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.

The Force, part 2
“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 he 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 had 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 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 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!