The Needs of Many v.2
Kihara walks over to the front gate of Aksana base.The sun beating down upon her back. Her company had been reassigned to reinforce the base. She wondered what kinda action they would face seeing as how this base was kind of in the middle of nowhere. The sight before seemed like a scene out of a movie. Wolves applying bandages to foxes and foxes giving water to wolven wounded. It seemed a dramatic change of pace seeing as how these two enemies were now helping each other. Curious, she takes a walk around the base.
As she walks around the tents she could see that many are wounded and are getting medical attention. A single wolf catches her attentionand she stares on in wonder. A fox is hooked up to an iv giving blood to this wolf. A valiant thing but in her mind it seemed like treason. This thought twirls in her mind while she moves on. So many things here just seem so wrong.
A vision from the beaches of Kino came to her mind. Kihara tightens her fists as she remembered seeing wolves shoot wounded foxes. Soldiers who couldn't even fight back. She feels the urge to shoot a wolf but considering the situation, would she be any better than those wolves? With a deep sigh she lets her anger fade away.
Starting again she walks past some soldiers lying on the ground. Their wounds weren't so bad. A leg wound, a broken arm, nothing serious. Soldiers in the tents could be heard screaming.Their wounds were more of the severe kind.
Slowly she walks up to a tent and peeks in. Her vision if filled by foxes doing surgery on a wolf whose wounds were very severe. His leg had been taken off above the knee. His blood slowly dripped from his wound. Kihara thought she was going to be sick but stiffens her resolve. A vixens hurries past her with bandages and water.
Field surgeons knew that the presence of a female would help calm down the soldiers by talking to them. This seemed especially the case. Closing the tent flap Kihara walks over to her commanding officer, Lt. Lyle Red Fox.
"What now sir?", asks Kihara. Lyle looks around the base and sees wounded lying here and there. "Well whatever they wanted us to do has already been done. Since no wolf is shooting I suggest a live and let live policy be in place."
Kihara looks to the wolfen wounded. Her feelings for wolves come back to her again. "You sure thats a good idea sir?". Her hatred for wolves just never seems to leave her alone. She desperately wanted payback for Kino.
Lyle pats Kihara on the shoulder. His eager attempt to calm her down may have worked. Even if it was just for the moment. "It may not be a good thing. But it sure as hell ain't a bad thing."
Kihara takes his advice in stride and walks over to a wolfen soldier and offers her water. This simple action seemd to test her very ability to control herself. "Here you go. Hope it helps."
The wolf accepts her canteen and opens it to take a sip of water. "Would be better if I had you to keep me company and some whiskey."
Kihara laughs a very uneasy laugh and goes on her way.
Over by the tent Hasko was giving a wolf some of his rations. They were talking but she couldn't hear them. But Kihara knew the wolf was already getting an earful.
Meanwhile Lyle sees a field surgeon and walks over to him. "Whats the situation?".
The fox surgeon takes a drag of his cigarette he was smoking, "Wounded, wounded and more wounded. We're short on supplies but we're doing the best we can with what we have."
Lyle pats him on the shoulder, "Well we'll hand out some of ours. I hope that it will help relieve things here."
The surgeon flicks his cigarette and shakes Lyles hand, "Thanks you for your help. I greatly appreciate it."
Lyle watches him makes his way to a tent and disappear inside.
Kihara walks back over to Lyle, "I've question sir." A sense of urgency seemd to resonate in her voice.
Lyle looks toward her direction wondering what is bothering her now. "Go ahead private."
Kihara looks around real quick to see if anyone was paying attention to them. She sees everyone is either busy or not looking. "What do we do if more of them show up for a fight?" She made it seem like she was ready for a fight but she just wanted some closure on the subject should it happen. Kihara wanted to be ready for anything this time.
Lyle puts his hand on her shoulder in another attempt to make her lower her guard. "We try to arrange some kind of cease fire." He could see the fire in her eyes but in order to keep control of Kihara he would need to show her that if he himself was calm, she could be too.
Kihara has a worried look on her face, "And if that fails?" She knew that push would come to shove eventually and she wanted some kind of hope that it wouldn't. Death had chased her around the beaches of Kino and she at least wanted a heads up before the bullets start flying.
