Chapter Three- The Calm
Almost immediately a firefight erupted in the entrance of the church, all team members managed to find cover and start firing back "throwing flash-bang!" Price yelled as he reached to his side and threw the canister quickly towards the altar, Grizzoli covered his ears after hearing a deafening bang echo in the church.
Mchorn, being the literal tank of the team, took this opportunity to get out from cover and advance, something he did immediately. As he fired his gun with the little ammunition he had, he looked to see officer Price beside him and firing his weapon from the hip, before he knew it, all of the suspects were on the ground dead, all except one.
Another wolf, unarmed and with his hands up, very clearly surrendering, before anyone could say anything to the wolf, Price walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt "where the hell is our officer?!" He questioned holding him in the air as the wolf stuttered.
"W-w-what officer?!" The grizzly made a fist out of what looked like anger "THE HOSTAGE! Where did they take him!?" the wolf squealed in fear "another building! Th-they took him to another building! Please just don't kill me!" The wolf was then abruptly dropped on the ground as Price turned around.
"What building?" Grizzoli asked, stepping in "I don't know they didn't say!" The wolf yelled shudderingly, "what about the sniper?" The wolf only pointed a thumb upwards and mumbled "let's get that sniper off her ass" Nick said looking at the team "good idea, Fox" Price said pointing at the stairway.
The SWAT team made it up the stairs in a stacked manner, as they did, Officer Grizzoli couldn't help but comment "what the hell was that Price? You're supposed to interrogate them, not terrify them!" He whispered angrily, he expected a fearful, angry or some kind of excuse as a response, but instead he got an earnest and surprisingly nonchalant one "I don't negotiate with terrorists." This left the officer silent for a minute, Grizzoli didn't have any further comment.
As they reached the top of the church, Price held up one paw pad and gave the signal to stay put, Grizzoli wanted to protest it but he saw Wilde and Fengmyer shake their heads.
. . .
Frederick Manson could hear the enemy sniper grumbling impatiently in the room just next to him, it didn't sound like they knew the deadly operative was there, or that any of them got in as a matter of fact. He slowly took out his sidearm and walked into the room, behind the cheetah, spotting a syringe with a purple substance in it, with an inhaler beside it; he knew he had to make a move before the sniper grabbed it.
The cheetah spun around but it was too late, for Manson immediately landed a blow to the head and watched the sniper fall to the ground with a thud as the shot echoed amongst the many others in the distance. He made a sound of disgust as he walked up to the sniper's perch and called out "sniper's dead!" A snow leopard walked into view in the tower and visually sighed "thanks! I'll head over!" The leopard shouted before disappearing from sight.
Manson walked over to the table and grabbed the syringe, putting it in his pocket before the other officers walked in.
"That was one hell of a way to do it" Officer Fengmyer said as the team walked in, the compliment didn't seem to phase Price as he sighed "anybody have an idea where they took the hostage?" Price saw Grizzoli shake his head "no clue" he said with a sigh.
Nick Wilde spoke next "sooo . . . Are we going back?" All looked at him including Price, who chuckled "ohhh it's not over yet . . ." Price started with a soft chuckle "I guarantee we're surrounded" Grizzoli looked up and cursed "fuck! That's right! How the hell are we gonna get out of this shithole?" This was followed by multiple other curses from everyone else as Price looked at the team's radios.
"Do any of those work?" He asked, pointing at them, it was met by mostly no's but one wasn't "I think mine does . . . just barely" Nick Wilde said with a radio in his hand, Price walked up to it "give it to me, I'll get us out" Nick handed the radio and walkie talkie to the grizzly and stepped back as he fiddled with the channels.
Price stopped suddenly and held it to his mouth "this is Bravo Six actual, Raptor One do you copy?" Everyone in the room gave him a confused look before an unknown voice responded.
"Affirmative Bravo Six, give me a sitrep on what the hell happened over there" Price looked at the team as he spoke.
"Mission failed, we'll get 'em next time, hostages location is unknown" there was silence on the other end.
"I'm currently with SWAT Team One and one other" Price looked at the team beside him.
"Their condition is critical, at least three injured including myself, one immobilized, we need immediate evac from my coordinates" there was static coming from the radio this time.
"Lima charlie (Loud and Clear) Bravo Six, we've got your coordinates, the AO is a little hot but standby for exfil" Price looked at the SWAT team with a grin.
"Tango Mike Raptor One, get here as quick as possible" he said, handing the radio back to Nick, who put it on a table.
