Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 2018
The coyote dashed through the abandoned building, bullets impacting the stone walls around her.
She drew her M9 Beretta and fired back at the pursuing soldiers.
Barging through a metal door, the Delta Force Operator spun around and closed the door, locking it with a heavy deadbolt.
Thumping on the metal could be heard, along with shouting in Russian.
“Nu davay zhe! my naydem drugoy put'!”
Now, with a moment to spare, the operator proceeded down the decrepit hallway, looking over her weapons and kit.
Her M4 carbine was out of ammo, and her pistol had only one magazine left.
"Fuck!"
The coyote ran a paw through her dark tan fur before raising it to her earpiece and speaking.
"Opal squad? Do you read? Over."
No response.
"Command, this is Opal-1. Come in, over."
No response.
"Command, this is Opal-1. Please respond, over."
Nothing, not even static.
"Shit…"
The coyote proceeded through the building, water dripping from the ceiling as the afternoon sun shone through cracks worming their way through the walls.
Passing through one of the rooms, she ducked down as Russian soldiers shined flashlights through the boarded-up windows.
"Vse chisto!"
The soldiers moved away, and the operator could reach a staircase and advance to the second floor.
She passed by a section of the floor that had collapsed, looking down into the room below to see Russian troopers moving through the structure, weapons ready.
The Delta Force operator hugged a wall and moved down another hallway before opening a doorway to continue forward.
Suddenly, the coyote felt a force hit her from behind, knocking her to the floor. She was spun around, pulled facing upwards, to see a gray and tan rabbit with messy black stripes above her, aiming a pistol at her face.
But suddenly, the rabbit's expression changed from determined to relieved, and he breathed a sigh before speaking.
"Jesus, CiCi, I almost shot you." The rabbit said, helping the coyote to her feet.
"Oh yeah, Jacob, it's not like you know who I am." The operator retorted.
Another mammal was in the room, a white-furred female fox with an M24 sniper rifle, headphones, and a brown baseball cap.
Jacob, meanwhile, had a beanie on his head, and CiCi wore a dark green boonie hat.
All three soldiers wore unassuming civilian clothing, including sweatshirts and dull-colored pants. However, underneath these garments were bulletproof vests, hidden ammo magazines, and additional tactical gear.
"Good to see you, Cecilia." The fox said.
"Good to see you too, Livia." The coyote responded. "I need ammo."
Jacob reached into his vest, took out a few magazines, and handed them to his squadmate.
"What the fuck happened back there?" The coyote asked, reloading her carbine. "Our position was secure and had a clear view of that meeting. Where the hell did the Spetsnaz units come from?"
"They might have realized they were being observed," Livia said. "But I don't know how they would have figured that out. Perhaps we just got unlucky, and they spotted us."
"Where's Stryker?" Cecilia asked.
Livia spoke into her radio.
"Stryker, where are you?"
A male voice could be heard, punctuated by heavy breathing.
"I'm on the street, approaching your position! I've got hostiles on my six! I need cover fire!"
The trio of mammals moved to the room's windows, looking down into the city street. Tightly packed stone houses were everywhere, while larger structures could be seen in the distance. Directly outside was a small market with parked vehicles and civilians going about their business.
There were mammals of many species, including snow leopards, hyenas, and foxes. Some walked around to examine stands in the marketplace. At the same time, shopkeepers waved their paws over the items on sale in an extravagant display.
"There's civies out there. Watch your fire." Cecilia said.
A male mule with a baseball cap and a heavy jacket sprinted down an alleyway directly ahead of Cecilia and her squad.
"There he is! 12 o'clock!" Jacob said, pointing.
However, more mammals in dark green uniforms suddenly appeared, carrying AK-pattern rifles and Russian flags on their gear.
"Contact! Contact! Coming down the alleyway!"
Civilians ran away as the squad opened fire on the incoming Russians, striking hostile troopers and the pavement nearby.
Stryker took cover behind a dumpster, turning around and firing at the hostiles with an M4 carbine, quickly cutting down two Russians.
"Hostiles coming up the street! 2 o'clock!"
