WWF

Six

"Am I to understand that he died because he jumped onto a roof and got shot through the head by an enemy sniper?" The elderly goat woman asks.

In a chair in front of her is Gwen, with the face of a deer that's been caught in the headlights.

"That is exactly what happened ma'am." Gwen replies.

"And why did he jump onto a roof?" The goat woman asks. She's a Lieutenant with the Fur Military Police. Her name is Lieutenant Brunhilde.

"He wanted to brag ma'am. He had this whole superiority complex thing and he must've done it to show me that he was a higher being than me." Gwen explains, awkwardly.

"Is that your assessment? And what about reports that you fought alongside a human?" Brunhilde asks, pushing up her thin reading glasses.

"I can say with confidence those are inaccurate. I got caught in a three way melee with a human and it just so happened we were focusing more on Clint than on each other." Gwen lies.

"I see. And what became of this human after the target's death?" Brunhilde continues her questions.

"He must've ran off. When I turned around he was gone." Gwen lies again.

"I have nothing more to ask you at the moment. You may leave." Brunhilde says, unlocking the door of the small interrogation room they're in.

With a quick thank you, Gwen hurriedly leaves the room.

"Took you long enough." Kyle says, pushing himself from the wall he was leaning on.

"I'm sorry." Gwen apologizes, her ears drooping.

"Oh stop busting her balls. She's already been told that she screwed up." Veera says as they pass her in the hall where she was waiting.

"In any case, we have a mission." Kyle says with a sigh.

"Already? We only just got back a few days ago." Gwen mumbles.

"What kind of mission is it anyway?" Veera asks.

"Don't know. We'll find out in the briefing room." Kyle responds.

In silence the three of them walk to the briefing room where they are met by a young female wolf.

"Commander." All three of them say as they suddenly stand up straight and give a formal salute.

Commander Cier Ysenwolf. She's the commander of a group stealth operatives called the Nightcrawlers.

"So, you're the ones they assigned to me huh? I knew you were shorthanded but this is just insulting." Cier says, rubbing her eyes.

Gwen is starting to feel annoyed and Veera looks like she's about to rip someone's throat out. Only Kyle looks calm.

"Oh well, you'll have to do." Cier comments after a short silence.

"I'll brief you." She says turning on the holographic projector. In front of them appear fourteen pictures of fourteen people, both human and fur. Three of them are crossed out and one of those three is Clint.

Gwen notices a picture of Ethan among them.

"Half a year ago it was decided that these fourteen individuals are a threat to national security both separately and in a group. We managed to apprehend three of them but unfortunately all three are now dead. Two commited suicide before we could question them and the last one was killed more recently after escaping." Cier explains.

"That's where you three come in. You are the first members of a task force I'm building, the purpose of which is to capture the remaining eleven on this list." She adds.

"If you don't mind me asking ma'am, but why not just send the Nightcrawlers after them?" Veera asks.

"Because this is a bit beneath their pay grade. In fact, the only reason I accepted this assignment was because the higher ups wanted someone with experience in covert ops." Cier replies.

"Who's our first target?" Kyle asks, sending Veera a sharp look.

"This guy, Ethan Wilks." Cier replies, enlarging Ethan's image so that it now fills the entire screen.

"According to our intel him and his unit will be traveling along a conveniently long empty road in about five days. You are going to ambush them. I'd like to accompany you but unfortunately I do still have my duties with the Nightcrawlers as well the old men in charge to attend to. I'll be trusting you to get this done." Cier says, looking Gwen straight in the eye.

"Will we be receiving any backup?" Kyle asks.

"Yes. I will be adding one more member to your squad. Unfortunately that's all I could get my hands on after our fuck up at the front lines a few days ago. Can you believe that we lost three towns in a single day?" Cier responds, rubbing her temples.

"Well you're dismissed." She adds after a few seconds of awkward silence.

As they leave Gwen can't help but feel suspicious. The entire time it almost felt like the things that woman was saying were fake, almost as if she was upholding an image. Like an actress playing her role.

And the fact that all three people they managed to capture died before they could be questioned on the record was a bit odd. Not to mentioned that she knew where one of her targets would be five days in advance. 

Gwen couldn't help but distrust that woman. Even her instincts had yelled at her to run the moment she saw her. But more than distrust she felt fear. She was terrified of Cier Ysenwolf.