'm staying here and if you want to look around you'll have to deal with that."

Misha growled and said in a guttural voice, "Your lucky you're supposed to be Captain Atric's mate or I'd throw you off this roof."

Emily huffed and looked back out across the city.

The wolf didn't want to be near her but didn't want to let her win so he went to the complete opposite side of the roof and looked out across the city. It was a really strange place. The part of the city they were in now, this "Brooklyn," was beat up and indeed looked like what you'd expect a city to look after being abandoned for thousands of years but that middle Island, the one where Lyon was supposed to be wasn't in nearly as bad condition. However he tried to break it down Misha came to the same conclusion that humans were just strange.

Abruptly, actually causing him to jump a little, Emily spoke up; "Why do you hate females so much?"

"Why do you care?" he retorted, not wanting to hear the rabbits comparatively high-pitched voice.

The rabbit huffed, "Because it's an unreasonable thing, what have females ever done to you?"

"Your all useless, unreasonable, you love someone then hate them on a whim," he replied and looked her in the eye, those words striking home, "you are quite annoying too," he added, stressing his final words.

Emily rolled her eyes and whispered, "Whatever..."

Feeling like he had won and wanting to further demoralize the rabbit Girgori asked, "Do you really love him or were you just stringing him along like I'm sure you were?"

She shrugged, much like Sean had and replied, "I loved him, I know I did. I loved him as long as I thought or knew he loved me."

At that the wolf clenched his teeth. For the first time in his more than experienced life he couldn't figure out what was going on. She loved him as long as he loved her, and Captain Atric loved her as long she loved him so... what the fuck was the problem? Girgori almost voiced his thoughts but Emily, without a word, left him and walked downstairs, not to see Sean but to be alone, she had so much to think about it scared her.

"Bunch'a cunts..." Misha commented to himself and continued looking about the city, excited over a chance to prove to Captain Atric, the new Wolf Command, and the Federation as a whole what the Spetsnfte could do.

Chapter 2 Failing

1st Target Location, City Hall, Manhattan 2120 Military Time

Emily was to distracted, she was slacking and falling behind. Every time Sean or Lieutenant Girgori said something it just didn't register with her. She wasn't even worried if that was a bad thing.

Over the past few hours she had come up with a general plan of her own, having nothing to do with her immediate situation, but it wasn't sitting right with her. The rabbit had figured she would talk to Cathy, maybe even Consular Reynolds about this situation, see if they had any ideas and then from there either run as far and fast as she could to her parents, being that she'd rather see them now than Sean. It wasn't a good plan, certainly not enjoyable on any level for her but she felt like that was her only choice because her only other option... well was one of such an extreme but the feeling of the lose of Sean may drive her to that.

When it came time to make the entries on the first target Emily didn't give it the same care she had done the night before. She didn't slack but she didn't move slowly or keep low. It was obvious from the moment they entered that there wasn't anyone inside the city hall, the clearing efforts were really there to make it so that when they reported to command they didn't have to assume anything.

They left this place and began walking, along the coast, north. During this walk Emily spaced out, on and off, thinking of what was going on. She just couldn't figure out why this was happening. They had been so happy with each other less than a week ago and now, now she wasn't even sure if she'd ever say a kind word to him again or hear him speak lovingly to her.

Through all this however, the rabbit still kept her stance that it was Sean's fault, that he always did what the Federation asked of him and never anything for her. Emily knew she could never be with him if he couldn't love her above all. And, on top of this, she feared for her safety. The whole reason relationships in the Federation were frowned upon was that two lovers might ignore their duties to the Federation in favor of each other, and Emily found herself praying that this was a true assumption. She feared being put in a situation where her life was threatened and Sean had to choose between the mission and her because, now, she was sure he would ignore her.

It took about an hour until they reached the second target location. This one was a bit more into the "city-like" part of the island and it was a very... unique building. It was some kind of convention center, very big considering where it was. It fit the idea for a good location to hide a group of insurgence but Emily, being so distracted, took this way to lightly.

This time she didn't even pay any attention to the battle plan, nodding occasionally but in total thinking about everything and nothing. When they did enter the center she didn't even notice what was in there.

Whatever had taken place to drive the humans off this planet it was starting to look clear that they left in a hurry because the huge rooms, easily a few hundred thousand square feet each, were jammed pack with water craft, very primitive water craft but it was clear what they were.

The boats made everyone else a bit more on their paws but Emily was totally laxed and walked about with complete disregard for stealth. This made the Operators in her squad nervous and some were starting to wish they were in other units, having volunteered to be in her unit figuring, being a Federal; she must be some great soldier, which was becoming more and more clear she wasn't.

The convention center was clear as well, nothing, not even rats in there, probably from all the tacky boats. The platoon left and continued north, everyone taking it more careful but Emily.

This time it only took about forty-five minutes to reach the next target, another museum, one known as the "Museum of Natural History," situated near the same forest they had been around the night before.

As the unit hunkered down like a football squad Sean set up his data-pad with what little data he had on this target. Emily didn't pay attention this time either but did catch him saying that of all the locations, this one had the most promise and would definitely be tougher to clear, even if no one was inside, than the museum they had been to last night.

When Sean and Lieutenant Girgori had clarified the plans with everyone they prepared to make their entry. Being that they figured there was someone in here they did a more stealthy approach and broke into the basement, figuring it was a quicker and more thorough solution to work form the bottom to the top.

The basement of this museum was strange, strange enough that it woke Emily up a little, not much but a little. It was huge, and actually everyone was thinking that it might be bad because there were many overlooking walkways and stairs where a firer would have excellent concealment yet a perfect shot.

They met no forces however down here and soon, as one large unit, moved upstairs. That was when things became really strange, when they started encountering exhibits. Some of them were actually grotesque; animals, although unevolved, resembled furries in their various "poses." There had to be hundreds if not thousands of these stuffed animals.

After about ten minutes it was too much for most of them and Sean called quietly over his COM line, "Alright, all squads break off and go into your own search patterns. Report to the other squad leader's immediately if you encounter anything."

Everyone acknowledged his command and the forty-strong platoon broke up into its smaller squads.

Emily took hers along the same level they were already on, not wanting to climb any stairs at the moment. They past hundreds of exhibits, some so stupid that even the well-disciplined Spetsnfte Operators had to laugh. Emily, glancing at a few herself even had to admit that whoever put these together had such a limited understanding of how things worked that even a bunny could teach them a world's worth of information.

The squad turned a sharp corner and entered a large room, sunken into the ground with a level above. Emily saw flashlights moving about on the level above but they were far off and she couldn't even hear who was creating them.

"All teams report? Who's on level... two or three is it? Right now?" she asked into the COM.

Captain Atric reported he was on level three and Emily figured it must be his squad. Hearing his voice in a non-combative tone directed solely at her was strange and it sent her mind off wandering again.

As she thought about her lost lover Emily walked her squad into the wooden room and, after turning a corner, was met by the terrifying sight of a huge bear, claws out and about to tear her in two, looking Emily face-to-face.

She screamed and fell back, opening fire with her rifle and pulverizing the bear into hundreds of scraps of fur. The rest of the squad opened fire as well on the same target but it only took a second or two for them to realize what a terrible mistake it was.

