Fallen World: The Complete Trilogy

by Tom Jones

  “Bloody hell! We’re under terrorist attack, open fi--” the CDI soldier was cut off in the middle of his sentence by an anthro who had just shot him with an MP5 PDW. A second guard emerged from a different room with his SA80 already raised, but he was shot down just like his colleague. The two anthros needed to make their way up the building and eliminate all CDI personnel they could find. They were also going to link up with the four anthros that had been deployed to the conference room. In addition, they would have support from the human sniper and the AH-6 Little Bird that was currently circling the building.

  The anthro AH-6 pilot held the stick carefully as he was scanning the windows for CDI personnel. He held the trigger down in a few areas, but he was trying to conserve the weapon’s munitions. The pilot was waiting for the ground team to clear the lower floors before he would launch rockets at the building itself. The plan was to get Arcades to retreat to a floor in the building, and they would abduct him using the helicopter. The pilot noticed the HH-60 on the roof, but he did not know that it was Arcades’ helicopter. They assumed that he had entered the building from the ground, and they were trying to surround him from the upper and lower floors to bring him to surrender. However, they were not expecting the fox to be ascending the floors yet.

  “Stingray, be advised, I have a hostile AH-6 Little Bird circling the building. Over.” A CDI EF-2000 Typhoon flew by the buildings while turning to watch the Little Bird as it shot up the building. The airborne early warning & control craft replied, “Roger Cobra 3. You are cleared to engage the Little Bird. Over.” The pilot disabled the safety on his aircraft’s weapon systems, “Affirmative Stingray.” The pilot slowed his speed, and he was trying to figure out the best way to bring down the Little Bird without causing too much collateral damage. If a missile was used, then he would run the risk of the Little Bird evading the homing system, and this would cause the missile to detonate in the building or somewhere else. Using the aircraft’s main gun was another option, but the pilot was not sure how many people below could be caught in the crossfire. Since the AEW&C had given him permission to attack the helicopter, the pilot felt that the circumstances might be more important than collateral damage.

  “Crikey, that’s a jet!” Jason yelled as the Typhoon roared past the building. Arcades recognized the shape of the aircraft, “That’s a Eurofighter Typhoon. It looks like it’s one of CDI’s aircraft. The Royal Air Force doesn’t paint them in tan.” The last three Fox Security members were now on the roof of the building, and they were climbing up to the helipad. Though taking the elevator would have been much easier, it would carry a significant amount of risk. Arcades opened the door of the HH-60, and he climbed onto the pilot seat, “Gonna take about three minutes to get this thing going. Bear with me, guys.” The fox began the ignition sequence for the helicopter. Arcades put his pilot helmet on, and he flipped the visor down. He did not want to have dust and debris blowing in his eyes. Letting the engine start up, Arcades hopped out of the helicopter to do a quick pre-flight check. It would be greatly abridged though.

  “Oh fuck look out! Rockets!” One CDI member yelled as he saw the AH-6 launch several missiles from the rocket pods. Mantling over a desk in order to avoid the rockets, the soldier watched as the rockets impacted the back wall, and a fire began to start. The soldier ignored the fire, and he tried to shoot down the helicopter himself using his SA80. However, the helicopter had already increased throttle, and the Little Bird was out of the soldier’s line of sight. The soldier knew he could not stay here, as the floor could be completely engulfed in flames within a few minutes. He stood up, but he saw a few figures running through the smoke. The human soldier aimed at the smoke, and the second he saw two anthros emerging from the smoke, he pulled the trigger.

  The two anthros collapsed almost immediately, and their MP5s dropped to the ground directly in front of them. The CDI soldier looked down at them, and he could see blood spilling out from them. However, he noticed a few wires that seemed to be running to their chest area and into their pants’ pockets. The human’s eyes immediately widened upon realizing that the anthros were set to explode once killed. “OH FUCK! DAMMIT!” He turned around to start running, but it was already too late. The explosives detonated, and the man caught shrapnel from the blast, killing him.

