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Chapter 5

Combat units

Chiron was delighted to have visitors. The two tigers turned around and looked in the direction the voice came from. In front of them stood a large, handsome tomcat, who was no longer very young, but was probably in his prime. "No wonder our daughter was weak," Stella whispered to her husband. "What have I done to deserve this honour", asked Chiron, adding, "Please excuse my bad behaviour. My name is Chiron, and I am the master of the humble hut behind me." Stella pulled the strings. "I'm Stella and this is my married cat Cyron." Chiron nodded to them friendly. "And who is your big friend?" "My name is Groodarn, Tiger Chiron", the dragon answered for himself. "My greetings to you too, Groodarn." The tiger couple was visibly impressed by Chiron's appearance and also by his chosen way of speaking. "At least our daughter has taken an educated tiger, I like him", Cyron whispered to his partner. "Do I have to worry and get jealous now?" joked Stella. "What do you mean?" asked Chiron. "Nothing, nothing. It's all right. My little man just said he liked you." Cyron buried his face in his left and Chiron coughed because of the openness of the tigress. "What brings you to me?" The dragon began: "I am to greet you, Tiger Chiron, from Tarja." Chiron opened his eyes. "What about her? Did something happen to her? Is she here too? How is she? What's all this weirdness about?" "Can you guess who we are?" Chiron shook his head, "But I'm beginning to suspect something." "All right. We are her parents", Cyron said, expressing Chiron's premonition. Chiron collapsed. "Not to worry. Tarja is fine. She's not here. We sent her to her stepsister in Strongham. But we need to talk." Chiron took a step back and nodded. "All right, come into my cabin. Groodarn doesn't fit in there, but you're welcome to come a little closer. I'll leave the door open so you can watch and have your say. There's food for you too." The dragon thanked, but refused: "I would like to return to my cave before nightfall." Chiron understood his wish and looked at Stella and Cyron. "If you both want to, you're welcome to spend the night at my place. But don't expect too much comfort, there's no running water here, except for the small spring in the forest, and no electricity either. All I can offer is some food, a good drink, a roof over your head, a place to sleep and an outhouse at the back of the house, but plenty of fresh air and lush greenery." Cyron grinned and Stella nodded in agreement. "We think that will be enough. We're not exactly used to overflowing luxury either, and apart from that, we're not looking to settle down permanently." Chiron smiled invitingly. "Tiger Cyron", said the dragon, "what time shall I pick you up?" "I guess it'll be all right around nine o'clock tomorrow." The dragon growled in agreement and made his way home.

The three tigers went into the house and Chiron closed the door. "Well, now... it's very pleasant to make your acquaintance. Even though the situation seems rather obscure at the moment and I don't quite know how to behave towards you." "Just be yourself and don't bend over because of us", Stella tried to soften the situation and make it more bearable. Chiron looked at her. He had gorgeous dark brown eyes and an incredibly soft and gentle look. "That you found me shows me that you know what happened." Cyron nodded and looked at his hands. They trembled and were a sign that he was also uncomfortable. "We're here because we'd like to get to know you. After all, you slept with our daughter and you were her first lover." "I know, she told me. - Afterwards. - And I coward had nothing better to do than to get up and leave." "You did what you thought was right in that moment. No one can blame you for that." "Yes, I can be accused of acting irresponsibly and taking advantage of your daughter's inexperience." "You didn't take advantage of her directly, after all Tarja is not completely innocent, as I noticed." Chiron nodded, "That's for sure." "The only thing I can blame you for is the fact that you're older than her and at least you should have thought about contraception." Chiron got his head up. "You think she's pregnant?" "Yes, she is. Congratulations. You're going to be a father." "Where is she? I want to see her." "I told you she was with her stepsister in Strongham. There's no coming in so soon. But don't worry, she'll be all right and she'll have your child and raise it there. And don't worry, nothing's gonna happen to you." Chiron breathed in and let the air escape audibly. "Wow, that's pretty intense." Stella grinned, because he seemed to thaw slowly, also from his expression. "Damn it, this is not the way I wanted or imagined any of this." "What does that mean?" Cyron asked. "It doesn't mean I'm gonna chicken out now. I'm well aware of my responsibility and I'm happy to be a father. However, it comes as a bit of a surprise." "I can understand that very well", Stella replied, "After all, we have ambushed you here, without prior notice, with lots of news. So it is clear that you have to sort out your thought processes first. Which is nice, though, because we get to know you better that way. You know, the sorting of thoughts reveals a lot about someone, especially the order in which priorities are set. I really liked that you asked about Tarja first. It shows me that you care about her." "I care about her?" Chiron laughed briefly. "I not only care about her. I just care about her. I can hardly think straight since I left her. I'm afraid I've fallen in love with your daughter. It scares me somehow, because I thought something like that would never happen to me, and above all, so suddenly." Cyron and Stella winked at each other and nodded. Chiron noticed this gesture and loosened up a little more inside. "I have a great idea. I wanted to barbecue a piglet that would have lasted me alone for the next three days. "If you like, we'll do it now, have a nice cold beer, make ourselves comfortable, and talk some more." "Beer?" Cyron asked. "Yep, beer. I brew it myself. The main ingredients are barley, malt and hops, which are infused with water and then let it ferment. It tastes slightly bitter but good and has an intoxicating effect like mead." "That sounds good", Stella said. Chiron went active. He had already prepared almost everything before the two of them arrived and only needed to carry a few smaller things to the hut, including the piglet.

Cyron helped out, took the piglet and carried it outside, Stella did the rest. It was a wonderful evening and should be a dreamlike night. The three tigers sat before the green sea of trees, the charcoal cracked in its own embers and gave off a pleasant warmth. The piglet was tender, crispy and tasted extremely delicate and the beer slurped away wonderfully refreshing. "Well, now. All in all, it was a very eventful day today", Cyron summed up. Stella looked at him and could only confirm this. "Yes. We've experienced a great deal and learned a great deal." "True. We jumped over our own shadows, made some profound choices and ended up making new friends." Chiron sat there, listened to the two of them, and looked into the eyes of Stella and Cyron alternately during the last set. The two of them smiled at him in a good-natured way. "You call me a friend? After all I've done?" "Yes. After all, you are our daughter's lover." "But, uh, I'm out of here. I left Tarja in the end." "You made a wrong decision in that moment. In your opinion, perhaps it was right at that moment, so we cannot blame you. But in the end, you stood by your responsibility and your actions, and that's what matters." Chiron nodded, and Cyron took the floor. "Say, dear, where'd you shoot the piglet?" "In the jungle, not far from here", was the answer. "Hmmm..., is there enough game left?" "Yes. At least I couldn't find anything else." "I find that interesting. In the woods around Felgan, game has become scarce and we are considering expanding our hunting grounds." "I think the jungle offers enough prey for everyone, as long as you keep hunting within certain limits", Chiron said. Cyron nodded. "Why don't you join us and hunt with us? End your lonely life and come with us to the village. There you will meet other cats and make friends. Besides, it's not permanent out here." Chiron was thinking. "That's a very nice offer and I'm flattered, but I'm afraid I must decline, as I'm used to living in this wilderness." "Pity. You'd make a good son-in-law." Chiron swallowed. He never expected such an honor. "I shall see that I can visit my beloved tigress as soon as possible." "I'm sure she'd be happy about that", Stella encouraged him, "because all this time she's been referring to you as her lover and HER tomcat, not talking about Chiron or any tomcat." Chiron had to smile, thinking intensely about the afternoon they met and the wonderful hours they spent with her, "I'll do it and visit her in Strongham." His mind was made up. They sat in front of the hut for another hour, talking about trifles, nibbling the roast bones bare and drinking one or two cups of beer. In the end everyone was tired enough to finally go to bed. Chiron offered them his camp, which Stella and Cyron gratefully accepted. He himself lay down in front of the fireplace and had fallen asleep within a few minutes.

