Chapter 14:
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Apologies for the minor delay.
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Adjusting the brow of her hat, Sarrahson let the shadow grow across her eyes, shielding her from the glare of the sun reflecting off the towers. It helped, just a little, though it was still a struggle to look down at her phone. Scrolling past missed and ignored phone calls from so called family, paw pad hovering over the contact she was waiting for and pressing it. Up to her ear, she waited a few seconds before the voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Agent Sarrahson here," the serval spoke, glancing up. Her eyes focussed on the mammals out in the park in front of her, a pair of wolves, a sheep… A Bellwether… -Oh, she knew her secret, all the more proof that other mammals would ignore. And, last but not least, the vixen in question. Small thing, pale furred, freckled like a little deer. All the more innocent, all the better for tricking those who didn't know better. "I've located the mammal in question, I've got the tracker done and ready. I just need to wait…"
"Uh-hu, are you sure you're ready for this?"
"Oh, I was born for this," she said, looking on. Seeing the vixen in question take in a few cards from the others, getting ready. -Oh, this was perfect, perfect. She reached into her bag, pulling out a few different potential items. A broach to hustle onto her, in case she was visiting in-mammal. That had been her first plan. But now, looking on, she pulled out a wrapped up envelope, marked with the words 'To Kris'. It had been fairly easy looking at the school records to find the names of some of his teachers, and a letter like that from them… -Especially after being guilted as such into thinking they had acted incorrectly, would not be unexpected.
"Very well, it's all counting on you," the voice said, Sarrahson nodding along.
Taking a breath in, an eye on the fox, the feline got everything into her small crossbody bag, paw resting over a small button held tight and began jogging. Right then, right there, she was nothing out of the ordinary. A normal park user taking a normal exercise routine around the park.
Time began to tick by as she watched. Going around, coming back, waiting… Waiting… -She soon had to pause, leaning against a tree to catch her breath, eyes on the far away figures as they slowly began to split up. -To her chagrin, the small vixen was walking in the other direction so she had to breath in and put on a burst of speed as she pushed on.
It didn't take her long to pass some of her friends but as she turned around the corner she saw the vixen getting ever closer to the exit. She grit her teeth, pushing down faster, harder, keeping control of the stitch starting to crawl up one side of her. -Now of all days!? -This was something heroes in the movies never had to face. Either way, she was going to make it, coming up on her, one paw down to unzip the bag and the other reaching to touch the button just as she passed…
-Her phone rang out loud and clear, the vixen in front turning to look just in time to see a distracted serval trying to fish around in her bag look up and see she'd veered straight onto a collision course. Agnes jumped to the side in shock as the jogger leapt like a coiled spring away in surprise, failing to stick the landing and coming down on three paws… Bag spilling out in front of her.
"Sorry!" Agnes cried, "are you okay."
"-Sorry, sorry," the serval responded, shaking her head as she got up, brushing herself down before looking at her phone and growling. "-I don't believe it," she groaned, facepawing. "Stupid stinkin' spam caller, now of…" She slumped to her knees, facepawing.
"Hey, hey," Agnes said, ears folding back. "As… As long as you're okay." She turned to see a few of the items strewn across the ground, beginning to pick them up.
"No I…" the serval sniffed. "I was thinking it was the hospital, about my husband, I…" She huffed out again, Agnes turning to look at her.
"Is he…"
The serval looked over at her with quivering eyes. "He's… -He's supposed to be on the mend but it's so touch and go, I…"
"I'm sorry," Agnes began, helping her up.
"No, no," She sighed, "I… -I know he's going to be okay, I wouldn't be out here running, if…" She let out a huff. "What sort of a wife would I be?"
Agnes nodded, looking down a little.
"Well," the serval said, "not like I can hold myself highly, can I…"
The vixen looked up at her. "Hey… Don't say that…"
"You…" The feline shook her head. "I wasn't the best girlfriend for him," she sniffed, wiping her eyes. "-I mean, finding him less attractive… repulsive as his fur began to fall out, telling myself it was wrong but…"
"Hey, you… You found strength," Agnes said, smiling. "You married him, didn't you?"
She looked up, managing a smile. "Well… If you're not sure he's going to…" She shook her head. "Here I am, using you as a personal therapist or something."
"No… no… Just glad to help," the vixen said, ears going down. "Not like…" She trailed off.
The serval gave a soft look. "Boy trouble?"
