by Tom Jones
The operators all made sure that they were spaced far enough from each other to not be taken out by a single attack or explosive, but they were close enough to each other to know where everybody was at. This was further aided due to the fact that the squad members were all carrying infrared strobes on their equipment which were visible to their PSQ-36 goggles. Alpha 1 looked around the environment with his PSQ-36s in order to scan for any potential threats, but all he saw was the wooded area that he was walking into. Omega chose to construct Facility Five far enough from Salt Lake City so that nobody would become too suspicious, and they also built the compound within a wooded area in order to further mask their location.
After the seven operators continued through the wooded area, they finally saw Facility Five. Since Alpha-Omega had been to Facility Five before, they knew that they should not enter through the outside entrances, for those only led to the maze, a confusing labyrinth constructed to delay intruders from breaking in and anthros from breaking out. While CDI did enter through the maze during their raid, they were able to find their way through it within a few hours. The Omega operatives would not be reentering the complex, but they would be traveling past it in order to search for the anthros that CDI had rescued. Omega did not know where the anthros were being taken to, but they assumed that CDI would want to move them out of the complex as soon as they would be able to.
“This is Courier 1-Actual, returning to pick up the next group of anthros. ETA twenty minutes. What is your status? Over,” The driver of a CDI transport truck spoke. CDI was not expecting to have to move three thousand anthros from Facility Five in such short notice. A CDI member at the makeshift camp heard the radio sound, so he held his PTT button down to answer it, “Courier 1-Actual, this is Sentry 2, the next group is just about ready to get moving. See you in twenty minutes. Out.” Another human CDI member watched as his colleague answered the radio, and he decided to make a comment for himself, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like this before.” Sentry 2 directed his attention towards the other human and replied, “I don’t think anybody has.” The human shook his head, “No, I’m saying just look at these guys. They’re all wearing some sort of full latex bodysuit, and they don’t even act like people do.” Sentry 2 shrugged, “They are anthros. I wouldn’t really call them people. We humans aren’t like those guys.” Sentry 1 shook his head again, “That’s not what I was saying. I’m saying that they’re acting more like robots than people -- Regular anthros don’t act like that.” Sentry 2 had remembered from earlier when he looked over at a group of anthros which were standing perfectly straight and still while patiently waiting for several CDI operatives that were working to remove the collars that Omega had locked around their necks.
Sentry 2 spoke, “I guess you could say it is kinda odd how calm they are.” Sentry 1 replied with a question, “Did you hear about what the ground team saw when they came in?” Sentry 2 shook his head, “Nope. I didn’t even get here until a couple hours ago. I was kinda hoping to get an extra hour or two of sleep tonight, but I guess that’s not happening. Oh well…” Sentry 1 elaborated, “The ground team that flew in earlier today saw a bunch of dead anthros in there that were wearing the same ‘clothes’ as these are. They appeared to have been shot by those hostile units that the ground team took fire from.” Sentry 2 asked, “Who were those guys anyways?” Sentry 1 did not know himself, “There’s no telling. They wore uniforms like the NSS had when they attacked last week. They didn’t have the patches or emblems though, and they’re using some sort of weapon that we’ve currently been unable to identify. Nobody seems to know what it’s supposed to be. CDI’s collecting a few of them to send for examination.”
Alpha 1 spotted the light sources that CDI set up at their outpost. The operator gestured for his squad to assume a prone position to avoid detection by guards stationed nearby. Though Alpha 1 could not see any guards, he knew that the light post was not set up by Omega. Alpha 1 contacted the drone pilot, “Eagle, this is Alpha 1. We found a possible CDI outpost location. We need to know the location of the nearest CDI personnel. Over.” The pilot of Eagle flew the drone past the squad, and he began turning the General Atomics Avenger’s camera around to scan for CDI personnel, “Standby Alpha 1, we’re scanning the area.” The pilot cycled through the different types of camera modes that the drone was equipped with in order to find the best camera able to spot ground personnel under the low light conditions combined with the light emplacement placed outside.