The next morning they all felt as if they were exhausted, a side effect of the beer. It was quite cool, and Chiron heated the fireplace. Meanwhile, the Tiger couple made their way to the spring Chiron had mentioned to wash themselves. "It's really very chilly this morning", Stella said to her husband. "Yes. Quite unusual for this time of year." Suddenly Chiron came after them, at a run. "I forgot to tell you two something." "What? Is it so urgent that you had to run after us?" "Yes. It's essential for survival!" The two cut. "Go no further than the spring, and no harm will come to you. It is now barely a hundred meters away. Beyond it, the forest becomes denser and I myself avoid this area. Something weird seems to be going on there." "Thank you! That's sweet of you, but we didn't intend to take a tour of unexplored territory." "Okay, I'm reassured." He went back to his hut and the two of them reached the spring. "Wow! It's warm. Must be coming straight from inside." But the truth was hiding from her gaze and that was a good thing at the moment. You would be confronted with it soon enough. After they had refreshed themselves, they returned to their future son-in-law and enjoyed further delicacies.

"What hides deeper in the forest?" Cyron suddenly broke the silence. Chiron was printing around. "I don't know exactly. Every now and then you hear strange sounds from a distance, breaking branches, as if someone were there. When the sun is quite low, you may even be able to see shadows moving through the undergrowth. But I have no idea who or what that is. And I'm smart enough to stay out of there, and so should you." Stella and Cyron put on their ears. It all sounded too creepy and made them think "When were you planning to leave?" "Around nine o'clock", Stella replied, and Cyron looked at his watch briefly. "By the Goddess, it's already time." They heard a rumble outside the hut, then silence fell. "That must be Groodarn", Chiron said. The three of them stepped outside, and there was... no dragon. No, what they saw left them speechless. They had expected to see the shape of a great dragon. Instead, they didn't know exactly what it was that was standing opposite them, staring at them. It had no eyes, no nose, no mouth and no ears. It didn't even have a face to look at. Suddenly, everyone realized what was so shocking to them, it literally jumped out at them. Whatever it was, it didn't even have a head. It just had a body, but it didn't fit any known shape. Legs, which were somehow reminiscent of its own shape, and arms, but they too were completely alien and ended up in strange shapeless constructions. The whole creature, if you could call it that at all, shone in the morning sun, its skin was shining like a mirror and neither fur nor scales were recognizable. Suddenly this thing, this being or whatever it was, took two steps towards the tigers. The sound it made reminded one of a slightly rusted door and the placing of its feet on the ground produced clearly perceptible vibrations and also an abstruse noise, as if a heavy iron gate would fall into the lock. The three of them became frightened and prepared to flee into the hut. No sooner said than done. Cyron slammed the door behind him, and Chiron barricaded it. He looked out the window. The thing was right outside the door. "Shit", Chiron said into the room, "it's right outside the door." "He?" "Did I, he said? I meant, he, she, it. Whatever that might be." "Chiron! You seem to know something and are hiding it from us", Stella urged him. "I wouldn't know what to hide. Come on, my shack has a small and inconspicuous back exit. We can get out through it." "You really seem to have thought of everything", Cyron said curtly, and the two of them followed Chiron without asking any more questions. He opened a hatch in the floor and lowered himself down, about ten yards further on there was another hatch leading outside. He opened it, too, but there was a figure flying towards him. He shrank back: "Casandra?" The wildcat pushed him and the other two back into the hut. "So you just wanted to run away, just like that." "Casandra, what are you doing?" Chiron lorded it over her. Events seemed to be unfolding. Stella and Cyron were at their wit's end. In front of one door was something that could only have come from hell and didn't seem to be in a very peaceful mood, and on the other side was a wildcat blocking their escape route. Cyron took the word: "Okay, now slowly, slowly, slowly. What's going on here?" He was very upset. Chiron looked down, then at the wildcat and then at the two tigers. "Meet Casandra." They looked into each other's eyes. "You already know my name. I am mistress of magic and also of the black arts. I am also a good friend of Chiron. Who has disappointed me greatly at the moment." Stella and Cyron just stood there and were unable to say anything. "Sit down", said the wildcat. "I think me and Chiron have some explaining to do." The pair of tigers listened up. "What stands out there is not a living being, but a robot, a protective and fighting unit. It is completely artificial and reacts autonomously. These things belong to a research base deep in the jungle and are actually harmless." Cyron swallowed the lump. "Well... I wouldn't call that thing particularly harmless." "Usually they are. Only there seems to be a particular case here and I have no idea what caused the robot to go into combat and capture mode." "Combat and Arrest Mode? Does that mean that that thing out there, that robot, is trying to kill us?" "It looks more like he wants to keep us here. But it looks like that's basically what it looks like. We've had contact with them before, but we've only ever been asked to leave the restricted area in a friendly manner", Chiron said. Stella and Cyron looked at him angrily. "And when were you actually planning to tell us all this?" "With any luck not at all, because it never interested and there was no danger." "But for whatever reason, that has changed", Casandra added. "I just hope we can take out the unit before more show up and maybe incinerate us. And most importantly, that the missing unit is undetectable, has malfunctioned, or you made a mistake that caused this behavior." "But we made no mistake", Chiron protested. "All that remains is the malfunction. But he certainly scanned your bodies and fed them into the central network." "Wait a minute. You're throwing around terms that we don't understand. Can someone please explain to me exactly what is happening here?" Chiron turned to Stella. "Okay. Watch this. You probably noticed that it's a robot out there." Stella nodded. "Good. Go on. These robots are of artificial origin, they have been designed and built. "By whom we do not know. They belong to a research base hidden deep in the forest. Where exactly we couldn't find out, you would have to enter the forest to do so, but you can't get far enough without being picked up and expelled from the premises by a robot like that." Stella nodded again, but asked, "What purpose does this base serve?" "We don't know that either, you'd have to get inside the base, but as I said..." "...you can't even get close", Cyron added to the sentence. Chiron and Casandra nodded and Chiron continued, "All this technology is so advanced and so incredible that it's definitely not ours. That's for sure." Cyron whistled and Stella breathed out audibly. "Over the years, we tried again and again to get to the base, but in vain. We tried it in various places, but it seems that we were expected. So we suspect that there is some kind of network through which the robots communicate with each other. Anyway, they always knew in advance where we were going to show up and intercepted us." "Yes, and they recognized us and knew for how many times we tried", Casandra added, "This leads us to further suspect that there is some sort of central brain in the base that evaluates the collected data and passes it on to the robots. "And now something's happened that's caused the network to overflow and set the robot on us. Have I got that right?" Stella asked. "That's about right. But as we don't know what it is, we rather assume that it is a defect inside the robot. If not, we have a huge problem." Everyone looked down. Suddenly, a terrible noise could be heard outside. It seemed to thunder at extremely short intervals, then you heard a scream and a tremendous bang. The four of them shot up and looked out the window. Outside was Groodarn and under his left front paw lay the robot, it was destroyed. They ran happily towards it. "Groodarn", cried Cyron. "Hello and good morning, Tigress Stella, Tiger Cyron, Tiger Chiron and Wild Cat Casandra." Everyone was very happy to see the dragon. Stella gave him a kiss and asked: "How did you do that? Have you been hurt?" "No, Tigress Stella. I'm fine and I'm not hurt. I wanted to be here at nine o'clock sharp. I could see your problem from afar. I turned around and circled the area at a safe distance. I had enough time to come up with a good plan of attack." "I'm really glad about that. We've been sitting in a lot of mud here", Casandra remarked. "So now I would like to ask you to step up so that you can finally come home. Your food is scattered in the kitchen and may go bad. Cyron slapped his forehead. "Shame! How could we forget. We left everything in the rush." The dragon nodded. Stella turned to Chiron: "I would like to ask you to accompany us. It's not safe here anymore." Chiron looked at Casandra and she nodded in agreement: "She's right. You can't stay here anymore. Get out of here, leave this place while you still can. If it was not a disturbance, you are in grave danger here." Chiron chewed on the lower lip. "All right, I'll just get some personal things out of my cabin and we'll get out of here." He went into his own four walls, which he would probably never see again, packed his body and fur care products, a few books, his writing things and closed the door one last time. He sighed, turned around once more, finally climbed on the dragon on which Stella and Cyron were already sitting. Just as he was about to say goodbye to Casandra, five robots broke out of the undergrowth, went around the hut and opened fire immediately, but uncontrolled. Casandra was already hit by the first shot. "Shit", Chiron shouted, and jumped down from the back of the dragon, clasping Casandra and pulling her close. With one hand Casandra, who was not moving, and the other hand holding the thin rope ladder, he tried to climb the dragon. Cyron saw that it wouldn't work. He had already loosened the belt and grabbed Chiron's hand. With united forces, they pulled Casandra up, strapped her down somehow. Chiron was still hanging on the ladder. One of the other shots had hit him in the thigh, luckily just a graze shot. He put one arm through the ropes and screamed. The dragon noticed that everyone was holding on somehow, screamed briefly as a warning and took off. Miraculously he was not hit and they escaped the deadly hail of bullets. When they were in the air and at a safe distance, Cyron took one hand from the seatbelt he had been holding on to all along and stretched it out to Chiron. He grabbed it, and with united forces, he pulled himself onto the back of the animal for good. "Hello, Tiger Chiron. Welcome aboard", said the dragon encouragingly. But Chiron was not in the mood for laughter. He was in great pain and bleeding. But he was much more interested in Casandra's condition. "How is she?" "She's badly injured and losing more and more blood, but she's still alive." "How long will it be before we reach the village?" he cried to the dragon. "I'll give what I can, but I'll give you at least fifteen more minutes." Chiron turned back to Casandra, took her by the head and pressed her against him. "Hang in there, dear friend, please hang in there." Ten minutes later, the dragon shouted, "Where shall I land?" "Best on the riverbank, near Hargot's cottage", cried Chiron.

