::A/N:: Some readers may find the later part of this chapter to be disturbing. While I'll not provide any spoilers I will state that it does NOT have any forced sexual interactions. That is not something I will write about. However I did want to provide some warning. Otherwise I hope you enjoy this chapter ::END A/N::
In the far north of Beyersdorf, nearing the arctic circle a silo door slid open under the clear night sky of the first day of winter. The area was quite until the roar of rocket engines disturbed the forested province. Within the underground silo increasing orange and yellow glow along with the bloom of smoke exited the top of the silo like the advanced guard before the tip of the missile started its assent out of the silo. As the missile exited the area was charred under the heat of the engine driving the weapon into the air, snow turning to steam almost immediately. The missile quickly gained speed and became smaller and smaller to the observers on the ground until it was a flicker of light.
From behind General Gerhard a technician spoke out. "Roll program complete, and first stage burnout." After a pause the dry voice continued, "second stage confirmed ignition."
"Did you confirm we have spotters on the range?" Gerhard asked quietly to the major next to him.
"Yes sir"
"And how long until we know?"
"Second stage is complete; third stage has aligned for ballistic trajectory and dummy warhead has been released." The technician called out from his station.
"Because we are not doing a long-range flight, we should know in fifteen minutes or so sir." The major, a short statured but competent river otter stated to his General.
"Good," The general nodded as he put the binoculars he had in his paw down and walked to a chair to sit and wait. As he waited, he pulled a silver tube out of the inside pocket of his jacket. Unscrewing the top, he slid the cigar out of the tube before placing the container back in his pocket. Pulling from another pocket a cigar punch and his lighter. "So Major what's the bet on this one?"
"Sir, we would never …" the major began but stopped when the general held up a paw.
"Major, I worked my way through the ranks. We would have bet on this against the engineers before every launch. This is our, fifth attempt? Still betting with cigarettes?" Gerhard asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
The major laughed and smiled with a nod. "Yes sir, the odds are running for a complete success, but the bets are running on how close to target we are."
Gerhard looked up from what he was doing with the cigar as he put the punch back in his pocket and looked over at the scientist and engineers all closely monitoring screens. "Put me down for two packs, call it five miles off." Smiling he sat back and watched the major pull a small notebook out of his breast pocket and giving the pencil tip a quick lick jotted down a quick note before both disappeared back into his pocket. "What are you betting on?"
"Sir, I just keep track of the bet, and take a few packs for my troubles." Smiling.
"Either way you win. I used to do the same thing Major." Nodding his approval, Gerhard pulled two packs of the state cigarettes from his side pocket and placed them on the arm of the chair. "Gentle mammals how are we looking?"
"Any moment now." The technician said. Watching as the general placed his cigar in his muzzle and lit it, puffing on it slowly. "We have a confirmed range contact. Spotters are sending in triangulation estimates now." The technician held his paw to the earpiece. "Initial estimates are at two miles from target center." Smiling.
The lead scientist came over to the two military mammals. "General, that was a full test and well within a good range. Full weight and fuel with a successful targeting." The buck dear obviously proud of what they had done.
The general stood and shook the buck's paw. "Well done, though I want you to continue to work on getting that targeting closer." Looking around the room. "Not that its necessary but, I prefer precision gentle mammals." Leaning over he takes the cigarettes and puts them in the Majors paw. "Congratulate the winners for me Major."
The major took the cigarettes and pocketed them. "I will be sure to. Oh, and you will be happy to know that we also confirmed that SS Tundratown observation clipper was present to observe sir."
Gerhard smiled. "Good. Now they know." Turning to leave as he took one draw on his cigar. He nodded to the room and left the observation room. Things were going exactly as he had wanted them to.
*oOo*
Once they were all in their gear, they made their way down through the first floor to the back of the building. Each of them traded in the issued firearms and ammunition, double checked by two ZPD armory officers, and were issued firearms that were well marked with prominent blue metal components. They were also issued clear sided magazines with blue tape on each mag and preloaded with simunition with a marking tip that would act much like a paintball, except for Zoe who was issued blanks and a target laser.
