FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Well," Ramirez muttered around her cigar after a quick glance at her watch, "I guess we should get going." She started the engine and eased out of the underground parking lot. Most of the debris from the recent battle had been pushed to the sides, clearing a path for vehicles, but its presence was another reminder of all the close calls they'd had recently. So were the bullet holes and scorch marks in the walls, floor, and ceiling. She kept her eyes pointed straight ahead and tried not to think about it.

Having Hiro out there in the open, with hails of bullets potentially about to start flying around, kept her worried enough as it was.

"Nice afternoon for a drive." Beside her, Montoya leaned back in his seat, putting on a casual appearance, but kept flicking his eyes at the mirror and out the windows, keeping watch for signs of trouble.

"Sure is." She glanced at the GPS screen and back up to the street ahead before taking a quick look at the speedometer. She wanted to keep the car to the speed limit to avoid drawing attention. "Just a couple of friends running a perfectly normal errand. No need for any mercs or dead people to attack us again."

Montoya laughed. "Once this is over, maybe we can tackle a much quieter investigation. Something a little less 'shooty,' at least."

"I sure hope so. I'd like our next investigation to end with something other than the perp's head exploding in our faces." She shuddered.

"Yeah, that's definitely something I'd rather not repeat." He aimed a lopsided grin at her. "On the other hand, if it hadn't happened, you and Hiro wouldn't have had an excuse to take your clothes off in front of each other."

She clenched her teeth on her cigar as she slowed, made a right turn, and accelerated. She took a few breaths and puffed on the cigar before speaking.

"All I intended to do was get cleaned up and wash and dry our clothes. I don't know what got into me."

"He did."

"Oh, that was hilarious." She rolled her eyes. "I still think there's still some sort of residual link between my mind and his. Something that compels us to ... do what we did."

"Even if that were the case, would the link still exist after the guy who manipulated your minds got his head popped like a water balloon?"

"I don't know." She let out a long sigh and slowed for a left turn. "Probably not. I guess I'm just trying to make excuses because this whole thing is ... wrong."

"Yeah, I'm sure you and Hiro hated every second of it." Montoya snickered.

Ramirez snorted. "You know what I mean, pendejo."

"Well, look on the bright side. Since the legal system still hasn't quite figured out what to do with the anthros, you can't actually be charged with anything." He smirked. "You two can keep humping it out as much as you want, and you'll get away with it. At least, you probably won't have your whole future flushed down the toilet like Shakira."

"Fair point, I guess." Ramirez glanced into the rearview mirror. So far, there appeared to be no one trailing them. "That poor woman will be in a shitload of trouble unless the boss can pull some strings."

"Yeah. Kind of a shame, too. Honestly, if I were in Otto's place, I'd consider myself the luckiest kid in the world. Guess it's all a matter of perspective."

_Hmm._Ramirez remained silent for the next few minutes, puffing on her cigar and pondering the situation. Finally, she said, "Another thing is, I'm trying not to get too attached to him, but it's not working. I can feel it happening anyway, and now he might be minutes away from going into combat with no experience. I'm worried about him."

"He was built for combat. Even without experience, he's got the training he needs already programmed into him, plus the strength and reflexes the geneticists gave him. He can handle himself." Montoya laughed again. "And after this business is finished, he can go back to handling you."

"Can't keep your mind out of the fucking gutter for more than thirty seconds, can you?"

"Come on, it's not like this is the first time I've had a little fun at your expense." He nudged her shoulder. "You and Shakira aren't exactly alone, either. Remember, both of Jack's girlfriends are underage, and Shadow looks like she might be as well, and I've heard her mention at least a half-dozen guy's she's been having sex with. I've started to consider it all just part of this city's natural weirdness."

"I suppose it's not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things." Ramirez shrugged and glanced into the mirror again. Still no sign of pursuit. "It's probably a good thing Jack and the girls are on that show. Maybe they'll draw some attention away from Shakira and me. Well, assuming my daughter doesn't keep ribbing me about it on-camera."

Montoya patted her shoulder before turning serious. "I hope they all make it through this. I've grown pretty attached to them, myself."

"Yeah, same here." She took another quick look at the GPS. Almost halfway there. One way or another, this would be over in a few minutes.

***

"Are they getting any closer?" Jack glanced into the rearview mirror and quickly returned his attention to the traffic ahead.

"Still hanging back," Corona muttered, scowling out the rear window. "Maybe they're trying to avoid any casualties except us, for once."

