The Force!

The scene
was chaotic and confused. Crime scene tape was draped everywhere. The slick
black van pulled up in front of the building. Several of the military police
could tell that the local officials were too scared to even enter the building.
Sargent jones brought the larger truck right up to the tape. 

This was the
third time in less than two weeks that members of the armed forces had run
amuck in a civilian bar. After the first one the general had assigned his most
respected officer to find out what was happening. There was a rumor that a
group who had opposed the end of the war, was trying to start it all over
again. Col. Samual Smith was known by the hybrids as Gnarl for his habit of
growling at people when he got upset. The Humans under his command just called
him sir. He was large for a full human.

“They are
ours sir!” The young soldier saluted as he spoke.

“What do you
mean they are ours?” The older officer stared at the youth.

“Sargent
Davis and Master Sargent Fang, sir!” Samual stopped in his tracks and his eyes
got wide.

“Shit! If
they have been drugged like the others then we have a problem!” The officer
waved back at the larger transport. He watched as several of the largest troops
he had ever commanded almost had trouble getting through the door of the
vehicle. They were wearing armor gear and had stun batons and side arms.

“These are
our people, so be careful, they are combat hardened. Med techs, I want blood
samples immediately! I want everyone who was in that bar held for questioning,
No exceptions, none!”

He has
yelled the orders loud and clear. The largest of the troops pulled down the
mask on his helmet and took a deep breath then rushed in through the door of
the bar. There were unconscious people all over the floor. Tables were smashed
and broken glass was everywhere. At the far end of the room the two stood
shoulder to shoulder with a small and frightened female hybrid behind them.

The two saw
the troops enter the door and laughed at each other, then downed the remainder
of their drinks. They were ready to defend the female. The soldiers did not
approach. Col. Smith sighed and then entered just behind the troops in armor.
The larger troop shrugged and wondered what would happen if…

“Officer on
deck!” He shouted and the troops all stood at attention, including the two at
the end of the room. Col. Smith smiled and went with the flow to see what would
happen. He walked over to the two.

“Master
Sargent, report!” The officer put his hands behind his back.

“Sir, we
have saved the girl! Those men tried to do unspeakable things to her!” The
master Sargent pointed at the five motionless bodies on the floor. Samual noted
that they were all wearing the same outfit. Pointed cowboy boots, blue jeans,
and white shirts with embroidered rope designs.

“At ease
men! Now girl, do you know these men?” Samual did not get any closer.

“They are
the reapers! They have taken many of us to their ranch, and….and…” She started
to cry hysterically. Col. Smith turned to face the two men and the girl, just
in time to watch them fall down to the floor. He waived for the medics.

“Guard the
girl! You are not to let anyone near her! I want one of our troops to stay with
her at all times even when she goes to the bathroom! Take everyone back to base
and make sure this lot are in irons!”

Col. Smith
was a shrewd officer and had in fact been preparing his troops for the last few
weeks.

“We have our
rights, Fur-Ball!” The largest of the human males was yelling at the small
female hybrid guard. She stood on the far side of the space between the wall
and the bars of the cell.

The gaze of
her steel blue eyes made the humans very uneasy. They could see that she was
one of the northern wolf hybrids. The uniform she had on was that of an elite
ranger. Above her left pocket were several rows of combat medals. There was a
small nick out of the top of her right ear. The male noted that unlike all the
other hybrids he had ever seen, this one’s tail never moved. In fact she showed
no sign of any reaction to anything he said or did. The sudden clank of the
large metal door at the end of the row of cells drew the human’s attention. The
door opened and in walked a very large Tiegre male.

He was
dressed in the same sort of uniform and had even more medals. This one however
was an officer. Behind him was an enlisted man pushing a cart with the evening
meal for the prisoners.

“Oh great,
another Fur-Ball!”  The large human was trying to distract them by being
annoying so that he and his friends could escape. The hybrids smiled and the
female could tell that the Tiegre wanted them to try. He really wanted a reason
to tear a couple of them to shreds.

“Gentlemen,
before you try something really stupid, I should inform you that these bars are
the only thing keeping you alive at this moment. You see, one of the females
who went missing recently, is her sister!”  The female guard started growling
and bared all her teeth and let some drool fall.

The major
was himself startled by her for a second.

“So if you
wish to keep all of your parts, I would stand way back from the bars!”

He waited
until they had moved back and then allowed the food to be served.

