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More from Hyashi
Finally, Part 2 is unveiled!
Jake is mine, don't steal him from me!
Tiladon and Jessica are owned by
scytherwarlock Don't steal them either.
Enjoy!
Winter’s Bite
Part 2: Cold War
“ETA to Black Rose Moscow is in one hour. Status?”
“Jake here. Rifle is checked, cleaned, upgraded, and loaded. Emergency supplies are all accounted for.”
“Rachel here. Portable radio is functional on all channels. Emergency Extraction Beacon operational.”
“Good. I hope that last one doesn’t need to be used, though I’ll be in standby anyway.”
“The whole mission?” Jake asked.
“Affirmative. I am a transport, nothing sucks more than needing extraction, and your ride is a planet away.”
“I’ll take your word on it.” Jake said as he nodded.
“So, what is an Arctic like yourself doing here?”
“I’m from Tel’lichar.”
Rachel’s eyed widened, “You’re one of them? Were you there?”
“I was….kind of. A hunting party never returned from its routes, so me and a friend of mine informed the Elder. The Elder sent her out and teleported me away. I ended up on a hill with blood soaking the snow. This rifle was in the center.” Jake said, gesturing to his rifle. “So, what is a beautiful vixen doing here?”
“I was going to school for mediation and communications, but that fell through when negotiations turned into flame and violence. My sire fought, while my mother sent me to live on the college. Black Rose took an interest when a gang broke into the school, and I talked them out of it. Black Rose promptly picked me up, and I’ve been working as a comms operator/hacker since.”
“Neat story, but we’re ahead of schedule. We’ll be arriving at Moscow in 10 minutes. Get your shit together, and let’s stop this thing from going down.”
“Alright! Let’s go!” Jake said, grabbing his bags of equipment. The portal to the outside slowly opened, and the temperature instantly changed. Jake smiled, “Amazing…. I love this weather!” He walked outside and greeted a strange breed of Foxtaurs, named the Wintertaurs.
Wintertaurs are the perfect mix of an Arctic Fox, and a Foxtaur. Their fur was particularly thick, and constantly white. Their tails were large and fluffy, and their eyes were generally blue. As such, they never moved outside, because their fur never changes color.
The Wintertaur of the Moscow Black Rose walked up to the two. Upon seeing their coats, he bowed, “Hail to the white coat”. He spoke with a heavy accent, almost speaking Russian.
“Hail.” Rachel and Jake said at the same time.
“I will lead you to the Base. Follow Vladimir, for I know the way.” Vladimir spoke.
The two followed Vladimir to a large hill of snow. Rachel's tail was coiled around herself, while Jake was smiling, obviously enjoying the weather. The three eventually found a small hill, showing an armored door. Vladimir put his right hand on a small box, and the door slid open, allowing the other two inside.
Jake and Rachel walked into the base. It was full of Wintertaurs, but no one really minded at the sight of the other two white coated bipeds. Vladimir lead them to a large room, full of computers and radios. Rachel smiled and found her spot. As she set up, Vladimir lead Jake back out side to a patch of trees. “You will stay in this area. Find any tree formation, and stay. You have 10 minutes.” And he walked away.
Jake found a nice tall formation of trees that overlooked the base. He climbed it with his winter tree camo on. The radio in his ear came on with Rachel's voice.
“Holy shit, I can't even see your heat signature! I only know where you’re at because of the name I see above your head on this screen!”
Jake smiled and said, “Mission start?”
A missile firing told Jake just when he needed to shut up. He looked as the missile screamed towards the base. As Jake took aim to shoot it, he saw the snow open up to reveal anti-missile turrets. One fired it's salvo of tiny missiles, and the larger one blew up. Jake took aim at it's origin and switched to first person feed.
“Thanks, we see it now. Wait, are those Iron sights your using?”
“Yep, it helps. Makes the target easier to hit.”
“Whatever works. But, keep in mind, they are attacking with everything they have.”
“I know.”
Two Months later.
The battle was a relatively clean one. Jake killed 90% of everything, the final 10% being aircraft, though he brought one fighter down. He and Rachel frequently talked, and just as frequently, the two were left to defend the base alone, while the Wintertaurs organized an attack. Such an occasion was happening as Rachel spoke.
“You need another name besides Simo.” Rachel said over the comm.
Jake just got settled in his tree as he said, “I'm open for suggestions.”
“Well, do you have some kind of signature move?”
“Other than killing people in the head, no.....”
“You know, I heard of a chemical that you can put in your blood to change it's color. It would be amazing if you put a black dye on your bullets, making the enemy bleed black. You could be called the Black Plague!”
“That sounds interesting, though I'm going to go for white.”
“White?! Why?”
“Well it matches my fur, for one. Two, I could call myself the White Death.”
“I see. I also see you have a Mammoth coming right for you.”
“Missile?”
“Worse, the tank.”
“Wonderful. I guess AP rounds don't work?”
“Nope, you'll have to stall it until the heat turrets get up.”
“I can do that. Wait, is there any other bogey?”
“Nope, the enemy is confident you'll be crushed under the Mammoth's mighty treads.”
“Better idea then.” Jake jumped out of cover and hit the snow. He crawled over to the tank unnoticed, climbed on it, and looked for the hatch. As he found it, he fired an AP round inside. A scream confirmed his kill. Jake opened the hatch and killed everyone inside. He then turned on his comm, “Rachel, need directions on how to drive!”
“What??!?! You stole a Mammoth? Uh...here.”
A screen appeared in front of Jake with easy directions: Throttle moves, button shoots.
“I can dig this….” Jake said as he maneuvered the massive vehicle 360 degrees around. “Rachel, bring their comms up, tell them that you give up. The base is empty. Start a fire on the roof, using black smoke.”
“You’re a dick, you know that right?”
“Hey, they were dumb enough to send this alone….I’m going to show them their idiocy.”
“Affirmative, captain dickhead.”
“Would you have me any other way?”
