-Nomads-

"Good morning, for those of you just joining us, there has been a series of explosions that rocked the Rainforest District during the early hours this morning. One of the major gondola lines that runs through the district has collapsed, and we are just learning now that it may have been a planned attack and not a mechanical failure.."

The story had hit the morning news outlets, and soon, word of the incident spread through the city like wildfire. Every major news channel was focused on the story as helicopters darted and bounced over the still-smoldering wreckage that dotted the Rainforest District.

"At this time, it is my grave duty to inform you that eight mammals have been confirmed killed, including seven transportation department workers performing routine maintenance and one civilian.."

The loss of life was tragic, but to the responders on scene, they felt it was a small miracle that the death toll had been as small as it was. As the responders sifted through the many miles of downed gondolas and wrecked lines that littered the streets, every available asset that the city had was now being sent to the scene to provide crowd and traffic control. Anyone with a badge or patch had been ordered to report to the Rainforest District Temporary Emergency Command Center, where they were dispatched accordingly.

Though they were still in training, Nick and Judy found themselves back on the street on perimeter duty. However, unlike the Tundra Town incident where the mood had been slightly light-hearted, this time Judy couldn't help but feel uneasy, her heart going out to the poor mammals that had lost their lives. While the bunny tried to keep the thoughts of the incident at bay, she was constantly reminded of what had happened every time she turned around and saw the twisted metal and snarled cables that had once been the District's gondola system.

"You alright, Carrots?" A slight nudge on her shoulder along with the familiar voice near her side roused the rabbit from her distressing musings. Judy glanced up and looked into a pair of warm green eyes, her lips immediately curling into a half smile as she stared up at her partner.

"I knew when I became a cop, I would have to deal with days like this, but… knowing it was going to happen doesn't stop it from being so…senseless," Judy admitted as she glanced back at the gondola behind her. Fortunately, they had not been assigned near any of the locations where medical teams had been forced to remove the casualties. The damage, though, remained a stark reminder of how eight mammals would never be returning home.

"I know," Nick said calmly as he reached over and gave his bunny partner a pat on the back of her vest.

Judy warmly smiled up at the fox, leaning back ever so slightly against her partner's paw as she went back to scanning the line of traffic in front of them. The occasional vehicle would slow to a stop, and they would see the flash of a camera as the lookyloos got their pictures of the carnage. Nick and Judy would stand a little taller when they felt the eyes of the public on them, and for good reason.

The pair had finally been outfitted with proper K-9 uniforms, Judy's of course, being a custom order. The requisition team had thought it was a joke at first until they got a surprising call from Chief Bogo that there was indeed a bunny now on the K-9 roster. Oddly enough, Bogo had been very involved even after Judy and Nick had technically left his precinct. It may have been out of pride but the duo assumed it was mostly out of necessity, as Nick and Judy had been somewhat left behind by their new K-9 command team.

It was quite telling that Judy felt her time spent at the Police Academy had been more welcoming than anything like the 'training' the K-9 leadership had gone through with them. Ember and Ace had also received the same cold treatment during their training and it wasn't until a few weeks in that the group realized that the hardest part of the job may not be looking for explosives but dealing with an incompetent and toxic management team. This wasn't to say that the rest of the K-9 unit was the same way, though. Far from it, actually.

While they had not necessarily met all the other detectors and handlers, most of them had made a point to swing by and introduce themselves. A few of them even offered tips or tricks on how to get through scenarios or offered unique pieces of equipment they had bought the newbies as gifts to welcome them aboard.

Ty, Delta, and Atom had stood out as the three canines took it upon themselves to train and prepare Nick, Judy, Ember, and Ace for the challenges ahead. This was why when Judy finally got her uniform, she felt like it was the final piece to her new job and that she was ready for whatever lay ahead. Which annoyingly was crowd control.