Another squad of Russians took cover behind vehicles and engaged a heavy weapons trooper setting up a light machine gun.
"I'm pinned down here!" Stryker yelled, ducking down as a piece of shrapnel bounced off the street nearby. "Give me cover fire!"
"Tossing frag!" Cecilia yelled, throwing a grenade down onto the pavement—the explosive detonated, blowing up a parked car and killing most of the Russians.
"Stryker! Use the fire escape and get up here now!" Livia yelled once the remaining enemy troopers were dead.
Following her suggestion, the mule ascended the exterior of the building and climbed in through a window.
"Thanks for that."
"Do you still have your body camera?" Livia asked.
The delta force operator tapped the device on his chest.
"Still got it. Full of footage showing Chinese envoys meeting with Russian envoys, both civilian and military. Meeting to further strengthen their ties together."
"NATO and our other Western allies will have to be on full alert."
"There may be other nations as well. I saw a few North Koreans." Jacob said, reloading the rifle in his paws. "Command needs to know this."
Glancing out the window, Livia spotted a Russian trooper down on one knee with a weapon on his shoulder.
"RPG!"
Opal squad ducked as the projectile impacted the building, causing an explosion. Dust and debris raining from the ceiling.
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"Let's get the fuck out of here! Opal squad, move out!"
Cecilia barged through a door and sprinted down the hallway, her allies close behind her.
They jumped out a second-story window, using a pile of debris to descend to ground level. The squad found themselves in a derelict alleyway full of trash, junk, and rusted vehicles.
"Opal squad, do you read? Over." Came a male voice through the radio.
"This is Opal-1. We read you command." Cecilia responded.
"Reach the other side of the skyscraper under construction to the south of your position. A Black Hawk is inbound for evac."
"Affirmative command!"
Reaching the top of a slight incline, the four mammals looked out across a large, flat, dusty expanse of dirt in front of them. Construction equipment and foundations for buildings could be seen, along with partly finished concrete towers jutting into the sky.
A pair of military trucks pulled up to a construction site ahead of the group. Soldiers hopped out of the vehicles and moved to secure the area.
"Those aren't Russian Ground Forces," Jacob noted, peering through a set of tactical binoculars. "The gear is different."
Cecilia focused on the red star painted on one of the trucks and recognized the symbol.
"Shit, if it isn't the People's Liberation Army."
"Are they providing combat support for the Russians?" Livia asked.
"Must be. We saw Chinese and Russian military envoys meeting not even an hour ago."
"PLA or RGF, we need to get to the evac point," Stryker said.
"Then let's move. Get ready."
The team moved down an embankment towards the enemy forces, taking cover behind a partly constructed wall of stone bricks.
However, the PLA troopers were on alert, spotting the incoming force.
"Díshì!"
The Chinese force fired at the American troopers, who promptly returned fire.
"They've spotted us! Open fire!" Livia yelled.
Jacob hunkered down and took out a small quadcopter, flipping a switch and powering up the rotors.
"Deploying recon drone!"
The machine slowly lifted into the sky as the rabbit took out a heavy-duty tablet.
He navigated the drone into the air, surveying the battlefield and spotting enemies taking cover.
"Hostiles behind the storage container to the left!"
Livia took an incendiary grenade from her belt and threw it around the metal barricade.
"Shǒuliúdàn!"
The device detonated, blanketing the area with flames. The searing fire scorched the Chinese soldiers as the Americans kept the pressure on.
The dusty field was alive with the sounds of battle—the shouts of troopers, the detonations of explosions, and the loud bangs of gunfire.
"Tóuzhí shǒuliúdàn!"
"Hostile neutralized!"
“Bǔrǔ dòngwù xiàlái! Yīshēng!”
"Enemy with a shotgun!"
"Kill confirmed!"
"Recon drone down!"
Soon, the hum of engines could be heard, and an unmarked UH-60 Black Hawk aircraft hovered overhead.
"Opal squad, this is Gamma-3." A voice said through the radio, "On station to provide support."
The aircraft spun around, its wide open side door facing the PLA forces. From the elevated position, a soldier with a mounted machine gun opened up on the enemy troopers.