“Nope. Fire is started. Enemy base is re-operational. I’ve shut down our satellites and informed the Wintertaurs, they like this idea. The enemy code to get in to their gas chambers is R3-F3U7-P73453”
Jake laughed, “Thank you. I’ll be back in an hour.” As he finished, he rolled the Mammoth tank towards the enemy base. Upon arriving to the entrance of the gas chamber, he was asked the code. To which he replied: “R3-FU37-P73453.”
The door opened to reveal large gas canisters and repairs. Jake fired once, and the whole compound exploded. Flame washed over the tank, heating it up by 30 degrees, much to Jake’s distaste. Blossoms of fire burst into the snow-filled skies, creating a red-orange aura in the white background. Jake promptly turned back towards the Black Rose HQ and crawled towards it.
“Jake, I wouldn’t recommend going faster than you are. Your gas reserves are already at a very hot temperature. In fact, I’d recommend never doing that again.”
“I realize that. It’s really hot inside, I think the AC quit.”
“Indeed it did. Cabin temp is at 75 right now. It’s rising by about 1 per ten seconds.”
Jake pulled into the primary vehicle repair and released the hatch locks, but instead of the usual click, he didn’t hear anything. He flipped the manual release, but still nothing. “Rachel? Rachel I think I’m locked in!” He began to panic.
“Remain calm, as hard as that is, I’ll try and hack into the tanks primary release. This’ll take a bit….you’re at 80. Why are you’re vitals falling???!?”
“Because I’m an Arctic, I can’t take much more than 85……Please get me out!”
“Shit! Nothing’s working! Hold on!!” The comm quit after that. Jake sat in silence for a couple seconds. He heard some clanking on it. “Rachel?”
“Hold on. I’m going to try and manually open it.” A bit more clanking and she spoke again, “I see the reason….the heat wave melted the door down….Do you have some AP rounds?”
“Yeah….back away.” Jake said as he pulled out his pistol and fired three times. One bullet pierced the hard casing, letting in a very cool breeze. “Thank god! I thought I was going to suffocate!”
“Well, there is still the issue that you’re trapped. I have an idea…” She pulled out the emergency extraction beacon. She hit the button and said, “This is Rachel, the mission is accomplished, but Jake is trapped inside of a sealed Mammoth tank. Requesting tech team.”
“We hear you Rachel, Tigershark coming in…” The device replied. Thirty seconds later, the transport came in and a team of medics and tech aids poured out as the transport landed. The tech team piled onto the tank and began removing the tank’s top. A whole twenty minutes and Jake jumped out. He hit the snow with a smile on his face. “Oh my god….snow!” He said as he rolled around.
Rachel stood over him and laughed, “Never do that again!”
Before anything else happened, Jake jumped up and looked at her, “Rachel, with out you…I’d be dead….I would have never thought to shoot the top, or use the emergency beacon.” He threw his arms around her and stayed.
Surprised at the action, Rachel jumped. She then fell into the fox’s embrace and shooed the transport team away. They nodded and began packing up for the two’s return to the US. “Jake….I never thought an assassin could have a heart quite like yours.”
“I’m more than that…..” Jake said. ‘Dude….not worth it. Yeah, she’s cute, she saved your life, and she has a plain white coat…but don’t bother. Micha is dead. Do you want a repeat?’ Jake’s subconscious asked him. Jake ignored it. Even though he was diagnosed by the Elder’s as, ‘Multi-felt’, he decided not to listen to his mind this time.
The Multi-Felt trait was a rare one. It essentially told everyone that the person had multiple personalities, described by the humans as, ‘Schizophrenic’. Jake in particular, had multiple thought processes: Rational/Logical, Emotional/Heartfelt, Mute/Killer, what he considered Normal, and Feral. Unfortunately, he had no control on any of them, as they were triggered by outside events. Sometimes, the wrong though process would appear at inappropriate times.
“I know Jake….I know….” Rachel responded.
Jake broke the embrace, embarrassed by the unprofessionalism. “We should probably go back home….”
“And do what? Why don’t we stay here, in Moscow?” Rachel asked, her ears going slightly red.
‘The issue is neutral. On one hand, she’ll take up your time and resources; on the other hand, she’s an alternate source of resource. Go for it, you need someone to talk to, and she understands us. Waste of time, she’ll probably backstab you anyway. What happened in the past happened then; go for what your heart says! Hah….Jake in love? Bullshit, you’re turning soft, Jake.’ Jake’s thoughts were divided. All of them had points, but he listened to what he felt was truly him. “I’d like that….” Jake said, holding her hands.
Years later
“Jake, we need to talk...” Rachel said, sitting on the couch next to him.
“About?” Jake asked, polishing his rifle.
“Well, you haven't joined me in bed since we've declared ourselves mates! Even when I'm in heat, you seem to disappear....any explanation?”
“Yep. I told you, I have no interest in sex, or children. You know that, and you accepted it. I'm sorry I can't please you sexually, but that's just not me.”
“I also told you that I wanted children, and you said that you'd consider it!”
“I have. I have come to the conclusion that children will merely waste our lives and resources. We can afford some, but do we really want to go through all that labor?”
Rachel sighed, “I suppose not....that makes sense now that you say it like that....well, I'm going out on another single recon sweep. I'll be back in 10 minutes, time me.”
Jake smiled, “Go.”
Rachel grabbed what she needed and left in under thirty seconds. Jake still sat upon the couch, thinking to himself. After 5 minutes, she still didn't show up. “Odd...she's normally home by now. Maybe she ran into traffic....” he said to reassure himself.
Another five minutes passed, and Jake began to sit uncomfortably. He packed his essentials and went outside. As soon as he did, a bullet flew past his face, barely missing him. He whipped out his rifle and looked at the fainting smoke trail. He looked through his sights and fired. The enemy appeared to fall, but Jake couldn't tell. He grabbed his stuff and went on Rachel's usual routes.
About half way back home, Jake found what was left of Rachel. She was shot in the head, with blood spilling on her head. Jake stared at the body for a full minute before calling Moscow HQ.
“Moscow HQ, this is White Death, Snowspeaker is down. Enemy sniper got lucky.”
“Where were you when this happened?”
“Dumb enough to let her go out on a scout alone.....”
“Transport is coming. I assume you want to go home?”