The drone pilot eventually spotted what looked like a covered outpost that was off the side of a dirt road, “Spotted an outpost. Standby for sightlines.” The pilot lowered the UAV’s altitude as he attempted to get a better angle to look underneath the outpost’s covering. After using the UAV to fly at a rather unusual angle, the pilot was finally able to spot two men underneath the covering, “This is Eagle, we have eyes-on two armed CDI personnel underneath a covered outpost. They are approximately two hundred meters north-northeast of your location. Over.” Alpha 1 heard the transmission and replied to the pilot, “Solid copy. We’re still moving up, so you should keep watching them. Out.” Alpha 1 began to stand up, and the rest of the squad stood up as well. Even though the squad was spaced out approximately ten meters from each other, they were all able to hear each other thanks to the 3M PELTOR ComTac III headsets they wore underneath their Crye Precision AirFrame combat helmets. The popular 3M headset amplified ambient sound while blocking out deafening sounds such as gunshots and engine noises.
The group assumed a low profile, and they carefully watched the CDI outpost. They knew that taking the outpost would raise alarm and suspicion from nearby CDI patrols, so the group decided the best course of action would be to track the CDI transports to their destinations whilst maintaining their cover. Alpha 1 deployed the bipod he had mounted on his XMP-1, and the other members of the squad performed the same action. Though a bipod was not a common attachment for the XMP-1, it did assist the electronic components of the sight to calculate range, windage, and elevation more accurately. Alpha 1 spoke as he looked through the sight after toggling the scope’s IR compatible mode, “Stay low. We can’t take them out now. Let’s see where they’re taking the anthros, and then we’ll figure out something. This place is too wide open.” A few members of the squad disabled their NVGs, and they enabled the infrared option on their XMP-1 scope instead. Though the XMP-1’s scope already was able to be used with night vision goggles, some members prefered to not use both at the same time since eye relief while using the scope could become an issue.
“Attention, this is Courier 1-Actual. Next transport is arriving: ETA 5 minutes. Be ready to load up the next group of anthros. Out.” Sentry 2 looked at Sentry 1 when he heard the message come through the Code Red Headsets speaker connected to his L3Harris Falcon III radio. Sentry 2 approached Sentry 1 and said, “You hear that? The transport is coming in 5 minutes. We’d better get ready to let them go by.” Sentry 1 was looking over the hills, “I thought I heard something.” Sentry 2 looked towards the hill he saw Sentry 1 looking at, and he pulled out a flashlight clipped to his S&S Precision plate carrier. He switched on the Surefire E2D flashlight, and he aimed his light up at the hill. As he scanned the hill with the flashlight, he faintly noticed a pair of night vision goggles sticking up from the grass, but he blinked and squinted a few times while trying to make sure that his eyes were not playing tricks on him. When he tried to focus on the hill again, he could no longer see a pair of goggles sticking out from the grass. Sentry 1 tapped on his colleague’s shoulder, “That’s enough. It was probably some animal out there, anyways.” Sentry 2 made a joke, “You mean an anthro?” The two CDI operatives began to laugh.
“Alright, we’re good. NODs up,” Alpha 1 spoke as he pushed his night vision goggles above his eyes again. The operators had not enabled their night vision goggles. Rather, they had simply pulled them in front of their eyes until the flashlight was disabled. Their goggles would likely be rendered inoperable
for the time being had they been enabled since the analog input tubes would not be able to handle an extreme amount of visible light at once. As the group continued to watch the CDI operatives, they heard an update from Eagle, “Alpha-Omega, this is Eagle. We have spotted a military transport truck proceeding towards your location. Over.” Alpha 1 replied as he continued to watch the two CDI members, “Copy. We’ll tag it with a GPS device to see where it’s going. Out.” Sentry 1 could see the headlights of the truck through the trees now as he awaited the truck’s approach. Sentry 1 nodded to his colleague who moved out of the way of the road so he would not be struck by the truck. The two operatives waved as the truck drove past them, and they double-checked to be sure that the driver was indeed part of CDI. The driver returned the correct hand signal to the two men as he passed. Once the truck passed, the two operatives stood back on the road again. Sentry 1 spoke, “We’ll be out here all night at this rate. How many have been extracted so far?” Sentry 2 replied, “They can only fit 30 anthros on each truck. I’ve lost count of how many trucks have been by so far, but we’ve still got a long way to go.” Sentry 1 shook his head, “Damn… It sure is boring around here, that’s for sure.” Sentry 2 shrugged, “Meh, I’d rather be doing this than handling all of the anthros. I’d hate to have that job, and that’s for sure.”
