[AN/

Hey guys! New chapter is out! And guess what? We've reached the middle of the story! Well, narratively speaking, to be more accurate. I don't really know how many chapters are coming, as I'll do my best not to rush anything.

Thanks again to all of you readers, followers and favoriters (you know the drill, poetic license and all) for sticking with me so far! This really means a lot!

Don't hesitate to comment, both on what I'm doing right and wrong, constructive criticisms are always helpful and thus appreciated!

Disclaimer: I own nothing and don't pretend to. This story is purely fan work, all content linked to Zootopia belongs to Disney and all content linked to Warhammer belongs to Games Workshop.

/AN]

Chapter fourteen : The best-laid plans...

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"LIARS!"

"WE DEMAND ANSWERS!"

"IT'S BEEN A WEEK! THIS HAS TO STOP!"

More shouts were lost, as the voice of each of the three hundred mammals fought to be heard over the others. The crowd had gathered in front of City Hall, blocking the gates to anyone trying to enter the building, but more importantly to exit it. A second group, smaller in size but not in its anger, was occupying the parking lot and making sure no one could leave until they got their answers.

And questions, they had a lot. The message broadcasted twice an hour since the riots on all TV stations and radio channels had first been welcome, though coldly and out of fear. But after a week of what felt like illegal searches, the citizens of the city had become more and more angry, their resentment taking control over their fears.

Two days ago, after a disastrous speech by their mayor, asking for patience and offering no solid explanations nor timetable, they had decided they had enough. It began slowly. One mammal, either brave or stupid enough to face the authorities, left his home and went to ask questions. The ram had been spotted by some mammal from their window and recorded as he made his way to City Hall as "the crazy guy going outside alone".

The video had quickly gone viral, an easy feat considering that the entire city was cowering behind their locked doors and didn't have a lot to do to pass the time. More mammals living close to the building recorded him, and soon the whole city could see him exit the building, clearly fuming, and sit in front of the door, arms crossed on his chest.

He remained there for a couple hours, before a journalist, sensing the scoop of the century, dared leave the security of his home and went for a live feed. It gathered millions of viewers in less than an hour, as the ram answered the hippo's questions.

"This is twice my house is being searched!" he said, gesturing wildly. "I did as requested and opened the door, but those guys are just brutes and act like we are criminals no matter how we welcome them. My kids are so scared of them they barely eat and sleep, and hide every time they hear something outside. All I'm asking for are answers. And when I went inside, I was ousted by security before I could even talk to the receptionist. This is scandalous!"

And on and on he went, venting his frustration in front of the camera, describing what his everyday life had become for his family. Of course, there were very few mammals who couldn't relate to him, and he was soon joined by a couple of tigers. They had no more luck getting inside the building, but their presence was all that was needed. More came, and a little group formed.

Less than an hour later, the first ZPD cruiser arrived on scene to disperse the crowd, insisting on the lack of security of the mammals gathered there. Of course, it only added fuel to the fire, as they were accused of hiding things to the population and trying to bypass their rights. The live feed never stopped, and many more joined the ram in his protest.

The crowd had grown to what it now was, surrounded by ZPD forces, though they were there to watch only, and make sure their manifestation remained peaceful. So far, things were going smoothly for them, despite the constant stress of something bad happening. If any mammal was to go savage now, or if the crowd gathered unwanted attention, things could go south extremely rapidly, and they didn't like the prospect of another bloodbath.

After two days blocking access to the building, the mayor finally made an apparition behind the glass doors. The crowd immediately grew silent and walked away a bit, leaving him the place to open the doors and step outside, eager to finally hear what their leader had to say. The police forces tensed, both because the mayor was about to be in the open and vulnerable, and because his words could spark more riots if he didn't chose them carefully.

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Dressed in a deep blue suit over a lighter blue shirt, but lacking a tie, the lion pushed the door wide open, opening his arms wide as if he was embracing the crowd from afar. His huge mane was perfectly groomed, his teeth were white and nearly shining under the sun, and his eyes shone with amusement. Many could see the bags under his eyes that betrayed his inner turmoil, but the way he appeared to them, he exuded confidence. The lack of security surrounding him was another sign that shocked some in the crowd, but they didn't complain.

"My fellow citizens, it's a pleasure to see that you're well and loud, and I mean it. I know that times are dark, but I know, as I look at the strength that inhabits you, that this city will endure."

"STOP STALLING!" The shout was followed by a wave of 'yeah's and 'hypocrite's, before the lion raised both his paws to ask for silence.

