Keep in mind, LINCE is prononunced "Lin-say"

Anyways, on to the chapter.

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"The ZPD are the city's law enforcements. They're tasked to protect Zootopia and make it a better place."

The Delta operatives were heading their way to Alpha's position. They ran as fast as they could before the insurgents would kill them all. Wolford still wants some answers from them.

As they were walking, Lince kept the radio on to check the status of Alpha patrol. All they could hear were gunfire coming from either side of the parties and a few shouts. The same person from the patrol was heard again.

"Mayday, mayday. This is Alpha patrol, requesting immediate assistance. Is anyone out there?"

The team then hear the gunfire nearby, meaning that they were now close. Lince spoke up. "Alpha, if you can hear me, we're approaching your position."

"Oh fuck...thank fuckin' christ someone answered." The person replied, in relief when she answered.

"Are you hurt? Is anyone else with you?" Lince asked.

"There's four of us now. Martzen is dead. The Insurgents have us surrounded. We're okay, but we're running out of ammo. We can't keep them back for much longer." He explained.

Lince nodded and said, "Okay, stay cool. We're almost there."

"Just hurry, please!"

The Delta operatives then move up until they reached the area where alpha patrol is located. There were a few buildings present, half of it buried by the sand. Lince, being in front - gestured to Wolford and Adel to stop as she scanned the area.

Using her sniper, she saw about 25 insurgents surrounding a half- buried six story apartment building, all were firing at it. She could also see there was gunfire exchanged inside the building. That must be Alpha. She also saw there was a dead Leopard Officer a few meters away from the firefight, which must've been Martzen.

"Lince, what do you got?" Wolford asked.

She answered. "The ZPD got themselves cooped up in that building." Lince pointed to the building that Alpha were in. "By the looks of it, they don't look too good. Some of the Insurgents are trying to breach themselves in."

"Then there's not much time left. Let's move!" Adel and Lince nodded as they followed Wolford to the half-buried apartment buildings, jogging their way there. When they reached the roads, they stopped as the insurgents were still busy firing on that building, un-aware of Delta's presence behind them.

"Looks like they don't know we're here. We should equip our silencers." Adel suggested.

"Good call." Wolford agreed with it. He then took out the silencer armament and put it on the barrel of his M4A1. Meanwhile, Lince and Adel took out their pistols and put silencers on them too.

The trio slowly move in to the Insurgents. Wolford had his target on a lone Lycaon. Since he was close, Wolford pull out his knife and slowly crept behind him. He then covered the dog's mouth before slicing his throat. One down, twenty four to go.

Adel and Lince pick their own targets. Adel took aim and killed two of the hostiles - a camel and an Oryx, while Lince took out two more, a fennec fox and a dingo. Wolford took aim with his M4A1 and shot a ram insurgent. About six hostiles were already down as they slowly make their way to the building, unnoticed.

Just as they were about to take out more of the insurgents, one of them - a female brown rabbit, heard them coming and turned to where they were, thanks to her supernatural hearing.

"Behind us!" The rabbit fired her Micro 9mm before being put down by Wolford. That did not stop for the rest of the insurgents to know of Delta's presence.

Wolford cursed in his head before shouting, "We're spotted, go loud!" Adel and Lince both nod and switch to their signature weapons while Wolford removed his silencer. Four insurgents turned from the Officers by the building to the Delta operators as they fire their guns at them.

The Operatives returned fire, with Wolford able to take out one of them. Bullets whizzed pass his fur as he quickly duck down. He peek back and saw that two more insurgents joined in with heavier firepower.

"Priority target - Take him out!" Wolford ordered, pointing at a Bear insurgent with a machine gun.

"On it!" Lince replied, pulling out her sniper rifle as she then shoot the bear. After that, Wolford and Adel stood up and take out the rest of the insurgents. Two more had appeared from the roof of the building. Lince took notice of it and use her sniper to take out one of them. Wolford shift his aim to the other rooftop insurgent, a Raccoon, as he then shoot him between his eyes.

"We have to find a way inside the building." Wolford said, searching for any possible entrances free from insurgents.

"I think there was a fire escape at the left side." Adel responded. Wolford and Lince then followed him to the left side of the apartment building. Then they saw there was stairs that led to the inside. No insurgents were in sight aswell.

Just then, the door was kicked open, prompting the Delta operatives to aim their guns at it. To their relief, they saw that the Mammal was a ZPD Zebra officer. He was clutching his bleeding arm, looking like he had escaped the firefight inside. Seeing that he needed assistance, Lince called out to him.

"Hey, over here!"

The Zebra officer heard her call and turned to her, smiling that help has arrived. He then tried to make a run for it, going down the stairs and to the Operatives. Suddenly, a Tiger insurgent appeared behind him with a shotgun in hand. The Delta ops didn't had time to react as the Tiger shot the Zebra officer, the latter falling forward into the sand.

"Shit!" Wolford exclaimed, before unleashing half a mag to the shotgun tiger as his body then fell backwards on to the ground. He then goes to check on the Zebra officer. Though by the looks of his shotgun wound at his back, he was already dead.

