By Chris Gilman
Chapter 1
The large aerial transport slowly settles onto the ground in the darkness of the peaceful country night, dust kicking up from the vertical landing thrusters being the only disturbance. With a quiet thud the landing gear touches down and the ramp starts to lower. A few small canisters fly out of the darkened interior and explode into a large volume of thick, dark smoke, obscuring the team of gray suited figures jumping to either side of the ramp. Several green energy blasts fly from the surrounding farm buildings to strike harmlessly against the armored fuselage of the massive Avenger Transport or kick up dirt clods from the ground.
Out of the smoke steps a large, gray armored figure carrying a large-bore gattling canon. The figure opens fire on a small barn and is illuminated by both the flashes from the muzzles and the fires from the explosions that rip the barn apart. Several small grey bodies are seen flying through the air to smash with high pitched squeals into the ground. Green blood oozing out of their many wounds, they are obviously dead now.
The figure lowers his weapon and holds out a scanner from his belt, slowly sweeping it back and forth. After the indicator lights on it turn green he lowers it and reaches up to remove his helmet. When it comes off, the animal like head of a tiger can be clearly seen.
The tiger turns back to the transport and nods his head. The other eleven figures remove their helmets too, revealing a wide assortment of animals. A bear steps forward with a similar weapon to what the tiger carries, “Not much of a fight, sir.”
The tiger shakes his head, “No, it wasn’t, which is weird. Command said there was a large crash site here, but I don’t see a craft. Where would those aliens have come from then? Their transports never leave them alone anymore then ours do.”
A small female cheetah steps up and put a pair of binoculars to her eyes, “Could it have lifted off again?”
“We would have picked it up on the radar though if it had of gotten airborne again.” Suddenly a shocked look crosses the tiger’s face and he looks down at the ground as he starts to feel a slight tremble from the ground, “Everyone, get back on the transport, I think we just made a big mistake and stuck our heads in the nooses.”
As the assault team starts to dash back up the loading ramp the rumbling coming from the ground almost turns into an earthquake. The tiger turns to watch as a massive alien ship launches from under its cover of earth and it swivels around to aim its main cannons at the smaller terrestrial assault craft.
Suddenly twin lines of cannon fire spray across the massive ship as a pair of interceptors pass overhead in close formation. Turning to face the new threat the alien vessel exposes its engines to the tiger which it dwarfs with its bulk. With a toothy grin on his face he raises the cannon in his hands and starts firing off rounds from a secondary magazine. The shells explode against the massive ship, making small holes that get ripped into bigger ones with each successive shell. Then suddenly the entire engine section of it starts to glow with barely suppressed power as the main power plant is exposed to view. “Lion-24,” yells the tiger over the roar of his cannon, “put one of your rockets into that area.”
The slightly smaller lion slings his launcher around and takes careful aim, “Fire in the hole!” There is a clicking sound of the launcher arming soon followed by the roar of the rocket being launched from the massive launcher. The tiger dives for cover with the rest of his team as it arcs over his head and closes on its target. When the rocket impacts there is a massive fireball from secondary explosions and soon the vessel is slamming into the ground with great force as its engines fail, leaving a massive crater in its path as it skids to a halt.
When the dust clears the tiger lifts his head and shakes the dirt and dust from his fur, “That’s more like it,” he says with a grin. Picking himself up off the ground he places his helmet back on his head and locks it down. “Come on you grunts, you want to live forever?”
With a collective roar the team of twelve humanoid animals charge towards the alien craft, their weapons at the ready, and the collective roar of battle filling the air joining with their more animal roars.
As they get closer to the craft they break up into four fire teams and break off into two groups, with each fire team covering its partner. As the tiger’s team approaches the massive hole in the stern of the vessel that used to be its engines he pulls up to a stop and slings his cannon onto his back, pulling out a pair of large handguns from his thigh holsters he thumbs off the safeties. In the close quarters of volatile explosive devices the handguns were the better weapons of choice. With a loud click he pulls back the hammers and wades slowly into the smoke filled chamber followed by his fire team.
A movement off to his right draws his attention, of grey skin and green blood. He levels both pistols and fires off a barrage of hot lead. The alien flies back to leave a green smear on the wall which it lands against. “Keep it tight people. We got a massive ship here to clear and salvage. No telling how many of those aliens survived the crash.”
