by Tom Jones
The pilot looked at the fox, “You’re not going to kill me?” The fox frowned and shook his head, “No. I will not.” The pilot took a good look at the fox, but Arcades did not notice this as the pilot was wearing a tinted visor attached to his helmet. The pilot spoke, “Hey, you’re that one fox. Kurt Hofmeier. Right?” Arcades raised an eyebrow, “Yes. That’s me. You probably heard whoever that one guy was say it.” The pilot continued speaking, “Actually I did not first hear your name there.” Arcades was curious, “What do you mean?” The pilot spoke, “You’re a pretty big celebrity here at Facility Five. The Site Director has been looking for you. That was the guy who fell out last after screaming at you.” Arcades shook his head, “I’m just one fox.”
The pilot remembered what took place only a few days ago, “When you first broke in here, I was the one who flew the helicopter to come and look for you. Do you remember seeing me, Kurt?” Arcades could not believe this conversation that they were having. Mere minutes ago, all hell's breaking loose in the helicopter. Now, the fox was having a discussion with an Omega Foundation pilot. The fox decided to answer the question, “I remember seeing you on my way out. I think I even had you on video.” The pilot nodded, “Yes, that’s right. I’ve seen the leaks too. You know, those two guys have been trying to remove those off of the internet with all of their might.” The fox looked up at the pilot as he continued flying, “Oh is that right? Well, I guess they really don’t want that stuff out there on the internet.”
The pilot chuckled in response, “Heh, that’s right. You get to go down in history as the fox who rescued a couple thousand mindless anthros.” Arcades questioned the way the human described the anthros, “Mindless anthros?” The pilot spoke again, “Yes. The Omega Foundation breaks them down physically and mentally until they get to a point where they are literally able to do anything that we ask them. And I mean anything.” The fox remembered Cipher and Pixy, “Gosh… I know what you mean. Man… That’s exceedingly evil.” The pilot broke some news to the fox, “By the way, the Site Director thought you were dead. They staged that whole attack at CDI’s UK headquarters to capture you. You know, a black and white fox like you is worth a boatload of money.”
“Boatload of money?” Arcades was not entirely sure what the human was speaking about. The pilot replied, “That’s right. They wanted to break you down physically and mentally just like they did with all of the other anthros. You look like a purebred fox too, and that’s mighty uncommon, my guy. Especially with that rare color pattern of yours. You’d sell for hundreds of millions.” Arcades only frowned, “I can’t believe I live in a world where anthros are made into sex slaves to be sold. You guys sell us anthros to humans or something?” The pilot shrugged, “Yes, humans. However, I don’t get to know them specifically.” Arcades looked at his hands, and they were still pretty clean. He did not get too much blood on his fur, even though none of it was his blood.
“Look, Kurt. I don’t want to be a part of the Omega Foundation anymore. I’m willing to take you wherever you need to go. I can give you secrets about the Foundation and any information that you want to know. This job was not like I thought it would be.” Arcades was surprised that the human was telling him this, “Are you for real?” The human replied, “I know you’re a fox, so you’re pretty used to lying. I want to make sure that you know that I am not a fox like you.” Arcades did not appreciate this expression, but he ignored it, “A-Alright… Can you answer something for me real quick?” The pilot asked, “What’s that?” The fox replied, “Were you the pilot that flew during Hong Kong? Also, were you the pilot that flew in Denver earlier this week?”
The pilot flipped up his visor and looked at the fox face to face, “That’s something. Looks like you and I have bumped into each other several times before. I was flying during both of those missions.” Arcades nodded slowly, “Gosh. I guess it is a small world…” The pilot chuckled, “Heh, you’re quite the operator yourself, aren’t you?” Arcades shook his head, “Uh… I’ve never been formally trained. I did everything all by myself.” The pilot raised his eyebrows, “Really? Well… You definitely are something, aren’t you?” The fox shrugged, “I suppose so... Hey, also. Do you know what happened to my base?” The pilot replied, “Aren’t you Fox Security?” Arcades hesitated for a split second before answering, “Yes, but no. I was the owner before it disbanded.” The pilot slowly nodded, “Disbanded? When did that happen.”
