FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Falkread

Over the course of a couple of hours, David and I got better acquainted with one another. When he told me his name, I couldn't be more stoked to find that this mission could be over very quickly. Being roomed with the guy we needed to get out as soon as possible was a huge score for us. That meant all we had to do was just call Damien to get us out of here and we would be in the clear for extraction, giving us the perfect opportunity to escape.

Sounds easy right? Wrong.

Apparently during the time I was dazed when they brought me to the cell I shared with David, they confiscated every item that I had hidden away inside my jumpsuit and made a full sweep of my entire body in case I had stashed away anything important. I cringed just at the thought of what they did to me while I was unable to do anything, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for the next couple of hours once the realization hit me like a brick wall. Even being a trained soldier in one of the most powerful military forces on the world couldn't prepare me for a mission like this.

I was literally alone.

Okay, sure, I had the soldiers who snuck in with me as support but other than them I had no other back-up whatsoever. All I had was a handful of men that had to follow my orders, but I had the most trouble just figuring out what orders I needed to give them. When I met up with a few of them when we had our free time in the courtyard, they asked me dozens of times when we were going to bust out of the prison with David. The otter and pit bull that snuck in with me just shook their heads with their arms folded across their chest.

"I don't know," I told them. They already had little belief in me that I could actually pull this mission off without any casualties but now that we had zero back-up I was more than sure that they were going to fall into despair.

The pit bull had sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Listen, kid, when the general assigned us to help you find Hare and break him out, he didn't tell us that you might ruin the plan in the process."

"How was I supposed to know Xavier was going to crush my ribs just by the way I looked at him?" I had shot back. He gave me a sneer but turned away from my eyes.

The otter rolled his eyes. "So what's the plan now? Stay trapped here forever and die as the very people we were sworn to protect?"

"No," I shook my head. "We're getting out of here with Hare and with everyone else that came along for the ride. I promise you this."

They had both exchanged looks of unease and restlessness. I knew that they didn't believe in me anymore but that wasn't going to stop me from completing this mission regardless. Never had I left a mission unfinished, and I knew for a fact that I wasn't going to let this go down on my record as the first time that ended up screwing up the general's plan entirely. Somehow I needed to gain their trust once more, even if it was minimalistic when we first arrived, and prove to them that I was more than fit to lead this mission and get everyone out without so much as a scratch on us.

Without waiting for another response from me, they left, which brings me back to now. I walked around the courtyard of the prison where the dozens of inmates were finding new ways to pass the time. Many of them were using the weight-lifting benches to build up their muscles while others were sparring with each other as they pounded muscle against muscle very similar to full contact sports, shoving one person onto the ground while the other landed furious blows against the crippled individual. Others however were just walking aimlessly around like me, chatting with their "friends" I guess as they waited until the fowl clutches of death to take them away from this horrible nightmare. All of them though had the same shattered look that I noticed. None really made eye contact with me but they all just looked as though their entire being had been shattered into a million tiny fragments that had been shattered even more. They just looked at me with blank faces, some angrier than others but I guessed it was because they hadn't been here that long.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Being treated like the lowest of the low for several years, possibly for half their lifetime, without a moment of reprieve had to have taxed all of their will. Arthur told me a story about when he used to be a slave for Jupiter and the people who worked on the farm with him always acted as though their souls had been shredded. He described them as mindless husks who just did what they were told to do without any questioning or concern for their own well-being, because he and I believed that they didn't even think that they had a well-being to keep safe. Now that I see it with my own eyes, I can't even believe that it's all true and it's happening before my eyes. They acted like wandering spirits without a common goal to achieve, and most of them actually forcefully placed violence upon themselves for reasons even I had no clue about.

This place was just grim, and the soldiers that accompanied me knew about it as well. If it had been Arthur on this mission and not me, I was more than sure he would have an answer as to how to blend in well with the crowd. At least he had experience with these people while I had none so I couldn't figure out how to help them.

"They're beyond our help." I remembered him telling me a few years ago. I once believed that to be true because I had never seen it before and just went with his word for it. Now that I was watching it happen before my very eyes, I knew that I had to stop it from going on. I couldn't just stand by and watch as innocent men, or maybe no-so-innocent men, be treated like wild animals ready to be slaughtered by a man who cared very little for them.