"Please, I know you're angry, and you have every reason to be. But I can assure you that we're doing everything we can to put an end to that dire situation we're facing. However, we can't do it alone. I'm not proud of it, but despite the grandeur of our city, we need help. I am glad that our call has been answered, and I won't lie, I'm feeling better now that we're not in this alone."

"WHO ARE THEY?" The question came from several mouths and cut him short. He offered them a timid smile before answering.

"They're from Dekere, a southern country that had chosen long ago to remain secluded as to avoid any conflict with neighboring countries. We've been trying to establish commercial lines with them for many years now, but to no avail. We're still trying to understand why they decided to open up to us and send help, but we're confident that thei-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW?" "WHAT?" "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?" His last sentence was cut by the shouts of protests that covered his voice when the crowd heard his words. His admission of being as much in the dark as they were was not welcome, and the mammals gathered here were making it clear. The lion smiled and patiently waited for them to calm down offering reassuring nods and little waves of his paws.

"Please, my friends. We are building the future. Can't you see it? This is the first step towards a great cooperation between our countries. Think of everything it could mean for us! New technologies, new places to visit, new friends to meet, new marvels to discover. We can't let what's happening cloud our future! And their presence is the sign that this future is brighter than ever!"

As the speech came to a pause, whispers and murmurs were exchanged, an ambient noise filling the street. Mayor Lionheart had difficulties understanding everything that was being said despite being close. With baited breath he waited, keeping his smile firmly in place as to appear much more reassuring that he felt.

He had prepared for this. From the day he had met with Bogo and the other precinct chiefs, he knew he would have to talk to the populace. They hadn't been talkative much, giving him only incomplete answers and maybes. He had accepted to the idea of the pre-recorded message only because Bogo had insisted they played along for the time being. His argument of 'they will destroy the city if we don't cooperate, you saw they have the means to' left little room for objections.

With so little information, his councilors and he had done their best to cover every possible question about the message, about the strange soldiers coming out of nowhere, about the savage mammals. They had been very thorough and he had spent hours and hours trying to memorize everything. He had been running on coffee and aspirin for days, but it didn't matter. Keeping the population safe was his only goal. It was the only way to save his hide, after all.

After a while, the crowd began shouting questions after questions, the words incoherent as they formed sentences that made no sense to him, as his brain processed them without order and coherence. He took a step back under the assault and quickly raised both arms over his head, gesturing wildly for them to calm down a bit.

"Please, my friends! Please. Not all at once. How about you relay your questions to a few of you in the front, okay?" Three mammals, the ram that came here first, the hippo journalist that came to interview him, and a second journalist, a small squirrel using his shoulders as a perch, were chosen and started the bombardment again.

"What do we know about their country? How can they have such technologies we never heard about?"

"As I told you", the lion began, "they kept to themselves for decades. All we know is that…"

For two hours, the mayor answered as many questions as he could, using a mix of historical facts that could be verified with huge lies that no one could see through, except by going to Dekere to ask for the truth. The presence of the mayor without security, talking to the crowd directly, without a written speech, without interruption, led the crowd to believe him. When they finally decided they had enough answers, they slowly dispersed, much to the lion's and the ZPD's relief.

The unexpected interview had been broadcasted live so that the whole city could get answers, and they felt like they had had some. Not all of them for sure, but enough to let the soldiers in brown uniform do their job unimpeded. One mammal had been listening to every word closely. As soon as the crowd left and the mayor got inside the building, Faust opened a communication channel to Wolfard.

"So, what you think?" the wolf asked as soon as the channel was open.

"He knows nothing. They were true to their word. You can keep going."

"Thanks buddy."

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The wolf turned to his colleagues, busy setting up another piece of electronic equipment. This was the twentieth Warp augur they had set up throughout the city in the past days, and this was only their team. He knew that more were being installed, as well as a whole array of recording devices. Some had been hidden underground, some over the highest roofs, some buried in the snow or under the sand, even underwater.

Sure, the Hammer, their flagship in high orbit, had been scanning non-stop since they had arrived, but had proven ineffective since then. The bastard knew how to hide and mask any trace of Warp activity. When they are finished though, the whole city would be under surveillance for any abnormal energetic signature, and most importantly, any gap in their coverage. With what little technology the city possessed, there was no way they could interfere with those pieces of equipment. Only one individual could, and if he did, then he would finally reveal his location.

The secondary role of the sensors would be to record any word spoken out loud, with several servitors ready to decipher the flow of information and cross-reference any sentence with a list of predefined words, such as 'strange animal', 'four arms', 'no legs', anything that would mean they had at least one witness. Sure, the emergency lines had been flooded since the message was broadcasted for the first time, but nothing of interest had been reported thus far.

