Warning Bells

This chapter was written in collaboration with Pudong. I want to thank Pudong so very much for his help bouncing off ideas to make Vol 1 and Vol 2 better and this chapter. I have never tried writing in collaboration before but I think in the end you get a lot more ideas and end up thinking through what you want a lot more.

This is my first experiment with collaboration. This is an important chapter… since we are near the finish line all the remaining chapters are pivotal. In retrospect it would have been far better to have Pudong done a one off… maybe having Nick have a flashback or something and write that but the pacing at this point in the story would not work. The last open chapter was "Humanity, Is it Really So Bad?" everything after is building toward a climax.

I have attempted to keep as much as possible of what was written by Pudong or the essence of his words and modified some areas for consistency so if it seems a bit different than the others you know why.

This is a personal message from Pudong:

"Hey guys, I'm Pudong. I'm Chinese, and this is also my first time writing in collaboration. I feel extremely honored to be working with Menser. We are both intrigued by the darkness Zootopia holds deep down, even though I'm glad the cartoon itself made me laugh.

I hope I can continue to help with this story, as I feel it is unique and different from all other Zootopia fanfics I've found."

As Nick tucked the dossier back inside his shirt, he appeared to be a shaken fox. Both his paws trembled from pure fear alone as he vainly convinced himself it was simply the cold and nothing more. Strange that he had never experienced this feeling when he was still a con hustling rubes and marks with ease and abandon. Nor did his legs, let alone his paws ever shake in terror whilst he now chased criminals many times his size and weight. This was entirely different. He had just read about a plan, a conspiracy, a potential coup that could alter his, along with hundreds of thousands or even millions of individual lives forever.

Everything was going to end here. If all he read in the dossier came true, their entire world could be changed for a long time to come by this insane excuse of an organization that had somehow gained support from an unknown entity. Weapons he barely had the name for, assault rifles called ACRs, armor piercing or high velocity ammunition, explosives, handguns, words that never before existed to his or most likely any Zootopian's own vocabulary. In some ways he thanked fate for letting him get his paws on this horrid piece of work. At least now he might have some chance, however remote of stopping it.

It was dreadful. These mammals… could he even call them that? These creatures were going to stage a coup, an attempted take-over of their entire civilization. Bunnyburrow, Gopherville and other suburbs, the power stations, manufacturing facilities… they were all outside the metropolis's reach, but they all kept the grand city operating and without them it would be crippled. If this group really decided to act with their many minions, they would be able to hold the inhabitants of Zootopia hostage. From the information he had read just a few minutes ago, he couldn't believe this massive operation had been under their noses the whole time. How could something on such a grand scale been kept so quiet for so long? They had a highly organized extensive operation with seemingly massive numbers of agents to carry out simultaneous attacks all around the outer areas of Zootopia. If the specifications and description of these guns… these assault rifles were to be believed the weapons of the ZPD would be completely outmatched by these weapons of unheard of destruction.

Guns that could kill instead of ones to immobilize or put animals to sleep. Explosives that could destroy even the largest animal instantly. But on top of everything there was a secret weapon. A secret weapon he had to destroy at all costs.

He personally wondered how God or any deity would let such horrid creatures get their paws upon these weapons, tools capable of destroying the world. Surely they had been abandoned by any such entity. The specification sheets and manuals on all these new weapons of killing and mayhem were too much to conceive. And how did Judy and all the missing mammals fit into this nightmare scenario? The thought of his friend at the mercy of creatures capable of imagining such things had shaken him to the core.

He couldn't let this happen. He needed help. He needed Chief Buffalo Butt.

Slowly standing up from the chair in this abandoned room, he let the dead phone drop from his paws onto the dusty floor that had not seen a broom or mop for years. Nick tried to ignore his trembling legs and his dread. He needed every ounce of his courage for all of this to work. He worked his way out once again into the dimly-lit corridor, and began to formulate the plan he so desperately needed in his clever mind. He first needed a floor plan, a map of this compound. As he strolled past the outer perimeter, he took in all the commotion, mentally tracking every building, every truck, every item. He was careful not to run, lest he bump into another guard who might not be so easy to trick. The time for games was done, he was all business. He would have to be careful to avoid any action that would cause suspicion.