Cecilia took cover behind a large loader before advancing and opening up on an enemy wolf, managing to shoot the trooper's rifle out of his paws.
Thinking quickly, the canine charged forward on all fours, tackling the American and sending her falling to her back, dropping her rifle.
The delta force operator barely managed to hold the wolf back as the Chinese trooper snapped his teeth, trying to bite the coyote.
"Get the fuck off me!"
Freeing one of her paws, Cecilia unsheathed her combat knife and plunged it into the side of the wolf's head. She threw the enemy trooper off her before springing to her feet, retrieving her carbine, and rejoining the fight.
The team was nearing the partially constructed skyscraper, entering and running through the concrete structure.
Another squad of enemies appeared, which the Americans quickly engaged. However, just as they eliminated the last hostile, one more PLA trooper, a panda, appeared. None of his fur was visible. Every inch of his body was covered with thick ballistic plating, reminiscent of an EOD suit. Even his head and face were covered with a thick visor.
“Hostile juggernaut!” Stryker yelled as the team raced for cover behind concrete walls.
The PLA soldier pushed forward, opening up on the Americans with a minigun connected to a backpack by an ammo belt.
Cecilia emptied half a magazine into the enemy trooper, but he didn't even flinch. Instead, turning the weapon on the coyote, who had to duck as the weapon hummed loudly and let loose.
"I'm under fire!"
Stryker focused his shots on the panda's right arm, dealing enough damage that the arm plating shattered.
The PLA trooper was stunned briefly, looking over his now exposed limb.
"Focus on the chest!" Jacob yelled.
The team compiled, firing on the hostile with enough force that the chest armor broke apart, exposing the fur and a white tank top underneath.
Cecilia reloaded her carbine and fired her weapon into the trooper's exposed chest.
The enemy soldier spasmed and dropped his minigun, collapsing forward onto the cold concrete floor.
"Enemy is fucking KIA!" Livia said. "Let's get moving. More Chinese forces are likely right behind us!"
Weapons ready, the team sprinted out the other side of the building, spotting the Black Hawk hovering a few feet above the ground nearby.
"Come on! Come on!" an airmammal yelled, standing at the aircraft's side door.
The squad of mammals made haste to the vehicle. But suddenly, a dark black Chinese attack helicopter appeared overhead and opened fire.
"Enemy helo!"
The aircraft fired a barrage of missiles that knocked Opal squad onto their backs and struck the Black Hawk.
The damaged American vehicle leaned to one side, its spinning rotor inches from Opal squad.
"Get back! Get back!"
Cecilia shimmed away from the aircraft, shielding her face with her paw.
The Black Hawk lost control and spun overhead, crashing into the skyscraper and causing debris to fall from the structure as the vehicle exploded in a fireball.
Loud crunching was audible as cracks wormed their way through the structure.
"It's falling down! Get to cover!"
A few enemy troops emerged from the skyscraper. But before they could engage, the building broke apart, crushing the Chinese soldiers under a layer of concrete.
Cecilia covered her face once more as small rocks bounced by her, and the collapse kicked a cloud of dust into the air.
“*cough* Jacob! cough cough Livia! Stryker!"
The delta force operator stood up, peering through the dust.
"I'm over here!" Stryker yelled, coughing and emerging into view. "We gotta get out of here. This dust is the… cough cough only thing keeping us from being hit by that helo!"
"Command! Come in! cough cough" Jacob spoke into his radio. "Evac is down! Need alternative extraction! How copy? cough”
"Where's Livia?"
"Over here!"
The pair turned to where the voice came from, spotting the fox next to a Chinese military vehicle.
It was a four-wheeled light attack buggy with a roll cage, two rows of seats, and a top-mounted light machine gun.
"It's an enemy vehicle… but we can use it to get out of here." the engineer explained.
"I don't think we have much of a choice…." Stryker said.
"Then get in Opal squad. I'll drive."
Cecilia hopped into the driver's seat while Stryker took position at the mounted weapon. Jacob sat in the passenger's seat while Livia rode in the back.
“Uhhh… let’s see… I don't recognize any of the writing here…" Cecilia said, looking over the dashboard.