“You know me too well, HQ. Thank you.”
“We understand, White Death. We will transport you back to American HQ to Tiladon. Mission is a success, one casualty.”
Jake cut the comm and waited for the transport. He sat next to the body of his former mate, wondering why he didn't go with her. Perhaps, because had he, he may have died himself, or he could have seen the sniper, and killed them....
During his thoughts, the Transport finally arrived. The medical division picked up the body, and put it in a casket. They got Jake on, and flew the two all the way back to America.
The medicals took the casket away as the others led Jake to Tiladon. They handed him a report and left.
“Good to see you back, successfully. However.....it seems Rachel fell because of a sniper round....funny, because you're a damn good s...”
“I didn't kill her, I wrote that report.” Jake said, anger filling his voice.
“I see. Well regardless, you're in. Follow me.” Tiladon said, gesturing behind him.
Jake followed the dragon to a small, run-down building. He called down an elevator from seemingly no where. The two got on and the elevator lifted to the roof. They walked into a doorway where another elevator was. Tiladon pressed the center button, and the elevator quickly moved downward. As the door slid open, Jake saw a contemporary living room of what seemed like a massive hotel.
A tall, slim reindeer vixen appeared from a kitchen counter, she looked at Jake, then Tiladon, “Another cub to take care of?”
“Might as well be one. Jessica, this is Jake. He's the one I've been trying to get for the last couple years. He just completed the first Black Rose mission, and he'll live with us, instead of me having to call him every where.” Tiladon responded.
Jake nodded slowly, “Good to meet you, Jessica. I understand that everyone here is part of Black Rose?”
Jessica smiled, “Yep! I made dinner! Sit down and eat!” As she spoke, she gestured to a table. Jake smiled and sat down, with Tiladon next to him. Jessica served everyone a good-smelling soup. At one sip, Jake couldn't contain himself, “Oh my god! This stuff is like sex in a soup bowl! What is it?”
Jessica laughed, “It's a secret!”
Tiladon smiled, “I love it when she makes this stuff....Jessica has the best hands on this planet. Cooking, and Healing she can do without failure.”
Jake ate a whole bowl and nearly cried, “I love this place already!” He shook his head and then turned to Tiladon, “So, where is my house again?”
The others smiled as Tiladon pointed to a door behind Jake. “Right there. Make yourself comfortable.”
Jake got up to look at the room. It was rather huge, twice as big as the room he had gotten in the HQ. He closed the door as tears began to flow, “Why? Why do treat me so well Tiladon? I don't understand...”
Tiladon got up and looked at Jake, “Jake, you are one the deadliest snipers in history...also, you're one of few survivors of the Tel'lichar massacre. You're a pretty important person, so you'll be living here. With us.”
Jake smiled and hugged Tiladon, “I accept.......”
Two weeks later
“Alright Jake, it's time to see what the White Death is made of...” Tiladon spoke as he and Jake walked out into a field. He put down a bag with stone tablets inside. “What I want you to do, is break these tablets using this gun...” Tiladon said as he handed Jake a small 9mm.
Jake took the weapon and inspected it. It had 10 bullets in it, meaning there were only so many targets.
Tiladon threw a target into the air. Jake took careful aim and fired at it, the bullet pinging the tablet, but not breaking it. “Shit......”
Tiladon laughed and gave him another bullet. “Here. Try again with a new target....but this time...if you mess up, I'll make you pay for it....” As Tiladon said the last part, he pulled out a small black rod. Tiladon threw another target, Jake hit the center, and the target exploded.
“You don’t know what this does, do you?” Tiladon asked, gesturing towards the rod.
Jake reloaded the weapon, “No, I don’t…what does it do?”
“It sends electrical messages to your brain, telling it that you are feeling pain, without actually doing physical harm”
“Wonderful, psychological pain….” Jake replied as he took aim again.
Tiladon threw another target, and Jake missed completely. Tiladon tapped the rod on Jake’s leg, and he fell to the ground, “SHITFUCK! That bitch hurts! Goddamn!” he yelled.
“Well, it isn’t supposed to be a dreamland…” Tiladon said as he pulled out another target. “Try again.”
Jake stumbled back to his feet, “Shit…that hurt…but I guess I’ll keep trying…”
“Not like you have too much of a choice.” Tiladon said as he threw the target.
Jake took careful aim and fired a single shot, breaking the target in multiple areas. Tiladon clapped. “Alright. I trust you ranged abilities. Go ahead and go inside, Jessica has a present for you.”
“Presents? I love presents!” Jake said as he walked back into the safe house. Jessica handed out another bowl of the special soup and a small badge. “This badge allows you to go to the toy store.” Jessica said.
“Toy store?” Jake asked, admiring the badge.
“Trust me, when you walk in, you’ll figure it out....eat up and let’s go.” Tiladon said as he kissed Jessica on the cheek.
Jake quickly finished what he eating as he left with Tiladon to the toy store. The two walked into what appeared to be an abandoned storage facility. One of them was locked. Tiladon took out a small key and unlocked it. The door revealed a set of stairs going down. Jake questioned how no one could have been curious enough to look inside, until he saw the ‘Sniper Enforced, do not open.’ Sign outside.
Tiladon opened a second door, revealing a large circular room. The room appeared to have every close range weapon in existence. Everything was so sharp, merely looking at it may cut one who wasn’t careful.
“This is the Toy Store. Every weapon, ranged and non are located here. The gun room is through the door behind me. To my left, is a door that goes to the training area, which is where you’re going next. Grab any weapon you see here, and let me see your abilities.” Tiladon said with a smile. As he finished, he left to the door on his left.
Jake looked around, he drifted towards the spear section and looked in admiration at the craft of them. Bo Staffs, Halberds, Javelins, every type was here. Even 6-pronged Tridents were displayed. Jake grabbed a large Halberd. Really, it looked a huge bastard sword melted to a metal pole. He put the Halberd on his back and went over to the swords.
The sword section was much more diverse. Everything from short swords to Macro swords were hung upon the massive wall. Jake grabbed two longswords, obviously made for twin use, and equipped them to his waist. Finally, Jake grabbed some Tongfas and walked into the designated training room.