One of his team members steps around a corner and he hears the tell-tail whine of an alien energy weapon charging for firing. He dives for the cheetah fem that had just entered the doorway, to shove her out of the way, but he is too slow and the green energy bolts blast the cheetah right in her chest armor. She collapses to the ground after flying back to impact the far wall with a bone crunching crack.
With a roar of fury and anguish he drops his pistols and rips his cannon off his back and starts emptying the entire magazine into the area the shots came from. One of the high-explosive rounds must have hit a remaining power supply node and a massive explosion tears what is left of the room into a sieve and flaming wreckage. Much of it washes back through the doorway and over the still firing tiger, his armor being scorched and melted from the extreme heat.
With a clicking the magazine runs dry and the tiger lowers his cannon to let it fall to the ground. He looks over to where his teammate landed and walks up to see how she is. The team medic is bent over the wounded assault team member, but at a low growl from him, he looks up, “She’s alive, but I can’t say for how long. I don’t have the equipment I need here. I can patch her up and maybe even stabilize her back on the Avenger.”
The tiger lowers his head for a moment then picks up her rifle from her limp hand and chambers a round, “Get her back to the transport and take care of her.” He looks at the other fire team and growls long and low, “Come on, we still got a mission to do.” With that he leads the remaining fire team deeper into the ship.
* * *
Four hours later the heavily laden transport settles onto the landing pad which starts to sink under the ground immediately after touchdown. As it comes to a stop and the overhead doors close the ramp at the rear of the vessel drops. The assault team slowly descends, carrying their gear and weapons, but also an air of defeat even in view of their latest victory.
The humanoid ferret at the bottom of the ramp notices the change in the team’s morale and sees why when the tiger descends the ramp. He’s carrying the limp, bandaged body of the female cheetah in his arms with tears brimming at his eyes. He lowers his head for a moment as the tiger walks towards him and a medical stretcher team comes running up to take the cheetah down to the medical wing where she can be properly treated. He gently lays her down on the stretcher, and in seconds the team is gone.
“Bad mission Tiger-12?” asks the ferret as the tiger finally steps up to him and salutes.
“It was a trap sir. They laid a very good trap, and if not for those interceptors hanging around a little longer to cover us, we wouldn’t have made it out of there with our hides at all.”
The ferret looks over to the corridor that the medical team had disappeared down. “I’m sure she’ll be fine Tiger, she’ll be fine.”
The tiger snaps off a salute, “With your permission, sir. We need to get cleaned up and restock our equipment.” He watches the transport being moved into the maintenance bay and knows his day isn’t over yet.
The ferret returns the salute, “Dismissed.” Giving the tiger’s schorched armor a closer look and noticing it’s damaged state he adds, “And you might need to get some new armor from supply; the R&D techs got a new type of armor they want to try out. If it’s even half as good as they say, it’ll save far more lives then the best weapon.”
* * *
Two hours later Tiger-12 finishes restocking the weapons bays in his squad’s transport. With a soft click he secures the locker and stretches out the kinks in his shoulders.
“I wish she was here right now to massage them out,” he says to himself far more then anyone else. His face falls with the memories of what happened to his loved one. “Damn, no way I can relax now. Might as well head for the training bay and get in a little practice.”
He leaves the vehicle storage bay and walks down the corridor to the large training facility near the assault teams’ barracks. As he had hoped it is empty at this time of night. Only ones up would be those sitting in the ops watching the scopes and the alert squad in their ready room. He strips off his shirt and sits down at one of the machines. He reaches over to set the weights and starts his routine.
As he works out he lets his mind wander through time. He remembers his very first mission. Out of a squad of ten gen-furs, only he and Cheetah-14, his love, had survived. They had been ambushed as they left their transport. A lucky missile from the aliens had flown in through the hatch to explode inside the craft. If they hadn’t been the first ones out, they never would have gotten out alive as the entire spare ordinance locker in the hold blew the craft apart at the seams.
As it was, they had to take shelter in the wreckage of the transport and wait for backup to come save them. They had held back the aliens who threatened to swarm them for over five hours. When the rescue team had finally arrived they were surprised to find the two of them huddled together behind their makeshift barricade. Their ammunition down to only two rounds left in Tiger-12’s pistols. The last rounds he had saved, with the promise to her that the aliens would never take them alive.
They always called themselves by their given designation. Never taking more human names as some chose to. They felt it was correct to keep their given designations, at least till the war ended. They promised to survive the war and raise a litter of cubs afterwards, when they were truly free.
