FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

THIS IS THE FULL FIRST CHAPTER OF MY STORY THAT I RECENTLY BEGAN WRITING. IT IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF W.I.P. AND W.I.P. CONTINUED AND CONTAINS BOTH, THOUGH WITH SOME CHNAGES, SO A REREAD IS ENCOURAGED. AS WITH THE OTHERS THIS WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN A W.I.P. AS I CONTUNE TO WRITE, AND AS MY SKILLS IMPROVE.

PROLOGUE

Seikua was not a peaceful planet. Far from it. For many years, civil war had ravaged its surface. The Motan race of "dinoids"--a nickname given to them by the scarce human populace of the planet, because of their dinosaur-like characteristics, though they walked on two legs like a human--had finally broken into all out war, after a political and moral degradation that had taken place for a score of years. A small faction of renegades had slowly risen in power during the last few years, until they finally believed themselves strong enough to oppose the corrupt council that had ruled Seikua for so long.

The renegades proved more of a challenge than the Council had realized, and were soon forced to take more extreme measures in attempts to subdue them. Soon all out civil war raged upon the once peaceful planet, destroying the lives of the citizens of the many smaller cities that dotted the planet, as they were either forced into service by the Council, or killed off if they refused. Many that refused and managed to escape ended up under the protection of the renegades, or fighting for them. Those that did not either wandered off into the wilderness to try to escape the fighting, or traveled to nearby cities to try to rebuild what they had.

Our story begins with one such individual, Zeva, a female dinoid, who wandered into the wilderness after escaping, and eluding the Council's troops.

STORY

Raindrops dripped from the leaves of an Acai plant as a light rain misted a sleeping forest. Everything was silent except for the sounds of the raindrops and the occasional low rumblings off in the distance. A lone female dinoid lay under the protective branches of a nearby cluster of bushes. Her scales, as well as what little clothing still covered her body, were wet from the rain. She stirred, rustling leaves and snapping twigs underneath her. Her movements jarred loose thousands of water droplets that clung to the foliage around her, showering her in cold water. She woke with a start, surveying the immediate area around her for any signs of danger. Her right hand slipped to a saber that lay next to her. Silent she laid, muscles tensed, eyes darting, searching for any sign of danger. When she was convinced there was none, she relaxed, brushing a nearby branch, again showering her with cold water. She laughed to herself as she realized what had woken her. She peered through the canopy above her, observing the dark rainclouds overhead.

This is going to be a wonderful day to travel. She thought to herself. It was the rainy season in the Aiaka Valley. It was not uncommon for there to be weeks upon weeks of rain at a time. In some places, this caused major flooding.

She grabbed the saber next to her by the hilt, pulling it from its leather sheath. The blade was as black as the night sky and etched with red letters and symbols. It had belonged to her father. Only two days prior, she had watched as he was gunned down right in front of her. The Council's soldiers had come to their peaceful neighborhood and ransacked it, grabbing everyone that would agree to fight for them. Those who resisted, or flat out refused, were executed without question. Such was the fate of her father. He had been an old war veteran, who at one time had served proudly under the Council. As time went on, he began to disagree with more and more of the Council's proceedings, until he resigned his title and went into hiding with his family. He had been branded as a supporter of the Renegades ever since. She was only twelve then, but old enough to understand why her father had uprooted them from their comfortable life in Iscaba, one of Seiku's major cities.

She had had a good life there. She was one of the more popular kids in school. She was sweet, and went out of her way to help those she cared about. She wasn't snobby like a lot of the other popular kids her age, which was why she was liked. Her father had had a high-paying job serving under the Council, and her mother stayed at home, doing what mothers do. Then one day her father came running through the door, told them to grab whatever they wanted to keep, loaded them into their vehicle, and drove out of the city. They drove for days, being careful to stay away from the major highways, sticking primarily to the back roads. These roads had been rarely traveled since the construction of the major freeways was completed. Only those that lived in the numerous small towns ringing the major cities lived there, and they rarely ventured from their small cites. One of these towns would not be their destination, however; they were destined for a place far outside the watchful eyes of the Council.

