A weekend on Ata'Kiru Pt 2
#29 of Exploration
"Welcome to Gateway Point, my lords and lady." the mayor spoke ceremonially.
"Thank you, sir." Devlin bowed slightly,"It's a pleasure to be here."
"How may we assist your exploring?"
"That would take a while to go through, but we are after histories and maps."
"Takori can help with maps, our library is just down the road." the leader said smoothly. As everyone started to move away, the leader came to me.
"You are Alduin, correct?"
"Yes, my lord. How may I help?"
"Well, we are very curious to find out about other races ourselves, and I was wondering if you could perform a few basic tasks."
I followed him through a complex of buildings to a small domed building. Inside it was four tigers, each one radically different in pattern and colour, and as I was in my normal pink skinned form, I looked comparatively weak to them.
One came over to us as we entered, one was watching two muscular ones training. They were fighting one another, a mixture of kick boxing and wrestling. The tiger that welcomed me to the training centre was called Siber, and was quite old. He wore a very plain set of clothes, in light colours. His claws were blunted by age, but there was something about this tiger that made him somehow more tougher as an opponent. Age had hardened here. I bowed to him.
"Ah, one of the new creatures. Is this the one that roared over here so noisily as a small AIV?" he asked, with a toothy grin. I smiled.
"I am, Siber. I am sorry if I distracted you."
"You are a strange creature, I'll say that.Now, the mayor wants to test your physical strength, but first we'll get to basics.What is the name of your own race?"
"We call ourselves humans.Homo Sapiens is the medical term."
"Ah, so you are mammalian?"
"Correct."
"Are you varied in height and weight?"
"The average height for men is six feet, give or take a few inches. The females of our race slightly shorter."
"I see, the females are the weaker sex."
"In strength, on average, yes."
After the species questions, the mayor then asked me to answer a variety of questions, mathematical, science, starting from basics and getting harder, to test my intelligence.These also had to be verbal because I was unable to understand anything written down.I felt I did fairly well.
Finally it came to strength tests. A pair of dumbbells was in one corner, and I was told it was about fifty kilograms. I lifted it, although weight lifting isn't my thing, and Siber asked me how much the strongest could lift.
"The strongest at this can lift over two hundred and fifty kilograms." I replied. Siber was impressed.
Then we moved onto reflexes. Siber led me to a room where a machine for firing balls stood. It did not fire directly, but fired in many different directions in front of it, and I had to try and catch them.
I do have good reflexes, and the tennis ball hardness of the balls was a piece of cake for me. Once I had to dive full length to catch a ball, and while I dropped it, I got my hand behind it, which was the whole point of the exercise. After ten minutes of that, Siber led me out, and to the mat where the tigers were fighting.
"Gentlemen, this is Alduin. We are testing his abilities, and Panthera will fight him."
One got off the mat, and I removed my backpack and rifle, and stepped on the white mat, looking at the six foot three silver tiger. I took a few steps, bounced lithely on the mat, and raised my hands in a karate pose, signalling I was ready.
Panthera came forward sideways, his right leg in front of him, ready to strike. Devlin entered at this point, I saw him out of the corner of my eye, and then ducked as Panthera let rip with a head high kick. He kicked again, and I swayed outwards, kicking out myself. Panthera leapt backwards with astonishing speed, and then came in. We grappled, holding each other's hands, trying to over balance the other.My foot snaked around, and tripped Panthera. He let go, and staggered back,still upright. As he did, I launched myself around his middle, knocking him to the ground. He rolled out of my grasp, and stood, circling warily.
This duel went on for five minutes. Then I finally got charged once too often, and I completed what was becoming my trademark. As he brought me down, I kicked up, catching him in the chest, and hurling him over the top of me.Pathera slid off the mat, and got to his feet. Siber applauded.
"Nicely thrown, Alduin. You have a very skilled body."
"Thank you Siber."I said, bowing to Panthera. He bowed back, and I stepped off the mat as the two large tigers resumed their practise.
My lab rat experience over, I left the hall. The mayor asked Devlin if he could do the same, and Devlin smiled.
"I would be honoured." he said, grinning at me. I walked down the street, looking around, and saw Doran.
"Hey, Doran. How's your day going?"
"Alduin, could I speak with you for a second?"
"Certainly."
"Did you see any other creatures while you were flying around?"
"No."I said slowly,"although I was otherwise occupied.Why?"
