FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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A dim light broke through as his eyes heaved themselves apart, growing brighter and brighter as they opened wider. A faint voice called to him as a figure blurred out part of the light which scorched his eyes, but he couldn't even react to the pain.

"Come on..." the voice beckoned; his senses so dim that it was barely audible. He inhaled as if a ton of bricks lay on his chest yet he felt like he was lighter than air; his arms weighing just as heavy as the bricks; he could barely lift them.

A dull thud echoed as the shape shifted and distorted in front of him, continuing to call out to him as the blinding light seared his eyes. Everything seemed so mellow and calm except for the burning light.

Was he...dead?

Slowly, his consciousness started to return to him, the thuds becoming louder and faster; the figure beckoning, becoming more frustrated; his vision was slowly focusing and the pain became more intense.

Then all at once, his senses completely returned to him. Pain wracked his body all of a sudden; his head felt like it was split in two. Then with a sickening gurgle, he coughed up a profuse amount of blood which sprayed the figure and ground in front of him.

The figure was not happy at this. Grabbing the spluttering and choking 'roo viciously by the ear, he swung a paw and backhanded the 'roo clean across the face.

His coughing and spluttering was met with a dazing light-headedness after the hit, a shockwave which knocked him senseless; the remnants of blood in his drooling maw dribbling down his ajar jaw. His paw reached to caress his head which screamed with pain, but both were held tightly in place.

He groaned loudly as the figure yelled out and cursed at him.

"Dammit! Hose the bastard down! I'm gonna go clean up...fuck sake!!!" he yelled as two more figures jeered and chuckled at his misfortune. Still laughing, one of them got up off of their seat and picked up a bucket of water, giving a slight heave as he laughed and sent a torrent of water gushing over the pathetic mess chained to the metal piping.

The freezing shock was a sharp relief from the humidly hot climate; part of a kick back to reality as his head wanted to explode. He coughed away the choking feeling in gasping phases, the control over himself slowly returning along with his pain-stricken senses.

The chains clanked heavily as he spat away the intruding droplets of water that invaded his maw, his breathing slowly normalising as he leant forward, arms outstretched either side to shoulder height.

"Welcome back, sleepy-head. Comfy?" the soldier chuckled. A large cougar, who was probably twice the size of the 'roo had doused him to his senses. His right shoulder hurt but no where near as much as his head. The light continued to burn his vision; the only solace was the ability to turn his head away and close his eyes.

"Can you believe it, huh? A fucking kid, man...what's up with that?"

Another soldier that was half sat on a flimsy metal table had asked out loud in utter disbelief; a large brown bear that clearly was feeling the heat as he looked soaked through with sweat.

"I dunno...I just want to get out of this glorified basement. Hotter than hell down here..." the cougar exclaimed, yanking at his shirt-collar that was stained with droplets of his own sweat.

"You said-", the bear was saying before he was interrupted by the guard that had blood coughed over him along with another that clearly had authority over them; a clean cut suit that certainly made him stand out from the rest.

The two soldiers along with the blood spattered soldier had noisily stumbled about to come to attention as the slickly dressed officer stepped through the doorway.

"You're quite a mess private. No need to explain the situation. Just get cleaned up and presentable. On the double!!" the officer directed, giving the bloodied guard a very short assessment before establishing the need for him to get cleaned up.

"Yessir...!" he almost barked in a fluster before making his way formally out of the room to get cleaned up.

The officer stepped into the humid room, the heat hit him instantly and he slipped off his hat, using the same arm to brush away the beads of sweat already accumulating on his brow.

"At ease...close the door..." the officer ordered, beginning to take off his jacket as the other two guards dropped their salutes; one beginning to close the door with a loud screech and the other scraping a chair along the floor to the officer who declined it with a paw.

The young 'roo huffed tiredly as he spat a few more droplets of water and blood from his mouth, giving his head a very gentle shake; it felt like his brain was rattling inside his skull, even with that. He tried to shift his shoulders to loosen them up a little, the chains propping them up clinking and chinking as he did so while his right shoulder ached with even more pain than his left. He must have been like this for a fair amount of time.

He shifted his weight back so his back rested against wall he was chained to; it felt slightly comforting with it's cold touch, though not enough to relieve the searing pain and overwhelming climate.

"You know...a chair would be nice..." he murmured tiredly, taking a seat on a slightly curved surface the wall behind him seemed to conveniently provide, his gaze still planted as best he could at a tangent to the light as he began to gain even more of his composure and feeling; partly of which he regretted. He always took a while to recover.

He was given a response of another cold bucket of water; this time with the bucket as well which luckily glanced off of his left shoulder. He chuckled almost triumphantly as the water spilled over him, providing him with another temporary retreat from the heat.

"You know...for a kid, you cause quite a shit-storm..." the officer said with mild contempt, dropping his hat and jacket on the chair the guard had provided and loosened his tie and collar on his shirt. Dress-code standards had to be thrown out the window in unforgiving circumstances. The two guards took a seat each on either side of the door.

"Heh...I've been told I'm a natural. And our elders always tell us to stick with things we're good at..." the 'roo replied sarcastically, shifting a little more on his make-shift seat.

