FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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SEXUAL CONTENT WARNING

This story contains consensual sex between a male human and a female Utahraptor. Read at your own risk.

Keep track of your local laws regarding smutt and buttfuckery, because it's not my job.

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I would like to personally thank Vipera for help with proofreading this manuscript.

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RSH-Invasion

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If Sergeant Solodets knew one thing about this god-forsaken place, it would be the harsh combination of winter wind coupled with sub zero temperatures were most unforgiving. Why had higher headquarters dispatched an entire team of Spetsnaz to the middle of Russia's largest nature preserve for an investigation? Obviously, whoever had shot up the outpost hadn't stuck around for the welcoming committee.

Probably more of the Chechen terrorists looking to piss someone off...

"Sergeant Solodets, all elements report green." The NCO's Radio Telephone Operator reported, rehanging the hand mic from his vest. The various Spetsnaz buddy pairs had finished checking in as they conducted a sweep of the carnage, putting the NCO in charge at ease. They stood in the stairwell to the tower, trying not to focus on the mutilated body of one of the guards that swung lazily from his web gear.

"Looks like a total loss." Solodets commented, shifting his AKS-74 to his right hand. In his own mind, it seemed as if something had torn them apart with teeth and claw.

"Any ideas Sergeant?" The RTO asked, kicking his boot through hundreds of shell casings as he made his way down into the hallway below the stairs. Sergeant Solodets followed behind, analyzing the gouges taken out of the wall by some unknown force.

"All we have left to check is downstairs, so maybe that will help give us some idea." Solodets stated, closing the stairwell door behind him. All of the bodies had been cleared away in the main foyer, leaving only a blood soaked corridor for the response team to traverse. The NCO moved over to the secured elevator, jumping through the already opened doors with his RTO in tow. An access card dangled lazily from one of the slots, allowing the oversize elevator to take them down to the site's subbasement. The lift had been unlocked since the attack, and the timeout locks apparently had been disabled.

The elevator car slid to a stop about three stories below the surface, opening to a small antechamber at the end of a short hallway. A large double-layered blast door secured one end, hanging open. The security lock looked as if it had been torched off, as all of the lights on the lock panel showed red still. A red strobe light blinked frantically over the opening, but the exposed alarm wires had been cut. The entire lower room seemed a bit out of place in the cold-war era structure, a fact that made Solodets uneasy.

"What is this?" The other soldier asked, sweeping the antechamber with his rifle.

"I don't know; arms room maybe?" Sergeant Solodets wondered aloud, running a hand over the scorched metal of the lock. Someone had cut it off with a plasma torch...

"Cover me."

Solodets brought his weapon up to the low ready, moving quickly into the doorway. He pied the corner, making a quick movement into the far right corner. Nothing but rows and rows of expensive looking computer equipment stacked on tables throughout.

"Clear." The RTO followed close behind, advancing ahead of the Sergeant and scanning over various documents that were strewn about. Solodets picked up one of the papers, ignoring the red stripe in the upper right hand corner that read "Top Secret" and opened it up.

"Look at this." He said as the document was passed to the Radioman. A bizarre skeletal and muscle structure stared back at them, written in language so complex the two soldiers didn't know what to make of it. It looked as if it was a dinosaur portrayed on the parchment....

"Archeological study perhaps." The NCO commented, dropping the document back onto the desk alongside various others. He paid the strange creature no mind, more concerned with getting to the end of the mission than anything else.

"One more door here, Comrade Sergeant."

Solodets inspected the door before opening it, noting that the security locks on this side had been left opened. Large locking bars were retracted all around the portal, meaning that somebody had either opened it during the attack or left it unsecured. The Sergeant doubted the latter, as the timeout lock cables were cut on this entryway as well.

"Okay, I'm opening it." Solodets whispered to the younger enlisted soldier, grabbing the manual bar and giving it a good tug. The door slid open easily enough on perfectly balanced hinges, revealing a darkened sterile lab through another similarly ajar airlock door. Solodets moved into the laboratory, sweeping over darkened stasis tanks with the muzzle of his weapon. The hum of large banks of computers was all that came to his ears, noting as well the green light given off by their digital displays as he looked through the room.

"I think I found the lights Comrade Sergeant." The RTO echoed from across the room, fiddling with a bank of control switches just inside the door. He flipped one up, hearing a large clack echo through the basement as the switch engaged.

"Shit!" Came the curse as a single stasis tank lit up in front of Solodets with a pure halogen glow.

A creature similar to the one on the secret documents was suspended in the large stasis tank, floating as if held up by some unknown force. The Sergeant was frightened by the sudden sight, taking a step back with adrenaline running through his veins as he studied the creature even closer. His eyes did a quick once-over, studying the intricate musculature of the dinosaur-seeming beast before him. Muscles rippled under taut skin, and the creature had no shortage of them from the base of its curled tail to its S-curved neck. Eyes were pressed closed, and the beast's mouth hung open to reveal large sharp teeth. Solodets fixated on the wicked sickle-claws on both feet right before the creature's name came to him.

Raptor.

"I think it is time to leave." Solodets turned, trying to make out the shape of his RTO through the darkness.No response came back through the darkness....

"Yuri?"