"Could be they're in hot water after the mess their last attack on us caused." Jack flicked his cybernetic eyes over the highway and zoomed in to see if any more black SUVs were waiting to box them in. He found none - yet. "On the one hand, it's nice not to be shot at the instant they show up. On the other, if they're being careful, they're probably planning an ambush."

Taura nodded. "Maybe waiting until we're in a more isolated area to reduce collateral damage."

"And pin us into an area where they can cut off our escape routes." Corona growled softly and spoke into her helmet mic. "Guys, can you spot anything from the air?"

"There's construction on the road about a mile ahead," Machiko replied. "I already checked, and there's nothing scheduled for that section of the highway."

"Uh-huh. Not taking any chances." Jack twisted the wheel and veered off down a side-street. "What about Ralphie and the others?"

"They're being tailed, but only one SUV each."

"And we've got, what, a half dozen following us?" Jack snorted. "Guess we made an impression on them last time."

"They might be looking for a little payback, alright." Machiko chuckled. "Okay, you'll still need to lure them into an unoccupied area so don't have to worry about bystanders getting in the way. Let them take the first shot, and be sure you record the whole thing with your eyes."

"Already started," Jack said.

"Good. If they fire on you, the rest of us will drop right on top of the bastards."

"Before this car gets filled with too many more bullets, I hope. Not sure how much longer it'll hold together after taking so many hits already."

"Lefty should be able to fix it up when this is all over." Corona winked at him. "Maybe even add some upgrades, like armor and bullet-resistant windows."

"Bullet-resistant," Jack muttered. "I'd prefer bullet-proof. But I'll take what I can get."

Taura opened a new window in the holofield floating in front of her and loaded a map. "There's an open area about a mile and a half straight ahead. Couple of open fields, a number of gravel lots, and a few abandoned houses and trailers." She cocked her head and sent a waypoint to Jack's HUD. "Here's a building that's under construction. If there's no one currently working in it, we could find all sorts of things to use for cover."

"We'll be ready." Machiko let out another quick laugh. "They just made a U-turn and nearly caused a pile-up. They're heading for the street you just turned onto and are trying to catch up."

"Let's see if we can get far enough ahead to give us some time to get ready for them." Jack shifted down and stomped on the gas.

"And now the road crew's leaving. Probably looking for an alternate route to trap you between them."

Jack nodded and swerved around the cars in his path. "Keep your heads down, girls. Once they get a clear shot, they'll take it."

***

"What the hell?" Boiler snapped her head to the right, toward the distant roar she'd just noticed a few seconds ago. "Sounds like rockets."

"Guys," Machiko snapped, "you may have incoming fire."

Shit, what if that's the ambush? Set up a few blocks away with a rocket launcher, lock on, and pull the trigger. Simple as that. Now that Moms and Dad are out in the open ... Her heart pounded. They won't have a chance.

"Not rockets." Up ahead, Shadow pointed at the ground. "Jetpacks."

"You're kidding," Rocky muttered. She glanced around, shook her head, and changed the angle of her wings to put her into a steep dive. "Nope, I see 'em. Three teams of three guys each. Jack, they're approaching from straight ahead of you."

"Marvelous." Jack sighed. "We had a place in mind to hole up, but now we'll have to settle for whatever we can get."

Boiler zoomed in with her helmet camera and gaped at the image in her HUD. "The jetpacks have rotary cannons mounted on them."

Jack snarled another curse.

"We'll take out the jetpack guys." Boiler caught an updraft and gained some altitude. "You guys worry about the ones on the ground."

She spotted her parents' car tearing down a gravel road toward a motel that looked like it hadn't been occupied in at least a decade. It had probably been left vacant as a tax write-off. Probably had a few meth labs and whatnot inside, by now. She focused on the nine jetpackers, estimated their speed, and threw herself into a power-dive, hoping to intersect the man at the front of the squad.

In the corner of her eye, Hiro and Shadow dived below her and glided toward their targets at a more shallow angle.

"They're almost on you," Machiko said as the jetpacks closed in on Jack's hearse.

"Almost there," Corona said softly. The car began to slow its approach as it turned one more corner onto a gravel street leading up to the abandoned motel. The jetpack team zipped toward them, a block away now and descending to the street.

Shadow caught up with the guy at the rear and tapped him on the left shoulder before twitching to the right. He jerked his head around and she grabbed his jetpack, yanked him backward, reached around his right side, and released the buckle on the pack's five-point harness. She pushed away a split-second before the belt on his right detached and the pack twisted to the left. His left arm caught on the straps as the jetpack shot off sideways and spiraled toward the road. He hit the gravel and the pack dragged him along until he slammed into the side of someone's garage, kicking up a long cloud of dust behind him.

