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The following is a work of fanfiction: there is no intent of this author to violate, transgress, profit from or infringe upon the Copyright and Intellectual Property (IP) rights of the parent Copyright or IP holders of characters, events or locations belonging to the same which may be contained within this work. To reiterate; this is a Derivative Work meant to be used under Fair Use as described in 17 U.S.C. § 101 and § 107.

All language is either through Google Translate, or the site 'Bits'n'Bob-stones'

The Sons of Efrafa

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-Transcript Begins-

"Damn it, Dolph (*means wolf, assumed to be title, not proper name) didn't your parents teach you not to play with your food?"

"Yeah, they also taught me not to be wasteful, and don't tell me you wouldn't like more than just a piece of that tail?"

"God in heaven, you're disgusting! It's food! You don't mate with sandwich fixings."

"Why not? They exist to serve us, why not service us while they're at it?"

"Enough, both of you! We're here on the Adolph's (*means High wolf, male name but uses female modifier, another title?) orders, so let's get to work."

"Why are we working with Food? (*seems to collectively refer to any animal broadly classified as Prey) We are Hunters!"

"We are Hunters!" "We are Hunters!"

"This is beneath us. They are beneath us!"

"We are working with Food because the Adolph wants expendable drivers, and as Dolph said, Food exists to serve. We will recruit, we will entice, and when their usefulness is up, we will feast! But until that time, we will obey! Now focus on the task at paw and curb your appetites."

-Transcript Ends-

Affidavit of accuracy: Clawhauser, Benjamin J., Master Patrolmammal, Zootopian Police Department

Chapter 15

"All right mammals, quiet down." The bullpen was rife with tension as the Chief prepared to give the morning assignments. "Three weeks ago, our own officer Nick Wilde," Bogo gave a moment for the praise to die down, "…orchestrated an elaborate information gathering sting. Aside from the increased positive press for the ZPD as a whole, as well as the diverting of large numbers of young mammals to our new Civilian Outreach Program, or COP; you can blame that one on Wilde as well," there was a round of chuckling, "…we now have actionable intelligence on multiple criminal operations throughout the city. All 12 districts, every Precinct and special unit will be involved in the single largest combined raid in the history of Zootopia! This is going to be a clean sweep, so all hooves on deck.

"Wilde," Nick stood up in his and Judy's chair, "…we can't afford to have you associated with this raid; there's too much chance of recognition and/or reprisal. You'll be in the Coordination Center with myself and the Commissioner."

Judy's swift elbow to his ribs prevented whatever Nick was about to say, so he simply saluted and headed upstairs.

"Hopps, Raibert, Lupinski, Winters; you're with the Eighth. Report to Mayers, you'll be hitting operations in the Canyonlands. Raibert, stick around after this for a moment.

"Grizzoli, Snarlov, Fangmeyers; you're with…"

The brief continued with every officer heading to a different part of the city. Once the last Patrolmammal had left, the Chief lifted a sizeable manila folder and handed it to Jacob.

"Raibert, I'm greenlighting your investigation. It so happens that one of Winterhorn's officers, Sgt. DuPrey, is pursuing a similar investigation. As you are technically Gladys' officer, and are likely to be reporting to DuPrey once the new station house is finished, you will report to him on this. I would ask, as a professional courtesy, to be kept abreast of your findings." He paused as he turned to leave. "You're a damn fine officer, Jacob; Winterhorn is lucky to have you."

The plaza in front of city hall was awash in reporters, including Valerie Coneja. This would be the first non 'mammal-interest' job she had been assigned since the O'Mauley Report incident, and she had no desire to mess it up. As she looked around, she noted several reporters from international news services who were hosted at and had offices in the Bullero Tower, a legacy of Hornblower the Second's internal reforms.

She came armed with several questions that her editor wanted asked, if not answered: what had prompted yesterday's city-wide raid, what was the unifying factor between the different targeted groups, and would there be further arrests? As a junior member of the ZNN field team, she had no expectations of being called, but it paid to be prepared. This would be a welcome reprieve; Jacob had recently become very sullen, though he did his best not to project whatever was bothering him. Whether it was the buildup to the raid, or something else, she couldn't say.

There was a rustle of activity as Commissioner Bagheera, as well as all 12 precinct Chiefs, seven special unit captains, and Lawrence Coulter, the Commissioner's groundhog head of Media Relations, stepped out of City Hall and arrayed themselves behind the podium at the head of the stairs.

