Chapter 24: Escape and Evade Training

With a huff, Nick shoved his phone back into its pocket, taking the opportunity to rub his aching forehead and wipe off some sweat from his eyes, not enjoying his latest task. Here he was, standing on top of a small hill, waist deep in dry, crinkly grass and scanning the scenery around him for any movement. Compared to the equally tedious regular job of scanning the highway for speeders, here he didn't have air conditioning, and the only relief from the heat he had in the form of the single canteen of water was clipped onto his tool belt at an awkward angle. With no one around to complain, he undid the top buttons of his uniform shirt, parting the fabric to increase circulation.

Although if he had to admit, calling the slumps of trees and scattered bushes that occasionally broke up the sea of grass around him as scenery was really stretching the definition of the word. Between being run around by his old academy instructor, and the sun's heat only making his already aching muscles protest even more, today was proving to be rather lousy. Subject to the requirements of the service. To her credit, Judy did warn him that by signing up to the ZPD, that he will be pulling days that would test his limits and make him second guess his decision to sign up. But if he really had to be truthful, today wasn't actually all that bad. The really hard physical training was already over, but the heat was a killer and he wasn't enjoying being out in the middle of nowhere, but otherwise… Yeah, it still sucked. The sooner today will be over, the better. Despite this, Nick did see a certain irony in how after his entire life lived out within Zootopia, he was now entirely outside of city limits for the second time within a week.

Taking another swig of water from his canteen, he wondered how difficult it would be to convince Judy to join him on a evening with Finnick at one of the local bars they liked to retire to at the end of long days. It was still a work night, unfortunately, so he won't be able to completely relax, but the idea of a cold one was very appealing to him at the moment. Actually, speaking of Finnick… Nick had just pulled out his phone out to send a quick text to both Finnick and Judy inquiring into exactly that when the radio he was given for the exercise crackled instead.

"Wilde, done gossiping overthe phone? We have a job to do!" It was Wolford, somewhere out of sight to Nick but clearly not the other way around, and sounding very much annoyed. "Think I caught something. Can you make your way over here? Uhh, forty five degrees left from directly west, large clump of trees that drops down into the creek area, that's where I'm at. Don't worry about being too quiet for now, I'm all alone here."

Nick scanned the scenery and spotted what he thought was the correct location. "Right, copy that," he radioed back, parting grass with his legs as he carefully made his way down. "Heading over." For someone used to walking on pavement, this rough ground did not feel pleasant on his feet. At least when Trigger dragged him to the coast, it was on a developed trail that was broken up by a trip to soft sand. Compared to that, this hill, with too much grass, too much heat, and too many rocks…

Frankly, it really sucked. At least he got to spend the time getting down plotting revenge in the form of figuring out how to install a prank into Trigger's cell. Since it was the coyote's fault that Nick was out here, the officer figured he can get his own personal enjoyment out of it afterwards at the very least. If anything, the hardest part in this will be convincing Officer Turskorn to let him place a trap in a cell. That guy was particularly keen on making sure that nothing was allowed into any area of the precinct that was regularly occupied by criminals. Unfortunately, as Nick arrived at the trees, he had to place his thoughts on hold as he scanned the immediate area around him. Frowning at the lack of anything interesting, he was about to start thinking that he came over to the wrong location when Wolford's voice, not much louder than a whisper, corrected his doubts.

"Wilde, over here!" James waved a paw from behind a bush to grab Nick's attention. When the smaller officer meandered over, he pointed at a clump of grass, bent over and snapped at an awkward angle roughly halfway up the stems. Tapping his nose, he motioned at the grass again. "Someone was here earlier, and recently. And if I am smelling correctly, it was Count."

Shrugging, Nick got down to his knees and sniffed the clump. While his sense of smell wasn't quite as strong as James', it was close, and certainly a lot better than Judy's. And for right now, as he sniffed a second time and trying to recall what he was looking for, it was proving to be enough. "Oh, yeah, that's him," he confirmed, "Definitely him." Taking the opportunity to get off his legs, he sat down on a soft patch of ground, looking around at the trees, and at the open grasslands behind him where he just had just arrived from. "So what now then? We found where one of them was, but not where both of them are now."

James scratched at his muzzle. "The grass is bent down towards the creek. Makes sense that he would go down there. Hide in the gully to keep out of sight, plenty of thicker vegetation to use as cover compared to the grass. That's where I would go."

"Which is why I don't think he's there anymore," Nick said. "Doesn't going down towards the one gully in the entire exercise area sound… obvious?"

"It does," James nodded in agreement. "But where else would he go? Just because a hiding place is obvious, doesn't automatically disqualify it from being a good hiding place. I take it you didn't see Count on your way down, did you? Actually, where did they drop you off? I only started being able to see you not that long ago. Good thing we were given these radios."

"Half way along the north border fence," Nick answered. "Plain rolling hills, and that's it. Just dried grass, not even trees to break up the monotonous view. Made my way over to the hilltop just in time for Carrots to call me randomly."

"Yeah, yapping away on your phone," James grumbled. "What was that about, anyways?"

"I wasn't 'yapping away'," Nick corrected with a roll of his eyes, only for his playful tone to sour. "It was work related. Carrots had to interrogate Smellyweather today. Something to do with the investigation the ZIA duo are doing with us."

