#Toothdee

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 37 - Priority Objective

"Our intelligence from ZIA assets indicates the coastal fortress is heavily guarded," Jack said. He pointed to a projected picture of massive concrete Chinese fortifications on a steep cliffside. There was also a map of the Yellow Sea and Bohai sea between China and Korea. "It's located on the Shandong Peninsula in eastern China, near Korea. You can see here, there's a lot of guns and barriers in place. Now moving on to the next slide... Haida, next slide, please."

"Zzz.... huh? Oh, sorry!" The hyena said, sitting up in his chair at a table in the briefing room. He pressed a key on the laptop in front of him. The slide on the projector advanced towards a picture of Chinese troopers clad in unique faded light green / gray camouflage uniforms, along with face paint.

"As you can see, the fortress is partly guarded by an elite detachment of Chinese oriental swords. Special forces soldiers, highly trained and well equipped. There's also rumors of an elite Chinese operative on sight."

"Well, we've fought well-equipped forces before and came out on top!" Laval said, sparking a few chuckles from the assembled heroes. "Elite soldiers, they're no match for us!"

"Don't get cocky, Laval. You got a blood lust or something." Toothdee said before Jack continued.

"We will be assaulting the fortress with US navy elements. The priority objective is to break through the outer defenses, get inside the fortress, and disable its gun emplacements. This will not only neuter the fortress but also protect our ships in the bay. Those guns are our priority objectives. Alex, I understand you managed to secure some reinforcements for us that could help?"

"That's correct." The captain said, standing up. "The US's ally of Canada has generously donated 2 squadrons of CF-18 Hornet fighters to the operation. Along with a team of JTF-2 commandos."

"Alright, that should be of great help. After our strike, we will fall back to a helicopter extraction outside the fortress, leaving the structure broken. This is a large attack to knock out a key Chinese facility before falling back. However, also have a secondary objective."

Alex sat back down while Jack once again woke up Haida to advance to the next slide.

"As you can see here..." the ZIA agent said, highlighting a picture of what appeared to be files, charts, diagrams, and maps labeled as top secret. "There are vital Chinese war plans on-site that would be of great use to the ZIA and the US military. However, we must move quickly. No doubt Chinese personnel will try to destroy the plans."

Captain Boehm once again took over speaking.

"Kion, Nick, and Judy, you are with me. Jasiri, Toothdee, Laval, Eris, JayJay, you'll be providing support to US forces. Haida, Retsuko, Jack, and Skye will be providing overwatch and comms support. Fabienne, I presume you will be filming from a relatively safe distance?"

"That's correct." The snow leopard responded. "Also, would some of you guys mind doing an interview with me about the war effort at some point?"

"Alright, if anyone here is interested, set up a time to meet with Fabienne. Then, back to the mission, please refer to the printed packets if you have any questions."

There were a few shuffling noises as some of the heroes in the room looked through the paper packets they had received in the briefing room. Each bundle of papers contained pictures of the fortress, along with related intelligence and tactics.

"In the event, resistance is too strong, the marines have assured me they have elite units on standby that we can call in if such a situation arises. Including flame troopers and close combat units. They will assist if we can't punch through defenses. This is a vital strike on Chinese soil, the coast of China itself. Let's make sure we don't disappoint."

000

"You think the typhoon will be safe?" Judy asked.

"I mean, it's not exactly at the center of the battle," Kion said. "It's in the back providing support."

"Yeah, there's plenty of US forces between it and the Chinese," Alex said.

"But there is nothing between the US and the Chinese right now," Nick said, as the amphibious APC they were in shook when an artillery shell landed in the water nearby.

"This is a cut above normal ZPD operations."

"Yep, this is more action than most officers normally see." Judy chimed in.

"Well, sometimes protecting Zootopia means going beyond the city."

"Let me just say it's an honor to be your ZPD liaison."

"You've taught Toothdee and I a lot about working in urban environments, handling prisoners, investigation. The honor is all ours."

The APC shook again as it rolled up on a beach near the Chinese fortress.

"Alright, let's do this!" Kion said as Captain Boehm opened the back door to the APC and the warriors inside exited.

The sky was peppered by a few clouds, and more amphibious vehicles rolled onto the beach, along with hovercraft that deployed tanks. Offshore, US warships battled it out with Chinese warships and land-based gun positions. The sounds of gunfire and artillery were a constant ambiance. Chinese forces were dug behind defensive barricades on the beach, with US APCs deploying troops and providing cover.

The team of mammals took cover behind one of the APCs and engaged the dug-in enemy soldiers.

"Alex, Canadian special forces are in support!" Retsuko said, monitoring friendly enemy positions.

Another APC opened up, and troopers with gray/light blue uniforms & a Canadian flag patch on their uniforms piled out and engaged Chinese forces.

However, the enemy troops were still engaging with mounted machine guns.

"Eris could use a bit of support here!" The captain requested.

"On it!" The eagle responded, strafing the Chinese positions with machine-gun fire from her jet, allowing Heroes and their allies to advance.

Kion cut down some PLA troops with his sword, while the lion's friends used their firearms or bow.

Heroes and their Canadian allies entered a bunker on the beach, leading into the fortress. They were met with another squad of Chinese troops moving to defend their position. However, this squad was immediately gunned down with a hail of bullets from the attacking forces.

"Those cannons should be around here somewhere...." Nick said as the team advanced further into the fortress.

"Away team, those guns are hitting our ships hard," Skye said through the radio. "Judging from your insertion point and the emplacement locations, you should head northeast."

"Affirmative." The captain responded.

Heroes and the special forces checked corridors and kept their weapons leveled as they proceeded through the Chinese structure. Sometimes the Canadians tossed an MTN-55 motion sensor, which would detect any PLA forces in the area.

"No hostiles." One of the Canadians said before the team advanced.

Eventually, just as Nick predicted, they came upon the room where the batteries were located, embedded in the side of the fortress. The floors, ceiling, and three walls of the elongated room were made of metal and concrete. The fourth wall was nonexistent. Instead, the fortress exterior was open to the outside. This allowed the artillery guns in the room a pristine view of the sea and warships outside. Only support pillars and safety railings blocked the line of sight for the canons attached to the floor a few feet away from the open wall.

The gun crews were unprepared for enemies forces to appear, allowing the US and CA troops to quickly take down most of the enemy forces.

Kion instantly sliced through a bear that was carrying an ammo crate to one of the cannons.

Nick fired an arrow that was tipped with flammable material, burning a pair of red panda soldiers. Judy, Alex, and the Canadians opened fire with a hail of lead, putting down the gunners and support personnel before they could react.

"Clear!" One of the Canadians yelled, and the team moved upon the guns. Nick fired an arrow tipped with explosives at one of the canons, rendering it inoperable. Alex detonated an ammunition cache near one of the guns. At the same time, the Canadians placed a thermite grenade in the breach of the third canon. By the time they were done, all 3 artillery pieces were down.

Heroes stacked up on the door to the next room and the next group of artillery guns.  

"They might have heard us. Throw a flash grenade." Judy noted, prompting one of the Canadians to toss a flashbang into the next room.

Friendly forces breached the room. Just as expected, the Chinese troops were prepared. Defensive positions taken, weapons aimed at the door, even wild unevolved attack dogs at the ready. But the Flashbang had disoriented everyone, allowing Heroes to sweep in and take out almost the entire Chinese force.

Kion deflected some incoming fire with his sword before charging forward and cutting down a pair of PLA soldiers. Captain Boehm used expert marksmanship to dispatch 2 enemy troopers and 1 attack dog with well-placed headshots. Meanwhile, Judy and the Canadians took down more enemy forces with a hail of gunfire.

Another force of Chinese troopers burst into the room. But their uniforms were faded green in color, rather than the standard dark grey of Chinese uniforms. Some soldiers also had facepaint and headbands on, while everyone carried a weapon that boasted more attachments than average.

"Oriental swords!" Captain Boehm yelled, engaging the incoming special forces troopers, who tossed grenades at the US troops.

Friendly soldiers were instantly fired upon when coming out of cover, making it hard to engage the enemy troopers.

"Ok, these guys are on another level," Nick said.

"They're elite special forces, Nick. What did you think?" The captain said, returning fire.

Kion, filled with confidence and possibly arrogance, charged at one of the enemy troopers with his blade. But the human soldier managed to parry the attack and get into a weapon lock with the young hero.

Kion didn't expect this much resistance, but with a head butt, he stunned the Solider and then ran his blade through her.

Meanwhile, the other heroes and their allies were striking back at the oriental swords. Then, Captain Boehm tossed a grenade that forced the enemies out of cover behind some supply crates, allowing friendly troops to gun them down.

"Clear!"

However, before Heroes could move to disable the guns, a group of Chinese rushers troopers armed with shotguns burst into the room, weapons ready. The US and CA troops prepared themselves, but suddenly a stray shell entered the room via the opening on one wall. It impacted near the incoming shotgunners, reducing them to nothing before they could attack.

"Well, that takes care of that," Nick said, looking at what was left of the rushers. "Yuck."

"Hey uh guys, I just got a report about a ship requesting backup from some enemy boats and other ships around it," Haida said via the radio.

"We're on it." Captain Boehm said. "Kion, you load, Nick, you fire, I'll aim. Judy, you keep watch with some of the commandos. The rest of you, man, those other guns!"

"Sir, yes sir!" The Canadian commandos said before some took up positions guarding the room entrances. At the same time, the remaining troopers operated some of the artillery guns.

The captain jumped on one of the canons and looked through the sights out onto the sea. CN and US forces battled it out in the rough seas in front of the fortress.

Warships engaged each other with massive cannons. Small escort vessels darted and weaved around the larger ships like small creatures. Airplanes engaged other aircraft and boats alike as they blazed through the sky.

"Uh... I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to work this thing..." Nick said, looking over the metal machine.

"Just pull that cord there when I tell you too," Alex said, pointing to the object in question.

"This one?"

"Yeah, pull it when I say 'fire.'"

Kion picked up a shell from a nearby ammo crate and loaded it into the breach before closing it. Meanwhile, the captain sighted a US destroyer set upon by a few smaller escort craft and targeted one of the smaller vessels.

"FIRE!"

Nick pulled the cord, but nothing happened.

"You have to pull it harder!" Kion noted.

The fox obliged, and the gun fired with a deafening blast, knocking Nick off his feet.

"WHOA! Ok, that was something!" Nick said, getting back up.

Captain Boehm watched the shot fly through the air and impact the escort vessel. The small boat exploded in a fireball and shower of debris.

"Direct hit! Get back in position, Nick! We've got a battle to win here!" The captain ordered.

"Well, you don't have to be so rude about it...." Nick teased, taking the firing cord in his paws again as Kion loaded another shell.

The captain targeted another Chinese escort vessel, and it was reduced to rubble by the subsequent shot.

The captain then turned his attention to a small enemy warship and bombarded it with multiple shells. The naval vessel shrugged off the first shot, but it started to show more damage with subsequent strikes. Cracks and indents showed on the vessel's surface, and fire belched from damaged areas. Finally, crewmammals jumped overboard into the sea with life jackets.

"PLAN vessel eliminated. Haida, the destroyer is safe." The captain said into his radio, getting off the artillery piece.

"You know, this reminds me." Kion said, "I've never seen a mouse-sized artillery gun. It must just be a standard-sized gun, right?"

"I've never seen one either. Be ready on the guns in case another ship needs support. Jack, do you read me?"

"Affirmative, go ahead."

"Chinese gun crews are down. Are there any US ships in the bay that require support?"

"That aircraft carrier is taking a bit more of a pounding than it should, but I'm directing friendly forces to assist it. You're clear to go ahead with your secondary objective."

"Roger that. Heroes, Commandos, destroy those guns, and let's move out!"

000

"Come on! Come on! Push up!" Toothdee yelled.

The US troops she was with followed her command and charged towards CN defensive positions on a grassy outcropping near the fortress.

Just like the beach on the other side of the fortress, PLA troops were dug in with machine guns, guarding a vital supply stash on this side of the citadel.

"Toothdee, I'm here!" JayJay yelled, and the Heroes commander turned to see JayJay approaching her. She was wearing a muted gray and green dress, along with her fur being dyed a very muted shade of blue to reduce its visual impact.

"We need to get you some better gear," Toothdee said, looking over the wolf's not precisely regulation-compliant outfit.

"What? It's camouflaged... I have a bulletproof vest..." JayJay said, tugging on her vest to show it was there "...and Alex always says he likes fashion as well as function."

"Well, he doesn't exactly know what he's talking about in that regard."

"What, you guys wear gold armor half the time. Although now I see that you've put gray camouflage paint over it."

Toothdee looked down at her own chest and shoulder armor. Usually, it was gold in color, but now that color was extremely muted and covered with a gray camouflage pattern painted on.

"That gold color is by design," Toothdee said. "The gold is more recognizable, meaning enemies will fire upon the gold area, as opposed to other less vibrant parts of the body. But that gold section is where the armor is strongest. It's like saying 'shoot me here where my armor is thickest' "

"Oooohhhh..... well, like I said, fashion and function."

"Enough chit-chat. We have to assault this side of the fortress and destroy enemy supplies!"

The pair of mammals moved ahead to where enemy soldiers were engaging US forces. A wolf soldier was struck down by shots from PLA troopers in cover.

"JayJay! Keep them bottled up!" Toothdee yelled, prompting her companion to open fire on the enemy positions, giving Toothdee time to pull the wounded trooper to cover.

A medic checked out the injured wolf while the pair of Heroes advanced on enemy positions. They gunned down any hostile trooper that attempted to return fire.

US troops advanced with them, but the pair of Heroes were leading the charge. As a result, all the PLA soldiers were killed, and the attacking mammals went further through enemy lines. Nevertheless, enemy machine gunners and snipers continued to engage, putting out a hail of bullets.

"Skye, we need some artillery support. Can you get a warship to assist? Sending enemy coordinates."

"I'm on it! One second."

There was a slight delay. The American troops continuing to take cover and return fire at the enemy.

"Get down, strike incoming."

JayJay and Toothdee took cover as shells rained down from above, obliterating the hostile Chinese troops. Dirt and debris flew into the air as PLA troops screamed before being torn to shreds.

The barrage ceased, and Heroes advanced with their US marines, gunning down a few Chinese soldiers who had survived the bombardment and were left disoriented.

"Secure the area! Plant charges on those supplies!" Toothdee yelled, the force moving up to a flattened dirt area that contained a large stockpile of crates and drums underneath camouflage netting.

However, People's Liberation Army reinforcements arrived, attacking prepared positions behind the fortress, located far from the main defensive line.

The large group of enemy troops charged towards the US forces with bayonets. Screaming battle cries, striking with extreme fanaticism and ferocity.

Many American troops were impaled by the furious blades, even as they opened fire on the attacking mammals, gunning down dozens of the attackers.

A Chinese trooper charged towards Toothdee with a bayonet, but she managed to parry and strike the soldier with the butt of her own rifle.

JayJay simply used her expert agility to doge two incoming mammals and land hard melee strikes that knocked them out.

The PLA troops lay dead, their desperate last assault blunted.

"See!" JayJay said, "my outfit didn't hinder me at all, Toothdee!"

"Ugh.." Toothdee said, rolling her eyes. "Troopers! Ready your demolition charges!"

000

"Is the planning room this way?" Kion asked, slicing through a PLA trooper with his sword.

"According to Jack's ZIA asset, yes," Alex said, plunging his blade into another trooper.

The pair charged forward with their sword, cutting down Chinese troopers in close quarters and deflecting incoming bullets as they cleared the way for their team and advanced through the fortress.

"Shotgunners!" Kion yelled.

The pair of swordsmen ducked, allowing the Canadian soldiers and ZPD members to fire over their heads and down the hostile troopers. Shotguns were nigh impossible to deflect against.

"Away team, based on footage from your body cams, you're nearing the HQ room," Jack said through the radio. "Next door on the left."

"Affirmative Jack," captain Boehm said, "Heroes, JTF-2, stack up on that door."

The allied forces took up ready positions on the door before Kion kicked it open, and they charged into the war room.

Chinese commanding officers and personnel were busy going over maps on a central table and computer screens displaying tactical information. The officers in the room drew pistols and attempted to fire back at the incoming Heroes but were quickly downed.

Kion parried and cut down an oriental sword on guard near the door before turning his attention to another advancing trooper with an assault rifle.

Nick fired a precise trio of arrow shots, taking down 3 of the officers in the room who were trying to abscond with the items on the war table.

Captain Boehm sliced through an oriental sword on guard before advancing on a Chinese commanding officer. He knocked away her pistol and slammed her face into a computer monitor on a desk.

But then the captain noticed something on another computer monitor on a desk. A human with a sword, cutting through what appeared to be US soldiers holding a position outside the fortress. It only took a few seconds to realize that it was his counterpart.

Anger built inside the captain, seeing the last villain they had to defeat, the being that shared his name and face and was wreaking so much destruction. Nothing would stop him from putting an end to his counterpart's rampage.

While Alex was distracted, an enemy soldier charged at him, but Judy performed a dropkick, knocking the attacker out.

"Clear! Secure those plans!" One of the commandos said before another commando moved over to the war table and started to grab all the maps and documents on it, stuffing them into a secure, watertight, and armored case.

"Alex? What is it?" Judy asked.

The captain gestured to the computer screen and slid a chair over to Judy. The rabbit hopped up on the chair and took a look at the screen.

"Oh... I see now." The bunny said, her ears drooping.

"We have to go after my counterpart. He's the last dark version of us that's still out there."

"Yes!" Kion said, agreeing with his friend. "Let's go get him and finish those dark heroes off once and for all!"

The lion banged his knuckles together.

"What? Kion, Alex, we're here for the war maps and papers. Not to chase down your counterpart."

"Come on, Judy, Alex's counterpart is the last villain we need to defeat! So we have to go get him! He's a vital target!"

"I'm with carrots," Nick said, "knowledge is power. Let's complete our assignment and then go find tall, dark, and evil another day."

"Then let's split up." Alex said, "Kion and I will give chase. You two secure the plans."

"I wouldn't recommend that, sir." One of the Canadians said, "This is a dangerous Chinese facility swarming with hostiles. Splitting up could be disastrous, and there's no guarantee you would be able to extract."

"Look, Alex...." Judy said. "You are our leader, Nick, and I will gladly follow you, but our mission was to get those documents. We have them. Let's make sure we get them somewhere safe."

"As a leader, I can't ignore the sensibilities of those I lead. I'm not gonna force you to follow me."

"Well, then it looks like we're tied," Nick said.

The captain turned to the commandos.

"You guys are the tie-breaking votes."

There was a few moments of discussion between the commandos.

"Our mission is to secure the war plans, sir. We side with the rabbit." The Canadian leader said.

"Alright, we're outvoted, Kion. Reload and prepare to move to the extraction point."

Nick and Judy took up point this time, starting to lead the group back outside the fortress. Alex and Kion serving as rear guards.

The lion turned off his body camera and radio microphone and gestured for captain Boehm to do the same, which he did.

"If you ask me, I say we should be going after your counterpart right now. I mean, who's more of a threat than that!"

"I'm with you." The captain said, "Out of respect for Nick and Judy, we'll get the intelligence out of here. But if I had my way, we would be pursuing my counterpart right now."

[alexboehm55144]

Here’s a sneak peak of the next chapter of Alex Final Wars 2! Tune in next week to find out the whole story!

It’s done! My latest commission!. If you wanna know more about this character go to @alexboehm55144 and read the fanfiction 😉

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 34 - Black Ship

Living quarters on the Typhoon were of good quality, and there were cabins for mammals of all sizes. Each cabin had a bathroom and a comfy bed that was built into one of the walls. They also had a closet and plenty of room for furniture if the occupant wanted it. The walls were metal, and the entire cabin had a modern look. There was also a window to the outside world for the enjoyment of the occupant. During battle, armored panels would slide over the window.

Captain Boehm awoke in his quarters on the Typhoon, stretching and trying to stay awake. The room was dark, only illuminated by a bit of light from the outside peaking past the blinds.

He wanted to just stay in bed. Maybe watch some videos or something on his tablet. But, there was work to be done. He grabbed his phone and tapped the texting app, finding the message between him and Toothdee.

"I'm awake. What's our status?" He texted.

Toothdee decided to call back instead of texting back, the phone's screen showing a picture of her, while the device rang loudly.

The captain cursed under his breath, getting out of bed and walking into the bathroom in his room.

"What is it?" He said, answering the phone.

"Well, first of all, good morning." Toothdee said, "secondly, we lost the energy signature of your counterpart's plane last night. We can only track it for so long, and it's difficult considering his plane has a stealth coating of paint on it."

"So, we've lost him entirely?"

"Not quite. We can still search the general area where we last detected the plane. Also, we have a report from a scouting element. Our counterpart's version of the Typhoon was spotted in the same area. I think we might be getting close."

"Brilliant! Let's keep on them. We might be able to find our counterpart's HQ. What about you, Toothdee? You should probably get some rest."

"I'm fine. I took over from Kion a few hours ago. Besides, I have iced tea."

"Oh, did the flying training pay off?"

"Well, it's a lot easier to fly through the open sky than battle around rocks and structures, using them as cover."

"True. Ok, I'll come up and meet you shortly."

The call ended, and the captain sighed, exiting the bathroom and walking back to his bed.

"Sorry about that." He said to the blue-furred wolf laying on the bed, rubbing her eyes.

"Well... I should probably get up anyways..." JayJay said.

"Another day, another battle. But it's nice to relax every once in a while." The captain said, sitting on the bed and pulling on some socks.

"Yeah... especially with someone else," JayJay said, nibbling on her companion's ear.

"Ow!?" Alex said, pulling away from her.

"Oh, sorry! That's a wolf thing."

"Well... Just be gentle."

The wolf went back to work, following her instincts while the captain scrolled through his tablet, preparing for the day ahead. Eventually, much to JayJays disappointment, Alex got up and gathered his things, getting ready to leave.

"Who's.... still left out there?" The wolf said, getting on all fours and stretching her arms out, yawning at the same time.

"Well, there's your counterpart, Toothdee's counterpart, and my counterpart."

"Oh, listen, be careful when going after your counterpart, ok." The wolf stood up and walked over to the human, taking his hands in her paws. "Eris told me that you crashed while battling your counterpart."

"Yeah, it was tough. I mean, just a human, treading water against a jet."

The wolf's ears were pinned back on her head, indicating she was upset.

"But I'm fine. Shame about my jet, though."

"You are more important than some fancy plane Alex."

"I know, I know."

"Be more careful, so you can live to fight another day."

There was a pause, the captain thinking about what to say next.

"For me?" The wolf said.

"*sigh* alright, for you."

The pair shared a short kiss and embrace before going their separate ways for the day. There was still a war to be won.

000

The captain entered the bridge, gazing out at the light blue sea and tall volcanic mountains visible outside the Typhoon. The mountains were covered in rich green forests, and clouds dotted the sky. Toothdee was piloting the ship from the captain's chair. Meanwhile, Jack was also present, standing in the corner and listening to something on his phone. However, he was aware enough to nod at Alex as he entered.

"Morning!"

"Morning Alex," Toothdee said, sitting up in the captain's chair. "We should be nearing the area where our counterpart's ship was spotted."

"Well, we should probably put everyone on high alert."

"I know. I'm just letting everyone get up, get ready, and get going. But everyone's assignments and positions have already been set up and are ready to be sent out if or when the time comes."

"You are always prepared."

"Hang on, picking up something."

Toothdee looked at the radar screen to spot an unknown contact somewhere behind a mountain up ahead. She guided the ship towards the signature, rounding the mountain the heroes on the bridge saw it.

"The black typhoon..." Toothdee said, watching the massive vessel hover in the air in front of them. The ship was slightly larger than Heroes' blue Typhoon, and its hull way black in color, while its counterpart was gray with some blue highlights. Large wings used to help the airship in flight jutted out from the hull, and the vessel's surface was blistered with weapon emplacements.

"Toothdee, battle stations!" The captain ordered.

"Already on it." She said, pressing a button, automatically sending everyone's assignments to them. Everyone on the ship instantly and knew where they had to go and what they had to do.

Jack and Alex raced to gunner seats, sitting down and bringing the weapons online.

A few moments later, Laval and Eris entered the bridge, getting to their gunner positions.

"Well, this is quite a way to start the day," Laval said, sitting down.

"Enemy ship is hailing us," Toothdee said before a video from the Black Typhoon appeared on the bridge's main screen, which normally showed the outside world.

Toothdees counterpart appeared on screen, also sitting in the pilot's seat of her vessel.

"I did not expect that today I would get to destroy my adversaries and their warship." Toothdee's counterpart said. "Today is off to a good start."

"It's you who will be going down today," Toothdee said.

"Your ship is inferior by the looks of it."

"It's more than capable of killing you!"

"We shall see..."

The video disconnected, and the battle began.

Both typhoons fired, opening salvos of missiles and rockets. Members of Heroes operating the bridges of the blue Typhoon, while Chinese troops managed the weapons of the Black Typhoon. Shots from both vessels hit the other, dealing damage to both ships.

"Hull is holding," Eris reported.

The ships moved closer to each other and began to circle and square off. The pair of ships avoiding enemy shots while hitting their own. Two airships battling in the sky, surrounded by volcanic mountains and forests sprouting from the rich soil.

Toothdee used the blue Typhoon's smaller size and better maneuverability to evade incoming fire from the hostile vessel. However, this also meant that when the Blue Typhoon was hit, it did more damage than when the Heroes vessel struck the Chinese ship.

The blue Typhoon pulled in close, allowing its gunners to engage at close range, dealing heavy damage to the hostile airship. But due to the closer range, the black Typhoon got off some good shots on the Typhoon. As the blue Typhoon pulled away, the enemy airship launched a barrage of missiles that struck the American airship.

The Heroes vessel shook as shells and missiles hit it, and suddenly, lights, computer screens, and control systems went down.

Red emergency lights came on while the massive video screen used to view the outside world flickered for a moment. Laval spoke on the loss of camera feed to the weapon he was controlling.

"Uh? Where'd my canon go?"

"Mine's gone as well." Captain Boehm said. "The electrical systems must have been damaged."

"Find out where!" Toothdee said, trying to maintain control of the vessel despite the power issues. She turned her vehicle away from the hostile airship. The Typhoon used the volcanic mountains nearby as cover, breaking the line of sight with the enemy. However, the dark ship maintained pursuit, firing whenever it had a chance.

Meanwhile, Eris had switched control away from a weapon's emplacement, choosing instead to activate one of the Typhoon's defensive systems. Smoke generators all over the ship turned on and created a large cloud around the vessel, obscuring it from the view of the Black Typhoon.

Alex looked through a display of the ship's systems and saw that a critical junction box had sustained damage.

"Junction box 2-C, port side!"

"Get Skye on it!" Jack said, "she's an engineer after all."

The captain quickly contacted the fox on his radio.

"Skye! We need you!"

"What is it? What's wrong with the lights?"

"A junction box has been damaged. We need you to fix it. And quick! Look for junction box 2-C. It's marked as such. 2nd deck, port side."

"Massive airships aren't really my thing...." Skye said. "But I'll see what I can do. I'm gonna need my tools. They're in my room."

"I'll tell Kion to get them," Alex said.

"Ok, I'll get it done."

Skye started racing through the ship, getting on all fours to go faster. After being contacted by captain Boehm, Kion headed to Jack and Skye's room. The lion entered, quickly spotting a small red toolbox near the door, before grabbing it and sprinting towards the compartment he had been directed towards.

Meanwhile, toothdee turned and moved the Typhoon as fast as she could, narrowly avoiding hostile shells. The black Typhoon fired another barrage of missiles.

"Deploying flares!" Eris said, pressing a button and causing flares to release from canisters on the Typhoon. The heat-seeking missiles hit the flares, while the Typhoon continued onwards unscathed by the missile barrage.

Skye reached compartment 2C and opened it up, finding wires and electronics smoking and sparking. Kion showed up with a toolbox, crouching down to her height and putting the box between them.

The fox blew on the burnt electronics and went to work, rewiring electrical circuits and occasionally telling Kion to get her a tool.

"Wire cutters."

The lion reached into the tool bag and found the tool, quickly placing it into the agent's waiting paw.

"Voltmeter."

The lion obliged as the lights in the area went out for a brief moment while Skye messed with the wiring.

"Rag."

The lion handed Skye a rag, and the fox wiped the sweat off her forehead with it.