Once they filed outside there was an armored carrier loaned to them by the ZPD and large enough for the team in the back. Once the last of them had walked in through the back of the truck, it was closed, and Jack took a position in the front of the space. "All right listen up." Once he had all of their attention on him. "We are heading to an abandoned industrial complex that has been set up for the first scenario. There is a dummy set up in the center, clear the areas and get to the prop. Since most of you have worked with me in the past I'll let the two newbies in on what you already know. There will be traps, and there will be other mammals in there, including referees. You've all been issued with simunition, it will leave a mark on you if you are hit. It is not lethal but other then on your armor it will sting if you are hit. You all have yellow, the mammals in there have red."
As the truck takes a particularly sharp turn Jack has to catch himself on a grab rail but does so like a mammal that had been in a carrier through far worse than a sharp turn and a few bumps. "Remember work as a team."
Butch looks over at Zoe, "Gonna trade up your tack driver or do ya reckon ya might trade down to one of us here pea shooters this time?" Smirking at the Kangaroo that sat across from him.
"You can keep your pea shooter. I'll take old reliable here over one of those flimsy ammunition wasting things any day." Glancing at the M4. "All plastic, and just like a guy, out of ammo in ten seconds."
Butch laughs and glances over at Leon and Meredith. "Ahh I miss workin with ol Zoe, sweet as pecan pie."
Meredith smiled at the dog. "You three have worked together before then?"
"Oh I reckon we've worked together on a few of the hare brained missions together." Laughing a good full bellied laugh at his own pun.
"Har har Butch." Jack shook his head as he sat down.
"Well I ain't gonna call ya hopper no more now am I? Not with that lass joining us." Indicating Zoe again. "Jack an I been workin together a long time. Zoe here and Ms Evie only for a few years now. Package deal those two. Hay you two remember that time ya smuggled Evie in with ya, in your …"
"Butch, remember that's not polite to talk about." Evie piped up.
"Right, right sorry Ms Evie." He said with far more respect then he did when talking about Zoe. "Well anyways, saved my backside that day I'll tell you. Best damn snipe I've ever seen, and a sneaky pair to beat."
Meredith looked over at the two, Zoe pretty much scowling but Evie looked perfectly happy with all of the discussion even enjoying the memory. "Sounds like high praise."
"Yah well who cares." Zoe glared at Meredith.
"Now now Zoe, Meredith is being polite and you could be too." Receiving a grunt from her girlfriend she continued either way. "Zoe and I have been working together for a long time, as Butch said we've only recently been working with Jack. Butch likes to downplay his own role in things but if you need to get into something, he'll find a way. Even if you have to blow open a wall with a door that was unlocked." Smirking at the dog.
"Ahh I was just itchin ta blow something up." Butch said, obviously a bit embarrassed.
"We know Butch, damn near took that building down with it." Jack said with a slight amusement to his tone.
"Well how the sam hell was I supposed to know that was a load baring wall." Retorted Butch.
"You're a damn demolitions expert Butch." Zoe pushed right back.
"Ya well … sorry." Looking down at the floor before laughing. "But them perps shore as hell were surprised."
"I'd say so, you literally caught that pair in the back with their pants down." Evie piped in as the truck came to a stop.
As they unloaded from the truck and looked around they were faced with a building four stories tall and covered in various pipes, steam and smoke stacks of varying heights and construction, many of the windows were boarded or broken, and the entire facility was painted in various levels of teenage art. Other than a few suspiciously clean areas outside, the facility looked like it had not been occupied in years.
A male polar bear in desert fatigues approaches the group. "You've been briefed and informed what the goals are?" When he sees nods from the group, "Well then move it!" He watches as the group approaches the front entryway. He made mental note at how half of the group moved with comfort with each other, then the skunk who held back with the hybrid who looked completely out of place. "Not going to join them Jack?"
"No, I have to organize the end to todays training. Our time table has been moved up." Making the same observations as his counterpart.
