Jasper Park Canada Sunday March 23, 2011 10:59am.
He couldn't believe it. All this time he had been wondering how he managed to teleport to Canada and the answer was his son. Balto never knew that Nome had a replica of the artifact, and he wondered how long it had been there. Now his son must've messed around with it and caused everyone to take a trip in a wild wolf pack.
The wolf-dog knew no doubt that his son must've been near one of his three sled dog friends. It would be pointless to try and punish the young red and white husky, due to the situation everyone was in. However, a verbal lesson wouldn't do any harm, and this wasn't the first time Kodi had done something stupid.
After crossing the river that separates the two packs, Balto sniffed around for Kodi's scent. It didn't take long to catch it, although following the trail would take more time. Along the way, Balto also smelled blood, and lots of it. It was worrying the wolf-dog, and he quickened his pace to make sure Kodi wasn't injured.
After a couple of more minutes of following the red and white dog's scent, Balto found his son eating a dead caribou carcass. There was a large, bloody wound where the dog was eating off from, while Kodi's muzzle was full of the animal's blood. The site was disturbing Balto greatly, and the wolf-dog quickly rushed to his son's aid.
"Kodi! What the hell are you doing?!", he yelled out, worried.
Kodi stepped back from the animal, startled by his father's sudden entrance. "Dad, it's a long story", the male husky said.
"Well then explain", Balto ordered.
"A wolf taught me how to eat dead animals they usually hunt. It was disgusting at first but over time the taste got better", Kodi explained, while blood was still dripping off his whiskers.
"Kodi, do you realize what kind of sickness you can get by eating this kind of stuff? It has to be cooked at least!", the hybrid reasoned.
"Dad, I'm pretty sure I would have been dead by now if this food wasn't good for me. Besides, I am part wolf you know", Kodiak reminded.
"Only 25% of your blood is wolf blood. That's not enough to build an endurance to eat this kind of stuff", Balto said.
Kodi just sat there, slightly embarrassed. He shuffled his paws on the ground, not knowing what to say next. He heard his father sigh in defeat, causing him to look back up at the wolf-dog.
"Look, what's in the past is done. What I really came here for is to talk to you about something serious", Balto said seriously.
Kodi cocked his head, confused. "Okay, what is it?", Kodi asked.
In response, Balto started to pace back and forth in front of his son, not making eye contact with him.
"Is there anything you need to tell me, son?", Balto asked calmly.
Kodi cocked his head in the other direction. "Uh, I'm not quite sure what you're getting at".
"Is there anything… you need to tell me", Balto repeated, this time putting more volume in his tone of voice.
Kodi sat there in thought, thinking of anything that he might have forgotten to tell his father. "Umm… no?", Kodi answered, unsure of his own response.
The wolf-dog then stopped pacing back and forth and sat down in front of his son, their faces close to each other.
"Really? Then why didn't you tell me about the strange object you found back in Nome?", Balto asked, trying to keep his cool. Although inside, he was angry at the dog in front of him.
Kodi could feel his entire skin underneath his fur go pale in fear. If he wasn't dead now, he was going to be in a few seconds.
"Uh-I-um don't know what you're talking about", Kodi stuttered, which didn't help the situation at all.
"Don't you act stupid with me Kodi! You damn right know what the hell I'm talking about!", Balto said loudly. He was done playing games, and he had to be direct with his son if he was going to even remotely learn anything.
"You said you had a mail delivery to attend to back in Nome, right before my practice run. Instead you go to God-knows-where and find something that ended up transporting us into the future with a bunch of wolves!", Balto shouted, causing Kodi to cringe.
"Dad, Dusty already gave me a good verbal beating. I know what I did wrong", Kodi replied, scared how his father would react to his comment.
"I don't give a rat's ass what Dusty said to you! She apparently didn't knock some sense into you since you still didn't come to me and tell me the truth!", Balto yelled out angrily.
Kodi didn't try to say anything, for there was nothing to say. He was caught red handed, so he decided to simply just sit there in shame with his head low.
"Now tell me everything you did after I left to my sled practice", Balto ordered, almost in an interrogating fashion.
Kodi didn't want to anger the wolf-dog any further. He knew dogs with lots of wolf blood in them had anger issues, so it would be a good idea to give his father what he wanted.
"Well, after you left with mom, me and my friends went to a cave I found a couple of days earlier. That was where that thing was", Kodi began timidly.
Balto nodded, and signaled the red and white husky to go on.
"The object started off as a bunch of floating pieces on top of a rock-like pedestal. There was a pawprint engraved on the rock, and when I put my paw on it, the whole thing lit up. Next thing you know, the pieces begin to come together and form the artifact. I grabbed it, much to my friend's advice not to do so, and I pressed a button on the thing. It started shaking around and it had a red aurora all around it. We ran away in fear, before a shockwave emitted from the object, not affecting us what-so-ever. Then an earthquake happened, and after that a giant evil sphere came out of nowhere…and then here we are", Kodi finished, exhausted from the long speech he gave.
Now everything made sense to Balto. The final pieces of the puzzle were found from his son's vast explanation.
"Kodi, do you even realize what you did?! Were you thinking at the moment you were in that cave!? You gotten me, your mother, and all our friends in danger!", Balto yelled out.
"Well what if it were you down there? You would have done the same thing I did if you saw floating objects in the middle of nowhere", Kodi argued.
"That's not true. If I WAS you, I would have not lay a paw on the thing. Instead, I would let the authorities know about the thing instead", Balto said.
Meanwhile, Kodi was mad that his father had somehow discovered his secret. Somebody must have told him, and he could only guess that one of his three friends had just stabbed him in the back. What's worse is that none of them had ever done such a thing before, so he couldn't decipher who exactly did it so easily.
"So, I guess you're going to ground me now…aren't you?", Kodi said lowly, his head down in shame.
The hybrid sighed. "Well, looking at the current situation we're in, I'm not going to ground you", Balto replied.
Kodi's face lit up instantly. His father had never done such a thing. Balto caught the sudden excitement in the red and white dog's face.
