Operation Shattered Quiver

It was midway through the interrogation that one of the two foxes was very abruptly interrupted by a communications alert on his wrist. It was the grey fox, Darken, the one conducting the interview that had received it, and he nearly jumped out of his seat, knocking the sub wrapper off of the small coffee table. The simple fwoosh of his smart watch had broken the otherwise quiet interior of the room.

"Goddamnit." The grey fox, still dressed in his combat uniform, muttered, checking the message to see what could be so damn important.

The scientist read what he could from the simple notification as it appeared on his wrist, which was enough to pique his attention to read the full mesage. "Uh, sorry Sam... I... may need to just read this very quickly." He said, flicking the icon to the right to open up the watch's interface.

The grey fox's cold blue eyes darted about on the small screen, soaking up the information that had very rudely alarmed him mid conversation. After the initial disruption, the fox had calmed, although the more he read of the information, the more he built back up into that feeling of alarm. It read thusly;

Researcher Darken; Nuclear Physics division


This urgent notification is directed to you by Scorpion Team, pertaining to a critical situation involving an inventory error with the GUN ICBM storage type list. 


According to the International GUN ICBM storage inventory, 3 Nuclear warheads were designated to be transferred from site 7[Rail Canyon, North UZA] to site 13[Pumpkin Hill, North UZA], 2 Nuclear warheads were designated to be transferred from site 23[Grand Metropolis, South UZA] to site 38[Frog Forest, South UZA], 3 Nuclear warheads were designated to be transferred from site 35[Soleanna] to site 49[Dragon Falls], and 2 Nuclear warheads were designated to be transferred from site 51[Restless Coastside] to site 53[South Oceans DARR Seismic Facility]. 


Due to an inventory error, the automated facilities for the receiving of these items was damaged and only 9 of the 10 warheads are accounted for. All warheads were to be sent to site 98[Green cave] for inspection prior to their delivery at their designated destination. We are not sure which of the warheads has gone missing.


You have been received this critical notification because of your background with Nuclear crises, specifically pertaining to the Fenris City Nuclear Prototype Crisis. Scorpion team has requested an expert head the investigation. You will be required to head to site 51[Restless Coastside] for collection of an armed crew of members from Scorpion team, as well as coordination of the investigation.

The grey fox clenched his teeth and grumbled silently through his locked jaw, "Sam, we're going to have to go for a trip. Seeing as you're still technically under my custody, not GUN's. And..." He lowered his voice, "This may be a way out for you."

Darken turned his wrist so the screen was facing Sam, and allowed him to read the alert.

Sam shrugged at the apology, snickering at Darken’s jump at the noise. “Take all the time you need, Darken.” He said, yawning slightly, watching Darken appear to be slightly disturbed by whatever he was reading on the watch. Probably something to do with science... Regardless, Sam took a sneak look at his phone, confirming that it had indeed finished the recalibration of his boots and gloves.

When Darken spoke to him, however, Sam raised an eyebrow slightly at the words ‘this may be a way out for you’. Sam read the alert, his eyes narrowing slightly. As he finished reading the alert, Sam leaned back into the couch he was on and sighed. “Well... This is certainly quite the situation... Not my first time dealing with weapons of the nuclear variety though... Anyways...” Sam trailed off, rolling his eyes as he thought about the alert. “...Yeah, I dunno if I’m gonna be any help. Maybe if there’s something to drive, I guess?” Sam said, seemingly unconcerned at the fact that nuclear weapons were missing. In truth, he was just a little bit concerned, although he had more than enough training in staying cool under pressure to show it.

“So, Darken... Where we headed?” Sam asked, standing up and tugging on his glove to make sure it was on right before stretching.

The grey fox heard that this was not Sam's first time dealing with nuclear incidences, and nodded quietly, although the scientist wasn't entirely sure if the freelancer's inference was towards the fact he'd been sent here by some kind of nuclear explosion, or if he'd perhaps had some... personal encounters with this sort of thing before. If it was the former, than Darken certainly had some apprehension in getting the newcomer involved. Being thrown from your home by some MOAB just might be slightly on the traumatic side of things. If it was the latter, however, then researcher certainly understood.