After the savage assault his forces had withheld and the power it had required, as well as the fight against his ethereal form, Nick was sure that the snake was weaker than ever, and was taking his time to recover, safely hidden behind layers of spells and wards. For once, it worked in their favor, as it gave them the time to go on the offensive, though there was a catch to the plan.

Bringing his paw to his ear, he opened the private channel Faust had granted him.

"Doing alright?" Despite all his training, despite all the years of knowing what she was capable of, he couldn't fully hide the tinge of worry in his voice. And of course, she didn't miss it.

"Awwww, worried for me? How sweet of you, Pup!" The jibe brought a smile to the wolf's lips, but he was still waiting for an answer. His silence spoke plenty.

"Don't worry, we're fine. No trace of the fucker." This wasn't great news actually, but the wolf couldn't help but feel a bit relieved at hearing the words. While his team and others had been tasked with hiding as many sensors as possible, trying to remain discreet, Liz's team and five more were acting as bait.

She was to use the ships to stay visible, and place fake antennas and devices where anyone could see them. Their first stop had been the Palm Hotel, which now harbored an ugly antenna at the tip of each leaf. Metal boxes, empty except for two lights, one red and one blue flashing at regular intervals, and their little power source, had been distributed at random throughout the districts. Some were attached to trees in parks, some left in mammal's garages, one was even adorning the front door of precinct one headquarters.

Those fake devices were meant to reassure the population, make them believe that the country coming to their aid possessed technologies that would help the local force to crack the case. But the real plan was to scare the snake, and make him attack the devices, or the teams setting them up. Nick knew that there was a possibility that he could see through the trick, but he would need to get close to at least one device to make sure. One mistake was all that the fox was waiting for.

The snow leopard knew well that it drew a huge target on her head, but had agreed to it nonetheless, and so have the other soldiers sharing her duty. They knew what was expected of them, and dying in the name of the Emperor was not something that scared them, far from it. If their death meant catching and finally putting an end to the snake's killing spree, then they would gladly embrace it.

Shaking his head to chase the dark thoughts away, he replied quickly and got back to his job. She was a big girl, she would take care of herself. And if he was to let his feelings interfere, he knew that the fox would never forgive him. After a complete check that the augur was working properly, he and his colleagues quickly left the dead-end alley they had been hiding in, and ran to the next location on their map. They had a job to do.

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OoOoOoOoO

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"Can you at least tell me what I'll be doing?"

Getting no answer except for a shake of the head, Judy groaned. Unlike the previous days, she had been ordered to stay behind. She hadn't been bothered much, thinking she was about to start another training. Each evening, she was facing Liz in paw-to-paw sparring sessions, to develop both her skills and her senses, as the fading light was not at her advantage.

The first day they had tried to make her really scared, she had managed to avoid the feline's pouncing, but only after being severely hurt. She knew it was for her own good but it had left a mark on her. Her trust in them had been tainted, and she had been less than motivated in the following lessons, especially when they insisted to train her before being fully healed.

But after her confrontation with the snake, all her doubts had vanished. She had underestimated him, and it had nearly cost her her life. When she had realized she was about to die, she had felt fear and her survival instincts swell inside and collaborate to keep her out of harm's way. The fight itself was still a blur in her memory, more a succession of feelings than real images, but she had survived, and in the end it was all that mattered.

The importance of the lesson had been clear for her only the following morning, after resting. If they hadn't hurt her to the point of her brain nearly shutting down, she would have been blind to her own senses and died a horrible and painful death. But they had been right. They had indeed made her stronger, much stronger than she could have imagined. The ZPA was clearly lacking in that domain, forcing recruits to act with logic and detachment.

She had taken to her lessons with renewed gusto, to the feline's joy. She didn't like punching the bunny for the sake of punching, but having a motivated opponent so eager to be taught was a good challenge for her. She was also becoming more and more accepted by the rest of the team. Even the two tigers who had snubbed her on her first mission now nodded their head in respectful salute.

So when she thought she was up for a new kind of training, she had been pleased. It didn't last. She was ordered to find her way to Banyan Street on her own, and be there before noon. It gave us several hours, as they always got up early, having no time to sleep-in with a mad sorcerer skulking around, but the city was wide and public transportation reduced to a minimum, so that mammals could still go buy food.

