by Tom Jones
“Is that all of them, Abu Abdullah?” Abu Ridhwan looked at the stash of explosives which they had still in the vehicle. Most of them were warheads for the RPG-7, but they were unused due to the fact the launcher was lost. Abu Abdullah removed the safety cap off of the last warhead, “That’s all of them.” Abu Ridhwan was now getting excited, “I can’t wait to get to paradise!” Walid knew what was going on, and he started to pray to God in Arabic. Khattab did the same, and they were all praying to God to let them into paradise. Abu Hajaar was still firing his MG3, but then it suddenly stopped firing.
He looked at his weapon, and he saw that there was no longer a belt feeding rounds into the weapon. He opened the top panel of the weapon, and he immediately noticed that there were no more rounds in his weapon. He looked around the floor of the M1114, but he could see no more 7.62x51mm rounds. He had depleted all of the ammunition for his MG3. Abu Hajaar spoke to Abu Ridhwan, “We’re out of machine gun ammo.” Abu Ridhwan handed Abu Hajaar a grenade in response. Abu Ridhwan said, “It doesn’t matter anymore. Pull the pin, but don’t let the fuse go until we drive into the hangar.” Abu Hajaar dropped the MG3 in the bed of the vehicle, and he looked at the fragmentation grenade that he was holding. Abu Hajaar clutched the grenade in his hand, but he listened to Abu Ridhwan’s instructions. Abu Ridhwan was now giving Abu Abdullah, Walid, and Khattab all grenades for them to hold.
“That second truck stopped firing,” Hans made an observation while watching the vehicle through the scope on his AUG. Fritz questioned, “Are they out of ammo?” Hans replied, “I don’t know. They could be. I think we should go and do it now.” Hans looked to the right, and he could see that practically all of the NSS soldiers had now been eliminated. It would be a pyrrhic victory for whomever was the last one standing. Hans did not want to waste anymore time, “Come on let’s go now.” Fritz stood up, but he left his MG 74 sitting on the ground. He held the explosive charge in his right hand, and he had the detonator in his other hand. Hans did not bother to ask why Fritz was no longer holding his MG.
Hans looked to Fritz, and Fritz nodded to communicate that he was ready. Hans waited for a moment, “OK. GO!” Hans and Fritz started sprinting towards the armored Humvee. As they were running up to the truck, the last remaining NSS soldiers were now keeling over from their injuries. Hans and Fritz were lucky as they were not seen by the Daesh fighters that were in the Humvee. Fritz was the first one to reach the vehicle as he was no longer carrying a primary weapon. He looked at the explosive charge, but he did not know how to use it. Hans made his way right beside him. Fritz flipped a switch on the explosive, but he could not tell if he armed it or not.
The gunfire had now ceased, and the Daesh fighters in the Humvee were looking around to make sure that they had finally killed all of the other NSS members. Just then, they heard Hans and Fritz were outside of the truck. The men spoke in Arabic, but Hans and Fritz did not understand what they were saying. One militiaman peeked over the side of the truck, and he saw Hans staring back at him. The insurgent tried to shoot him with his AKM. However Hans was able to raise his AUG faster, and he was able to shoot the insurgent first. The dead Islamic State member fell backwards, and the rest of the men inside of the truck began to yell in Arabic. Fritz panicked as he saw three other Daesh members peek over the truck. He squeezed the detonator. Hans saw this and he exclaimed, “Fuck! No!” The large explosive detonated. The truck’s armor was torn apart from the homemade explosive, and so were the last two NSS members. The truck tipped over from the blast, and the force was great enough to capsize it. All of the men inside were dead. The explosion rattled the ground, and it was felt by the occupants of the hangar.
“This is it! Go!” Abu Ridhwan commanded Khattab when the explosion of the other remaining M1114 was heard. When the vehicle began accelerating towards the hangar, the men inside pulled the pins of their grenades, but they kept the fuse levers on. Abu Hajaar spoke aloud, “In the name of God…” The vehicle was gaining speed, and Khattab was aiming right for the hangar doors. Abu Ridhwan looked over the cabin of the truck, and he could see that the doors were slowly opening. He noticed and yelled, “Drive right into it! God is great!” It would now be less than ten seconds before the vehicle would enter the hangar. Abu Ridhwan yelled again, “Drop your grenades now!” The men inside of the truck let go of their grenades, and the fuse levers immediately popped off of the grenades, making them live. The vehicle crew began to collectively scream their last words, “GOD IS GREAT! GOD IS GREAT! GOD IS GREAT!”