Tiladon smiled, “Heavy packer are we?”
Mike sighed, “I don’t use close combat often….so I grabbed what I did have experience with.”
Tiladon raised an eyebrow, “Tongfas?”
“Ok…..so I had to kill a guy who used daggers to kill his foes. They called him the ‘Ninja’, because he could block bullets. I had one shot in my rifle….and I punctured one knife, but the bullet didn’t go through to him….I found some Tongfas and killed him with them…” Mike explained, equipping them.
Tiladon put up his fists. “Cut me. Once.”
Jake rushed at Tiladon as fast as he could, which apparently was too fast. Tiladon stepped to the right, sending Jake to the wall. Jake backflipped and threw the Tongfas, now using the two longswords. Tiladon jumped back, and the Tongfas stuck into the ground.
“Your technique is off…” Tiladon said with a sigh.
Jake didn’t respond. He went at Tiladon with a mixed form of defense and offense. He slashed at the defending dragon, who dodged upward. Tiladon landed behind Jake and punched him in the back, throwing the swords out of his hands.
Jake drew the Halberd last. “Ok……I didn’t expect the punch in the back….I’ll keep random hits in mind next time.”
“I quickly realized that you’re skilled with two swords, so I didn’t want to get cut.” Tiladon replied.
“Wait, I thought that was the point of the exercise!”
“The point of your life at Black Rose is to kill those who do no justice to the world. They are also unwilling to die, expect resistance.”
Jake nodded, “That makes sense.” As he finished, he twirled the halberd around his body and arms. After a good minute of rapid spinning, the halberd landed in an offensive grip in Jake’s hands. He dashed at Tiladon and stabbed outward, in front of him.
Tiladon responded by twisting his body around to dodge the blade. He grabbed the pole just under the blade and gripped it.
Jake pretty clearly knew that Tiladon wouldn’t let go anytime soon, nor would his grip break. Jake got a clever idea and twisted the pole, which sent his body into the air. Using the staff as a ledge, he jumped onto Tiladon’s head, kicking the dragon down. In the same momentum, he grabbed one of a Longsword and a Tongfa. He put the Tongfa in his left hand, and the Longsword in his right. He turned around and thought, ‘If close range is opposite of long range, then mobility is key.’ During his thoughts, he jumped into the air and threw the Tongfa. Upon landing, he picked up the other sword.
Tiladon smiled, ‘He’s catching on faster than I imagined. This will be interesting’ He used the staff to move the Tongfa from its trajectory. Tiladon dropped the spear and laughed. “What’s next?”
Jake focused, the halberd was his goal. He rushed below Tiladon and stabbed the two towards him. Upon letting go, he grabbed the halberd and flipped upwards for a vertical strike.
Tiladon dropped to the ground and rolled left. The two swords came on top of the halberd’s blade and broke it. Jake responded quickly by taking one of the swords and arming it with one hand. He used a feign strike to distract Tiladon as he kicked him backward. Tiladon flew back into a wall, breaking it. Unfortunately, it did not cut him. Jake rushed through the hole and grabbed the first thing on the ground, a 9mm handgun.
Before Tiladon could react, Jake shot him in the foot. The dragon’s foot bled through the bullet’s exit. Tiladon looked up, “You cheated….”
Mike smiled, “Well, I imagined you as an enemy. I found opportunity, and took it. Rules don’t apply in life or death, just bullets.”
Tiladon shared the smile, “You pass in creativity, agility, and ingenuity. But you didn’t cut me.”
Jake sighed and grabbed a Tongfa. He reached into a pocket in his pants and pulled out some extra strength tape. He took off a large piece and attached the Tongfa to the hand gun. He reloaded the handgun and pointed it at Tiladon, “Run.”
Tiladon laughed, he laughed until the cool touch of the Tongfa touched his shoulder, “Damn…..”
Jake took the blade and pulled back quickly, leaving a small cut on the dragon’s shoulder. Tiladon waved and the two began to put weapons away and leave a repair note. They go back to the house and Tiladon said, “Jessica, he’s a keeper…..”
Jessica looked at the bullet wound, and the cut. “Wow….he actually did damage…That’s new.”
Tiladon laughed, “Yeah, he’s the first since that crazy snake guy….”
Jake smiled, a blush in his ears. “Thanks. I take pride in my work.”
“I can tell…So, your assignment from now on is to help me in my job. It will take your entire life to accomplish, plus more. You will die at least once a year.” Tiladon said, a serious face appearing on him.
“D….Die? Wait…..I thought people can only die once!?”
“As a Shadow Dancer, I can get people from Heaven, or Hell, back to life with out much trouble. You will see Satan, and you will see Jesus. Any objections? As if you had a choice?”
Jake sighed, “I…..I don’t believe in those people. I am non-theistic, meaning I don’t believe in any God, and with no God, there is no Satan.”
Tiladon nodded as Jessica healed his wounds, “I’ve seen them. I’ve put a scar on Satan’s face. You too, will see both of them. Whether or not you believe in them, they exist.”
Jake frowned, “I see…..well, don’t be surprised if I give little regard to either of them.”
“I don’t expect you to. I promise that you’ll see Satan more than Jesus, but be prepared. We will visit them soon enough.”
“So anyway, what is the job that I have to do now?”
“This city….this city is full of hate beyond imagining. This city has the highest rape and mortality rate for cubs in the world. It is my job, our job, to kill the perpetrators in rather gruesome ways. You seem to have control over the element of water, with a specialty to ice. You will be required to harness your fighting abilities with your powers to bring Justice. Do you understand?”
Jake nodded, “I do. I will do as asked with little question, and I shall do my best to keep personal matters aside to keep my focus upon my job.”
Jessica finished with Tiladon as she said, “That’s where things get different. Don’t bother to keep yourself reserved from the rest of us. We’re your family now. Please treat us as such. Feel free to confide and open yourself up to us. This assignment will last your entire life with us.”
Jake sighed, “My….my entire life….so…I assume I won’t be seeing my family, or what happened to them?”