"We can't let more officers die." Wolford declared before gesturing to his team to enter the apartment. Lince and Adel went to the door and breached in the apartment. Wolford then followed suit as his team were met with gunfire by the insurgents inside. They were now by one of the hallways, with insurgents firing from the rooms.

"They're using shotguns!" Lince exclaimed.

"Stay frosty. Use your flashbangs!" Wolford responded.

Adel took a peek, dodging a shotgun blast in the process, before he took out his flashbang and throw it to them. It stunned three of the insurgents as the Jaguar peek out and fired at them.

The team then went to each rooms, checking for any stragglers inside. When Wolford checked the fourth door, a stray bullet almost hit him. He retaliated by firing back at the insurgent, easily. Delta had finished searching the floor. There were no signs of the officers, but they still hear gunfire from below and above them.

"Adel. You go downstairs and take care of the rest of the insurgents." Adel nodded as Wolford turned to Lince. "Lince, you're with me upstairs." The lynx nod aswell. The team then split up as Adel went down to the third floor while Wolford and Lince went to the fifth floor.

Wolford and Lince made pace to the fifth floor. The two then stack up by the wall as Wolford peeked through the hallway. He saw three of the insurgents that were gathering up near a door. There was also a deer officer that was held hostage by them. Though it didn't last long before the Lion insurgent shoots him dead.

"Come out, so we can kill you easily!" The Lion shouted to the room infront of them.

"Don't be a coward!" Another insurgent (Elk deer) taunted.

Wolford realized that one of the cops must be hiding in that room. After seeing those two cops killed infront of him, he would not allow for this one to die aswell.

"Lince, flash 'em." Wolford ordered, quietly.

Lince gave him a nod before taking out her flashbang. She peeked before throwing it to the insurgents. When the grenade landed between the group, the Lion looked down to it.

"What the-"

His voice was cut off as the flashbang stunned them all. The two Delta ops then moved in and shoot them. Wolford took down the Lion insurgent and the other insurgent (Badger), while Lince shifted to the Elk deer and shot him between his eyes. They all went down before they even got the chance to fire back.

When the coast was clear, Wolford and Lince move up to the room where the supposed cop was hiding. The room looks like your typical apartment room with a bed, living area, kitchen and a bathroom. It was also an average size, fit for any medium-sized mammals like Wolford and Lince.

"Hello? We know you're in here." Wolford called out to the cop as he goes inside the room with Lince on his tail. There was no response. Maybe the cop still thinks that they're the insurgents outside.

"Don't worry, help has arrived." Lince said, waiting for any response.

They heard a light gasp. "Wait, are you the girl on the radio?" The voice asked with Lince recognizing it too, which is the cop from the radio.

"Indeed i am. We took care of the Insurgents. You're safe now." She assured.

"Alright, i'm coming out.." The two then saw the bathroom door opened as the officer walked out. They saw that the officer was a white-furred wolf with brown eyes and pointy ears. The Wolf officer was smiling that he was being rescued, but soon it dropped when he noticed that the two were not ZPD officers.

"Wait, you're not the ZPD." He said, looking at their clothing.

Wolford stepped in and clarified. "We're Delta force of the Ragunan Military. We came here to help survivors, but then we heard your distress call, so we came to help."

"A rescue force?" The wolf queried, earning nods from the two Delta ops.

"My name is Captain Wolford, and this is Staff Sergeant Lince." Wolford introduced as Lince waved at him. "What's yours, Officer?"

"Officer Howler. Gary Howler, but you can call me Gary." He said, then he starts to wince in pain. Wolford then noticed that Gary has an injury on his legs.

"Lince." He gestured to Lince to take care of the injury, which she obliged.

She then gestured at Gary to sit by the bed while she inspects the wound. There were a few bullet holes that struck his feet, along with some scratch marks and bits of sand around. "Jeez, they got you good." Lince commented.

"Ya think?" Gary remarked before wincing in pain again.

While that was happening, Wolford glanced at the cop. He was very glad that they had manage to save one of them from these Insurgents. With him alive, he could atleast inform the squad of what happened to the city after the storm. Most importantly, why did the Insurgents - or Survivors, were killing the ZPD Officers.

Wolford put those thoughts aside as he then contacted Adel, to see if he was successful on his floor.

"Adel, we rescued an Officer. How are you doing on your floor?"

"Good news: All the insurgents are dead. There were only two of them. Bad news; the Officer was already killed by them. Bastards butchered the poor cop."

Wolford sighed. "Dammit." And that was three cops that were now dead, because they were too late. That leaves Gary to be the only survivor of Alpha. "Okay then. Rendezvous back at the fourth floor. Check the area if there are any stragglers around.

"Roger."

Wolford turned off the radio, looking back to Lince. "You get him in shape, we'll wait for you downstairs."

"Yes, sir." With that, Wolford left the room, leaving Lince to treat Gary's wounds. The timber wolf walk over the three dead insurgents by the entrance. He stopped to look at them as he shook his head. He still didn't like killing his fellow Zootopians, but as the Military had told to him; 'If an enemy tries to kill you, you kill them first', in Self-defense that is. Doesn't make it easier for his morals, but that's how it works.