A sound of tearing fabric then someone spilling a glass of water drifted through his ears, earning an instant shift of the rifle up to his shoulder. The Sergeant reached down with his left hand and pulled his flashlight, turning it on and looking down to his feet for a quick second. A bright stream of red blood traced its way underneath his boot, bathed in a swath of LED-white light. The flashlight beam shook as the NCO brought it up slowly, meeting with the gruesome sight of the young RTO bathed in red blood. Solodets didn't see his legs. The NCO began to panic, scanning the light across the room at floor level. A set of W-shaped footprints led away from his corpse, stepping over his lower half before they disappeared behind a desk.

Sergeant Solodets began to inch towards the door as quietly as possible, keeping his AK-74 to his shoulder with one hand. A heavy set of clicks echoed from just beyond the desk, and the NCO quickly jerked the flashlight towards the noise.

"Freeze!" The Sergeant shouted, just before he realized the mistake. A set of non human feet were illuminated in the flashlight beam, a huge sickle claw tapping methodically on the smooth floor. Sergeant Solodets lit the entire creature up with the beam, freezing where he stood in shock.

The Utahraptor stared straight back, eyes glowing in the light from the flashlight. Blood dripped from its muzzle, staining the clawed forepaws before hitting the ground in a steady drip. The creature stood itself up, towering over the human as it approached. A low rumbling growl seemed to be amplified off of the sealed walls, but Solodets could not hear it over the first shot that left the muzzle of his rifle. The Raptor dodged as the NCO sprayed on fully automatic, ricocheting bullets throughout the solid room in an attempt to kill the creature that had already taken his RTO's life.

The Utahraptor disappeared from the flashlight beam as the AK came up empty. Solodets could hear nothing over the sound of spent brass rolling across the floor, and he used the opportunity to slide another magazine into the well of the AK-74. He never heard the attack that removed his head from his shoulders.

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December 20th, 2011

Ahead of Forward Line of Troops

Germany

"Anything?" Keat called down into the turret, looking at the back of his gunner's helmet as he remained pressed against the tank's Primary Sight. Nothing was adding up. The Russians that had polluted this entire area were flat out gone.

"No, looks like the Russians have pulled back. Nothing but ruts." Sacke answered, thermals showing flat green as they scanned the road ahead.

Keat popped his head out to eyeball defilade with the .50 caliber machine gun, looking to either side of the road for anything that might tip off a Russian ambush. Two tours in Iraq had forced the habit into him, and it was one that wasn't easily broken.

The scouts that had moved through this area ahead of them ahead of them had not reported back, forcing command to shift the Heavy Maneuver Ohio element into a column search pattern along the access road. Jake hated being forced into these kinds of missions, where a short range antitank duel was all too possible. The Russians had been developing a nasty habit of hitting them at point blank range with thermobaric rockets*.

"Looks like we were voluntold* into a good one this time." Sacke complained, earning a laugh from the rest of the crew. It was plagued with nervousness.

"It sure is quiet." Rivers commented from the driver's hole, maneuvering the beast through the churned up mud of the road. They came to a curve, which the Private First Class took slowly.

"Shit!" Yelled Keat as they came face to face with the 125mm cannon of a T-72. The Staff Sergeant exhaled as he looked closer, seeing the scorched hull a moment later. Fragments of reactive armor were strewn about, and a gigantic black scorch mark was burned through the side of the turret. The thunderbolts had struck again, leaving behind their signature trail of Depleted Uranium tainted wreckage.

"It's dead." Sacke called, scanning the vehicle with his powerful sights.

"I wonder why the turret didn't pop." Jake observed, sticking out of the hatch a bit more with a set of binoculars in hand.

"Keep moving, pass it up slowly Rivers." Keat instructed, grabbing the power swivel for his .50 caliber weapons station and tracing it slowly across the road. Everything appeared clear until the Abrams turned the corner, sliding to a stop in the mud. A Bradley armored personnel carrier sat off to one side, still smoking lightly. It looked to Jake to be remnants of the scout platoon that had disappeared earlier that morning.

"Ohio Two-Two to all Ohio elements, pull security. Bradley in the road to the front." Keat called over the channel as he looked back over his hatch, watching as the tanks scattered themselves in a herringbone.

"Two-Two this is Two-Four, we have negative radio contact with Ironsides." The third tank back called forward, earning a ditto from the rest of the formation. Keat looked back at the tank commander of Two-Four, whom answered with a shrug of the shoulders. Jake looked over at his loader on the '240.

"Wag, try and get Ironsides on the BFT*. I'm going to check out this Bradley."

The tank commander reached down and grabbed the M4 carbine from the mounts next to his seat. The Sergeant charged a round, making sure that brass was visible in the chamber before climbing out of the Abrams and onto the ground. He gave his pistol a securing tug in its shoulder holster before moving out into the open. Jake kept the weapon at the low ready, scanning the treeline to his left side. Leaving his armored behemoth behind made the NCO feel vulnerable and exposed.

It was a short jog to the APC, but it felt like a football field when the possibility of death hung over like a cloud. It felt like an eternity until Keat slammed hard into the armored side, bringing his rifle up as soon as he stopped. The woods surrounding them remained silent, save only the brisk winter wind rattling the branches of the trees with each breath.

