"Every I In Team" Written by and(c)Sep-2002 Ralcor (me), Do not redistribute without permission. This is the second part of the ongoing "Recurrence" series, you'll need to read the previous part, "Of Furs And Furies", for this instalment to make sense. Read that? Then read on... All twenty five soldiers stood in a rectangular formation within the large assembly room, patiently awaiting the arrival of their senior officers. Each knew what was about to transpire, some carried excitement and exhilaration at the thought, others felt apprehension. The metal door on the right wall ahead of them swished open, the soldiers all promptly came to attention where they stood. The senior officers filed in one by one, first a woman, then a man, followed by an otter and then a fox. Like the recruits ahead of them, they wore plain grey overalls with coloured bands on their shoulders and cuffs to show what rank they were. These four officers took up a position along the front wall, facing the assembled troops. After a brief pause the final officer, another otter, walked in purposefully. He took a position between the other officers and the assembled forces, he surveyed the group before addressing them. "At ease." He ordered. "I am Colonel Tyler Roe, welcome to your first day of Special Operations Division training and evaluation. You are all her due to the situation that has arisen against the rebel furs under the command of Arctic Fury. Each of you has either personally requested to be transferred from Military Division, or you were transferred here by the Confederation. Over the next week you will be trained to the standards required by the Special Operations Division, after this you will be put through various scenarios to evaluate your performance. Each of you that complete this process will gain an assignment to a Special Operations team, under the command of one of the officers you see behind me. The best-of-the-best will be rewarded a place upon the first, finest and most important team under my personal command." He paused slightly before continuing. "You will now be placed into training teams under the command of one of these officers. This team will be your family for the duration, teams will not interact with one another once the scenarios have begun to ensure fair testing for everyone." He raised a clipboard that he had been carrying and began reading from it. "Training team 1; Captain Mason, Second Lieutenant Gibson, Corporal Forbes, Private Larson and Private O'Brian, your commanding and evaluating officer is Lieutenant Colonel Daniels." Tyler flipped to the next page. "Training team 2; Major Hawk, Lieutenant Kess, Sergeant Quinn, Corporal Foley and Private Sharpe, under the command of Colonel Ashfall." Another page. "Training team 3; Captain Reid, Second Lieutenant Mearns, Sergeant Cole, Sergeant Hope and Corporal Anderson, under the stern gaze of Major Archer." The final page on his clipboard. "Finally training team 4; Major Innes, Lieutenant Wheler, Corporal Fyn, Corporal Soulsby and Private Davis, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Sanders." The clipboard lowered as the otter's gaze returned to the assembled soldiers. "If you have any questions, come to see me in my office outside training hours. Dismissed." He finished loudly. Everyone came to attention before grouping into their teams of six and being led by their commanding officers towards separate quarters. Tyler waited until the room was emptied before returning, through the door he had entered, into his office. He barely had time to sit and place his clipboard on the desk, before a knock on the door resounded through the room. "I said outside training hours." He called out as he powered up the computer atop the desk. The door swished open and a female otter walked in. Tyler was prepared to give the newcomer a serious reprimand, but he looked up and recognised the figure who came to attention and saluted before him. "Second Lieutenant Jade Ellis reporting, sir." She introduced herself proudly. Tyler stood up and returned the salute. "So you finally finished your training, well may I officially welcome you to Special Operations Division." "Thank you," she paused before realising she forgot something, "sir. I'm still getting used to having to finish practically every sentence with 'sir', sir." She confessed sheepishly, before getting curious. "Can I ask why I'm here, sir?" "You already know the situation with the rebel furs?" She nodded "Well then, it's been decided that members of S.O. Division will be organised into permanent six-person teams. The first team will have the most important missions in the overall objective of cutting the legs out from underneath the rebel furs efforts, whilst Military Division battles the problem head-on. You and Major Archer will give your opinion as to who will fill the remaining three spaces available on our team." "Wow. So I've only just finished my training and already I've helped save millions of lives and now we get to become the most important team of our Division." She said. "Excited?" He asked, a note of sarcasm in his voice. "Of course, sir." She responded, oblivious to his sarcasm. "Good. Come on, I have to take charge at the firing range." The two otters left Tyler's office and headed for the firing range. * * * * * Tyler walked out onto the outdoor range, closely followed by Jade. The five soldiers and Leo Archer came to swiftly attention. "As you were," Tyler ordered. The soldiers went back to shooting simulated soldiers at the opposite end of the range. Tyler walked up to stand behind two of the humans, one of them spoke as he replaced the power cell of his rifle. "A space in the first team is as good as mine." Boasted one, a Sergeant. "What makes you so sure?" Asked the other, a Corporal. "Well just look at the difficulty involved," he gestured towards the range. "Or the competition we're up against." He sneered at nearby weasel, he nudged her elbow forcing her to drop both the power cell and the rifle she was reloading. Tyler picked up the dropped rifle and returned it to the slightly embarrassed weasel before sternly addressing the Sergeant. "What's your name Sergeant?" "Toni Cole, sir." He responded with a hint of contempt in his voice, Tyler caught onto this but decided to ignore it for now. "Do you feel this training is not