"Move out, you slimetoads! We're goin' foragin'!" A roar of approval sounded throughout the Fraj Legion at the Sergeant's words. They had not eaten well for a few days.
The weaker, newer Fraj marched out to forage, while the veterans stayed behind to guard the camp. Kell lay back on the sand and heard a light footfall behind him.
"Hear the news, Fann?"
Fann, a maroon colored fox, sat down beside him. "What?"
"Sineon made me a captain."
Fann slowly blinked. "You? You've hardly been here two seasons."
"And you've only been here three, brother."
"Still…who are you gonna command?"
Kell moved his head slowly until it faced his older brother. "Five creatures, not including myself."
"A strike team?"
"Yep."
"Interesting."
"Uh-huh. You're on, by the way."
"Oh, I knew that," Fann said. "I'm the best archer you can pick that isn't bad or a bully. Plus I'm your brother."
"Mmm. I need four others. Veterans, not rookies."
Fann comtemplated. "How about Igna? You're gonna need someone skilled in the ways of stealth, if you're gonna have a strike team."
"Aye. I was also thinking about Marc. He's a good ferret, expert with the saber."
"You need two more. Focus on the skills that they have. You have an archer, swordsbeast, and stealth. How about a hand to hand specialist?"
"I could get Blecker. He's a tad spooky, but he can seriously kill with his paws."
Fann took a glance at the weasel. "Very slinky. Knows how to kill."
Kell yawned and got up slowly. "Let's go ask 'em. We'll worry about the last one later."
All their candidates agreed to help, though Igna, a descendent of the infamous Marlfoxes, took a bit of persuading.
"Take orders from a two season cutthroat?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.
Kell nodded. "Or you could just go charge the gates with the rest of the Fraj."
"Nah, I'll do it. Suicide by running around in that rock is better suicide by throwing myself at a psychotic badger."
That left them one more space on the team. Eventually, Kell chose Zarr, a snow white ermine. After they left his campfire (Slightly bemused at Zarr's response, which was only a nod with his eyes closed), Fann turned to his brother.
"Why'd you choose him?"
Kell thought for a moment. "He's a mixture of the four of you. I've watched him fight, he does it all. Shoot, kick, chop, whatever. He can do all that stuff. I need someone well rounded."
They reached Sineon's tent. Kell lightly tapped the flap. "Captain Kell reporting, sir!"
Pause. "Come in."
Inside, Sineon was looking at a map of some sort, but tucked it away as the fox brothers walked in.
"Hello, Kell. Your brother, Fann, is it? Pleasure. So, to business," he cracked his knuckles. "Your squad is assembled?"
"Yes sir. Besides myself and Fann, we have Igna, Zarr, Marc, and Blecker."
"Good choices. Got a well rounded team there," Kell threw Fann an I-told-you-so glance. "Well, if you and your company is ready, I have a task set."
Kell nodded.
"I want you to sneak in there and sprinkle this powder onto all of their food. No, it's not poison," he smiled, shaking a small vial full of green powder. "It will merely make them fall asleep for a while. During that time, we can get inside, lock them up, and then do what we please. Sell them, use them as servants…of course, the effects won't take place until an hour or so after they eat the knockout, so they won't become suspicious. Try not to kill anyone. We don't want them to think that we were inside the mountain." He handed Kell the vial. "Don't fail me."
Kell saluted, as did Fann. "We'll leave right away sir."
They walked out of the tent to gather the team.
No one in the mountain fortress of Salamandastron stirred but the sentries as the blanket of darkness stifled the world. No one was at the top of the mountain, so no one noticed six dark shapes, hooded and cloaked, sneak through a window and into the passageway.
Kell waved a hand, and his squad silently padded after him towards the kitchens. A tubby, sleeping hare snuffled a bit in his dreams, and they stopped to wait until he fell silent again. Quickly, they opened the door to the mess hall.
No one stirred, but there were several cooks laying around sleeping. Kell nodded slightly to his team. As one, they moved to the food stores.
In a few minutes, all the food had been dosed. So far, Kell thought happily, so-
"Attack! Wake up chaps! They're trying to poison our flippin' food, wot!"
Good.
Yells started floating in to the mess hall. Kell swore under his breath. "Ditch the cloaks!" he yelled, dropping his own and vaulting over the tables. Behind him, he heard a semi-set table crash onto its side as Fann tripped. He ran back to him, shouting, "Get out!" to his squad.
"Get on your feet, bro!" He hauled him up and raced to the door. Blecke grabbed the handle, but it was locked.
CRUNCH.
They charged past the splinters of what used to be a door, and Blecke ran even with a slightly sore footpaw.
Fann's bow twanged, and a bounding hare crumpled with an arrow in his gut. Running to the top of the mountain, they slid down the rope, one by one.
Only Kell and Fann were left. "Get down there!"
Fann shook his head, shooting another hare that was galloping up the stairs. "No!"
"I said go!"
Kell grabbed his brother and dumped him onto the rope, and watched him slide down. He blocked a thrust from a lean hare and skewered him.
"I say, it's the blinkin' black fox! Get him alive!"
Shades. Time to go.
He jumped on the rope, and slid down, cursing as his hands were burned. Jumping up on the sand, he saw his brother running towards him. Kell waved him off.
"Back to the camp!"
They raced back to the Legion, with the hares hot on their heels.
"Hares at four o'clock! Wake up! Wake up!" Fann screamed.
Arrows flew past them into the night. The fox brothers glanced at each other and set off in opposite directions, zigzagging and twisting. Kell rolled on the ground to avoid a slingstone the size of an apple. He popped back up. "Get up! Fraj! Get uuuuuup!"
Suddenly, Igna materialized beside him, and he thought he could see Blecker running towards them, throwing balanced knives into the hares. Twisting, Kell drew his bow and fired off some arrows before taking off again.
Author's Notes: Sorry about the delay, my computer was in the shop (some bright spark at my house tried to uninstall Internet Explorer). Rinkul- Hmmm. Rainbow Six…meh. Kell's kill tally is over about a week, and he didn't kill all of those hares. He had some help from a few friends, namely Fann. Who's to say they had to go sword to sword, not shoot them, right? The strike team idea is going to develop more into, say, Master Chief's connection to fellow squad members in Pre-Halo, except it will be more of a group of friends rather than serious acquaintances set out to kill everything that moves.