The officer said nothing as he began to sift over the equipment they had confiscated off of him.

"Unmarked...well...can't blame them for trying. It might as well have been marked with 'Property of U.S.A'..." he mumbled to himself, tossing pieces of equipment across the table as he sifted through it all before surveying a block of C4.

"Don't know what you're talking about...If I knew you were interested in Play-Doh though, I would have brought some shape cutters too for you," the 'roo huffed, popping his neck as he leant his head to the side, his vision beginning to ease up a little as the bright light burned less enough for him to squint a little. It didn't help at all in seeing anything but the glare of the light shining directly at him though.

"Kid or not...your smart-ass mouth isn't going to do you any favour-"

"-Yeah well I never asked for any favours and don't expect any...fucking asshole..." the 'roo snapped, his chains straining a little as his anger boiled up inside him a bit. He was getting impatient with all this small talk.

"Bit of a temper..."

"One of my lesser virtues. No one's perfect." he grumbled, breathing in deep and exhaling with a little exasperation. The room was getting hotter by the second with that door closed while his headache was gnawing at the inside of his skull.

"Clearly...still...we got off on the wrong foot," the officer stated, placing the C4 back on the pile of equipment and making his way over to the subdued 'roo. It was a relief for the 'roo as the officer blocked out the glaring light. He took out his canteen, taking a large gulp from it before hovering it in front of the small kangaroo's muzzle in offering.

"What's your name...?" he asked earnestly, giving the canteen a small jostle which made the contents slosh quite noisily in the kangaroo's ear. The 'roo gave a small sigh as he glanced at the canteen for a second.

"...Skippy..." he grumbled, ignoring the canteen at first but, wanted to use the chance to at least identify the officer. His voice was so damn familiar. He just couldn't put a face to it. No doubt that this was the guy command was after.

The officer just chuckled knowingly as he tilted the canteen and allowed the kangaroo to take a few gulps of water. The light was too bright, silhouetting the officer perfectly. At least he got some water out of it. The officer twisted the top back on and threw it to the cougar guard who caught it reflexively.

"Ah...your trained monkeys know how to catch at least. Shooting...well..." the 'roo jeered once more; he began rolling his shoulders to remove more of the temporary atrophy that built up in them while they were raised, though his right shoulder screamed silently in pain as he did, eliciting a muffled grunt from him in the process.

"FUCK You! Skippy!" the cougar bellowed, rising to the bait and stomped a couple of paces in his general direction. He was stopped immediately though with a calm gesture from the officer.

"That's enough Turner..." he said with a calm authority which made the cougar instantly turn, a little bit with reluctance, back to his seat with a feral growl and plant himself roughly back onto his seat and growl out "Punk..." as he landed.

"I'm starting to regret giving you your shot now...stop shooting off your mouth or we'll just leave you crumple into a ball and die next time you start having an episode..." the officer threatened with a meagre tone that didn't sound like he was attempting a threat.

"And there's me thinking I lucked out there. Thought I'd gotten over it without the shots. Nice to see you've been reading up about me..." the 'roo jibed, grunting a little as he shifted his shoulders some more which angered his shoulder wound.

"Well...I suppose you did. If I hadn't known about you, you'd most probably be dead by now; or at least a brain-dead vegetable."

"Uh huh...well remind me to thank you another time. In the meantime, if you could stop trying to butter me up and ask me what you want to know, maybe I can piss you off some more and then you throw me in a dark hole for days on end, because frankly, exchanging casual conversation with a dick-less traitor isn't on my to do list..." the 'roo continued his mockery, his impatience beginning to fuel his anger.

"Traitor...? I'm here myself, ordered by the American government to oversee this facility's decommission..." the officer retorted, causing the 'roo to perk his ears in curiosity.

"You, my friend, are the traitor. You've attacked a secret government nuclear facility," the officer exclaimed. The kangaroo gave another huff.

"Bullshit...! Those are Russian designs. Your engineer sang like a bird to me." he snapped again, his tail thudding against the ground.

"Yes, they are; as well as the MAZ. Those engineers had been here less than a day; and that poor bastard that you decided to use as target practice. You're either lying yourself or there's been miscommunication somewhere. This base had been tasked with the decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear weapons. Those missiles were the last to be decommissioned before being dismantled at another site. Then, this facility would be shut down. The program is shared with the Russian government in an effort to aid relations between us and to actively show that each others' stockpiles are being reduced. There are several facilities like this," he stated to the angered 'roo.

The young 'roo just stayed silent, panting a little while his cold sweat that always forms began heating up, though his fur just became heavier with it. The humidity was rising too steeply.

"Your superiors are mine. Yes. But the only corruption flowing here is with them. I'll admit; I have seen your file. But calling me a traitor...? What for? I've only been doing my job here. I believe your intel is a far off the mark here..." the officer mocked, shifting back into the darkness and letting the light claw it's way painfully with vengeance into the kangaroo's eyes once more, causing him to shut them reflexively and turn away again.