Jessica tilted her head in confusion, “What do you mean?”
Jake is mine, don't steal him from me!
Tiladon and Jessica are owned by
scytherwarlock Don't steal them either.Enjoy!
Winter’s Bite
Part 2: Cold War
“ETA to Black Rose Moscow is in one hour. Status?”
“Jake here. Rifle is checked, cleaned, upgraded, and loaded. Emergency supplies are all accounted for.”
“Rachel here. Portable radio is functional on all channels. Emergency Extraction Beacon operational.”
“Good. I hope that last one doesn’t need to be used, though I’ll be in standby anyway.”
“The whole mission?” Jake asked.
“Affirmative. I am a transport, nothing sucks more than needing extraction, and your ride is a planet away.”
“I’ll take your word on it.” Jake said as he nodded.
“So, what is an Arctic like yourself doing here?”
“I’m from Tel’lichar.”
Rachel’s eyed widened, “You’re one of them? Were you there?”
“I was….kind of. A hunting party never returned from its routes, so me and a friend of mine informed the Elder. The Elder sent her out and teleported me away. I ended up on a hill with blood soaking the snow. This rifle was in the center.” Jake said, gesturing to his rifle. “So, what is a beautiful vixen doing here?”
“I was going to school for mediation and communications, but that fell through when negotiations turned into flame and violence. My sire fought, while my mother sent me to live on the college. Black Rose took an interest when a gang broke into the school, and I talked them out of it. Black Rose promptly picked me up, and I’ve been working as a comms operator/hacker since.”
“Neat story, but we’re ahead of schedule. We’ll be arriving at Moscow in 10 minutes. Get your shit together, and let’s stop this thing from going down.”
“Alright! Let’s go!” Jake said, grabbing his bags of equipment. The portal to the outside slowly opened, and the temperature instantly changed. Jake smiled, “Amazing…. I love this weather!” He walked outside and greeted a strange breed of Foxtaurs, named the Wintertaurs.
Wintertaurs are the perfect mix of an Arctic Fox, and a Foxtaur. Their fur was particularly thick, and constantly white. Their tails were large and fluffy, and their eyes were generally blue. As such, they never moved outside, because their fur never changes color.
The Wintertaur of the Moscow Black Rose walked up to the two. Upon seeing their coats, he bowed, “Hail to the white coat”. He spoke with a heavy accent, almost speaking Russian.
“Hail.” Rachel and Jake said at the same time.
“I will lead you to the Base. Follow Vladimir, for I know the way.” Vladimir spoke.
The two followed Vladimir to a large hill of snow. Rachel's tail was coiled around herself, while Jake was smiling, obviously enjoying the weather. The three eventually found a small hill, showing an armored door. Vladimir put his right hand on a small box, and the door slid open, allowing the other two inside.
Jake and Rachel walked into the base. It was full of Wintertaurs, but no one really minded at the sight of the other two white coated bipeds. Vladimir lead them to a large room, full of computers and radios. Rachel smiled and found her spot. As she set up, Vladimir lead Jake back out side to a patch of trees. “You will stay in this area. Find any tree formation, and stay. You have 10 minutes.” And he walked away.
Jake found a nice tall formation of trees that overlooked the base. He climbed it with his winter tree camo on. The radio in his ear came on with Rachel's voice.
“Holy shit, I can't even see your heat signature! I only know where you’re at because of the name I see above your head on this screen!”
Jake smiled and said, “Mission start?”
A missile firing told Jake just when he needed to shut up. He looked as the missile screamed towards the base. As Jake took aim to shoot it, he saw the snow open up to reveal anti-missile turrets. One fired it's salvo of tiny missiles, and the larger one blew up. Jake took aim at it's origin and switched to first person feed.
“Thanks, we see it now. Wait, are those Iron sights your using?”
“Yep, it helps. Makes the target easier to hit.”
“Whatever works. But, keep in mind, they are attacking with everything they have.”
“I know.”
Two Months later.
The battle was a relatively clean one. Jake killed 90% of everything, the final 10% being aircraft, though he brought one fighter down. He and Rachel frequently talked, and just as frequently, the two were left to defend the base alone, while the Wintertaurs organized an attack. Such an occasion was happening as Rachel spoke.
“You need another name besides Simo.” Rachel said over the comm.
Jake just got settled in his tree as he said, “I'm open for suggestions.”
“Well, do you have some kind of signature move?”
“Other than killing people in the head, no.....”
“You know, I heard of a chemical that you can put in your blood to change it's color. It would be amazing if you put a black dye on your bullets, making the enemy bleed black. You could be called the Black Plague!”
“That sounds interesting, though I'm going to go for white.”
“White?! Why?”
“Well it matches my fur, for one. Two, I could call myself the White Death.”
“I see. I also see you have a Mammoth coming right for you.”
“Missile?”
“Worse, the tank.”
“Wonderful. I guess AP rounds don't work?”
“Nope, you'll have to stall it until the heat turrets get up.”
“I can do that. Wait, is there any other bogey?”
“Nope, the enemy is confident you'll be crushed under the Mammoth's mighty treads.”
“Better idea then.” Jake jumped out of cover and hit the snow. He crawled over to the tank unnoticed, climbed on it, and looked for the hatch. As he found it, he fired an AP round inside. A scream confirmed his kill. Jake opened the hatch and killed everyone inside. He then turned on his comm, “Rachel, need directions on how to drive!”
“What??!?! You stole a Mammoth? Uh...here.”
A screen appeared in front of Jake with easy directions: Throttle moves, button shoots.
“I can dig this….” Jake said as he maneuvered the massive vehicle 360 degrees around. “Rachel, bring their comms up, tell them that you give up. The base is empty. Start a fire on the roof, using black smoke.”
“You’re a dick, you know that right?”
“Hey, they were dumb enough to send this alone….I’m going to show them their idiocy.”
“Affirmative, captain dickhead.”
“Would you have me any other way?”