The alert itself was rather ironic. "It's funny, actually. I'm not a nuclear physicist at all. You already know that's just my cover." Then he double checked the alert, "I think we've been called to head south-west past Adabat. Restless Coastside it's called. We've got a facility there. And we'll be meeting some of the 'Scorpion Team' that was supposed to be looking after this shit in the first place."

Which then reminded him. If this were to be the white fox's window of escape, then as much separation from GUN's ever-present gaze would make it all the more simple. That being said, he hoped that Sam's 'something to drive' included fighter jets.

"There might be something for you to do... How are you with planes?"

Sam listened to Darken’s explanation as to where they were headed, nodding along and tilting a head at ‘Scorpion Team’. “Seems like ‘Scorpion Team’ is some sort of Spec Ops outfit. Probably not gonna be happy that you’re being brought in, huh?” Sam asked, smirking slightly as he straightened his coat. “I might’ve never been a soldier, but when I was part of a PMC we didn’t really like someone we didn’t know ‘co-ordinating’ an op. Of course, the alert did say that they sent for you, so...” He shrugged as he looked down at one of his gloves, noticing that a strap was slightly out of place and fixing it, his own cyan eyes having some sort of bright spark in them, as if he was excited.

Sam frowned slightly as Darken asked if he could fly planes. He was trained to fly planes, but probably nothing in GUN’s inventory. Nevertheless, he nodded. “Yeah, I can fly planes. Well, only one type...” he said, his frown deepening slightly. “I doubt that GUN has any private jets, though. You know, those small, twin-engine jets that rich guys use to go to their private island?”

"Well yeah." The fox said, trailing off a little, "Even though they called me in, they're probably still gonna be dicks about it. It wasn't their fault et cetera, et cetera." It was a likely excuse that the grey fox was 'just being called in to fix the equipment' because after all 'if the equipment was working, then this mistake wouldn't have happened' but 'while you're here though, mind running a few errands?' classic.

Absolutely classic bullshit, everyone tried to spin it on him. And Darken couldn't exactly say no, he was a GUN monkey. The two pairs of cyan eyes met, but the grey fox didn't see the excitement in Sam's eyes. On the contrary in fact, if Sam were watchful, he might've seen the sleeplessness in the other's eyes.

"Well..." The scientist didn't exactly have something of the caliber Sam was talking about ready to go, but he might be able to organize something. "I had something like a fighter jet in mind, get us there faster yknow... but given there's a slim chance we might be picking up a missing nuke and hauling it to where it's supposed to be ourselves... I could possibly file for a carrier jet? Would be more akin to a commercial aircraft."

"Ah, yeah, I know how ya feel. Something messed up after a delivery? Blame the guy who transported it, not the guy who put it on the truck. Way easier than taking the blame yourself." Sam shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "Of course, my deliveries were almost always safe and sound."

Sam noted the sleeplessness, but decided not to bring it up. Darken probably knew he was tired, after all. Sam nodded enthusiastically with a smile at the question, giving a thumbs up. "Yeah, I can fly that! Just make sure that it doesn't explode in mid-flight, mmkay? I don't want to be transporting sensitive explosives that I don't know about. It's happened before..."

The small grey fox nodded quietly in agreement to his white companion. And as he listened to Sam's confirmation of his flying abilities, Darken took a moment to look at the other's suit. It seemed at first glance to be made of regular fabric... But then there was the issue at the front of the building with the metal detectors... and it seemed a little stiffer than the regular business suit. He was interested, but not dying to find out. It certainly looked nice, and if it offered some extra protection in Sam's 'line of work' then the grey fox thought such a thing would be nice for his lab coat.

The scientist gave Sam a nervous smile, "I'll have to see if there's a transporter that they're already needing sent over there" He flicked up a regular cellphone from his pocket and tapped quickly some numbers into it. "Come. I won't get a signal in here." Darken said, standing up and motioning for the two of them to leave the interrogation room.