Chapter 16: It Gets Easier…

We're So Screwed Part 1

Bureau 13….The Next Day

Kaiden and the rest of the team had worked out with Clawhauser the tactical approach to everything they heard, the plan to take down the council and its machinations. It was bold, dangerous, and desperate, according to Clawhauser the council had already tried to start the Wolfram, thankfully cheetah had been inserting errant bits of code into the initiation subroutines of the nuclear reactor that powered it to keep them guessing but it was only a matter of time before they would figure out and the Wolfram would be used, the council's horrific plan realized.

However, a delay was hopefully all that would be needed to get Bureau 13 inside to take it out permanently. The overall goal was simple, break into the complex, go to each subsection, and destroy each component of the final plan, the council surviving said plan was optional.

The tactical briefing was straightforward, with explanations of troop movements and secondary reactions. It wasn't so much of what was said versus what the feeling of the room was. Judy and Nick noticed a change in their comrades, an air of deadly seriousness; they were aware of the stakes and knew them well.

They paced by a wall near the entrance of Bureau 13 they had noticed it before but paid it no mind, it was next to the large Bureau 13 emblem engraved into the wall. Which itself was a stylized lion with a number thirteen underneath, and the words "cum animus et ferocia nos tueri zootopia" on the top and its modern Zootopian translation on the bottom "With courage and ferocity we protect Zootopia".

But this other wall was not nearly as prominently displayed, its aura was somber and sad. It was a series of names of agents, Judy didn't recognize any of the names. Nick's eye caught something as if reading and then hung his head sadly. Judy looked at what he had seen; it was the inscription on the upper part of the wall. "Dedicated to those that served in shadow, now you live forever in the light."

It was a memorial wall, Bureau 13 agents who had died serving Zootopia, animals whose names were remembered only by this wall. Animals who fought and died to save the city and no one even knows they existed.

"That is what it means to be Bureau 13." said a voice behind them.

Judy turned to see Kaiden walk up behind the pair.

"To stay, when others run, to bleed, while others can be safe, and if necessary, to die, so that others may live." the cyber fox spoke in quiet reverence.

Judy wondered silently, looking at the wall, how many names were about to be added to this wall, names of people she and Nick had come to care about. She was knocked out of her thinking as Kaiden pulled her and Nick close in a hug.

"Listen to me you two, listen very close. You WILL survive this, as God as my witness, I don't care what I have to do, I will make sure you survive this." Kaiden spoke softly.

"Why us? What makes us special?" asked Nick.

Judy realized why, and it was heartbreaking to realize, why Kaiden was willing to go so far.

"It's because of Lily," Judy replied

Kaiden closed his eyes as if in silent deference to her.

"Lily was his wife, his rabbit wife," Judy explained.

Nick was shocked at first, but suddenly it made sense, Kaiden always had a sense of his thoughts, Nick thought it was because he was a fellow fox, but now realized that it was more, his situation was similar. Kaiden opened his eyes and spoke softly to them both.

"I do it, because I want you both to have the opportunity that Lily and I never did. To live a long life and be happy together."

Kaiden took Nick and Judy's paws and put them together, he held both their paws couched in his own, holding it with care as if holding a fragile egg.

"This…..connection…..Always hold on to it and each other, and never, ever let go." He whispered.

Nick and Judy looked into each other's eyes and then looked at Kaiden's, his world-weary eyes, who had seen and done too much, and yet he cracked a smile at his two friends, envisioning their happiness, bringing hope to the weary fox.

Later…Bureau 13

The raiders were gearing up, attaching straps, tying boots, putting on layers of different armor, gun belts, ammo packs, bandoleers, radios, helmets, headsets, ballistic glasses, anything and everything they could think of for this final assault. Everyone had strapped into heavy assault gear, in another time and place it would almost be funny, watching a rabbit putting on miniature versions of radios, knives, even belts, and combat vests. But sadly there wasn't much humor to be found, the duo would shoot glances back at each other, concerned for one another, as they finished equipping themselves.

