Training with Jealousy
The door opened to a standard weapons lockup, complete with a reinforced cage housed in a solid square of steel reinforced concrete. An aged light brown alpaca, with half a missing ear, looked the two new recruits over as they walked up with Justin. He had the look of a mammal that had never smiled. Ever. His visage wasn't unfriendly, just crusty and professional. The iron discipline of military service was most prevalent in his brown eyes, staring, weighing, and judging the two officers. Both their backs went stiff in a pose of attention, though no words had been uttered, Judy's offense at being the butt of a joking bet forgotten. A separate door to the right swallowed the others from the elevator, a few beeps from the paw scans doing their work.
"Morning John. These are the two I called about yesterday. I hope you have found something that will fit them." Justin had a friendly grin on his muzzle, a coffee cup in his paw.
"Stuff your morning, Justin. And you best not bring that cup of joe on MY range, or I'll have your ass policing brass til tomorrow, you little bastard. Of course I had something that will be perfect for a wise ass fox, and a cute little bunny, though why I bother making everything around here perfect is beyond me." His emphasis on their species was only punctuated more when he spit a loud and juicy shot of chewing tobacco laced spittle into an unseen can under the counter. "The set of armor was a pain in my ass too, especially the plates. Best get them there quickly, so they can be suited up and ready before the range course is started." With that, he produced a fully modded AR M4 dressed up in Bravo Company furniture with a look toward the fox, who took it with one paw just as a P90 with a short range optic landed next to where it was, this with a gesture toward the rabbit. She also pulled the weapon off the padded counter, both officers recognizing it as the same weapon George had recovered from the weapon's locker in the updated Duesenberg. Neither weapon had a magazine, and Nick's bolt was open. Judy looked the P90 over, remembering where George had charged it and pulled the well oiled bolt back, noticing the breach was closer to the rear of the weapon. All clear. John's left brow twitched up in the faintest hint of surprise at seeing the cute little bunny find and run the action on a rare weapon. His initial appraisal of worthless was tarnished a bit. A dull thud pulled their attention back to the cage as a pair of handguns were laid across the counter, wrapped in shoulder holsters. His scowl softened a bit as they approached for the sidearms. "These should fit your paws, and be manageable. Recoil on a stock P90 is next to nil, and that's far from stock. Same as yours, fox. These are about the best money can get. Same for the optics. Now, run your paws over the stupid pad thingy to check the weapons out, and you two are all set. Justin will show you where to put them for the range, so you don't have to check them in and out every day." He dismissed them by putting in new chew and the beginning of a field strip of an M234 SAW.
"Thanks John, you sour old bastard." This earned him a half-hearted grunt. After the officers pawed the scanners to confirm their weapons, they all turned to the door the others had entered. Justin finished his coffee and tossed the empty cup in a waste bin. He pawed in, and opened the door just as John shouted at them all, his back still toward the trio.
"Don't you scratch any of my babies! You hear me, you bastards, not a SCRATCH!"
"We'll treat them like new born lambs, John. Trust me." Justin sent him his most winning smile.
The group went through the door to the continued shouts from John. "Trust you, my ass. You broke the first weapon I ever let you use, and don't get me star…" Silence, aside from the little chuckle from Justin. They were in another room, but with a few more doors to choose from, none of them labeled.
"Ignore that grouchy old bastard. He's the best at what he does, even if he is a bit quirky." He offered as an explanation.
"Seems to be rather common around here. Strange and quirky." Nick responded, sarcasm dripping from his lips as he held his newly acquired weapons. "And ill tempered."His perked ears were trained on the badger.
Justin smiled at the quick and smooth talking fox. "You have no idea, Nick." Their eyes met for a moment, the smile as warm as ever, Nick was searching for a threat to him or Judy, who cleared her throat at the males after a few seconds.
'God, why is everything a contest with males?' She thought. "Should we catch up with the others? I don't want to be late for anything, since its our first day and all." She smile when the badger broke eye contact with Nick to look at her, her ears at attention, the eagerness apparent.
"Don't worry, Judy. Everything is right on schedule. Training begins now. Please follow me to collect the rest of your gear." He turned to one of the doors, leading the pair deeper in the maze of the Black Fang installation.
The pair locked eyes for a brief moment, Nick shrugging, gesturing with his head for her to go first. At least they were together.
The morning had been busy, but pleasantly interesting. They were issued newly designed kevlar, thinner and more capable of stoppage than previous models. The sidearms had holsters meant to be concealed under the suits, making them well hidden, but a bit tougher to draw. Tips and pointers were given to the pair by the squad, who all had extensive experience. The officers listened. They then sighted in their new weapons, adjusting the sights ever so slightly, mostly for eye relief mixed with personal preference. A full session at the range, complete with shot firing drills mixed with mag changes, put the pair in a much more comfortable position with their weapons. The group started to accept them as well, the ZPD didn't normally issue much more than tranq guns, but the need to 'poke' an angry mammal with only one quick shot made all officers train heavily for accuracy and trigger control, and they were both reasonable marksman. After the heavy firing range training, the entire squad met in the main range training classroom off the range after Heather and George re-qualified with their normal carry handguns.
Asher, who had been giving a few last minute tips to George, was looking over the qualifying paper, his normally stoic features turned into a disappointed frown, his black tail twitching in annoyance. "Looks like you're still milking the grip. This group pulled a little left and low. Good group, but just out of that sweet zone. You could correct it, but not quickly. You would need to spend some serious time down here, George."
The small gray wolf looked up at the taller panther with an easy smile, his tail wrapped under his arm. "So you've said before, Mr. Jones. Unfortunately, time is a commodity in short supply. Was my grouping adequate for qualification purposes?" George politely, but pointedly asked the Alpha squad pistol trainer, just as he was about to dismantle the time argument.