"Gentlemammals, thank you for attending this briefing." The Commissioner's soothing baritone calmed the crowd into silence. "At 10:15 yesterday morning, the ZPD carried out a coordinated series of raids across all 12 districts, which have resulted in 73 arrests, as well as the seizure of significant quantities of contraband, including three metric tons of illicit narcotics. There were also significant gains in the disruption of several mammal trafficking rings; the city will be working closely with Confederation and League of Nations agencies to facilitate the repatriation of those unfortunates who had been the victims.

"It is of special note that there were no casualties; not police, suspect, civilian or victim, during these raids. The outstanding professionalism of the mammals involved, both police and civil servant alike, contributed to the near flawless execution of this operation. The mammals of the Zootopian Police Department deserve the highest praise for their dedication to the citizens of this great city."

There was a murmur from the crowd and a lot of writing, as well as applause. Valerie noted his obvious posturing for the cameras during that bit of grandstanding and guessed that the newsroom rumors were true: Kali Singh Bagheera would be throwing his hat in the ring for next year's mayoral election.

The jaguar stepped back, and Lawrence stepped up.

"We will now take questions. Ms. Sandoval." Coulter pointed to a goat in the middle of the press pool

"Louisa Mariana Sandoval, A Noite Globo; considering the large number of foreign mammals rescued in this operation, will the polis be changing its policies in regard to immigration and interstate transit procedures?"

Valerie almost kicked herself for not considering this question, however inflammatory it seemed. While Zootopia's liberal immigration policies had allowed for unprecedented growth and prosperity for the municipality, it also allowed a great deal of illicit trade to flow through its ports. She prepared to write.

"I cannot speak to policy decisions of the Polis Senate, nor the office of Interim Mayor Canidae. I will say that the ZPD will be working very closely with the Confederation Law Enforcement Agency to combat this heinous crime against mammals, without disrupting interpolis, interstate, or international trade. Next question; Mr. Bryant." A classic rhetorical dodge; that probably meant no changes were planned, especially going into an election cycle. Coulter motioned to a Senegal Tiger near the front of the crowd.

"Sanjay Bryant, Al Jazeera Amerigo; what precisely triggered this round of raids?" Valerie noted Bryant's name next to her list of questions and was ready to record Laurence's response.

"I can't get into specifics of the operation, as they relate to multiple ongoing investigations, as well as considerations for the safety of the mammals involved. I can say that a recent information gathering operation netted a tremendous windfall of intelligence which was used to orchestrate this raid. Next question; Ms. Coneja."

Valerie's heart rate shot up at being called, but she dared not show it. She moved her notebook to her off paw and readied her recorder.

"Valerie Coneja, ZNN; given the diversity of criminal activities that were hit, what was the goal of the raid beyond mass arrests?"

Valerie's question was answered when Coulter stepped back and one of the Camels in the line behind him stepped forward: Capt. Salim Abu Kamel ibn Kamel was the head of the cities Organized Crime Task Force, as well as Deputy Chief of the Third Precinct.

"The intent of this raid was to cripple the powerbase and support infrastructure of the various organized criminal elements that plague this city and fuel barbarous and savage practices, such as the mammal trafficking to which Ms. Sandoval alluded. It is our intent to put on notice the so-called 'Crime Lords' of Zootopia, that these heinous acts will not be tolerated. We will pursue every lead, every angle, and we will catch every crook who endangers the good citizens of Zootopia. Next question…"

Between his obvious rhetoric and the tone of his speech, it made sense to Valerie; Kali was going to need a running mate and for all Lionheart and Bellwether left a bad taste in the mouth, the combined carnivore/herbivore dynamic resonated with the ideal of the polis. Maybe she could pitch to Anders that she be on the interview pool when they announced their candidacy. First, though, she needed to get all this down.

The break room television was playing a recap of the previous days news conference.

"And that, my friends," Jacob commented from his seat in the precinct break room, "…is how a press conference should go."

Nick finished off his tea. "Yeah, but maybe we could do with a bit less political posturing."

Judy looked at her partner. "What do you mean? They're just taking a strong stance on crime. Is there anything wrong with that? Hm?"

"Careful there, Hopps, you're dangerously close to an Ad Hominem attack." Jacob wagged a digit at her. "You know that's a two-shot penalty the next time we go out."

"It's okay, Emanuel, all her experience at informal and formal logic came when we started this game. I can argue my position." Nick turned to Judy. "I do appreciate a strong position on crime but having the Commissioner and the Captain of the OCT stumping that hard at a public forum smacks of election campaigning."

