Here is the 89th installment.

89th installment… Wow. This has really gone that far? There is so much still to go too. When I started this, I did not expect it to go past the first few chapters. I didn't expect the other fics and shorts to happen either. It's just amazing to me that this has taken on such a life of it's own. I have no idea how much more there is to it either. Hazards of being a pantser. That said, I know where I want to end it. Lets just see if we can all get there together.

As an extra note, I want to thank all the commenters lately that have told me how much they love this story. That some of you actually come back and reread my drivel makes me wanna cry. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all so very much, whether you are just a reader who lurks and doesn't comment ( I get it ), or who does comment. Thank you.

Now… As always. 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 Approximately 400pm Zootopia time

Team Code: WildeHopps - Part 3

Members:

Nicholas WildeHopps Judy HoppsWilde

Yernet Arronsen Brandon James Hertzwool

Target: Ranking Senior City Council Member Meadowlaw

Location: Grazer Tower, 110th floor

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After a quick sweep of the main apartment they discovered over a dozen lambs and ewes chained and caged in the great room to the left side of the apartment. They took up positions facing the door. Nick and Judy behind the door to the master bedroom to the right, the door cracked enough for them to see out and the muzzles of their rifles barely visible. Arronsen in much the same position from the entrance to the great room on the left.

They were ready for just about anything, but really just hoping it didn't become a protracted firefight. They knew Meadowlaw would show up with security. The question being, how much. The elevator dinged a few minutes later and Meadowlaws personal security team stepped out first, leveling their weapons at Hertzwool. He already had his hooves in view. Meadowlaw frowned at seeing him. "Officer?"

Hertzwool swallowed visibly at the weapons pointed at him, knowing his performance was life or death in the moment and eternally thankful that noses like Nick and Arronsen were on his side. "Councilor. I am part of the cell run by Agent Woollston. He told me, if things went sideways, to find you. I used my badge to get up here. They have lists. They're arresting everyone. Even my lamb got picked up at school because he was a leader in one of the recruiting clubs. My mate got picked up from her job. They're picking up young from schools, officers are getting ordered to stop and arrest mammals off the street. Even other officers. It's crazy out there."

Meadowlaw nodded with a deeper but understanding frown. "That's too bad. You worried about your lamb?"

Hertzwool blinked. "Of course, but he wasn't brought in yet. Only fourteen. Just a group leader. The club head said that he'd definitely be ready in a few years, but still too young. What I was hearing over the radio was that they were just picking up everyone even remotely related and then going to filter them after. He should be fine. Woollston had me planning several ops, so if they catch me, I'm mutton."

Meadowlaw nodded. "So what? What's your plan here?"

"I just want to get out of the city. Once things calm down I can arrange for my mate and my boy to join me. I can't help them or keep them safe from the beasts and their blood lust from a prison cell or dead. They're shooting us out there! I mean that. I saw someone I knew from the cell. They tried to run from a pair of pred officers. They… They shot him, and not with a tranq! They're authorized to shoot us dead! It's a war, but not the one we wanted."

Clearly making a decision, Meadowlaw looked to his chief of security. "His badge may be useful. Keep him under watch. You. What did you say your name was?"

"Officer Hertzwool, sir. I've got my radio on still, but I disabled the tracking chip years ago. If I hear any chatter, you'll know."

"Good."

With that, the security chief beckoned Hertzwool over and they had a quick discussion, having him paw over his spare mags to the security mammal who would be his minder. They then moved towards the main apartment. Hertzwool and two others stayed outside, the rest entered with Meadowlaw. None of them noticed the rabbit hiding behind where the door opened as she slipped a block into the door so that it looked, but was not actually, closed.

Hertzwool however knew to look and saw the very small red stripe at the base of the door indicating the block. Looking at the other two as he faced them, kept slightly down the hallway. "So, you guys like working for Meadowlaw? I tried to get on his detail once, but got shot down. I wonder sometimes if it was because my mate is from a more liberal herd."

One of them chuckled. "Likely, since you were part of a cell. What herd is she from?"

"She was a member of Woolette, but after we got married, and what happened a few years ago, she finally started to listen. She was working with the older lambs that had just been inducted into our cell, but wasn't actually a member herself. So like my boy, they'll be fine as long as I can get out of the city and then bring them to me."

The other nodded with a smile. "Good. Smart. Like you said. Can't protect them from a cell. Or dead. You do well here and I don't see why you cannot be permanent. We always need good mammals, especially those that can keep quiet like a cop that was also part of a cell."