They grabbed rifles and side arms off the weapons rack on their way out the door to the helipads. The other Bureau 13 agents were similarly garbed, with appropriately sized equipment for their mission. The squads had piled into their respective team choppers, Judy and Nick were with Kaiden and Kit in Alpha One, Bogo was leading the Bravo Team. Finnick was staying behind because Talmadge convinced him to, yet the small fox showed a surprising moment of courage to want to help; wanting to go, to do what he could. It took some convincing but due to Finnick's lack of combat experience they figured he would be in the way, and it was safer for Nick and Judy to know he was safe back at the bunker. Alphas Three and Four followed, Alpha flight was backed up by Bravo flight, Charlie flight and Delta flight, practically the total corps of agents loaded onto these helicopters.

They took off heading towards the city center. Kaiden keyed his mic and spoke into the radio.

"Alright, Ladies and Gentlemammals, I'm not one for speeches, but I feel this time, it needs to be said."

"This is what we have been working for; this is the last one, if we do this, it's over. I know it's been a long struggle, I know that we've all lost friends and loved ones, hold onto that, use it, channel it. I want you to take it to these bastards and run them into dust. Zootopia is counting on us. Over two million animals need us to succeed. If any of us are to have a future. This is what Bureau 13 is about; doing the tough job that no one else can, crawling in the muck and in the grime so others don't have to."

Kaiden looked at Judy and Nick.

"This is the day we make the world a better place, the day the few stood against tyrants and those who would create our futures for us. We will fight, we will defend, and we will save Zootopia, to our dying breath."

There was a loud simultaneous "Oo rah" from all the agents over the radio, some of which could be heard from the next chopper over.

As they approached the city center, which was the watering hole from days gone by, it had been cordoned off, with grey and orange vehicles and personnel everywhere, Wolverine Risk Control had locked down the area. Judy remembered this park, she kicked around a soccer ball with two children, an antelope, and a tiger, it used to be so bright and glowing, but now it was dull and grey, almost as if the life had been sucked out of it. And it was about to become a warzone, she wasn't sure how to react, her beloved city being torn apart by unseen forces, it needed to be done, but damn them for putting them into that position.

She must have been making some kind of expression because Nick held her paw, and looked at her reassuringly. She looked back at him, he was willing to follow her into hell and back, and she loved him for it. This wonderful fox, who had every reason to walk away, any sane mammal would have, and yet there he was, clad in black Bureau 13 assault gear, armed to the teeth, he didn't want to be a soldier and not even particularly a police officer until she asked him to. But through it all, he wanted to be there for her, and that is what he was doing. She felt that she would somehow make it up to him, somehow, some way. But for now, she was just glad he was there.

"Alright, folks, we're almost there. Everybody has got det packs and anti-aug rounds, use them sparingly, and for god sake try not to hit each other." Called out Kaiden.

The helicopters touched down near the watering hole and immediately began to secure the area, Alpha One touched down and Kaiden and company jumped out. It wasn't long before the first firefight ensued, WRC and B13 engaged with the fiery chaos of clashing forces each dedicated to their respective cause. Alpha and Bravo teams moved to secure a nearby old subway access, which had been recently renovated as a cargo and access way to the complex below the city.

The teams slipped in, the new accessway and stairs juxtaposed with the subway terminal below in mid-renovation. New paneling next to bare walls and exposed conduit and wiring, the occasional crate, or construction workbench as well as construction equipment strewn about in the terminal. Though being renovated, a look at the track and tunnelway it appeared like it hadn't seen use in years, the group concluded it was most likely not the main access way, given the age and lack of security down here. The council likely owned all the buildings around the area, any one of which could be their main access. Clawhauser had told B13 of this access way for its current lack of foot traffic and recent addition, which they hoped would let them slip in unnoticed.

Alpha team found the access through an adjacent maintenance tunnel, Nick's familiarity with the subway systems and roads from his hustling days had proved its merit.

"I'll stay and guard the way out." Said Bogo

Judy at first was about to object but Bogo raised his hoof.

"No arguments just get in there and do what you do best. I will be here." Bogo replied with a confident smile.

Judy took that vote of confidence and went back to the group

"And you, fox," said Bogo addressing Kaiden

"You take care of them, or you'll answer to me." Bogo glared.