As dozens and dozens of personnel trickled past him, his eyes began to scan the faces one by one. All predators. No sign of any prey. He could not remember seeing a single prey animal anywhere in the facility except for the two prisoners. And thinking back to the mammals taken and Judy. They were all prey. Could this abhorrent Covenant be a predator takeover? Could his own kind be capable of such an act? He hoped it was not so. But all signs pointed to such a conclusion. The predator and prey situation in Zootopia was currently better than it had ever been. After the savage predator attacks and paranoia of the Bellwether administration or Ffion's savage predator movement things had finally calmed down and the trust had been mended. If this was a predator conspiracy, he had to stop it at all costs before there was irreparable harm done to the tentative peace and understanding between the two groups.

He would have to be the one to redeem his own kind. It would be the height of irony if the predators were undone by one of their own. He hoped this would be the case. He needed to get his head in the game and find the right target. His mind started to choose, starting to filter out those who were too strong for him to challenge, and those who just might provide him with the opportunity to slip past.

Bingo. A petite otter slowly walked by the fox, his eyes following the text on his folder of reports. There was an entire stack of manila folders tucked between his arm and his torso. He had no idea he was being carefully monitored.

Nick: greeting him as an old friend "Hey! Joseph!" Nick made his way over to the occupied otter. "Where have you been all day?"

He had quickly gotten the name off the top of the folder the otter had been reading and referred to him as if he had known him all his life. The name on the folder read Joseph M. Middleton. A dull name for a dull mammal. It was very convenient of this Covenant to provide him with names on the folders as it helped to make his work quite a bit easier.

Joseph: stammering "Uhh, hello I guess… Austin?"

Nick: responding to his borrowed name tag he had found while searching the trash "Umm... hey Middleton, mind if I borrow your floor map for a while? I'm kinda, well, new here."

Nick's face blossomed into a huge grin, the one he had mastered since the age of twelve.

Nick: "I'm sure someone as kind as you can't decline… aren't you known for that?"

Nick laid one his furry paws onto the otter's skinny shoulder.

Joseph: grunting "There ain't a floor plan here I know of. Just go find ol' freaking Tigerstone for the details, won't ya. I really gotta go."

Nick: laughing "Oh well, I guess I'm sorry. I don't wanna be cursed out by that Tiger do I?"

Nick thought silently Who the hell was Tigerstone? Mr. Dullness's boyfriend or something?

The otter began moving along the corridor again.

Nick: "Umm, Joseph?" raising his voice "I think you dropped something."

The otter looked to the ground and retrieved a lone manila folder.

Joseph: "Thanks, I guess, Austin."

The fox seemed to be standing closer to him than normal with his usual grin.

Joseph: muttering "Say, wasn't recruitment closed for now? I'd thought…" He continued on his way.

Austin aka Nick grinned to himself as he watching the otter go on his merry way. He had used the folder he had been given along with his procured uniform quite well. He then turned back the way he come and strolled confidently through the bunker area, the phone with the map marked Mr. Joseph Middleton in his sly hands.

Along the way he heard snippets of strange conversations, as well as terrifying roars coming from behind hard oak doors marked Administration. He nervously gulped and tried to remember the map he had so deft obtained… that was, before Mr. Dull's phone battery died.

One right, two lefts, two rights, straight forward, 4th room on the right side. The numbers seemed to bounce around in his mind. He concentrated and walked on. Nearly there he thought, Fifteen minutes later he entered a brightly-lit passageway marked Communications. The first three doors seemed to be locked but fortunately this one appeared to be in a state of disuse. It's knob long covered with stains of rust.

However some noise emanated from the room exactly opposite from the fourth on the right. Huge bursts of laughter were occasionally emanating from the room concealed behind the modern, iron-plated door. It was a temptation Officer Wilde could not resist. Ever so slowly and silently, he crept until his body was adjacent to the wall of the room filled with obscene laughter. Over the din of chatter and occasionally apparently hilarious jokes, he could hear… a strange vibrating noise. The kind you heard on the phone every time you made a call. A few moments later, a voice came over a computer or whatever device was being used for monitoring in the facility.

"Hey Jaaackson… how's my love today…" A feminine voice stretched.

The laughter once again erupted from inside the room.

"It's the lovebirds again!" A voice exclaimed.

"Quiet! I don't want to miss this part!"

