Chapter 34
The Drex were moving closer.
Inexorably, despite the resistance of the ZPD officers, they continued to push forward. One group would lay down covering fire while others moved forward, using cars for cover. Bogo winced as he saw his own massive truck, smashed to pieces by more bullet impacts than he liked to imagine. "The Drex are going to have a hell of a bill to pay when this is over," he muttered angrily.
Beside him, Francine and McHorn exchanged looks. "I doubt they're too worried about it," said McHorn.
"They will be," growled Bogo. "That truck cost me a fortune. And I don't think my insurance covers combat damage."
The last step of the way to the headquarters building was clear of any potential cover, and it seemed to stall the Drex. Bogo let loose another blast of his weapon, shattering a parked car and sending the Drex behind it sprawling. "I think we're starting to hold them-"
From behind the Drex force, there was a sudden loud whine. Bogo's ears flattened as he recognized the sound. "That's a hover tank-"
The tank looked something like Shepherd, but was slightly smaller. Unlike Shepherd, however, the front had a rotary gun turret on it. "What is that?" said the chief, shaken.
Scruggs popped his head up for a quick look through a window nearby, ducking as his movement attracted fire. "It's a Reaper-class mobile anti-aircraft gun," he said. "Fires about a thousand high-velocity rounds a minute."
Bogo turned to stare at him incredulously. "It's a-" he stopped as the rotary gun on the armored vehicle started to spin up. "Everyone down!"
He hit the floor as a sound like an acre of cloth being ripped in half filled his ears. The few remaining windows on the part of the building facing the Drex shattered. Holes appeared in the walls, moonlight shining through, highlighting the brick dust and plaster ripped loose from the walls. The elevator behind Bogo took multiple direct hits, sagging and then dropping two stories to smash into the ground below.
Still the gun fired, the shells exploding as they struck. Clawhauser's desk disintegrated, the cheetah scrambling to safety behind the central column in the station just before the impacts ripped his work-station apart.
After what seemed an eternity, the gun stopped firing. Bogo looked out, his eyes widening as he saw the tank lurching forward. Straight towards the lobby.
Engines roaring, the tank smashed through the glass doors of the lobby, showering police mammals with glass and debris. Delgato was knocked sprawling, the lion going limp as his head struck the floor. The tank swiveled towards him and the gun started to spin again.
Bogo leapt to his feet. "McHorn, Pennington! With me!" He charged at the tank.
The tank's operator must have spotted the three large mammals rushing him, because it started to rotate towards them. He couldn't have been too concerned- three infantry charging a tank, without any real explosives or anti-tank weapons, wouldn't have ordinarily been a significant threat.
Of course, that was true of human infantry.
The tank was hovering slightly off the floor of the lobby. Bogo grabbed the side of the tank and, joined by Francine and McHorn, threw all his strength into lifting. The combined strength of a water buffalo, rhinoceros, and elephant easily overwhelmed the tank, massive as it was. The three mammals let out explosive grunts as they heaved.
The tank flipped over.
The anti-gravity was designed to provide lift from a certain direction. Facing the wrong way, the weight of the armored vehicle was suddenly all on the top, which it emphatically was not designed for.
The top hatch crumpled. The gun's multiple barrels, never designed to support the tank's weight, bent in half.
There was a long, low whine as the tank shut down.
Delgato woozily pushed himself up, seeing Bogo, Francine, and McHorn standing over the wreckage of the armored vehicle. "Oh," he said to himself. "That's why they made him chief."
A burst of fire narrowly missed the three large mammal officers, and they rushed for cover. McHorn grabbed Delgato, dragging the lion to cover as he ran.
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Outside, the Drex unit commander slowly picked up his radio.
"Be advised, the Terrans just destroyed a Reaper in hand-to-hand combat," he said.
There was a long pause. "Say again, Gimel Four-five?"
"You heard me."
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Nick pulled up on the stick as they approached the ground, the belly of the Arewing scraping against some of the taller trees below.
Behind him, Judy gulped. "Did we have to do that?" she asked.
"I thought you said I couldn't dive," said Nick, annoyed. "Now I can't pull up?"
"Can't you fly a little more sedately?"
Nick glanced at the sensor display, noted the two Drex fighters rapidly catching up with them. "Not if you don't want to lose more than your lunch, Carrots."
He spotted a break in the trees- a river, cutting through the forest. He banked and dropped even lower, below treetop height, so close the ship's wake threw up waves from the water below. "Okay," he said with relief. "I think we lost them."