A hand on his shoulder brings him back to the here and now. He looks up to
see Lion-24,
He looks up and gives him a nod, “Yeah, fine, just thinking.”
“You’ve been thinking for a while then, because you’ve been on this same machine for the last half hour that I have been in here.”
The tiger lets the handles rest and stands up, feeling the ache in his arms from working without a break for so long. “Sorry, just thinking about all that I and Cheetah-14 have been through.”
The lion rest his massive hand on his leader’s shoulder, “I understand sir, we all like her, and I more then the rest understand your attachment to her. She’ll pull through. I’ve never known a more stubborn or tough fem in my life.”
Suddenly there is a cough from the entrance to the room. They both look over to see the ferret from the landing bay standing there. They both snap to attention and give salutes which the ferret returns.
“Tiger, I need to see you in private.”
“Yes sir,” he replies as he moves to follow the ferret out of the room.
He follows the ferret down the corridors of the massive underground base till they finally enter the commander’s office and the ferret takes a sit behind his desk. Motioning to the chair in front of him he says, “Please, have a seat lieutenant.”
The tiger sits down and assumes a restful posture, “What did you want to talk to me about sir?”
“As you know, Cheetah-14 was injured in your last mission. Thankfully she is going to pull through, but, uh… Well… I don’t know how to say this exactly. But you and she are close right?”
Tiger-12 nods to his commanding officer, “Yes sir, as most of the base knows. There are no such regulations against it in this organization since we technically don’t exist.”
The ferret raises his hands in a defensive posture, “I know that, but… Well… Hell with it. Did you know she was pregnant?”
The most shocked look in the world crosses the tiger’s face. He shakes his head as if to clear it, “I’m sorry sir, but I must not have heard you right. I thought you said she was pregnant.”
The ferret gives him the most serious look he can manage, “No, you heard me right. She’s pregnant, and from the quick tests the medics did, we know you are the sire of the cubs.”
This shocks the tiger so much he almost falls out of his chair. “But… But…”
The ferret gives him a nod, “But the fems are given anti-fertility pills to keep this sort of thing from happening. The point is it has happened and regretfully, even after she recovers I can’t let her rejoin your team. Not till the cubs have been born at least. So I have a replacement for her.”
“But, she isn’t even showing, she can still fight soon as she recovers,” he protests.
The ferret holds up his hand to stop the inevitable argument, “But, it’s my decision. First of all, I am not going to put those unborn cubs at risk. One soldier in the trenches isn’t going to change this war, we aren’t that desperate yet. Also, there is the psychological impact of having a fem with cubs on a combat team. The rest of the team will cover her too much, always watching her back, and not watching the others’, or their own backs for that matter.”
The tiger hangs his head, “So you are going to take my love from me and stick some stranger in her place.”
The ferret gives him a hurt look, “No, I won’t take her from you, once she is feeling better she can return to your squad’s barracks, but I must insist that she not go out on any combat missions. I might be your commanding officer, but I am not a monstrous asshole. She can still be of help around here. She will be indispensable in training new fighters for us, among other things. Then, after she recovers from the birthing she can return to active status on the combat teams.”
The tiger lowers his gaze, knowing the answer to the question he is about to ask, “What about our cubs sir?”
The ferret’s face holds a look of confusion, “They are yours, and don’t you want them?”
“Of course I want them, but I doubt the organization will allow it. They will want to take them from us and train them to be more soldiers.”
The ferret starts to chuckle to himself, “Actually this was thought of by those in charge, and they aren’t as big of assholes as you may think. If a fem should happen to have cubs, there is nothing that says they become the property of the organization. They are free, though they will have to stay with their parents till the war is over. Not like it can last forever.”
The tiger gives his head a shake to try and absorb everything he has been told today. Slowly he stands and gives his commander a salute, “If you don’t mind sir, I need to meet this new member of my team, and tell the rest why Cheetah-14 won’t be coming back to us as soon as we’d like.”
The ferret returns the salute, “Yes, your new member will be by the squad room in about an hour.”
“Thank you sir,” and with that Tiger-12 turns and leaves the office.
* * *
An hour later he is sitting in the squad’s common room, waiting for the new member of his assault team to show up. His head down, watching the precise movements needed to service his pistols, he doesn’t see the new member enter, but he hears it.
