Kämpe | Female | Chief Cull (GSD Kangal cross) | 24 | M: Hoffen

His words were hopeful, almost. He suggested that Zadolt would be alright, and Kämpe saw a valid point in that. He was smart. He was a fighter, a survivor. Beta raised him that way. Kämpe couldn't yet tell if she cared about Zadolt's life. He was a traitor to Beta, and deserved the death that was coming to him. But a whisper within her told Kämpe that he was her brother, and she should protect him at all costs. Because that was the right thing to do. But Beta was right, and everything else was wrong - how could protecting a traitor be right? It occured to Kämpe that she was using the wrong terms. It was not right and wrong in question, but correct and incorrect. A Cull had no morals. She shouldn't. Memory and programming clashed, making her skull throb. She dropped the subject from her mind for the time being. Headaches were incredibly inconvinient - dulled reaction time, blunted her alertness.

His eyes caught hers. There was something almost disarming in those brown optics. There was a sort of hauntingly canine feel to them that was hard to ignore. Her own eyes were blue, not of a sky, but of a machine, of a monster. Kämpe's ears pricked at Hoffen's next words. Why didn't she do something? Because, in her mind, it was Beta. She could not dare betray them, even if they made her a monster. Beta was right. Everything she did was justified, as it was in their name. And that was how it was.

But there was a flicker in Kämpe's heart, something she had thought to have grown cold long ago. Some sort of desire to feel something, to be free of her apathy, her confinement within a metal mind.

Kämpe had shot up before his voice even called out. She could see a flicker of movement, and with danger looming, her programming immediately responded, taking full control once again. It had been there the entire time, keeping the fleeting emotion in check, but it now seized her mind in steel claws.

She wasn't going to raise the alarm, not yet. If he came with back up, such actions would prompt an attack. She needed to delay such an attack, and piece together who this intruder was, were he came from, and why he was here. She wouldn't hurt him, not yet. Beta could always use new blood, or, at least, a healthy body to experiment with in the labs.

From a brief scan of the surroundings, it was clear that he had no group. Motion and heat sensors were built to alert headquarters if a large amount of bodies were detected. The alarms were silent, just as everything else in the darkness of the night. He was alone.

She didn't have time to guess at his true intentions now. First, she would have to ensure he was not a threat. She shot out from the pen, looping around the newcomer from behind, so he was both vulnerable, while she cut off an escape option. He could enter the first gate, armed with nothing but wire fencing. The intruder would be trapped, unable to storm through the second gate, and unable to flee backwards.

She could not see who he was in the darkness, nor what he looked like. She needed to make him afraid. Dogs afraid either told the truth, or slipped up. Their true colors would flag, even in the darkness, and that was what she needed.

Threat, her programming muttered. She could feel the blue draining from her eyes, replaced with crimson. Though mostly for dramatic effect on Beta's part, the color change was activited when she saw a threat. She found it was rather effective. Most dogs seemed to fear light the color of blood.

"Who are you?"

A metallic sort of vibration rumbled in her throat - a snarl, almost, but with something distinctly more machine.

Zadolt | Male | Australian/German Shepherd mix | Foxtrot | 28 | Mentions: Hero

Zadolt sat in the corner, watching. They were strange, this place was strange, everything was strange. At Beta, the only reason he fell asleep was because if he was going to die, they would have done it in front of all the other dogs. Here, he didn’t know how things worked, how they acted, what they were planning, and so he stayed up. No one talked, a familiar thing, and he took comfort in it, regardless of the reason. It was the sole reason he wasn’t fainting from the weirdness of this place.

His eyes, which had been looking around the tunnel he was currently in, snapped to a moving form. Hero; the one who had attacked Hoffen when they first met Kilo. He idly wondered if he should try and talk to him. Hero ran before he could make up his mind, out of the tunnels. Odd, because from what he could tell, that tunnel was going right near Beta- Zadolt freezed as he realized that was where Hero was going. Probably to attack them. His training, his entire life up to these last few days was screaming at him to get up and run after him, attack him, remove him immediately. He fought against it, and managed to force it back. That didn’t stop him from following out of curiosity, though.

He stayed in the shadows, watching, as Hero went up to the compound and said he wanted to join Beta. If he hadn’t known of Kilo’s utter hatred of Beta, he might have believed him; the dog was a good liar. He froze in place as the Culls reacted. He knew that they all slept in a kennel, like the regiments, so why were two of them out in the yard?