I stayed close to the wall just in case I happened to accidentally walk right into it. I noticed that many of the mindless men looked to be a senior citizens' age or so while the ones who were getting closer looked to be much younger than them. Now only could I see grown men, but I could see guys my age around the groups smoking cigarettes while laughing up a conversation. Maybe they tried to act like things weren't so bad here, but I easily saw through those lies and found a fear deep within them that they were denying so much that it was beginning to show in the way they talked, laughed, and moved.

Trust here was key to the success of the mission. If I could gain the trust of the inmates here then I could begin to make some head-weight. That was going to prove a task alone by itself since everyone here already thought I was some sort of weakling after word got around of my beating from the master of the house. I was going to have to figure out a way to figure out a clever way to gain their trust, hopefully without there being a confrontation.

Sadly, I wasn't watching where I was going. Before I could even react to what I had done, I ran right into one of the inmates of the prison and was thrown back by the large group surrounding him. I stayed on my feet though that did me very little good since they guy I ran into--by accident of course--turned around and stared me dead in the eye. He was muscular, tall, and had the look of absolute anger on his face that made my blood begin to turn into ice. Of all the people I had to run into, it had to be Tiny "Deathbringer" Clements. If it wasn't Xavier who was keeping the inmates in check, it was this guy who forced things his way and if you didn't like it then you were in for a very rude awakening. He was easily a foot and a half taller than myself, well built from the bottom up, and had a very short temper to boot. He was a Doberman that ran the inmates like his own private army with an iron fist, especially when he was having a crappy day.

His blazing red eyes met mine at an instant and for a minute I really wished I was back in my cell just counting the days until I died. His buddies huddled around him and began to crack their knuckles as they slowly creeped closer towards me with looks of amusement and anger. I took a step back as Deathbringer himself used a hand to stop his advancing group, staring me in the eye himself to tell me that I was his target, not theirs.

Great, didn't I feel honored?

Damien

I always had bad feelings when I wasn't aware of certain things.

For the past day I hadn't slept a wink since I sent Falkread on his mission and Arthur and Zoey on their own mission. It wasn't because I decided not to sleep; it was because I just had a bad feeling for not just Falkread but for Arthur and Zoey as well. Both missions were extremely dangerous beyond their comprehension and I knew all three of them were going to hold a bit of resentment for making them go on these dangerous missions. Even I was regretting sending them on these missions just practically by themselves, aside from Falk who actually had a little more back-up than Zoey and Arthur.

At least I had the command center to myself for a little while. The fleet wasn't scheduled to head to a different location for another two weeks just so we could keep the Overlord guessing. It was just me and the shadows of the command center to keep me occupied. I guess that was a lie. I also had the light splashing of the waves that beat against my ears to keep me company until it was time for the fleet to arise from their slumber. Otherwise, it was just me, the center, and the waves that kept me from going insane.

Was I a bad person for splitting them up? I paced around the room just trying to figure the question out. I knew that they were much stronger and much smarter when they were a team but I needed the best of the best in order to bring Lucian onto our side and the only way I could see to aid him on that decision was to find his son and reunite the pair after so long. Was I using his son as a bargaining tool just so he would join our side? No, no, no, of course I wasn't. I was trying to reunite father and son after seven years and help Lucian figure out where his allegiance lies: with us or with the Overlord.

This was going to be the second day without any sort of sleep. Not that I needed any to begin with. A general always needed to remain vigilant and keep watch over himself and those under his command. I had nearly five-thousand troops under my watchful eyes and I wasn't about to let them into some sort of danger if there was anything I could do about it. The rest of my fleet was spread out across the globe, amassing to around to fifteen-thousand more men. The other generals from Russia, the UK, China, Japan, France, Canada, and America were still trying to figure out a plan of action so the next Overlord would be delayed, giving us the perfect opportunity to strike. I coordinated with them daily in order to keep our plans from falling apart. It was General Grayson from England that proposed the plan to bring Lucian onto our side and the credit for finding his son was both half and half between me and General Guan Zing from China.