Nick, though, seemed all too pleased with the fact that they were getting paid to simply stand by and direct traffic. The fox raised his cup of coffee to the cars slowly lumbering past, occasionally using Judy as a leaning post as he rested his elbow atop her head, only for the doe to quickly jab at the fox's side. While it may have looked a little silly, Judy knew the real reason for the fox's hijinks and was secretly grateful. He was distracting her. Nick obviously knew that Judy was the type to feel for the loss of others but also wanted to get her paws dirty and help solve the mystery. Being stuck on traffic detail was kind of annoying. Sure, they weren't fully fledged K-9s yet, but they could still be doing more.

"So Trisha texted me last night," Nick said as he took a swig from his coffee.

Judy immediately beamed at the name of her new bestie. "Same."

"She used to text me all about you, ya know?"

Judy blushed and couldn't help but let her tail wiggle. "I mean, I am a pretty fun topic."

"Well, now all of her texts are about how dumb I am."

"That is also a pretty fun topic."

Nick smirked as he glanced down at the bunny, who suddenly felt very cautious about looking back at Nick, so she kept her eyes forward.

"Hmm…interesting."

Judy's ears immediately fell to the back of her head, and she rolled her eyes. Ever since that fateful text when Nick used the word "interesting," and Judy had panicked, the fox kept bringing up that same word to poke fun at the bunny. In fairness, Nick had every right to tease Judy as she had blown the whole thing out of proportion and now had to deal with Trisha constantly pestering him with some rather inquisitive texts.

"She texted me this morning," Judy began, hoping to change the subject as she unlocked her phone and showed Nick the text stream. The most recent one was that of Godzilla lifting up a hot dog stand and juggling it with a bus and a police car.

"Thats…umm…"

"I think it's cute," Judy chuckled.

Before she could lock the screen, though, Nick spied the text channel and let out a whistle, "How often do you two text?"

"Not important."

"Looks like a lot."

"Not important, Wilde!"

"Did I spy my name in there, too?"

"Keep it up, and I will tell her you are feeling left out, and she will start texting you more, too!"

The threat seemed to work, and Nick returned to sipping his coffee, although Judy could feel the smugness radiating from the fox. Judy had thought she would be used to Nick's sharp mind by now, but it still annoyed her how often he could see right through any facade she presented. Nick was, of course, correct, and he had seen his name in the text stream. Though this was mainly because, besides talking about world domination, how cute Judy looked, and breakfast food, Trisha's favorite topic was Nick and Judy and how she was scheming to make something happen.

Judy had to admit it was rather sweet but also tended to bewilder her; after all, for the longest time, she had heard Trisha had a bit of a crush on her, which the bartender bunny was more than happy to admit. This had taken Judy aback as she desperately tried to find a way to tell Trisha she wasn't really into does, but to her surprise, the dark brown bunny had simply silenced Judy with a gentle paw to the lips. Trisa explained that she was perfectly allowed to have a crush on the adorable bunny from the ZPD but also allowed to find ways to make Judy happy by hooking her up with Nick. Judy thought the sentiment was very thoughtful until Trisha admitted that it would also be fun torturing Nick by constantly flirting with his girlfriend, which earned a loud snorting laugh from Judy.

Nick's phone buzzed in his vest, and the fox glanced down, unclipping a small pocket and pulling the device out as he looked at the screen.

"Delta just messaged…" Nick mumbled as he stared down at his phone.

"See, Trisha texts me, and Delta texts you," Judy chuckled. "We both have our text buddies."

"He is 10-51 with the bosses…" Nick sighed. "Wanted to warn us because they are in a mood…"

"Who are our bosses again?" Judy cracked, a statement which had Nick smirking.

"Ty may be turning you into a K-9, but I definitely molded you into the perfect smug bun-bun," Nick chuckled as he returned his phone to his vest and patted it gently.

In Judy's defense, she had every right to be a little snarky when it came to her new bosses. They had done little to nothing to help the fox and bunny duo and, if anything, seemed to be a little annoyed to have been 'stuck' with a rabbit. Judy was grateful she had a partner like Nick to help her this time around, but she couldn't stop the thoughts that threatened to convince her she was going in circles with having to prove herself over and over again.