Eventually, they stopped in Akiana, a peaceful riverside village set deep into a dense forest. When they had arrived, she had protested to living in such "primitive" conditions, but she soon grew to love the place. She made many new friends during her time there. On her sixteenth birthday, her father decided that it was time to teach her how to defend herself. He taught her how to use various types of weapons, ranging from the standard assault rifle, to a sword, even martial arts. Under his tutelage, she became a fierce fighter, just like her father.

On her eighteenth birthday, her father had given her the assault rifle that he had used during his service. It was a great weapon that had seen many battles, and killed just as many foes. Having been a General in the Council's army, he was allowed certain privileges, and had used these to modify his weapon to his personal tastes.

It was also that day, that he had entrusted his daughter with his trusty saber, which she now held in her hands. It was this weapon that had saved his life so many times; that had saved her life two days ago.

Two days....

Two days ago, the Council's soldiers had found their remote village. Her father had always said that they would eventually find them, that there was no place safe from their reach, only he had not expected them to find their location so soon.

"Run!" he had told them. "Run, or they'll kill you too! Run while you can still get away!"

At first, mother had insisted that they stay and fight, that they could all escape if they worked together, but father had refused, arguing that they were more likely to all die if they didn't split up. He promised them that, if he made it out, he would come find them. No sooner had he finished his sentence, the front door was smashed in. He grabbed one of his laser rifles and began shooting.

"Run dammit! Get out of here!" he had shouted over his shoulder as laser beams and bullets hit the walls around him. His daughter was frozen, unable to take her eyes off of her father. Her mother shouted in her ears and pulled on her, but she could not hear nor feel any of it; all she could see was the image of her father fighting for them. She watched as he again turned around, and shouted at them to leave, waving his hand toward the back door. When he turned back, one of the soldiers had run up to him while he was distracted, and punched him across the jaw, knocking him to the floor. Pulling on her with all her might, her mother finally managed to snap her daughter out of her daze and pull her to the back door. Her mother had grabbed the weapons that her husband had given to their daughter.

As her mother pulled her out the door, she watched her dazed father look up at one of the soldiers standing over him. He raised his left arm in an attempt to ward off another blow. The soldier raised his weapon to her father's head, a sinister laugh emanating from his helmet. Before the soldier pulled the trigger, her father looked over at her, and smiled, mouthing the words "I love you."

She couldn't bear to look anymore. Eyes filled with tears, she ran out the back door with her mother. She heard the crack of the soldier's weapon, then shouts as he issued orders. More tears clouded her vision as she hung onto her mother's arm. Fear and hatred welled up inside her as she and her mother continued their mad dash for the tree line, her saber on her hip, and rifle on her back.

They were roughly fifty feet or so from the tree-line when she heard another weapon fire. Her mother went down. She screamed and slid to a stop, sprinting back to her mother. She saw another soldier crouched with what looked to be a sniper rifle in his hands. She checked on her mother, but there was nothing she could do. She had died before she had even hit the ground. Casting a venomous look back at her parents' murderers, she took her rifle from her back. Aiming down the site the way her father had taught her to, she aimed at the soldier holding the sniper rifle. Slowly, she squeezed the trigger. A trio of red-hot laser beams shot from the barrel, hitting the soldier square in the head, cutting straight through his helmet, killing him instantly. His limp body dropped to the ground. She was stunned momentarily by the power of the weapon. She recovered quickly however, and ran back toward the tree-line. The soldiers opened fire on her, but were not so accurate at such a long distance.

She burst through the foliage. The branches ripped and tore at her clothing as she raced on, tears streaming from her eyes and a myriad of emotions filling her.

_ Now all I have to do is evade those soldiers; easier said than done._ She thought.

