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Back at the mountain I walked off The Spirit of Silence. I gritted my teeth at the pain in my leg, but only showed a slight limp. Dr. Hall greeted us as always.

"Kirian, where are your crutches?"

"I don't need those things."

She rolled her eyes. "If you injure that leg more, I'm not sure what I can do with it."

I slapped her lightly on the shoulder and grinned. "You'll do fine ma'am."

She sighed exasperatedly as turned away. I followed the squad back to the armory. There I sat down at a low table and pulled out my rifle. Methodically, I disassembled the weapon, lovingly inspecting and cleaning each part, applying lubricant where necessary. I put it back together using a setup for the lower caliber rounds. As always, I loaded two clips, removed the scope and bolt, and placed it carefully back into the large case.

Dr. Hall then drug me off to the medical wing. We had all been here multiple times from injuries during training. As I had suspected, Dr. Hall had extensive education in both medicine and biomedical engineering. She had developed a mobile leg brace which would allow me to walk freely without straining the torn muscle in my thigh. It was slightly constricting, but did its job well. I could now walk and even run without felling it. She said I would begin my rehab tomorrow.

Seeing as I wasn't allowed to train, I sat down in the lounge and began hand loading ammunition for my rifle. I couldn't have been happier with the match grade ammunition I was receiving from our armory on the coast, but the meticulous process kept me occupied as I collected my thoughts from recent events.

I spent the next week in the company of Dr. Hall and a few trainers running through a series of exercises and stretches. Dr. Hall also had access to a chemical cocktail not permitted for use by the regular military which boosted my muscle regeneration and decreased recovery time. Soon I was back in training with my squad at full physical condition. She hinted that, with a little more testing, we would have the opportunity to receive other similar contraband supplements to increase strength, speed, and other attributes required for combat.

We began a new training regime. All recent inelegance pointed to The New World Order being a sever threat and that we would be facing them soon and often. We needed to be ready for anything. I couldn't have been prouder with my team. They performed every exercise perfectly. We adapted tactics on the fly to cope with an ever changing and growing force of trainers who kept us on our claws for any trap or surprise.

During that week, Dr. Hall announced that we would be receiving new armor. I joined the rest of the task force in the classroom where a series of mannequins were standing with strange looking outfits on them. The new uniforms were made of similar fabric as our current ones, but had thin, light, semi-flexible plates on the arms, shins, thighs, back, and vitals. They were also covered in a strange camouflage pattern which matched the color of the wall behind them. We were joined once more by the human Dr. Easterling who explained the upgrades.

"You'll notice that the new outfits have a base layer similar to your current uniforms. We have improved certain layers of the fabric though and they will be able to absorb greater forces allowing you to fall farther and receive larger impacts without causing major damage to your bodies. The body armor is made of and advanced ceramic composite. It will deflect most small arms and machine gun fire. However, it doesn't cover your entire body, so use it as a safeguard, not a primary line of defense. The plates are segmented to allow complete range of movement, but can be removed if desired. We have made other small improvements to the electric interface and biokinetics but there is one other major change that I need to draw to your attention. We have installed a thin, photoreactive film over the surface of the armor and outer layer of fabric. This is a prototype for our final product which, if turns out how we plan, will make you practically invisible. For now, the new layer will react to electromagnetic radiation within the visible spectrum and shift color depending on your immediate environment. It will effectively act as camouflage for any situation."

He looked as if he wished to say more but just then a cheetah walked through the door and paced quickly across the room to Dr. Hall.

"Doctor, he's back." The technician whispered.

"Alright, let him stay. I don't want to scare him off."

I had no idea what they were talking about. Then Dr. Hall turned to Jessica.

"Jessica, and you Kirian, come with me."

I followed her out of the room, tail twitching side to side inquisitively. This was all very strange. Dr. Hall was never secretive around us. Something was going on, and I didn't like it. We turned into the corridor and she began to speak.

"For some time now, we've had a hacker trying to get into our system. He's accessed a few minor files and documents, but nothing important. However, we do believe he has sufficient data to surmise what we are doing, and possibly a general idea of where we are. This represents a serious breach of security. We boosted counter intrusion protocol and almost caught him, but he was too fast for the software. This is where I need you Jessica."

"You need me to write better software? I could probably program a dedicated AI. That should do the trick."

"No, I want you to catch him. We can't afford to let him get away. We need to find out who he is, what he knows, and if he can be used... by either side. Do you think you can do that?"

"No problem ma'am."

"Good."

We walked in silence for a moment.

"I'm confused ma'am," I asked, "what do you need me for?"

"When we do find him, we need to get him. We only have one shot before he disappears again. He wants to find out about your task force, you're going to give him more information than he ever wanted to know."

I smiled inside at her suggestion.

"I understand."

I keyed my earpiece. "Task force, prepare for action. Close quarters extraction opp. Suit up accordingly. Target may be hot but plan on quick and silent. Captain Tala, warm up both birds, I don't know which we will need."

"Good call Kirian."

We turned another corner and came to a door I had never been through. Dr. Hall walked to a panel and allowed a scanner to read her biometrics. A lock sounded and the door slid open to show a room lined with computers and a large screen on the far wall. There were various staff and intelligence workers deep in their respective projects around the room. The cheetah was standing at a consol in the center watching text flit across the screen.