"Hey. I've been since before Bellwether got taken down. Managed to dodge scrutiny by helping take in some of her cell members. I was a bit of a drama nerd in school. Comes in handy being able to play a role, especially when you have to deal with preds all day and not raise suspicion."

Both nodded, the first speaking. "That's great. How do you manage to keep the nosey ones off you though? I heard they can tell your emotional state just based on smell."

"Only the carefully trained ones, like in K9 can. The others may get an idea, but K9 or not, being uncomfortable around them as prey is not damning, as long as you can play the part."

"Nice." They both turned to look at the door, hearing a faint popping. "What was that?"

Hertzwool chuckled as he loaded one of his actual spares and leveled his weapon at the two. "That would be Nick and Judy taking out your counterparts. We beat you guys here. Don't pull. You." Indicating the one on his right. "Recognize you from Meadowlands. Got drummed out, but couldn't be pinned to being an actual member of a cell. Guess that's cause you were working for the top. Cuff your friend there. Nose to the wall, on your knees, ankles crossed and sit on them."

Both tried to bring their weapons to bear, Hertzwool fired four times, dropping both. With a tired sigh, he shook his head. "Sorry, but you're probably better off. I don't envy what any of you that live through this are going to have to deal with in court." He collected and checked their weapons, along with the mags that were taken from him, and then carefully began opening the door to the main apartment.

Once fully cracked open, he heard more weapon reports. Two from just to his left, and three from deeper in the apartment. He got the door open enough to see Arronsen in the door to the far left, with two more rifles on the far right he assumed were Nick and Judy. Just inside the door were two of the three guards that had entered with Meadowlaw using what was the dining table, tipped on its side, as cover. The lead guard and Meadowlaw appeared to be held up in the kitchen area to the left, using the island as cover.

A round from Arronsen hit high on the door, bringing the attention of the other guards to Hertzwool as he returned fire at Arronsen, also aiming high, using the door as cover and as an excuse for poor aim. The guard with Meadowlaw, the head, saw Hertzwool and signaled him. "Draw their fire!" He hissed. Hertzwool nodded, firing a few more rounds high at Arronsen as he moved into the apartment to a spot where he was not in direct line of fire, but also a target for both Arronsen as well as Nick and Judy. It put him in the perfect position to shoot as if at Arronsen, but actually take down the two guards hiding behind the table.

Hertzwool could just see the head guard and Meadowlaw. "Sir. I'm kinda pinned down here. Took a round to the vest when two cops showed up. They got the other guys because they were not vested but they sprayed the hall and took out the cops."

Nick's voice echoed into the room. "Meadowlaw. There is no way out and your guards are gonna run out of ammo eventually. The question is to them. Is this paycheck really worth your life?"

The head guard yelled back at Nick. "Fuck you, pelt! Lanolis Imperus Supremus." Firing several shots towards Nick and Judy.

Hertzwool sighed to himself with a deep, sad sigh. "A true believer." He moved out of cover for a moment as if firing at Arronsen, but actually dropped both of the other guards. Rounds from Nick and Judy drove him back into cover.

They exchanged more rounds and when the head guard popped out of cover, Hertzwool from his position put two rounds into the ram, dropping him. Meadowlaw looked between him and the now final dead guard.

"What?"

Hertzwool grinned wickedly, stepping out of cover and leveling his weapon on Meadowlaw. "Drop the pistol. You, I actually want to take alive, but that doesn't mean undamaged."

With Hertzwool covering Meadowlaw, Arronsen moved out of cover and restrained him. With that, they relaxed, slightly until they heard the ding of the elevator. Looking, as he was still standing in the door, Hertzwool saw the seven heavily armed Tusk officers charging down the hallway from the elevator. He leapt forward, tackling Arronsen and Meadowlaw back behind the kitchen island. "Grenade!"

The blast against the back wall blew it out, sending glass and debris down to the street a hundred plus stories below. The tusk officers barreled into the room. The leader yelling. "Stand down! You are part of an illegal operation. Move and you are dead."

Judy blinked, finding herself laying on a bed, Nick on top of her. Neither figured it would be smart to speak out loud.

J: You okay, Slick?

Nick rolled off her and shook his head.

N: Yeah. Glad we were still close to the door. Must be that Tusk team we tagged.

Judy nodded, checking them both over.

J: Smells like them. My gods, is this really what it's like to have your nose all the time? And what is with boars and their obsession with Brutal cologne. It's like the only thing they use.

Nick chuckled quietly as they moved off the bed, watching the door.