One of them turned on his helmet mounted tac-lights and shined it on the broken target; a stuffed animal.

"Oh fuck..." another whispered and the squad swept out, taking positions in case of a counter attack.

"Teams report!" Sean yelled out over the COM.

Emily didn't answer, she couldn't answer, she was too scared and felt to stupid to answer.

"All teams report now!" Sean yelled again, this time more angry and nervous.

Seeing that their supposed "squad leader" was preoccupied at the moment one of the wolves informed Captain Atric to the situation.

Sean, back at his location, shook his head and whispered quietly, "Fuck... Emily..." he turned his COM to a private channel with her but heard more gunfire before he could say anything.

***

The sound of a scream quickly followed by the quick pace of concentrated automatic fire awoke Lieutenant Van Rolf from his lazy sleep; him and his pack of sixty or so wolves.

As if machines instead of furries they grabbed their rifles which they slept with and ran quickly and slyly towards where the gunfire originated. It was close, less than a few hundred feet and thankfully to Rolf, downstairs.

The rebels filed into the upper portion of the room where the fire had originated from, a big room, wood all over the place and the tackiest exhibits imaginable. They took position around the rim of the overlooking walk way and listened carefully.

Below, the Spetsnfte were frozen, listening carefully as well. The two groups were unmoving, statues awaiting the one sound that would send a torrent of bullets in one direction or another.

That sound finally came from, of all things, Emily as she stood up.

She walked over to the stuffed animal, kicked it and whispered, "Piece of shit..."

At that all sixty wolves stood up and pointed their rifles, each taking aim at an Operator below. No shots came for a moment, as the wolves above saw the wolves below and were confused at first, but the sight of the cream-brown rabbit staring up in fear at the pack was more than enough to convince Rolf what he was really seeing.

It was only about a half second delay between when the first Operator opened fire and the first rebel did but it was more than clear after the third second that no one below was going to live.

The Rebel's fire was concentrated, at least six guns to every one below. Their fire ripped through the Spetsnfte Operators' armor, killing most in less than seven seconds. Two in a corner opened fire perfectly, each scoring multiple head shots in seconds, but Rolf soon noticed their skill and focused his fire on them both, then, with a grin, fired a pulse round between them, enveloping the two poor wolves in a bright flash that left nothing left.

The last Operator, shot three times already, hurled a grenade into the upper levels but it bounced off, dropping to his same level and exploding, sending shrapnel and broken stuffed animal pieces all over the place yet the Operator survived, continuing firing until he was finally cut down by the concentrated fire of almost all sixty wolves. His life ended abruptly with a little over one hundred bullets sticking him in various locations, leaving a barely recognizable hulk of meat to fall to the ground with a sickening thud.

The entire engagement took thirty seconds and it only left a total of six rebels down whereas the entire Spetsnfte unit was silenced.

Rolf chuckled happily at his masterwork and, quickly followed by the rest of his wolves, jumped down and started inspecting the dead operators.

"Shit sir," one of the rebels giggled, "their Spetsnfte."

Now Rolf was very excited, when he told Lyon what he had accomplished his master would hail him as a hero.

Then the dense wolf remembered, "Hey where's that rabbit?"

The rebels nodded and searched around, soon finding an unwounded, uninjured, and unfortunately for Emily, unarmed rabbit.

One of them scooped her up and brought her before Rolf.

"Good," he grinned, "a prize to go along with this victory."

Emily screamed, petrified with fear and memories of terrible past events.

"Oh God!" she pleaded to unhearing ears, "Someone help!"

By the grace of God someone did, no one was sure who fired first but both Sean's squad and Girgori's surge in on opposite sides and began shooting at the closely packed wolves.

An ill-fated shot struck Emily in the hip, causing her to yell out and the wolf holding her to release the wounded rabbit. She fell to the floor and Rolf, seeing that this wouldn't end well, pointed to the nearby wall and the wolves, in an unbelievable display of strength, ran through it and away.

One or two of the reinforcing Spetsnfte tried to chase them but they disappeared out of the museum into the night.

Misha growled and sniffed the air; he had smelled that pelt before. Then he smelled something else, blood, and he looked down and saw what was around him and what he was standing in.

"Oh God..." one of his operators whispered at the sight of his fallen comrades.

Sean ran over to Emily and tried to help her up but, in the ultimate insult, pushed him away and stood on her own.

"I'm fine, I can walk," she whispered through a winched mug.

For a second Sean considered calling her on it but didn't have the patience or the time.

"We have to get out now," he said to Girgori who was kneeling over one of his Operators.

It took a second for his words to reach the wolf but Misha eventually answered, "We can't leave them."

"Then pick them up fast, we don't have much time and its not safe here at all," Sean warned and the wolves, although feeling sore inside, picked up their dead and they now 25% smaller unit moved out, going to the west and south.

It wasn't the plan but they really didn't feel like taking a chance on another ambush in the middle of the park. The whole way Emily limped, Sean, unbeknownst to her, watching her very closely.

He wasn't the only one, Girgori watched her with a firry gaze. This was all hear fault and now six of his Operators, friends, and family were dead and it was al her fault. She was a chicken-shit female and if it had been anyone else, any male, his operators would still be alive. Now Misha didn't care anymore that she was supposed to be Captain Atric's wife, she was open game now and she deserved to suffer. Plus, the wolf figured that Sean couldn't be any less unhappy with her, she might have cost him this mission. That added to it too in the wolf's mind, she made this mission a failure now. Aside from the Spetsnfte now being a fourth lighter there was also no way the Federation would let his unit stay now. She was going to pay for this.

It was a long hump back to the CP, but it was the most painful and longest for Emily. She knew it was her fault and she knew everyone else was aware of that fact. She could feel all their eyes burning down on her and it was a worse pain than the one in her leg. On top of all this, she felt totally alone. The words of that wolf echoed in her now permanently pinned back ears. She knew what he was thinking to do with her; she vowed that she would never let that happen to herself again.

Also, she admitted for the first time she had done something wrong to Sean. Even if he was only trying to help her, soldier-to-soldier, she had shunned him away. Emily could tell by his walk he was very discouraged and that was fully her fault. The only reason she had pushed him aside was fear of looking weak, fear of seeming like she needed his help, but now, now she felt worse than she could imagine being carried or even just limped by the fox.

Sean's mind was a complete opposite. Each time he thought things were done some hope remained, something stayed inside that maybe, just maybe she would love him again but this was the real final straw. Now he convinced himself for good things were over, he was alone and she didn't care about him nor want him to do anything. When he returned to the Endeavor, which Sean hoped was soon, he would go right to Steve and ask him to reassign him somewhere far, far away so that he didn't run the risk of being around anyone who knew about his and Emily's relationship- former relationship.

By the time the unit reached the Brooklyn bridge it was dawn and they reached their CP at about mid-day.

Lyon Mackenzie's New Headquarters, Manhattan New York 3:27 PM Local Time

"A fine victory Van," Lyon said, praising his servant.

The wolf grinned happily, glad that his master was content with his actions.

"And they were wolves? Spetsnfte to boot?" the rebel leader asked, watching Rolf carefully.

"Yes sir, and one was a rabbit as well, I think it was a Federal mixture... thing..." he answered, although he didn't know the right words to explain what he meant.

Lyon was used to that and understood.

