A great expanse of stars filled the viewport to the small transport craft entering the planetary system of Uranus. Around this world, were several space stations built and developed by the Analili continuum. Outside of Earth, this was one of three inhabited areas located within the Sol solar system. Out of the nine known worlds in Sol, these were the places with the greatest chance of survival.The only other inhabited region lay upon Mars, and only the Sectarian Conglomeration, those that had been nicknamed 'Elephant Faces' due to the three trunks adorning their heads - one trunk for the nose, and the two others serving as ears on each side of their puzzling skulls, felt the need to take up residence there. Well, they and a few bold super powered members of the human species were the colonists brazen enough to live upon that desert world.
Analili and Sectarians had coexisted within the Sol system for a number of years, just over one thousand in fact, and had lived relatively in peace until the Great War of 1348. No one remembered exactly what that war was fought over, though rumor had it that Dolphins were somehow involved and were the masterminds of the unrest. Rumor also had it that they were apparently responsible for kingship upon Earth as well. Though neither of those rumors had ever been proven.
Regardless, the Analili and their Andromadese partners in crime had enjoyed a lucrative partnership for quite some time, having fun abducting the local Terran populace and encouraging witch burning or the burning of those that were thought to be witches. Things were never the same once the war transpired. A massive rift had developed between the two great civilizations and persisted even through current times.
When the pulse wave had struck, ending their little war, humanity had gotten a leg up on intergalactic politics which meant the alien races had to cut their loses and pray for the best. Many had settled on the side of the planet not super-sized, while others had retreated to Uranus. No one knew where the dolphins went. Though rumor had it they had left a note for humanity that said something like, So long, and thanks for all the fish. What that meant was anybody's guess.
This knowledge was a necessity for any entity involved with diplomatic relations amongst the three great civilizations of the Sol system. It was knowledge in which the ambassador aboard the small vessel was well versed. His cloaked personage considered all the implications of previous ties amongst the two races had led. A hood covered his head as he stood centermost of the small bridge looking outward from the viewport taking up three-quarters of the bridge's forward wall.
It was a small bridge. The bridge was twenty-four-feet in diameter with an array of well-lit devices that bleeped and blopped, signaling that they were doing something useful to keep the crew within alive and in one piece. Fortunately, there were generally only three crew members in the small craft with a length of roughly four hundred feet. The crew members were short and semi-gray beings with pug faces and ovaloid eyes that were black and crept the heck out of the ambassador.
The ambassador noted that his long, medium brown cloak-robe and sandy brown tunic, leggings, and dark brown boots stood in stark contrast to the silver garbed alien crew. They wore full body suits that reminded him of a porno disco dancer. This look was compounded by their bald heads, which made him want to rub them for good luck. The general appearance of the ambassador himself, though, was unlike anything these beings had seen before.
Imagine, if one would, a six-foot-nine-inch tall rabbit, with a body builder's musculature, who spoke like an Austrian born actor turned governor, and had long ears that hung to the mid-section of his spine. Throw on him the logical capacities and monk-like clothing of a Jedi knight, and one would have Arnis Renholden, the Savage Hare.
Arnis had been born and raised in the Czechoslovakian Confederacy and didn't remember his parents. He knew a few things about them. Mostly that his father was a member of the New Shinobi Order. He had left the order in his late twenties, despite being one of the Order's proudest members and greatest warrior. It was for a career in acting, that Arnis's father had left the Order. If he hadn't had taken that action, though, he would never had met his future wife, Condelita Wice, a rabbit actress famous throughout the general populace of the European world.
They had been together for several years before finally settling down. Initially, just getting together had been a slight problem, especially where communications were concerned, because the human man from the Shinobi Order had given up his birth name and was generally only known as 'That Shinobi Guy.' However, they soon figured out that notes referring to him as 'you-know-who' seemed to work out fine. After they were married, people just started calling him 'Mr. Wice.'
The two had had three children together. Two girls and one boy. Arnis was the youngest and last born. However, just after his birth, his father was engaged by the evil syndicate of Tony Tigerletti clones and their leader, the infamous Toucan Son-Of-Sam. He had met an untimely demise.
Condelita found out about this act and took her half-human, half-bunny children away from the prying eyes of the general public in an effort to prevent the evil syndicate from discovering them. What happened to the two young girls, no one knew. However, the last action she had made, was to drop Arnis off with the Shinobi warriors before fleeing town. She was never heard from again.
Arnis searched for years to undercover any clues as to the whereabouts of his family. He didn't know where his father was buried and couldn't find hide nor hare of his mother. Wherever his sisters had been taken wasn't known either. This left a void within the heart of Arnis. The one thing he did find out, was told to him by the Elders. His family name was Renholden. Though most just called him the Savage Hare.
There was a reputation he hadn't meant to obtain. It just happened when out on a quest to find his family. Arnis had discovered the lair of the Tony Tigerletti clones and engaged them in pitched battle. However, his massive muscles and sharp intellect prevented them from doing much more to him than ripping off his robes to unveil his rippling biceps to local women fainting in disbelief.