stimulating enough for you?" Tyler inquired. "Of course, just look at what we're doing, sir." He spoke in a matter-of- fact manner as he gestured toward on of the simulated targets. "Good." He finished quickly, walking toward a control panel at the end of the corner of the firing range. After a swift manipulation of the panel, the simulations ended and the centre of the area lowered under the ground. The new soldiers stepped away from the gaping expanse in surprise. In its place rose a long assault course, at the end of the range stood what looked like a huge warehouse, the large metal shutter door slid upwards revealing the darkness within. Tyler picked up a couple of pistols and a rifle before walking back towards Sergeant Cole. "Let's see if this is difficult enough for you." Tyler said. "Your mission is to get through the assault course and into the hanger at the end, retrieve a prototype weapons system and make it back to the start, the entire time being on the lookout for enemy soldiers and any other defences. Choose your weapon, either a pair of class 2 low-intensity pistols or a single class 7 mid-intensity rifle, both weapons will be restricted to 12 rounds." He finished, offering the weapons to the man before him, predictably he chose the more powerful rifle. "Ready?" He hit a button at the beginning of the course causing the lights to dim, random fires to ignite and simulated patrols to appear. "Go!" Sergeant Cole took off at a fast run down the centre of the area heading straight towards the hanger. As he passed patrols one after the other, multiple simulated shots nipped at his heels and impacted all around him. Amazingly he made it into the hanger without being hit, though the shots wouldn't hurt the simulation would end if he were struck. Almost as instantly as Toni had been engulfed by the darkness within the hanger, a stifled cry of surprise was heard. He came running out of the hanger, closely pursued by a real A-TAC used specifically for training exercises. It ambled out of the hanger before standing tall on its mechanical legs, its upper torso and arms aimed towards the fleeing human, simulated lasers shot from its barrels hitting Sergeant Cole exactly between the shoulder blades. The fires and simulations dissipated, the A-TAC returned to the hanger and the lights returned to their original brightness. Tyler walked up to the outraged Sergeant and retrieved the rifle. "Congratulations Sergeant Cole, you failed the mission and you're now dead. From now on concentrate more, rather than making claims you can't uphold." "I bet you couldn't do it, sir." His voice dripped disdain. "There's no way to destroy an A-TAC, so it's impossible to complete the mission." He said in his matter-of-fact tone. "For now I will ignore your obvious lack of respect for ranking officers, but I can prove you wrong." He his attention to the weasel that Sergeant Cole had nudged earlier, beckoning her to come closer. "Sergeant Hope, is what Sergeant Cole said true?" Of course he knew the answer but was testing the weasel as well as proving the overconfident man wrong. "Not exactly, sir." She spoke knowingly, all three began walking back to the start. "Though it's true that an A-TAC couldn't be destroyed by any pawheld weapons, you'd need another A-TAC to do that." Toni gave a triumphant sneer. "But the mission is far from impossible. That was an old model A-TAC, they are susceptible to electromagnetic pulses, not very manoeuvrable, also their suspension systems aren't very reliable either, sir." "Thank you, Sergeant." Tyler turned back to Toni. "Satisfied that these exercises are not impossible yet?" "Not 'til you get through the course yourself." He was obviously fuming inside. "Show the proper respect, Sergeant." Leo ordered sternly, now that they were back in earshot. "No, no. It's fair for me to be able to run the course too." Tyler intervened as he picked up the twin pistols, he went to stand at the start of the course. With a press of the button everything was set and Tyler started swiftly. Rather than taking the straight route, he took a stealthier indirect path down the right-paw side. He ran into a single simulated patrol, using four of six rounds in the first pistol. He pressed against the wall of the hanger, slipping through the large doorway. After a few seconds, he re-emerged with a long rifle strapped across his back, he ran towards the path he had chosen. Again the A-TAC ambled from within the darkness of the hanger, its upper torso pivoted as it searched for its target. Tyler had chosen a flaming barrel to take cover behind to mask his body heat from the A-TAC's sensors. From his hiding place he removed the power cell of his first pistol and threw it between the A-TAC's legs, taking aim he shot the discarded cell, instantly creating an immense hole under the bipedaled juggernaut. It was completely undamaged by the explosion, but it stumbled backwards giving Tyler enough time to make it back to the start and complete the simulation. He removed the weighty object from his back and dumped it in Sergeant Cole's hands. "Damned furs." Toni muttered under his breath slightly louder than he'd thought, all eyes turned to him. "What was that, Sergeant!?" Leo yelled aggressively. "I...I said 'Well Done, sir." He stuttered slightly. "Major, you'll have to finish this training session without me." Tyler addressed Leo, turning to Toni he spoke menacingly with a deep growl in his voice. "You come with me now." * * * * * Tyler walked quickly into his office with Sergeant Cole in his wake, Toni strode confidently as if he'd done absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The man stood to attention in the centre of the office as Tyler paced back and forth infront of him. "I don't know whether that was a random outburst or that, for some reason, you have a deep grudge against furs, to put it bluntly I DON'T CARE. You will never make any racist comments about... well about any fur ever." He paused. "Do you like Baseball, Sergeant?" Toni nodded, slightly confused by the question. "Good, then you'll understand the principal of three strikes and your out. Two more outbursts like the one earlier and you will be out of the Special Operations Division. Now get out of my office, you're dismissed." Sergeant Cole walked out of the office shamefaced and tight