Nikolai breathed heavily, calming his nerves so he could think. His tail stood stock still against his back, thankfully the rather large rock behind him hid it well. If anything, it was his greatest weakness in battle, but also his greatest pride. For some reason that no one really knew, Squirrels like him have a tendency to gain self esteem from a large or well-groomed tail. Just part of the psyche that emerged from some of the fur species. Go figure.
He loosened his grip and expanded his hearing as his ears twitched to try and catch what was going on around him, his mind eventually settling down on what Frank had yelled over the explosions. "Sub-humans". Nikolai didn't know whether to let the comment hurt, or pride himself in knowing that being human was something he never would want. Either way, it still cut. 'Sub humans' were cockroaches, not furs. And this comment made it seem that to Frank, there was no difference.
The four men who were coming to retrieve Frank were now reduced to two, the other two having quickly fallen at the hands of Gizor's well-aimed shots. But when the damage was done, the remaining two had now met up with Frank and formed a tight group with him and the Mech. One immediately helped Frank with his medpack, and the other kept a scope out on the surrounding area to catch the furs. That is, until an order came in. Patched in through radio, the two men and Frank (who was already connected to the source) would get a quick order. "Hold position, we have a satellite image and are ready to strike the furries."
Scott Williamson was laughing inside, but a cold iciness on the outside. By the looks of the satellite, they had 3 furries, and one mech unit. A squirrel with a piercing laser, a lizard, perhaps chameleon based on how difficult it was to see, a Fox, and a winged mech, who to him was an UMW. He couldn't tell which of the three furs was a squad leader, but the UMW was on their side by the looks of it. He flipped the switch.
A light scream seemed to echo through the rocky desert, and those paying attention the skies would notice a streak of red, then another, coming over a hill. Satellite-guided Mortars. One aimed at the Squirrel, one aimed at the lizard. The arced through the sky, then began their descent.
Nikolai was ready to turn and fire again, assured that his position was secret now by the fact he hadn't been shot at yet. Because of his position enclosed in the rocks, he had yet to hear the far-off scream of the mortars. But as he peeked around the corner, he had less than a second to analyze the situation. He didn't. He just moved.
And a good decision it was, as the scream reached a climax as it came closer, as Nikolai kicked with his powerful legs, and dived to another rock, his tail flowing behind him and his paws stretched forward as the mortar struck the large rock, obliterating it. Nikolai could feel the very heat of the explosion at his foot-paws and tail, and his back was soon pelted by a million small pebbles that had shot up from the blast. He landed in a black mass of pain and blood.
They were outgunned, outmanned, and out positioned. What was supposed to be a secret extraction was quickly turning into a suicide mission. When the mortars began to fire, General Whitney began to worry. Perhaps he should have not risked this mission, but still, the information that Miercole could hold might be a key factor in this war, and it was an even bigger risk to leave her behind.
When Nikolai opened his eyes, he found he was quite unharmed, save for a scratch on the head from his rather awkward frontward landing. The scratch bleed a bit onto his fur and the ground, but he was okay. Where he had landed was behind another rock, and a small crater was formed at his previous position, still smoking.
Nikolai tried to make himself as small as possible, perhaps hoping that the enemy would think of him as obliterated. Unbeknown to him however, the rock was not exceedingly large, and try as he might, his tall, bushy tail's fur still stuck out over the top, even when he arced it over his back.
Topic: The Draft (Read 9050 times)