Uranus loomed large in the viewport bringing Arnis back to matters at hand. Several Sectarian spies had been discovered by the Analili port authority and an execution was being prepared. Arnis, as emissary to Earth, was dispatched to Uranus to keep matters from hitting the figurative fan. That and it turned out the spies had recently been on Earth and the Analili had convinced one of the spies to come clean on recent activities.
The three crew members monitored the approach vector towards the Analili space station Nasca Prime. It wasn't long before they found themselves being hailed by the controllers within the space station itself. One of the crew switched on a holoscreen. A round ball of light appeared in the middle of the bridge and displayed the image of an Analili lieutenant. Light emanated from the holographic sphere and bounced off the control panels located around the round room.
Arnis found himself slightly dizzy and reminded of a disco hall. It wasn't like he had a fetish for disco or anything, he'd just been amazed by the idea of its absurdities ever since dealing with the aquatic fish rapist who had a thing for bright, shiny balls of chrome. That and loud, ridiculous music with no meaning.
"Savage Hare, it is truly a pleasure to see you again. We are prepared for your arrival, please proceed to bay nine," the image said and dissolved leaving the room in a light tint of bluish light once more.
Arnis kept his arms folded in front of him as he prepared himself to interrogate the Sectarian spy. The small craft maneuvered through space towards the opening doors of the massive, round space station with twin rings running around its perimeter. The design of the station was reminiscent of an atom.
Moments later, the craft settled down upon the metal docking bay floors and the loading ramp extended. Arnis walked down the ramp and was greeted by a portly robot that guided him to a meeting chamber housed deeper within the primary station.
The robot opened the door and escorted Arnis inside the room. He motioned towards several seats around a long, rectangular table that was obviously used in conferences.
"Please, sir, our leader will be with you momentarily," the robot said and bowed slightly as much as its rounded frame would allow.
"Thank you," Arnis responded gruffly and took a seat near a window.
Uranus spun lazily beyond. A slight green-blue light radiated from the gas planet's surface and had a calming effect on Arnis as he pulled his hood down and let his ears fall out of their cramped confines. He stroked his hairy chin absently, deep in contemplation.
Several minutes later, the door opened back up and Arnis stood up and turned to greet the Analili counselor.
"Greetings, I..." he froze as he stared at the creatures before him.
"So, finally, I meet the famous Savage Hare!" the Sectarian spoke.
The Sectarian stood seven-feet tall and flexed his facial trunks in anticipation. Beady, black eyes took in Arnis with disdain. A long, black flowing cloak draped to the floor covering the leather tights and suit he wore underneath. To each side of him, stood two others. They too wore black and brought forth wicked laser blades the color of lemon yellow.
"Sectarian Shinobi Warlords! I should have guessed! Only you would be so bold as to infiltrate and take over an Analili space station! Where are the crew!?" Arnis demanded, bringing forth his own laser blade the color of deep purple.
"They've been confined, for now. What fate awaits them, depends upon you. How easy it was to lure you here! Ha ha ha!" he threw back his trunk and laughed heartily at his own jest.
"How did you block my senses? It's not possible. But, it doesn't matter. You will tell me what you are doing here, or else," Arnis countered, pointing his laser blade at the trio.
"First, you will divulge to me the secrets you harbor. Tell me, where is the secret Analili headquarters upon Earth!?" the being thrust his arms wide, evilly flaunting his musculature.
"Never!" Arnis shouted and brought his blade back in a samurai battle position.
"Savage Hare, Savage Hare, Savage Hare...I know what you're thinking," the being started.
"You do? Then tell me, why, WHY can there only be one Highlander!?" Arnis spit out, staring at them defiantly.
"Wh...you...I...cut that out!" the Sectarian dropped his arms and stared at Arnis, "Incapacitate that moron!"
The two Sectarian henchmen twirled their weapons and approached the readied Savage Hare. He watched them cautiously and entered a deadly dance of pirouetting and slashing. He engaged them in deadly combat with a shout.
"Smell me now and pet me later!!"
The Savage Hare deftly countered the harried attacks of the two Sectarian warriors. Blazing swords of energy clashed and sparked, lighting the combatant's faces and highlighting their grimaced expressions. A blur of motion formed an intricate pattern in the air as one Sectarian struck Arnis low and the other flipped above his head. Swiftly, Arnis swatted away the low blow and brought his sword above with a twisting of his body to evade the attack from the other.
Neither stood a chance, as Arnis defended and offended, both in mannerisms and attack. His ears flung wildly around his upper torso and smacked one of the Sectarians in the eye. The injured Sectarian covered his hurt eye with his hands and dropped his sword in a dance of irritation.
"Ha Ha! You should be careful, you'll put your eye out!" Arnis taunted and kicked the Sectarian in his bum, sending him careening towards his erstwhile master.
The other Sectarian tried to take advantage of the Savage Hare's momentary distraction with a downward swing, but was met with an elbow to his nose trunk. He swung around to grab his attacker by that trunk and hurled the dazed warrior into the surface of a carbonized steel wall. Within moments, the battle was over and Arnis stood victorious. His sword shined brightly as he held it at his side, pointed at the deck.