The left bank of the river exploded as high-velocity shells tore into it. Nick instinctively twitched the fighter away, narrowly being missed by the stream of fire. Behind him, he saw the Drex- just one. The other one was flying high, probably, in case he tried to pull up again. "I really shouldn't say things like that," he muttered.
"No kidding," said Judy, behind him. "Hang on a sec-"
She triggered off a burst, blasting steam from the water in front of the pursuing Drex. The enemy fighter fell back slightly. "So what's the plan?"
"Well, the river leads to Zootopia. I thought we'd head there first."
"Okay, and do what, exactly? It's kind of a warzone."
"Tavi said she was going after Hunter, right?" said Nick. "So we get into contact with her, and then she tells us where Hunter is. Then we rescue Hunter, stop Prometheus, and it's home in time for breakfast."
Judy fired another burst, causing the Drex fighter to slow even further. "That seems awfully optimistic," she noted.
"Hey, it could happen."
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Bonaire swore as the dot indicating Nick and Judy's Arewing dropped off her scanner. Then she blinked as she noted no explosion, no indication of a crash. They'd just dropped below tree level- flying along a river-
"Sly fox," she said approvingly. "Although-"
One Drex ship had followed them in- there was little she could do about that now. The other was flying high cover, prepared to pounce on the fox and rabbit when they broke free of the canopy. She targeted it with a passive-sensor missile- no point in going active sensor on it, as the enemy fighter would easily detect the signature and evade.
She was still out of range. She took a moment to look over the sensors and see how the rest of the battle was going.
Rudaski had things well under control- the Drex had been caught in low orbit or atmosphere, and were completely unprepared for the human fighters diving on them. Most were destroyed, and the few remainder were fighting desperately just to stay alive. Rudaski had even ordered some of the fighters to prepare for close-air support for the Marines.
Speaking of which- a host of new contacts had appeared. Marine drop ships.
Bonaire spotted the closest drop ships, streaking down like meteors in the night sky. Headed for Zootopia.
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Destroying the tank had given the Drex pause, but not for long enough. Already, the ZPD headquarters was being systematically chewed apart by sustained fire. Bogo huddled behind a far wall- the front wall having taken on a resemblance to Swiss cheese. Swiss cheese attacked by a hungry mouse.
"I'm starting to worry about the integrity of the building," said Scruggs matter-of-factly.
"I'm starting to worry about the integrity of my skin," muttered McHorn. He glanced at Bogo. "Maybe we should surrender?"
The chief started to snap at McHorn, but then paused.
They were completely suppressed- none of his officers had been able to return fire for the last ten minutes at least. Some were running out of ammunition- no one had anticipated a sustained firefight of this magnitude.
Another wall crumbled, and the ceiling sagged ominously. Reluctantly, Bogo had to admit they had little other option. "Clawhauser," he began. "Signal the Drex-"
Before he could finish, the cheetah grasped his arm. "Sir! Look up there!"
A large section of the front wall was missing, and through it Bogo could see clear night sky. He frowned as he looked up, seeing several bright streaks that seemed to be getting larger and larger. "What are those?"
It was Scruggs who answered, staring up at the sky in awe. "Drop ships," he whispered.
"What?" said Francine. "What's a drop ship?"
"It's how human Marines land," said Scruggs. "They're coming." He sounded disbelieving, his eyes wide as he watched the ships grow ever larger. "I can't believe it, but they're coming."
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Nick realized he was about to break through the screening trees. He knew there was a Drex fighter waiting to jump him as soon as he did- but if he slowed down he'd be easy prey for the one trailing him.
"Time to roll the dice," he muttered.
"You know, if you had gone to a real flight school," said Judy worriedly, "They'd have told you never to say things like that if you're the pilot."
"Thanks, Carrots. I'll keep that in mind." He activated the engine boost, radically increasing his speed as he shot out from under the cover of the trees.
Immediately a warning hum filled his headset. A missile lock. He looked around wildly, spotting the Drex fighter coming in.
He'd rolled the dice, all right. Snake eyes.
Even as he finished the thought, he noticed a vapor trail streaking toward the Drex. A moment later there was an explosion that engulfed the enemy fighter.
"Hey, Hustler," said Bonaire over his radio. "Miss me?"
Nick sagged in sudden relief. "Miss you? Next time I see you I'll kiss you!"
Judy cleared her throat behind him.
"In a friendly way," he added quickly. "Like a friend."