After the
meal was completed, the large officer returned and the trays were taken out.

He closed
and the locked the door to the cell.

“Col. Smith
will be talking to each of you separately, and if I were you, I would tell him
everything he wants to know!”

“We have our
rights! I want to see my lawyer, NOW!” Yelled the obnoxious male.

“Actually
sir, you are currently in the custody of the Hybrid defense unit of the U.S.
Armed forces.

You are
currently facing charges of terrorism and slavery. You have no rights, none at
all!”

He took
great pleasure in telling the human idiot the truth of his predicament.

“The Col.
holds your lives in his hand right now. If he so desires he can have you shot
on the spot as terrorists!” The Tiegre smiled and started to laugh.

“Maybe, he
will just let this one uh…ask you questions.” He gave the female guard a look
with one eyebrow up.

She started
to growl again.

“Uh, maybe
not a good idea if we want any actual answers.”

Early the
next morning the humans were awoken by the sound of the large metal door once
again opening. This time the Officer was followed into the cell block by
several officers and well armed guards.

The humans
noted that the one who seemed to be in charge was a large human.

The
obnoxious male noted for the first time that the wolf’s tail moved ever so
slightly at the sight of the human officer. In the back of the cell sat one
human who had through this whole thing, been very quiet. He shifted in his seat
and waited to see what the, would be leader, would do.

The Col.
Walked up to the door of the cell and was about to speak when the loud mouth
started shouting at him. The Human officer just stood there and let the idiot
yell for a time.

“Now, if you
are quite done yelling?” He turned to the large Tiegre officer at his side and
sighed.

“Take this
one out and shoot him! He has no value to us!” The human officer stepped aside
as the guards, a large pair of bear hybrids stepped forward, chuckling. The
Tiegre opened the cell and the two guards handled the human as if he were no
more than a rag doll. All his kicking and screaming was meaningless.

The Col.
Waited with his hand to his ear. They could all hear the screaming coming
through the window.

Then the
Human smiled as he heard the sound of multiple guns going off at the same time
and the silence that followed.

“Now, as I
was about to say, we have already confirmed what your group has been doing. If
you decide to cooperate we will, eventually, turn you over to the local
authorities for trial. If you decide not to, then you will meet the same fate
as your friend!” Col. Smith waited for a moment and looked down and sighed.

“Very well,
I shall …uh… ask each of you questions one at a time! I will start with…” He
looked to see who was the most frightened and who would be the toughest to
break.

The Tiegre
officer walked back in and was trying to wipe blood from his shirt.

“Major, next
time don’t stand so close! You’ll have a hard time getting that clean.”

The quiet
one from the back stepped forward and gave the Col. His most evil stare.

He then
turned back to the others and shook his fist.

“Cowards!
The lot of you, Cowards!”

The large
Tiegre officer grabbed his arm and dragged him out the door.

The rest of
the men seemed really scared when again they heard screaming and then the guns
followed by silence. The human Col. Turned to the female guard and smiled.

“Don’t eat
any of them, we still need to ask a few questions!” He shook his head and
walked out.

     The
loud-obnoxious human awoke to the sound of laughter. He was unable to move and
his head hurt. He opened his eyes and tried to struggle but all he could do was
lay there.

“Man, I
would never want to get the Col.’s bad side! Our human can be very
frightening.” The larger of the two hybrids opened the door as he looked back
at his friend.

“You should
have seen the look on the others faces, I swear a couple of them shit their
pants!”

The two
started laughing again, they suddenly stopped and came to attention.

The prisoner
could now see himself reflected in the side of the van interior. He was bound
hand and foot like a cow at a rodeo. He had a gag in his mouth so he could not
even yell.

“How long
can we hold him sir?” The guard was not sure of what to do with the prisoner
now.

The Col.
Reached into the van and tugged the chains to make sure that the prisoner was
secure.

“According
to military law and precedent, since he is a suspected terrorist, forever!”

The Col.
Took a deep breath and looked out across the field at the main base.

“For now
leave him chained and put him in the solitary can. If these guys did what I am
told they have, then it will seem like the Grand Hotel compared to what he will
get.”  The Col. Slammed the door to the van closed and walked over to his
transport.

      Col.
Smith walked into his office and sat down at the desk which was almost hidden
under a mountain of paper work. Across from him the quiet human from the cell
sat sipping a cup of coffee.

