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Counter Earth Chronicles - Fallen Empire

Chapter 98: Searching For A Perfect World We Will Never Find (The Dawn Of Civilization Part V)

Meanwhile....

Day 200 (9:30 PM A glacier far to the west of World Three.)

"Wow, so snowy and cold." Kiwi observed.

"I think I know why the High Evolutionary banned travel here. This place is white as my fur." A chakat said to her boy.

"This is another fine mess you have gotten us into dear leader!" An angry akita said condescendingly to a maned wolf.

"Naka we can't stay here indefinitely; it is too cold even for July." A hedgehog boy said examining the ice and snow he was standing on.

"Midnight Black, Arthur I get it. But would you rather go with them?!" The maned wolf said looking at the two black triangular spaceships hovering nearby.

"And you thought this glacier would protect us how now?" Song asked to Naka.

"It was what I could come up with on such short notice." The former knight said to the chakat. "It beats being out in the open and getting picked off by our friends up there."

"It was also the only way to hinder Nikka's tracker." Minka said trading glances with Kiwi.

"Yeah it is eerie how those ships have just been circling and circling." The preteen boy said agreeing with the monkey girl.

"I should just give myself up." Nikka said shivering. "They want me."

"And spend the rest of your existence as the KLIS' personal lab experiment? I think not!" Russell said to the she skunk.

"Schwee!!" A blue slime next to them said in agreement.

"Besides you have to live for your sister Nikko. She didn't survive the aftermath of the world collapsing, you did." The miniature horse said as one of the black triangular ships moved away from the area at incredible speed.

*WHOOSH!!!*

"Whoa!! Was it something we said?" Minka asked.

"It was like one of them just got tired of searching and gave up." Kiwi said shivering.

"Or yielded the search to the other." A faux beagle whispered under her breath.

"Or had something better to do." A wombat near by added.

"That just leaves one problem to deal with." A groundhog next to him concluded.

"Everyone quiet!" Naka ordered as a large fat yellow beam of light shot down from the remaining sky ship scouring the ground like some giant power vacuum. It started moving toward the glacier where the nomadic colony had been hiding.

"Everyone take cover! It is coming this way!" Song shouted as the group was enveloped in the fat yellow beam of light.

Screams were heard from the members of the colony as the beam moved over them, the glacier and then there was silence. The black triangular ship disengaged the beam and then made a sharp left and took off at incredible speed like the first craft.

*WHOOSH!!!*

"Everyone in one piece?" The maned wolf asked.

"Yeah, I think so." The hedgehog boy said.

"I am here Naka." A thirteen year old girl in a beagle costume admitted. "Wait, where is every beast else?"

"Song? Kiwi? Addy? Russell?, Nikka? Minka? Black?"

Naka's shouting was answered by silence a lot of it.

"No!! They are all gone!!" The maned wolf said in shock.

"Minka!" Arthur shouted. "This isn't a joke answer me!!"

"The KLIS, I think they took everyone." Angi said looking up at the night sky. "We are the only ones left!"

"Some leader I turned out to be." The former knight said pounding the snow covered ground. "What was I doing? What the hell was I thinking?! I just killed them all!"

"What you have been doing since taking charge jr. knight; saving each and everyone under your command from annihilation/oblivion." Arthur responded.

"That is why we love you and trust you completely." The faux beagle admitted. "Well until this slip up."

Arthur gave Angi such a look.

"Um, I think I will double check for survivors over there."

"What do we do now Naka?" The hedgehog boy asked.

"I don't know Arthur, I just don't know." The maned wolf said covering his eyes and breaking down. The hedgehog tried his best to console his crestfallen friend.

Nearby...

Angi combed the glacier for signs that someone anyone from their group had survived the KLIS attack. She didn't find her friends, but did find a passage and two beings at its entrance.

"Who is there?" The teen called out.

"Friends." A voice said. "I am Ember."

"And I am Cinder. We saw what happened."

"Aardvarks?" Angi exclaimed. "Out here in the middle of nowhere? How did you?"

"Not important little human." The smaller of the two aardvarks started to say.

"Not a human, I am a beagle- a beastial beagle."

"Sure you are." The taller of the two aardvarks said. "We have some advice for you."

"If you want to find what you hold and value so dear..." Ember said.

"You will need to head down the passage here." Cinder pointing.

"Did we make ourselves clear?" The two aardvarks asked in unison.

The faux beagle nodded and left to find the maned wolf and hedgehog.

Cinder and Ember watched the disguised human girl leave.

"Mistress it is done." Cinder said to an unseen presence.

"Our madam wants us to resume our chores ship-side." Ember said to his cousin as the two aardvarks started to fade out. "I get to bathe the pretty females. She said you can bathe the un-pretty ones and all the males."