"All those soldiers' are dead-"

"-because of your superiors. They're merely covering their tracks. The have been for the passed two years; using you as their executioner. Men with power will always want more power. They got it and they're using you to cover up their tracks. You weren't involved with that tragic event because they didn't need precision," the officer spat and kicked the table, sending some of the equipment over the floor. The guards were sitting and listening intently with such puzzlement over their faces at this conversation.

The 'roo sighed heavily and started shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, I'll hand it to you. You can make some really nice conspiracy stories..." he snorted, his head shaking some more in disbelief.

"Believe me or not. These nukes are being transported to a different facility because of your actions. You've killed a lot of innocent people today. By a damn kid no less...How can you not see the corruption in that?" he asked rhetorically.

"I guess they still planned for failure. But this has stirred a lot of tension into the mix after you killed a few Russian personnel; over half the engineering team there was Russian. You've made such a mess. But it's all collateral in struggle for control. And you're right in the middle of it. They've really messed you up..."

With that, he turned around from the chained 'roo and began to issue orders to the guards once more in order to move the prisoner.

"I don't know why you're here and what you came to do; I can only assume they aren't putting this on record. But we'll soon find out when we-"

"-How long had I been out for...?" the young 'roo interrupted, completely unmoved by the officer's speech. The officer turned around, a little annoyed from the interruption.

"About fifty minutes. Don't worry, you haven't missed anything," he exclaimed, about to turn around before he was stopped by the kangaroo's response.

"Oooh...you're right there." the 'roo said with exaggerated surprise.

"Oh...what?" the officer asked curiously, shifting his whole body to face towards him and taking a worried step or two.

"Well...how much C4 you have there?" he asked deviously, bringing up his gaze to once again be burned by the glaring light, the slightest of smirks on his face.

"...four packs..." the officer said with growing concern. The guards had caught on too and began advancing towards him, though keeping their distance behind the officer.

"Ah...I came here with eight..."

The guards instantly began yelling in panic, but the officer ignored them and lunged straight for the smirking kangaroo, gripping him by the neck in both paws, tightening his grip.

"Where the hell did you...!" he began, but was immediately stunned along with the two guards as a massive shockwave erupted through the base, shaking the entire room around them.

Shrieking metal and thunderous booms continued to shake them all, the guards gripping for something they could steady themselves with while the officer held on tight to the kangaroo, taking a wide stance to keep his balance. The 'roo gave one or two slight grunts and groans as he was shaken about, his body still trying to recover while the pain in his shoulder flared up in stabbing burst.

After three or four blood-curdling explosions and flashing bursts of failing power from the lamp that had been so happily blinding the 'roo, the room became stable enough, eliciting gasps and heavy panting as the shock of the event began to truly be processed by the occupants of the room.

"Go! Collateral check! Now!" the officer yelled at the two guards in a frantic panic, his grip easing on the kangaroo's neck, a light gasp for air could be heard as he did so in the pitch black room.

"Yes sir!" they both answered, beginning to fumble around for the door.

"Time for me to get going too, I think..." the 'roo trailed off, a slight grunt of pain once again before he wrenched the chains with a loud snap.

The officer barely had any time to react before he felt his arms being twisted to give him excruciating pain and a blow to the face which knocked him clean out, landing on the metal floor with a loud thud. The guards reacted by grabbing their side-arms and letting a round or two off in his general direction, the flashes making a picturesque view of the kangaroo's immediate advance before disarming and almost dismembering them as he put their gun arms in a lock and broke their wrists, eliciting frantic yells of pain. He finished them off by landing a right and left hook respectively to their jaws', two ominous thuds signalling they'd been dispatched.

He gave a small sigh, finding that the whole event had been more than taxing; he still needed to recover, but didn't have the time to lie down and die in this metal coffin. He lifted his right forearm to his waist, feeling the bullet wound behind his right shoulder fire up enthusiastically with pain again. This wasn't going to be an easy escape...

He felt around with his left paw along the wall until he found the release mechanism, the task a lot more taxing than he thought as his general condition was still a fairly weak, unbalanced state.

He caught a hold of the handle, giving it a great heave as if it weighed a ton before he wrenched the door open and was greeted with the smell of burning and death. A fire had definitely broken out as the smoke billowed into the room, making the light on the outside dim and barely worthwhile using.

He coughed and spluttered a little as he took in a few breaths of the choking smoke before looking back on the ground. The light had increased the visibility of the room enough to discern detail once again; the sight of the officer on the floor more than a shocking revelation for him.

It was John!!!

"Oh my...what...I...?!" He was stunned. He didn't know what to think. He had no time to think. He needed to get out before they all died. He had to save his friend. Or was he? He just didn't want to process it all right now. But he had to get out.

Looking over at the table, he stumbled rather hesitantly over to it, stuffing everything back into his bag other than his jacket and shirt. He grabbed the long, slender black object and slotted it into the harness of the bag. He swung it into his shoulders which elicited a strangled gasp of pain; this definitely wasn't going to be easy...At least they'd left his pants and boots on.

He looked over at John. He was ordered with taking the leak alive if he could; so that's what he was damn well going to do. But his instincts began to doubt something in this mission as soon as he saw John. Something was wrong with the scenario...