jawed. He sat down behind his desk, picking up a photo of his wife and kit. "This is going to be a _long_ week." Tyler said to his wife, before replacing the picture on the desk and turning to his computer. * * * * * Days two and three came and went without further incident, the new recruits finished their individual training in weapons, unarmed combat, stealth and infiltration. The evaluating officers along with Jade and Tyler sat in his office, there to discuss the new soldiers progress thus far. "A couple of my team showed real promise during their training." Lieutenant Colonel Tanya Daniels started the discussion lightly. "We're going too gently on them, if we have to rely on them during a mission then we have to know that they're up to the task." Colonel Mark Ashfall spoke coldly. Jade opened her mouth to say, 'Nothing you do is gentle', but managed to squelch the words before they left her maw. The Colonel turned and gazed accusingly at the otter as if he knew what she was thinking, Jade self- consciously turned towards the fox of the group. "What do you think, sir?" "It would be a pleasure to have any of my training team under my permanent command." Lieutenant Colonel John Sanders answered Jade's question to the entire group. "Indeed, a couple of my team have demonstrated great ingenuity whilst completing the training simulations." He spoke in his usual blunt tone, but with an unusual hint of admiration. For instance Sergeant Hope, during the prototype retrieval scenario, rather than disabling the A-TAC long enough to escape, she literally ran circles around it before clambering up its back and commandeering control..." Jade had to sit there in silence, dying to make a playful remark about the abnormal admiration in Leo's voice. Unfortunately she was now an officer, the lowest ranking in the room, and it would be inappropriate to make comments in her present company. "...If you accept my recommendation, she will be a final member of our team, sir." His last comment directed towards Tyler. "Perhaps at the end of the week, but we've still got the four scenarios to play out." He stole a quick glance at his watch before returning his gaze to the small group in his office. "And it's about time for the simulations to start, the recruits are waiting." The four team leaders left Tyler's office, through into the assembly room where the recruits were already standing to attention, they took up their earlier positions. Tyler walked with Jade close behind, she stopped directly infront of the metal door whilst Tyler addressed the soldiers. "At ease." He began. "You have now finished the first part of your week of training and evaluation. Over the next four days you will undergo four training scenarios as a team, your performance will be recorded and reviewed later each day. On the forth day, after all the scenarios have been run through, you will be told of your posting within S.O. Division if your results are high enough. As for the individual training missions, your briefings will be given before the start. I would like to remind you now that you're up against real opponents with real weapons. The weapons will all be set to level 2, this means that though they are non-lethal but will still hurt a lot and in most cases cause unconsciousness, that's just a little incentive for avoiding a firefight. Go and prepare, you start in one hour. Dismissed." * * * * * Lieutenant Colonel John Sanders stood outside on plain grasslands behind him stood the walls of the training facility, but for now it was to be ignored. Infront of him stood training team 4, each of them kited out in urban camouflage clothing and bearing a laser rifle and holstered pistol. "Our mission is to find and retrieve a device..." He held out his paw, revealing a black projection orb. The orb flashed and suspended above the fox appeared a representation of the target device, it seemed to be a half metre wide yellow sphere. Closing his paw, the image dissolved. "...From a cargo storage facility hidden somewhere in there." With his free paw he pointed to a forest about quarter of a kilometre away. "We will split into two person teams, Wheler and Davis, Innes and Soulsby, Fyn you're with me. Scour the forest, find the entrance or anything suspicious, radio it in and we'll get the mission done." He paused, allowing them to absorb his words. "Let's prove we're the best team, move out." He finished with a friendly smile and genuine encouragement. They moved off at a steady run north towards the forest, as the group got close they split into the three and fanned out. Corporal Alex Fyn and the Lieutenant Colonel had taken the right flank, after about five minutes of searching they hadn't found anything and the female racoon was getting slightly restless. "How big is this training centre, sir?" She asked curiously as she continued to survey the area. "Approximately twenty acres, give or take." He spoke distractedly. "Anyway this isn't a training facility, it's the S.O. Division Base. Anything yet?" "Not yet, sir. You mean we're actually gonna be ransacking and destroying parts of our own base?" She asked in disbelief. "Uh-huh," he murmured throatily. "What about the damage we'll cause?" "Don't worry about it, we've got it covered." He turned to see her about to ask another question. "Inquisitive aren't you?" He asked sarcastically. "Hmm? Oh, uh. I ask questions a lot when I'm a bit nervous. Sorry, sir. I..." She apologised. "No need to be sorry, Corporal." He interjected swiftly. He was going to continue, but was interrupted by a voice in his ear. "This is Major Innes, we are under enemy fire, requesting immediately backup." Came the mans voice over the radio. Sanders pulled the orb from his belt, it flashed and a map of the area hovered between the pair. Two red dots were at the opposite end of the forest, another two in the centre were already on the move. The fox closed his paw and began running with the racoon close behind. Soon they came to a slight clearing, in its centre was a metal hatch. A couple of soldiers had taken cover behind trees facing away from the oncoming fox and racoon. With a well-aimed shot each, both soldiers crumpled to the ground, completely out cold. The training group reassembled in the middle of the clearing standing over the now-open hatch. "I'll go first, wait until I