"Don't think it will stay that way when we get back to Nome however", Balto added.
Kodi's expression went back to sadness just as fast as when it changed to happiness. He saw his father begin to walk away, leaving the husky to think about what he had done. However, Kodi's first order of business now was to find out which one of his three friends snitched on him. The red furred dog got up and stormed off angrily, finding his so called friends.
((((()))))
Jasper Park Canada Sunday March 23, 2011 11:20am
Kodiak first met Ralph, Kirby and Dusty the first day he was going to sled training. They befriended the husky quickly, especially after learning that Kodi's father was the great hero of Nome. The four basically grew up together, and they would never betray one another. That was why Kodi was wondering why one of the three would do such a thing now.
Kodi began to think that maybe it wasn't them, and someone from either pack must've discovered he was the one to cause all these problems. Maybe that one wolf managed to tell on him. The red and white husky shook off the thought, seeing as that was a long shot.
As Kodi was making his way towards the den he found a couple of days earlier, the scent of his three friends were getting stronger, indicating that they were getting close. As he walked meter after meter, he could begin to hear their voices. The red furred dog presumed that they were having a regular conversation, but he was about to interrupt that conversation.
The first thing Kodiak noticed was that Ralph, Kirby and Dusty were all piled up inside the miniature cave-like structure, talking among themselves. Seeing the three made Kodi's blood boil with rage, for he always kept his promises to them, and now they didn't do the same. Kirby was the first to notice the red and white dog standing in front of the entrance of the den.
"Hey, Kodi! What's going-"
"Shut up!", Kodi growled, getting the attention of Ralph and Dusty.
"Whoa. You okay there bud?", Ralph asked, confused as to why his friend was in a bad mood.
"Don't think I don't know what one of you three did. You bastards promised!", Kodi exclaimed angrily.
"Kodi, what the hell are you talking about?", Ralph questioned.
"One of you three snitched on me to my father, didn't you? You told them that it was me who caused us all to be in this god forsaken place. Now I want to know which one of you stabbed me in the back!", Kodi ordered.
"Kodi, we didn't do anything like that", Dusty confessed, but her friend wasn't going to go off that easily.
"Really? Then who else could have told him, huh?"
"We don't know, but we promise you that we didn't go snitch on you, man. It's us, remember?", Kirby reasoned.
"Or so I thought", the red furred dog sneered.
At this point, Dusty got up from the ground. "Look, even it was us, you do kinda deserve it", Dusty said, raising an eyebrow.
"Look, I already learned my lesson back when you gave me that verbal beating. You know, when I was trying to find you?"
"Yes I remember. But then why didn't you go to your father and tell him yourself after that incident we had?", Dusty asked.
"Because I felt that it wasn't the right time to tell him", Kodi said.
"That's what they all say", Kirby muttered. Kodi growled at the big husky's words, causing him to back up into a corner of the den.
"Look Kodi, we swear we didn't tell on you. We kept your promise", Ralph said.
"I don't believe you. No one else could have found out that I teleported us here. You three are the only ones who know", Kodi explained, getting impatient.
"Wait Kodi. I think I know who might have been the one who told your father", Dusty said.
"Who?"
"I believe it was the Eastern Pack alpha. When I said my hellos to your mother, I asked where your dad went and she told me he wanted some answers about that object we found. She said he headed towards the Eastern Pack's alpha den, so maybe he told him", Dusty assumed.
"I call bull. There is no way he could just read my past memories and somehow figure out that it was me who caused all this crap to happen", Kodi replied.
"Are you sure you didn't let your little secret slip whenever you were with him?", Dusty asked.
Kodi tried to recount all the memories he had when he was with Tony. His eyes went wide when the red furred husky realized that he did in fact tell him when he asked what happened before he and his friend got here in Canada. Kodi faced-palmed himself for being so stupid and not realizing he just accused his friends of something they didn't do.
"Oh my god you're right. I did tell him when he took us to his den for the first time", Kodi realized.
"Ya see! It wasn't us. We'd never stab you in the back like that man", Ralph exclaimed.
Kodi now felt slightly embarrassed about the whole scandal he just made. He was mad at Tony for what he done, but he couldn't do anything about it. A fight wouldn't be the best option, for one he was and alpha, and a wolf that was twice his size.
"I'm sorry guys. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions right away", Kodi apologized, his head hung down.
"Hey don't worry about it. Crap like that happens all the time", Kirby replied, brushing off the apology.
Kodi smiled for the first time since his father and him talked. He no longer felt angry, and was glad to know that they still were trustworthy friends. Kodi then entered the den, giving the dog shade from the hot sun. He laid down on the cool ground, feeling comfortable.
"So, how do you think this war will play out?", Dusty asked.
"I don't know", Kodi answered, thinking how the Western and Eastern Packs would win the newly born war.
((((()))))
Outskirts of Jasper, Canada Tuesday March 25, 2011 3:00pm
It was one full day after the initial canyon battle. The Western and Eastern military had never experienced such a large scale firefight before. It worried the troops just how powerful Blaze's army really was. After fighting in the canyon, the rest of the day was spent on traveling. With only 300 soldiers remaining, some trucks had to be abandoned. Now they had arrived in one of Canada's thick forests.
The forest was too thick to travel on vehicle's, so Faro made the decision in going on foot, leaving behind the rest of the trucks. Humphrey didn't like the idea of having more than 300 troops walk in a forest where they can be ambushed at any time.
The climate wasn't the best. The sun was up at its highest point, and everyone could feel the intense heat going through their bodies. Some wolves started to pant, but were quickly told to shut their trap as to not make any noise. Humphrey's fur was already drenched in its own sweat (yes I know canines don't sweat), and even though they were traveling through a forest, there wasn't much shade to go around.
At this point the large platoon of soldiers have walked at least 800 meters into the forest. Thanks to the UAV drone, they knew exactly where they were going, and were always alerted by H.Q if they were ever going the wrong direction. If killing or capturing Blaze was their mission, getting to the Northern or Southern territory was their top priority.