James grimaced. "Bellweather? Jeez! Did Hopps say what for? Actually, never mind, you can tell me all about it later. Right now, we have a pair of pilots to find. I don't want to get on Friedkin's bad side by failing this. Bogo will tan our hides bad if she complains about this to him." He glanced down towards where the creek cut the exercise area in two. While it was the kind of place he would go to hide in if he wanted not to be seen, Nick was correct: It was also far too obvious. "Damn it, tracking mammals in the city? That's easy. But this open space woody stuff? Afraid I'm out of my element here. But, I guess my vote? I say we get down there and see if there's anything to sniff out, unless you have a better idea."

Nick grinned as he followed the other officer down past the initial bushes. For some reason, Wolford admitting that he wasn't the only one without a clue as to what to do made him feel slightly better. "You mean, let's go to where we can hide out from the sun in the shade? Sounds good to me!"

"Ha! Shows what you think! Not all of us here are spoiled city limit climate control mammals," James countered with a smirk as he pushed past a gap in the bushes. "If you think it's hot now, city fox, wait until summer. Ask Hopps if you think I'm bluffing." Only moments later, he stopped suddenly, dead in his tracks, and lowered to the ground, sniffing at the plants just in front of him. "That was Trigger here. We're getting closer." Motioning Nick to get lower to the ground, he lowered his voice. "I doubt that they don't have an idea that we're here, but just in case, keep your voice down. Better we can sneak up on them and surprise them rather than be forced into a chase."

Nodding, Nick also inspected the spot James found, quickly confirming that he was able to smell not only the presence of Trigger, but that Count had passed this spot as well. And, even better, the scents were stronger than the first spot Wolford had found, which did mean that they were getting closer. "I'm getting mixed signals about where the scents are going."

"Yeah, me too. It's like they either split up, or- I don't know." James was sounding uncharacteristically uncertain in himself. "My brain and my nose are in conflict with what I am smelling here."

Lifting his muzzle away from the ground, Nick looked around him, trying to imagine, if he were Trigger or Count, where he would go from here. Of course, it would have helped if the instruction he was given would have been more clearer.

A pair of pilots have just parachuted into the area. Find and apprehend them before they escape. Work with Officer Wolford to accomplish this objective.

Then in true, no-nonsense military fashion, he was given a radio, a large canteen of water, and a ride on an ATV along the north fence maintenance road before being dropped off. When he tried to ask for some more advice, all he was given was a vague description of a pair of parachutes being spotted 'over there'. He wasn't even sure what 'escape' meant when it came to the pilots, but Nick was sure it didn't involve simply hopping over the fence.

Wolford was motioning in two possible directions, breaking Nick away from his thoughts. The first was further down the creek. More hidden but also more isolating. The other path was the easiest way out of the gully and to the open hills beyond it.

With a shrug, Nick pointed at himself, and then down further into the galley. He then pointed at James and up to the path up. Let's split up and check both ways.

After a moment's hesitation, James nodded, slipping away without a word and staying low to the ground, nose sniffing carefully for any clues. As his tail disappeared behind some small bushes, Nick found himself alone and staring down the gully, again deep in thought.

In many ways, this situation wasn't all that different from when Bogo had his officers track down Count and Trigger the first time, just after the 'airliner' crash. Actually, come to think of it, there were several major differences, not withstanding the change in scenery. That time, the pilots had avoided grabbing unwanted attention, and it had taken until their second day in the city until enough reports of their meandering about and arising suspicion that Bogo decided to send Wolford and Fangmeyer in and track them down. And then Nick and Judy when the two pilots proved rather slippery mammals to find.

Slowly crawling past the terrain, Nick grew uneasy as the gully grew narrower around him, even as his nose was telling him that both of the pilots were somewhere ahead of him. On his right, he can get wet if he wanted to, but splashing about in the water was the opposite of the stealth approach he was attempting. To the left, the ground tilted steeper steadily in front of him. Already, maintaining his footing was starting to be difficult, with his foot slipping on a loose rock, and causing Nick to grip onto a stray branch to keep himself from falling into the water below.

Grimacing, he glared at the creek blow him in disdain. He was born in the city, grew up in the city, and was very much planning to spend the rest of his life in the city. This crawling about in dirt and clinging onto tree roots was not his thing. At all. But as much as he wanted to turn back and follow Wolford where the going was far easier, he knew that he had to follow the scents. In fact, confirming yet again that he was tracking both Count and Trigger, he had to wonder how long it would be until James would give up from wherever he was searching at now. Ignoring these thoughts, he forced himself not to look down as he quite literally hang on whatever he can grab, clawing at the hillside to keep himself from slipping down as he slowly made his way to the side.

Even as he told himself not to do so, he stole a quick glance down. A fall from here wasn't going to kill him by any means, but Nick wasn't so sure as to how painful it would be either. And the thorough soaking that was going to end his fall was yet another reason not to let go.

Which he nearly did as the radio strapped to his waist suddenly crackled and popped. Really can't get caught off guard here. The results won't be pretty. Frowning at the device, Nick waited to see if it will make any more noise. Unfortunately for him, it did.