"I…"
"Hey, if I can repay you for this," she said, the vixen at first unsure before nodding.
"I… -My boyfriend was accused of some… Some really bad things. -He didn't do them, there was proof he didn't, but… -But… -You know how it can be," she said, ears going down as she quivered a little. "I… I panicked and, and I wasn't there for him."
"Are… Are you here for him now?" the felinet asked.
"I'm… I'm trying to be, I'm going to visit him tomorrow, but…"
"Well," she smiled. "Don't worry about it. Be brave, for him."
"I know, but…"
"Tell you what," she said, looking down and picking up a small broach. "This was never much to me, but… -But it might be for you. If you're scared, if you're not sure it'll work or… -Just remember, you met a mammal who was scared about saying her vows to her boyfriend as his life hung in the balance, who was scared about…." She closed her eyes. "So many things. But now? Well, if I didn't do that it'd be the biggest regret of my life."
"I… I can't," Agnes said, ears going down.
"Please," the serval chuckled. "I've got, like, three like it at home."
The fox's features softened and she accepted the gift, moving it up onto her dress.
"It suits you," the cat said, smiling.
"Yeah…"
"He'll like that."
Agnes looked up, grin growing, tail wagging a little. "T-thanks."
"You're welcome," the serval said, smiling. "And sorry, once again…"
"No, no, don't mention it…"
With that the serval turned and began jogging once more, turning the corner and pushing on a little before eventually finding a nice secluded area. Settling back, taking a breath out, she fistbumped. Plenty of time on her handlers end of tracking them, of hers on spying and checking out what was going on, and it had all come together. Phone up, she opened the Hare-Tag tracker app up and smiled as she saw the two dots moving off. The one she'd snuck into a bag while the mammal was distracted and the one the vixen had been duped into sticking on herself.
She dialed in, a massive grin on her face. "This is Agent Sarrahson. I've just nailed it."
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The three figures cast their torches out, all of them settling on the brown hare standing back to the precipice. It hadn't taken long to reach them, but he'd been fast. He stood there smiling, cut rope held tight in his paws.
Wrists bound at his feet, front half dangling over the roaring underground river, was Jack. Eyes blinking, bruises over his face, unaware of what was going on.
"Don't you even dare," Judy growled.
Woundwort smiled. "Why would I not? We all know that I fear my death infinitely less than you fear his." He let Jack slip a little, the three mammals flinching before a paw up halted them. "Ah-ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you."
They stared off at each other before Carmelita finally spoke. "What do you want?"
"Take a wild guess."
"You understand why we can't give that to you?" the interpol fox spoke again. "How much death, destruction, it would cause."
"Statistics against tragedy," he smiled again, gesturing down before looking over at Lt Vixen. "Especially for her. You got him into this, didn't you?"
The army vixen snorted. "It seems you really did die that day."
"No, no, more than that," he smiled, looking down. "More than that. Far more."
A few seconds ticked by. Then a few more.
"I want him, I want it, whatever Rattigan plans for it screw him. He can claim this god for himself, he can fail, but I will have my satisfaction. I will fight him. Glorious victory or glorious death, I don't give a damn. Give it to me!"
He stepped back again, letting Jack slip further down. There was a slight murmur and groan, a twitch.
"Come on," he smiled, opening a paw. "Zap me. Send us falling down into the cascades. Bury your little treasure away from Rattigan forever."
"-And what if we give it to you," Lt Vixen said, Carmelita shooting her a stink eye. "What then?"
He smiled. "He gets to live. And you get to come with me."
She paused. "Do I now?"
"Oh yes, were it someone else here, I might let them pass. But you?" His features softened, ever so slightly. "I remember you, friendly, pragmatic, calm, collected… I have some respect for you. To offer to let you join me."
"And what if I don't want that?" she asked, frowning.
He shrugged, stepping back. There was a shift and rattle of gravel, one of Jack's legs starting to slide down until a foot paw stamped behind it held it still. "Getting very close."
"I come with you, back to your base, I smile, I play the part, you invite me in, I politely refuse."
"You make a useful hostage," he smirked, bowing. "I'm guessing your mammals have reinforcements on the way. -I wouldn't be surprised if bombs had fallen on where we were already, a shame really. I'd kill you right away then and race off into the jungle. But, for our way back, you would be useful."
"More useful than this," she said, a small black wrap of plastic in her paw.
Judy snapped to her. "NO!"
"Don't you dare!" Carmelita hissed, pulling her shock pistol around to face her.