"And, now, we come to the end of our negotiations. Are you ready to surrender to the awesome might of Savage Hare!?" Arnis quipped, waiting for his remaining foe's answer.
"I should never have brought my mate's sister's second cousins!" he said in great annoyance and charged Arnis.
Shards of light sparked and splintered into the air as the two energy weapons collided in a kaleidoscope of blurred motion. The two shifted and twirled, trying desperately to outmatch one another. Light danced across the walls of the conference room that had become host to this battle between warriors.
The Sectarian warlord drew back and gathered his energy for the next strike, while Arnis circled his position, cautiously watching his every move. Trunks upon the Sectarian twitched in anticipation and he drew in a breath through his mouth at the base of his nose trunk. Swiftly, he struck, hoping to catch his opponent off guard.
"You fight well, for a bald elephant!" Arnis taunted, hoping to anger his enemy into making a careless move.
"Arrgh!" the Sectarian let out a guttural howl and lunged.
Arnis daringly came in underneath his lunge and flicked the Sectarian's weapon from his hands. Taking advantage of the warlord's momentary distraction, he switched his blade's energy setting to stun, and in the same moment swung it at his head. The Sectarian was rendered immediately unconscious and lay spread eagle on the floor.
Sparing no more time, Arnis rushed to the bridge of the station. He first had to navigate a variety of criss-crossing halls.
Too many damn halls! Why can't they design a main hall that goes to the bridge? he questioned internally. He encountered only a few unsuspecting foes before reaching his destination.
Once on the bridge, he found himself face to trunk with half a dozen of the Sectarian warriors. At first, they didn't see him, but a cool whisp of the ventilation ducts blew Arnis's scent their way. The warriors turned to see the Savage Hare and made to attack.
"What!? How could you have escaped the master's grasp!? Seize him!" the commander of the small subset shouted.
"Not so fast," Arnis countered, pointing at the commander. "I have defeated your master and, in accordance with Sectarian culture law XZ9-3921, you must leave this station!"
"This is impossible! He lies!" the commander accused and stepped forward bringing his own blaster rifle to bear.
"Commander!" an underling came running unto the bridge and came to a halt. "Uh..."
The underling paused upon seeing the intimidating form of a six-foot bunny and nearly lost his nerve. He couldn't help but fixate on the Savage Hare's bulging biceps and severe overbite. A silence passed through the domed interior of the technologically overdone bridge. Lights and indicators bleeped and blinked as the seconds passed. Somewhere, beneath one of the button strewn counsels, a space rat scurried away to someplace a little noisier.
"Well?" the commander demanded impatiently.
"Er, the master was found unconscious in the conference chamber," he related, still staring at the bulk of the rabbit next to him.
Arnis towered over the five-foot being, and seeing an opportunity, glared down with as mean a look as he could muster. This seemed to have worked, as the underling fled before the awesome might of the Savage Hare.
"Do you hear? Or do you wish to hear those words from my muscles?" Arnis inquired, drawing up the sleeve of his cloak, laying bare his large arm and flexed for all to see. "See, they say, 'Come on, little girly-man! I will crush you with great impotence!'"
"Uh," the commander stood staring at Arnis with a dull expression of disbelief and totally forgot about the weapon in his hand at his side. "I belive what you mean to say is, 'impudence'..."
Arnis glared menacingly, past his bicep, at the Sectarian. Taking the hint, and knowing that their honor system dictated their immediate withdrawal, the commander had no choice but to comply with the lunatic hare.
"This won't be the last you hear of us, Savage Hare," he commented and glanced at the warriors staring at him. "Quit your gawking. Prepare for departure. Tolcus, go and see to our master's care."
* * * * * Several hours later, the Sectarian battle cruisers departed the Uranian system and returned to their base on Mars.
Arnis stood, with his arms crossed upon his chest, watching the fleet embark. At his side, there was the Analili station commander who was breathing a sigh of relief. He had been locked up in solitary confinement for the better part of the last week and was happy to be seeing the cold chill of space again. At least, from the relative comfort of the docking bay and its protective force field.
"Thank heavens you showed when you did, Savage Hare," the Analili, Captain D'nku Ramadus said to Arnis. "If not for you, I fear that we may never have seen our families again."
Captain Ramadus stood only four-foot-six and had a crew cut of gray hair covering the top of his head. This stood out against his blue-grey tones and the white Officer's jacket, with a draping length to the backs of his shins, that he wore. His pug and whiskerless face viewed the serious demeanor of Arnis as he stood there staring out into space beyond the confines of the shields.
"I wouldn't be so certain about that, Captain. There is a disturbance in the unifying lifestream," Arnis said in contemplation.
"How so?" Captain Ramadus inquired.
"It feels like they wanted me to come here, to flaunt my might, and then flee before me. However, they were not really fleeing. They made you send out a distress call to me, to bring me here. Why? What are they up to? I must return to Earth," he related to Captain Ramadus.
