FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Counter Earth Chronicles

Chapter 109: What We Need Now (Conclusion)

Day 929 (continued)

After being examined by Lea, Sir Ram escorted Lady Ursa and myself to the knight's personal meeting room. You know, the one with the round table I hit my head on when I first arrived on this world nearly three years ago.

The room had changed since I had last been in there, The brown round table had been replaced by a black quintagonal table with deep seated padded chairs which were perfect for long strategy sessions I would assume, like the one I attended the morning of the knight's failed raid against the Animalitia's hideout.

(Last time I checked there were only four senior knights. So why was this table five sided?)

We didn't have long to wait. As Lady Ursa, myself each took a seat, we were joined by Lady Vermin, Lord Tiger and....

"Sanda?" I said as the caracal sat down.

"G'day Alex welcome b---" *OOF* He managed to say before I gave him a great big hug and then Lord Tiger too.

"Welcome back Alex." The commander of the knights said.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked the watch supervisor.

"I had Sanda fill in during your extended absence the tiger warrior said. As time went on and we faced the realization that all efforts to find both Ursa and you had been exhausted, I made him permanent."

"Congratulations Sanda." I said to him.

"Yes congratulations." My she beast said. "However, I have returned from my so called sabbatical."

"Yes, you are but much has changed during your absence." The tiger commander said to his subordinate. "But first I wanted to know why one of my warriors did not come back from their trip until today."

"Sir Ram and Lady Vermin said you had a remarkable story to tell." The caracal added. "So exactly what happened to you two? Where have you been all this time?"

"Oblivion." I said. "I feel like a record telling the story over and over."

"It is ok boy." The ram said. "Just one more time."

"What is a record?" The rat warrior asked.

"Ah never mind. Commander you will want to record what we have to tell you because it is the God's honest truth. This odyssey started during Lady Ursa's vacation in December of 031. That seems like it was yesterday." I said starting my recollection.

"Alex and I went camping in the Dark Forest." My warrior bear said jumping in.

"Why did we go camping in the Dark Forest?" I asked my mistress.

"For some reason I felt drawn to the place. I couldn't explain why." The knight said to her colleagues seated around the table.

"After nineteen months of reflection, I concluded that she was manipulated into going there." I said to the senior knights of Wundagore.

"By who?" The tiger commander asked.

"Extraterrestrials." My she beast answered. "Alex and I were abducted the second night of our trip."

"We were preparing dinner at our campsite when we saw some strange lights in the night sky." I told the beastials in attendance. "I decided to signal the lights which now looking back was a bad mistake."

"Why Alex?" The caracal asked.

"The lights belonged to a sky craft. It dropped a light beam and sucked the both of us into it. Once inside Lady Ursa and I came face to face with its occupants grey extraterrestrial beings- they were about four feet tall, telepathic, large black eyes, slit like mouths and noses."

"They had lured me in into the forest and to their craft." Lady Ursa said looking at the table.

"For what purpose?" The tiger asked.

"To study me. They have been for quite some time." My warrior bear said showing all in attendance the strange markings on her foot paws and arm pits.

"What are those?" Sanda asked.

"As far as I can tell identifiers." Sir Ram said.

"I have had these markings since becoming a beastial." The bear knight said.

"I think the alien beings used them to track and identify those they are studying." I said. "When I came to inside the craft I observed the beings studying her. They were also studying several other beastials they had captured in great detail."

"To what end boy?" The ram asked me as the others became transfixed.

"I think they have been observing the High Evolutionary's grand experiment and they are fascinated by his creations. In particular all of you. That craft had holding pens where I saw many beastials males, females, adults, cubs being held- awaiting their turn to be studied."

"How many?" Lady Vermin asked me.

"I didn't count them, but I would assume somewhere around fifty."

"Did any try to escape or overpower the beings?" Sir Ram asked.

"It wasn't possible. The alien creatures had some type of hold on their victims, you could scream, whine, cry, plead and beg- but you weren't allowed to move unless they wanted you to move. I heard Lady Ursa scream as they started examining her. I tried to intervene- but couldn't." I said tearing up. "I really tried."

