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"Chapter 2"

Soon dawn broke and everyone had their collars cut. "Thanks man, I never did really thank you for saving us from the camp." Sam said rubbing the back of his neck "Don't mention it, I just wished we got more people out..." Alan turned away from him and sat near the swamp. Deep down, he only wished one person made it out instead of him, his technical brother...he isn't the great leader everyone thought he was. Truth was, he was scared that he was just leading them all to their deaths.Benjamin walked over to Alan, tossing him a small pocket watch "Hey kid, I've got something for you." Alan caught the small piece of clockwork and looked closer at it. This pocket watch had a space to put a couple photos, so Alan took the only thing he had from his childhood. It was a small picture of two Mkaijots, both looking no older then twenty or thirty years old. Alan knew that these were his parents and he wanted to find out what happened to them.

It was a few weeks before everyone was fit and ready to leave. During this time Alan and the rest took their time learning combat and survival skills from both Tom and Benjamin. The assassin said that he would join the group once they got to Hoikoto city, the nearest resistance headquarters. Jane was making them all breakfast from some berries and mushrooms that she had found in the forest, Tom said it tasted like dry steak but Alan found it amazing. After eating they made their way to the edge of a cliff by Ben's house that had some hang gliders. "Just take these and let the air currents guide you to the city. Just remember not to hit the trees, okay?" He said. Alan nodded and attached himself to the device, everyone following Tom's lead in the high stakes glide. Tom and Jane were the first to jump off and glide forward, and the rest after Alan jumped. The glider fell before being forced upward on a draft. "Woo!! This is intense!" Sam said from behind Tom, the wind rushing past Alan's head. The air felt good against Alan's cheek fur, giving him a feeling of true freedom. The wind stayed this strong while in the valley but eventually it died down some small currents once they left it. "The view is beautiful from here, isn't it?" Jane asked Alan as they flew over the top of the forest "Yeah...you think James would have liked it?" Alan said mournfully. Alan tried to think there was nothing that he could have done to help him, but there was something still there. All he could do now was just focus on getting to the city.Alan didn't quite know what it was but thinking kept his mind off the task of flying. A few times he often would almost lean himself into a tree by not paying attention. "You okay? That's the fourth time you nearly crashed down into the forest!" Tom asked. Alan nodded and tried to focus, this time getting an image of James to remember why he was going to the resistance in the first place.

It was a few more hours in the air before the sun started to go down. In the dark Jason didn't see Alan and pushed him into a tree before they reached the outskirts to Hoikoto flood plains. The rest landed but Alan was stuck in the tree while they landed on the ground. "Need some help up there Al?" Sam called and threw a knife to him. "Nice throw Sam, I'll get myself down from here fast." Unfortunately, a PEMC patrol that was nearby heard them land and was getting ready to attack the group. All Alan saw in the next moment was a flash of light and then he was in the back of a truck; tied to the floor. They were talking about taking the group to the PEMC headquarters to be processed and most likely used in medical experiments. Alan blacked out and soon found himself being dragged into an interrogation room. In the darkness was sounds of people running and small bouts of shouting but nothing roused him, the sleep wouldn't pass. Looking back, he wished he had woken up.

The trip to the headquarters was short in comparison to the many painful interrogations that lasted for what seemed to be days at a time, never letting him rest for a second. They had no information from Alan and that's the way he kept it until the fifth round of shock therapy was being administered that day. Alan couldn't take it anymore, hoping to just die and get away from this place. But as luck would have it he was in the right place at the right time.