The delta force operator started up the vehicle and pressed the gas pedal. The buggy lurched forward as the coyote navigated out of the construction site and onto a long highway running parallel to a sandy embankment.
The sound of spinning rotors grew closer as Stryker looked up to see the Chinese attack helicopter from earlier flying right behind the buggy.
"Enemy helo is back!"
The mule opened fire on the aircraft with the buggy's turret as Cecilia drove erratically to avoid incoming fire.
Another Chinese buggy approached behind the Americans, and the PLA soldiers riding inside opened fire with rifles.
Jacob and Livia fired back with their handheld weapons when a barrage of lead suddenly tore through the enemy aircraft, sending it slamming into the dirt.
Opal squad looked to the top of the embankment to see a half-track truck with a flatbed. Atop was a mounted cannon with four barrels. Additionally, a civilian car appeared behind the buggy, making a beeline to the pursuing PLA buggy and crashing into it.
The civilian vehicle exploded in a fiery blast, obliterating the Chinese buggy.
"What the hell was that?!" Stryker yelled.
But the mule's questions were answered moments later when a pickup truck came over the embankment and down onto the road. In the back of the truck, a mammal with a scarf around his head was operating a mounted machine gun. A similar mammal occupied the driver's seat. The technical had Arabic writing on the side and a symbol consisting of two crossed scimitars.
"Al-Sayf is here too!?"
"Fucking terrorists!" Livia responded, opening fire on the insurgent vehicle. "I hate these guys. They aren't your normal band of extremists; they're organized!"
The technical fired back with its mounted weapon as Stryker opened up with the buggy's weapon.
"They think we're Chinese!" Jacob yelled.
"It doesn't make a difference to them!" Cecilia responded, ramming the enemy vehicle. "And it shouldn't make a difference to us! Take out the driver!"
The squad fired upon the technical, which drove erratically and resisted the gunfire with its armor plating. Eventually, though, someone hit the driver, the vehicle turning and crashing into the embankment before rolling over.
"Scud launcher!" Livia yelled, pointing ahead to a massive truck with an equally powerful missile atop it.
Cecilia swerved out of the way of the larger terrorist vehicle, with the buggy scraping against the truck's side.
Jacob lost his balance as the vehicle shook from the impact and tumbled sideways out of the buggy.
In the nick of time, Cecilia lunged towards the rabbit, keeping one paw on the wheel and grabbing Jacob's combat harness with the other.
"I've got you!"
With the strength of one arm, she managed to pull the sniper back into the vehicle.
"I owe you one."
"Don't mention it."
Insurgent infantry on the embankment fired at the buggy with AK-Ms but quickly turned their attention to another Chinese vehicle coming up the road.
A PLA armored truck stopped nearby, and soldiers exited, engaging the terrorists.
"Al-Sayf is engaging the PLA," Jacob said, looking behind the buggy.
"Let them fight it out amongst themselves!" Stryker said as the hostile combatants drifted out of sight.
"We're clear," Livia said, the entire squad breathing a sigh of relief.
"Better radio command. Let them know we're coming in with a stolen enemy vehicle." Stryker noted.
"Fuck!" Cecilia said, hitting her paw against the steering wheel. "That mission should have gone off without a hitch. Instead, we get into a firefight with Russian Spetsnaz and half the Chinese army!"
"We just fought our way through over a dozen PLA soldiers," Livia said. "As if tensions right now aren't high enough…."
"Maybe we can give them an excuse," Jacob suggested. "Miscommunication, faulty comms, misidentification of Al-Sayf forces…."
"I don't think that's gonna satisfy the military officers who now have a pile of corpses and destroyed vehicles."
"At least we got the evidence we needed," Cecilia interjected. "Chinese officials meeting with their Russian counterparts and representatives from other countries."
"We can't risk a crisis against two superpowers," Jacob added.
"At least we'd have our allies worldwide to support us," Livia stated. "But right now, things are just as dangerous as they were during the Cold War!"
"We gotta be careful how we make our next move," Cecilia noted grimly. "Because this could easily spiral into a new era of conflict."