Zing had offered to send me enough troops and ships to take the base and get David out, but it was I who told him no. We needed David out of the prison without as much as a scratch on him and a full on attack would be way too risky and we could not lose the boy. Having a small group in there was enough, I hoped, to find David and get him out without any sort of injuries. If he was killed in the attack, we might as well give up trying to bring Lucian onto our side since he would more than likely believe that we were terrible people and side with the Overlord even more. Having him killed would only worsen our reputation with the people and label us as some sort of terrorist group going against the system.

I chuckled. When I was younger and read about the days before WWIV, people often rebelled against the system by showing their individuality. They didn't want to be a part of the machine and they split off and did their own thing away from the machine and its people. I guess the Revolution was sort of a little splinter group on the group that was just saying no to the system but only because the system was totally screwed up and needed to be changed for the greater good. We all were rebels who strived for a better world than the one we were living in right now where slavery was legal and the buying and enslavement of another person was completely okay with the people. This was what Abraham Lincoln prevented way back in the day but when I look at the state of the world, I can only think that his fight was in vain. At least this Revolution--modeled after the American and French Revolution--was fighting for a greater cause and not just for once nation but for an entire world full of corruption.

A loud wave splashed against the boat and threw off my train of thought. I sighed and walked over to the window and stared out the night sky, looking over the dozen ships docked close by to each other for protection. More than likely, every soldier on board was asleep and were getting much needed shut eye after working so hard each day. In only a few hours, this ship and the others would be full of activity with soldiers training, cadets learning, and highly ranked officials screaming their throats out at both.

The thought made me chuckle a little more.

I strode out of the command center and locked the doors. Luckily it wasn't completely dark inside the metal hallways of the ship and small lights illuminated the path I walked towards the flight deck. Security was no doubt about to switch out to another group so I just used my keycard and opened the hatch outside. Once out in the open on the smooth deck, I took in a big whiff of the salty air that loomed around me. The air around me was cool and wonderful, always bringing a smile to my face as I closed my eyes and let my mind drift away as long as I needed it to. A slight breeze blew against me and wafted the salty, sweet air around me so I could intake all of its splendor and glory.

My body went on auto-pilot then. I walked closer towards the end of the ship and sat down close to the edge. I closed my eyes, took in the scent of the ocean, and then opened my eyes again. The dark waters around the ship swayed this way and that, to and fro as they gently pushed against the large monster of a vessel as we stayed anchored in place. I had a temptation to go closer to the edge of the ship and hang my legs off the side and allow them to dangle in the cool air like a little kid would if he or she was on a boat. The breeze just felt great to me. The night sky the perfect opportunity to get away with the stressful life coordinating with the Revolution, fighting a battle that was greatly undecided.

Softly, I hummed to myself. Though no one was around, I still liked to be a quiet person even off-duty for the time being. Music, even though I hardly had any skill with it, had always been an interest with me. The way singers nowadays were usually auto-tuned and electronica-fied just made me sigh grievingly. Mother and father would always tell me of a time where people didn't have all these fancy "gadgets", instead just going off strictly talent and poise. What teens called dub-step ruled the musical industry today, along with pop, hip-hop, and R&B. Country had died off about a decade ago with heavy metal. Personally, I liked to the feel of country music. There was something about it--whether it was the use of real musical instruments and gifted voices or not--that usually had me wanting desperately for more. I suppose it was an insatiable desire that I had and couldn't be quenched with this...junk that they give out today.

Apparently, all you had to do was look good and create a beat to be a musical artist. That was a load of complete bull if someone told me. There was zero talent in the industry today, and I blamed it all on the Task Masters and their terrible leader the Overlord. Ever since they decided to take charge of all the rules of the countries of Earth, they ripped up all that we people stood for and created their own rule book based on their beliefs and ideals. What twisted man would have the conscience to decide to take away the freedoms of a people who were less fortunate than themselves and make them be slaves to do their will? It was cruel and disgusting. I sighed, balling my fists just thinking about all the terrible deeds that were going on right now. I couldn't even do a thing to stop them either, not without some form of back-up to aid me. I couldn't put the world on my shoulders, and neither could the combined forces of the Revolution. We weren't a group dedicated to destroy the Overlord and place ourselves in power. The power belonged to the people, not us. We're just the harbingers of peace, and, as I see it, the Overlord and his followers were the bringers of death and destruction. I sighed and stared out at the dark abyss of the ocean. The waves were calmer than usual, but then again it was late at night and the part of the ocean we stayed stationed at was usually very calm. I watched as waved crashed into each other and created a loud splashing sound that made me chuckle.