"You mean to suggest they diverted you here? What on Earth for? To be beat to a bloody pulp?" the Captain queried with uncertainty.
"The Sectarian's, when they are really driven, send more than a small contingent of warrior insurgents. They generally send the whole armada. You, being of the Analili consortium, should be well aware of this fact," he said looking down to the alien man. "Had they really wanted you dead, you would never have seen their faces. And, I would never have faced a mere three warriors, no matter how inept."
Arnis unfolded his arms and returned to his transport, leaving Captain Ramadus to consider this new revelation.
Oh dear, what am I going to tell the Elders? he wondered as he watched the Savage Hare board his vessel. He turned and left the spacious docking bay behind him.
* * * * * Archer Kent rushed down the long, stone hall. The intruders were coming after him with full might. They wanted what he had and he was hellbent on ensuring they did not get the relic. He had the artifact in his leather satchel and was determined to keep it there. His breath came in ragged gasps as ancient dirt and grime was kicked up under his thick, black boots. That dirt clung to his rusty, brown tunic and blue jeans, frustrating the man to no extent. He'd just washed his clothes and, now, here he was getting them all messed up once again.
Brown, shoulder length hair flopped around and helped to gathered ominous dust particles threatening to choke him for lack of oxygen. Fortunately, the hall ended at a 'T' section that led to where his jump jet awaited. He could see the small slip space, positioned in such a manner that one could only slide through it sideways, just ahead at the end of the western path that ran left from the 'T' intersection.
Archer hunched slightly, and forced his six-foot frame through the space. He was careful not to allow the satchel to get hung up on any web strewn stone jettings. Sunlight shone down on his jump jet and he smiled upon his harried approach. Unfortunately, three Sectarian ships flew in and hovered beyond, within his escape vector, and saw his position. Several waves of laser fire shot forth and disabled his vessel. The craft didn't blow up, but its landing gear collapsed under the assault and served as a warning to Archer that he wasn't going anywhere that way.
"Archer!" called a voice from his immediate left.
Seeing the owner of the voice was Nord Preface, an old friend of his, he quickly rushed along the exposed terrace that lined the side of the massive pyramidical structure he had just emerged from. Expanding into the distance, were the tops of a tropical forest that surrounded the structure deep within the depths of the southern continent. Though, technically, this was part of the United Nations of Turtle People, this bit of national boundary was lost upon the warships that had followed them to the temple.
"What are you doing here!?" Archer cried out, as he reached Nord and ran behind him to another terrace that was covered by a thick canopy of vegetation.
"Never mind that, did you get it?" Nord replied with a question as they turned the pyramid corner hundreds of feet above the forest floor.
"Yeah. Right here. You're not going to claim it, are you?" Archer asked nervously, not letting up on his flight.
"What, are you nuts!? I don't want that damned thing! However, we are taking you somewhere safe," his friend responded.
"'We'?" Archer wondered out loud and then they were out of firing range.
They came to the end of the terrace and Archer saw a familiar face. A woman he had thought long lost. He came to almost a skidding halt upon the sight of her.
"Minnie?" he queried, not believing his eyes or his luck.
"You know I hate 'Minnie', Archer. Call me, Menelurch."
* * * * * A reddish haze outlined the atmosphere of the alien world of Mars. Phoebes and Deimos, its companion moons, silently orbited the planetary rim. Fields of bright stars served as a backdrop to the fourth planet in the Sol system. Many admirers had stared out the portals of their vessels and wondered at the strange beauty inherent on this desert world. The commander of the vessel entering the Martian system was no different as he cast his gaze out the room length window sheltering him from the frigid void of space.
"Commander," came a voice from the comm on the being's personal desk.
Commander Shou Karma let loose a snort from his long trunk. His two ear-trunks twitched at the shrill unit. He turned and crossed his spacious quarters. The red hues of Mars cast a slight, orange hue upon the interior of his room. The planet spun lazily beyond the view of the curved viewport as Shou walked down to the center of his quarters, where his half-circle desk awaited.
Shou was a seven-foot tall Sectarian with a mane of shoulder length grey hair. Grey-black skin tones made his small and squinty maroon colored eyes stand out. Two six-inch tusks jutted out from his mouth and pointed straight up, one to each side of his nose-trunk. Generally, though, what one noticed first about the commander was his impatient and gruff disposition.
"What is it?" Shou demanded as he pressed the comm-switch.
"The Empress has contacted us and is awaiting your response. She...requests...your immediate attention," the vision of his subordinate said and saluted with a slight bow.
Shou stared past the monitor and towards the bed in the far corner of his room. Only one step, that circled the center of the room, was all that would hinder his progress to that warm sanctity. However, the impatient and self-imposed 'Empress' beckoned. Bothersome, wench. he thought.
"Patch her through," he ordered looking to the screen.
The underling saluted again and the screen shifted. Seconds later, the silhouetted image of a seated individual came into focus. He could tell that the Empress had her hands folded in an inverted 'V' formation, with her fingers braced to her darkened nose. Shou straightened and awaited the Empress's command.
