FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The C-17 Globemaster cut through the snowy night sky over Huntsville Alabama with a veteran 18 Foxtrot and her officer in tow. The snow was incredibly thick, Ellis looked outside of his window and saw a flurry of white snow and city lights managing to penetrate the blizzard. Ellis frowned and retraced, somewhat disappointed he couldn't get a good look at the city. Though Huntsville was unremarkable anyways, it had a few large buildings and a couple of interesting museums but he couldn't think of anything else worthwhile.

At that assertion Ellis was perplexed, he and Yula had been ordered to this unimportant city, on short notice and packing combat gear. The Air Force hardly had time to allocate a jet capable of carrying her, and even so it was a less than ideal transport for Yula.

Ellis took a deep breath and stopped himself from pondering on the matter any further until he was properly briefed, all that could serve to do was create unnecessary paranoia. Not long after coming to that conclusion, the jet began its descent towards the airfield as the two pilots radioed back and forth with the ATC to coordinate the landing.

When the jet finally came to a stop, Ellis got up and opened the door leading to the cargo bay. When he did the fluffy tail of his comrade burst through the newfound hole knocking him backward, Ellis was knocked to the floor, his arms propped up on the seats of the two pilots, with a heavy tail pinning him down. After shaking the initial shock of Yula's tail, the co-pilot shoved Yulas tail to the side and helped Ellis collect himself.

When Ellis exited the aircraft he stretched, but quickly retracted his outstretched arms. It was cold enough for him to see his breath and after spending so much time in Pensacola, temperatures like this had become unfamiliar. Arms crossed, he set off to the back of the plane accompanied by the loadmaster of the C-17. The other man lowered the bay door and Yulas limp head lolled out with it. It was comical how undignified she looked, her maw was open and tongue laid out on the cargo door. As funny as it was, he winced knowing how tight of a fit it was for her, so tight that she had been put under to help ease her discomfort.

After patting the nose of his unconscious woman he produced a small container of military-grade smelling salts. Then held it up to her nose and quickly moved out of the way to avoid any violent reactions. He dodged her powerful sneeze, although the man with him was not as fortunate. The poor soul raised his arms and looked at his drenched apparel and sighed.

Ellis rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed. "Sorry, I should have warned you."

He then returned his gaze to Yula who was slowly blinking her eyes and yawning after being abruptly awoken by Ellis.

"You look comfortable." Ellis said sarcastically.

Her eyes lazily found Ellis, she smiled, happy he was there to greet her. "Maybe if you had ridden with me." Ellis took a few steps back as she started wiggling herself out of the jet, trying her best not to damage it.

While Yula awkwardly exited the jet Ellis looked around at his surroundings and noticed that the snow had finally stopped falling, he shoved his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes, taking a few moments to appreciate the newfound stillness of the night. The cold brought back memories of chilly nights in the desert, remedied only by the warm fur of his large comrade.

Before long he felt a cold sensation on his neck, it had started snowing again but only directly where he was standing. He looked back and saw Yula squatted down while sprinkling snow on him like she was seasoning a steak.

"How long was I zoned out?" Ellis said bewildered.

"Long enough for me to squeeze my ass out of that plane, so, why are we here again?" She finished the statement with an exaggerated yawn, curling her tongue and stretching her arms high above her, unlike Ellis the cold was a welcome sensation she welcomed.

Ellis shrugged "I'm still in the dark on that, but go ahead and gear up. I know they wanted you combat-ready." Ellis then followed his instruction by securing his equipment, arguably the most valuable being his headset linked to Yula's for direct communication. He could always hear her, but for Yula being under fire and hearing one tiny human could be a challenge.

Yula also begrudgingly complied with this request by reaching into the jet and retrieving her body armor, rifle, and an assortment of smaller items. The most important of these smaller items was an earpiece directly linked to Ellis. She flicked it on and tested it by yelling into the microphone, once again catching Ellis off guard.

After his impromptu audio overload, he looked up at Yula. She had stopped equipping gear but her head remained uncovered. "You didn't pack your helmet? Ellis said, confused.

"I didn't have space if I shoved everything in there my head would have been hanging out the back."

Ellis grinned. "I don't see the issue LT, dogs love sticking their heads out car windows why would this be any different?"

She scoffed jokingly knowing Ellis was trying to antagonize her but excitedly played along. "You calling me a dog pipsqueak?"

Ellis motioned to the swaying tail of his fluffy comrade and said. "Well, if that fluffy protuberance is any indication, then yes I think you are a dog."

Though being called a dog might annoy her she knew it was in good faith, his newfound uppity attitude was far preferable to the douchey officer he had been for so long. "You'll be giving me belly rubs for a week at this rate."

"As compensation?" Ellis replied.