"I'm willing to die for him," she spoke, looking down at Jack. She slowly stepped forward.
"Yes, yes," Woundwort smirked, gun out and pointing down at the hare.
Carmelita pulled her shock pistol up at him again, to the sound of tutting.
"Put that down," he said, pointing his gun forward. "I shoot you in the head, you die, I let him go, he dies, I can get one extra shot in, maybe even two."
"Then do it," Carmelita growled. Seconds passed. "You know the risks."
"I don't fear them. I'd just spend my last moments pissed that…"
"-Yadda, yadda, yadda," Carmelita growled, pushing forward. Judy did too, earning an eyebrow from the brown hare as he stepped back, half of Jack hanging over the roaring canyon. "I get it, I don't care."
"Let's see how much you do," he said. "In five seconds, if she hasn't dropped the zappy gun and kicked it away, and she…" He gestured to Lt Vixen. "Hasn't thrown me the soul of Kehaar and jumped down to that rock down there." He pointed to a lowered ledge upstream of him, a narrow scrabble route leading down into the mouth of the torrent. "We're going to see how good a shot I really am."
"Listen, if…"
"FIVE!"
"DON'T!"
"FOUR!"
Carmelita growled, throwing her gun to the side as she ducked behind a rock.
"THREE!"
Lt Vixen raced forward towards where she'd been ordered to, throwing the wrapped up talisman at Woundwort as Judy shot her and him a glare and raced back.
"TWO!"
Lt Vixen jumped down, sliding down in a cascade of scree as he caught the flying package and tore it open.
"ONE!"
He caught the coppery item inside and threw Jack back towards them, racing towards Lt Vixen with his gun.
"MOVE! MOVE!"
Paws up, she raced on as Carmelita shot out, picking up her shock pistol and darting over to the nearest vantage. She pointed it down, finger on the trigger, trembling as she saw the pair ankle deep in water, straining as they marched up against the current. Woundwort behind, he pointed his gun up at her, smiling and shaking his head as they slipped out of view. One last wave as they ducked under a small underhang of rock and they were gone.
The vixen growled. "That did not go as we planned!" She began pulling off her clothing, checking her shock pistol and re-arming, grabbing a rock-pick and holding it in her teeth as she…
-A blast ripped out from where the two had come from, rocks falling and a spray of water kicking up and over, closing off the route out.
The interpol fox screamed. Turning back, she looked over to see Judy tapping Jack, the hare mumbling a few times, eyes blinking. Carmelita raced over and slung him over his shoulder. "This is going to suck," she said, light forward as she began to push back towards the entrance.
"Not as much as it will for them," Judy countered. "What now?"
"We move on," Carmelita said, looking down, her features softening. "And however painful it is, remember what we were here for."
Judy gave a shaking nod before moving on.
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The water dragged around her hip, the way on barely illuminated by the scant light from their torched. Not that it mattered much, finding the way up was four parts feel for every one part sight, or at least it seemed so. The route on twisted, turned, pulling up and around at sharp angles, the water boiling in most places as it cut around or jumped over boulders with the odd occasional pool of deceptive calm.
"I wouldn't try anything if I were you."
She glanced back rising an eyebrow at her former Ranger comrade behind her. He kept a good distance, gun always trained.
"I might slip, fall…" she shrugged.
"Get carried away and smashed against the rocks, pulped out, no. No…." He softly shook his head.
"I suppose you have something much more entertaining planned for me," she said, managing a smirk. Her tail rose into her paw, letting her fondle the tip just a bit. "You should have said back in the day."
He gave a sharp laugh, raising and eyebrow as she met it with a smirk.
"You haven't changed much," he finally mused.
"Makes a change," she shrugged, as he waved her on.
The water cut in a short waterfall to one side, requiring a scrabble up a rockfall on the other. She briefly looked over it, the plunge pool at the bottom, the speeding current at the top. Eyes darting around fast with what light she could, surveying for any small alcoves, caves, underhangs she could use…
Nothing stood out so up she went, managing to pocket a handy rock just as he came over, gun rising first. "Keep going."
"Of course," she smiled, managing to slip away the rock within her underwear, alongside a few other opportune little items she'd stashed. Some she hoped to use, some she hoped she didn't have to. "I must say, you must like being the one in charge. -Here, with your little terror army."
"It's a different life," he smiled. "One I've found to my liking."
"Indeed, going from defending little helpless villages and kits to massacring them. Guess you decided to play the other side."