The aid then
brought in a cup for the Col.. 

“Here you go
sir! One sugar!” The aid handed the cup to him.

“Thank you
corporal!” The officer then took a sip and closed his eyes for a moment.

“So, Major,
were you able to get the full lay-out of the ranch?” the Col. Started to read
the hurried report.

“Yes, but we
have to move fast to save those girls! They plan on selling them into the sex
trade within the next couple of days.”  The Col. Suddenly frowned at what he
was reading in the report.

“I am not
liking what this part says, major! Was it really required? That poor girl”

“I explained
it to her as best I could and she agreed to, so long as I promised to rescue
her and the others!”  The major swallowed hard and stood up.

“Understood,
now let’s get this operation in motion. I have the team ready to move as soon
as you brief them on the lay-out. Oh, and Major, you will personally be leading
the team to rescue the prisoners!”

“Thank you
sir!” The pair walked into the large briefing room and headed for the front.

The major
looked around and saw that the men were heavily armed and not a one of them had
any stun weapons. This was to be a surrender or die action!

Battle at the Ranch

Col. Smith
walked up and down the ranks of his troops. He made sure that every one of them
was properly equipped for the battle ahead. He made sure that they all had on
full battle armor and extra ammo packs. The Wolf hybrids of the rangers would
be the first to move in. They would take out the outer guard posts and then
encircle the main compound. On his command they would do everything they could
to draw the attention of the guards. At that point the tiegre and Kodiak
hybrids of the main force would drop directly into the center of the compound.
Team one would take out the guards and open the main gate. Team two would take
out the main power and the backup generators. Team three would move quickly on
the command area in the main house. While all of this was going on the Major
would take a small group of Special Forces and enter the escape tunnels. They
would proceed to the prisoner cells and rescue the girls that were being held.
The Col. had a hard time not getting upset at the thought of what those poor
creatures had been through. Because of the nature of this operation the main
battalion was standing by with tanks and attack helicopters.

“Alright
men, I am about to give an order I have never given before!” He took a deep
breath and in a loud voice nearly shouted.

“If you meet
any resistance, shoot first and sort it out later! These idiots are slavers,
slavers on American soil! I want no casualties amongst our people. Try not to
kill too many of them!” He had said that last comment a lot softer than the
rest of the orders. He sighed and looked down at his watch. 21:30 hours.

He knew that
by now the Major and his troops should be entering the tunnels under the
compound.

The old
officer wanted the head fool, the Human who had put all of this together, the
idiot calling himself The Prophet. He had gotten a great deal of information
from the prisoners and had not had to lift a finger to any of them, except one.
He nodded for the wolf pack to start their move.

The first
guard post was secured without a shot. The second had gone down with only a
small skirmish which had lasted less than a minute. The wolves were now moving
to surround the compound.

The older
officer then gave the order for the wolves to move and signaled for the jump
troops to move in. The wolves circled the compound and started to howl. The
spot lights of the guard towers came on and gave away their positions. The
explosions woke the entire compound as the Kodiak troops took out all of the spotlight
towers. The main house started to light up when the main power went out with an
explosion of the main transformers. The backup generators came on but did not
last long against Han grenades. The old officer was very impressed at how
quickly and smoothly this was going until a little glitch presented itself.
From a shack at the back of the compound what looked like a tank came crashing
out at the Kodiak troops. It was in fact a bulldozer that had been armored and
had gun ports and a small cannon turret added. The Kodiak troops and the Tiegre
took cover and in less than five minutes the gun ships moved in and took it out
with a barrage of anti-tank missiles. The Tiegre had stormed the main house and
caught many of the slavers in a state of confusion and with their pants down
both figuratively and literally. They searched the command area and the whole
house but there was no sign of the one called the prophet.

In the
tunnels under the compound the Major and his troops had only encountered a few
guards who were quickly taken care of. When they arrived at the cell area they
found that half of the girls were gone. They secured all the prisoners they
could find and waited for the rest of the military forces to secure the
compound. The Major was so upset that he had grabbed one of the guards and
tried to beat the information out of him. After breaking the poor guys right
arm and left leg one of the special forces troopers grabbed the Major and
blocked his way to the prisoner.

“Let him
speak, sir!” They both looked at the prisoner.

“The prophet
took them! About an hour ago, he headed for the camp in the hills about 80
miles to the north. Son of a bitch, abandoned us!”