"Who the hell was that?" Grizzoli asked as Price looked out from the sniper's perch "central command, you heard what they said" hurried footsteps approached the room they were in, which soon revealed the snow leopard in the tower.
The leopard was holding an R700 Sniper Rifle in her arm and put it to her side as she spoke "did I miss a lot down there or . . . ?" "Not much, no" Wilde responded "oh, good, what about the hostage?" Price answered "wasn't here, the trails gone cold" the leopard looked at the grizzly "Detective Catherine Snow, thanks for taking that bastard out for me" she spoke with gratitude "John Price, that bastard had it coming" Price said looking at the cheetah.
Price only nodded "it's not over yet, I have a feeling those bastards heard what I said" "and don't they have SAM sites?" Price's eyes dilated at this revelation "why would they?" "Cause I was shot down by one" the snow leopard said, stepping forward.
He walked over and grabbed the radio again "this is Bravo Six actual to Raptor One, do you copy?" "10-4 Bravo Six" Price held the radio to his mouth "Raptor One be advised there may be SAM sites in the vicinity" there was momentary silence on the other end "uhh, copy Bravo Six, CIA's identified six SAM batteries, one appears to be in your area" there were several gasps and sighs in the room.
Price looked at the SWAT team and spoke into the radio again "copy Raptor One, relay that I want a damn napalm strike on that SAM site, authorized by Price" "copy that Bravo Six, standby" the voice on the other end said before there was silence.
"A napalm strike? Do we even have jets?" Wilde asked in confusion "no we don't, what the hell is going–" Grizzoli was interrupted by the radio.
"Raptor One to Bravo Six, do you copy?" Officer Price held up a paw pad and spoke into it again.
"10-4 Raptor One" Price nodded.
"Copy, TAACOM has authorized a napalm strike and . . . An . . . AC130 is en route for close fire support" the SWAT team saw officer Price's face light up.
"Tango Mike Raptor One, tell 'em to lock and load" a laugh came from the radio "copy that Bravo Six, I should be able to exfil in about an hour" The team behind him began to converse.
"Wait, you mean like a gunship?" Price turned to Officer Wilde "yes, and I suggest we get ready for shit to hit the fan real quick" he said, picking up his machine gun and loading it.
Though there was a scoff from the group "fine, as long as we're going back in after" Grizzoli said loading his M16, emitting a laugh from the senior grizzly as he cracked his knuckles "we will" he said confidently as he set up a tripod on the window.
After minutes of silence, the bear turned to officer Fangmeyer and looked at his name tag "Fangmeyer" the arctic wolf's ears pricked up at the mention of his name.
"Do you smell anything?" His nose began to twitch as it seemingly combed the area, his eyes looking upward as he took in all of the scents coming to his broken nose "I still smell a lion that needs a shower and a nervous fox but . . . I smell a group nearby . . ." Price's eyes narrowed "I'm assuming it's another welcoming party for us" Mchorn added "I wouldn't be too surprised" the snow leopard replied.
Price turned around and grinned "then why don't we give 'em a hell of a good time?" Grizzoli laughed "I like what you're implying John, everybody get in position" the lion said as Price grinned "with my experience, I can say the same" he said before taking the initiative.
"Mchorn, Fangmeyer, get down there and make sure those bastards don't get in, Snow, Delgato, this perch should provide cover for sniper fire, you, you're with me" Price said pointing to Grizzoli before walking out.
The SWAT team questioned the bear's orders at first but eventually found the logic in it, Grizzoli followed Price into another room of the church. It had a large open window in the center and seemed to be on the same level, Price's M240 MG was bipoded on the window with it's stock laying on the ground.
The smell of smoke filled the room as he saw Price turn to him, cracking his knuckles once more and holding a cigar by his two paw pads as he stood against the wall.
"When do you think your helicopter will arrive?" Grizzoli asked, walking up to him, Price shook his head "at least an hour if there's no delays, don't worry though, we'll get out of here" he scoffed "you seem pretty sure, what happened to your team?" The grizzly bear put the cigar back in his mouth.
"We were overrun, It was my fault, I wasn't expecting much from untrained fanatics but . . ." He pulled out two badges from his pocket "two are KIA, the others are MIA, I managed to slip through about a day ago, lucky for both of us I found you" Grizzoli looked at the badges and sighed "it's probably the only luck we'll get as of now" The bear chuckled "well it's enough."
Grizzoli finally got a good look at Officer Price for the first time in two days, his uniform was bloodied and stained a crimson red and was torn and dirtied with mud and grit.
He had no helmet unlike the rest of them, revealing the many gray hairs on his head, he had heard rumors that Price was one of the oldest SWAT officers in the city, and that he had decades of experience, not just in the police force but allegedly in the military too, that was just a rumor though.