Lyle feels for their situation. Its not easy trying to persuade someone who already hates your kind. It was like trying to tell a tank that its a car. It simply can't be. Lyle answers Kiharas question, "We can only hope for the best. Otherwise what is there to hope for?"
Kihara feels a little uneasy and goes to find a seat by the tents. Once there she sits on a pile of ammunition boxes. The whole situation hasn't settled in her mind and she needs time to think aboout it.
Lyle watches Kihara from afar. In his mind Lyle knew she was a good kid. Young, stupid, but a good soldier.
It was night time and Kihara had been put on guard duty in the tower. Private Hasko had also been asked this duty and accompanied her. He was a young fox too. About a year older than Kihara. He had been a replacement for Mishkin, a fox killed in action securing Kino.
Twenty minutes after 11 pm and Kihara already wanted to shoot herself or hope a sniper would save her from Hasko's eternal chatter. If she wasn't already half deaf from the battle of Kino, she had to endure more ear torture from Hasko.
Hasko sits down for a bit right next to Kihara, "Like I said before. Could any of our battle training be used back in the civilian way of life?"
Kihara takes her a cigarette from the front pocket of her uniform,"Well if you miss being shot at I guess you could be a cop or SWAT. Or if you miss driving columns you could be a bus driver or cab driver. Basically the same thing during rush hour." A flick of match and Kihara lights her smoke.
Hasko looks out to the sky, " I was thinking of being a security officer or a body guard you know. They see action kinda like this." After speaking he looks to Kihara to hear her reaction.
Kihara takes another drag of her smoke, "A rent a cop or a peon? Hmm tough decision." She felt especially mean at the moment. Knowing that the enemy could show at any minute and she didn't want to be caught off guard.
Hasko senses sarcasm in her last remark and shrugs it off, "Hey I'm still thinking what to do after the war. You know find my calling. What about you? You gonna start a family or something after the war? Come on you can tell me." Having just been in this new company a few days he wanted to learn more about Kihara. He viewed Kihara as the sister he never had.
Kihara takes another drag and exhales the smoke, "Me? I'll never leave the service. Good pay, 3 meals a day, a bunk and all the things I can kill. As for a family?" Kihara let there be a pregnant silence before speaking again. "I figured if they wanted me to have a family they would've issued me one." She wanted to break the already growing tension with a half assed joke.
They both laugh out loud for awhile. Kiharas effort at humor wasn't in vain.
Catching her breath Kihara speaks again. She feels a little more at ease this time. "Now if you don't mind getting back to reality I need help keeping lookout. OK?" Taking a final drag she flickes her cigarette away.
Below their tower Kihara's cigarette bounces off the armor of a soldier. He isn't wounded nor dying. Slowly the wolf comes out of the shadows and more of his uniform is revealed. His patch reflected in the light. The HK Special Ops. emblem.
A flare lights up the night sky and causes Kihara to turns her attention to direction it came from. "Wolves!" she yells. Instincively Kihara raises her rifle to the group by the gate.
Hasko gets the hint does the same as well. He had only seen a little action and that was back in basic training. Hasko wasn't a combat vet yet and was still a little green.
Lyle rushes out of a tent nearby and sees the wolves by the front gates. He didn't expected to see wolves so suddenly. But these wolves seemed different from the rest. He couldn't think about it at the moment and sees a wolf that looked like the leader signal to him. Lyle glances up to Kihara and Hasko. He sees that they are ready to fire if things turn out badly. Given the circumstances it seemed a pretty good thing they were up in the tower.
He walks over to the leader but keeps his distance. Wolves were known for their skills in paw to paw combat and could easy kill him with their bare paws. This is one the thing he didn't want to leave to chance. "Something I can help you with?". Lyle glances the tag and it reads Kilwolf. A patch on the shoulder revealed the wolf had the rank of Major.
The wolf signals to his soldiers to lower their weapons. "I was hoping you would have a chat with me. My names is Shane Kilwolf or Major Kilwolf if you prefer"
Lyle nods his head to make the wolfs presence known. "Lieutenant Lyle Red Fox."
Kilwolf nods his head amazed at Lyle's coolness, "Right. Lieutenant, I am here to ask for any prisoners of war you may have in your posession and for your unconditional surrender." Kilwolf knew there wasn't any prisoners and wanted to entertain himself by making it seem so.
