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Sonoma sniffs. "There's no other wolf I'd trust with my life this way, Holstein. Nawat's the best scout I've ever seen and I've seen some damn fine ones. Either way, I'll be leading the first wave, so if anyone gets blown up it's going to be me. So yeah, I trust his judgment."

Four burly wolves you recognize as Sonoma's personal guard fall in to her left and right while you join Tiva and Bly along with two other wolves in preparation for your turn to leap over the fence. Wasting no time, Sonoma's team bursts out of the forest-cover at a full run, their wolf forms darting across the field and leaping over the chain-link barrier almost effortlessly. Two other teams make the run before it's your turn, and as you drop to all fours you hear the first cracks of gunfire from the first floor of the HSM base.

"Ready for this?" Tiva asks, her long lupine tongue lolling out of her mouth. "Here we go!"

Next

Bullets chip away at the concrete wall to your right as you dash for cover, smashing a wooden door to pieces in your desperation to escape the death-trap of a hallway. The room beyond is dimly-lit and filled to bursting with large wooden crates that smell of gunpowder and grease. On the opposite wall, a staircase leads up to the second floor and another down to what you presume to be the basement.

It hadn't taken long for your squad to become separated as combat-trained HSM mercenaries managed to isolate you one-by-one. Tiva was brought down after getting caught in an explosive blast which hurtled her into a nearby stairwell. The last you'd seen her, she was crawling to the second floor with a sharp shard of white bone snapped and exposed on her leg. It had proven impossible to reach her as the HSM soldiers swarmed around you, and by the time you realized you had to run, you'd lost track of the other members of your squad in the drifting smoke lingering in the wake of half a dozen explosive detonations. You take a second to breathe as the soldiers creep down the hall toward your temporary sanctuary, ready to put you down with overwhelming firepower. It's a testament to your experience and skills that you've lasted this long, but your luck won't hold out forever. Where did Sonoma's squad disappear to? you wonder. She was supposed to be securing the entrances and exits!

Last I saw Tiva, she was escaping up to the second floor. I might be able to find her if I take the steps up, but it will further isolate me from the pack.

I need to take out these humans before I do anything else. I burst out the door and take the soldiers by surprise, killing them as quickly as I can.

I'll take out the humans, but only using non-lethal tactics.

Sonoma said she believed there were civilian scientists in the basement labs. I should try to recover their research and samples of their technology.

The civilians in the basement could be used as human shields. Not only that, but a prisoner could give us intelligence on what the HSM is planning.

Next

You can't just leave Tiva to fend for herself when she's suffering from such a grievous wound. Besides, if you link up with her you'll be in better shape than facing off against the seemingly-endless squads of HSM soldiers on your own.

You dash up the stairwell, following its switchbacks until the next landing opens up into a room stacked with empty bunk-beds. The stench of human body-odor hangs heavy in the air, but under it you catch a whiff of a familiar scent. You scan the rows of beds until your eyes light on a small shaggy mound of fur.

"Tiva?"

Her head pops up and she looks at you with startled eyes. "Holstein! I thought you were still downstairs!"

"Can you move?" you reply hurriedly. "We can't stay here."

She wobbles to her feet unsteadily. "That blast really messed me up," she says, looking almost embarrassed. "I ducked behind the beds and set the bone—it's still knitting back together. I can move, but don't expect me to be able to charge into a hail of gunfire any time soon."

A high-pitched hissing sound from beneath the nearby doorway interrupts you, and a cloud of pale gas shoots into the room. Tiva takes an ill-advised whiff, causing her to cough.

"They've found us, Holstein! What should we do? I don't think I'm up for a fight just yet."

"Wait back here and I'll deal with the humans. The only way to keep us safe is to kill them all."

"I'll deal with the humans, but I won't be killing any of them." (Non-lethal tactics only.)

"We should take the stairs back down toward the basement. Sonoma thought there were human scientists down there and they'd make excellent cover."

"We should head toward the basement. We need to know what kind of research the scientists were doing here!"

Next

You burst from the door with a desperate swiftness, bowling into two men in the hallway and sending them sprawling to the floor. You ball up your fists, striking the surprised mercenaries with a flurry of blows until they both lay groaning on the floor, bloodied but still breathing.

Tiva pokes her head out of the door warily, and the tension drains from her muzzle when she sees the short work you've made of the humans. "Never let me say you're not good in a fight," she says, wincing as she puts too much pressure on her wounded leg. "Damn it. It's still gonna be a few minutes before I can kick anyone's ass but my own."

"Don't worry, I've got you covered. We'll get through this together."

"I'll need you by my side for this; the whole raid's gone out of control."

"I'm sure you'll be back to kicking ass soon. You're not the type who lays down to die."

Next