As the Western/Eastern soldiers continued to make their way towards the other end of the forest, Humphrey noticed that not a single soldier in his presence was making a sound. It surprised him that 300 troops walking quietly could sound like only a couple. He made sure not to step on a branch or crunch on fallen leaves. The AR-15 on his back added weight, making it difficult to walk forward. Being fatigued wasn't helping either.
Soon, Faro noticed something that was worth noting. "Everyone stop", he whispered. Even though only the soldiers in the front heard him, the ones in the back did the same when they saw their brother's in arm upfront halt their motion.
The commanding wolf had noticed three lone hostile soldiers up top on a small cliff chilling. Since there was no way for Faro's platoon to get around them, they would have to engage.
"We got three tangos up there. Wait for my signal to take em out", Faro ordered, his voice low.
Humphrey heard what his commander was saying, and figured that plan could get them killed. "Wait! Wouldn't that attract more of them here?", the omega asked, keeping his voice low as well.
"We don't have another choice. It's not like we have 300 suppressors with us", Faro remarked.
"Okay… in three…two…one….weapons free!", Faro exclaimed.
At least ten soldiers opened fire on the hostiles above, while the rest just stayed back and watched. The enemies were killed with ease, clearing the way.
"Alright. Everyone up top!", Faro commanded, raising his voice now.
The troops then began to climb up to small rocky cliff without any problems. They were trained for this type of stuff, unlike Humphrey who was standing there watching everyone else climb up. Once the grey wolf felt confident enough, Humphrey took three big steps back, and launched himself towards the cliff. He managed to get his front paws up top, but he was still dangling in the air. Before he knew it, he was losing grip, and his hind legs were trying to latch on the cliff's wall. Right before he was about to let go, he felt someone grab his paw and pull him up.
"C'mon man. I'll help you up", said a random Eastern wolf, still holding on to the omega's paws tightly. The wolf grunted with effort, but Humphrey managed to get to the top.
"Thanks", said Humphrey, slightly blushing.
"Yea, right", replied the Eastern wolf, jogging back to the platoon.
Humphrey was about to catch up with Faro, until he heard a radio close by. He turned his head in the direction of the three soldiers that were killed earlier. There was radio chatter coming from that direction. The omega curiously trotted towards the bodies and was now able to hear what the radio was saying.
"We heard gunfire in the distance. It could be them, over"
"Uh I don't think so. Maybe it was our own guys mopping up a squad"
"Negative. Sounded like M4s and AR15s. We don't carry those types of weapons, over"
"*sigh* Okay fine. We'll send echo to check it out"
Humphrey gasped at what he was hearing. The gunfire had indeed attracted more unwanted enemy troops to their position. They were now in grave danger, and Faro needed to know quickly.
"Faro! Come here, quick!", the grey wolf shouted.
The veteran wolf soldier already had a lead on Humphrey, but he still heard the omega's voice. Faro quickly sprinted back near the edge of the cliff while everyone else waited for him ahead.
"Could you keep your voice down? What it is?!", Faro demanded.
"Radio chatter sir. I think we're about to get company", Humphrey replied.
Faro leaned his head sideways to hear the walkie-talkie clearly. It was confirmed that Blaze's troops have heard the racket they caused a few minutes ago.
"Aw hell. We better pick up the pace then", Faro said, walking back to the platoon.
Humphrey was quick to follow, but now he was even more nervous than before. With all the trees and branches in the way, it was hard to tell if anyone was hiding underneath something. The foliage may be helping both sides, but Humphrey knew that they weren't the ones hiding. They had to get to Blaze, before it was too late.
Just then, Faro's headset crackled. "Delta 2-5, this is alpha foxtrot. What's the situation, over", the UAV operator asked.
"Situation is that it's hot as hell down here", Humphrey grumbled. Everyone around him chuckled at his remark. The second they saw their leader look back at them, everyone stopped chuckling, and it got dead silent. Faro walked up to Humphrey angrily.
"Why don't you keep your smart-ass comments to yourself, soldier!", the veteran scolded, face to face with the omega. Humphrey immediately submitted to the wolf, not wanting any problems. He mentally kicked himself for still acting like a clown like the old days. They were at war. There was no time for jokes or fun.
"Sorry about the interruption, alpha. Enemy radio chatter indicates we're about to be engaged. You got a bird's eye view of this place, so can you confirm, over", Faro asked.
After a couple of seconds, Faro's headset crackled again. "Delta 2-5 all the trees are blocking my view. I can't see much. I think I'm going to have to send the drone back to base for the mean time, over", the operator explained.
Faro didn't like what he was hearing, and was quick to respond. "Negative, stay with us. There may be a clearing up ahead"
"Okay delta. I only got an hour and a half worth of fuel so make it quick, out".
Faro got off of his headset and started to walk forward again, his rifle in his paws. Everyone followed the wolf's lead.
The group of 300 soldiers bumped into two more hostiles, but they managed to evade them. Had it been that they were close to the platoon and no other way around, they would have had to let the bullets fly again, further arousing more suspicion. Luckily, fate was on their side for those few moments. Other than that it was just plain old hiking to Blaze's territory, and Humphrey wasn't enjoying one bit of it. The omega was hungry, thirsty, and exhausted all at once. It was a shame that there wasn't enough time to train the grey wolf. Otherwise he would have built an endurance to those three conditions.
The forest ambience consisted of the leaves rustling in the wind, birds chirping in the air, and crickets making their own usual sound. It was spooky, and every single wolf soldier was always looking both ways. It almost felt like the Vietnam War, but with more modern technology.
After walking 300 more kilometers, one of the Western pack soldiers spots a lone puppy sitting down with his back turned on all the soldiers. The Western wolf signaled the puppy's presence to everyone, and they all stop their walking and stared at the pup who was not turning around. It's like the young wolf didn't hear them coming. Were they really that quiet?
"Hey kid! You okay, bud?", asked a Western wolf.
The pup remained unmoved. Not even its tail moved an inch.