The fluorescent bulb flickered in the PEMC HQ torture room as the electrodes sent waves of electricity into Alan again, sending pulses of pain through Alan's body. He gritted his teeth, one or two missing from getting hit in the face and small droplets of blood staining the white fur around his mouth. As the electricity subsided, the voice repeated itself over the intercom like clockwork that day: "What is your name?" this had been the seventh time the interrogator was met with nothing more then silence. A button was pushed and the electricity fried Alan's spine and hands again, putting over a thousand volts into his body. Alan actually began to scream, the pure agony hitting every nerve. The electricity stopped once more and Alan knew he couldn't answer the voices demands. It repeated itself once more "What is your name?" Alan spat some blood out and gave an answer "My name is fuck you!" The chair lit up again as the pain came back, stronger than before and forcing Alan to nearly pass out from the shocks. The interrogator gave into his frustrations and yelled into the microphone "Tell me your fucking name before I beat it out of you dog!" The chair came on again and forced Alan to simply give up, the pain too great to resist any more. Alan cracked: "My name...is Alan...I escaped from the slave mines." The Mkaijot replied, heaving his chest with the effort of talking through the lingering pain. "Now we're getting somewhere, I'm sending in another man to speak to you mutt." the voice said before a man entered the room. "Now, why don't you tell about yourself?" he said, pulling up a chair. The Mkaijot spoke "I was born into that hell you call mines. I was forced to work inside of the deepest parts when I was only 10 years old, and after about ten more years of trying to survive in that hell hole, I decided to escape." As he recalled the events, the man grew more interested "so, all your family is dead?" Alan didn't bother to look up from the table. "Yes, as far as I know they all are." Alan muttered, his tone showing his sorrow. The man looked closer at the fox wolf. He looked no older than 34, but Alan said twenty. He was skin and bone, his white fur disheveled and messy from crashing into the woods, getting caught in the tree by a patrol group was the fatal flaw that got him captured in the first place. The man started again "So, how long were you out there?" he asked. "Three weeks or so, I could have been out there longer if not for that damned patrol." he replied, his gaze lowering to the floor. "Anyone else with you?" The interrogator asked "No, just me." Alan said, the convincing lie keeping his friends alive for a bit longer. Alan looked up again and straight at the human "You know I REALLY hate you people." Alan said, making sure to emphasize his anger. "Well, I guess I can understand your hate, we make you work for us in the mines, and kill you if we don't need you any more." the interrogator paused for a second. "We take your furs and make novelty items with them." he explained, while his hands rested on his lap, as if waiting for someone. "But you know what?" Alan looked up, confused by his next statement "I don't approve of any of this."

He then got up and stopped the camera in the corner. "I think that they all deserve to die for what they have done." he said, getting out his knife and pistol and putting them on the table. "And I think you're the one to help me do it." the man said,undoing Alan's handcuffs. "Take my weapons; I've arranged a helicopter to be sent for us by the resistance." Alan looked at him confused "Why are you helping me? I thought all PEMC hated Mkaijots." he said, rubbing his wrists. The man chuckled and took a step back. "I'm a double agent working for the resistance; I hate the PEMC and want to bring them down. They deserve what they get now." the double agent whispered then walked to the door and went out. A few seconds later he came back with blood on his face "Coming?" he asked, holding out his hand. Alan then got up and took the handgun and knife. "Why not? I'm a dead man anyways." He said, getting up and moving to the door. The agent picked up a rifle from a body "Then I will die with you." he said, looking dead serious. Across the hallway, a clicking sound was coming from the door "Get down!" the man whispered as he hid behind the water cooler. The door slowly opened and out of it came a female Mkaijot Raccoon. "Amy! Good to see you found a way out." She tossed him a set of pistol mags "Had to make sure they wouldn't wake up when we were still here, and who is this new face?" Alan cleared his throat and spoke "My name's Alan." She smiled and tossed Alan a magazine for the handgun he had "Nice to meet you, my names Amy." And with that, they all made their way through the facility. The mysterious man had failed to say his name and since he wanted to be able to thank the person that rescued him, Alan asked him by the stairwell "Hey, what's your name?" Alan said as they reached the next floor "My name is Alex Hatsune, now hurry the chopper should be here soon." he said, running down the hall. "What about my friends?" Alex turned around to face the Mkaijot "They are waiting for us at HQ, I already freed them from the convoy you were in but you were being guarded too heavily for me to get you." They kept running until an alarm came on "Dammit, looks like someone saw us!" Alan looked out the window and saw a helicopter hovering next to it "Follow me!" Alex said and started to charge the window with his gun in front of him. He threw his gun at the window; the glass shattering and Alex jumping out the hole in the glass, grabbing onto the lip of the helicopters cab. Alan got a running start and Amy followed suit. They made it a bit more gracefully landing onto metal of the helicopter floor. Amy went over and helped Alex up to the platform. The pilot began to fly off and peaked his head out "I know she's not the prettiest, but she'll take a beating." He said. Alan sighed and replied to him "if she flies, then I'm okay with it." As they flew away, Alan saw the mines he toiled in for those long, bitter, and painful years and wished they were set ablaze. His tail wagged at the thought of them in flames while he basked in the glow of the light coming from the fire. Alan continued the dream and wished it was a reality, knowing that it just may be. "Hey, you did good Alan." Amy said patting Alan on the back. Alan looked up and smiled back at her, Amy seemed to have this quality about her that Alan really liked but he couldn't figure it out yet. "Thank you, and thank you Alex for saving me from that place." Alex had nodded off but he knew what Alan said.

