by Tom Jones
Arcades continued to study the image. He asked, “So, why did CDI send this out?” The cat answered the question, “Apparently, the situation is that CDI is supposed to have an armored vehicle unit move in. However, they won’t be able to make it there until tomorrow evening at the earliest. They don’t know if they can hold out until then. They’re kinda requesting support from whoever can help them out.” The fox nodded, “Yeah. Tell them we’re coming.” Bocchino turned around to face Arcades, “We’re coming?” Arcades nodded, “Yeah. I won’t make you go if you don’t want to, but I’m going over there with whoever else wants to help me.” Jason laid his hand on the fox’s shoulder, “I’ll come with you.” Arcades smiled and he looked back at Bocchino. The cat considered, but he finally decided, “I guess every bit counts. I’m in.” The fox then said, “I’ll see who else I can get to come with us. I want you to tell just CDI that we’re coming out there. Make sure they don’t shoot at us.” Bocchino turned back around to face the monitors, and he began attempting to contact CDI.
Arcades gathered all of the men who were still in Berlin from Fox Security, and he waited for them all to give him their attention. The fox finally said, “Alright. We have a little situation out in Syria. We have reports that the NSS has been attempting to take over an airstrip in the eastern Syrian desert. I’m going to be going to Syria to find out why the NSS is there. I give you all two options. You can either go back to the US according to our original plan, or if you want to help us out, you can come with us to Syria.” The fox paused before continuing, “Now, whoever is willing to come with me, step forwards.”
Arcades waited for volunteers to step forwards. Many of the Fox Security members looked around to see if there were volunteers, but they did not step forwards. After a few moments, five humans stepped forwards. They were the same operators that were on the Las Vegas mission: the sniper/spotter team, the vehicle crew, and the man from the helicopter that was in Hong Kong as well. Arcades smiled as he was glad to see he was going to be getting more support on the mission. He then said, “Alright. You five come with me. Everyone else is dismissed.” The other operators walked away, but the five volunteers walked up to Arcades. The sniper from the Las Vegas mission said, “Boss, we’re willing to do whatever it takes.” Arcades was happy to hear that, “I’m glad.” They went back to meet with Bocchino and Jason.
Jason turned around to see Arcades returning with the five humans. Jason asked, “Looks like you brought some help with you.” The fox nodded, “Yeah, I don’t think you’ve met with any of these guys before. They were all on the Las Vegas mission.” Jason recognized the man wielding a SCAR-L, “I think I know you. You were on the Hong Kong mission, right?” The human nodded, “Yeah, I remember you from that mission.” Arcades shrugged, “I guess you do know some of them, Jason.” The fox then continued, “Anyway, Bocchino, do you have a sitrep?” The cat turned around again from the monitors, “Yep. CDI knows that we’ll be coming. I’ve also talked with a pilot, and he says he can fly a plane over the AO, and we can parachute down.”
The fox thought about the plan, “An aerial deployment?” Bocchino replied, “We sure can’t land at the airfield. We’re not sure who is going to be in control of it by the time we get there.” Arcades scratched his head, “Alright, I reckon.” The fox then turned to face the five volunteers, “Are you sure you guys are up for this? The NSS, CDI, and the Islamic State are all there battling it out over an airfield.” None of the volunteers had any objections. Arcades finally said, “I guess it’s a plan then. When are we supposed to fly out there?” Bocchino replied, “They’re setting up a flight. It’s going to leave in two hours.” The fox looked at the time before asking, “When does that put us getting there?” Bocchino looked at the same clock Arcades looked at, “Probably going to be 0900 hours Syrian time.”