"I'll settle for a beer," said Bonaire. "So where are we headed- oh, shit!"
Nick spotted the problem immediately. The fighter that had been following them shot out from under the trees, immediately angling up towards Bonaire. "Judy, take him out!" he shouted.
The rear gun blasted into the Drex, ripping off a wing, sending the fighter spiralling toward the ground below.
"Good shot!" said Nick approvingly. "You okay, Bonaire?"
"Well," said the human, a bit breathlessly. "I guess I should be thankful."
"Now we owe each other a beer," said Nick.
"Call it even, then. So where to now?"
"Zootopia," said Nick. "We've got friends there that can help."
"Fair enough. Though I think it'll be a toss-up who will be helping whom." Bonaire's fighter settled in behind and to the left of them. Her wingman flew higher, covering the lower-flying Arewings.
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The problem with landing a force in a city, with active combat on-going, with little intel, and next to no planning was-
Well, it wasn't that there was just one problem. There were lots of problems.
Still, orders were orders. And the Marines had taken a shine to the Terrans. They wanted to help. So at least morale was high.
The drop ship rocked as it punched through the atmosphere, a shrill shriek growing in pitch as they shot towards the surface below. Krieger tightened his grip on his rifle. He glanced over at his colonel, who was singing "Toreador" from Carmen.
"C'est la fete des gens de co," he sang. "Allons! En garde! Allons! Allons! Ah!".*
The Marines, who were used to their colonel's eccentricities, joined in.
"Toreador, en garde! Toreador! Toreador! Et songe bien, oui, songe en combattant..."**
The shriek suddenly died away and the ship lurched as the retro thrusters cut in, dropping their speed. So rapidly did they decelerate that only the inertial compensators integral to the drop pod kept them from smashing against the ceiling, restraints or no. Deceleration didn't cut in until they had almost landed.
They could have landed outside the city- and probably had to fight their way in, against an enemy in built-up terrain.
They could have landed in one of the few areas where the Drex were known not to be. They would have been scattered, however, and forced to navigate an unfamiliar city to find the enemy. By the time they found the Drex, it seemed unlikely they'd save any Terrans at all, at least none who resisted. And again, the Drex would have time to get ready for them.
The only intel that was certain was where the fighting was- the Drex couldn't maneuver in combat and hope to hide from the Nike's sensors at the same time.
Hence, pancakes.
With sprinkles. And whipped cream.
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"Where are they landing?" wondered Bogo aloud. The streaks of light that indicated the human drop ships grew larger and larger, scarcely moving. As if they were coming right toward them-
He flinched further into cover as two Human fighters shot over the Drex in the headquarters parking lot. He heard a shrill sound followed almost immediately by a rather pathetic explosion. Fire from outside slackened, and he risked a look.
Small, spherical objects could be seen blanketing the area the Drex were in. La Mancha referred to them as "sprinkles".
Most military personnel referred to them as cluster bombs, or more specifically, bomblets.
Bogo ducked again as a series of explosions rocked the parking lot, as the cluster bomblets went off. Shrapnel slapped against the side of the headquarters building, some of it even penetrating the thick walls. He could feel the concussions of the explosions, even inside.
What it must be doing to the Drex, practically in the open-
There was a dull whomp as Bogo's truck, the fuel tank holed in multiple places, caught fire and exploded. Screams could be heard from a Drex who had been taking cover behind the truck.
Bogo frowned. "Dammit."
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"Ten seconds to landing!" shouted Sadowski.
"Tout d'un coup, on fait silence," sang La Mancha. Unlike the other Marines, he was dressed in the full regalia of a colonel of Fleet Marines. Peaked cap, long overcoat, impeccably shined boots, pressed trousers- all black with gold piping. He'd stick out like a sore thumb on a battlefield, but it was his reasoning that if the opposition was trying to shoot him, they weren't shooting at his Marines. "Ah! Que se passe-t-il?"***
"Three- two- one-"
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The glow of the drop ship grew brighter, and brighter, until-
"It's going to land right on us!" shouted Scruggs in shock.
He was incorrect- when the massive pod struck, it landed directly in the Drex formation, what was left of it. The impact flattened the cars in the parking lot directly under it, and the displaced air was moved violently aside, throwing surrounding cars away in a wave. Drex who were too close were bowled over like nine-pins.
The drop pod was roughly the shape of an onion, with a broad bottom tapering to a near-point at the top. And like an onion, it had layers. The outer layers dropped down, forming ramps in a three hundred and sixty degree radius around the pod.