"Uh, Wilde, I think I lost them," It was Wolford. "Can't find their scent anywhere. Don't know where it went, but it just stops randomly in the middle of nowhere. Just grass here, and well, I got nothing."

Well that didn't take long. Carefully, Nick pulled out his own radio, still clinging to the hillside. "Uh, funny you mention that now," he radioed back, "I do have a lead to follow. But I'm also rather hanging around at the moment. Quite literally."

"Really? Then let me get back to you. Wait, did you say 'hanging on'? To what? Where? Never mind, heading over! That small canyon with the creek still, right?"

Nick gritted his teeth. With one paw needed to work the radio, a lot of weight was being supported by the other, which combined with today's earlier exercises, left his muscles not at their peak performance and already protesting his lack of progress along the hill side. "That's correct. But go around the top and get to the front of me and find a better way down to the creek, it'll be a lot faster that way."

"Right. Copy that. Meet you on the other side of the gully!"

Clipping the radio back to his belt, Nick forced himself to inch along the side again, ignoring as his weight caused loose gravel to drop below him. It really wasn't a long fall, he confirmed yet again, barely twice his own height and at a slope. But he still didn't want to fall. But even as his nose, just about touching the dirt in front of him, caught another whiff of the pilots, he had to wonder: how was it that they had such an easier time getting through, to the point that they didn't leave any visible tracks?

Rounding a bump in the hillside, he was greeted by a falling log. Just about chuckling at his misfortune, Nick stepped onto a branch poking out the side, and to his relief, it held his weight. So what initially looked like a complete halt to his progress instead proved to be a relief to his muscles as he was able to stand up more or less normally, only holding onto the log to maintain balance. This also gave him the opportunity to glance ahead and plot his course.

Crossing the creek to the other bank was the smart choice, with its much shallower incline. But Nick didn't want to risk losing the scents he was tracking, even if the going was easier there. Instead, as he craned his neck to get a better look, his spirits rose as it looked like his own side was also starting to level back out again. Sure enough, as he carefully edged along, the going got easier, and soon he was able to walk almost normally again, keeping low as to not stick out, but not needed to use all four limbs just to keep his footing anymore.

And just in time too, as he noticed a hint of movement out of the corner of his eye. Nick stood there, frozen as he waited to see if he had simply imagined something or not. Wait. No, scratch that. Someone was definitely there, and trying not to be seen. Frowning in concentration again, Nick cursed the plants that kept him from getting a good look at the target. But there was movement behind the leaves, and not the simple more-plants-on-the-wind type either.

Silently, Nick pawed his set of cuffs from his tool belt. It wasn't easy to do so quietly, but the sound of the creek nearby helped block the sound of metal rubbing against itself. This same sound would also help mask his approach, as Nick silently edged closer, getting to within pouncing distance. Just like jumping Trigger in that dark alley where they first met. Creep up on them and catch them where they're not looking.

Despite himself, Nick couldn't help but form a small grin on his muzzle as he edged closer and closer to his target. Just a little more, and the bushes won't be able to stop him. A little bit more… Almost there…

Tossing himself through the branches, Nick felt his arms wrap around someone as his momentum sent both of them tumbling into the dirt. A loud crunch of both of their combined weight hitting the ground was further amplified by the surprised grunt let out by his target. Landing on top of the mammal, Nick's police training kicking in, he had the target's arms pinned behind the back in no time at all.

But the cuffs were only secured around one wrist as Nick froze, victorious grin vanishing as he realized who he had caught.

"Wilde, you goof!" James growled in irritation, voice muffled by the ground his muzzle was buried into. "Get off me!" With a groan, he sat up as soon as he was able to, rubbing his wrist as soon as Nick sheepishly removed the cuff. "For what it's worth, nice jump," he praised. "Didn't even see you. You still caught the wrong guy though."

"And made a lot of noise while at it," Nick added with a sheepish grin, feeling a very odd mix of pride at being praised by an officer who wasn't Judy, while at the same time an ever increasing worry at the realization that something was way off. To try and at least make up for his blunder even if only for a little, he helped James up and helped brush off loose leaves and dirt from the other officer's fur and uniform. "We just blew this, didn't we?" Nick asked, tugging at a twig that somehow wrapped itself deep into Wolford's shoulder fur. "I don't think that tiny creek is producing nearly enough sound to cover up the fact that I got the wrong guy."

"I didn't even see you," James admitted. "Well, I thought I saw something, which is why I also went silent and tried to stay out of sight. But I'm afraid I don't know much about staying hidden in such a place. And it's not like it matters how well or poorly I accomplished that, seeing how you got me. As for blowing it?" He gave Nick a sly grin and patted his shoulder. "Giving up already? The nerve! Haven't you heard? It ain't over 'till the fat cat sings!"

Nick returned the grin, competitiveness returning to him. "All right then, I'm game. Where next to? Following the scents only lead me to you, for some reason."

Letting out a long huff of air, James took a moment to sniff at the ground and survey the area around them. "I really can't explain how I was able to lose their scent, except that it simply ended in the middle of nowhere," he said finally. "I even went back and forth several times, in different directions. I can lead you to the place where the scent ends, but otherwise, there's nothing else there. My guess? I somehow followed the scent in the wrong direction and to where they were dropped off, but I didn't see any vehicle tracks in the grass either. Anyways, that was when I gave you that radio call, and now I'm here. Again."