Arcades turned to his entire crew of seven and said, “Looks like that’s our plan. Do whatever you all need to do and meet me out back as soon as possible. Once you all are ready, then we’re gonna get going. How’s that sound?” The crew all responded with affirmations. Arcades dismissed the crew, and they all left. However, Jason stayed behind, “Are we going to be able to find out why the NSS is in Syria?” Arcades shook his head, “Can’t guarantee that. Whatever we do find out there could end up being useful.” Jason remembered that there was a time constraint, so he decided that it would be best if he kept moving. He moved out to collect whatever he would bring to Syria. Arcades was now all alone, and he went to the hall to collect the equipment he left there. He put on the chest rig that was on the floor, and he also grabbed his HK433. He still had all of the magazines for it. He carried his gear out, and he stopped by one of the supply rooms to see if he could find anything else that he would need to bring. He considered wearing armor, but being summertime in Syria would mean that the desert would get very hot. Being a fox, Arcades’ fur would not help with the temperature either. He took his chances wearing his minimalist loadout again. After checking all of his equipment, he went out to the meeting place that he told his crew.
Arcades was at the rendezvous point, and the rest of the eight man crew began to show up. Bocchino was the first to show up. The cat was wearing a Team Wendy EXFIL helmet and a Crye AVS vest. He brought along a SCAR-H with him instead of an HK416. Jason was the next to show up, but he was wearing the loadout that was similar to Arcades’ loadout except for the fact that he brought along an Ops-Core FAST helmet to ensure that he would not get too badly injured from a blow to the head. He also exchanged his Heckler & Koch G36C for a Beretta ARX-160.
The five humans showed up. The sniper from the Las Vegas mission was wielding a SIG Sauer MCX, and he was wearing a similar helmet and vest to Bocchino. The spotter was using the Heckler & Koch M27, and his loadout was generally the same as well. The former driver from the previous mission brought the KRISS Vector with him, and the other man from that vehicle was using a Heckler & Koch M27 as well. The final human showed up, and it was the support operative from the Las Vegas mission. He brought along his SCAR-L that he used for his previous missions. Arcades counted the men, “We have a squad of eight. Seven of you guys plus me. Sounds good. Alright, let’s move out.”
The crew boarded a vehicle, and they drove to the airport that they were going to launch out of. Once they reached the airplane, the squad moved their stuff inside of the plane. Arcades decided that he was going to eat and sleep on the way to Syria. The flight would take a few hours to get over to the area of operations, so Arcades wanted to make the most of the flight. Everyone boarded the transport aircraft, and they placed their belongings on the floor. Once the crew was ready to go, and the flight was cleared for takeoff, the plane began to get moving. Arcades held on as the plane lifted off and was now on its way for Syria. He made sure that everyone had their parachutes in order, but one thing made him wonder. He did not really know how he was going to get back to the United States. He decided not to think about it for the time being, as it would only prevent him from thinking about the mission. Arcades ate the food he brought with him, and he noticed several people from his squad were doing the same. After he finished, he wanted to make sure that he would get as much sleep as possible as he did not want to be fatigued when he landed in Syria. The fox closed his eyes, and he said a prayer before he went to sleep.
Chapter 6
Them vs. You vs. Me
Arcades was awoken by Jason, and the fox blinked to clear his vision. Jason said, “Hey mate, we’re almost there.” Arcades looked around the plane, and he saw that the rest of the squad was in the process of readying their equipment. The fox went to grab his equipment, but he quickly realized that he was already wearing all of it save for his hat. He picked up his boonie hat, and he made sure to fasten it to his head. He did not want to lose it on his way down, and he surely did not want to be without his hat in the Syrian desert. He did not know what time it was though, and he was not wearing a watch, either. The sniper from the Las Vegas mission turned to his former spo
tter, “Noah, you grab all of your magazines?” The spotter replied, “Sure did, Jacob. Can you make sure my parachute is on the right way?” Jacob visually inspected the parachute bag before checking it over. Jacob said, “You’re good to go. What about you guys over there?”
