Strange Times, Ch. 1 & 2 - Arrest & Escape
Hi, this is my first story online so I don't how good this will be. I would like to thank lunar wolf for the inspiration I needed to get started.
Here is the annoying disclaimer thing.....wait, this chapter doesn't need one. But just incase...future additions to this series will contain sexual actions between two or more males. If you are not 18 (or 21 depending on your residential laws) do not proceed any futher. If you think that homosexual or bisexual relations are wrong then don't read this and go jump in a lake.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
The chain hit him on the back of the head, making him groggy. Before he could come to his senses, a large, mechanical arm came and picked him up by the scruff of his neck. He shivered, knowing what would come from the crooked police officers that ran the city at night. He looked up into the soul less red eyes of the police officer.
"Name and residence" the machine said hollowly. He cursed himself. There wasn't any bargaining or pleading with the robot, and there wasn't any mercy. There was only swift punishment at the end of the road for him.
"My name is Lucas Kale," he said, "and I live at..." He looked around thinking of his real residence, "774 Henson." He stammers as his thin black fur stood on end. His silver eyes started to lose their luster as the robot picked him up and started its way back to the police station.
The robotic police officer carried his prisoner into the station as a jackal morph came out. His name was Officer Marcus Reese. He was 5'7" and completely covered in thin black fur. Officer Reese smirked at the robots captive and said "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
The robot answered in its cold, mechanical voice. "Unauthorized pedestrian arrested for ignoring curfew and failure to state place of residence."
"Hmm....we'll let Greg see what he can get out of this one. He's been bored lately," replied Officer Reese.
As the robot carried Lucas inside the station, he could not help but to notice the way the jackal looked at him. He did not like it. He was jerked back to the present when the robot stopped. He looked around at the room that he was currently in. The walls were 30' by 30'and painted a boring gray color while the floor was tiled with large, white squares that had flecks of gray spread over them. There were chairs along the wall by the double doors that he had come through. On the opposite side of the room there were two doors behind a counter and another one that was not .These doors led into other parts of the building. The counter came 15' toward the entrance and 20' from the right wall. There were several furry and robotic officers behind the counter, all of who which where busy.
The robot stopped moving at front of the counter, where a bored looking receptionist sat in front of a computer. He was a badger with mostly gray fur and two black stripes that started two inches in front of eyes on either side. They went backwards over his eyes and toward the back of his head. They continued down his neck and went under his uniform. He looked up from whatever he was doing and frowned. He spoke with a chopped accent, "What's he in for?"
The robot answered, "Unauthorized pedestrian arrested for ignoring curfew and failure to state place of residence. Culprit was recommended to be placed in Officer Thorn's custody by Officer Reese."
"Well Greg has already left for today," answered the badger, "so put in him a cell until tomorrow."
The robot answered with an "Affirmative." It then carried the prisoner through the door that was not behind the counter. It led to a short corridor, which led to even larger room that was full of desks. Only a few were occupied by furs that merely looked up before returning to their paperwork.
They went through another door to a side office where arrestees were processed. The robot placed the prisoner in front of a camera and draped an ID card with a number that would identify him around his neck. The number was registered as 419-88-5692 and displayed when and why the prisoner was arrested. There was a blinding flash as the camera automatically photographed him. He was then carried over to a machine that recorded his DNA and transmitted the information, along with the ID photographs, to an arrestee data base.
The robot carried the incarcerated kitsune through another door that led to a row of cells, some of which where occupied by a multitude of various furs. There were canids, felines, ursines, procyons, weasels, and even a few mythics, furs of mythical origins such as werewolves, dragons, phoenixes, griffins, and kitsunes. Each fur/scale/feather was sitting in cells made specifically for their Genuses. The prisoner was placed in cell that already held two other kitsunes. The robot then left that part of the building, turning the lights off as it went.
Lucas shivered in fear as he thought about what would happen to him when this Officer Thorn came back in. He was jolted out of his thoughts when one of the other kitsunes moved toward him. The stranger noticed this and spoke up, "Don't be afraid. We're not going to hurt you. We just wanted to see if you were hurt and what you were in for."