"No she did not!!!" Cinder shouted as the two disappeared.

"Naka, Arthur I found a passage through the glacier."

"Good job Angi." The hedgehog boy said. "Naka?"

The question was met with a blank stare from the maned wolf.

"Ok fine it is up to me then." The hedgehog boy concluded.

"And?" The human female in the beagle fursuit asked.

"Logic would dictate that we need to get to some place safe. Let's go." Arthur said.

Together the two took the distraught maned wolf into the ice cave.

"What the hell was I thinking?! I am a junior knight not a leader!"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up Naka." Arthur said consoling the former knight. "You were what we needed when everyone was struggling- a beacon of hope."

"He speaks the truth. You took a bunch of dispirited refugees, and inspired them. You brought them hope in a time of eternal darkness and turned them into something more than the sum of their parts. It is because of you that we made it this far when many have not." The girl in the beagle costume added.

"I would believe that more if the rest of our group were not KLIS experiments right now." The maned wolf said clasping his maw with his paws as he realized the horrors Song and Kiwi were probably experiencing right now.

It took the three the rest of the night to traverse the passage. Angi told her companions how two mysterious aardvarks she met had told her about the ice cave. As they emerged from the cave they took stock in their surroundings.

"Serious mysterious! We left a frozen wasteland for a desert?!" The hedgehog boy replied. As the three observed the dry wasteland of arid ground, tumbleweeds, cacti and rock formations.

"We should stay in the cave it will shade us from the heat and we could melt the snow at the other end for drinking water." Angi suggested.

"That is a good idea. I would suggest that we only travel at night too." Arthur added.

"I don't care. You two do what you want." The junior knight said.

"Excuse me do you three require assistance?"

"Who said that?" Angi said looking around.

"There." The hedgehog boy said pointing.

To their left was a blond haired woman with a worn face, wrinkled brow in brown dress waving from what appeared to be an artificial hidden doorway in the brown wasteland. Behind her appeared to be some type of settlement.

Angi and Arthur looked at Naka, themselves and then the mysterious woman.

"Yes, we do." The hedgehog boy said.

_And so... _

"This is a nice place uh..." The faux beagle said.

"Amazing." The maned wolf said looking around.

"And he speaks again." Arthur said.

"This is the Glen a human village." The woman who appeared to be in her forties replied. "I am its leader Romina. You appear to be very tired and very hungry. Would you like to join me for breakfast?"

"Yes, we would." The trio said following their mysterious host.

Romina led her guests from the hidden doorway through the settlement and into a home constructed of adobe brick with brown walls and red shingles on its roof it looked almost exactly like the other houses that punctuated the community.

The inside was indistinguishable from any home in the former empire.

The village leader had her guests sit down at a glass table while she prepared something for them to eat.

"Let's see two carnivores and an omnivore. How about my special stew?"

"Romina if you don't mind me asking how does your village exist?" The hedgehog boy inquired.

"Oh that. My friends and I are refugees from the empire who grew tired of the subjugation and persecution under the High Evolutionary's rule. So tired we fled far to the west past the plains and the glacier to found the settlement you see here."

"So the pathway through the glacier..." Naka said.

"We dug that." The blond female said while setting the table. "This village was founded by humans for humans. Here we can escape from oppression and live our lives to the fullest."

"Except for the exterior I could swear I am back in World One." Arthur said looking around the woman's home. "But you are in the middle of nowhere!"

"Oh that, we brought what we could. We are well hidden from the empire; they would have quite a hard time finding us to enforce the settlement statute if that is what you mean. Beef stew hot." Romina said to a device on the counter. Instantly their meal was prepared.

"That is no longer an issue." Angi said.

"How so?" The blond female said giving each a bowl of her stew to eat.

"The empire ended eight months ago."

"Really? How?"

"Cataclysm." The hedgehog said digging in. "Massive destruction and many casualties."

"The winter afterwards was even more devastating." Naka said. "I was leading a group from World Three, we were looking for a stable place to settle down and start over."

"What happened to them?" The blond female asked sitting down.

Her guests were silent.

"I see. Well you are welcome to stay here as long as you like."

"Thank you that is awfully kind." Naka responded.

"Angi dear that mask and suit why do you wear it?" The blond asked.

"It is personal." Was the abrupt response from the faux beagle.

"It must make it quite difficult to eat."

"And bathe and relieve herself too. That is about the only time we do see what is underneath." Arthur said smirking as the disguised human removed the head to her fursuit revealing her true self.

"My you are quite pretty." Romina said as the teen quickly downed the contents of her bowl and put her beagle head back on. "I see something caused you to reject your humanity. You shouldn't feel that way dear, we are who we are and it doesn't do us any good denying it."

