FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Ghost Hawk's blades cut through the air as the helicopter continued flying its way towards the base. The soldiers inside were making final checks on their weapons and equipment, replaying the mission briefing in their heads as they did so. The night sky with the full and shining moon gave a certain vibe that only soldiers in the field knew how to describe well. It gave the situation a sort of intrigue to it. Among this squad of soldiers was Corporal Michael Watson, one of the few soldiers able to get himself into one of the most elite teams of the military on the planet, Delta Team. As he double checked on his M4A1, he reminded himself of the mission objectives.

It had been 72 hours since the classified military base he and the other soldiers were heading to went dark. No one has heard a single thing from the base in three days, and while no other activity has taken place, the fact that no activity was going on at all was quite sketchy. No chances were going to be taken either, as the best of the best were being sent right out the gate to investigate the base. The objective is to be dropped off at the base, check to see for any activity, and report any findings back to HQ. On paper, this task sounded quite simple, but in execution, as the Delta Team operatives knew, it was most likely going to be anything but easy. Each operative had their dark tinted glasses and black military style face masks on along with their uniforms and gear they all took with them to the mission.

"We're one minute out!" The pilot of the helicopter called out to the troops.

"One minute!" Michael and the other operatives replied to confirm they heard the warning. The four others all got ready for the task at hand.

"Hey, anybody has a clue why the base went dark?" One of the operatives on the mission who was also a Corporal, Corporal James, commented. "You think the aliens finally had enough of our shit and decided to begin taking over?" He asked in a joking tone.

Sergeant Andrew responded with a soft chuckle. "Shit, maybe. Anyone wanna bet on it?"

"Can it, people! We're almost at the base!" The team leader of the squad, Sergeant 1st Class Josh, commanded.

"Aww, can't we have a little fun, sir?" The fifth and final member of the group participating in the operation, Private First Class Mark, asked.

"You had your chance back when we were in transit to the base." Josh replied. He then turned to Michael. "Michael, get the door open. Let's see what we got."

"Got it." Michael replied, leaning up from his seat and opening the left side door of the helicopter, a gust of wind blowing against him and the other soldiers, the helicopter now much more audible from the inside as he took a quick peek out the door to see what was up. Although he had glasses and a mask on, meaning no one else could see his expression, it turned into one of surprise. "What in the hell...?"

"What, what is it?" Andrew asked as he tried to get a view of the base from where they currently were.

"Entering the base perimeter now...Jesus...what the hell happened here?" The pilot asked as he looked down.

The base was in total ruins. The charred remains of destroyed vehicles littered the place. Jeeps, tanks, and APCs all around, with aerial vehicles such as jets and helicopters having met their own demise as well. Chunks of buildings could be seen on the ground as well, with the Headquarters building in particular having taken a plentiful amount of hits. Dead infantry and other base staff were present as well.

"No wonder the base went dark!" Michael commented. "Who the hell invaded us?"

"If they were invaders, it's unlikely they would've gotten this far inland." Josh reasoned.

"So are you saying we're fighting our own then?" Andrew asked.

"I don't know. Only way we'll get any answers is when we get down there and find out for ourselves." Josh replied.

The helicopter continued to circle the destroyed base while the Delta Team plotted their strategy. They had to cover all of the base's ground to find some sort of indication or clue as to what could have happened. They would all need to check the underground part of the base as well, which would probably serve to be even more dangerous and sketchy to explore. Delta Team wouldn't have been called in if this could've been handled by simply Marine grunts, after all.

"Okay, we're going to split up. Two teams of two, and one lone soldier will explore different parts of the base and report any findings." The Sergeant First Class said. "Anybody want to volunteer to be the lone soldier?"

Michael raised his hand as if it were instinct. "I'll do it, sir. Could use some fresh air to myself, anyway."

"Are you saying we're not good enough for you?" Andrew asked in a playfully offended tone.

"Not necessarily, I just need some time to regain my sanity from the shitty jokes you told on the way here." Michael replied, earning a small laugh from the team.