"That thing hit me on the back of the head," replied Lucas, "and it's going to leave a bruise, but I'll be okay. As for what I'm in for, I was out after curfew and I would not tell them where I lived." Lucas started when the other kit' moved forward suddenly.
"What's your name little one?" he asked.
"My name is Lucas Kale." The smaller kit' sat down beside Lucas.
"My name is Jackson but call me J, and this is my older brother Samson but call him Sam."
Sam was staring at Lucas, and it was kind of freaking him out. Sam finally noticed this and said, "Sorry about that Lu. Its just that you remind me of someone J and I know."
"And who would that be?" asked Lucas.
"He's a silver kitsune by the name of Daren. You wouldn't know him by any chance?" asked Sam.
"Yeah," replied Lucas, "he's my twin. I haven't seen him in 12 years."
J and Sam stared at Lucas, trying to see the resemblance between the leader of the Resistance and the kitsune in front of them. They had the same body structure, which was that of a swimmer. The only difference was their fur and eye color. While Daren had silver fur and black eyes, Lucas had black fur and silver eyes. When compared against each other, they looked like 2 sides of the same coin.
Lucas broke the peace by asking "How do you know him?"
J had just opened his muzzle to answer when an explosion rocked the station and created a large hole in the wall at the end of room. Everyone in their cells was thrown down by the force of the explosion. Sam and J got to their feet as Resistance fighters began pouring in through hole in the wall. Sam whistled loudly to attract the fighters' attention. He signaled them to open all of the cells and motioned for everybody to get away from the doors as the fighters attached small explosives to the doors. When the explosives went off, they left a hole were the locks used to be that was the size of a basketball. Sam and J quickly helped Lucas up and hurriedly pulled him out of the cell. A cheetah, one of the fighters, came up and offered a pistol to Lucas, who flat out refused to touch the thing. The cheetah was insistent until J told him who Lucas was. He promptly switched to a vibro-sword and offered it to. Lucas received it and gave it a few practice maneuvers that impressed the cheetah.
The fighters and the escapees began to head for the improvised exit that was the hole in the wall when several robotic officers appeared on the other side of it. The one that was in charge was the one that had arrested Lucas. Lucas shot toward the robot while swinging his sword in a silvery arch that sent a slash of physic energy that cleaved every robot in half and left a large gash in the wall. Every creature stood stock still as Lucas straightened from the swing. There was a silver aura surrounding him that caused dust and small rocks to hover in the air. J and Sam both walked forward and stared Lucas in the eye as the aura disappeared.
Lucas stared back and asked "What now?"
J and Sam grinned as they replied, "Welcome to the Resistance........."
Lucas looked around at the wreckage his power had caused and shivered. "Let's get out of here," Lucas said.
J nodded as Sam began directing the escapees and the Resistance fighters toward the hole. Lucas saw the cheetah that had given him the sword directing a group of fighters to help some of the escapees that were too were weak or sick to move any where. Lucas quickly headed toward the cheetah to see if he could help but as he got closer to infirmed escapees he saw what was wrong with most of them. They had been beaten near onto death. The cheetah was helping a Dalmatian to his feet when Lucas reached out and grabbed the Dalmatians paw and pulled. The cheetah nodded his thanks as Lucas and he draped the Dalmatians arms over their shoulders as they began moving toward the improvised exit. They were almost there when furry officers began to try to force the door open. The rear guard, which was composed of fighters and the most able bodied escapees, barred the door with the remains of the robots and began to help get everyone out.
Just as the last of the fighters exited the building, officers burst through the door at the other end of the room. They looked at the wreckage of the empty cells in disgust. They then finally discovered what was blocking the door. They began cursing up a storm as they called in technicians to see if any thing could be salvaged. They also began to send out patrols determined to find those that had done this and recover their prisoners.
Lucas and the others made there way down an alley until they reached a manhole. A wolf came forward, lifted, and moved it the side. 6 fighters positioned themselves facing the other way to watch for pursuers. Every one else, starting with sick and injured who needed help to get down, began to climb down in the sewers. It took 15 minutes to get the 17 escapees and the 25 fighters to get down. The same wolf that lifted the manhole in the first place moved it back into place.