"Again?" Nick repeated with a raised eyebrow.

James nodded. "I hopped the creek after being dropped off around here. But there were no scents to track that time."

"So you're saying that you passed by this place, didn't notice anything, only for our pilots to slip on right by afterwards?" Nick confirmed with a smirk. As much as he wanted to win, he wasn't too proud to look for scapegoats for failing.

James frowned at Nick's tone, gaze hardening in irritation. "Watch it, Wilde. How was I supposed to know that they would pass the same place that I've already been at? There were no signs of them the first time, so I wasn't paying quite the attention for them then that I am now that there is a scent to follow. Either way, that was then. We need to find them now. So let's follow the lead we've got and find them before they escape, however way they are able to do that here."

Nick winked and gave a mock salute. "You got it, boss!" James' frown only deepened at his mocking gesture, at which Nick flashed his trademark grin. "So now that the two lone adventurers have found each other again, where to next?"

"We continue following their trail," James answered with a roll of his eyes. "As long as we can move faster than they are, we will catch up." He pointed down the gully parallel to the creek, spotting a tramples clump of grass close to the water and heading over to investigate. "Scent follows the water, in which case so should we. I'll take point."

Taking one last glance around him, Nick shrugged and followed the other officer. Truth be told, he himself didn't have any better ideas on how to better find the pilots. Following behind James, he did allow his mind to wander a bit, enjoying comparing this search with his first 'case', when he had helped Judy with her investigation for the missing mammals. And more specifically, how with that search, Judy managed to stumble upon the best mammal for the job. This time around… not so much. All right, I know a guy. You need something done, he's on it! Grinning to himself, he shook his head in amusement as he recalled the satisfied feeling he got with showing off to the bunny just how much he knew about Zootopia, and its inhabitants.

Which of course was completely useless out here, outside of the city, and where no one lived. Nick could only to begin to imagine Judy's own amusement if she was here with them, helping out with the search. Actually, thinking about it, he realized that having a small, country born-and-raised officer helping out with the search would be a great benefit. He can always fling her up a tree and have her scan around the entire exercise area with binoculars and find the two jok-

Nick stopped suddenly, nose twitching at a new, rather unpleasant scent. James noticed that he stopped following, and turned around, spreading his arms out to motion his confusion. Nick raised a finger to get a moment to identify the scent, his own eyes narrowing at Wolford as he narrowed down on the source of the scent. "Uh, Wolfy. Did you like… Take a leak around this joint? Or did you..."

James groaned, realizing what the smaller officer was implying. He rubbed his forehead, noticing Nick looking down at his waistline. Or rather, right below it and in between his legs. "Oh, for goodness sake, Nick, yes, if you really must know, I did relieve myself somewhere around here, and no, I don't remember which specific tree it was. Somewhere around here, okay? Just ignore that smell and concentrate on the scents we were following!" Turning back around, he resumed following their actual target, grumbling in irritation at Nick's distraction. "Scent's getting stronger, which means that we're getting closer. So eyes and ears open."

But even as he moved onward, something at the back of his mind felt off. Sure, he was in a natural area as compared to Zootopia, but he tracked enough suspects to know that based on the strength of the scent, Trigger and Count were very close. As in, he and Nick were practically on top of them. So how come there were no other signs of the two pilots? Stopping at a large section of bushes, he stared at the plants, wondering if their targets really just on the other side. That's what his nose was telling him, and he was a cop for too long to ignore his instincts. Peering past the leaves, he could see that the bushes made a nice circular clearing, great to hide in, and surrounded on all sides. And unless his eyes were deceiving him, he swore he could see something off-color in that clearing, too.

Nick stopped next to the other officer, tapping his own nose to signal that he too understood what was going on. While still having Wolford's attention, he quickly flashed through a series of paw movements, signaling a plan that he had just come up with. Circle around the side and catch them between us. Luckily, to his relief, unlike Judy who didn't know how to read paw signals, James grinned and nodded in confirmation. Together, the two officers split up and made their way around the bushes. His muzzle slowly broke into a grin as he spotted the unmistakable light gray of a ZPD shirt in the clearing, just a few branches past him. If the pilots were trying to hide, it was too late for them now, and they were doing a far too poor a job at it. "All right you two. What do you say, should we do this the easy way or the hard way?" he asked.

"You can try running, but I won't recommend it," James added somewhere from the other side.

The answer they got was… Nothing. No wise cracking from Count. Not even a sign of movement.

Out of habit, Nick reached for his belt to where he would normally have his tranquilizer gun. Of course it wasn't there, but he couldn't help but start to get worried that this might actually turn into a scuffle. Would the pilots actually try to fight their way out of being cornered? Nick couldn't say for certain, but he was no longer confident that this will simply allow the exercise end without even a bit of resistance.

"Count? Trigger?" James' voice called out again. "Don't make it hard on us please. Give up quietly, and we can all go home. Or, at least, move on to the next thing they have planned for us." When there was still no answer, it left the officers with no choice. "Nick? Move in. Let's get them."