N: Yeah. I could say the same thing about your hearing. Like. I can hear Arronsen's heart beating out there. And I'm going to guess the other heart trying to beat it's way out of the chest it is in, would be Hertzwool. Can you actually tell the difference between mammals that way?

J: If I know the mammal well, yeah. You get used to it. I guess like you do with the scent thing. Based on that heartbeat, they'll have Arronsen and Hertzwool pinned. They may not survive this, but we can't let these morons leave. Judy sniffed the air again. I smell seven, maybe eight.

N: I hear the same. What's the play, Fluff?

They peaked out seeing the Tusk officers set up in a defensive bunching of five, the other two securing Arronsen and Hertzwool. Meadowlaw was clearly out cold.

J: The idiots used a medium mammal grenade. Blew out the side of the building. They have the room covered. There's no drop ceiling or vent, and they would not be below one if it were there anyway. I hate to say it, but we're going to have to go full out on this, Nick. This is worse than Chet. At least you had the chance to give him a chance. We don't have that option here.

Nick peaked out the door again.

N: Yeah. There's no way out of this that doesn't involve going full out. Should we call her first?

J: I'll call, you watch.

Judy pulled out her phone, moving to a spot where she could speak quietly and not be heard over the noise from the large hole in the wall. A few rings later and Maria picked up. "Judy, don't say anything. I can see the smoke rising up the side of the building. We felt the explosion. I can only assume you are calling because to fix this, you are going to have to kill, and do so using the very skills you have sworn not to.

You and Nick have both used those skills to great effect to not kill. You've used them to reduce the damage, to minimize casualties, and all the good things. But you knew. You know, didn't you, that at some point you would find yourself in a position that would force your paw?

Judy. I have told you several times now. You are both Masters in your own right. So let me be clear. That oath only applied while you were still training. I know you keep it, but you need to do what is right. You need to use whatever you need to in order to make things right. I trust you both and your sense of right and wrong. That you won't go too far. Maybe after this, you create a new oath, for yourselves. One that gives you the leway in a situation like you find yourself in, but focuses on using those still for what you have up to now, and how I know you will use them in the future. The world isn't perfect, but I believe that you guys can help push it that direction, at least a little bit."

Maria then hung up. Judy just looked at her phone, then up at Nick who nodded.

J: Well… I guess that's that, then.

N: Yep. Still dangerous. I hate this.

J: I know. So do I. You ready?

N: Does it matter? Let's do this.

Judy nodded with a grim look on her muzzle. They could hear the Tusk leader yelling at Arronsen and Hertzwool, demanding to know who or if anyone else was there. Hertzwool looked to where the wall was. "Used to be. They were taking cover behind a stone statue. A statue that I assume is on the street below in pieces now."

Nick readied several knives as Judy prepped her whip-sword. Pulling a flash-bang from her belt, Judy took aim and lobbed the grenade into the room. It exited just shy of the top of the door to the room they were hiding in. It bounced quietly off the back of the snow smoldering couch, and clattering off the wall to go off on their side near the ragged edge of the hole. Nick and Judy hid behind the wall as the flash-bang went off.

All but one of the Tusk officers shifted, taking aim at and lighting up the opposite side, clearly assuming it had been tossed by someone in the great room. The one that didn't turn got a brief glimpse of a rabbit moving out of the bedroom door, and a fox in police tactical gear, before a blade appeared in one of his eyes and he dropped. The rest spun towards that side and lit it up. Nick hid behind the concrete block of the wall while Judy was already out of the room and up behind them, then between them.

With all attention on the two doorways, two focusing on one, two on the other. The leader was glaring at the dead boar with a knife sticking out of his eye socket, then at the two doors. With an angry roar, he backhanded Arronsen, knocking the wolf back and clearly breaking a tooth. "Who else is here?"

Arronsen spat blood and glared at the Tusk leader. "Don't know. Given the blast and where I thought they were, I assumed like he said." Indicating Hertzwool. "That they were, assuming they survived that blast, were now splats on the street."

Judy used their focus on the doorways and put all her skill to use. She carefully opened the grenade pouches on the Tusk members belts without them feeling it. She straightened the pins and hooked the spoons onto the outside of the pouch. She then connected a line to a grenade on all of their belts, tying them together with a little slack, then tied those lines to the leg of the couch. If they moved too far apart, or too far from where they stood at that moment, it'd pull the pin free of at least one.

Task completed, Judy staged a large mammal concussion grenade behind them, opposite the hole from where they stood, and then moved towards the front wall. The leader, having been staring again at the dead officer, saw her and pinned her down behind a stone backed chair with several shots. "Stop moving, rabbit."