The dour wolf looked at his subordinates as their host made that comment.

"I am going to get some air and clear my head." Naka said getting up from the table and leaving the home.

"Lovely morning isn't it?" A human couple said as the former junior knight strolled around the village taking in the sites of the desert.

"Yes. It is."

"You are one of the new arrivals aren't you?" A elderly gentleman in a plaid vest and grey pants asked.

"New arrivals? I suppose I am. Your development does not appear to have any boundaries where does the village end and the desert begin?"

"Where the houses stop. Young fella and our protective barrier ends." Came the response.

"What about threats and dangers?" The wolf beastial asked.

"We are hidden from the outside world. They can't see us unless we want them to, so be at ease."

Naka watched the man walk away. Many of the inhabitants were chatting, playing games and tending to children. Naka noted that they appeared to be content and carefree.

Was this the oasis he and the remainder of his group had been looking for?

"Enjoying the view?" The blond woman said walking behind the maned wolf.

"Romina. How is it that you can survive in such a harsh environment?"

"The short answer is hard work and determination, let me show you."

The woman took the dispirited wolf for a tour around her settlement.

"This here is our nursery." She said ushering Naka into a nearby building.

The junior knight observed five mothers nursing newborns. Each smiled at him as they breastfed their babies.

"When we fled the empire we escaped the hold that was placed on us. Humans can now procreate again. We also found ways to cultivate the land, pull water from it making us self reliant."

"So the fall of civilization did not affect you?"

"We were oblivious to it Naka. This place, our place speaks to anyone who aches for a simpler existence and more authentic living."

"It does Romina. This place is heartfelt and genuine." The junior knight said.

That evening...

"It was so nice for our host to put us up for the night." The hedgehog boy said staring at the cosy bedroom.

"Yes I haven't slept in something so cosy and comfortable for sometime." Angi said smiling within her fursuit.

"Angi, Arthur." Naka said entering the second floor room.

"Hey." The two said to their leader.

"I spoke to Romina. She has agreed to let us stay permanently."

"Naka?"

"This is the perfect place we have been searching for." The maned wolf said.

"Well, it is hidden from the outside world and impervious to the encroaching darkness stretching around the planet." The hedgehog boy said.

"Song, Kiwi, Russell, Minka, Nikka and the rest of our group would have probably agreed too."

"But Naka we are beastials, we are reminders of the oppression the residents here fled from." Angi said pouring cold water on the fantasy.

"The village has decided to forgive us of the transgressions of our superiors. They have decided to take us in, this is our new home." The former knight said.

"So Romina wants this settlement to be a melting pot like the colony Lady Barq lives in?" Angi asked.

Naka nodded. "The announcement will be made in settlement wide meeting tomorrow morning. Now get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us."

Angi made sure that Naka and Arthur were the first to lay down for the evening. She waited until the former knight and hedgehog had fallen into a deep sleep. When they had, she carefully removed her fursuit and its head laying it off to the side. Before falling asleep herself.

Arthur was right the room was very cosy and the bed was so soft, the linen was even softer. It was something the three of them had not experienced in quite some time.

That night...

During the early morning hours the artificial beastial felt a fullness in her groin and then a tingling. Well, she did drink a lot at dinner as did her friends especially Naka for obvious reasons and now she would have to leave her comfortable bed to make her bladder gladder.

Carefully and quietly Angi crept out of her room and down the hall to the washroom. She was stunned by the devices she saw there including a unique waste receptacle that encased the groin and the rump and cleaned those areas really well after bodily waste was eliminated.

While waiting for the receptacle to clean her personal area, the black haired teen stared out the window. The room did have a picturesque view of their new home. Complete with some type of early morning procession. About ten villagers appeared to be carrying some individuals in some type of parade. But at this hour?

The want-a-be beastial returned to her room eager to tell her friends about what she had seen. But Naka and Arthur were gone! Even her fursuit was missing!

The teen decided to follow the parade at a distance. It was being led by the settlement's leader and her underlings. The blond haired woman pressed a hand held device and a door appeared out of nowhere. It opened. Upon which the procession tossed the objects they were carrying inside. The door than closed and disappeared.

Angi waited for the crowds to dissipate before approaching. It took a moment to find it, but the door was there. Just hidden. She pried it open and entered.

Standing before the teen appeared to be some type of storage pen with a bizarre whitish blue light shining down on the occupants inside. Angi noticed outside it was her fursuit. She soon recognized the occupants inside the pen! There was Arthur, Naka, Minka, Song, Addy, Russell, Nikka and even Kiwi!!

"I see you have found out our little secret." A voice behind her said approaching.

Angi turned to face the village leader.

"Romina what is this?"

"What does it look like to you?"