Shoving himself through the large bushes, Nick was again hit by a moment of great disappointment as he came to a stop, facing an equally shocked and disappointed James. What he had seen as the gray ZPD shirt was in fact what he thought it was. Sort of. Laying nonchalantly on the ground between him and James were the pair of shirts and shorts that Count and Trigger were dressed in earlier in the day, carefully arranged on the ground and very much not being worn by the mammals they were after.

"Those two… bastards!" James's annoyed growl broke the silence. "Cheeky bastards!" He kicked at a loose branch on the ground, staring at it as it flew off, spinning widely onto to be stopped by the very same bushes they had just gone through.

Despite his own anger at himself for failing at the task, Nick started to chuckle a bit. "You've got to admit, they got us good," he relented. Trying to be helpful, he did a quick lap around the small clearing, only to come to the conclusion that there were no other trails, scent or otherwise, to follow away from here. Not without going back to where they came from.

James nodded, even finding it within himself to return a grin. "Yeah, they did, didn't they? Damn…" He picked up one of the shirts, sniffing at it. "Yeah, this one's Count's all right." He picked up the second shirt and also gave it a quick whiff. "And Trigger was last wearing his, I dunno, must have been five minutes ago. Ten, tops. But where did they go? Nick, see anything leading away from us?" He huffed in irritation when he got a shake of the head for an answer. "No? I was afraid of that. Played us well, they did. My guess? They doubled back and ditched the trail in another direction somewhere else. Explains the scent trail, too. We were following where they had gone twice over, rather than following where they had gone on once." Kicking at the ground again, he picked up the shorts and gave a set to Nick, tying the remaining set around his tool-belt. "Guess they will want this back after we're done. What else is there to do? Let's follow the trail and try to find where we lost it." He shrugged in Nick's direction. "Unless you have a better idea."

"No, I don't, but I do have a suggestion," Nick said, earning himself a curious glance from James. "Think about it: we followed their scent, and got ourselves to walk into something that they planned out on us. My two cents are, ironically enough, is that we are using our noses too much." He stopped suddenly, snapping two fingers together in a flash of inspiration. "That place where you turned around," he said quickly, "where their scent simply stopped? It had to get there in the first place somehow! Bet you that was where they went all along!"

"I was just starting to think along the same lines. Follow me, I still have a good idea where that was," James hurriedly said, barely pausing to make sure that Nick was following before turning around on his heels and proceeding in a quick march at a diagonal to the creek that they followed in. Ironically enough, not taking the identical path over, it meant that he was relying completely on his sight and memory over his nose, much like Nick had just suggested, using his taller stance to its fullest advantage to get a better sight-line over the low lying plants that would otherwise make trying to align the hills beyond more difficult. He ignored the ache in his legs as he pushed up the hillside, only casually noting how much more difficult it was to rush up again compared to going down towards the creek. But after not much time at all, with the trees disappearing behind them and bushes also becoming more rare, he recognized the area and went over, adjusting his course just slightly as to arrive barely shy on the creek side of where he abandoned his lone search. Again daring to sniff the ground around him, he confirmed that he was still able to smell the recent presence of both Count and Trigger. And just like before, the scent somehow just stopped abruptly in the grass, and he could still see where he himself trampled it in a vain search for more scent to track. "That's the spot," he told Nick as soon as the fox caught up to him.

"You didn't have to walk quite so fast you know," Nick mumbled as he paused to catch his breath. "Us shorter guys can't quite go as quickly, you know." Fumbling for his canteen, he grabbed a quick but much needed swig of water, disappointed that it wasn't the refreshing flavor of a chilled beer. Oh well, that can come later.

"Less whining, more tracking," James retorted in turn, waving a paw at the grass lazily waving about from a small gust of wind. "No scent past this spot, and I don't see anything else either. Is this really where they went off to, or another trick of theirs?" He hesitated when he caught Nick staring intently at his outstretched arm. Specifically, at the fur on his forearm where his t-shirt left it exposed to the bright light and hot air. "What?"

"Your fur," Nick answered. "It's a dark gray color."

James glanced at it, unnerved. Nothing looked off. "Yeah? So what? It's the same color it always has been. What? Did you spot some insect crawling on it?" He twisted his arm about, trying to make sure that this wasn't actually the case.

"No, what I mean is..." Nick hurriedly explained, reaching down to grab a clump of golden grass and pushing it against James' arm fur. "You have dark gray fur. Mine is bright orange. Strikes? And County, to a lesser extent? Dull tan." He let the dried up grass he was holding blow away into the breeze, but it mostly fell straight to the ground. "What color are we surrounded by?" He dropped down on all fours, getting as low to the ground as possible. "You and I? We stick out no matter what. But those two, especially after ditching their clothing? This is exactly the type of terrain their ancestors evolved to hide in." Standing back up, he scanned the rolling hills around them fruitlessly. "So we got two pilots on the loose, trying to get to somewhere that I don't even know where, and to top it off, they are most likely running around almost or completely naked. Just great!"

"For someone who took Hopps to the Mystic Springs on her first week of work, you sure have a sudden queasiness about nudity," James added with a chuckle.

"That's Zootopia!" Nick argued back, lifting his arms out in agitation. "A building specifically made for that stuff! This- this is out in the open!" Allowing his arms to drop, he shot a glare at James, albeit a rather playful one. "Why are we even discussing this now, anyways? Let's find those two and get this over with!"