"Gah! Stop wasting time on thinking. You can do that later...!" he blurted out, hobbling over to John, reaching out with both paws and began to heave him up before he lost his balance. His disorientation was increasing with each choking lung full of air.

"Get a grip...!" he roared at himself, heaving breath after toxic breath from the smoke that was filling the room and not at all helping when it began to dull his senses even more. He heaved once more after putting his stance as wide as he could before he yanked John's unconscious body onto his shoulders, letting out another stifled moan of pain before he steadied himself as best he could.

"G-go!" he barked at himself once more, his hunched body beginning to stumble toward the table before tearing off a strip of material from his shirt, then began his escape through the doorway, having to side-step through it in a very heavy-footed manner as he struggled with gravity and his failing senses.

Coughing and spluttering, he bumped into a ruined door that must have been blown off it's hinges and crushed a filling cabinet. But on closer inspection, he realised he was back in the officer's quarters'.

"Fucking great..." he cursed through more coughing and heaving, trying his best to keep a make shift mask over his muzzle by using the torn material. He made a break for the door, side-stepping through it with a little more finesse after the first, making a left turn and being greeted by a hallway that had now been totally deformed by the blasts.

Fires strewn everywhere and savaged, deformed metal had torn through the offices, the power failing now and then as the lights struggled to stay alight. The smoke was thick from the fires, but they lit a path for him which gave him a little salvation to navigate his way through the dense smoke.

He navigated as carefully as he could, assessing whether his path could be cleared with booting debris out of his way, or having to weave around or over it; a few times getting nasty burns as the red-hot metal seared any part of him that came into contact with it. He caught a glimpse of the large room where the missiles were being kept through one of the offices, though with the state of the room in front of it, he wasn't getting out through there.

After successfully, yet clumsily getting through the assault course of burning metal, he reached the steps. They too had been massively deformed from the blast due to the close proximity to the room but, his path seemed a lot clearer than the hallway. Yanking himself up the stairs with his left arm, he steadied John with his right with some considerable pain before stopping where the steps had been cut off by the blast. At least it was just from the second to the first level. The engineering level looked worse than the officers' quarters from what he could see through the destroyed doorway.

Surveying the rest, he judged the distance before leaping up high and catching a hold of a metal railing that had been ripped apart almost completely by the explosion. He almost dropped John as he gripped with both paws, causing him to yelp as he used his right paw to keep him steady on his shoulders while he kept a firm grip on the railing with his left. He grimaced and inwardly grunted which turned almost into a growl as he pulled himself up, depositing John onto the level with his right arm before swinging his legs back and up to give him a little momentum to aid his own climb, landing on his stomach with his hind-paws dangling before he rolled over onto the next level.

"Haaaah...! I better not need to do anymore of this..." he sighed heavily, gulping in large quantities of air which were thankfully not as tainted as the air below was. He wheezed heavily to his feet once again, lifting John up once more and making his way around the corner to the final stretch of hallway, sweat pouring off him and annoyingly into his eyes now and then as he struggled along.

As he got closer to the final set of steps that lead to the entrance of the base, he could see the toppled metal and rubble that blocked the stairwell up. Getting closer, he was disheartened to find that it was completely destroyed. He wasn't going to be able to clear it in time either. The level was being flooded quickly by vast quantities of smoke too.

"Dammit...! Eh...Engineering level it is..." he huffed tiredly once more, stepping back a few paces before the floor gave way and he went crashing through to the level below. His fading senses just didn't give him enough time to react this time, landing cleanly on his back while John's body got caught up with the level above before overbalancing and landing on top of him.

"AH! Fuck! AAAH! Mnph...that was...convenient..." he choked to himself, immediately feeling blazing heat all around him. Thankfully, the floor that gave way had doubted the fire that was directly beneath him, cutting a path through the smoke for a few seconds which he got a glimpse of to the ballooned doorway that lead to the missile room. It had expanded almost into the entire hallway, almost blocking the way passed to the stairwell. It was soon swallowed up again as smoke came swirling all around him once more.

He put the piece of material over his mouth once more, heaving a few more breaths before lifting up his body which now felt to him like a ton of bricks before tiredly getting to his feet once more, steadying John on his shoulders once more and stumbling into the smoke. He used his left paw to feel his way along with haste, feeling the entrance of the missile room turn inwards as he got to the mangled doorway. Side-stepping around it, he managed to get around through and had a bird's eye view of the destruction at hand.

The steps that had led down into the room had been ripped off completely and thrown into a corner. Burning piles of rubble and bodies, whole or utterly deformed, lay scattered about and the sickening smell of burning flesh and fur filled his nose immediately; pungent enough to make him withdraw a little. Parts of the ceiling had collapsed; the service elevator that was probably used to bring in the missiles was upturned into a large hole which had popped like a lid.

"There!!" he gasped frantically, stepping forward before jumping back as he forgot the stairs were completely detached. He surveyed over the edge before stepping forward once again and fell for what felt like three stories before he landed with a thud, misjudging his landing with the added weight of John on his back and almost crumpled to the floor in agony.

He clutched his leg, dropping John to the floor once more, making sure he hadn't broken anything, even though it almost felt like he certainly had. But he knew his body was more resilient than that.