Keat moved slowly around to the rear of the Bradley, keeping his M4 sweeping across the woodline. The troop door at the back was lying open, bidding for him to take a look inside. Jake pied the corner, nearly losing his composure as the slaughtered remains of American soldiers inside greeted him. Bullets had riddled the inside of the track, making short work of the passengers that had been along for the ride. Jake collected himself and turned away.

"Why did they compromise the armor?" Jake wondered aloud a split second before a bullet struck the Bradley next to him.

"Shit!" He yelled instinctively, ducking back behind the track a moment later. The woods across from the Bradley erupted in gunfire, turning the APC into a sparking streamer of bullets as they ricocheted in all directions. Keat poked out again to see positions opposite of him, firing all varieties of weapons at him and the tanks alike.

A thunderclap echoed through the woods as a thirty foot flame from Two-Two's main cannon signified the gunner's response. The sabot round tore through the trees at a mile a second, cutting down an entire swath before disappearing out of sight. The next round that followed impacted right next to two Russian positions with a loud thump, sending a plume of dirt skyward and lighting the soldiers in close proximity aflame. HEAT worked beautifully against dismounts, thought the NCO as he looked out once again.

Keat returned fire, putting rounds next to a Russian soldier with an RPG that was taking cover next to a fallen tree. He ducked behind the tree only to emerge a split second later and squeeze a rocket off into the rear of Keat's tank. The Abrams shrieked like a wounded animal, screeching in pain as the turbine engine revved above redline and exploded violently. The left rear fuel cell went next, sending a plume of black smoke skywards.

"Fuck!"

The Staff Sergeant put three rounds into the RPG man's torso as he reloaded, dropping him like a brick. Coaxial machine gun rounds from the two tanks into the woods suppressed the enemy for just enough time to allow Sacke and Wag to pop up and out of the turret. Sacke jumped down onto the front deck and pulled Rivers out of the driver's hole just as the flames flared on the back of the tank. Suppressive fire began to pour back from the Russian positions, but that didn't stop Rivers from diving off the front of the tank and running along the burning left side. He pulled the engine extinguisher handle as he ran past, sending a cloud of halon out over the back of the vehicle.

"Rivers, I'm over here!" Keat shouted, watching as the soldier produced his pistol and ran towards the Bradley. After the longest few seconds of his life, Rivers slid to a stop and wiped out right next to his tank commander. The PFC quickly got to his feet, watching the opposite direction and making eye contact with Wag and Sacke. Jake motioned them to get off of the road and over the berm to the opposite side. He got a thumbs up in return, and the two crewmen disappeared into the snow.

The whine of jet turbines floated over the noise of gunfire as the Ohio tanks steered around the destroyed hulk of Ohio Two-Two. They moved up, covering each other with long ragged bursts from coaxial machine guns. Over the din of smaller caliber gunfire, the heavy booming of .50 calibers echoed. Keat watched as the rounds cut through Russians with lethal precision.

"Choppers!" Rivers yelled, pushing Keat down to the ground next to the destroyed personnel carrier. Two Mi-28 Havocs* streamed in over the trees, drawing the .50 caliber machine guns skywards in an effort to swat them away. The Mi-28's shrugged off the rounds, answering in kind with swatter missiles.

The Ohio element didn't stand a chance as the specialized armor hunting helicopter computers zeroed in their digital image. The anti-tank missiles struck true, piercing the tank armor as if it were a compact car. Explosions shook the forest, and silhouetted the crew of Ohio Two-Two as they made a hasty retreat away from their burning tracks.

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Forward Refuel and Rearm Point, 3 miles behind forward line of troops

"Are you sure he's gone?" Rachel asked, trying her best to see out of a small hole in the back of the truck's tarplin.

"Yeah, I can't see him anymore." Dave confirmed, moving behind Rachel and unbuckling his pants. The Raptoress had been on him all morning, hormones mixed with the added stress of combat making her incorrigible until she'd gotten laid. The unscheduled stop in their journey was the perfect opportunity to capitalize on it.

"Okay, but it's gotta be quick and you have to be quiet." She responded, giving her guardian a toothy grin as he slid his hand up under her tail. The armor that usually secured here was gone, hurriedly thrown in a haphazard pile right next to the Staff Sergeant's own gear.

"I'm not the one that has problems staying quiet." Dave accosted, counting on the sounds of the idling diesel engine to at least keep the sounds of their breathing covered up.

"If you say so, I don..." Rachel was cut off midsentence as two fingers slid between her silky pink lips. Her guardian was extremely skilled at using his fingers on her, and it wasn't a coincidence that he'd hit her with a full on attack in her most sensitive spot.

"That's what I thought." Stear laughed quietly, positioning himself to better serve his beloved as she placed her belly on the truck's floor. She stood on her hind legs only, presenting her most secret curves to her lover's caress. The guardian thrusted his fingers more rapidly inside her, taking only a few short seconds to put her over the top with a muscle-quivering orgasm.

Rachel tried to stand, but Dave pushed her shoulders back down, having a different idea in mind as he pushed his cock into her slick pussy. The Raptoress let loose a moan that was sure to have raised suspicion, but at this point, Stear didn't care. He put his hands on her hips, grasping the nylon straps that secured her armor and went to work.