"Idiots always seem to forget all local communication is monitored. I guess all that love in their brains pushed out any common sense."

A few more squeals of laughter.

Nick turned away from the wall with frustration. They were monitoring all channels local and long range in the facility and apparently cell phones were blocked here. From the dossier it appeared all computer access was blocked in this facility as well for security reasons. How in the world was he going to be able to get any word out of this place?

Nearly yelling out loud in frustration, his sent a full blow with this leg into the thickness of the door. With his police training, he might have actually succeeded in kicking it down. Fortunately, the tough old hinges held, plus with volume of chatter coming from inside, his temperament and sudden outburst was unobserved. He had to get word out and fast somehow.

The first fox cop concentrated. He erased all previous thoughts out of his mind and tried the door to the Backup Communications Room. It was the only system he was sure wouldn't be closely supervised. It appeared all the ground lines had been disconnected, and he didn't have the time to actually locate a working landline. All the ones he had found so far had all been disconnected. All mobile cell phone communications were being blocked or disrupted by the power station itself.

He swore under his breath. The knob was locked. He was attempted to kick it down again, but his instincts forced him to hold back. He opened his tiny pack, a little cache of supplies he had kept inside his pouch for emergencies. Nick took out a set of tiny tools, and for the first time in his life he actually depended on using the tiny little pieces of metal instead of merely using them to cause mischief. He stuck two of thin metal strips into the lock, and started to twist…

He felt a heavy paw clamp down on his shoulder, nearly crushing him and shocking him to death. Officer Wilde turned around, fully expecting an angry guard carrying one of those pistols he had briefly read about. Instead he discovered a medium sized tiger somewhere in the neighborhood of forty years old staring down at him. His facial expression looked confused and not sure what to make of Nick.

Tiger: "You're from maintenance, aren't you?" He inquired, breaking the deafening silence. "Kenton?"

Nick: enthusiastically "Sir, yes Sir!" Nick gave him a mock salute. "Just checking the neglected rooms."

Tiger: playing along with Nicks joke "At ease, Private." snapping a salute in reply. "Haven't you a got a master key on you?"

Nick: looking downcast "Lost it, sir," Nick answered with such genuine frustration that he himself was lost in the act for a split moment. "It seems to have disappeared over time. Nobody goes in it anymore. I just received my orders, sir!"

Tiger: handing Nick a full set of keys "Take mine, used to be in your department as well. Such a shame they abandoned some of the older communications equipment."

Nick: "Exactly, sir!"

Nick played along as he turned the key in the door. The wooden obstacle swung open, spraying Nick with an unpleasant odor that he doubted he could wash off in a shower.

Tiger: winking as he put his paw out for the keys to be returned "I gotta get back to my office now, they need me."

Nick: appreciatively "Thank you, so much, sir!" Nick snapped back as he placed the keys back in the tiger's little pack. Slowly, concealing the original chain of keys in his palm, he grabbed the larger chain of keys and put his hand in his pocket, trying to act casual, hoping the size of his paw would be large enough to conceal the metal implements.

The Tiger noticed none of this, as he was so busy peeking into the ancient room.

Tiger: "Well, see you, Austin!" waving as he journeyed down the hallway. "Feel free to call on me!"

Yeah, maybe in a nice prison cell bastard Nick thought as he slammed the door shut and locked it tight, pushing a chair behind it for additional security.

He took a quick scan of the room. There was a rotten oak desk with several chairs in front of it where no one had sat in a very long time. Fortunately, one radio set still remained which would broadcast high frequency long range communication on public channels. His ingenious plan firmly in his mind he pulled out his phone. While it was useless as a communications device it was useful to run apps. He remembered he had an app which could play various tones. Some of Judy's siblings were fascinated as he used the tones to play songs for them. How he wished he could be there playing a song for them with Judy right now.

Connecting a plug to the dusty electric socket hidden in a corner of the room, he turned on the wireless set. The machine gave a few coughs, and came back to life, the lights gradually growing dimly and radio waves hummed through speakers. He wondered if he was making too much of a racket. More inane laughter from the room opposite convinced him otherwise.