"Ah, ah, not going to work," he said, shaking his head. "I understand now, just how small and meaningless they, you, we are…"
"Small. -Guess that is how they looked when you were carried away," Lt Vixen said, eyes focussing on the scarred ruin of that one eye.
A few seconds passed.
"-Did you see anyone, on that fateful last flight? Remember anything?"
"Pain," he smiled. "Terror. The will to fight as she planted me down in her nest, her babies chirping away, the cold fury of my adrenaline kicking in as that razor sharp beak came for me, dove into me and robbed me of…" He tapped along the thing.
"And then I kicked. I wrestled, I punched, I bit. Oh it was a battle, a battle for the ages, me and death embracing. Kill, be killed, feeling myself spool out as she tried to retreat in terror, realising her mistake, panicking for her babies sake. -Bird bones are very brittle, you know. I could have given her a quick death but… No. I broke every part of her but left her to watch, watch as her children suffered the same fate she had deigned on me."
"Tasty much?"
He huffed a grin. "Foul. Crunchy. I wouldn't recommend, other than the fear and terror I gleaned out of her before I turned on that eagle."
"-It sounds, so I gathered, like the Clockwerk you plan to bring back," she said. "The things I heard he did, to make those who sought to defy him suffer."
"As is fitting," he said softly. "All the more reason for him to rise. And for me to take him."
"-And if Rattigan pushes out his soul, as he plans to do, to rise into his body."
"Then there is a new worthy foe, to which to test my mettle."
"And if you lose."
"I lose."
"And if you win?"
"I win."
"And then."
"Whose knows," he smiled, "I haven't thought that far ahead."
"Seems strange for you," she noted. "You brought in your gun, flash bangs, tranq darts, dynamite…"
"Oh, the first two I never leave without. I had grenades too, just not the right place to use them."
"Now who brings a gun and flashbangs wherever they go?" she asked.
"I don't know, who brings a shock pistol wherever they go."
"Oh, this hot shot Interpol vixen cop. Her name's Carmelita. Never really found out why."
He chuckled a few times. "Still, worked out quite opportune. Didn't it?"
"Not so much for me, it seems," she said, giving a glance back.
"I wouldn't say that yet," he said, "I wouldn't say that yet."
She looked on, noting that the passageway widened out somewhat up ahead. Not much she could do with that, no real cover, no real chances to hide or run. Just the odd cut terrace here and there from the water when it was at full flow and not much else. Beyond that, though, another rise. Another scrabble up, a long one. One where she could get to the top, nice heavy rock in paw, and have one chance…
"You know," she mused. "Presuming you do win. -You won't really be considered a hero or anything."
"What, for falling the devil Kehaar himself upon the streets of the mightiest city?"
"Well, taking him down in whatever hidden cave or lab Rattigan has planned for his use. -Then getting taken in by the ZPD, Interpol, etcetera. Arrested for your many, many, many crimes… Probably deported back here to live the rest of your life in a lonely cell, alone…"
"And if I slip out into the night after my battle? Fall into the feuding packs of the great former criminal empires, rise through gunshot and knife as I did before, rise to the top?"
"That's a lot of work," she said. "A lot of things to go wrong. Again, starting with getting out of there…"
"I got out of such a place before," he smiled. "Despite rather precinct rumors to the otherwise, it seems."
"So you did," she agreed, approaching the next climb up. "We figured your body had fallen into the caves and tunnels the other side of that nest. Got lost in there. It was much a sore point to Felicity… -Your friend from training one, not the cannibal Pallas cat one."
He chuckled. "I always thought her name was Felicia."
"Oh, did you know?"
"He must use Felicity more often, who knows, such a strange thing for a so called great mammal like him to be trapped by."
"Oh, you think it's a problem he's in love," she tutted. "Then again, you were always too busy for romance."
"That, affection, loyalty. It makes mammals weak, as you so neatly demonstrated. I was enlightened that day, enlightened in the crawling horrors and pains of those caves, what followed. Ours is nothing more than a world of blood, flesh, pain and the oncoming end. Once I realised everything else was meaningless, I began my path to freedom."
"Freedom to probably die fighting a resurrected killer robo-owl?"
For once he paused, only to shrug it off. "Owl. Not what I expected, but just as exciting. Stop there."
She froze where she was, noticing that there was plenty of space around her as he circled, moving up to the next route up. Gun ever trained, he slid himself up to the top before gesturing at her to follow.
