Here is the 87th installment.

Things are heating up. Time to arrest some mammals, and since this really is a WildeHopps fic, we get to spend extra time with them.

Additional notes live at the end of the chapter, when they exist, so here is the obligatory, on with the show.

Sadly, I do not own and thus can claim no rights to Zootopia or its characters. They belong to Disney.

It continues…. Enjoy.

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Operation Wild Cards 130pm Zootopia time

Team Code: WildeHopps - Part 1

Members:

Nicholas WildeHopps Judy HoppsWilde Gerald Clawhauser

Fourneth Penniwinkle Jacob Trunkabee Francine Eliforres

Target: Confirmed compromised CIty Council members

Location: City Council chambers - Council in session

xxxXXXxxx

Nick WildeHopps, in full tactical gear sans helmet, backed into the council chamber antechamber with a laugh directed to whoever was following him. His rifle slung in the ready position on his back and just above his tail. Sidearm in clear view. Turning he looked up at the guards staring at him in utter disbelief. Looking them over he smirked. "Larry. Gary. How you pups doing?"

Larry and Gary stared at the fox in shock for a moment before sharing a very nervous look and returning their attention to the fox. Gary speaking. "Nick?" Moving his paw slowly towards the weapon on his hip. "I'm gonna need to ask you to keep your paw away from that rifle."

Nick smirked up at them. "Nothing personal, boys, but I cannot do that. I'm here to arrest a few mammals, and I cannot let you stop me from doing that. It has to happen kinda quick like. Before they can warn others."

Larry frowned. "It's not like that, Nick. But we have jobs to do. You got a warrant?"

Judy, standing between them, having slipped in while they were distracted by Nick, held up the warrant. "You mean this?"

Both wolves flinched at finding Judy, as heavily armed as the fox, standing between them. Gary took the warrant, read it. Read it again, then handed it to Larry. Once they had both read it, they looked closer at the two cops, noticed the other, equally well armed cops entering the antechamber and groaned. Gary glared down at the smirking Nick and Judy. "You know. I really want to hate you two. We get these great jobs doing guard work, and then you two come by and blow it all to hell. Why can't you do this when we are off shift. I mean… This is like the fifth job we have had where you show up like this."

Nick's smirk became a warmer and clearly sympathetic smile. "Guys. It's not like that. We don't go out of our way to cause you issues. Besides, you work for the city now, right? Not a specific councilor?" Getting nods. "Then, since we have a legit warrant, you have nothing to worry about, and if you have any issues, don't hesitate to call Judy or I."

Judy nodded from next to Nick. "Kinda surprised you two didn't join the ZPD."

Larry and Gary moved to the side out of the way, letting themselves be cuffed by Penniwinkle who responded. "They can't. Flunked out, three times each. Can't control their howl reflex."

Larry nodded looking sad, his ears flattening in embarrassment. "Yeah. It's just too strong. I mean, you used that against us at Cliffside. I still don't understand how the Designate manages to withstand a howl. I have watched other wolves try to get him to do it, getting an entire meeting howling and he just stands there glaring at them."

Nick chuckled. "Even he can be overcome, but he has worked very hard to control the instinct. Didn't know you guys were Wolford pack?'

Larry smiled. "Yeah. But we know you're not here as First, but ZPD business. I mean, badges out, armed to the teeth. Very much not First business attire."

Nick nodded. "At least not under normal circumstances. Credit to you both for recognizing the difference. We will talk later." His smile vanished and he and Judy got into sprinter starting positions in front of the double doors, both flexing their toe claws to catch the carpet. Penniwinkle and Clawhauser standing to either side ready to rip the doors open. "On your signal, Judy."

Her ears up, Judy listened and upon hearing someone say 'On to the next item of business.' She signaled the mammals at the door to open them. "Now!"

Nick and Judy accelerate on all fours into the room. Judy leaping up onto the central table of the council chamber. Nick cornered hard as soon as they passed the threshold and moved along the wall, actually passing behind the legs of one of the two buffalo guards just inside the room and either side of the doors. The other officers waited just outside the doorway waiting for a signal from Nick or Judy to enter.

Judy slid to a stop in the center of the table in a kneeling shooting stance, rifle up and pointed between the two buffalo guards on either side of the door and back out of the room. She barked the order with as much command presence as the Major. The order and the force of it giving both buffalo pause. "Don't! ZPD here to serve a warrant and authorized to use lethal force to enforce it. Please do not force me to drop either of you. Bogo would not appreciate me shooting someone from his herd."