She made it with twenty minutes to spare only, breathless, lungs and legs hurting a bit at the effort, only to be met with silence and an empty street. As she started walking, ears up and alert, she could see some mammals hiding behind their curtains, quickly closing them when she looked their way. She kept walking until she reached the entrance of an abandoned subway station.

The grill looked locked, but it wasn't reaching the ground. Taking a closer look, she saw that the grill had been forced, with scratches on the metal. She made sure that no one was looking, and pulled on it, before crawling under it. She descended into the darkness, using the guardrail not to fall. As she reached the station in itself, she was met by a silhouette waiting for her, back to a pillar.

"You made it. Follow me." Judy recognized the voice as Nick's, and her earlier enthusiasm completely receded. Being alone with the fox wasn't something she was looking forward to. He had started walking away, and she had followed, keeping her distance. There was little light down there, except for a few lamps on the wall casting an orange glow on short distances.

She had tried to talk to him, but he had remained quiet, barely acknowledging her presence, except for the occasional shrug or grunt when she was too pressing. So she had followed reluctantly, trying to imagine what surprise awaited her in the depths.

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They walked for a while, until Nick opened her door concealed in the wall. He disappeared behind, and Judy waited for a while, not knowing if she could get closer without hurting him. After a whole minute, she decided to try. She made her way towards the door and took a peek inside. There was no trace of the fox, but she could see paw prints on the ground leading to a second door at the end of the office, through which she could barely see.

It was some kind of security room, with a large wooden desk with several monitors, a computer with its keyboard and mouse, and a wheeling chair that had seen better days. There were also several switches and a huge red button she identified as an emergency shutdown button or something of the sort. Nothing seemed broken, but the thick layer of undisturbed dust told her that the place had been abandoned long ago. She imagined that with the subway evolving, secondary control stations as this one seemed to be had become useless.

The following room was too dark for her to see anything. She took a hesitant step inside and tried to find a switch on the walls. She tried the left side but found nothing. She tried the right side, which was much too close to her liking, and finally found it, but it didn't work.

A sudden light blinded her, as golden flames appeared from nowhere. Letting her eyes adjust, she could see the room was void of any equipment or furniture, and no bigger than her old apartment. It had to be some kind of storage room, maybe with food reserves for the guards, maybe a mattress to let one take a nap while his colleague worked. It was long, maybe four to five meters, but not very wide, barely a meter and a half. She was close to being able to touch both sides if she opened her arms.

The cold air from being underground combined with the bland concrete walls so close around her made her feel claustrophobic, and she focused on the bright flames in front of her. As before, they soothed her. There was something warm in them, and not only because they were flames or because they casted a light to help her see.

"Stay inside the security room. Feel free to sit." Judy obeyed, still unsure of the reason for her presence here with the fox. She spun the chair slowly, and blew on it. A cloud of dust floated in the air, and she took a closer look. Seeing something move under the fabric made her forget the idea, and she simply put the chair back in place.

"Now that we're here" she said, turning to face him, "can I know why?"

"To train" was the short answer. Judy nodded slowly, trying to come up with an explanation. Was it to get her used to the dark? It made little sense to her. She wasn't born with night vision, and wouldn't grow one simply by training. If it was possible, the world would already know and there wouldn't be a single species that wouldn't have developed it.

Fighting in enclosed space was also ruled out, as she couldn't get in a physical fight with a psycher. The first and only time the fox had tried to get closer to her was back in the garden behind the manor, and he had hurt an invisible wall, blood slowly dripping from his nose. Also, there would have been many opportunities to do so elsewhere, like inside the shuttles for example.

Maybe to train her hearing? As she was nearly blind in the room, maybe she was supposed to focus on her other senses. This seemed to be the most realistic solution, and the only one so far, though once again they could have done it in the ship or anywhere on the surface. A single blindfold would have been enough.

"You're not here to train" Nick said. His voice was deeper than usual and echoed in the confined space, the sound reverberating on the walls, full of power and authority. "I am." This left the bunny speechless for a couple seconds, the time her curiosity needed to take the better of her once again.

"What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. He didn't reply and stared walking towards her. Instinctively, she took several steps back, but he motioned for her to come forward, pointing at the door between them and then to the ground. The gesture was easy to understand: come her and stay. She was lost as to why, but she obeyed. As she reached the door, her sphere of influence made itself known on the psycher, and his flames vanished in a gust of ethereal wind.

He grunted as the shock made him fall on his rump. Judy couldn't see it, but Nick could feel the first drops of blood escaping from his nostrils. He tried to rise but his first attempt failed. He shook his head and finally rose to his feet.

