by Tom Jones
After Arcades was prepared, he picked up his weapon, and he attached his Condor Outdoor Multicam sling to it before placing it over his equipment. Jason had a question, “Why are we using these guns? Their magazines are different.” The fox nodded, “Yeah, that’s kind of the reason why. The Germans use the G36, and while the ammo is compatible with what a SCAR or an M4 use, the magazines aren’t cross-compatible. However, the Germans have been trying to phase in the newer HK416 and the HK433. Those use the same magazines as the SCAR and M4 do. That’s why half of our allies are using STANAG compliant weapons, and the other half are using weapons that are compatible with HK’s proprietary magazines.” Arcades performed a function check on his EOTech XPS3 sight, and he made sure that his angled foregrip was tightly held on the weapon rails. The rest of the Fox Security operatives exited the plane, and they were waiting for the Bundeswehr to pick them up as well. Others were starting to get their equipment out of the plane.
A Mowag Eagle IV pulled up in front of the two anthros and Arcades said, “Looks like they’re here. Come on, let’s get going.” A Bundeswehr soldier opened the door for the two operators, “Hello? Fox Security operators?” Arcades smiled and said, “Yep, that’s us. We’re happy to help y’all.” The two anthros sat in the back seat of the MRAP, and a couple more Fox Security operatives entered the vehicle. The vehicle stopped and waited for a convoy of German armored vehicles to assemble. Many other vehicles began pulling up, and the rest of the Fox Security operatives entered the support vehicles. Most of the Fox Security operators were humans, but only a few of them were anthros. As Arcades was waiting, he asked the Germans for a situation report, “Hey, so what’s it looking like out there?” The Germans were having some difficulty understanding the American, “We have some armor fighting the enemy. They’re taking our weapons and armor. We lost Berlin yesterday to them.” Arcades figured out what they were saying, and he relayed the information to his own people inside of the vehicle, “Looks like we’ll be encountering medium to heavy enemy vehicles. Possibly some IFVs and maybe a few Leopard tanks. Make sure you stay out of their way. We can’t take them down with these small arms.” The Australian wolf nodded, “Right, mate. I’ll stick next to you.”
The convoy was finally ready to get moving, and all of the Bundeswehr troops had been accounted for. The vehicles all began moving, and they drove out of the airfield and onto the road. The Bundeswehr had closed down the roads leading to Potsdam and Berlin to prevent civilians from entering while allowing their military forces to lead into the cities under siege. As the convoy began moving, the vehicle Arcades was in waited before it took its position behind three vehicles. The lead vehicle, a Bundeswehr Leopard tank, inched the convoy along at a steady pace. The fox looked out of the window, and he knew that this would be a long drive with the tank in the lead. However, he knew that the Bundeswehr was not compromising on safety as they did not know if the NSS was setting up land mines or other ordnance on the way to Potsdam. As the convoy rolled through the town of Brandenburg an der Havel, he saw that the buildings were all empty. The civilians had been evacuated out of the state of Brandenburg, and the military had taken up the surrounding cities to drive out the NSS. Depending on the outcome of the operation that the convoy was carrying out, the city could potentially turn into the next battleground. The fox did not want this to happen.
After about an hour and a half of driving, the convoy was abruptly stopped as the Leopard 2 tank drove over a landmine that had been buried in the road. The bottom of the tank lifted up due to the blast, but the mine was not large enough to destroy the tank. Arcades felt his stomach drop, and his eyes widened as he saw a cloud of smoke coming from where the tank was. He heard some shouting coming from the vehicles in front of him, and he saw Bundeswehr troops step out with their weapons raised. They almost immediately started shooting. The fox stepped out of the vehicle, and he looked through the sights of his HK433. He could not see where the NSS were shooting from, and they were even wearing ineffective camouflage. Arcades then realized that he and Jason were out in the open. There was nothing but a few trees to use for cover. The fox called out, “Watch out! They’re firing from the treeline!” Gunfire broke out from one of the trees, and Arcades could see the muzzle flash of the automatic weaponry. He assumed the weapon was a Steyr MG 74 due to the rate of fire. He then saw an anti-tank rocket fly across, but it did not hit the Leopard tank. The rocket ricocheted off of the ground before exploding in mid-air.