Stella and Cyron looked at each other. They got to know more and more people by name, even though the circumstances were more than depressing. The dragon took aim at the hut and shot at it like an arrow. Just before everyone thought it was going to hit, it slowed down and landed gently as usual. Cyron, Stella and Chiron loosened the belts. Stella got off the dragon and ran to the ocelot's cabin to sign her in. While Cyron and Chiron were still heaving the injured wild cat down, the tigress and ocelot came to the door. Hargot became chalk-pale around the nose and put on the ears. "Great Goddess, what happened?" "Let's go in and take care of Casandra", Chiron said curtly. Hargot nodded and stepped aside. First, they laid the wounded on the table. Chiron tore open the outer clothing she was wearing and exposed a wound such as no one had ever seen before. The hole in her left shoulder was about two inches wide, but it didn't bleed at all. The blood came from a smaller wound beside it. Chiron took a closer look at it. "Bring me bandages, quick!" The ocelot ran and brought what he wanted in abundant quantity. "The smaller wound came from a machine-gun", he explained, while he stopped the bleeding and bandaged it. "Machine gun?" Cyron asked. "Yes. Against these weapons our spears and bows are a toy." "But we can use it to defend ourselves, to destroy these things." Chiron laughed hysterically, whereupon he received a sinister look from Stella. "Excuse me. I didn't mean to appear presumptuous." Stella nodded briefly and Cyron asked him to continue. "These robots... you must've seen the difference. I mean, lack of fur and scales and just this pure sheen of metal." "Yeah. You're right. Now I remember. These things shone like the tip of a spear when you held them against the sun." Chiron nodded his approval. "Yes. They are made entirely of metal. Or rather, they are made of some kind of metal. We don't know what kind, but it's definitely better and harder than ours. All we know is that." "Where are you getting this conjecture?" "I once threw a spear at one of those robots. The spear bounced off and the robot didn't even get a scratch. Besides, it's logical. A technique this sophisticated is unlikely to use primitive materials or leave anything to chance." Hargot stood in a corner of the room during this time, shaking his head sadly. "None of this should have happened", he suddenly said, "We had thought it all out and calculated it. Something is going wrong again." Chiron looked at him sternly and piercingly, whereupon he was silent again. "What does Hargot mean by that?" Stella asked, irritated. "I could give you a suitable answer, but it would endanger too much, and in the end you wouldn't know what to do with it anyway." "Another secret?" Cyron asked. "Yes, but that's really for your own good and wouldn't change anything that has happened or will happen." "Okay, I believe you." "Good." "What is it with these machine guns now?" Stella asked interested. "Well, that's a good question. They are very effective. The projectiles from them penetrate almost every material we know and make a sieve out of each one. We were lucky to get off so lightly. The standard rate of fire is 500 rounds per minute." "And what does that mean exactly?" "That simply means that 500 chafras could lose their lives every minute if each bullet hits exactly one, and that with only one gun." "But every robot had two of those, didn't they?" "Right. A thousand deaths by each combat unit and we were attacked by five. It's a miracle we're still alive." Cyron got sick to his stomach. "But what can we do?" "We can only hope that they don't go further than the tree line, if they do, there will be a catastrophe and we will all die. If we're lucky, they'll only be after us and won't bother anyone else. After all, we're the only ones who have attracted attention and our scans are now ghosting through the network." "Well, there's a chance. The question is, what do we do now?" Cyron asked. "The question is, is there anything we can do?" Chiron replied. "I think we should keep calm for the time being, and not spread any major unrest. We've bought some time now." "Yes", Stella put on the phone and looked at Casandra, "What's wrong with this big wound?" "I don't know that either. It's definitely a through and through. No vital organs were hit and there's no bleeding." "It looks like the flesh has been burned", Cyron mused. "You're right. It does look like it", Chiron replied. Stella stared at the queen lying before them. "Hargot. What does it look like. Can we leave Casandra with you for now? At least until she has regained her strength?" Chiron asked. Hargot looked at the three tigers and agreed. They carried Casandra to the back of the dwelling and laid her on the bed standing there. "Be so kind as to take care of her. Meanwhile, we'll go to Stella and Cyron and consider what we'll do next", Chiron concluded. They went out to the riverbank where Groodarn awaited them. "Tigress Stella, Tiger Cyron, and Tiger Chiron! What's your next move?" "If you want, you can go back to your cave for now, or even Dragobar. We'll go to the village and see what we can do." The dragon hummed approvingly and flew away. The three tigers went into the village. Arriving at the house, Stella opened the door and almost fell over her bought things. Chiron was the last to enter and closed the door behind him. He looked around and was visibly impressed. "Nice place you've got." "Thanks", Cyron said and smiled. "Well", he intoned, "we'll put our things away now." He unpacked the food supplies and stowed them one by one in the storage cellar. Meanwhile Stella took care of the purchased fruit and also of the jewellery. "The pantry is packed to the brim. That will certainly be enough for the next few weeks," he exclaimed happily. Stella had disappeared in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Cyron and Chiron sat down at the table, and Chiron poured each one a mug of beer. He had saved a few litres of it. After twenty minutes Stella came out of the bathroom and down the stairs. Cyron looked at her and his breath faltered. Chiron let the air escape audibly and pinched his whistle. There Stella stood before them, all dressed up for Cyron. She had turned the artificial hairpieces into her head, and they hung down left and right. She was like a goddess. She had also wrapped herself in one of the scarves she had bought. It had slipped, though, and she had to hold on to it so that it wouldn't fall off completely. Cyron became warm around the heart and he considered how long he had not been intimate with his tigress. Chiron noticed the eroticism that lay in the room and felt uncomfortable, he wondered if he hadn't appeared at the wrong time. "Chiron", Stella suddenly said, "I want to show you your room." She took him by the hand and led him upstairs. Cyron looked at them suspiciously, got up and stomped after them. He would never let that tigress out of his sight again in his life. Stella led her guest into Tarja's room. "So this is where you'll live and sleep for now. This is your beloved cub's room, so cherish it." Chiron was delighted and nodded. Stella turned to her husband. "And you and I, what are we going to do?" Cyron's look said it all. They left the room and went next door, into their bedroom. "Do you think it's right for us to go into action now and leave Chiron alone next door The walls have ears", Cyron admitted, thinking. "What do you mean by that? Should he join in?" "What? You're something else." "There you go. I think he's very intelligent and he'll know what he's doing." Cyron nodded and kissed his tigress.