"Mnph...ugh...just a sprain...just a sprain..." he growled lowly to himself, willing himself to get back to his feet. The smell was overpowering at this point, gagging at the stench that filled the roasting air around him. He hadn't checked on John in a while. The 'roo pressed two fingers on the side older kangaroo's throat and gave a sigh of relief.

"You lucky bastard...you owe me big time for this...!" he swore with a low grumble, breathing heavy as best he could through his mouth to avoid the smell before getting to his feet and limping his way over to the spot below the ruined platform elevator. The hydraulic rams that were used to lift the platform up to the surface were fairly mangled while the platform itself must have been blown off by the explosion; it had completely disappeared except for the remnants of the large bolts that were attached to the other end of the deformed hydraulic towers.

"Hrm...crap..." he cursed to himself once again. He looked over the hydraulics and assessed their mangled configuration. He could make it if he just had something to boost him up. He could make that jump usually, but he was in no condition to manage it now. He glanced back and forth around the room until he spotted the stairwell that had been detached from the wall.

"Perfect...!" he thought to himself, limping over to the deformed stairwell and gripping it tightly in his paws. He took a few, deep, exasperated breaths before pulling with all his might, the metal stairway budging slowly and screeching it's way along the floor with him. His shoulder made his right arm tremble as he did, his left ankle also giving way a few times and slipped, making him drop the stairway or stumble to his knees. Each time, he'd hit the floor with a determined anger and forced himself back up, even though every muscle ached and his brain felt two sizes too big for his head; his focus was unyielding.

When he managed to drag the stairway to the hydraulic tower that would facilitate his acrobatic escape, he dropped it, only to pause for breath, planting his paws on his hips and leaning forward feeling like he needed to vomit. His eyes watered from the sickening feeling and the smoke and he took a quick look over to John's unconscious body once more to make sure that no fire or debris had landed on him.

He took his paws off his hips as he gained some breath back, the soot from the smoke gathering on his sweat-soaked fur which made him look like he'd been sweeping chimneys all day. He gave himself a wide stance, taking hold of the mid section of the stairs, splayed his tail out right behind him so it was parallel to the floor and began lifting the stairs with tremendous strength.

His body shuddered and ached with fatigue, but he didn't give in as the stairway began rising with a metallic creak as it gave way slightly to it's own weight, deflecting a few inches before it began to rise along with the rest of it's entirety. The 'roo was red in the face as he strained so much to lift it all in one go; inhaling would only hamper his progress.

He could feel himself wavering as he got it to about halfway, his legs beginning to shake as the lifting began to take its toll on him. He couldn't afford to drop it now...

With a loud bellow, he gave it a hundred percent, the stairway suddenly jolting into life once more as it pivoted on the lower end, the 'roo shifting himself forward along to the halfway point as it rose higher and higher into the air. His leg gave way though as some rubble dislodged beneath him and his right foot went skidding off with him, making him yelp again in surprise as he lost his footing. His knee thudded against the floor, giving him some needed support as the stairwell began to descend upon him, his small yet muscular frame becoming solid as he resisted the weight of the stairs.

He slowed it to a stop, having it rest against him as he propped it up with his right shoulder, giving himself some breathing room as he felt more and more like he could manage a rest in between. Panting hard, the sweat poured off of him; the fires around him made it almost unbearable.

He pressed his forehead against the warm metal, heaving a few more breaths before he once again normalised his breathing as best he could, placing his paws reluctantly against the steps of the upturned stairway.

"I don't have time for this..." he sighed heavily, his brow furrowing with tired anger. Taking another few deep breaths, he leant forward a little, only to explode with a roar of strength which he launched himself up with, the metal stairway flipping over like it was just a paperweight before crashing loudly into the deformed hydraulic tower and, luckily for him, hooking itself onto the one which had almost doubled over from the explosions.

He took a step or two back and huffed outwards, his injured limbs giving him no break from the aching and the burning. At least he got the damn thing on. He turned to John and began to crawl on his hands and knees, trying to suck in as much clean air as he could under the smoke before his next task. He was going to need every spare bit of air he could get...

"Come on, John...ugh...heh...lets get out of here..." he sighed out in short bursts, getting to his feet with great difficulty before giving his shoulders and arms more painful flexing. He leant down, dragging the limp kangaroo off the ground and up onto his shoulders'; hopefully for the last time, he thought.

He stumbled his way over to the stairs, slipping and tripping over loose rubble that smoked heavily; some of it crumbling to dust after being scorched for so long by the fires around. The steps themselves hadn't quite caught the way he'd hoped, only catching on the left side of the railings so it hung the steps vertically; but as long as he had something to help him along, he didn't care.

He placed a wobbly foot onto the railings; they were fairly high, having to boost himself up onto it with a strong hop. As he landed, the stairway gave an unsatisfying shudder which only made him more reluctant as he had to speed things up. Making sure he got his balance, he began stepping along the railings, trying to keep a firm base as he slid his feet along. The stairway didn't seem all that sturdy the further he got along it, swinging partially like a pendulum.

Half way up, the stairway almost gave way as it jolted downwards, almost throwing him off again. He swayed back and forth, trying to recover his balance frantically while trying to counteract the excess swinging.

