𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙻𝙳 𝚂𝙾 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙳

Begin Phase One

Victor's eyes slowly open, feeling drafts of cold air flooding into the tent. Lifting his head from a makeshift pillow, his eyes adjust to the sight of the entrance flaps fluttering in the wind, the sound of it howling through the landscape. He blinks to clear his eyes and sees Aiyanna still slumbering to his side. Victor brings himself off his back, rubbing the backside of his head.

"Ugh...what time is it?" Victor grumbles softly to himself, slowly proceeding to exit the tent. Still wearing his boots, he stands up at the entrance of the tent and looks up to the sky above. A violent overcast sky races over their position. He then looks away from the encampment and sees Zeus standing at the lookout point. Victor then brings his hood over his head and his face covering back up.

Zeus's ear flicks at the sound of Victor's boots crushing the snow. Bringing a pair of high-powered binoculars down from his face, he turns his head around to see Victor approaching his side.

"Morning, sergeant." He says coldly, looking back out to the town, bringing the binoculars back up.

"Morning, captain." Victor responds, nodding his head and stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets.

"A storm is rolling in." Zeus says, observing the facility in the far-off distance.

"It could be the perfect cover for infiltrating the town." Victor responds, looking up to the clouds above.

"It could." Zeus replies.

The two stood in silence once again. After a few minutes, Zeus suddenly breaks it.

"What does Aiyanna see in you?" He asks.

Victor, caught off guard by the question, clears his throat. "Uh, sir?"

"I mean. I asked her out so many times, but she flat out rejects. You show up after one day and she can barely handle herself around you." Zeus replies, letting out a soft sigh.

Clearing his throat nervously once more, he tried to come up with the best possible answer to the hot seat he was suddenly in.

"I hear that some anthro women have... preferences. I don't think it'd be the first time between the two of us that we've seen that happen."

Zeus then lets out a soft grumble. "No, it's not."

"If it's any consolation, sir. I put this mission first and foremost. And to be frank, I didn't think you two had history. She kind of surprised me a bit." Victor then says, placing his hand on the back of his head.

"Gah. Just forget about it, sergeant. I'm not a jealous man, anyway. Just keep your ass focused on the ball." Zeus says.

"Aye, aye, captain." Victor says.

The two stood at the lookout point in silence once again. Eventually, the sound of crunching boots strikes their ears. Victor and Zeus turn their gaze around to see Volkov approaching them.

"Privet, gentlemen." He says, standing in between the two.

"Morning, lieutenant." Zeus says, turning his body back around.

"What is the plan?" Volkov then asks.

"Use this storm as cover to get into town. Apparently, the power grid is down. We still have about an eight-mile hike to the town, so we have to get there and find some abandoned building to wait out this storm." Zeus replies.

"Wait, there is no power in the town?" Volkov asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Affirmative, sir." Victor answers. "Completely dark except for some lamp posts."

"That could only mean one thing." Volkov says, looking over to Zeus.

"Aye, lieutenant. But we can't get distracted. That base is still our top priority in this operation." Zeus, says, bringing his binoculars back down.

"Naturally." Volkov responds.

"So, when are we heading out?" A voice then says. The three turn their gaze around to see Daniel approaching them, adjusting his pack on his back.

"Is Aiyanna awake?" Zeus asks, turning off his binoculars.

"Yeah, like the slow poke she is." Daniel responds.

"Victor, tell her to double time it. We gotta get on the move." Zeus says, putting his binoculars in his pack. Victor nods, jogging back to the encampment. He had noticed all the tents have been broken down except for Aiyanna's.

He kneels down in front of the tent and pulls the flaps apart, seeing Aiyanna stretching her arms as she sat on the ground.

"Morning, Ms. Pershing." Victor says, watching her.

She lets out a soft groan as she stretched. "This ground is gonna end up killing my back." She says, bringing her arms down and rubbing her eyes.

"A storm is rolling through. Zeus is ordering us to move out. Want me to break this tent down for you?" Victor asks.

"If you could be such a gentleman." She giggled softly through her sleepy daze.

"It'd be my pleasure." Victor says before standing up and beginning to untie the knots that held the tent up on its posts. Aiyanna crawls out from the tent and stands up, bending over to stretch her back. Victor stared at her for a moment, his fingers fumbling with the knots. Aiyanna straightens her back and glares behind her to Victor. "You're easily distractable." She smirks as she then proceeded to stroll over to the others, her tail swishing.

Victor chuckles and unties the knots, breaking down the tent.

"What if we encounter any of them while in town?" Daniel asks, looking to Volkov.

"Evasive protocol. If anything, they might believe we are just part of the local resistance." Volkov answers.

"They would tell we aren't just by looking at us." Daniel then says.

"We will not give them that chance. There has to be an empty building in that town. We find it, and hole up till the storm passes. I would rather not risk one our own dying in a blizzard." Volkov replies, looking over to Daniel.

"You mean Victor? He's a tough nut. If he could survive basic, he can handle some snow."

"It's not that. This storm will last for a few days. We can't stay out here all that time, and that base is still about a few days' worth of hiking." Zeus replies.

As the three were conversing, Aiyanna walked around Daniel's side and looked down to the earth, seeing her rifle still on the ground.

"Oh, come on, Dan. You just left it sitting here?" Aiyanna whines softly, crouching down next to her rifle, retracting the bipod and lifts the firearm up.

"Hey, I didn't wanna carry that thing around. I'm letting you take care of it."

"Still." Aiyanna said with a pout, wiping off the snow that accumulated on the rifle.

After another minute or two, Victor returns to the group, his pack and carbine around his back and carrying Aiyanna's pack with him in his hand. She smiled as she watched him set down her pack next to her before picking it up herself and puts it on her back.

"Alright. We got a long walk ahead of us. Let's roll out." Zeus says, adjusting his pack and proceeds to walk down the hilly mountainside, the others following behind.