She fiddled with the electrical systems a bit more, and then, the weapons returned to full fictionality. On the airship bridge, the main lights returned, and computer screens came back on.

"Oh yeah, we're back," Jack said, the camera view of his weapon returning.

Toothdee spun the Typhoon around, ultimately catching the pursuing enemy ship off guard. With the element of surprise, the Heroes vessel fired everything it had. Missiles, cannons, machine guns, ordnance of all types hit the Black Typhoon.

The Chinese airship sustained massive damage, hull sections cracking and burning scars appearing all over the vessel. The black Typhoon attempted to flee, turning around a mountain and into a large valley. However, the blue Typhoon maintained chase. Toothdee pressed her firing controls, and cannon shells cut through the air, hitting the rear engines on the Chinese vessel.

Smoke poured from the black Typhoon, the dark ship looking like its very superstructure was evaporating into whips of jet black smoke. The Chinese vessel couldn't maintain altitude, crashed into the forest below, and created a massive sound of scraping metal on rock.

Trees, rocks, and dirt were thrown up in the air as the black Typhoon skid across the ground. Wild birds took to the sky in fear as the airship came to a stop on a mountainside. The beast was slain. Smoke and fire poured from the black Typhoon, and most of its weapons had been destroyed. All that was left was the crew, scrambling around inside, Dark Toothdee yelling orders to try and formulate a course of action. Chinese troops rushed to and fro, repairing damage and attempting to get systems back online.

All the while, the Blue Typhoon hovered in the sky above its fallen adversary, almost lording over its kill. The smaller and allegedly inferior ship had bested its enemy, leaving the latter nothing but broken metal.

"We did it," Toothdee said, finally relaxing slightly, no longer in imminent danger from their counterpart's ship.

"Take it from another pilot, Toothdee, that was some great flying," Eris said.

"Some of their weapons are still online. They could still return fire," Jack noted.

"Hail them," captain Boehm said, "let's see what they have to say now."

A communications link to the hostile ship came up on the screen yet again. This time the video showed that Toothdee's counterpart looked worse for wear. Smoke and sparks came from areas off-screen, and the counterpart's face was covered in cuts and bruises.

"Well, well... Who's inferior now." The captain said. "It would be wise for you to surrender."

"Never!" Toothdee's counterpart said. "I'll tear your ship from the sky! You will have to kill me!"

"You got it. Open fire! All batteries!"

"With pleasure, sir," Laval said, pressing down on the fire buttons on his controls.

Missiles and shells blasted for the Typhoon's weapon systems, the ship engaging with extreme prejudice. Smoke from the weapons filled the air as explosions wracked the black Typhoon.

Toothdee pressed down on her fire controls, but only half-heartedly. Even as she pressed the button to launch a devastating barrage of missiles, her will to do so wavered. Was this the best course of action? Why couldn't they make a ground assault and capture her counterpart? They would be able to gain valuable intelligence. These thoughts ran through her mind, even as the barrage of missiles streaked towards the Black Typhoon's bridge.

On the enemy bridge, alarms blared, and red lights flashed as the ship sustained catastrophic structural failure. Indicators displaying critical damage blinked wildly as Dark Toothdee closed her eyes. She did not want to see her own failure, even as the black Typhoon broke apart around her.

The vessel detonated. Fire ripping through its dark black hull, propelling debris into the air, with the wreckage raining down in the surrounding area. All that was left of a once-powerful and devastating airship was a burnt and ravaged hunk of steel, awash with flame.

"Well, that's that then," Eris said

"Another one down," Laval said.

"I'll send a team to the wreckage," Jack said, calling up some ZIA agents who were in the vicinity.

"Eris was right, Toothdee." Alex said, "you are one hell of a pilot."

"Thanks." She responded. But she still couldn't shake the feeling that they could have done more. She was partly glad that her evil counterpart was dead, but she felt they could have captured her dark double instead. Either way, another counterpart had been killed. Only 2 remained.

000

"What have you found?" Toothdee asked. She and Alex watching Jack, Haida, & Retsuko sort through reports.

"Well, the ZIA agents sent to the wreckage found some Chinese military documents," Retsuko said, eyes darting between 2 pieces of paper as she cross-referenced information.

"I the ZIA's best translation teams are working on it," Jack said. "They've already translated a bunch of helpful information."

The rabbit pulled up a report that was marked as highly classified. "But there's also a report that seems to be from the counterparts. it mentions something called 'operation match strike.'"

“Matchstrike?” Alex said.

"Yeah, it mentions operations at a set of islands in the South China Sea and talks about running communications misinformation and then launching a small strike force. That's about it. It doesn't tell the full story."

"Island in the South China Sea?" Toothdee said, "isn't that where this war started?"

"Yes, it is. There does seem to be information here about the start of this conflict. Maybe if we can get intelligence from the islands themselves, we could learn more."

"Back to where it all began...."

"Want me to start drawing up plans for an infiltration or assault operation," Alex asked.

"Do that, but first, we need to finish repairs and rearmament."

"Skye is helping to work on that," Jack said. "I'm glad we were able to make it back to a US island."

"Yep, we sustained some heavy damage, but at least we're still in one piece."

"And soon..." captain Boehm said. "The full might of this warship, Heroes, and the US, will be bearing down on China and our counterparts."

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 33 - Midway

The Typhoon had been zipping all over the pacific throughout the US-Chinese war. This was possible because the ship had cloaking technology and could fly. But a large portion of the US navy was still relegated to the eastern half of the ocean, unable to move west due to Chinese forces.

However, with recent US gains, the offensive had started. Naval forces were now planning a significant strike back against the Chinese Navy and Air Force at the island of Midway.

A US armada, including the Typhoon, aircraft carriers, and numerous smaller escort vessels, was already making haste to meet with an equally sized Chinese fleet.

"I expected more airships," Laval said from the bridge of the Typhoon while JayJay sat nearby and filed her claws. "But we're the only one here."

"Airships are still an experimental technology, Laval," Toothdee noted, sitting in the captain's chair and piloting the ship. "Aquatic vessels are still the mainstay for the world's nations."

"Oh great, your telling me our home and HQ is an experimental vessel?"

"Don't worry, Laval, it's perfectly safe."

"Say, have you guys seen Fabienne?" JayJay asked.

"Oh, the reporter. She's probably filming something." Laval said, "I just hope she stays safe when the fighting breaks out."

"She's worked as a war correspondent before," Toothdee said. "She told me she was getting some shots of the ships from one of the outside decks. Speaking of which...."

The Heroes commander turned the radio on again.

"Fabienne, do you read? Are you alright?"

The snow leopard had set up some recording equipment on one of the outside platforms on the Typhoon's exterior. The ocean breeze blew through her fur, and the beautiful blue sea and sky were visible all around her.

"Do you read?"

The reporter's ears perked up, and she grabbed the radio she had been given since her first day on the Heroes ship.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm ok. Just about to film a quick shot of the fleet."

"Ok, finish up quickly and get back inside."

"Will do."

The snow leopard turned off the radio and took one last look to make sure her tripod-mounted camera was lined up properly before clicking the record button. Afterward, she quickly tested the audio and the microphone on her collar and stood in position. She was a meter from the camera, off to the side. Enough so that the device could see the fleet of US warships in the background, along with the reporter. She was careful not to step too close to the edge of the platform. Because while there was a railing, she did not want to risk falling overboard.

"Hello, this is Fabienne Growley, coming to you from aboard the Typhoon in the pacific. US naval forces are moving to secure the region around Midway island. They are being led by Heroes, and their airship, the Typhoon. A Chinese fleet is in the area, hoping to defend their territory from the encroaching US forces. At this time, it is impossible to say what will occur during this battle, but this could be a turning point for the war in the Pacific."

The snow leopard moved over to the camera and stopped the recording before packing up all her equipment. As she entered back into the vessel, Fabienne contacted Toothdee on her radio.

"I'm heading back inside Toothdee. I'll get to my battle station."

"Ok, you'll be safe there."

"I guess she got her shot," Laval said as Toothdee disconnected the call.

"Let's check in with everyone else while we're at it. Our forces are spread out all around the area, so we should be able to cover the entire field of battle." She said, switching the channel on her radio. "Heroes, this is the Typhoon. What's your status?"

"This is captain Boehm. Eris and I are flying the deadly skies."

The 2 young pilots zipped through the air above the fleet in their jets. Eris was flying her blue and white eagle interceptor, one that she had modified to her specifications.

Alex flew a custom F-35, one of the standard jets of the US Air Force.

"Nice flying," Eris said, the pair of jets turning and circling the US fleet.

"Thanks, your pretty good yourself. But your reputation precedes you." Alex said, looking at the tally marks on the jet's hull.

"I like your plane's color scheme," Eris said, drawing attention to the aircraft's metallic exterior, which was dark gray in color. A few shiny red, white and blue lines ran along the wings and near the cockpit as a patriotic gesture.

"Thanks! Lately, I've been wondering if I should paint it with some other pattern or color scheme. But that's not the only thing that's different about this plane. It's been modified with upgrades including stronger weapons and armor."

"Alright, you two, don't you keep your heads in the clouds for too long," Toothdee said, be forcing changing the channel on her radio. "Kion, Jasiri, what's your status."

"Kion here. I'm just taking a look at the cannon on this destroyer. This thing looks like it will pack a serious punch."

The lion touched and inspected the barrel of a forward-mounted turret on a US destroyer. Jasiri was nearby, leaning against a railing and enjoying the sea breeze.

"I'm here as well, Toothdee, just enjoying the calm before the storm."

"Alright, keep your heads on the swivel. Your job is to provide support to other US forces. That's why your stationed where you are. Toothdee out. Nick, Judy, you two better not be making out or something."

"Hey!" Judy said, jumping up from where she was lying on the beach.

"Unfortunately, no." Nick said, "we're just sitting here, relaxing- I mean, guarding, this wonderful- I mean, important beach on the midway island."

"Well, you two better stay on guard, lest the Chinese land on Midway, and it's an atoll, Nick."

"Don't worry, no matter what it is, we'll keep it safe."

Judy was still blushing a bit from embarrassment as Toothdee switched the radio channel over to someone else.

"Well, carrots, that was a rude interruption to our make-out session."

"Haida, Retsuko, are you there?" Toothdee said.

"Oh hey, Toothdee," Retsuko said. She was standing in the cargo bay on the Typhoon, stocked with equipment and whose walls were made of hardened metal. "Haida's in the bathroom, but we're right here on the ship, ready to help however we can."

"Glad to hear it. I know your job isn't the flashiest, your not racing into combat, but your job is no less important. It's because of you two that we get our supplies, and all the paperwork gets sorted."

Retsuko blushed and smiled to herself. Her last job didn't appreciate her at all, so it was nice to hear that she mattered.

"Thank you, you don't know how much that means to me. Oh, and that reminds me...."

The red panda clambered on top of a large crate. It was a crate designed for lion-sized mammals, so it was difficult to scale, but Retsuko managed. She compared the label on the container to the writing on a notepad in her hand.

"....we should be fully stocked. We've got plenty of ammo. I checked twice."

The red panda jumped down from the crate and brushed some dust from the blue pants of her uniform. It wasn't required by regulation, but it made her feel a lot more formal when working, which helped her focus.

"Again, thank you." Toothdee said, "always know that you're a part of the team."

The Heroes leader switched the radio channel for the last time and spoke again.

"Jack and Skye, do you read?"

"We hear you, Toothdee."

The fox and bunny couple were in a small rubber-hulled military boat, speeding through the waves. Skye maneuvered the rubber craft around warships and larger vessels. At the same time, Jack stood ready at the boat's mounted minigun, which was a bit large for a rabbit, but he was up to the task of operating it.

"We're ready and waiting," Jack said, holding on tight as the boat hit a wave.

"Lovely day for a battle," Skye said.

"Keep your heads on the swivel. I'm glad we have the support of 2 ZIA agents during this engagement."

Toothdee turned off the radio and returned her focus to the Typhoon's controls.

"Why do you think the Chinese are even here anyway? We keep stopping their assaults."

"I can only speculate, but they probably just can't stop fighting. China has to demonstrate its strength and that it is the world's foremost superpower. Basically, the Chinese need to prove that they, and their way of thinking, are right. Not to mention victory would put them in a very favorable position on the world stage."

The radio came to life again as the voice of a US sailor came through.

"Enemy vessels spotted!"

On the horizon, black shapes appeared and started to grow closer and closer. Chinese warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy. Accompanying them were planes of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force.

"LAVAL! JAYJAY! BATTLE STATIONS!" Toothdee said, prompting the lion and wolf to hop into their weapon positions as armored panels slid up to cover the Typhoon's bridge window.

There was a brief respite of calm, yet the tension was palpable as the two fleets drew closer and closer before entering weapon range.

Missiles and cannons opened fire, projectiles cutting through the sky and either splashing into the sea or impacting enemy warships.

JayJay, Laval, and Toothdee operated the Typhoon and its weapons systems, sending a flurry of shots towards enemy ships and planes. A dark black PLAAF fighter jet that looked heavily modified was leading the charge. Still, it weaved and launched flares to avoid incoming fire.

"that lead aircraft is giving off a unique signature on our sensor equipment," Toothdee noted.

The pair of gunners targeted a formation of hostile bombers with missiles and machine gunfire. Shots were tearing through the wings and into the fuselage while missiles filled the planes with shrapnel. The large airplanes either crashed into the ocean or exploded violently in a massive fireball.

"You know, this is cool and all, but somehow I'd rather be on the ground fighting," JayJay said.

"I get that," Laval said. "We all have our preferred style of combat."

"Agreed." Toothdee said, "It's just sometimes someone has to be around to operate the ship and its weapons. Thankfully you guys are trained for that."

The Typhoon then moved to engage a Chinese destroyer, battering the side of the vessel with cannon shots.

Explosions ripped through the metal of the ship, with the hull starting to fracture and break. After a few moments of sustained bombardment, the boat sank beneath the waves with a loud gurgling noise.

The Typhoon then focused its weapons on a group of smaller watercraft, with PLAN soldiers on the sides of the vessel, firing machine guns missile launchers.

"Damnit, they keep moving too fast!" Laval said, the small vessels zipping at high speed around the typhoon and opening fire.

However, despite this, the Typhoon eventually was able to appropriately target the smaller craft and shred them with weapons fire.

One escort vessel was torn apart with machine guns. While another was utterly obliterated by large cannon shells.

"We're really mopping the floor with them Heroes, but that's going to be a problem," Toothdee said, looking straight ahead towards a hostile aircraft carrier that was launching fighters. "We're going to need some support for that."

The Heroes leader looked out the port side of the ship and saw a US destroyer nearby and quickly radioed for backup.

"Destroyer, USS Gridley, this is the Typhoon. We're heading towards that Chinese carrier and would appreciate the support."

"Affirmative Typhoon, moving to support."

Along with a few other escort vessels and aircraft, the pair of warships made haste towards the PLAN aircraft carrier, accompanied by escort craft.

The vessels closed in on each other, and once the Typhoon was close enough, it opened fire on the carrier with its weapons. The Gridley followed suit, both ships pummeling the carrier with weapons as the escort vessels of both sides battled it out.

The Gridley and Typhoon pulled close, able to wreak massive damage at this close range. Shells ripped through the vessel's hull, and missiles pummeled the bridge.

Kion was operating a mounted machine gun on the outside deck of the Gridley and was spraying the aircraft carrier deck with machine gunfire. Shots tore through equipment, aircraft, and personnel.

"RELOAD!" the lion yelled.

Jasiri was ready to support him, quickly removing the empty magazine and inserting a fresh one, allowing Kion to resume firing. Chinese troops on the carrier deck fired back but were swiftly eliminated.

"Hell yeah!" Kion said, triumphantly raising his fist in the air.

The pair of ships pulled away from the carrier, which was billowing smoke and listing heavily. While the Typhoon moved off to find another target, the Gridley made haste towards an enemy destroyer moving away from the battle zone, having sustained heavy damage.

This hostile ship had been marked as a high-value target, a destroyer that was equipped with a wide range of advanced electronic sensors and weapons. These were used for area denial and electronic warfare operations, along with communications support. Its advanced capabilities were making it a thorn in the side of the American fleet.

"I'm guessing that's our next target," Jasiri said, pointing towards the damaged ship.

Kion laughed, "ha, easy prey."

But the Chinese destroyer was not alone. It was covered by a squadron of planes that moved in to engage the approaching US destroyer. The unit included the jet black PLAAF aircraft that had led the charge earlier. This elite plane was faster and more maneuverable than the others, and its weapons were likely more powerful as well.

The warship's guns opened fire on the incoming aircraft, and even Kion tried engaging them with his mounted machine gun. But the lion and Jasiri needed to duck as explosions went off nearby, missiles hitting and crippling the ship's gun systems.

One fighter was destroyed, and it crashed into the sea nearby with a massive splash. As the jets came around and prepared to make another attack on the destroyer, friendly aircraft arrived and chased the Chinese jets off.

But the Gridley had been left worse for wear, smoke billowing from damaged areas, and alarms blaring all over the ship.

"We better go see what the situation is," Kion said before he and Jasiri entered the warship and moved to the bridge.

The captain of the vessel, a mountain lion, was looking over a computer screen and talking with two other sailors.

"Hey, what's going on?" Kion asked, and the Mountain lion looked up.

"Our weapon systems have been hit. We can't return fire with our main guns. But that enemy vessel we were going after is still active. Its own guns and engines have been knocked out. However, it still has its electronic warfare capabilities."

"So it's been disabled..." Jasiri said, "...but not destroyed."

"Correct. Its systems are wreaking havoc with our own sensors." He pointed to the computer screen, which was partly frozen and full of error messages. "It still poses a serious threat."

"Hmm, then we still need to destroy it. Pull up alongside the vessel, and ready the marines and sailors."

"What? What are you going to do?"

"Something they definitely won't be expecting."

Kion, followed by Jasiri, headed down to the ship's main deck, where friendly troops were preparing themselves. A fox marine opened a weapon container and handed out rifles to other troopers before tossing one to a sailor some distance away.

The two Heroes stood in front of an assembled group of troops ready to receive orders.

The US Navy vessel pulled alongside the Chinese ship as enemy troops swarmed the deck of the hostile craft.

"Follow me!" Kion yelled, raising his sword and roaring, prompting US marines and sailors to raise their weapons and let our battle cries.

Blade in hand, Kion charged towards the PLAN vessel, leaping off the deck of the American ship and landing on the enemy destroyer, cutting down a Chinese sailor as he landed.

The marines and sailors were shocked at what had just transpired. This was a pirate tactic from the age of sail. But with no better options available, the marines followed the lion, jumping onto the deck of the enemy vessel and gunning down hostile sailors.

"Forward!" The young warrior said, sprinting down the length of the ship, cutting down more enemies and deflecting their bullets with his sword.

Jasiri and US troopers were close behind, providing support with gunfire. Some marines even broke out zipline launchers and grappling hooks, using them to board the hostile vessel.

The US troops continued down the deck of the Chinese warship, engaging hostiles and putting them down as they moved. Kion sliced down an enemy trooper that had taken up positions next to a series of different-sized doors. At the same time, Jasiri unloaded her pistols on another enemy standing a few meters away.

The team moved to the series of different-sized doors and prepared to enter. Still, before they could, the doors opened, and enemy personnel of many distinct species came out with their paws or hands raised.

US troops kept their weapons leveled and ordered the PLAN troops down to the ground. But the Chinese wouldn't respond, and they all remained clustered in one big group.

Suddenly one of the enemy sailors, a female panda, yelled out in English.

"imperialist warmongers!"

Two of the surrendered troopers pulled the pins on grenades they had concealed and tossed them at the US sailors.

Jasiri and Kion reacted quickly. Kion swung his sword and hit one of the flying grenades, knocking it into the sea. The other grenade bounced to the deck, and Jasiri bravely kicked it into the water, where both explosives went off with small splashes.

The American troops and Heroes opened fire, gunning down the Chinese sailors, lest they make another attempt at fighting back with more concealed weapons. Kion even cut down one of the sailors who was starting to pull a knife.

"Damnit, what a shame," Jasiri said as the enemy troops dropped to the deck.

"They did it to themselves," Kion said.

"Yeah, your right."

Before the US sailors and marines could move inside the vessel, a small rubber boat passed close by the ship, and the Chinese gunner on board opened fire with the mounted weapon. Two marines and a sailor were taken out as the boat pulled away from the massive warship.

Kion cursed and took cover before Jack came through on the radio.

"We've got you, Kion."

Jack and Skye raced by in their boat, the fox keeping hot on the heels of the PLAN boat. Jack aimed the minigun and fired, bullets ripping through the enemy sailors. The enemy boat stopped, its operators dead, with Jack and Skye racing by, rounding a friendly warship and heading towards Midway Atoll.

"More Chinese!" Jack said, and Skye maneuvered towards a pair of hostile sailors on jet skis, armed with pistols. The sailors opened fire with their weapons, forcing the fox to duck in cover. Jack was able to engage the jet skis, taking them down.

Another jet ski with two troopers on it appeared. The second soldier on board opened fire with an assault rifle. However, he was also quickly eliminated.

"Look! Over there!" Skye said, pointing to a group of watercraft, including landing vehicles, heading towards Midway Atoll.

"Get us over there," Jack said, readying himself. At the same time, Skye maneuvered the boat into a formation of US watercraft and helicopters. Even two troopers were piloting small personal hovercraft.

The US boats and aircraft closed the distance to the hostile vessels, and once it was within firing range, Jack opened upon them with the minigun. A hail of lead took down another jet-ski and another rubber boat.

Suddenly the jet black Chinese fighter dived down towards the US watercraft, launching missiles. The missiles took down a US helicopter, sending it crashing into the sea. Another barrage of rockets destroyed a US patrol boat.

"Whoa! Ok, watch out for that!" Jack said.

Skye pulled alongside a slightly larger enemy escort craft. Jack opened fire as the gunners on board the boat returned fire. The ZIA agent took down one of the gunners, then focused fire on the vessel's hull and bridge.

The vessel soon started to smoke before it stopped moving, dead in the water.

"Landing craft!" Jack said, noticing a group of marine lizard vehicles getting closer and closer to Midway island. These were identical to the vehicles that had deployed troops during the first assault on Zootopia.

Skye pulled alongside one of the vehicles. Jack fired into the troop compartment, killing many of the Chinese soldiers being transported inside the vessel. Jack then focused his fire on the control area of the boat, hoping to kill the driver or destroy the control system.

After filling part of the vehicle with bullets, the landing craft lost control and crashed into another landing craft. Both vessels flipped over, leaving Chinese soldiers treading in the water around the wreckage.

But more landing craft had reached Midway island, and the hostile troopers onboard disembarked and charged towards the American soldiers who were set up in defensive positions in trenches. Nick and Judy were also in place, behind a rocky outcropping. The pair of ZPD officers felt a bit out of their element in the island environment. It was not urban at all, unlike the city of Zootopia, their usual stomping grounds. But they were still determined to give the battle they're all.

"South blade incoming!" An American soldier yelled before being gunned down by the fast and dark black PLAAF fighter jet that was strafing the beach to support advancing troops.

"South blade?" Judy asked as defending troops returned fire.

Nick radioed his human friend, firing arrows at the incoming enemies. "Hey Alex, would you-"

"Give me one sec, Nick."

The human-focused on a Chinese aircraft he was flying towards, flak in the air all around him. He took the shot, a missile streaking through the sky and impacting the ship's bridge, obliterating the glass windows and the mammals on the bridge, before the captain pulled his jet back up into the sky.

"I'm sorry, go ahead."

"Would you happen to know about enemy soldiers called 'South Blade'?"

"South Blade? Those are special forces soldiers capable of air, land, and sea operations. Akin to US navy seals. Eris and I will move to provide you with air support."

"Ok, better switch to something a little more powerful," Nick said, drawing a death arrow from his quiver. He fired a hail of arrows, downing three PLA troopers in quick succession.

Judy used a standard-issue ZPD pistol, supported by a tranquilizer pistol that could down even the largest mammals.

A human commander joined the two ZPD officers behind their rocky outcropping and surveyed the situation on the beach. Two more marine lizard landing craft were incoming, bringing more troops to the battle.

"Demolitions team! Get up here now!" The commander yelled.

A pair of armadillos, who were fantastic with explosives due to their natural armor, ran towards the human commander with rocket launchers. Then the team each got down on one knee and aimed their weapons.

"Fire!"

The rocket launchers fired, their projectiles streaking towards the two incoming Chinese landing craft and hitting them. The vehicles exploded in a bright orange flash and a shower of metal.

"Nice shot," Nick said. "I wish I could do that."

"You should get some arrows with explosives on them," Judy said.

Before Nick could respond, a barrage of gunfire struck nearby.

A PLA bear soldier, armed with heavy armor and an LMG, moved towards Nick and Judy, opening fire with his weapon. Simultaneously, an otter diving team with SMGs moved out of the waves and onto the shore, joining their bear ally in engaging US forces.

"Yeah... I really wish I had some explosive arrows right now!" Nick said as everyone behind the rocky outcropping took cover.

"We've got you!" Eris said over the radio as the roar of jet engines filled the sky.

Eris's eagle interceptor came in low over the beach, opening fire with its front-mounted chi blasters. Bolts of energy peppered the hostile forces on the beach, neutralizing many of the enemy soldiers.

Alex's jet followed behind, strafing the beach with machine gunfire. The planes turned around for another pass on the beach.

The bear heavy weapons soldier angrily turned his LMG towards the sky. Still, he was obliterated by missiles from the American jets.

Explosions tore through Chinese soldiers on the ground, reducing their landing craft to burning husks.

Nick, Judy, and US troops cheered and watched the jets fly above.

"Thanks for the save, guys," Judy said as the jets headed back out to sea.

"Eris, prepare to target remaining Chinese naval vessels," Alex said, pulling alongside his eagle companion.

"Way ahead of you, literally!" Eris said, engaging her afterburners and pulling forward. Captain Boehm laughed and throttled up to chase after her. The aircraft returned to the battle zone, where the United States and China continued to engage. But the scales had been tipped, with the US looking more likely to come out on top.

"Let's target that escort vessel." The captain said, prompting both jets to nosedive towards a PLAN ship. The aircraft fired hails of machine-gun bullets and chi blasts, ripping through the Chinese vessel.

Smoke and fire erupted from the ship as the aircraft pulled around for another attack run.

"Missiles away!" Eris said, the pair of jets firing missiles, streaking low above the water before impacting the hostile escort ship with a massive explosion.

The vessel started to list and soon sank beneath the waves, leaving behind only debris and stranded crew.

"We've got incoming!" Eris said, noticing a group of PLAFF bomber planes moving towards a US aircraft carrier, escorted by some fighter jets.

"This is Hero leader." Captain Boehm said into his radio. "Requesting immediate fighter reinforcements. Hostile bomber squadron moving towards the friendly carrier."

The voice of an airmammal came through the radio.

"Affirmative Hero leader, fighter squadron moving to assist. ETA 2 minutes out."

"It's going to take some time for them to get here, Eris."

"Well then, let's give them something to shoot at!"

The pair of pilots gunned their engines and made haste towards the enemy bomber formation. Pouncing on the enemy aircraft, Eris scored a critical hit on one of the bombers, causing it to lose control and crash into a Chinese fighter nearby.

Alex fired a salvo of missiles that took down one enemy aircraft and heavily damaged another. The escort craft reacted and began to engage the American planes. Bullets whizzed by Eris, the eagle having to fly erratically to avoid them.

An enemy jet fired a missile at Alex, who deployed flares to interfere with the weapon's heat-seeking capability.

The engaging aircraft danced across the sky, turning and maneuvering with immense speed and agility, pushing the machines and their pilots to the limit. Whenever a hostile plane was in their sights, the pilots opened fire with machine guns or missiles.

Eris and Alex gained the upper hand, not sustaining much damage while dishing out plenty of damage to PLAAF planes. But the bombers continued to near the American aircraft carrier.

"Eris, you keep the fighters distracted. I'll go after the bombers!"

"You got it, Alex!" The young warrior said, looping around in her aircraft, getting behind a Chinese jet, and reducing it to scrap metal.

Captain Boehm pulled behind one of the enemy bombers, unloading into it with machine guns and rockets. Flames and smoke came from the plane, which began to rapidly lose altitude.

"Fighter support arrived!" Said a voice through the radio as more US aircraft entered the battlefield, engaging the remaining bombers and fighters.  