It may have been a few hours of flying but it felt more like a day until Alan saw the trees thin out to reveal a large city. Tall skyscrapers and large plumes of white smoke filled the air near the outskirts while the former dominated the center of the city. Alan was amazed, never knowing of the world outside of the slave camp and as they reared the large chopper down, he was even more surprised by the mass of Mkaijot moving down the street. They were not bound by collar or chain but they still were treated like slaves by the PEMC, and their new enforced hostility laws make it so that if an officer or member of the PEMC is shown being kind to a Mkaijot; then the man and the Mkaijot are beat till death or the person giving the beating tires of it. Tom had explalined these in depth, he had showed them the marks of these beatings on his back and chest. The helicopter blades started to slow as the pilot made his descent. "Here we are, main base." Amy said sighing, looking glad to be home.

As the helicopter landed on a decrepit building in downtown Hoikoto, the three got out and stepped onto the roof. "This is the command central for the resistance; it's also the hospital." Pavlo the Pilot said over the mike. He was a Labrador Mkaijot and spoke in a thick Eastern European accent; from what Tom told him the accents were called. As they stepped down from the stairs and next to a camouflaged net covered doorway, two men in olive green and black clothing walked up. "Let me introduce ourselves, I'm Lt. Desmond and this is Col.Barry. We are the leaders of the resistance. If you would please, may we continue our introduction and tour inside?" Desmond motioned to the netted door. "Amy! Thank goodness you're okay!" Barry said running over to the Mkaijot woman "Yes, just another operation, but if it wasn't for Alex or Alan...well, I would still be there." Barry nodded and entered through the doors with Desmond and the other three bringing up the rear. Alan had a few questions on his mind "Sir, can you tell me something? How was the resistance founded?" Alan said following the Arctic Fox and White Tiger Mkaijot through another set of doors that were at this time no more than a frame and a large piece of sheet metal "Sure, after the initial arrival of the PEMC or Private Earth Mining or Mercenary Corporation, the Government agreed to let them use the mines under a fair trade agreement." Desmond said, continuing down the hallway to the elevator. "That didn't stop them from being greedy, they took all the minerals and there was an "accident", causing 100 people, our people, to be killed by an excavator and trapping countless others in there." Barry interrupted Desmond, who was getting quite worked up about the subject "The PEMC took no responsibility, of course." as the elevator squeaked to a halt, Desmond calmed down enough to speak again "Yes, and the President was furious, he called for total war. Battle preparations were made...but we had no idea what they could do. We were massacred, the military forced into slavery or medical experiments." Desmond said, walking to a door "Or killing innocents to force us to surrender." Desomond opened the door marked 'dead ward'. Alan braced himself but nothing could prepare him for what he saw.

Countless civilians were there, all injured horribly or dead. Women and children made up the majority of the mass, most of them skin and bone like Alan "This is what happens to us when we try to do anything, they kill 'free' civilians to get back at us and then force many of the others into those horrid labor camps or the mines." Desmond said, gritting his teeth. "So, we were forced into this position of mainly doing S and D, black operations, you know, things to weaken moral in the PEMC ranks." Alan balled his fists in a fit of anger. Barry put his hand on his shoulder and talked to him "That's why we try and do what we can before they kill any more of them. You should see the dirt we have on almost every officer and all the files we have on every single slave to help them escape." Barry continued. "Let me show you the special operations team that you will be joining soon for a mission." Desmond motioned to the barracks. They walked through the door and the barracks were nothing short of alive with the energy coursing through the area.