"I will say," she smiled. "You haven't lost anything. -Except an eye, your marbles, your cuteness."
"Why thankyou," he smirked, bowing a little before waving his gun. Up she moved, following behind him as they made their way up.
The next section was back to being tight, narrow, twisting, Lt Vixen pushed back to the front and marched along. As ever waiting, looking. Soon another short passage up came, the weight of the rock ever present.
She climbed up as ordered, only to pause as she emerged.
Clockwerk's visage glared down at her, along with a team of heavily armed mammals. She looked back at Woundwort as he pulled himself up. "You didn't expect an owl?"
The creature's scowling face was etched out and carved in a mosaic of bone, scale, feather and obsidian, great wings curving around a raised dais, brown stains on top and flowing down around to the water's edge. -Much of the throne room had been damaged by the ongoing flow as it had broken its banks, the bats no longer able to keep it intact. Beyond the stream, across a crumbling bridge, rose the mounds of the settlement, homes and roosts carved into the ceiling, walls and pillars, heavy mounds of guano long settled on the horizon like rolling hills. All across, water trickled down from the hanging calcite fangs like rain.
"I don't see species," Woundwort grunted, flicking his gun towards a large drone in front of them. "Just Keehar."
Lt Vixen began to move towards it. Large, eight rotors up top and a hanging, half enclosed basket below. She got partway before a loud cough stopped her. Looking back, Woundwort's revolver glistening in the light, he gestured at her to kneel at which point a mammal came out with a cable tie, holding her paws behind her and pulling them tight. A few pat downs at the pockets on her shorts and the trousers there, a few small bits of climbing equipment and a small knife were liberated.
She frowned. This, the drone, she calmed her nerves. With the latter she would have to find some solution, for the others. Whether she could with the former…
With another grunt she was pushed into the back cabin as it were of the drone, Woundwort and the pilot getting in the front. At the least, she told herself, her more private stash had gone undetected, the decoy's doing their jobs. She felt inside, moving things out and into some more accessible positions as the crew did some checks on the controls and the rotors began beating fast. The craft rose slowly at first as it tested itself, adjusted for the heavy weight imbalance, made itself secure in the air. Up front, the pilot flicked on some lights, cutting ahead, and began the slow crawl out.
Slow being a very relative term.
She was under no illusion that what would take minutes for them would take hours for her allies. Gritting her teeth, paw moving slowly around, her body shifted as they ducked and weaved through the main chamber and then into the ever tightening maw of the cave… -Waiting for when his eyes were turned, waiting for when he wasn't looking.
Down.
Around.
Pushing through.
Her claws felt it.
She felt herself get pushed into the bottom of her seat, the machine straining as it pulled itself up out of the near vertical shaft, water flicking and cascading around them.
Raising it up, feeling the weight.
Waiting.
Waiting…
Her eyes caught the rope lines going down the other way. -Abseiling down would be tricky, she'd have no safety line, it'd be pawpads on rope. And even with his gun, she'd be vulnerable. And exhausted when she got down and had to shoot herself out and walk back down. Back down to where they'd have already left if they had any sense.
Still, better than going up and fighting through whatever hoard there was there.
They tilted forward, pushing out into another wide cave and, to her horror, she thought she saw a glint of natural light far up ahead.
But a ridge was coming up, one they were going to clear, just barely. Feeling the rock in her paw, waiting, hoping…
Woundwort and his pilot were looking forward as they sailed just above some rocks and…
She punted it up, the slight rock in the basket followed by a clattering and a panicked shriek from the pilot as they pulled up before smashing and tumbling forward and over. She yelled as debris was thrown up at her, the roof rolling around and her head smashing in and…
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.
…
Her head swam and her vision stung as her eyes slowly opened.
In front of her lay the top of the drone, half buried in the same mound of dirt and rubble she was. The rotors broken off, wiring spooling out like disemboweled guts, she grit her teeth and began moving her arms, fingers, legs. Pushing herself out, her body aching, she glanced around. The pilot was still inside, clipped in. Woundwort was struggling somewhat, gun still in his holster. She was still cable tied obviously, and looking around for anything to cut her bindings.
No, first thing first, shuffle over, grab the gun, shoot him.
She began making her way over, glibly noting that this wasn't how she'd ever expect a reunion with her dear old partner to go. Even now, she didn't want this, but…
-Well, it wasn't like he'd left her with much choice, she noted.