"You mind telling us what you're looking at?", another Eastern wolf soldier asked.
Still nothing.
Another Western wolf decided to approach the puppy, wondering why he was ignoring them. However, Faro grabbed the soldier by the shoulder and pulled him back.
"Don't. It could be a trap", Faro warned.
"Dude, it's a puppy. What's he going to do, shoot at us?". The Western wolf shook Faro's paw off his shoulder and continued to walk towards the lone pup.
"C'mon kid turn around. You're creeping us out", said the wolf.
The soldier went to grab the puppy by his shoulders, only to have the pup fall to the ground like if it weighed nothing. Looking at the pup's face, the Western wolf noticed that this puppy wasn't even real. It was just a plushy of a wolf pup. The Western wolf backed away in fear, already knowing that this was a setup.
Showers of 7.62 bullets were shot right at the Western wolf, putting a hole in every place imaginable. The soldier didn't stand a chance, and was dead before he hit the floor. More gunfire was also aimed at the platoon, which ended up killing and injuring more people.
They didn't need their commander to tell them what to do. Everyone bolted straight to cover and prepared for a firefight. However, there were so many soldiers, that not everyone could get their own piece of cover, and ended up getting shot to death. Once again, Humphrey was caught by surprise and hid behind a log. Just like in the canyon, he was scared out of his mind, only this time, he got over it quickly.
Bullets from both fractions were sweeping all across the forest. Faro's platoon were shooting where gunfire was being shot at, but they couldn't tell if they were hitting their targets. Blaze's own troops were concealed by the surrounding bushes. One by one the Western and Eastern army were dying, and nobody could tell if they were getting a kill or not.
"Flank! Flank around!", yelled one of the Eastern wolves.
Two soldiers went behind the bushes and saw their enemies laying waste behind the plants. The two soldiers killed three Northern pack soldiers, but two more caught sight of them, and shot the two soldiers.
Humphrey was also trying to see who was trying to kill him, but Blaze's army was well hidden. All he was doing was wasting ammo; something that he didn't have much on.
Screw this, the omega thought, before grabbing an M67 frag grenade from his belt and pulling the pin.
"FRAG OUT!", he shouted, before tossing the explosive weapon where he thought some hostile wolves were hiding. Seconds later, the grenade exploded, kicking up dirt all over the place. He also saw some blood shoot up in the air. The omega assumed he must've finally got his first confirmed kill.
As the battle continued to rage on, more of Faro's own troops were getting killed in action. There were many corpses lying on the ground, so everyone had to be careful not to trip while transitioning into more cover. Everyone was surprised when they saw their enemies suddenly emerge from the bushes and engage them face to face. Many of the Northern and Southern wolves took cover quickly, but Humphrey managed to kill someone right when he left the bush.
Now the Western and Eastern army was getting the upper paw. Almost every bullet shot from Faro's platoon didn't go to waste. The veteran wolf was making short work of the enemy's cover with his SCAR-H assault rifle. Humphrey managed to kill three more soldiers in five minutes before reloading his own gun.
As the opposing army's numbers were starting to thin, everyone's headset came on.
"Delta 2-5, you got another hostile squad approaching you're A.O.", said the UAV operator.
Minutes later, and before anyone could finish off what was left of Blaze's troops (which consisted of just five more soldiers), the second squad had arrived to assist. Faro cursed under his breath, annoyed that they had to deal with more goons.
One of the hostile wolves had a GP25 under barrel grenade launcher attached to his AK47. He aimed the grenade launcher straight at Humphrey. The grey wolf noticed the weapon being aimed at him and took cover. The hostile wolf shot the 40mm grenade at Humphrey and the projectile exploded as soon as it hit the log, destroying it. The force of the blast flung Humphrey into the air for a split second and landed on his back. The explosion left him shell-shocked, meaning that his ears were ringing while his vision was blurry and dizzy. It took a while to recover, but the omega managed and shook off the dirt he had on his fur and aimed straight for the wolf who tried to kill him.
As both sides continued to lose more men, more reinforcements were sent to aid Blaze's troops. Before he knew it, Faro saw that they were getting overwhelmed with AK fire. They didn't have enough ammo to deal with all of the Northern and Southern troops, even if there were 300 of them.
"Everyone, fall back!", Faro shouted.
The wolves were quick to follow the order, and pretty soon they all were running away from Blaze's troops. Humphrey didn't like the feeling of retreating. It made him feel like a coward, but he trusted his commander.
As the large platoon kept moving all four feet, they noticed more and more enemy soldier pop out of nowhere from the foliage and engage them. Now it was a game of run and gun. Humphrey almost got shot when a wolf jumped down from a tree and shot three bullets at him, although he managed to take him out with a clean headshot.
Faro had no idea where he was leading his platoon. Everyone kept running aimlessly down the forest while avoiding gunfire, and pretty soon, motor bombs fell from the sky and exploded onto the ground. The artillery was destroying the surrounding trees. Faro was beginning to worry that they wouldn't be able to run for much longer. The branches and other obstacles got in the way of everyone, making it hard to keep a high speed.
"Delta 2-5, I'm seeing artillery fire coming from a large open field. You also got a mass of foot mobiles chasing you down, over", the UAV operator said.
Pretty soon, Faro had an idea that could save their lives. "Alpha, how do we get to that field?", the veteran wolf asked desperately, just as another motor shell exploded near him.
"Just make a left turn and keep running straight. You'll get their eventually"
Faro breathed a quick sigh of relief, and then went back to panting. "Acknowledged, Delta 2-5 out", Faro dismissed.
Faro did what he was told and made a left turn. Everyone behind him followed his lead. Motor fire continued to rain down upon the platoon. Unfortunately, one of the shells landed right next to a group of Western and Eastern soldiers. The projectile exploded, killing five wolves on the spot. Their limbs and other pieces of their bodies flew right off, followed by a gruesome amount of blood.