Judy chuckled. "Sure, and I'd suggest the rest of your team not move either. Every one of them has a grenade pin straightened and tied to each other. They move to look, at least one gets pulled. Separate, one or maybe all get pulled. Move too far from where they are, they all get pulled. Now, you could try and move to cut the line, but my partner will drop you before you can do that. Your buddy moves and he'll get dropped. The question is. Think you can take me? An itty bitty little rabbit against a big burly boar like yourself?"

The boar growled. "I can definitely take you, rabbit. I'm Tusk. I spent twenty years in SpecOps. I trained with Cheth masters before the purge."

"Is that so? In that case, I'm even more interested. I'm sure the remaining master would appreciate it if I eliminated you then."

"What?"

"Didn't you know?" Her tone, sickly sweet and condescending. "The last master was never found. She was overseas for schooling. I trained under her. How else do you think I managed to hold the top spot in the sparring ring?"

The boar laughed. "Ha! Big claim, but I know for a fact that they were all killed. I led one of the teams against them. And even if you did. You are still only a rabbit."

Judy chuckled. "Perhaps, but that doesn't change the situation. You and your second in command there. You're both dead."

"Sure. But you can't see us, and I know exactly where you are within a few inches, even if you're protected right now, you're pinned down and I can just chip away at the stone back of that chair."

"I don't need to see you, because he can."

Nick's rifle reported and the bullet struck the top of the large mammal concussion grenade Judy had staged while rigging the squad's grenades, setting off the detonator charge in the grenade and therefore the grenade itself. With the massive hole in the wall, and the non-standard way of setting it off resulting in the blast being lessened and asymmetric. That, along with the various pieces of furniture in the room, caused the blast to be minimized at the front of the room in the kitchen. It was also reduced to a loud bang where Judy was hiding some ten feet away behind the chair, the displaced furniture from the blast that created the large hole in the side of the building insulating her. The squad on the other paw, was near the middle of the room, only a few feet from the hole and no more than three feet from the grenade as it went off.

Although they did have their protective gear on, meaning it did not stun them as it might normally have. It did knock them towards the hole, and caused the pins to be pulled on the grenades Judy had rigged. Two fell out of the hole and into a fall to the street below. A third got caught by a piece of rebar on their tactical harness, leaving them to dangle out over the edge, their grenade dislodged from their belt pouch and fell free. The last dove into the great room where the grenade went off as he tried to figure out which one it was.

The two that fell clutched each other with screams and exploded at about the sixtieth floor, raining gore on the street. The last one squealed in terror as he dangled, held up by his harness, the grenade going off and shattering windows around the 70th floor as it took a moment to fall free from his belt pouch. As this happened, both the Tusk leader and his second turned their weapons on where Nick was, the second firing a grenade into the room. Nick however, after firing on the grenade, had darted into the bathroom which was towards the front of the apartment and into the tub, thus safe from the blast. The blast opened another large hole in the side of the building, dropping more debris to the street. It also knocked the dangling tusk member free as his harness tore, resulting in him falling more than a hundred stories to the street and some poor mammals car parked there.

As their attention shifted, Judy spun out from behind the stone backed chair, her whip-sword flashing out with a whistling crack. Both hooves of the second in command were severed in the first swipe, the grenade launcher in their hooves falling to the floor with their hooves still attached to it. The leader lost one leg at the knee with the next, and as he dropped, found himself with the tip of a sword just short of his eye, a very angry rabbit holding it. He was in shock and knew it. Knew he was dead from the wash of crimson on the floor from his leg.

"Oh gods. How? That was impossible. Never seen such."

"Whip-sword, form three. A Helketta form, actually."

The second, screamed in rage as he looked at himself, hooves severed at mid-forearm. He made to charge Judy, but was shoulder checked by Hertzwool, deflecting him. He stumbled, slipped on the pool of blood from himself and the Tusk leader, hit the couch and tumbled over the edge. Ten stories down he struck the building hard enough to break the glass with his tusks, the glass being slightly curved to the shape of the building created a v which decapitated him. His head rolling into some poor terrified mammals cubicle, the body joined the other as a new add on to a parked car. Sadly for the mammals in that office, it took a few moments for the glass to do its work, and the second got a gurgled scream out before he expired.

The Tusk leader looked at Judy in shock, his whole body going cold from the blood loss. "How am I not dead yet?"

Judy shook her head and returned the whip-sword to her waist with a snap. "You will be in a moment. It is just taking your brain an extra moment to realize it because you bled out so fast."