The one on her left spoke, as he stepped forward, putting a hoof out, clearly intent on grabbing Judy. "There is nothing a tiny rabbit can carry that could…" Judy's rifle reported and the bull flinched. "What?"

One of his horns, just above where it connected to his head landed with a loud clatter on the floor. "Does that suffice enough warning to make my point? That will grow back. Eventually. Now be a good boy and do as the nice officers tell you." Giving a signal with her ear to the officers waiting outside.

The bull nodded and glanced beside him where Clawhauser held up some cuffs with a Nick worthy smirk and nodded towards the exit. "Yeah. Underestimate her or the fox at your peril."

The bull feeling his head lopsided now nodded with tears in his eyes. He was going to have to have his horns fully trimmed down and then treated so he could grow new ones. He'd have to live in shame for almost two years. The other bull, walking out with Penniwinkle shook his head slowly. "You never believed Bogo when he would complain about them. Guess you'll believe him now."

The bull nodded. "Yeah. But how? She's just a little rabbit?"

Penniwinkle, a very large wolf, chuckled. "A little rabbit that punches harder than I can. From what I understand, the only limitation in what she can fire is the recoil. She is still just a bunny and only weighs so much. Still, those rifles are something else and allow her to fire much more substantial ammunition than you think."

While all attention was on the guards being escorted out, the senior council member for the Forest district, a red squirrel slightly taller than Judy, slammed the gavel on the table several times. "What is the meaning of this! This is a council meeting and you are not authorized to be in here, especially not with lethal weaponry!" His voice rose to a near panic pitch as he yelled.

Nick popped up next to him and handed him a copy of the warrant. "Yeah, about that, councilor Autumntail. We in fact are, and you sir, are under arrest. Please, feel free to resist and I will gladly shoot you. Though I'll be nice and use something small enough caliber that you are not simply splattered across the wall."

Judy's pistol reported, causing Councilor Raincast to freeze as Judy smirked, still holding a bead on the councilor who had been trying to move along the far wall from the doors towards the council's emergency escape. "Councilor Raincast. That warrant includes you too, and we are just as authorized to shoot you dead if needed. So I would suggest not moving, or I will end you."

Councilor Raincast didn't move, but she did curse. "Fuck! What is wrong with you, rabbit? I will own your fluffy tail once this is all done."

Judy chuckled. "Not the first time I have had that threat leveled at me. Not even the first time by a member of the city council. Now, councilor. Move those hooves very slowly and keep them where I can see them until you are facing the wall with those hooves pressed against it. Someone will be…"

Raincast spun quickly, a derringer pistol appearing in her hoof and clearly intent on firing at Judy. Her spin was arrested and she spun back the other way, her arm knocked wide from her body as Judy fired again. Red splashed against the wall as Raincast fell to the floor screaming and clutching the now destroyed hoof to herself. The derringer went flying and was visibly mangled from the round from Judy's pistol.

Judy shook her head, turning her weapon to the camel representing Sahara Square as he moved to stand. "Yeah, you're on the list too, councilor Duneswalker. I suggest you sit back down and wait patiently. I do notice that Meadowlaw isn't here. So just sit there quietly, hooves on the table where we can see them and no sudden moves." Glancing over towards Raincast as Nick moved to her having already restrained Autumntail and handed him off to the other officers. "She gonna live, Nick?"

Nick finished checking her over. "Yeah. Her hoof is toast and the ricochet hit her in the shoulder. She'll need a hospital to pull pieces of the round out of her shoulder. Most of the energy went into her hoof and the derringer, so it's only slightly worse than rock salt. I think your round caused the derringer round to detonate."

Raincast, screaming from the floor. "I'll have you all in prison for the rest of your lives! I'll make sure you are put with dawn." Starting to cry. "Oh gods it hurts!"

Nick chuckled as he kneeled next to her and applied some first aid to her shoulder and a tourniquet at her wrist to stop the bleeding. "Well, you were given instructions to move slowly and put your hooves against the wall. Instead you pulled a weapon and made a move to fire it at a ZPD officer who had already warned you, and who already had you in her sights. She was within her rights and authority to shoot you dead at that moment. Though given what you are guilty of, that might be the preferable option for you. "Nick pulled her around, ignoring her screams of pain, and cuffed her before handing her off to Clawhauser to pick her up and escort her out. EMTs already in the already waiting to check her over.