Just when he thought he was going the wrong way, Faro saw an opening through the foliage that could be where the large field was. The sun's light made it look like a doorway to heaven. The veteran wolf picked up the pace, and before he knew it, they were back outside.
The sun's majestic rays blinded most of the wolves once they stepped out into the clearing. The field was at least 25 football fields big. The UAV above the clouds now had a clear view of Faro's platoon. On the other end, Blaze's own army was also ready to engage the Western and Eastern pack. The two fractions were far away, but they soon charged each other, ready to fight to the death.
Cover consisted of walls of sandbags places all over the field, and destroyed or abandoned vehicles lying on the ground. Both sides started to exchange bullets to one another, creating a massive firefight never seen by any soldier.
"Angel 4-1 this is Delta 2-5", Faro yelled out. All the gunfire and explosions was making it extremely hard to contact anyone via radio.
"Go ahead 2-5", said the jet pilot.
"Half of the goddamn Northern and Southern clan are on our asses! We need you to take the heat off, over!", Faro shouted.
After a couple of seconds, the pilot responded, "give us at least ten mikes and will be in your airspace, ready to assist, out".
Meanwhile, the massive battle was overwhelming Humphrey. There were so many guys shooting at him, that it was nearly impossible to take aim and return fire. He took a risk and peeked his head out to see a Northern soldier close by. The omega took aim and fired six rounds at the enemy. Every bullet hit the soldier, killing him.
Most of the other Western and Eastern troops were not taking as much cover and were playing offensively. It was hard to say who was winning the vast firefight, since both sides kept losing soldiers at the same rate. Faro and Humphrey noticed two MI-24 hinds fly over the battlefield.
Humphrey ran to the sandbag Faro was taking cover in."Sir, are those our birds?", the omega asked.
The veteran looked back at the grey wolf. "Negative! Just ignore them unless they engage us", Faro yelled out.
The two continued to fight alongside each other while waiting for their own air support to come in. What worried Humphrey is that the pair of choppers have turned around and was ready to face him and the rest of the platoon.
Then out of nowhere, everyone witnessed the two military helicopters explode into two giant fireballs; their wreckage falling to the ground. Faro and Humphrey heard what they have been waiting for; the sound of two supersonic FA-18s flying above the skies. Their engines never failed to make everyone's ears ring.
"This is Angel 4-1, we are on station, ready to assist".
Faro smiled mischievously, "Angel 4-1, we got a mass of foot mobiles in front of us. Take em out! Coordinates follow as whisky foxtrot 0057438, over".
Humphrey witnessed a group of hostile wolf soldiers carelessly charging at where he and Faro were taking cover in. He grabbed another one of his grenades and cooked it for about three seconds, before tossing it in the path of the soldiers. Right when it hit the ground, the little ball exploded, killing them all instantly. Their legs came off in a bloody mess, and Humphrey's fur got some of the blood.
"Delta 2-5 we got your coordinates, coming in hot", the jet pilot warned.
The two FA-18s made a u-turn to face the Northern and Southern army. The jets fired both their minigun and their unguided rockets. The ordinance created a firework show unlike any other. The ground was now full of craters from the missiles and bullets.
"This is angel 4-1, we count at least twenty plus tangos K.I.A, over".
Faro noticed from a distance two T-72 battle tanks coming in slowly to assist Blaze's army. "We got enemy armor 4-1! Their at our 12:00 o'clock!", the black and grey wolf directed.
The two jets turned around, ready for another gun run. Each jet picked a tank, and used their laser guided hellfire missiles to destroy them. The projectiles took no time in reaching their targets, and the tanks went up in flames. Faro saw that it was somewhat safe to move up, and signaled everyone to push Blaze's army back.
"Push forward!", Faro commanded.
Humphrey vaulted over the sandbags he was taking cover in and ran towards one of the hinds that got destroyed earlier. He reloaded his AR-15 but noticed that he was almost out of assault rifle ammo.
"Last mag!", he yelled out.
The omega switched the rifle to single shot to make every bullet count. But even with that, he was still having trouble killing someone.
One of the southern wolf soldiers noticed that the jets were taking out a lot of their reinforcements. He signaled one of his buddies to hand him an anti-air weapon, and pretty soon, the wolf was holding a Stinger in his paws. The wolf waited for the lock on signal, then fired the rocket at the jets.
The hornets were about to prepare for a third airstrike, but the pilot didn't have enough time to fire his weapons as the aircraft warned him of the incoming missile headed straight for him. The pilot quickly released flares, causing the missile to go off course.
"Delta 2-5 area is getting too hot. You need to take out those RPG teams or we'll have to bail out, over", the pilot informed.
The veteran wolf didn't answer back, but instead took cover behind a destroyed humvee. He aimed his SCAR-H rifle and scanned the ongoing battle to find anyone with a rocket launcher. The wolf heard bullets whizzing past him, forcing him to take cover as to not get shot at. He kept aiming downrange cautiously, trying to find his intended target. Soon, his iron sights were locked on a wolf aiming a launcher at the sky. He fired eight bullets in full auto, and the trooper dropped dead.
After almost half an hour of fighting in the vast field, Faro's platoon and Blaze's army have suffered some serious casualties. No side seemed to notice the outcome of the firefight. Up top on a rather large hill, was Blaze himself, looking over the entire battle from a good view point. One of his soldiers was by his side, also looking down at the battlefield. Blaze felt worried that his own army might lose this battle, his tail twitching from side to side.
Blaze turned to the soldier next to him. "Go get your men and proceed with echo foxtrot", he ordered.
"Are you sure, sir?", the soldier asked, a little worried.
Blaze looked back at the battle below. "Yes. That platoon is nothing without their commander. He'll need a distraction if we're to win this one", Blaze explained confidently.
The soldier bowed in respect, before running off to get his squad.
Blaze watched as the soldier left, and then sighed. Lately he had been feeling strange presences around him, almost as if a spiritual being was trying to haunt him. He even had a dream where he heard a feminine voice say, "end it now". All of these events were abnormal, but he still had a war to win. Blaze wasn't going to let him mind playing tricks on him make him look like a coward.