Yula rolled her eyes knowing he was well versed with this consequence. "You'll never learn will you?" She squatted down and prepared to pick up Ellis, wanting to humiliate him by showing a little TLC. Though before she picked him up the flashing lights of an approaching vehicle caught her attention.

Ellis turned to face it, his demeanor switching when he realized it was a military humvee. He loved Yula but when other military personnel was present he still thought snuggling was inappropriate, despite Yulas protests.

The passenger side door flung open and outstepped a flustered young corporal with a national guard patch on his arm. He ran over to Ellis and saluted him.

He returned the favor then quickly dropped the salute. "So Corporal, are you here to relay my orders?"

"No sir, I'm just here to transport you to the situation area. You'll be briefed on site, but for now, I need you to come with me." He quickly turned and began walking back to the humvee expecting Ellis to follow.

Instead of following, Ellis remained still. "What am I supposed to do with my priority asset?" He said motioning over his shoulder towards Yula.

He turned back and recoiled as if unaware of her presence. "Right, she needs to follow behind us."

"Alright then, let's get a move on." The younger soldier nodded affirmatively at that command and ducked into the humvee. Ellis then turned to Yula who had stood silently during this exchange. "Try not to step on any civilians, big girl."

"No promises." She said mischievously. Ellis smiled, knowing she was joking then entered the humvee.

The younger man wasted no time once Ellis entered, going as fast as the rickety national guard humvee would allow him. The roads were coated in snow and slush causing further driving hazards.

The ride was light in conversation, instead, the ambiance of helicopters above and radio chatter broke up the silence. The city looked like it was experiencing a full-on occupation, military personnel formed barricades at each juncture to keep civilians from both seeing and running into the lane of damage. As they drove further crushed cars and damaged buildings began appearing relatively frequently. Red snow lined the trail of carnage with pools of red slush forming around the crushed cars. He grimaced seeing this, knowing a Foxtrot was responsible.

He had seen sights like this in combat, Yula had doomed many AFVs and trucks full of insurgents with the bottom of her foot. But these were civilians, he had spent a large chunk of his life around Foxtrots, he thought it improbable that one would do such a thing. He reassured himself by taking a deep breath, maybe she had been antagonized, they were designed to feel empathy and affinity towards humans. Or at least friendly humans.

Yula could see over the buildings and into the adjacent streets, people had gathered along the barricades, many of them were yelling at soldiers and some even yelled at her. She brought her gaze to a group of people yelling in her direction, after seeing the amber eyes of Yula upon them they quickly ceased yelling and looked away, terrified. She snorted, but quickly mentally backpedaled, thinking she had no right to laugh,

Finally, they arrived at the site of the standoff, Humvees circled a massive complex and dozens of foot soldiers took cover behind them. Not a single APC or tank was in sight, just the odd M2 and M82. Insufficient for dealing with an enormous canine clad in thick ballistic armor. Reinforcements were here, however, and Yula's 75mm rifle was more than capable of dealing with another Foxtrot.

Ellis exited the vehicle and the corporal silently pointed to a man leaving over the engine block of a humvee using it much like a table. Ellis approached him, suspecting he was the man in charge.

The lower-ranked military officer turned to Ellis and saluted him, Ellis waved him down, preferring to get to the point rather than respect formalities.

Ellis glanced down at his nameplate and initiated. "So Lieutenant Paxton, I assume our target is held up in that building?" Ellis said pensively.

"Yes sir, she's an Army Foxtrot from Fort McClellan."

Ellis recoiled knowing McClellan was nearly two hours away. "How did she get this far?"

"The blizzard made targeting her difficult." The man still leaning against the warm engine gestured towards the ground beside them, red blood lined the snow along with a few blasted pieces of shrapnel. "The ERA and composite blocked a fair amount of damage too, but..." He kicked up red snow for emphasis. "I know we got some hits."

Ellis nodded. "Any casualties?" He knew the answer, but a definitive number might ease his mind.

"So far 12 military personnel and 34 civilians." Once again directing Ellis's view Paxton pointed to the crowd of people lining the military barricade. "At first the crowd wanted answers, now it's evolved into a protest against the use and development of Foxtrots." Paxton shrugged. " An expensive government bought monster rampaging through your town doesn't seem like a worthy use of taxpayer money."

"Then I guess it's time we give the people some tax returns." Ellis replied confidently.

On cue, two Apaches loaded with hellfire missiles buzzed overhead in a holding pattern around the besieged complex. They looked up at the helicopters flying low to the ground and the bottom of Yulas muzzle caught Paxton's eye, he stared at her with a hopeful look on display.

Paxton shifted his gaze back to Ellis. "Now that she's here we can finally get this show on the road." Yula looked down and wagged her tail, excited that someone in this town was happy to see her. Although she quickly stopped the movement thinking it inappropriate for the situation at hand.