"Crap..." he cursed hesitantly, before making the decision to bolt. He launched himself forward leaping as he got to the last quarter of his journey; and in good time. The stairway slid off the hydraulic tower with a deafening clang as it hit the floor. Meanwhile, he'd caught onto the hydraulics, the distorted horizontal section placed firmly under his right arm. It had winded him in the process and he was close to almost toppling with how the weight was distributed.

He heaved John up over the other side of the section, catching hold of his tail, using John's momentum to lift himself up onto the tower. He almost went over with him before he hooked his body tightly around it. Thankfully, he'd used his left arm which was nowhere near as tired, slowly lifting him up by the tail until he got within reach of his suit. He grabbed him by the belt and heaved him up yet again.

A few short breaths later, he was doing his balancing act on his new platform, judging the distance he needed to clear to the next hydraulic tower that had deformed similarly, though a good six feet higher at least. It was hard to concentrate with his head pounding along with his heart as he started choking a little on the smoke again.

He waved it away as best he could out of his face, coughing a little more and wheezing to breathe again.

"Ugh...I gotta get out of here fast..." he spluttered to himself, almost slipping. He hesitantly evaluated, then acted, running to the end of the tower he was on and leapt, launching himself a little too high and almost overshot the hydraulic tower's edge. He got stopped by it as his torso collided with it, dropping him until he caught hold of the top of it with his left paw. At least he had something to properly grip onto this time.

His left arm was getting too tired easily now, his grip beginning to falter a little, so he did the only thing he could at that moment and start swinging himself, using his tail and legs together to help gain the momentum before swinging them up at the peak of his forward swing and wrapping himself around the fairly vertical section. He hugged it close, panting heavily.

"Hoooooh...! Hah...! Almost...Th-there Joh-WOAH!!" He didn't expect any reply. He just wanted to keep his mind focused and off of the seemingly insurmountable task at hand which he was forced to do rather than have another rest as the tower began to give way and topple in towards the centre of the missile room again. He had no choice but to plant his feet on it and launch himself backwards towards the tower closest to him. He kept an eye on it as he hurtled towards it, catching hold of the very top which cut into his paw painfully as he hooked on. The momentum of his body swinging back and forth didn't help with the pain either.

The current hydraulic tower seemed to have been weakened badly too; it started vibrating back and forth before dislodging from it's base and began to collide with the wall. He yelled out in shocked frustration, his legs scrabbling at the tower before it became diagonal enough that he could prop himself on it. It was now or never...

As the tower hit the wall, he propelled himself up with his right arm and both legs while holding on tight to John, his vertical momentum carrying him up high, using the wall to help himself even further as he ran up the wall and leapt off the wall, catching hold of the edge of the surface. He'd made it!

His success was short-lived though as John slipped out of his grip, another choked yelp escaping him before he had to use his left paw to grab a hold of him, catching him by his belt. The position was excruciating. His right paw which was barely holding him up was bleeding quite profusely and blood ran down his arm, all the while, John's weight was dragging him down; even John's belt seemed to be failing him as he caught glimpses of tearing in the leather.

"Oh give me a BREAK!!!" he wheezed heavily, grunting and groaning in pain as the blood trickled over his already bloodied shoulder. He looked up at the ledge with desperation, then back down to John. He was going to have to swing again; his strength was failing him quickly. Balling up as much of the belt he could around the tear, he gripped it as tight as he could, then slowly began to rock his lower half back and forth.

His shoulder punished him for it, his lungs blamed him for it, but he held on tight, heaving himself back and forth with John in tow. His momentum began to build, along with the pain in his right shoulder, gaining more and more height. He used John's weight to pack more punch into it, his right arm being tugged at even more and eliciting strangled groans as he tried to focus on gaining more and more momentum.

It seemed like an eternity as he continued to swing higher and higher until he began swinging above the ground level. He kept it steady as he swung back and forth with precaution, waiting for his moment. When he lifted him high enough one more time backwards, he swung John outwards away from the wall, the momentum carrying him up and around while his right paw acted as the centre point of the swing, carrying them both up and over the edge and out into the open air.

As he landed, he let the momentum carry him over and just rolled over, panting, wheezing, coughing, gagging and griping. He hated every moment of that, but at least he finally made it away from the smoke that stunk of burning flesh. After some excessive gasping to try and gain the wind back in him, the hint of a smile disturbed the pained expression he wore.

"Aw man...that fucking hurt!" he swore out loud, though began to laugh a little inexplicably at the misfortune. He let himself rest a little longer, letting himself catch his breath back, spit out the awful taste of the smoke and blow each nostril clean of the soot that gathered in them he'd made his way through the underground facility.

His body seethed with pain as he dragged himself up into a sitting position, looking across the large pit that used to be the elevator shaft and spotted an unwelcome sight.

A few of the guards that had been on patrol were still up and about, attempting to put out fires that had broken out as one of the missiles had exploded above ground and tend to the injured...and dead. The elevator platform itself had flipped over onto the wall besides him, towering over him as it rested against the weakened wall from the blasts. The crane had disappeared; only the base of it remained.