"Your report," the Empress demanded.
"Your excellency, the Savage Hare was successfully distracted. The warriors we sent performed their duties well. Allowing the Savage Hare to believe he drove our best warriors into defeat, was one of our finer performances. He suspects nothing," Shou reported, his nose-trunk twitching over his tusked mouth.
"What of our 'delivery boys'?" she inquired, shifting ever so slightly in the shadows on the tiny, eight-inch monitor.
"The package...has grown legs, it would appear. I assure you, Empress, we will retrieve the relic," Shou huffed in agitation.
"I would advise that you ensure to that statement. You'll find no tolerance for failure from me," the Empress stated bluntly.
The viewscreen went blank, leaving Shou clenching his beefy fists in silent fury. The slight joy he had upon seeing the Martian view had dissipated and left him in the mood to kill something. He pressed the comm-switch and, within moments, his underling was on screen.
"Commander, you wish my services?" the underling inquired.
"I want to see you in my quarters," he demanded and shut off the monitor.
We have other matters at hand that demand our utmost attention. And, this despotic heifer wastes our time with artifact acquisitions? What were the Masters thinking? he let the angry thoughts float around in his skull and walked back to the viewport. A slight smile came to his tusked visage, knowing that the underling was on his way.
* * * * * The Empress sat in the dark with her fingers laced together. She contemplated all that she had worked so hard to accomplish. Her surrogate would not be pleased if she failed to deliver the relic into his waiting grasp. She sighed out loud and felt the weight of duty pressing down hard in her soul.
How long must I suffer these cretins? They couldn't even win a war without the help of a cosmic wave leveling the playing field. she thought and rose to her feet. She needed some medication for her throbbing headache.
* * * * * The small, silvery craft unfolded its forward running wings that had been in a low sweeping angle. During space flight, the wings hung at seventy degree angles below the belly of the ship. On each wing tip, were energy cannons that were difficult to discern from the wing itself. Once the ship was coming in to land, however, the wings had to be folded to the reverse extreme, making the ship look like a bird-of-prey approaching the ground. Well, maybe not a bird-of-prey so much as a sparrow-of-prey. Though, sparrows weren't known for their aggressive tendencies, they had been known to peck roughly from time to time. Which would be appropriate, given that the cannons were only the size of small bazookas. For a spacecraft, this wasn't generally an encouraging sign.
Under the belly of the ship, a landing ramp extended allowing for the exit of Arnis. He strolled, with his cloak flowing behind him, between the two landing haunches of the vessel and approached three individuals awaiting his arrival. Hands were held up in a gesture of greeting, which Arnis politely returned.
"We didn't expect you back so soon. Was there no difficulty?" one man queried.
That man was a field surveyist with the Third Etchilon Systemic Trial Incorporation, i.e. T.E.S.T.I. His name was Darryl Hanson, a human with no innate abilities, unless you counted general annoyance. He wore a simple suit and tie, with the initials of the organization he worked for embroidered on the tie, and stood a scant five-foot-six. A slight breeze blew across the landing platform and tussled his light brown hair, cut short and tapered to the nape of his neck.
"Don't you have a foundation layout you should be laser-etching somewhere?" Arnis quipped to the smiling visage of the twenty-two year old. "This is a matter I must discuss with the Council. There were Sectarian's there. However, I think they were there to lure me away from someplace. I don't know yet, and I can't confirm my suspicions until I talk with the Council."
"Strange. I took the liberty of calling the Council to order because I figured something suspicious was going on," he said as the four walked towards the entrance at the edge of the platform built into the side of the Council complex.
"Ballsy," Arnis replied and looked at the young man with a wry expression.
"Heh, heh, heeeeh...funny..." Darryl responded to the jest on the company initials. "Anyhow, I think you should hurry. They'll be meeting soon."
"Tell them I will be there momentarily," Arnis instructed as the young man nodded and proceeded through the double doors to the interior of the building.
Arnis glanced at the blue sky that served as an excellent contrast to the dark city that spanned below the massive, seventy-two story building complex. The angular, pyramidical sides of the Council complex slid down into the abyss of the city of London, the cultural capital of the entire European Union. Rushing vehicles proceeded along their flight paths reminding Arnis of some sci-fi movie where the setting was on a completely metropolitan world. Fortunately, the outlets to the sea did exist several miles beyond the unseen horizon.
He turned back to the one remaining member of the waiting party that had welcomed him home. The woman with long, red hair had followed Darryl inside. Arnis figured she was probably an assistant of his.
Arnis stared at the man before him for a few moments and got a quirked eyebrow in response. The man was almost as tall as he was, standing at six-feet exactly. He had short, black hair and pointy ears. A green robe wrapped around him, and his arms were clasped together and tucked within the confines of the robe's sleeves.
"It's good to see you are recovering well, Tayso. How have been doing, my friend?" Arnis inquired standing before him in concern.
"I have been, and never shall be, your friend," Tayso Ragnorak responded with a dead-pan expression.