Penniwinkle carefully cuffed councilor Duneswalker. Judy smiled at the rest of the council as she put her weapon away now that all targets were restrained. "Our most sincere apologies esteemed members of the council. We needed to take them into custody before they could contact anyone, or be contacted by anyone, letting them know that we are actively taking them down. The mayor will now brief you on what is going on, and explain why such harsh and violent action was required."

The Meadowlands councilor, an Awassi ram, stood up. "Officer Hopps. Is this another sheep driven thing?" The councilor clearly worried of another Bellwether conspiracy that would tar and feather all sheep was happening.

Judy smiled. "If anything, councilor. This is worse than anything that happened under Dawn, but… To provide at least some measure of reassurance, it is also not sheep specific. This has prey mammals from all walks of life and species. Related to what Dawn did, yes. She was part of just one, sheep centric, terrorist cell. Today, we are taking down seven cells. At least two were recruiting at high schools, and specifically some of the prey only high schools, under the guise of after school social clubs of various types. Prey only, of course."

The counselor nodded with a deep frown. "Another violent, anti-predator, prey supremacist group. Or seven. May the gods help us. The city did not need this. Thank you, officer Hopps. Officer Wilde. This city will be forever in your debt for protecting us from our worst instincts."

Judy smiled as she walked the table to the end nearest the doors. "It is just our jobs, counselor Bennet. Also, It's actually HoppsWilde, and he's WildeHopps."

The counselor nodded with a weak smile. "You are of course correct. My apologies."

Judy shrugged. "It's perfectly alright, counselor. Bogo was at our wedding, and still gets it wrong." Judy then hopped off the table landing next to Nick. The doors closing behind them and the mayor as he entered the room.

xxxXXXxxx

In the antechamber the bull with intact horns was rubbing his wrists and looking in concern to his partner. "Uhm… Officers. Why are you not releasing him?"

Clawhauser smiled and showed the bull a list. "Because he's been verified as a member. Therefore he gets arrested. If he is like a lot, who hasn't done anything yet, maybe didn't even know what he was getting involved in, he'll probably be assigned some probation to make sure he keeps his muzzle clean. There are a lot of high school kits who are going to be like that. It sucks, but it is that serious."

The bull frowned, glaring at the other bull. "What did you do? What did you get yourself involved in?"

The bull with the missing horn let out a low moo of fear. "What?!" Looking back to the closed doors of the council chamber and then to Nick and Judy. "I'm not part of a terrorist organization!" His ears dropped suddenly as his eyes dilated in shock and he turned to look towards Raincast as her hoof was being further treated by the EMTs. His features going through terror, realization, anger, then blind rage as he tried to charge Raincast. "You evil whore!" He roared out as he struggled against the other bull holding him back before Trunkabee took over. "She asked me to come with her as extra security for some meetings. It was off the books pay. She told me it was necessary so those she was meeting with could speak more freely off the record required if meeting at her office. I have been saving up for a mate ring set so I can propose to my girlfriend!" Dropping to his knees. "Oh gods. Now I have lost my horn, but worse. I'm associated with terrorists." A moo of despair escaping him. "She'll never accept me now."

The other bull pulled him back to his feet. "Hey. I'll talk to her. Who is she, anyway? I didn't even know you were dating anyone."

Looking absolutely stricken and crushed. "I guess it doesn't matter now. She's not a cow. She's a black bear. She's the nicest. Kindest. Most caring mammal I know. I would never do anything to hurt her."

Chuckling, the other bull shook his head and then froze, a grin taking over. "Wait! You're dating Daisy?" Getting a nod. "Oh, damn! You lucky bull! She's smart, and if what you just said is true about what really happened. Debby has had her over a few times. She's great and I'm sure knows you are not like that. Deb even talked about making her a Guide Parent for our next calf. One thing I can assure you of, you and Daisy have both Deb, myself, and the rest of the herd behind you. As long as you were not involved, we've got your back."

"That's just it. I have been working for Raincast for almost a year on the side. Always cash. I'm so screwed." Looking up at Nick and Judy. "I didn't know. I didn't agree with her stance on things politically. I voted against her in every election, but I was just paid to stand guard. I was never in the meetings or close enough to hear except in the day to day council meetings like this one. I didn't know…" Another terrified moo escaping him, tears flowing.

