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No Last Chances

Chapter 1

"I'm fucking bored." This was the message that my brain decided to play to me over and over again in my head. I lay awkwardly on a pile of weeds which often whipped my face. The hood of my ghillie suit wasn't helping either; falling over my face like an immature child wanting attention. We'd been here for....I lost count. It felt like it's been two hours or more. I had resorted to counting the number of scratches on the lens of my M-24 scope (which added up to two hundred and three in case you were interested)."Fuck this!" I thought after I completed my count and stood up to observe the view. The hill I was perched on was surrounded by a bowl of puke-coloured trees which all seem to point inward at me. I left my rifle on its bi-pod facing the North, the way I had been looking for some time now. After much stretching I grabbed the muddy radio I left on the ground and held it against my face. My thumb scrolled through the channels several times, as wasting time seemed an option at the moment, before stopping at number two. I gave it a whisper.

"This is Broadsword requesting status report from Blackbird."

No answer. I radioed in again.

"Blackbird do you copy?"

Still no answer. I dropped the radio and turned to a group of trees to my right.

"Zach!" I shrieked at some leaves.

Almost instantly a panther flailed his way out of the top of an oak tree. Some leaves still clung to his face and suit. That...is Zach. He does have a full name but we just refer to him as Zach. He's a Lance Corporal, somehow, who is always finding ways to get my ass in the sling. I got stuck with him a few years ago when his helicopter was shot down and we had to go get him. He's been following me around ever since.

"What!?" He yelled back at me.

"The hell is wrong with you? This is combat man. If I call you I expect an answer." I barked loudly back at him. He seemed to hesitate before replying.

"I was busy! Sorry sir."

Sure you were. I said in my head, as if speaking telepathically. Before I could yell at the panther again I heard a deep, booming voice spark up from behind me.

"Sergeant! Eyes on package, one klick!"

What you just heard was the voice of Private Shirehorse. A seven foot tall, black haired stallion who's saved my ass more than twice before. I turned to look at him but remembered he was also wearing one of the ghillie suits. His suit was better than ours, made with better materials and had actual weeds from the field stuck to it. I hunted for the barrel of his gun which I found sticking out from a large cluster of grass. I followed the direction it pointed and sure enough, there was a figure walking out from the brush. I retrieved my M-24 to identify it. I had to shake the scope around before I actually found it. A tiger was wondering aimlessly towards us. He wore a grass-green trench coat and large black boots. He took irregular steps and waved his hands frantically above his head. I retrieved my radio and called again.

"This is Broadsword calling all units." Before I could continue I was interrupted by the panther who yelled obnoxiously across the field.

"There's only three of us! You don't need to say all units!"

I turned to him again.

"Zach! What did I just fucking say about the radio?" I heard no reply, but just saw him pull a face in my direction and retreat into the tree. I brought my radio back.

"Blackbird, get over here. Bigfoot, call a chopper for us. I'm going to meet him." My radio made a static hiss into my ear before I heard Shirehorse's voice emanate through it.

"Yes sir!" He said promptly before I heard him change the channel settings. I looked over at Zach's position just in time to watch him fall out the tree.

"Zach! You're supposed to land on your feet. The hell kind of cat are you?" I shouted over to the bushes that had just absorbed him. Although slightly muffled, I still heard him splutter his answer.

"Fuck you, Sarge!"

I chuckled as I trudged forward to greet our new guest. Although he wasn't necessarily new as such; I'd met him before. His name is Wren Adams. He's a five and a half foot tiger (Not very tall for tigers, but yet again I'm not that much taller). Wren works for Spec Ops divisions as a spy; he's more commonly known as The Black Rose. I agree, it's not a very good code name, but apparently it's got some meaning to it. Something to do with the thorns and stuff, I don't know. As he came closer I saw his face more clearly. He was panting heavily and looked worried.

"What's wrong?" I said when he came within earshot. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Is our pick up coming? I think we're going to be expecting some company." He sputtered as he pointed backwards into the brush he just came from. As he spoke I felt the smile on my face slowly diminish.