The Heroes captain cheered and pulled around to rejoin Eris. The eagle had taken down two Chinese aircraft, but a third plane had gotten behind her and opened fire with its machine guns. Eris flew erratically and tried to shake off her pursuer, but to no avail.

"He's on me!" Eris said.

"I'm on him!" Alex responded, pulling behind the attacking jet.

The captain pressed a button on the control stick, firing the jet's machine guns. Bullets tore through the enemy aircraft, and it dove towards the sea, the pilot ejecting.

"Whew, I owe you one, Alex."

"No problem, don't mention it."

Suddenly, a high-speed jet zoomed by, the object only looking like a black blur as it passed by.

"Ok, that's something new," Eris said.

"It's not showing up on my radar as friendly." Alex said, "Assume it's hostile."

The pair pursued the aircraft into a cloud, with the other American fighters capable of finishing off the remaining Chinese planes.

Alex and Eris passed through the cloud, obscuring their view. In that brief moment of blindness, the enemy struck.

Gunfire suddenly struck both American aircraft, forcing the two pilots to move erratically to throw off the enemy. As the planes swerved, they exited the cloud, and pursuing them were 3 Chinese fighters. There were 2 standard fighters, but also a dark black and extremely customized aircraft leading the charge.

The 2 fighters went after Eris, while the head plane went straight for Alex, a voice coming through the radio.

"Hello, hero leader."

Captain Boehm recognized the voice as his own. It was his dark counterpart.

"You! Guess that explains the unique jet."

"I could say the same of you."

"Eris, where are you?"

"I've got some jets on me! Might be able to handle them, though." Eris said, dodging the incoming fire.

Alex also had to dodge and roll to avoid his counterpart's machine gunfire. The captain pulled around and opened up with machine-gun fire of his own, forcing his adversary to go on the defensive.

The aircraft flew circles around each other, both pilots trying to get the other jet in their sights. When the enemy plane was in the gun-sights, the attacker opened up with machine guns or missiles, forcing the pilot to roll or deploy flares.

As he turned his plane, Captain Boehm's vision went hazy as he felt himself about to blackout due to the immense G-forces, prompting him to slow down.

"Not a bad plane." Dark Alex said. "Engines and weapons on par with my own."

"Well, let's see who's jet is better!" The heroes captain said, firing a barrage of missiles. But the dark counterpart rolled his plane and avoided the projectiles, returning fire with machine guns.

"All US fighter craft in the vicinity!" Came a voice through the radio. "We have another enemy bomber squadron incoming!"

"Shit! Someone get on those bombers!" Alex said into the radio, knowing that those aircraft were headed for a US carrier, a ship with thousands of crew. But in this brief moment where he was focusing on the communications, Dark Alex made his move, hitting the Heroes Captain with a barrage of bullets.

"Your care. Your drive to put others before yourself... it is a weakness." The counterpart said. "It holds you back from what you need to do to achieve true strength. You'll always feel yourself chained to others. I learned that lesson long ago and heeded it."

"So that's it, you just think I'm weak?"

"Yes. You are nothing. Both you and your nation are weak and hopelessly lost. It is time for a new power to rise, which is why both you and the United States must die. So new warriors may take your place."

"Oh, so I'm just a target for you to take down and prove yourself? So you can prove your strength and establish your place in the world?"

"This is nothing more than natural selection in the wild. The strong creature devouring the weak one."

"Last time I checked, Heroes took down more of you and your band than you have done to us."

"And you shall pay dearly for it!"

Dark Alex fired a salvo of missiles. With Captain Boehm's craft already damaged, the missiles struck. The Heroes leader felt his plane shake violently as the deafening sound of an explosion and rupturing metal rang through his ears.

The captain hit the eject button, the canopy breaking away, and the seat blasting out of the damaged aircraft.

As the parachute unfolded, the captain looked around for his counterpart's aircraft. He didn't see anything, so Alex turned his attention to where he was going to land.

Below him was a PLAN aircraft carrier and an American destroyer, both heavily damaged and sitting dead in the water over a dozen meters apart. But in the water between the 2 warships was an assortment of debris. Crates of supplies had fallen off the ships, floating in the water. A variety of random scrap and wreckage littered the area. Made of all sorts of materials and even smaller vehicles that had been wrecked. A Chinese fighter floated in the water nearby, having slid off the deck of the carrier. A damaged US patrol boat sat partially sunk in the water, listing hard to the side.

The captain braced himself as he touched down in the sea, unclipping himself from his ejector seat. The Hero leader started to look around, looking up towards the US destroyer and noticing something on it. A Chinese helicopter had crashed into the vessel. Now it was sitting precariously on the deck of the ship, hanging over the water.

As the captain continued to try and get his bearings, he heard a roaring engine growing closer and closer. Looking up, the captain saw his counterpart's jet incoming, prompting Boehm to quickly swim into a large cargo container partially floating in the sea.

Dark Alex's jet engaged hover mode and started to inspect the area, searching for any sign of captain Boehm.

The captain, however, was cursing under his breath and watching the hostile plane. His plane had been destroyed, and he only had a pistol and knife to defend himself with. But this could be a valuable chance to take out his dark counterpart.

First, the captain used his knife to cut up some cargo inside the container that had been covered in a dark blue cloth. The human draped the dark cloth over his head, which would help camouflage him. Spotting the damaged patrol boat nearby, the captain waited till the hostile jet had turned away before diving into the waves and swimming as fast as possible towards the patrol boat.

Reaching the boat, Alex scrambled inside and examined the weapon controls. The main gun was still operational, and the captain immediately targeted his counterpart's jet.

The weapon fired at the unsuspecting jet, shots slamming into the plane's armor and dealing significant damage. As Alex dove back into the water, the enemy jet turned around and took aim.

Dark Alex's jet fired a missile at the wrecked patrol boat, obliterating it. Shards of debris rained down into the water near captain Boehm as he swam his way through the area.

Although damaged, the jet continued to search the area, forcing Boehm to dive underwater when he couldn't get out of the jet's view fast enough. If he came to the surface at the wrong time, the plane would shred him with its weapons. But stay underwater too long, and the captain would drown. All the while, Dark Alex scanned the water and debris for his counterpart. He could not lose. He had a customized jet, while his enemy was simply flailing around in the water. Nothing more perfectly represented the discontinuity between the pair of warriors. One was weak, and the other was strong.

Coming up to the surface out of view of the enemy plane, captain Boehm spotted another cargo container nearby floating in the water. This container was marked with symbols identifying the contents as explosives.

The young warrior made his way over to the container, hiding behind debris and diving beneath the waves when he had to keep out of sight of his counterpart's view.

Once he reached the container, he opened it up, finding explosive material and detonation equipment. Boehm quickly armed some of the explosives, setting up a timer. Once everything was ready, it was time to get his counterpart's attention.

"HEY, OVER HERE!" Alex said, waving his hands and trying to get noticed. The deception worked, and once the jet turned towards him, the captain dove back beneath the waves as the jet fired its machine guns. The bullets missed the young warrior and hit the damaged aircraft carrier as Alex swam as fast as he could underwater.

Once at a safe distance, the human came to the surface and gasped for air, the constant diving taking a toll. Meanwhile, the hostile jet advanced towards the location where Alex had been, searching for the captain. But then the container of explosives detonated, a massive fireball engulfing Dark Alex's jet. The aircraft nearly lost control, spinning and turning before its pilot could regain control.

As the jet turned towards him again, captain Boehm retreated into the US destroyer. Swimming through a hole that had been blown in the side of the ship by weapons fire. However, the enemy jet must have seen something because it moved closer to investigate.

Swimming around inside the ship, the captain realized he was in some sort of control room. There was equipment for controlling electrical systems, engines, and the ship's ballast tanks. Alex suddenly realized something and immediately swam over to the machinery that controlled the ship's ballast tanks, taking care to avoid any exposed electrical equipment. He listened closely and looked towards the hole in the side of the destroyer. His counterpart was still there. With that, Alex activated the pumps, filling the ballast tanks along one side of the ship with water while removing water from the tanks on the other side of the vessel.

The ship slowly listed more to the side. Eventually, the Chinese helicopter hanging from the destroyer fell off the side of the vessel, hitting Dark Alex's jet as it splashed into the water. The hostile plane was heavily damaged, smoke emitting from its engines. Its villainous pilot was filled with rage. How could his top-of-the-line aircraft be bested by his inferior counterpart, and what could be found amongst wreckage. He angrily fired at the damaged US destroyer but could only get a few shots off before the weapon system stopped working due to the damage. Dark Alex turned his aircraft back towards the sky. With no other offensive measures, he started to limp back towards a still active Chinese aircraft carrier.

Hearing the sounds of aircraft engines fade, captain Boehm emerged from the destroyer, catching a glimpse of his counterpart's black jet flying into the distance. He couldn't help but feel proud of himself. With nothing more than wreckage, the Heroes leader defeated his dark double, who had been piloting an elite aircraft. But his pride suddenly turned to concern as he heard another aircraft approaching. He spun around, wondering how he was going to defeat this second enemy plane. But he breathed a sigh of relief once he saw that it was Eris's dark blue eagle interceptor. The eagle pilot put the aircraft in hover mode and opened the cockpit, flapping her wings and flying over to the human in the water.

"So, how'd your big fancy jet work out?" Eris laughed, hovering just above her friend.

"Just get me out of here," Alex said, reaching his arms up towards the eagle.

Eris flew around behind the human and grabbed him under the arms, rapidly flapping her wings to lift him out of the sea.

"Your all wet!" Eris said, "water is heavy!"

Despite the weight of the water, Eris was able to pick up the human and deposit him into the passenger's seat behind the pilot's chair in the cockpit of her interceptor.

"Try not to get water all over me or my controls." The eagle said, sitting back down, closing the canopy, and flying off back up into the sky.

"Get me back to the Typhoon. I need to get back out there." the captain said.

"Get back out there? Look around you."

The captain looked out the cockpit window at the area around Midway. Wreckage was strewn everywhere as ships sank beneath the waves. But there was a lot more wreckage from PLAN vessels than US naval vessels. The Chinese had suffered a massive defeat, stopped dead in their tracks by the US navy, marines, and air force.

"What about that second squadron of bombers?"

"Don't worry, Alex, I dealt with them. They're nothing but wreckage now."

Eris flew low and slow over Midway island, and the pair could see the smoldering wreckage of PLAAF bombers and fighter planes. They also spotted Nick and Judy capturing some Chinese soldiers, with backup from American troops. Jack and Skye had parked their boat nearby and were helping to oversee the operation.

Eris then turned towards the Chinese vessel Kion and Jasiri had helped capture. The interceptor did a victory lap around the ship as US forces on the deck raised their fists and cheered, including the two Heroes aboard the vessel.

The eagle pilot then moved towards the US fleet, steaming past the wreckage of burning enemy vessels and collecting stranded sailors. At the head of the armada was the Typhoon, the crown jewel of the US fleet. The captain could barely believe it.

"Wow….Looks like we won." He said.

"Heh, you can say that again."

Some Chinese naval vessels and jets had managed to flee. But most of their fleet had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. US ships cut through the waves while American aircraft streaked through the sky. No PLAN forces were left to hold the line. Midway belonged to the United States.

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 26 - Respite

Haida and Retsuko were on shore leave, holding paws and taking a stroll down one of the many coastal paths in Zootopia. The reminders of the war were still on their minds, the thoughts of a spy network in the city, and the fact that the wreckage of Chinese and American ships sat just off the coast.

But these thoughts were secondary, the pair were just having fun together, enjoying some ice cream they had bought from a shop.

Retsuko had gotten ice cream with liquor in it, saying she needed it to relieve some stress and unwind.

Haida had gotten coffee-flavored ice cream, and his red panda girlfriend chuckled when the hyena ordered it, citing that his favorite drink was canned coffee.

“What would you like to do?” Retsuko asked, “when this is all over?”

“Well, I think I’ll keep my current job. I assume we are still needed.”

“I agree. It’s the best job I’ve ever had. Of course in my last job, I met you.”

Haida blushes a bit & scratched the back of his head, which was something he did when embarrassed.

The pair found a bench to sit on and stared out at the harbor. Sea birds flew overhead and hunted fish in the water. Engineering crews worked on the wreckage of ships and aircraft in the bay, planning to tow them out to sea to become artificial reefs.

“What else?” Retsuko asked, “I know it might be hard to think about your whole life.”

The hyena was quiet for a moment, prompting Retsuko to speak.

“Don’t feel like you have to answer.”

The hyena’s mind raced. He didn’t know much about what he wanted to do in the far future of his life.

“Well... I don't know everything I'm going to do in my life....”

The hyena struggled with his words, but seeing the beautiful red panda in front of him, he was able to find what he wanted to say.

“....but I do know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

A slight gasp escaped Retsuko's lips, as Haida took Retsuko's paw in his own. It felt cold and slightly wet, as she had been holding the ice cream in that hand. But the hyena didn't care, he enjoyed the red panda's touch.

Retsuko looked at Haida's hand and thought to herself. She loved him, and every time the pair was together she was enjoying herself. If the hyena wanted to spend their lives together, then that meant every day of her life would be enjoyable and happy.

“I’d also like to spend the rest of my life with you.”

The red panda stood up on the bench to get closer to the hyena and gently put a kiss on his lips.

Haida blushed and was stunned for a moment. However, he had gotten more comfortable around Retsuko, & was able to regain his composure quickly.

“Come on, let’s go find a karaoke bar around here.”

The red panda smiled, her hyena knew what she liked.

000

ZIA HQ had been targeted by the Chinese during the first invasion, but since then it had been repaired. Bullet holes in concrete had been filled, and shattered glass panes had been replaced. Some ZIA personnel had gotten killed during both assaults on the city, but the agency had since been supplemented with recruits.

Jack and Skye were currently in their shared office, a rabbit & foxed size room with a window that faced out onto a stone pathway outside the building. 2 desks with computers were set up, along with some file cabinets and a few other random bits of furniture. On the wall sat a large conspiracy board with pictures, maps, and sticky notes. It did include the Dark Heroes, and information on the Chinese.

Skye was just returning from a lion run fast food restaurant named burger pride, while Jack had stayed in the office and worked on some things

“How was your training session earlier?” Skye asked, setting a brown paper bag & a drink down on her mate’s desk.

“It was good, although it would have been more fun if you were there.” Jack flirted.

“Ha! Although your accuracy would suffer since you’d just be staring at me all the time. I know you do that.”

“Is it that obvious?!”

Skye laughed, and opened the bag on her desk, taking out a burger covered in aluminum foil, and unwrapping it to reveal the delicious meal. Jack did the same, quickly biting into the burger.

“Is this plant-based?” The rabbit asked, seeing that the wrapping foil had a small green sticker with a plant on it.

Skye nodded.

“The menu said it was a plant-based substitute, perfect for prey creatures.” The fox paused to take another bite of her burger and chew. “Mine is real meat.”

She pointed to a small red sticker that showed an icon of a steak. The burger was made from unevolved cows and provided all the proteins that a carnivore needed in their diet.

Jack took a sip of the Pawpsi cola in his cup, & pondered what the real meat burger tasted like. He stood up from his desk and went over to Skye.

“Let me take a bite of yours.”

“What?”

“I want to see what yours tastes like.”

“Go away,” Skye said playfully, holding her burger up & out of reach.

But Jack just hopped up and swiped the food out of her paw before taking a large bite.

“Mmm... can’t taste the difference. The plant substitute is a very close approximation.”

“Well if you get to taste mine, then I get to taste yours.”

She plucked Jack’s burger from his paw and bit into it.

“Yeah your right, I can’t even tell it’s plant-based.”

“I still want it back.”

The pair playfully tried to reclaim their food from each other, eventually succeeding and laughing at their immaturity.

“I love you,” Skye said with a full mouth.

Her bunny responded, his mouth also full.

“I love you too.”

000

“We’re getting some weird looks,” Eris said, her and Laval walking down a street, through the meadowlands area of Zootopia.

“Toothdee told me this area was mostly inhabited by prey animals. I guess that could explain the weird looks.”

“Or they’ve just never seen an evolved eagle before,” Eris said.

“I don’t know, I’m getting some stares too.”

The pair had wanted to get out and explore more of Zootopia, and toothdee had recommended the meadowlands to them as somewhere to visit. Their current location was comprised of small stone buildings that were overgrown with plants. Not a result of neglect, but instead just attempts to incorporate civilization with nature. Prey animals such as goats walked the streets. While most were too busy to care about Laval and Eris, others found it appropriate to give them weird glances. Fortunately, the 2 would not have to be the subject of awkward looks for much longer, as they left the street and turned onto a trail through a grove of trees. The ground turned from pavement to dirt, and the leaves stretched overhead.

“You notice how lions here have a different style of mane than those in Chima?” Eris said.

“I have, I wonder if it’s a cultural thing or something. Just a different style of mane wearing.”

“Don’t forget Kion wears his in a mohawk.”

“Oh yeah, true. The lions here remind me of my dad. Maybe because his mane is kinda similar to theirs, in that it has more hair.”

Laval paused and then spoke again.

“I wonder what my dad is doing in Chima right now. I miss him.”

Seeing that Laval was feeling a bit sad, Eris reached down and gripped Laval’s hand with her own, making the lion brush a bit and causing a slight smile to cross his face.

“He’s proud of you.” The eagle said. “Think of all you’ve done for Chima and the world.”

There was another pause as Laval thought for a moment, and the smile stayed on his face.

“Thank you.”

The pair reached a large hill, next to a stone cliff, with a view looking out on rolling fields of grass and rivers that stretched as far as the eye could see. The sky was darkened by clouds from an approaching storm, and the wind blew through the grass, causing patterns that looked like waves.

Laval took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the fresh and damp air. Eris stretched her wings, took a running start, and took into the sky. She soared high above the grass and rivers, gazing at the magnificence of nature. The eagle dove down and flew low above the river, looking at her reflection on the water. She reached her hand into the river and created a trail of water as she continued to fly along.

“I wish I had wings,” Laval said to himself, watching Eris dance across the sky.

The eagle soon returned after a few moments, landing next to her lion.

“Do you have to show off, wing girl?” Laval asked playfully.

The pair sat together, looking out at the rolling grass hills, the wavy rivers, and the turbulent sky. It wasn’t sunny or particularly colorful but was pretty in its own way.

“Ok, what’s a prettier view?” Eris asked “this or the view from Spiral mountain.”

“Hmmm... Spiral mountain,” Laval answered. “Of course, nothing is as pretty as you.”

The eagle blushed and covered her face with a wing.

“Do you miss home?” The lion asked, still thinking about his father.

“Yes, I do. But we’ve left our home behind before, to do some good somewhere else.”

“True, plus we have some of the best of friends with us, and plenty of battles to test our skills.”

“See, things aren’t so bad.”

There was a loud clap of thunder, causing both Laval and Eris to look up to the dark skies above.

Raindrops began to pelt down, making the pair groan as the raindrops started to hit. Eris brought her wings up as shields to cover the pair, protecting them from being drenched.

“Let’s get out of here,” Eris said, and the two retreated to the safety of a dry area.

000

“Sure, I got 4 tickets to the Gazelle concert tonight,” Nick said. “What’s it to you?”

He and JayJay were currently alone in a hallway on the typhoon, & Nick had 4 tickets sticking out of his back pocket.

“I want 2 of them,” JayJay said

“Why?” “I want to have a good time with Alex. That’s all you need to know.”

“I don’t know if a concert is his thing, he’s a real introvert.”

The wolf groaned and shook her head.

“Just, name your price for 2 tickets.”

“Well, do you have anything you think I could use?”

A smirk crossed JayJay’s face. She excused herself and told Nick to wait, before leaving him in the hallway. A few minutes later she returned with 2 quivers, one in each hand, each filled with arrows. The wolf proudly held them up, a smile on her muzzle.

“I already have one of those,” Nick said

JayJay rolled her eyes and tilted the quivers so Nick could see the projectiles inside. He took an arrow out of one of them & examined it. At the head, the arrow didn’t widen before tapering to a point. The diameter of the shaft tapered to a point that looked like the head of a bullet.

“Bullet point arrows,” Nick said. “Impressive.”

JayJay nodded towards the other quiver, and the fox put the bullet point arrow back in its quiver & turned to the second one. Removing an arrow from this quiver, he saw that it had a very wide head that was jagged, and designed to inflict as much damage as possible. The arrow itself was also finely crafted, and extremely sharp.

“Death arrows,” Nick said, examining the object. “Expensive, but very finely made.”

“You can have one quiver.” JayJay said, “in return for 2 of those gazelle tickets.”

The fox rubbed his chin & thought for a moment.

“Death arrows”

Nick reached into his back pocket and produced 2 of the tickets. He passed them to JayJay, took the quiver of death arrows, and slung it over his shoulder.

“Front row, Judy and I will be there as well.”

The wolf looked at the tickets to make sure they were genuine, before thanking her ally & walking away. She was giddy with joy and practically jumped in the air as she went down the hallway.

“A pleasure doing business with you.” The fox said, looking at the quiver of death arrows.

JayJay immediately searched for her mate and discovered him in Toothdee’s cabin, the two were playing some game on their computers.

The wolf knocked on the wall, alerting the 2 to her presence.

“Alex, could I see you for a moment.”

The Heroes captain joined the wolf outside in the hall, noting that JayJay had a large smile on her face & was radiating excitement.

“What is it?”

“I have 2 tickets for the gazelle concert tonight, and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me.”

“I don’t know, large crowds aren’t my thing.”

“Please, I’d like to do something special with you, and I’ve told you how much I love dancing.” The Heroes leader thought for a moment, looking at JayJay’s face. She was smiling widely and her eyes were bright. The captain sighed and gave in, he couldn’t resist that adorable look of excitement.

“Ok, fine. If it would make you happy.”

“Yes!” JayJay said, pumping her fist in the air, before giving the human the ticket. “Ok, it’s in a couple of hours, come get me an hour before the show.”

“Will do,” Alex said, looking over the ticket, and returning to Toothdee.

000

A few hours later, it was not Alex who went and got JayJay, but rather JayJay who went and got Alex. She was very excited, and couldn’t wait any longer.

The pair caught a train to the stadium where Gazelle was singing and made small talk as they navigated through the crowd of mammals headed into the building. Out of either affection or not wanting to get separated, the Heroes captain took his mate’s paw in his hand. The female wolf smiled and leaned against the human’s shoulder. As the pair made their way into the stadium, they heard a familiar sound from behind them.

“Well, look who it is.”

Alex and JayJay turned to see Nick and Judy, walking up in the line behind them. The 2 had arms around each other, and both were dressed in casual, light fitting clothes. Even Nick, who usually only wore Hawaiian shirts.

“Alex? Didn’t think you’d be here,” Judy said.

“Well, someone wanted to do something special and fun with me.”

JayJay smiled happily at the comment.

“Aww, is it ok if we join you?”

“By all means.”

The 2 pairs merged into 1 group, but both couples still held onto each other as they continued to walk.

“Thank you for doing this.” Captain Boehm said, turning to the wolf on his shoulder.

“It’s my pleasure,” JayJay responded.

“Say, where did you get the tickets?”

JayJay pointed to Nick, who smiled slyly and played it cool.

“Ah, there we go. That explains everything.”

The arena was circular, with a circular platform at the center that the performer stood on. The platform was surrounded by water, both as a decorative measure, and a security measure. On the walls of the arena were dozens of small open windows, either so people inside could see out, or just part of an interesting design.

The group of four mammals found their spaces, which were in a pit, slightly below the platform where the performer stood. There were many other mammals all around them, but the spots were premium seating, or rather, standing.

After a few minutes, the arena darkened, and everyone grew silent. Water fountains activated, and lights turned on, as the figure of a female Gazelle in a glittering red dress came on stage, lifted onto the central platform by a small elevator in the stage.

“Hello, Zootopia!”

The crowd erupted into cheers, as the pop star began her first song.

Soon the melody picked up, and the 4 young heroes started to happily dance along. Dancing was much like combat, a beautiful display of movement and actions, perfectly in sync.

Just like when they were walking into the building, Judy and Nick danced together, while JayJay and Alex did the same.

The blue wolf was totally in her element, spinning and moving rapidly. The color and speed impressing her 3 companions.

Judy also pushed Nick along, silently prompting him to dance. The fox obliged and smiled slyly whenever he was encouraged to dance.

The 2 boys were not really as into the dancing at the girls, but they were still having fun, which was the most important thing.

All of a sudden, the lovely sound of the music was overpowered by a much louder noise, one that was like gas and sound moving extremely fast. Even Gazelle stopped singing and looked up to the top of the stadium, to see a large ball of fire engulfing part of the arena.

000000000

Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out. Blame my college work. Though I hope everyone still enjoys reading this!

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 28 - Trackdown

“Yikes, what the hell happened to him?” Jack said, looking at a red panda slumped against a wall, the Chinese spy having sustained fatal damage from a powerful force.

“Looks like a much larger mammal got their hands on him,” Skye said.

The 2 walked to the security room of the stadium, where a lynx ZIA technician had the camera footage from last night's concert pulled up on a monitor.

“God, look at that, it’s horrible,” Skye said, watching footage of Chinese spies gunning down civilians.

“*sigh*, fucking bastards,” Jack said.

The technician rewound the footage to show the Chinese spies disembarking trucks outside the building.

“We see them disembarking, and we have footage of vehicles moving through the streets towards the concert.” the technician said “but before that, the vehicles appear from nowhere. We don’t see them on any other traffic cameras before that, and we can’t trace them.”

Jack thought for a moment. “Nick once told me about utility and service tunnels that run all over the city. There are no cameras in those places, so maybe they used one of those. Get us a map of the city superstructure, and send it to me, along with that camera footage.”

The technician nodded and set about his tasks, as Jack and Skye exited the building. The pair wound their way through the parking lot, which was filled with ZIA and ZPD vehicles, and a bunch of agents and officers from both organizations. The fox and bunny made it to their car, a sleek but unassuming DB7 Aston Martin painted in black. Although the color scheme was variable, allowing the car to change its color on the fly to throw off anyone who was taking notice of the vehicle.

The fox got in the driver's seat and started up the vehicle, while her companion activated the heads up display on the windshield, finding the video files had just been received by the car’s computer. Jack backtracked through the footage, tracing the route the Chinese vehicles took and directing Skye.

“Ok, straight ahead.”

The fox stepped on the gas and the car got up to speed, moving through the city.

“Do you think we have counterparts?” Skye said.

“What do you mean? Keep going straight.”

“Do you think an evil Jack and Skye are running around out there?”

Jack paused and thought for a moment.

“I think we would have seen them by now. But, you do have a point.”

“We should be ready. They might come crawling out of the woodwork one day.”

“Your right, but if the previous doppelgängers were any indication, we probably have them beat, as long as we stop them before they do damage. Go left up here.”

“Our friends in heroes will probably help us, so we can count on them for backup.”

The car continued through the streets, arriving at the location where the last bit of footage that showed the Chinese vehicles was taken.

“Look, over there,” Jack said, pointing towards a chain-link gate that was strung across a tunnel. A sign on the gate said “authorized personnel only” and had the city seal on it.

“Locked,” Skye said, pointing towards a chain and padlock that was wrapped around the gate.

“I got this,” Jack said, hopping out of the Aston Martin and running towards the gate.

The agent pulled a set of lock picks from his coat, and set to work, carefully inserting metal implements into the padlock. Skye watched, happy to see her companion enthusiastically at work like this.

Jack listened closely, and soon enough, the padlock came undone. He then took off the chain and opened the gate. Skye pulled forward and Jack hopped in, before driving off down the service tunnel.

It was dark and dingy in the tunnel, with a few drops of water dripping from above, and steam from pipes and equipment occasionally floated through the air. But then the ZIA agents came upon light at the end of the tunnel, and another gate. Beyond this barrier was another section of Zootopia, filled with buildings that served as homes or businesses to many mammals. This second gate was unlocked, allowing Jack to quickly hop out and open it.

“Let me see if I can get footage from the jam cams in this area,” Jack said, getting back in the car.

“Wait, I don’t think this part of the city has traffic cameras.”

“Hmmm.... then maybe the Chinese based their spy ring here, as there’s no surveillance from those cams.”

“If they are, then we should look around.”

Skye drove the car into a side street, next to a complex that was surrounded by a tall barrier and contained two large buildings.

However, there was a garage door that leads from the complex onto the street. Skye parked the car and the pair looked into the garage, seeing a few vehicles covered in protective tarps. Then a small ground of mammals appeared, heading towards the garage door from deeper inside the complex.