Jacob leaned back in his chair. "Val thinks the same way; she's already petitioning her editor to let her into the interview pool when they go public. What I'm concerned with is the pushback from Capt. Kamel's rhetoric. You know the Capo's won't take a challenge like that sitting down; we're going to be busy enough cleaning up all the little puddles of nasty we missed in the raid."

"Maybe," Judy sat up, with a firm expression while thumping the table with a fist, "…but that's what we are here for, right? To protect and serve!" Her ears fluttered dramatically for a second, before she saw that Nick had turned an oscillating desk fan towards her while chanting, 'Judy for Mayor!' Her attempts at retribution with wadded up napkins were thwarted by Nicks desk fan defense.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Jacob. "We were going to head down to the gym and cheer Ben on. You want to come?"

"Nah, you two go ahead. Benji needs real encouragement and while those hips may not lie, they exaggerate more than I'm comfortable with." He stood from his seat. "Besides, DuPrey is coming down from the Seventh to officially start on our case together."

Nick came over after turning off the fan, only to be beaned in the nose with a prepackaged toothpick.

"Real mature, Carrots. So, is this budding bromance what we owe the return of Howlton and Napier to our fine Precinct? And weren't you having lunch with Jacob's Once and Future boss, Fluff?"

"Yes, Nick, lunch: as in two hours from now. Ben will be done long before then. I just hope, Jacob, you two are done before I get back; those two give me the creeps."

"You'll get no arguments from me." Jacob wrinkled his muzzle in disgust. "I really don't want to spend any longer with either one of them than I have to. Napier in particular."

"I'd have thought Howlton would be your 'special friend', being your first arrest and all." Nick said as he chewed on Judy's thrown toothpick.

"You just have a link to him because Judy is friends with his ex." Jacob said as the three began making their way out of the break room. "You also keep forgetting I was a military cop before this, so he's not my first arrest. Napier on the other hand, forced me to wear heels; I should have beat him like a bongo drum for that alone."

Sgt. DuPrey looked over Jacob's collection of evidence; from his and Clawhauser's transcript, to the recordings and reports of Napier's and Howlton's arrests, as well as a compiled list of general knowledge regarding the Thule Society. There were accounts by survivors, recanters, witnesses and neighbors, as well as a list of all known instances of confirmed Society activity. All were referenced back and forth to one another.

"You did all this by yourself?"

"No sir, I had a lot of help; I've just been at it while. The Chief only just gave me the okay to use precinct resources, so it's a little light on the Law Enforcement side; just a lot of general knowledge."

The Sgt. sifted through the documents. "This is impressive for just a few days of work. What put you onto this?"

"Bellwether, sir." When DuPrey looked up, Jacob continued. "I was called in to meet with her, after she came to power. Something seemed, off about her, so I started looking into her history." Jacob was unwilling to share with his, now, superior that a vision had prompted him, though he could see skepticism in Jean-Pierre's eyes. "Her grandmother and great-grandmother were the only members of her family to survive Dachau, and the experience drove them from the Flock. That got me onto the Thule Society; so, when I started to hear, 'Wir sind Jaegern' all over the place, I really started to dig."

DuPrey leaned back in his chair. "And you think these two are with the Society?"

"No, I don't think they're," Jacob glanced at on of the documents, "…Dolphen. I do think they have encountered them, and were seeking admission, especially Howlton. Ms. Montaigne's deposition states that he was meeting with 'out-of-towners' right around the time their marriage went on the rocks. That was right after Nick and Officer Hopps exposed Bellwether's plot. That boondoggle could easily have provided the Society the in they needed to get a foothold in the polis."

"How do we know she isn't? A member or aspirant, that is: she's a puma, and a big one at that from what I've read. The society's all about strength and purity, and an interspecies marriage where the male is physically subordinate to the female is neither of those."

Jacob paused for a moment. That was a weirdly specific detail to know; the interplay between organizational dogma and family dynamics. He filed that detail away for now. "I don't; that's why I have her coming in later today, about an hour before end of shift, to interview her myself. Nick seems to think she's good people though, and I'm willing to hold judgement based on that. So," Jacob crossed his manual paws on the table, "…how are we doing this?"

Jean-Pierre thought for a moment. "You question, I observe. If they are aspirants to the Thule Society, being made to submit to what they consider 'Food', should more than throw them off."

Jacob would hesitate to say it out loud, but after Napier's interview he had to agree with DuPrey's opinion of him: that cat's brain was a bag of cats. They both got the distinct impression that, had he not been restrained, Napier would have started masturbating as soon as Jacob entered the room.