Meanwhile, Chiron took a book and read, he didn't have the sense for sexual adventures and if, then only with Tarja. 'Although Stella really looked good to bite, she still couldn't keep up with his lover. Besides, the tigress next door was her mother', it went through his head. Apart from that, his leg still hurt him slightly. Fortunately, it had at least stopped bleeding. He looked at his injury, sighed and shook his head. When Stella and Cyron went to action, or better said, to misdeeds in the next room, Chiron tried to distract himself with a book. But that succeeded only moderately and when he had to think of Tarja and heard the sounds of lust from the next room, he put the book away. A little later he simply closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Stella and Cyron were finally satisfied and got up. "Have you heard from Chiron?" Stella asked her male. "No." "I wonder what he's been doing all this time." "I don't know." "Shall we take a look just to be sure?" "Hmmm, couldn't hurt. He's still got the graze on his leg, I just remembered. And something could have happened in the meantime, after all we weren't very receptive." They both smiled at each other. They knocked on the room door and there was no answer. They knocked again, but they waited in vain for an answer. Suddenly the door was opened from the inside and Chiron stood before them. "Chiron! Did we disturb you? Excuse me, you were asleep", Stella said conciliatory. Then she took a closer look at Chiron and flinched a little. Sleep, my ass. The hangover was so disoriented that other suspicions seemed obvious. Stella had to whistle approvingly and nod respectfully to Cyron. "My dear man, the jungle must really be very healthy. No wonder our daughter got pregnant on the very first date. Chiron flinched embarrassed, looked down at himself and blushed. "Holy sh... um, goddess!" "Cheer up and take a shower", Stella said giggling and went into the kitchen with her husband. Chiron closed the door, looked around the room, cleaned everything and then went to take a shower, still shaking his head. He enjoyed the warm rays of the shower, dried off quickly and went into the kitchen as well.

When he arrived and sat down, he seemed to have calmed down again, only the landlady and the landlord were grinning strangely. "Well, there you are", Chiron said. "It was obvious, but let's forget it", Cyron replied. "Literally", joked Stella, and got a punishing look from Cyron in return. "Now, seriously", said Cyron, "we know what's running around out there and that we're being threatened. What are we gonna do?" "I think", Chiron said, "that we're safe for now. I don't think the combat units will get here that quickly, if at all." "What do you think happens next?" Stella asked Chiron. "What I think happens next is not necessarily what happens in the end." "Good. Let's assume that whoever they are, they're thinking the same thing we're thinking." "Then I would transfer my gained information into the network, do a data reconciliation and work out a strategy." "What strategy?" "A plan to make us disappear without attracting attention and with minimal effort." At that thought, all three of them were freezing cold. "I think we should assign a night watch to patrol the village. I'll have to take Pathenon, Hylas and Hadron into my confidence." "Do you think that would be wise?" asked his tigress. "Yes. I think we see more with eight eyes than with two." Chiron nodded, "I'll come along and stay awake as long as I can." Cyron accepted with thanks. "We'd have ten eyes by then." "We must assume, however, that our adversaries may see better in the dark than we do." The tiger males sighed. "So it will be a long and dangerous night. Let us prepare ourselves." "Fine", Stella remarked, "but how will you defend yourselves?" "Hmm, good question, my dear. We don't have much. Chiron was thinking. "We have nothing. The only thing we can do is to move quietly and quietly and, if the worst comes to the worst, warn the others, go back to the house and pack our bags to leave." "Well, that's what I call a real alternative", said Cyron and stood up, "I'm gonna go get the others now." He left the house. After forty minutes he came back and had his friends with him. They all sat down on the floor, Stella lit a pleasant open fire and they talked. Chiron told of his first encounters with the robots and the insights he had gained with Casandra. The evening came, everyone had eaten something and was in a good mood despite the bleak situation. They moved out and scattered inconspicuously around the village. Cyron took Stella by the hand and gave her comfort. "Don't worry, dear. They won't attack tonight and they certainly won't in the next few days." "I hope and pray to our great goddess Bastet that she may protect you." Cyron winked happily at her and also left the house. The tigress went into the cellar, opened a bottle of delicious red wine, sat down in front of the fireplace and grabbed a book. So she sat for several hours and nothing happened. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, she jumped up and opened a crack. Hylas stood before it. "What's the matter? Has something happened?" she asked. "No, no. Don't worry. I just wanted to check if everything is okay with you." "That's nice of you. All is quiet here." "Okay, I'm going on." He briefly raised a hand in greeting and disappeared behind the next corner of the house. Stella sat down again and fell asleep at some point.

Chapter 6

Mobilisation

"Hey, hello, wake up!" "What?" Stella opened her eyes and Cyron stood in front of her. "Well, my sweet dream cat. Did you sleep well?" She had a big yawn. "Asleep? Well, the way I feel, not five minutes." "I can imagine", he said and smiled kindly at her. "Did something happen that night?" "No, as I anticipated, nothing happened." "Well, let's hope it stays that way." He nodded. There was a knock at the door. Cyron went and opened it. "Casandra!" he shouted happily. "Hello. I wanted to see how you were doing and stop you from having all the fun here alone." Cyron grinned and shook his head. "It's not much fun, but you're welcome to partake." She was unceremoniously placed in Chiron's room, as he did not mind sharing the room with her.

Every night they went out on patrol and nothing happened, for days, weeks and in the end for months. After seven months, they gave up. "Nothing has happened here so far, so it will stay that way. We're going to disband the night patrols. There is no reasonable reason to continue to beat around the ears every night. Besides, we've all fallen into a kind of routine and, if it comes down to it, we'll see no more danger anyway." "You're right", Chiron said. "There's no point, this way", Casandra interfered. "So what?" Stella asked. Cyron looked at his mistress. "What we do? I'll tell you what we'll do. We pack our bags. You get yourself all dressed up, and then I'll call up Groodarn, and you and me, Chiron and, if she wants, Casandra will fly to Strongham. This should give us enough distance to get away from it all and in case there is an attack again, we keep our friends and the villagers out. Apart from that, the combat robots should take a while until they realize that we are no longer in Felgan. By the time they get to Strongham, we might have come up with something new." Everyone, even Casandra muttered approvingly. "That's a great idea", Chiron said. He was very much looking forward to finally seeing his Tarja again. They went to their rooms and packed their things. Cyron disappeared from the house for a short while. He told the others so they knew where they were and wouldn't worry. He also conveyed the decision to disband the night guards. There was not one who complained about it, and all were rather glad that they could finally sleep through the night. When Cyron returned, everyone was already sitting in the kitchen waiting for him. "Ah, there you are", said his wife. "Yep. Where else would I be? The others agree with our decision. So there is nothing in the way of our departure." Cyron took the small device the dragon had given him out of his pocket. "I'm gonna go call our Groodarn." He pressed the only button that was on the transmitter. "Okay, that's it, I think. Let's take our stuff to the riverbank and wait there."