The female basked in the pleasure she drew from her human's length inside of her. Her sensitive sex coupled with clenched muscles accentuated the slight curve of Dave's cock as it rubbed her most sensitive region. She grunted quietly, claws flexing and tail shaking as she neared her orgasm once more, yearning hungrily for every inch she got.

"Unngh!" She exclaimed, mouth hanging open and tail thrashing back and forth as her whole body shook. A second powerful orgasm traveled down every inch of her, spasming her killing claw into tapping the metal floor of the truck with a loud bang.

It didn't take Dave but three seconds to cum after his mate, filling her insides with a hot thick batch of cum. He collapsed onto the troop seat next to her, watching with half-closed eyes as she slid down to her side on the floor of the truck. She was still shaking, breath fast and short as she basked in her rays of sunshine.

"I'm still cumming." She whispered, flexing her legs out as far as they would go.

"I'm soaked." Stear laughed quietly, looking at the front of his pants. They had taken a beating from her juices, and thankfully the groin protector on his body armor would hide it.

"At least your legs work." Rachel answered, grinning up at him with loving eyes.

"Maybe I can help." Dave responded, kissing her on her muzzle. He sat down against her tail and put two more fingers inside of her, tracing her lines through her wetness and his cum.

"I don't see how this is supposed to help." The Raptoress said softly, craning back and giving him a little kiss of her own on the side of his neck.

"I don't either, but it's the least I can do for the girl I love." Dave responded, feeling the truck begin to move.

"Do you think anybody heard us?" She questioned, resting her head against the side of the big armored bulkhead.

"Heard me? No. Heard you? Probably."

"I hate you." She laughed, delivering the sloppiest lick to the side of his face, body quaking with a third orgasm.

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Meryl rode through the night, shivering the hours away in the back of the FMTV* and managing broken sleep despite the roar of the troop heater. The Raptoress watched the shadows pass through a hole in the tarplin, leaving Berlin far behind in favor of the forward line of troops. Needless to say, she didn't see much.

"We're here." Echoed the intercom as the two PFCs in charge of the vehicle pulled over to the side of the deserted road. Meryl waited until one of them opened the back flap before letting herself out, landing in the snow with a soft crunch.

"Thank you." She said as softly as possible over the sound of the idling diesel engine to one of the soldiers.

"No problem." The Private answered back, hopping back up into the warm truck cab. Meryl didn't intend to stick around to watch them leave...

The female had instructed them to drop her just before the north end of the bypass in an area of woods that could only be reached by a lone access road. The grid was only one off from where Aud and Richter had been killed, and even that was enough to give Meryl a minute's hesitation. Predator instincts or not, the area had a bad vibe that even she didn't want to mess with.

She walked for hours through the nearly calf deep snow, following the terrain layout in her mind and the exact count of paces. Unlike Jay, she didn't need a pocket full of beads or stones to assist in that particular job. After all, she was only moving two thousand meters or so northeast, a task which wouldn't take very long at all at her pace.

"Shit." The Raptoress muttered the human curse, stopping for a moment to consult her memory of the landscape. This grid was an area she knew well, but nothing seemed to match. Hills existed where none should be, frozen ponds where no water had business being. A prominent saddle to the south also didn't exist in the sector she knew.

Meryl was lost. They must've dropped her in a different grid, one not close enough to the Forward Line of Troops. Instead, she must be somewhere around Target Reference Point twenty-four, about three miles short of route eleven.

"Oh well, I'll get there soon enough." She spat in frustration, getting back in sync with her pace count. She continued northeast towards a giant forest, one that she didn't remember ever existing on the friendly side of the FLT. She rationalized that it'd be as good a place as any to find her way.

Meryl entered the dark snowy woods, watching as shadows danced through the conifers. The moon was out, but clouds threatened to obscure it as more winter weather moved in from the east.

As the Raptoress moved deeper, she paused and lifted her snout to the sky. Her nose was overwhelmed with the smell of the pines, a fact which made her just a bit uncomfortable as she searched. The Utahraptor relied on her stealthy movement to hide her should any Russians decide to crash her party tonight, since scent detection was about nil.

Wait...What was that? She wondered to herself, catching a hint of a peculiar smell on the wind.

Lemon-lime drink mix.

Jay often put it in his hydrator to stop the line from freezing up in the cold.

"Stop where you are!" Voices echoed from all around in both English and Russian, followed shortly after with a dozen suns from above. Meryl crouched in a defensive stance, curling her lip in a threatening growl as the spotlights drew a white circle around her. How did they manage to hide from her?

"Identify yourself!" Another voice in English, unwavering from behind one of the intense Surefire flashlights that illuminated her. She stood with her forepaws lowered, attempting to appear as non threatening as possible.

"Jen 453276." Meryl uttered a moment later, watching as the weapons lowered. A soldier stepped forward, clad in ACUs that looked like they'd gone through a bath in motor oil. He wore a Staff Sergeant's stripes, and a faded name tape read Maik.

"You picked a dangerous time to come walking through here. Sometimes, the fire isn't held quite as long." The Staff Sergeant spoke quietly, motioning for her to follow.

"Thank you for holding."

