TAMED

The Hound

Rapid gunfire thundered throughout the landscape. Nothing but dust, sand, and the occasional desert shrub to hide behind. The sun was merciless as it scorched the earth and anything on its surface. The screams and cries of the soldiers who fought through a wasteland of a battlefield could be heard for miles. This war had been raging for nearly twenty years...until today.

"Ready the Hounds!" General Mikaius bellowed. In that final hour, they had all but been wiped out. They'd been ordered not to use their plan B weapon unless absolutely necessary, but they'd lost more men this week than they had in the entire month of constant fighting. And today-today was the bloodbath that they'd feared would happen. This area was terrible, 60% enemy territory, and there was zero vantage to work with. There had been a plan, a plan with a high success outlook, but no one had expected the leak. Their position, the plan, the names of each soldier and the kind of weaponry they'd brought along, it had all gone to the other side. Now they were surrounded and had no hope left.

The only thing that could save them now were the Hounds, an experimental military project which had been in preparation for 19 years and hadn't been told to anyone, except General Makaius and Colonel Brant, his closest friend and most trusted.

Makaius unlocked the double doors on the back of a heavy loader truck, while Colonel Brant held a clicker device in his hand, each click commanding the creatures inside of what to do.

"Attention." The General ordered, and watched as 21 young men and women lined up side by side. Each wearing tactical, yet light, uniforms which were fully equipped. Each soldier held a fully automatic weapon on their backs, and each wore a concealing face mask. They stood at the ready, in complete silence, and completely still. Like a band of highly trained ninja, the group refused to move a muscle until given the order.

"Your orders are to kill on sight. Protect our men, and return back to us once at least 50% of our enemies are defeated or if they retreat. You have full freedom during this mission." He paused a moment to allow his words to sink in. "Release!" He finally barked out, clicking his own device at the order.

Without hesitation the group of Hounds leapt from the truck and dashed into the desert, rushing toward the frontlines. These soldiers were faster than the average human, and had quicker reflexes and response time to events around them. The two watched as the group of special ops grew further and further away.

"Permission to speak sir." Colonel Brant said after a moment.

"We're out in the middle of no-where, and we probably won't make it out alive if the Hounds aren't successful. So for now, call me James." The large, burly man replied with a weary sigh as he stood and waited.

The Colonel gave a half smile and crouched down in an attempt to soothe his aching feet. They'd known each other since kindergarten, so it wasn't too difficult to break protocol and loosen up.

"It's just...are you certain that using the Hounds was the right move? We brought them along as ordered, but they're brutal. They have no mercy, what happens if something goes wrong?"

The older man sighed and kept his gaze out toward the dunes.

"It's them or us Alex, those Hounds are gonna ensure we go home, those of us that are left...they just have to."

...

Levi stood near the door to the office, waiting for a chance to speak with a colleague from the crime division. Once again he was faced with the task of dealing with an issue regarding Dr. Loren. She was the head scientist at BB-BioWorks, the one who was always into the next new thing. Today, however, he had the pleasure of being in court to act as witness to a hearing regarding the new bioweapon 'Hound'. He wasn't sure just yet what it was exactly as the documentation was highly vague, of course, due to the classification of it all. Honestly, he was getting tired of this sort of work.