They left. Arriving at the river, they put down their things, and Chiron suddenly asked Cyron for this device he had used earlier. Cyron gave it to him. "Casandra, would you please come here", he shouted to the wildcat. He turned the thing back and forth and looked at it closely. The queen approached him and looked as well. "What do you think, this looks a lot like the technique that produced the fighting robots." Casandra nodded. "You're right." And addressed to Cyron: "From whom did you get this and since when? Cyron didn't have to think. "We got this from Groodarn. It's a transmitter. The dragon carries the receiver with it. He gave it to us the night we showed up at Chiron." Everybody trimmed. "Wait a minute", Cyron mused, "it almost sounds as if the transmitter and the robot attack were related." Chiron looked at Casandra and both nodded with their heads slightly tilted. "In fact, it looks a hell of a lot like this." "But I wasn't using it at the time", Cyron assured. "Then the mobilization through the transmitter frequency fails. But maybe this thing is constantly broadcasting on some frequency and that's what triggered the attack. Do you know anything else about it?" "No Groodarn could tell us nothing about it. He just meant that it was lying around in the mountains, and all in all it consisted of a receiver and several transmitters. I don't know how it works, it just works." Casandra pondered: "I think there is more to it than we can all imagine. I think that when we get to Strongham, we should make a plan about what to do. I strongly believe that we have to go to the mountains because that's where the key lies." Chiron stared up at the sky and took a deep breath. "Maybe we should get a larger group together. We must be prepared to deal with more robots and we can use every hand we have." It was obvious. In the meantime a good hour had passed and still nothing could be seen of Groodarn. Cyron took the transmitter and pressed the button repeatedly. They waited. Another two hours went by and still nothing happened. Exasperated, they finally gave up. "Something's wrong. Groodarn should be here by now", muttered Stella. "You're right, darling. Something's wrong or the transmitter's broken." They went back to the village and to their house. After unpacking their things, they sat down together. "I guess that ruined our idea", said Cyron. "On the contrary," Casandra remarked, "now we're going to take action. We'll round up as many combat-ready villagers as we can and head for the jungle." "Then what?" Chiron asked. "And then we'll see. The fact is there's something in the forest, and it's supposed to be protected. The effects of this we have all seen and felt. It's been months since then and suddenly the transmitter doesn't work anymore? I do not believe in a defect or a coincidence. I don't believe in defect or coincidence. Something or someone wants us to stay here and not get help so fast." The realization that Casandra had expressed hit them all like a cold blow. They had all thought something similar, but avoided saying it. "Damn it", Cyron rumbled, "Come with Chiron, we'll mobilize our friends and take those who want to come with us. The two left the house, leaving the females alone. "It's late afternoon and I should slowly get dinner ready", Stella said and went down to the basement. Casandra could not stand it alone for long and came after them. "Can I help you?" "Yes, gladly. We should bring up enough meat and provide a barrel of salt meat and put several bowls of fruit on the table." Within twenty minutes they were ready. In the kitchen there was a huge banquet. Chiron and Cyron were not idle, however, and besides their three friends, they had a few saber-toothed tigers, a snow leopard tomcat, and a still quite young lynx in tow. Cyron opened the door and shouted, "Darling, may we come in?" "Yes, of course. How many are you?" "Oh, just look. Within seconds the ground floor was filled with eight cats of prey and Stella, Cyron Chiron and Casandra were added. Stella was radiant. "Everybody wants to join in?" "Yup. They're looking forward to an adventure. Especially that lynx girl back there on the left. You see her? She came with her four-pointed saber-tooth friend." Stella smiled in her direction. "My dear friends", Chiron opened the speech, "thank you for coming. Make yourselves comfortable, eat and drink something. Meanwhile, we'll explain to you what this is all about and exactly what's in store for us." He yielded the floor to Cyron. "Well, now. What we know is this..." He explained for over two hours what the whole thing was about and left out not a single detail. Every now and then Stella, Casandra or Chiron added something. The other cats just sat there and listened. Now and then they got restless and whispered to each other. At the end of the explanations they were ready to answer questions and promptly the question came, which everyone had been afraid of. The female lynx asked: "Have you discovered a weakness? Do you know how to destroy it?" Chiron sighed. "No, we don't know that. You must have a weakness, but we have no idea where to look for it." A murmur went through the group. "Does this mean that the whole thing will be a suicide mission?" cried one of the sabre-toothed tigers. "I wouldn't call it that, but I'll hit the nail on the head." "Okay", said that one, "it's good that you're so honest. I, for one, am in." He got up, turned to the others and said, "Who else is coming?" At first everyone stayed seated, but then another sabre-toothed tiger stood up, then the lynx female and her friend rumbled in agreement. The others seemed still undecided. "Do you want to rot here or do something for all our lives?" the four-pointed saber-toothed cat suddenly asked. Those who were still sitting looked at him and from their facial expressions and the play of their ears you could tell that they were engaged in an inner fight. Then the first one stood up and others followed, until in the end everyone was finally determined to take the risk. They looked at each other and nodded encouragingly to each other. Chiron was impressed by the lynx and her friend. They seemed to have enough strength and determination to keep the whole group together. Just what they needed. Suddenly, a hell of a racket broke loose outside. The village cats ran through the streets screaming in panic. Cyron ripped open the door to go outside, when he collided with Hargot. "Cyron, Chiron, and everybody. Come out and see what happens", shouted the ocelot excitedly. They stepped outside the house and looked around. A shadow suddenly eclipsed the sun. They stared up and froze. The sky was filled with at least ten dragons. They circled over the village and the meadow in front of it as well as over the river. One of them saw the group in front of the house, let out a scream and rushed down. They were frightened and wanted to flee into the house, when Stella stopped. "Stop, do not run away. Do not be afraid, they are friends." She had recognized Groodarn. Hargot nodded eagerly. "Isn't this great?" "But how come?" she asked the ocelot. "Groodarn had heard about the events from several mouths, and now, after months of not hearing from you, he was worried and wanted to see what was right." Stella was thrilled and clapped her hands. Groodarn had of course broken off his nosedive, gliding over their heads and repeatedly let out a scream. "Come all of you to the riverbank. The kites can't land here", cried Cyron. They ran, no, they ran out of the village and to the river. Groodarn had already landed. Stella ran towards him, took him by the head and kissed him. "It is such a joy to see you. We were afraid something had happened to you. "Hello, Tigress Stella. Don't worry, nothing will happen to me so quickly. But seriously. What makes you think so?" "We requested you by radio this morning, but you never showed up." The dragon suddenly seemed thoughtful. "I think it's due to many factors and especially what I brought you." "What's your problem?" "Hold on." He emitted a very high whistle and the cats standing around were amazed. Apart from that, most people were astonished anyway. But the great amazement was just current and should not end so quickly. Another dragon landed and set down next to Groodarn. Two chafras unbuckled themselves and came down. Stella suddenly got wet eyes and let out a shrill scream. Chiron noticed something was wrong and went after her. Stella ran as if stung by a tarantula towards a tiger that had just climbed down from the dragon. For some inexplicable reason, he was drawn in the direction Stella had just run. He took three steps and looked closer. Suddenly he too roared up and his legs didn't seem to run as fast as they should. "Tarja!" he cried, "It's Tarja!" When he arrived, mother and daughter were still showering each other with kisses. He joined in and tapped Stella on the shoulder. "Can I try?" he asked. "Why, certainly, Chiron." She let go of her daughter and Chiron built himself up in front of his tigress. She looked at him and her face was wet with tears of joy. She embraced him and kissed him hot and hard. "I'm so glad to see you at last", said Chiron, sobbing, "But what are you doing here, especially in your condition?" "Don't worry, my beloved cat. I gave birth to our kitten two months ago and Sitara and Finlay are raising it as their own. But I was so worried, I just had to come here." Stella screamed and indicated to Cyron to come to them quickly. "We wanted to come to you at Strongham this morning, but Groodarn hadn't responded to our call signals. Also, some unpleasant things happened here." "I know, I know, dear. Groodarn told me. We decided to go out and see for ourselves. I see it is not too late." They hugged each other and did not let go. Cyron, who had joined them in the meantime, just mingled in and cuddled and hugged them both at the same time. So they stood for minutes as a big happy ball of wool. Groodarn shouted to them that there were more surprises to come and they let go of each other. "What, more surprises?" Cyron asked, "You know I love surprises. So let's have them." Meanwhile Tarja was beaming like a honey cake and snuggled up to Chiron. He held her firmly in his arms and both enjoyed the following spectacle in silence. One dragon after the other landed on the bank of the river, and in the end it was no longer recognizable that there was a sandy beach. Everywhere the big animals were scattered and dozens of chafras were scurrying around between them, which had climbed off their backs and came closer. They were all strangers, and among them were plenty of wolves, bulls, tauren.

