him. Quickly drawing his knife, Balto grabbed the guard and held him close, pressing the knife to the dog’s neck.

“Scream and you’re dead…” Balto whispered into the guard’s ear, “Tell me, where’s the Security Room?”

“W-what? W-who are you?” the guard asked, clearly afraid of the agent holding a knife to his throat.

“You’re not the one asking the questions here, I am. Now answer me! Where’s the Security Room?” Balto asked more forcefully, pressing the knife tighter to the dog’s neck.

“Alright, alright! I’ll talk, just don’t kill me!” the guard said and pointed down the hall, “Just at the end of the hall, the door on your right…”

“Thanks,” Balto replied and tightened his grip around the guard’s neck. The guard gasped and spasmed for a moment before going limp, unconscious from lack of oxygen.

Balto opened a nearby utility closet and tossed the guard inside, turning the lock on the door. Slowly, Balto walked down the hallway, stowing his knife and keeping his gun at the ready. He really didn’t want to fire it yet because he didn’t have a suppressor on it and the shot would attract even more guards.

Balto saw the door labeled “Security Room” and grinned. Pushing the door open, Balto saw three guards, two at the consoles and one near him. Before they could react, Balto grabbed the nearby guard and pressed his gun to the dog’s temple.

“Freeze!” Balto said and the other two soldiers stopped moving, “Make any kind of noise or movement and your friend dies. Now, do as I say. Stand up…”

The guards obediently rose to their feet and put their hands up in the air in surrender.

“Open that storage room there…” Balto ordered, motioning to a small storage area at the back of the room. Once more, the guards obeyed.

“Now give me whatever keycards you have! Place them on the table there…” Balto said, pointing to a small coffee table in the center of the room. One of the guards pulled out a light blue card and placed it on the table.

“Now get in that storage room,” said Balto and watched the two move inside. He tossed the third guard in and quickly slammed the door, locking it immediately.

Sighing softly, Balto walked over and picked up the keycard, reading it. It was labeled “Security Level 3.” Tucking it in a pouch on his belt, Balto stowed his handgun and walked over to the consoles, getting to work. First, he shut down all cameras on this floor and a floor labeled “Armory,” then he turned off all alarms on the doors and overrode the old password with a new one so no one could change things back.

“That should leave them in disarray for awhile…” Balto said and turned to walk out when a guard walked in.

“Who’re y-” the soldier started, but was stopped when Balto instinctively drew his gun and put a round in the dog’s chest, sending him to the ground.

“Damn, not good…” Balto muttered and quickly jumped over the dead guard.

He quickly ran down the hallway, breathing heavily as he dashed to escape any ensuing guards. Quickly, Balto turned and ran into the bathroom, making his way into one of the stalls and locking it. Outside, several footfalls were heard, made by heavy boots. Balto glanced up and saw another air shaft. Without a second thought, Balto climbed into it and made his way back to the hangar he previously saw.

When Balto arrived in the ventilation above the hangar, the two guards were still there. Balto muttered a few profanities before opening the hatch and lowering himself to the floor. He pressed his back to one of the metal crates and waited for a guard to come by. As soon as one did, Balto slammed the dog’s head into the metal and tossed him to the ground. The other guard was attracted to the noise and as he came to see what was wrong, Balto pushed him to the ground, training his handgun on the soldier’s forehead.

“You look like you know something important…” Balto said, “What level’s the Armory on?”

“Why should I tell you?” the guard spat back, reaching for his pistol stowed in its holster on his leg. Balto saw this and shot the dog in the shoulder, brining forth a cry of pain and causing the soldier to fall back again.

“One more time…” Balto said, pulling the hammer back on his gun, “Where’s the Armory?” The guard hesitated for a moment before sighing dejectedly.

“It’s in the basement… The floor just below us… B1…” the guard told Balto.

“Thank you…” Balto said and pulled the trigger, sending the wounded guard crumpling to the floor.

Balto stowed his gun and pulled out his knife, slowly walking over to the elevator. He pressed the button to call the elevator and waited. As soon as it came, the doors opened and Balto saw yet another guard. Without thinking, Balto pushed the guard into the back wall of the elevator and sliced the knife across the soldier’s neck, killing another soldier.