Slowly, he picked up the lone set of earphones on the desk, and connected it to the machine. His entire plan came down to his old friend and survivalist conspiracy nut Honey Badger (not to be confused with Dr. Madge). She had taught him a lot of the survival skills he had used over the years to get out of scrapes and avoid numerous disasters. It would seem that her lessons could help lead to saving all of Zootopia if he could only get his vital information to the right mammals.

He sighed as he remembered his times starting as a smuggler and developing the skills to succeed as a hustler, and finally a cop. Who could have imagined it? His life had gotten quite complex. Everything had seemed so simple back then. But his life never had any real purpose until he met Judy and now his life had purpose had never been so important or meant so much to the lives of so many.

He needed to get the message out and had considered the possibly methods to accomplish this. After he had joined the ZPD, he had convinced his friend Honey to join as well as a communications specialist. She was an expert in all types of communication as she constantly scanned the airwaves for any snippet of information that fit one of the many conspiracies she was always tracking. She had accidentally been right about her favorite sheep conspiracy when Bellwether had taken over and had attempted to turn the entire city against the predators. Unfortunately this had really encouraged her to start seeing conspiracies around every corner. The ironic thing is that she had missed the biggest conspiracy of all right under her snout. But it was not her fault, this group had kept the secret from everyone.

If he tried to use the radio channels to contact Bogo or Clawhauser, it was quite possible one of the jokers in the room next door would hear him. There was only person he had a chance to contact in a convert manner so as not to be discovered. The only person who monitored these obscure channels. His good friend Honey.

He knew her shift was starting in ten minutes and she took punctuality seriously. She would turn on all the monitoring equipment that had been ignored for years in the ZPD Communications department always making sure it was on in the background. In was her own little background music, the occasional pops and static. To her this was a symphony. He only hoped that she was there today and not sick or assigned to a different department for the day. They had tried having her work in other jobs, but she was pretty miserable if she wasn't monitoring the police band and she made sure others knew it. In the communications room she was in her element. Listening to dozens of conversations at once and tracking everything that was happening in the city. It was great to see her conspiracy talents put to such good use managing the many dispatches that needed to be tracked for the ZPD.

He took a moment to get some rest and set an alarm on his phone. He had learned it did no good stewing when you had to wait. He had learned patience doing his cons. You had to be patient to be successful. That was one of the things that separately the amateurs from the professionals. He had also learned to not let time go to waste and get rest where you could so he closed his eyes and took the lessons he had been learning from Nangi and put himself into a trance.

He awoke ten minutes later when his phone alarm went off and he felt refreshed and calm. It was time to try and make this work. He had learned horse code from his friend Honey. He never thought it would be of any use, but she would make him practice sending her messages especially if she thought someone was listening. She was paranoid so this happened a lot more frequently that he wished. He just hoped he still remembered how to use it as it had been awhile since the last time he and her had such a conversation.

He turned to a channel he knew she monitored as he had sent her a test message on the channel when she first joined the ZPD Communications. He pulled out his phone and app and focused his entire mind on the message and the sequence of dots and dashes and pauses, the same ones he had used years ago. He hoped his memory was still sharp.

Nearly 100 kilometers away, in the almost empty ZPD Communications Office, there sat Honey Badger drinking her evening coffee. She enjoyed the night shift as things were a lot a lot quieter and she had far less to distract her from her favorite past time of listening for conversations or anything unusual. Anything she could fit into her growing list of conspiracies. She had turned on all the old equipment merely out of habit. She enjoyed the hum and occasional pop or murmur… it soothed her. She had only heard a few brief conversations on these channels. Mostly hobbyists reminiscing about the old days many just lonely and wanting someone to talk to. If she was especially bored she would answer, but these had been quiet for months. She figured there weren't many old timers left like her. It made her sad to see all the new technology seemingly making her a relic of the past.

She figured tonight would be like the last night and the night before… boring and uneventful. But fortunately she brought a stack of files to go over. It was nice when it was quiet like this as she could work on her real hobby and passion of getting to the bottom of these conspiracies and doing it on the man's (aka the ZPD's) dime. How ironic they were paying her to track some of those same conspiracies she knew they must be involved in as she was certain at least some at the ZPD were stooges for the shadow government in city hall. She was tracking a few sheep she knew were still pulling the strings.

She was deep into one of the files when she thought she heard something from an upper shelf on the wall… something she thought she recognized but hadn't heard in a very long time. Ah she thought to herself… her imagination was playing tricks on her… must be this file she was working on regarding the new Assistant Mayor. She wondered if she was really a sheep in disguise?