And then he saw Kampe walk behind Hero, cutting off any attempts of escape, and so he forgot to question why two of them were outside. He heard Hoffen’s voice a few seconds before Kampe's, and his mind screamed at him Why, why did it have to be the two culls that knew of Kilo? Why couldn’t it be any other culls? He backed further into the shadow he was hiding in, hoping that they wouldn’t notice his presence. He also hoped they wouldn’t remove Hero; he was a good dog-maybe a bit impulsive, but still good. Hero didn’t deserve to die.

Anfall | Female | Amstaff/Plott hound/wolf | Bravo Wolfblood | 21 | M: Adiv, Sabre

Anfall flicked her dark gaze to Sabre with a huff. She didn't like being asked that question. Of course she was alright - she was fine, always had been, always would be. Anfall was not weak.

"Fine."

She felt the need to start talking, to deter the attention from herself. Anfall enjoyed the spotlight for the right situations, not those in which she appeared weak. The little mouse-dog spoke of something called claustrophobia.

Claustrophobic?

No, she could admit that she didn't like small places. Is that what he meant? He was small, so it was different. Everything must seem huge and wide-open to him. "I'm not scared," she muttered. He suggested a happy place, of good thoughts.

"Look, mutt," she said, and although the words were harsh, her tone was soft.

"I'm not sure where you're from, or why you're here, but there is no happy place in Beta. Get used to it."

Adiv

Male | West Highland Terrier | Hotel/Bravo | 86 | Mentions: Sabre, Anfall

The little male felt the cut of the female's words, and he felt a bit angry. Why was she calling him a mutt? He was a purebred Westie for heaven's sakes! His curiosity peaked when she spoke of no happy place in Beta.

"No happy place in Beta," he spoke lowly, " I guess I didn't get the memo....I only know sunshine and the best of things. My Beta never was cruel to me, and pampered me and my regiment. I have never seen such unhappy or mean dogs. It scares me, if I was lied and sheltered then, why are they exposing me to this? It's not fair or right! I want to scream, shout, but I'm afraid of what will happen when I do"

He looks wide-eyed and innocent as he approaches Anfall and sits besides her his baby blue eyes bright and full of life, " I can see pain in these dogs...I've never been hit, struck, or bitten. We were only fed choice meats: salmon, beef, pork, duck, vison, foie de gras, and other things I can't name. I feel well guilty. How am I a small dog like me supposed to fight in a combat regiment? I was bred for stealth, tracking, and infiltration not fighting. I was just a good soilder for Hotel and now they treat me like dust. I guess this will be my life"

His words are bitter and sad almost hateful. He shook his head and pinned his ears. His own words made him flinch. He had never been bitter or hateful of anyone or anything, and now he hated Beta with a burning passion for what they did to these dogs. Why did they want him here if it would only open his eyes to the truth? A dangerous concept, he thought.

"You don't like small spaces that's claustrophobia. I don't like heights or fire, I have acrophobia and pyrophobia. Why do the metal things call us by numbers? It's stripping away any dignity you have left? "

Hero / Male / Wolf/German Shepherd / Kilo / 39 / Mentions: Kämpe, Hoffen

Hero dipped his head low to the Beta dog, showing respect. "Greetings, my name is Hero. I am here to join your ranks, I have information for you to prove my worth to you." His brown eyes showed nothing and his pelt stayed completely smooth.

"I hope you will accept me, though I understand if you do not. I could not be as strong as any of you, but I swear that I would be the best I could be for you."

His thoughts raced, what secrets would they ask for he wondered, what would he have to give away?

Breath. No emotion, they can't see the truth.

Hero managed to keep himself from bursting out the truth and looked at Kämpe in the eyes for a moment. He flinched slightly at the manic snarl, highly disapproving of cull, but knowing it showed as fear and submission.

Good.

That was much better than his true disapproval and hatrid.

(Sorry this is so short!)

Frosch | Male | Greyhound, Borzoi, Azawakh, Great Dane half-blood | Tango/Foxtrot | 88 | Mentions: Rache, Orden


So that's who Twenty-Two and Sixty one were. Interesting.
One didn't want to talk and the other was so silent and still she could be a ghost, but ghosts didn't have numbers.
He went straight for the closest food bowl and started eating.