Wolford forced himself to turn somber again. Only an exercise or not, Nick was right, they had a job to do. Unfortunately for them both, the universe chose this moment to play the cruel hand of irony on them in the form of the crackle and beep of the radios receiving a signal.

"Hey coppers!" The voice of Count came out of both Nick's and James' radios, to the horrified look of both officers, as they stared at each other, realizing at the same time that they just completely and unmistakably, lost. "We got to the remaining radio! Which I believe is our victory condition. So in other words... You lose!" A muffled noise along with the muffled voice of Trigger that sounded a lot like 'You don't have to be so obnoxious about it, Count!' was heard before his voice again transmitted over, this time far more clearly. "Nick? James? Exercise over. I uh… Yeah, we I guess this means we won, but let's all gather back inside a building and debrief then."

A new voice came through the radio, from one of the base soldiers monitoring the exercise. "Pilots, stay put where you are, we've already got a team headed your way to pick you up. Officers, you too, we have your location and are on our way. We'll reconvene indoors and go on from there. Well done, E and E over."

James grimaced as he lowered the volume of his radio. "And here I was hoping that today was going to be over. Well, at least one of them can with with dignity," he mumbled, only to wince and grit his teeth as a high pitched victory howl from the coyote tore through the area. "Or not." As the howl dies down, he groaned as he realized something else. Even as he started to look around, he was already saying, "Trigger's howl. It's very close from us. And that means that Count's too." But no matter where he looked, he couldn't spot the pilots. After a minute or two of looking in all possible directions, he gave up trying to find them. Since they were just instructed to stay where they were and wait for pickup, he went ahead and sat down on the ground, grabbing his canteen only to remember that he had drained it already. "But I definitely don't mind getting out of the heat."

Nick, in the meantime, remained standing. He casually kicked away a loose rock, watching it bounce into the grass. "Chief Buffalo temper's gonna kill us for letting them escape, isn't he?" he asked, getting himself a quick chuckle out of Wolford. "I know. Wolfy, how does a beer or two sound after we get back home?" He was still planning on asking Finnick to join as well, although he had to admit that the smaller fox won't be too keen on sharing a cold one with a bunch of cops. But perhaps if Judy was to join them as well...

James practically whined at the mention of a cool drink. He checked again, but sure enough, his canteen was completely empty. "Snowy Owl's Roost?" he asked, getting straight to the local favored by the cops at Precinct One. When Nick nodded, he grinned. "Well, assuming that Bogo won't skin us alive after we return? Count me in."

"How do then know where we are?" Nick then asked, randomly changing the subject, actually catching Wolford off guard with the question. "I mean, we're not exactly out of sight here, but I don't see anyone else around."

His question was answered when a couple more minutes more, and an ATV came rolling along towards them. Oddly enough, the driver didn't so much as give them a second glance as he stopped next to them, not even asking about the extra set of clothing they both had on them. Just came to a stop next to them and motioned for them to get on. Hopping on the back, the two officers spent the ride back in silence. A short but bumpy and dusty ride later, and they were back inside one of the sheet metal buildings, both cradling plastic cups of cold water.

And trying not to look at Major Friedkin in the eye.

The academy instructor had her arms crossed across her chest, staring with a rather amused expression at the two solemn officers, having heard from them a brief summary of what had happened. "So that's your final opinion?" she asked them, getting right into instructor mode. "That you were able to get on the correct trail at the end, but the pilots got to their end first?"

James nodded. "Yeah. Thinking about it now, I guess, about what Wilde said about scents? We're both canines, and so is Trigger. He knows how much we tend to rely on our sense of smell, and so thought of a way to trick us. And we, well, fell right into the trap, and got delayed long enough for them to win."

The door to the room opened, causing all three of them to look up at the newcomers. Trigger and Count walked in, luckily not completely nude. Both were stripped down to their boots and undergarments, a combination that looked rather odd, in fact. And unfortunately but expectedly, both were also wearing their tame collars.

"Didn't know you two were briefs guys," Nick said with a smirk. James rolled his eyes at what his partner considered a greeting, since was actually the first time they got to interact properly this entire day.

"Ocelotian military standard issue," Trigger grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "So bite me. Besides, the tan color worked out even better and- Oh, hey, you guys did find them!" He spotted the pile of their clothing, expression lifting as he went immediately over and practically dived into his shirt, only pausing to make sure that he grabbed his own and tossing the rest in Count's direction.

"Hey, Trigger, wait up a second here..." James sniffed at the pilot's fur, trying to identify the smell coming from the pilot. His nose wrinkled into a grimace when he realized exactly what he was smelling. "Oh jeez, Trigger, really? You rolled around in my own piss! Gross!"

He glared at the pilot who simply shrugged and gave a sheepish grin back, even as Nick snickered next to them. "What can I say? I was looking for a way to hide our scents and, well, we found a way to do so. Do you know how close you guys got to finding us? I was worried my collar was going to go off because I was so worried, and that's how I knew that I really needed to find a way to get rid of my scent, and fast. And, I mean, it worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it worked," James relented, shuffling a bit away from Trigger. "Still gross."

"For the record, that was all Trigger's idea, I just went along with it," Count piped up. "Second, I thought you cops are used to this kind of stuff. Don't criminals tend to do things like this to try and avoid the law?"