Strange she heard it again… it couldn't be her imagination or was she dreaming? She had just gotten here a few minutes ago and was feeling a big caffeine rush from her evening cup of Joe so it couldn't be a dream… at least not until maybe after midnight.

And then again… Okay she was wide awake now as a cold chill went down her spine and up her arms… her fur now standing at attention. This was not her imagination. This was real and it was actually happening. She grabbed for a pen and pad of paper. She was so nervous she knocked her mug and pen off the table. It crashed to the ground shattering her favorite mug and spilling her precious life nectar all over the floor. But her mind barely even acknowledged the accident as she grabbed her pen out of the hot coffee which burned her paw, but she felt no pain, and ran over to the wall staring at the ghost monitor that had come to life. She quickly grabbed a headset and stuck it on her head plugging it into the monitor and sat down at the chair in front of these ancient monitors so she would not miss a single sound.

"... - -. . -.- -... . ."

It was HORSE CODE!

She hadn't used that in years. The last time she ever used it was with her friend Nick Wilde. She hadn't talked to him but once since that rabbit friend of his Judy had gone missing. He had been pretty distant since then and had been a shell of his former self. She would love to tell him about this though. He would really get a kick that their old code was actually being used.

She translated the code.

"HONEYBEE"

The code repeated itself again. She doubled checked the letters and even checked her computer which had an old translation sheet on it. It was definitely correct.

Only a few people ever called that. And fewer still who knew horse code.

Ah… she smiled. Someone was playing a prank on her. This wouldn't be the first time. Her friends all delighted in pranking her as she quite was easy to victimize. It wasn't her fault that you couldn't ignore anything no matter how small if you were going to expose all the conspiracies going on in Zootopia. She wondered who it might be. Well regardless it was offering her something to break the boredom.

She opened the drawer and pulled out a transmitter she had gotten on at an electronics swap meet awhile back. It was such a rare find. The person transmitting was using some tonal device, but she had the real thing. She plugged into the outgoing line and responded.

"-. - / ..-. - .-. / ... -... / - ...- . .-." (GO FOR HB OVER)

She waiting feeling anticipation. Oh she love a mystery even if it was a prank. It was like a puzzle and she loved all kinds of puzzles and riddles.

"-. .. -.-. -.- .. - / ..-. - ..- -. -.. / -.-. .- .-. .-. - - ... / -.-. -... / -.. -. -.."

Wow a long one… let's see... that is…

"NICKIT FOUND CARROTS CB 898"

She was stunned for almost a minute staring at the message. She doubled checked the translation. It was correct. She heard the same message. There was no doubting what it said.

NICKIT was her nickname for Nick Wilde her old friend for so many years. It was her nickname for him. It had a double meaning that Nick had found so amusing. It mean Nick The Kit (baby fox) as she had known him since he was quite young and always thought of him as a Kit, but it was also slang for stealing something. She got a big smile thinking of how clever she had been coming up with that one. Let's see Nick out clever it. He still hadn't.

Found Carrots. Wasn't Carrots Nick's nickname for Judy Hopps?

"CB 898" That meant "Call Back" or switch to channel 898 a very high frequency rare channel that no one ever used. You needed a special old monitor to even send or receive on that channel.

"... -... / -. - - / .. - / -.-. -... / -.. -. -.. / .-. .- .- ..." She responded (HB GOT IT CB 898 PAWS)

This was a little bit of their own jargon. This meant she had received the message and understood what he wanted, but it would take a bit to set up to receive. And he needed to wait for her to respond that she was ready to receive.

She knew something was very much amiss. Why would Nick not call on his phone? If he found Judy why in the world would he be sending messages over this old equipment. She felt a chill all over her body like she just saw a ghost. This was no prank. Nick would NEVER under any circumstances joke about finding Judy after this past month. Something was very wrong she just knew it!

"... - - -... / ..-. ..-."

She quickly translated.

"SOS FF"

It meant emergency he was in a desperate hurry.