"Emm, that could cause issues. That hybrid needs time." His gravely voice betraying his age. "And the Skunk needs to learn to trust the other two." Leading Jack to a room that would have been the shift leader's office when the plant was still running. The room had been lined with screens that now showed multiple cameras. The four mammals moving through a corridor slowly. Butch and Leon having found a rhythm of clearing rooms as the moved down the hallway.
"Time is not something we have. They made a successful launch test this morning."
"Emm, the skunk we can work with. The hybrid," Shaking his head, "She'll be a liability." Clicking his tongue when he watches as Meredith takes out one of the opposing force with her pistol while the other three were occupied with a trap.
"Don't underestimate a Wilde" Chuckling. "I just don't think she appreciates the situation she has signed up for."
"I knew she looked familiar. Is that why you brought in the Doctor? Try to force her to quit?" Thinking for a moment the bear faced Jack, ignoring the screens. "What are you planning? MKULTRA?" The bear looked at Jack with a little bit of disgust as he brought up the program that had been abandoned years before even he was born.
"Nothing quite so extreme. However similar."
The bear grumbled. "I don't like it. Using things like that overseas was disconcerting enough. To use it on a citizen."
Jack sighed, "I know my old friend. I need to know how determined she is to come along. She's much like her parents but with what she is going to go through we need to push her to the edge. I also need to know where the breaking point is." Jack turned his attention back to the screens.
"I'll not be party to anything …. " He paused when Jack held a paw up.
"We will not take it that far. I will not put you in the same position that you were in. You know I hold you in high regard for reporting your unit for what they did to that mammal. I'm sure her family feels the same." Watching the monitors as a referee informs the team that Evie had been hit by one of the traps, and Jack watched as Meredith treated Evie.
"She knows what she is doing in that regard at least. If that were real, she probably just saved her life, and perhaps that arm." Watching closely as the group finished their first round over the following hour. "You do realize that what you are planning will probably make her hate you."
"Her and Leon." Jack watched intently as the group made their way back to the starting point. Leon talking with Meredith has they walked, obviously explaining what went well and what did not. "They don't have to like me, they just have to work with me."
The situation was reset, changes were made, and the group was put through the paces three more times. As they neared their target the third time it was obvious that the team was on some level starting to work together better than the first time. Meredith didn't need to be told where to be and where not to be as often. Leon had adapted to the methods used by Butch, Zoe, and Evie, though he still concerned himself more with Meredith than the others.
As they group made their way into an octagon shaped control room Meredith looked around. In the center was a control panel with three chairs and obvious divisions on the panel for each station. On the walls were various controls and gauges for monitoring the plants sector that this room was designed for. What was lacking was the dummy that represented their goal. "Something's wrong."
Butch looked around with a nervous tail flick. "She's right, somethings up."
Abruptly the lights in the room were completely shut down. The distinct sound of the electrical feed to the room being cut off could be heard as a blunt thud, that echoed the sinking feeling in each of the groups bellies. "What's going on?" Meredith asked before the sound of five sharp clicks could be heard and Meredith yelped as she felt a sharp pinch in her neck. Her paw reached for the spot to find something stuck there, it felt like a small metal cylinder with fins. "Tranquilizer … darts." She was already feeling drowsy as she spoke. She heard the thud of a body to her left hitting the ground, and then another. The second she wasn't sure if it was someone else or her own body connecting with the ground. She was however awake long enough for the lights to come back on and see Leon reaching towards her, struggling to reach her with two darts sticking out of his neck.
Meredith awoke in a dazed state. It felt like the room was spinning and what little background sound in hear ears sounded like it was being filtered through cotton balls. Slowly she opened her eyes only to be met with a bright light shining down from above her. Once she adjusted to that light she was able to open her eyes slowly. The light was a crisp white, shining from directly above her. It was bright but unable to fill the room and the walls were almost lost in the darkness. The odd thing was that directly in front of her was a long mirror, like one she had only seen in the interrogation rooms back at the ZPD when she had tried to hide from her father on bring your kit to work day.