And also like an onion, when it opens up, you might just cry.
Marines leapt out, firing at the stunned and bleeding Drex as they came.
Four, spaced roughly equidistant, were armed with flamethrowers, blasting a flaming gel across the few Drex who had managed to find cover in the mayhem. La Mancha considered it close enough to whipped cream to suit his analogy.
Drex feared nothing. But from an early age, they had been taught to respect fire, and fire was what the Marines were bringing.
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As the ship smashed into a landing, La Mancha sang.
"Plus de cris, c'est l'instant!
Plus de cris, c'est l'instant!
le taureau s'elance
En bondissant hors du Toril!
Il s'elance! Il entre,
Il frappe! un cheval roule,
Entrainant un Picador."****
He calmly unbuckled himself as with a roar of "Ooh-rah!", the Marines charged into the attack.
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Mick leapt out of the drop pod, his pulse racing and his rifle pointed. He spotted a movement and traversed to his right, dropping the Drex- an officer, he guessed- with a three round burst.
A round struck his armor, glancing off but still spinning him around. He glimpsed a second Drex, one arm scorched and hanging limply, firing one-handed from behind a shattered car.
Maksimov, behind and to his right, fired a burst and the Drex went down.
"Good shot," panted Mick as he got to his feet. They both ran to the nearest cover, scanning their sector. A Drex trooper crawled towards an overturned vehicle, and both fired. The Drex jerked and went limp. "Tell Anya she did a good job."
"Anya always does good job," said Maksimov proudly. "Is good gun."
They heard more shots, then a sudden silence other than the crackle of flames as the areas the flamethrower crews had torched burned. "Sector clear," reported Mick, not stopping his scanning.
"Clear!" shouted another Marine.
"Clear!"
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Bogo stood up, not believing his eyes.
Where something like a hundred Drex had been, there was near-silence. The Human Marines expanded their perimeter. Periodically a shot would ring out, as an insufficiently-dead Drex was located.
A tall human, his long coat just avoiding sweeping the ground, adjusted a tall peaked cap as he made his way across the parking lot. A pistol- still holstered- bumped against his side. His boots crunched on broken glass as he approached the building.
The water buffalo shouldered his shotgun and stepped out to meet him.
The human stopped and rendered a perfect salute. "Chief Bogo, I presume? Colonel Alonzo Gomez Rodolfo de Santa Domingo de los Estados Unidos y la Mancha, at your service."
Bogo blinked at him. "That whole thing was your name?"
"Yes, chief. Colonel Alonzo Gomez Rodolfo-"
"How about I just call you colonel?" said Bogo. He frowned as he heard another shot. "What are your men doing?"
"Finishing off the wounded," said La Mancha composedly. "Now, I understand you have a small fighting force-"
"They're what?" shouted Bogo. "Tell them to stop!"
La Mancha looked puzzled. "Why?"
"It's- it's barbaric!"
"So are the Drex," said La Mancha with a shrug. "And they have no fear. If they aren't finished off, they will continue to try and attack us." He sighed. "It is their way. They never surrender."
"Do you give them a chance?" demanded Bogo.
"Not anymore, chief."
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"Okay, so we're going to Zootopia," said Bonaire over the radio. "We'll take top cover, you guys stay low."
"Why?" asked Nick curiously. "Isn't it safer to be up high?"
"Ordinarily, yes," said Bonaire. "Because you're a rookie pilot and there's more stuff down there you could accidentally run into. But because the Drex have mostly started to go up to engage our strike craft, you're likely safer down there from things deliberately trying to run into you."
"Point taken," said Nick. He looked ahead as the city raced toward him.
Overall, it didn't look too bad from up here. Oh, there were a few columns of smoke here and there. But the city looked fairly peaceful- except-
"What are those?" asked Judy from behind him. "Are they bombs?"
Nick spotted the streaks of light, impacting across the city. "No-o," he said, somewhat uncertainly. "They're too slow. And they're decelerating."
"Oh, those are way more dangerous than bombs," said Bonaire. "Those are Marines."
"Marines- you mean those are landing craft?" Nick winced as tracers met with one of the descending objects, which disappeared in a flash of light and smoke.
"Yeah," said Bonaire. Her voice sounded somber, even respectful. "Looks like they're landing directly on the combat zones. I guess it's true what they say about Marines."
"What's that?" asked Judy, her voice hushed as she watched the drop pods landing in her city.