Honey quickly got up and ran over to a closet that had old equipment in storage racks that she refused to let them throw out. Apparently just for a situation like this. She knew she had been right about keeping all this old junk just like she had known that Bellwether sheep was up to no good. She found the box she needed and pulled it out… almost dropping it. She stopped in place holding it off the floor and picked it up slowly. Then carefully carrying it over to the table she plugged it into the wall outlet. She heard it hum to life. Thank God! And quickly swapped the channel to 898 and started fiddling with the adjustment wheel to try and narrow down the band. It was such a delicate channel you had to be right on it to hear anything. She moved the adjustment up and down just a tiny amount not hearing anything.

Then she heard something… barely something and moved it just slightly up… and heard.

"Honeybee you there? Need Claw..."

She could barely make out the voice, but it did sound like it could be Nick. Unless the sheep had some new voice technology to modulate a voice to sound like him… no quit that Honey… it had to be him not a conspiracy.

Honey: extremely worried "Nickit, what is wrong? How do you even know about this channel?"

Nick: "I didn't forget your lessons. You mentioned this years ago."

Nick: "They are monitoring everything else. Every frequency. This was the only one I knew you had to be right on it or you heard nothing. Connect me to Claw fast Honey… I have to talk to Bogo now!"

Honey was very worried. Nick was panting and sounded exhausted. She had never heard him like this before. She had so may questions… millions… they were all wanting to burst out at once but she obeyed and telephoned Clawhauser. She prayed he was still on duty. They were all working late this day as Nick and a couple other officers had disappeared, and a lot of the staff were working overtime to find them.

Upstairs Officer Clawhauser sat there alone at the ZPD reception desk, playing with his chubby paws. He had engulfed the last doughnuts fifteen minutes ago. He was convinced he was suffering from the effects of starvation already. His stomach growled loudly… it was a brutal mistress he had been slave to since a young age, and he tried to always obey her commands or face her terrible wrath.

Hmmm… that grumbling sounded more like ringing… when did his stomach ring? Did he accidentally eat a bell attached to that last doughnut again… it had tasted a bit funny…

No, wait. It was the telephone. It was actually ringing at this time of night! He scooped up the receiver with both paws juggling it in the air and finally getting it to his ear.

Claw: excited "Hello, Officer Clawhauser, ZPD here. How may I help you?"

Honey: "Ben, it's Honey."

Claw: "What's wrong? You sound strange. There wasn't another sheep missing was there?"

Honey: "It's an invasion. Nick is under threat."

Ben was silent, his legs were trembling nearly giving in to his weight as he realized he was standing up and didn't even remember getting off his chair.

Honey: "Ben? Ben? Clawhauser! Nick's on the other end. He needs to contact Bogo, NOW!"

Claw: gulping "Why didn't he call me directly?"

Honey: "He mentioned someone is listening to every call. He contacted me through an obscure unused connection."

Claw: "Put Nick on."

The fox's voice came in from 100 kilometers away, locked inside a dark, neglected room with a rusty ancient wireless set.

Nick: "Clawhauser, it's Wilde. You copy me?

Claw: "Roger. Hey, why so serious man? Here's something to…"

Nick: "Shut up, Claw. I need Bogo on, immediately. There's an invasion coming."

Claw: gasping almost comically "A what? You know this is Bogo's Gaze… I mean private time."

Nick: emphatically with a raised "THIS INSTANT! THEY COULD STOP ME AT ANY MOMENT!"

Nick nearly screams, hoping the noise from the monitor room would cover him.

Clawhauser threw down the receiver onto his desk and ran as fast his chubby legs could carry him. He never even knew he could run so fast, not even when he was trying to beat the crowd for Gazelle concert tickets. But all of that effort had taken its toll. After running to Bogo's office Clawhauser felt he had aged by two decades.

He yanked the door open, not even bothering to knock. The Chief sat there, his eyes glued to the screen of his mobile. Gazelle, no doubt. Hearing the bang on his door as it nearly shattered, he looked up and saw his receptionist bent over supporting himself on the door frame panting and wheezing without even knocking. Unacceptable!

Bogo: banging his first on his desk "Clawhauser! I told you NEVER to interrupt me during this time under any circumstances!"

Claw: slowly standing up "Sir! Sir! It's an invasion. Nick is on the line."

Bogo transferred the call from the communications room and was cupping the phone to his ears, listening intently and not wanting to miss a single word. An anxious Clawhauser stood nearby, shaking whilst eating another doughnut he had found squashed in his back pocket in order to calm down.