He shifted his gaze around the place, spotting the tank still sitting next to the entrance. He did NOT want to be chased down by that.

"Hngh...w-wait here, John..." he mumbled, his joints cracking a little as he got to his feet and shuffled around the edge of the elevator shaft. All the cargo and equipment was strewn everywhere around him, giving him some cover though he needn't use it as the guards were too busy tending to themselves. Even the MAZ launcher that had been covered up was toppled over onto it's side from what he could see on the opposite side of the base. The flat bed truck that had arrived had all it's windows shattered, glass had peppered the ground around it, more so on the opposite side from where the blast came from.

He dropped to his knees behind it as he neared the tank. His vision was fuzzy as his eyes still burned from all the smoke they were exposed to, but they were easing up. He triple checked that no one was going to get in his way and stumbled back up onto his feet, slowly padding his way over to the tank. Reaching the back of it, he let his bag slide off his shoulders, dropping to his knees once more and unzipped the bag, pouring the contents out onto the floor. He gathered the detonators together and began arranging the large packs of C4 he'd stolen back. He set the timers for five minutes; then began taping two packs of C4 together, planting a timer and taping it securely to the pack, wiring it ready. He did the same again with a single pack of C4; then boosted himself up onto the back of the tank after placing the charges on top.

"No time for subtleties..." he stated quietly to himself, locating the panel for the engine housing and yanked hard at it until the plating dislodged enough so he could pack the larger of the C4 charges inside it. He armed it and dropped it into the engine housing before hammering at it weakly with his paw to place the panel pack down as best he could be bothered to do. Getting to his feet once more, he rushed to the cockpit section, lifted the lid and armed the second charge, dunking it into the cockpit and dropping the lid.

He looked up to ensure no one had bothered to notice him, but his gaze was caught by another surprise. The upturned launch vehicle had hidden one of the missiles from view. He hadn't planted a charge on the fifth...

"Dammit...here we go again..." he sighed reluctantly, stumbling back to the rear of the tank. At least he had one charge left; that should be enough. As he dropped down awkwardly, a guard came running around the corner as he scrambled about to find anything to help his fellow soldiers.

Sufficed to say, the guard was shocked more than the 'roo; pulling his pistol up to aim at the kangaroo and pulled the trigger, only to miss as his arm got redirected, the bullet shattering a small segment of the concrete wall. The 'roo twisted the gun in his hand so it immobilised him with pain, then threw him head over heels to the floor and disarmed him at the same time. He put one in between the guard's eyes to be sure.

No doubt that attracted the unwanted attention...

He pulled a few clips from the dead guard's vest and took his watch, deposited them in separate pockets on his pants which were covered with blood from himself and others in the wake of the past day's events, then snatched up his bag with the remaining charge and sword before peaking his head out of the side from behind the tank. A few guards were already closing in dangerously close, so he popped out from cover and dropped each one of them that made their way towards him, his adrenaline really kicking in this time and giving him more freedom of movement as his body's pain was numbed.

The guards he didn't shoot began taking cover behind whatever they could find, covering their heads and diving to the ground in the process, stopping whatever they were doing.

The 'roo just emptied the rest of the clip in their general direction as he made his way around the pit and back to John once more. He really gave the guy a slobber-knocker of a punch. He was still out cold.

As he reached John, he slid the watch on his wrist, popped the clip and inserted a new one, cocking his gun and snatched up John on his way passed, heaving him over his left shoulder. He aimed the gun in the guards' general direction once more, squeezing off a few more rounds; this time his volleys were met with retaliatory automatic gunfire, causing him to take cover and send another two or three bullets sailing their way.

It gave him enough room to manoeuvre his way around to the launch vehicle which provided ample cover compared to the weapon crates. He gave a quick glance behind himself to ensure he was covered and had access to the missile before dropping everything and prepping the last charge. The gunfire had subsided but, it was only a matter of time before they tried to flank him.

After assembling the charge, he moved to the edge of the MAZ to grab a quick view of the enemy movement. They were quickly advancing. He took aim and felled a few more guards in the process, emptying the entire clip in their general direction to make them scatter and think twice about getting any closer, all the while setting a ten minute delay on the timer of the charge.

He dropped the clip, inserted a new one, cocked and aimed, scanning for any more threats. He swung his aim to the other end of the MAZ, making his way towards John and swung the bag over onto his shoulders once again before racing towards the missile, planting the charge, arming it and synced it with his watch, scooped up John over his shoulders once more and back to his original position on the MAZ.

He had to be quick. He breathed in deep and hastily, getting the gun at the ready before spinning around the corner and unloading a quarter of the rounds at the guards once more. The rumbling of an engine perked his ears though and soon he became wide-eyed with genuine fear as he saw the main gun of the Challenger-2 scan it's way over to him.

"Ah...fuck..." was all he could muster up before bolting for the opposite side for solid cover behind the guardhouse, firing off the rest of the clip he had left in his gun. He didn't make the distance though.