Frosch was a fast eater. He didn't like talking with his mouth full, but he liked talking more than eating, so best finish quickly so he had more time to enjoy and get to know the others in his pen.
He wondered what they were thinking.
Did they like Beta? did they think what Beta was doing was wrong?

He sat down, scratching an itch under his jaw.
"So, how was your day? Mine was pretty fun. We were speed training in my regiment this morning. A type of race. I won of course. Then I was told I'd be transferring... I don't think that happens too often. Me and Karin are the first dogs from Tango to ever transfer... at least in my lifetime" he gave the two females a smile.

"Anyways. What's life like here in Foxtrot and Bravo? I've never interacted much with fighting regiments, being a messenger and all" he shoot out his fur, "does removal happen often... I heard a bit of gossip that fighting regiments got the most transfers and new dogs because of removals."

"Say, that one cull... the red one, may have been doberman, was he new? I didn't see any scars or scratches- other than his missing ear- and his metal parts look quite new... did you know him as a dog? what was he like? I don't think I've ever met someone who knew a cull before they were turned."

He looked over his shoulder at the doberman husky cross, the one with the blue eyes. She hadn't touched her food, hadn't even moved since she entered the cell.
"Whats up with you? did something happen before I arrived?"

The look Sixty-One gave him was deadly, but she said nothing, instead she just walked into the darkest corner of the cell and curled up, back towards them.

Sabre / Female / Wolfdog (wolf-GSD-alaskin malamute) / Foxtrot / I.D: 65 / M: Anfall, Adiv

Sabre nodded, a mere dip of her muzzle when Anfall responded. She was surprised, however, when the little fluff ball that had licked her nose padded up, trying to help. He had been scared of small spaces? Sabre didn't like small spaces, to be sure, but what she hated the most was the darkness, where anything could be lurking about... she hated Beta, who enslaved dogs for their own desires, killing them when they no longer deemed the canine useful. While she didn't understand this fear, she did have fears of her own. While the wolfblood agreed with Anfall that there were no happy places here, she did feel sorry for the poor small canine.

She stayed standing, wondering what some of the meats the small canine listed even were, her expressive eyes softening more when the poor dog started asking questions about Beta, about this transfer that obviously confused him. She watched in silence, listening as his words became more and more bitter and he pinned his ears. She looked at Anfall as he finished speaking.

"Everyone is afraid of something Anfall. We all feel fear at some point in our lives. It's not weakness; it's just a part of who we are. I don't know what it would be called, but I'm afraid of being turned into a mindless machine and of being "removed". Beta just draws strength from our fear. You can't let them know they're winning.... I know there's no happy place here, but maybe, if you allow yourself to be distracted from this situation, you'll feel better." Sabre's olive green eyes moved from the small canine to Anfall and back again as she sat down. "You're right; Beta does strip away any dignity we have left by calling us by numbers.... but that doesn't mean I'm going to address either of you by your I.D. My name is Sabre. What's yours?" Her green eyes looked at the tiny male kindly as she spoke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kordelas (Kor) / Male / Doberman Shepherd / Kilo / I.D: 71 / M: Hero, Zadolt, Kampe, Hoffen

Kordelas had lifted his head and was looking around, unable to sleep. Soon, he heard paws padding across the ground, looking over to see Hero leave, with the former Beta dog following not too long after. Where were they going? He debated between letting Commander Ginger know before bolting off, but then realized it may already have been too late. He pushed himself to his paws, following them as quietly as he could. He knew they were headed back towards Beta; the scents from earlier today were growing stronger the further they went. Why were they headed to Beta again? Kor's bright amber eyes watched them as well as he could in the darkness.

To his horror, Hero marched right up to the compound and announced his presence to the two cull standing there. Kor silently crept a bit closer to Zadolt. "What is he doing?" the shepherd mix whispered, his amber eyes wide. "Does he want to die??" He didn't care if he startled Zadolt or not; he was mainly talking to himself, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone. His lighter coloured ruff was raised slightly; not in aggression... just alarm.

Zadolt | Male | Australian/German Shepherd mix | Foxtrot | 28 | Mentions: Hero(indirectly), Kordelas

He flinched when Kordelas startled him, quickly tearing his eyes away from Kampe’s form to look at the dog next to him. Had the dog told anyone that they were out here? Was a bunch of Kilo dogs coming, to try and attack? Was he going to get in trouble? If he was going to get in trouble, what would they do?

