Failed Mission:
Shortie by Lone Wolf
Special thanks to Chris Murry for the idea and all of the military background and consultation.

Location: Middle of Nowhere, Undisclosed Jungle
Time: No man's land - about 0200 hours

The jungle air was at it's best, thick and hot. It was also starting to take it's toll on the lithe, well armed guards standing at the gates of the outpost. Their long, black tails wrapped arou d the rotting wood poles lazily as tbey took off their hats to fan themselves off.

The muzzle of a .50 caliber Raptor sniper rifle poked silently out of a buch. Behind it, the sniper, dressed in all blacks, took careful aim. Her steady hand readied the first bullet and the patted the butt of the rifle. "Steady as she goes," she whispered to herself. "You'll get your kill as soon as possible."

"Patrols," one of the sentries complained. "Why did we have to draw patrol duty?!" He pulled a red bandana from his back pocket and wiped his forehead. "Here we are, in full fur and fatigues, and dying in this freakin' humidity!"
"First of all," his companion said. "This is guard duty, not patrols. And second of all, shut up and ignore it. You'll last for five more minutes."
"Five minutes?! Oh man! I hope the reliefs come soon."
"They better."

The sniper fixed her headset. "Streak to Shade," she whispered.
"Shade here," a male voice responded.
She looked to the trees, where her wolven comrade perched, watching the guards with the scope on his rifle. "I'm in position. What about you?"
"Ready to go."
"Great." She tapped the headset. "Streak to Nitro."
A few moments passed. "Yesss?" There was a heavy hiss to his voice.
"How's the C4 wiring coming?"
"Girl, do you know how hard it isss tolace a ssstructure without usssing a drill for the wiresss of explosivesss?"
She chuckled. "I believe it. How much longer do you think you have?"
"Five, maybe ten more minutesss."
"Okay."
The headset crackled. "Bravo leader to BravoS1."
She switched channels. "BravoS1 here."
"Forward assault team is in position. Awaiting checkmate."
"Confirmed. Await Nitro's signal and go in."
"Which is?"
"He's a demo expert. You do the math. S1 out." She switched channels again.

The sentries heard movement. They quickly picked up their very illegal firearms and aimed in that direction. "Who's there?" one demanded.
"Your relief," a second voice responded. A pair of jaguars, garbed in their fatigues and colors, stepped out of the darkness. "Chill with those things, damn it. You'll kill someone!"
The panthers chuckled. "That's the point," one said. He hoisted his gun onto his back. "Your post, good sir." He and his partner started to move out, while the jaguars moved to get comfy.

Then there was a splatter.

One of the jaguars fell over immediately, the wood wall coated in a layer of his blood and brains. The other dropped to his knees first before kissing the floor. The other two sentries turned to see their comrades fall. "Fuck!" They pulled their rifles and stepped out into the open, pointing their weapons into the darkness of the jungle. "We know where you are," they called out, hoping whoever it was would not see through their bluff. "Come out or we'll shoot." There was another silent shot. One of the panthers grabbed his neck and collapsed on the ground. The last guy started to run. Moments later, a small, red dot appeared at the base of his neck. He fell forward, not going to be able to get up ever again.

"Streak to Nitro," she said. "Hit it!"
She heard a mix of a chuckle and a hiss. "Oh hell yesss. Thisss isss going to be the mother of all blassstsss." There was an explosion within the compound confines. She heard shouts of terror and panic and chuckled.
"Shade, start picking the bastards off."
"On it," he responded. "Will you be joining me up here, my dear?"
"Eventually. And don't call me 'your dear'."
"Fine." She watched as the jet black wolf aimed his rifle and started firing.
"Nitro, where the hell are you?"
She felt a scaly hand on her shoulder all of a sudden. "Right here."
She jumped, tearing her hood off, revealing the 'coon features that decorated her face. "Don't do that!"
Nitro's tongue flicked out. "Sssorry." He pointed towards the base. "There are two more bombsss ssset up at their ammunition sssilos. They will go off in ten minutesss."
"Good. That ought to be enough time for them." She played with the headset. "BravoS1 to Bravo Leader. Your path is clear. Go in and kick some ass."
"Forward assault team away. Wish us luck."

Three figures approached the four bodies that were laying in front of the front gate. The weasel saw the two jaguars and chuckled. "Damn inbred bastards," he chuckled. He went over, pulled one off the ground, and dragged him over to his counterpart. With the counterpart facing down on the ground, he promptly layed the first one on top.
The jackal laughed. "You're a real-"
"I know," the weasel interrupted. He reached behind his neck and pulled a small explosive device into view. He put a finger on the pin. "Shall I knock?"
The tiger pulled a 16' blade from his belt. "Absolutely," he smiled. The weasel pulled the pin, tossed it over the gate, and dove for cover behind the two jaguars. There were a pair of explosions.
"Claymores?" the jackal asked.
"Nah," the weasel said. "The explosions weren't big enough." The gate fell to the ground. "And we're in."
The jackal threw his jacket open, pulling a pair of uzis from his belt. He kissed them each and smiled. "And away we go!" He laughed manically, stepped into the gateway, and opened fire on a passing group of militia.