Johnny was the first to notice the M1114 that was driving straight to him, “HOLY SHIT!” He was in shock, and he did not immediately start to run away. He was in disbelief as Golf 2 and Golf 3 seemingly were letting the suicide bombers drive right into the hangar. He took one last look at Tom, and he saw that he was laughing from hearing the Arabic chants. Johnny finally came to his senses and he began to run away, “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” The vehicle briefly entered the hangar before detonating. The great explosion threw Johnny off of his feet, and the helmet that he was wearing fell off of his head. He also dropped his weapon as he flew through the air. Shrapnel from the vehicle flew in all directions, and the immediate blast killed the rest of Johnny’s fireteam. The shrapnel from the vehicle’s explosion went right through Johnny’s body. When he landed on the ground, he was dead. A pool of blood began to form from his body from where the shrapnel hit him. The front doors of the hangar had been blasted open, and the surrounding walls were now in shambles from the blast. Everything was now quiet. Nobody was left alive to fight. The airport was conquered by nobody. Only smoke filled the air now, for there was no more gunfire to be heard.
“It sure is quiet now,” Arcades commented as the squad continued down the street. Jason added his own input, “I haven’t heard anything for about ten minutes. The last thing I heard was a big explosion.” The fox looked around the sky, but he could only see smoke in the sky and no more tracer rounds. Arcades continued, “Yeah, the last thing I heard was an explosion that sounded like it came from the airstrip that we’re heading to. Other than that -- that’s about it.” As the group turned another corner, several bodies littered the road. The bodies belonged to all three factions. Arcades examined the fallen NSS member. He looked around at the shell casings that were surrounding the body, and his attention was then brought to the empty AUG magazine. The AUG itself was still attached to the body via the sling.
Jason was looking at the fallen CDI members, “Looks like they had a firefight here.” The fox rose back up, and he turned his attention to the fallen Islamic State members before looking at Jason, “Yeah. Indeed, a three way battle by the way it seems.” Arcades adjusted his eyewear before he noticed a deceased NSS member that was wearing different patches than the rest of the members that he’s seen. The fox pointed towards the corpse, “Hey. Look at that. He’s got a different patch.” Bocchino was confused, “What are you talking about?” Arcades moved towards the corpse, “Out of all of the NSS members that I’ve seen, I never did see one with that patch.” Bocchino shrugged, “What’s so special about it?” Arcades was standing right in front of the corpse, “That emblem reminds me of the old Waffen-SS officer insignia, but I’m not too sure.” Bocchino shook his head, “So? He probably tells the other guys what to do.”
Arcades knelt down in front of the body, and he visually examined it, “I want to know why the NSS is here. Maybe this guy has something on him that can tell us why they’re here.” The rest of the squad did not follow the fox to the corpse. They stood around and they were waiting for potential hostiles to show back up. While Arcades searched the body, Jason looked up at the war-torn buildings. He then looked down at a few of the bodies. He closed his eyes when the bodies reminded him of his brother. He still could not forget that night. Bocchino looked through the sight of his SCAR-H, and he looked around for something that he could shoot. However, there was nothing new for him to shoot as the environment was still completely silent.
Arcades broke the silence, �
�Hey, I got something.” Bocchino turned around to look at Arcades, but he could only see the fox from behind, “What is it?” The cat asked, and the fox turned back around. Arcades was holding a small metal emblem. The emblem was blue and yellow with a large yellow omega symbol in the middle. Words on the emblem read The Omega Foundation. Jason was the first to speak the text aloud, “The Omega Foundation? What?” Arcades turned the emblem back to face him, and he looked at it some more. The fox stood up and said, “Yeah... You know, it’s actually very interesting. A while back, I saw some internet conspiracy theories about the Omega Foundation.” Jason was curious, “Really? What type of theories, Kurt?” The fox answered his question, “There was one where the Omega Foundation was allegedly kidnapping anthros.” Jason had another question, “Why would they do that?” Arcades shook his head, “Those theories say that they do rituals on them. However, I cannot confirm nor deny that.”