"Are you okay?" the bunny asked. The only answer she got was a grunt, before the fox was engulfed in flames again. Slowly, very slowly, he reached out with one paw and tested the limit of her aura. It hurt when he reached it, and the flames disappeared again. Judy watched with awe and horror as the flames on his wrists started to flicker despite the lack of wind. It seemed like they were being absorbed, flowing from him towards the void she created in the atmosphere.

The inquisitor remained like this for what felt like an eternity to the rabbit, head bowed, teeth gritted in pain, frowning under the effort. From times to times, his flames would burn brighter around his head and he would open his eyes, two bright golden flames without pupils, only to be eagerly sucked by the invisible whole Judy created around her.

Suddenly, all his flames extinguished and he withdrew his paw. He caught himself on the nearby wall not to fall again. Judy wanted to get to him and make sure he was alright, but refrained herself, as it would only make things worse in this case.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. She couldn't see him, bright spots dancing in her eyes at the sudden disappearance of the only source of light, but she could hear his labored breath.

"Training."

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The word was forced out of a parched throat, raw, guttural, full of anger and tiredness, but also challenging. There was no hesitation whatsoever.

"What kind of training? You're only hurting yourself."

"I know what I'm doing." She heard him take several deep breaths, before he rekindled his flames around his body. His eyes were not yet transformed, but the fire that burnt behind the emeralds was just as fierce.

For hours, the fox forced himself to remain inside Judy's influence. He had three different exercises he kept trying. The first was to try and make his flames cross the barrier, on his paw or simply by projecting them like a living flamethrower. The second was to first get his paw within her aura, then light them. Both exercises failed.

For the last one, he didn't use his power. He simply walked until he was just out of reach of her aura, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and took a step forward. He remained there for a couple second sonly before being forced to back away. Still, he tried again and again. By the end of the day, he was able to withstand her influence for a whole minute, but at the very edge of it. He tried once to get closer but regretted it immediately.

Following his command, she finally exited the room and made her way towards the exit. Carefully, she lifted the grill and crawled under, before sprinting away. The sun had set and the night was dark, so she was pleased to see a shuttle waiting for her. It took her to the main ship atop the climate wall, where she met her friends, before leaving. It came back more than two hours later with an exhausted fox.

He called out to Faust and Terrance, the culpeo fox and the lion gathering around him, the larger mammal holding some kind of tablet for him to read. He seemed satisfy at what he saw, nodding to them, before both saluted and left him. He made his way towards his chambers and stayed there until morning.

Judy ate a quick dinner, and tried to get answers from her closest friend, but Liz had no idea what her boss was up to, busy as she had been. It was the head full of interrogations that the bunny went to bed. The following day was no different, except for the location. This time, instead of a subway station in Savanna Central, the fox made her go the Meadowlands, on the other side of city center, in a vast unpopulated swamp. The third day the shuttle took her to the docks, in a deserted amusement park.

Sick of being left in the dark, Judy waited for the fox to leave for the night and ran after the lion and the culpeo before they left.

"Guys?" she asked tentatively.

"Hey Judy. What can I do for you?" Terrance replied with a smile. Faust simply stared at her with a raised brow, curious as to why she would call to them.

"I was wondering what you guys had been showing Nick when we get back. I'm not doing anything except stay still for hours while you guys are all out there working, and that's driving me crazy." The lion chuckled and retrieved the tablet. She was at a loss as how to read map and the graphs, and sent him a pleading smile. Both laughed at her face, but explained anyway.

"He's testing the equipment we've been setting up. These graphs show the Warp activity in the different places you guys have been. We've been able to track you no matter where you went, which is the goal of course. Like this, we know that our coverage of the city and its outskirts is nearly complete and fully functioning."

Judy oohed at the simple answer, and thanked them. She then made her way to her room inside the ship, trying to find the answer to the last enigma, the reasons behind the training. To her, it looked like he was letting his ego speak, and wanted to best her. She knew it wasn't the case, he didn't care enough for her to act like this, but according to what Liz had told her and her interactions with the snake, there was no way he could bypass her influence.

Then it hit her. The snake, his clone, or whatever, had managed to get to striking distance, and remained there for long minutes, before being killed by the sniper. Was the inquisitor trying to do the same? But if he was, why? Was it a personal challenge to not be bested by his nemesis? Or did he want to be close to her, ready to kill her himself if she was to fail?

She had no answer as sleep took her, her last thoughts being of the snake that was still hiding somewhere inside the city.

Or so they all thought.

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[AN/

Yeah, I know, not much happening in this chapter. Sorry, but plans take time ^^

/AN]