Arcades recalled the memory when forty of his employees decided to call it quits, “They all left. I knew that we weren’t safe, so I wanted to get everyone out. Did you guys ever attack my base?” The pilot remembered flying to Arcades’ base, “That was your place? I’m sorry…” Arcades raised his eyebrows, “Really? What happened?” The pilot spoke about the mission, “I flew them in. They were looking for you. This must’ve happened after you left to go to Europe, right? Otherwise they would have caught you there.” Arcades’ question was unanswered, “What happened to my base?” The pilot finally answered the question, “They destroyed it. I can take you there if you want. I still know where it is, and it’s kinda on the same heading that we’re currently going on now.” Arcades decided that he wanted to see his old home, “Yes. Take me there. I want to see it for myself.” The pilot replied, “Alright, Kurt. It’s gonna take us about thirty or so minutes until we get there, though. I guess all we can really do is talk until then.”
As the fox and the Omega pilot continued talking, the conversation eventually turned back to what Arcades had been doing back at Facility Five, “Yeah. I didn’t really know what I could do by myself. All of the anthros in there looked to be pretty far into the brainwashing or whatever it is you guys call it. When I got compromised, I eventually just decided that I would cause as much damage as possible until I was captured or killed.” The pilot was mildly surprised to hear this, “You came alone? Then how did CDI show up?” This was news to the fox, “CDI? They ended up coming here?” The pilot nodded, “That’s right. One of their helicopters is following us right now, as well.” Arcades looked at the rear view mirror, and he could indeed see a tan Mil Mi-18 Hip following the Stealth Hawk.
“Well, I guess that’s right. That Hip definitely belongs to CDI,” Arcades spoke as he recognized the color scheme of the helicopter. The pilot said, “What happened at Ipswich? You had Omega pretty convinced that you died there.” Arcades answered without giving too much information away, “I escaped via the helipad on the roof. I got up there before you guys could reach me. I then met back up with CDI later that night, and I tried to convince them that Facility Five was real.” The pilot then said, “Well, whatever you said must’ve worked then. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have come here.” Arcades was confused, “Wait… They never believed me. I came here by myself because of that.” The pilot responded, “Then something must’ve happened because they surely would not stumble upon this place with a Super Hind, a few Hips, and about a platoon or so of operators.”
Arcades was wondering why CDI decided to believe him now. The fox then looked out the window, and he could see that his base was now coming into view. The pilot spoke, “Looks like we’re just about here. I’ll put her down here. I guess this is where the flight ends, as I bet that CDI has been following us to see where we’re gonna go.” The fox could see that the Mi-18 was still following them. The pilot pulled the stick aft, and the helicopter slowed to a hover. Once this was achieved, the pilot began to balance the helicopter as he decreased the throttle in order to bring the helicopter to the ground. When the pilot was getting low to the ground, he deployed the retractable landing gear which the MH-60X had in order to decrease its profile.
The helicopter gently touched down on the ground, and the pilot disabled the engine. Arcades turned to the pilot and said, “Thank you.” The pilot gave a playful salute to the fox, “Hey, I’m happy to get out of the hellhole that is the Omega Foundation. That place was not worth working for at all. I don’t care how much they paid me to do it.” Arcades did n
ot say anything further, as he only stood up from where he was sitting. Ast the fox was getting up, the pilot noticed that Arcades was not wearing shoes. The pilot asked, “Hey Kurt. Why are you barefoot, anyways?” Arcades did not feel like answering that specific question, “Gosh, that is truly a long story. You’ll probably figure it out later.”
The fox grabbed the Ruger Redhawk that was on the seat before dropping it in his shorts pocket, to which the grip of the handgun was sticking out of his pocket. After stepping over more blood, the fox opened the helicopter’s door, and he stepped out. The fox looked at what was left of his base. He was glad that he was able to escape before the demise of the base. Arcades looked up and down the rubble of the building that he previously called his home. The fox’s sorrow was interrupted by the sound of a second helicopter that was approaching his position. When the helicopter arrived, it landed on the other side of the base. The side door of the Hip opened, and several humans from Castle Defense Industries stepped out. One man among the men stood out to the fox. Arcades now could recognize that the man he was seeing was not a human, but he was a cat. The cat was wearing a green uniform with tan equipment. The fox immediately recognized who the cat was.