I looked at my she beast and she at me. We both decided then and there to tell the senior knights everything- full disclosure.

"What happened next boy?" The ram asked me.

"I was returned to our campsite."

"Why?" Sanda asked.

"Apparently they had no interest in humans. Only beastials."

"So you waited until the beings returned her?" Lord Tiger asked.

"No. When I came to, I was staring at the sky watching their ship ascend higher and higher."

"Oh my." The caracal said.

"I vowed right then and there that I had to rescue her somehow."

"How did you?" Lady Vermin asked me.

"I found out from a friend of Lady Ursa's, a forest bear that there was another individual in the forest. One whom the alien creatures had manipulated and were preparing to collect. I quickly found him."

"Who was it?" Lord Tiger asked.

"Triceraton of the Animalia. I found him several miles away acting very strangely- like he knew they were coming to get him. I pounced on him just as the sky craft arrived and was re-abducted."

"What was happening to you during all that?" The rat asked the bear.

"I can't remember." The bear said to her best friend.

"I think that is because her memories have been blocked or erased. The beings tried to do the same time me, but they weren't successful." I said to the senior knights.

"So you were re-abducted. Did you try to attempt a rescue?" Lord Tiger asked me.

"Yes commander that was the plan, but it didn't happen. I was placed in a holding cell where I met another beastial an aardvark. He turned out to be the alien creature's liaison; they used him to comfort terrified victims."

"So the beings used one victim to comfort other victims?" The ram asked me.

"Yes, that was the plan but it didn't work with Lady Ursa. Ember, their liaison, tried his best to comfort and reassure her, but she wouldn't listen. That was when they brought me to see her. I found her restrained on a table roaring, screaming. They ordered me to calm her. Which I did. Shortly there after they started examining her fully and completely."

"What exactly did they do?" Sir Ram asked me.

I looked at my mistress she nodded. I placed my hand on her paw.

"They examined all of her inside and out- everything. She was fed a substance and they tracked its movement throughout her digestive system up until the point she eliminated it from her body. The examined, tested and studied her digestive, respiratory, lymphatic, integumentary, muscular, skeletal, circulatory, nervous, endocrine, urinary and reproductive systems- they used me for the last one. When they had finished she was throughly and utterly exhausted. That was when the took her away and turned their attention to me."

"What did they do to you?" Sanda asked.

"Similar tests that they performed on Lady Ursa. Only I didn't hold up so well." I said as Sir Ram snickered. "They hurt me- badly. When they were done, I was returned to my cell gravely injured- I suspected I had a collapsed lung, punctured liver and internal bleeding. I would have died if not for the aardvark. They aliens were testing his abilities."

"What type of abilities?" Sir Ram asked.

"He has a healing ability, it is quite invasive."

"Invasive?" The ram asked me. "As in intimate?"

"Yes." I said blushing.

"Pet you never told me that." My warrior bear said.

"I was thoroughly embarrassed." I said as I continued to blush. "The only way for me to survive was to be sexed by that male beastial. The alien beings would not even attempt to help me. So I agreed to let the aardvark- Ember heal me. He did. Our minds and thoughts touched during that time..."

"So he was inside of you?" Sir Ram asked.

I nodded.

"I saw some of his memories. Where he grew up, when he first discovered his healing power and when he was first abducted and then repeatedly abducted. He also saw my thoughts as well. During that time he repaired my injuries. Shortly afterwards I was reunited with Lady Ursa and we were returned to the surface of the planet. The beings told her that they would return to examine her again in a few years."

"What did you two see while on their ship?" Sir Ram asked me.

"I can't remember." My bear knight said to her colleagues.

"What do you remember dear?" The rat warrior said to her best friend.

"I remember being pulled into the sky craft and then it departing after we had returned. Nothing in between." My she beast said.

"I think the creatures did that on purpose as not to traumatize you or their other test subjects any further." I said holding my mistress' paw.

"From what you have said they failed to erase your memory." Sir Ram said. "So boy what did you see on their ship?"