Suddenly five griffins appeared in the crowd, who had spontaneously joined in the crowd, and also a Pegasus, even a unicorn was there. Cyron and his female watched the colorful hustle and bustle with growing enthusiasm. Suddenly Cyron stopped. He had discovered some familiar faces. He recognised two hyenas, who had also appeared. He approached them and greeted them friendly. "Well, hello. Look who's here." he asked with an innocent expression. The two looked at him and had to grin. "Well, if it isn't Mr. Unbelief", Lyra replied. Cyron nodded and started to laugh. "We should call everyone together and meet on the village square", he said to the two. They nodded and went in the direction Cyron showed them. He roared and waved his hands in the air. The crowd gradually calmed down and looked at him. "Okay. So, I'm glad you all came, and would like to ask you to go to the village square. We are gathering there now. There you will first get something to eat and drink. Everything else will be fine." Groodarn let out a short cry and the group paused. "Just a moment", cried the dragon, "There are some very important things in my pockets." "That's right", cried Tarja, "I almost forgot. There are weapons in the dragons' pockets. One of the dragons had found himself a new cave and came across a whole camp." Cyron walked up to Groodarn, opened one of the bags and looked inside. What he saw was a sight of joy. "Yep", he cried out, "this is more than lace. Guys, you gotta see this." He reached in and suddenly disappeared with his whole upper body in it. The dragon had to grin involuntarily. Cyron stayed in this position for two minutes. Then he had apparently found something great. He groaned briefly and carried a large device into the light of the evening. Chiron froze. "This is, this is...", he stuttered, "This can't be. Guys, we just increased our chances of winning tenfold." Cyron held a machine gun in his hands. They all pitched in and dragged the equipment, suitcases, chests and weapons to the village square. When they were finished and all the dragons were unloaded, they piled up in the square. Cyron, Chiron, Stella, Tarja and also Casandra had stood on the village well to get a better overview and to make themselves heard better. They explained once again what brought them together and what it was all about. The crowd was informed in advance and ready to die when it mattered. Cyron smiled at Chiron. "Who would've thought?" "Yes", he replied. "These are all unexpected twists and turns, and it looks like we have a real chance to penetrate the base and get answers to our questions." They embraced for joy. "Okay, let's have a drink and eat now", he exclaimed. The rest of the villagers had scraped together their supplies in the shortest possible time and served the group, which now consisted of..., Cyron began to calculate, ... one Pegasus, five griffins, two hyenas, six wolves, two saber-toothed tigers, a lynx and four-legged animal, a tigertaur, two Foxtaurs, a vixen, four bulls, a unicorn and ten dragons. His friends Hadron, Hylas, Pathenon, himself and Chiron were also present. So their group consisted of forty-one people altogether. Wow, that was more than he expected. They'd run over everything with that. Suddenly Stella put a hand on his shoulder. "My darling", she said, "it looks like you're calculating our strength and our chances." He looked at her and nodded. "Good. I hope you've included us." "What? You want to come?" Stella nodded invitingly. Cyron looked at Chiron insecurely and tugged at his arm. "You!" "What's up?" "Our females want to come along." Chiron looked Cyron in the eye. "No, you're not kidding. If Stella wants to come, let her. But Tarja, I don't know." Cyron looked past Chiron and at his daughter. "She's become very voluptuous and taut upstairs." Chiron nodded. "Yes, she gave birth two months ago. But she couldn't help it and she insisted on coming here." Cyron nodded. "She'll be in trouble if no youngster drinks her milk." Chiron shrugged. "She's grown up, though you might not necessarily think so. She'll know what she's doing and what she can take." Cyron struck down his eyelids and turned to his female. "Okay, you're coming with me. That makes forty-four of us. - By the way, who brought all the green stuff?" he asked her. She looked at him and then into the round. "I don't know, but the herbivores seem to like it." "Never mind." He smiled into the circle and everyone his eyes met smiled back. Tarja stood up and nudged Chiron. She took him by the hand and pulled him into her parents' house. Stella and Cyron noticed this and winked at each other with a grin. "It's nice that the dream couple is finally reunited", said Hargot. He had sneaked in unnoticed and sat down with them. The tiger cat looked at the ocelot, winking at him mischievously. "Old pimp. How you've turned it back." The ocelot laid aside his ears and gave an innocent look. "Me? Not me." But he couldn't help smiling and Cyron poked him in the arm in a friendly way.

Tarja opened the front door, entered and took a deep breath. Chiron stood behind her and embraced her deeply. She playfully bit his arm. "Ouch! That hurt." "Should be." She threw her head back seductively and looked at him defiantly. "Well, well. So you want to be caught." "Of course, or did you think I'd just give myself to you?" Chiron's passion for hunting was aroused. He approached Tarja, grabbed her, pulled her close and kissed her. His tongue literally bored into her mouth, found hers and they both flattered each other. Her very voluptuous breasts nestled against his pleura and suddenly it became wet. They stopped kissing and looked down at her. "Oh, it's time to milk my milk again." She went up the stairs and into the bathroom. Chiron was curious and entered the room shortly after her. "Can I help you?" She looked at him and shook her head. "It's more like a tedious task that will last a few more weeks. The only unpleasant thing is that my breasts are very sensitive. I had planned to do many things with you, but they'll have to wait." She sighed and he looked at her expectantly. "It's not so bad. It can wait. All that matters is that you're finally back with me. If you only knew how much I've missed you." She was ready, which was strangely not visible on her chest, took a washcloth and wiped her nipples and surrounding fur clean. "Have you named our puppy yet?" "Yes, of course." "What's his name?" "His name is Apophis." She turned to Chiron, hugged him and cuddled up in his fur. "I've missed you too, more than you can imagine." He held her in his arms and sighed softly. So they stood for about twenty minutes and just held each other. The cat opened his eyes and looked at his partner affectionately. "Thank you", she breathed to him. "Thank you? For what? I have to thank you." "No, I'm with you." She kissed him affectionately, released herself and went back to the door. When both of them arrived at the village square, they were completely surprised by the sight they saw. The AnChafren danced in the square, they were exuberant and celebrated their meeting. Cyron saw the two appear and went to them. "This is something, isn't it? Who would have thought", he said and laughed. He looked at Chiron, and he noticed his shining eyes. "Well, son-in-law, are you all right?" Chiron looked at him and nodded violently. Tarja had overheard the address between her father and her lover and began to shine. The feast lasted another three hours, after which everyone was so tired that they dragged themselves into their houses and assigned lodgings and fell asleep standing on their feet.

Chapter 7

Weapons

The next morning, around ten o'clock, even the last ones had woken up and had trained away their party hangover, showered off or had breakfast. So around noon everyone met in the village square and started to get their weapons and other items. "Well, let's see what we can do with this", Cyron said to the others, and continued, "Pack everything up and take it to the meadow outside the village." The term meadow was perhaps a little understated. Rather, it was an area of about two square kilometres on which there were no trees or bushes. It was only limited at its edges by forest. They piled up everything around them and sat in a semicircle in front of Cyron and Chiron. Their faces betrayed a certain tension. Moreover, at the feast, everyone had come to terms with the fact that the two Tiger males were the leaders of the group and accepted without grumbling that the two were giving orders. After all they had already had enemy contact and knew more than all the others what to expect. "Okay people. What we expect is no heroism and no recklessness. We don't want anyone here to act like a hero and put themselves and the others in unnecessary danger. Things are going to get dicey enough", Chiron began. Everyone nodded and murmurs of agreement were heard, but a smile fluttered across one face or another. "Fine", said Cyron, "let's get started." He put on a weighty face and opened the first box. Inside were only papers. He rummaged through a pack of them, and his face brightened. "These are blueprints." "Blueprints?" asked the Pegasus. "Yes, in fact, they're blueprints and operating manuals for the weapons we have in front of us." Joy took hold of everyone and made hearts beat faster. "Go on, go on, go on", said one of the wolves. "Slow down, you can still wait, can't you?" another wolf replied. Everyone had to laugh. Cyron grinned at Chiron, then at the others and shook his head. "Wonderful. I have an idea. We'll go through the instructions, find the right weapon, try it out, explain it briefly, and whoever wants it so badly just come forward. Consenting nodding occurred. "Great idea", praised Chiron, "Here we go." Cyron grabbed the first manual. "Okay, listen up." He looked around among the weapons and lifted a smaller, more inconspicuous device. "This device is a radio. There are fifty devices in all. So everybody gets one. You can communicate with them over long distances. "No visual or auditory contact is required for voice communication. You don't even have to be in the same building or the same place." Cyron held his head crooked and looked at the small inconspicuous box in his hand. He looked at Chiron, and he understood what he was up to. He briefly rummaged through the equipment lying around and found another box that was already half open, lifted the lid all the way up, and bingo. It was the remaining radios. He looked at it, stepped up to Cyron. They looked at the instructions and turned a few buttons around. Suddenly there was a short sequence of sounds, then it was quiet again. They both looked at the manual again and nodded to each other briefly. "Okay, let's give it a try now." Chiron left with the radio and disappeared behind the next corner of the house. Suddenly, his voice came out of the device. <"Can you hear me?"> <"Yes, I hear you loud and clear."> <"Great. These things seem to work perfectly. Can you see me?"> <"No, I can't. Where are you?"> <"Here."> <"Where is here?"> <"Here you go. Look up."> At that moment one of the dragons shot over their heads and Chiron waved down from his back. <"Okay, cut the crap and get back here so we can continue."> <"Yes, dad."> Scattered laughter spread.