"Wait until Bogo hears about your influence," Judy chuckled as she watched several cars slowly rolling by. One sedan right in front of them rolled their window down and gawked at the wreckage behind the officers.

"Eyes on the road!" A startled gazelle snapped their gaze forward only to slam on the brakes as they nearly collided with the car in front of them. Nick glared at the offending mammal, who tucked their head back into their vehicle, the embarrassment obvious in the reddening of their cheeks.

"So commanding," Judy smirked.

"It was my good deed for the day; you can handle the rest, Carrots," Nick mumbled before taking another sip from his coffee.

"Nick…"

"Hmmm?"

"Where do you get all this coffee from?"

The fox raised his brow as he glanced down at the doe, who was giving her partner a quizzical look. The doe had a point; the fox always seemed to be sipping on a warm cup of caffeinated beverages whenever they were stuck in details like this.

"Ancient foxy secret."

"Foxy?"

"Fox…you know what I-"

Nick fell silent as he looked down at his partner, who was already rapidly typing out a message on her phone.

"Oh, come on, Carrots don-"

The pair were interrupted by a horn honking nearby, the duo looking up in time to see three ZPD K-9 vehicles pulling up nearby. The vehicles remained idling for a moment or two before one of them switched off, and a familiar pair of canines exited. While Judy had been a little hesitant on seeing the vehicles arrive, she couldn't help but beam as she spotted a familiar tan-painted dog, his bright yellow eyes narrowing in on Judy, who tossed her paws into the air.

Atom hurried over, a slight skip in his step, which was that much more amusing given the fact he was adorned in tactical gear similar to Nick and Judy's. When he was a few feet from Judy, the doe turned as she was scooped up and given a little twirl by the overly affectionate painted canine. While Atom was the type to get along with everyone he met, his bond with Nick and Judy had grown thanks to his help during their training. Delta and Atom had made a point of checking in with the newest members of their team almost daily. Delta would happily give tips and answer any of Judy's questions, while Atom would show Nick some new ways to pick up odors.

Judy was especially grateful to Atom for helping Nick, in a sense, break out of his shell. As a detector, Nick was expected to use his nose to find any suspicious odors, which meant, on occasion, he would have to get on all fours, which was considered by some to be a little childish and even taboo to some. Atom, however, had no problem hopping on all fours and showing Nick there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Thanks to his happy nature, Atom was able to help Nick overcome his hesitancy, for which Judy was grateful.

"Hey, buddy," Judy cooed as she got a quick nuzzle from Atom, only for someone to slam a door nearby, which caused Atom to tense up.

"Detector Delta, get a hold of your partner!" Came a bark from one of the vehicles nearby.

Delta, who was still strolling up, rolled his eyes as he turned to look back at a tall black wolf approaching the group.

"Sir, I am actually not a detector-"

"I didn't say you were now, did I?!" The wolf growled as he bared his fangs.

"You just did, sir-"

"That is not important; get Atom in line now!"

Delta shook his head as he turned back to Atom, who was already setting Judy back on the ground. He gave the doe an apologetic look, which made the bunny's heart sink slightly.

"It's alright, sir. Atom and I are good fri-"

"When you are on shift, I expect you to behave with the utmost professionalism; you understand me….?" The wolf began but trailed off as he approached, only to stop beside Delta and raise a brow.

"Hopps, sir, that is handler Hopps and detector Wilde-"

"Hopps! And I expect you to stand at attention when being addressed by a superior."

Judy and Nick exchanged looks before they both put their feet together and stood at attention, facing the wolf who had yet to introduce himself.

"And you are?" Nick finally let slip, which caused Judy to close her eyes for a second, wishing her partner could have laid off the attitude for just a second.

"I am Church, your commanding officer! You should know that!" The wolf growled as he stepped closer to the fox.

"Well, you see, we just haven't seen anyone from our so-called leadership, so it's hard to…" Nick, however, trailed off when he noticed Delta making a slashing signal with his paw, the painted dog standing just behind the wolf who was baring down on the fox and bunny duo.