The former vehicle crew was just finishing getting their parachutes on. The former driver was in charge of making sure everybody was ready to jump. He looked at the fox, “Come on, Kurt. Get that parachute bag on.” The fox reached under his seat, and he grabbed the parachute bag. He threw it over his back, and he fastened the straps. The man came over to look over the parachute, “Alright Kurt. That looks about right. You’re good to go.” Bocchino moved over to Arcades and Jason. The cat said, “We’re right on schedule. No updates on what CDI’s situation is. Daesh and the NSS are still down there with them, so check your fire.” Bocchino still failed to realize that Arcades was still not planning on shooting anybody. The fox took out his M2 frames, and he placed them over his eyes. He then attached a rubber strap to each end of his glasses in order to make sure that he did not lose them on the way down. He placed the strap over the back of his boonie hat as well.
The five humans finished checking their gear, and they moved up to the cargo bay door of the plane. The three anthros joined them. The former driver announced, “Alright, we should be ready to go. I’m going to open the door.” He moved over to the door controls, and he pressed the button. The cargo bay door slowly began to open. Arcades then realized that it was now daytime. His eyes had not seen daylight ever since he completed the mission back in Berlin. Fortunately for him, his sunglasses protected his eyes and gave them a chance to adjust to the light. The human who opened the door moved back to the rest of the squad. Noah asked, “Is the pilot supposed to close the door after we jump, Paul?” Paul replied, “Yeah. He’s going to wait for three minutes to close the door.” The squad looked down at the distant city. They were far away enough from the city that their aircraft would not get shot down. They were waiting for the best time to jump as they did not want to be shot on the way down. After waiting for a moment, Paul noticed that it was now a good time to jump. He announced to the squad, “This is it! Let’s go!”
The squad of eight jumped out of the plane, one after another, and they waited three seconds to jump after each person. Arcades was the third to jump from the plane. He was glad he was wearing his glasses. Since the Oakley M2 frames sat close to his eyes, they prevented airborne particles from directly entering his eyes. The fox waited until the right moment to deploy his chute. Lacking an altimeter, Arcades did not know what altitude he jumped from, but he used the power of estimation to determine the best time to open his chute. The fox pulled the cord, and the parachute deployed. The immediate drag knocked some of the wind out of him, and he looked back down at the ground that he was approaching. He held the steering cords of the parachute, and he tugged on them in order to steer himself in the right direction. He was now fast approaching the ground, and he could already begin to hear distant gunfire. As Arcades was now less than fifty meters from the ground, he held his feet up so that he would not break his legs on the touchdown. He tugged on both of the steering cords simultaneously, and he shifted his weight backwards to create even more drag. He finally landed on the ground firmly, and he immediately worked on getting the parachute off.
Arcades unbuckled the parachute, and he stuffed the parachute back into the bag. He sat the bag up against the nearest wall before looking back up at the sky. The fox loosed the strap of his boonie hat, and then he moved the strap of his glasses off of his hat that provided extra security for his hat. He decided he would keep the glasses strap on for now. As he looked up in the sky, he watched several of his other squadmates land nearby. Arcades flipped on his radio, and he was waiting for incoming radio traffic. He heard the first voice, “Kurt, this is Bocchino, I’ve landed safely. Over.” He correctly recognized the voice as being Bocchino’s voice, despite the cat already announcing his identity.
The fox held the PTT button, “Bocchino, this is Arcades. What is your location? Over.” The cat replied, “Arcades, I landed with Jason. We are moving into the building with the Syrian flag hanging from the balcony. Over.” Arcades scanned the buildings and he spotted the building that the cat was mentioning. The fox spoke again, “Solid copy. I have eyes-on the building. What is the status of the rest of our squad? Over.” The cat replied again, “They landed before we did. They’re en-route to the building as well. We’re not going to move until we all rendezvous here. Over.” Arcades began walking towards the building, and he held his PTT button again, “Roger. I’ll see you when I get there. Out.”