One mammal motioned to another mammal, telling him to close the garage door. The door slowly came down, but just before it closed, someone impatiently removed a tarp from one of the covered vehicles, revealing a truck that looked exactly like the ones the Chinese had used to get to the concert.

“Did you see that?” Skye asked.

“I saw it.”

“This may be their HQ. This might be where the spies came from!”

“We need confirmation, there aren’t any traffic cameras, but maybe there are privately owned security cameras.”

Skye pulled the car back out onto Main Street, and both mammals looked through shop windows in an attempt to spot any establishment that had security cameras. Although it was considerably difficult to try seeing inside the establishments of tiny mammals.

But then Jack spotted a camera inside a cafe that was friendly to mammals of all sizes. Skye stopped the car, and the pair went inside and walked up to the cashier.

“ZIA,” Jack said, holding up his badge. “We need to take a look at some footage from your security cameras.”

000

“Right there,” Toothdee said, using a laser pointer to highlight a portion of the security footage.

The Heroes in the briefing room leaned in and focused their eyesight. The camera was inside the cafe, pointed towards the entrance of the establishment. There was a large glass window at the front of the building, allowing the camera to get a view of the street, and the buildings across the street.

In the footage, a group of figures moved out of the building on the other side of the road and jumped into a waiting truck.

“This footage is from the night of the concert attack. As you can see, the mammals coming out of this building match the spies that attacked the concert. A quick look at records reveals that the 2 buildings in this compound are owned by....”

Toothdee stole a quick glance at a piece of paper.

“....Mousowitz Ltd, a cleaning service company. And Herdings IT services. However there are no other records of these companies, so we’re pretty sure they are fronts.”

Fabienne Growly stood in the corner of the room, typing down notes.

“We’re going to be raiding this compound in 2 teams, and we have determined there are personnel in the buildings.”

The display screen changed to a blueprint of the compound, showing the two buildings. Next to each building was a list of names.

“Alex, JayJay, Kion, Jasiri, you’ll take the building belonging to the cleaning front company. Me, Judy, Nick, Jack, and Skye will take the building belonging to the IT company. We are to capture as many hostiles as we can, & collect any data we come across. I suspect as we go higher up in the buildings, their defenses will only get tougher.”

“Sounds like it’s going to be a tough fight,” Jack said.

“No doubt. But if we clear out those spies, then we take a big step towards securing Zootopia.”

000

Nick and Judy managed to procure two armored ZPD vehicles for transport, and after gearing up, the teams hopped into their respective vehicles.

As Kion headed into his transport, he spotted a familiar face sitting inside.

“Fabienne? What are you doing here?”

The snow leopard was dressed in semi-casual clothing, but she also had on a bulletproof vest, protective pads, and a helmet. There were large white pieces of tape on the helmet and vest, both of which had ‘press’ written on it in permanent marker.

“You know this is going to be a dangerous mission,” Kion said, his friends climbing into the vehicle.

“I’ve been in war zones before.” The snow leopard said, examining a TV camera in her lap and making sure it was functional.

“We’ll try to look good for you.” Alex joked, a small chuckle sweeping through the transport, as the ZPD Officer in control of the vehicle started driving towards the hostile compound.

After a short drive, the pair of transports pulled up to the entrance of the compound, which had two guards posted on duty. A panda guarded the entrance for large mammals, and a sheep guarded the entrance for smaller mammals.

“What’s that over there?” The sheep asked his coworker, spotting the two armored vehicles pull up.

The Heroes got out, and Fabienne crouched behind one of the transports, switching on her camera and turning it towards the guards.

“Detain them,” Toothdee said, pointing to the pair of guards as the team approached.

Kion and Jasiri took the initiative, heading forward and putting the two guards in zip ties.

“What?! Hey, don’t you need a warrant or something?” The panda guard asked as his pistol was taken away from him.

“What, no. We’re a military unit.” Kion said.

Jack spotted a pair of security cameras above each entrance and quickly destroyed them with his pistol.

“Let’s go,” Toothdee said, both teams heading through a small lobby area, before emerging into a courtyard.

The teams moved through the courtyard, passing by a tall metal decorative obelisk with a polished finish that shimmered as it sat in the center of the complex.

“My team left.” Capitan Boehm said.

“My team right,” Toothdee said.

The group split, as Alex’s team, headed into one of the buildings, coming across a wardrobe room filled with coveralls for many different species. Fabienne followed behind them, camera at the ready.

“Look here,” Jasiri said, pointing out a bunch of patches on a table in the room. The patches were logos from many different corporations, alongside many different name tags. “Switchable name tags and logos for their uniforms. They could get access to any building they want.”

Kion moved some of the uniforms to the side and noticed a handle in the wall behind the coveralls. It was small, and the same color as the wall, making it difficult to notice. He pulled it, opening a compartment in the wall and revealing Chinese military uniforms.

“The same type of uniforms from the concert,” Alex said.

Fabienne panned over the patches and uniforms with her camera, before the team continued forward.

“Two guards up ahead.” JayJay signaled, pointing forward at a pair of otters with guns on their belt,

“PAWS UP!” Jasiri yelled.

The two guards jumped and spun towards the team, drawing and aiming their weapons. This forced Alex to open fire on one of the otters with his sidearm. Kion charged forward and swung his sword, slicing clean through the smaller mammal.

“Stairwell, over there.” The Heroes captain said, and the team ascended to a floor that contained offices.

Three more mammals stood on guard, but the instant the team entered the room, the mammals drew their weapons and opened fire.

Fabienne hung back and filmed, while the young heroes moved forward and engaged, downing the guards.

“More hostiles incoming!” Jasiri said, a few more mammals entered the area, one armed with an SMG. But the warriors were ready

A goat ran at JayJay, horns ready to slake into her and break bones. The wolf dodged, and the goat slammed into a window. The glass broke, and the mammal plummeted down to the ground.

Kion and a bear engaged in melee combat, the bear wielding a baton and Kion with his sword. The bear was unyielding in her assault, managing to get the lion in a headlock. Seeing only one way out, Kion stabbed the bear in the stomach, pulled away, and cut him down.

Jasiri took cover and engaged the guard armed with an SMG. Bits of paper flew up into the air as bullets struck desks in the room. Jasiri took careful aim and put a few shots into the guard.

Alex grappled with a mountain lion that charged at him, trying to knock him out. The two fought hand to paw, exchanging rapid and forceful blows. The mountain was able to kick the human back, and the captain pulled out his pistol and was about to order the mountain lion to surrender, but the lion had already ended himself with his own sidearm, no doubt seeing that the fight had turned against him and refusing capture.

“They refused to be taken alive,” Kion said, looking at a fox who had taken the easy way out with his sidearm.

“This will make it harder to gather information.” Alex said, “Let’s hope we can find someone with more sense, or a paper trail or computer.”

Fabienne moved into the room and looked around with her camera. But then, her keen eyes spotted something outside the building.

000

Toothdee and her team moved up a stairwell, keeping their weapons ready. They moved out of the stairwell and into a room, which had some guards in it, who had their guns drawn.

Toothdee pointed forward and the team advanced. Skye and Nick aimed their weapons and fired, hitting the weapons of the guards. The enemies jumped in surprise, but before they could react, Jack and Judy had already delivered powerful kicks that knocked them out. Toothdee on the other hand ran forward and bashed a wolf guard with her rifle before he could shoot back at her.

With all the guards knocked out, the warriors put handcuffs or zip ties on them.

“Hey uh Toothdee,” Jasiri said through the radio. “I think you guys have a problem over there.”

“What kind of problem?”

The question was answered a few seconds later when Toothdee opened the door to the next room and was greeted by an office that was filled with bright orange flames and furniture swallowed by burning fire.

“Like a fire problem.”

“Keep low.” Toothdee instructed her team, and they all crouched as they progressed forward.

“There’s gotta be a fire control box around here,” Skye said. “Keep your eyes peeled.”

The sounds of shouting reached the team’s ears, and they saw a pair of guards moving through the smoke-filled room.

Nick and Toothdee moved ahead of their friends, keeping in cover behind furniture, before emerging behind the 2 guards and subduing them with either a punch or cutting off their oxygen so they passed out.

After cuffing the 2 guards, the group pulled them to an area of the building that had not been consumed by fire. This area appeared to be some sort of hub, with hallways leading in all directions.

“Split up, but be careful. There might still be enemies, but find and activate that firebox.” Toothdee said, before directing her allies in different directions.

Judy moved down a hallway that doubled back towards the area of the building that was on fire. However the hallway she was in appeared to have already been burned, and the fire in it had since gone out or progressed on to another part of the building. The walls weren’t enveloped in flames, they only glowed brightly with embers, and were covered in ash.

“Ouch!” The bunny said, the hot floor burning her exposed feet. She tried to move forward by only touching the cooler parts of the floor.

But then, she spotted a figure, standing in a room adjacent to the hallway. The entire room glowed with embers, but one side of the room had been completely destroyed by fire, with the wall and part of the ceiling having collapsed. Where the wall had been, was now just open-air that led out to a perilous drop down into the courtyard below.

Judy recognized the figure, it was her dark counterpart. She stood with a pistol in her hand, gazing out of the building and almost waiting for her enemies to come to her. She turned around, knowing who greeted her, based on the voice she heard down the hallway.

“It’s a shame my troops didn’t kill you at the concert” Dark Judy said.

“That was you?! Why would you do such a thing?!”

“Why? Because you thwarted our invasion, and in the process, you killed someone I love.”

Judy thought for a moment and then remembered.

“What?! .....You mean Nick’s counterpart? On the boat?”

“Exactly, that’s why I had to punish this city, to make it suffer.”

“I don’t understand how any version of me could do such horrible things.”

The counterpart raced forward, aiming her gun and firing. But Judy dodged grabbed her enemy’s arm, trying to open fire with her own pistol. But the counterpart was ready for this, kicking Judy’s arm away just as she pulled the trigger.

The two fought, close quarters, with punches and kicks. Whenever one warrior lined up a pistol shot, the other bunny would either dodge out of the way or push the shooter’s arm so the weapon fired harmlessly in a different direction. Eventually, both guns ran dry of ammo, prompting the pair to toss them away so they wouldn’t hinder their melee combat.

Dark Judy kicked her enemy with her powerful legs, sending her enemy staggering back into one of the walls. The counterpart then charged forward and pinned Judy against the wall.

“This is for everything you’ve done to us.” The counterpart said, reeling back for a powerful punch.

Judy grabbed part of the burned wall and ripped it out. Then she stabbed her counterpart with the burning end.

Dark Judy screened and stumbled back, distracted, and allowing Judy to charge into her. The counterpart was pushed further back, before Judy performed a drop Kick, and sent her adversary falling off the building, and plummeting to the ground below.

The rabbit dropped, down into the courtyard, along with burning debris from the flaming building. As she fell, she reached upwards at her good-hearted counterpart and screamed, still desiring to inflict harm upon her. Her mind was consumed by fury and rage.

But then she hit the obelisk in the courtyard, the sharp metal point at the top going right through her body. Her screams and rage lingered for a moment longer, before ceasing, the dark warrior now laying transfixed, halfway up the obelisk.

She was gone, and a deep red liquid slowly dripped down the decorative structure.

Back at the top of the building, Judy sighed in relief. The rabbit’s counterpart was defeated, and with her, the ring of spies in Zootopia.

000

It was done, the entire compound had now been secured by the ZPD and ZIA, and Heroes was now heading home, their mission complete.

As the team members chatted and joked with each other, Toothdee pulled Alex off to the side, while JayJay looked on from nearby, curious as to the conversation.

“You went too far,” Toothdee said. “We were supposed to capture as many of them as we could! Your team captured no one, besides the two guys at the front gate! And we were with you then!”

“Hey we tried to take some of them alive, but they either forced our hand or refused to be taken alive.”

Toothdee groaned in disapproval and walked off.

The captain sighed, while JayJay gave him a look of sympathy.

Toothdee was his best ally, he didn’t like disagreeing with her. But, sometimes things just didn’t work out. He hoped she didn’t give him the cold shoulder for too long.

[alexboehm55144]

A brave few have sworn to protect us....

...and save what remains

They unite us

Remind us that we are one people

They are our shield, and our light

I would like to thank @jafethortiz for this great artwork inspired by Tom Clancy’s the Division 2!

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 23 - Devastation

Hello! How is everyone doing? Its summer, at least here in the northern hemisphere. So enjoy the warmth and sun of this time of year, but don't forget to social distance! If you're free and need some reading material, then good news for you! Because I have an action packed chapter right here thats waiting to be read! Once again I would like to thank JKnight97 for beta reading this!

00000000000

Heroes had been dispatched to Japan, where persistent Chinese efforts had managed to breach US and Japanese defenses, and now People’s Liberation Army forces were flooding into Tokyo. Although it was the most heavily defended part of Japan, it was also the most valuable target, hence the reason the Chinese concentrated much of their military might on the city. Japan was a key US ally at a location close to China, and that was a problem for the PLA. The Chinese needed to deal with it so that they could strengthen their own position. The most recent attack had broken through into the city far more quickly than expected, and US military personnel were baffled as to why this attack was so different from earlier assaults.

Even before the Typhoon reached Japan, everyone could tell that Retsuko and Haida were upset. Tokyo was their home city, and just the thought of the destruction being wreaked upon the city was almost enough to bring them to tears. Toothdee had told the couple they could have the day off, and everyone was trying to console them somehow. Jack and Skye promised they wouldn’t rest till the Chinese were routed from Tokyo, while Judy had tried making a blueberry and carrot pie to cheer them up. However, it was difficult as Nick kept eating the blueberries.

Heroes gathered on the bridge as Toothdee guided the ship through a bank of clouds towards their destination. When the vessel exited the cloud bank near Tokyo, everyone could see the scale of the devastation. Columns of smoke stretched upwards into the night sky, blocking out the stars. The orange glow of massive fires illuminated tall buildings, and anti-aircraft guns fired upwards, trying to down enemy aircraft.

Sighs spread through the assembled warriors as they looked at the horrible scene in front of them. This was the city they had rested in just a short time ago, after the Korean campaign. Many members of Heroes would consider this one of the most depressing and soul crushing sights they had ever seen over the course of this war. Although combat was their life, it still hurt to see homes burning and the country’s capital drowning in smoke.

On the bridge, the couple watched as their home town was slowly being destroyed by the invaders. The red panda was crying and covering her face. Haida knelt beside her and put his paws on Retsuko’s shoulder. She turned and buried her face in the fur of her hyena, the situation being too much to bear. Things only deteriorated further as a radio call from a US marine in the city came in.

“This is Private Norton of the US marine corps; we have a confirmed sighting of dark heroes! Repeat, confirmed sighting of dark- HUGH!”

The call was quickly cut off and those listening heard what sounded like a chainsaw. They instantly assumed it was Dark Alex’s weapon, cutting through the US soldier. This explained why the Chinese assault had been so successful, and it would make the Heroes’ response all the more difficult. Their counterparts appeared to revel in conflict, and it seemed like the desire to fight was what drove them.

Holding back the horrible thoughts about such destruction and the presence of dark heroes, captain Boehm tried to rouse his friends into a fighting spirit. He always tried to be positive, even in dire circumstances.

“I know it hurts to think about what’s happening in that city, but remember, preventing further disasters like this is why we do what we do.”

It hurt to see the innocent Retsuko brought to tears. It hurt to see the entire team looking downtrodden.

“We beat them in Zootopia, we can beat them in Tokyo! Let’s inflict on those Chinese forces, what they inflicted on this city! Tenfold!”

The captain saw a few small smiles, but the aura of depression could still clearly be felt. As the Typhoon landed in an empty container storage area near the city docks, Toothdee took this opportunity to check on Kion and assign everyone’s orders.

“Kion, do you feel like you're ready to get back in the fray? It’s okay if you don’t.”

“I’m fine, besides I want to help.”

“Very well. Jack, Skye, go out and see what you can find out about Chinese movements. Laval, Eris, link up with the US forward operating base. Nick, Judy, you're with me guarding the Typhoon. Alex, JayJay, assault the main Chinese positions with the US Marines. Kion, Jasiri, search for any civilian stragglers and evacuate them.”

Everyone only responded with simple nods and left the bridge to gear up. As they left, many heroes gave Haida and Retsuko a hug or a pat on the back as they passed by. Today, Heroes would be fighting for their friend’s homeland.

000

The teams left the Typhoon and went their separate ways into the burning city. There wasn’t much in the way of chatter. The destruction wreaked on Tokyo had left a somber mood. Jack and Skye found their way down into the Tokyo subway system. Using a map on file, they began moving behind enemy lines.

“It’s like Zootopia all over again.” Skye said “It never gets any easier.”

“I know,” Jack responded. “But, this is what we’ve trained for. We can do this!”

Skye appreciated her partner’s enthusiasm, and gave him a playful nudge as they continued down the subway tunnel. All of a sudden Jack stopped in his tracks, and Skye bumped into him a few seconds later.

“What?” The arctic fox asked.

“Chinese soldiers.”

Flashlights appeared at the end of the tunnel and the two could hear soldiers speaking in a foreign language.

The pair frantically looked for somewhere to hide, and quickly dove under a bench nearby. They huddled closely to each other in order to stay concealed, but it wasn’t anything they were not used to.

From where Jack and Skye were concealed, they could see a trio of boot pairs passing by the bench. Once the soldiers had passed, the pair exited cover and snuck up behind two of the unsuspecting soldiers. Silenced weapons finished off the three unfortunate soldiers, and the pair continued.

Jack radioed Toothdee and informed her that the Chinese were using the subway to move around the city. Toothdee said she would alert US forces. As the two went deeper into Chinese territory, the tunnel got darker due to the ongoing power failure. Jack moved to turn on the flashlight on his weapon, but Skye stopped him, saying that the light might alert any more Chinese soldiers they came across.

“But, I can’t see.” Jack protested.

“Here, I’ll guide you. Watch out for the third rail.”

The fox took Jack’s paw and started leading him through the darkened section, with both mammals enjoying the touch of the other. Once they left the pitch black section of the subway, the pair continued to hold hands, not out of necessity, but simply out of love.

However, once Jack and Skye came to a subway exit, they let go of each other’s paws and prepared themselves for whatever was next. Peeking up onto the surface, they spotted a Chinese armored personnel carrier and infantry. The two then sprinted into a nearby building so they could get to higher ground. Finding their way up to the third floor, the elevated position revealed a lot more of the Chinese assault force. There were dozens of soldiers and a large number of vehicles, both armored and unarmored.

Skye turned on the camera on her uniform and got a few good shots of the enemy force. Jack rooted around the building and found out that it belonged to a company called Chararyman Trading. Now they had the position of a lot of Chinese forces, as well as their numbers.

“I think we have all we need.” Skye said, “let’s get out of here and move on to somewhere else.”

Suddenly the pair heard yelling coming from nearby, and turning to the door of the room they were in, they saw a PLA soldier. Jack gunned the soldier down, but not before his opponent managed to get a shot off. This alerted other Chinese soldiers who began to enter the building.

Thinking quickly, the two sprinted to the other side of the floor and reached a window through which they could see the roof of the next-door building one story below. Skye shot out the window with her firearm and then readied a crossbow she had on her back. The crossbow was designed to fire zip lines, with the weapon itself capable of being affixed to the ground to make an anchor for one end of the line. Taking aim, Skye discharged the weapon and the arrow embedded itself in the roof of the other building. She then affixed the crossbow to the ground. With the line now stabilized, Jack tossed a grenade at the advancing Chinese soldiers to buy them some time to escape. The pair used their weapons as trolleys to zipline across to the other roof, before pulling out the arrow and preventing Chinese soldiers from following them the same way.

“Toothdee, we could use a bit of help here.” Skye said into her radio just as the Chinese soldiers on the Chararyman Trading building opened fire, forcing her and Jack to duck for cover.

“Kion and Jasiri are nearby, I’ll send them to help.”

Jack and Skye managed to get down via the fire escape on the side of the building, and began running down the street to avoid any Chinese forces. An enemy off-road vehicle began to pursue the two mammals, who ducked into an alleyway to avoid being run over. The vehicle stopped and the soldiers got out and pursued the team on foot.

Jack and Skye turned around to engage, when suddenly Kion and Jasiri were at their side, weapons at the ready.

“Someone order a rescue?” Kion said, blocking enemy bullets with his sword. The other three heroes laid down gunfire, killing some enemy soldiers and forcing the others to retreat.

“Thanks for the assist.” Jack said “we owe you two.”

“Don’t mention it, all in a day's work for two Heroes.” Jasiri said. “I hear you two got some good information.”

“The location of dozens of Chinese soldiers and vehicles. I think with this we can kick them out of the city.”

“Excellent job!”

“All in a day's work for two agents of the ZIA!”

000

While Jack and Skye had gone behind enemy lines to ascertain information about the Chinese forces, Alex and JayJay were meeting the enemy head on in combat. They were in charge of clearing a specific sector of the city, while US marines cleared adjacent sectors. The plan was for all forces to converge on the Chinese line. Currently the human and wolf pair were walking down a street, keeping watch for Chinese soldiers.

“All this destruction.” Alex said, “it’s like Zootopia and Guam all over again.”

The wolf went over and patted her ally on the back in case he was feeling depressed.

“Hey, remember what you told me. We can’t let ourselves feel down, we have to keep going to prevent further devastation.”

“True, it’s definitely motivating. It pushes you to do your best to prevent more damage.” The Captain looked up at the smoke filled sky. “Even though there’s a lot of enemy forces out there.”

“With you by my side, I feel like I can get through anything!”

Alex playfully pushed her and the pair laughed, before JayJay’s keen wolf eyes noticed a glint in a nearby window.

“Get down! Sniper!”

JayJay pushed Alex out of the way and jumped back as a bullet struck the street next to them. The pair took cover in an alleyway, and formulated a course of action.

“What’s the plan?” JayJay asked.

Alex noticed a flyer on the wall, which he ripped off and held outside of cover. A bullet went through the paper, confirming the sniper had a good shot on them if they got out of cover.

“You stay here and keep them distracted, I’ll sneak around.”

The wolf nodded and fired blindly around the corner of the building, while Alex headed down the alley towards the building where the sniper was. The Captain saw shots coming out of a window, and quickly climbed up to the window using a fire escape. Alex timed his climbing with the gunfire, so the sniper wouldn’t hear the fire escape creaking.

Alex crept closer to the window, and in a split second, looked in the window and fired his pistol, killing the sniper.

The captain whistled and let JayJay know the coast was clear, before returning to street level.

“I expected more enemy soldiers.” JayJay said.

“I know, it’s quiet, too quiet.”

JayJay held up a finger, prompting Alex to be silent. She closed her eyes, sniffed the air, and remained silent for a few seconds.

“I can smell and hear a vehicle, but it’s hard to tell with all this smoke.”

“Well, that's good to know. Let me know if you detect anything else.”

“Will do.”

The pair continued down the street, and soon they came across a Chinese ZBD-09 light armored vehicle sitting in the street, along with some infantry.

“You were right!” Alex whispered, the pair sneaking up to the vehicle. Alex took a spent shell casing and threw it, distracting the Chinese soldiers and prompting them to move out of the way of the Heroes. JayJay knocked on the hatch on top of the vehicle. When a Chinese soldier opened it up, the wolf quickly punched him, knocking him out, and dragged him out of the vehicle so that she and Alex could climb inside.  They immediately neutralized the enemy driver and companion before they could even draw their firearms..

“Can you drive?” Captain Boehm asked, moving the downed soldiers out of the way and back up through the top hatch.

“I mean.... it’s just like a car, right?” JayJay said nervously as she felt the controls.

Alex shut the top hatch and got in the gunner’s seat. “Then, let’s get moving.”

The wolf put the pedal to the metal and the vehicle lurched forward, nearly running over two Chinese soldiers. Alex used the turret to open fire on any enemy troopers he saw, making sure he took down every one.

The vehicle crashed through several stopped cars, hitting a Chinese soldier. Other soldiers in the vicinity opened fire, including some armed with rocket launchers.

JayJay messed with the controls inside the vehicle and fired the main gun, eliminating the pair of  PLA infantrymen. Alex targeted any trooper with a rocket launcher, making them a priority due to the danger they posed. Most infantry ran for cover as the captain opened fire on them, taking down one hostile after another.

After all the infantry had been neutralized, another ZBD-09 entered the fray, engaging the heroes with its weapons. The wolf at the controls stepped on the gas and spun their vehicle around the enemy vehicle.

“JayJay...” captain Boehm said, unaware of what she was planning.

JayJay sent their armored vehicle crashing right into the side of the enemy vehicle, pushing it into a construction site. The wolf then backed up out of the site and the duo then fired at the building’s support structures with their weapons.

The concrete and steel buckled and came crashing down, crushing the enemy vehicle. As the dust settled, the pair could see part of the enemy ZBD peeking out from under the pile of rubble, crushed like a tin can.

“You think we got them?” JayJay asked.

“It never hurts to be careful.”

The pair fired at the immobilized vehicle, causing it to burst into flames. There was no way the crew could have survived.

“I think we got them.” Alex said, giving JayJay a thumbs up, before they moved onwards. The pair had to disembark the vehicle at a certain point and move through an alleyway into a market. Although the air was still heavy with smoke, JayJay’s keen wolf nose picked up something, and it wasn’t market food.  

“I smell something familiar.” the wolf said “and yet... different...”

The area was illuminated by bright red neon lights and the glow of fires in the city. Smoke still obscured visibility. Two figures ominously appeared at the other end of the market, and the Heroes readied their weapons. As the unknown combatants drew closer, their identities were revealed. It was Dark Alex and Dark JayJay, smirks on their faces as they were obviously thinking about how doomed the Heroes were.

“Well, well, well,” Dark Alex said. “Here to stop the Chinese invasion?”

“We were, but you will be a good substitute.” Alex said, getting out his sword.

“Ha! Prepare to be disappointed. You will surely be a worthy opponent, I enjoy fighting the best!”

Dark Alex drew his blade, and the chainsaw inside hummed as the glowing red blades rotated around the sword.

The two wolves prepared themselves for paw to paw combat, each warrior staring down their counterpart.

The pair of swordsmen charged forward and clashed blades, as JayJay and her counterpart engaged each other.

Alex and his adversary got in a sword lock, causing the chainsaw on Dark Alex’s sword to stop, as it was blocked by Captain Boehm’s blade.

“This is your end!” the dark warrior yelled.

“Last time I checked, Heroes killed four of your members!”

Meanwhile the pair of wolves battled, each of them landing melee strikes on the other, but blocking each other’s attacks. Both warriors had heightened levels of agility and endurance, making their fight fast paced.

Dark Alex fired his grappling hook, but the Captain managed to dodge out of the way. Alex grabbed the line of the grappling hook as it passed and pulled, knocking his enemy off balance, before delivering a powerful punch to his opponent’s chin. The dark warrior yelled in anger and took a few steps back to collect himself.

JayJay’s dark counterpart performed a drop kick on her enemy, hitting the wolf square in the chest. The young Hero was sent staggering away while she regained her senses.

Dark Alex was now closer to JayJay, and Alex was now closer to Dark JayJay. Each warrior decided to attack the enemy nearest to them, switching up the partners in the fight.

The dark wolf stared down Captain Boehm. “You know you're kinda cute.” She said, chuckling to herself.

“No thanks, I’m taken by that wolf over there.” Alex said, gesturing to the other Hero in the battle.

Dark JayJay ran forward and attacked with a series of kicks, but Alex blocked them with his sword.

Every sword swipe the Captain attempted was merely dodged by the wolf. Dark JayJay used her agility to dodge Alex’s sword swings, with JayJay using the same tactics against her enemy.

Dark Alex tried to bring his sword down onto JayJay, but she evaded the strike and landed a few good hits. The dark warrior retaliated with a shoulder charge that put the hero on the defensive.

Alex managed to land some good kicks and jabs on the dark wolf, as he was able to predict most of her attacks, blocking them accordingly. The Captain then used the wolf’s own force against her, evading an attack, spinning around her, and kicking her in the back.

Dark Alex tried another shoulder charge, but this time JayJay was ready and easily jumped out of the way.

With some good timing, both dark warriors were sent slamming into one another, dazing them. The pair of Heroes used this opportunity to get in a few good strikes. Dark Alex and Dark JayJay regained their senses and once again prepared to resume combat.