Back in the battlefield, Humphrey was exhausted with all the fighting he had done today, and yet it seemed that the firefight had only escalated. It felt like World War 3, and the size of the field made it seem that way. The omega kept hearing the jets fly over them from time to time, but they would never attack unless Faro gave them the order to. Humphrey saw a hostile exposed, and shot him dead. The only problem now was that his rifle was out of bullets completely, and was now down to a G17 pistol.
The Western and Eastern army kept moving from cover to cover from time to time, pushing back their enemies. Nobody could say if they were winning or losing, since more of Blaze's troops just kept coming. His pack must really be humongous if their army was this big.
Just then, everyone's headset came on, "Delta 2-5, this is command. Drone footage just picked up civvies being massacred by an enemy squad just east of your current position. It's not priority one, but saving them would be a good choice, over".
Faro was about to come up with a response, but held it back in. He didn't know if ditching the battle they could possibly be winning was a good idea to save some civilians under fire. He didn't even know there was a wolf pack in these parts of Jasper. After giving it some more thought, Faro answered back.
"This is Delta 2-5 actual, we'll see what we can do, out".
Faro then ran up quickly to a group of his brothers in arms who were busy fighting the war.
"Listen up! We got a squad of soldiers murdering innocent civilians just east of our current position! I want you, you, you, you, you and you to come with me and deal with those bastards! Now let's go!", Faro commanded.
The veteran wolf got a yes sir from all the soldiers he picked. One of those soldiers was Humphrey, who was eager to help save lives instead of destroying them. Yet somehow, the omega felt like he was about to do both.
((((()))))
Outskirts of Jasper, Canada Tuesday March 25, 2011 4:40pm
Faro, Humphrey, and the rest of the soldiers had to travel back through the bushes and into the dense forest were they came from. The Western Pack H.Q had given Faro precise coordinates as to where the civilians were. It was actually located in a village owned by a small wolf pack in this forest. As soon as everyone saw a den, they knew they were getting close.
Humphrey had never been in a hostage situation before. He had heard stories about the scenario. Wolves would tell him it was one of the most suspenseful moments in their lives, and that one wrong move could cost them the entire rescue mission. If there were really civilians being under attack, then there was no time to waste.
"Sir, you think leaving the rest of the platoon like that was a good idea?", asked one of the Eastern wolfs.
"They'll be fine. They don't need me to baby them 24/7", Faro replied, not taking a split second break from his jogging.
"He's got a point, Faro. A pack without their alpha could cause more damage than good", Humphrey reasoned.
"I said they'll be fine", Faro repeated, this time with a more firm voice.
Nobody wanted to anger the veteran wolf any further, so they just kept running until they got to where they needed to be.
After the squad had ran for about 600 meters, they finally came right in front of their destination. The first thing everyone noticed was several dens scattered around an average sized meadow. A more horrifying sight were several dead wolves lying on the ground. Some corpses were mutilated, and the smell of blood was fresh in the air. The only wolves that were left alive was a light brown and grey she-wolf, and her two pups. The pups each had a gun pointed at them by two soldiers, while the rest were just watching. The supposed leader of the soldiers was circling the she-wolf, obviously admiring her. Faro's team made sure to stay out of sight, but at the same time, have a clear view point of the situation.
"What the hell is going on?", whispered a Western wolf.
"Quiet!", Faro scolded, his voice low in volume. Everyone had their weapons aimed at the enemy squad in front of them. Everyone heard the leader of the enemy squad speak up.
"Heh heh heh. Why are so scared, dollface?", he taunted. The wolf used his pistol to lift up the female's face. She was shivering in fear, with tears running down her face. "This all happened for a reason. You know that, right?"
Faro's team just kept observing. They had to wait for the right moment to strike, or it would be game over. Faro couldn't see those innocent pups die because of his stupidity.
"You and I are gonna have some fun pretty soon. I promise to go easy on you ", he finished, grinning evilly.
At this, the female wolf started to sob quietly. Her body was still shaking uncontrollably in fear. She shook her head, not wanting to submit to the monster that made her witness all her friends being murdered.
"That's okay. You don't have to if you don't want to, but it will cost you your pups", the squad leader sneered. As soon as he said that, everyone heard the cocking of a rifle. It was one of the soldiers holding hostage one of the female's pups. They too were crying, seeing their mother in such a horrible situation.
"Oh shit. They're gonna violate the poor girl", Faro noted.
"All the more reason why we should act now", Humphrey urged.
Faro was about to argue, but he didn't see why waiting any longer would be beneficial. He ended up nodding his head, before everyone picked a target and prepared to take out the enemy squad in front of them.
Faro made a three, two, one signal with his paw. Once his paw turned into a fist, everyone fired their weapons at the hostile wolves. Every single one of Blaze's troops was wiped out, and the female wolf and her two pups were not harmed. Humphrey had to use his G17 pistol to take out the squad, since his rifle was dry on bullets.
"Clear!" Faro shouted, before stepping out of the shadows.
Everyone also got out of cover and scanned the area to make sure no one was left lurking around. The she-wolf quickly ran up to her two pups and hugged them tightly, now crying tears of joy. She whispered comforting words to the young puppies, calming them down.
Humphrey walked towards the female wolf. The wolf stepped back in fear, covering her two pups with her paws.
"It's okay. We're not here to hurt you. Are you okay?", the omega asked.
The wolf nodded, her eyes still red from all the crying she had done.
"Okay. Get away from this forest. It's not safe", Humphrey said, before walking back with his squad.
"I think we were too late", said one of the Eastern wolves to Faro, looking at all the bodies.
"Not entirely", Faro replied, looking back at the she-wolf and her two pups, who was beginning to exit the scene. The black and grey wolf got on his headset. "Command, this is Delta 2-5 actual. We couldn't save the civilians in time but we did save a mother from nearly getting raped in front of her two children, over".
"Good stuff 2-5, get your-", Faro's headset cut off, and all that was heard now was a static sound.
"Command? Command! Do you read me?"