While Nick was the type to stand tall against such bullies, he could see how Delta and Atom acted around this unfamiliar canine, and if the two teammates that he respected were worried, then he knew it was best to keep his silver tongue hidden for now.

"You need me to hold your paw during training?"

"I think what Wilde is saying is how he simply would have liked to meet the commander of the unit he had been accepted into, Church," Came a female's voice from just behind the wolf who towered over them all. Commander Westpaw came strolling around the wolf, wearing BDUs like the others, only hers were untucked and lacking a tactical vest, the plump coyote typing away on a duty phone in her paw. "Isn't that right, Wilde?"

Nick was about to say something that would probably get him in trouble, but a quick glance at Judy, who was still standing at attention, kept him from speaking his mind. The fox simply nodded, which seemed to be enough for the two new arrivals.

"Speaking of training, how are they looking, Delta?" Westpaw asked in a dismissive tone as she focused on the phone in front of her muzzle.

Delta blinked in surprise as he looked from Nick and Judy to the coyote, who was busy with her screen.

"Ma'am?"

"I asked how are they looking?"

Delta gritted his teeth and closed his eyes before taking in a deep breath. Judy watched the strange reaction and glanced at Atom for an answer; the painted dog beside her simply shook his head before his partner finally spoke up.

"They have shown great strides in their training scenarios and are ready for ride-alongs," Delta finally admitted before glancing at Nick and Judy, giving them both a smile and nod. "I would gladly volunteer to-"

"No time," Westpaw spoke as she put her duty phone in her pocket and finally looked at Nick and Judy. "We can't go into details right now, but recent challenges have forced us to move their deployment timetable up."

While Westpaw spoke, Church slowly walked around the duo, his nose twitching slightly as he sized up the pair. Judy felt uneasy as she listened to Church's pawsteps come to a halt behind her.

"Do I smell fear on you, Hopps?"

"I would be fearful too if I had someone like you behind me," Nick spoke up, which caused Delta to let out a snort and Atom to wince.

"You are already on thin ice, Wilde," Church growled as he glared down at the fox from behind. "Keep it up, and you are out of my program."

"Sir…do we really have that luxury?" Delta began to speak up but fell silent as Westpaw raised one of her paws.

"Church…" The coyote said sweetly. "The team has been working hard lately, not as hard as we used to but they have been strained by the overtime."

The wolf grumbled as he stood taller and looked from Nick and then to Westpaw. "You have a point; back when we started, it was a smaller team that worked more hours, and no one complained. That's when we had real canines, though."

As Church strode around Nick and Judy, they both noticed how Delta seemed rather tense, the painted dog's paws clenched into fists. That was until Atom made the slightest of snorts that caught his partner's attention. The way Atom looked pleadingly at Delta was enough to make the handler close his eyes and sigh, relaxing slightly as he stared at the ground.

"Get the necessary paperwork completed and have them active on the next schedule, if they aren't actually ready, then we will let fate decide," Church said as he strolled back to his vehicles without giving any of them a second glance.

Westpaw smiled at Nick and Judy as she put her duty phone away in one of her pockets. "Well, congratulations. Thanks to recent events, you all have been sped through training and are official K-9s."

Judy knew that any other type of fanfare would be a stretch, but she had not exactly thought her promotion would be so…well…

The bunny raised a brow as she glanced around, the wreckage of the early morning blast still behind them—vehicles idling nearby in the morning traffic. The only thing that gave Judy pause was how Atom stepped forward to stand next to Delta. The duo suddenly stood at a crisp attention as they smiled at Nick and Judy.

"Expect an email with your schedule. Get ready. We are still working overtime, so you will be expected to work those same shifts."

With that, Westpaw gave them a nod before strolling back to the exact vehicle Church had hopped into. Seconds later, the truck weaved into traffic, its lights flashing as it made its way through the sea of vehicles closely followed by another whose occupants hadn't even bothered to get out.

"Present arms!" Delta suddenly barked, which caught Nick and Judy's attention.