***************************************

Not long after she had entered the surrounding forest, a pair of soldiers entered, presumably searching for her. The one on the left was taller than the other, and carried what looked to be some sort of laser weapon. The other was of average height, and carried a projectile weapon, she mused, judging by the clip protruding from the main body of the weapon.

She had taken up hiding within some bushes near a large Hatiem tree. She poked it with her saber, and found that its bark was nearly as hard as stone. She decided it would provide ample cover if a firefight ensued. She watched the pair as they continued their search for her. They were chatting. She listened closely to hear what they were saying.

"So how the hell are we supposed to find this Zeva kid in the middle of a forest? Weren't her scales green? That's going to make this even easier." The shorter of the two complained.

"Damn it Zoca! Don't you ever stop complaining? First you complained about this armor when we got it, even though it's considered one of the highest honors to wear it; you complain about the food, you complain about how cramped the ACV's are; just shut the hell up for once! We'll find her, don't you worry." The larger of the two reprimanded his partner. After a moment of silence, the shorter one spoke again.

"Why does the boss want her anyway? I mean, what could the Council want with a whiney snot-nosed brat?"

The taller one stopped abruptly and faced the shorter one, obviously annoyed."Zoca, I don't know what the Council wants with her. All I know is that we were given orders to bring her back alive so don't go taking pop-shots at everything that moves like you normally do on patrol."

The two resumed their searching in silence.

Studying their armor, Zeva looked for any weak points or joints where her blade could easily pass, allowing for a silent kill. She did not want to use her rifle, for fear the sound of it firing would attract the attention of the other soldiers.

The two soldiers wore some type of black metal armor. It looked rather rigid and uncomfortable. It seemed to her, that there were only a few places where her blade could enter the soldier's bodies unimpeded. There were seams at the neck of the armor, at the shoulders, the elbows, the waste, and at the knees, from what she could see. These places also seemed to provide the only pivot points in the armor. She quickly ruled out the joints as possible entry points for her blade. None of them would yield a killing blow. Instead, Zeva opted to go for the neck, as it would provide the quickest kill. A quick kill was what she needed. She rolled a rock in her left hand while she decided how she should go about separating the pair. Her eyes widened slightly as an idea came to her mind.

The humble rock is quite the tool. She had thought to herself, observing the stone's cold surface.

It can be used as a weapon when none better is present, or a wheel when carved correctly. It can be used to grind ingredients to dust for cooking or medical purposes... A wry smile pierced her scaled face.

...or as a tool of distraction.

She dropped the rock to the ground and picked up a larger one next to her. It was roughly the size of her fist.

Ah, this should do nicely. She had thought. Rising to a crouch, she searched again for the soldiers, and where best to place her throw. She spotted the pair in front of her, at a distance of roughly twenty paces she guessed. She had decided she would angle her throw over their heads so that their backs would be to her when they went to check the source of the disturbance. Her goal was to get one of them to check out the source of the noise while the other stayed put. She cocked her left arm, preparing to launch her projectile. Giving a small grunt, she hurled the stone in the direction of the soldiers, but instead of flying over their heads, it hit the taller of the two on the left side of his head. A pang of fear raced through her chest as she dropped to her stomach, realizing she was now in very much danger.

When the rock connected with the soldier's head, he let out a startled yelp. The two immediately dropped to a crouch, raising their weapons. They scanned the trees and foliage, looking for the source of the flying stone. They began a slow advance in the direction that the rock came from, heading straight for Zeva.

Her breath caught in her throat as she watched from the bushes she was hiding under. They were now no more than five feet from her hiding place. Just then the soldiers froze at the sound of rustling in the bushes to her left.

The taller of the two motioned for his partner to check out the sound. Nodding, the shorter moved to a small clump of bushes directly to Zeva's left. They were both distracted by the noise. She decided that it was now or never. She clenched her saber tightly, her mouth going dry. As quietly as she could, she slipped from her cover, creeping on silent feet. She walked up behind the taller one in the back and grabbed his head, pulling it back to expose his neck. The kiss of her blade's edge against his skin was silent. Its hungry teeth dug into his flesh, severing both major arteries in his neck. The soldier grabbed his neck, trying to gasp for air, but he soon passed out and began to bleed to death. She let his limp frame fall from her grasp hitting the grass below with a soft thump.