"Oh, you'll be surprised at some of the things they will pull off," Nick answered, "heck, you've seen some of it just in your short time with us. But rolling around in urine is not something they tend to do readily. Even crooks have standards, as low as they are." He grinned. "That, and when we do catch them covered in piss, it's their own. Using someone else's in order to hide the scent? That's a new one."

The door to the room opened, revealing a couple of new and unfamiliar military personnel also walked in. Very oddly though, was that bringing up the rear of the group, a horse in military uniform bearing Ocelotian patches was wearing the unmistakable strap and bulge of a Tame collar around is neck. And even more oddly, the group just about waited for a whole few seconds before leaving again with barely a mumble that they needed to attend to some business, leaving the pilots alone with Nick and James, and the Ocelotian horse, staring down at the two officers as they watched him uncertainly. "What are you two looking at? This little thing?" he sneered at the officers, tugging his collar in their direction. "Thought you'd be familiar with these by now."

Trigger hesitated as he struggled with putting on his pants, glancing between the horse and the officers. With a heavy frown, he let out a long breath. "Right… Uh, Bandog, meet officers Wilde and Wolford. Officers… Meet Bandog."

"The one and only Bandog the AWACS, in the flesh," Count added in a dry voice. "Congratulations, you finally got to meet him."

James looked at the new arrival in surprise, even as Nick chose to sport that usual smirk of his. While Trigger didn't talk about him much, he did recall the name being dropped a couple of times, here and there, along with being mentioned in that letter Savage had brought back with him.

"So you're the mysterious Bandog? Head a bit about you," Nick commented, smirk otherwise not leaving his muzzle. "The rude AWACs with a temper problem, right?"

"Hmm, I bet that's what they told you," Bandog grunted, eyes narrowing at the two pilots. "But since we're all here in this tiny room together, let's get something clear. My job is to make sure that these two are allowed to get their tails back into a fighter and back into the air," he pointed at Count and Trigger. "And while today was, really at the end, only a bit of fun, I can't say that I am not at least satisfied that you two didn't allow yourselves to waste away while under the watchful eye of…" his gaze shifted to Nick and James. "...Zootopia's finest. Although, I am left wondering, with the results we just saw now, how come you weren't able to evade the cops the first time, when it really mattered?" His gaze fell back to the two pilots. "Two months, you two were stuck here. Two months when you should have been fighting in the air, and you weren't. During that time, our front lines bogged down, our soldiers are dying for no gain where they do manage to establish a front line. Frankly, it's like the first world war as again as far as I'm concerned. And what were you two doing?" he glared at Trigger specifically. "Enjoyed a day at the beach? Rather far than what your job is supposed to be, pilot. So if getting away from the cops was so easy today, why did neither of you do it earlier?"

"Because of orders," Count answered for the both of them. "Which, judging by that collar around you neck, you might know a thing or two about following. We were ordered to stay put, by Colonel McKinsey himself. The negotiations to get us back to the fight were supposed to take a week or two at most. You really want to blame us for our incompetent politicians? As for me personally? Can't say that I don't find Zootopia a better place to be stuck at compared to Four Four Four air base."

Bandog snorted. "And your opinion, Trigger? Also 'just following orders'?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," the coyote responded in a low voice. "We didn't have parachutes when we boarded that Globemaster, did you know that? When we got hit, the crew made sure that we will survive, at the cost of their own lives. McKinsey wanted us back earlier? I guarantee you that we could have returned within a week of that flight. In body bags, just like the crew of that transport."

"Uh, is there something we're missing here?" James asked uncertainly, glancing between the Ocelotians.

"Sure are. The full history between these two and our CO. Not that anyone in our unit ever got along with him." Bandog answered cryptically just in time for the door to the room to open for the return of the other officers who had left them alone.

They barely even introduced themselves before one of them started to hand out slips of paper that he was holding. "Bandog," he said, giving one over to the AWACs officer. "Count, Trigger. Officer Wilde..."

Nick glanced down at the paper that was shoved towards him. His stomach sank as he identified it as a traveling ticket. Yeah… that was definitely a train ticket. So much for having a drink with Finnick. Still just to be sure, he asked, "what's this?"

"Today was to check to make sure that the pilots are still fit enough to fly, which they," was the answer, "Tomorrow we will actually see how well they can fly. A train will take you to the nearest town to your destination, then a bus will wait to bring you over to the airbase. You'll spend the night there, possibly tomorrow night as well, depending on how well Count and Trigger do. Bandog has all the details." Then just as quickly as they arrived, the group left again without another word.

It was Bandog that broke the uneasy silence in the room. "We need to get going now unless you will want to wait for several more hours until the next train," he said, "so unless you have some deep desire to stay at this little Animalian outpost, let's get to it."

"Wait, just like that? I didn't even know I was going to be spending the night away from home!" James complained. "At least when I have to pull in long hours at the station, it's still within Zootopia! You could've at least given us a heads up!"

But no matter how much he tried to argue, not that he even had much to argue with, he found himself all too soon back inside the now much more crowded car, listening through the phone as Chief Bogo told him that yes, everything had already been planned out, and there was no changing things now.