The fox spoke, “Bobby. Is that you?” The cat stood in front of the fox, “Kurt. You are absolutely a fucking madman.” This remark immediately confirmed the cat’s identity to the fox. Arcades smiled as he was happy to see Bocchino again. The cat hugged the fox, and Arcades embraced the cat. The cat spoke, “You were right the entire time, Kurt. I’m sorry I treated you like shit earlier.” Arcades replied, “It’s alright. I forgive you. That’s what Jesus would want me to do anyways.” Bocchino finally finished hugging the fox, “You always find a way to bring Jesus into everything don’t you? You always seem to get a little preachy.” Arcades continued smiling as he spoke, “Hey, the Bible does say to go out into the world and preach the Word of God to all creation. You are part of that creation.”
Bocchino lightly hit the fox in the chest with the side of his fist, “You fucking bastard. I didn’t think you’d make it out of there after all of that.” Arcades shrugged, “And I did it all without hurting anybody.” Bocchino closed his eyes and shook his head, “I’m not too sure how you managed to do that. Actually, I don’t know how you keep fucking getting away with that. How the fuck can you do all of these missions and not hurt anybody?” Arcades replied, “The Bible says to be wise as a serpent, but to also be as harmless as a dove.” Bocchino shook his head while he smiled, “That’s Kurt Hofmeier for you…” The cat then looked around, but he was missing somebody. Bocchino then asked, “Hey, where’s Jason?” Arcades replied, “He’s still at Sealand.” The cat suddenly raised his eyebrows, “Are you kidding me? You tried taking on Omega all by yourself?” Arcades nodded.
“Dammit man! If I never convinced CDI to come and help you, then you wouldn’t have been able to do it.” Arcades now had his answer, “So, you ended up getting CDI to help after all? When did this happen?” Bocchino replied, “Well, after I cussed you out and left, I kinda felt like a massive dickhead for doing so. I went back to CDI that night, and I was able to tell them all about everything. I showed them the evidence that you had uploaded from Sealand. That ended up being enough for them to be willing to come and help out. Especially since Omega was responsible for that attack on their HQ in England.” Arcades nodded, “Alright, looks like I understand now. I’m really thankful that you did this, Bobby.”
Bocchino smiled back, “Yeah. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” The cat looked over at the Stealth Hawk, and he could see that the former Omega Foundation pilot was leaning up against the helicopter’s body, “Who the fuck is that?” Arcades replied, “You’ve seen him before, but you never met him. His name is Jim MacReady. He used to be a pilot for the Omega Foundation.” Bocchino shook his head in confusion, “Former pilot for Omega? Ain’t that one of their helicopters?” Arcades nodded, “Yes. That’s the helicopter that Omega used back in Denver. You also saw it during my first escape from the facility.” Bocchino looked closely at the human that was still wearing the pilot helmet, “Are you sure we can trust him?” Arcades replied, “He’s kinda all we have left now. Besides, he’s willing to tell us whatever we need to know about the Omega Foundation.”
Bocchino looked back at the fox, “Alright, Kurt. I guess I’ll take your word for now. Wow, I never thought that I would tell a fox that I would take his word for something.” Arcades was not amused, “That’s not funny, Bobby.” The cat responded, “Chill, Kurt. I’m just fucking with you. Anyways, I got you something.” The cat lifted up one of the velcro flaps on his uniform, and he removed a pair of ASP Ultra Hinged Handcuffs. Arcades recognized the distinct look of the restraints, “You got me a pair of ASPs?” The cat nodded, “Yeah, I guess that’s a way I can say that I’m sorry. You and Jason can use that for whatever it is you guys do.” Arcades briefly shook his head, “I’m not a homosexual, Bobby.” Bocchino nodded in response, “Yeah, sure. Just take these already.”