Balto sighed softly as he wiped the blood off of his knife. He didn’t mean to kill that guard, it just sort of happened so suddenly.

But no use crying over it now… Balto thought and pressed the B1 button, sending the elevator into a steady decline. A soft ping marked his arrival and he stepped out into another large room. However, this room had doors on every side of it, marked with a different title.

Grinning Balto walked over to the one marked “Handguns.” Beside it was a keycard reader marked “Security Level 2.” Sliding his superior card through it, Balto heard a ping and the door unlocked. Pushing it open, Balto stepped inside and saw an empty gun rack in front of him. Though the guns were gone, several clips of ammo remained as well as a suppressor. Smiling widely, Balto grabbed the additional ammo and suppressor, quickly fitting it onto his handgun and examining it.

“Finally…” Balto whispered as he fired at a target pinned to the wall, his gun only making a muffled sound as the bullet pierced the center bull’s eye.

Chuckling softly, Balto stepped back outside and saw three guard pointing rifles at him. His face lost its triumphant smile as his mind took in the situation. His grip tightened on his gun as he stared at his new foes.

“Drop your gun and put your hands in the air!” one guard shouted.

Balto looked around for a way out of this scenario. He saw a large metal crate hanging above the guards and smiled. Slowly, Balto raised his hands, his gun still held tightly. As the aim was moved over the pulley holding the crate, Balto fired and pretended it was an accident, faking surprise as his gun went off. The guards began to laugh but were quickly silenced as two tons of steel crushed them.

“Who’s laughing now?” Balto asked and ran back to the elevator, pressing the button.

Balto looked up as the elevator opened and saw Steele, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star standing there. Just as he began to raise his handgun, Steele roundhouse kicked it out of his hands and kicked Balto in the chest, sending the wolfdog flying backwards and down to the concrete floor. The young dog sat up on his elbows and stared at Steele as he got closer, leaping to his feet.

Balto threw punch after punch at Steele, but the ex-military sergeant just expertly blocked every blow, grabbing Balto’s hand at one point and twisting his arm behind his back before kicking him into the crate Balto had shot down. Balto grunted as he hit the metal and fell to the ground again, getting back to his feet and running up to Steele, going to kick the dog in his torso.

Steele grabbed Balto’s leg and chuckled at the wolfdog’s surprised look. He flipped Balto, the agent ending up on his back again. Steele pressed one of his combat boots onto Balto’s chest and began pressing down hard.

“Who are you boy? A child who likes to play hero or a government agent sent on a suicide mission?” Steele asked mockingly as he drove his boot into Balto’s chest.

Balto gasped and groaned as Steele tried to crush him. He grabbed the dog’s boot and flipped Steele, the dog only managing to catch himself and turn his fall into a back flip. Balto got to his feet and saw Steele punch him twice, stumbling backward, but remained standing. Balto glared at Steele, who seemed to be enjoying himself and ran up to him again.

As Balto neared him, he drew his knife and turned his punch into a slash at Steele’s throat. Thought Steele dodged, the knife left a small cut on his muzzle. Steele scoffed and grabbed Balto’s arm, twisting until his enemy dropped the knife before kicking him in the side of his stomach and sending the beaten up wolfdog to the floor again. Balto felt someone grab his shirt and saw the face of Kaltag, who then tossed him into the crate again. Balto fell to the floor and looked up at his attackers, who laughed at his hopelessness.

Just then, the elevator opened again and the four turned to look at the newcomer. Steele seemed to be pleased with the new arrival, which most likely spelled bad news for Balto. As he looked up, Balto saw a beautiful red husky walk up to Steele, wearing a similar uniform that Balto had on, though he couldn’t see clearly due to the haze in his mind. However, she also had a red bandanna tied around her neck.

Probably took that uniform from the Armory… he thought and struggled to his feet.

“What’s going on here?” the husky asked, looking from Steele to Balto.

“Nothing Jenna, just taking care of an intruder…” Steele explained giving a smirk to Balto as the scruffy wolfdog stood up, “He’s got spirit and stamina, I’ll give him that, but he has no idea when he should just quit…”

Balto glared at Steele, and then looked back at Jenna. Now that he was standing, his vision wasn’t as blurred and he could see her better. She had a red and white coat that was smooth and shined in the light. Her long red hair fell down to her