Stella, Tarja and Casandra, who sat on the edge and witnessed everything, rolled their eyes. "Guys", Stella murmured. Cyron put his ears aside and shook his head. "Puppies." So little by little everyone calmed down again and Cyron handed out the radios. This was one of the first steps, albeit the smallest. Chiron came back and rejoined his father-in-law. He patted him on the shoulder appreciatively, and they continued the demonstration. Cyron picked up the next papers and read them through. He flinched suddenly, but found himself again quickly. The others became restless because of his reaction to what he had read. "Okay, folks. Now it is getting serious. We're getting to the first guns." He swallowed briefly, gave Chiron the instructions, walked purposefully towards one of the boxes and opened it. His nod indicated that he had found what he was looking for. Many made a long neck to see as much as possible. Cyron brought out eleven weapons and carried them to Chiron. Chiron took the word, "Well. Here we have eleven pulse laser handguns. The penetrating power is equivalent to one megawatt, which is the equivalent and rough estimate of 10,000 spears hitting their target at one point simultaneously." A murmur went through the rows. No one had expected such power. "Stay calm, people. This is only the beginning, and these, it seems, are the smallest of weapons." Stella was upset and lowered her head. The finding of these weapons was worth more than gold, and she realized that without these weapons they would never have had a chance. They would all have run to certain death. "Cyron, do you want to continue?" Chiron asked. He nodded, taking the instructions. Chiron grabbed one of the lasers and looked at the weapon. "This weapon is activated by a switch at the rear end", Cyron explained. Chiron found the switch and pressed it. A high-pitched whistle sounded, which increased its frequency more and more and finally disappeared completely. "On the left side, you can read the charge level. If the bar is green, the gun is fully charged, if it's yellow, the gun is half-full, and if it's in the red zone, there are only a few shots left before it has to go to the charging station. This weapon is in the yellow area, but it is not bad, because a loading station must be in one of the boxes. At least that's what it says in here. So now Chiron will demonstrate the weapon." Chiron turned in the direction of the free field, raised the hand in which the weapon lay and pressed the trigger. A muffled hiss sounded, nothing more. Nothing happened except a beam of light that came out of the front end of the weapon, but where the beam hit the ground, it seemed to want to burst. There was a deafening bang and the ground was stirred up several meters high. The chafras got frightened and stood up. Restlessness took possession of them and after the dust had settled, everyone saw a picture of devastation. The laser beam had burned a hole a good meter in diameter into the ground, leaving behind black, partially melted earth. Cyron looked depressed and Chiron deactivated the pulsed laser again. "Well, I'd say", he cleared his throat, "that was very impressive." Little by little everyone took their seats again, and peace and quiet returned. "So, there are only 11 of these weapons. I would suggest that we split up into groups. The group leaders will get such a hand weapon, for the others we will find something as well. In the end, each group should have at least one of each type of weapon, so that the striking power of the groups is correspondingly equal and we don't end up with problems if we run into difficulties." Chiron said, "So who volunteers to be squad leader?" Moderate sympathy. Nobody seemed to dare to do it, everybody had too much respect for the power of these weapons. "Now, folks, I beg of you. If it makes you feel better, I'll take one", Cyron said. Chiron went to one of the boxes and rummaged through it. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. Of course, there are carrying loops and bags for everything." Together with Cyron he distributed the bags for the radios and everyone strapped them around his hips. "Well, that looks really great when everyone is tied to a device on their belt. Now we still need people who would strap a weapon on, for that we have these shapely carrying straps which are strapped around the thigh." He felt like he was at a bazaar, trying to bring a valuable commodity to the Chafre and the Chafra. Finally the lynx got up and went ahead. "I'll take one, if the males are not enough, then we females do it." "All right, here's the gun and here's the belt." He handed the goods over to the female. She buckled the holster around her right thigh, pulled it tight, and with a casual movement she put the pulsed laser into the loop. Now movement came into the troop. Group one was formed. It consisted of the lynx as leader, her four-pointed saber-tooth friend, furthermore a saber-tooth tiger, a unicorn and a wolf. They had spontaneously joined the courageous female. Her four-pawed friend had been arrested anyway and stood by her like pitch to sulphur. "Set the first group a little apart", Chiron asked, "so we don't lose track. But please stick to it anyway. You will receive more weapons." The lynx nodded and scratched its faithful around itself. The second group was also quickly found. Leader became the only Tigertaur in the troop, he was joined by a bull, a wolf and two griffins. Group three was led by a wolf, and to it belonged the two hyenas, a griffin and a bull. Group four was formed by a vixen, two bulls, a saber-toothed tiger and was led by a griffin. The fifth group was led by Pegasus and additionally consisted of two griffins, a wolf and a Foxtaur. The sixth group formed the rest, thus a Foxtaur and three Wolves, which were led by Hylas. The seventh and thus last and separate group consisted of Cyron as leader and of Pathenon, Chiron, Tarja, Stella, Hadron and Casandra as companions. "Please be so kind as to gather in the groups just created. But stay here, for there is more to come", Cyron shouted into the turmoil. In vain. Finally, Chiron shouted briefly into the commotion, "Yoo-hoo! Hello! Everybody calm down and stay here. He waved his arms in disgust. The chafras gathered around their respective leaders. Chiron and Cyron walked around handing over the pulse lasers and the corresponding carrying straps. All group leaders were now clearly visible, as they had strapped a belt around their thighs, in which an absolutely deadly weapon was concealed. Chiron rummaged through the papers and Cyron continued his remarks: "The four remaining laser weapons remain in reserve and are distributed in special cases." Stella looked at her tomcat and admired his professionalism. Meanwhile Chiron had found the next piece of jewelry and showed the notes to Cyron. Both looked at the drawings and explanations. Finally Cyron looked up, looked around and pointed to the two Foxtaurs, the Tigertaur and the Pegasus. "Okay, let's continue. The Foxtaur, who is group leader right now, please hand over his hand weapon to the deputy. The Pegasus, in the absence of a hand, has already done so. We need to make some changes, as we just realized, but it doesn't change the current formation of the groups." The winged steed and the Foxtaur looked at each other crookedly. The Pegasus whinged softly and the Foxtaur shrugged his shoulders. He handed over the laser and it landed at a griffin. "Fine. I'm glad, if I have to be honest, that we all get along so well here and actually manage to get something going together. Everyone looked at each other and nodded at each other in friendship. 'That's the most important thing. We have to form a unit and trust each other blindly,' Cyron mused. Chiron went with the plans to another box, opened it and looked inside. He unpacked something from a box that turned out to be a headband. There was something hanging from that headband, though. On one side a big metal plate was visible and on the other a kind of rope, which was composed of different colours. Chiron took the headband, lifted it up and pulled on the rope. It seemed to have no end and he started to wrap it around his arm. Everyone watched intently what was coming. After the tiger cat had a good four meters of the rope on his arm, he pulled the large metal plate out of the box, which was obviously equipped with several fastening straps. These belts were large enough that the body of a Taur could be enclosed by it. Chiron took a step towards Cyron with the whole thing and asked him to help him. Cyron understood what he was up to. "I'd like to ask the Tigertaur to join us sometime", he finally said. He approached them and introduced himself: "My name is Helios." "Helios? Hmm. A beautiful name", said Chiron, and Cyron added: "Good Helios. We'll strap a platform on you now, but that's only the basic base. You probably won't recognize yourself in the end." Helios nodded briefly and they continued. Cyron took a blanket and laid it on the Taur's back, then took the base plate, laid it over it and held it in place. Meanwhile, Chiron tampered with the straps. "Well, this strap goes around the chest, and this one around the belly", he mused aloud. He tightened the straps. "If they're too tight, let me know and we'll loosen them a bit", he added. The Tigertaur shook his head. "No, no. You are doing very well. Fits perfectly so far." "Even better." He took a remaining strap and looked at it and the Taur. "Ah. This one's for the posterior fixation. Um... I'm sorry if I'm embarrassing you now. "Why embarrass yourself?" He had just said it, when Chiron had already stepped behind Helios with the strap, grabbed under the base of his tail and pulled the strap under the root of his tail. The Tigertaur was a bit surprised and grumbled. "I warned you." He nodded and calmed down again. "So, that's the basis." The last strap was tightened and spanned Helio's body in the back. Chiron finally freed his arm from the supposed rope and turned to the Taur: "Hold it there, we'll get the rest of your equipment now." No sooner said than done. The two tiger males went to one of the smaller chests and looked inside. They both had to whistle. Again their reaction caused some necks to become long, especially that of Helios. "That's really something", said Cyron. Chiron nodded and reached into the chest. Cyron grabbed it, and they carried a part to the day that took everyone's breath away, dragged it to Helios and put it down in front of him. "Good", Cyron said loud enough for everyone to understand, "This weapon is a light laser cannon. It's designed as a double weapon and is correspondingly heavy. ... So it's carried by the Tauren." Helios looked at the weapon in front of him and put on his ears. "Don't worry, it's heavy, but it won't put too much strain on you. You will get used to it." The Tigertaur muttered something incomprehensible, but surrendered to his fate. All the other Tauren were especially attentive to what came next. The two Tigers picked up the double weapon, the Taur bent his upper body forward, so the device could be lifted over him to its place. They then placed the laser cannons in the corresponding recesses and with a loud click they snapped into the base plate. The back of the Taur was now flanked on the left and right side by a laser cannon each. But the cannons hung down with their barrels rather sadly and everyone noticed that. "How is he supposed to operate that thing", one of the Foxtaurs asked, "After all, I'll probably get one of those things strapped to my back." Chiron smiled. "That's what makes it so special." He untangled the rope and put the headband into the hands of the Taur. "All right, pay attention. These lightweight twin cannons are controlled by brainwave sensors." He pointed to the colorful supposed rope. "This is not simply a rope, but the connecting cable between the headband, which contains the sensors, and the conversion unit, which evaluates the extracted data and feeds it into the weapon control system." Chiron briefly explained to the Tigertaur how to put on the headband and gave him the instructions. "Read them and learn to use them well. All our lives depend on it." Helios felt honored. "Okay", Cyron said aloud, "Helios is gonna try this thing out and demonstrate." The tigertaur flinched. "What should I do?" Chiron nodded to him in encouragement. "Go ahead." Helios read the instructions and Chiron helped him. "There. There it is. Okay, now you." The Taur took the headband and put it on. Strange, but it fit perfectly. He grabbed the headband on the left side and flipped a small switch. Nothing happened at first. Suddenly, a humming sound was heard and the motor activity of the weapon control became active. The laser cannons lifted their barrels and aligned themselves parallel, passing the Taur's body on the left and right and he looked almost threatening. He pressed another small switch this time on the right side of the headband and the laser cannons came to life. The whistle sound they made was similar to that of the hand guns but much louder and seemed to fill the air. The display of the weapons was completely in the green area. Helios tapped with one hand on the small metal plate, which was still sticking out from the headband and thus from his head. This also woke up and turned in front of his right eye. "It is, it is...", he was looking for the right words. "This plate here, I don't have the words to describe it." He looked at the information documents. "Ah!" he shouted, "It's a tactical monitor." Many were wide-eyed, but all of them remained seated in a disciplined manner. No one knew what was going to happen. The Taur thought, read the description briefly and in single paragraphs. "Now I understand the system", he suddenly said, "That's really interesting. I think it and the weapons do it. He turned his head to the left and the weapons followed with a soft hum of movement. The same thing happened to the right. Unrest seized them all. Chiron and Cyron were happy to learn how to use the guns so quickly. The Taur turned his head up and the weapons followed. But when he turned his whole upper body and came into the field of fire of the left or right cannon, it deactivated automatically. This also clarified the question whether one could shoot oneself by a clumsy body movement. One could not do it, because the guns protected their wearer and adapted themselves to his movement. Helios looked around. "Wow", he exclaimed, "If you knew what I see." "What do you see", cried the Pegasus. "When I look at the immediate vicinity, the monitor will show me the environment normally. If I look further away, distant objects are magnified and brought closer." He looked at the description. "The correct term for this is that remote tactical target objects are zoomed in and automatically classified according to their danger level. Non-dangerous stationary objects are not highlighted, moving or active are shown in light green, while potential threats are shown in red." He looked up and wandered with his eyes over the distant edge of the forest. "Nothing. Everything in the green area", he said. "When I look at living objects, the most impressive thing happens after a few seconds. The view changes and the monitor shows people in the infrared range. That means I can't see you directly, but I can see the outline of you and the heat radiation coming from your bodies." They looked fascinated at the Taur and listened to his descriptions. He walked a bit towards the open meadow and aimed at the edge of the forest. The display confirmed his assumption that nothing was moving. He imagined a target which he wanted to destroy and the weapons fired a short burst. The Taur took a step back and all were terrified. He deactivated his weapons and removed the headband. What had happened? There was a huge explosion and within a radius of twenty meters there was only charred earth to be seen. Everyone had expected an effect, but not the one they were now facing. The Taur was affected, but proud to carry such a weapon. The other Tauren and also the Pegasus were eager to get their weapons now. After about an hour, the two Foxtaurs were equipped and had completed their first exercise. Now it was the Pegasus' turn. The two tiger males Chiron and Cyron went to another crate, grabbed the platform inside and proceeded in the same way as with the three Tauren. But this platform was much bigger. When this had happened, both opened one of the large chests and whistled appreciatively. "He's blowing away our enemies all by himself," Chiron said, and Cyron sighed.