"It has been difficult lately. The Russians have been coming back around here pretty heavily the past week or so. Durin will be glad to have another Alpha around to help out, ever since his second was killed, operations have been running slower." Sergeant Maik sped up his pace, ducking under fallen limbs and navigating through the forest on some kind of invisible path.

"To tell you the truth, I found you by accident. I'm alone and lost."

"And your Guardian?" He asked, stopping and turning around to face her.

"Hopefully in a better place."

The NCO gave an understanding nod and continued onwards. Meryl got the impression that she had been misunderstood, but did not push the issue. After a good ten minutes, they reached the outskirts of a darkened village. Meryl didn't recall this ever being here, at least not on her map.

"I must return to my post Alpha. I am sorry I cannot accompany you any further. You are looking for another Alpha by the name of Durin. He is in charge here." Staff Sergeant Maik informed her before turning and sulking back into the woods. She opened her mouth to ask him a question, but he was already gone...

Meryl entered the village through the southeast side, walking down the center of the main thoroughfare and absorbing any information she could. The Raptoress glanced over the silhouettes of the houses and the light that shone through uncovered cracks, every now and again witnessing shapes pass in front or beyond. Carports lined the road, sitting next to the buildings and serving as makeshift shelters. They were covered with pieces of tentage and from what looked like the remains of vehicle tarps; no doubt to keep out the biting winter weather. Burn barrels could be seen flickering, and smoke was put forth from several cleverly designed stacks which lowered its signature in the air. Meryl became overcome with curiosity and stuck her head into one. Utahraptors and humans alike shared the spaces, huddled up against one another in an effort to fend off what cold made it through the shelter. They didn't look too much different from Jay and herself...

"Good morning Alpha." A male Utahraptor approached her, stopping a few feet short and looking her over from tail tip to snout. He stood about three inches over her, staring down with stone grey eyes that seemed to radiate confidence. Meryl couldn't make out too much detail in the dark, but she did get a little...

"Good morning to you as well. I am looking for one named Durin." She responded, looking for any change in the male's behavior that could indicate more about his character.

"I am Durin. Sergeant Maik sent the signal to expect you." Behind him, several more Utahraptors continued to move, lowering their heads as a strong gust of wind whipped through. At least a squad of soldiers followed as well, carrying a wide variety of weapons and wearing an equally odd mix of uniform pieces and parts.

"I am called Jen. Pleased to meet you Durin."

"Pleased to meet you, Jen."

"What is this place? I thought Colonel Estes recalled everyone from the field." Meryl questioned, indicating to the village and the soldiers with an extended forepaw.

"What you see here are the remains of pair bonds that have been broken. All of the Utahraptors and soldiers here have lost their protectorates." The female now knew why all the singularities were here...

"We operate on something other than full spectrum RSHCOM doctrine." He filled her in even more as they walked, keeping a good pace through the cold.

"I see."

"Basically to stop the Russians from taking anything else."

"Vigilantes." She whispered to herself as Durin turned away. Either the male didn't hear or he chose to ignore her.

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"My dear Illya, I'm sorry." Revedov muttered, holding the picture of his wife in a gloved hand. He stared at the picture for nearly a minute longer before tucking it back into the parka he wore over his uniform.

The wind blowing snow over the city of Colditz was downright frigid, sending a shiver down his spine regardless of the cold weather gear he wore. The castle was even colder, and the presence of the GRU colonel made it even more so. The rumors of chemical deployment further north were unsettling, and neither the Americans nor the Russians had said anything about them. Three quarters of the contacts that Revedov held within Spetsnaz had disappeared, meaning someone was rooting them out one by one. The Colonel lit a cigarette as he thought, smoking it to the filter before tossing it over the edge of the battlements.

"Cold night tonight, Comrade Colonel." One of the soldiers on sentry duty came up and stood by him, lighting up a cigarette. The young man was one that Revedov recognized, attached to his unit since the early stages of the war. He had the blue beret of the VDV Airborne sitting squarely on his head, faded but still in serviceable condition.

"Yes, it is." Revedov answered, looking out over the darkened city as he pondered all of his discoveries. Connections didn't just disappear. He still had a few, but they were no doubt in hiding. Safe houses throughout Russia were compromised even faster. Revedov had the strangest feeling that it was Nymev's people behind it.

How long before he too was silenced? How long before the other ground forces districts?

"Comrade Colonel, when is this going to end?" The enlisted man asked, tossing the lit cigarette over the edge of the castle and readjusting his collapsible stock AK-74 on its sling.

"Hopefully soon."

"I couldn't agree more Comrade Colonel."

"What is your name Comrade?" Revedov asked the soldier, watching as he opened his cigarette container only to find that none remained.

"Timorov, Andrei. Sergeant, VDV." The man replied as if he were a part of the officer selection board. Airborne soldiers tended to have that air, thought Revedov jokingly.

"I am surprised to see you out this late, Sergeant Timorov. Most Sergeants send their underlings out on cold nights."

"My soldiers need the rest Comrade Colonel. They've been up for days. The GRU forces them to do their work for them." The Sergeant laughed, finding another cigarette in one of his pockets. He lit up, blowing the smoke into the night air. Normally, sentries didn't smoke on duty, but with the city not yet on blackout status, it didn't matter to either of the men.