“Nope. Fire is started. Enemy base is re-operational. I’ve shut down our satellites and informed the Wintertaurs, they like this idea. The enemy code to get in to their gas chambers is R3-F3U7-P73453”
Jake laughed, “Thank you. I’ll be back in an hour.” As he finished, he rolled the Mammoth tank towards the enemy base. Upon arriving to the entrance of the gas chamber, he was asked the code. To which he replied: “R3-FU37-P73453.”
The door opened to reveal large gas canisters and repairs. Jake fired once, and the whole compound exploded. Flame washed over the tank, heating it up by 30 degrees, much to Jake’s distaste. Blossoms of fire burst into the snow-filled skies, creating a red-orange aura in the white background. Jake promptly turned back towards the Black Rose HQ and crawled towards it.
“Jake, I wouldn’t recommend going faster than you are. Your gas reserves are already at a very hot temperature. In fact, I’d recommend never doing that again.”
“I realize that. It’s really hot inside, I think the AC quit.”
“Indeed it did. Cabin temp is at 75 right now. It’s rising by about 1 per ten seconds.”
Jake pulled into the primary vehicle repair and released the hatch locks, but instead of the usual click, he didn’t hear anything. He flipped the manual release, but still nothing. “Rachel? Rachel I think I’m locked in!” He began to panic.
“Remain calm, as hard as that is, I’ll try and hack into the tanks primary release. This’ll take a bit….you’re at 80. Why are you’re vitals falling???!?”
“Because I’m an Arctic, I can’t take much more than 85……Please get me out!”
“Shit! Nothing’s working! Hold on!!” The comm quit after that. Jake sat in silence for a couple seconds. He heard some clanking on it. “Rachel?”
“Hold on. I’m going to try and manually open it.” A bit more clanking and she spoke again, “I see the reason….the heat wave melted the door down….Do you have some AP rounds?”
“Yeah….back away.” Jake said as he pulled out his pistol and fired three times. One bullet pierced the hard casing, letting in a very cool breeze. “Thank god! I thought I was going to suffocate!”
“Well, there is still the issue that you’re trapped. I have an idea…” She pulled out the emergency extraction beacon. She hit the button and said, “This is Rachel, the mission is accomplished, but Jake is trapped inside of a sealed Mammoth tank. Requesting tech team.”
“We hear you Rachel, Tigershark coming in…” The device replied. Thirty seconds later, the transport came in and a team of medics and tech aids poured out as the transport landed. The tech team piled onto the tank and began removing the tank’s top. A whole twenty minutes and Jake jumped out. He hit the snow with a smile on his face. “Oh my god….snow!” He said as he rolled around.
Rachel stood over him and laughed, “Never do that again!”
Before anything else happened, Jake jumped up and looked at her, “Rachel, with out you…I’d be dead….I would have never thought to shoot the top, or use the emergency beacon.” He threw his arms around her and stayed.
Surprised at the action, Rachel jumped. She then fell into the fox’s embrace and shooed the transport team away. They nodded and began packing up for the two’s return to the US. “Jake….I never thought an assassin could have a heart quite like yours.”
“I’m more than that…..” Jake said. ‘Dude….not worth it. Yeah, she’s cute, she saved your life, and she has a plain white coat…but don’t bother. Micha is dead. Do you want a repeat?’ Jake’s subconscious asked him. Jake ignored it. Even though he was diagnosed by the Elder’s as, ‘Multi-felt’, he decided not to listen to his mind this time.
The Multi-Felt trait was a rare one. It essentially told everyone that the person had multiple personalities, described by the humans as, ‘Schizophrenic’. Jake in particular, had multiple thought processes: Rational/Logical, Emotional/Heartfelt, Mute/Killer, what he considered Normal, and Feral. Unfortunately, he had no control on any of them, as they were triggered by outside events. Sometimes, the wrong though process would appear at inappropriate times.
“I know Jake….I know….” Rachel responded.
Jake broke the embrace, embarrassed by the unprofessionalism. “We should probably go back home….”
“And do what? Why don’t we stay here, in Moscow?” Rachel asked, her ears going slightly red.
‘The issue is neutral. On one hand, she’ll take up your time and resources; on the other hand, she’s an alternate source of resource. Go for it, you need someone to talk to, and she understands us. Waste of time, she’ll probably backstab you anyway. What happened in the past happened then; go for what your heart says! Hah….Jake in love? Bullshit, you’re turning soft, Jake.’ Jake’s thoughts were divided. All of them had points, but he listened to what he felt was truly him. “I’d like that….” Jake said, holding her hands.
Years later
“Jake, we need to talk...” Rachel said, sitting on the couch next to him.
“About?” Jake asked, polishing his rifle.
“Well, you haven't joined me in bed since we've declared ourselves mates! Even when I'm in heat, you seem to disappear....any explanation?”
“Yep. I told you, I have no interest in sex, or children. You know that, and you accepted it. I'm sorry I can't please you sexually, but that's just not me.”
“I also told you that I wanted children, and you said that you'd consider it!”
“I have. I have come to the conclusion that children will merely waste our lives and resources. We can afford some, but do we really want to go through all that labor?”
Rachel sighed, “I suppose not....that makes sense now that you say it like that....well, I'm going out on another single recon sweep. I'll be back in 10 minutes, time me.”
Jake smiled, “Go.”
Rachel grabbed what she needed and left in under thirty seconds. Jake still sat upon the couch, thinking to himself. After 5 minutes, she still didn't show up. “Odd...she's normally home by now. Maybe she ran into traffic....” he said to reassure himself.
Another five minutes passed, and Jake began to sit uncomfortably. He packed his essentials and went outside. As soon as he did, a bullet flew past his face, barely missing him. He whipped out his rifle and looked at the fainting smoke trail. He looked through his sights and fired. The enemy appeared to fall, but Jake couldn't tell. He grabbed his stuff and went on Rachel's usual routes.
About half way back home, Jake found what was left of Rachel. She was shot in the head, with blood spilling on her head. Jake stared at the body for a full minute before calling Moscow HQ.
“Moscow HQ, this is White Death, Snowspeaker is down. Enemy sniper got lucky.”
“Where were you when this happened?”
“Dumb enough to let her go out on a scout alone.....”
“Transport is coming. I assume you want to go home?”
