Closed Cases - FSF Archives - W-8F9 Offline Call 10-10
Closed Case FSF Archives Offline Call 10-6 Fire, Call-In September 30th, 1979 First-Person Account Primary: Officer Vendace Reeve - W-8F9 - Call-In Supporting: Office Kenneth Maharas - F-94C - First Responder Reporting Base: Sohten City 1
I was off duty, hence the call taking the offline code. I was having a warm mocha at a local café, across the street from a book store. It was cold out and I just wanted to relax after a work-week. Sohten being a border city with our ex-enemy, Germany, there was a lot of crime. There were several issues with the mob and a group of rebels who thought the Germans should have won the last war. This was probably a mob issue, however. Everyone knew that the book stores in this city paid the mob to get rid of the competition.
Everyone knew that the mob collected on the last day of them month. That was why I was so glad to not to be working that day. Although, clearly it wasn't in my future to steer clear of the mob that day. Just as went for my first sip of warm coffee, I heard a scream, quickly muffled as if cut off half-way through. This was one of the many warning signs I'd been trained to look for. I put down the coffee cup, the smell of the warm coffee and chocolate stuck to the fur on the tip of my muzzle. Every breath I took reminding me of the warm delight I never managed to actually drink. I looked to my right at the book store the scream seemed to have come from and saw the blinds being shut quickly.
That was the second sign I needed to take decisive action. I quickly stood up and called the waiter over, "Waiter!" I said loudly. "Get over here!" He walked over quickly, a clearly annoyed standard poodle looking at me as if I'd disrespected his mother. That is, until he saw my gun as I was reaching for my badge. His expression switched to that of both fear and surprise: obviously frozen with fear. I took the badge and showed it to him, an almost diamond-shaped golden tag on an open wallet. "Save my book," I said as I put down the book I'd been reading. "Charge the FSF," I yelled to the waiter as I ran out the door.
I grabbed the radio from inside my long black trench-coat and called, "offline, possible 10-10." After running across the street I went to grab the handle to the store's front door. Having quickly realized that pulling open a door already being opened as it hit me right on the muzzle, I staggered backward, barely avoiding falling onto the street. Two men, a tall grey wolf and a short feline of some sort, ran out the door, the wolf having opened it onto me. They both ran down the sidewalk as I reached for the suppressed pistol under my coat. "FSF!" I yelled at them, "Freeze!"
The taller wolf, clearly being the faster runner, quickly turned around a corner into what I was quite sure was an alley. I wasn't completely sure, however, and I couldn't risk a civilian being hurt and losing both suspects. So I pulled up my F7 pistol and fired twice as the shorter feline, which I later found out to be a Siamese Cat, turned around the same corner the wolf had. Training clearly worked as I landed the first shot just above his foot and the second above the knee on the other leg.
"ID!" a uniformed wolf, Officer Reeve, yelled from a little behind the suspect. "W-8F9!" I yelled back, "10-1, wolf on your left!" He yelled back, "10-4!" as he ran down the street the wolf had run down. As I turned back towards the store I heard a shot I didn't recognize, fired by two I could tell were clearly F7's. I quickly heard another explosion as I went to open the door again. I later found out it was caused by the store owner opening the emergency door in the back, but at the time all I could think was "holy shit!"
The wooden door flew off its hinges as the glass windows shattered around me. I reopened my eyes to a door laying diagonally on top of me. I let out a groan, sore from having landed on my back, then looked to the side, a car's bumper staring at me as if saying, "you got lucky." After pushing the door off me, I picked up the radio, which was now beside me instead of in my coat, "10-10 Fire 10." I saw two officers in full gear run into the building with oxygen tanks on their backs as another pulled me away from the building to the other side of the street.
"Stay here Reeve," he said, his voice clearly muffled by the helmet on his head. I slowly sat up as he dropped a suppressed F7 pistol next to me and watched him run into the burning building. "Suspects in custody," a voice came over the radio. "Package retrieved." They had caught both guys and rescued the civilian in danger I had called in with the "10-10" call.
Everything seemed fine, but I suddenly felt like I was being watched. It was a creepy feeling I was used to only getting while in uniform. I picked up the pistol on the ground, which I later found out was actually mine (I thought the officer just left me his to keep me safe), and lifted it up to aim. There was a tall, dark brown horse standing not far from me holding a smuggled M1928 like a rifle, aiming it at me. I fired a shot at him, still a bit dizzy from the explosion, and it landed behind him to his right.
I was quite sure I was about to get shot, and I was right to a certain degree. I didn't get hit like I expect, however. As I pulled the pistol back down in an attempt to aim at him again, I heard four or five shots come from my right as the horse's blood sprayed over the bullet hole to his right. His gun fired as he was pushed to the side by the force of the bullets hitting his arm and chest. Although it wasn't as loud as an unsuppressed officer's pistol, it fired very quickly and I felt the familiar sound of bullets passing by me.
This feeling was new. It was like slow motion. I could feel the bullet spinning on my skin as it shaved off a small portion of my arm fur. "Target down," a familiar voice came over the radio. I looked to my right as I felt my remaining fur stand on-end. It was Officer Maharas, he was still aiming his pistol in the direction of the horse, who was now on the ground, while one of his boots was on the back of the wolf he had caught up with.
I was then taken away by a Medical Specialist Officer. I felt fine, just extremely startled. I was released from the hospital ward of the Sohten City 1 FSF Base the next morning. They said they wanted to keep me in observation overnight, though I maintain that was not necessary. Either way, I got the next day off, which I used to get a mocha (and actually drink it) and pick up my book from the café from the day before.
Written March 23rd, 2011 by Pedro "Reynard" Loustaunau.
2011 © Pedro "Reynard" Loustaunau - pedrolerenard, all rights reserved, do not use without permission