Just as she noted, this would be her first time truly killing someone face to face. No directing things around, no firing off into the distance at some faceless mook. Here he was, moving around, mumbling, slowly getting up as she shuffled closer, a race for time as…
A few shouts came out and she looked up to see a few of his mammals race up and over. Coming over to grab them, hold them, push them along.
She suppressed a sigh.
At the very least, she'd be able to play up her injuries, fake a sprained ankle. Slow them up as they made the last push.
Woundwort shook himself as he got up, looking over at her and then the pilot. "Now," he grunted. "Was that you or him."
She paused, glancing at the ruins of the drone. "Or it was that. -In which case it got what was coming."
A grin grew across his bloodied face, only to twerk to one side as a radio fizzled to life. Looking over at one of his mooks, he grabbed it and spoke in. "Ah, slight drone crash, but… Oh, I have it. I have someone else too."
She strained to hear who or what was on the other side. Was it…?
"-Army vixen, not only that but someone very close to me in my previous sad little life. I'm quite delighted I was able to leverage her into giving herself and the item up."
He frowned as a bark of something came out, followed by an indignant look. "There's not much else I can do, is there?" With that he threw the radio far into the distance, the incoherent screams emanating out trailing off. He dusted his scraped and damaged paws before looking over at her. "Come, he wants to talk with you."
She forced herself to keep calm, crossing her fingers and starting to hobble along.
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.
"-Hello, is anybody…"
"-Carmelita!?"
The fox blinked back as she heard Skye's voice through the radio. They'd started cutting back up along the switchback ramp, having made their way past the sabotaged light and relays they'd previously left.
"Sí," she began, only to get cut off.
"-I think there's a link between this cave and the next, they worked it out and that we are…"
"I know!" Carmelita shouted. "Is the top still secure?"
"I… I'm halfway down, we couldn't get contact so…"
"Is it just you?"
"Yes," she said. "The others are still at the top."
"Even Wilde?" Carmelita asked, managing a small smile. "How did you ever manage to decide who went down to play hero?"
"Doug joked that we should flip a coin, we flipped a coin."
"Well he's useful for some things at least," she muttered, pausing to catch a breath. She settled down, letting Jack slide off her back. He was still a little shaky and unsure, but at this point she felt it worth trying to have him run. "-The 'General' himself made the slip in through the underground river. He snuck up on us, darted Jack to…"
"-IS HE OKAY!?"
"Tranq'd and drowsy, but he's good. But, listen, I don't know the details but this hare was someone your sister knew from her time in the Rangers or something…"
"What… -No, no, that's…"
"Well it very much is possible. And after we found the talisman by accident…"
"-You have it?"
"Yes!" Carmelita barked. "But we are on very limited time. Get everyone ready to move and shift the second we get up there, we're bugging out. We have one chance to make this work, and it may already be too late. Have you got that?"
"Yes, I… -Judy and Sweetie are okay, right?"
Carmelita sighed, standing up again. "Judy is. Your sister swapped herself for Jack."
A hoarse and near silent "what…?" trickled out the radio as Carmelita and Judy gave Jack a look, the hare blinking and shaking a little before the trio began running up once more, giving the odd stumble and shake but managing to keep up.
"As I said," Carmelita said. "Get ready to bug out the second we get there. I'll explain when I'm up, but we have one, one chance to make this work. And let us hope we're not too late."
"I… Okay… -Anything else I should relay up to the others."
"Do you have visual on the enemy?"
"We… We have a drone in a tree, yes."
"Keep it there, keep an eye on them and keep it ready."
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Lt Vixen blinked as she hobbled out into the light, the sun cutting through the trees, silhouette black alongside the assemblement of mammals. Tough battle worn locals, guns ready, they bowed slightly as The General emerged.
All bar one, a very out of place rat.
He walked over, big jowled face frowning and paws clenched. "I should suppose the army would want something to do with this?"
She smiled. "What can I say, it seems like our business."
"Like the other stuff you messed with. -I must say, thank you for disposing with those pesky arms dealers I had dealings with. You sorted quite a few things out for me, before creating a whole rats nest of other problems."
She twitched her head a little, giving a smile. "I thought that would be a compliment."
This time his face winced up and flashed red like a cartoon pressure cooker about to explode, only to just about be kept cool. Instead he blew out a huff of air, looking at the one-eyed hare. "You know maybe I should avoid contracting one-eyed mammals, regardless of how highly they come rated."