Half way along, the tank fired it's main gun, striking the floor not far from the concrete wall behind him and sending him flying to the floor. Time seemed to almost stand still, the world around him muted as he lay there, barely able to move; barely able to breath as the shock took hold of him. His paws fumbled through rubble and dust, trying to make sense of this new sensation. As he shakily rolled over, he just caught the sight of the tank lighting up as the charges in the engine compartment and cockpit violently popped pieces of armour off of it's almost impenetrable shell and cripple the vehicle for good, each flash met with involuntary blinking.

The guards had focused their attention to the tank, now worried for it's clearly dead occupants inside. They must have thought the shell did what it was supposed to do. It almost certainly did; the 'roo finally loosing consciousness.

*******

He coughed himself back awake, his hearing dulled with a high pitch ringing that could not be gotten rid off; blood trickling from either ear. He didn't know where he was at first, his unfocused gaze shifting in all directions frantically before he made any sense of his surroundings.

He rolled over to try and find John, taking so much effort that he didn't think he was going to be able to walk again. He found John just behind him, still laying unconscious on the floor; a little greyed out from the dust that had spewed out from the impact of the shell.

Savaged, the 'roo was feeling rather winded, his coughing becoming more of a constant thing as he coughed up a bit more blood. A punctured lung, perhaps...he was considerably close to the kill-box of the shell.

As he shifted over to grab a hold of John, his blood-stained watch caught his eye.

The charge!

He yanked his arm back into view, his senses taking much too long to normalise as he tried to focus on the display of the watch. He had fifty-three seconds...

He gave a spluttering cough as he gasped in desperation, pawing at the rubble as he was still inexplicably dazed from the shell, trying almost in vain to get back to his feet as the rubble made his arms slip from under him a few times. If he didn't get away from there, he was going to be more than dazed by the next explosion.

His frantic, clumsy scrambling caught the attention of the few guards that remained; a fair few had been injured by the charges placed on the tank. Others who had been shot or wounded by the previous explosions were tended to as best as their allies could manage.

One or two opened fire at him with whatever they had at hand. Some emptying entire clips at him, causing him to slip and flinch now and then as one or two round ricocheted off the rubble, kicking up small clouds of dust. One round had caught the unconscious John in the left shoulder.

"Fuck-fuck-fuck-FUCK...!" he swore out loud to himself, snatching a hold of the handgun he took earlier, laying on one side as he began to finish off what was left in the clip, just buying some time before they could get a proper bead on him with a little fright; all the while, crawling his way to John.

As he reached him, he popped the clip which bounced a little painfully off of his cheek, he patted at his pants for the last clip, locating it on his left leg and repeated the procedure. Some of the guards just gave up, others still angry enough but had no rounds, so resorted to pathetically throwing their weapons in his general direction.

He used the time to look around for an exit. The obvious one was covered still by too many guards for him to take on in his state. He checked his watch. Twenty-nine seconds...

He looked all around, nothing catching his immediate attention until the collateral damage from the tank round caught his eye. The wall had caved in on itself and a large mound of rubble remained. He had to take what he could get.

Catching a hold of John's tail, he heaved himself up in desperation, the adrenaline kicking in once more and dulling all the pain and trauma that had virtually suppressed all of his senses, he did his best to sprint towards the mound with John in tow. The bullets started flying again, the 'roo stumbling to his knees at first as the first few bounced off the ground; he followed up with a hail of gunfire of his own, most of them missing their target outright or bouncing off cover, giving them a hearty shock and dive for cover. But one or two hit their intended target, dropping them and eliciting a distraction for one or two others to begin tending to instead, reducing the gunfire just that little bit extra.

Dropping the gun once it was emptied, he got to his knees and yanked John up to his shoulders once more. Nothing could stop him now; the dull remnants of the shoulder wound and sprained ankle reduced to numbness as his body raged with adrenaline and a driven will to continue on. Fifteen seconds!

He reached the pile of rubble.

Thirteen seconds.

He leapt up onto the large chunks, one or two giving way as he made his climb over the twenty foot high mound of destruction.

Nine seconds.

He'd gotten half way, his feet slipping and John fell off his shoulders again as he scrambled up the mound.

Six seconds.

He wrenched John back up, giving another massive push to begin to launch him up the pile.

Three seconds.

He reached the top, only to have a bullet catch him in the calf, making him stumble forward and almost over the edge of the pile into the river below.

One second.

He choked in pain as the bullet brought his seething body back to it's pain stricken realisation, the final moment used to take cover on the mound of rubble on the other side.

Zero.

The explosion threw the massive pile of wall flying into the air like it was polystyrene chunks, both the kangaroos on the other side being launch up and outwards. He felt the wind being knocked out of him, ribs probably cracking, his insides being beaten with sledge hammers as he was sent sailing into the air.

The sheer shock from it all stunned him into paralysis, his consciousness failing him as he barely became aware of his airborne state anymore before blacking out completely. His limp body soared far upstream, spinning and reeling in the air before hammering him against the almost vertical bank. John's body went splashing into the raging river.

Just an extra foot or two, and he would have made it. But instead, his torso caught most of the momentum clean into the side of the bank while his legs made it over. But gravity worked against him and he slid, plummeting head first onto a bed of rocks, twenty feet below. The collision caused his entire body to crumple into the contact point before his body too, went rolling into the river and it sped him away in a merciless torrent...