Moments later, the wolf's headset came back on, but somebody else was one the line.
"Delta! Delta! This is alpha foxtrot! You need to haul ass back towards the field. Drone camera is showing us that your platoon is taking heavy casualties, over!", the UAV operator said.
Faro's eyes went wide in shock, realizing what the wolf on the radio was saying. "Roger that! We're moving now!", he shouted.
Faro grabbed his SCAR-H on the ground, put it on his back, and dashed back to the path from where he came from. "C'mon! Everyone move!", Faro shouted.
Everyone soon stopped whatever they were doing and were right on their commander's tail. Since everyone heard what was going on in the radio, nobody was wondering why Faro was acting so strange all of a sudden. Faro already knew from the beginning that this was going to happen, and yet somehow he was still caught by surprise.
"Damn. Someone must've sent that squad to distract us! Keep moving!", Faro ordered, picking up his pace.
Humphrey had a hard time keeping up with everyone. He had some good runs before, but he never had to run this fast. Every obstacle was a near miss due to his blinding speed, and with him being thirsty as all hell, it only made every step that much harder.
Faro heard a helicopter flying in the distance, as well as the ambience of the battle taking place in the field they were once at. The veteran wolf noticed that they were almost at the field. It didn't take long to go back.
After making to the field, Faro saw an unpleasant sight. For starters, there were Western and Eastern soldier bodies laying dead on the floor, Blaze's army somehow looked like it had increased in size, and it looked like there were only 40 or so soldiers left in Faro's squad.
Faro and everyone else ran to the nearest piece of cover they could find, trying to dodge the hailstorm of bullets coming their way. Faro killed two soldiers with his rifle before putting his back against a destroyed chopper. There was no way he and his remaining soldiers were going to win this battle by themselves. They were gonna need some heavy firepower.
"Angel 4-1 this is Delta 2-5. Are you able to assist, over", Faro asked.
"Affirmative 2-5, but be advised, we're getting low on ammo. We may have enough for only two more gunruns before we have to head back to base, over", the FA-18 pilot explained.
"Solid copy. Your first target is a T-72 tank and a bunch of foot mobiles. Rain hell at grid echo 294856, over", Faro said.
Seconds later, the pilot responded. "Roger, we got your targets. Engaging".
Everyone saw and heard the jets fly over them at low altitudes, before delivering a payload of rockets and bullets at a tank and a large group of Blaze's soldiers. Screams of pain can be heard mixing in with the explosions that rocked the earth.
Humphrey saw one of his allies still alive, but badly wounded. It was a Western soldier, with three bullet wounds and blood all over his body. The omega bravely ran out of cover to help the wolf, but two more bullets hit the soldier, ending his life before Humphrey could save him. The omega made a quick u-turn, kicking up dirt, and ran right back to the sandbags he was taking cover in. peeking his head out again, Humphrey noticed with the scope on his AR-15 that an MI-28 havoc was flying right towards him in the distance. The havoc fired two rockets at the grey wolf, and it took Humphrey a second to realize the projectiles.
The omega ran as fast as he could, not wanting to have his body parts blown off. The rockets directly hit the sandbags and destroyed the wall, scattering the bags everywhere. While Humphrey was running, one of them hit him, causing him to trip and fall on the ground before skidding to a stop. Seeing as he was exposed, the omega quickly got back up and found another wall of sandbags to hide behind.
Faro was ready to deliver another coordinate for the FA-18 hornets to attack, but the wolf heard the sound of more jet engines fly right over him. The black and grey wolf looked up to see three MIG-29s flying in the skies, aiming right at the hornets. Remembering what happened back at the Western pack, Faro could already tell these jets were not friendly.
"Angel 4-1, you got bandits coming your way hot!", Faro warned.
The two jets and the three migs were flying directly at each other. The migs fired their nose cannons at the hornets, forcing both Western pilots to barrel roll away from the opposing jets. The pilots readjusted their flaps to prepare themselves for a dogfight.
Two migs went after one hornet while the remaining mig chased down the other. The pair of migs fired their heat-seeking missiles at the hornet, but the pilot deployed flares just in time to divert the missiles away from the aircraft. One of the migs managed to accurately destroy one of the hornet's wings with his nose cannon. The pilot soon lost control of the aircraft and was now falling towards the ground while spinning uncontrollably.
"I'm hit! I'm hit!" warned the pilot.
The wing that came off nearly hit Faro, flying right over him before crashing onto the ground. The jet kept doing barrel rolls towards the ground until it finally crashed. The whole aircraft exploded into one giant fireball, shaking the ground like a minor earthquake. Even a retard could have been right if they have said the pilot was dead.
Meanwhile, the remaining hornet was also being chased down by a pursing MIG-29. The pilot tried every evasive maneuver to try and get behind the pursuing pilot, but it was no use. The mig kept trying to take out the hornet with his 12mm nose cannon, but was missing terribly. The mig pilot finally got impatient, and used his unguided missiles from his rocket pods instead. Two of the missiles hit the hornet, causing it to explode in the air, with all the wreckage falling towards the ground.
"Son of a bitch!", Faro cursed, seeing his air support go up in flames like that. What's worse was that everywhere he looked, more of his allies were dying. Without the firepower from the hornets, there was no way Faro and his remaining soldiers would win this battle.
Humphrey too was witnessing that they were now fighting a losing battle. They had to face an army of 500 or more soldiers, and they only had 20 or less. The omega was almost out of ammo for everything, and he barely had killed anyone with his crappy pistol. Peeking his head out, Humphrey saw the entire enemy platoon now charging them while still shooting their AKs.
"Faro! We have to go!", Humphrey yelled out.
The veteran wolf heard him, but he never had to retreat in a battle. He didn't like the concept of falling back where it was safe. It made him feeling like a coward, and not a true warrior. However, seeing a mass of soldier charging at him was giving him second thoughts on continuing to fight this battle.
Faro threw down his SCAR-H to the ground. "Dammit! Everyone retreat! Back to the forest", he commanded, before running back into the dense forest.