Arcades grabbed the restraints, and he inspected them in his hand. He was surprised by how light the handcuffs felt in his hand compared to the other brands that he had. The cuffs were entirely black except for the hinge that linked the two cuffs together. Arcades noticed this, “Looks like these are the aluminum ones. That’s why the bows are black.” Bocchino was not as familiar with the terminology, “Whatever you say, Kurt.” Arcades cycled the handcuffs a few times before pocketing them. He then asked the cat, “Say, what’s going to happen next, anyways?” Bocchino replied, “Well, CDI managed to secure the complex. They’re collecting all the anthros now. We’re going to take them somewhere, but we’re not sure yet. There’s a damn bunch of ‘em in there. They’ve got thousands of them that they’ve found already.”
Arcades was astonished by the sheer numbers, “Thousands of them? Gosh, that’s worse than I thought.” Bocchino nodded, “Yeppers. That’s only one facility too. I can’t imagine how the others are like.” Arcades shook his head, “I know. It’s really unfortunate. We can’t just sit and do nothing about it. Think about all of those other anthros that are trapped there.” Bocchino nodded and smiled, “Yep. I had a feeling you’d say something like that.” Arcades replied, “What do you mean?” Bocchino then responded, “You’re Kurt motherfucking absolute madman Hofmeier, that’s what I mean.” Arcades smiled. Though he did not enjoy being called by such names, he was glad to know that there were no hard feelings between him and Bocchino.
“Hey, Bobby. I just remembered something important.” The cat looked at the fox, “What’s that, Kurt?” The fox then spoke, “I need to let Jason know that the mission was a success.” The cat chuckled, “Heh, how do you want me to do that?” Arcades responded, “Do you have your phone with you?” Bocchino removed his phone from another pocket, “I sure do. What do you want to do?” Arcades suggested, “How about you take a picture with me. We can email it to Sealand. Jason ought to see it then.” Bocchino nodded slowly, “Alright, whatever you say, Kurt.” The cat opened his camera application, and he got himself and Arcades in the frame next to their destroyed base. The cat took the picture after both of the anthros managed to smile. The fox captioned the photo, “Mission Accomplished,” before sending it to Sealand’s email address that Arcades was able to provide to the cat.
“So Kurt, you stopped Omega, at least for now,” the cat spoke. Arcades smiled as he was glad the whole ordeal was now over. The fox then frowned and said, “Don’t forget that there are other Omega Foundation facilities out there. We are far from being done.” Bocchino shrugged, “Then I guess we have a lot of work to do still.” The fox smiled, “That’s right. I trust that we have a bunch of new people to help us as well?” Bocchino looked at the humans that the fox was mentioning, “It seems that way.” Arcades nodded after hearing the cat’s response. The cat asked the fox one last question, “So, what do you want to do now, Saint Arcades?” The fox looked at the place which he once called his home before looking at the St
ealth Hawk and the Hip. The fox then looked back at Bocchino. Saint Arcades finally smiled before he spoke, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And that is exactly what I plan on doing. Amen.”
Book Two
INVISIBLE WAR
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Ephesians 6:12
“But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
1 Timothy 6:11-12
“But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.”
1 Peter 3:14-16
Chapter 1
Return to Sealand
Inside of a World War II era Maunsell Fort sat a human at a computer desk. The man scrolled through the active window on his computer as he read the information displayed on his Dell monitor. The Prince of Sealand looked at the calendar-clock combination at the corner of his computer’s graphical interface. The Prince considered the amount of time that had passed since he had last seen Saint Arcades. The Prince wondered where the fox was and what he was doing, but he did not believe the fox had much of a chance anyways. The human wondered if the fox was able to complete the seemingly impossible mission that he left to undertake all by himself. The Prince remembered back to the footage he had seen previously when the fox first brought himself and his problems to the micronation. He understood the sheer risk of a task the fox left to undertake. Doubt remained in the Prince’s mind as he spoke his thoughts aloud.