Nick leaned against the door frame. "Yeah. I'm where she learned that form." Giving a wave. "You guys missed more than a few. Good old Chet was just a wanna be that was about to wash out. We ignored him because he was the definition of a useful idiot. He created a distraction and kept the heat off the rest of us."

The leader blinked slowly, the word going soft in his sight. "Oh. Well, damn." He fell, dead before his muzzle hit the floor.

Hertzwool stared at the two of them for a long moment. "Well, fuck. I'm supposed to kill both of you now." Looking down at his hooves and the weapon he had picked up that was dropped by one of the Tusk members. "But… Things are clearly not what they've been sold as."

Judy and Nick looked at him carefully, Nick speaking. "You're right about that. None of us actual survivors are sad to see the clans gone. The skills are useful, even have merit, but the clans concept. The murder for hire and all that. Not so much. The Helketta were trying to change. To become data merchants with a side of murder for hire, instead of the other way around. They just didn't change enough, or fast enough. Plus there are plenty of government alphabet agencies who saw them as threats and competitors of one sort or another.

The question really is. Can you see past the rhetoric to the reality? Can you see past what the clans did, to who and what the inheritors of that legacy are and want to do with it?"

Hertzwool laughed. "Are you kidding? I'm a Lanolin priest." Both Nick and Judy tensed. "Or at least that's what I was raised as, inducted as, and all that. I also turned my back on all that. I joined the military to get away from it. From them. They were my family, all the friends I knew before the military. That is all past tense though. They were hateful in ways even this beast couldn't match." Waving a dismissive hoof at a still unconscious Meadowlaw. "I know what they said were distortions and lies, at best. I know all that, because I could see the inconsistencies. I know it more now because of my time in the military. So if you two are willing to give me a chance, I'm more than willing to give you that same chance. Hell, I've long suspected something like that. I mean, anyone with any association with such a tradition can see hints, if you're looking." Shaking his head with a glance at the dead Tusk leader. "Something that idiot clearly didn't do."

Judy grinned as Nick nodded. "Well then. As I know the Lanolin were hit just, if not harder, than the Cheth and others. Welcome to the not so secret, secret."

Hertzwool nodded with a frown. "Yeah. Their deep specist background really made them a primary target. From what I learned while I was in the teams, they hit the rest just so it didn't look like a specific, species based targeting. The Lanolin were the real target as they really were trying to maneuver to do the government overthrow the whole lot was accused of in order to justify the purge."

Nick nodded with a frown. "I can believe that. Never bothered to dig into the underlying reasons. Doing so would have brought attention that at that time, anyone with deep connections to the clans really needed to go without. Let's finish this and then worry about other things and a long discussion best had in private later."

Arronsen laughed. "Too late for that."

Nick glared at Arronsen while Judy just rolled her eyes. "Stuff it, Arronsen. You're Nightwolf, so you hardly have room to talk."

Hertzwool looked at Arronsen and rolled his eyes as well, when Meadowlaw groaned. "What? What happened?"

Hertzwool grumbled as he yanked Meadowlaw to his feet. "Your moron Tusk team came in blasting with heavy weapons." Turning him to face the hole in the building. "Added some excess ventilation."

Judy spoke up. "We're still going to have at least five more in the lobby. We need to determine if they're with this group, or were left behind because they were not."

Hertzwool nodded thoughtfully. "I was actually planning to try out for the TUSK teams, before I realized that they were basically a hotbed of the same hate and specist dung I left all my family and friends to get away from. I mean, I don't even have a herd at this time. But, that means I studied their procedures and such. Like you said, there will be a group left behind as backup. The question is why they as a group were selected to be left behind. It's possible that only one or two would not be with the rest. Not sure how we figure that out."

Judy nodded, foot tapping in thought. "You should check into the Jourgensheer herd, they are very inclusive and welcome all, as long as you aren't a speicist scumbag. Nick and I can give you a rec if you need. Now… Think you can fake a call for backup? Get them to come up? We have them in a kill zone thanks to the hallway. It's why they came in firing like they did." Waving a paw at the bodies and hole. "Put Meadowlaw in front of us, give them pause to fire and a chance to make a decision."

Hertzwool grinned. "I can definitely do that."

Meadowlaw himself looked between the four mammals with fear in his eyes realizing that not only was his security team dead, so too was his personal Tusk team, and he was about to be used as live bait.

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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."

You should really be checking out my bestest bud, Bear678, and his story What Foxes May Come.

So keep those reviews and comments coming. And also remember, if you see issues, misspellings, etc... Let me know in PM, I'm under no illusion of being perfect and want to fix those things I miss.