"So than," Lyon began in a deep tone, "It's safe to say a federal invasion will come soon?"

The other wolf made a soft growl of an agreement.

"Then it's a better idea we divide our forces, half fight it out, the other hide until we have a chance to leave and raid the Federation," Lyon whispered, thinking about how glorious it would be to be in control of everything and everyone.

"And what do you want me to do now?" Rolf asked, eager to rip apart the Federals, seeing as it made his master so happy.

"Hmmm," the wolf sighed and began pacing, "They've been attacking to the north, but they know we've likely evacuated anything we had in the north, but they're probably coming from the south..."

Rolf watched patiently, his master did this a lot. Often the intelligent wolf would pace back and forth, saying various things that out loud made no sense but deep within the confines of his mind was an intricate plan waiting to be executed.

"Alright! I have it!" Lyon exclaimed and stood straight, "their coming from the south, you will take half the battalion, split it into three companies and stake out each of the three bridges to the south. When they make a crossing you will follow, carefully of course, to wherever they are going and ambush them, but you leave the other half of the battalion in the south, incase they try and escape."

The dense wolf smiled and replied, "Brilliant sir, I will take care of it immediately."

Rolf bowed and walked out, awaiting the chance to get another crack at the traitorous wolves and Federation.

Chapter 3 Chances

Combined Special Forces' CP Brooklyn, New York 1642 Military Time

This time Sean entered the briefing floor to be met with the sight of Lieutenant Girgori awaiting him. For a moment the fox considered trying to walk out and not take this meeting but in the end Girgori was unavoidable.

As Sean entered the briefing room the wolf glared at him and watched him attentively. Sean had just been getting used to treating wolves, these wolves at least, as any other furry but the look in the Lieutenant's eyes was one of murderous rage.

"Hello Lieutenant," the fox whispered quietly.

He wasn't too afraid to not look the wolf in the eye but they could both smell the fox's sweat release of fear.

"Sir," the wolf said in a low, strained voice, "I just want to say to start I may be out of line a couple of times in the next few seconds, so I want to just warn you right off the bat."

Hearing that Sean shifted uncomfortably but still nodded for the wolf to go on.

The wolf huffed, took another deep breath and started in a low tone; "Captain Atric, I don't want to start these cooperated missions and treaty with the Federation on the wrong paw, but I must request that when we return to our respected commands, Captain Gates is court marshaled either by just you or just us or both or whatever, but I want reprisals."

"Why?" Sean asked and then wanted to smack himself.

Girgori breathed hard but managed to calm himself down, "It is her fault that six of my operators are dead, her fault, not yours, not mine, hers."

The fox sat silently; there really wasn't a response to that.

"Now I know your thinking this is just because she a female, but quite frankly Captain if this had been you I'd be asking for your court marshal," Girgori took another deep breath, "Put it like this sir, if I had gotten a bunch of your Rangers killed because of something stupid I did, you'd kill me on the spot."

Sean didn't want to admit it but the wolf was correct.

"What do you want me to do then?" Sean asked, "You want Emily put do death is that it?"

The tone of the fox actually bothered the wolf. It seemed more like he wanted her dead himself, like her life didn't mean anything to him. Girgori had no feeling of compassion to the rabbit but he figured that she must have some importance on some level to Captain Atric; she was after all carrying his offspring. But still, Girgori wouldn't mind seeing that rabbit done away with.

Quietly the wolf replied, "In all honesty sir that doesn't sound bad but for the sakes of other parties if feel some kind of lesser punishment should be required."

Sean didn't care anymore. His heart was truly broken, that was the crime he wished to see Emily suffer for. He didn't really care who she got killed, she had taken everything he had ever done for her, every attempt to comfort her, to make sure she was happy, and thrown it away as if it meant nothing.

Because he didn't answer right away the wolf figured he'd won, that Captain Atric would see to it that Captain Gates received her punishment.

As if summoned by their collective thoughts, Emily walked in, unannounced and unfearing of either of the officers who glared at her with hatred. She wasn't sure whom she owed the biggest apology to. She had cost Girgori part of his family, a unit he was so proud of and she had destroyed a quarter of it. To Sean, whom she still felt much anger for herself; she still knew that she was now causing him problems that he didn't deserve in that sense. She really wanted to go away.

The two canines just stared at her, not speaking even to each other, just eyes locking on the rabbit.

Carefully she placed her paws on the table and began in a whisper quiet voice, "I know you think this is my fault and it is. I wasn't paying attention and they died because of me."

The wolf, visibly flustered, said in an imposing voice, "Since your finally speaking, what's the deal between you two?"

The question started Emily, that wasn't exactly something she was expecting.

"Nothing," Sean whispered, his voice cold, "there's nothing between us, say whatever you want Girgori."

"Good, than I want to see you executed for dereliction of duty," the wolf said, looking at the now terrified rabbit with eyes burning with rage.

At that Emily wanted to run. She was brave enough to admit she had fucked up and she deserved some kind of punishment, but this wolf was saying right to her face he wanted her head. Worst of all, Sean had openly ended things between both of them. Until now Emily harbored some hope that maybe, possibly things will get better and this would be a bad memory but now Sean didn't even seem to care if she was put to death. The pain in her hip hurt even through the stims she had taken.

After a long awkward silence Sean, still in a whisper quiet voice, asked, "So you want this done right away Girgori, I was going to call down a recovery boat in a few hours?"

Emily's face turned to horror.

"Uh... un... no," Misha stuttered, he still had other plans, "No, I thought we're so close why don't we try and find him."

Sean looked at him strangely, "Lyon's probably long gone now, if not leaving now or tonight."

"Than, than it's all the more reason to do it tonight," the wolf argued, he needed to prove that his unit, without the "help" of Emily, could do this, "This is our last chance if he runs."

"Not after last night Lieutenant," Sean replied; he just wanted to go away and be aboard a nice starship.

Girgori took a deep breath, "Sir, please," something he wasn't used to doing but he liked this fox, "let's try one more time, my operators want another chance and they want to get those rebels back."

Sean furrowed his brow and glanced at Emily who was still horrified.

"What do we do with her then? We can't leave her here," the fox replied, talking of Emily as if she was merely and object.

"I don't want her in combat again, plus," the wolf growled, "For her sake, at the moment, it's probably safer that she's not with my soldiers, their not very happy with her either."

"I'll stay and watch her," Sean replied, "Since you want to do this extra search anyway I'll leave it to you alone."

Girgori rolled his eyes, what use was an extra hunt if he was supposed to be showing off and Captain Atric wasn't present to show off to.

Taking another, careful, deep breath, Misha answered, "Sir we need you out there."

"No, if you want to show that your unit can work under strange circumstances, this is the perfect instance," the fox said bluntly, "Leave two soldiers with me and we'll remain here until you report back."

He didn't really have a choice, backing down would look bad after convincing the captain to let his unit try again but Misha wasn't sure now. It didn't matter; Girgori knew it was likely a lost cause anyway.

Emily felt mildly better. She was deathly afraid of going back out into combat with the wolves, she didn't think she would survive long in combat with them. All it would take was one firefight and an "accidental" shot and one of those wolves would feel much better at the expense of her life. She had come to far and gone through to much to be cut down like that, although now she wasn't sure of exactly how far she had come, the only things that had mattered to her in her whole life, her little sister and Sean, were both now gone.