As one the painted duo before them gave them both a salute, which made Judy's chest swell with pride as she returned it, even Nick set his coffee down and gave his friends a proud salute. When Delta lowered his paws, Nick and Judy did the same, only to see the painted dog reach into one of his breast pockets.

"It's standard for the bosses to give you these, but they said they don't do this type of thing anymore," Delta began as he produced two silver-looking coins. He gave one to Atom, who beamed before suddenly hurrying over to Nick, who he was standing across from. Delta approached Judy and held out the coin to the bunny, who took it in her paws and gasped with delight.

The history of challenge coins and their uses is constantly debated. The shared fact was that individuals who served or worked for a particular agency were given these coins as a sign of what they had accomplished. They could then get more to trade to other agencies or give to those who had earned their thanks. In some cases, they would be used as a badge of honor, others for drinking games, and in rare cases, handed off to the family of fallen heroes as a sign of respect and remembrance.

"Now, don't go trading these off; these are rare. They stopped printing the silver, and now all we have are silly bronze ones. Folks eat them up, though," Delta explained as Nick and Atom shook paws. Judy, meanwhile, was mesmerized by the coin as she slowly slid a paw across the polished silver. On one side was the Zootopia Police Department shield, and the other had a blacked-out pawprint with a small bomb emblem in the center. "And don't let Church see them either. He doesn't know we raided the supply case and took a box of them a while back before he took the rest for himself. We saved them to give the newbies something to be proud of and remind them we are all part of the te-"

Delta was suddenly silenced as Judy propelled herself into the surprised canine's arms. While Atom was always the affectionate one, Delta was the type to respect boundaries, which meant he rarely hugged unless he knew it was right. This was one of those moments where it was alright. Judy held back tears as she gave her friend a little nuzzle and whispered her thanks.

Delta seemed rather bashful at first but patted Judy on the back before setting her down. Nick then approached and extended a paw, which Delta gladly took.

"Thanks, D," Nick said with a smile.

"Congrats, Wilde, Hopps, and welcome to the team."

Judy was over the moon about her new coin and what it meant. The doe constantly stopped to stare at it even long after Delta and Atom had left, the two painted canines having been summoned to go and congratulate Ember and Ace on their successful passing from trainee to newbie. It was roughly an hour before Judy received a stream of excited texts from Ember, who had been stuck on perimeter duty with Ace across the district.

"Judy! We passed!" Came an excited text followed by a selfie with Ember and Ace, both of them beaming as they held up their coins.

Not to be outdone, Judy quickly corralled Nick and made him take a quick pic with her, which she immediately sent out to Ember and some of her other chats.

While Judy busied herself by sending out some messages, Nick put his coin away before his ears twitched. The fox took a moment to glance back at the carnage behind them, and he felt his heart sink slightly. While he knew Judy and himself were ready to face whatever the city threw at them, he secretly wished that this hadn't been the cause of their promotion. The twisted metal that had once been a gondola with its damaged tether coiled around it was a haunting sight. Especially because it was this very type of gondola where Nick had let Judy into his life in ways he had never done before, it felt like a lifetime ago, but this same type of cable car was where Nick had told Judy about his past and how he refused to let mammals see that they got to him.

Nick felt a small tug on his sleeve and glanced down to see a pair of bright purple eyes looking up at him. The way Judy's gaze always warmed Nick's heart was a big relief especially right now. The fox must have had a pensive look on his muzzle because Judy tilted her head as she raised a brow.

"You ok, Slick?" The bunny in tactical gear asked as she stared up at her partner.

"Yeah, just a lot to take in. It's been a crazy day."

"Well, our relief is here.." Judy said softly as she nodded over at a newly arrived ZPD cruiser, a tiger and wolf stepping out of the vehicle and approaching.

"Sounds good; better see where they need K-9 next," Nick chuckled as he slowly strode past Judy, gently placing a paw on top of her head and rubbing.

Judy blinked as she looked up at the fox, a proud smirk gracing her lips before she blinked and playfully swatted Nick's paw away. The bunny, however, couldn't help but be excited at Nick's words; they were no longer just officers of the ZPD; they were now part of the K-9 team and were about to start their first day as a detection team.