“You know me too well, HQ. Thank you.”
“We understand, White Death. We will transport you back to American HQ to Tiladon. Mission is a success, one casualty.”
Jake cut the comm and waited for the transport. He sat next to the body of his former mate, wondering why he didn't go with her. Perhaps, because had he, he may have died himself, or he could have seen the sniper, and killed them....
During his thoughts, the Transport finally arrived. The medical division picked up the body, and put it in a casket. They got Jake on, and flew the two all the way back to America.
The medicals took the casket away as the others led Jake to Tiladon. They handed him a report and left.
“Good to see you back, successfully. However.....it seems Rachel fell because of a sniper round....funny, because you're a damn good s...”
“I didn't kill her, I wrote that report.” Jake said, anger filling his voice.
“I see. Well regardless, you're in. Follow me.” Tiladon said, gesturing behind him.
Jake followed the dragon to a small, run-down building. He called down an elevator from seemingly no where. The two got on and the elevator lifted to the roof. They walked into a doorway where another elevator was. Tiladon pressed the center button, and the elevator quickly moved downward. As the door slid open, Jake saw a contemporary living room of what seemed like a massive hotel.
A tall, slim reindeer vixen appeared from a kitchen counter, she looked at Jake, then Tiladon, “Another cub to take care of?”
“Might as well be one. Jessica, this is Jake. He's the one I've been trying to get for the last couple years. He just completed the first Black Rose mission, and he'll live with us, instead of me having to call him every where.” Tiladon responded.
Jake nodded slowly, “Good to meet you, Jessica. I understand that everyone here is part of Black Rose?”
Jessica smiled, “Yep! I made dinner! Sit down and eat!” As she spoke, she gestured to a table. Jake smiled and sat down, with Tiladon next to him. Jessica served everyone a good-smelling soup. At one sip, Jake couldn't contain himself, “Oh my god! This stuff is like sex in a soup bowl! What is it?”
Jessica laughed, “It's a secret!”
Tiladon smiled, “I love it when she makes this stuff....Jessica has the best hands on this planet. Cooking, and Healing she can do without failure.”
Jake ate a whole bowl and nearly cried, “I love this place already!” He shook his head and then turned to Tiladon, “So, where is my house again?”
The others smiled as Tiladon pointed to a door behind Jake. “Right there. Make yourself comfortable.”
Jake got up to look at the room. It was rather huge, twice as big as the room he had gotten in the HQ. He closed the door as tears began to flow, “Why? Why do treat me so well Tiladon? I don't understand...”
Tiladon got up and looked at Jake, “Jake, you are one the deadliest snipers in history...also, you're one of few survivors of the Tel'lichar massacre. You're a pretty important person, so you'll be living here. With us.”
Jake smiled and hugged Tiladon, “I accept.......”
Two weeks later
“Alright Jake, it's time to see what the White Death is made of...” Tiladon spoke as he and Jake walked out into a field. He put down a bag with stone tablets inside. “What I want you to do, is break these tablets using this gun...” Tiladon said as he handed Jake a small 9mm.
Jake took the weapon and inspected it. It had 10 bullets in it, meaning there were only so many targets.
Tiladon threw a target into the air. Jake took careful aim and fired at it, the bullet pinging the tablet, but not breaking it. “Shit......”
Tiladon laughed and gave him another bullet. “Here. Try again with a new target....but this time...if you mess up, I'll make you pay for it....” As Tiladon said the last part, he pulled out a small black rod. Tiladon threw another target, Jake hit the center, and the target exploded.
“You don’t know what this does, do you?” Tiladon asked, gesturing towards the rod.
Jake reloaded the weapon, “No, I don’t…what does it do?”
“It sends electrical messages to your brain, telling it that you are feeling pain, without actually doing physical harm”
“Wonderful, psychological pain….” Jake replied as he took aim again.
Tiladon threw another target, and Jake missed completely. Tiladon tapped the rod on Jake’s leg, and he fell to the ground, “SHITFUCK! That bitch hurts! Goddamn!” he yelled.
“Well, it isn’t supposed to be a dreamland…” Tiladon said as he pulled out another target. “Try again.”
Jake stumbled back to his feet, “Shit…that hurt…but I guess I’ll keep trying…”
“Not like you have too much of a choice.” Tiladon said as he threw the target.
Jake took careful aim and fired a single shot, breaking the target in multiple areas. Tiladon clapped. “Alright. I trust you ranged abilities. Go ahead and go inside, Jessica has a present for you.”
“Presents? I love presents!” Jake said as he walked back into the safe house. Jessica handed out another bowl of the special soup and a small badge. “This badge allows you to go to the toy store.” Jessica said.
“Toy store?” Jake asked, admiring the badge.
“Trust me, when you walk in, you’ll figure it out....eat up and let’s go.” Tiladon said as he kissed Jessica on the cheek.
Jake quickly finished what he eating as he left with Tiladon to the toy store. The two walked into what appeared to be an abandoned storage facility. One of them was locked. Tiladon took out a small key and unlocked it. The door revealed a set of stairs going down. Jake questioned how no one could have been curious enough to look inside, until he saw the ‘Sniper Enforced, do not open.’ Sign outside.
Tiladon opened a second door, revealing a large circular room. The room appeared to have every close range weapon in existence. Everything was so sharp, merely looking at it may cut one who wasn’t careful.
“This is the Toy Store. Every weapon, ranged and non are located here. The gun room is through the door behind me. To my left, is a door that goes to the training area, which is where you’re going next. Grab any weapon you see here, and let me see your abilities.” Tiladon said with a smile. As he finished, he left to the door on his left.
Jake looked around, he drifted towards the spear section and looked in admiration at the craft of them. Bo Staffs, Halberds, Javelins, every type was here. Even 6-pronged Tridents were displayed. Jake grabbed a large Halberd. Really, it looked a huge bastard sword melted to a metal pole. He put the Halberd on his back and went over to the swords.
The sword section was much more diverse. Everything from short swords to Macro swords were hung upon the massive wall. Jake grabbed two longswords, obviously made for twin use, and equipped them to his waist. Finally, Jake grabbed some Tongfas and walked into the designated training room.