"Yes sir," the wolf replied finally and stood up to go brief his remaining operators.

As he walked out the wolf's tail made circles behind him and he caste a murderous gaze at Emily who shivered slightly.

For the next few minutes they sat in silence, Emily and Sean not daring to look at each other for fear of saying or doing something bad to the other. About ten minutes later two wolves, both unlisted, walked into the room and saluted Sean, giving Emily dirty looks.

"Sir, Sergeant Cole and Private Lemay reporting," one of them, a big doughy looking wolf said.

Sean nodded but didn't reply, he gestured out the door and the two wolves stepped out. Then he turned and, although a fox, growled quietly and nodded to the door. Emily, frightened of her former lover, obeyed and the group walked downstairs to where the various radio and radar equipment was set up.

This was the set up for the next few hours, until about 10 o'clock when Girgori left, Sean and Emily sat at the same table, next to each other no less, silent. Sean didn't care about her anymore but Emily, because of the situation, was starting to think more and more about him. Since right now she was, for all intensive purposes, under arrest, she was forced to let him take over and although it appeared he hated her now, he was strangely protective. He could just as well have gone on the mission with Girgori and left her with the two wolf guards but he didn't. He knew she would be killed and he wasn't going to let that one happen, not now anyway.

After about and hour had gone by since Girgori left, Sean stood up and called the wolf to ask what was his status. The Spetsnfte officer had chosen his last building, a hospital just south of the museum where Emily's accident had happened at and just east of the convention center they had checked the same night. Instead of taking the long way around the city, Misha was driving his wolves straight up through the city, figuring they might draw out the enemy along the way as well, increasing their chances.

Emily watch the fox go through the plan over the COM line with Lieutenant Girgori, and for the first time she noticed how sad he looked. She thought back to when they were both happy back aboard the Endeavor, all the nice moments they spent together, even the time they spent on the range when he taught her how to shoot was nice. What had happened since then?

Lyon Mackenzie's Headquarters, Manhattan New York 11:24 PM Local Time

"You have their location!" Lyon yelled gleefully over the COM line to Rolf.

In an equally excited tone the wolf called back, "Yes sir, you should prepare yourself, their heading in a general direction towards your location. There's only about thirty of them, this should be a turkey shoot."

"Are they all Spetsnfte?" Lyon asked, interested in how good Rolf really was.

In a still happy tone the dense wolf replied, "Yes sir, but we will take them without a problem."

Mackenzie grinned, this was going perfectly. Soon all the Spetsnfte here would be dead and he would be free to go as he wished. Plus, if they managed to kill all of them, the Federation and traitorous rats might break their treaty and the rest of the wolves in the galaxy would wake up and continue the war.

"And what of those two Federals you reported?" Lyon asked now, thinking it might be good to leave on survivor to tell the tale.

"We haven't spotted them yet," Rolf called back, "But I would suspect there remaining at their base. After we kill these bastards can I go and hunt them," the wolf then added, submissively, "master?"

Lyon grinned, it was nice having such a dedicated lieutenant, even if he was a bit dim, "Of course Rolf, do you know where their CP is?"

In a very excited tone he replied, "Yes..."

Corner of Broadway and West 56th Street, Manhattan New York, 2352 Military Time

"Sweep forward!" Girgori ordered and the wolves moved as one down the wide road. Half on one side, half on the other.

It was almost pitch black out but the wolves were paying close attention, nothing was going to sneak up on them now.

One of the operators froze as they passed the intersection, bringing everyone to a sudden halt.

"Lieutenant, movement east, down that road," the operator whispered over the COM line.

Girgori made his way to the operator's position and looked in the direction he pointed. The lieutenant didn't see anything but he trusted the wolf.

"Break up into two groups," Misha called out, "Second squad investigate down this way, the rest of us will continue to the hospital we-"

"Negative lieutenant," Sean said over the COM line, "You can investigate both but do not separate your forces."

Lieutenant Girgori signaled for the rest of his troops to follow and replied, "Yes Captain, we're going to investigate this one first."

The Spetsnfte now moved down this road, the operator who had spotted the movement at point. They passed many apartment structures; saw some non-furry animals, cats and dogs mostly. Then they came to a large building, this one very different. It looked older and much worse off than any of the other buildings. All the front windows had been clearly shot out and when Girgori spotted this he brought the whole unit to rest and felt his heart leap to his mouth.

"Sir," he whispered quietly into his COM, "I think we've found him."

Back at the CP Sean didn't believe him and asked back, "Really, how are you sure?"

"There's a building here that's different, it's all shot up to shit," the wolf replied, "We'll check it now."

Back at the CP Sean bit his lip, he had a bad feeling and he called back out, "What's your location?"

"Uh, I don't know sir..." the wolf replied and checked his locator gear, "It's apparently called... shit I can't pronounce this... Carnygie Hall? Or something along those lines."

Sean sighed but replied, "Alright lieutenant, just be careful."

Girgori motioned to the rest of his operators to stay close; he was going to be first in. They dashed across the street and Misha primed a grenade. He took a deep breath, made a mental note of his fallen comrades, and chucked it in.

Literally half a second after the grenade left his paw automatic fire opened up from both sides down the road. Immediately a few of the Spetsnfte were cut down but the rest returned fire, most shooting erratically at targets they couldn't see.

"Into the building! Into the building!" Misha yelled and filled his troops in as he sprayed the inside of the building.

The 25 or so operators that survived quickly ran in but were met by the face of about four times that amount of wolves staring at them.

"Lieutenant what's going on!?" Sean yelled out on the COM line but Misha didn't have the time to answer.

He dashed for cover as the rest of his operators did and chucked another grenade towards one of the rebel's position. This time the Spetsnfte were doing better, and in a matter of seconds had killed or wounded half of the rebel wolves in the lobby.

Noticing the enemy fire was lightening up from casualties, Misha jumped, threw another grenade, and ran towards the closest group of enemy wolves. He landed among them, barrel sticking into one of their chests and pumping three rounds. The wolf drew his knife as did the enemy and he quickly made mince meat out of the remaining six or so rebels.

By this time the rest of his Spetsnfte had killed or forced the enemy to back off. Unfortunately the enemy outside had made it to the doors and threw grenades of their own, killing a group of four operators.

"Mother fuckers!" Girgori yelled and sent a charged round into the wall, evaporating a 10 by 10 foot area of it in a blinding flash.

The remaining Spetsnfte ran up the right side stairs, killing the stragglers as they went.

"Lyon where are you, you sonofabitch!!" Misha called out.

He could hear more enemy wolves running up the stairs in pursuit and quickened his pace.

They reached the fourth floor but were met once again by a hail of gunfire. Misha was fast enough to dodge it by slipping into the nearby gallery, but half of his dwindling operators weren't so lucky. Now with only six other soldiers Girgori was getting angrier and angrier.

He set up a mine and the last six walked out onto the balcony and were forced to pause for a moment. This building was actually a great music hall, huge, bigger than anyone Girgori had ever seen or heard of. Then, below by the edge of the stage Misha saw where a bunch of seats had been ripped out and a small CP had been set up. At one of the stations sat Lyon Mackenzie himself, staring up at him. Then the smell of Lyon's head wolf entered Misha's nostrils, enabling him enough time to turn and see the huge, retarded looking wolf push two of his operators off the stands and crush the head of another.