"As if I don't deliver," Woundwort spoke, marching forward and flicking the plastic bag up in one paw a few times before gripping it and tearing it open with his teeth. Dropping the coppery item into his paw, Rattigan glanced at it before gesturing down to a nearby rock.
"There please."
The hare did so, his smile ever increasing. "You know she believed I would have to go to Zootopia to see him rise, to gain my satisfaction, but if you know how to do so here, then I…"
He was cut off as Rattigan pulled out a small recoilless gun and shot it, the item sparking and spinning off into the distance, the dull plink of it cutting through the undergrowth and hitting the ground matched by the clatter of guns being pulled, triggers aimed back, breath being bated.
"If you have just done what I think you have just done," Woundwort growled, gesturing to one of his underlings to go in and find it. The small coati nodded, running off. "Then I will still get some satisfaction from this."
Rattigan yawned. "From what I gather, the Soeviets with their talisman tried everything short of strapping it to an atomic bomb to break it. Drills, grinders, presses, certainly bullets, it didn't make a scratch until they worked out how to disable its shielding."
Woundwort paused, shaking his head and frowning. "With a shock pistol, wasn't it? Like the one that sparked off it, in the cave?"
"The same that helped take down Clockwerk at Krakarov itself. Of course, the effect was only temporary. It's not like you permanently deactivate it." The rat looked over, eyes narrowing as the coati returned with what was left of the talisman, half the top cleaved off and wires spooling out. "So suffice to say," Rattigan growled, looking at it before turning to Woundwort and exploding. "THAT'S NOT IT YOU IDIOT! THEY SWAPPED IN A FAKE! JUST LIKE WHAT THEY DID WITH THE LAST ONE-EYED MORON TASKED WITH ACQUIRING THE REAL DEAL FOR THEIR SUPERIOR!" He then turned, pointing at Lt Vixen. "You…"
She smiled, bowing. "Guilty as charged," she said, before looking over to Woundwort. "The question really is, are you going to take that from him?"
"And that is a very good question," he said, looking down at Rattigan. "After all, I still have plenty of guns pointing at you."
If Rattigan was phased he didn't show it. "And I have the key to the one thing you want. The one thing I want. For as long as this temporary truce lasts, we need each other. And right here, you need me."
"Oh, do I?" he asked, leaning down and letting his eye bore into Rattigan. "I have an army. What do you have, Rat?"
This time Padriach visibly shook, fur spiking. "What do I have?" he asked, nostrils flaring. "I have… a stealth drone. A bullet proof, well armed, very deadly stealth drone that only I have the activation codes for."
"And…"
"-And right now, her friends," the rat spoke, pointing at Lt Vixen. "Will likely be out of their cave and racing down the mountain, with the real talisman. Get to their vehicles, push down back to the cities and out of our reach as fast as they can. Once they're there, once they've taken off, that's it, the lead's closed, and before any will open they'll be hunting down the remainder with the two they've got, robbing us of this forever! So, if you want your satisfaction you are going to come with me, we're going to fly over, hit them hard, take it from them… And at least get the satisfaction of seeing that meddlesome pin-up vix watch!"
He pointed at the Lt who shrugged. "I suppose I volunteered for leverage detail," she smiled.
"Oh, I look forward to wiping that grin off your face," Rattigan smirked, as he began waving her and Woundwort on. Gun to her back, she followed, the group passing through thick undergrowth until emerging next to a large camouflage sheet. Pulling it away, the stealth drone revealed itself, Rattigan punching in a code and opening a rear hatch. There wasn't much space, no light, only a gap looking into the front compartments held tight by netting. Gun at her back and with a squeeze, in she went, giving a shrug at Woundwort as he came over.
"What can I say?" she smiled. "I've still got it."
He looked at her blankly for a second before managing a smirk. "However infuriating, you are making this fun for me."
And with that the lid was closed down and locked. Woundwort looked over as Rattigan gestured at a few of his troops to pack in supplies, as if they were the rats own to command. The rodent then gave him a dismissive look, pointing at him to get in the middle compartment as the rat entered the pilot's cabin.
Inside, the doors closed tight, the hare looked around through the dim lights as the machine powered up. Rather than windows, tablet screens lit up with video feeds from outside, showing the world around them. A few firing points and slits were available, along with what looked like a heavier weapon selection system for the pilot.