It was what she saw in the mirror that raised a bit of panic in her, the bunny in her wanting to run and the fox in her wanting to growl in anger. She was seated in a chair, with her shirt removed she sat in pants and her sports bra. There were EKG leads glued to her chest and left side, the type of leads that didn't require fur to be shaved to make contact with skin. She had similar leads leading up to her temples. The most disturbing to her was that there were wide buckled restraints on her ankles, wrists, thighs, upper arms, across her chest, and over her forehead. As the tranquilizer started to wear off, she could also feel the light pressure in her left arm where she finally noticed the IV access that had been placed.
Meredith struggled against the bonds for a moment before quickly realizing that they were perfectly placed to restrict her movement. Looking around with her eyes there was a covered tray to her left, much like she would have had for procedures back in the ER. The contents of the tray were hidden by a bleach white sheet. Her eyes were quickly distracted from that as she heard the click from a door that was just outside of the light from above her. A soft red glow shined into the room as the door was opened and a shadowed stocky figure appeared before shutting the door and leaving the figure in the dark corner of the room.
"Ahh Ms Wilde, you are finally awake." A female voice came from the depths of the darkness before Meredith could hear the soft footfalls as the figure walked closer. Once within the light Meredith could make out a female badger in a white lab coat with light blue scrubs underneath. "I'd ask if you were comfortable but, we both know that you aren't." The badger spoke calmly and almost politely. Her voice was level, calm, and almost soothing. "Now, perhaps you would like to tell me what you and your group were planning hmm?" Taking a remote out of her pocket she tapped on it and a red light in the upper left corner of the room came on.
"Go to hell." Meredith responded with a little growl for good measure.
"Emm, while I'm not surprised that was your answer, I was hoping for that." Smiling, the badger walked over to the tray and pulled the sheet off of the procedure tray. On the tray where five large barreled syringes. Four of them were filled already, three of which had a small red band of tape on them, a fourth had a blue band of tape on it, the fifth was empty but a vial of liquid was staged next to it. All of them were missing the needle and were prepped to be used through the IV that had already been set up in Meredith's arm.
Meredith struggled against the restraints when she saw what was on the table. While she didn't know what might be in the syringes the dread she had felt before started to build. The unknown was worse to her then knowing what was about to happen. "What are you going to do?" Whimpering as she watched the badger select one of the red marked syringes.
"Oh, well to be blunt." The badger tapped the barrel of the syringe and then pushed gently on the plunger, evacuating the air and allowing a small amount of liquid to eject from the tip. "I'm going to drug you, and then we will see if you have decided to be a little more cooperative." Connecting the syringe to the port on the IV the badger pushed what appeared to be a small amount of liquid. "I do hope you got a good night sleep last night Meredith. You'll probably not be getting much more for quite some time." Placing the syringe back on the tray the badger removed the remote from her pocket again with a devilish smile and tapped a few more buttons. The light above her started to strobe in random sequences adding in a multitude of colors. At the same time a high-pitched noise came from the corners of the room. The badger came up next to her ear, and nearly whispered, "I'll check back in with you in an hour or so." After that the badger left the room.
Meredith watched the badger leave the room before shutting her eyes. Whatever had been given to her started to take effect making her feel like she was floating, and the room feel like it was spinning around her. The flashing lights bright enough to be seen even with her eyes shut and the noise making it even worse. She was getting nauseous as she whimpered. For what felt like hours she alternated between struggling against the restraint, attempting to ignore how she felt along with the lights and noises, and even attempted to rest. She was exhausted from the early morning and then the work and when she opened her eyes the lights increased her feeling of nausea. She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Help!" but like the many times before nobody answered her. A tear wetting her cheek as she went limp in her restraints. "Leon, please help me."
Abruptly the colored lights shut off and the noises stopped, eliciting a sigh of relief from Meredith before the door once again opened. When she opened her eyes to look the same badger from before walked into the room. "Not a bad way to spend two hours yes?" The badger walked over and checked the bag that was hanging next to her from a IV pole. "Feel like talking yet?"