"Many horrifying things which are very difficult to forget."

I think I had every beastial in that meeting room transfixed at that point.

"Try Alex it is important." Lord Tiger said to me.

Sanda put his paw on my shoulder. "Take your time mate."

"When I first came on the ship, I witnessed the beings experimenting on their victims. I saw a male zebra attached to the wall of the craft, his chest had been opened and his internal organs clearly visible some how, he wasn't bleeding out. In that same room I saw a female deer who was lying on a table...."

"Yes?" Sir Ram said as he pushed me for more details.

"The beings had removed her brain from her skull and were studying it intently. A few feet from her some more of the greys were studying an ermine's eyes."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Lady Vermin said.

"After they had removed them from his face. As I was moved about the ship I observed other horrifying experiments I saw a stag who was turned inside out while his organs were being examined- he was still alive. I also saw a scaled lizard being impaled by rods of light that had to be at least three feet in length. I saw a mare with sharp rods protruding from her nose. There was also an avian who had her limbs and head removed from her torso and placed on separate tables. I thought she was dead until she blinked her eyes. Some how the beings were keeping her alive. "It was the stuff of nightmares."

"How long did the alien creatures keep their test subjects?" The tiger knight asked me.

"I am not sure commander. Ember said they held some for a couple of days- like we were, some for longer like Triceriton. The captive beastials I saw in their cells were naked, terrified yet calm. In addition to paralyzing and erasing their victim's memories, the alien beings can also render them passive for a time."

"So Triceraton is still with them?" The caracal asked me.

"I don't know Sanda, that was over a year and a half ago."

"If he is, he is doing better than Ricky Raccoon and Chester Connor." My fierce ursine warrior said.

"How is that?" Lord Tiger.

"Those two are deceased." My she beast responded.

"Only marginally better. When I last saw him, he was crying like a youngling. He said the greys had turned him inside out to examine his insides. Given who is and what he has done, it serves him right." I said unapologetically.

"So you two were returned to the surface after how many days on the craft?" Sir Ram asked transfixed.

"I think it was at least one maybe two at the most." I said trying to remember.

"Commander we need to open an investigation on this." The caracal said to the tiger. "Across the empire."

"Indeed. There have been citizens complaining that this has been going on for some time. The master has largely ignored them." The tiger warrior said.

"Or knows about it. But choses not to do anything." I said. "I saw videos on the hub about this phenomenon months before our abduction. But as to what the beings' ultimate goal is, I don't know."

"What happened after you were returned to the surface?" Lady Vermin asked.

"We discovered we weren't where we had been abducted." My she beast said.

"We weren't in the Dark forest anymore." I said adding my voice to the discussion.

"So that explains how you wound up on the continent of ice and snow and ultimately the Maximum." Sir Ram said thoughtfully.

"Exactly. We were dropped there just before a massive snowstorm still in our camping clothes Sir Ram."

"So you two were unequipped." Lord Tiger said.

"Yes commander." My she beast stated.

"When we landed Lady Ursa noticed that despite it being very cold there seemed to be a dark snowstorm approaching from the northwest." I said to the senior knights.

"What did you do?" Sanda asked me.

"We traveled south into the forests and the highlands looking for shelter. I found a fallen tree just large enough for Alex and I to take shelter in." My warrior bear said.

"We stayed in there hiding from the storm for about a day and a half."

"Sounds cosy. What did you talk about?" The rat warrior asked.

"Anything and everything." The bear warrior said to her best friend. "Alex told me what he had seen during our abduction."

"Did you try your communicator?" The caracal asked.

"I did and I can tell you communications do not work on the western continent." My fierce ursine warrior said. "So when the storm ended, I made a few modifications."

"She turned her communicator into scanner. That is how we found the outpost; it appeared as a set of squares twelve miles to the north." I said continuing our debriefing.

"So when the storm ended you two made the only logical choice- you went to investigate what you had seen on the scanner." Sir Ram said.