  The Little Bird pilot was the first to see the explosion, and this signaled to him that the ground team had already been killed by CDI. The pilot lessened the throttle, and he sighted in the floor that the ground team had been eliminated on. The pilot held the trigger, and he began launching rockets at the building. The pilot then heard warning alarms sound in the aircraft, and he noticed that a missile had been fired right at him. Before the pilot had a chance to deploy countermeasures, the missile impacted directly on the starboard side of the aircraft. The aircraft’s engines exploded in the middle of the air, and the pilot made a last-ditch effort to empty the Little Bird’s armaments and crash into the building. Rockets began impacting on the lower floors, and the helicopter was now ever so close to impacting the building.

  “Get the fuck out of the way! Move! Move!” Several CDI soldiers began running to avoid the Little Bird that was about to crash into their floor. The rotors shattered the rest of the unbroken glass almost instantly as the tail of the aircraft bent as it collided with the building, and the helicopter still was moving fast enough to break part of the walls as it entered the building. However, it did not get far. The CDI members managed to avoid the helicopter crashing into them, but they were not sure if there were any other anthros in the building. One of the soldiers noticed a fire was starting and said, “We can’t stay here for too much longer. That fire’s going to get to us if we don’t move!” The CDI members began to egress from the area.

  Arcades stepped back in the helicopter’s pilot seat, and he turned around to look at Jason and Bocchino, “Alright, we’re good to go. Hold on to something, I’m gonna pull out fast!” The fox had both heard and felt the AH-6 crash into the building. He looked in the sky, and he was now able to see four EF-2000s flying around the building. Arcades felt that he was going to be the next one to be targeted by the fighter jets. The fox decided it was time to put his piloting skills to the test. The fox began by adding throttle to the helicopter. He spoke again to his company as he gained altitude, “Close those doors. I don’t need you guys falling out now.” Jason and Bocchino each closed one of the side doors of the HH-60 before sitting back down.

  “Stingray this is Cobra 2, I have visual contact with an S-70 that’s taking off from the roof of the building. Over.” The AEW&C replied, “Copy Cobra 2. Standby for engagement orders. Do not fire on the S-70 at this time. Over.” The pilot acknowledged and began tracking the helicopter on radar. The Typhoons split off into two groups of two. Cobra 1 and Cobra 2 began following Arcades while Cobra 3 and Cobra 4 remained near the building in order to make sure that no other aircraft would enter their airspace. The AEW&C began speaking again, “Attention Cobra Squadron. This is Stingray, the helicopter is unarmed, so let the S-70 go. Maintain air superiority above the building's airspace until the situation is under control. Over.” Cobra 1 spoke, “Affirmative Stingray.” The pilot changed channels to speak to the other pilots, “Disengage from the helicopter and maintain air superiority. Over.” Cobra 3 and Cobra 4 split off from the helicopter, and they went to return back to the building.

  The cat was looking out the window as he saw the two Typhoons disengage, “They’re bugging off. Why didn’t they fire on us?” Arcades looked at a rear view mirror, and he saw that the jets were indeed breaking off. The fox toggled the safety on his flares, and he lifted up his visor as he sighed in relief, “Phew, that’s good. There would be no way I would be able to shake a couple Typhoons. They probably told the pilots that we’re the guys who landed there earlier.” Jason asked the fox a question, “Kurt, do you think CDI thinks that we set this all up?” Arcades shook his head, “No, otherwise they would have shot us down.” Bocchino stood up from his seat
as he looked out the window. He noticed that the flight was approaching the water. The cat asked, “Kurt, where the hell are you taking us?” Arcades displayed a small smile on his face, “Trust me Bobby, I know a place. You’ll see when we get there.” Bocchino decided to trust the fox.

  “Command, the Little Bird is down. One of the CDI jets took it out. I saw the explosions from our ground unit. Over,” the sniper spoke as he was watching the smoke and fire rise from the heavily damaged building. The Omega radio operator replied, “Copy. Any visual on Hofmeier? Over.” The sniper looked through his rangefinder at windows that were not filled with smoke, “Negative. I never saw him leave. I think he’s been killed. Over.” From the sniper’s vantage point, he was unable to see the HH-60 takeoff. He also did not see the helicopter fly away due to the building obstructing the view from the other side, for Arcades had flown to the southeast. The radio operator spoke again, “Copy. This mission is over. I’m terminating the fireteam the helicopter deployed. Exit the building, and we’ll have your exfiltration waiting at the original rendezvous point. Out.”