Kaiden replied with a smirk and a nod and proceeded with the rest of the team into the complex.

Inside the access tunnel; cargo boxes were littered about, and a WRC squad came around the corner. Catching them by surprise the firefight was short-lived, the team dispatched the team with ease, save for the lieutenant, who stood back up, he was a large bear, a grizzly.

"You bastards! Now you die!" He growled.

He pulled out an auto-injector and placed it to his neck, shooting the contents into himself, almost immediately, he growled again, snarling, he seemed to become more rigid, and his muscles seemed to bulk up. No one was sure what was happening till he let out a very primitive-sounding roar and rushed the group on all fours.

Nick froze, wide-eyed, and exclaimed "Nighthowlers!"

Kaiden heard this and realized the implication, "Put him down!" he called out.

The group fired at him, hitting him several times but the two thousand-pound grizzly bear continued like a freight train, he backpawed Kit and sent him flying through a nearby guardrail snapping it off. He bullrushed Kaiden knocking him back, bouncing him off a nearby wall. The bear turned his attention to Judy and pushed her down with his paw, snarling and drooling into her face. She felt her being squeezed by his weight and had it not been for the reinforcement in the combat frame of her armor, he would have crushed her like a grape. Judy stared into the bear's eyes and teeth.

"Hey Ugly!" shouted Nick.

The bear turned to get a fox foot to the face, which only made him flinch for a moment. Kit jumped and came down over the bear's back, swinging down the broken metal guard rail section onto the bear's head. The bear reached back blindly and caught the pole. Kit's eyes went wide, the bear with one paw pulled on the pole which picked the wolf up along with it; the bear swung the pole around and smacked Nick, with Kit and the pole going into a nearby cargo storage container. The bear turned his attention back to Judy

"Savage…..not stupid…Friends gone…Now you die." The bear muttered with guttural growls.

The bear opened its mouth to take a bite, Judy's eyes wide in sheer terror, she couldn't even scream, he reared back to strike when a blur of red fur impacted the bear in the chest.

"No!" shouted Nick as he fired into the bear's chest, his rifle set to full auto, the rifle spraying its fiery contents into the bear, the muzzle flash illuminating the tunnel in quick frames one after the other, and a loud cacophonous boom of each round echoing through the tunnel.

The bear stumbled back, Nick planted with both feet on either side the bear's chest, gripping his collar fur with one paw and rifle in the other. Nick kept firing letting out a long aggressive scream, drilling a hole into the middle bear's chest until he ran out of ammunition. The bear stumbled back and fell with force onto the ground, causing a slight tremor, a death rattle escaping his muzzle. Judy looked at Nick standing victorious over the bear, out of breath, panting, blood speckling on his gear.

Nick looked over at Judy and quickly rushed over to her, pulling her off the ground and looking her over.

"Oh my god, Judy, are you alright?"

Judy breathing rapidly, looked at Nick with terrified eyes. Nick rubbed her cheeks with his paws, not sure if he was trying to comfort her or himself. She blinked several times.

"I'm alright, I'm just glad you were…." She replied

"Always, Carrots." Nick replied with a relieved smile just glad that she was alright.

The team picked themselves up and walked over to the bear.

"What the fuck, was that?" Kit inquired his expression one of shock.

Clawhauser chimed in over the radio.

"That would be the modified Nighthowler serum."

"That is not like anything I read on the stuff." Said Kit.

"Correct, this version apparently increases strength and durability, possibly blocking pain receptors. I would have to research to know more."

"Are there more of them?" Nick asked.

"I do not have enough information to guess. But it would stand to reason." Replied Clawhauser

"Great…..It took a whole mag to put one of things down." Said Kit

"Yeah, and what else is down there?" muttered Kaiden.

"According to my records, the labs are currently in operation, it stands to reason in addition to "Nighthowler 2.0" serum production, there may be active trans-genic animals in the lab complex," Clawhauser offered.

Upon hearing that Kit displayed a look of disgust on his muzzle, Kaiden could only try to imagine what such a creature would look like, Judy looked concerned at their prospects But Nick wasn't surprised in the least, he knew of the depravity and depths of the council's perversions first hand.