Bogo: "Officer Wilde. What is this all about?" His voice tried to remain bossy and professional as usual, even though he couldn't hide the tension in his voice.

Nick: "Sir!" Nick's voice was almost frantic over the phone, "I need backup immediately!"

Bogo: "Calm down, Wilde. You know how we deal with cases."

Nick: "This was an investigation, but it is far more than that now. This is full scale invasion."

Chief Bogo scratched his head. He had barely heard of the word invasion to begin with. It had never happened in this metropolis of his.

Bogo: "By whom?" These were the only words he could speak.

Nick: "The Covenant. They are a covert organization, located at one of the power plants around 100 kilometers west of the city center. They have weapons and devices capable of killing and destroying on a mass scale. I obtained their plans, everything's detailed inside. They are planning on taking over all key suburbs, power plants, manufacturing, food production anything that keeps Zootopia alive and holding it hostage. It's much bigger than anything we've imagined, sir. They're actually planning to take control of Zootopia."

Nick: "I could not call you over the mobile. They've blocked all outgoing signals. All the landlines seem disconnected. They monitor all communication from the headquarters at the power plant."

The Chief felt his stomach tighten.

Bogo: whispering "How?" He could scarcely believe his own ears.

Nick: "Rifles firing projectiles that rapidly kill and maim in huge numbers. Pistols that also fire projectiles for killing. Explosives and a secret substance to render the civilian population helpless. Everything is in place and planned for execution in a little over a day. Just listen to me. We have to stop this!"

Bogo: incredulous "At this hour, Fox?"

Nick: "Definitely. They have hundreds of agents all ready to carry out this operation. The coordination, planning and resources are incomprehensible. They have been planning this for years under our noses the entire time. Well actually under our feet. They are the ones who have taken Judy and all the missing mammals. They took them through the remains of an ancient subway in old Zootopia so they could move unseen. I have seen two of the missing mammals here myself. I have not been able to find Judy, but I need to have them stopped so I can search the facility and interrogate the leaders to find her and the others. The only reason I stumbled onto this whole thing is I was tracking a lead I got on Judy's whereabouts and it led me here."

Nick: "The plan calls for simultaneous seizing of Bunnyburrow where all the fertile fields are in order to cut off most of our entire food supply. They will take control of Gopherville and the other suburbs stopping all manufacturing and goods. They will take control of all the power plants supporting Zootopia and cut off all roads and trains into and out of the city. They can bring the city to a halt holding it hostage. They will threaten to kill or starve the entire populace if their demands are not met."

Nick: "Our government will be forced to compromise, with half of the population subjugated and held hostage, and with no power or food or goods. The city would be brought to its knees. We have to stop before they execute the operation and gain control of the population and arm themselves with weapons to kill and destroy any forces which attempt to repel their attack. They have new technology from an unknown source which gives them superior power and control."

Bogo: fuming "How will they even do this? We'll retaliate. I'm going to make sure none of these SOBs live to see prison!" Chief Bogo gritted his teeth on the other end.

Nick: "It's not that simple. They have a serum, Chief. It appears it is designed to render the population helpless and docile. They have new weapons capable of injecting this serum into massive amounts of population at once. There is no information on where this advanced technology and weaponry is coming from. It is as if it is just appearing at the power plant out of nowhere. I see manifests for sources for all the other supplies they are using, but not for these unknown weapons."

"Time is running out, sir. The invasion… is executing in 24 hours. We have to do something to prevent this operation immediately."

Bogo: calming himself "Patience, Wilde." The Chief massaged his forehead, banishing the headaches that once again troubled him, "Where is this damn organization? I'll will personally pound each one of them into the ground."

Nick: "I don't know where all the leaders, are but their main base appears to be the western power station… the one with strange problems back in the '90s. You know the one they executed Operation Cyclone to solve. They have been distributing supplies and weapons all around Zootopia for months preparing for the operation."

Bogo: "The one that had the strange breach and potential devastation? How did you even know about that? It's supposed to be top secret!"

Nick: "I know everyone, Bogo, and I hear everything… except about this group until now. But now, I need everyone. This is our only chance. We have to act now! You need to mobilize the entire forces of Zootopia and the suburbs. We have very little time before it is too late to prevent massive casualties."