Tiladon smiled, “Heavy packer are we?”
Mike sighed, “I don’t use close combat often….so I grabbed what I did have experience with.”
Tiladon raised an eyebrow, “Tongfas?”
“Ok…..so I had to kill a guy who used daggers to kill his foes. They called him the ‘Ninja’, because he could block bullets. I had one shot in my rifle….and I punctured one knife, but the bullet didn’t go through to him….I found some Tongfas and killed him with them…” Mike explained, equipping them.
Tiladon put up his fists. “Cut me. Once.”
Jake rushed at Tiladon as fast as he could, which apparently was too fast. Tiladon stepped to the right, sending Jake to the wall. Jake backflipped and threw the Tongfas, now using the two longswords. Tiladon jumped back, and the Tongfas stuck into the ground.
“Your technique is off…” Tiladon said with a sigh.
Jake didn’t respond. He went at Tiladon with a mixed form of defense and offense. He slashed at the defending dragon, who dodged upward. Tiladon landed behind Jake and punched him in the back, throwing the swords out of his hands.
Jake drew the Halberd last. “Ok……I didn’t expect the punch in the back….I’ll keep random hits in mind next time.”
“I quickly realized that you’re skilled with two swords, so I didn’t want to get cut.” Tiladon replied.
“Wait, I thought that was the point of the exercise!”
“The point of your life at Black Rose is to kill those who do no justice to the world. They are also unwilling to die, expect resistance.”
Jake nodded, “That makes sense.” As he finished, he twirled the halberd around his body and arms. After a good minute of rapid spinning, the halberd landed in an offensive grip in Jake’s hands. He dashed at Tiladon and stabbed outward, in front of him.
Tiladon responded by twisting his body around to dodge the blade. He grabbed the pole just under the blade and gripped it.
Jake pretty clearly knew that Tiladon wouldn’t let go anytime soon, nor would his grip break. Jake got a clever idea and twisted the pole, which sent his body into the air. Using the staff as a ledge, he jumped onto Tiladon’s head, kicking the dragon down. In the same momentum, he grabbed one of a Longsword and a Tongfa. He put the Tongfa in his left hand, and the Longsword in his right. He turned around and thought, ‘If close range is opposite of long range, then mobility is key.’ During his thoughts, he jumped into the air and threw the Tongfa. Upon landing, he picked up the other sword.
Tiladon smiled, ‘He’s catching on faster than I imagined. This will be interesting’ He used the staff to move the Tongfa from its trajectory. Tiladon dropped the spear and laughed. “What’s next?”
Jake focused, the halberd was his goal. He rushed below Tiladon and stabbed the two towards him. Upon letting go, he grabbed the halberd and flipped upwards for a vertical strike.
Tiladon dropped to the ground and rolled left. The two swords came on top of the halberd’s blade and broke it. Jake responded quickly by taking one of the swords and arming it with one hand. He used a feign strike to distract Tiladon as he kicked him backward. Tiladon flew back into a wall, breaking it. Unfortunately, it did not cut him. Jake rushed through the hole and grabbed the first thing on the ground, a 9mm handgun.
Before Tiladon could react, Jake shot him in the foot. The dragon’s foot bled through the bullet’s exit. Tiladon looked up, “You cheated….”
Mike smiled, “Well, I imagined you as an enemy. I found opportunity, and took it. Rules don’t apply in life or death, just bullets.”
Tiladon shared the smile, “You pass in creativity, agility, and ingenuity. But you didn’t cut me.”
Jake sighed and grabbed a Tongfa. He reached into a pocket in his pants and pulled out some extra strength tape. He took off a large piece and attached the Tongfa to the hand gun. He reloaded the handgun and pointed it at Tiladon, “Run.”
Tiladon laughed, he laughed until the cool touch of the Tongfa touched his shoulder, “Damn…..”
Jake took the blade and pulled back quickly, leaving a small cut on the dragon’s shoulder. Tiladon waved and the two began to put weapons away and leave a repair note. They go back to the house and Tiladon said, “Jessica, he’s a keeper…..”
Jessica looked at the bullet wound, and the cut. “Wow….he actually did damage…That’s new.”
Tiladon laughed, “Yeah, he’s the first since that crazy snake guy….”
Jake smiled, a blush in his ears. “Thanks. I take pride in my work.”
“I can tell…So, your assignment from now on is to help me in my job. It will take your entire life to accomplish, plus more. You will die at least once a year.” Tiladon said, a serious face appearing on him.
“D….Die? Wait…..I thought people can only die once!?”
“As a Shadow Dancer, I can get people from Heaven, or Hell, back to life with out much trouble. You will see Satan, and you will see Jesus. Any objections? As if you had a choice?”
Jake sighed, “I…..I don’t believe in those people. I am non-theistic, meaning I don’t believe in any God, and with no God, there is no Satan.”
Tiladon nodded as Jessica healed his wounds, “I’ve seen them. I’ve put a scar on Satan’s face. You too, will see both of them. Whether or not you believe in them, they exist.”
Jake frowned, “I see…..well, don’t be surprised if I give little regard to either of them.”
“I don’t expect you to. I promise that you’ll see Satan more than Jesus, but be prepared. We will visit them soon enough.”
“So anyway, what is the job that I have to do now?”
“This city….this city is full of hate beyond imagining. This city has the highest rape and mortality rate for cubs in the world. It is my job, our job, to kill the perpetrators in rather gruesome ways. You seem to have control over the element of water, with a specialty to ice. You will be required to harness your fighting abilities with your powers to bring Justice. Do you understand?”
Jake nodded, “I do. I will do as asked with little question, and I shall do my best to keep personal matters aside to keep my focus upon my job.”
Jessica finished with Tiladon as she said, “That’s where things get different. Don’t bother to keep yourself reserved from the rest of us. We’re your family now. Please treat us as such. Feel free to confide and open yourself up to us. This assignment will last your entire life with us.”
Jake sighed, “My….my entire life….so…I assume I won’t be seeing my family, or what happened to them?”
Jessica tilted her head in confusion, “What do you mean?”
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