"-But at least it could have been more than just Wilde and me going. There's two of us and three of them!" he tried to explain, glancing nervously at the windscreen mirror. Both Count and Bandog were smirking in his direction while Trigger looked like he was trying very hard not to listen in at all.

"Officer Fangmeyer was specifically requested with assisting Agent Winters today," Bogo said from the other end, tone expressing a strange patient frustration. "And they wouldn't allow Hopps to accompany you. Something about part of her background check that she failed. Personally I think it might be something to do with her history with the Nighthowler case, but it doesn't matter. And on top of it all, I still have a city that needs patrolling. Agent Savage will travel overnight to join you tomorrow morning, but otherwise, as much as I hate to admit it, those shock collars might prove their worth. It's my understanding that this Bandog is also wearing one?"

James tried hard to avoid looking in Bandog's reflection. "Yeah, he is."

"Remember, we're not Ocelotia's enemy, and they are not ours. Even if they didn't have the collars, the pilots don't have a reason to try and fight their way out. Not when they're this close to leaving diplomatically and without a fuss. Anything else is risking an international incident. When all else fails, trust Wilde's judgment of character. Hopps was correct in asking him to join the force. I appreciate you being cautious about this, but I think this is a case where we don't have anything to fear."

James blinked, not sure if this comment was a compliment towards Nick or a critique of his own skills.

Bogo took his silence as an opportunity for further explaining. "Wolford, I'm not worried about Count and Trigger attempting an escape. Since they are after all, still my responsibility, what I'm worried about is our own military whisking them away from right under my- your noses."

"And what if they do in fact try just that?" James asked, glancing at Nick's direction. Unfortunately, the fox was busy driving, and probably didn't have a good idea of what was being discussed right now.

"You let them. I'm not risking my officers if the army want to try and play stupid games. Stay out of their way and don't give them a reason to harm you. Just keep me posted if anything unusual does happen, I need to know right away."

For something that was supposed to be nothing to worry about, it sure sounded ominous. "Right, understood, sir," James answered. "Would have been nice to know all of this earlier, if you don't mind me being honest with you."

"Even the large details were still being figured out as late as several hours ago," Bogo admitted. "The whole thing wasn't even confirmed until late today. There was nothing to tell you because I didn't even know the plan of action myself until an hour ago. But about that,I was reassured that the pilots will be sent back to the precinct after all of this for the time being. So as long as you don't lose sight of the pilots, I don't think they'll try anything."

"Right…" James mumbled uncertainly.

"I am though rather disappointed that the pilots got away from you two," Bogo's voice continued, with a slight hint of amusement. "Granted, with the open ground exercise, the odds were stacked against your favor. Not exactly identical to catching crooks in the city, but still. I do tend to expect more from Precinct One officers, but as I wasn't there, I am not going to make any comments in either direction about it right now. But from what Major Friedkin told me, yours and Wilde's physical testing went rather well, so you both can consider my expectations satisfied on that front. What I don't want to have to bet on is you two finding the pilots if they do in fact try to run. So don't let them out of your sight. Keep me posted with updates, and otherwise, I will see all four of you back in the precinct either late tomorrow, or the day after."

The line went dead, allowing James the opportunity to plop his phone down on the car dash. "Well that was something," he muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "How far away from the train station are we?"

Nick glanced over to the side briefly. "About five, ten minutes out. So, did Chief say anything interesting?"

"Not really. Already heard how we failed in the exercise, so you can predict his joyful mood about that. Otherwise, just told me that we can expect Count and Trigger to behave themselves, but should be prepared for them not to." He glanced into the mirror to look at the Ocelotians, but they were busy catching up with what they missed these past weeks to be paying attention to the officers. "Might be out of Zootopia for more than one day, but that's nothing new now." He picked up his phone and looked through his messages, noticing that he missed several from Fangmeyer. Dahlia had texted him that she was done for the day and was going to do some paperwork while waiting a little for him to return. He quickly sent a reply explaining the situation and bid her a good evening.

Her answer came back mere seconds later. Enjoy the trip! See you again soon!

Sniffing the air, James grumbled under his breath at the fact that Trigger was still smelling. That pilot should have looked for a shower before they left, but James had to relent to the fact that there was no real time for one. "Hope Trigger doesn't get us kicked off the train."

Nick smirked. "Was a clever trick, you have to give it to him. I don't think I was ever taught anything like that back in the academy."

"Me neither," James admitted.

"I was hoping to grab a beer after all of today's running around," Nick then explained further. "But since that idea got canceled, I'm going to ask Carrots to do that for me instead as soon as we get to the train. Send some pictures at least."

James grinned. "Mmm. Beer sounds great." The signs around them started pointing towards the train station much more often, so they must be getting close. "Well, as long as our pilots don't give us any issues, I'm fine with waiting for a drink. What do you say, Nick? Jimmy's Growler whenever it will be the soonest we can?"

"If you're buying? I would be rude for me to decline!" Nick answered with a satisfied sigh.

James crossed his arms. "Oh, no, you're paying for yourself!"

"What if we get Bandog to fund the tab?" Nick quickly countered.

James glanced behind him. The Ocelotians were still not paying attention. "Yeah, wishful thinking sure is nice. I wish he can do that." He leaned back in his seat, for all of the few minutes they had left in the drive. "Now let me enjoy imagining a cool drink while I still can."