"Agents Vulpe and Lupine are out on a sabotage mission right now, so we still have most of the agents here, along with a few very helpful individuals." Desmond said, leading the group around like a tour guide. "This is Agent Jamie and Fred, the twins." he said, pointing to the two Foxes cleaning rifles and handguns. "This is Henry, the heavy weapons specialist." Desmond said, pointing at a heavy set wolf dog. "We also have our trusty gun supplier; know as "the Jackal". Barry said, pointing at a heavily bandaged Jackal Mkaijot taking guns out of their crates. The fox wolf thought he heard whispered before he was tackled to the ground from behind by a familiar sounding ferret "Alan! I thought you were dead or even worse! Some guy named Alex let us go and said that he would return with you, and here you are!" Alan tried to get up but she had him pretty pinned "Yes, and it would be good if I could see you and not just the floor!" Alan said with his muzzle against the floor "Sorry!" She said and got off of him. Alan got up and could hardly contain himself when he saw everyone still alive and well, the Assassin and Tom included. Strangely Sam was nowhere to be seen, and Alan wondered that as he was pulled away from them by the two leaders of the resistance "Well" Alan said after leaving his friends in the barracks "this seems nice, but why do you need us? Aren't there more capable people then a few escaped slaves?" Alan said questioning his 'tour guides'. "We need people who lived in those hell holes and knew everything about them." Desmond said, motioning over to the plans on the table. "We need an artifact that is buried under one of these mines." he says pointing to the map, a similar mine to the one they had escaped from.

"So, you need me to lead you around a place I never wanted to see again so long as I lived?" Alan paused for a second "hmm...I'll do it, so long as I can see the place in flames." The mention of fire made the husky's ears perk up. "I heard your looking for a man to burn something, I'll help." Henry said, grabbing a large machine gun. "Good, Alan here needs training. Twins, you teach him battlefield tactics, Henry you teach him demolitions and weapon handling, Jackal, help him with his weapon cleaning and maintaining classes. And Tom can teach you more ways of Melee and hand to hand combat, plus I do want you to meet another one of the members that said he knew you." Desmond said looking pleased. "So I take it that my friends and I are part of the resistance?" Alan said, touching the sidearm he recived with the letters URLF carved into it. "Son, you were a part of this the moment you were born, all were doing is giving you training." Barry said patting Alan's shoulder. "But you need to be given the tattoo to be officially part of the special operative forces." Barry held up his left forearm and showed Alan the Mkaijot tribal bands that stood for "Rise and overcome". Alan looked around and could not believe it; a whole resistance was rooted in this multi-story high rise. "If we could continue, I would love to show you our doctor and finally the war room." Desmond said, motioning to the sealed rooms.

All of them except for Alex entered, staying because he left something for Alan in his office and needed to go get it. "Now, I would like you to meet our resident doctor Ludwig Van Otterson." Barry said showing him to a dark office that on the walls were pictures of various bodily organs and a few charts of Mkaijot inner structures. "Ah...A new patient ja?" A German Sheppard stepped out from the darkest corner and simply sat down next to Alan. "Sorry about ze lighting in here, ze bulbs are acting very strange lately. I see you escaped from a slave camp ja? Ze tag in your arm, it means nothing to you no?" Alan nodded and he quickly cut it off "Zere! No more tag, and overall you look as healthy as a new born cub." Alan honestly was creeped out by this guy and Barry knew that it was high time to get him away from there. "I think Alan needs to come along to see our other features now, later you can give him the physical exam for his admission to FOX-PACK " Desmond said feeling Alan's vibe to get away from the doctor also."Okay, just be sure to get him back to me in one piece Ja!" He said as the group left the creepy German's office. "Does that guy creep either one of you two out?" Both of them looked at the Mkaijot and nodded very slowly to him. "Thought so." The trio kept moving until they made it to a circular room with multitudes of panels and monitors. "This is the heart of resistance and all the operations we do. No one except the special teams has seen the inside of this room ever, so be proud that a one day recruit like yourself is here!" Desmond said showing Alan everything in here is also not to be touched unless you know how to work it. Barry took him to a large monitor that filled from the ceiling to the ground; it was the entire map of the planet. "Our two operatives are here; Lupine and Vulpe are code names for a few of the members of FOX-PACK. Right now they are on a mission to sabotage a petrol depot in the Ro'kane Forest." Barry looked worried when a small triangle disappeared from the map. "What happened to Vulpe? Lupine come in now!" The next few seconds the radio was quiet until something started to talk "We...under fire at the depot....man...everywhere, come help!" The garbled transmission stopped and we saw the next blip disappear from sight. "Alan, you need to get to the armory and suit up for combat. The two agents need your help and they need it now, dismissed!" Desmond said before tending to the mike to tell FOX-PACK their orders.

END OF CHAPTER 2