The engine turned and spun into life, quickly followed by the whirring of the rotors as they began to lift off, debris and undergrowth kicked out as they strained up and into the air. "There's a drop-hatch, in the middle," Rattigan said, before looking over to some of the boxes and cases they had. Warning signs on some, air holes in others. "Let's treat our meddlesome passenger to some fun."
.
.
"Do you hear something?"
Their race down the jungle path ground to a sudden halt, all mammals turning to Jack. The second the three had emerged from the cave, the rest had begun to make their move back down, despite Skye's proterstations. It hadn't taken long though for even her to see the facts.
Their mission above all else was to stop Rattigan from bringing back Clockwerk.
Her sister had made a swap knowing that was the case.
Their job was to get the thing out and away before Rattigan realised the mistake.
They were not equipped to go up against anything like such a force, but the incoming Interpol forces, just taking off and less than a day away, were.
Let them handle the rescue, their job was to return the talisman home, whatever the cost.
So they'd started running downhill. Carmelita, Judy and Jack, already exhausted from their climb up, were carried by Murray and Tigress. The others race down alongside them, eyes on Skye in case she fell behind.
They were just approaching the most dangerous part, where the bridge had fallen through and they had to navigate up and around, when Jack heard it.
"Everyone, quiet," Carmelita whispered, gesturing at the crew to retreat back under some cover, tight. Glancing at Judy, she watched the bunny pull her ears around before gulping, turning to her and nodding.
"What about our one," the Interpol fox whispered, glancing at Skye as she pulled up the controls.
"I can fly it over, but it'd take time, it's not armed or anything, I… -I could try and fly it into a rotor or…"
"Or try and distract them," she said, turning to Murray. "You take over carrying Skye, okay?"
"Okay," he said, as Carmelita brought out and tested her shock pistol. "If he's far enough away, he'll duck and weave, but with that drone diverting his attention…"
"Or I just get a regular gun and shoot him," Doug said. "You know that's always an option, rather than lobbing a highly visible slowly moving electrical charge at him and hoping he doesn't have eyes or generally mediocre reaction skills."
The others turned to him before Judy sighed, reaching down to hand him a pistol.
"Nice! Got anything with more punch?"
Carmelita shuffled around in a gear bag and brought out a higher powered bolt rifle. "-Of course," she said, "this is assuming the thing isn't built out of kevlar or something. At least with this I might be able to fry his electronics."
"Gentlemammals," Nick hissed, turning as his ears pivoted. Finger to his lips, he and the others pulled themselves closer into cover as the far off whirr became a louder drone, soon followed by the black vessel itself hovering over, ever searching.
.
.
"This is how they got up," Rattigan growled. "This is how they made it." He peered in closer to his screen, looking over the faint trace through the jungle and the odd break. His eyes focussed on the small extendable ladder crossing the river where a bridge had once been. "Where are they? Where are they…" He pondered for a second before smiling. "You know, it doesn't even matter. -I… -Oh, Woundedworm?"
For the first time Lt Vixen saw a glare come from the hare's one eye.
"You know your special gift there," he said, pointing at a box before smiling. "Just in case they haven't crossed, let's pit that against them."
A set of chuckles rang out before Rattigan turned forward and flicked a switch, a second later his voice ringing out.
.
.
"Greetings you meddling swine!" All of the mammals looked out and up at the aircraft. "I have the chief meddler amongst you with me! So, I'm going to make sure wherever you are along this trail, you hear me. We're going to meet down at the base, where I presume your vehicles are camped out, and do a little hostage exchange. Your mammal, for my talisman! Sound fair?"
And with that he began to move on and over, down into the gulley and back up, repeating the message as he went.
It was Judy who spoke first. "He'll take out the vehicles."
"We can trek, we'll still be ahead of the land forces," Carmelita said.
"I…" the bunny began, as Nick spoke up.
"I'm with Judy," he said. "He's trying to hustle us, don't let him. If you can shoot him now…"
"If I miss," Carmelita said, leaning forward and gesturing over to the open patch ahead. "We have no cover, we'd be sitting ducks, trapped until his mammals get here."
"Or I just shoot them," Doug said.
"Well what about Skye's drone?" Murray asked. "How far away are you?"
The vixen, brow furrowed, looked up. "I'm… I'm getting close… But what if…"
"He won't be expecting an attack from above," Tigress said. "If we can get that thing here, modify it to force down the drone before it gets to where it's going, that could be our best shot."
All eyes looked around before Carmelita nodded. "While he's busy, we start crossing there too. And if he comes back, let us hope our shots are true."