signal before anyone else follows." Sanders spoke as he climbed atop the ladder and disappeared downwards. He entered a long, wide corridor, two doors on each of the side walls and another at the end of the passageway. "All clear." He radioed, not feeling comfortable to shout in his new surroundings. The five new recruits appeared one after the other. "Choose a room, take a peek." He ordered, his voice subdued, not wanting to disturb the imposing silence. Each of the five took a separate room, opening the door a crack and peeking inward whilst Sanders surveyed the passage. All the doors led to storage rooms, but the one at the end was the by far the largest. The entire team entered the large chamber. They found themselves on the upper level, looking over a metal rail down at the triple length lower level. All around the room were various cargo containers, barrels and shelves stacked high with miscellaneous components. There in the centre, upon a low circular pedestal, stood the yellow sphere. The team cautiously lowered a spiral stairwell in the left corner, heading for their target. They surrounded it and looked down at the low-lying object. "What is it?" Alex Fyn asked. "Doesn't matter, we're ordered to get it and we get it. Innes, Soulsby check it." John Sanders ordered. The man and ferret both dropped to their knees and searched around the object for any security measures. Finding nothing visible they picked up between them. Instantly red lights flashed and klaxons blared from all around the room. "MOVE!" He yelled. John Sanders and Scott Davis took the lead, Innes and Soulsby carried the sphere in the centre of the group with Fyn and Wheler taking up the rear. Sanders ran across the doorway to the opposite side, laser fire coming through door from the accumulating number of soldiers coming down the ladder. Fyn and Wheler took up a position on the closer side of the door, all three were returning fire against the oncoming soldiers. Scott tried to cross the doorway, being forced to stop briefly as a blur of energy ran across his path. But that short pause was al was needed for him to be shot, three rounds hit home forcing him to stumble backwards towards the railing. In a moment that seemed to move in slow motion several things happened all at once; Scott fell backwards over the rail hitting the lower level floor hard. Tyler ran out from the group of soldiers, calling for a cease-fire and scenario end. Alex ran from the door up to the railing, but being too late to grab him she grabbed the barrier and jumped over to land beside the crumpled body of Scott. "Get a stretcher down here, NOW." She yelled urgently, already checking Scott's pulse and breathing. She pulled out her med-kit, shining a light into his unconscious eyes, dilated. Two soldiers secured Scott onto a stretcher and carried him swiftly towards the medical wing, Alex stayed at his side doing everything she could remember from her medical field-training. * * * * * John Sanders and Alex Fyn stood in Tyler's office, the otter was sitting behind his desk. "What happened John? It was a simple scenario." Tyler asked. "Pressure sensor, sir." He answered regretfully. "You'll have to finish the week with a team of five, don't let anything like this happen again." He said resolutely. "I wish you better luck from now on. Go back to your quarters." "Yes, sir." He said, completely crestfallen by the days results. He left the office and the door swished close behind him. Tyler turned his attention to the female racoon still in his presence. "How's Private Davis doing?" "Concussion, a few bumps and bruises, luckily nothing broken. Scott always had a thick skull, he should be fine in a fortnight or so, sir." She responded knowingly, her voice revealed her concern for her team-mate. "When you saw that Davis was going to fall, you leaped to his aid with no concern for your own well being. Why? Others would have let him fall just so they could be safe." He asked, wanting to hear the reason in her own words. "I'm a trained field medic, I'm out there to help the injured not just complete missions. Besides, Scott and I are old friends and team-mates from Military Division, I know he'd do the same for me, sir." She said. "You missed one thing. You have courage, that's a useful quality that we can't train our recruits, well done Corporal. You're dismissed, you may go back to your team or to medical to see your friend, which ever you see fit." "Thank you, sir." She saluted and smiled sheepishly before leaving hastily for the medical wing. * * * * * Day 5, at the opposite end of the compound from the forest, training team 2 stood facing the metal walls of the training facility in their full combat gear. Colonel Mark Ashfall stood powerful and tall ahead of them like a stout monolith. "Standard hostage rescue." He said strictly. "We move as a group, secure the hostage and retreat. No questions asked and no problems encountered." He turned on a heel to face the facility walls and a door at their base. "Move!" They ran at a fair pace into the facility, the rest of the team in single file behind him. Down a single flight of stairs into a _large_ detention area which covered three floors. The upper two only had narrow metal walkways around the walls this let them see all the down to the bottom of the cavernous room, there was a another structure at the centre of the third floor, around the walls on all the levels were heavy metallic doors with small barred windows. Neil Kess, a leopard, and Michelle Foley, a rabbit, stood guard by the entrance whilst the others walked up to a computer terminal on the edge of the walkway. Mark Ashfall reviewed the three-level room before passing a glance over the access panel ahead of him. "Foley!" He called harshly, without turning from the monitor, causing the jittery rabbit to jump in fright. She walked nervously to stand beside the towering Colonel. "Sir?" Her voice questioned quietly. "Find the hostage. Name Hunter, Lawrence." His voice in his usual gruff monotonic tone. "Yes, sir." Her paws already working over the control panel, shaking slightly. The name was typed in and on the screen details on all the current people being detained were shown, one flashed and was enlarged. The screen now showed all the prisoners details down the left and an image of a very mistreated fox