"So you're the one that requested our presence, how'd you get the authority for that?"

"We were the first unit to respond, command is giving me any asset I want. They just want the situation dealt with asap." The orders were understandable, they both knew the longer this dragged on, the worse it would look to the rest of the world. The last thing they need is a media circus on top of this AWOL Foxtrot.

"Why did you request a Foxtrot lieutenant?" Ellis asked

The younger officer motioned to the building in front of them. "That's a Raytheon production plant. We can't engage full bore because they won't let us damage the building."

They both looked back towards Yula who was intently listening to the conversation between the two officers. "Why would she be any less prone to causing collateral damage than an Abrams or Apache?" Yula looked at Ellis somewhat offended but opted to stay silent and let the two strategize.

"The factory is big enough for her to operate comfortably inside. Up close she's much more responsive than any armored vehicle."

Ellis tilted his head, conceding on the point presented. "I guess you'll want my fluffy comrade to track her down with the blood trail?"

The younger man smiled at Ellis appreciatively. "My thoughts exactly sir."

Ellis retracted from the vehicle. "Well then, I'll be accompanying Second Lieutenant Yula throughout the operation." The younger officer nodded affirmatively. Ellis then called Yula over the radio. "You ready tons of fun?"

She cycled her rifle causing many of the soldiers to turn at the loud metallic noise. "As I'll ever be." After that Ellis withdrew his sidearm and set off towards the building with Yula standing up and following suit.

The walk towards the complex was tense, many of the soldiers he passed gave him worried looks. Even the crowd had subsided, just the sound of snow crunching underfoot and the soft whirring of vehicles around him. The entrance to the building now became the center stage, it was a vast array of windows, now demolished by a giant charging through it.

Ellis stopped at the demolished entrance, when he looked forward he saw darkness ill-lit by skylights letting trace amounts of moonlight seep through. He could still see the red trail of blood on the ground but he was hesitant to follow it, the darkness of the hallway was extremely imposing.

The soft voice of his companion broke through the silence. "Don't worry gusher, I'm backing you up." Yula said with her gun mounted on her shoulder.

Reassured, Ellis continued forward. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness the layout of the building became clear. The previous intel of Yula being able to operate was proved true after the main lobby meant for human operators was passed an enormous but comparatively normal hallway for Yula opened up. Seeing as it was the only path forward the two vigilantly started down the hallway.

Either side was lined with compartments. Enormous compartments, with beds and assorted items, meant for substantially sized users. The scene became all the stranger to Ellis when he witnessed childlike drawings on the ground. He rationalized this was some kind of holding area, or maybe hospital for Foxtrots. While the sights he was witnessing were interesting in their own right, loud sniffing from Yula began to dominate his curiosity.

"You smell something?" Ellis asked interested

"Well, I smell our target, but I also smell pups." Yula let her weapon droop allowing the sling attached to it to support the weight, then reached down and retrieved a chew toy.

Ellis cackled. "They seriously give you all chew toys?"

She smiled warmly while looking at the item, harking back to when she was only around 20ft tall. "It's for teething, I used to get in trouble for stealing the scientists' cars and playing with them." Yula then tossed the toy to the side and continued walking forward, not wanting to get too distracted.

"The Foxtrot puppies are cute, despise the rambunctious behavior." They both continued following the trail, conversations in combat situations was something they were accustomed to even if it had been a while since they experienced something like this.

Yula sighed. "I always wanted my own but I never got selected, You're close enough." Ellis grinned but remained silent. A final turn in the trail was coming and they'd be upon this hostile giant soon enough.

When it came time to turn the corner Ellis stopped and looked up at Yula to confirm she was ready, she gave a thumbs up, then placed her hand back on the forearm of her rifle.

Ellis peaked his head around the corner, following the blood trail with his eyes until the giantess appeared. The massive anthropomorphic German Shepherd woman was slumped down against the far wall of what appeared to be an infirmary. She had removed her body armor and laid her weapon to the side. She intended to tend to her wounds but in doing so she let herself become completely defenseless.

Realizing this, Ellis ordered Yula to strike. "She's vulnerable, go now." Ellis whispered into the headset microphone.

Yula complied and turned the corner, her weapon raised in preparation to eliminate the threat. She quickly acquired the behemoth between her sights, giving her a good view of the woman adjacent to her. Her expression was one of apathy, seemingly too tired or too injured to care what happened next.

Ellis fully turned the corner once he realized the situation was under Yula's control. "Take the shot lieutenant, we've got no reason to capture her."

Yula stood in silence for a moment and rolled her shoulders, trying to affirm herself. The poor woman in front of her was covered in blood, she'd probably be dead in minutes. So despite her actions, Yula selfishly wanted to know the other woman's story. "Why?" She asked bluntly.