"Well, I was at the camp, and I swore I could feel the mind of someone a long way off. Just a single mind.It came no closer, nor backed away, it just stayed there."
"Ask the mayor." I suggested. We headed back to the training centre, and Doran repeated what he had sensed. The mayor reacted instantly.
"You might have felt the mind of one of the trouble makers." he said, quickly.
"I beg your pardon?"
"There is a certain, cycle, on this planet. War, unrest, peace, distrust, war. This is the 'Phase of Unrest' after the '100th Age of Blood', and there are those who want to stir up the people, and cause war again."
"Terrorists, to use a human term?" I suggested. The mayor thought this over.
"Yes. They enjoy it. They have aerial vehicles, which is why we sent Magawi after Alduin, in case he was one of them."
"I think I've found something for me to do." I said, cheerfully. Doran sighed.
"Alright, Tin-man. Mr Mayor, could I borrow a vehicle, and Takori, and see if I can't explore this further."
"Yes. Unfortunately, hiring a car costs money."
"How much?"
"Five Unity bits per hour.You won't have any, I'm afraid."
"So how does the currency work here?" I asked him.
"The money is not registered in existence. The Unity Bit is attached to the genetic DNA in our bodies. So to buy something, we place a finger on a scanner, and it reads from a huge database how much we have. Then it deducts it automatically. DNA never lies."
"That is a clever system." I nodded."Doran, while you round up the troops, I'll go for a fly past."
"Typical boy, always rushing into things."
"I don't rush. I plan, while going as fast as I dare. I'll go and find Draco, get a few cameras on my underbelly."
Of course, Doran took with him a lap top of Simba's, and very soon I was in my form. Doran was getting some brilliant pictures of the road I was on while firing up my engine.Takori had volunteered his finger to pay for the car,and they were cruising towards where our camp had been. Simba was keeping a eye on me, and I flew over our previous camp site. I banked over a nearby cluster of trees, and I felt Simba running thermo and X-ray scans. Doran was collecting the same data, and as he pulled up to the camp, he got out of the car, and concentrated.
He sent out waves of thought, like sonar, and it bounced off all living organisms for some way around.
"No, I cannot feel the tiger anymore.He must have moved."
"Well,"suggested Takori."What if we go a mile in each direction?They wouldn't travel far."
"That's not going to be necessary." Simba replied. "Head North, towards the forest."
I had by this time gone some distance from the forest, so I had to turn around and make several passes over the forest. I landed, and changed into my car form. Doran arrived with Takori not three minutes later, and Doran concentrated.
"Through that way," he pointed ahead,"I feel many life forms not far away."
I changed into my bionic form, and we stealthily crept through the undergrowth. After a few minutes, we heard a voice.It was gruff and annoyed.
"Why didn't you try to shoot it down?"
"Alright, you try and shoot something two metres long and going almost supersonic speed." a second voice replied in anger.
"Two metres long?It can't possibly be manned.And if it isn't manned, how did it fly?"
"I have no idea, except it made half a dozen passes over the forest. I tell you, it's looking for us."
"And how would it spot us? We are perfectly concealed from the air, our own helicopters have proved it, we need to tell them where to land each time they set out. And no Kiru'Shirati ventures this far into the Cursed Forest."
Doran whispered into his mike.
"Simba, we've found them. Can you inform the mayor, and Devlin?"
"Will do." Simba replied quietly. The voices continued.
"So what is you plan, now that thing is in the air?"
"We keep quiet, and tonight we shall give Gateway Point a little present, in the form of a bio organic missile we have prepared."
"So you intend to go on with the plan?"
"Of course."
Takori's fists were clenched.
"The bastards." he whispered.Doran whispered again into the microphone.
"Simba, we have identified a possible air strike on the town tonight. Urgent situation, inform ranking members immediately."
One voice stopped.
"Did you hear something?"
"What?"
"A voice. Do you think someone's nearby?"
"Set up the Sonics, we'll find out."
"Let's get out of here!" I suggested. Doran went first, while we kept him covered. He ran for about five hundred metres through the trees, and then all chaos broke loose.
Me and Takori were buffeted by a wall of sound. It was excruciating to listen to, and both of us hit the decks, hands over ears. Doran had got clear, but suddenly eight tigers, again with different colour schemes, erupted from the bushes, pointing weapons at us. Most of them were guns, but one or two had weapons as a part of their body. One of them had a sort of Cyclops pair of glasses, and his hand was on a side button.