The cat was becoming impatient, “Kurt, that’s a load of shit.” Arcades raised his eyebrows, “Come on, Bobby. It is pretty weird that we found this emblem on that NSS officer.” One of the human operatives spoke up, “They have a chain of command. Think about that.” Arcades nodded, “Yeah. They are very organized. They have their own uniform, their own equipment, their own chain of command, and even their own means of getting here.” Bocchino was still skeptical, “Why would a scientific research foundation create a group of Neo-Nazis to do their bidding?” Arcades took another look at the emblem before responding, “Maybe it is a way for them to have an excuse to have missing anthros-” Bocchino cut the fox off, “Dammit Kurt. You and your fucking conspiracy theories. You buy into way too much shit you see on the internet.” The fox shook his head, “You saw that train car we got into! You saw all that stuff in there!”
Bocchino was skeptical again, “That doesn't prove jack shit.” Arcades slid the emblem into his pocket before continuing, “Why else would they be all bound up like that in there?” Jason stayed out of the argument, and so did the rest of the squad. They watched the two anthros go back and forth. Bocchino argued more, “Kurt, they’re fucking Nazis! They’re obviously being taken to a damn concentration camp.” Arcades had an objection, “If they’re being taken to a concentration camp, then why did some of them talk about foxes being special? Why would they restrain them more than the rest of the anthros on the train?” Bocchino pulled the goggles off of his eyes, “I don’t fucking know, dammit! What I do know is that there is no way in shit that Omega would be masterminding this all.” Arcades remembered the internet article that he found after the Berlin operation, “Wait, do you know who bought this stuff? The UCP uniforms and the Austrian weapons? The Omega Foundation did.” Bocchino was feeling frustrated, “Fuck that! Everyone in the US had that camouflage back in the early 2000s.” Arcades’ voice was beginning to sound different, “How is it supposed to end up here? They all have it!” Bocchino shook his head violently, “I’m fucking done. You’re full of shit, Kurt.”
The cat started to walk away as he muttered under his breath, “These damned fucking foxes…” Arcades was not finished, “Hey, what made you so mad anyways?” Bocchino stopped before turning halfway to face the fox, “You and your shitty conspiracy theories. All of those are just for tin-foil hat wearing paranoid bitches like yourself.” Arcades was confused, “What?” Bocchino only turned back away from Arcades, and he did not answer him anymore. He walked into the remains of one of the buildings, and he leaned against the wall while he took a bit to cool off. The fox turned towards the rest of the squad. They did not say anything.
Jason approached the fox, “What was that all about, mate?” Arcades still had a confused look on his face, “I guess he just got started. I dunno what made him so mad.” The wolf looked towards the building Bocchino was inside of, and he spoke to the fox, “I believe you mate. If that makes you feel any better.” Arcades shook his head, “My feelings are the least of my worries. I want to know what made him so mad.” The wolf attempted to shift the fox’s focus back, “I saw it for myself. When they knocked you out. I do believe that the NSS is a front for something bigger. Remember how they backed off right when we took the train station?”
Jason’s attempt was successful, as the fox’s mind was brought back to the situation, “Oh that’s right. You did hear them talk about how foxes are desired by them. I also find it really weird how they showed up in Syria of all places. They seem to have disappeared from Europe entirely after we drove them out of Berlin.” Jason reminded Arcades of something else, “We didn’t drive them out of Berlin. They retreated after we took the train station. I’m with you, mate. There’s something else going on here.” The fox gave a small smile, “I’m glad to hear that you agree with me and all. Man, I want to know what really happened. I want to know how the NSS was able to organize and how they were able to come all out of nowhere.” Jason made a suggestion, “How about when we get back, we can research more into the Omega Foundation for ourselves? Maybe we can find something that gives us our answers.” Arcades scratched his face, “Man, I don’t even know where they’re located. They’re so secret. It’s like their own little Bohemian Grove. Who knows what they do behind their closed doors?”