Arnis stared at him for several seconds before letting a broad smile cross his toothy visage. He unfolded his arms and clapped Tayso on his back.
"You know, for an elf, you watch waaaay too many movies!" he laughed.
"Well, what else was I supposed to do!?" Tayso smiled with a retort. "You left me alone to be rehabilitated by these rejects! Things haven't been going real smoothly, though. Why do you think that irritant, Darryl, is here?"
"Why? What's happened?" Arnis questioned seriously as they entered the building.
"I'll let the Council explain," Tayso said.
* * * * * Holographic representations of Sectarian warbirds hovered in the middle of the large Council chamber. Several ships fired green blasts of energy into the side of a temple. This scene was transpiring in the midst of a thick jungle. The temple looked to be ages old, and was built similar to the pyramids in the provinces of upper Egypt. However, it was divided into two halves that set one atop the other. It was an unusual design to the eyes of Arnis. The division line came at the mid-way point and looked to be a terrace surrounding the entirety of the temple.
"As you can see, the Sectarians are definitely operating within our boundaries," a brown-cloaked speaker was commenting to the action. "It looks like they were after an artifact that lay within. What the nature of this artifact is, we cannot say. A human fled with the item and we've yet to determine his whereabouts. With any luck, the Sectarian forces haven't found him, either."
Arnis watched the surveyist point a laser device at the temple, indicating the human's path of escape via a small shuttlecraft that had maneuvered through the dense foliage to escape detection by the Sectarians. The holo-display dissipated and revealed the round room in its detail. Fifteen rows of bleachers lined the spherical walls with only two splits on each side of the room, which was where the halls to the exits were located. The rows descended from halfway up the sphere to the floor where the speaker was delivering his report to the Council members. Three main Council elders stood upon an extended section of the bottom row of bleachers.
"What does this all imply, Colin?" the lead Council elder inquired.
"It's difficult to say. We will need to find the people involved to discover what it was the Sectarians were so eager to get their claws on," the speaker replied.
"This does not bode well," the Council elder spoke and turned towards his left. "Savage Hare..."
Arnis stood up from where he sat in the third row left of the three Council elders. He folded his arms into his sleeves and viewed the elder.
"You are sending me to investigate?" Arnis inquired.
"No, no. We'll have to send an envoy to the Turtle People and gain their permission to seek out this unknown. Perhaps they will have direct knowledge of what it is the Sectarians want," the elder said, gathering his thoughts for what he would say next.
"You trust the fate of this discovery on the cooperation on a nation of mutant turtles?" Arnis queried.
The Council paused to stare at the Savage Hare. The elder pursed his mustached lips and furrowed his wizened brow. If one could look more perplexed than this one gray-haired old man, no one knew.
"They just call themselves 'Turtle People,' Savage Hare. You should brush up on your history more often. The Turtle People are the indigenous peoples of the two continents on the other side of the globe. The 'Turtle' in their title, refers to their olden belief in humanity residing on the back of a giant turtle. That turtle is the continent of which they inhabit. They have no particular abilities, unlike the general populace of Europe. They maintain dominion of that side of Earth and we will send those, uh, qualified enough to discuss these matters with them. You, Ambassador," the elder continued to some slight chucklings from the gathered members of the Council. "You are to go to the Ukrainian territories and meet with members of the Hybrid Consortium. It seems they have a mole problem."
"A 'mole' problem?" Arnis asked and lowered his head in embarrassment. "As you wish."
* * * * * Somewhere in the northern terrain of the territories under governance of the U.N.T.P., two moose stood by a running brook munching strains of grass and sipping from the flowing waters. They had large, flattish antlers and deep, brown fur. Their oafish faces chewed in contentment until a puzzled expression came across the visage of one of the moose.
"Say, you have any idea what's going on, eh?" inquired the younger brother of the two moose, Toot.
"What are you talkin' aboot? You're just as all-knowing as I am, eh? Anyone could ask us anything and we'd know, eh?" the older brother, Mutt responded continuing to munch on vegetation.
"Yeah, yeah, but I was just wondering what happened to the 'Lean Titans', eh? I mean, Kraven's pregnant, eh? And, like, what's going on there, eh?" Toot wondered.
"What, you want me to tell the readers everything, eh?" Mutt queried his younger brother.
"Readers?" Toot perked his small ears and glanced around.
"Yeah, those reading this interchange now, eh?" he said and motioned towards the forefront where an invisible and literary camera sat motionless watching the two moose.
"I don't get it, eh?" Toot spoke looking to where the brook was flowing and not spotting the invisible camera his brother obviously knew was there.
"What's not to get, eh? You're an omnipotent moose," Mutt declared.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot, eh?" Toot countered.
"How do you forget, eh? Oh, nevermind, I'll get everyone caught up on what's happening, eh? That work with you, eh?" Mutt asked in agitation.
"Yeah, sure," Toot said and lazily began chewing some grass strands.