"Okay, so we have our teams." Josh continued. "James and I will insert at the barracks, Mark and Andrew will insert over at the hangars, and Michael, you'll deploy to the Headquarters building. Each of us will see what we can find, and hopefully come up with something. Regardless if we do or not, we'll all meet up at the HQ building and head down to the underground base and keep exploring."

"Who wants to bet the scary shit that'll try to kill us will be in the underground base?" Mark asked, getting hand raises from everybody inside the chopper.

"I'd be willing to bet 20 dollars for it." Michael commented.

Before anyone could take Michael up on the offer, the pilot called out, "Coming up on the barracks now!"

"Alright James, let's do this!" Josh called out before drawing his attention back to the soldiers in general. "Okay people, let's get this done! Good luck!"

Michael gave a thumbs up just as the Ghost Hawk landed on a clear patch of ground that was as close to the barracks as possible, the two operatives pulling down their Night Vision Goggles from their combat helmets and exiting the vehicle. The chopper than lifted off and made a short journey over to the hangars where destroyed jets and equipment lay strewn about. Mark and Andrew were the next two to leave, each of them giving a fist pump to Michael and saying their goodbyes for the time being.

"Good luck, Michael!" Mark commented.

"Whoever comes up empty handed has to pay for our next meal!" Andrew challenged with a chuckle.

"We'll see!" Michael replied as the two additional Delta operatives were now on the deck, the helicopter lifting off and making one last stop right at the Headquarters building. Now that it was his turn to deploy, Michael felt a soft chill run down his spine as his mind began thinking of how a base like this could've gotten destroyed. He didn't let himself get trapped in thought for too long, however. He gave the pilot a thumbs up and salute before hopping out of the chopper, turning back to watch it lift off and begin exiting the base.

"Alright boys, I'm on bingo fuel. Heading back to base to refuel, have fun down there." Michael could hear the pilot say over comms.

"Copy that." Josh replied over the radio.

Michael then looked back to the HQ building, letting out a small sigh. He asked himself what happened again, speculation being the only possible answer at this moment. The damages done to the building appear to be the whole deal. Explosive and bullet damage were both apparent. Now that he was on the ground and no longer in the safety of the helicopter, Michael began to feel a tad bit uneasy about this whole thing. It was human nature to feel such things in these circumstances, after all. What added onto the uneasiness was the fact that Delta operatives of all people were sent in. Then again, this was one of the most top secret and classified military bases on the planet. It also didn't help for the operative's case that it was night time, a perfect scenario for things to turn into an absolute nightmare. Regardless of all of those circumstances, Michael pressed onward, reaching up and pulling down his NVGs to be able to see from inside the building better. Now everything had a green tint to it as he entered, M4A1 in hand as he approached the front desk of the HQ building. Upon entering, it was the scene of an aftermath of a battle, for sure. There was no one at the front desk, leaving only an empty chair and empty desk, coupled with a whole mess of papers strewn about the building. Nothing special to report just yet. From here on, it was a matter of where to go next. To the operative's left was an elevator. Probably what allowed entry and exit of the underground base. He ended up going left and entering a lobby with multiple chairs. Based on the number of chairs there, this was either some sort of break room or a waiting lobby, though he couldn't be sure. Michael took notice that this room was in just as bad a shape as the room containing the front desk. What really caught his eye however was the fact a table had been turned to its side and placed at the entrance of the hall that led deeper into the base. Someone used that metal table as a barricade of sorts. The operative's curiosity peaked as he moved to get a closer look, only to feel his foot step on something. He looked down and lifted his foot to see that he had stepped on a bullet. Leaning down and picking it up, it was a standard assault rifle round. He then turned his attention back to the ground to find that there were a plentiful amount of fired bullets on the floor here. Lots more. He dropped the cartridge and walked over to the table, where even more of them were. The operative leaned over to get a look at the other side to find that the table had been struck with bullets. As soon as he saw the table's condition, he reached up for his radio.

"Everyone, I got something." Michael said. "I've got bullet cartridges in what appears to be a waiting lobby of sorts, and there's a table propped up to the entrance of the hall. Definitely used as a barricade for protection."

"Copy that." Josh replied. "We haven't found anything over here yet, but it sounds like you're onto something. Keep us posted, over."