It took the woman a few moments to process the question, a combination of blood loss and still reeling from being asked anything in the first place. After a moment of contemplation, she began her response. "Do you know what this place is? You should, the smell alone should make things obvious."

"It's where they raise pups." Yula answered, still unsure of where the conversation was headed but let the woman speak.

"True." She was interrupted by a cough filled with blood erupting from inside her, she wiped away the blood from her muzzle before continuing. "But more importantly it's where we're born. Or at least one of the locations." She looked around at the room, a large bedroom meant from multiple Foxtrot children.

"So what?" Said Yula tightening the grip on her rifle. "You still haven't told me why you murdered innocent civilians."

"I was supposed to be artificially inseminated here." She reached down and grabbed a blanket to observe it, it was olive drab and labeled with US Army. Even with the militaristic aesthetics, the blanket was meant for a pup. "I was going to be a mother and feel normal, for a little while at least."

"Then why do this?" Yula pleadingly asked, hoping this woman wasn't an absent-minded monster.

"Because they took that from me, the war ended so the military canceled the next batch of Foxtrots, days before I was to be impregnated." She was still admiring the olive drab blanket but threw it down and brought her full attention to Yula. "After all, you and I are very expensive weapons and what's the point in having so many if there's no war to fight."

Yula's eyes watered letting herself sympathize with this desire, but she stopped herself from sobbing. Knowing the atrocities this beast committed. "Did you think stomping the life out of them would get them to reconsider?"

She laughed a little, a hopeless, confused laugh. "Maybe you're right, maybe all I did was make things worse, but they never cared anyway."

"No, I know humans care, people like you make them fear us."

The other woman motioned to Ellis. "You think because that one little man cares about you, they all do?"

"I... that's not..." She looked down at Ellis trying to find a response.

"What, that's not true? They keep us in a bubble surrounded by humans that like us, they give you belly rubs and call you good girl to keep you complacent."

Yula looked up from Ellis and reacquired the woman in her sights. "Shut up, you don't know anything! You're just a murderer!"

Fed up with Yula's apparent blind loyalty. The woman sighed and looked down the barrel of her rifle. "Just shoot me." She said exhausted.

Yula's sympathy ran dry, subsequently obeying the request. She began squeezing the trigger of her enormous rifle, but a flash of apprehension hit her. The arguments she made caused this delay. Yula reassured herself, however, thinking back to the minivans full of people flattened by this murderer's paw. At that final thought, Yula finished the trigger pull forcing a tank caliber projectile into the other giant's skull.

After avoiding the enormous empty casing ejected from Yulas rifle Ellis reached to his headset and switched the channel wanting to inform the other soldiers of their success. "Target eliminated, no casualties."

"Affirmative, we've got a C-5 waiting for you back at the airport, it should be a more comfortable ride." Said Paxton over the radio.

"Understood, we'll be egressing the building shortly."

Yula was still and silent looking at the unmoving corpse of her fellow Foxtrot. She didn't know what to think, as much as she wanted to pick her little human up and cuddle, even the sanctity of affection had been called into question. She just stood still and silent, contemplating her position.

Ellis looked to Yula and saw his woman in disarray. He smiled thinking of the perfect way to lighten her mood. "Hey, just think, they got you a bigger jet and I do owe you some snuggling time." He recoiled at his comment surprised at his tone-deaf icebreaker.

Yula looked down and couldn't help but smile, surely if this was a grand conspiracy the agents wouldn't be so uncharismatic. The concern that her love was artificial quickly melted away. She then reached down and scooped Ellis up, it was customary when she was feeling distressed, he was like a stress ball. Of course, she couldn't squeeze it but his warm presence was comforting all the same.

She pushed her muzzle forward gently ramming it into Ellis expecting him to rub it. He detected her need for affection and obliged."I know, big girl."

She backed her head away after receiving a fair amount of affection. "I mean... what do you think?"

Before he could answer cheers from outside began to penetrate the building. They both turned to face the unseeable source. The crowd must've learned of Yula's success and even with the people's positive proclamation, Yula still felt guilty. So to quell this guilt she once again pushed her muzzle into Ellis, wanting more tenderness from him.

After comfortably establishing a pattern of petting Ellis responded. "Well, I do think they should let you have puppies. I could use another giant fluffy woman for protection."

"You'd be a horrible father." She said softly, still letting Ellis embrace her.

"Technically I'd be her commanding officer." Yula only licked Ellis in retaliation for this theoretical treatment of her child.

After withdrawing her muzzle she placed Ellis on her shoulder and began walking away from the bloody scene. After feeling him surround himself with her neck fluff, she cooed. Even if the woman was right and this was an illusion, she never wanted to see through it.