"This is the intelligence and security center for Center 17. Jessica comes here please."

She turned to the cheetah. "What's he going after?"

"Nothing in particular. The upgrades have held him so far, but he'll get through soon enough. I think he sees it more as a challenge than actually trying to find information."

Jessica approached the consol.

"Can I interface with my data pad? I've learned to use it faster than a keyboard."

"Certainly. Just set it here."

The cheetah pulled out a small drawer with a black mat on it. Jessica set her unrolled pad on the mat and it immediately linked with the system.

"I'm in. Alright, let's see what you can do."

I watched as her paws became a blur over the data pad. Information flew across the large screen faster than I could analyze what was happening. Jessica seemed to be able to keep up though. She kept muttering to herself as she poured over her work.

***

The mongoose sat in a dark room, illuminated only by the thin film of his computer screen. His digits flew across a projected holographic keyboard. The room was silent except for the sound of the fans cooling his computers' processors. Pinpricks of LEDs covered one wall. He brushed his red orange hair out of his eyes as the air conditioning vent above his head blew it into his face. He tried to keep his hair short, but it always seemed to come back. He pushed his glasses onto his face and took a deep breath.

"Alright, let's see what's new at 'the mountain'"

His paws moved, if anything, faster as code began to shoot across the screen.

"New security, nice. I always like a challenge."

He worked in silence, not noticing as time went by. He began to sweat as the work became more difficult. It was almost like there was someone else in the system. The screen went blank and he sat back stunned, reading the two words at the top that he had never typed.

Got You >:3

"Shit!"

***

I sprinted to the armory, Jessica at my side. We had a limited time frame. I found the other three in the new armor. I didn't have time to change. I grabbed a small machine pistol and a handful of clips loaded with the new, high velocity nark rounds. We needed him alive. I slid the weapon into a thigh holster and took a pair of throwing knives which I attached to my hip.

"Let's move team!"

We hurried to the hangar where I leaped aboard the Spirit of Silence. I donned my helmet.

"Captain, did you get the flight plan?"

Tank was securing the door even before the pilot could answer.

"Yes."

"Good, let's go."

We were in the air the second the hangar had opened. It was a five minute flight Fort Oliver. I bounded off the plane before it had even come to a stop. I hadn't expected Jessica's results to be so precise or need such speed or else I would have had the other three in ready to go without having to wait on us. As it was, we had no time to waste.

I lead the team to a waiting helicopter. The high speed insertion craft was off the ground the second we were on, not even waiting for us to get secure. The general had called as soon as we were gone to ensure we would be accommodated. The pilot set down in the street outside the house Jessica had marked.

Teague checked the door for booby traps. Finding none, he signaled to Tank. Tank was about to knock it in when I stopped him. Jessica walked forward and pulled out her data pad.

"He probably has his own security system," she whispered. She attached the device to the door and began looking through various screens. "Alright, I think this should disable it."

She pressed a key. I heard a metallic click and the door swung open without a sound. We filled through just as silently. The interior lights were off but the house was well lit by the many curtained windows. I looked around. Shelves lined the walls, covered in what appeared to be junk. At closer inspection, it turned out to be very dangerous junk. There were gun parts, computer chips, explosive components, and everything else you would need to outfit your own private army. There were rolls of blueprints on the floor. I kicked one of them open to reveal the plans for an advanced rifle. Whoever this guy was, he was much more dangerous than Dr. Hall had predicted.

I heard a movement from deeper within the house. I signaled the team. We moved from room to room silently, clearing each as we passed. A door was open leading to a dark stairwell. There was light at the bottom and a lot of noise, as if someone was quickly throwing stuff together to leave.

I slowly lead the team down the stairs, pulling out my sidearm as I crept silently. I came around the corner and saw movement. I watched from the shadows as a yellow mongoose dashed around a small room filled with computer equipment, throwing stuff into a duffle bag. Finally he zipped the bag shut and sprinted up the steps right past me. I grabbed him from behind putting one paw over his mouth.

"Boo."

He fainted.

"Jessica, see what you can get out of that," I said motioning to the room below, "Trestan, Teague, collect what you can from upstairs and load it into the chopper. Tank, take hip please."

They all moved into action. I covered the door as Jessica did... whatever she was doing with his computers. Finally she came up behind me and motioned to go.

"He dumped the hard drive, but I got most of his backups. Hopefully it will be enough for Doctor Hall to work with."

We walked up the stairs and joined the other two. They had each had loaded a large crate and were carrying them out to the chopper. I walked outside to see that the police had come while we were inside and cleared out all the neighbors. I followed the squad onto the aircraft. Our target was waking up. He blinked wearily.

"You're, you're Kirian," he stated as his angular eyes focused on my face.

I nodded to Trestan who slid a syringe into his neck and injected a sedative. The mongoose passed out again. I called to the pilot to take off. We flew back to the fort where we caught our transport back to the mountain.

I reflected on the whole thing. Other than the rush, defiantly not one of our more difficult missions. But, Dr. Hall thought it was a vital operation. She was probably right. She was always right.