"Odd traits to see in a noncommissioned officer."

"Thank you Comrade Colonel."

"Sergeant, have you seen anything strange going on lately?" The colonel asked, pulling the soldier in close. He was convinced that Nymev was up to something. The VDV was in no standing with the GRU, so he felt safe with this kind of talk...

"If you mean all of the trucks that roared through here last night, yes. The GRU guys kept me far away from there." The Sergeant responded, talking quietly so as the wind would block any listening in.

"Interesting." Revedov muttered, scratching his chin as thoughts rushed through his head. What could be so important to even keep the security forces away?

"Colonel Nymev was insistent that it be pushed through."

"What was in the trucks?"

"The manifest said something about electronics. My men are worried that it may have something to do with the rumors going around."

"Rumors, Comrade Sergeant?"

"Chemical gas. Colonel Nymev has already put in place the no-prisoners order. Is he mad enough?"

"Do you know where they unloaded the cargo?"

"Yes Comrade Colonel.It's next to the old infirmary at courtyard level."

"Take me there." Revedov ordered, walking alongside the VDV Sergeant through the maze of breastworks. He silently hoped that this man could be trusted...

They made it down to the courtyard without incident, waiting for the GRU sentry to leave the castle's front gate before moving to the crates.

It didn't take the soldiers long before they found what they were looking for.

"There are five more over here, Comrade Colonel." Sergeant Timorov called, cracking open more of the crates with their liberated crowbar.

Revedov was dumbfounded, running his hands over the yellow canister below him, tracing his gloved fingers over the Arabic letters he'd seen all too many times in Chechnya. It was an old soviet container, one of the several thousand that his country had sent out as part of their "aid package" to their fraternal socialist brothers. He'd seen what they'd done to the political dissidents of his country back during those times.

"Comrade Sergeant, we've got to get these out of here." Revedov said very matter-of-factly. The time for inaction was over.

"I'll assemble my men, Comrade Colonel."

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

"Heartland Base, this is Warbird one. We have identified possible unexploded ordinance along route of travel. Pull it to the opposing side, over." Sergeant James Till called over one of the HMMWV's multiple radios with one hand and scanning through binoculars with the other. A lone artillery shell jutted from the center lane of the highway, churning up broken pieces of asphalt where it landed. The dud was indeed dangerous, and the lead truck didn't have any intention of risking the integrity of a much needed supply convoy for something easily avoided. Especially since the orders to protect supply trucks at all costs had filtered down from higher headquarters...

"Roger one. Keep moving."

"You heard him Jones; get us to the other side of the road." He indicated with a finger pointing left. At least the median here was passable, the Sergeant thought. Waiting ten hours for EOD to show up wasn't his idea of fun.

Specialist Jones wrestled the uparmored Humvee across the muddy median, sliding through the deep snow and onto the clear hardball without much difficulty. Sergeant Till loved the way the supercharged trucks handled off road. Such an improvement over the old turtlebacks, which were slower than all hell with uparmor kits attached. The nearly brand new model M1152 was the best yet, a product of the war in Iraq that was proving itself once again in Germany.

"Looks like they're all in tow." Jones said over their crew headsets almost three minutes later, watching the likewise-up-armored HEMMTs fall in stride behind.

"Yeah, they're all here." The gunner called a moment later, looking back over his .50 caliber M2 machine gun at the length of the coyote-tan snake that trailed for nearly a mile behind.

"Good. Hopefully we don't lose anymore tires before the next phase line."

Conversation was definitely something that the truck had no shortage of, and the driver and gunner bantered back and forth in the manners that were endemic to soldiers worldwide as they drove onwards. Till joined in as well, taking time away from the half-consumed Monster energy drink held in one of the HMMWV's homemade cup holders for a few well placed remarks at his crew.

"Okay bitch, I guess you can deal with no heat then." Jones laughed, flipping the heater switch to off on the vehicle's control panel. Immediately, the temperature difference was noticed.

"I don't think so." The gunner, Specialist Tom Wills, replied angrily. He delivered a slight kick to the back of the driver's helmet. Jones complied a moment later, turning the heat back on for everyone's sake.

"How's the weather up there?" Till asked, bending back in his seat to look up at the gunner. Wills' balaclava head wrap was iced over in front of his mouth, and his breath instantly turned to crystal mist when it left. It was a question that needn't be asked...

"Aren't you cute. I can't feel my face." Wills muttered, turning his attention back forward. They were coming up to a large curve in the road ahead, a matter that put the crew back to business immediately.

"Heartland, this is one. We have a decent curve ahead."

"Roger one."

Sergeant Till watched the curve anxiously, listening to the supercharged whine of the truck's engine as it rode along with the contour of the bend. The blackened remains of American vehicles lined the right hand side of the road, no doubt destroyed doing the same thing he was now trying to accomplish.

"Eerie." Was the only comment that uttered over the headsets as the vehicles flew past. Something tied to the antenna of the farthest vehicle caught James Till's eye. A single red streamer.

An image of tan flashed through his head, images of heat, of blowing sand and bombs hidden in every possible sort of manner. Explosively Formed Penetrators ripping right through even the strongest armor...