"The journey was quite treacherous, we were battling freezing temperatures, snow and hunger. But managed to arrive at the outpost just as Alex was about to succumb." My she beast said.

"That is when you found the Maximum." Lord Tiger said.

"I had never heard of it before." I said to the knights in the room.

"That is because it is a top secret facility where the worst of the worst are housed." The tiger warrior said. "Very few are aware of its existence. It was built on the western continent for a reason- escape from the facility is near impossible."

"As we would later find out commander." Lady Ursa said.

"We were greeted by the outpost's commander Warden Fields and given a tour of the complex which was quite compact and self sufficient; a world isolated from the outside world."

"It wasn't Warden Fields who greeted us, but a rejected lab experiment." My she beast said.

"You arrived at time of upheaval my dear?" The ram said addressing the bear.

She nodded.

Sanda rubbed my shoulder. "Take your time, you two."

"In the days maybe weeks, before our arrival the warden and his staff had been killed. The prisoners were running the outpost."

"They were planning on escaping using a one directional shipping platform. But they hit a few snags in their plan- us arriving and trying to turn the platform into bidirectional." I said.

"It was my fault." My she beast said showing signs of regret.

"Mistress, what is done is done."

"Lady Ursa, how did you find out about the uprising?" The knight's commander asked.

"While exploring the living quarters of the staff, we found the warden's body in a closest. That was around the time the fake warden started acting strangely."

"One evening we investigated some activities on the fourth floor of the prison building and inadvertently stumbled on their plot. Their leader Solo gave us a choice to join him or die. I made the wrong decision." My warrior bear said.

"You chose to oppose them?" The rat lady said.

The bear nodded.

"You made a choice to defend the empire against the worst of the worst?" Sanda said.

"We paid dearly for it. There was a desperate fight. We lost. Solo and his supporters were going to kill us, but instead decided on something much more cruel." I said.

"They gave you the living death." The ram said.

"We became in-animated statues and were left to rot on the third floor of the prison building until the end of time." My she beast said.

Lord Tiger, Sanda, Sir Ram and Lady Vermin gasped.

The caracal asked the next question. "What was the living death like?"

"Beyond misery, pain and suffering." I said.

"It was beyond awful. Death would have been more pleasurable." My she beast said.

"We were left alone in that room for the next year and a half."

"How did you survive?" Lord Tiger asked.

"We went inside ourselves commander- reliving our lives and experiences, that was the only way we kept from going insane." My warrior bear said.

"The outpost was quite quiet after the prison escape." I added.

"In actuality boy very few of the prisoners made it back to the empire." The ram said updating me.

"Really?"

"You two were de-animated in December of 031 YOE, Right?" The ram warrior said.

I nodded.

"The prisoners that tried to escape didn't succeed until late fall of 032 YOE. They started appearing on the streets which made us realize that something was wrong at the Maximum." Lord Tiger said. "That was when a team was sent to investigate."

"That must have been last December." I said. "One evening the compound shook violently and there was a lot of running and screaming."

"Then it abated. Seven months later we were re-animated by the outpost's new leader Warden King." My she beast said.

"Commander who exactly is Warden King?" I asked the tiger point blank. "He assumed command of the outpost and ruled it with an iron fist."

"For that matter how was he selected?" Lady Ursa asked.

"Why do you ask?" The tiger knight said sidestepping the question.

"He and the previous warden appeared to be human but they were most obviously not; they displayed powers- mind control, levitation for instance beyond that of normal humans. I said.

"That is because they are not." The tiger knight said quietly.

"Really commander?" Sanda asked.

"I am going to tell you a little more than I know." Lord Tiger said.

As the commander of the Knights of Wundagore said this, all eyes locked on him.

"Warden Deciduous King is a Dowd, a race of humanoid beings who have limited telekinesis and mind control abilities."

"That explains a lot." My she beast said.

"I believe he is a acquaintance or friend whom the master owed a favor. To repay that favor the High Evolutionary granted him and the previous warden limited access to his grand experiment- allowing him to over see a small portion of it."

That revelation from the knight's commander was a bombshell. It explained why Warden King acted like he was a god-like being.