Hiro took the next guy. He simply reached out, grabbed his pack, and wrenched it sideways. The guy veered off, flailing as he tried to regain control, and slapped into an old brick chimney. The chimney exploded and the man tumbled across the roof before plunging off the edge.

At nearly the same moment, Boiler plowed into the squad leader. Her left shoulder crashed into his neck and she clamped her arms around him. The impact knocked him off course and sent him rocketing across an open gravel lot with clumps of dry grass scattered through it. Both of them hit the ground and rolled. Jagged chunks of rock scraped her arms before she could shove herself away from him. He scooted along the ground for a couple hundred yards before he managed to shut his thrusters down. Boiler picked herself up, reached under her vest, and drew the huge gun she'd gotten from her parents' cyberware dealer. She still had no idea what it used for ammo, but it had blown shit up quite nicely in her last several battles.

She flicked it to one of the lowest settings as the jetpack dude got to his feet and staggered. She wasn't that worried about whether any of these assholes survived, but she didn't want a stray shot blasting someone's home into kindling.

The guy turned, spotted her, and made a grab for his gun. Boiler jerked the trigger and a long blue muzzle flash belched from her gun. The shot hit him in the chest and launched him backward. He flew another dozen yards, hit a chain-link fence, and ripped it out of the ground. He landed, slid a few more yards, and skidded to a halt entangled in the remains of the fence.

_Bitchin'._She turned to find the rest of the attackers and caught a glimpse of them reaching the motel. The rest of her team had taken several others out while she had her back turned. She counted five still in the air.

Can't get back up there from the ground. She sprinted off down the road.

One of the men opened fire with his rotary cannons, tearing the hood and engine of her dad's car to pieces and exploding the front tires. Boiler sucked in another breath and an icy fist closed around her heart.

Corona popped out of the back door, lined up a shot with her gigantic mecha rifle, and drilled the guy who'd just shot up the car. The round hit him from underneath and launched him almost straight upward. The others scattered as he reached the apex of his steep arc and plummeted back to the ground.

Jack and Taura bailed out of the car and bolted toward the motel. Taura rammed her shoulder into one of the half-rotten doors and shredded it. All three of them disappeared inside.

"Okay, we've got some cover," Jack said. "Well, sort of. If they use those miniguns again -"

"We'll take care of that," Machiko said. "Just hunker down and wait for the ground troops to arrive."

***

"Oh, terrific." Corona stared at the four people huddled against the wall and sighed. Their clothes were torn and dirty, and the two anthros had patches of fur missing. "We'll have to keep them out of the line of fire."

"Let's find an empty room, then." Jack stepped around a ratty couch and glanced out the window on the far side of the room. "And hope we haven't walked into -"

He lurched away from the window a split-second before several angry voices outside began shouting.

"Gang territory." Jack shook his head and grumbled something under his breath.

Corona glanced out the window and found fourteen motorcycles parked in an uneven row, with more scattered across the lot. Humans stood in clumps near the bikes, and a few were already charging the door. All of them wore leather jackets or vests.

"Wonderful. Now we'll have to deal with these guys as well as the small army trying to kill us." Taura glanced into the bathroom and cocked her head. "Hey, the ceiling is caved in. We can get to the room upstairs."

"I'll give you a boost." Corona led Jack into the bathroom, put her hands on his waist, and hoisted him. He grabbed onto the edge of the hole and pulled himself up. Corona lifted her rifle and placed it on the upstairs floor before turning to face the front door and nodding at Taura. "Up you go. I'll cover you."

The door exploded into the room, shattered and propelled inward by a large boot. A human with long, scraggly hair stomped toward her, holding an assault rifle.

"You're in the wrong part of town, scalie." He aimed his dilated pupils up at her and sneered, apparently too high to be intimidated by her size, bulk, and armor. "What the hell you doin' here, anyway?"

"We don't want any trouble. We're just trying to avoid a hail of bullets that's about to start any moment now."

Another half dozen bikers filed in behind him. Corona glanced at Taura.

"Go. I've got this, babe."

A burst of gunfire erupted outside, followed by screams and the thump of something heavy hitting the roof. Everyone in the room twitched and stared at the ceiling. One of the jetpack riders tumbled past the window, hit the ground, and bounced. His right leg flicked upward and his boot flew off before he flopped over.