Then the sound vanished, to be replaced with an equally painful silence. I had a headache, and worse, I couldn't hear a thing. I didn't speak, knowing such would be pointless. One of the tiger stepped forward, his gun jabbing in my chest. He growled something. I concentrated long enough to shrug my shoulders.I know I spoke, but I couldn't even hear my own voice.
"I can't hear what you're saying."
The tiger with the gun jabbed my chest again, and he made it clear that I was to go in that direction. I turned, and walked behind Takori. As we walked, I was greatly relieved as my hearing returned. I spoke.
"Testing, one two, Takori, are you receiving?"
"I can hear you, Alduin."
"Good, I thought I'd been deafened for a second."
"Same here. The Sonics project was created as a way of immobilizing ground troops during the last war."
"In fact, anyone within range."
"Yes. It can be aimed however, in a conical shape outwards, so it's like a megaphone."
"Shut up, the pair of you." the tiger beside me spoke. It was the second voice.
"Now that's hardly a nice thing to say to me. I was merely passing by when I heard people talking.You should keep your voices down if you don't want people to listen." I tried to play innocent.
"Listen, what ever you are, you are here, so you listen to us, and I say shut up."
We arrived among a bunch of trees, and beside them was a large green tent, which perfectly melted in with the terrain. A battle scarred gold tiger looked at us with interest.
"Ah, spies from Gateway Point." he growled in interest.
"Point of order?"I raised a hand. The tiger looked at me.
"I'm not actually from this planet.Just in my own defence, I come from somewhere up there." I waved vaguely in the sky.
"I know that much. You are not covered with fur, you have no tail, no claws, no teeth to boast of.What are you, natural prey?"
"I'd like to see anyone try and sink their teeth into me." I turned to Takori, and rapped my arm with my other hand."Solid steel alloy.Not even a rifle would penetrate that."
Takori grinned, and replied." All that, and you can fly too."
"I have led a blessed life, or more cursed, depending on how lucky you think I've been." I replied with a bigger grin.
"Alright, you two clowns. Why are you here, and how much do you know?" the tiger interrupted. Takori stepped forward.
"I was exploring this section of the Forest, I am a paid explorer. This creature here I met by chance."
"Nice try, my friend." the tiger drew his gun, and fired a burst at me. The bullet zinged off my steel skin, and I was knocked backward, feeling the pain in my arm. Takori growled in anger.
"Leave him alone." the leader grinned at this, and taunted.
"Or what? You think you've got any chance stopping me? Besides, it doesn't hurt him."
"Ow."I said pointedly, sitting up, rubbing the place where the bullet had struck me. The leader fired another bullet, and I jerked as the second bullet scored across parallel to the first. Takori leapt at the leader, and the two described a rolling mass of fur. Takori was strong, but the leader was stronger, and Takori ended up underneath the tiger. The leader laughed.
"I told you. Now what to do with your steel friend over there?" he smiled. I stood.
"My name is Alduin Raptormaster, and you are dead." I said, my face a picture of anger. The leader turned, looking at me.
"Alduin, look around. You can't kill me."
"No, but you can't kill me either.Good bye."
"You think you're leaving?"
I transformed into my Lightning form, and erupted from the springy turf. I hovered at two metres.
"Seen me before?"
The leader was no longer smiling.
"Shoot him, fast!He must not escape."
I changed back, and looked pleasantly at the guards moving in.
"Now, ladies, rules first. No crying, no biting, and no complaining if you get the shit kicked out of you."
I then came forward at one, my steel fist clenched as I brought it into the jaw of one guard. He crumpled like tin foil, and I charged at the leader, determined to get Takori. One behind me opened up with an automatic rifle, and bullets bounced off my armour. I was thrown over the duo, but as the tiger in question stopped firing, I jumped to my feet, turned, and scowled.
"As I was saying, no gun can harm me."
The leader got off Takori, and threw himself at me. I felt his claws screech across my skin, and I kicked out. Then Takori jumped on the leader again, and then the guards joined in. There were eleven of them, two of us. Five of them bodily extricated me from the battle, and Takori had three heave him off the leader. The leader stood tall.
"Throw them in the prison tent."
"Hey, you attacked me first, you coward." I said, as I was man handled away. As we entered the tent, there was about eight cages there, barely tall enough to stand, but wide enough to sit down in yoga position. I was thrown in the first, Takori the second. The doors were locked, and the guards left.