"Sounds like th' way th' war's goin', huh?"

I didn't need to turn around to know who it was behind me. The sound of Shock's hoofs beat against the smooth surface of the runway until he sat down a few feet away from me. The equine looked pretty drowsy but somehow still awake in the middle of the night. I had known Shock for a couple years and trusted him as a master of creating deadly weapons and repairing them with ease. If someone could make something good, Shock could make it twenty times better in half the time.

Truth of the matter was we never really talked to each other. When it came to inspection or a repair or two, I rarely exchanged large conversations and just acted like it was business. He was more of a quiet fellow than I was. Most of the time, he tinkered with his things and aided soldiers whenever they needed something repaired and his handiwork was top-notch. From what I knew about him, he never really left his quarters except when he needed to eat but that was it.

So why was he out here alone?

"You okay, sir?" he asked curiously. "I didn't startle you, did I? I can leave you be if you would like."

I snapped out of my thoughts and shook my head. Rubbing one of my eyes, I replied to him "No, no, no. I'm sorry, you're fine. I just didn't expect to see anyone else out here this time of night."

He nodded and sighed, placing one hand on the ground and the other on his knee. "I'm terribly sorry, general. I'll try not to do that again." He shot me a sly smile that made me chuckle.

"I appreciate that, soldier," I replied, turning my focus back to the ocean.

Neither one of us said a word to each other for a few minutes. This only proved that he wasn't a talker and neither was I. I couldn't even speak since the ocean still captivated me like am drug that I couldn't have enough of. Beside me, Shock leaned back on his palms and turned his head skyward, taking in the cool, salty breeze that blew against us. When I took in the scents of the ocean, the feel of the air around me, and the atmosphere they shared, I actually began to relax more and more by the second.

As I closed my eyes, I heard Shock sigh in relief beside me. "Feels good, huh? Man, this reminds me of the old days."

I turned and gave him a puzzled expression. "What do you mean by the old days?"

He shrugged. "You know, th' days where things were peaceful. No one had to worry about a war plaguing th' world and the people actually started to get along with each other." His black mane then blew into his eyes while he looked down into the dark ocean. "That is until everything went south."

I nodded and knew what he was talking about. "Greed, power, and oppression clouded the minds of leaders and they decided they had to take the world into their own hands. It's their fault that the world is in a terrible state, and it's our responsibility to insure that the world keeps its freedom."

"Yeah, but it's not easy though," he replied.

"When we signed up, they told us that it wasn't going to be easy."

"Heh, I guess that was th' only part of th' deal I hated."

"Well, there are a lot of things that are just not easy."

He nodded, looking over the horizon in the distance. "You got that right, but then again, things haven't exactly been easy for us for quite a while."

"True," I nodded in agreement. "But easy or not, we're fighting for the greater good."

"Shame th' people don't see it that way," he added with a distasteful grunt. "I wish that they could see that we're trying to help them, not hurt them."

Once more, I nodded. "Years of living in lies, deceit, and oppression have altered their minds. Only when we rid the world of the main problem can we strive to fix what was unbound."

"And then what?"

His question startled me for the next few moments. When I looked at him again, it looked as though he had aged twenty years, at least in his eyes. The strain of the war was getting to a lot of soldiers at this point, but he looked as though he had just been through a gunfight for the past couple of hours. I knew that tinkering with guns and explosives could age a man beyond his years, but I didn't realize how literal it was when I was looking at him.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

He shrugged and looked away from me. "I mean, if we do overthrow the Overlord and put his armies out of commission, then what are we going to do? Put our own people in power and make new rules? We'd be no better than him and his army and eventually we'd become what we sought to destroy."

I blinked. I was an adult, and so was he, but the way he talked, he sounded beyond his years. I hadn't considered what would happen if we did defeat the Overlord and his army. What were we going to do? I didn't want to put our officials in power because I had a strange feeling the people wouldn't really appreciate that and would just at us like some sort of terrorist group taking over. Given if what he was thinking was true, our officials would become corrupted as well and turn into the same devils we were trying to exorcise.