"Get over to the left!" He shouted, pulling the safe release to the gunner's seat just as the Rhino hit a tripwire that was stretched across the road. A shower of shrapnel and a deafening explosion rang out just in front of the vehicle. In Till's eyes it seemed to move in slow motion, with pieces of rock and slivers of metal suspended in the air for a split second as they moved towards the truck. It seemed slow until the blast made contact with the vehicle, hitting the front right fender with the energy of a semi truck. Till immediately felt the vehicle start to tip with the impact, which could only mean one thing...

"Rollover!" James yelled, grabbing onto his gunner's body armor. He pressed the Specialist against the radio mount and held him in a bear hug as the vehicle rolled, watching the snow rocket past outside the windshield. The NCO could hear Jones yelling in fright over the scream of the engine. It seemed like an eternity before the vehicle stopped, laying on its side on the snowy shoulder of the highway.

"Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, I think we're good." The gunner muttered, pulling himself from Till's grasp. Jones kicked the engine off, ending the full throttle wail of pain. He unbuckled his seatbelt, saved from falling onto Till by holding the steering wheel. Thankfully, everything in the cab had been tied down, lest it become a missile capable of killing someone.

"Alright, let's get the fuck out of this thing."

"No arguments here." Jones laughed, out of place but appropriate nonetheless. Their warped nerves weren't helping the mood.

Specialist Wills pulled himself up through the turret, instantly grateful for his NCO's quick thinking upon seeing the twisted wreck of the .50 cal and turret armor. The tall soldier dropped down into the snow a moment later, a bit disoriented from the roll but alive. Two of the one truck's wingmen slid to a stop on either side of the rolled vehicle, putting dismounts out to help with the recovery. Till and Jones popped out a moment later, holding radios and various other sensitive items.

"Sergeant Till, you guys alright?" The gunner of truck two yelled down, giving him a thumbs up.

"Yeah!" Till turned, throwing an affirmative wave. He bent down just as the first line of automatic weapons fire traced its way across the ground.

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

Meryl awoke late in the morning, an action that was completely uncharacteristic of her. The combination of winter weather and stress compounded by her wounds was probably to blame, and that's exactly how her mind rationalized it as she got to her feet. She yawned, exposing her teeth to the air.

Durin's hospitality had put her in the capable hands of an elderly German couple towards the middle of the village, and Meryl was indeed happy to be under a nice warm roof again. She definitely wasn't a cold lover. The room that the couple had given her was tucked back in the rear of the house, giving her a view of the town center when the blackout curtains were drawn back.

A cool white light filtered in from them as she slipped on her armor, sliding claws through the clasps and securing them just as she had thousands of times before.

"Good morning." The elderly German woman announced as she entered the room, carrying a hefty helping of meat. From what she could tell the meat was spiced venison, and one of the best cuts of it she'd ever had at that. It was more than any human could ever hope to eat, but just enough to give Meryl the satisfaction of food in her stomach as she wolfed it down hungrily.

"Thank you very much ma'am." Meryl announced with a bow as she finished breakfast, watching the old woman's eyes light up. Even coming from something so alien, she knew that they warmed her nonetheless.

"It's the least we can do for you to protect us." She answered, collecting the dirty dishes and exiting the room as quickly as she appeared. Meryl wandered to the window, watching as Durin approached. He navigated through the snow with confidence, peering up into her windows as he noticed the observation.

"Sleep well I assume?" He asked, letting himself in to the room. Meryl noticed more roughness than she had the night before....

"Thanks only to your hospitality. I haven't slept so good for a long time."

"I gave you to the best family in the village. They'll always make sure you're taken care of."

"Yes, I noticed. They didn't seem to be afraid of me. Why?" Meryl questioned, watching as soldiers and Utahraptors alike ran to and fro, working to complete various tasks.

"The citizens here refuse to abandon their homes. Some of the families have several generations in Sonnet alone. We protect them, so they take care of us in return." Durin filled her in as they left the house, delivering a polite bow to the couple as they saw them out.

"I see."

"Yes, fortunately, they tolerate us." He laughed as they moved towards the center of town. Soldiers greeted her as they passed, smiling as if they'd known her forever. Meryl gave Durin a quizzical look as more and more soldiers greeted her, earning a toothy humanlike smile in return.

"Everyone is talking about you it seems."

Meryl just huffed.

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

"Okay Sergeant Maik, let's hit the tanks first. I don't want those guns turned against us." Durin ordered, looking down on the convoy from a hilltop situated to the convoy's rear. He used eagle-eye vision to pinpoint the aiming stakes farther up the hill, waiting until the heavily armored T-80s crossed their mark. Meryl stood next to him, eyeing the friendly positions closer to the convoy as they shifted.

"Let them get a little closer." The Staff Sergeant ordered along to the rest of the attack team, holding the improvised detonators in one hand.

"See Jen, we're hitting them with Explosively Formed Projectiles. There isn't any armor that they have that can defeat them." Durin pointed to the daisy chain of camouflaged EFPs sitting alongside the highway.

"You're hitting them with IEDs?"

"Correct. You see how they travel in the middle of the road? Well, the Russians always drive in the center, so that's where we aim the projectiles. See, if they rode to either side, the charge would either miss completely or not have time to form."