"Unbelievable!" I said out loud.

"Alex?" My lady bear said.

"That is why he behaved like he did." I said as all eyes locked on me. "Don't you see mistress? The outpost was a microcosm of the High Evolutionary's empire, his grand experiment. In this case that Dowd carved off a portion and created his own empire- an experiment within the experiment!"

"He treated all the prisoners in the Maximum as such." My warrior bear concluded. "We were his possessions, his subjects to mold, to manipulate and to rule over."

"It was his kingdom, if you disobeyed or defied him, you were punished." I added.

"How boy?" Sir Ram asked.

"By beatings, lashings and extended exposure to the environment. During the time we were under his rule he held assemblies where the worst offenders were publicly executed. Chester Conner and Ricky Raccoon met their end this way."

"How were they killed?" Lord Tiger asked.

"The Dowd manipulated one of the prisoners into crushing both of them. We were tasked with burying the bodies afterwards." Lady Ursa said.

"Commander he needs to be removed. Lady Ursa and I were also been punished."

"Why?" The caracal asked.

"For disobedience as well. That Dowd had some interesting hobbies." Lady Ursa said uneasily.

"In addition to day to day operations of the outpost he had a private breeding program." I said to the senior knights.

"To what end?" Sir Ram asked.

"He was collecting beastials. Those that were enrolled in his program were paired with the opposite sex of their species- and forced to breed until they produced offspring. When that happened they were de-animated and mounted on a wall in his private gallery like trophies."

"Oh my." Sanda said.

"The only reason Alex and I were released from the living death was to join that program." My she beast said.

"Ursa are you saying?!" Lord Tiger said.

"Yes commander we were assigned breeding partners. I was given to Boris the 'de-constructor' a convicted thief and tinkerer and ordered to conceive."

"She rebelled, tried to escape and was punished." I said.

"What about you boy?" Sir Ram asked.

"I was given to Bertha Strong and ordered to do the same thing." I said reluctantly.

"You were forced to give your bodies to others?" Sanda said.

"Yes and mate twice a day otherwise be punished. In my case it was four times a day." I said as the others were looking on. "Bertha served as the healer for the outpost after Solo and his thugs killed the previous staff. She was treating a patient whose transformation from quadruped to biped was imperfect; he suffered bouts of insanity and was sent to the prison after rubbing the High Evolutionary the wrong way."

"Bertha Strong...." Lady Vermin said accessing the file. "Oh yes she is that ex-wrestler who accidentally killed her opponent and several bystanders in her last match wrestling match."

"Do you have footage of that?" The caracal asked.

"Look at this." The rat lady said. "It is from six years ago."

The footage was from a small wrestling event at an arena somewhere in World Two:

_ "It looks bad for Wild Woman as the Annihilator has delivered a body crushing pile driver! She is down for the count!" _

_ "One-Two-Three-" _ The referee announced as the Annihilator, a big monster of a man taunted the champion.

"NUMBER ONE!" He said flexing his muscles at her and the crowd.

"I don't think so!" Bertha hissed finding her footing. She then charged at the big man head butting him in the stomach before turning him sideways, grabbing him by the torso and clearing the railing in the ring.

****CRUNCH****

_ "The champ recovers, grabbing her challenger and... and... oh no! Wild Woman attempted to body slam him, but she missed the mat completely crushing the Annihilator and several bystanders in the audience! Oh no!" _

"It was a accident, a bad accident as several in the audience perished that night, but the High Evolutionary decided to punish her anyway. Since he had used her genetic material in constructing beastials, he sentenced her to the Maximum for a indeterminate sentence." The rat warrior said.

"Who was the patient she was treating?" Sanda asked.

"Spirited Spirit. Spirit for short." I said.

"That name sounds familiar... Lord Tiger pondered."

"He was that canine who was dumped by his lover and got revenge by poisoning him and their neighborhood. He viewed the rest as collateral damage." Sir Ram said. "As I recalled the master nearly de-evolved him. But decided to send him away until he could find a way to 'fix' what is wrong with him."