The entire force headed southeast through the sewer tunnels until the came to intersection. J and Sam looked one and then the other.
The cheetah that Lucas had been helping came up and said, "There are two air ships waiting at evac. points 5 and 9 to takes us to HQ. The plan is to split up the most skilled furs from every one else and lead a false trail toward the west that will hope fully distract any pursuits. The others will escort the infirmed south as safely and as quickly as possible. Personnel with has the most advanced medical treatment was to go south as well."
"Thank you Keeba," said Sam, "That is what we needed to hear. We will go through with the current plans and hope that luck is on our side. J and I will go with west-bound group to help as much as we can."
J nodded. He then turned to Lucas and asked, "Lucas, do you have any special skills other than fancy swordsmanship?"
"Well, I apprenticed to a doctor about 8 years ago," Lucas replied. "Which doctor," asked Keeba? "His was a husky by the name of Isaiah Strum. But that was before he disappeared 6 years ago," answered Lucas.
J smiled and said, "Well we know which group he's going with, especially since he worked for Strum."
Lucas looked with a confused look on his face until Keeba told him that Dr. Strum had been with the Resistance until recently. When Lucas asked what happened to the good doctor, he got a very sad answer. The good doctor was killed 2 months ago during a trip to London for supplies. He was killed be one of the robotic police officers when he resisted arrest. This knowledge brought grief to Lucas, for he was a close friend as well as an apprentice to Dr. Strum.
As the two parties set off on their two separate ways, Keeba approached Lucas and said," We haven't been properly introduced. My name is Keeba Feryn. I have been the chief medical officer since Isaiah was lost to us. I too was his apprentice for a time. What might I call you?" Lucas glanced over at the cheetah and saw a welcome sight. He saw actual kindness and concern in Keeba's eyes.
"My name is Lucas Kale, but you can call me Lucas or Lu," replied Lucas, "Never call me by last name though. The last person to call me by that ended up with a broken jaw," Lucas answered with a joking smile. Keeba was a bit put off until he saw Lucas's face. He then asked if whoever this was deserved what he got. Lucas chuckled as he replied, "He was a bully by the name of Greg that had picked on since primary school. One day he started disrespecting the name of Kale and I just lost it. He was in the hospital for a couple of months. If Daren was there, Greg would have been hurt much worse." The others members of the group had been listening to the 2 of them the entire time. The tunnel was filled with muffled laughter as everyone tried to control themselves.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
As the south-bound party made its way through the sewers, the west-bound party continued along its way; making as much noise as it could while it moved. J and Sam were at the center of attention as the others asked them questions about their last mission, how they were captured, and what they knew about Lucas.
A leopard moved in close and asked, "Can this Lucas Kale be trusted? I mean we don't really know anything about him. He could be a spy for all we know." There were several agreements to this statement. J and Sam nodded as they looked at each other. Sam then turned to a wolf that walked on in deep thought. He had mostly black fur down his back with brown around his eyes and on his paws. He also had a large splotch of white in the middle of his chest as well as a white tuft of a tail tip.
"You've been awfully quite Soul," stated Sam, "What do you think of this new kit'?"
Soul continued walking as he answered, "He has seen much and been through quite an amount of pain, that I can see clearly in his eyes. Much of that pain is brought on by some guilt that he feels. This guilt is connected to his abilities in such a way that he fears to use them. I believe that he can be trusted. He is, after all, Daren's twin."
This brought a raucous cry of surprise from most of group. They looked at Sam and J to see a look of smugness on their muzzles. They soon received a barrage of half-hearted curses for their trickery. All of this stopped when there was a sound like ripping metal. The street grates above and behind them were being ripped out of the very asphalt that they were embedded in by several Robotic officers. Furry officers stood by waiting so that they could storm the sewers.
The west party took off like a shot, flinging insults and threats toward the oncoming officers. They had moved a good 2 miles before they began to move with all the quite stealth and speed that they could. The officers could plainly be heard clumsily pursuing them. The robots were even louder. They group came upon an unremarkable part of the tunnel. Soul quickly pressed a certain brick as the police got closer. A passageway opened up and every one but Soul, J, and Sam filed in. They waited until everyone else was inside before they followed them. The passageway closed as soul pressed a raised round panel in the side of wall.