on the right. "There he is, sir." "And where is that, Corporal?" He asked. "Oh, um." Her paws worked as quickly as she could get them to, not being any good under pressure. Suddenly the computer screen went blank. "Foley!" He shouted, his voice revealing his impatience with the rabbit. "I...I got it." She stammered under the Colonels harsh gaze. But she did manage to bring a map of the detention area, a cell on the second floor opposite them glowed brightly. "There, he's in there." "Unlock the door then catch up. Everyone else move out and keep on your guard." Again he took the lead with the others following in single file. Foley stood by the terminal, she sighed heavily now that some pressure was lifted from her narrow shoulders. The leopard at the back of the group turned to see that Michelle was having a hard time and turned to return to her. "What's your name, Corporal?" "Michelle Foley, sir." She said, surprised by the leopard suddenly arriving by her side. "What's wrong Michelle? You seem ill at ease, to say the least." "I'm not used to having so much responsibility on only me, I'm used to having a platoon I could trust and rely on with my life and everything was done as a team." "I understand what you mean, I used to command my own platoon. But now we have to think of this as our team, they only set individual tasks because its evaluation. Trust them and trust me the you'll be fine." He said in a calm and soothing voice. "Now unlock the cell door." Having calmed down considerably, unlocking the door was a simple task which took little time. "All done, sir." "Well Done, Corporal. Now we have to catch up." The leopard and rabbit ran along narrow walkways, trying to subdue the noise of their pawfalls as they neared the rest of their training team, who were already halfway down the spiral stairwell at the far end if the large room. As they neared their target, a laser blurred by and buried itself into the metal wall ahead of them leaving a small blackened crater. The team dropped into crouched positions to return fire, there were two guards standing directly under where the group had entered, they were quickly knocked unconscious by returned fire. "Sharpe, Quinn get Hunter out here NOW!" Colonel Ashfall yelled, more guards started pouring out if the structure on the lower level. The two humans that Ashfall had ordered to get Hunter were outside the cell door, which had been remotely locked again, it took near thirty seconds to get through the lock due to the ongoing firefight. Once in they found a pathetic looking example of a creature, curled into a ball of matted red fur in the furthest corner of the empty cell, the fox looked up slowly with a glazed expression. Sharpe removed his jacket as he walked up to the fox in the corner, wrapping the clothing around him, escorting him back out of the cell. Hawk and Ashfall led the way back along the suspended metal floor, Sharpe and Quinn proceeded in the middle supporting the scruffy vulpine between them. Kess and a hesitant Foley followed behind, each providing cover fire for one another and sniping off guards climbing the stairwell at the opposite corner of the room. As the seven ran up the stairs and onto the first floor, the consistent laser fire became too much for several supports under the walkway, a sizeable segment came loose and fell just behind Quinn's feet. Kess took a running jump at the void, only just clearing it. Foley skidded to a stop at its edge and looked down at the considerable drop to the level below. She looked up at the leopard standing on the other side, a desperate expression in her eyes. "FOLEY, get over here NOW!" The Colonel yelled from his position by the exit, still providing cover fire against the seemingly endless number of guards. "Come on Michelle, we're almost out of here, I'm right here to help. It's an easy jump. We're almost home free. You can do it." Neil shouted encouragingly, his paw extended to grab hers as she jumped. She stopped, she couldn't get her legs to move, she could only look from the hole, to the expectant leopard, to the oncoming guards and back to the hole. "FOLEY! MOVE." "You can do it, it's not that far." "GET OVER HERE NOW." "I'm here to help, there's nothing to worry about." "CORPORAL, NOW!" The continuous calls from Mark and Neil, along with the sounds of lasers striking metal walls and floorings all around along with the sound of the approaching guards. All this combined caused the rabbit to just freeze up, similar to her wild relatives being caught in a car headlamp. As the guards neared Foley, Neil was forced to turn tail and run out of the exit behind his other team-mates. There was nothing that could be done for the rabbit, who was overrun by the multitude of enemy forces. Neil arrived outside and walked up to the other four of his group, they had gathered around the hostage they had just rescued, unsure as to what to do now. To their great surprise, he just stood up and dusted himself off a bit before addressing his rescuers. "Thank you very much." He dipped his head in appreciation. "My commiserations for the fate of your rabbit friend. Goodbye." With that he just sauntered off towards the main building of the training facility. * * * * * "This is boring, we've been running around this expanse for the last half hour." Toni Cole whinged loudly. "There is nothing out here to find, so lets just give up and go home." "This is a reconnaissance mission, just because we can't see anything out here doesn't mean we stop looking, not until we have checked the entire area. If you want to go home, then we'd all be a lot happier." Retorted Second Lieutenant Mearns, a cheetah. "Enough, soldiers." Shouted Major Archer. "We have a mission to accomplish." "Sirs!" Called Corporal Anderson, he was holding a long-range radio in one hand. "A message from S.O. Division Base." He flipped a switch on the side and the volume increased enough for all six to hear. "Message begins 1421. Proceed one kilometre due east, locate a defender- class rocket battery, disable all rockets. Message ends 1422." "You heard the message, one kilometre due east, move out." They set off at a steady pace. After a short time, what appeared to be a partially camouflaged hole up on a slight rise came into view. They moved to the edge and looked down into the opening, far below the