"A weird prison." The teen said studying her host carefully.

"No it is warehouse, a storage warehouse."

"Of what?"

"Subjects for our client's experiments."

"Who is your client?" Angi said reaching for her fursuit.

"You know the aliens hunting beastials. They have no interest in we humans but are completely fascinated in the High Evolutionary's so called ultimate lifeforms."

"So a deal was struck." A man behind Romina said.

"They provide us with a means to survive out here and we store their stuff. I consider it poetic justice against our beastial oppressors." The settlement's leader said.

"No." The teen said standing defiant.

"You should embrace your humanity dear. Beastials are the oppressors after all." Romina said to wanna-be- beastial. "This was our planet first!"

"Really?" Angi said staring down the blond woman and her minions. "Who caused the 90 year war then?"

"Well...." the man said fumbling to answer.

"Who brought pain, poverty, disease, starvation, misery and suffering on such a mass scale that the survivors gave an extraterrestrial power to rule over the land and them?"

"Um..."

"We did- all that was before beastials arrived on this world. You may not agree with the High Evolutionary or his methods. But he got results. For thirty years there was no war or hunger, most diseases were eliminated and humanity was prevented from ruining the planet again. Those are the facts."

Romina and her subordinate were left speechless.

"I decided to side with the beastials. These beastials, my family." Angi said donning her beagle fursuit again. "They are not perfect, but they are better than some humans I have come to know, present company included."

"That boy Kiwi shared similar views." Romina said shaking her head. "Throw her in there with them. Maybe a few months of suspended animation will change her world view."

Angi arrived in the pen just in time for Naka's latest pity party.

"Everyone ok?" The faux beagle said checking in our her companions.

"We can't move." Kiwi replied.

"This is all my fault!" The maned wolf said. "I got you captured and led the rest of us right into a trap!"

"Yes you did. Now what are you going to do about it?" The akita assassin asked.

"What Midnight Black is saying is that everyone makes mistakes Naka. What is important is that we learn from them." The chakat said softly.

"Besides we are all together again even if we are just waiting to be abducted." Minka snickered.

The group tried to glare at the monkey girl, but since they couldn't move. The best they could manage was to cut their eyes at her.

"Who knew that the humans here were in cahoots with KLIS?" A grey and white miniature horse surmised.

"Any ideas on how to escape?" Nikka asked.

"We need to neutralize that light." The hedgehog boy said. "Angi how is it that you can still move?"

"It is her fursuit the light has no affect on her." Naka said. "Angi the light, smash that light!"

"No." The akita assassin said. "We just need to power it off."

"And then?" Nikka asked.

The akita managed to raise his eyebrow in response.

And so...

"Three more subjects for our clients. They will be most pleased Romina." One of her subordinates said.

"Yes, they will Puga, yes they will."

*bounce* *bounce* *bounce*

"Schwee!!!"

"Did you see a blue slime just come by?" The leader's minion said staring in disbelief.

The blond haired woman nodded. "Puga get that! I am going to check the pen."

As the blond woman opened the door to the KLIS storage warehouse...

*GRAB*

*TOSS*

"Well we got their leader Naka." Song said.

"Great now for her minions. Get ready Addy is leading them back this way." The maned wolf growled.

The members of the nomadic colony turned the tables on Romina and her minions.

"You got better than what you deserved Romina." The maned wolf said.

"You never get away with this." The blond female hissed from within the pen.

"We already have." The faux beagle said staring her down. "I doubt that the KLIS will be happy to discover their 'items' have been removed from storage."

"Yup maybe they might have to make a few substitutions." The monkey girl added.

"We should depart quickly." Russell said taking Nikka's paw.

"No argument from me on that." Arthur said.

Romina and her minions could do nothing but watch as the nomadic colony departed her settlement.

"Midnight Black!"

"Song?" The akita said turning to the chakat and her boy.

"You didn't kill anyone today."

"That is right I didn't. I must be losing my touch." The assassin said. "I had the urges."

"Or maybe it is his way of thanking Angi for saving all of us." Kiwi said to the chakat.

"Either way it is great not to be an inanimate object anymore; I had an itch I couldn't reach and it was driving me crazy." Song said trying to reach her backside with her paw but just couldn't quite make it.

"And it looks like you still can't reach it." Her boy teased. "Let me help with that."

As the nomadic colony left the village and entered the desert their departure was observed by a certain dinosaur beastial from the tunnel of the glacier. A triceratops dinosaur beastial.

"Yes madam the competition's auxiliary storage has been shut down indefinitely." Triceraton said to a unseen presence. "They won't be pleased. Yes mistress, the playing field has been equalized; they are now limited only to what they can catch and bring shipside as it should be."

To Be Continued....