Meredith glared back at the badger wishing she could clear way the wetness on her cheeks. "Like I said before, go to hell." She had no idea what had happened, assuming somehow the same mammals that had gotten into her hospital had somehow incapacitated her group, made easier by not being appropriately armed. If thought that if she hadn't been drugged she could probably figure out how it happened even though a part of her mind screamed that it made no sense.
"You mentioned Leon," the badger stated, and she smiled with a gentle laugh when Meredith struggled against the bonds that held her seated. "Ahh well I see now. You should know he's talking like a mammal that hasn't seen another mammal in years. You should help yourself Meredith. Tell me something and this can all be over. Warm meal and a soft bed. You must be hungry, and I know your tired." Noting as Meredith starts to dose even as she speaks. "Now now we can't have that." The badger picked up the syringe that was marked with blue tape and connected it to the IV, pushing another small amount of liquid into the connection.
Almost immediately Meredith felt a surge of energy through her. While still exhausted she no longer felt tired. She knew she wanted to sleep but with how she felt, even if she were lying on the most comfortable bed ever, she would be wide awake. "He, he wouldn't talk. You know … nothing." Meredith managed to stammer out. What Jack had said earlier that day, or was it more than a day ago, one weak link and they would all be dead, was ringing through her mind.
"If that's the way you want it." The badger again picked up a red taped syringe and added more of what had made her feel nausea and the soft floating feeling. "See you in another two hours." As the badger left the room the lights began again, and the noises as well. This went on for multiple rounds, to the point Meredith lost count. Her cheeks were wet with her tears she shook in both anger as well as fear. She never said anything, but each time the badger used the blue marked drug she knew she was going to be denied the one thing she wanted the most, and that was to rest. Her mind started to think that perhaps if she just said something, they would leave her be, even for a few hours. She felt like it must have been days already.
When the lights stopped again, for what she felt was the hundredth time, and the noises stopped she prepared or the next round of questions and her lack of answers which would be followed by more drugs, she was surprised when the room lights came on with a very soft glow. For the first time she could make out the entire room when she opened her eyes. Her eyes went to the door when she heard the familiar click of the handle being turned. Her jaw was set, and she took on the most defiant look she could muster. That all fell away when Leon walked through the door.
When she saw the skunk all the walls, she had attempted to maintain broke down and she sobbed with relief. Tears freely falling down her cheeks as Leon ran over to her and quickly started to unbuckle the restraints and pull away the electrodes. The last thing he pulled away from her was her IV. Without a word he lifted her from the chair and into his arms. "I've got you Meredith." He nuzzled her cheek before starting to carry her towards the door.
As they neared the door Jack walked through, his left eye starting to swell shut as he held a towel to his nose that was already starting to stain red through from the other side. "Forty eight hours Jack, you will leave us alone for forty eight hours and then you had better have a better excuse for this circus." Without waiting for another word Leon carried Meredith out of the room and into what was obviously a hall in the factory they had been in. They passed by Butch, Evie, and Zoe all of which nodded to her with an air of respect. The expression on Zoe's muzzle caused Meredith some pause as she watched them while being carried by. She almost looked sorry which caused an odd laugh from Meredith before she curled against her skunk's chest. She felt so tired, like she had run a marathon twice over.
Meredith could remember bits and pieces of what had happened next. She remembered being carried outside and it looking like the early hours of evening, and then she remembered being in a car, then being laid down in a soft bed. "Leon?" Her paws grasped groggily both from exhaustion and the lingering effects of whatever she had been dosed with.
"I'm here Meredith." He said from behind her as he readied himself to climb into bed with her. "I'm not going anywhere."
Meredith was too tired to turn over to see him, and she whimpered as she curled into a ball on the bed, her tail wrapping up and around her front with her ears laid flat. While she didn't feel nauseous anymore, she still felt different, her mind was unfocused, and all her senses still felt muted. Until she felt the bed move behind her and the warmth of another mammal behind her. When his sent reached her she relaxed, relaxing more as she felt his arms wrap around her protectively. "I've got you Meredith, just try to get some sleep." When Meredith whimpered again, he nuzzled the top of her head and hummed softly to her trying to sooth her. "Just rest Meredith, I've got you."