"What kind of company?"

"Tanks, infantry....the works." He said, managing to fit the words in between his gasps.

"Come with me." I said as I began to stomp back up the hill. He followed close to me, often catching my heels with the tip of his boots. At the top was Zach, who was busy picking thorns and sticks from his fur.

"I hate brambles." He stated as we walked past. Sitting on a nearby rock was David who was watching red smoke erupt from a canister he had just thrown on the floor some metres in front of him.

"Oi! David." I snapped as I tapped him on the shoulder. "What time is our pick up coming?" He turned to us and eyed us quizzically.

"Not sure." He mumbled. "I think there's an air base somewhere near here but I'm not sure when one's coming, why?" He asked, giving me an innocent look. I cursed and threw my helmet down.

"We may have to fight a bit." I said solemnly. After my statement everyone was quiet. Even Zach was still for once. It was uncomfortable. We looked at one another, contemplating waiting for the helicopter or retreating into the forest. After another awkward minute our silence was broken by a low pitched whooping noise. A helicopter. We all sat still facing the direction we heard it and sure enough, there was a helicopter chugging towards us. It flew low, gracefully grazing the tree tops. The copter flew over our heads and swung around. It was a Little Bird helicopter. The actual cockpit was only big enough for the pilot and the co-pilot. Two benches were hooked to the side where troops had to strap onto and hold on. After it had circled us a number of times it landed on the canister of smoke that David had thrown.

"All on!" I yelled over the noise of the rotors chopping through the air. As we rose though we heard a cracking noise. We turned to the sight of an armoured personnel carrier ploughing through some trees.

"Get to ze choppar!" Zach yelled laughing hysterically. He received a smack over the head from one of Shirehorse's massive paws as we clambered on. Our pilots had had enough and was chickening out already. As we rose we watched soldiers open hatches on the APC and flop out. Some were already out and had opened fire on us. Pinging noises were heard all around us. Me and Wren (who happened to be on the side they were shooting at) ducked and covered our heads in panic. I looked up to see a bullet whistle into the cockpit and bury itself in the head of a young jackal; our co-pilot. I heard the pilot scream as the inside of his colleague's head was strewn all over his flight suit. He rolled right and pitched forward quickly barely giving us enough time to react to the death of the co-pilot. As we flew away I merely sat with my head pressed against my hands and thought solemnly. "The General's gonna be so pissed."

* * *

"What in the name of all things furry was that?" The general spat at me viciously. He was pissed. We stood to attention as best as we possibly could as we were blinded by the saliva he flung at us individually. His maw shook horribly as he yelled. I must take the time to explain who he is. The General is a five foot tall German Shepherd, even Wren stood taller than him. His full name is General Frank Redtail, which I find slightly offensive as he isn't a fox. The hair on the top of his head was slightly grey and he had a massive breath odour problem. He liked to stress that by breathing straight into everyone's face when he's screaming at them.

"Who calls a chopper in the middle of a firefight?" He directed at me.

"Sir, the helicopter arrived before the enemy appeared." I answered squarely. He simply turned to me again.

"There are no excuses! I've had enough of your stunts. And you!" He shifted towards Wren. "Your tricks back in the enemy camp almost cost us the war!"

"I acknowledge that sir." The tiger stated. "But with all due respect sir, these three were only doing their job, it was my fault for not warning them."

"We almost lost a chopper! Plus one of the pilots was killed!" Redtail spat at him. He turned to all of us. "You are all off duty until further notice. Guards!" Upon his beckon, two broad shouldered wolves appeared in the doorway. "Relieve these men of their weapons and stick 'em in the brig." They nodded and set about stripping us of our firepower. They stole our rifles, side-arms, grenades, everything. Once they had finished they began to drive us out of Redtail's tent. Before I got to the entrance I heard him bark.

"Red-head!" I knew he was referring to me. I swallowed a growl and turned to him. He spoke in a quieter tone.

"This is your last chance. Don't screw it up." And with that he gave a flick of his paw and a guard ushered me out with the butt of my own rifle.