The fox heard some shouting in German and English from the side that he was on. Arcades turned around, and he saw one of his operatives take a knee to fire a SCAR-L down range. However, nobody knew if they were actually hitting anything. The fox pointed to one of the MRAPs that had veered off from the road. He patted Jason’s arm to get his attention, “Take cover behind that vehicle! It’s mine-resistant, so it should protect us for the time being. As long as they don’t fire anymore rockets.” The two anthros made a break for the vehicle, and they slid once they got close enough. Arcades took his rifle off of safety, and he chambered a round by pulling the weapon’s charging handle. He was prepared to lay down suppressing fire, but not to kill anybody. As he peeked over the hood of the vehicle, he could see the roofs of buildings in the distance. He moved his head back down, and he informed the wolf of his findings, “Looks like Potsdam is right over yonder. Less than a kilometer to our twelve-o’clock. The NSS must have it heavily fortified because gosh, they’re putting up quite the fight here.” Jason silently acknowledged, and he looked back towards the convoy. “The allied Germans are losing men.” Arcades tried to find a position that gave him the most coverage by the vehicle, “How about our guys? What’s it looking for us?” The wolf turned around again, “Uhh… I don’t see any casualties so far!”
The fox decided it would be best to determine all of that later. He finally found a good position to fire from. He was kneeling behind the front tire of the MRAP, and he placed his rifle’s barrel on the hood of the truck. He used his left hand to stabilize the stock of the rifle by holding the stock as if he was using a weapon with a bipod. He looked through the sight with his right eye, but remembered that he was left eye dominant. The fox switched shoulders, and he looked through the non-magnified sight. He could see vague areas of where the muzzle flashes were coming from. However, most of what he could see were incoming tracer rounds coming from the treeline. The fox turned around, and he made sure that his tail was not exposed before his fire would give away his position anyways. He was not wearing ear protection, but he decided that some matters were currently more important. He set the rifle to semi-automatic, and he took a shot in the general direction of where the fire was coming from.
He watched as the grass dissipated from the round that he fired, so he fired some more rounds. More dirt kicked up, and he saw the muzzle flashes cease for a few seconds. The NSS were now alerted to his position. The fox ducked back down under the tire, and he heard rounds impact the other side of the MRAP. He then heard his allies fire their weapons as well, and the incoming gunfire impacting the MRAP soon ceased. Arcades’ ears were ringing from his own weapon, and he leaned back over the hood. He took more shots, and he could see some of his rounds land on rocks and more shrubbery. After laying down some more suppressing fire, he heard the click of his HK 433’s bolt locking back. He lowered himself behind the vehicle, and he began to reload the rifle. He dropped the PMAG that was in the weapon, and he placed it in his dump pouch. As he was loading another magazine, he could see that Jason was still shooting his G36C. However, the fox didn’t know if the wolf was shooting to kill. Arcades knew he himself wasn’t, but he was not sure if the others knew that. The fox didn’t often outright tell people that he was not shooting to kill.
After the fox loaded a new magazine, he pressed the bolt release, and he watched as a new round was chambered in his rifle. The rifle was now ready to fire again. As the fox changed his firing shoulder, he kept both eyes open, and he used his right eye to view the EOTech r
eticle. The fox rose up from his knees, and he pressed his left knee against the tire to support himself. Arcades extended his left arm, and he gripped the angled foregrip that was on the front Keymod rail. He pulled the trigger, and he fired to where he thought his enemies were near. As he continued to fire, his barrel started to shift upwards from the fire he was putting down range. He took a break from firing to adjust the angle of his barrel before continuing. Jason now had to reload his G36C, so he took cover behind the rear wheel of the MRAP to do so.
Arcades provided him with the cover fire the wolf needed to finish reloading the rifle. The wolf nodded at the fox when he was done, and Arcades fired another magazine’s worth of rounds into the elevated defensive position. As Jason stood back up, Arcades decided to reload again. He dropped the magazine into his gloved hand, and he noticed that there were no more rounds in the magazine. Thinking his weapon did not lock back the bolt properly, he pulled the charging handle halfway. He saw one last round in the magazine, and he determined that he just happened to reload when he only had one round left in the chamber. He placed the second PMAG into his dump pouch, and he grabbed another magazine to be inserted into his rifle. His weapon now has thirty one rounds ready to be fired. However, he made a mental note of his remaining magazines. He had spent two magazines already, and he only packed five total; four in his magazine pouches, and one in the rifle. He would have to slow down so he would not deplete all of his munitions outside of Potsdam. The fox decided to slow down a bit in order to save his remaining munitions. He then heard a noise that sounded like a mortar. He looked up, and he saw a mortar shell fast approaching. His eyes widened behind his Oakley glasses, and he shook the wolf to alert him, “They’re shelling us with mortars! We can’t stay here!”