Lyle looks to the tents and then back at Kilwolf. He knew what Kilwolf was getting at and Lyle would have none of it. "There are no prisoners here. Only wounded. Both foxkind and wolfkind. As for our surrender?" Lyle knew if Kilwolf made the wrong move Kihara would put him down and then a fight would ensue. Being an officer and a gentlefox he maintained his cool demeanor. "Well I just can't see that happening."
Kilwolf removes his hat and brushes his hair back onto his fur, "We wolves know of foxkinds stubborn pride. You could say we have come to admire that trait in your people. Such a foe is worthy of our respect. But I ask you this." Kilwolf already knew Lyle wasn't playing his game and asked a tougher question. "Have you thought about the wounded in your base? Surely you've taken them into account in your decision." Smiling a bit Kilwolf knew he had the upper hand and eagerly waits for a reply.
Kihara focuses her sight over the majors heart. She could feel the frustration building up inside her. "Fuck you and your mockery of civilized chatter. Just give me the signal Lyle and I'll end this fuckers wretched life."
Hasko looks at Kihara with a concerned look in his eyes. He had never seen her like this and it scared him a little.
Back on the ground Lyle looks Kilwolf and then to the wolves behind him. "You should also know we foxes never give up without a fight."
Kilwolf nods in approval, "I have taken that into effect and offer you this." A wolf behind the major fires another flare.
Kihara damn near pulls the trigger and stares at the sight before her. Slowly Kihara lowers her rifle.
Meanwhile Lyle looks past Kilwolf and sees that tanks are idling in wait for orders to fire. He wondered how they got this close to the camp without making any noise. His exterior began to melt and he knew Kilwolf would notice.
Kilwolf sees the expression on Lyles face and feels very confident now. "I take you haven't seen our new line of tanks. They run more silent than the old models. Pretty nice to look at yeah? They are especially useful for night operations."
Lyle nods his head and turns to look up at Kihara. "Nice toys. You have there Major." Slowly Lyle brings gaze back to Kilwolf.
"You can surrender without any bloodshed. Or go out in a blaze of glory as you foxes put it. I'm getting that part right yes?" Kilwolf had seen it in many fox action movies and wanted to see if it was true or just a bunch of bullshit to sell movie tickets.
Lyle smirks at the major, "Thats just right." Inside his mind Lyle played the scenario over and over. His company stood little to no chance against these new tanks. Lyle watched as more wolves came around the tanks.
Kilwolf now has all the odds in his favor. His ruse of being a gentlewolf had failed so he was ready to back up his play with tanks. "It doesn't have to end here you know. I can get your wounded the much needed medical attention they require. As for your soldiers". Kilwolf wanted to kill them all but wanted to see how this situation would play out. He knew that there were more foxes for him to kill and didn't want to spoil the fun he is having. "They won't have to die a useless death. Surrender and I'll be merciful."
Kihara knew this wolf was lying through his teeth. But given the situation with the tanks and the extra wolves. Kihara couldn't do anything without orders.
Lyle puts his head down for a bit and then back up. Knowing very well his decision would affect the lives of all the foxes in the base. Such a heavy burden rested solely on his shoulders. Outnumbered and without support. his choices were next to none.
"What is your decision then Lieutenant Red Fox?" Kilwolf had a sense of authority in his voice. He knew he had broken Lyles resolve.
In his mind Lyle knows the needs of the many will outwiegh the needs of the few. Surrender and spare a few lives or fight until the last. Such decisions define officers in the field. With a heavy heart Lyle speaks once more, "I surrender."
A smile appears on Kilwolfs face, "You have made the right decision." Kilwolf orders the wolves to clear the camp of all weapons and secure the foxes.
After being rounded up Kihara watches as the wolves load their own before loading the wounded foxes onto another transport.
Kilwolf stands before the uninjured foxes. "You will be taken to our POW camp in Makina. The wounded will be transported to another facility."
Lyle looks at the major as he is loaded up on a transport and taken away from the base. He knew the wolf was lying as well. A sense of shame over comes him and he puts his head down.
Kihara looks at the lieutenant, "Did you make the right call sir? I mean you knew he was lying didn't you?"
Lyle only shakes his head, "You think my decision was easy? What would you have done in my place?"
Kihara ponders his questions in her mind. Does giving your all mean your life too? Soldiers only know to do or die. Officers make them know when and where.