“Come on then!” Captain Boehm said, his blade hungering for combat.

“Let’s see what you’ve got!” JayJay yelled.

The intense fight began anew, with each fighter squaring off against  their counterpart. Swords and fists clashed together, and the marketplace was filled with the sounds of combat and yelling.

The duo of  swordsmen got into a blade lock, their weapons pushing together, sending sparks flying. But the dark Captain knew how to get the upper hand.

“You fight so hard for your country. Such ferocity.”

“All to stop you and the Chinese. They started this war, and now we’ll finish it!”

“You think China started this war? Hasn’t the US always been good at starting pointless wars? What you’ve been told is lies, it was your nation that fired the first shot.”

While the Heroes leader was distracted, absorbing this information, the other swordsman took the opportunity to push his enemy back, sending him staggering.

As the two pairs fought, they soon became aware of a loud sound coming closer and closer. Artillery fire began raining down closer and closer to the marketplace. A nearby building was struck by incoming shells, causing debris to start falling down on the market.

The Heroes ran for cover towards the market, while the villains ran for cover in the opposite direction. Alex and JayJay took shelter in an alcove on the side of a building, while their counterparts disappeared into the smoke. The Captain instinctively shielded the wolf with his own body, as artillery and debris crashed down nearby. The earth shook and JayJay yelled in fear as dust and smoke filled the alcove. But as quickly as it had come, the bombardment ceased, and the world was silent once again.

“Are you ok?!” Both heroes asked each other, before quickly assuring the other that they were alright. They raced out of the alcove and peered through the marketplace, their vision heavily impaired by the particles suspended in the air.

“Do you see them?” The wolf asked.

“I can’t see anything.” Captain Boehm said, activating his flashlight and moving through the dust.

As the particulates started to settle, the Heroes reached the other end of the market, but they still hadn’t come across their counterparts.

“Aww, they ran off? I was just getting started!” JayJay said.

“Oh don’t worry, this war isn’t over yet. I have a feeling that we will see them again.”

000

A few hours had passed, and the sun was steadily rising. Darkness still covered the city despite the sun having risen above the horizon, due to the many fires that raged throughout the area.

Haida and Retsuko were sitting out on the deck of the Typhoon, watching their home city enveloped by destruction. But, at least for now, there were more US troops in the city than Chinese. Haida had been holding onto something he wanted to say, and until now he was just unable to find the correct moment to speak. The hyena knew he couldn’t let the silence linger between him and his red panda any longer, and he gathered up the courage to talk.

“Reports coming in say the Chinese have been pushed back, for now.”

Retsuko still remained quiet, just looking at her feet.

The silence returned, both mammals too upset about the state of their home city. But now, it was Retsuko’s turn to say a few words.

“Our city.... our home.... ”

Hearing Retsuko speak felt like the only thing that gave Haida joy in this trying time.  

“I know.... I know it hurts.”

The red panda squeezed her mate’s paw, prompting Haida to wrap her in a hug.

“Just to see Tokyo burning like this...” Haida said. “I hoped this city would emerge unscathed.”

“Places we know, places we’ve been, all gone.”

The hyena nodded, and patted his red panda on the back.

“At least.... I still have you Haida.”

“We can make this right Retsuko, we can help fix this...”

“I know,” the red panda said, more determined than ever to carry out her job aboard the Typhoon, “we will make sure this never happens again.” Although she wasn’t doing the fighting, she knew her work was a big part of the war against the Chinese.

Haida pulled back and looked Retsuko in her eyes, which looked so beautiful, even with the fires from the city nearby reflecting off them.

The space between the two grew smaller and smaller, the burning city moved out of sight and out of mind. The only feelings the pair had being a gentle breeze, a rapid beat in their chests, and the soft touch of the other’s lips.

They had both vowed to do whatever they could to stop the Chinese from causing further destruction to Japan. Although their home city had suffered, they still had the most important thing to them: each other.

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Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Stay safe and wear a mask!

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 21 - Rebuilding

I’m back with another exciting update for you guys! Before we get started I would like to thank JKnight97 for beta reading this chapter. Seriously dude, you are better than any automated program or grammar check software! Now, let us return to our heroes…..

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The Chinese forces had been routed from Zootopia, but they had done immense damage to the city. Hundreds of structures had been blasted or destroyed, and rubble littered many streets. Wrecked Chinese ships sat in the bay; the fallen bodies of soldiers from both sides of the battle lay on the ground before being recovered; inoperable military vehicles were either crushed or broken down for scrap metal.

Instead of making another decisive strike on the Chinese, Heroes decided to stay and help out the rebuilding efforts in Zootopia. Once again, everyone took on a role, but instead of a combat mission, this time it was to help the wounded city. This was a place they knew and loved; they could not, in good conscience, leave the city behind laying in ruin.

Toothdee was helping a crew dismantle a few totaled armored vehicles. The munitions and explosives had been taken care of, but the carcasses of metal amidst the debris strewn around them still remained.

The young warrior was attaching cables to the vehicle wreckage so it could be lifted up by a crane, before she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Toothdee?”

She turned around to see Fabienne Growley behind her with a microphone and a cameraman. The camera was connected to a ZNN van, and an operator sat in the back, manning the screens and communications devices.

“Yes, Fabienne?”

“Would you be willing to give us a few moments of your time?”

“You want to talk to me?” Toothdee said, surprised she was being interviewed by a ZNN anchor.

“If you can, but if not that’s fine.”

“No, I can spare a few minutes of my time.”

The trio stepped away from the ruined armored transport. Fabienne gave a signal to the operator and he pressed some buttons inside the van.

“This is a live interview.” The news anchor said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, fine by me.” Toothdee said, fixing her fur up a bit to look good on camera, and taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.

The operator gave Fabienne a thumbs up.

“Hello, this is Fabienne Growley reporting live from the ravaged streets of Zootopia. I am  joined by Toothdee, the Heroes warrior and combat expert” the feline said into the camera. “Could you tell us a bit more about the attack on Zootopia?”

“It was an all-out assault by the Chinese. Clearly, they wanted to take the city or inflict monumental damage. Luckily, we had multiple ships in the harbor, along with dozens of aircraft to help us in the fight.”

“What was the fighting like?”

“Intense,” said the warrior, as she maintained a serious tone that was appropriate for the current situation.  “Armored vehicles were heavily used, and the fact that we were in a city forced the enemy into close quarters combat. Thankfully, the US Marine Corps quickly responded and helped Heroes beat back the threat.”

“And we are all thankful for their speedy response. How much damage did the Chinese do to the city, and how are clean up efforts going?”

“Well as you can see...” Toothdee gestured to the demolished conveyances behind her. “A lot of damage has been inflicted on the city. Many buildings have been hit by munitions, and there are numerous demolished military equipment everywhere, some still containing live munitions. In the meantime we urge everyone to stay away from any area that has not been cleared of explosives or firearms. Heroes are assisting in clean-up operations, and soon, the city will be back to normal. It will take time, but we can repair all the infrastructure that was damaged during the battle for the city.”

“I know many citizens will be glad to have things back to the way they were. Is there anything else you would like to say?”

Toothdee looked straight at the camera and spoke clearly.

“I know many mammals out there are frightened now that the war has come home. But we can endure. This city has weathered threats before, and I know the people here possess a strong will. We can rise from the damage the Chinese inflicted on us, and we can survive anything else they throw at us.”

“Thank you for those kind words.”

Toothdee moved out of the way of the camera and breathed a sigh of relief. She hoped her words had inspired the residents of Zootopia, as hearts and minds are what win wars, and Toothdee really wanted to win this war. The Chinese had started this conflict, but the US would finish it, with Heroes being more than happy to help the country. As the young hero walked away to return to her work, she overheard Fabienne continuing to talk to the camera.

“Like she said, we can we can rally together from this devastating event, and show the Chinese they haven’t broken our spirit. Don’t forget that there is plenty you can do around the city to help with the war effort, or clean-up operations. However as mentioned, if you want to volunteer to clean up debris, please make sure the site has been cleared of dangerous material by military personnel .”

Toothdee continued working with the crew removing the armored vehicles, but within a few minutes, civilians started showing up and asking how they could help. Some mammals didn’t even wait for an invitation, and they started picking up debris and rubble and tossing it into a dumpster nearby. The area had been deemed safe, as it had already been cleared by specially trained personnel that had removed or destroyed any firearms ordinance they came across.

Toothdee was glad to see individuals so enthusiastically helping in clean up efforts, it gave her a sense of hope, and that all was not lost. She just hoped the Chinese wouldn’t make another assault on the city.

000

The ZPD had been working overtime since the Chinese attacked the city. Although the military had stepped in to help with security, they had other, more pressing needs pertaining to the war effort. Many officers had given their lives in defense of Zootopia, and the department had to continue to function with them gone. They needed to deter mammals trying to take advantage of the situation, and help civilian life function with parts of the city heavily damaged.

Nick and Judy had been stationed in an area of the rainforest district where some shops had been looted earlier, and they were keeping a vigilant watch. Heroes did pay them well, and it was a great way to make the world a better place, but the ZPD was where they belonged. Chief Bogo was alright with the two working with Heroes, possibly because they were still helping to enforce law and order in a broken world. Or it may be because the fox and bunny still functioned as police officers, except now they were donating their skills to Heroes, almost like an operator exchange program. Having two ZPD officers on the team really helped out with missions in Zootopia or other dense urban areas. No one was more familiar with the workings of cities than Nick and Judy. Both were also proficient in firearms usage as part of their ZPD training, so they knew how to handle tough situations.

However, they were bored today; sitting in their cruiser while keeping an eye out for illegal activity. Nothing had transpired in the hours they had been stationed in the rainforest district. The pair had been playing cards to pass the time, and right now they were in the middle of another game.

“Got any threes?” Nick asked.

“Go fish.”

The fox picked up another card from the deck and muttered about how boring this assignment was.

“Hey it’s all part of making the world a better place.” Judy said.

“Call Toothdee. Maybe she’ll have work for us?”

“She’s busy helping to clean up the city.”

“Oh, well, why don’t you tell me what’s been bothering you? I can tell you’re upset about something, Carrots.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about everyone’s dark counterparts, and what that means for us. If Dark Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde could be so evil, what’s stopping the same from happening to us?”

“Hmmm... I’m unsure how to respond to that....”

“Maybe we should take some precautions? Maybe there’s some way we can make sure that we don’t become like our counterparts.”

“Well, I think right now we should worry about stopping our counterparts. Then, we can worry about ourselves.”

“True, we can put this topic on the back burner for now. By the way, got any fives?”

“Go fish.”

The rabbit sighed and looked out the window towards a shop that had been damaged by gunfire from a Chinese aircraft.

“I don’t like what happened here.” Judy said, her ears drooping. “I wanted to help the world, help Zootopia, but now the city has been attacked.”

“I know, it’s depressing.” Nick said, putting down his cards. “I wish we could have done something different and prevented this.”

The duo sat in guilty silence for a moment, thinking about the destruction that had been unleashed upon Zootopia, and how it was somehow their fault. Looking into each other’s eyes, the pair instinctively reached out and hugged; Nick wrapping Judy in his tail while Judy nuzzled into his chest. They both wanted to stop their dark counterparts and the Chinese, while continuing to make the world a better place. It was a driving goal for both of them, and why they would stop at nothing until order had been restored.

“We’ll make it right, Carrots, I promise.”

000

Retsuko and Haida wanted nothing more than to go out and find a karaoke place to while away the night, but they had unfinished business aboard the Typhoon. Having previously worked in an office accounting department, their minds were finetuned machines capable of processing and managing vast amounts of numbers and information. Today, that meant dealing with reports and data of all types coming in from around Zootopia. Damage dealt to structures, disruption of normal operations for various organizations, info about the Chinese attack, among other topics. They had to sift through this mountain of information, so Heroes and Zootopia could better use it. Comprehensively analyzing the damage inflicted on the city would help destroyed areas return back to operating strength. Knowledge was power, and they were part of the process that allowed that fact to ring true.

While their job wasn’t as exciting as getting out in the field and fighting the enemy, it was an integral part of operations. Finished paper reports were organized in a neat pile by the entrance of the room they worked in, and electronic copies were sent to the people that needed them, and out into the Heroes database.

Haida had just finished sending a list of US casualties to a military officer, and he could feel the stress starting to set in.

Retsuko was busy working on a file relating to the cost of damages to a skyscraper, but the hyena figured she could use something to drink and eat.

“Tea and sushi?” Haida said, getting up and heading for the door. “A fresh shipment of supplies just arrived.”

“Yes, please.” The red panda responded, her eyes not moving from the computer screen.

Haida made his way to the Typhoon’s kitchen, which was better equipped than most military kitchens. Heroes had fully recognized that good food helped a warrior both physically and mentally, and as such the ship  was fully stocked with food for all species.

Placing a teapot on the stove and prepping the ingredients for the sushi, Haida reflected once again on how his current job was so much better than his last one. The bosses he had now didn’t yell at him, and were sure to thank him for his work. He could see that this was the same  for Retsuko, and Haida was happy to see his red panda girlfriend loving her job again.

Once the meal was ready, Haida set two cups of tea and a couple of plates of sushi on a wooden tray and returned to Retsuko, who had just finished the file she had been working on, and was pulling up a new one.

The smell of food broke Retsuko away from her work, and she spun around to enjoy the meal with her hyena.

“I made your favorite.” Haida said, giving his red panda her meal.

“Thank you, Haida.” Retsuko said, giving her boyfriend a kiss on the nose as thanks. The hyena blushed madly and nervously rubbed the back of his head. He tried in vain to create small talk.

“So... what have you been... uh.... working on?”

“Just some files about damaged structures. What about you?”

“Well, I finished a list of casualties. Unfortunately, there were a lot. You know, I like this job, but all this destruction does is make me stop and pause.”

“Me, too.” Retsuko said between sips of tea. “It’s not exactly cheerful, but it’s just something we must deal with.”

The hyena nodded before Retsuko smiled slightly. “Don’t tell me your thinking of leaving this job.”

“Of course not! I love this job! You know how much of an improvement it is over working in the accounting department.”

Retsuko giggled. “You know I was really thrown for a loop when we started working here, to the point where I actually made Toothdee a cup of tea, like I used to for the higher ups back at the office.”

“You did not!” The hyena laughed, nearly choking on his sushi.

“She had such a strange look on her face. She told me ‘you don’t need to do this.’ But she did appreciate the kind gesture.”

Haida laughed again and tried to imagine the look on Toothdee’s face.

“Although that doesn’t mean you can stop getting me tea, Haida.” Retsuko said, grateful for the fact that he had been thinking of her.

“Noted. Remember how I said all the destruction made me pause and think? I do take some solace in knowing that what we’re doing helps fix it.”

“All our work is not wasted. Without us, I don’t know exactly how much would get done.”

“I hope to see some improvements in Zootopia after I get through all these files. Someone better use them to repair the city!”

The pair finished their meal and Haida moved to clean up the dishes before Retsuko stopped him.

“I got this.” She said, putting the dishes on the tray. “You can get back to helping people by working on those files.”

“Ok, thank you, Retsuko.”

“No, thank you for the lovely meal, Haida.” The little red panda paused to stand on tip toe and planted a smooch on her surprised boyfriend’s mouth. She giggled as she exited the room, leaving a dazed and happy hyena in her wake.

000

The sun was setting on Zootopia, but many people continued to work to repair the broken city. Captain Boehm and some workers had just finished cleaning up concrete debris on a highway, allowing for faster travel for all mammals. The Captain had been working all day, and while there was still a lot to do, he was ready to go to bed. He sat down on a bench and almost fell asleep as he waited for JayJay to come pick him up with one of the vehicles from the Typhoon in order to take him back to the ship.

The wolf soon arrived, but she wasn’t driving a vehicle, instead she was walking down the street.

“JayJay? Where’s the car?”

“Actually, my place isn’t far from here. I figured we could walk there instead of having to go all the way back to the Typhoon. It would be a nice change of pace.”

“Eh... I’m not sure.”

Alex thought about how he wouldn’t have any of his personal effects. He didn’t like to be without his things.

“I think I have a spare toothbrush you can use, and a phone charger.”

“....uh... Alright, fair enough.”

“It’s a cozy little place, you’ll enjoy it.”

The pair began to walk towards the wolf’s apartment, while discussing what they had been doing that day. Both of them were exhausted from trying to help the city, as being a paragon for peace and order was not all about heroic missions into enemy territory.

“What projects did you work on today?” Alex asked as he watched his companion rub her shoulder.

“Helped a grocery store get back on its feet and some people to clean up their apartment block among other things. What about you?”

“Cleared some concrete debris off a highway and unloaded some emergency food supplies from a Red Cross truck.”

“I’m definitely gonna feel sore tomorrow.”

“By the way, is there a place for me to sleep at your apartment?”

“Sure, you can take the bed, I’ll have the couch.”

“What, I don’t want to kick you out of your bed. I’ll take the couch, I’m the guest after all.”

“That’s exactly why I want to give you the bed, so you can have a nice sleep while visiting my abode.”

“I can sleep fine on a couch, or even a floor with pillows.”

“You know, if you're comfortable with it, we could try sharing the bed,” JayJay hesitantly suggested. “I think it’s big enough for the both of us.”

“Erm… Okay, that seems fair. I just don’t want you to give up your bed for me.”

The pair arrived at the apartment complex and found their way to JayJay’s dwelling. The wolf opened the door to her apartment with a key and theatrically swept a paw to show off her place. The wolf’s apartment was very nice, and included amenities such as a bathroom and kitchen. Lots of items in the apartment were a bright color, which reflected the wolf’s upbeat personality, as evidenced by the clothes she wore.

Alex sat down on the couch, relieved that he was able to sit, while JayJay flipped on the lights.

“Do you want something to eat?” She asked, going into the kitchen and disappearing out of sight, “I have this nice little snack container I think you’d like.”

Alex turned on the TV and tried to find something for them to watch, eventually settling on a movie that was playing. The wolf came back with two cups of juice and a plastic container that was divided up into 6 sections, each of which had a different kind of snack. It had grapes, carrots, jerky, cheese, nuts, and crackers. JayJay sat down right next to Alex and the pair feasted on the delicious snack while drinking their juice and watching the TV. Both were overjoyed that they could spend time with each other, without needing to worry.

“I like this jerky.” Alex said, taking another piece from the container.

“So do I, wolves actually need protein to survive.”

“So do humans; we also need protein in our diet. Also, what makes living a little sweeter is having a nice wolf friend.”

“Aww, well life is certainly better when you're a wolf with a kind human friend.” JayJay concurred, her tail wagging in agreement.

As the pair watched TV and relaxed from their long day, JayJay eventually felt comfortable enough to rest her head on Alex’s shoulder. The Captain felt a soft form pressing against him. Enjoying the contact and wanting to do something in return, Alex reached over the sofa and put his arm around her, causing the wolf to sigh contentedly and wrap her tail around the two of them.

“Is this okay?” JayJay asked, not wanting Alex to feel nervous or uncomfortable. “Do you mind?”

“No, I don’t. Your fur’s all soft and warm. I mean.. uh..”

The Captain chuckled to himself and realized he was probably being a little too straightforward with his friend. He didn’t want to weird her out. But the wolf just snuggled closer, so he could feel more of her fur.

“This is nice.” JayJay said, closing her eyes and trying to fall asleep. But, without warning, the wolf picked up her head and planted a sweet kiss on the Captain's face. Both mammals blushed madly, being extremely nervous about what just happened. Eventually Alex managed to ask about what prompted this act of affection.

“Was that for luck?”

“No, that was for me.”

“Well, let me know if you need to do that again. I’d be more than happy to oblige.”

The pair continued watching movies till their eyelids grew heavy, eventually falling asleep on the couch., The two heroes, tired from working all day, instinctively curled into one another, with Alex forming the big spoon as he held his friend close to his chest in his sleep. The TV eventually shut off due to inactivity, and the room became silent as the two warriors rested and recharged together.

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And that’s a wrap! Another slower paced chapter to balance out all the action and conflict! The next chapter is also slower paced like this one, so stay tuned!

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 19 - The Second Battle of Zootopia

After a long hiatus, Alex Final Wars is back! Why was it gone for so long? I was waiting for some awesome chapter artwork from Starwishermidnight! (https://www.deviantart.com/starwishermidnight)

Pretty cool huh?! I hope everyone enjoys that picture, and enjoys this action packed chapter! Lets jump into the fray with Heroes!

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The city of Zootopia occupied a key location on the US west coast, and it would certainly be a prime target for any force seeking to deal damage against the country. It was no wonder then that the Chinese had devoted a large number of mammalpower and resources to the city's capture. Although the city had the ZIA and ZPD for defense, it still relied on the US military.

Enroute back to Zootopia, the team had prepared to forcibly evict the Chinese out of the city. This was an all-paws-on-deck mission. Everyone had been given a combat role and an operational area that they would work in. Even Haida and Retsuko has been tasked with providing combat support over the radio. While they were glad to finally be doing more, the state of Zootopia still had the pair worried. Fabienne was also joining a Heroes team heading towards ZNN, where she would help some of her colleagues evacuate. She had been surprisingly calm, probably because she was an experienced reporter and had been in her fair share of war zones. The Typhoon was alive with activity as warriors frantically raced around the ship, preparing for battle.

There were sightings of Kion's Dark counterpart, but his location was unknown. US marines were already on site, defending the city. Multiple Heroes teams would join the US forces in a counteroffensive to push the enemy back.

Chinese ships occupied the bay, while fires burned all over the city, creating massive plumes of smoke. Chinese jets streaked across the skies, strafing machine-gun fire on any target they saw.

The Typhoon set down in a US controlled area, as everyone prepared to enter the fray.

"We've failed." Jack said, gathering up his gear. His ears were droopy and he was not preparing himself with the same determined spirit that he'd had in other missions. "Our job as ZIA agents was to keep Zootopia safe, and now the Chinese are attacking the city. We've failed at our foremost objective."

Skye nodded, and her face gave away the fact that she was also feeling the same burden of guilt that Jack felt.

"Don't say that." Toothdee said. "It's not your fault. You did all you could."

"There's no way you could have known this was gonna happen. Blame the people attacking the city, don't blame yourself." Nick said, putting his paw on his friend's shoulder.

"But now that we're here, we can make a difference." Judy said, maintaining the steadfast determination that she had since childhood.

A determined look came across Skye's face as she realized her allies were correct. The best way for her to serve Zootopia now, was stopping the Chinese invasion. "Your right, let's do this." The arctic fox clicked the safety off on her rifle.

After gathering up gear, weapons, and ammo, the heroes assembled in the hangar bay where vehicles had been prepared and fueled. Capitan Boehm cleared his throat and tried to rouse everyone's spirits, even though he was nervous. Dialogue was not his forte, but his friends could use a rousing speech, so he would at least try.

"Zootopia needs our help!"

There were whoops and yells from the warriors in the room. Each of them was eager to get out in the fray and give the Chinese a firm kick in the pants.

"We are incredible warriors, we can do this! We can beat them back!"

There was another round of cheers and the excitement in the room was palpable.

"Are you ready to get out there in the fray?!"

Everyone let out a battle cry and raised a fist or a weapon.

"Heroes, form up!"

Each individual team hopped in a truck or Jeep, and Alex opened the doors to the Typhoon's garage, letting the teams race out, going past US soldiers and heading to their predetermined areas.

Nick and Judy headed to ZPD HQ, while Skye and Jack made haste to the ZIA HQ.

Alex, Kion, and Jasiri were in a Humvee; driving to meet hostile forces head on. As Alex maneuvered the vehicle through abandoned cars and rubble, they passed by some civilians trying to get to safety. The captain went as fast as he could, swerving through the streets, narrowly avoiding obstacles.

"Whoa! Careful dude!" Kion said, holding onto his seat and watching a downed lamppost narrowly miss the vehicle. "Your gonna kill us before we can even get to the Chinese!"

"What? Do you want to drive?"

"Ugh, just don't send us careening off a cliff." Kion begrudgingly said.

"You know, between you and me, that speech went a lot better than I expected."

"You did great, I've never seen a group of people so eager to enter into combat."

"I am not good with words; it took me a moment to work up my courage."

"Ha! Bullets aren't a problem, but words are?" Kion laughed.

"You keep that to yourself." Alex jested.

The team reached a US tank on a main road, along with a group of US Marines that were taking cover behind concrete debris. A squad of Chinese soldiers was engaging the Marines and pinning them down, while the tank tried its best to beat the enemy back.

Hopping out of the Humvee, the team engaged the Chinese, downing a few before being noticed.

"Heroes?!" A US Marine yelled, clearly surprised.

Kion cut down 2 Chinese soldiers, while Jasiri gunned down 2 more with her pistols. The last few soldiers fell back, and disappeared from view behind a large pile of rubble that was blocking the road.

"We weren't expecting elite forces." One of the Marines said.

"What's the situation?" Captain Boehm said, wanting to get a grip on things and chase the Chinese out of the city.

"We're getting ready to push back, but the Chinese are still hitting us hard."

Suddenly a rocket streaked down from one of the nearby buildings and hit the US tank that was nearby. The vehicle exploded in a ball of fire, killing the crew inside.

"Take cover!" Kion said, prompting Heroes and the Marines to hide in a small shop off to the side of the road.

"Alright, you stay here and push forward with the other US forces once they arrive." Alex said to the Marines as he checked his ammo. "We'll act as the tip of the spear and make things easier for the main force."

"Roger that, good luck sir." A Marine said.

This was the job of Heroes. As elite forces, it was their duty to help their allies however best they could. The team headed into the back of the shop, and found a door with a staircase behind it. They began to make their way up, heading towards the location where the Chinese rocket had come from.

It was difficult to find a route through the tight and dark corridors of the building, but eventually the team reached another door, and they heard a foreign language on the other side.

The captain smiled and chuckled a bit. He loved it when a situation presented itself that allowed him or his allies get the drop on an enemy. Alex counted down. "3... 2... 1... Go!"

The trio burst through the door and immediately engaged the group of Chinese soldiers in the room. The rocket trooper that destroyed the tank was quickly gunned down in a hail of bullets, along with all the other hostiles. One soldier had been thrown back onto the floor when the opening door hit him, making him easy for Kion to dispatch with his blade.

"Hell yeah! That was awesome!" Alex said "Keep it up!"

Taking a look at their surroundings, the team picked another hallway and began to move down through it. In the close confines, Alex and Kion were cutting down many enemy soldiers with swords, while Jasiri kept laying down supporting fire with her pistols.

"We should get back to the street; those US soldiers need us." The hyena said, killing a bunch of hostile soldiers by performing a flourishing attack, in which she twirled and fired shots all around her, hitting anyone in the area.

"Agreed," Captain Boehm said, slicing a PLA trooper with his sword, and quickly followed up with 2 chi blasts to the heads of enemy troops.

"There's a stairwell over here!" Kion said, charging at a heavy weapons soldier and ramming his sword through his adversary.

Not wanting to leave the US soldiers on the street without friendly support, the group moved down the stairwell. They heard a commotion from the bottom of the building and looked down the center of the stairwell shaft. They saw a large group of enemy soldiers sprinting up the stairs from the bottom.

Kion took out a grenade and looked to his friends with a questioning expression. They instantly knew what he was thinking.

"We're gonna have to time this right." Jasiri said, as her and Alex took out grenades. The trio pulled the grenade pins and cooked them in their hands for a few seconds, before dropping them down the center of the stairwell.

Right as the grenades fell by the soldiers, they exploded, killing the Chinese troopers. The team were able to proceed down the stairs uninterrupted. They passed one trooper who, despite being critically wounded by the grenades, was still alive. The captain took pity and put him out of his misery, as he would have otherwise slowly died from his wounds. Even though the soldier was his enemy, Alex was still kind enough to show him mercy.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the team was finally able to get to the street. The sky was hazy with smoke, and the setting sun caused an orange tint across the entire city. Rubble was strewn about the entire area, and the sounds of combat filled the air.

"There!" Kion said, pointing towards a group of PLA soldiers. The team engaged the hostile forces, while some civilians nearby fled for their lives.

Alex noticed a young cheetah, probably only 5 or 6 years old, standing in the middle of the ruined street, looking around. She clutched a stuffed cheetah in her paws, and while she looked scared, she wasn't crying or screaming.

Overcome with fear and determination, Alex charged forward towards the lost cheetah, cutting in half a PLA soldier with his sword as he ran. Kion and Jasiri provided cover fire, presumably also having seen the young cheetah and feared for the girl's life.