Jason considered what Arcades had said, “Is that why I never heard of the Omega Foundation before? How does he know, then?” Arcades frowned a bit, “I voiced my concerns about the Foundation to him before. Whenever there’s some secret society like Omega, I always get suspicious.” Jason grabbed the fox’s shoulder, “We could be on the verge of a major breakthrough, mate. We might be able to find out the truth about the Foundation. After all, you did show me that article about how Omega seemingly bought exactly the same equipment that the NSS is using.” Arcades thought more about the Berlin mission, “Come to think of it, the NSS were all hiding in warehouses. What if they were all owned by Omega fronts?” Jason shrugged, “How many fronts do they have?” Arcades answered, “I’m not entirely sure. I’m going to have to gather more evidence first. However, the evidence that we have now gives me reasonable suspicion.” Jason chuckled, “You’re not a cop, mate.” Arcades smiled, “Heh. I know. Just a little term that I picked up.” Jason asked, “Didn’t you tell me that you used to watch a bunch of police videos on the internet a long time ago?” The fox nodded, “I sure did. Those were some of the most interesting videos that I used to watch on the internet. They’re pretty educational if you ask me.”
Jason immediately thought of another question, “Is that where you developed your interest for handcuffs?” Arcades immediately began to sweat, and he exhaled quicker than he normally did, “No, no… That happened before.” Jason followed up that question with another one, “Are you still gonna let me cuff you when we get back?” Arcades looked at the human operatives through his sunglasses, as he did not want Jason to know that he was making sure that none of them were trying to listen. The fox nodded, “Yes. You can still do that. I don’t mind.” Jason grinned, “Good. That’s very great. Hey, when did you get interested in that in the first place?” Arcades spoke quietly, “Can we talk about that later? I don’t really need them to hear all of that. You know how Johnny was. That’s why I don’t really like letting too many people know. They probably won’t understand either.” Jason realized what the fox was telling him, “Oh, I’m sorry, mate.” Arcades gave a small smile in return, “Don’t be. You’re not doing anything wrong. I just don’t want someone else to uh… Do that again to me.” Jason realized that Arcades was referencing what had happened back in Hong Kong.
Silence filled the air again, but it was broken again by the fox, “Well, we should probably get going. We need to see what happened to the airfield. That is our only way out of here.” Jason silently nodded, and he began to follow Arcades after he started proceeding in the direction of the airfield once more. Bocchino had now calmed down, and he emerged from the building to follow his boss. The human operatives began to follow as well. The squad walked past many more bodies and even a couple destroyed Daesh vehicles. T
hey did not stop to inspect the bodies, as it would take too much time to gather intel off of them. While most of the bodies were the corpses of Daesh militiamen, a few were CDI. Arcades eventually made a comment, “I’m sick of seeing all of these bodies. It’s very sad to see all of this.” Nobody else had anything else to say.
The squad eventually made their way to where the airfield was. Arcades looked through the fence that separated them from the airport, “Lots of smoke coming from that hangar over there. I can see a couple disabled vehicles nearby, too.” Bocchino pointed to the part of the fence that was broken by the vehicles, “Come on, let’s go over there. There’s a big hole they punched through.” The cat began to move towards the hole in the fence, and the rest of the squad followed. The fox was the first to step over the broken fence, and he was trying not to step on anything sharp that was on the ground. He especially did not want to step on barbed wire. The squad entered the quiet airfield, and Arcades could see the bodies of Daesh and NSS members scattered about the tarmac. Jason asked, “What happened to CDI? We saw a lot of ‘em in the city, but they ain’t here anymore.”
“I think that’s all of the CDI guys. The rest must have gotten killed by Daesh or the NSS,” Arcades said as he answered the wolf’s question. Jason raised his rifle as he looked up and down the airfield, but he lowered it after he noticed that Arcades had not raised his rifle. In fact, Arcades was not even holding the pistol grip of his HK433, as he was only holding it by the foregrip with his left hand. The fox looked up from the ground, and he could see a clear view of a hangar that looked as if it was damaged by an explosion. He pointed at the hangar, “Let’s split up. Three of us go to that hangar to see what happened. The rest of you guys search the ATC tower and the other buildings. Maybe we can find a way to call in for exfil. There ain’t nothing here so far.” The humans split up, and this left the three anthros. The human operatives began heading towards the building next to the ATC tower, but Arcades, Jason, and Bocchino were going towards the hangar.