  The anthros that the helicopter had dropped off were just about to make their way down another floor when they simultaneously exploded at the same time. They had been rigged with remote explosives much like the other anthros had been. The four explosions knocked down a good chunk of walls on the floor and had started a fire thanks to the incendiary devices that the anthros had also been rigged with. Omega decided that they would just let Arcades burn to death in the building. Though it would not be the fox that would burn in the building, as instead many CDI personnel were still trapped on the floors that were set apart thanks to the fires that had been started.

  “Shit!” The laptop man stood up from where he was sitting. The camouflaged man was listening the whole time, “Sounds like Kurt Hofmeier is going to burn there, huh?” The laptop man nodded, “Yeah. It fucking sucks because that was a huge missed opportunity. If we captured him, and we broke him down enough, we could have sold him for hundreds of millions I bet.” The camouflaged man shrugged, “Looks like we better just let this one go. He didn’t have a chance to upload the evidence at CDI’s, right?” The laptop man remembered that there were still Omega personnel masquerading as CDI personnel in the building. He remembered that he had detonated the fireteam before the Omega personnel were able to exit the building. He had just trapped them in a burning building.

  “Fuck, I detonated the drones before our guys were able to get out!” The camouflaged man shook his head, “Oh well… Humans aren’t worth much more than anthros anyways, at least as far as usefulness goes.” The laptop man sat back down at his computer, “I suppose so. Let’s count our losses. We lost one AH-6 Little Bird, about a dozen of our own people, and nine anthros.” The camouflaged man remembered one thing, “Hey, at least Kurt Hofmeier is dead now. We don’t have to worry about him mirroring the evidence anymore than he already has. Besides, our cyber team has been able to delete most of it. Right?” The laptop man replied, “Yeah, I guess we sort of did accomplish our goal. We shut that fucking fox up. CDI won’t be able to trace this back to us. They’ll think that it was an anthro terrorist attack, and that’s exactly what we made this look like.”

  The camouflaged man nodded, “See, then it ain’t so bad after all. Besides, weren’t those nine anthros all impure mixed breeds anyways?” The laptop man nodded, “Yeah, but the conditioning still doesn't come cheap. We could have sold them for at least $900,000 each.” The camouflaged man noticed a stark difference between the value for black foxes and other anthro races, “Why are they so willing to pay so much for foxes again?” The laptop man answered the question, “Mainly because the financial elite view foxes as being a pure race that they can sacrifice to Lucifer. Gives them the most power from the sacrifice.” The camouflaged man nodded, “How many of the foxes actually are used for servitude and sexual slavery?” The laptop man tried to remember what the numbers were. He spoke, “Probably one out of four foxes are used for rituals. Black ones are just so exceedingly rare nowadays. We’ve been trying to breed some of them here, but that’s not really working out so well. They just come out as regular red foxes. However, we are still breeding them to keep a supply of foxes for the elite to have.” The camouflaged man decided he should remind his colleague that he did not give the other mission the order to begin Phase Two, “Alright… How about the two squads that are at Fox Security? Did you ever give them clearance for Phase Two?” The laptop man shook his head, “Oh shit. I should go and do that.” He opened up the other channel on his computer communication program.

  “Gamma and Beta, you are cleared to begin Phase Two of the operation. Exfil is now dispatched, and they are enroute to your location. Over.” Gamma’s squad leader replied, “Affirmative. Beginning Phase Two. Out.” The operatives began unpacking their explosives, and they began setting them up around the base. Since Fox Security did not have a large building, it did not take long for the operatives to set up all of the explosives around the base. Gamma and Beta had the place ready to detonate in less than ten minutes. Once they had confirmed that they had placed enough explosives and incendiary devices to completely obliterate the place, they all exited from the base, and they waited for the Stealth Hawks to come by and pick them up. Less than ten minutes later, the helicopters had arrived, and the two squads boarded the helicopters. Once the squads were a decent distance away from the base, the base was detonated. Fox Security exploded and quickly burned to the ground. Saint Arcades was now a dead fox walking.