Humphrey was glad that his commander had actually listened to him. He too got out of cover and ran as fast as he could, not wanting to fight for one more second. It may have seemed cowardly, but there were a lot of things he wanted to do in his life before he died.
The remains of Faro's platoon obeyed their commander's order and ran back to the forest. The three migs manage to stop some of the Western and Eastern wolves from running off by bombing them to death. The airstrike only encouraged Humphrey and Faro to pick up the pace. Faro didn't dare to look back as to not trip on anything.
Humphrey and Faro kept running, and the Northern/Southern pack had won their first battle.
((((()))))
Outskirts of Jasper, Canada Tuesday, March 25, 2011, 10:12pm
They kept running and running and running. Even when they didn't hear their enemy's pawsteps behind them, they still kept running. Faro was angry at himself for letting a side mission distract him from the real problem. Humphrey felt like he was about to die from both hunger and thirst.
After Faro was certain that they had lost Blaze's troops, he took a break. Lucky for Humphrey, they stopped right next to a stream, so the omega was giving the privilege of letting cool water into his dry mouth.
It was now night time, and Faro already set up camp. There was a small bonfire surrounded by rocks and nothing more. Only three soldiers managed to survive till the end. Faro assumed that the rest must've not been able to catch up and gotten killed, or worse.
Everyone had a good amount of MREs, so that was basically their dinner for the night. It was also Humphrey's first time eating military food. It wasn't as good as a freshly killed caribou, but it did help ease his growling stomach for awhile. Nobody said anything after that. Everyone just kept staring at the fire, thousands of thoughts going through each wolf's head.
After all the fighting he had to do today, Humphrey's fur was full of dirt, barely being noticeable due to his fur color. He also had several blood stains from both his injuries and the blood of the Northern and Southern troops. All four of his legs and paws were aching from all the running he did today. His body was full of scratches and bruises. All of this gave him the appearance of a true warrior who fought bravely in the battlefield.
"This was all a big mistake", Faro said quietly.
Humphrey's ears perked up at the sound of the wolf's voice. "What do you mean?", he asked.
"Winston and Tony should have kept the artifact at area 7, not bury it near the border", Faro explained. "If they would have done just that, Blaze's drones would have never caught the damn thing".
"Oh", was all Humphrey let slip out of his muzzle.
One of the soldiers who had survived got up and walked away from the group to go to sleep.
"You know what? I'm proud of you Humphrey", Faro said, smiling.
The omega was shocked, not because of what his commander had said, but because he actually saw him smiling for the first time. "Why?", he asked.
"Even before the canyon battle, I didn't think you were going to make it. Now I know that there is warrior inside of you. A strong one too", the black furred wolf complimented.
"Thanks… Faro, but I never wanted to be a warrior in the first place", Humphrey explained.
"Don't tell me you're a pacifist", Faro teased.
"no, it's just an omega thing", Humphrey replied.
The veteran wolf only nodded, before gazing at the fire again. The two other soldiers were having their own conversation. After about long moment of silence between Humphrey and Faro, Humphrey spoke up.
"I hope I get to see Kate again. I wonder how she's doing".
"I wish I could say the same", Faro replied bitterly.
Humphrey knew what he was referring to, and drooped his ears sadly. "Faro, I'm so sorry".
"Don't be. At least I know my daughter is still alive out there… hopefully", Faro trailed off.
"Not to be a burden but, what exactly happened back in your pack", Humphrey asked curiously. The last time the omega asked the veteran that question, he had refused to talk about it, and Humphrey didn't blame him.
"What happened back in my old pack only made me a stronger soldier. I was a scout before crazy shit started happening. Something started to cause people to go insane, almost like a zombie on steroids. They had to be killed by our military before they did any damage", Faro explained.
"Once it got to the military, it was chaos. There was no order, no stability, only chaos. Even though it was a civil war, it was more like an every man for himself type of thing. it remains one of my greatest mysterious, but I think someone may have unleashed a biochemical weapon I didn't know about. That's why I am who I am today, because I had to see things no other war will allow you to go through. Basically the sights of hell on earth", Faro finished.
"That's crazy. What if something like that happens again?", Humphrey questioned, worried.
"I wouldn't worry about it. I haven't heard any similar events happening in other packs recently", Faro said.
"So how are we gonna get to Blaze with just five of us?", Humphrey asked. It was true; their mission was to kill or capture Blaze, which would end the war, but that would be impossible without a good sized army.
"We'll have to tell command to send the remaining 500 soldiers to our location. I'm going to send those troops straight to Blaze's territory however. We're going to have to go the long way", Faro explained.
There was another moment of silence. "I still can't believe we lost. It's like they turned the tables on this one", Faro mused.
"There's always tomorrow. Best thing now is to get some rest", Humphrey suggested.
Faro was about to disagree, until he let out a loud yawn. "Fine. Guess sleep would be good", he grumbled.
Everyone found their own little area to sleep in. Humphrey, however, wasn't going to sleep just yet. He wanted everyone else to go to bed so he could have some alone time to think. The omega looked up at the sky and noticed that it was full of stars. Some constellations were also visible. Humphrey never seen anything this beautiful since he left Kate to go fight the war.
Not a moment went by where Humphrey wasn't thinking about his mate. He just wished she was right by his side, nuzzling him affectionately, feeling her warm, soft fur against his own. Just thinking about her beautiful face almost made Humphrey shed a tear for a second, but he squinted it away. The omega continued to gaze at the starry sky, and somehow, he felt that Kate was always praying for him every day and night, making sure he got to live to fight another day.
Authors Note:
Man, did Faro's team get their asses kicked or what? Well, I hope you guys liked this chapter, although if you find the fighting scenes very repetitive, I understand. I felt the same way when writing it out, but I can't think of any other way to make it less repetitive. If you liked the chapter, let me know in a review. If, not, feel free to tell me what's wrong and how it can be improved. This will be my second longest chapter, right behind Chapter 8: The invasion. Stick around for future updates!