Reaching the young girl, Alex quickly pulled her to safety as his allies kept them covered.

"I'm gonna get you out of here, sweetie." Alex said, trying to sound soft and caring. "Do you think you can run?"

"Y-yes." The young girl said as she quickly nodded, her eyes wide. Jasiri reloaded and gave Alex a nod of confirmation that they were ready to provide suppressing fire.

"Ok, you be brave for me." The captain and the cheetah sprinted out of cover, and managed to get into an alleyway where they bumped into a group of ZPD SWAT.

"This young girl lost her parents, she needs to be escorted out of here." Alex said to the team leader.

"On it, sir!" The officer responded before speaking into his radio.

"You were very brave today." Boehm said, crouching down to the girl's height, as well as taking out a ration bar, and giving it to her. "These fine mammals are gonna get you back to your parents. What's your name?"

"F-F-Fuli" the young girl said, trembling. "F-Fuli D-Duma."

The captain stood up and gestured to himself. "Alex Boehm." He said, before running off to assist his friends.

As more US Marines, ZPD officers, and ZIA agents entered the area, the trio of heroes continued battling the PLA soldiers. Alex and Jasiri gunned down any enemy soldier they laid eyes on, while Kion deflected incoming bullets with his sword. Though they were outnumbered by enemy soldiers, they showed no fear, as they knew the Chinese were clearly outmatched.

The last soldier fell to Jasiri's shots, and the hyena blew the gun smoke off the ends of her pistols, before triumphantly stating "They weren't expecting elite forces!"

A truck of enemy soldiers pulled up, but was obliterated by machine gun fire from an approaching US armored vehicle. A ZIA agent ran up to give a report to the Heroes team.

"The Chinese forward base is just ahead!" The agent reported. "Thats where the Chinese fleet is deploying forces and coordinating the assault."

"Then that's our target. Let's go kick them out of Zootopia!" Jasiri yelled, rallying friendly forces, before they moved forwards towards the Chinese base. The large group of infantry was accompanied by light and heavy armored vehicles, and a few aircraft in support.

Three PLA soldiers, using grenade launcher turrets, engaged the US force, causing the marines to run for cover.

"I'll get the right turret." Captain Boehm said.

"Jasiri, you get the middle one, I'll get the left one!" Kion said, charging forward with his head down.

Bullets whizzed over his head and struck the rubble he was taking cover behind. He had to roll and move as fast as he could to avoid being hit. The lion managed to reach the turret and stab the operator with his sword, before turning it on another hostile.

Jasiri and Alex also had similar luck with their targets, enabling their allies to continue pressing forward. This assault was going smoothly, and Heroes were easily pushing back the attacking force. They were driven by the singular desire to stop the assault on their glorious city.

A Chinese helicopter moved in and opened fire, forcing Jasiri and Alex to engage it with their firearms. Kion used one of the commandeered turrets to engage the aircraft. Bullets struck the canopy and engines, cracking the glass and soon caused smoke to pour from the engines. After sustaining enough damage, the aircraft fell back, having trouble controlling its movement.

The US force had now reached the Chinese base. Vehicles, soldiers, communications tech, and other equipment were set up throughout the area. Chinese landing hovercraft were assembled on the beach, and 2 amphibious assault ships floated in the bay nearby.

The Chinese soldiers began to take cover and open fire on the incoming enemies, with the PLA vehicles doing the same. Even the turrets on the hovercraft joined the engagement.

As Alex and the team pushed forward towards a communications center nearby, friendly rocket troopers fired at the enemy vehicles with explosives. A US tank also destroyed some of the turrets on the hovercraft.

The communications center was filled with large servers and small military laptops set up on tables. Wires ran along the floor, and cooling fans in the servers created a slight buzzing sound in the area.

"Pull any hard drives and data you can get; knowledge is power." Alex said, cutting down a Chinese soldier, "Any intel is useful. Once you get it, blast everything else into scrap."

Jasiri and Kion went to work, ripping out servers and transferring files from computers, while Alex kept them covered, shooting any enemy that tried to interfere with their operation.

After Heroes had all the data they needed, Jasiri blasted the communications equipment with her pistols. Kion moved to slice through a computer server with his sword, but Jasiri stopped him and recommended unplugging the device to avoid the fate of Dark Laval. After a few seconds the communications center had been reduced to smoldering equipment that could never be fixed.

Chinese vehicles were still active, and the team settled on those as their next targets, as they were the most dangerous. Kion knew he couldn't do much damage to vehicle armor with his sword, so he looked around in a Chinese weapon stash. A smug expression crossed the lion's face as he found a rocket launcher. He quickly turned it on a Chinese tank and turned the enemy vehicle into a flaming heap. Alex jumped onto an armored personnel carrier and managed to pry the top hatch open, before dropping in a grenade.

The Chinese attack helicopter returned and launched a volley of rockets, making Jasiri run for her life as explosions rocked the ground behind her.

"Jasiri!" Kion yelled, turning the rocket launcher on the aircraft, before firing and ripping through its armor. The vehicle spun out of control and crashed onto one of the hovercraft, destroying the still active turret.

"YEAH!" Kion gave a middle finger to the smoldering wreckage. He was very protective of his hyena.

Jasiri spotted a Chinese surface-to-air missile site and quickly alerted her teammates to its existence. After gunning and cutting down a few Chinese soldiers guarding the site, the team of heroes was able to get close, and place primed grenades onto the missile launcher. As the trio quickly got clear, the grenades exploded, destroying the launcher.

Two Chinese attack boats pulled up to the shore, but they continued moving forward onto the beach. As the vessels emerged from the water, it was revealed that they had 4 tracks on the underside, that allowed the vehicles to leave the water and move on land.

"Uh... what the hell are those things?" Kion said as Chinese troops disembarked the craft.

"Whatever it is, shoot it." Alex said, following his own words, as a turret on one of the amphibious vehicles opened fire. The captain would have loved to figure out more about the vehicles, as he loved new technology. But unfortunately the vehicles were shooting back at him.

An enemy heavy-arms trooper, carrying a grenade launcher, opened fire, blowing up a US vehicle and killing many US soldiers. Alex changed his target to the heavy trooper, attacking him with his sword. The captain managed to get a few good hits on the trooper before he could react. Once the trooper did react though, he blocked Alex's sword with his grenade launcher. The 2 combatants got into a weapon lock, before Alex used the blaster on his sword to kill the soldier by shooting him in the face.

Picking up the grenade launcher, the captain noticed one of the amphibious vehicles moving backwards into the water. There was probably a driver inside, or maybe it was autonomous. Directing the grenade launcher towards the vehicle, a couple shots managed to disable it.

"Man I would have loved to get a closer look at that thing!"

Jasiri and Kion had destroyed the turret on the second vehicle, and managed to do enough damage to disable the craft.

A United States B-1B Lancer bomber and its escort jets flew over the Chinese ships, the bomber dropping its payload and obliterating the vessels.

The Heroes team cheered and raised their weapons triumphantly as they watched the vessels burn. But this moment of victory was cut short when Judy's voice came through the radio, filled with worry.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

"Oh hey, Officer Hopps." Kion said, feeling pleased with his work "We just took out a Chinese base."

"ZPD reports that the tide is turning in our favor, Kion, but we've also got a confirmed sighting of your counterpart. We're heading to investigate now."

"Do not engage! This guy is dangerous. I repeat, do not engage!" Alex said, hoping the rabbit listened to him. "We'll come there and assist you."

The trio turned away from the burning ships and headed back into the city. Their cheerful mood had changed to a drive to stop Kion's counterpart, as they did not want him to cause anymore chaos. Zootopia was not free just yet.

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Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this new chapter! Next week, Heroes goes after Kion's counterpart. Until next time!

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 24 - Soldiers & Supplies

Any hostile force that managed to take the city of Zootopia would deal a significant morale blow to the US, along with gaining a key tactical and strategical location. The Chinese were once more trying their hand at capturing, or at least doing damage to the city, but fortunately, Heroes had once again stepped up to hold the line.

Those warriors that hailed from Zootopia nervously sat in the briefing room as the battle strategy was laid out. The thought of their city being devastated again filled them with both worry and anger. Zootopia had already suffered damage at the hands of the Chinese. They would give 110% to make sure the enemy didn’t lay a finger on the city this time. Toothdee pointed to the main screen in the briefing room and focused on a group of Chinese airships nearing the city, along with escort aircraft.

“I feared this happening again. Zootopia is just too valuable of a target.” Toothdee said, shaking her head.

“We pushed them back once, we can push them back again,” Alex said, always being the optimist. A few smiles appeared on the faces of the mammals in the room. Although his words put the Heroes from Zootopia at ease, they were still fearful of their city’s safety.

Toothdee pressed a few buttons on a remote and the view on the main screen changed to a friendly US base.

“Unfortunately the US military garrison in the area is willfully undersupplied,” Toothdee said “having exhausted much of their resources during the first Chinese invasion.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” Judy said, afraid that the Chinese would tear through the garrison on their way to the city.

“Luckily, we have supply aircraft incoming,” Toothdee said. “Once the garrison is resupplied, we should be able to quickly destroy the invaders. However, those supply aircraft are gonna have to fly dangerously close to the Chinese force, as it’s the quickest route.”

The main screen displayed a group of supply aircraft, as Toothdee continued her briefing.

“We suspect the Chinese will be deploying their ground forces in the wilderness outside the city, then make a 2 pronged attack.”

The Hero leader then turned the briefing over to Alex.

“The US Air Force and typhoon will handle the airships. Some of you will remain on the typhoon to operate the weapon systems. But the rest of us will each be given a sector on the ground, and will have to hold back the enemy invasion with the few well equipped US troops we have.”

“The ZIA is going to do all they can. We have agents ready to assist us in combat.” Jack said, “We don’t want a repeat of the last time the Chinese were in the city.”

“So does the ZPD.” Nick said, “Everyone is on high alert.”

The thought of so many different groups working together to keep the Chinese away from Zootopia was a bit of a relief to the heroes, but it would feel a lot better to remove the threat entirely. The main screen changed to show a map of the area, split into sectors with US troops, ZPD officers, ZIA agents, and Heroes assigned to each sector.

“We just need to hold them back till the supplies get through.” Toothdee said, “Then, we should be able to route the Chinese.”

“Alright, we can do this!” JayJay said, “for Zootopia!”

The Heroes from Zootopia let out a few cheers, before exiting the briefing room, ready to stop the Chinese and save their home.

“Are you ok Jack?” Skye asked the bunny as they left. She knew he might be feeling down because the Chinese were making another assault on Zootopia.

“I just hope we can stop them before they reach the city.”

“I know, I hope so too.”

“I’m sure we’ve already earned a promotion at the agency, but I just can’t help but somehow put blame myself now that Zootopia is at such a risk. I shouldn’t blame myself, but I just like.... feel some sort of guilt.”

“It’s not our fault by any measure, but I know how you feel. However, now we have an opportunity to stop the Chinese before they can cause any damage.”

“And there’s no one I’d rather fight alongside.”

The pair shared a short hug, giving each other a confidence boost that they really needed. The fox planted a small kiss on her rabbit and spoke.

“Let’s go make them pay.”

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The Chinese airships had landed and deployed their forces, before lifting off into the sky again and continuing their course for Zootopia. On the ground below, infantry and vehicles pushed forward through the wilderness, also going for the city.

Thankfully for the citizens of Zootopia, Heroes, US Marines, the ZPD, and ZIA stood to defend the city. The Typhoon, with Toothdee, Laval, and JayJay operating it, moved to intercept the enemy airships, backed up by US jets and Eris in her eagle interceptor.

Everyone had made it to their assigned sectors and was ready to hold back the tide of enemy forces. Kion and Jasiri were waiting in a small gorge with some US Marines, ZIA agents, and ZPD officers. Trees and rocks dotted the grassy and sandy landscape, and the team was ready for the Chinese to come down the gorge as they made their attack. Concrete barricades and a few ammo boxes had been set up for the defense.

“You ready for this?” Kion said to the hyena he loved.

“No time like the present. I have full confidence in us. We can do this Kion.”

The lion smiled, and couldn’t resist leaning in to give Jasiri a quick kiss on the lips. However, their moment of bliss was interrupted as the Chinese began their assault.

“Incoming!” A marine yelled, and mortars struck nearby, sending debris into the air and making the US forces jump down.

“They’re coming!” A ZPD officer yelled.

Kion and Jasiri peered forward and saw infantry and attack dogs charging towards their position.

“Here they come!” Someone yelled. “Fire at will!”

A chorus of gunfire erupted as bullets flew forward, taking down enemies. The PLA soldiers took cover behind trees and rocks while the dogs continued to race forward.

An attack dog reached the friendly barricade and leaped into the air, heading for Kion. Its teeth were bared and ready to bite into the lion. Fortunately, with a slash of his sword, the young warrior sent the dog to the ground with a whimper.

The Chinese began to return fire, and Kion had to quickly raise his sword again to deflect the bullets. Jasiri aimed her custom pistols and fired shot after shot, hitting dogs & soldiers that were out of cover. Enemy numbers were growing thin, and the last few soldiers were finished off by friendly troops.

Jasiri and Kion shared a celebratory high five, or rather a high four in Jasiri’s case. But there wasn’t time for victory celebrations, more Chinese were moving closer. This time the normal riflemen and dogs were backed up by heavy weapon troops & snipers.

Jasiri noticed something about the attack dogs as they scurried towards them on all fours. The vests that had been put on these dogs were larger than the ones on the dogs before, and they had a light on them.

As a few enemy forces reached the defense line, one of the dogs leaped into the air towards a group of friendlies. But before either side could attack each other, the dog exploded in a fireball that enveloped 2 US Marines and a ZIA agent.

“What the heck was that?” Kion asked.

Another dog neared ZPD officer who opened fire on the wild animal, killing it. However, the downed creature then exploded, this time only knocking the officer down to the ground.

“They put bombs on the dogs?!” Jasiri said.

“That just ain’t right,” Kion said.

“I’m sure the Chinese are taking suggestions about how to run their military.”

“Good, I’m going right to management with a few choice words!”

“Everyone! Target those dogs!”

Friendly forces opened fire on the Chinese attack dogs, taking them down before they could barricade and cause major damage. However, there were still dozens of enemy troops moving forward, determined to break the defense.

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Eris piloted her eagle interceptor through the sky, avoiding Chinese jets as she streaked through the clouds. 2 enemy aircraft got on her tail and opened fire with their machine guns, forcing the eagle to fly erratically. Spotting a thick cloud nearby, Eris smiled smugly and made haste towards it. Her plane entered the cloud, her vision outside the cockpit quickly becoming obscured. Slowing and making the interceptor hover for a brief moment, Eris spun the craft around in a circle inside the cloud. Once she was aiming back towards her previous heading, she punched the throttle and shot forward.

Exiting the cloud, Eris found the 2 Chinese jets in front of her, the turn inside the cloud has allowed her to get behind the enemy aircraft without their knowledge. Taking advantage of the moment, Eris opened up on the enemy jets with chi blasters. Glowing blue bolts of blue energy flashing through the sky and hitting the hostile planes. The aircraft exploded, and Eris let out a triumphant cheer as her jet flew through the smoke and fire, which was all that remained of the Chinese.

“Having fun Eris?” Toothdee asked through the radio. The typhoon appeared from behind a cloud, and Eris quickly got in escort formation with it.

“Just taking some pride in my work.”

The typhoon pilot laughed before speaking. “Well, make sure to stay focused. Those supply aircraft are coming in soon & they need protection.”

“Don’t worry Toothdee, we’ll make sure they get through without a scratch.”

“Good, because here they come!”

A squadron of US military cargo planes appeared on radar, & Eris banked her jet around to join them, while the typhoon moved to another position in the sky.

“This is eagle one, I’ll be your escort today,” Eris said, getting alongside one of the planes, and being joined by other US aircraft.

“Roger that Eagle one, we’re lucky to have you providing overwatch for us.” Came a voice through the radio.

“Eris be advised, you have Chinese aircraft incoming,” Toothdee said.

Hostile jets appeared on radar, and Eris put on her game face. Bullets started flying as US & Chinese jets began dogfighting. Eris blasted down an enemy jet, & quickly turned to focus on another aircraft, crippling it with missiles & finishing it off with chi blasts. All the while, the US cargo planes continued forward with their supplies for the troops on the ground.

The battle reached a position near the typhoon, & the vessel was able to provide support with anti-aircraft cannons, machine guns, & rockets. Flak exploded near enemy jets, destroying them or disabling them. Those on the typhoon had to time their shots carefully through, to avoid hitting friendly jets that were going back and forth, fighting the enemy jets.

Swarms of aircraft filled the sky as intense combat continued. But the US cargo planes were still maintaining their course. However, things changed as 2 Chinese airships appeared, weapons ready.

“Eris we have a problem!” Toothdee said, moving the typhoon into a position to engage the Chinese airships.

“I see it!” Eris flew forward, linking back up with the cargo planes, which started to be under fire from one of the enemy airships. The typhoon began to broadside one of the airships, forcing the vessel to return fire.

Eris shot upward with her jet, dodging enemy gunfire, before firing chi blasts and destroying an anti-aircraft gun on the airship. The eagle then dropped back downwards and blew up a shipboard artillery cannon. She kept a close watch on the supply aircraft and directed her attention to any aircraft or weapon that threatened them. The side of the enemy airship was hit by weapon fire from the typhoon, disabling a bunch of its guns. Eris and friendly aircraft shot down a couple more jets that threatened the supply craft. As the cargo planes began to leave the vicinity of the battle, the typhoon got in a better position to cover the fleeing aircraft.

“Eris, we need to take out those airships,” Toothdee said.

“I got it covered Toothdee, you protect those supply planes.”

“What?! Just you? You can’t take down two airships by yourself!”

“Oh yeah, watch me!”

Eris pulled her jet around away from the cargo planes, and towards one of the airships. She took stock of the situation, using her keen eagle eyes to examine the scene in front of her. One of the airships was positioned above the second airship, not directly above the lower ship, but somewhat to the side. The eagle’s gaze then shifted towards a break in the clouds. In the distance, but clearly visible, was the shining cityscape of Zootopia. Home to thousands of mammals, men, women, and children. All of whom would be at the mercy of the Chinese if they reached the metropolis.

Eris took a breath, and then gunned the engines.

The eagle raced forward, rolling to avoid gunfire, and letting off flares to avoid missiles. She zoomed low above the top of the airship, Chinese weapons trying to shoot her down. Strafing the bridge with chi blasts, she swung around to the back of the airship and slowed her aircraft down, practically making it hover. She unloaded chi blasts on the vessel’s main engines, sticking as close as she could to the airship to avoid enemy weapons fire. Once the engines were engulfed in flames, & with the ship starting to lose altitude, the eagle pilot punched the throttle again and headed for the ship’s starboard engine. A Chinese jet pulled behind her and engaged, so Eris had to make her next move quick.

She pulled her jet up above the airship, before nose-diving towards the engine and firing with all her weapons.

“Missiles away!” Eris said, her jet launching the missiles that streaked towards the engine. After sustaining enough damage from missiles and chi blasts, the engine burst into flames. Eris swooped in close to the engine, forced her jet down, and up under the airship, taking a few hits from still operational guns on the vessel. The Chinese jet that attempted to follow her accidentally crashed into the falling airship and was destroyed.

The vessel was now falling down with a turn to starboard, right towards the other airship. The 2 ships collided together, huge chunks of metal breaking off from both ships. The typhoon took this moment to fire rockets at the 2 damaged vessels, making sure they somehow didn’t continue to be a threat. Explosions swept across the airships, and they plummeted to earth, reduced to nothing more than scrap metal.

“Eris, you are one hell of a pilot,” Toothdee said.

“Don’t mention it! My plane did take a beating though, so I’m coming in for a landing.”

“I think you’ve earned a rest, taking out 2 airships and a good number of fighters I’m sure.”

“Let’s hope our friends on the ground are doing as well as we are up here!”

000

“This is Kion.” The lion said into his radio “we need backup immediately!”

Chinese forces were pounding his and Jasiri’s position. Many friendly troops had been struck down. Suddenly 3 cargo planes zoomed overhead, with friendly forces looking up towards the sky as the roar of engines filled the air.

“The supply aircraft,” Kion said.

“That means we just have to hold out a little while longer!” Jasiri said, reloading her pistols and firing a barrage of bullets.

With renewed vigor, Kion cut down a pair of enemy troops that had breached the barricade. But things were still taking a turn for the worse, as more enemy troops advanced.

A ZPD helicopter hovered above the battlefield, and a SWAT officer inside opened fire on the Chinese forces below.

“Kion! Bullet refraction!” Jasiri said.

The two mammals got in position, the hyena aiming both her fully loaded pistols at the lion. Meanwhile, Kion held his sword at the ready and used his lion eyes to note the positions of Chinese soldiers. Not unlike how his ancestors picked out prey amongst the wilderness.

Jasiri then unloaded her pistols at Kion, firing every single shot. But the lion sword-bearer expertly deflected everything single shot off his sword, and towards the Chinese. one or more shots hit every one of the nearby Chinese soldiers, bringing them all down.

“Yeah!” Kion said raising his sword in the air. More Chinese soldiers advanced, this time backed up by a tank, which opened fire on the ZPD helicopter with its coaxial machine gun.

The aircraft spun out of control and crashed near the Chinese soldiers, kicking up large clouds of smoke and dust.

Thinking quick, Kion and Jasiri raced forward, using the dust and smoke clouds as cover so they could get near the Chinese. This would make it more difficult for the enemy to hit them since they would be among the enemy troops.

Using the kicked up debris to break line of sight, the pair struck at the enemy soldiers, and the Chinese fired wildly at what they couldn’t see. Once enough infantry had been downed, the 2 heroes raced close to the tank and threw grenades at it, both anti-tank and thermite. The tank was rocked by explosions, and its main weapons were melted by thermite.

The pair looked around, it was just them. The ZIA agents, US soldiers, and ZPD officers that had been supporting them were all struck down. The 2 heroes were all that remained to hold the line. Soldiers advanced forward, weapons at the ready. The battlefield was frozen for a moment, but then conflict erupted again.

Kion and Jasiri stood back to back, the lion deflecting bullets, and the hyena returning fire. Kion’s focus was on deflecting bullets, but all of a sudden his focus shifted as he turned and he turned and saw Jasiri falling to the ground.

“JASIRI!”

The lion couldn’t believe it, the one he loved gunned down right in front of him. The lion was overcome with rage and lashed out at the Chinese soldiers. Cutting down three in quick succession with ferocious strikes. All of a sudden a barrage of bullets struck another solider near Kion. The young hero turned to see his hyena getting up off the ground, her helmet knocked off her head.

“I’m not out of this fight yet! We can do this Kion!”

The two continued the fight, falling back to the barricade where they could take cover.

Bullets did strike them, but they were either grazing blows or hit armor. But it was looking more likely that eventually their bodies would be struck. They would not survive this engagement, but they could still take down as many Chinese as possible.

They only wanted their city to be safe, they only wanted peace, that is why they joined Heroes. The pair of mammals knew the risks, and if they had to perish so Zootopia could survive, so be it. But before the couple could make the ultimate sacrifice, there was an extremely loud sound of buckling & scraping metal, coming from above.

Everyone on the battlefield looked up, to see a pair of Chinese airships crashing downwards from the sky above.

Heroes recognized what was about to happen, and quickly ran as fast as they could away from the Chinese. Debris fell from above, and the pair had to dodge falling bits of metal as the airship crashed to the ground with a thunderous noise. Jasiri and Kion kept running, but once they were far enough away, they turned around and surveyed what had just happened. The Chinese forces that almost killed the pair had been crushed under the wreckage of their own ships, and the canyon pass was blocked by the massive vessels. There was no way the Chinese would be getting through tons of burning wreckage.

“Well, that’s one way to get the job done,” Kion said, as the pair watched the painted Chinese flag one vessel be consumed by fire. The lion turned to Jasiri. “Are you ok?”

“A few hits, but I’ll live. What about you?”

“Same, I’m just glad that you're ok.”

The hyena gave her partner a hug. Before sitting him down to treat his wounds.

“You need to be more careful.” Jasiri laughed “What is this? The third time I’ve had to treat your wounds? If you wanted my loving touch, you could just ask to cuddle.”

“Hey, you're the careful one who tempers my confidence so I don’t get in over my head.”

“Well, your the confident one who pulls me along into adventure.”

Thankfully the armor they wore had prevented the damage from being worse, but it would be a good idea to make sure the wounds didn’t get infected.

As the two set about using their medical kits, they heard the sounds of engines growing closer, but these sounds were coming from Zootopia. A bunch of ground vehicles & a few helicopters showed up, with markings indicating them as friendly forces. One of the helicopters landed and its side door opened, revealing 2 familiar faces.

It was Jack and Skye, with a bunch of the US marines, ZPD officers, & ZIA agents. The troopers fanned out to secure the area, while the other 2 heroes moved to talk to their friends.

“Did you do that?” Jack asked, pointing towards the wreckage that blocked the pass. The wounded warriors turned to take another look at what remained of the Chinese airships.

“Uh...let’s say we did,” Kion answered, getting a chuckle out of his friends.

“You know Toothdee told me that Eris just took down a pair of Chinese airships just like that,” Skye said.

“Must be an unrelated incident.”

The group chuckled again before Jack spoke.

“Well, no Chinese got through, but the supplies did. I think everyone who fought here today really made a difference. And you 2, have earned my respect.”

“Thank you, Jack,” Jasiri said. “We did this for our city.”

“So did we, with us all standing together, we can overcome any threat.”

Although this invasion had been thwarted, Zootopia’s position and tactical significance still remained. This would not be the last Zootopia heard of the Chinese.

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Don't forget to comment and favorite, and thank you for reading!

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 14 - The Remanent Fleet

Despite Finals happening this week, I have found enough time to post another exciting chapter! First, Id like to thank @jafethortiz for once again providing a wonderful picture for this story! This time the picture is of the second in command of Heroes, Toothdee! As always I hope everyone is doing well, and if your studying for finals as I am, keep it up!

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The storm was still battering the US fleet, forcing the team to wait for the weather to clear before they could finish off the rest of the Chinese armada. Nick & Judy were spending their time watching a movie in their cabin while cuddling & munching on popcorn. The bunny loved petting Nick’s soft tail, & spent most of the time looking at Nick.

“Come on carrots, your missing the movie. I’m not gonna constantly rewind it.”

“But Nick, I want to cuddle with you! Also, can you rewind it, I missed that last scene.”

“Somebunny can’t stay away from her fox.”

The rabbit rested her head on his chest and tried to fall asleep, but Nick kept teasing her & keeping her awake.

“Oh, let me sleep,” Judy said.

“I will, for a few kisses.”

The rabbit sat up and cupped her mate’s muzzle before leaning in.

“Attention all personnel,” Toothdee said through the intercom “the storm is weakening, we’ll be engaging the Chinese fleet soon.”

The couple groaned at their moment being interrupted, & realized they should probably go prepare their gear.

“Eh.... the war can wait,” Judy said, kissing her fox.

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“We haven’t intercepted any radio traffic from the Chinese,” Toothdee said, steering the typhoon over an inland ocean channel that was filled with ice. “Maybe the snow or the cold is wreaking havoc with their instruments.”

The storm had partially cleared, but the snow was still falling & the sky was still obscured by dark clouds.

“Well, we’re ready should there be any Chinese resistance,” Alex said, him & JayJay sitting at gunner positions.

“Uh... I’m not sure I know how to operate this.” The wolf said, looking over the controls while Toothdee facepalmed.

“It’s easy JayJay, think of it as a game. Just select your viewpoint & use the controls to aim & fire. I’ve taught you this a hundred times.”

“Well, it’s nerve-wracking doing it for real.”

Alex stood up & walked over to the wolf’s control panel & began walking her through the operating process again, encouraging her with gentle words & pats on the shoulder.

“Hostile warship sighted!” Toothdee yelled, seeing the stern of a Chinese ship come into view through the falling snow. Alex raced back to his gunnery position and opened fire.

Shells & cannon fire began hitting the Chinese warship, but the fire from the typhoon soon stopped as the crew noticed something was off about this Chinese ship. It had been wrecked, crashed upon the frozen shore of the channel. The whole vessel was tipped slightly, and there was no sign of occupation.

Eris, Kion, & Jack entered the bridge and took in the view of the derelict ship.