Corona lunged forward before any of the bikers could recover, wrenched the gun from the nearest guy's hands, and dropped him with a punch to the face. She ejected the clip and tossed it and the gun in opposite directions before taking a step toward the next guy. The dumbshit swung his fist at her despite her armor and helmet. She blocked it on reflex, slapped him stupid with her right palm, and shoved him into the others with her left hand. One of them tried to catch him and another pushed both out of his way. He whipped a double-barreled shotgun up to her head.

She clamped her left hand around his wrist and squeezed until the gun slipped from his fingers. She caught it, popped the shells out, and flung it aside. Then she grabbed him with both hands and slammed him into the ceiling. The impact snapped a support beam and knocked him out cold. She let him drop and bared her teeth at the rest of his gang.

"Bitches,leave."

They stared at her for several seconds and finally took a few steps back.

Machiko's voice came through her helmet comm. "The SUVs are here. Boiler's intercepting them."

The distant crunching of tires on gravel reached her, growing louder as the vehicles approached and then parked nearby. Corona rolled her eyes and snarled.

"Do you not see the armor we're wearing? This is an official operation, and you're seconds away from being caught between us and a few dozen mercenaries who have come here to kill us." She glared at them and pointed at the doorway. "These guys won't stop shooting if you get in their way. If you want to see tomorrow, run like hell. Or not. Your choice." She shrugged and climbed through the hole in the ceiling.

"I'm picking up several dozen warm bodies scattered all over this place," Jack said, pointing at his solid black eyes. "Squatters, probably. No matter where we go in this building, a lot of people will catch stray bullets when the shooting starts."

"And we can't leave the building without being gunned down." Taura sighed. "This armor can only stop so many bullets before one punches through."

Corona holstered her huge rifle in the clip on the back of her armor and took a slow breath. "We'll have to go hand-to-hand, then. Split up, lure them as far away from bystanders as we can, and get in close so they won't be able to fire their guns."

Jack stared at her and then Taura for a few seconds. Corona shook her head.

"I know you're worried about us, but this is what we were born to do."

"And if we stay together, they'll all pile on us at once," Taura added. "If we split up, they'll have to do the same to avoid two of us slipping away or attacking them from behind."

"Also, the rest of our team can join in once they're finished with the jetpack squad." Corona clapped each of them on the shoulder and headed for the door. "Let's get this done."

***

"We've finished off the jetpack team," Machiko reported, her voice coming through the comlink in Taura's helmet. "We've got forty on foot, surrounding the building and making their way inside."

"They're splitting into teams of four," Boiler added, "and posting four outside each side of the building to pick you off if you try to escape. That leaves six teams searching the motel, three on the top floor and three on the bottom."

"We'll take out the guards, work our way inside, and pin the rest between you and us."

"And I'll slash the tires on their SUVs so they won't be able to keep chasing you," Shadow added. "Assuming any of 'em are in one piece when you're done with 'em."

"We've got multiple civilians scattered around the motel," Taura whispered into her helmet mic. "We're leaving weapons holstered to reduce collateral damage."

"Understood," Machiko said. "Good hunting."

The IR sensor in Taura's helmet picked up a huge, winged body outside, dropping on one of the humans posted in the parking lot. The larger shape smashed the rifle out of the smaller's hands, snapped his leg with a kick to the side of his knee, and landed a punch that sent him into a backflip and dropped him face-down in the gravel.

"Scratch one." Boiler kicked him again to make sure he stayed down before charging another off to the left.

Taura pulled her attention off them and focused on her own surroundings. She stepped through a gap in a partially collapsed wall into the next room. A bed frame with rusty springs sat in the far corner, but the room was empty otherwise. One window had been shattered and the other boarded up, as had the doorway. Parts of the carpet had rotted away a long time ago, and Taura was suddenly thankful for the armored boots over her hooves.

Through the walls ahead, she found a half-dozen people sleeping fitfully or sitting on the floor, drinking or talking softly while smoking cigarettes. They appeared to be oblivious to the intruders.

Past them, marching straight toward her, were four more heat signatures. From their posture, she could tell they were carrying assault rifles. As they passed each room, two on either side paused to stare through the doorways before moving on.

_They can't see me. Must not be using IR. Good._She stepped back into the room she'd just left, through the doorway onto the balcony, and crept over to the next room whose door had been taken off but not boarded up. The wall between this room and the one on the other side had been knocked down, as had part of the outer wall. Through the gap, Taura caught a glimpse of Shadow jabbing a knife into the front-left tire of one of the SUVs. The girl flattened the other front tire before moving on to the rear. Taura held in a laugh as she moved on to the next room.