While the impromptu meeting and promotion with Church and Westpaw was interesting, the briefing Nick and Judy got was another thing altogether. The fox and bunny duo received a text from Delta later in the day giving them the location of a mid-shift briefing that was taking place in a parking lot by a gas station in the Rainforest District.

Judy weaved their cruiser through the streets with ease, and Nick enjoyed the life of a detector and insisted he needed to "save his energy" for the important detection work. Judy gave her partner a playful scowl whenever he pulled this card, but she had to admit it was amusing. It was easy enough to find the rally point where they were all meeting. Several K-9 vehicles were idling in the parking lot, and the K-9s milled about. When Judy and Nick pulled up, several of the canines present turned and began to applaud.

After the meeting with Church, Judy had been a little worried about how the rest of the team may treat her, but as it turned out the K-9s were actually rather welcoming. When the bunny hopped from their cruiser and approached, several of the other officers present approached and extended paws to the doe, who happily took them. Nick was receiving a few pats on the back and even some impromptu tips from some of the detectors.

"Knee pads, they get you any yet? No, I got some spares in one sec," a coyote said as she inspected Nick's uniform before hurrying back to her vehicle.

"Remember to stretch before a search and keep some heating pads in your duty bag, not those paw warmers though they give at the precinct, those have a chemical that matches nitrate odors," Came advice from a wolf.

Nick wasn't the only one receiving quick tips from his new teammates. Some of the detectors also chatted with Judy and gave her tips like the importance of carrying two types of flashlights and how a laser pointer could illuminate trip wire if used right.

"Snacks, always carry some snacks for you and your detector," A tall, jet-black wolf said as he pressed a bag of trail mix into Judy's paws. "The one with cranberries tastes best and gives some extra energy. Never know when you are stuck at a long search, ya know."

"Can bunnies do energy drinks?" A cute dhole asked as she strolled alongside Judy towards several other officers in similar K-9 BDUs. "Wait….is that rude to ask?"

Judy let out a friendly laugh and shook her head. "We can do some types."

"Energy drink powder then, pop it into a water just in case, seriously caffeine is your best friend now, especially on swing shift because we always get extended," The dhole explained, at which point Judy noticed the bags under the poor canine's eyes.

After Nick and Judy had been thoroughly showered with friendly advice and gifts, they gathered with the others in a circle around one of the idling K-9 vehicles. A brown timber wolf whose uniform looked rather crisp albeit stretched from his size was bobbing his head as he scrolled through his phone. All eyes were on the canine for a moment or two before Delta who was standing next to the wolf, gave the larger predator a slight nudge.

"Hill?" Delta grumbled.

"Hmmm? Oh, right," The wolf said as he let out a sigh and looked up, his eyes going to Judy, which caused him to laugh. "Oh, so she hasn't been scared off yet?"

"No, in fact, she was just made an official K-9," Delta said proudly, though there was a fire in his eyes as he looked at the wolf.

"Wow, well ok then," The wolf said as he put his phone away. "So let me introduce myself to you newbies-"

Judy was temporarily distracted as she felt a slight nudge against her arm. The doe turned to see a beaming Ember who had just arrived for the briefing, an excited-looking Ace standing at the edge of the crowd beside Nick. Judy beamed before looking back at Hill, who didn't seem phased by the new arrivals.

"My name is Hill. I have been with the team longer than most in this circle, so I have the experience necessary to be one of your trainers-"

"Shouldn't we have met you during training then?" Nick asked from the back.

There were a few chuckles in the circle as a few eyes went back to Nick. Judy, however, did not look back at her partner as she was too busy wincing at her fox's bold nature. Delta meanwhile put a paw to his muzzle and looked away from Hill, who simply ignored the comment.

"Trainers in this unit are like supervisors for the shift as most of us don't have a rank," Hill continued. Delta, however, looked at Judy and Ember and gave the shortest of shakes of the head, signaling this fact wasn't exactly true. "So, if you have any issues, bring it to us."