One of the last ones tried to open fire but a quick burst from a rebel below silenced him. The last Spetsnfte other than Misha drew his knife but Rolf was too fast and he practically decapitated the poor operator.

Now alone Misha threw himself off the balcony down to the one below, almost smelling the bullets whizzing past his head. He landed finally on the final, ground level on his paws with a thud, breaking both his hind legs but Misha didn't care.

He ran like a bat out of hell towards where the now frightened Lyon was kneeling down behind a chair.

Two of his soldiers tried to bring their rifles to bear on Girgori but he killed them both quickly with a headshot each.

"Captain Atric," he called into his COM, "My operators are dead but I have Lyon!"

"Get up you piece of shit!" he yelled out at the crouching wolf.

Misha walked closer and pointed the gun right at his head, the barrel resting on his snout. The fire from above stopped, probably fearing harm to their leader.

"Get up or I'll blow your fucking head off!" Misha yelled again but Lyon didn't listen.

Girgori went to take a step closer but in a flash Lyon stood up and thrusted a knife deep into Misha's side where the back and front of his armor plates met. The wolf shuttered and went to punch Lyon but a bullet caught him in the neck, spraying blood all over the grinning rebel leader.

"Traitorous piece of shit..." Lyon whispered and unsheathed his knife from Misha's side, letting the wolf fall first to his knees, then down to his side.

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant!" Sean yelled over the COM, loud enough that even Lyon heard it.

Misha couldn't answer; he just laid their feeling very, very tired. A few moments later he smelled Rolf come close up to him, standing above him talking to Lyon. Girgori kept his eyes closed, not that he could open them anyway and listened carefully but couldn't focus.

He heard the words but they just didn't register inside his head, so, as if his mind was a blank piece of paper, he memorized the sounds and made a point to try and copy them. If he couldn't understand them maybe Sean could.

Combined Special Forces' CP Brooklyn, New York 2421 Military Time

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant!" Sean yelled again but received no answer.

He waited another few minutes, nothing.

The fox turned and looked at the two, rather last two, Spetsnfte operators left who were stunned. Their ears were pinned back and looked horrified.

One of them picked up his rifle, "Sir can I-"

"No Sergeant," Sean cut him off, knowing already what the wolf would be requesting.

Emily sat quietly at the table, now feeling sorry for the Spetsnfte and Girgori. He had died hating her and she felt that on her shoulders. Everyone hated her, even Sean and Emily just wanted to die.

The four waited quietly for what seemed like an eternity. Then the radio crackled, causing both of the wolves to visibly jump and their ears shoot off the sides of their head.

"There's a bomb shelter at the airport..." a weak voice, although clear enough to be Misha's undoubtedly.

"Girgori are you okay what happened?!" Sean yelled into the COM.

"There's a bomb shelter at the airport..." he replied weakly.

"What about it?!" Sean yelled.

They heard a groan come over the COM line and then a soft smack.

"Captain Atric," Misha said weakly, although a bit more cognitive, "Lyon, he's going to an airport on..." he groaned, "on the island your on, North of you."

Sean turned quickly to the two wolves and without a word they were on it and looked up on his data pad.

"Shit there's two airports on this island to our North; Kennedy and La Gua- Guardi-" the wolf tried to pronounce the name.

Emily took the pad from him, "Kennedy and La Guardia."

"Which airport is it Lieutenant, Kennedy or La Guardia?" Sean asked franticly.

The wolf groaned on the other end and replied, "I-I don't know, whichever one's closer to un-" he coughed, "ground."

Emily, worried she would never have a chance to get this off her conscious got up and pushed Sean away from the set who protested at first but she raised her paw; "Girgori, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I got you killed!"

There was a pause on the other end and Emily repeated her statement, this time her voice breaking.

"It's okay Captain Gates," he said weakly, the nicest tone he had ever taken with a female in his life, "just take care of Captain Atric."

Emily backed away from the radio and buried her face in her paws, not wanting to cry. Sean had the distinct urge to want to rub her back and make her feel better but something stopped him, he wasn't sure what.

"Girgori can you make it back here or do you want a pickup?" Sean said quietly into the COM.

No answer.

"Misha are you there?" Sean whispered now.

No answer but the radio crackled, then in a very weak voice, sounding almost like it was coming from space the wolf replied, "Just get Lyon..."

At that the line went dead for the last time and the four remaining soldiers remained motionless, watching the speaker, all hoping that Girgori might call back but he never did.

"Wha-What do we do sir?" Sergeant Cole asked quietly, noticeably broken.

Sean sighed and considered it for a moment, but then shook his head, "We call for an evac boat."

"But what about Lyon?" Private Lemay replied.

"We can't, lord knows how many wolves are left," Sean said, although he didn't like this at all.

They all looked at him in dismay.

The fox shook his head, "We don't even know how he's getting there and it's to late to try and peruse, we'd have to cut him off."

Sergeant Cole sat down at the data-pad and looked up the map of the city.

"Here," he said and pointed to a tunnel on the map, "this is where they're going. Lieutenant Girgori said 'underground' and this is the only underground route to that Guida place."

"Why wouldn't he go north?" Sean asked, noticing that it was quite the detour.

"Because he thinks we will," Lemay answered.

Sean shook his head.

The two wolves nodded and grabbed their rifles, they intended to go anyway. Emily stood up as well and grabbed a carbine, following them as well. At first Sean wasn't going to follow, knowing it was a suicide mission but he felt as if he had no choice and grabbed his rifle as well.

Chapter 4 Mission

Queens' Side of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel 0312

They had run the entire way but no one was tired. Even Emily with the bullet from the other night still lodged in her hip ran with full force and no problem. When they came to the edge of the tunnel they paused, there were two tunnels and they had no idea which one to go down.

Without a word they broke up into the two obvious groups, it wasn't even a question. Emily followed Sean down the right one while Cole and Lemay took the left. Sean had the sneaking suspicion he wouldn't ever see the two wolves again but not because they would be killed, he began thinking they were walking into an ambush as well.

It was pitch black, not a single light could be seen even towards the end of the tunnel. They both wore their night vision goggles, Sean using his suit mounted ones, but they soon became useless. The goggles work on the principle of amplifying light, but there was no light deep in the tunnel to amplify.

Soon the pair found themselves walking down the long, seemingly endless tunnel. Emily wanted to be closer to Sean and she felt alone. She tried to speed up and walk by his side but he speed up equally and pulled ahead.

"Sean..." she whispered but trailed off.

The fox continued walking, ignoring her. Emily was starting to realize he didn't love her anymore.

This tunnel seemed to be where time stopped because, in both their minds, it seemed like they were walking in eternity down this tube together, not able to see the beginning and both worrying they would never see the end.

After walking carefully for what had been about an hour, Sean heard a stiffened gasp and he turned quickly, looking into nothingness.

"Emily?" he whispered.

No answer.

Sean felt a cold sweat for under his pelt form.

"Emily?" he whispered, louder though.

"Emily's fine..." a deep voice whispered in back of him.