"Will do." Michael responded.

The operative then focused his attention back down the hall that the fighting would've come from. He looked down the hall, finding that there didn't seem to be all that much. Mantling over the table, Michael began walking down the hall, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. As he walked, he noticed a large spot on the wall. A liquid of sorts. He gave it a curious look before deciding to pull up his NVGs. Things became much more dark as a result, but with the green tint, the operative couldn't identify what it was that was on the wall. He then pulled out a small flashlight for such occasions as this, shining it on the spot. He felt a soft gasp escape his mouth as the liquid in question was dark red. Blood. He slowly reached out and rubbed his gloved hand against the wall, pulling it back and looking at his palm. It seemed to have dried up, as his glove didn't have a single drop on it.

"Got something else. Blood on the wall. It's dried up. Whatever happened here must've been a while ago." Michael reported over the radio.

"Affirmative." Josh said. "We've found something on our end. Traces of fur are scattered throughout the buildings here."

"Fur?" Mark asked. "From what animal? Can you tell?"

"Negative. What James and I do know though is that it's more than one animal, or whatever else this could've been, that did this. I've got golden fur, blue fur, orange fur, red fur, nearly every color of the rainbow here."

"Michael, I'd watch your ass in there." James said in a cautious tone.

"As if I wasn't already." Michael replied. "Good to know though. I'll keep looking."

What was interesting about the blood on the wall is that there wasn't a whole lot of it. One would assume that more blood on the wall would result in the operative getting more nervous. However, it was actually the lack of such excess blood on the wall that made him nervous. Either whoever was injured here was able to retreat to somewhere else, or whoever killed who was able to do it so efficiently that little blood was spilled, at least here in the hall, anyway. On the floor there was some more blood, dried up puddles of it here and there. Michael assumed these to be from casualties from the fighting that most likely took place. However, that raised another question...where were the bodies at? Unless the enemy took the time to clean up every single casualty here, which given the state of the base was unlikely, where did they go? What else could've happened to them? Michael let out a soft deep breath as he continued, weapon raised in case anything or anyone tried to attack him. At the end of the hall, he made his way into another room. This time the room was filled with computers and desks, similar to a mission control type of room. There were the much larger screens against the left side wall, with rows and rows of monitors in front of Michael. All of the monitors were still on, even the big screens which showed basic information such as a view of Earth's territories, date and time, and other miscellaneous information. Due to the screens being on which provided lighting, Michael was able to pull off his NVGs for the time being, the color of everything returning and the green tint going away. Chairs were strewn about among other things. Whoever was in here must've left in a hurry. More bullet cartridges were on the floor. Okay, so maybe whoever was in here must've tried to leave in a hurry. Another chill was sent down Michael's spine as he thought about the possible fate of those who were in here. He then turned back down the hall that he came from, then back to what he assumed to be a mission control room.

"I'm in some sort of mission control kind of room. Chairs and papers are strewn about, more bullets on the floor. Whoever was in here must've left in a hurry, or at least tried." Michael reported over the radio.

"Shit...copy." Josh replied. "Anything else? Any bodies or folks that are alive?"

"Negative, I- Actually, hang on." Michael said as he walked towards the stairs that were on either side of the room that slowly ascended. "Got some more dried up blood, but that's about it."

"Enemy had to have invaded or someone who was already here killed all these people." Andrew chimed in. "By the way boss, we found something. We also have some fur."

"Fur for you guys too?" Josh asked. "Alright then, maybe it's not people that attacked us."

If it was indeed animals that attacked this place, it could explain the bullets that were in here. Soldiers defending themselves and the other staff members here. But then again...

"What kind of animals would have the knowledge to be able to destroy vehicles, kill infantry, and obliterate the base as a whole, sir?" Michael asked curiously.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we're going to find out. Stay on guard."

Michael then made his way through the rows of monitors to check if anything was amiss. Nothing but either homescreens, a website, or some sort of program that aided in the base's operations. After coming up empty handed, Michael made his way to the top where he was now on what appeared to be the HQ's second floor. He entered a break room of sorts that had tables where folks could sit during their break. There was a fridge and freezer that appeared to have been looted entirely, a sink, dishwasher, etc.