"I've heard of these EFPs. Jay was saying something about these being big during OIF when he was there." Meryl muttered, remembering how her Guardian had shut down upon remembering the way the projectiles had ripped through uparmored HMMWVs. It was one of the few things that still scared him...

"Yes. They create a vacuum inside the crew compartment once they hit. It scrambles up the inside pretty good."

Meryl jerked in surprise as the first EFP detonated right as a heavy Russian tank drove in front of it. She watched the pinkish fireball broadsided the vehicle, cutting through it and straight out the other side. The T-80 drifted eerily to the side of the road, screeching to a halt while smoke poured from its open hatches. The older T-72 behind the lead gunned its engine in an attempt to get out of the kill zone, belching black diesel smoke out into the cold air.

"Sergeant Maik, hit them with the daisy chain." Durin ordered, all feeling drained from his voice as he kept eyes on the snake. Meryl noted a hint of satisfaction in his eyes as the entire berm lit up with strange off-pink fireballs, ripping right through the company sized armor element more efficiently than an Abrams tank. Two of the T-72s went up in an orange plume of exploding ammunition, setting off the reactive armor on an already burning T-80. The trucks and armored personnel carriers turned sharp right, pulling up and away from the source of the blasts.

"Okay, Claymores."

Three hundred meters to their east Staff Sergeant Maik touched the wires for the backup set of mines, expecting to hear and see the hillside go up in smoke. Instead, all he saw was Russian trucks making it safely off the highway. Dismounts got out a few moments later, reconsolidating and putting out security.

"This isn't good." Durin commented, voice seething with anger.

"They're heading towards the village." Meryl commented as she watched the soldiers move into the woods. They weren't moving very fast, but they would get there soon enough.

"We have to get back." The male said with a degree of worried finality, turning away from the failed attack. Meryl looked back down at the Russian soldiers as they scrambled to collect their wounded from the burning vehicles. A secondary explosive detonated across from the kill zone moments later, no doubt to cover the escape of the detonation team.

Meryl could watch no more. She turned and followed Durin at a distance, sensing both his anger and his fear.

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

"Keep them off of us!" Jay yelled as he rammed a fresh magazine into his M4, tapping the slide release and squeezing a controlled pair into the chest of a Russian soldier. The man screamed, dropping his rifle and clutching his midsection as bullets flew overhead. Dave shot him in the head quickly before shifting targets to a soldier with an RPG, putting a round into his leg. The RPG discharged, sending a rocket flying into the dawn sky as even more fire poured onto their position.

"It's getting a bit hot here Jay!" Yelled Sergeant Stear as he pitched a grenade to the top of the hill, earning a satisfying break from a machine gun positioned there.

"You're telling me! We've got to break contact!" He responded, taking cover behind the destroyed hulk of their truck. Both front wheels had been blown off in the ambush, and now, it served as their only cover from the advancing Russians. The time to run was definitely here.

"We'll rendezvous at our RP. I'm getting the sensitives!" He ordered seconds later after taking another look out from behind cover. The Russians were massing.

"Roger!" Stear responded, dropping two grenades in kind towards the line of Russian soldiers. He tossed one to Jay, who caught it in midair before raising his M4 and dropping an entire magazine towards the enemy soldiers. He switched the magazine around, throwing in its taped together partner and popping the slide release.

"Go!" He yelled, laying down even more rounds as the Guardians bailed. The Utahraptors had gone at the start of the engagement, and were waiting at the far side of the clump of trees.

Redfield moved around to the driver's side of the cab, pulling the heavy armored door open and looking inside. He brought the M4 up and put two rounds into the radio set, knocking it out of commission. The Sergeant dodged right as a rifle round ricocheted inside the cab from outside, informing him that the enemy was now danger close.

"Frag!" Redfield yelled before ripping the pin from the grenade, tossing it inside the cab and running around to the back of the truck. A few seconds later the grenade detonated, the resulting explosion shaking the surrounding forest. Jay peeked around the truck, seeing the bowed out cab of the LMTV and putting on a satisfied smile. He never saw the rifle butt come from the far right limit of his vision.

To be continued.....

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

Terms and Glossary

1. Voluntold- A term endemic to soldiers worldwide. Skipping over the process of asking for volunteers and being ordered to do something life-threatening.
2. Thermobaric Weaponry- a two stage weapon with the first stage filling the surrounding air with explosive vapors and the second charge igniting the vapor. Commonly called 'fuel air bombs'. These rounds can be fired out of anything from RPGs to Artillery.
3. BFT- "Blue Force Tracker"- A computer system unique to all NATO vehicles. Allows for real time battle planning, artillery support, and text messaging between battlefield units. Used as a communication redundancy for radio communications.
4. Mi-28 Havoc- A two seat Russian attack helicopter similar to the US Apache, it is primarily used as an anti-tank platform. Interestingly enough, it has a three person compartment aft of the main cockpit intended for the use of rescuing downed aircrews.
5. FMTV- Medium variant of the LMTV cargo truck. Has a higher payload capacity than its LMTV cousin. The RSH has armor on the back hidden under the standard tarp for protection of Utahraptor assets. Also equipped with explosive-deflecting V-hull.