Utter and complete chaos does not describe what was going on. Militia ran around the base, most of them still in their pajamas, trying to figure out what the heck to do. A large group had formed around a single person, who was shouting at them in a mix of spanish and the language they had developed for their drug running.
A small, black form flew through the air and landed at his feet. He shut up, bent down, and picked it up. It took him only a few seconds to realize what he had in his hands. "Oh shit!" he shouted in perfect, unbroken english.

He and the first five tightly packed rows were killed in the explosion.

"Assholes," the weasel scoffed. "They make my job too fuckin' easy."
The jackal ejected his empty clips and reloaded. "Don't get too cocky," he barked. "Keep a sharp eye out." He aimed around the corner, fired a few shots, and pulled back.
The tiger sat against the wall of the building they were using for cover. "Ah, I'm not worried," he said calmly.
"What?! Why?!"
There was a howl from above them. The weasel and jackal looked up to see a black panther, armed with a nastly looking machette, leaping down at them. Before anyone could react, the tiger leaped into the air, driving his blade into the panther's chest. He gave it a twist, and tore it out in a slashing manner, splintering bone and spraying gore. He landed gracefully, landing on the balls of his feet. The body...well...it just landed. He said nothing, polishing the blood off of his blade with a knife.
"I hate you Stripes," the jackal muttered.
"Whatever."

Suddenly, the wall just above their heads was riddled with bullet holes. All three fell to their bellies. "The fuck?!" Stripes demanded. Right ahead of them was a group of militia, firing semi-automatic rifles at them. "Fuck." He looked ot the jackal, who was just laying there. "Hey, buddy, start shooting." There was no response. He reached over with his knife and gave him a gentle nudge. That's when the pool of blood started forming. "NO!"
"What?" the weasel asked. Stripes growled, pulled one of the uzi's from his fallen comrade's hands, and rolled aside as the body was riddled with bullets.
"We leave...NOW!" They covered their heads as the air errupted in gunfire. He aimed blindly and fired, causing their assailants to stop and take cover.
The weasel took a deep breath. "Go. I'll keep them busy."
"What?! No. I won't-"
"Look, it's better if one of us gets out than the both of us dying here."
"But-"
"Go!" He opened up his jacket, revealing two rows of grenades running down his chest, all attacked to a single pin in the middle of it all. "I'll keep them busy"
The tiger hesitated before handing over the uzi. "It's been a blast working with you man. Until we meet again."
The weasel smiled. "See you on the other side, Stripes." He fired at the militia, giving them enough time to go their seperate ways. Stripes could hear his buddy pull the pins and shout his warcry.
"Want some of this?!"
The tiger heard the uzi going off some more. He kept running, only stopping at the exit when he heard the explosion.
He made the sign of the cross in their direction. "So long, guys." He turned and started away.

A panther standing on the wall spotted him and leaped down. He fired blindly, hitting Stripes in the leg. Stripes snarled, drew his blade, and shoved it into the panther's head. He gave it a twist, rending bone and other lovely parts, and tore it out the side. He shoved the body aside and hobbled towards the brush. He didn't realize that someone had followed him. And that person was taking aim at his head...

A shot rang out. The assailant jerked, firing the bullet off course. It hit Stripes in the shoulder, causing him to fall forward into the brush. Streak and Nitro managed to pull him into the safety of the underbrush.
"Where are the othersss?" Nitro asked.
Stripes shut his eyes. "Runner is dead. Several bullet wounds all over the fuckin' place. Bogey..." He took a deep breath. "Bogey blew himself up so I could get away."
Streak gave him a hug. "I'm sorry," she whispered, trying to hold back a sob.
Nitro hissed angrily. 'Those bassstardsss!" He pulled a pair of remote detonators from his belt. "It'sss time to sssend those assssholesss straight to hell." He flipped the switches. However, there was only one huge explosion. "There should have been two." He looked up to the trees. "Shade!
Shade looked down at them. "Hmm?"
"The sssilo! Shoot the sssmall blue pack at the bassse of the sssilo!"
"On it!" He readied his rifle and looked. It took him about thirty seconds to find the silo. It took him five seconds to spot the tiny field of blue, five seconds to aim, and less than a second to pull the trigger. The pack exploded, causing the ammo silo to start to crumble. The ammunition, on the other hand, had a different idea. It all blew up, sending Shade to the ground harshly, as well as level the base.

"Shade..." Streak said softly. "Wake up."
He groaned and sat up, holding his head. "I'm alive! Don't bury me yet." He opened his eyes and looked around. "What the hell happened?"
"The bassse wasss completely leveled," Nitro responded. "We're at the dussst off sssite." He looked to where there should have been the ruins of an outpost. There was nothing but trees, and a pillar of smoke.
He nodded. "And the hero?"
Stripes groaned. "Right here. And I'm no hero."
He chuckled. "You went in and got out. You're a hero."
"Yeah," Streak said. "But was it really worth it?"

There was silence on the ride home. Aside from Stripes' screams of agony as the medics worked on him, nobody said a word. There was nothing to really say. That's what they said at the debriefing. They were successful, but at the cost of two really good friends.

It just wasn't fair.

End

This material is © Lone Wolf and <([ Lone Wolf Studios ])>
Shade is © Chris Murry. You can keep him, Chris. He's yours! :-)