Howlton's interview was much more productive. Once the wolf was seated and Mirandized, Jacob settled in.

"So, Essende," the wolf bristled and barely refrained from growling, "…what prompted you to cheat on you wife with Ms. Scherer and then murder her? I mean, I understand that hunting is difficult, so you go after the easy prey, and it must be pretty emasculating being a powerless corporate figurehead married to an apex predator… you know what? Never mind; I just answered my own question."

Byron snarled and lunged as far as his shackles would allow. "You, worthless little morsel! You're nothing to us; just food waiting to happen."

Jacob was as unimpressed as he was unsurprised by the display. "What 'us'? Catherine's got the company well in paw; pulling in double digit percentage profits for the first time in three years from what I've heard, while beating off propositions by the pawful, so you're less than meaningless to her or the company." Jacob leaned within inches of Byron's snapping maw and went for broke. "Certainly not the 'Wolves'; 'the weak must be culled, for the good of the whole' after all. And you? You were taken down by Hase, the epitome of Essende. I imagine that she would see that as the very definition of weakness."

Sgt. DuPrey watched in morbid fascination, as Byron Howlton, a European Grey Wolf, flinched away from Jacob. Fascination became alarm as Jacob seemed to tense up, his ears pointing back and teeth chirring. Jean-Pierre had seen one other hare behave like this, and that was the manual combat instructor with the Foreign Legion, just before the hare hospitalized a hyena who was submitting. DuPrey placed his paw on Jacob's shoulder. This brought Jacob back in time to see a flash of terror pass through Howlton's eyes, before the wolf averted his gaze and turned to face Jean-Pierre.

The catamount continued from there. "I'm sure the Dritten told you that they have agents everywhere, that they would be watching you, to measure your worth. I can guarantee that you were found wanting. Die Adolph will want an example made, to ensure only those who are truly worthy even try approaching, so the only place left at the table for you is under the knife."

Jacob felt, as much as heard, DuPrey's sincerity. That was a detail, a clue, but he didn't know of what. He and the Sgt. were going to need to have a conversation very soon. But first, he had an interview to conclude.

Howlton folded like a dishrag; he had previously maintained a policy of hiring 'predators', and that was what had attracted the attention of the wolves Jacob had taken to calling, 'The Three'. Lionheart had hired 'Knight-Howlton' to protect Cliffside during the Missing Mammals case, and the blow to the company in the aftermath of Lionheart's arrest had nearly driven him to corporate bankruptcy. The Three had offered to help fund him as silent partners, so long as they had a say in the hiring and training of company personnel. Catherine had blocked that action in lieu of diversifying their hiring practices and clientele. When it became apparent that Byron was losing control of his company, they threatened to pull their support unless he, 'demonstrated a true hunter's resolve'. They had apparently wanted, though never outright said, that he should kill Catherine. That had been when he decided to kill Candice; not out of rage or desire, but to work himself up to being able to kill his wife. His only interactions with The Three had been at work, in public places, and once at home, until his wife forbade him from bringing them back. It did give them a starting point to try to track their movements, as well as people to interview.

The meeting with Catherine was a qualified success.

"These are Marcus and Martia Humboldt from the Law firm Ace, Skye and Wright. They have advised me not to simply hand information over to the police. I am willing to cooperate, so if you would give me a list of everything you need, then as soon as you file a formal subpoena I will have all relevant files sent over by bonded courier."

While any delay was irksome, the candor with which she treated the matter was a relief after two hours of her ex trying to blame his downfall on her. Once they had filed for a subpoena with Chief Bogo, they got ready to clock out.

"Emanuel, I really think you should see someone; a counselor, or a Chaplain. You nearly killed Howlton back there. You need to be in control of your emotions, not the other way around."

Jacob turned to the mountain lion with a pained expression. "I know, but there's just so much! I've been fighting this my whole life, but with the prejudice and Timo and Anatolia, and now this Thule Society business…how do I lay all that on someone?"

"By accepting that you can't carry it all alone, and having faith in those you confide in." Jean-Pierre looked pensive for a moment. "Come by my place tonight after dinner. I have something I want to share with you; something you deserve to know, if we're going to be working on this together."

Jacob grimaced. "You live in the brownstones over on Pershing Ave., right? That's a bit of a hike for me."

DuPrey shook his head. "You need a car, Emanuel. All right let me get back to you; I'll see if Rabbi Loewe will host us." At Jacob's startled look, he continued. "He already knows most of this and deserves to know the rest."