The large panther closed his jaw, glanced at the paper in his paw and nodded once, his tail giving one final annoyed flic. "It is." he stated simply, a note of defeat in his voice. "Heather's were passable as well. You both re-qualify." Heather, who had been in front of the pair of males, had found an open place next to Nick and Judy to wait the debrief. She acknowledged the qualification with a slight wave to the quiet panther, her ever present device in her paws.
"Excellent." George continued walking until he found a place next to Heather to wait for Justin's debrief.
Justin rose and turned to the gathered Alpha squad after Asher sat next to Casey. "Hey guys, looks like everything went as planned, with good news; Everyone Qualified!" Justin's muzzle had an ironic grin while the well trained, professional unit burst into an uproar of laughter. "Even Casey managed a tighter grouping than usual, so it looks like some bets need to be settled after I'm finished." A few victorious arm pumps and an equally defeated head hang accompanied whoops and laughter. The large feline even got up and bowed to the others, hailing another round of hearty laughter. After the touch of theatrics, the uproar died down and Justin took control of the room again. "This is all well and good, but punching holes in paper has never been this groups major focus. So, in honor of our new recruits, I've set up a more interesting game." He had every mammal's undivided attention. "John's staff has rearranged the training room, and we just got a new shipment of the experimental projectile taser rounds, fired from our old paintball marker handguns." The grin he turned on his gathered group was just short of vicious. "These deliver a shock similar to a taser, but compact and not attached to the weapon, incapacitating the target. Should add a new challenge to our training, plus some serious incentive to not get hit. We had them ordered in blue and red, like the paintballs. Casey, come on up for an active demonstration, please." Justin had retrieved a black handgun from a box on a table nearby, casually gesturing to the large lion to the front of the room. He looked a little apprehensive, but did as he was asked without verbal complaint. Justin finished loading the weapon's single stack magazine, put a round in and casually fired at Casey's leg. The report from the weapon was slight, similar to a silenced round, but the surprised roar from the lion was plenty loud enough to set Judy's ears ringing. Casey fell to the ground instantly, twitching erratically on the ground. Justin regarded the much larger predator at his feet as the rest of Alpha squad looked on, the mammals in the rear of the classroom standing to get a better look. Justin continued, amid a few murmurs, "As you can see, even Casey's large size didn't save him from the effect of the round. This should make our war games just a bit more interesting." The charge from the small dart like round had dissipated, relieving the lion of its effects. Justin offered his paw to help the normally laid back mammal to his paws with his usual smile. Casey looked at the paw for a second before grasping it in his much larger paw, pulling himself up, his tail swaying dangerously.
"Oh I do hope you're planning to join us today, Justin. I think I'd like to watch you get lit up by one of these little gizmos." Casey said, his contagious smile back on his muzzle, but with a mischievous tint, his large paw still intertwined with Justin's smaller one after he regained his paws.
Before Justin could answer, there was a light knock at the door leading to the range area. After a three count wait, the door opened to allow a petite arctic fox entrance. The vixen was wearing a very form fitting sapphire blue skirt with a pearl blouse tucked neatly in. Her blouse had an open throat design leading to a small plunge and was adorned with a little flower shaped brooch in silver, the petals of which were the same shade of blue sapphire as her skirt, placed just over her heart. Her gorgeously fluffy tail, like a puff of cloud, followed her every move, though it had a coy dip at the tip. The overall effect was one of simple unconscious elegance, with a mixture of demure shyness. Judy overheard Heather take a slight, but nearly silent intake of breath as the appealing young female entered the room, looking over a clipboard in a business-like manner. Every male eye was on the appealing creature that had swayed effortlessly into the room, her seeming obliviousness detected as an obvious pretense by the two other females.
Judy's ears drooped in dismay at the trance like state all the males were in at the sight of this grudgingly attractive female. After reaching Justin, the vixen glanced around, holding her clipboard to her chest. Her aquamarine eyes widened at the table where Nick, Judy, Heather and George sat. Her eyes stayed on Nick, at least from Judy's perspective, even while the vixen asked Justin a question. Her voice was as slight as she was, and was sweet as honey, but the words didn't register to Judy, who was busy with her own inner turmoil. She stole a quick glance at Nick, finding him staring for all he was worth at the lovely creature quietly talking to the badger. Her emotions tumbled around in her body, her mind quickly noting the qualities of physical beauty while her stomach blanched and tightened around the growing feeling of jealousy, especially as the number of attractive traits built higher and higher in her mind. Nick actually started to drool a little, forcing him to lick his lips lightly, she resisted the urge to punch him in the arm. Hard. Her eyes jumped from Nick's muzzle to the demure display of coquettishness this unknown female utilized in her unheard conversation with Justin as the jealousy built in her roiling guts. The amethyst daggers were flying at her unnamed potential foe.
As her eyes were about to change color from purple to green, her phone vibrated, pulling her attention from the vixen to her phone. A message from Heather, simply stating 'This is Vivien' made her look from her phone to the other female, amethyst locking with hazel. Heather's muzzle had the same look of worry, the fear that she might not measure up to someone's approval. But who? Judy forgot her own problem for a moment, seeing the look of apprehension on Heather's muzzle. The jaguar glanced at George unconsciously, who had much the same look on his muzzle as Nick, though his tail was curled under his left arm, and it clicked. Suddenly, everything made sense, all the conversation from the previous night. Heather was in love with George! Judy's eyes went wide with the realization, and her paws went to her muzzle as the older female looked away from the male wolf of her affection to the younger bunny. The look in Judy's eyes told her that she knew everything.
Things just got a little more complicated in the Black Fang installation.