Zeva refocused her attention on the single remaining of the pair in front of her. He was roughly a leap's distance from where she couched. She readied herself for him when he suddenly turned around.

"Its alright Hezka, its only--" he stopped when he turned around and spied Zeva crouched over the body of his friend. Momentarily caught by surprise, he fumbled with his weapon. This was enough of a delay to allow Zeva to close the gap between them. She lept at him, a look of hatred on her face.

The soldier dropped his weapon and caught Zeva as she crashed into him, causing her to drop her saber. It landed in the soft grass only a few feet from where she now wrestled with the soldier. The two of them rolled over and over, each trying to gain the upper hand. Though he had been shorter than his friend, he was still much larger than Zeva, and he knew it. His armor gave him and advantage, as Zeva could not hit him in any way, but the bulky metal armor was not made for hand to hand combat, and it detracted from his movements.

Though she knew she was at a disadvantage, being smaller than the soldier, Zeva kept her composure. She searched for something that she could use to gain the advantage, and noticed series of hoses running in-between the soldier's helmet and his armor. These she assumed were for circulation. An idea suddenly popped into her head. She began to grasp for the hoses, trying to yank them out of her foe's armor. She succeeded partially, pulling the hoses from the right of his armor.

The soldier realized what she was doing, and frantically threw her off of him. Zeva landed hard on her back, but quickly moved to a crouch, ready for whatever the soldier might do next. She was strong from her life in the village and the training that her father had put her through, but she did not want to grapple with this soldier again. She noticed that she had landed near the soldier's rifle. Picking it up quickly, she flung in into the brush behind her to keep him from recovering it.

The soldier clambered to his feet, his panting audible through his helmet.

"You little bitch..." He began. "Now I know why the boss wants you. Your father taught you well, didn't he? You would make a good soldier. There is still time to surrender and join without consequences against you. Since you are the daughter of a general, you would be given the treatment of royalty."

Zeva knew that he would not kill her, but he didn't know that she knew that. She eyed her prey, spotting her saber behind him. She knew that she needed to keep his attention, else he would grab her weapon. Things would become very bad then.

"And what makes you think I would join your army after what you and your army did to my town six years ago?" she began, slowly circling him, keeping her eyes trained on him so as not to raise his suspicions. "I remember what you bastards did. You came through my peaceful town breaking into homes and taking people away to fight in your army against their will. Those who refused were killed. Back then I did not understand why you had invaded our town, but now I do. You were looking for me and my family, more specifically, me."

"My my... you are a smart one, aren't you?"

Zeva quickly continued, not allowing him to continue.

"But my father was one step ahead of you. He knew that the council would come after us after he resigned, so he gathered us and brought us out here where he had hoped to hide us from the likes of you." She was standing directly over top of her saber now. All she had to do was distract him so she could acquire it.

The soldier was silent for a moment before he started to clap, smacking the palm of his right hand with the fingers of his left. This produced a soft thumping as the cloth on the undersides of his hands collided.

"You are a smart one as well. You were able to piece all that together by yourself weren't you? Yes, you would be quite the addition. I -"

Zeva bent down swiftly and picked up her saber and again lunged at the soldier, this time keeping a better grip on her weapon. She smashed into him, trying to knock him down, but he only stumbled.

The soldier laughed at her and opened a concealed hatch on his chest, which Zeva had failed to notice. From it he produced a small pistol. Laughing, he took aim at Zeva and shot. A loud pop emanated from the barrel of the pistol as its lead projectile zipped though the air, smacking into the flat of Zeva's saber, knocking it from her hand. She cursed as she watched it land out of reach, some ten feet behind her.

"You really must learn to keep a better hold on your weapons." The soldier teased. "Not doing so can land you in some rather unpleasurable situations. Now, drop the rifle on your back."