"Let's just get this over with." Nick said trotting forward, picking up his rifle, clearing it, and slamming another magazine into the weapon.

The others followed suit, the four continued to travel through the tunnel eventually finding their way to an open room; it seemed to be a receiving area of sorts, two bay doors on either side of the room, the open one they had come through and the closed one at the other end of the bay. The group entered and looked for a way to open the door, there was an inactive control panel.

"Clawhauser. I got a panel here, can you switch it on." Called out Kaiden over his comm.

"Yes, attempting…"

The door on the other end of the bay closed, Kaiden turned to look at the door.

"Clawhauser! You closed the other door." Kaiden chided the cheetah.

"That isn't possible, I haven't accessed the room's control circuits yet," replied Clawhauser

"I closed the door, chumps" spoke a voice from behind.

Kaiden turned around in time to get bullrushed by Barret and sent flying across the room. The buffalo stood in front of the group and snapped down his protective hood over his head and horns. The tips of his horns lined with titanium and ceramic carbide coating dented one of Kaiden's armor plates on his vest. Kaiden coughed as he landed the wind knocked out of him.

Barret laughed out loud, and then stomped his feet, readying a charge.

"So who wants to die first, bitches." He called out to the group.

"Bring it on, you overgrown Pampas bull!" replied Kit.

Barret fumed at the name and charged Kit who fired into Barret but the shots just pinged off his armor, upon realizing this Kit rolled to dodge out of the way. Nick grabbed Judy and they took cover near a cargo container. Kaiden managed to right himself and get back to his feet.

Barret finished his charge and opened his right arm, deploying a minigun in his forearm. Kaiden and Kit went wide-eyed as the minigun spun up.

"Oh shit" they both exclaimed, and both dove for cover.

Barret unleashed a flurry of bullets spraying all over the room in arcs, stopping only long enough to let the weapon cool before firing again. After a moment, he opened his left arm revealing what looked like a tube.

"You think you can hide? Oh no, no, no, There is a reason I'm called the 'walking tank'!" Barret exclaimed.

Barret pointed the tube in Kit's last known position and fired, the explosive round tore through the cargo container and exploded, Barret popped the empty shell and it clanged loudly on the floor. Kaiden took the opportunity to rush Barret, a forearm blade at the ready on one arm, with his rifle in the other.

Barret spun around and elbowed Kaiden right in the face so hard that it managed to throw him into a daze. Barret turned to finish off Kaiden, but Kit came blazing from behind the exploded cargo box and jumped on Barret's back, he fired off his rifle loaded with anti-rounds. They managed to penetrate and Barret screamed in pain.

"Ah, you sons of…." Barret huffed as he tried to spin around to shoot Kit.

Barret managed to finally toss Kit into the air, catching him on the tip of the hot tube and slamming him into the ground.

Kit cried out in pain from the impact and the heat burning through his armor.

Kaiden fired the rifle into Barret's helmet, causing it to visibly dent but not penetrate. The bull laughed at their inability to hurt him.

"Heh, guess your friend is about to have an explosive finale." Barret coldly joked as the tube on his left arm audibly chambered another round. Kaiden let go of the bull and threw himself into his left arm causing it to jerk off of Kit and pointed sideways just as the Buffalo sent the signal to fire.

The explosive round fired and slammed into the nearby wall. Kit flung himself to his feet. The duo managed to grab an arm each and held him.

"Judy, Nick, use the aug rounds!" called out Kaiden.

Judy and Nick came bursting out of their cover rifles at the ready and fired into Barret, the rounds doing damage and even passing through his body and hitting the door on the other side. Barret screamed in pain as they shot him. Judy changed aim and shot into his legs immobilizing him, Nick on seeing this reciprocated. After several well-placed shots, Barret's legs were rendered useless, and he fell to his knees.

Kaiden ripped off his helmet exposing the buffalo underneath. The buffalo fell forward and caught himself with the tips of his weapons, Kaiden stood to his side and levied a large caliber sidearm at his head loaded with anti-augment rounds.