Chief Bogo understood. This undertaking was to be the largest in Zootopia history, even bigger than the operations that had founded it centuries ago. "Roger that, Wilde."

For the first time in his ZPD career, Nick actually felt a decent amount of respect shown towards him. He remembered how Bogo had treated him on his first day, pushing him around, secretly blackmailing him…

Bogo: "Something else, Wilde." The Chief said after a brief moment of static.

Nick: "I'm awaiting orders, sir."

Bogo: "You know what a field promotion is, officer?"

Nick: "Only vaguely, sir."

Bogo: "Well, you just got one." For once, Chief Bogo's voice sounded almost proud of the fox. "Congratulations, Sergeant Wilde."

Nick Wilde nearly dropped his headphones in the dark room 100 kilometers away. He actually got a promotion. A fox as a sergeant. Practically unheard of. But it wasn't going to mean much if the Covenant got their way. And without Judy to share the news with it was practically meaningless.

Besides he was not very sure he was going to live through the next 24 hours. Well at least he could put the new commission on his gravestone… and maybe pinned to his chest in the casket… if there was even anything left to put in one.

Bogo: "You know, I've always thought that I owed you something." The boss muttered on, barely showing his gratitude, "Ever since the thing with the Night Howlers…..you've practically cracked every case, with Judy of course. But for this one, and this one only, you succeeded by yourself. This is nobody's work but yours. You deserve it."

Nick was so surprised he didn't even bother replying.

Bogo: crisply "ORDERS, SERGEANT!" Bogo snapped back into his original unforgiving self.

Officer… Sergeant Wilde sat up straighter. He was about to do his part in preventing this full-out invasion. He was going to save Judy and the others. He was going to prevent the deaths of thousands of innocents. He was going to stop predators from destroying the good will they had earned from the people of Zootopia.

Nick: expectantly "The sergeant is awaiting orders, sir!" He answered in a mock authoritarian tone.

Bogo: "Just stay put and remain hidden. You still have your reward ceremony to attend." His voice was almost teasing, "Wait for our elite forces. They will solve everything. You're no match for them, off… I mean Sergeant."

Nick shook his head. He hadn't walked into living hell to stand by and watch while everything exploded around him.

Nick: sarcastically "I'm sorry sir." He nearly laughed out loud, revealing his chuckle, "You may want to hold off on that commission. This is going to be the one hundredth of your orders I'm going to disobey."

Nick hung up, satisfied with his reply.

Back at the his office, Chief Bogo slammed down the telephone. He didn't have the time to actually care for one little pesky fox. He had an invasion to think about. A preventive counter-attack.

Bogo: "Clawhauser!" He commanded in his usual authoritative tone, "Hand me the portable. Get me the mayor, the city council, the emergency ZPD authority and God Damn anyone else you can think of on the phone now. We have a massive amount of planning and mobilization to do and very little time to get it done."

Using the authority obtained during Operation Cyclone, the tiger headed back to his office. Along the way, he kept wondering about the fox he had just encountered 20 minutes ago. There was something just unusual about him, something off-putting. But hey, weren't all of the foxes like that? He was just a maintenance grunt, wasn't he? He tried to force the thoughts out of his mind and sat down on his nice new chair, behind the desk marked Tigerstone.

But alas, temptation got the better of him and he absently turned on his computer, a new advanced model these human creatures sent him personally. He was one of the few who was privileged enough to know exactly what the entity really was and with whom they were in a partnership with. He clicked on the search box and typed Personnel Data File. The screen loaded for a split second, and he found the page which he had been looking for. He guided his mouse, a sleek black design and chose the search bar. He entered the fox's name. What was it again? Austin Kenton. He finished typing, and pressed the button that said enter.

The Data File lay before his eyes. Austin Kenton was a wolf. And his fur was gray, not red.

He now knew what he had to do. He had to keep this quiet and contained so that his superiors would never hear of it, and he did not want a distraction to interfere with the operation as they were already behind schedule. If he did not contain this breach quickly, he would be shot if he was lucky… and slowly dismembered by the Covenant authority if he was not.

He grabbed the walkie off his desk and switched to the special security channel on the base.

He lifted the device to his mouth, "Security, we have a breach. Report. We need to commence GS-2."