Takori turned to me.
"That could have gone better."
"True. Thanks for stopping him firing at me. Just because he can't kill me doesn't mean it don't hurt."
"Not at all.You fight well." Takori replied.
"Draco insists on wrestling me for dominance during sex, and I said to myself, Alduin, you don't want to bottom forever, take up karate. So I did."
"You two have it off with each other?"
"Yes.But I'm still open to others.Do you agree with male to male sex?"
"Of course.What kind of race doesn't?"
"Well, mine, actually. There are many who do, but there are many who don't."
"Ha, what an unfair society, that forbids sexual practice."
"They don't forbid it, but a person who is known to be gay is treated, like a leper."
"I see." Takori nodded.
"So now what?"
"Well, I suppose we wait until Dev turns up." Takori suggested. I drew out my throat mike.
"Ahh, Devlin, we have a bit of a problem."
"I heard."the draconic voice replied.
"What a typical male.Gets himself captured by the enemy."That was Time, and I spoke again.
"Time, they have a sound weapon that deafens to the point of agony. I'd like to see anyone get through that.Is Doran O.K.?"
"Yes.I was out of range." the voice of the wolf replied.
"Alduin, I followed your tracker,I'm flying above the camp right now." Valmeero said."Which tent are you in?"
"I'm in the big khaki one."
"The one second to the end?"
"Affirmative. It's a little small in here. The Geneva Convention wouldn't like this at all." I complained.
Brendan spoke." Alduin, can I do anything?"
I laughed."Well if you can get me the keys to the cell, I'll get you a big bottle of Lift Plus."
There was a multitude of laughter.Draco spoke.
"Now let's not get carried away. Alduin is prisoner, as is Takori.Alduin can't be physically hurt, but I don't want Takori to be injured."
"Yes, he'd be a perfectly good scout for C.E.O."I added. Takori looked up.
"You're serious?"
"Of course he's serious."Simba replied through my mike. "You've got all the right things, you enjoy exploring, and that's the chief attribute you need. But first we have to get you out of there.Alduin, can you teleport?"
"Of course. Unfortunately the bars are too narrow to reach through to Takori, and I'm not leaving him alone."
"Well said."Devlin replied.
"So where are you?" I asked casually.
"Well, we're all around the camp, along with about fifty guys from Gateway point."
"Would you like a distraction?"
"Well, if you can provide one. There are a good eighty guards around the premises, judging by Draco's scanner, and Doran's empathic count."
"I'll try and reduce that number, then." I said, grabbing my rifle. I loaded a round into the chamber, and aimed it at the lock.
Bang. The door flew open, and there was a shout from outside.
"Find out what that was!"
I reloaded, and likewise blasted the lock off Takori's door, and then drew my C.E.O pistol, setting it to two. Takori, who did have a weapon on him, hid behind the cages.Then the first tiger came through the flaps. I fired the pistol.
They have surprisingly little kick, and a white light erupted from the gun, striking the tiger. The bolt crackled across his frame, and then dissipated into him, and dropped him to the floor.I spoke to Takori.
"Takori, you go around the back. I'll try and cause some havoc out front."
Takori nodded, shifting his arm into it's energy weapon form.I spoke into my communicator.
"One diversion, coming right up."
I rolled out of the tent in the classic movie way, firing at two tigers nearby. I hadn't the training Brad Pitt had, so both shots missed, but I got behind the cover of a water barrel, and started firing with a little more accuracy. Bullets hailed around me, and I rose, firing at one with a bit more patience. He fell to the ground, and the other fell as Takori silently fired from the other direction. Then I had to duck as a machine gun opened up at my water barrel.
I ran from my disappearing cover, firing on the run at the gunner.Missed. I saw the Sonic weapon, a large rocket launcher like weapon, turning my way,one tiger holding it across his shoulder and I held my ears tightly. Even with my ears blocked, it still stung. I waited until the buzzing stopped, and then charged around the back of the tent, just as a lightning bolt, pure with electrical energy, zig zagged haphazardly across the terrain, striking the Sonic weapon. It blew up, and about fifteen tigers around it were thrown from the blast.They landed in various states of unconsciousness.
"Shot Winslo!" I shouted, ducking a hail of energy bolts.Then the Hunted and the Gateway Point Militia joined in the shooting, and very quickly decimated the standing terrorists.A band of ten were still standing after that first assault, and I shouted.