"Geez, anyhow, we all know a massive pulse wave struck Earth some seven hundred and fifteen years ago, eh? That wave, if everyone will remember, was sent by an alien species bent on conquering humanity to save their world. This was in the prologue, eh?
"The wave was only meant to hinder the advancement of humanity, I guess they didn't realize humanity was in the grips of the middle-ages, eh? Heh. What that wave ended up doing, instead, was to mutate the bubonic plague virus that was floating around at that time and this in turn gave human beings super powers. Animals like us got some of that, too, eh?
"However, once the portion of the European populace that was infected by this mutated virus began procreating, the virus mutated again, this time becoming part of the genetic profile, eh?
"And, this caused an evolution towards the superheroic, and incidentally, the arrival of those like the 'Lean Titans', eh? Did you know Bestial Lad was related to the goofball who inadvertently started the first super-powered riots?" Mutt informed all.
"Who?" Toot inquired with mild interest.
"Oh...wait, we haven't gotten to that yet, eh? Well, it's funny, trust me. Keep an eye out for it, eh?" Mutt continued as a small, brown bear strolled up to them.
"Hey, smallish bear," Toot welcomed.
"Hey, guys, have you seen my brother?" the little bear, Kola asked.
"Yeah, he was eaten by wolves," Toot proclaimed still chewing.
"What!?" Kola's eyes went wide and started tearing up.
"Wh...would you knock that off!?" Mutt yelled at his brother. "Ignore Toot, smallish bear, he's an idiot, eh! I saw your brother over the hill there. He had an unfortunate run-in with a magical, golden goose and got turned into a duck, eh?"
"Kini!" Kola called as he bounced over the hill a little farther down the brook.
"Quack!" came a garbled response of irritation.
"Oh, yeah!? Well, back at ya, eh!? There's nothing I hate worse than a fowl-mouthed duck," Toot spoke after responding to the jab shot at him.
"He-heh," Mutt snorted a laugh. "Now, where was I?"
"You were just telling us about an alien race bent on conquering humanity but inadvertently advanced their society instead of hindering it, eh? That, the human genome mutated through sexual reproduction and lead to the outbreak of the superheroically challenged, eh?" Toot replied.
"Challenged?" Mutt inquired.
"I think they are, eh?" Toot quipped.
"Oh, heh, good point. So, uh, the Lean Titans had difficulty with Kraven and Bestial Lad always being late because they were busy 'getting-it-on.' Meanwhile, the Savage Hare is meeting the threat of the Sectarian movement that, in all honesty folks, is hellbent on really conquering the human species, eh?" Mutt continued his tale.
"So, uh, what happened to the, uh, what did they call themselves again? The aliens that shot the wave off that gave humanity the jump-start, eh?" Toot wondered.
"You mean the Phoc Fei Xs? We're getting there. Stop trying to jump forward, eh? There's a certain method to story telling you've got to adhere to, eh? You can't force the plot, eh?" Mutt replied.
"Phoc Fei Xs? That sounds kinda dirty. Alright, I won't force the plot. Sorry, eh?" Toot apologized to his curiosity.
"You don't have to apologize, eh? Look, right now, there's something going on with the Savage Hare and I think the readers would like to get on with the story, eh?" Mutt informed Toot.
"Oh, ok. We'll be going now, eh?" the two moose started to walk down the brook-bank. "You know, I don't understand why there are so many characters in this story? Doesn't this make it a little convoluted, eh?"
"No, you need multiple characters to really make a complicated plot work. It all ties together, but you knew that, eh?" Mutt spoke.
"Oh, yeah, yeah of course I knew that, eh? I was just, uh, paraphrasing what the reader was thinking, eh? So, like, we're going upstream for some new grub, eh?" Toot inquired walking along side his brother.
"Yeah. There's some choice weedage by that agitated duck. We'll let the Savage Hare do his thing, eh?" Mutt responded.
The two omnipotent moose disappeared over the edge of the hill running through a bunch of trees surrounded by thickets and copses of other vegetation. Meanwhile, something was transpiring on the other side of the planet.
* * * * * "All is lost! All is lost!" shouted a maniacal little hedgehog as he fled from a chaotic scene.
Fire burned amidst the small village as a crazed lunatic calling himself the Bushman ransacked the local food bins. Screaming villagers fled under the assault of the Bushman's lackeys and foot soldiers. The Savage Hare was fighting off as many as he could, trying to make his way to the evil dictator. His weapon blazed fiercely as several kamikaze dwarves let loose their battle-cries.
"Ack! Dwarves ready!" and they charged by the doubles towards Arnis.
Using his innate abilities of telekinesis, he levitated several boulders near a mountainside and thrust them towards the TNT laced harbingers of death. They exploded under the tonnage of rock. Four more waves of suicidal dwarves ran towards the Savage Hare. Instinctively, Arnis counter-attacked with a raised hand and mentally caused their explosives to ignite, eliminating the threat.