  Chapter 13

  The Principality of Sealand

  “We’re over the damn water. Where the fuck are we supposed to be going, Kurt?” Bocchino asked impatiently. Arcades replied to the cat, “I’m almost there. Just be patient with me, please.” Jason was just sitting and watching the fox and the cat. The wolf decided that he would trust the fox and believe that he knew where he was taking them. Arcades could see a Maunsell Fort coming in view over the horizon. The fox adjusted his current heading, and he began his descent on the fort. He knew where he was going.

  “Alright guys. I have an idea of what to do. You’ll understand when we get there. First of all, let me handle this. I can solve this peacefully, alright?” Arcades spoke to the two anthros. Bocchino was not sure what the fox was talking about, “The fuck you mean, man? And what is that place that you’re flying to? Is that some kind of water rig?” The fox shook his head, “No, that’s a World War II British Navy Fort. It was made to stop German submarines from entering Great Britain. It was put out of service after the war, but then… You’ll soon find out for yourself.”

  Jason stood up, and he looked out the cockpit window. The wolf squinted, and he could see a flag with three diagonal stripes colored in red, white, and black. Jason asked, “Kurt, what’s that flag supposed to mean?” Arcades replied, “It’s the flag of the Principality of Sealand.” Bocchino raised an eyebrow, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Arcades elaborated, “A few British guys took the decommissioned fort over, and they declared that fort as their own micronation. I’m going there because it might be our only option at this point.”

  “The hell you are! Why are you taking us to that fort?” Bocchino was still impatient with the fox. Arcades replied, “Ever hear of HavenCo? That’s a data haven that used to operate out of Sealand. It was shut down, but they opened it back up in 2024. I think I may know the best way to get the evidence out to as many people as possible.” The cat was not convinced, “Kurt, I think you’re fucking insane!” Arcades spoke once more, “Would you rather have me take us back to CDI? Omega tried to kill us then and there. It’s not safe anywhere. We have to find a place to regroup first before we can even think about taking them down.” Bocchini sighed loudly, and he was just about done talking to the fox for now. The cat retreated back to the main troop-carrying compartment of the helicopter. Jason, on the other hand, walked up to Arcades from behind.

  “Kurt, why did you tell us to let you do the talking
?” Jason asked the fox. Arcades was now closing in on the fort, “They’re not too fond of people just randomly landing a helicopter on their fort.” Jason did not say anything after that. Arcades decided to speak again, “Look, Jason. All you need to do is just don’t act hostile. I promise you, I can sort this out.” The wolf had a question, “How many people are on there, Kurt?” Arcades tried to remember the population, “I think around five at the most? I could be wrong though. I don’t think they live there twenty-four seven, but I’m expecting the worst case scenario.” The wolf was done asking questions, and he could see that the fox was now preparing to land on the helipad.

  The fox hovered right over the helipad, and he began steadily dropping the throttle while making sure that he was controlling the yaw, pitch, and roll correctly. He did not want to lose his helicopter in the middle of the sea, for it was his only helicopter. The fox could feel that the helicopter landed on the helipad, and he began the process of shutting off the engine. Arcades took a look at the fuel gauge, and the fox realized that the helicopter’s tank was now running low and was almost into the reserve tanks. The fox removed his pilot helmet, and he sat it on the seat beside him. He also removed his gloves. Arcades looked at Jason and Bocchino, “You guys are unarmed, right?” Both of them nodded.

  Arcades was feeling nervous as he unbuckled his seatbelt, and he moved to the helicopter doors. He watched his tail to make sure that it did not get stuck and tangled on the helicopter’s seatbelts. Arcades took a deep breath before opening the helicopter’s doors. Immediately, he was greeted by a human wielding a Remington 870 Tac-14. The human shouted, “Hey, what the fuck are you doing here, you fucking anthros?!” The fox put his hands up, and he said, “I’m Kurt Hofmeier, and these are my colleagues. We are seeking refuge here from the Omega Foundation.” The human was not impressed, “Oh yeah? Like I would trust a damn fox. You pieces of shit lie all the time!” This was nothing new for Arcades to hear.