"Sir? You still with me?"

He snapped me out of my thoughts again. I blinked and shook my head. "Sorry, I was just thinking. I guess I'm just a little tired."

"I understand, general," he responded, standing up from where he was. "Would you like an escort back to your quarters, sir? I'm going to hit th' hay for the night myself."

Nodding, I stood up. "Thank you, soldier. I'd appreciate that very much. Thank you."

"You're more than welcome, sir," he smiled and led me back inside the monster of a ship. He didn't look at me while we walked through the dimly-lit hallways, but he seemed very relaxed and content.

It didn't take but a few minutes to reach my room on the ship. Everyone knew where my quarters were in case of a major emergency. Personally, I didn't like the fact that everyone on my ship knew where my room was. I liked to have a bit of privacy, but when a new recruit interrupted me in the middle of something important--like constructing battle plans and discussing missions with the other generals--it aggravated me a little bit. Though they were new and didn't know much yet, I made sure to offer them clemency but when it became frequent I lost respect for them. Even I needed some alone time just to myself so I could relax my mind and stay in tip-top shape.

Shock stepped out of my way and gestured to the door. "I'll leave you be, sir. Sleep well." He walked off.

I thought about saying something to him before he rounded the corner, but I stopped myself. Maybe I should just let him be. He was kind enough to escort me back to my chambers, so I thought it best that I just let him take the rest of the night off. The more I tried to figure him out, the more a headache began to form in my head. He was probably the toughest soldier to read, even if he was really blacksmith, and I had read a ton of soldiers in my life. I wanted to figure him out, yet he made it so difficult on me that I just gave up entirely.

I was tired.

I needed sleep.

I had to rest.

Without looking at the corner, I used my keycard and opened the door to my room, slipping inside as silently as possible. The door shut behind me yet the lights dimly came on to illuminate my room. Though I was a general, I didn't live a life of luxury. All that I had was a comfy bed, a chest full of personal items, a night stand with a lamp, a dresser full of uniforms and other clothes, and a rack of personally made guns that Shock had fashioned for me.

Oh great, another thing to remind me of the guy.

I changed my clothes into just a pair of sweats, shirtless since I found it better, and headed for the bed. Before I hit the comfy furniture, my eyes traveled to the nightstand where I had placed a picture frame. I sighed and walked over to it, looking over the four people that stood in it.

The sight made me fall to my knees in sadness. I took the frame and placed it against my chest, fighting back the tears that were filling my eyes. If there was anything in this world that could make me cry, it was the frame I kept since I joined the Revolution.

I felt tears drip from my cheeks onto the floor as I sobbed and sniffled lightly. It had been so long since I cried, even when I looked at the picture, but I made sure I didn't look at it every time I walked in so I wouldn't cry. I was just dumb and looked at it on my way in. There were just a handful of things on the world that could make me cry, and I was holding it as if my life depended on it.

I pulled it away from my chest and looked at the four people in the photo. I placed my hands on each one of them. The two tall adults that stood over the two small children. My fingers then traveled over to the fox that stood only slightly smaller than the fox he was standing next to.

He would not want me to cry! Do not cry, dammit! Be a man and look away! I told myself constantly, banging my fist against the metal floor again and again and again. I could almost feel the blood bursting through my skin, yet I fought against the pain and gritted my teeth.

A few minutes passed by before I finally composed myself. I wobbled to my knees and sat on the edge of the bed, still holding onto the picture frame so tightly that I thought it was going to break. Using my free hand, I wiped the growing tears away from my eyes and sniffled a few more times before lying down on the bed, looking up at the blank, gray ceiling. I took my hand away from the frame only to clap twice, turning off the lights at an instant to leave myself in the dark. My hand traveled over to the frame as I picked it up and held it against my chest, pulling my covers up as I turned over and hugged the picture and the frame together.

Before the fell clutches of sleep overtook me, I let one final tear drop from my face as I shivered in my bed.

"I hope you're proud of me, little brother, because I'll never forget you and what you did for me that day."