Thousands of questions ran through his mind, before he quietly blurted out a random one. “Why are you here?” He asked, whispering. He noted idly that the dog’s ruff was raised, in alarm or panic he didn’t know. Probably both, and if he wasn’t used to controlling any outwardly display of emotion, his surely would have been raised also.

He then realized the dog had asked him two questions(though it sounded as if the dog was talking to himself), and he explained what he knew in a hushed whisper. “I think he’s planning on infiltrating Beta. If I didn’t know of your hatred for anything that comes out of Beta, I’d almost believe him.” He said, voicing his thoughts from earlier. The second question gave him pause; surely this dog would know Hero far better than him? They had known each other longer than Zadolt had even known Maze. He answered anyway, slightly hesitant to speak his opinion. “I think that he doesn’t care if he dies. But I’d rather he not die, because I’m pretty sure at least one of the other Kilo dogs would accuse me of removing him(just because I'm from Beta) and I wouldn’t even if I wasn’t still-” He broke off mid-sentence, mortified that he’d almost told a near stranger that Kampe was his sister. He stopped his rambling and stood in silence, fixing his eyes resolutely on Hero’s dark outline.

Kordelas (Kor) / Male / Doberman Shepherd / Kilo / I.D: 71 / M: Hero, Zadolt, Kampe, Hoffen

Kordelas glanced over at Zadolt as the male asked him why he was here. "I could ask you the same thing, but I think we're here for similar reasons..." Kor trailed off as he flicked his eyes back towards Hero, muscles tense and ready to spring forward if need be. He listened as Zadolt answered his questions, then replied softly. "I'd rather he not die, either. But, if... if he did, I wouldn't let them think that for long. I'm here and I can vouch for you."

The doberman shepherd's eyes had darkened with pain as he again remembered Tysta's death. If he had just followed them like he had now.... He flicked his tail. Tysta was gone. He couldn't dwell on the past. He needed his full awareness for here and now.

"I'm just guessing, then, but Hero didn't let anyone else know what he was doing? That would sound like him.... not wanting anyone to get hurt if he made a mistake, I mean..." Kordelas glanced at the shepherd mix beside him again. "What made you want to leave Beta? Everything and everyone you know are here." He asked the question out of curiosity more than anything else. If he was going to spy on Hero with Zadolt, he may as well try and be friendly, right?

Kämpe | Female | Chief Cull (GSD Kangal cross) | 24 | M: Hoffen, Hero, Zadolt, Kordelas

Truth or lie? Culls were supposedly equipped with a lie detecting system, but such a program only functioned in light, with close proximity. It was also rather faulty, a half-developed technology installed only for the purpose of threat. Beta had never quite understood how to adapt the technology for canines, beings of a different language system, supposedly not capable of complex thought such as truth and lie. It was a back up, just in case they underestimated the dog race. They had, of course, and the lie detecting system didn't work well enough to be relied on. Kämpe had always found her own judgement far more reliable, but in the blackness of night, she could see not a thing.

The situation was incredibly unorthodox. Her mind sifted through his words, analyzing, drawing conclusions, but her thought process was cut short. with a flash of her tranmitter, a short beacon of crimson light. A bolt of pain shot through her mind. Beta had seen the event unfold, as she knew they would, through their many cameras. They were preparing to issue an order. While she awaited commands, she let her senses wander, searching for the back up she knew was there. Ever watchful, Kämpe picked up voices.

She was at Hero's side in a flash, fangs hovering by the dog's neck.

There was only one answer to this - Hero was of the rebel regiment, Kilo, and they were returning to fight. Only idiots such as Kilo dogs would dare speak in relative earshot of a Cull. Kämpe had observed how the dogs fought, and one point had become incredibly clear: they cared. A weakness indeed. The cared about each other, and refused to let harm come to another of their regiment, and it would indeed be their downfall. Tactics playing off these emotional attatchemnts, such as holding a dog hostage, would be effective for these dogs, she assumed.

Her eyes flicked to Hoffen, willing him to offer back up, and be prepared to chase the rebels if they ran. She didn't need time to think about what she would say. She knew how to twist her language for these dogs, these dogs who so clearly let their emotional attatchement get the better of them.

"Run, and he dies. Stay, and watch me bury my fangs into his neck. Step forward, and he lives a moment longer. You have five seconds."

Her tone was dangerous, and cold. Not angry - she wasn't capable of such emotion - but laden with a sort of natural warning. The outer fence lights began to flick on, illuminating the area in blue-white light.