Sean raised his rifle and clicked on the TAC light. He couldn't see behind him but right in front of him, facing towards the way he and Emily had come, Lyon was about to run. Sean carefully glance behind him and saw a huge wolf holding Emily, paw grasped over her mouth and the other around her hips. The rabbit tried to scream but no sound escaped from the wolf's grip.

Moreover, after double-checking Lyon, Sean noticed the wolf was carrying a large rifle that he had never seen before an instantly realized it must be one of the sniper rifles the Reynolds had encountered.

"Let her go," Sean whispered and double-cocked his rifle at Lyon.

The wolf grinned, "Your gona have to choose, you can't get both of us."

Emily wanted to faint. That was it, this was it. Sean never chose her over the Federation, especially now given the past few hours, and he had direct orders to kil-

Bang.

Emily's thoughts were cut off by a gunshot, then the wolf behind her falling and Sean trying to turn back fast enough to shoot Lyon but it was to late, another bang resounded and the rabbit watched as Sean, who was once again her savior, fell to the ground with a thud. Whatever happened when he fell wasn't good because he dropped his rifle and the TAC light broke, returning the tunnel to complete darkness.

The rabbit cowered against the wall of the tunnel and listened for what felt like an eternity. She dared not call out to Sean because she was afraid that Lyon had killed him and she was next.

Then she heard the footsteps again, running away down the hall. She searched around for her rifle, finding it a foot or so from where she sat. She raised it in the general direction but had no idea if she was pointing at Lyon, at the wall, or the ceiling.

"Oh no..." she whispered and began depressing the trigger.

As if an angel was calming her she felt soft paws wrap around her waist, a snout rest on her shoulder. Then the smell hit her, the sick sticky smell of blood but the first smell to hit her was the normal smell of Sean's body.

"Oh God Emily I'm sorry," he whispered, quite weakly.

She knew she had to take the shot, and she felt calm enough that she though she could hit him even though she had no idea which direction she was pointing in.

"Sean let me-"

Quietly he whispered, "Let him go..." then he added, "I'm sorry I was so mean to you, I love you, you know?"

Still the rabbit left the gun trained in the general direction but still ceased then, after letting the words from the fox enter her mind, she let the gun fall to the floor and she turned and hugged Sean back.

Sean was amazed she had listened to him, maybe it was just coincidental, she usually did listen to him.

"Sean I'm sorry! Why did I wait so long I didn't want this!" she yelled and sobbed into his shoulder.

The pair fell and laid down clutching each other, Lyon's footsteps growing fainter and fainter in the distance.

Then the true eternity set in, time disappeared as well and Emily just held Sean tighter and tighter, realizing he really did love her more than anything. He did chose her over the mission, he chose her in the past and he chose her now, why had this all happened? Emily blamed herself and stupidity.

A few moments later she felt wet, a sticky sensation against her chest.

"Sean are you okay?" she whispered and reached down, he paw met by a wet and ragged wound.

He shook his head on her shoulder, "No, that wolf caught me good but I've had worse."

"No we have to get you out of-" Emily stopped herself, "What do you want me to do Sean?"

"Let me just hold you..." he whispered, his voice tired.

Emily trusted him and sank into his grip. It was soft and caring, the way he always held her and it made her feel much better than she had all week. She nuzzled her face against the soft fur on his neck, she felt his jaw move and knew he was smiling.

After what was an hour or so Sean coughed and whispered quietly, "Emily can you do something else for me?"

"Anything Sean," she whispered back.

"Can you say your mine, right now, say you're my wife."

Emily cooed and held him tighter, "Sean you are, and your fine you don't need to worry about-"

"I know, I know, I just want now to be that moment, I want you to marry me now," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

Completely willing she nodded into his paws, "Sean I marry you, you know that all you have to do is ask."

"No right now, I'm a Captain and you're a Captain, we can do that, and if anyone argues Steve would support us," Sean replied, rocking her back and forth softly in his arms.

"I'm your wife, I always will be and I love you Sean, I never want to fight again with you," Emily whispered, kissing his muzzle.

"Then because of this circumstance," Sean began, trying to sound official which, given the situation, was kind of stupid but made Emily and himself feel better, "I declare us husband and wife."

Sean kissed her back, this time though their lips opened and met, kissing each other deeply. Emily never wanted the embrace to end and neither did Sean. He instantly felt better and forgot everything that had happened in the last few days. It didn't matter anymore. The placed a paw behind her head and cradled the soft fur, the rabbit cradling his back and rubbing his soft fur as well. Sean's big bushy tail laid still beside him, he was to involved with Emily and to relaxed for it or any other part short of his lips and tongue to move.

After what easily could have been an hour they finally stopped kissing, although their lips really didn't leave each other's, rather just rested against each other. Soon they fell asleep, neither caring about anything but the other.

Chapter 5 Pair

Queens-Midtown Tunnel, 1402 Military Time

Generals Osing and Rodina sat in the back of the staff car as it drove down the long underwater tunnel. In the car behind them sat Sergeant Cole and Private Lemay, both worried about Captain Atric and Captain Gates.

Unfortunately the engineers hadn't been able to figure out how to turn on the lights in the tunnel so the convoy had to move very, very slowly. This was the last known location of the two captains and it stood to reason this is where they were. Everyone was just worried that they weren't alive.

The headlights of the staff car caught the glint off of something shinny in the road and Osing knew right away it was now or never. The convoy slowed down even more, now barely at a crawl until two shapes immerged and a third off to the side, all appearing to be furries.

"Oh shit..." Osing whispered and brought the convoy to a halt.

He jumped out, followed by about forty to fifty soldiers of both Federal troops and wolves. With Rodina in tow Osing ran over to the two bodies and saw that it was indeed the lost orange fox and the cream-brown rabbit.

"Medic!" Rodina yelled and a pair of Federal medics came rushing towards them.

Osing kneeled down and tapped Sean's shoulder, then noticed the blood on his chest. Something had managed to cut through the P9 armor and into him, which bother Osing.

Emily stirred and awoke. She looked about and tried to get to her feet but Sean's grip on her was tight. She remembered the last night and stopped trying to get up.

"Are you alright Captain Gates?" Osing asked quietly.

Emily smiled and corrected, "Captain Atric."

"What about him? Is he okay?" Osing replied, not getting what she meant.

First Emily checked his paw and felt that he was alive. He may have passed out but he was alive; "He's fine, but I'm a Captain Atric too."

Osing shook his head and sighed, Rodina didn't get it at all.

"Well at least I don't have to hide you," the General replied, "Can you stand at least?"

The rabbit shook her head, the stims had worn off and her hips were killing her.

The two medics tried to separate them but Emily and Sean held tight.

Osing saw it and nodded to the medic nearest him, "Carry them both."

They shrugged and lifted the pair onto a stretcher with a metal backing, to support the massive weight of the P9 Armor. They load the pair then into an ambulance and within an hour were airborne to return to the Endeavor.

Medical Bay Aboard FN Endeavor 1726 Military Time

The doctors had agreed to let the pair share a medical room, that wasn't a big deal, but they weren't happy that Sean and Emily had insisted they share a bed as well. Nonetheless, Sean carried a certain amount of... persuasion, aided by General Osing's presence, and they allowed it.