"Could go for a sub right now." Michael whispered softly to himself. Even though he was getting a little hungry, he didn't let that take his focus away from the objective at hand.

The break room didn't have any signs of a battle in here, though food that had since spoiled was on the floor along with a piece of silverware here and there. Folks must've been rushing out as quickly as possible. Michael then looked to see if there was another path he could go, but there was no other door to be seen. Instead, when he began backtracking, he noticed there was another door across from him, on the opposite side of the room. Curiously, he made his way down and attempted to open the door, but found it locked. He tried twisting the door handle again, but was unsuccessful. This was the only door he had come across so far that had any sort of protection to it. Whatever was in here must've been important.

"I'm at a locked door here. SFC, request permission to blow the door down to see what's inside?" Michael asked.

"Granted." Josh replied.

Having been given the all clear, Michael placed a C4 charge on the door and backed away from it so he wouldn't get caught in the blast. He reached for the detonator and pushed down on the button, the door exploding into multiple pieces as access to the room was now granted. After letting the smoke from the small explosion clear, Michael made his way inside, checking his corners as he entered. Thankfully, no one was inside the room, allowing the Delta operative to lower his weapon. Multiple screens were all attached to a wall with a front desk and center console in front. Based on what exactly was being shown on the screens, the operative quickly deciphered that this was where the security cameras surveyed the base.

"Found the security room." Michael reported over the radio. "Seems like a number of the cameras were destroyed in whatever happened here, but I see a large majority of them are still active."

"Copy that. Anything useful from the live feeds?" Josh asked.

"I'm about to find out, stand by." Michael responded, holstering his rifle and sitting down at the chair at the front console.

First thing was first, was there any additional information that could be acquired from the live video feed? He accessed the center console and began pulling up different camera views. Some were still active, such as the cameras monitoring the close by mission control room or the now destroyed hangars and jets within, but others such as the barracks room cameras were destroyed. It was mostly just video feeds of the base, nothing much else. Just destroyed vehicles, dead infantry that continued to decay where they lay, and the other four Delta operatives alive and well as they continued their investigation.

"Not seeing anything useful on the live feeds up here." Michael began. "However, we have access to the cameras in the underground facility. Let's see what we can find." He finished with a grin.

He then switched the group of cameras to the underground facility ones only to find that they had all been destroyed. Every single last one of them. Whenever the operative switched to a different camera, he got the same black screen and accompanying error message.

"What the...all the cameras have been knocked out!" Michael said.

"All of them?" Andrew chimed in.

"All of them." Michael confirmed. "How in the world did they get all of them?"

"Well whatever it is that's down there doesn't want us finding out. I bet that's where they're hiding." Josh speculated.

"I'd say that's a fair assumption to make." Michael replied.

"Yeah, we're not turning up anything here either." Mark added. "I'm getting tired of finding decomposing bodies and fur."

"Sounds like a plan then. Let's meet up at the HQ building and take the elevator down." Josh ordered.

"Roger, see you all there." Michael replied.

As Michael was about to get up, he noticed something. He looked to the right arm of the chair and found...more fur? Granted, not too much of it, but two strands of orange fur were on it. He then looked to the left to find one strand of white fur. Whoever or whatever these creatures were had been here! It was then Michael felt something behind him...he could swear he felt something behind him! His body tensed up and froze a bit as his hands slowly began moving to his M4A1 that was in his lap, his breathing becoming less audible. Something, or someone had to have been behind him. He didn't hear any noise...but that sixth sense was kicking in for the operative. A few more seconds passed before Michael was finally able to overcome the paralyzing fear and swiftly stand up and turn around, weapon raised and ready to shoot! ...Only to find no one was there. He stood there in disbelief for a few seconds before advancing out of the room, weapon still raised. No one was in the mission control room either, at least from what he could see. The Delta operative slowly lowered his weapon as he let out a few breaths.

"Jesus...I gotta quit being so jumpy." Michael told himself before making his way back to the elevator towards the front desk. He could have sworn someone or something was behind him though!