The passageway led into a tunnel that was made of crimson blocks cemented together. It was 6' wide and 9' tall for the taller species. Everyone else was waiting at the end of the tunnel waiting for them. Soul moved up to the wall that they were all facing and proceeded to beat on in a certain pattern, thump-thump-thump-knock-slap-thump-ping. A section of the wall slide up and a leopard stuck his head out.
"Finally," said the spotted feline, "The Falcon is prepped and ready to go."
"What about The Valkyrie," asked Soul as everyone filled through the secret door?
"We haven't heard from them," replied the leopard as he closed the door behind them.
"Well let's hope they get airborne soon," said J. At that, Soul, J, Sam, and the leopard all boarded The Falcon. The ceiling opened up and the airship rose up out of a dump. It took off in a westerly direction.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
The south-bound group had quieted down to a more secretive level as they got closer to their destination. As they quickly found their way to a secret part of the wall, they found that a unit consisting of 2 robots and 3 Furs patrolling the sewers. They were right in front of where the group needed to go. The group backed up until they were out earshot. It seemed that there was going to be a panic until Keeba held up his paw for silence. He told them that he had a plan. There was some concern when Keeba pulled out 2 grenades. One was an ion grenade while the other one was a sonic grenade.
"I'm going to throw the sonic grenade past them to make a noise so that the Furry officers will go and try to find out what made the sound," Keeba explained. "Then, while they are close enough to the s-grenade I will throw the ion grenade in between the robots. The ion-grenade is set go of on impact so that the robots won't have time to respond."
"What about the officers?" asked Lucas, "Won't they try to call for back up when see that."
"I put a trigger system on the S-grenade so that when they turn around I can activate it," replied Keeba.
"What if they only send one officer to check out the noise," asked someone from the group.
It was the Dalmatian that Lucas and Keeba had carried out of the prison. Keeba blinked as he realized that this could happen. He looked around and asked, "Any suggestions anyone?"
The Dalmatian looked thoughtful while the others in the group argued about what they would do. Lucas and Keeba listened to all that was said as they kept a lookout for any patrolling officers that might come there way. The Dalmatian was soon at a conclusion at what he thought they should do. He thought that they should use both grenades at once. When he suggested this to Lucas who had come to check on him, he got a strange look from the black furred kitsune.
"What's your name," asked Lucas?
"Sebastian Chantal," replied the canine, "but I usually go by Bast."
"Well Bast, I agree with you but we only want to stun the officers," stated Lucas, "They most likely have family of their own that had nothing do with what the Furry officers did to you."
Bast looked up at this comment and that Lucas understood the pain that he carried. Although he had no idea how Lucas knew about his pain; he found that he trusted this strange Fur. Lucas smiled as if he knew what Bast was thinking. Lucas merely saw the look in his eyes and that he had made a friend.
Keeba came and told Lucas that he had been relieved by one of Resistance fighters so that they get some rest. Bast had lain back down to get some sleep. When he awoke he found that Lucas and Keeba were talking nearby. He overheard them discussing ways of his idea that could be put into action without actually causing major harm to the Furry officers. They had decided that they would bind the 2 grenades together and throw them above the officers. Then they would discharge the sonic grenade; which in turn would cause the ion grenade to discharge as well. They hoped that the distance at which they would detonate would be great enough to knock out the furry officers and disable the robots. Lucas stopped in sentence and held up his hand for silence when Keeba started to ask what was wrong. He followed Lucas's gaze when he turned and looked straight at Bast.
"Glad your have awaken Bast," Lucas said, "you can help us plan on how we can execute your plan."
Bast sat up groggily, but he felt a deal better than when he was still at the prison and beaten regularly by Thorn. "I think you have hit the nail on the head," Bast said. "All that must be decided is how high, when, and who to throw them."
"I'm going to throw them," said Keeba.