Emily was just glad to be back and she finally felt whole again. She gripped her new husband and just smiled happily. He had been fine; the blood loss had turned on the Predator Armor's life support systems, which put Sean into a stasis of sorts, to keep the strain off his body. After they removed his armor he had woken right up, he was in pain but it mentally went away when he realized Emily was safe and secure still locked in his arms.

A few officers, including Lieutenant Colonel Sterling had asked a few questions about the weapon that the huge wolf had used on Sean but he didn't know, "It was to dark to see it," he reasoned and the doctors soon ushered them away, believing the last thing the pair wanted was visitors. That rule changed however when Steve and Cathy went to see them.

Very meekly they entered and Cathy giggled right away at the sight of the two furries embraced in the hospital bed.

"Hi Cathy," Emily whispered, turning her head slightly to great the Reynolds.

"Hello sir," Sean said as well.

"Sean..." the Consular said at a draw.

The fox grinned, "Alright Steve."

"You two okay?" Cathy asked, walking carefully over to the bed.

Emily and Sean sat up a little and looked at their friends, both of which were trying not to but were grinning.

"Ahh," Sean sighed and smiled, "I take it you know?"

"Osing couldn't wait to tell me," Consular Reynolds replied.

"And it's okay, like legal that is?" the fox asked.

Steve nodded, "Yep, your both officers and your allowed to do that. If you want I can nullify it if you want a big ceremony though."

Sean looked at Emily who shook her head.

"No," he replied, "We're fine."

Steve smiled and shook Sean's paw, "Well than I have new orders for you both."

The fox's smile disappeared, but Steve's didn't, something Sean couldn't quite read.

"You'll get them in the morning but right now your both discharged from the hospital and your room is all cleaned up," the Consular said.

"Congratulations you two," Cathy said and gave Emily a hug.

The Reynolds both nodded and left.

Sean kissed his new wife softly, "You want to go back to our room?"

"Ya, this place kinda sucks, to cold," the rabbit replied and helped herself and Sean up.

As they walked up to their stateroom they were met with stares as they had in the past, but these were no longer stares of concern or confusion, but now nods of recognition and congratulation.

When they entered their room Sean scooped Emily up and laid her down on the bed.

"Can you grab me a glass of water?" she whispered innocently and Sean nodded.

He went to the bathroom; let the tap run for a little while to cool down. He returned and dropped the glass with a clunk on the floor.

His cream-brown rabbit laid, legs side by side and her paws in a strange attempt to cover herself, completely nude on the bed.

"Be gentle with me Sean," she whispered submissively but Sean was dumbstruck.

"Can- Can you- I mean your- your hip, I don't want to hurt you," he stuttered.

The rabbit smiled softly, "Don't worry, you just need to be gentle with me."

Emily wasn't used to being this submissive, but she actually liked it. She had stopped and thought about their past experiences and she had figured out that whenever she tried to force him into something, he froze up, she had to take the back seat in these cases and let Sean make some decisions too.

After a moment of personal thought Sean removed his pants and shirt, revealing the bandaged warped around his torso and a quickly forming hard-on.

"Looks like I need to be gentle with you too," she whispered as Sean walked closer to the bed.

After saying that she removed her paws from covering her private parts, revealing her glistening pussy. Sean padded his way up the bed to her body, letting his muzzle drag softly from in between her legs all the way to her face.

When their lips met Sean laid down by her side and wrapped his paws around the rabbit. He rubbed her back, letting his paws drift lower and lower until they rested on her soft little tail.

As he played with it Emily giggled happily, "Do you like it when I play with your tail?"

"I like it when you touch any part of me," Sean replied, grinning widely.

Emily's giggles turned to happy moans as Sean grinded his body against hers. She wrapped her paws around his body and pulled him completely on top of herself, the fox continued grinding his hips softly against hers. He made small thrusts, very small, until his cock-head found it's mark and he pushed the tip inside her.

"Oh yes Sean..." the rabbit moaned quietly, rocking her hips as gently as he thrusted in and out.

They were both going very, very slow, more like a connected hug rather than having sex. Emily liked it too; she had never realized how sensitive her pussy was since they usually fucked much faster and harder. This, this was very different and better in some respects. Sean didn't even need to thrust his entire length into her and she could feel her cum building deeper inside her cunny.

Emily moaned softly, "Sean I love you, I really, really love you."

"I really love you too," he replied and nuzzled her face very gently as well.

The rabbit nuzzled him back and whispered, "I really wish we hadn't had that fight, we missed so much time to do this..."

"We can make it up Emily," Sean whispered back, "We have forever to be together."

In a very gentile and still submissive voice Emily continued, "You forgive me for all those bad things I said?"

"Oh Emily," Sean said and kissed her softly, "I said bad things too, but I think we both love each other enough that we can forgive each other, I love you to much to hold things against you."

She smiled and hugged him tighter, letting the feeling of his very gentle humps resonate throughout her body. He still hadn't trusted in all the way and yet she was teetering on the point of a climax.

Sean smiled, kissed the rabbit softly and whispered, "Go ahead Emily..."

At that she let her feeling's seize her and she came, but it wasn't a violent or extreme cum, it was a gentile pulsing down inside her cunny that did cause her to lose her breath, but didn't wipe her out.

Emily continued kissing Sean back as her orgasm subsided.

"That was... different," she commented and nuzzled the fox's face.

His tail began wagging slowly between her legs, giving her something else to smile about as she shifted her lips to his.

Sean let the remaining portion of his cock enter her moist sheath but didn't begin fucking his rabbit; he just kissed and hugged her softly as she did the same to him. He was so gentile that her ears didn't stiffen up or pin down; they stayed wide and straight atop her head as she moved her whole head softly to his lips.

"I really love you Emily, I really, really do," Sean said happily to his wife, "and I have to ask, why are you being so... different?"

Emily giggled softly and nuzzled him softly, "I finally realized that I don't need to compete for you withy anything, you love me the most so I don't need to try and..." she bit her lower lip in embarrassment, "try and convince you or something. I don't know, I always felt like if I didn't make you think I gave you the best sex you'd not love me or something."

At hearing that Sean pulled his head back and smiled, "That's so stupid Emily, I love you and want to do things with you because I love you. If it makes you feel better to know I always will ch-"

She put her paw to his snout, "You don't have to say it, I know just by the way you talk to me."

Sean smiled still and after holding her paw in his, started kissing her again and moving his hips in and out in a forceful, but still gentile motion. He moved his hips up and down in a smooth motion, causing his tail to slide along the rabbit's leg which tickled her.

Emily tried to continue kissing him but soon she had to remove her lips from his and lean her head back. His cock spread her lips apart but at the base they squeezed down, causing an incredible sensation for them both. She could feel his cock filling in and making the walls of her pussy quiver and sweat their sweet juices.

"Oh God Emily..." the fox moaned and played with her tits as he continued fucking her.

They were a definite pleasure spot for her and Emily moaned as soon as he began softly petting her swollen tits. The fox used his long tong and massaged one in his mouth and played with the other with his paw. Emily moaned even more pleasurably and made begging motions with her small snout. Her breathing accelerated, her chest rose and fell quickly, making it hard for Sean to keep a seal around her tits. Eventually he gave up on that venture but placed his maw on hers where they remained happily as he speed up a little.

Her pussy cradled and massaged his cock, trying hard even without Emily's intent to bring on Sean's climax.