battery of rockets was barely visible. "Search outwards from this point for an access way." Leo ordered. "Why don't we just drop a few grenades or something down there, sir?" Asked Toni, not wanting to have to do more anymore searching. "No explosives." Sarah Hope stated in a matter-of-fact tone in passing. "You better get started." She said sweetly. And under strong silent protest Cole started searching along side his team-mates. On the eastern side of the hill, a doorway was found slightly hidden by leafy bushes planted infront of it. The group wandered down the narrow passageway cautiously. "Hope, what do you know about a facility like this?" Leo asked as he led the way down the concrete staircase. "Defender-class? A mainly underground facility, capable of discharging anti air and anti A-TAC rockets at an startling rate. These facilities are usually unmanned, but do have automated defences for intruders and sometimes the odd guard or technician." "How do you know all this?" Asked an amazed Captain Reid. "Hey, I only know what any other pilot knows, just what will bring my A- TAC down with me in it, sir." Sarah replied. They finally reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a broad passageway, they walked side-by-side rather than single file, until a locked door halted them, it was a heavy metal door with a swipecard and keypad lock on the right. Corporal Anderson walked up to the door and pulled out a small toolkit, he was the technowhiz of the group and it took little time to outwit the doors security, it swished upwards into the ceiling. "Mearns, Reid remain here and keep this area secure." Leo ordered as he walked through the now-open door. "Yes, sir." The cheetah and man replied in unison. The remaining four of the team walked into the battery room. The battery stood in the centre of the room in a very imposing manner, a multitude of computer equipment was placed along most of the circular rooms walls. A skunk in blue technicians overalls gave a startled 'eep' and tried to scamper off out a door at the opposite side of the room. Toni stepped forward and fired upon the unfortunate technician with alarming enthusiasm, the skunk crumpled into a heap just before reaching the doorway. "Cole, Hope check that door. Anderson, check the computers." Leo ordered as he walked towards the battery. Toni and Sarah walked through into a long broad corridor leading off to their right side, several doors were dotted along the concrete walls. They walked a few metres towards the first door, ready to search it. A series of low-toned pulses stopped them in their tracks, they had been detected. A laser emplacement on the roof at the end of the hall jumped into action, it fired three bolts at Sarah before re-targeting towards Toni. Two of the three bolts struck the weasel, one in the upper thigh and the other in her left soldier, she gritted her fangs against the pain and stumbled backwards. Toni fired back at the automatic rifle, it sparked a few times before going offline. Sarah extended a paw at Toni, expecting to be pulled to onto her footpaws, but she got no such help. The noise of the encounter attracted some unwanted attention, one of the doors at the far end of the corridor opened and two human guards appeared. Toni just turned and ran back to the battery chamber expecting, or perhaps hoping, for his weasel partner to be shot down again. The two guards quickly chased after the fleeing Sergeant, one stopping to confiscate Sarah's weapon and to keep an eye on her as his partner peeked around into the battery room to see a muscular otter severely reprimanding a smaller man. He returned to his partner to survey the dazed weasel. Between the two of them, they hauled the recovering weasel up and walked into the doorway of the rocket chamber. All activity of the team stopped as they saw Sarah forced to her knees in the doorway, the guard on her left had a rifle aimed at her head whilst the other trained his gun on the team. Though it hurt to move her shoulder and thigh, Sarah knew she had to do something since no one else was in a position to. From her kneeling position she slowly rose up onto one knee, with one swift movement she through her weight back and upwards, driving her elbow into the left guards nose, drawing out rivulets of blood. Before the other could react she knocked the gun from his hand and forced her footpaw into his gut, winding him and causing him to collide heavily with the concrete wall. The kick causing her to grimace in pain and fall back down onto her knees having put too much weight on her injured leg. From her stooped position she elbowed the still- standing guard between his legs, causing him to double over in agony. "ENOUGH!" Came a shout from the entrance of the chamber, Tyler had appeared and had witnessed the entire clash. Mearns ran to help the weasel onto her footpaws, the cheetah supported Sarah as she walked to stand with the rest of her team. Tyler walked up to address the capable weasel. "An amazing display of your skills, Sergeant. However, if the laser defences had been working at full power you would have holes through your body and would not have been able to disarm the guards. So, your mission is a failure." He turned towards Sergeant Cole who, once again, stood as if he'd done nothing wrong. "What were you thinking? Leaving a wounded team-mate at the mercy of oncoming guards without even a shot fired." He yelled, extremely annoyed by another incident caused by Sergeant Cole's actions. "Hey," he said defensively. "She _weaselled_ her way out of things. Didn't she, sir?" Toni said thinking he was clever, but Tyler was unamused to say the least. "Strike two, Sergeant. Strike two." He repeated, wanting to have Cole out of his face as soon as possible. As the training team left the bunker Tyler turned to see the two guards still lying in the opposite doorway, his paw reached up to press against his earpiece. "Medical team to Defender B." * * * * * Training team 1 stood in the equipment room ready for their scenario briefing, Lieutenant Colonel Tanya Daniels walked in and immediately began speaking. "Our target is data held on a computer hard drive, located in a privately owned mansion. Now the owner of said mansion, Ric Dalner, is being very kind and is holding a soirée, a formal party, which we will be