The fox now listened for the gunshots rather than the voices of his squadmates. He held his weapon firmly with his gloved hands, but he did not raise it to a firing position. He did not hear any gunshots that sounded close enough to be alarming. He did not even see the airfield on his way down, so he was unsure of how the battle was currently progressing. As Arcades continued moving, he noticed that his feet were getting progressively more sandy. He had not traversed sand for a while, but it was not as bad as snow. Arcades approached the rendezvous building, and he found an entrance to make his way inside. He spoke over the radio again, “This is Arcades, I have made it inside the building. What floor are you guys on? Over.” Bocchino replied, “Kurt, come to the top floor. We’ve got a good vantage point up here. Over.” Arcades walked through the hall as he made his way to the stairway, “Affirmative. Standby.”
Arcades was surprised to see that the building that he was inside was not as torn up as some of the other buildings which he saw when he was parachuting down into the city. As he climbed up the steps, he tried to brush some of the sand off of his feet, but some still stuck to his soles. Arcades was using the handrail as he went up the stairs, and he had stowed away his HK433 using the Multicam sling that he had attached to it. However, the one-point sling caused the rifle to keep bumping into the fox’s legs and chest as he took his steps. Getting annoyed by the rifle bumping him, the fox grabbed the pistol grip with his right hand, and he held the rifle upwards to prevent it from bumping into him.
The fox finally made it to the top floor, and the operative with the SCAR-L was waiting in the hall. Arcades could hear Bocchino’s voice from behind the wall, “Who’s that coming up here, Thomas?” The operative replied, “It’s Kurt.” The human led the fox into the room where the rest of the squad was. Arcades looked around, and he could see that everybody was able to make it safely to the rendezvous point. The fox greeted his men, “Hey, I’m glad y’all made it here alright.” He paused for a moment when he noticed that the cat was using a pair of binoculars. He then continued speaking, “What do you see there, Bobby?” Bocchino replied while still looking through the binoculars, “I can see the airfield. I can’t really tell who’s winning, though. There’s a three-way battle going on there.” Arcades moved up to view the sights. He asked, “Did nobody see us parachute in?” Jason answered the question, “I don’t think so, mate. We would have been followed or shot down.” The fox shook his head, “I don’t really see that happening. They had to have seen us.” Paul then was the one to speak up, “Looks like eight men are the least of their worries. They’re more worried about that airfield.”
Arcades leaned on the balcony, and he saw that there was the flag of Syria hanging from the ledge. He did not bother the flag. Arcades scratched his face before saying, “Ain’t that airfield what we need to get out of here?” The cat replied, “Sure is. It’s going to be them versus you versus me to take control of it.” Jason was confused, “What? Them versus who?” Arcades turned to the wolf and smiled, “Point is: there are more bad guys than we have friendlies. It’s going to be tough securing that airfield.” Paul looked to the man who he had operated with back in Las Vegas, “Hey, David. Didn’t you try to talk to Kurt when he landed?” Arcades heard Paul speak, “Hmm?” Paul then said, “Is your radio on our frequency?” The fox opened his radio pouch, and he remov
ed his transceiver to look at the active frequency. He said, “I’m on Bobby’s frequency. Isn’t that the one we all are using?” Paul held the PTT button, “Radio check. Can you hear this?” Arcades did not receive the transmission, “No, I did not.” Bocchino turned to Arcades as he lowered his binoculars, “Kurt, you’re not on their frequency. You’re still on the one you used back in Berlin. I had that frequency saved. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to communicate with you.”
Bocchino turned back around to look through the binoculars again. Arcades looked up at Paul, “Can I get that frequency?” Paul turned the radio so that Arcades could see it, “Yeah, you sure can, boss.” The fox had difficulty seeing the screen in the dark room, and the tinted Oakley glasses which he was wearing were not helping him. He sat the radio back in the pouch momentarily as he unhooked one side of the strap he had on the glasses. He turned the glasses upside down, and he placed them on top of his boonie hat before he connected the strap to the other side to make sure the glasses did not fall off the boonie hat. He took out the radio again, and he went to type in the frequency.