Raincast just glared at the bull but said nothing, if anything, giving him a slightly triumphant look. Nick shook his head. "Yeah, we kinda knew that already, buddy. But you have to understand. We can't assume. We're arresting dozens of high school kits for the same reason. Knowingly or not, they are members of terrorist cells. Just like you." Glancing over at Raincast. "Knowing the evil that is Raincast, it wouldn't surprise me that she knew about your girlfriend and hired you, and listed you as a member, just to screw you over. It's probably why she targeted you rather than your brother here."

The second bull frowned. "How do you know I'm his brother? I mean, we are part of the same herd, but that doesn't mean we're brothers."

Nick smiled. "Because to get onto that list, a full evaluation of each person is done. That means people they are on contact with, family, associations, etc… So those people could also be examined. He, is linked to you both by herd and by blood. You share the same father but different mothers. Your mutual father has five wives, of which he has two calves with each, and a third on the way with each. Helps that he is a CEO."

Chuckling he nodded. "Yep. Dad always told Bogo that he should hire some foxes. I guess that message finally got through. At least after you joined the force and forced him to recognize things. Still he wasn't too happy about Adrian being a police officer."

"Well, he is the eldest brother, and it isn't as if his wife doesn't have a high powered job as well. I will note that your herd specifically is welcoming of non-buffalo, even if only the Chief, and Keneth here, have ever looked beyond that."

"Yeah. Dad was always one to claim that where a mammal finds love, and that they properly support each other was more important. That support is the core of the herd, and to ignore it just because the person one of the herd fell in love with wasn't a buffalo was counter to that. So again." Giving the other bull a squeeze to his shoulder. "The herd has your back."

The other bull, Keneth, nodded, giving a hard glare at Raincast who chuckled darkly. "Won't matter if you clear inter scum like him or not. You'll never get anything to stick to me. Besides, you'll never catch Meadowlaw."

Judy chuckled. "Well, that's where you are wrong. While we would have liked to get him along with you and the others here, we knew he wouldn't be here. At least one of you always finds an excuse to not be here. Smart, but it insulates him from what is going on. Meaning that he won't know that we're picking up all the members of the terrorist cells we can."

"He'll know."

"That would require that the video and audio is getting to him. It isn't." Judy gave a wide grin. "Let's get these mammals back to the station. Then Nick and I have an appointment with one final council member."

As the council members and the bull were escorted out of the building, another group of officers moved through city hall and the various offices, arresting more mammals. They managed to collect a total of twelve mammals, the rest being out at lunch and targeted to be picked up by the dozens of extra patrol officers out in the city, or picked up as they returned to their jobs by the officers left behind to wait for just that.

xxxXXXxxx

After getting the councilors and others back to the station, Penniwinkle escorted Raincast to the hospital for treatment. Nick and Judy left their booking and processing to the other officers. They had another high value target to get to before he, that being Meadowlaw, managed to become a larger problem.

With the assistance of Darr and his wife working for Ed's forensic accounting firm. They had confirmed that Meadowlaw was the primary financier of all of the cells. Darr had gone so far above and beyond, that not only had he been released from his status as Omega, but been granted status within the pack.

Meadowlaw had used the same vast wealth that had gotten him elected so many times, despite his position on certain things, to feed money into the terrorist cells. It was his money that had paid for the virus research. It was his access and money that had helped keep the cells hidden and prevented more from being taken down when Dawn was exposed.

It was also that vast wealth that made it so much harder to pin him down and confirm that Meadowlaw himself was in fact directly involved. They did finally have that proof, and so once Clawhauser and Trunkabee had the booking well in paw, Nick and Judy headed back out. They had a big horned sheep to arrest.

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A/N

Remember to share the love. Review and Fav. It is the life blood of every writer to know you are enjoying their work. I also want to thank everyone who has Fav'd, followed, and reviewed this little project. I know that isn't much, but to me, it's huge. Even as a writer of original fiction, that you enjoy this means a lot to me as an author. You can check out my original work and link to my Blog, Scribblings, where a lot of it lives by hopping over to dcballard . com ( Direct: ascensionnovel . / scribblings (remove the spaces) because the forwarding is misbehaving.)

If you enjoy this, and you are not also reading my original Log Entries series over on my Blog. Why aren't you? (takes a Nick-esk pose of hurt) Also. I am now posting them on AO3, so you have even less excuse. It's free, ORIGINAL fiction. "An original story told through the log entries of the pilot and captain of an experimental star ship."

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