attending, uninvited of course." She joked lightly before continuing. "Are their any questions so far?" "How can we infiltrate a posh party dressed like this?" Private Becca O'Brian asked, referring to the fact that the entire team was wearing their plain grey overalls. Tanya laughed slightly before turning to face a metal door built into the wall behind her, she opened it to reveal an entire wardrobe of evening gowns and dinner suits. "Unfortunately, two of you will get to be wearing these instead." She pulled a camouflaged guard's uniform, turning back to the group. "That's Larson and Mason, sorry boys. You two will enter the security centre and get the rest of us on the guest list. From there Gibson and I will keep Mr Dalner distracted, whilst O'Brian and Forbes, you will acquire our data. The building looks like this." She held out her hand, the black orb within flashed and projected an image of a four-floor mansion. The image became hollow as the innards came into view, a red dot appeared on the third floor. "This is the location of the computer where the data is stored, we don't know who or what is protecting it, that's something you'll have to sort out when we get there." She swept her hand over the orb, the hovering image changed to a concrete looking bunker. "This is the security centre, Larson and Mason will be the hourly shift change as the usuals will be a little tied up. Once you get in, we will have a maximum of one hour to have the data in hand and all six of us out, no one will know we were ever there. Choose an outfit and get ready, transport in fifteen minutes." She finished, turning to rummage through the wardrobe full of clothing, Forbes, Gibson and O'Brian did likewise. * * * * * "What? You guys are on time for once." Said one of the two guards in the security bunker as Larson and Mason walked in. "We thought we ought to be on time, after we were late the last couple of times." Mason responded. "Couple? And the rest." The other guard laughed. The two frauds laughed along with them, waiting for them to leave. The second they were out the door, they locked it behind them and got to work. Larson sat at the camera monitoring post, whilst Mason took up a position sitting on the floor infront of a large computer. Mason took out a small laptop computer, opening it up and connecting it to the security computer. He brought up a list of all the invited guests that would be attending the gathering, he bypassed security measures and inputted the uninvited guests that would be visiting, Larson could see the progress through the reverse side of the Captains glass screen. "There, now we have to wait until everyone else arrives." Captain Mason spoke as he got off the floor, leaving the computer where it was, taking a seat beside Private Larson at the security monitors. "I'd prefer to be in there, sir." He motioned the screen displaying the dance floor. "Rather than in here, it's all gloomy and boring." "Nah, it's not so bad, there's less to go wrong in here." Mason said thoughtfully. "Well, that's us jinxed, sir." Larson retorted, they briefly dissolved into laughter before silence onset. * * * * * Lieutenant Colonel Tanya Daniels, wearing an elegant emerald green dress, walked into the main room. The room was mostly filled with round 5-seater tables, which were filling up with guests. At the far end of the room there was a raised stage with a small orchestra playing background music, in the centre of the room there was a wooden dance floor with a few couples dancing to the music. Tanya made her way across the room towards the larger head table, where the host Ric Dalner was having a quiet chat with two 'associates'. Their conversation ended abruptly as she approached, with a quick word the two others left quietly and Ric stood up to greet the pretty new arrival. "Excuse me?" Tanya said politely. "Are you Ric Dalner?" "Indeed I am my dear. And my I have the privilege of knowing your name?" The man responded charmingly. "Maria Forrester." She lied, curtseying slightly. "A pleasure." He reached for her hand and gave it a quick kiss. "Now, what can I do for you?" "I just wanted to express my appreciation and gratitude of being invited to such an exquisite event. Thank you Mr Dalner" "Please, call me Ric." He gestured at the orchestra, which began playing a waltz. He offered his hand to Tanya. "May I have this dance." "Of course." She said taking his hand, being led out onto the dance floor by the charming host. From the opposite end of the room, Gibson was monitoring the entire course of events between Tanya and Ric. To a casual observer it would seem that the wolf was just admiring a painting on the wall, but he'd been waiting for a signal from his commanding officer. At getting it, he discretely placed a paw over his earpiece. "Forbes, O'Brian that's our signal. Get upstairs now." He said over the radio, then moved to mingle with other guests. The two he had signalled were in the middle of the dance floor, twirling around each other. The man and vixen began moving steadily towards the large staircase leading to the second level. They laughed together, leaned on each other, pretending to be a couple infront of other people, as they ascended to the second story of the mansion. They rounded a corner to see another stairway leading up to the restricted floors with a fox standing guard to one side of it. "Leave this to me." Becca said to Grey in hushed tones. Grey stood out of sight just around the corner as the vixen walked slowly and seductively towards the guard, who eyed her warily at first before easing slightly. She walked right up beside him, running the crimson fur of her arm across his as she went. She wrapped her arms around him slowly, he was unsure how to react, so he just let things happen. "What's a handsome fox, such as yourself, doing up here all on your own in the middle of a party. Hmm?" She spoke slowly, lust dripping from her voice. "I...uh...I. It's my j...job. Is there anything I...I can do for you, miss?" He asked clumsily. "Hmm, we'll see." She said quietly, turning him gently to face away from where Grey was slowly creeping up behind the two of them, he took out an injection-gun from his inside pocket and fired it into the fox's furred neck. The guard went limp in Becca's arms, she let the slumbering guard slip to the floor. The two