"Block secure."<br/>"Heavy fighting, request--"<br/>"This is Temple, we've got a big load of furs coming straight at us..."<br/>"Oil Rig to Dead Coney, we're approaching 1440 Hempstead Avenue, what are your orders?"<br/><br/>Lentan snapped his attention away from the TV screen.  The anchor on K5 News was frantically ordering all civilians to stay in their homes, assuring them that the "riots" would pass.  Riots.  Lentan sniffed.  They had no idea.<br/><br/>But now there were more pressing matters.  Lentan's call-sign was Dead Coney.  Oil Rig - the call-sign of the Fifth Brigade - was tasked with securing the Hempstead Corridor, a long stretch of the boondocks on Kazmer's southeast side.  Within that corridor rested one of Lentan's problems, and he'd never ironed out how to deal with it.  1440 Hempstead Avenue was the home of the Sentience Equality Movement, a group of anti-war protesters that were calling for the unity of humans and furs.  They'd been on the Resistance's radar for quite some time, but neither they nor the Bitch had paid them much attention.  Lentan had hoped that the S.E.M. wouldn't be an issue when hostilities broke out.  There weren't that many of them.<br/><br/>Lentan keyed his radio.  "Dead Coney to Oil Rig.  Observe and report.  That is all.  Over."  If they weren't acting, there was no reason to bother them, he figured.  Lentan's standing order was to leave civilians out of the fight - only belligerents and members of the government were to be attacked.  It was a point of Lentan's that the Resistance was not to become the people's enemy.  Hopefully the S.E.M. wouldn't say they were.<br/><br/>"Roger," came Oil Rig's reply.<br/><br/>Across the street from the apartment complex at 1440 Hempstead Avenue, a large group of rebels spread out and around the building, proceeding to more important locations.  An observation post was set up in a nearby gas station, tasked both with watching the apartment complex and keeping an eye on the Fifth Brigade's rear section.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Outside the butcher's shop, the command group jumped back as the man with the pouch ran toward them screaming.  Suddenly he was struck from behind and hoisted by his belt back inside the butcher's shop.  There was a crash, then silence.<br/><br/>The colonel with the red headwrap motioned four of his men forward, keeping his rifle trained on the windows of the building.  The four men, each armed with a sharp blade of some kind, advanced in pairs toward the door.  The major with the pistol and goggles backed them up.  After counting to three, the first pair dashed into the building, tumbling toward the far side of the room.  The second pair swept in and split up, one man taking a side.  The major kept them covered with his pistol, standing crouched just outside the doorway.