The door from the rest of the base opens and in walks the new member carrying a heavy duffle bag over its shoulder. When the bag drops in front of him Tiger-12 looks up and gets the shock of his life as he gets a clear look at the cheetah fem standing before him.
He had expected a male, but here was a fem cheetah with the name tag Cheetah-32. Under that in small letters is her chosen name, Chains. He numbly returns the salute and motions toward one of the many couches in the room which she takes gladly.
She gives him a grin, “I can see you weren’t expecting another cheetah fem. Yes, I heard why I was assigned to your team, and also warned to keep my paws off you.”
Tiger-12 rubs the bridge of this nose as he feels a headache coming on. “Ohh… This I don’t need right now, but I guess I don’t have any choice.” He looks up at the fem across from him, “Welcome to our team. You’ll bunk in room thirteen, stow your gear and be ready, we go on standby alert in six hours, so some sleep might be a good idea on your part. Have you gotten your armor and weapons?”
She gives a nod of her head, “Yes sir, and the weapons are already stored on the transport. I’m a sniper with a gauss rifle, but only light high mobility armor.”
He gives her a nod, “Okay, that’s it for now. Go get some rest and settle into your room. We’ll wake you when we go on alert status.”
She stands and snaps him a salute, “Yes sir, thank you sir.” She slings her duffle over her should and sneaks a look back at him, “You won’t be sorry I’m on your team sir. I was the best out of my class.”
Tiger grunts and waves her off, thinking to himself, ‘Just great, I get a rookie on top of everything else.’
* * *
Six hours later the entire team is sitting around the squad ready room waiting for the call to battle if another craft is shot down. They lounge around, seeming at ease except for the clearly worn battle armor and side arms.
Tiger-12 is still getting used to his new battle armor. ‘The mobility isn’t quite what I am used to, takes a little more effort to move, but it should give superior protection.’ He sits down and watches his team do their usual pre-battle routine.
Lion-24, the team’s heavy weapons operator is reading a book quietly on a couch.
Bear-16, the team’s medic is slowly working his large bowie knife on a wet stone, occasionally spitting on the stone to keep it wet.
The rookie is playing some type of VR game with a headset, but he notices that she doesn’t have the ear pieces in place so she can hear the alert just like the rest of them.
Wolf-54, Skunk-32, Tiger-65, and Lynx-21 are sitting around on of the card tables playing some poker. They are chatting idly over basic assault strategies since they are all assaulters.
Mouse-34 and Raccoon-43 are going over mission records. As the team scouts they are always looking for ways to improve their tactics and learning from past mistakes is a good way to do it.
Ferret-15 is sitting to one side on a cushion meditating quietly on the fight that is always coming.
The last member of the team, Wolf-43, is sitting at a table, the parts of a secondary weapon spread all over the table. As the team’s tech head, he’s always looking for ways to get that little extra bit of accuracy or power out of the toys the R&D boys send them.
Two hours into their alert period the red light over the door starts flashing and a klaxon starts sounding. Tiger-12 jumps to his feet, “We got a mission, let’s rock.”
With a collective roar the entire team runs out the door, helmets clicking into place as they run down the corridors to the launch bay where their transport waits for them, its engines already worming up. As he counts off his team entering the transport he catches a glimpse of a black and yellow spotted form wearing a hospital gown watching from the observation room. A single hand raised in farewell to comrades going out to fight without her.
He tries to ignore her, knowing he can’t let his thoughts wander at this time. He turns to follow his squad up the ramp and into the craft. With a hiss the ramp closes and the floor of the launch bay starts to rise to the surface with a lurch.
As the massive craft breaches the surface doors Tiger secures his restraints and sees that the entire squad, even the rookie, is ready for lift off. They hear the familiar whine of the thrusters powering up and soon feel the G’s of lift-off and the transition to horizontal flight.
Clicking his radio on with a chin switch he can easily talk to his entire squad, “Simple mission folks. Small scout craft was shot down five minutes ago. It’ll take us another twenty minutes to get there, so the few aliens who survive the crash won’t have time to go far. But stay alert. Remember the lessons of our last mission, no such thing as a routine mission.”
There is a chorus of affirmatives as the soldiers give their weapons a final check and slap magazines into receivers. As the craft touches down they are already releasing their harnesses and Tiger-12 readies two smoke grenades for their exit. Soon as the hatch cracks open out they go and smoke obscures their exit from the craft. With a wave forward the entire team follows him out and into the night that awaits them.