Michael made his way down the slowly declining stairs and was about to head down the hallway that led back to the waiting lobby room before he felt that sixth sense kicking in again. He paused, debating on whether or not to turn around again. As soon as he asked himself that question, he just as quickly made up his mind, swiftly turning around and raising his weapon again.

"Hello?!" Michael asked. "Anyone there?!"

Silence.

"...If you don't show yourself, lethal force will be used!"

Still nothing.

Guess it was just a matter of being jumpy again. Michael shook his head and turned around again, swearing at himself for being so paranoid. He made his way down the hall and into the waiting room lobby again, making his left towards the front desk. The other four operatives soon joined him inside.

"How was it, Michael?" Josh asked out of curiosity.

"This place is really starting to give me the creeps. Let's just get this job done so we can go home." Michael replied in a rather serious tone before pushing on one of the elevator buttons to bring it up.

"I will admit, this place is rather unsettling." Mark replied.

"Unsettling or not, we still have a mission to do. Gather yourselves and get ready." Josh said. He then redirected the radio over to HQ. "HQ, this is Delta Team. The base has been totally destroyed. Dead bodies, destroyed vehicles, the whole deal. We've found traces of fur all over the place, and the camera feed to the underground facility has been killed. We're about to head down to investigate further, over."

"Affirmative." The female back at HQ responded. "Delta Team, be careful. We're not sure what's down there."

"If we don't report anything within two hours, have a Quick Response Force come looking for us." Josh requested.

"Will do."

A few more seconds passed before the ding of the elevator could be heard, along with the doors swiftly opening for the five Delta operatives. They all piled in and began heading to the underground part of the base. After the closing of the doors, the only noise that could be heard was the noise of the elevator going down. The trip was eerily quiet with none of the operatives bothering to say anything during the trip. Any predictions on what they would find, they kept to themselves. Thirty seconds later, the ding of the elevator could be heard, along with the doors opening to reveal a hallway. The ceiling lights had a sort of turquoise tint to them, the short hall being nothing except a simple pathway to enter the base. Josh took point with Michael second in line, followed by Mark, James, and lastly there was Andrew. Each operative slowly walked behind one another as they kept their weapons raised, ready for any dangers that could pop out at them. Upon making it to the pair of doors that was at the other end of the hallway, everyone stacked up, ready to breach.

"Ready to find out what's on the other side?" Josh asked, getting nods of approval from each of the operatives under his command. "Alright. Michael, take point."

Michael nodded as he reached out his left hand, pressing it against the right side door, his rifle peeking out the door as he aimed down the sights. Upon making it to the other side of the door, the operative's eyes went wide at what he saw up ahead. The team were now at a T-intersection, able to go left or right, with a large map of the facility attached. Josh and the others followed shortly after, looking at the map themselves.

"Well, well, well..." Josh mumbled under his breath. "Where should we go, do you reckon?"

"Hmmm..." Michael hummed to himself as he looked at the map. Towards the left, the path seemed to lead towards some sort of testing facility. To the right, the path appeared to lead towards an armory. "Might need to split up again. This time I won't have to be a lone wolf since there's only two choices." He said with a low chuckle.

"Well, how do we go about doing this then?" Andrew asked.

After a few seconds passed of Josh thinking about it, he came up with the plan. "Michael and I will go left towards the lab. Everyone else, head to the right and search the armory. James, I'm putting you in charge."

"Will do, sir." Mark said with a nod.

The operatives split up into their assigned teams, with Michael leading the way as he and Josh headed towards the lab. A quick walk down the left hall and a turn to the right resulted in them stepping in. At a first glance, it seemed like any ordinary lab, but upon doing a double take of the place, it became quite apparent why this place was hidden and classified. It was indeed a laboratory with multiple desks, sophisticated equipment, stacks of paper, etc. What was strange was that the place was in tip top shape. No paper strewn about the place, no blood, no bullets on the floor...nothing that indicated any sort of struggle happened.

"It's a lab alright." Josh commented. "But one that I've never seen before."

As the two operatives entered, they then saw something akin to an operating table, though with no one laying down on it. Why would there be an operating table?