"Pack 'em up, Now!" Kaiden ordered

The buffalo retracted his weapons back into their housings and reverted his arms back into hooves again.

"Heh, you got me." Said Barret with a huff.

"I want information, Where is the council?" demanded Kaiden

"What makes you think I'm telling you Jack?" he retorted.

Nick stepped in, holding his paw out to the pair, adjusting his collar as if he were about to conduct business.

"Well, plain and simple, you either answer our questions, or these fine gentlemen will shoot you, now I don't know about you, but I'd be open to a deal," explained Nick.

"Heh, you think I'm afraid of that. I've killed lots of animals, I know how it works." Barret retorted with a huff, his nostrils flared.

"Well if you tell us, I'm sure Kaiden here will be happy to take you prisoner instead, right Kaiden?" said Nick looking at Kaiden trying to get the fox to follow his lead.

Kaiden sighed, "Yes, cooperate and you will be treated fairly…..Not that you deserve it." Kaiden spat.

"Fine, council is on the lower level….computer core…getting ready to step into…..whatever…" replied Barret choking on blood.

"Thank you…" replied Nick

"Ugh, Foxes…..I hate foxes. Damn beady little eyes" Barret spat at Nick

"Yeah…I'm sure we hate you too, especially since you kill mammals for a living." Nick quipped back with condensation

"Heh, it's not that hard." Said Barret playfully

"yeah, well, we aren't all mass murdering psychopaths, so there you are….." replied Nick.

"Heh, you don't have to be crazy, it just takes practice." Taunted Barret with a smug smile on his lips

"The first time is the hardest, and it gets easier from there."

"Like all those cops in the police station, I didn't feel a thing." he continued throwing his actions in their faces.

Nick got offended and started losing his composure, and stepped back "Oh buffalo, you are really asking for it." Nick cracked his knuckles.

"Especially that little pudgy bastard, that cheetah, what was his name?" Barret continued to taunt.

"His name was Benjamin Clawhauser, you son of a bitch." Said Judy with a trembling voice.

Barret turned to face Judy, a gunshot rang out with a loud blast, Barret's expression went from a smug smile and became one of surprise as the back of his head came apart spilling its contents on the floor. His now lifeless body slumped over with a loud thud. The three stunned, turned to look at Judy, who was still aiming her large caliber sidearm loaded with the anti-aug rounds at the space where Barret was. Tears streamed down her face, and let out an occasional sob, breathing slowly trying to calm herself; the gun still smoking from the barrel, her forearm aching from firing but she didn't care.

After a few breaths, she lowered her arm and dropped the weapon on the floor.

"Nick." her voice breaking.

Nick came over and held her as she cried into his chest. Nick said nothing he just held her and let his dearest rabbit release her sadness. Nick held her tight and petted her head, he knew Barret's particular contribution to all of this, and he just let the bunny release the pain.

Kaiden and Kit just stood there, feeling for Judy as they would any friend but also reflecting on their pain for they both had the destroyers of their respective worlds still roaming around, and they weren't going to deny Judy the catharsis of this moment.

After a few minutes she managed to collect herself, Nick had pulled her out of the emotional muck. The group gathered their dropped equipment, salvaged a few ammo pieces from Barret's corpse, and moved on. Clawhauser activated and opened the opposite bay door and they continued further into the complex.

Kaiden and Kit took point, with Judy and Nick behind; Judy's thoughts finally sunk in and she hung her head in shame, she had never killed anyone in cold blood before, during the raids it was always the heat of battle, but this time, Barret was defeated and defenseless and she killed him anyway, what for? Revenge? Justice? She felt conflicted. Nick put an arm around her.

"I know, Carrots, I know." Nick consoled

"He was right about one thing," Judy said

"About what?" Nick asked.

"It does get easier, and that's what terrifies me." She admitted

"I don't want it to get easier. I want it to bother me; I need it to bother me. I need to remind me….."

"That you're a good bunny." Nick finished her sentence

"I think I've seen too much, done…..too much," she said through gritted teeth.

"And we still have further to go." She finished

"I'm with you till the end of the line." Replied Nick holding her, giving her a kiss on the top of her head.