Sean slipped his paws beneath her and slid them down the rabbits back until he was softly groping her tail. That too was a pleasure spot for his wife and Emily gasped into his mouth and smiled as she kissed him.

"You really, really like my tail, don't you?" she said sweetly into his mouth, making him grin.

All Sean did in reply was nod slightly and continue stroking her small tail.

Emily was about to say something but she started gasping and moaning quickly, another orgasm was around the corner. Her pussy was so soft and cradling that Sean felt his coming soon as well and he let his weight go into her and his humping motions became quicker and smaller.

"Oh God I'm gona cum!" the rabbit moaned out loud.

"I'm gona cum too!" Sean moaned, equally load and strained.

Emily began squeezing her pussy lips tight and she moaned patiently, "Cum in me Sean, cum in me!"

She had told him just at the right time. On his next thrust, Sean's knot formed and stopped his withdrawal motion. Emily felt his knot swell and swell, spreading her pussy lips apart inside, to make room for his girth.

"Please cum! Please cum!" she begged and clutched onto the fox's back.

The added size of Sean's knot was brining Emily close to the edge and she wanted to cum at the same time as he did. She was holding back a storm but saw his bushy tail go stiff and let herself go.

Emily practically screamed at the top of her lungs as she felt her pussy convulse and make sucking motions at his cock. It burned hot and sent waves of pleasure through her body like rockets. Sean's reaction was almost identical and he clutched her closely, so closely that neither could breath but they didn't care, not at that moment. His cum shot in a constant stream of incredibly hot goo inside the rabbit's womb, Emily loving every ounce of it. They both moaned in pleasure and breathed hard.

The rabbit's cum ended before Sean's but for him is was more of a constant dribbling of his cum into the depths of Emily's cunny than the pleasurable spasms of his cock. They continued breathing hard, nuzzling each other's body and petting each other's fur. Emily was still moaning, quietly though, and clearly very, very happy. Sean just had a smile that went from one side of his snout to the other.

"I love you Emily," Sean whispered and laid his forehead against hers.

Emily began smiling as well and whispered, "I love you too Sean."

She hugged him a little tighter and felt tired. Aside from it being a big day, the ending had wiped her out.

Seeing that she was about to fall asleep Sean asked in a caring tone, "You want the cover's up?"

Emily shook her head softly, "Your more than warm enough for me."

Actually he was hot against her body, as was hers to his, something that only made the moment better. They could smell sweat forming under the other's skin and the aroma was very pleasing in their post coitile states.

Sean brought his paws back up from the rabbit's lower back and held the sides of her face. She was still smiling and without words Sean knew she wanted to kiss. He did and it was the best kiss they ever shared up to that point.

Without removing her lips Emily whispered into her husband's mouth, "I think I like the part the best."

"So do I," Sean replied and continued kissing her lovingly, "now go to sleep."

She smiled and closed her eyes. Sean's paws held her softly but securely and shifted her to her side, both lying face to face but now in a more mutually comfortable position, even though Emily couldn't think of a more comfortable way to sleep than having her re-found lover's body atop hers.

Then he just hugged the soft rabbit closely, the last thought from both of them being the same, both being overjoyed to be with the other forever.

***

"Wake up Emily..." Sean whispered into one of the sleeping rabbit's soft ears.

She started smiling before she opened her eyes. At first, she was actually a little scared because when she opened her eyes she didn't see Sean right away. Then the rest of her body woke up and she realized that they must have shifted positions during the night because now Sean was behind her, right up behind her, his paws wrapped around her waist and his snout resting on her shoulder.

"Hi Sean," she whispered back finally and tried to turn her head but Sean started kissing the back of her neck and she melted back into his paws.

For a moment one of his paws disappeared and she could hear something move and be picked up on the fox's side of the bed. A moment later he presented her with his data pad, a note on the screen. Emily brought one of her paws from under her face and took the data pad. The note read:

_To both of the Captain Gate's,

You are both now removed, until a point designated by either the senate, the consular, or on an agreement by both of the spouses, from the active duty list in the Federal Army. You are both also now on a full, limitations free leave that will extent to the time as mentioned above. All expenses needed by either or both of you will be charged to the Federal Bank under a designated account. Be noted that this is a limitless account but should be known to both of you that your charges to it will be under review. You are being given a personal shuttle that will ferry you to whatever location you want for the extent of you leave. After which time has past and your leave is canceled, a personal sized home on the Levit's base on Conakry will be given to you until the end of your combined service in the Federal Army. And, myself, and the Federation on the whole, sends their congratulations to you both.

Respectfully your friend,

Steve Reynolds, Consular of the Federation_

"Wow..." Emily said at a draw, then let the information seep into her mind and exclaimed, "Oh my God Sean, oh my God!"

She turned all the way around and wrapped her paws around her husband's neck, moaning gleefully. Steve had given them a home, someplace other than their stateroom aboard the Endeavor. It was by all accounts much better than even the captain's quarters but still not someplace Emily and Sean would prefer to be.

"Now," he whispered, rocking her back and forth, "Where do you want to go?"

Emily pulled back a little, both having wide smiles and excited looks in their eyes. She hadn't a clue and not really a care, anywhere would be great to go with Sean, she was so thankful to have a chance to spend time alone with him, free of the military where he would be all hers. She had gotten past competing for his love, knowing he definitely loved her more, but she still wanted his time. Emily was more than aware it was a little selfish but she still wanted to spend as much time with Sean as she could. Maybe it wasn't selfish since her intentions were driven by love but that didn't matter, Sean's feelings were the same, he hated being called away from his wife. During the night Sean had a dream just on that subject and when he awoke, before he found their new "orders" he had made up his mind to never choose anything over Emily again, even if it meant disobeying orders, even from the consular. Steve had done it, and he and Cathy were terribly in love. Sean felt the same for Emily and felt guilty that he had scared her like that, and he wasn't going to choose anything over her again.

"Nothing?" he finally asked, and began nuzzling his snout along cheek and neck.

Shrugging innocently, still grinning too, Emily answered, "I can't think of a thing, I haven't had a chance in my whole life to choose something like this."

"Well it's our honeymoon so we can go wherever we want," Sean replied, gave her a little tighter squeeze.

Both of them had figured they'd be married one day, but neither thought it would be this nice. It was better than nice; it was the best thing either of them could ever imagine.

For a long moment they thought, both drawing a blank. In the seconds between reading the letter and waking Emily, Sean had tried to think of something but couldn't. It was too much too fast, neither had even thought of taking a trip and they could go wherever and do whatever they want now.

"Well," Emily began, her tone a bit distant as she was deep in thought, "we can go anywhere we want right?"

Sean nodded.

"Then we should go wherever we've always wanted to go. We can go to both of them, wherever you want, wherever I want, it will be great," she said, failing to mention that at the moment she couldn't think of anywhere better than the bed she was in now.

"No," he said, although in a happy tone, "We go to one place, we pick a place we both want to go together. It doesn't have to be a place either of us thought of before, just someplace we both want to go."

The rabbit stared at him and didn't answer, she still couldn't think of anything.

Then with a smile Sean added, "We're not getting out of bed 'till you think of something."

Emily giggled softly, "Well then we're not going anywhere for awhile with an option like that."