"Something's up." Michael said as he pointed to the table. "Operating table. Folks in here must've been doing some research on something."

"Well shit, maybe James' comment about aliens wasn't so out there after all." Josh replied.

The two then split up to cover more ground, with Michael heading over to an L shaped table that was placed against the walls of the lab. Everything was neatly placed, the counter was spotless, and everything seemed fresh. Rather than give a comforting presence...it freaked Michael out even more. Hell, even the floor was spotless and clean!

"Everyone, keep your eyes peeled. This place is way too clean to have been abandoned." Michael said.

"Agreed. The lab over there spotless for you guys?" James asked.

"Affirmative."

"The armory here is polished to perfection. Way too clean to be unattended for three days." Mark added. "We got M4's, MP5's, Model 870's, the whole arsenal here."

"Any of the weapons missing?" Michael then asked.

"No, not from what we're- Oh wait a sec...yeah, there should be another MP5 there, right?"

"Got some M4's missing too." Andrew replied as he peeked into a different locker.

"Missing guns and equipment...clean floors...neat rooms..." Michael said softly. "...I don't think we're alone down here. Even if the missing guns were from the soldiers down here coming up to fight whatever happened back on the surface, these floors being so clean leads me to think someone is still here."

"I hate to say it, but that's a pretty reasonable conclusion." Josh added. "Though let's not go assuming whoever is out there is hostile. Could be a lone survivor."

"What incentive would they have in keeping the place this clean, though?" Michael then asked.

"Hmmm..." Josh said thoughtfully, but ultimately came up with nothing to say in return.

The atmosphere of the place became a lot more tense as the operatives couldn't help but to let paranoia enter their minds. Despite this paranoia, Michael and the others continued their investigating. Out of curiosity, he decided to grab a binder that was stacked along with other books and stacks of paper and flipped it open to a random folder. Curiosity driving him more than anything, he opened the folder and pulled out a sheet of paper. It was a report, at least from what the operative saw in the formatting. Complete with a date, time, subject of the report, and a description as to what happened. Michael's impatience caused him to skip over the date and time of the report, and to skim over the description rather than read it in its entirety. However, he did pick up on a few key sentences.

"Subjects continue to show competence in meeting their basic needs."

"As far as I'm concerned, they're basically like us, just with an animal skin over them."

"I have to admit, however, these creature's training seems to be good. Too good."

"If we're not careful, they may use the knowledge we've granted them against us."

The operative then put down the first piece of paper and moved onto the second one. It showed what could be described as a collage of soldiers doing some training, whether that be PT, weapons training, combat maneuver training, or something else. But something was different about the soldiers in question doing the training. Yeah, they had a humanoid appearance to them. But key characteristics were shown in these photos. Animal snouts...animal ears poking out of helmets...tails...

"Oh my God..." Michael said under his breath. "We're dealing with anthros."

"With who?" Josh asked.

"Anthros. Anthropomorphic animals." Michael said as he handed the collage of pictures over to Josh.

"Anthropomawho?" Josh asked in confusion.

"Humanoid animals! Animals with human traits to them! Us but with an animal skin over them as described in the report!"

Josh's eyes slowly widened as he looked. "What the hell...?"

"Everyone, we figured out what we're fighting." Michael said over the radio. "Humanoid animals. They're like us, but with human characteristics to them."

"Sir, please tell us you're kidding." Mark chimed in.

"Negative. You can come take a look at the report for yourself if you'd like." Josh confirmed. He then looked back to Michael. Even though he was the highest ranking soldier here, he seemed confused, unsure of what to do. "Anybody an expert on anthros, by chance?"

Silence.

"...Michael, what do you think we should do?"

"I say we press on." Michael said. "I know we're all a little on edge after seeing who we may come into contact with, but that doesn't change the mission."

"Agreed. Let's push on." James chimed in.

"Alright, pushing further in it is." Josh said. "Michael, take point. I noticed on that map that there seems to be some sort of second part to the lab. We'll all meet there."

"Got it." Michael said as he began leading the way out of the lab and into the hall that was up ahead.