“Fuck, this isn’t the right stop,” Alpha 1 grunted upon seeing the truck pass the checkpoint and continue driving. Alpha 2 replied, “We’ve gotta follow that truck. They’re probably holding all of the remaining anthros inside of Facility Five still. We could be able to snatch one of them up and bring ‘em back to Omega.” Alpha 1 laid in silence as he waited for the two CDI operatives to look away from where the squad was lying. After the two operators turned around and moved behind the command post since they were not expecting another truck for the time being, the squad of seven stood up; they proceeded towards the direction the truck was heading. As the group was moving through a wooded area, Alpha 1 made a suggestion, “We’ll snatch one up if it’s valuable enough to Omega. If it’s some mixed race anthro, then we will just tag the truck and leave.” Nobody else in the squad had any objections to the plan, so Alpha 1 considered the deal unanimously agreed upon.
“Kurt, what are you doing out here?” Jim asked when he saw that the fox was standing on the deck of Sealand nearing the edge of the sea fort. Arcades looked to his left as he watched the human approach him, “I’m thinking.” Jim looked at the fox as he turned around to face him, “Yeah? What are you thinking about?” Arcades spoke, “I’m thinking about what we need to do next. We obviously can’t stop here. Omega may have lost that one facility, but they still have plenty of others that are operational.” Jim nodded, “Well, yes of course they have other facilities that are still active. Where are you getting at?” The fox voiced his own suggestion, “I want to go to the Congo.” Jim slowly shook his head, “Why would you ever want to do that? That place doesn’t have anything that’s really too special.”
Arcades blankly stared at Jim before making a reply, “Those two anthros. Somebody obviously paid good money for them. You said it yourself; somebody in Congo purchased two anthro foxes from Omega. I’m not sure if there are that many people in that country with the money for that. Especially given how expensive you said that would be.” Jim replied, “I have no idea who purchased them. All I know is that a purchase did happen, and that’s where they were sent to. I do agree with you, though. I’m pretty sure that buying two foxes from Omega is way more money than your average Congolese person can come up with.” Arcades thought of an alternate way to purchase an anthro, “Unless you pay with credit, right?” Jim shook his head, “Omega doesn’t accept that. You have to send all of the money all at once. No reserves, no rainchecks, and no financing.” Arcades lifted both of his eyebrows; he was surprised that somebody in the Congo really did have the funds available for two anthros from the Omega Foundation, “Wow. Yeah, I really believe somebody in the Congo knows something about Omega. I think that’s something worth finding out.”
Jim looked at the daytime sky above Sealand, “Come on Kurt, we can talk about this inside.” Arcades walked with the human as they proceeded back towards Sealand’s main building, “I know I don’t have Fox Security to help me out, and I know that you know this would be extremely risky; However, I am still willing to take that risk. People need to know the truth about Omega, and we need to get those anthros out of the Foundation.” Jim stopped right before opening the door, and he looked at Arcades, “I know. I’m sorry Kurt. We don’t have the things that Omega does, and we sure as hell aren’t CDI or anything. We’re outnumbered and outgunned. There really is not a good way about doing this.” The fox sighed softly as he reminded himself the reality of the situation. Arcades knew that even before Omega destroyed his business, he did not have much manpower or vehicles in the first place. Even if the best scenario possible was the fox’s reality, Arcades still knew his resources paled in comparison to Omega’s.