"You don't have to be crazy to be one, but it's worth about ten points on the promotional exam if you are." Bonaire's voice was rueful. "I'd guess this plan is La Mancha's doing."
Nick had been working to get a signal through the comms console of the fighter, and he suddenly blinked as the light turned green. "Hey, I've managed to patch into the cell network," he announced. "I can call the station from here."
"Station's lines are probably down," said Bonaire. "Better to call someone you know."
"Uh- I don't know anyone's number," said Nick.
Judy sighed. "Yes, you do. You call other police mammals all the time."
"All the numbers are on my cell phone! I don't remember them!"
"Try this one," said Judy. Nick entered the number into the computer, which- had it been a more advanced AI- would have been wondering why it was being asked to make a phone call over a civilian network.
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Clawhauser watched as Bogo and the human colonel argued. Well, Bogo argued. The human more or less ignored him, directing the human Marines- who had been joined by a larger number from another drop pod- as they set up defensive positions.
His cell phone rang. Puzzled, he looked at it.
"Unknown number?" Fine time for a sales call. Or- he shrugged and answered.
"Hello?"
"Benjamin!" said Nick with relief. His voice sounded strange, attenuated. "Where's Tavi and Hunter?"
The cheetah looked around. "Um, I don't know. Not here?"
"Well, I know that," said Nick, annoyed. "Hunter was kidnapped. Tavi went after him."
"What?" said Clawhauser. "Kidnapped by who?"
"By whom," said Scruggs, standing nearby. "And who was kidnapped? Besides Hunter, I mean?"
"You knew about this?" said the cheetah. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I was going to," said Scruggs. "But then we were attacked by an alien invasion! I had a lot on my mind!"
"Is that Scruggs?" demanded Nick. "Let me talk to him."
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"Okay, thanks, Scruggs," said Nick. He cut the connection.
They were flying over the eastern half of Zootopia, Bonaire and her wingman still well above them. "He says he tracked Tavi to the Deadlands," explained Nick. "Towards the Great Crater. Then she said Shepherd had found her and he lost contact."
"The Crater," said Judy pensively. "It makes sense."
"It does?"
"That place is super radioactive. Where better to hide a secret base?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe anywhere? Anywhere that's not super radioactive, at least?"
Judy shook her head. "Think about it, Nick. It's radioactive. So no one goes there. And didn't you say the radiation should have died out long ago? Maybe it's deliberate."
Nick slowly nodded. "Right. So-"
"So we're going to the Deadlands."
"The Deadlands," repeated Bonaire after they talked to her. "What part of that seems like a good idea? Because anywhere called the Deadlands sounds like a place to avoid. Like a bar called the Drunken Wino."
"That can't be a real bar," said Nick.
"Oh, it's great. They have sawdust on the floor and everything. Sometimes it's for the vomit, but mostly it's for the blood."
"Anyway," said Judy, breaking in. "It's got to be where Hunter is. And Prometheus."
There was a pause. "All right," said Bonaire. "Off we go to the Deadlands. What fun you two are. Next time, maybe we can just go see a movie?"
"Let's hope there is a next time," muttered Nick.
Suddenly, their sensor console beeped insistently. "You just had to say that, didn't you, Hustler?" said Bonaire. More crisply, she spoke again. "Contact, contact. Six contacts, constant bearing decreasing range, approaching from one-zero-six degrees, fifty angels. Classify as Drex fighters, Frog class."
"Frog?"
"Don't let the name fool you," warned Bonaire. "They're dangerous. Hustler, go low. We'll go high, keep them off your tail."
"Bonaire-"
"Get to the objective, Nick. We'll do what we can."
Author's Note: The translations for the French parts are below.
I apologize for the slow update schedule- this time of year is rough for me, work-wise. And it got a bit worse because of an extra project I've been assigned. I really had hoped to have this done before Christmas- as it stands, it'll probably be the New Year before I get finished. It's getting towards the end- but I'm having real trouble with motivation- just so damned tired these days. Just hang in there, guys- I'll get it done as quick as I can.
*It is the celebration of people with heart!
Let's go, on guard! Let's go! Let's go! Ah!
**Toreador, on guard! Toreador, Toreador!
And dream away, yes, dream in combat...
***All of a sudden, it is silent...
Ah, what is happening?
****More cries! It is the moment!
More cries! It is the moment!
The bull throws himself out
Bounding out of the bullpin!
He throws himself out! He enters.
He strikes! A horse rolls,
Dragging a picador,