Jason stood up, and Arcades started yelling at the convoy, “MORTARS! WATCH OU!” Seemingly right after he finished his warning, the mortar impacted next to one of the MRAPs. The troops standing in the vicinity of the truck were blasted backwards, and some of them were already dismembered. The fox knew that he would not be able to help them given the circumstances. However, he could not stop looking in the direction of the human men who were just dismembered from the blast. Jason tugged on the drag handle that was attached to Arcades’ H-Harness. “Come on mate! Let’s go!” Arcades then remembered what he needed to do, and he broke his brief moment of shell shock. The fox started running, and then he could feel the spent magazines bouncing around in his dump pouch. As he did not want to lose two $30 PMAGS, he pulled the drawstring that was on his dump pouch. The pouch closed up, and this would prevent the magazines from escaping the pouch. He then heard a voice in English speak over the radio, “Attention all allied units in the AO, air support imminent. Seek cover immediately.” Arcades continued to run, and he saw that many of his allies were following behind him. The fox ran gripping his HK433 in his right hand and letting the other hand move up and down for stability. He kept his finger off of the trigger to assure that he did not waste any ammo by sending it up in the air.
The fox then looked up, and he noticed two EF-2000 Typhoons were flying overhead. He saw them drop a payload, but he focused on what was in front of him as he was still not wearing any shoes. The payload was delivered successfully, and the hostiles on the hill went up in a blazing fire. Arcades knew that the blast would temporality disorient the NSS, and this would allow for his allies to move in closer. The fox held the PTT, and he tried to make himself sound as coherent as possible, “All allied units, this is Arcades. Now is our chance to take whatever we have left and push up the hill! We’re not safe ---” The fox’s message was interrupted by the loud roar of the jet engines as they quickly passed overhead. The noise made his ears ring, but it was too late for him to shield his ears now as both of his hands were occupied otherwise. Arcades just focused on pushing up the hill as he diverted his course from flanking the hill to running straight at it. Jason was following right behind him, but the wolf was beginning to slow down due to fatigue. The remaining Bundeswehr troops were catching up to Arcades as well as the other Fox Security operatives. They all spaced apart, and they ran straight for the hill before the hostiles could scramble to set a defensive line back up.
Arcades was the first to reach the hill, and he still held his weapon in his right hand while using his now free left hand to ascend the hill. Not having shoes actually helped him out in this situation, as Arcades could grip the ground better with his bare fox feet. Arcades wanted to help his men up the hill, but if he were to do so, he would likely get shot in the back. As he was close to reaching the top of the hill, he took a quick glance back at the vehicles on the road as he lowered his stance to avoid incoming gunfire. Somehow, the Leopard tank began driving up the hill in the center, and a few surviving MRAPs with their crew were going with the tank. The MRAPs all had turrets on the top of the cabins, and they were firing up the hill to provide cover for the men on foot traversing the hill. Some of the men were even trying to get back inside of the MRAPs for better protection.
Arcades finally reached the top of the hill, and the fox quickly hit the dirt. He did not know where any hostile forces were, and there was still a cloud of smoke from the blast of the aircraft’s payload. Jason followed behind him, and he also went prone behind the fox. The two anthros crawled through the hill, and Arcades was the first to stumble across the bodies of the NSS soldiers. The fox was keeping his head down to prevent himself from inhaling smoke, as he did not have a respirator or a mask to breathe the smoke. He felt something bump his head, and he looked up. He had bumped right into the arm of an NSS soldier. He looked up and took in the sight of the body.