Arnis discarded his robe and cloak, unveiling his sandy brown tunic and pants, because of a thick sweat brewing underneath his fur that clung to the clothing. He breathed out a sigh of relief and looked for anymore chaotic dwarves. Seeing none, he made his way towards where the Bushman was just out of sight. He'd only caught a brief glance of the creature, but he could tell the Bushman wasn't entirely human.
"Not so fast, Savage Hare!" cried out the right hand-man to the Bushman, Colon.
Colon was a dark, black haired badger humanoid who stood six-foot-three and was determined to crush the powerful knight of justice. Beside Colon, came the Bushman's left-hand man, Dikhed, who was a balding lemming standing six-foot-one. Arnis readied himself for their attacks.
"Out of the way, little human-like creatures of destruction! I must save this village of innocent and hapless humanoids who have, unwittingly, become part of your masters dastardly deeds!" Arnis commanded.
"You will have to get through us first, Savage one!" Colon cried and charged.
Dikhed paused with a slight gleam in his eye. He turned towards a nearby cliff. Colon was halfway to the Savage Hare when he realized that Dikhed wasn't with him. He turned to witness Dikhed gleefully thrusting himself over the edge of a cliff. Dikhed's falling form quickly disappeared.
"I told him not to hire a lemming! But, OH, NO!, he'll do fine!" Colon fussed, shaking his fist angrily in the air. "So be it, Savage Hare! Let's dance!"
The battle was short-lived, however, once the lone Colon met with the fiercesome resolve of the massive Hare. Arnis quickly whipped out his energy weapon, on stun, of course, since he despised killing~with the exception of chaotic, kamikaze dwarves~ and rendered the pitiful, yet determined, creature unconscious with a one-two high-low attack. Colon crumpled to the ground with murmurings of foolish lemmings on his lips.
Arnis wasted no further time as he rushed towards the hut where the Bushman clawed in fury at a locked chest. The humanoid didn't see Savage Hare at first, until he heard the unmistakable deeply accented voice of his foe.
"There's nowhere for you to run, Bushy! The lemming took a dive, and your Colon has been cleansed!" Arnis shouted from the entrance.
The Bushman looked up from the chest. A loaf of bread was in his mouth, since his paws were busy with other matters. Opening his mouth to talk, the loaf fell to the ground.
"You! Colon and Dikhed should have been able to deal with you! They assured me that it was a done deal! I will have to make corrections to deal with this oversight!" the Bushman said.
"You'll find none of your lackeys up to the task, Bushman!" he exclaimed to the humanoid creature. "If it's Weapons of Mass Dumbassery you're looking for, you'll find you're in the wrong town!"
Arnis got his first real good look at the Bushman. He was a giant Mole with twitching, squinting eyes and graying fur. The Mole clutched his paws into clawed fists and stared at the imposing Hare. He realized he was no match for such a warrior. After all, he only stood five-foot-three and weighed eighty-seven pounds. So, he did what any good mole would do in his situation, and leapt out the hut window and retreated to the hole dug into the side of the nearby mountain.
"Come back here, little Mole! I'm not going to hurt you...much! You must stand trial for your crimes against these people!" he shouted after the fleeing form of the Bushman.
Arnis chased him into the side of the mountain, but quickly lost him in the dark. His eyesight wasn't as good as a full blooded hare, the unintelligent variety, and he couldn't see more than a few feet.
"Great..." he muttered into the cave as his voice echoed into the deep recesses of the mountain depths.
"You'll probably need this," came a voice at his side.
Arnis nearly jumped when he heard the small sound. However, he could barely see something being lit. Bright flame issued forth from the torch being held by the diminutive figure of a humanoid gecko.
"Who are you?" he inquired, taking the torch from the creature.
"Golim Beebo is the name. I've lived in these caves for years. I must tell you, this Bushman is a major pain in my ass," Golim spoke to the perplexed Hare. "Follow me. I'll show you where I see him most, though, I've yet to determine where the little bastard's hiding."
"You don't happen to sell insurance, do you?" Arnis inquired suspiciously.
"Uh, no. You going to follow me, or what?" Golim replied.
Arnis nodded and followed the four-foot gecko through a series of long cave passages. It felt like hours as they proceeded down the labyrinthine halls. They had obviously been hollowed out through a series of events; naturally occurring and with a little help from some sentient form or another.
"Do these passages ever end?" he inquired after awhile.
"Oh yes, in fact, we're coming to the spot I told you of before," Golim replied.
They entered a massive cavern, replete with ominous stalactites and stalagmites. The appearance reminded Arnis of some giant Maw filled with teeth. He held the torch out in front of him, casting the bare light across the varied surfaces of the cavern. The two walked to the back of the cave and came to a stop when something caught Arnis's attention.
"Oh...my...I don't believe it," he started, staring at something on the back wall.
"You recognize it?" Golim inquired, having wondered for quite some time what the things were.
Arnis let the glow of the torch highlight the thousands of etched markings along the surface of the wall. Unlike other cave-drawings, however, these seemed to be saying something. Savage Hare knew what the markings said, for he knew the archaic form of the writings all too well.
"Yes, they are the markings of the Analili," he responded in awe.
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