Jason noticed that Arcades was now back inside the sea fort, “Did you enjoy yourself out there mate?” Arcades shrugged, “Wasn’t really my objective.” The wolf was reminded of something, “Speaking of objectives, what is our new objective, Kurt?” The fox took a deep breath before replying, “I want to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise, “Congo? How would we ever get there?” Arcades leaned up against the wall, and he pushed his tail out of the way, “That’s a problem right now. I’m really not sure how we would get over there, and I would know less about getting out of there.” Jason presented another objection, “What equipment would we bring?” Arcades did have the answer to this question, “That’s the one thing I do know. I would bring my Salient GRY for me to use. I would let you use my HK433, and if Bobby decides to come along, he will get the XMP-1 that we took from Omega. We still have it.”
Jason realized that he did not phrase his question in a way that the fox would understand, “Oh, I meant what camouflage would we bring? I don’t think your African soldier dresses like an American or an Australian.” The fox answered Jason’s question, “The one situation I was prepared for. I would wear Rhodesian Brushstroke. I bought a combat shirt and shorts in that pattern a while back ago. Rhodesia previously used that pattern.” The wolf was slightly confused, “Mate, what is Rhodesia?” Arcades replied, “It’s currently called Zimbabwe. Rhodesia actually used to be a British colony in the 20th century. They ended up becoming an independent state that was ruled by a minority of caucasian humans. Eventually, a war broke out, and Rhodesia was no more after the war. Nowadays, Zimbabwe is still trying to recover from their own economy. Their leaders did not make the best economical choices, I guess.”
“Interesting,” the wolf spoke. Jason then asked, “Do you have a camouflage pattern for me?” Arcades replied, “I have the pattern South Africa currently uses. It is called Soldier 2000. However, I really don’t think my uniforms would fit you. They’re kinda made for my size. I have a thirty inch chest and a thirty inch waist, and I’m at least an inch or two taller than you are.” Jason chuckled, “Ah, mate. Please put that in centimeters. We don’t use your bloody inches and feet.” Arcades replied after trying to remember what his measurements were in terms of the metric system, “I think I have about 77 cm chest and waist.” Jason shook his head, “That’s pretty far from fitting me, mate. You’re also almost two meters tall from my estimations. I don’t know how you’re so tall and skinny.” The fox replied, “I’ll call it genetics if that’s fine by you.”
Jason returned back to the original point, “I think I have a solid green combat uniform set. Should I bring that or Multicam?” Arcades replied, “Solid green would probably be best. Not many African nations have Multicam. I’m not sure if any even have it, actually. Especially if we’re talking about Sub-Saharan African nations.” The wolf tried to remember what he had available to use, “Right. I’m pretty certain that I have solid green. I guess I’ll also bring along green equipment a
s well.” The fox nodded, “I’m going to bring solid green equipment too. It matches my Rhodesian Brushstroke uniform. I guess the only thing that’ll be colored differently would be my tan Oakley SI Assault Gloves. Should still be alright out there.” Jim walked back to where Arcades and Jason were talking, “You guys still talking about going to Africa?” Arcades nodded, “That’s right. We’re thinking about going out there.” Jim spoke, “Well, then you’re going to need a pilot to drop you off.” The fox asked the human, “Can you fly us out there with the Stealth Hawk?” Jim replied, “I can fly you out there, but I wouldn’t use the Stealth Hawk. When I flew it for Omega, I only flew to destinations that they ‘authorized’ ahead of time with an oddly specific flight plan. The MH-60X is supposed to be kept a secret within Omega, and I don’t want to take our chances with Omega finding us thanks to their own helicopter.” Arcades nodded, “I understand, so that’s fair enough.. Perhaps we can take my Pave Hawk? It’s supposed to be fueled up tomorrow when they come with the fuel for it.”