Zeva's mind raced furiously as she tried to think of a solution to her problem. "There is a solution for every problem; you just have to find it." Her father had told her. Her mind turned back to the martial arts and self defense training that her father had taught her. She smiled as a particular move came to mind. She did as he asked, unbuckling the strap that kept the weapon attached to her. Carefully she laid it on the grass in front of her and stepped back.

Zoca laughed menacingly, keeping his weapon trained on young female as he stepped forward to claim her weapon. "That was the smart thing to do. I would hate to have to have shot something as pretty as you." He smirked again, bending down to pick up Zeva's weapon. He took his eyes from her and knelt down, wrapping his black clothed hand around the middle of the weapon, just in front of the trigger. Picking it up, he turned it over, studying the warn metal from which it was made. Numerous dings and scratches littered its surface, silent testimonies to its many years of use. He satisfied smile creases his face under his helmet as he rose, stepping towards Zeva.

"Quiet a remarkable weapon your father had. Killed many with the modifications he made to it, as I'm sure you noticed earlier. Now," he said reaching out to grasp her auburn hair. "its time for us to get going. "

Zeva waited until his hand was almost grasping her before she ducked and jumped on him, grasping the metal collar around his neck with her right hand. She stiffened the fingers of her left hand, claws extended. She drove these sharp claws straight into the center of the soldier's neck where his armor was only a mesh, to provide more free motion. The mesh protected the soldier from her claws, keeping them from piercing his flesh, but her fingers still sunk deeply into his neck. "Take that you bastard!" she yelled as she jumped off of him, pushing on his chest with her feet.

Zoca grasped at his throat, coughing and choking as he stumbled back, dropping Zeva's weapon. He was unable to breath, surprised by the amount of force that they young dinoid was able to command. He dropped to one knee, pulling off his helmet, gasping, trying to fill his lungs once more with the precious air that they demanded.

Zeva saw her chance and grabbed her weapon, pointing it at the soldier's head. She stopped just short of pulling the trigger when he pulled off his helmet, revealing the terrified face of a human. She starred transfixed by his eyes, seeing the fear that was held within them.

He doesn't want to do this anymore than I do, but I can't let him live. He is a servant to the Council, and he will only come back for me.

"I'm sorry that you had to become entangled with the twisted agenda of the Council, but this will be the best for both of us."

She looked away from him as she squeezed the trigger, sending a trio of white hot beams through his head. A hole was burned straight through the center of his face, the heat of the laser beams cauterizing the edges of the wound on contact. His limp body fell to the ground, thumping softly on the grass.

Zeva stood there, frozen with shock. Her body began to shake as adrenaline continued to coarse through her veins. After a few moments, she dropped to her knees and rolled over on her side, drawing her knees into her chest, hugging them. Her adrenaline soon began to fade, allowing her to relax somewhat. She let her legs fall away from her body as she continued to lay there, eyes locked in a blank stare at the body that lay only feet from her. She mulled over the events that had taken place that day, a fresh wave of tears falling from her eyes when she remembered her father. The scene of him looking at her, just before his death was forever burned in her mind; she would not forget it as long as she lived. Neither would she forget the site of her mother's death right there next to her.

The sound of distant shouting brought her out of her thoughts. She scolded herself for slipping into such a state of mind, quickly collecting her weapons. Before she left, she studied the armor that the two soldiers had warn. She didn't know much about it, but she remembered her father saying something about it being conforming, like it had a mind of its own or something. She decided that it might be useful to her in the future, so she gathered the suit that the taller soldier, Hezka, had worn. She gathered it into a nice neat bundle, then chopped a vine from a nearby tree and wrapped it. Cutting off two more of the thick vines, she fashioned herself a makeshift pack. Zeva hoisted the armor, which was surprisingly light, onto her back. She sheathed her saber and carried her rifle in her hands. She set off quickly into the forest, away from the ever increasing volume of the voices behind her.