He had two sidearms on him, the standard issue M1911 on his left and what looked to be a Desert Eagle on his right side, beside that were two places for knives, two flashbangs, and what looked like a smoke canister right beside that.
A cigar the size of a bullet was wedged in his muzzle with smoke billowing out from it, in fact on every occasion Grizzoli has seen Officer Price, he was always smoking, he guessed it was some kind of addiction.
Price took the cigar out of his mouth and dropped it on the ground before stomping on it "you chain smoke those things?" He asked as Price looked at him in response "it reduces stress, but sure you could say that" he said with a slight chuckle as more smoke came from out of his nose "you think they know we're here?" Grizzoli asked, walking up to the window.
He didn't get a straightforward answer "most likely, but I don't know for sure" he sighed at that answer "that wasn't really what I was looking for" Price looked up as Grizzoli said these words "they'll find us eventually, we're outnumbered ten to one" Grizzoli glanced at the radio on a table next to them "you think we can give the ZPD a sitrep with that? Considering that radio communications are down?"
Price looked at it and cocked his head a bit "maybe . . . But central command is a different channel, we're lucky it's on every one of these radios" he said walking up to the radio and handing it to Grizzoli "but it'd be best if you were the one to tell 'em" he looked at the device and fiddled with the dial with the speaker to his ear.
Eventually he heard a signal, it was static but it was the right channel so he spoke into it "Team 1 to Checkpoint . . . Do you copy? We've secured the church, Officer Wolford has been taken somewhere else" the static persisted for a few seconds until there was a response.
"Team 1! Thank god, Grizzoli, where the hell have you been!?
"Trying to survive, sir" The lion said through the radio very straightforwardly.
"copy that Team 1, any casualties?" The voice of Chief Bogo came from the radio.
"Negative Checkpoint, but we're battered, bloodied, bruised and exhausted, we need medical attention immediately" Grizzoli replied and turned to Price.
"We have one other officer with us, Checkpoint, he's wounded but can fight" he spoke into the microphone.
"What officer?" Bogo asked as Grizzoli handed it to Price.
"This is Bravo Six, mission failed, we've lost track of the hostage"
"Fre–John! What the hell happened to Team 4?!" Bogo yelled through the radio.
"Team 4 is KIA and MIA chief."
"Damnit, hold your position, backup is on the way" this seemed to set the grizzly off as his face became scrunched up and angry.
"Negative! If you send another team in they're going to get killed! There are mammals on every fucking streetcorner of this city, it's a deathtrap" he said with immense seriousness.
A sigh from the other end "copy . . . Just stand your ground and we'll find a way to grab you."
"No need chief, I've requested immediate extraction from our coordinates, Raptor One says they'll be here in an hour" there was a prolonged silence after this.
"Tell Raptor One that they have SAM sites, our police helicopter was shot down by one."
"We've recovered one of the crew members from the crash sir, she's been providing sniper support for us for the past day, she's with us and in good condition" Grizzoli spoke up.
"Hard copy Team 1, we have a rough location on the SAM sites" Bogo said, sounding as if he were concentrating.
"10-4, I've authorized Napalm Strikes on one of the SAM sites, Raptor One will be clear to exfil" Price said into the radio, it was met by more momentary silence.
"Copy, Team 1 be advised that we can't send eyes into Happytown, it's too risky, contact Checkpoint if there's any trouble" Bogo's voice spoke from the other end.
Price put the radio back and looked out the window as distant gunshots began to go off, and they weren't as distant as they'd like "that's a bad sign" Grizzoli said walking up beside the grizzly "no, it isn't, stay here I'll be right back" he said walking out of the room and jogging down the stairs.
He turned and looked at the door Price just walked out from, and then back at the window, the lion's eyes scanned the churchyard in front of him as he did so.
It was about three minutes later when he began to hear voices very close to them, soon followed by a large group of about 20 predators walking into view, he immediately ducked and ran downstairs to where Price was.
"Contact! In the churchyard! Maybe 20 of them" he saw Price immediately spring up and run to him "come on then, everybody get in position!" He yelled at Mchorn and Fangmeyer as he ran up the stairs and into the other room, Grizzoli followed.
"Hold your fire, try and let them pass and keep an eye on them" "wasn't planning on slacking" Delgato said with his M14 in his arms, even if he couldn't fight "what about me?" Nicholas Wilde asked as Price was just about to leave "your with us! Move!" Grizzoli looked behind them and saw Wilde dash into the hallway to follow.