With that they began to discuss about the distance and timing that they needed to succeed. An hour after they had made a final decision and told the rest of the group what the plan was Keeba was moving down the corridor as silently as he could. He stopped 14' away from the police and watched them for about 10 minutes to see if there was a pattern in the officer patrol that he could use to his advantage. He then waited until the officers were all in close proximity to each other to throw the grenades. They went soaring through the air until they were 8' above the officers before Keeba detonated the grenades. The combined ionic-sonic pulse short-circuited the robots as well as the communication devices that were being carried by the Furry officers who were also knocked unconscious by the combined pulse.
Keeba signaled that it was clear to the rest of the group with a green flare. They quickly struck camp and moved forward to join Keeba who was at the wall behind the disabled officers. Keeba had made sure that the robots were offline and the furs were unconscious before he pushed a part of the wall that was a disguised panel. The wall slid open to reveal a corridor that led to another wall. Keeba made sure every one was inside before entered as well. He pulled on a lever that caused the wall to close and the mechanism that worked it to lock up until someone revered the lever. He, Lucas, and the still weak Bast moved toward the wall were Keeba proceeded to beat a rhythm upon the wall that sounded like Morse code. The wall turned out to be a hidden door when a brick came out of the wall and turned a full 90°. The part of the wall that was the brick out from opened up to show a large airship that had a female wolf with wings on the side of it. Beside the name was the name of the ship. It was called The Valkyrie. The starboard guns suddenly aimed in the direction of the group and locked on to them.
Keeba stepped forward and stated, "This is Keeba Feryn with wounded refugees. We require assistance and evacuation."
The guns moved back to their original position as the cargo door opened revealing about 16 soldiers ready to attack just in case of a trick. A panther that was 5'8" with blonde head-fur about 14 inches in length came out holding a pistol aimed at Keeba. He had a scar below his the right eye that looked like 3 red claw marks that was 2" long. He was obviously the captain. He walked up to Keeba and stared him in the eyes. Keeba stared back for look like an eternity but actually only 5 minutes.
The panther gradually smiled and said, "Welcome back to The Valkyrie Keeba. I hope we didn't alarm you to much but there's been an increase in enemy patrols lately and we had to make sure it was safe."
"It won't be safe here for long Aaron," replied Keeba.
"Why not," Aaron asked?
Keeba turned to Lucas who said, "There was a unit stationed outside the first secret entrance to this place. We had to disable them just to get here. They should be waking up and going for backup soon."
Aaron gave Lucas an odd look but asked Keeba, "And this is who?"
Keeba chuckled as introduced the 2. "Aaron, I would like you to meet Lucas Kale, Daren's twin brother. Lucas, this Aaron Davis, captain of The Valkyrie and a close friend of mine."
"A pleasure," Lucas said, "but I suggest that we move out before the enemy moves against us."
Keeba and Aaron nodded and turned to address those that they were in command. "Prepare to move out people," ordered Capt. Davis, "We got armed forces most likely on the way and we need to move before they get here. Get these refugees on board and settled in. Help the injured and sick to the infirmary. Move, move, move!!"
Keeba, Lucas, and any other able bodied fur moved among the group, helping were they were needed so that everyone was able to get onboard. Several of them were sick from malnutrition and injured from beatings received from the corrupt officers that ran the city. Lucas had a tiger draped over his shoulders when the soldiers from the airship began to assist the infirmed aboard. Keeba and Bast approached with a dragon that had a broken leg between them. They all moved toward the airship's entrance and were led inside by a raccoon who led them through the corridors and levels of the airship.
When they reached the infirmary the raccoon told them to lay the dragon on one of the beds so that the doctor of the ship could take care of him. When he heard that both Lucas and Keeba had been apprenticed to Dr. Strum and that Keeba was the chief medical officer of the resistance he sighed with relief and welcomed them to help were they could. By the time the conversation was over every one was onboard and the airship was ready to leave.
The ceiling opened up as the airships engines warmed up. Several large elevators began to lift up the airship at various points. They raised it until it was in a large warehouse on the water front. The ceiling of the warehouse opened up as well, allowing the airship to rise up into the air. The engines began to propel the airship forward at the same time alarms blared out over the waterfront. Military crafts began to rise up into the air but they were too late as The Valkyrie shot forward and headed west
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Well there you have it.
Comments & Criticisms welcome.