The soldier was wearing a UCP uniform, and the human was sprawled out on the ground. On top of his body was a Steyr MG 74 that was resting on the plate carrier of the fallen soldier. The soldier wore an LWH helmet with a matching helmet cover. Arcades also saw the NSS emblem for the first time. It bore a striking resemblance to the SS emblem, but with an added nordic N rune behind the sig runes. The NSS units did look almost like US Army troops from the mid 2000s, but they wore black boots rather than tan boots. The result made them look like a mix between Serbian SAJ operatives, US Army Soldiers, Austrian Soldiers, and the classic Waffen-SS units. The soldier’s mouth was hanging open, and his eyes were still open as well. His expression sort of looked as if he was shocked before he died. He probably was killed by the airstrike, as the fox did not see any visible gunshot wounds on the human. Arcades had seen bodies before, so this did not shock him that much. However, Arcades did not enjoy seeing bodies, so he knew that it would be best to go a different direction. He started backing up, but the soft sole of his foot collided with Jason’s head. Jason stopped, and the wolf looked up to view Arcades’ foot in his face. Arcades noticed this, and he turned to look at the wolf, “Sorry about that Jason. There’s a body here. We should move around it.” The wolf backed up to give the fox some room to move, and Arcades continued to crawl further up the hill after choosing a path around the body.
As some more smoke started to clear, Arcades saw several units around him stand up, and they began to rush forwards. However, they were not shooting, and this gave Arcades the notion that enemy reinforcements were not in the area of operations yet. The fox stopped and decided to wait for the smoke to clear some more before he would run again. He also took the moment to catch his breath, though a cloud of smoke was not the place to do this. He brought his legs close together as he lay flat on the ground, and he strained his eyes to look through the smoke. Though he was wearing eye protection, his M2 frames lacked the seal of the Oakley Helo Kit. The smoke in his eyes made his eyes water, and he tilted his head downwards as he closed his eyes to try and get rid of the itch in his eyes. He let his Multicam ghillie boonie hat hide his head the best it could as he tried to get the cleanest air that he could.
Jason was still stopped behind the fox, and the wolf was watching Arcades as he was trying to get clean air. Jason had not been having as much trouble as Arcades was ha
ving with his eyes due to the fact that he brought a pair of full seal ESS goggles with him. He was already wearing the goggles, as he put them on as he was running to the hill. Fortunately for him, he was able to achieve a decent seal for the goggles, and they were not letting smoke enter. The wolf heard the fox cough up smoke, but he knew that he would not be able to do anything to help him. As Jason was waiting for his battle buddy to proceed, he took in the surroundings. While some of the troops were moving forwards using the smoke for cover, the rest were staying back in the smoke, and they were trying to catch their breath as well. Jason then noticed that some of the woods were on fire due to the blast, but the fire was not close enough to cause immediate alarm. Jason visually inspected his weapon, and he flipped it on safe for the time being. While he heard gunfire, it was not that close, so he figured that it was probably some NSS units that were doing whatever they could to hold out for cover while the next defensive line was being prepared. He then wondered what happened to the mortar crew that started firing before the Typhoons came through. He had not heard them ever since the airstrike was completed. The wolf assumed that they had been taken out by the airstrike. He then looked in front of him, and he saw the fox’s bushy tail and his feet. Jason looked at Arcades’ feet and he wondered, how did the fox manage to pull it all off without wearing shoes. He decided that he would ask at a later time, as it was currently not the best time now.
The smoke was almost completely cleared out now, and Arcades coughed up some more smoke before he opened his eyes again. He now could see clearly, and he had cooled off after running up the hill. He was kind of glad that he wore a light kit as he doubted if he would have survived if he wore the heavy equipment. It was also fairly hot, and it was only slightly humid. He hated sweating all over his shirt thanks to the plate carrier that he typically wore. The cumbersome nature of the armor carrier is why he would wear the plate carrier to colder environments such as Alaska during winter months. The itch in the fox’s eyes almost completely subsided, and he was able to breathe easier. He grasped his rifle, and he got up on his knees to view the situation the best he could. More Bundeswehr soldiers now began to move up, and some of them began setting up support gunner units by deploying the bipods on their Rheinmetall MG3s. The fox remembered that the MG3 greatly resembled the Steyr MG 74, and the main difference was the furniture that the weapons had. Jason still watched Arcades’ soles as he got to his knees; However, the wolf then remembered to get back to the mission. Arcades made an observation from his current vantage point, “I can see Potsdam from here. We better get going.” Jason stood up, and he looked down at the fox, “Are you ready?” The fox nodded before also standing up, “Yeah. Let’s get going.”