"Cease fire!"
The ten were behind a quickly constructed barricade of rubbish, and I came at them from the side, my pistol by my side.The leader was staring at me.
"I swear I locked you in."
"I swear I broke out. There are sixty creatures out there, do we have to stun you, or will you give up?"
"Not a hope in hell, freak." the tiger growled.
Now that hurt. Insults never hurt me, except that one. Was I born with these defects? Was it my fault? No, then leave off the verbal abuse.In fact, I resented abuse full stop, though I hardly ever show it. I changed into my Lightning form, and took off vertically, hovering up and up. Beneath me, the fire fight started again, and every one stopped paying attention to me. I hovered to about twenty metres, and went forward a wee bit.
Then Devlin looked up, seeing what I was about to do.
"Alduin, don't do it."
"I am not a freak."I said, coldly. The tigers on the opposite side looked up, and there was a mass movement just as I dropped the two bombs. They fell directly down, and the tigers leapt over the barricades in their efforts to get away. No one was shooting at one another, as the two black bombs fell, and impacted on the ground. The barricade was blown apart, and everyone nearby was knocked to the ground.As the debris rained up, and then rained back down, there was a single large hole in the ground.
"Devlin, I am going for a flight."I said, unemotional. Devlin sighed, and spoke.
"Alduin, you do know you're the most emotionally unstable person I've come across." he said, smiling slightly.
"If anyone had been listening, the term is insane. And I've known that for years." my voice came softly over the communicator.
"Hey Alduin,"Takori said through one of the team's communicators, as Valmeero landed beside the giant crater,"could I talk to you about something back at Gateway? I'll take the car, if it's still there."
"It is." Magawi replied.
Seeing sense, I landed, and changed into my Lambo form. While Devlin took command of the prisoners, I floored it, the size adjusted 600 horsepower throwing me forward, and after five seconds I flashed past one hundred. After twelve, I was doing one sixty, zipping along the surprisingly sparse forest.After some speed tests on Earth, I could reach two hundred and nine kph, but only on a flat stretch of road, and about four kilometres of straight tarmac.
I ran along side the cobbled road, keeping at a steady one fifty. After a few minutes of driving, I entered Gateway point, very quickly slowing down to thirty kilometres an hour. All the tigers in the street were blissfully unaware of the danger they had been in. They stared at my form curiously as I putted towards the city centre.I powered down outside the main hall, my engine whirring to a halt, and I rested. Several tigers curiously formed around me, examining my panelling.
I waited for ten minutes, and then saw Takori pull up. He came over to me, and I transformed. He led me to his house, which was a stately affair. It was just the single story, and we went into the living room in the centre of the house. It also looked liked the dining room, a table and chairs were at one side. I sat down on the couch, and Takori on the chair.
"Alduin, you mentioned me becoming a scout?"
"Well, you enjoy exploring, this is just the same, except over the entire universe."
Takori looked hard at me.
"So do all types of races join?"
"Yes, you saw our party, eleven creatures from ten planets, and the lot of us come from completely different sectors of the galaxy."
This was indeed the case.Simba had used his 3D map to show me where most of the party had come from.
"So what do explorers need?"
"A keen love for adventure, the ability to work in a group, and a love for wrestling. That last one isn't actually necessary, but we all do it."
"Yeah, for sex."
"Good point, Takori."I grinned, as did the tiger.
"Well, it sounds fun, I would love to join."
"After all the formalities here, we will probably leave, and so you can come with us." I switched off my mike, and sat back. Takori looked at me.
"Interesting size differences, between your Central. You've got Devlin, who's two foot taller, and yet you have you."
"We have all sorts. We have G'zara, which are two foot tall. All sorts."
"And is this sexual tendency," he grinned," between all races?"
"If they want, and you want, go ahead."I said shortly, smiling." You want to see some action?"
"Yes." Takori nodded.I laughed.
"So prompt. I've never had a tiger fuck me before."
This idea was inspired, very quickly. Takori started taking off his armour plates, placing them on the chair. Then he took off his clothes, and I looked upon the naked tiger.
With the exception of his arm, which was of course completely bionic, he looked just like a normal anthro tiger. But this race also had another special ability. Their cock, when aroused, the blood filled vestigial barbs in their cock. They were quite soft, but when someone got fucked by this, the barbs, well, you get the picture.