The five operatives all met up once more as they all came up to the entrance to the second part of the lab, Michael pushing open the left door with James pushing open the right door, the five of them making their way in. One thing was off-putting right off the bat: The lights were on. However, what was even more off-putting was the lab itself. For a lack of a better term, it was a room where new soldiers were born.

The room itself was rather large and spacious, with rows upon rows of large vertical tubes with anthropomorphic animals inside. Tigers, wolves, foxes, kangaroos, cats, panthers, dogs, and more were all in a seemingly peaceful state as they stood there, a bunch of wires and tubes all connected to them.

"So this is what they were hiding." Michael said softly. "An army of a new breed of warrior."

"No way...no damn way!" Andrew said in a mix of surprise and horror.

"Well, I suppose everybody's accusations of this place hiding some big stuff is warranted now." Josh said.

As the operatives observed the lab, they kept on walking deeper and deeper into the facility. They had found what they were looking for in terms of what the base was hiding, and based off these anthros in their containers and the collage that Michael found from earlier, it was a fair assumption to say that there were some already alive and kicking. It was now just a matter of where they were.

The five Delta operatives would get their answer. A few seconds later, figures started revealing themselves from the shadows, all with weapons drawn and aimed at the group of five.

"FREEZE!" One of the anthros yelled out.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" A second one called out.

Michael and the other five quickly got together in a circle and aimed their weapons at the others, but Josh also ordered his team to hold their fire upon hearing the anthros weren't going to shoot first.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" A third anthro chimed in.

"Son of a bitch! This was a trap!" Michael said under his breath.

More and more anthros showed themselves from the tubes their fellow comrades were currently in, as well as some even showing themselves from two balconies on a second floor of the place on either side. Once all weapons were drawn and everybody has guns pointing at someone, an additional figure showed himself on the right side balcony.

"This is Commander Winters." An arctic fox called out as he revealed himself. "You are in violation of our territory. Safety your weapons and place them on the floor, now!"

"Your territory?!" Andrew asked.

"Sir, with all due respect, what do you mean your territory? This is a classified military base that belongs to-" Josh began, but was cut off.

"It used to belong to you. Now it belongs to us." Winters responded. "Now are you going to drop your weapons, or am I going to have to order my soldiers to fire on you?"

"Can't we just talk this out-" Michael chimed in, but was also cut off.

"Your unit is covered from not only an elevated position, but from all sides. If you wish to see the light of day again, you are going to safety your weapons and drop them!" Winters ordered.

"And who says that even if we surrender we'll get to see the light of day again?" Michael asked.

"Only one way to find out." Winters replied with a smug grin.

Josh was about to speak, but Michael cut in before he could. "You think you're so smart, tempting us to pull the trigger first. We only came here for answers, not for conflict."

"Then why did you bring weapons with you?"

"In case situations like this happen where you all are the ones to instigate the fighting first!"

"Just because you have a weapon doesn't mean you're the aggressor, soldier." Winters said with a stern look. "You could've come here with no weapons and we'd still be like this."

"Even if civilians just so happened to wander into here?"

"Have to take no chances. Especially with your country's plan for us."

"Oh yeah? What were our country's plans?" Michael asked.

"To use us as cannon fodder. To use us as their new tools of warfare to wage any wars they ever wanted to. All we were to your people were expendable liabilities, and I'm not about to sit and be tossed around like some cheap tool!" Winters yelled.

"With all due respect, sir. You must have misunderstood. There's no way we would create you only to toss you out afterwards." Josh chimed in.

"You poor soldier. You are so naive to think that way." Winters said with a sarcastic regretful tone. "Now, I'm not going to ask again. No one has to die here. Lay down your weapons and surrender."

These anthros had the operatives totally surrounded. To open fire now would be a death sentence. However, if they didn't, there was no guarantee that the outcome would be any better. Michael could feel himself tensing up even further. The temptation to make a break for it, to get the hell out of there, was all too great. The fact every anthro had their weapons drawn on them as well made it so they wouldn't be able to escape so easily.

"No...not here, not now." _Michael thought to himself. _"I can't die here...not after having discovered something so pivotal...but Josh and the others..."