infiltrators picked up the guard between them and bundled him into a nearby cupboard, before moving swiftly up to the third floor. It took them little time to find the room they were looking for. Becca stood watch whilst Grey worked on the computer, copying the entire hard drive to a portable one. They exited the room and returned down the staircase to the second floor, there they were confronted by another guard. "What are you doing here?" He said suspiciously. Grey pulled Becca to him, trying to visibly support her. "We were looking for a bathroom, my wife isn't feeling so well." He looked at Becca, who was acting accordingly, swaying slightly and leaning heavily on her 'husband'. "Down the hall, third door on the right." As the pair went out of sight, the guard reached for a radio. "Security, come in." "Security here." Mason responded. "What was that pair doing on the third floor?" He asked "They seemed to be looking for a bathroom." Mason confirmed, having heard the entire conversation over the training teams radio. "Copy that." The guard said and left it at that, he went back to his patrol. Becca and Grey left the mansion, the other two from the team followed suit. The four of them found Larson and Mason standing with Tyler outside the main entrance. They turned to see Ric come out of the mansion and walk up to Tanya. "Congratulations, you were the only team capable of robbing me." He kissed Tanya's hand once again and walked back into the mansion to have the last dance before he and all the 'guests' went back to their normal roles within the Confederation. "Yes, well done." Tyler affirmed. "You now have one hour before the final results will be declared." * * * * * Tyler, once again, was sitting at his desk, a mug of coffee in one paw and the other working over the records of the computer, there were also papers of scattered everywhere. There was a knock at the door and Jade entered, saluted and took a seat at the other side of the desk. "Any closer yet, sir?" She asked. "Nearly." He responded, heavily distracted by the details shown on the screen. "Well just remember that we'll still be working with them whether they're on our team or not." "Fair enough. He said, still distracted. "Come on, look on the bright side, sir." Jade said, ever the optimist. "The sooner you finish, the sooner you get back to Lorna and your kit." She finished, picking up the photo that had been buried on the desk. "No such luck, I just got a message from General Masters. As soon as the first team has been chosen, we're setting off on our first mission." "Really? Doing what?" She asked, her curiosity sparked. "I'll tell you when I tell the rest of the team." He reached down onto a shelf where a printer was churning out a page, he pulled on the paper and attached it to a clipboard. He stood up and gestured for Jade to follow him out. The two of them walked out into the assembly room, finding the eighteen remaining recruits already standing ready for their final announcement, with the senior officers in their usual positions. "First I would like to say that the eighteen of you have passed this week, most of you have achieved a high results and should be very proud. Now, the part I'm sure you all want to hear. The three additional members of Alpha Team will be; Sergeant Sarah Hope, Corporal Alexandra Fyn and Private Becca O'Brian, well done to all three of you." He paused, the apprehension leaked from the group now that the results had been declared. "Luckily, or unluckily, we have only had two dropou..." "You bloody racist fur." Came an angered bellow from the back of the hall, Toni again. "Make that three dropouts." Tyler muttered to himself, dropping the clipboard to his side. Toni pushed his way to the front of the group, barging only furs of course, so that he was nose to muzzle with Tyler. "Look at your team, you haven't got a single human in there. You furs, think your so damned superior don't you." "Second Lieutenant Mearns, step forward." The otter ordered despite the man being right in his face. A female cheetah from somewhere near the back came forward. "Now Sergeant, isn't it possible that our feline friend here could run faster than anyone else here, or that myself or Second Lieutenant Ellis could swim faster and further." He asked, not expecting an answer. "My decisions are not based on what species the new members of the Division are, unlike you who seem to be obsessed by what species your exteam-mates are. SO DON'T YOU CALL _ME_ A BLOODY RACIST. Strike three Cole, get out of my sight." "I wouldn't want to be in a team full or furs anyway, I can just go back to my old platoon." He said disdainfully. "I'm afraid not, Cole. I've had a chat with Military and S.O. Division Generals, you now don't have a place in either Division. You are hereby dishonourably discharged from the Terran Confederation, GO HOME." He yelled finally, turning his back on the fuming man. He threw his clipboard to Leo, gesturing for him not to interfere in what he knew would happen. "Don't you turn your back on me." He was furious, he took an enraged swing at the otter. Tyler, expecting this, turned sharply to block the oncoming motion. With a quick movement, the otter dropped low and swiped at Cole's legs, bowling him over. Tyler stood up, not bothering to give him another look. "Mason, Forbes escort Mr Cole out." He ordered. The two men stepped forward and picked up the felled Toni between them, they had to forcefully drag him backward out of the hall. "You'll pay for this, otter. I'll get you, don't think I won't. I..." All other threats were cut short by the metal door closing behind the departing trio. Tyler glanced down at his watch before turning his attention back to the remaining soldiers. "Well that incident took up our remaining time. Long story short, the rest of you will be assigned to teams. As for Alpha Team, our first mission begins now. Report to the launch bay, all equipment and briefings will be issued on route." The three new members filtered out of the rest, heading in the direction of launch bay. Leo followed close behind. Tyler shot Jade a 'here we go' look before they too left, heading for their first mission as Alpha Team. To Be Continued... Next part, coming soon. All comments, be they good (preferably) or bad (if you have to), E-mail them to ralcor1@hotmail.com