It felt like hours had passed and indeed they had. Nick and Skye had walked up and down the line to ensure everything and everyone was set and ready. And to ensure there were no friendly fire incidents. Unfortunately, there had been, fortunately, they were quickly resolved, and only minor injuries were incurred. The worst injuries came from the jump. One trooper broke his leg very badly when he landed in a wet portion of ground. His leg sank into the mud before his body weight forced it to bend at an unnatural angle with his momentum. The other was impaled through the arm by a tree limb when he landed in a grove. This reminded Nick of his own luck.

Despite these setbacks, the fox troopers quickly took over the fighting positions and assisted their bunny allies in attending to the wounded and dead. Nick and Skye had set up a TOC(Tactical Operations Center) and TAC(Tactical Access Control) along the way. On the way back Skye had split off from Nick to take command of the TOC while he proceeded to the TAC. Upon his arrival, he found a familiar grey rabbit sitting outside the area.

"Ah! Lieutenant Carrots!"

He called enthusiastically, earning a glare from the bunny. Seeing her reaction, he toned down his usual sarcasm. In a much gentler voice, he asked how she was holding up.

At his softer tone, she dropped her glare and stood, rendering a perfect solute. During her wait she'd learned he was a Lt. Colonel and severally outranked him. "Lieutenant Hopps, ready for duty sir."

Her answer told Nick plenty. She was still hurting inside, as anyone would be, but focused on the mission at paw. He admired her determination.

"At ease Hopps. While we're here on the front lines we don't salute. Keeps the snipers guessing." He said with a wink, noting the way her eyes widened. "Come on, let's find out what's going on." He led her into the area the command team had set up. Radios, computers, satellite transmitters, all of it was out as foxes talked to who knows who else. One subject seemed to dominate all others, night attack. With the sun beginning to sink below the horizon, it seemed inevitable.

Judy was chosen to be Nick's liaison to the Burrow forces. He felt it would ease their minds if a rabbit's voice was the one coming across their radios. She watched as he looked at a map while another fox pointed out locations and informed him of what was where and the situation that had been relayed thus far. Judy spent most of her time collecting casualty reports and requests for resupply of ammunition, water, and food. She then passed that on to Burrow high command and waited for further instructions. Occasionally Nick would ask her to relay instructions for a unit to shift one way or another. Even sending a scouting party to an area to see if they could gain a better vantage point.

Eventually, it came to the point where all they could do was wait. And so, they waited.

That night was long and sleepless, everyone was surprised to see the sun rise without ever firing a shot. During the night several of the rabbits along the lines reported hearing the enemy tanks start their engines, along with the clank of tracks. Yet, no one ever actually saw the vehicles.

Nick ordered a couple of small drones to be sent out and see if they could figure out what the enemy was doing. Judy was nearby, watching the same small screen he was from a side angle when he noticed her.

"Carrots." He said to gain her attention. She glared at him for using the nickname. With a smirk, he motioned for her to join him. She stood next to him as the drone hovered over an area where obvious signs of heavy armor had traveled and fighting positions had been dug.

"Zoom out then pan around." He said to the fox operating the drone. The image showed more of the same. "What do you make of it Fluff?"

Judy looked up, surprised he'd ask her opinion. A second later, after getting over her initial surprise, she gave the only answer she could come up with.

"It looks like they've left." She observed.

"That's what it looks like.

But why? They know they're just inside our aircrafts' range. Our planes can't loiter for long before having to turn around and fly back for fuel. We're almost certain they have artillery with them so they could have shelled us to soften our lines before a major armor push. To be honest Carrots-"

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry, to be honest, we likely wouldn't have been able to hold out long enough for reinforcements to reach us."

"Maybe you being here was enough to dissuade them? Maybe they overestimated your numbers?"

"Maybe…" Nick rubbed his chin in thought when he noticed Judy looking off in the distance behind them. A second later his ear twitched as the distant sound of a helicopter registered.

With where they were positioned, they couldn't see it, but it was clearly in the area of the TOC where Skye was currently coordinating with the higher ups to keep them informed of the overall picture. The sound continued for a few moments until it began to slowly dissipate in the air.

"What was that?" Judy asked, looking up at Nick, who simply shrugged.

"Could be anything. Let's see if our drone can find anything further back." The two turned their attention back to the screen as the drone began following the vehicle tracks towards the Canisian border. Judy continued to glance towards the direction the sound of the helicopter had come from and then the radio.

"If it's important they'll call us." Nick said after the third time she looked. He turned his attention back to the drone footage as a warning came up.

"Drone is 5 miles out sir, we've reached our operational limit." The drone operator informed them.

"Alright, sergeant, bring it back."

Nick ordered; around the same time the radio came to life.

"Spear six this is Spear eight."

Nick reached over and took the hand mic from the radio operator. "Go ahead eight."

"Six I've got a VIP here that needs to talk to you ASAP."

"Copy that, bring them on up."

"You might want to meet me halfway six, he's got something quite interesting to share."

Nick looked at the hand mic for a moment, as if a foreign language had come out of it. "Copy, I'll meet you at rally point bravo. Over."

"Copy that, Spear eight out."

Nick set the hand mic down on top of the radio and looked contemplative. He looked back at the drone footage as it showed the device still scanning the surrounding area as it flew back. Tapping his claw on the metal case of the radio.

"Come on Hopps, let's go see what this VIP has to say."