Delta shook his head again.

"I was briefed on the situation, but there isn't much to tell, really," Hill continued on as he leaned against his vehicle. "There has been a blast, and some mammals are dead, simple as that. We are to continue to train on all materials. I will be setting up peroxide-based training since none of you have the clearance to handle that material, and I do."

Delta rolled his eyes, and Judy let out the softest of giggles, which caused the wolf to zero in on the bunny.

"What's funny?"

"Nothing, sir," Judy said quickly, which seemed to be enough for Hill.

"Wait, so no idea about the materials used yet?" The dhole from earlier asked.

"What about the convention of detonation?"

"Materials used for securing? Adhesive or nothing at all?"

Question after question was shot at the bored-looking wolf, who simply shrugged.

"They are aware, but per Church and Westpaw, only the trainers need to know, this is about clearance and keeping you all from focusing on the particular material, you need to stay sharp on all."

"We will but if we know what was used, it might help stop a future issue," Ace spoke up, several other K-9s nodding in agreement.

"Listen, I was told not to tell you all, so unless you have a source-" Hill began before all eyes went to Delta, who immediately looked panicked.

Hill took notice of this, and he, too, looked at Delta as the painted dog shook his head in worry at his fellow canines. "I don't know what you all are looking at me for!"

"Please, Delta?" The dhole asked before she looked over at Ember and Judy. "Quickly put on cute faces, he is a sucker for being a helpful paw."

Judy raised a brow but couldn't help but smirk as she looked over at Delta, and tilted her head, and batted her eyelashes. She had recently heard that Delta may have had a bit of a crush on a certain bunny at the 10-,7, and seeing as Judy had spent some time with the doe, she had already picked up a trick or two. Ember put her paws together under her chin and pouted.

"Arg!" Delta groaned as he put a paw to his eyes before rolling his neck and looking upward. "Fine!"

With that, Delta trudged a few feet away and pulled out his cell phone from a pouch on his vest.

"Why did we have to look cute?" Judy asked the dhole as she and Ember looked over. "Shouldn't we try and use what contacts we have to…?"

The dhole let out a sigh and nodded at Hill, who was focusing on Delta, the fur on his neck erect as he licked one of his canines.

"Whatever you do in front of Hill, you are pretty much doing in front of Westpaw as he reports to her constantly," Came a whisper from one of the handlers behind Judy. "Delta is taking one for the team right now."

Judy felt her ears droop as she watched Delta walk back and forth nearby as he chatted on the phone. Her eyes then caught a glance of Atom, who was doing something she had never seen before; he was glaring at Hill. The normally friendly and goofy detector had a scowl on his muzzle as his yellow eyes were fixated on the trainer, who was staring at the painted dog's partner.

A minute or two later, Delta let out a laugh to whoever he was talking to on the phone before signing off. He then walked back to the group, his eyes not going to Hill for obvious reasons until he was standing next to the wolf. At which point he glanced over at Hill, whose expression softened, but it was obviously all an act.

"With your permission," Delta mumbled.

"Do what you feel is necessary," Hill said as he folded his arms and leaned back against his truck.

"We were very lucky on this one," Delta began as he placed his phone away and put his paws behind his back. "According to my source, it was a timed detonation, but it appears whoever set this up didn't communicate properly as two devices were intact and were recovered, and from the looks of it, one was set for 1730 while the other was set for 5. The assumption was that this attack was supposed to go off at 1730 hours or 5:30 pm, which would be-"

"Rush hour…" Someone in the crowd said aloud, which caused all the canines present to go silent.

Since the devices had gone off in the early hours of the morning, there had not been many mammals on the road or using the gondolas. Had they gone off during rush hour, the damage and loss of life would have been catastrophic. Judy felt her stomach knot at the thought of all the citizens who would have been caught in the storm of destruction.

"So some of the devices were recovered?" Ember asked as she stared in shock at Delta who nodded.