"Well they never did. Bertha was treating him for his sanity issues. In fact, I became their cell mate and he started using me to treat his sanity issues."

"As in...." Sanda said.

"A comfort animal. I had my own personal triad." I blushed.

"We did what we had to- to survive." Lady Ursa said to everyone present.

"I see." The ram said thoughtfully.

"So how long did this go on?" Lord Tiger said.

"The month and after we were re-animated commander." Lady Ursa said.

"Which was about the time we realized what was going on and that we were hopelessly stuck. I was very depressed. But Spirit and Bertha took care of me."

"Took care of you or TOOK CARE OF YOU?" Sanda asked.

"Both. Despite the circumstances, they were both very kind to me. In spite of the forced coupling we bonded. I wish I could get both of them out- Spirit in particular, he needs to find treatment elsewhere."

"But Bertha took lives Alex, there is no coming back from that." The tiger commander said.

"I know sir but it was not intentional."

"Do you feel the same way about Boris dear?" The rat asked the bear.

"He is smart, perhaps he can be reformed." My she beast said thoughtfully.

"So commander how did you learn of our whereabouts?" My bear knight asked.

"Solo and a few prisoners who escaped in the fall of 032 YOE were quickly rounded up. Solo was killed and one of them, Mike Anger got away."

"Wasn't he the bloke that was apprehended last week?" The caracal exclaimed.

"Precisely, while being interrogated he mentioned that he, Kathryn Hurt and Nikki Waters attempted to escape from the Maximum after their leader Solo had taken care of a beastial knight and her pet human."

"Only a few of then did manage to escape before Warden King took over." Lady Vermin said.

"So that was how you were able to find them." The caracal said.

"Lady Vermin and myself conducted the rescue. We had to threaten to report the warden repeatedly before he agreed to release you two."

"Thank goodness you did Sir Ram. We would not have gotten out of there otherwise." I said leaving my seat. I then hugged that evil beastial and Lady Vermin too.

"Yes, yes welcome back boy." He said petting me. "I think Mara has missed you the most, she has some items she wants to test on you."

I gave him such a look, I didn't know if the evil he beast was joking or not. He also gave me back my PDA. He had adapted it to run on a new power system. Man, it was great to be back home.

"So when can I return to duty commander?" My she beast asked.

"Not so fast." Lord Tiger said sternly. "Both of you have experienced something extraordinary. You both have also been traumatized as a result. That will impact your performance in the field."

"It will be quite some time before you can return to duty my dear." Sir Ram said to the bear.

"In the meantime, I am ordering you two to see Lea on a daily basis she will attempt to make you whole. At a future time I will assess if you have recovered to the point where you can returned to your duties." The tiger warrior said.

"Commander?" Lady Ursa said.

"Besides much has changed since you two went missing, the empire is quite different."

"The master has put increased pressure on the knight core." Sir Ram said.

"There is now a mandatory curfew; we are also charged with hunting down and removing pockets of lawlessness in the five cities." Lady Vermin said.

"There is also a special division within the knight core that hunts down rebels, dissidents, separatists and other threats to the master's rule." Sanda said. "We have much to update you on."

"That will have to wait until Lady Ursa is cleared for duty." The tiger warrior said. "In the meantime you two head home and rest. You have been through a lot." Lord Tiger ordered us.

With that the meeting concluded. Lady Ursa and I returned to the lair.

"What a mess!" My she beast said upon entering.

The knight core had torn it apart looking for clues during our disappearance.

"It is going to take us all evening to get this place back in shape mistress."

"What do you mean us?" She cackled.

(That was the Lady Ursa I knew.)

"Mistress, there is too much to do by myself." I responded. "Please?"

So we settled down to work. I decided to turn on the hub to catch up on the news in the five cities. As I did, there was an urgent message atop the stack of 200 messages that had accumulated during the last nineteen months.

I decided to play it. It was from Corbin and Dawn Stern.

"Big brother, momma bear where are you?! The professor and I have been trying to contact you! There is something you need to know!"

To Be Continued....