_The guards on that side must have already been taken out._Still, she squeezed through the broken-out window just in case someone could still spot her and start shooting. Inside, she found what appeared to be a young teenage anthro, but her heat pattern was a bit off. In an instant, Taura realized she was looking at a sexbot. A custom design, too, built to look like an alien in an old TV series. Someone had probably spent a fortune on her, and then apparently just dumped her here when he got tired of her.

That's so sad. I wonder how much longer her power cell will last._Taura glanced at the four heat signatures still approaching. _Just enough time before they get here. She crouched in front of the synthetic girl and whispered, "Can you understand me?"

The bot nodded and smiled faintly.

"Good. Listen, some very bad things are about to happen. Try to stay hidden. We'll do everything we can to help."

She nodded again, scooted over to the near corner, and drew her knees up to her chest. Taura smiled and darted across the hall into another room. This one had a ratty armchair and a sofa with springs sticking out of the cushion on the right. A man in tattered clothing sat on the opposite end. Taura raised a finger to her lips.

"You'll want to find something to take cover behind," she whispered. "Trouble's coming."

Footsteps came toward her. She switched her helmet camera to light-amp mode and risked a quick peek into the hallway. The four mercs wore vests that were probably lined with armor and non-Newtonian fluid, but that was better than full armor like hers. Maybe she and her babes would have the advantage.

They noticed her movement from fifty feet away and snapped their rifles into position. She ducked back into the room an instant before they shredded the wall and floor around the spot she'd just vacated.

The guy on the sofa bellowed a stream of curses and bolted out onto the balcony.

The mercs charged.

Taura launched out the doorway and rushed past another boarded-up door. The room beyond that had a door, but she waited until the heat signatures passed before trying to open it. The knob wouldn't turn.

_Marvelous._She took a deep breath, drove her hoof into the door and snapped the bolt. She lunged across an empty room and found a hole high in the wall, near the ceiling, barely big enough to fit through. She dived through it, her shoulders ripping out chunks of wood and sheetrock, tucked into a roll, and slammed into the far wall.

The four mercs spun around and opened fire. Several dozen rounds bounced off her armor before she tackled the nearest merc and plowed him into two more. She turned to the fourth as the others landed in a heap and crashed her forearm down on his rifle. The impact knocked it from his hands and she followed up by grabbing the front of his vest and yanking him off his feet. She pivoted and hurled him through the wall. His body snapped the rotting support beams behind the sheetrock. Taura turned back to the other three as the guy hit the floor in a shower of rubble. She stomped on the nearest man's gut and the air rushed from his lungs. He doubled over, clutching his midsection and writhing.

The remaining pair scrambled to their feet and each pulled a Bowie knife from his belt. Taura took a step back. For all she knew, the blades could've been designed to pierce armor.

The guy on the left lunged and thrust the knife straight at her. She whipped her left arm up, deflected the blade, and jabbed her fingers into his throat. He slammed into the wall, collapsed, and vomited. The other guy stared at him for a split-second before pulling his attention away. Taura took advantage of his momentary distraction and clamped her hand around his wrist. She twisted it, braced her other hand on his elbow, and pushed on it while pulling on his wrist. His arm snapped at the elbow and folded the wrong way back. She released him and he dropped to the soggy floor, curled up, and screamed.

In the corner of her eye, the first merc picked himself up. Taura lunged at him, grasped his arm in one hand and his belt in the other, shoved him back out onto the balcony, and then heaved him over the rail. She darted back into the room a split-second before he hit the ground with a sort of crunchy thud.

"Four down," she whispered into her mic.

"I've got a problem with my four," Jack whispered back. "I've seen these heat patterns before. I think I've got more cyber-zombies here."

Oh, no! "Jack, wait for us to -"

"Yeah, I'm keeping my distance. But there's another thing with these guys."

"Right, if they're like the ones we faced before, they'll have self-destruct devices." A cold fist gripped Taura's guts as Corona spoke.

"If we damage them too severely, they might explode. Everyone in this building could be killed."

Sudden gunfire erupted outside. Taura gasped and ran into another room. She peeked out one of the shattered windows and found the bikers they'd encountered unloading on one of the merc teams.

"Fuck's sake," Jack growled. "The bikers are shooting at 'em! If _they_damage those things too much -"

"Kaboom," Corona whispered.

Taura's heart slammed as she threw the door open and bolted for the nearest stairs.

Oh, shit_!_