“What happened to it?” Kion asked.

“It might have been wrecked from the storm,” Eris suggested

“Uh, guys?” JayJay spoke up.

Everyone turned to the wolf, who was pointing forward out the bridge window.

Looking up, the team saw more Chinese warships from the remanent fleet, some caught in thick ice, others simply sitting idle. A few had been docked at what appeared to be an abandoned structure nearby.

“What happened to them all?” Jack asked as the typhoon passed by one of the stranded ships.

“I guess the storm hit them pretty hard.” Toothdee said, “looks like they attempted to go ashore.”

“What’s that building anyway?” Eris said.

“Must be some old outpost, it’s made of wood so maybe it’s from the 1800s or early 1900s.”

“2 of those ships are still moving!” Kion said, spotting active vessels.

“Battle stations!” Alex yelled, prompting Eris, Jack, & Kion to jump into combat positions.

One of the warships opened fire, it’s cannons striking the side of the typhoon. The Hero ship returned fire while moving to cover behind an abandoned Chinese vessel. Managing to get into a favorable position, the typhoon blasted one of the warships and dealt heavy damage. As the hostile ship turned to face the typhoon, it was struck by missiles and shells, causing critical damage and making it crash into the nearby shoreline.

A few small fast attack craft joined the battle, firing at the typhoon alongside the larger warship.  The typhoon moved away from the Chinese ship, passing through a narrow corridor between an icy cliff & a derelict vessel.

“Target that cliff face!” Alex said as the enemy ship approached through the corridor. With sustained fire, the ice, snow, and rock on the cliff cascaded downwards onto the Chinese ship, pinning it against the other derelict ship. The avalanche even managed to take out a couple of the smaller craft.

“Light them up,” Toothdee ordered, the typhoon opening fire with all weapon systems. The Chinese warship broke apart and burst into flames. The presence of fire from the destroyed ships was a welcome sight in a landscape full of snow and ice.

The remaining craft withdrew, and the typhoon even managed to shoot a few down as they tried to retreat.

“See JayJay, was that so bad?” Alex said.

“No, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.” The wolf admitted.

“What’s the plan?” Jack asked.

“Toothdee, take us in for a ground expedition.” The captain said, to which Toothdee obliged, maneuvering the ship near the shore and setting it down. “Kion, go get Jasiri and have both of you suit up cold weather gear. Toothdee, prepare for an excursion. JayJay, you're in charge till we get back, Eris, Jack, keep a look out for hostile activity.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and went about performing their duties. The typhoon, and Heroes in general, was run like a well-oiled machine with people working together to accomplish a task. While at the same time maintaining a good relationship that served to strengthen the group.

The 4 squad members got ready to go ashore and destroy the remanent fleet once and for all.

000

For missions in cold climate, the kit for Heroes operatives differed from the normal kit. Gear and uniforms were colored with arctic camouflage, extra rations and equipment to start fires were packed into survival kits. Whoever was going out donned a heavy coat to keep warm, especially Alex, as humans lacked thick fur to retain heat. Snow goggles and masks covered their faces, and the team was ready for a battle in sub-zero temperatures.

Toothdee’s garb didn’t change much from her normal attire, as her species was capable of surviving in ice-cold environments.

Once the squad was ready, they set off through the forest, following tracks in the snow, along with using an intercepted Chinese radio call to guide them. Gunfire was also piercing the air, but the team was unable to figure out what the Chinese would be firing at.

“Toothdee, are you sure your comfortable?” Kion inquired, noting her lack of thick protective clothing.”

“I’m fine.” She assured him, “I don’t even feel cold.”

Kion shrugged and turned to Jasiri “what about you? Are you warm enough sweetie?”

“My nose is cold but other than that I’m fine.” The hyena said, the group continuing to trudge through the deep snow.

Kion pulled down his facial mask and gave the hyena a kiss on the nose, causing her to laugh. But the sound of laughter was interrupted by yelling in a foreign language.

“Hostile soldiers!” Toothdee said, the team getting ready for combat as a small group of Chinese infantry burst out of the nearby tree line, frantically running and looking behind them.

Thinking they were being ambushed, the group of heroes instinctively opened fire, downing the Chinese soldiers. The hostiles didn’t even get to fire a shot.

“Whew, better luck on your next ambush guys,” Kion said

“Did you just trash talk dead bodies?” Jasiri inquired.

“You know it didn’t exactly seem like they were ambushing us.” Toothdee said, “We fired at them out of instinct, but they were running from something.”

“Yeah, look at this guy, he only had his combat knife,” Alex said, examining the dead soldiers.

“What could have scared them? And more importantly, is it still here?” Kion asked, taking a look deep into the trees.

Jasiri proposed a theory.

“Maybe they mutinied or something, they could have been fed up with being lead up into this fringed environment.”

“In any case,” Alex said, “this should help us avoid any more surprises.”

The captain took out a small device that looked like a fat smartphone with a screen on one side. Turning it on, he aimed the device at his squad mates to verify that it worked, before attaching it to a tactical rail on the side of his gun.

“What’s that?” Kion asked, looking over the blue screen.

“Heartbeat sensor,” Alex responded, “It should detect any hostiles in the area.”

He aimed his weapon into the forest. A couple of red dots appeared on the screen.

“That’s 6 hostiles.”

One of the dots completely disappeared, indicating the individual had expired.

“Wait, now there’s 5.”

“Are they killing each other?” Jasiri wondered as the Heroes team watched the screen.

2 more dots disappeared, and the remaining 3 dots grew weaker and weaker until disappearing.

“So.... they’re all dead now?” Kion said, hoping he could get his hands on a heartbeat sensor at some point.”

“No,” captain Boehm said, looking towards the trees. “Did you notice how 3 of those dots got weaker instead of completely disappearing instantly? That means those individuals are still alive, but they’ve moved beyond the operational range of this device.”

“Let’s go see what’s happening,” Toothdee said, setting off into the forest with the other 3 behind her.

After traveling a short distance through the snow, the group came to a small clearing where the bodies of fallen Chinese soldiers were lying. Weapons and equipment were strewn about the area, and a few military working dogs the Chinese had been using also lay fallen in the cold snow.

“What happened to them?” Jasiri asked as the group examined the remains.

“Wild animal attack?” Kion hypothesized “there are wild wolves up here right?”

“These injuries aren’t consistent with wild animal attacks.” Alex said, looking at a body, “these marks don’t look like they’re from claws and teeth, but instead from.... melee weapons.”

“Who lives up here and has melee weapons?” Kion said, a quizzical look on his face.

“Plus if these were wild animals they would have stayed and eaten their fill.” Jasiri said, before muttering “disgusting” under her breath.

“It wouldn’t hurt to see if there were wolves out here though.” Alex said, standing up “it would be one less thing to worry about or one more thing to be aware of.”

The captain turned on his radio.

“JayJay, do you read me?”

“Hey, Alex.”

“This might seem like an odd request, but we want to know if there are any wild wolves in the area. So you think you could try howling?”

After a pause, JayJay responded.

“Uh... ok. I don’t want to start a howl though. Just hang on a sec.”

The radio call shut down briefly while JayJay headed out onto the deck of the typhoon to complete her task.

A long howl pierced the air for a few seconds, it’s sound stretching across the snowy landscape. Any wild wolves in the area would certainly hear it and respond with howls of their own.

“Sounds pretty,” Alex said to himself as the world grew quiet again. The silence remained for a few seconds as everyone waited for a return howl.

“Nothing,” JayJay said “there’s no one out here.”

“Understood, thank you JayJay.”

“Anytime Alex.”

“Well, we’re still a ways from that intercepted radio call,” toothdee said, “let’s get going.”

As they walked the team continued to discuss exactly what happened to those Chinese soldiers.

“So if it wasn’t wild wolves, maybe it was a wild mountain lion?” Kion hypothesized.

“No, the injuries are not consistent with a wild animal attack,” Toothdee said before Alex's heartbeat sensor began to display some signatures. Slowly moving forward, the team came across a small group of Chinese soldiers, unaware of their presence. A military dog barked at where the group was hiding, but his handler held the dog back and assumed he was barking at a wild squirrel or another animal.

An opening volley of grenades took out a few of the soldiers, and bursts of gunfire from toothdee and Jasiri downed even more. Alex and Kion raced forward and finished off the last few soldiers with their blades.

As the team was getting ready to move on Alex noticed some odd footprints in the snow. The rest of the group came over and examined the tracks, which definitely didn’t belong to any Chinese soldiers.

“Wait a sec.” toothdee said, planting her foot in the snow next to one of the tracks, leaving a footprint of her own. After she removed her foot the team looked between Toothdee’s impression in the snow, & the mystery tracks. The unknown tracks had a striking resemblance to Toothdee’s footprints.

“Have you been here before or something?” Kion wondered.

“Did we get turned around?” Jasiri said, looking at her surroundings.

“If we got turned around then we would see lion, hyena, & human tracks as well,” Alex said. As the team wondered why these strange impressions were here, and why they looked so similar to Toothdee’s footprints, the heartbeat sensor lit up again.

“One signature,” Alex said, as the team prepared themselves. “It’s very close by.”

The captain looked towards the trees where the signature would be, and he spotted a large figure with blue fur, looking back at him from a hiding place beneath some branch. For a second their eyes met, and the figure then raced off in a blue blur, causing branches to break and allowing the team to get a pretty good look at the figure.

“Whoa! Uh... I’m not the only one who saw that right?” Kion said.

“That guy..... looked a lot like you Toothdee,” Jasiri noted

Alex headed over and looked on the ground where the figure had been. More of the mystery track heading off in the direction the figure ran. The team preceded to follow the tracks, which also lead in the direction of the intercepted radio call.

“Uh... Toothdee?” Kion said, “what do you know about your species?”

“Not much, only what I see in myself.” She responded. “I don’t remember much of my early life, so I can’t tell you anything really. I lived on my own for a while and then met Alex. People didn’t really have a problem with me being kind of an oddball, and I got used to considering myself as the only known member of my species.”

“That wouldn’t be a weird thing.” Alex said, “In Chima, there are a few people who are the only known members of their species.”

“I think you won’t be the only know member of your species after this mission,” Kion said

A large concrete structure began to appear through the trees.

“What’s this place?” Kion asked.

“Looks like something from the Cold War.” Jasiri responded while Alex brushed some snow off one of the walls, revealing the words ‘base 13’.

“Base 13?” Toothdee questioned.

“I think Jasiri is right.” Captain Boehm said as the group headed inside through a metal door that was already open. “This does look like some sort of Cold War-era outpost. It would make sense because we’re so close to Russia.”

The base had cold concrete floors, walls, and ceilings, and there was even some snow inside the structure, presumably having blown in through cracks or open doors.

2 more signatures appeared on the heartbeat sensor, and the team found 2 Chinese soldiers who must have been standing guard. Quickly dispatching the pair, the group proceeded forward and came upon a large room filled with desks, and old computer equipment. A group of hostiles occupied the room, trying to get some sort of radio equipment working, probably to call for reinforcements.

The abundance of Cold War era computers and wooden desks scattered about the room enabled the team to slowly sneak forward unnoticed. Alex got behind a hostile soldier and stabbed him with his knife, bring the soldiers down. His teammates were doing the same, and the number of enemies in the room slowly dwindled.

Toothdee pulled a hostile soldier over a tipped over desk before dispatching him, while Kion and Jasiri performed a synchronized takedown on 2 enemies that were talking.

Only a few enemies left. The captain performed a dual takedown on another pair of Chinese soldiers. Slashing their legs and throats in quick unison so they didn’t alert anyone.

The last 3 soldiers began to notice something was wrong, and they started looking around the room. But before they could do anything, they fell to the same blades that had killed the other soldiers in the room.

“Let’s check the rest of the base.” Toothdee said, “Make sure we got rid of everyone.”

The team continued out of the room, heading towards a T junction in the hallway they were walking down. Suddenly a large group of enemy soldiers sprinted across the T junction and disappeared from sign just as quickly as they had appeared. Racing to follow them, the team turned at the T junction and followed the Chinese to a garage. The garage was filled with snow, as its main doors were open, and any gear in the room had been covered.

The team engaged the soldiers, forcing hostiles began to fall back out of the base as more and more troopers fell to the ground.

Heroes kept the pressure on and moved out of the garage onto a snow-covered road. On one side of the road was a sharp upwards cliff, on the other side, was a guardrail that protected drivers from a harrowing fall down another cliff. The team took cover behind a pile of rocks from an avalanche and continued to engage the Chinese.

Suddenly the hostile gunfire completely stopped, and the young heroes peaked out of cover to see why. The Chinese soldiers lay dead, blood turning the nearby snow red. The abrupt stop of gunfire was surprising, but what was more surprising was that spears and arrows were driven into the bodies of the enemy troopers. The hostile forces had been turned into pincushions, in only a few seconds.

The team looked up at the cliff above, and laid eyes upon their saviors. A group of creatures, creatures of Toothdee’s species, stood at the top of the cliff. Their fur was varying shades of blue, and each individual creature was equipped with either a spear, a bow, or a melee weapon. Some even held old rifles that were partly made out of wood. Simple clothes adorned the bodies of the creatures, with some garments appearing old. Other individuals had clothes made out of wild animal pelts or were completely unclothed, their fur providing all the insulation they needed.

For a good 30 seconds, the Heroes team and the assembled group of creatures stared at each other, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. One of the creatures took a long look at Toothdee, probably judging her and determining his next course of action.

Eventually, the group of creatures turned around and walked away from the cliff, disappearing from view.

Toothdee was in disbelief, she had never seen another member of her species before.

“Well..... I guess Kion was right.” Jasiri said.

“You ok?” Alex asked his friend.

Shaking herself out of a daze, toothdee responded. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just..... I can’t believe that just happened. I’m not the only member of my species.”

“Do you want to... follow them or something?” Kion suggested, “Get to know members of your own species better?”

Toothdee thought for a moment, looking up at the cliff.

“No, my place is with Heroes.” She said, “I'm gonna stay and help the US win this war.”

Alex was grateful to hear that, Toothdee was an amazing warrior and tactician, and she had proved herself time and time again. The typhoon was her home, and she felt like she belonged there.

“Then let's go home, mission complete.” The captain said before the group set off to return to the typhoon.

000

Having made their way back to the typhoon, the team, bar toothdee, needed to warm up after their expedition. Kion and Jasiri had retreated back to their room to crawl into bed and snuggle under a blanket. Alex had gone to the kitchen to get some hot chocolate, before heading to the typhoon’s bridge and watching as toothdee piloted the ship towards a warmer climate. Toothdee had already recounted the report of their expedition to Laval, Judy, & Haida, who had joined her on the bridge.

“That’s quite a story,” Judy said, once the tale was complete.

“It does feel nice to know I’m not alone,” Toothdee responded. “But of course you guys are my family, I don’t need members of my own species to feel at home.

“We gotta think of a name for your race,” Alex said, taking a sip of his hot cocoa.

“Like a scientific name or a colloquial name?”

“I’m not sure about a scientific name, but for the colloquial one, how about ‘the Toothdee species.”

“What? That’s so uncreative.” Laval said.

“It makes sense. In Star Wars there’s a species called ‘the Yoda species.”

“Alright, fairs fair. But if I think of another name I’ll let you know.”

“Maybe we should just leave the naming up to the scientists.”

Alex smiled and sat back in a seat, watching the snow fall as they left the wreckage of the Chinese fleet behind them.

0000000000

So what did you think of that ice cold chapter with firey combat and a burning mystery? Please leave a review and I'll see you all next time!

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 15 - Vacation in Chima

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a while since the last update, but I've just kinda been being a bit lazy because it's summer. But I am trying my best to push myself to write more! This chapter I did have to kind of whip up quickly, after receiving some advice from my friends. Anyway, no flashy drawing this time, but it's the words that are really important, and let's get to them!

00000000000000

The typhoon had been diverted back to Chima after receiving a report about a reemergence of Chinese forces in the region. The first place Heroes checked out was the base where they had first met the dark counterparts. However the base was deserted, and no tribe had claimed the structure as an outpost. Before leaving, Heroes made sure to destroy the base with explosives so that no faction, hostile or benign, could occupy it.

The team had voted to stay in Chima to get some rest and relaxation, as for the past few days they had been going through battle after battle. Many had left the typhoon to spend time in the beautiful nature of Chima, or to examine the culture of the many tribes that inhabited the land.

Captain Boehm has woken up early, as they would be assaulting the base at dawn, but because there was not a threat, his early awakening had been for nothing. He was tempted to go back to sleep, however, he knew that if he did then his sleep schedule would be messed up. So now Alex was going out and spending time in the beautiful landscape of Chima. The captain loved nature, it offered him time to think and be alone with his thoughts. Although he was fond of his friends and allies, time alone was special to him, and the captain spent most free time in his cabin alone.

Alex rode his speedor past old ruins and down dirt paths carved throughout the forest. At one point he accidentally strayed into the falling jungle and had to quickly accelerate to avoid being crushed by the falling trees. Thankfully he soon found a nice spot next to a gentle river and laid down on the soft moss covering the ground.

It was time for him to do some thinking about the current state of affairs. Although Heroes had been victorious in many engagements, the tides of war had not yet shifted in favor of the United States. The captain was still fearful of the destruction the dark heroes could wreak, and he wondered how many US soldiers had died by their hands. He didn’t even want to think about the countless lives that had been lost during the war. The captain wondered how they would eliminate the rest of the dark counterparts, although they had taken out Dark Laval, he was still nervous. Hopefully, everyone in Heroes would emerge unscathed, but Alex was filled with anxiety about how the battles with the dark heroes would turn out.

Captain Boehm wanted nothing more than to see this horrible war be over, and the world once again returned to a time of relative peace. He would give everything for a world full of happiness, where people understood each other differences and got along fine. Of course, that was wishful thinking, and he would be out of a job if that was the case. But that was why he fought for peace, to make a world free of oppression and conflict.

The captain threw a few rocks into the river, and just wished the world could work itself out. There were times when his existence seemed bleak. But he took a deep breath and decided he should focus on the present, for what mattered now was defeating the Chinese. That would be his driving force in the coming battles. He remembered what he told JayJay, that they would stop at nothing to win the war.

As if on cue, a speedor pulled up with JayJay at the controls. She greeted the captain cheerfully and joined him in laying down on the bed of moss that covered the ground.

Alex felt better when he had her by his side. Having an ally calmed his nerves, and an ally meant another warrior to charge into combat with.

“What are you doing out here all alone?” JayJay asked

“Just doing some thinking, about this war and everything related to it.”

“Like what? The tactics? The soldiers?”

“More so about my own place in this conflict. I’m driven by nothing except my desire to stop this war, I just want to put an end to all the abuses & sneaky tactics that China uses. I want to stop this war that’s claimed so many lives.”

“See, that’s where you and I are alike Alex.” The wolf said, patting her friend on the shoulder. “I want to do the same thing. All the oppression that’s happening, I want to stop it.”

“I just hope we can actually do it. China is a powerful enemy, and now they have our dark counterparts at their disposal.”

The wolf sighed. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried. I know I put on a tough face, but deep down I am nervous about whether or not we can beat our enemy & emerge unscathed.”

“Well, we beat Dark Laval and we’re all fine. We’ve beat dozens of Chinese soldiers and we’re fine.”

“And you're worried? You have this confident attitude when you're talking to me, but you need to turn that attitude on yourself. Instead of boosting the morale of others, trying doing the same to yourself, you might feel better”

“I could try doing that, maybe it would help me stop worrying about the future.”

“We don’t know what future battles hold, but there’s no reason to get worked up over something you don’t know is gonna happen or not.”

“Your right, thank you.” The captain said, feeling newfound determination coursing through his veins. “And I know you're nervous about upcoming battles, but remember that I’m here to help whenever you need me. It helps to have an ally to go into combat with.”

“Well, you do calm my nerves. Thanks for being there for me.”

“No, thank you for being there for me.”

The pair laughed and decided they should spend the day doing something more lighthearted. Climbing on their speedors, they drove off to find a beautiful natural monument to examine or a speedor track they could race on.

000

Although Jack and Skye had been all over the world on missions for the ZIA, Chima was one place they had never gone. The couple hadn’t even read any database entries on the region, but now they were determined to increase their knowledge of Chima, and what better way to do that than experiencing the land firsthand.

Having borrowed a Jeep from the typhoon’s vehicle bay, the two were getting ready to head out of the typhoon, but first Jack had something he wanted to do. The rabbit walked up to the fox he loved, with something hidden behind his back.

“Here Skye, I picked these for you.”

He revealed what the hidden item was, a bouquet of flowers wrapped in some spare cloth that came from somewhere on the typhoon.

“Oh! Jack!” Skye said, quickly taking the gift & looking it over. The flowers were an array of colors, and they smelled heavenly. “Where did you get these?”

“When we landed I spotted a field of flowers nearby, and while you were in the shower earlier I went out and got these lovelies for you. There’s no flower store around here, so I just improvised.”

“I love it.” The fox said, kissing her rabbit on the forehead.

“Glad you like it. So where are we heading?”

The pair climbed in the Jeep and Skye examined a map.

“Hmmm.... it says here that the home of the beaver tribe is not far off. Let’s go there”

The fox drove the vehicle out of the typhoon and through the forest, heading for the location on the map. Jack examined the Heroes database on his phone, in order to get more information about the tribe.

“It says here they are master craftsmen, and love to fix and build things”

The terrain was tougher than Jack and Skye expected, and the Jeep was getting jostled as it drove over rocks and logs.

“You know you could have taken the road,” Jack said, holding on as the Jeep went over a small riverbed.

“I thought this thing could handle it!” Skye responded, trying to avoid hitting trees.

By the time they reached the home of the beaver tribe, the Jeep had sustained some damage, but it could be quickly remedied back at the typhoon. The fox and bunny examined the main tribe structure, which was a massive wooden building, enclosed by a wall of logs surrounding it.

The pair pulled up to the main gate and hopped out.

“Please tell me you can fix this damage,” Jack said, looking at one of the tires, which had become loose.

“Of course, you doubt my skills as a mechanic?” Skye said smugly.

A beaver with dirty tan fur walked up to the two.

“Welcome! What brings you to the beaver tribe today?”

“Oh, we’re just exploring,” Skye said calmly “seeing what the tribes are like that inhabit Chima.”

“Well most tribes do a lot of fighting, but we beavers like to build and repair.” The beaver examined the Jeep. “I do see that your vehicle has sustained some damage. Would you like us to fix it?”

“Oh, sure! That would be great!” Jack said.

A group of beavers rushed over with tools, chanting the phrase ‘fix it’ They quickly went to work on the Jeep.

Jack and Skye walked off to let the beavers work, and to get a breath of fresh air.

“Toothdee wasn’t kidding when she said this place was beautiful,” Skye said.

“No, she wasn’t, speaking of which, what do you think about everyone on the typhoon, you know besides Nick and Judy.”

“Toothdee doesn’t say much, but her actions speak louder than words.”

“Yeah, she’s not really one for a lot of conversation.”

“JayJay is rather chatty, and Alex, well let’s just say I think he would be a good fit for a ZIA agent.”

“He definitely seems determined, as does everyone else. That’s the reason we’re all together, we are all determined to end this war. You and me to keep Zootopia safe, and I imagine the same is true for Nick & Judy.”

“I think the desire to defeat those dark counterparts is also a driving force for toothdee. I think she might be a little nervous, she told me that she doesn’t want Heroes to somehow become like their counterparts.”

“Like that saying that goes, ‘...you live long enough to become a villain’ ?”

“I think so, something like that.”

“Well I guess we should be wary, to make sure these talented people don’t get on the wrong side of the law”

“Yes, but enough about work. Let’s just enjoy ourselves, we’re in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.”

“It’s not as beautiful as you” Jack flirted.

“Oh Jack”

The pair leaned close and exchanged a loving kiss, before continuing on their way.

After their walk was done, the pair returned to the beaver tribe, where the beaver from earlier greeted them.

“Ah, your back! Good! We repaired all the damage to your vehicle, and made some modifications!”

Jack and Skye’s jaws dropped as they looked at the Jeep. The vehicle now had wooden wings coming out of the side, along with a bunch of other unnecessary wooden pieces. Jack facepalmed and shook his head, hoping Skye would be able to undo all the modifications the beavers made.

000

Jasiri had opted to spend her time in the typhoon cargo bay, organizing the crates and vehicles stored inside the ship. However, despite having the cargo bay crane to help, it was still backbreaking work. It didn’t help that the temperature controls for the cargo bay had malfunctioned in an earlier battle, making the room very hot and forcing Jasiri to wear a tank top and shorts.

The hyena moved a container full of perishable goods, which thankfully was build to keep the food inside fresh, and was unaffected by the increased temperature. The same could not be said for Jasiri though, sweat ran through her fur and her body ached. She sat down on the crate and breathed heavily, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

“Now there is a tired and thirsty hyena.”

Jasiri turned to see Kion entering the cargo bay, offering her a bottle of coke-a-cola. The hyena graciously took the drink and quickly downed part of it, feeling the cool liquid running down her throat.”

“Man, if you told me I was gonna be doing this when I joined Heroes, I might have not joined at all,” Jasiri said, while Kion sat down next to her.

“Hey, don’t get yourself down, Heroes is a great gig. There’s never a dull moment, and you can feel good knowing that you're making the world safer.”

“You sound like Judy. But I guess that’s why we do what we do because we want to see a better planet.”

“That’s the spirit. Besides, we’re good at what we do. How many battles have we won now? I’ve lost count.”

“Yeah, your right about that. We get to help people, dive headfirst into the action, and get to know other skilled individuals.”

“Now you're getting it. Doesn’t this job make you feel proud.” The Lion put his arm around the hyena he loved, not caring that she was sweaty.

Jasiri thought for a moment. “Ok, you're correct. It does feel really good to know that you're doing something right.”

“Doesn’t it, that’s how I feel whenever we complete a mission.”

“Running into combat would be more exciting than moving crates the cargo bay.”

“Hey, this was a volunteer job. You did it because you wanted to help, which is the same thing you want to do when you run into battle.”

“Wow, you are on a morale-boosting streak today. But on that note, I better get back to organizing this place.” Jasiri said, standing up, and wincing as she rubbed her sore back.

“Now you know how I feel whenever you have me stock the shelves in the convenience store.”

“Hey, you help a lot!” Jasiri said, playfully hitting him.

“Well, allow me to be of help here then.”

The pair began to move the crate they had been sitting on, and Jasiri was glad to be working alongside her boyfriend, both in and out of battle.

000

Alex and JayJay had been going all over Chima, examining the landmarks and natural wonders on display. One such place they visited was an area known as the fangs, a landscape filled with dark rocks that were in the shape of sharp fangs. However now they were sitting on top of Spiral Mountain, a massive rock formation that looked like a giant screw drilled into the ground. Their eyes looked over the land of Chima that was stretched out in front of them, full of lush forests and untapped natural splendor.

“How can a mountain be this shape?” JayJay asked, feeling the stone beneath her.

“Beats me, Chima has been widely shaped by 2 events, both of which are known as the great illumination, so that probably has something to do with it. But you know what, I just remembered something. Give me a minute.”

The captain reached into a compartment on his speedor & pulled out a knife that had a long blade that was white as snow, and a handle decorated with what looked like crystals. JayJay’s eyes lit up upon seeing the knife

“A lion warrior gave this to me once, the blade is made from chimoralium, a mineral only found in Chima. I want you to have it.”

“What?”

“Most of us heroes carry knives for both survival and combat purposes. You need one, and I’m not using this knife, so I figure you can put it to use.”

Alex held out the knife and let JayJay take it from his hand.

She felt it in her hand, marveling at its beauty and fine craftsmanship. The blade and crystals seemed to glisten in the sun, and it felt really light.

“I love it, thank you,” JayJay said, rewarding the captain with a quick peck on the cheek.

“Hey, that tickles,” Alex said, playfully pushing her away. A smug grin crossed the wolf’s face and she tried to land another peck on him. However this time Alex was ready and managed to keep her back. After a few seconds, JayJay stopped her attack and the 2 laughed together.

“Did you enjoy getting out and seeing the beauty of Chima today?” Alex asked, hoping JayJay had a good time.

“Yes, plus I liked hanging out with you.”

“Hey I’m always gonna be on the typhoon, take a look at Chima while we’re here.”