"Apparently, some of them failed. We also got lucky as both devices were very similar in nature, which creates a baseline on materials used. No adhesive on these; they were strapped via velcro to their spots. Explosive is good old Zemx2."

"Who still uses that stuff?" Came a laugh.

"Material from old wars, stockpiled at some defunct bases maybe, but not considered viable compared to the new stuff," The dhole whispered to Ember and Judy, who looked a little confused. During their training, they had all taken the time to study the different explosives used around the world, but with so many variants and new materials on the market, it was hard to keep track of every single one.

"They found trace materials of Zemtex, though, so we should focus on that family of materials. Peroxides should take a back seat on training for now; I feel-" Delta began but cut himself off as he looked at Hill, who had a bored look on his face after a second or two, Delta looked back at the team. "ZBI is very concerned and has requested we begin searching other transport hubs immediately before rush hour today."

The canines all seemed to shift and look at Hill, who had a surprised look on his face, "Uhhh, sounds good. How many hubs are there?"

The dhole let out a loud groan before she stepped into the center of the crowd of handlers and detectors. "Right, I will call my buddy at the Zootopia Transportation Authority and get a proper list of their main hubs, but for now, we have the big 4."

"We will take Saharha Rail and Sand Ferry service," Came a gruff call from the back of the group as several canines headed to their vehicles.

"Tundra Town Snow Line and Gondla, we got them," Came another voice.

"Rainforest still has the airships, we will take those," The dhole said before looking at Delta.

"New pack members, and I have Central," Delta said with a grin.

Several other teams broke off to head to various other locations, some shouting how they would text statuses while others gave their fellow K-9s quick salutes or waves.

Nick, Judy, Ember, and Ace followed Atom and Delta as they headed over to their own parked vehicles.

"Well, looks like you lot are really facing the trial by fire," Delta chuckled with a toothy grin as he stopped just short of his truck and turned to face the eager group of fresh handlers and detectors.

"Do most briefings go like that?" Nick asked with a smirk.

"Actually, that one was more productive because Hill just let us do our thing," Delta shot back.

"Are you going to get in any trouble?" Judy asked, her ears drooping slightly forward.

"Probably," Delta shrugged. "I get in trouble a lot, though. They yell at me. I have Atom give them a hug, and then we get back to work."

"Doesn't seem fair," Ace mumbled.

"No one said life was fair," Delta said with a laugh. "Now, let's get to it, Nomads!" Everyone stared at Delta, who took a moment to laugh, "Sorry, that was our old call sign. Since we are rather nomadic around Zootopia, they used to call us Nomads, but now we go by Wanderer, but that sounds funny over the radio."

"So what do we go by now, then?" Ember asked excitedly.

"Whiskey," Delta said as Atom threw his paws into the air.

Nick let out a loud laugh, which made all eyes go to the fox who had a sly smile on his muzzle as he stared at Judy, whose cheeks grew a rosy red.

The reason for this reaction was the fact that whiskey had been the drink of choice the last time they had all gone out, which led to the "interesting" fiasco.

"Whiskey isn't that interesting," Nick said as he winked at Judy.

"We have a transport hub to search!" Judy announced as she pointed to her cruiser, the other canines sharing a laugh as Nick hurried after his bunny, who refused to look back.

Hey there!

It has been a while, I know. Life has really gotten busy for me lately, as I have changed careers only for that career to suddenly go really crazy.

Also, a little note. I am not sure if I have posted this before, but I used to be a K-9 handler before changing careers, and yes, my specialty was EOD. Was I the best of the best? No. I still had lots to learn, but I knew a lot.

With that in mind, I am aware of how this stuff works along with actual materials used in the real world, which is why I changed some things when it comes to actual materials, how they work, and what they do. I do this because while realism is neat, I don't want to give away a ton of trade secrets and also how one could go about causing such terrible destruction. The same goes for the training; I brought in some of my own experiences but have left out a ton of stuff.

So, all you experts can stop messaging and trying to correct me now. This story skirts the line of real scenarios and fiction, but in the end, I hope you are enjoying it.

Till next time!

-Blue