He could use them as a distraction to allow for his escape. It was a selfish thing to do, but at this rate no one was going to survive this encounter. Better to have one survivor who made it out alive selfishly than to have zero survivors who all upheld their honor for one another, right? Then again, Michael wasn't sure if he could betray his team like this.

"You tell your people to drop their weapons, then we can talk!" Josh ordered.

"Afraid I can't do that." Winters responded. "You either lower your weapons to talk, or you keep them raised and you all die. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and send one of my troops to the sick bay."

"Commander, requesting permission to open fire?!" A panther who had enough of this bickering requested.

"Keep your weapons trained on them but do not engage." Winters replied.

"Team...we may have to surrender." Josh said.

"Are you kidding me, sir? They're gonna fucking kill us even if we do!" Andrew replied.

"Better to take a chance at living than to throw away our lives." The Sergeant First Class replied.

"Andrew is right, sir." Michael whispered. "You see the looks in their eyes?"

"ENOUGH TALK!" Winters said.

"If you're such a competent commander, why haven't you given the order to fire, Winter?" Michael tempted. "You said you would only give us one warning, but by now you've given us-"

"OPEN FIRE!"

As soon as Winters shouted those words, all hell broke loose. Gunfire from both sides erupted as four of the Delta Team operatives struggled with engaging the enemy, while the fifth made a mad dash for it. Michael blocked out any of his team's cries for help as he made his way to the door, the only thing that got through to him being his team leader's cries for him to come back. More gunfire erupted as Michael sprinted through the door and down the hallway into the first lab room, fear having taken total control. He didn't bother picking up any pieces of evidence from the lab on his way out. The combat camera footage would suffice. He made his way through the lab and back to the T-intersection of the hall, heading down the long hallway that led to the final hallway before the elevator. As the Delta operative rounded the corner, someone else was already at the other end of the hallway. An anthro feline, a Russian Blue, was crouched with a rifle in his hands as he was already aiming down the hall. Now it was just a matter of pulling the trigger. Michael's fear had worked against him as by the time he recognized the threat, he was too deep in the hall to round the corner to get to cover. Thus, he ended up trying to take aim, but felt a source of discomfort come from his chest. Then a second sudden shot of discomfort. Then a third round managed to strike him right in the leg, a fourth round penetrating through his armor and landing right on his chest. This resulted in him crying out and collapsing onto the floor, letting out a pained groan as his rifle dropped in front of him. As a last ditch attempt, the operative began crawling towards his M4A1, but the Russian Blue was already jogging towards him. By the time the human managed to place a hand on his rifle, a boot promptly stomped on it, Michael letting out another groan of pain as he looked up. He could see the feline's face much better now...his green colored eyes and sinister smirk as he aimed his own M4A1 right at the human's face.

"Normally, Commander Winters would've let you guys out alive, but...seeing as how we're all just expendable tools to you, that wasn't exactly on the table." The feline said.

"Please...please just...let me go...I-I promise I won't tell...!" Michael pleaded.

The Russian Blue chuckled. "Don't make me laugh. You and I both know that's false. Just like the hopes and promises granted to us by your government when we were first born."

"So...so this why...? Because we were...just gonna toss you out...?"

The Russian Blue's smirk dropped into a more sincere look. "Shoot, now I'm half tempted to not kill you. You actually get it." But before Michael could say anything else, the anthro added, "Ah, but you know how things go. Gotta follow the Commander's orders, right? And before you mention it, we're aware a Quick Response Force is going to come look for you and your team. Trust me, as a Special Operations trooper like yourself, I can assure you that we'll be quite ready for them." His grin then returned as he finished off with, "By the way, that sixth sense of yours could've saved your ass."

A single gunshot then followed, after which the Russian Blue took notice that the gunshots further ahead had stopped. He then reached for his radio. "Commander Winters, I got the last guy trying to escape. He's dead."

"Excellent work." The arctic fox replied. "We're done here as well. We've only got a few hours at max before their QRF comes knocking on our door. Let's burn these bodies, get the place nice and tidy for the QRF's arrival, and get ready for another round."

"Yes sir, will do."