“There’s so much nature in this place,” JayJay said “even more than Zootopia”

“Well one thing I like about Zootopia is how it has so much nature in it for a city”

“It's a really beautiful city. I’ve lived there all my life, and yet still find new ways to marvel at it”

“The city also has a lot of species in it, and an interesting cast of characters, like yourself”

“Ha, thanks”

“I would say you are one of the only reasons I like the city so much.”

“Oh stop it,” JayJay said, blushing and playfully pushing Alex’s shoulder.

Just as Alex was about to say something else, the sound of a distant explosion cut him off. The pair turned towards the sound to see a massive ball of fire erupting from a set of tall rock spires in the distance. Those spires were the home of the Eagle tribe, and now they were engulfed by thick black smoke.

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Oh! cliffhanger! I know someone who's gonna like that. But, that's another chapter in the bag, and I'll see you all for the next exciting update!

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 11 - Train to China

Hello! First of all, I'd like to thank my friend @jafethortiz for that amazing cover artwork for this story! thank you again! Other than having a kick-ass picture for this story, I'm doing pretty good, just dealing with the normal stuff. I hope everyone out there who's reading this is having a good day as well!

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A black helicopter streaked through the sky above the Korean mountains. Passing by tall peaks and steep cliffs.

"Alright, here's our objective," Alex said, standing up in the back of the aircraft. "Thanks to Intel from the ZIA, we know that North Korean high command is making a break for the Chinese border in a fleet of specially designed trains"

An image of 3 trains appeared on a screen in the back of the helicopter, and Skye, Jack, and JayJay watched carefully.

"The first train is used to check the safety of the lines, and it's already in China, so there's nothing we can do about it"

A yellow line of text saying 'escaped' appeared over one of the trains on screen.

"The third train carries additional staff and followers, but it's already been destroyed by our teammates and US forces"

A red line of text saying 'destroyed' appeared over another train on screen.

"But the second train, that's our target"

White text appeared over the last train on screen, saying 'target'.

"It's armored, so the plan it to derail it, and make sure everyone inside is dead. However Chinese jets are protecting the train, but US jets and Eris are running interference for us. But we'll have to board the train and send it careening off the tracks. Jack, I'll let you cover the gear we're gonna use"

Jack stood up and pulled a set of boots and gloves out of a container in the helicopter.

"Magnet boots, and mag gloves these will allow us to keep a grip on the speeding train. They might make it a bit difficult to use your weapons, as said weapons are made of metal. But it shouldn't be too much trouble"

"We're approaching the train," Toothdee said from the pilot's seat.

The 4 mammal team donned the magnet gear, with everyone but Alex commenting on how they didn't normally wear shoes.

The helicopter rounded a mountain and the train came into view, along with Chinese and US aircraft fighting it out in the sky. Toothdee flew erratically to avoid enemy jets as Alex opened the side door. Once the vehicle was hovering above the train, the team jumped onboard and quickly activated their mag-boots. Toothdee darted away with the helicopter so she wouldn't be at risk from enemy fire.

"Skye and I will advance on the inside," Jack said "you two advance up here."

The rabbit and fox couple hopped down into a break between 2 cars and began attempting to get inside.

Alex and JayJay moved up on the train roof, watching the ongoing air battle before JayJay pointed out something ahead. A squad of North Korean soldiers climbing onto the train roof, weapons ready.

Alex drew his blade to block incoming shots, as there was no cover, while JayJay fired back with her machine pistol.

"Hurry!" The captain said, deflecting incoming rounds. "I can't hold them forever!"

As they slowly made headway, the hostile soldiers fell to the wolf's shots, and bullets deflected back at them. Once the squad was dispatched, the pair began making haste towards the front of the train, where the engines were. However another squad climbed up onto the roof, and the battle resumed, with bullets flying in both directions.

As JayJay reloaded her weapon and hid behind Alex, her keen wolf eyes spotted something up ahead.

"Tunnel!"

The pair ran to the side of the train and hung off its side, using their magnetic gloves to keep a grip on the side of the speeding car.

The train entered the tunnel, and there were screams from above as the enemy soldiers were hit by the tunnel entrance. However, Alex and JayJay were safely clinging to the train's side, which had a lot of space as the train was passing through a 2 rail tunnel.

Alex looked inside the train through one of the windows and saw Jack and Skye engaging enemy soldiers inside. One of the hostiles saw the captain and opened fire, but the train windows were bulletproof.

As the train exited the tunnel, Alex and JayJay climbed back up to the roof and made a dash for the engines, thankfully reaching them without any more interference.

As Alex went to breach the door, a North Korean soldier burst out of it and pushed Alex towards the side of the train, before sending them both tumbling over it. Captain Boehm managed to grab the railing and avoid falling off the train, before slamming the soldier's head into the railing, causing him to lose his grip on Alex and fall off the train.

"I've got you!" JayJay said, helping her friend back onto the train.

"Thanks, do you have the charges?"

"Of course, I've come prepared"

The 2 placed explosive charges around the engine, and Jack radioed them to inform the pair they had placed their charges on the second engine.

"Toothdee, we need a pick up here!"

"On it!"

As the 4 mammals climbed to the roof of the train, Toothdee came in with the helicopter, and hovered just above the train, enabling the 4 mammals to jump onboard. As the aircraft pulled away, the team clicked the detonators.

Explosions tore through the train engines and train cars skidded off the tracks, flipping over and breaking apart. The vehicle now lay in shambles, with pieces scattered in all directions.

"Looks like 2 of the cars are more armored than the rest of the train," Toothdee said. "They're completely intact. North Korean leadership must be in one of them"

"What about the other one?" Skye asked.

"I'm detecting radiation coming from the second car. It must be nuclear material."

"Looks like our job is not done here," Alex said "toothdee! Hover above the wreckage! Jack, Skye, you 2 handle the nuclear car. JayJay and I will handle the leadership.”

The chopper hovered above the ground, and the team repelled down before splitting up and heading to their respective objectives, taking out a few North Korean soldiers that had survived the crash.

The hull of the 2 train cars hadn't been breached, so the teams placed thermite charges to open them.

"Guys! Heads up! Chinese ground forces are headed your way!"

Alex and JayJay witnessed a truck of enemy soldiers pass them, heading for Skye and Jack. A second truck pulled up and the soldiers hopped out and engaged the pair. Opening up with a volley of automatic fire, the two took out a couple soldiers before they could get to cover. They stayed behind some cargo boxes, watching the locations Chinese soldiers were taking cover. Whenever an enemy soldier popped up to shoot, Alex and JayJay opened fire and gunned them down. Carefully picking their shots soon resulted in the enemies lying dead amongst the wreckage. But more hostiles were on the way, and a buggy armed with a turret pulled up before engaging. Alex tossed a grenade, and the buggy exploded in a shower of fire.

Jack and Skye were having worse luck and were pinned down by another buggy and a group of hostile soldiers.

"Need a hand?"

Toothdee appeared in the helicopter and used machine guns to mop up the Chinese soldiers, clearing the area for Jack and Skye.

"Thanks for that, we owe you one," Skye said.

Another enemy task force, consisting of 3 trucks and 2 buggies were nearing the train wreckage.

"Get ready, there's more coming," Alex said, preparing for combat.

But before the convoy could reach its objectives, Eris strafed them in her jet, firing rockets and chi blasts.

Some of the trucks tipped over and exploded, while the buggies were thrown into the air.

"Don't worry about any approaching vehicles!" Eris said, before circling back around to destroy any other incoming vehicles.

The thermite charge had finished, and a massive hole was now burned into the side of the train car. While JayJay kept watch, Alex approached the train car and stepped in. The inside of the car was filled with smoke, but Alex could clearly make out a large central table, along with propaganda posters all over the walls. Chairs and bodies were strewn about with the latter dressed in high ranking military uniforms. Alex noticed a figure getting up off the ground and staggering forward. Drawing his pistol, the captain shot the figure in the head before he could potentially grab a weapon. Using the camera in his glasses, Alex scanned the faces of the bodies lying around the train car, confirming all their identities as North Korean high command. With a few more names scratched off the US most wanted list, the captain left the smoking train car.

"Guys, we've unlocked our objective and discovered a lot of nuclear material," Jack said through the radio "we could use some help getting it onboard the helicopter."

"Alex and I are on our way, we're all done here," JayJay said, the 2 sprinting through the train wreckage to meet Jack and Skye.

Upon arrival, the pair assisted in taking down a trio of Chinese soldiers besieging Jack and Skye, before the helicopter came in and hovered above a large container with the nuclear symbol on it.

Alex and JayJay attached the rope lines from the helicopter onto the container, while Jack and Skye dealt with enemy forces. A few rocket troopers appeared and aimed at the helicopter, but they were quickly dispatched.

Once all the lines were connected, the 4 mammal team hopped aboard the container and held on tight as the helicopter lifted it into the air. They managed to take out a few more Chinese soldiers before the aircraft left the area.

"Well I think we can consider this a victory," Skye said

"One rogue nation defeated, one container of nuclear material captured, and one leadership council eliminated," Jack said

"Would anyone be up for a break?" JayJay asked, "I definitely could go for one right now."

"I'll second that, how about Japan?" Alex suggested, "I hear it's nice this time of year."

"Oh, so we're having sushi for dinner? Good, because I'm starving"

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Once again thank you to everyone who read this, and I hope I was able to make your day a little better!

[alexboehm55144]

To celebrate the release of Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, I commissioned the legendary @jafethortiz to draw me, Toothdee, & JayJay as guardians! The city will stand as long as we have our light!

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 13: Northern Storm

Hi there! I'm sorry for making you guys wait a while for the next chapter of this story. I was waiting for some progress to be made on artwork for this chapter and a few subsequent chapters, hence the delay. But now I think that I'm able to get back to a regular posting schedule. Any art that is not done yet should be done by the time it needs to be posted. Now I won't keep you waiting any longer, let's go!

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US forces attempting to secure the North Pacific were being battered and decimated. A Chinese fleet was roaming around, attacking any US warship that they could find, even attacking a few civilian vessels. This fleet was partly made up of vessels the Chinese had taken from North Korea after its defeat, and this Armada was dangerously close to Alaska. The last transmission from a destroyed US vessel seemed to indicate that Laval’s dark counterpart was commanding this fleet. It made sense, seeing as Laval was a very good tactician and warrior, it could be assumed the same was true for his dark double. But it was up to Heroes to make sure this fleet didn’t get any closer to US soil and make sure Dark Laval didn’t cause any more damage.

The typhoon was patrolling with a fleet of friendly ships, including an aircraft carrier and many escort vessels. But there was also a new kind of ship in the US fleet, one that impressed Alex and Toothdee when they saw it. A modern day airship, constructed of hardened metal and propelled by massive engines. This was not like the zeppelins used in WW1, this vessel was covered in heavy armor and armed with cannons, missiles, and other weapons. The shape of the airship consisted of a long metal frame with heavy guns and thin protrusions on the front, and large engines at the rear to provide forward momentum. 4 box shaped extensions on the sides of the vessel provided vertical thrust, supplemented by additional smaller thrusters, and another large thruster in the center of the ship near the bow.

Towards the back of the ship was a conning tower that stuck upwards and it was from here that the ship was controlled. Below the tower was a thick, long downwards protrusion that served as a cargo and vehicle bay, while presumably also allowing the ship to land. An American flag and the phrase ‘USAF’ were printed on the side of the vessel.

More than likely the airship was made with recovered meterex technology, as the robot faction was known for ample use of flying vessels.

It was truly a quantum leap forward in technology and tools of warfare, and it would surely become the norm as time progressed. Finally, there was a vessel that could keep pace with the typhoon.

US satellites have been scanning for the enemy armada, but now the Typhoon’s fleet had detected Chinese vessels on radar & was steaming ahead to meet the enemy armada that had been tearing apart the North Pacific.

“Kion, Jasiri” Toothdee said, “are you ready to engage?”

“We’re ready!” Kion & Jasiri responded hands already on the controls to aim & fire.

The lion & hyena pair were sat in gunner seats, ready to fire the canons & other weapons of the typhoon. The weapons systems were fairly simple to operate, with the controls being straightforward. First, the user selected the weapon they wished to fire, then they just used the levers to rotate & move the weapon, before firing. The high definition screen displayed a reticle & allowed for easy aiming & targeting.

“Kinetic armor is ready, ammo is loaded, & aircraft are fueled up in case we need them,” Toothdee said, sitting down in her battle position.

“Thank you Toothdee,” Alex said

“Boarding equipment is ready” Laval reported as he & Eris entered the bridge.

“Are you sure your ok to take on your counterpart?”

Laval sighed. “I’m worried. I’m gonna be facing someone that’s my equal in skill & maybe better than me. I’m smart enough not to be blindly confident, but I’m just nervous now.”

Eris patted the lion on the back and comforted him. “You're not alone, we’re gonna be facing your counterpart together, we can beat him.”

“Thank you Eris,” Laval said feeling better, knowing he was with the one he loved. “I can always count on you.”

“He’ll be fine,” Eris informed Alex “We’re ready for tasking.”

“Good, stay calm & man your battle stations.”

The two then quickly left the bridge & headed to the hanger bay so they could get in Eris’s eagle interceptor.

Haida came on over the intercom & reported that the rest of the US fleet was battle ready.

“These signatures look weird,” Toothdee noted, examining a radar display of the enemy fleet.

“How so?” Jasiri inquired.

“Maybe our sensors are on the fritz. This data just doesn’t match up. Shame I couldn’t get a satellite view due to the cloud cover”

“Hostile ships coming within visual range!” Jack said, looking through a pair of binoculars.

Toothdee used the console to raise the armor panels over the bridge window, before projecting a zoomed in image of the Chinese fleet onto the panels.

“Does those ships look kinda strange?” Skye said, pointing to 2 vessels at the head of the fleet.

The vessels continued to advance, allowing viewing of more of their bows. The main towers of other ships began to appear over the horizon.

“That bow doesn’t look right,” Kion said, noting the strange vessels didn’t have a pointed prow but appeared to have many protrusions instead.

Then the background sky appeared below the enemy vessels as they advanced. Everyone on the bridge looked at each other or rubbed their eyes to make sure what they were seeing was real. 2 of the enemy ships were completely surrounded by the sky in the distance, with the waterline below far below them.

“Are those... airships?” Kion asked, “like ours?”

“I think they are.” Alex said “but... I don’t know how.”

“I don’t believe it,” Toothdee said, wide-eyed. “the radar signatures I was looking at earlier were strikingly similar to the signature of the friendly airship in our fleet. But I thought I was mistaken, and that there was no way the Chinese could have their own airships”

“Hmmm.... there was a lot of meterex technology scattered about after the meterex war,” Alex said.

“Maybe they somehow got their hands on some of it.” Toothdee said, following Alex’s thought. “despite the US trying to recover all meterex technology.”

“Guess that explains how they could have built their warships. Or maybe we have a spy somewhere.”

“I’ll tell Haida & Retsuko to send a report to high command about a possible spy. Those warships look very similar to ours, despite some superficial changes. Though if we get a good look at the wreckage I could tell you what other differences there are.”

“We’ll try & leave something for you to sort through,” Kion said as the image on the panels zoomed out & combat alarms blared.

“Launch aircraft!” Toothdee said, before Eris’s jet launched out of the hanger bay & joined a group of US jets.

“Alright, the typhoon & our friendly airship will engage those 2 hostile airships. The rest of our fleet will engage the rest of the hostile fleet.”

“Aircraft carrier sighted!” Toothdee said as the typhoon steamed ahead. “I’m betting it’s the command ship.”

“Alright, once we disable it we’ll board the vessel & put an end to Laval’s counterpart.”

The captain turned on the ship-wide intercom to communicate with everyone who was manning the guns. “WEAPONS FREE!”

The Typhoon’s weapons opened fire, bombarding one of the Chinese airships. The other Chinese airship was engaging the US airship, while the typhoon spun around and dealt damage to the enemy airships engines. However, the hostile ship was firing back, targeting the typhoon’s weapon systems.

Kion’s screen changed to a missile battery as the canon he was operating was destroyed. Toothdee reported that there was no serious damage, while the US & Chinese fleets continued to battle it out in the sea below.

The typhoon & Chinese airship were circling each other, engaging with weapons. Alex directed the typhoon downwards, & flew under the enemy vessel, & bombarding its other side.

“Looks like it’s breaking up,” Toothdee said as explosions ripped through the enemy airship, & it began to plummet downwards, before crushing a Chinese ship that was underneath it.

The typhoon then joined the US airship in engaging the second enemy airship. Under combined firepower, the airship broke apart and was destroyed.

Toothdee directed the US airship & Eris’s squadron to engage the enemy aircraft carrier along with the typhoon. The ship broadsided the carrier and engaged with everything it had, missiles, cannons, & machine guns. The deck was lit up and the fighter craft onboard were destroyed. Other US vessels kept the enemy fleet occupied and allowed the attack on the carrier to take place.

“The carrier has received enough damage to render it immobile!” Toothdee reported. “If your gonna board, do it now.”

“Toothdee you have the conn,” Alex said, getting up from the captain's chair and racing down to The hanger bay where he could grab his gear. The boarding equipment was ready in an exit room on the port side of the typhoon.

The captain directed JayJay to meet him in the exit room, and for additional forces to join the pair on the deck of the carrier. Toothdee brought the typhoon alongside the immobile Chinese carrier just as Alex reached the exit room, where JayJay & a mounted harpoon launcher were already waiting. The captain aimed the launcher at the deck of the carrier, before firing. The harpoon embedded itself in the deck, providing a stable zip-line to the carrier.

“Are you sure about this Alex?” JayJay asked while the captain made sure the line was secure.

“Have you been zip-lining before?”

“Once, but that was with a safety harness.”

Alex clipped 2 trolleys onto the line.

“Just hang on tight. See this safety loop? It won’t let you go if your hanging, once you get on stable ground, you’ll be able to lift your hand out of the loop.”

“Are you sure it’s safe?”

“Perfectly safe. Even if it wasn’t, we’re over water, not hard rock.”

The wolf still looked nervous.

“Deep breaths,” Alex said, guiding her through some short breathing exercises. “You could stay on the typhoon if you want.”

“No... I’m fine.”

The pair grabbed hold of the trolleys, & Alex gently pulled JayJay closer to the edge of the typhoon, before stepping over the edge & zip lining towards the carrier.

JayJay kept her eyes closed for the most part, while Alex drew his pistol & gunned down a Chinese soldier on the deck.

The pair reached the deck of the carrier, & the captain made sure JayJay was alright.

“That was adrenaline pumping.” The wolf laughed.

“Are you ready to do battle now?”

The wolf drew her 1911 & engaged some Chinese crewmen on the deck, while Alex disconnected the zip line so the typhoon could move away.

Kion used a machine gun battery on the typhoon to help clear the carrier deck of hostiles, while a pair of US helicopters landed onboard and dropped off teams of soldiers. Eris’s jet also hovered above the deck, allowing Laval to jump out of the cockpit & join his friends.

“Mind if I join you?” The lion said as he pushed forward with friendly forces.

“The more the merrier,” Alex said, gunning down 2 Chinese soldiers. “Let’s push to the bridge.”

A Chinese attack helicopter hovered above the deck & opened fire with its guns, forcing the team into cover. A US jet raced overhead and hit the helicopter with missiles, making it crash into the deck.

The group continued to move forward, destroying all the Chinese soldiers desperately defending the carrier.

An escort vessel next to the carrier was engulfed in flames & spewing smoke as it sustained critical damage. The ship exploded, causing debris to fly across the deck of the carrier & knocking US forces off their feet.

“Everybody ok?” JayJay asked.

“I’m fine,” Laval said, getting back up.

“Head for the conning tower, that’s more than likely where Laval’s counterpart is.”

The team climbed the ladders & walkways up to the bridge, as the battle continued to rage in the sea around the ship. Suddenly a Chinese soldier burst out of a bulkhead door on the tower & swung at JayJay with a knife. The wolf used her agility to dodge his slashes, before kicking him through a damaged part of the walkway railing. The soldier fell to the deck below & the team continued.

“The door is sealed,” Laval said, trying to enter the bridge. Alex gestured the team & some Us soldiers to move towards the bridge windows. The Chinese soldiers inside spotted them & readied themselves for combat as soldiers placed small charges on the bridge windows.

“I’ve got the ones on the left,” Alex said, checking his ammo while the Chinese kept their weapons trained on the windows.

“I’ll get the ones around the helm,” JayJay said drawing her machine pistol.

“I’ll deflect their incoming shots,” Laval said.

“3, 2, 1, NOW!”

The charges detonated & shattered the glass, allowing the team & US soldiers to fire into the bridge, killing the hostiles inside.

“The bridge is clear!” A soldier said as the team jumped through the windows into the bridge.

“I don’t see my counterpart,” Laval said, looking around.

“First let’s get some intelligence,” Alex said, plugging a thumb drive into a nearby console. The device would automatically download all files, then plant viruses into the system to destroy the intelligence in the system.

Laval paced around the bridge, wanting to find his counterpart & stop the damage he was doing. However deep down he still had a feeling of dread about facing an enemy that might be more powerful than him. But, he did take some solace in knowing that he had Alex & JayJay alongside him.

The ship’s intercom buzzed to life & the voice of Laval’s counterpart sounded throughout the ship.

“All soldiers! Don’t surrender! We’re massing in the cargo bay! Everyone join us & prepare to retake this ship!”

“Guess we know where Laval’s counterpart is,” JayJay said

Laval took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

“We’ve got the data,” Alex said, removing the thumb drive. “Now we just have to find out where the cargo bay is.”

The captain looked through some of the cabinets on the bridge & found a map plan for the ship. Luckily the camera on his goggles coupled with the computer in his wrist allowed the Chinese characters to be easily translated to English & displayed on his HUD.

“Follow me,” Alex said, taking point & heading into the ship, glancing to the map frequently. The group came across a squad of Chinese soldiers heading to the cargo bay, but with the element of surprise, they quickly began dispatching the squad.

As they battled, a Chinese military dog barked and ran towards Alex before biting him on the knee, making the captain yell in pain. Drawing his sidearm, Alex shot the dog and managed to kick it off him, while his allies dealt with the other hostiles.

The team continued making headway through the ship, cutting down Chinese soldiers as they made haste for the cargo bay. In the close confines of the ship, swords were extremely useful, as well as JayJay’s machine pistol. With a path cut through the corridors of the ship, the team prepared to breach the cargo bay.

“Everyone ready for this?” Alex asked, checking his ammo.

JayJay nodded, while Laval took another breath and prepared himself. Kicking through the doors, the team was met with Dark Laval & a large group of Chinese soldiers.

“I knew you would show up.” The lion said, pointing to the team. “Prepare to die! GET THEM!”

Taking cover behind cargo boxes, the team was bombarded by shots from hostile soldiers.

Using grenades, Alex cleared the way, & they pushed forward into the cargo bay, which appeared to be heavily damaged by the attack on the ship. Parts of the bay were on fire, & sections of wall panels had come off, exposing wiring & pipes. Water was leaking on the floor, & some wires had fallen from the ceiling onto the floor.

More Chinese soldiers entered the bay & opened fire. JayJay shot an electrical panel, electrifying Chinese soldiers nearby that were standing in a puddle of water. Laval’s counterpart continued to watch the battle, as the team continued dispatching enemy soldiers. Alex & Laval used their blades to cut through another incoming squad, and soon it was just Dark Laval & 2 Chinese soldiers left standing.

These enemy soldiers were armed with swords & better armor, with Alex assuming they were elite guards of some sort.

Laval’s counterpart drew his sword & the center glowed red with evil chi power, with 2 elite guards also drawing their weapons. Dark Laval quickly engaged his nicer counterpart, while one of the elite guards swung his blade at Alex. JayJay dodged the sword strikes from the other elite guard while firing at him with her weapons. However, the guard deflected her shots or evaded them.

Alex continued fighting his elite guard, who used his agility to dodge the captain’s strikes. Any strike he did land didn’t do much damage because of the guard’s armor.

JayJay’s pistol was knocked out of her hand by the elite guard she was fighting, but with an expertly timed kick, she did the same with the guard’s sword. Then it was a strict hand to paw battle between the two.

The 2 lions in the room were battling with extreme ferocity. Sparks flew as the weapons clashed together. But Dark Laval was clearly gaining the advantage, forcing Laval on the defensive.

JayJay dodged some more strikes from the elite guard she was facing, before jumping behind a pile of cargo boxes. The guard searched for the wolf, but she had already disappeared from his view. JayJay was, in reality, hiding atop a group of metal containers, and she pushed a heavy metal container onto the guard, knocking him out.

Alex was slowly wearing down his opponent, landing more strikes on the elite guard. The pair got into a sword lock, & the captain used this opportunity to take on hand off his sword, draw his pistol, and shoot the guard in the stomach, killing him.

Laval had been knocked to the ground by his opponent, & was now crawling backward while defending himself with his sword. However, the dark lion managed to disarm Laval, sending his sword flying across the room. The lion continued to crawl backward, moving out of a puddle of seawater on the floor as his opponent advanced. Thinking quick, Laval grabbed one of the wires that had fallen from the ceiling & held it up in front of his face as Dark Laval brought his sword down for a powerful strike. Hitting and penetrating the wire, the evil lion was immediately electrocuted, stuck in a frozen position as electricity coursed through him. The loud buzzing of electricity could be heard as the lion convulsed & his fur charred.

The buzzing went silent, & Laval’s counterpart fell over onto the floor, dead.

“You alright?” JayJay asked as Laval picked himself up.

“For a minute I thought that would be the end,” Laval said, pausing before speaking again. “But... I’m still here now.”

“We got him,” Alex said, patting his friend on the back.

The team didn’t have time to celebrate though, as the metal of the ship moaned and buckled.

“We’re sinking!” JayJay yelled in distress.

“Let’s get out of here!” The captain said before the team raced out of the cargo bay. Pipes burst, spraying water all over the trio that was racing back to the ship’s bridge.

“This is the away team, we need an evac!” Alex said into his radio.

“The Chinese fleet is falling back, we’ll come and get you,” Toothdee responded.

The vessel tipped, & the team had to steady themselves against one of the ship’s walls as the continued forward. As they reached a stairwell, water rapidly began to rise from the bottom while the team climbed over some rubble that was blocking the stairwell.

“We’re gonna die here!” JayJay said, her voice filled with worry.

“Stay calm!” Alex said as they got through the rubble and made it to the ship’s deck.

The typhoon was hovering down at one end of the carrier, with its side door open. Unfortunately, the Chinese warship was tipping as it sank. Chinese personnel were abandoning ship and leaping into the ocean.

The team raced for safety as objects and aircraft on the deck began to slide off into the sea.

“Watch out!” Laval said, stopping as a damaged helicopter with its blades still spinning skidded across the deck in front of him.

A Chinese soldier attempting to fire on the team was crushed by a sliding piece of equipment as the group kept moving.

“Jump for it!” JayJay yelled as the team leaped off the deck of the sinking ship, and landed safely inside the typhoon. The trio turned & watched the aircraft carrier skin beneath the waves, along with Laval’s counterpart.

The wreckage of warships, aircraft & smaller vessels littered the water. Luckily both US airships had survived with minimal damage. Alex spotted the remaining Chinese vessels escaping through an intense storm, the outline of the ship’s slowly being obscured by clouds & rain.

The fleet had not been completely wiped out, but they would never recover from such a devastating loss.

000

In the typhoon’s war room, everyone had been assembled for debriefing & discussion about their next moves. Toothdee was currently explaining that they would be pursuing the remaining vessels, but the encroaching storm had forced them to halt the pursuit for the time being.

“We cannot tell precisely where the fleet is heading, due to the storm,” Toothdee said. “But we assume it’s northern Alaska.”

“I’ll prep the cold weather gear,” Alex said, raising his hand.

“But, today was a victory for us, we finally defeated one of our counterparts, this is a big step to winning this war.”

“I’m just glad I was able to beat him,” Laval said. “That was one of the toughest fights I’ve ever been in.”

“Here, why don’t you do the honors.” Captain Boehm said, tossing the lion a red marker. “This is your victory.”

In the room was a large board with pictures of all the dark heroes on it, along with various notes about each villain. The red-maned lion walked over to the board & put a red X through his counterpart’s picture.

“1 down, 8 to go.”  

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Whenever I post these chapters on Tumblr I’ll look at the post and it seems like Tumblr has removed the line spacing I've put in. But then I will look at the same post on another device and see the line spacing included. I don't know, it's very bizarre. Tumblr is weird.