He then head over to the stairs and went back to the fourth floor, where he then saw Adel waiting for him.

"Did you check the area?" Wolford inquired.

"Building's clear, so does the outside. Think we killed all the Insurgents." Adel explained. "So, you said you rescued one of the officers?"

Wolford nodded. "Yeah, Lince's treating him. He's hurt pretty bad, but he'll live." The wolf then let out a sigh, getting the Jaguar's attention.

"Something wrong, Wolford?" He asked, concerned.

"Nothing. It's just those officers didn't deserved to die. We could've save them all."

"I understand that, Captain." Adel replied. "But there really was nothing we could do. We didn't even know they were killing coppers in the first place until we found out."

"I guess so." Wolford said gloomily, while looking down.

They both then heard grunting coming out of upstairs. They turned to the stairs to see Lince assisting the injured officer, with an arm around his shoulder as they slowly walk down the stairs. Gary's injured leg limped the entire time, and every time they went down a step, it stings.

"Could you please go easy?" Gary complained.

Lince rolled her eyes. "Hey, this isn't easy as it is, k? If you want this to stop, i'll gladly let you go and watch you fall off and hurt yourself more." Hearing that threat, Gary shut himself afterwards, allowing Lince to carry him until they reached the floor. After that, she set him down, leaning behind the wall while he clutches his leg.

Gary glanced at Adel. "So there's three of you, huh?" He asked.

"Correct." Wolford said. "That's Lieutenant Adel."

"Sup." Adel said, which Gary greeted back. Then the Jaguar turned to the Timber wolf. "Hey, Wolford. Think it's a good time to call command? We did found survivors after all." He glanced to Gary at the last part.

Wolford nodded. "Think it is. Soon as Gary here heal up, we'll go back to the transmitter and call reinforcements."

"Wait, you can't!" Gary exclaimed, surprising the squad.

They all turned to him with puzzled looks. "Is there a reason why?" Wolford questioned.

Gary then explained. "I just remembered that before we got surrounded, i saw those bastards took Larry when we were ambushed."

"Larry?" Adel uttered.

"Yeah. He's my partner. We have to get him!" He winced again from the pain in his leg.

"Don't worry, we will." Wolford assured, kneeling down to him. "But first you need to tell me what happened here in this city."

"No!" Gary denied, shaking his head. "We have to rescue him, now. Those bastards are gonna kill him if we don't get there." He pleaded.

Wolford let out a sigh of defeat. "If that's what you want, then we'll do it." He then turned to Adel. "Adel, check outside for tracks." The Jaguar nodded and walked out of the building. Wolford then head over to Lince and gave her a needle shot. "This should ease the pain for him." Lince grabbed the shot and knelt down to Gary's leg.

"Is it gonna hurt?" Gary asked, worried.

"For a few seconds." Wolford assured. "But after that, the pain would be gone. When it does, go grab a weapon and some ammo - you're coming with us."

"I was planning to." Gary said before he let out a grunt when Lince deliver the shot to his injured leg.

"There we go. You should be fixed up in no time." Lince smiled while wiping her dusty hands. Wolford then head outside to see Adel searching area around the apartment for any tracks left by the Insurgents. He then knelt down and searched the sandy ground with his paw.

"Got anything?" Wolford asked, walking over to him.

"Multiple tracks up north." Adel informed pointing to the said direction.

"Good. We'll follow them as soon as Gary's all healed up and ready." He gestured back to the building.

"Gotta ask, though, Wolford. Why are you bringing the cop along?"' Adel asked, about Gary.

"You have your doubts, Lieutenant?" Wolford questioned.

"A bit. I just don't think it is safe to bring him along after what happened here." Adel glanced to the dead insurgents and police officers. "You know what these people had done to those cops? What they done to that Oryx back at the transmitter? This is something what we military guys should do, and not the civilian law enforcements."

"I know what you mean, Adel. But right now Gary is the only one here that can tell us what happened here. I still want to know why the survivors are killing the ZPD." Wolford explained. "Besides, he told us that his partner - Larry, is in trouble. When we rescue him, he could also tell us about the current situation."

"Whatever you say, Wolford." Adel then glanced behind him. "Speaking of which."

Wolford turned around and saw that Gary had recovered from his injury and was walking out of the apartment with Lince beside him. He equipped himself with a pistol, holding it firmly by his paws. When they walked out, he glanced at the dead Zebra officer. The wolf let out a sad growl, knowing that his team were all killed, all except Larry.

Lince and Gary move up with Wolford and Adel, the latter informed to them where the insurgents have went, somewhere up north. Gary may know where Larry is being taken. He said it is a place called "The Nest", which is exactly up north from where they are. Wolford gave him a nod before turning to his team.

"Alright, guys. New objective; we head north and rescue another fellow officer in distress." He declared. "Gary, you take point." The Delta Squad, and Gary, began their path up north - to the place where Larry is being held hostage by the insurgents.

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The Delta operators have managed to save one of the Alpha patrol members. He then told them the insurgents had taken another officer hostage into a place called "The Nest". With another objective on their heads, they head north to save him. At the same time, Wolford needs some answers on what has happened here.

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