The cannons were so large and heavy that they had to carry one of them together. In the end, they both lay in front of the Pegasus, and the Pegasus looked concerned. "Well, my dearest. This is for you." The winged horse, his name was Icarus by the way, nodded briefly and was ready for his task. They first heaved the left and then the right laser weapon onto the platform and let it click into place. The head of Pegasus was also wrapped in a headband. Unlike the other weapons, however, this one was completely controlled by the brain waves. The Pegasus stood there and nothing happened. Everyone seemed stumped. Then, out of sheer desperation, it turned its eyes towards the tactical monitor and suddenly movement came in. The weapons were energized and moved into position, the monitor turned in front of the right eye and gave its information to the horse. "What about flying? I mean, the load is not exactly negligible", Chiron remarked. The Pegasus took this as an opportunity to try it out. He spread his wings underneath the cannons and began to flap them. Within seconds, it rose into the air, made a turn and fired a volley at the edge of the forest. Everyone cried out in terror. The edge of the forest seemed to have exploded and the debris from the hit trees flew almost to their feet. "Oh shit", it took Tarja away.

Stella sucked in the air audibly. Cyron grinned and winked at Chiron. He seemed to be right in his element. In general, he seemed as if he'd never done anything else. Icarus was as surprised by the effect of his weapons as anyone else and landed on the ground somewhat unsteadily. He turned his eyes up to the left briefly and the monitor released his right eye again and the weapons deactivated. "That's what I call a clean demonstration", Cyron trumped up. He put the description between his teeth and the Pegasus sat between his friends. One of the griffins took it from him and together they began to read. "All right, let's see what else we got here." In another large box were smaller handguns. These were very light hand lasers. They had a good hundred of them and after they were distributed, everyone owned one weapon.

All except the unicorn. Everyone was looking at the QuChafra. The mare felt strange, so defenseless. "Don't worry, we haven't forgotten you," Chiron warned everyone to calm down. He waved to the Unicorn to come closer. "My name is Sandra", she said in a bell-like voice. Cyron tapped her timidly on the neck. "Mmm, and since you have a wonderful name, you're gonna get something great, too." Stella shook her head and smiled a little. She had to hand it to her male, he knew how to motivate the crowd. Chiron prepared to open one of the last big chests, did so, and Cyron pulled out the familiar platform from a box standing next to it. The rest went off as usual. The platform was strapped down and the sensor tape was slipped over his forehead. Now only the weapons were missing. Cyron stepped to Chiron, who kneeled in front of the chest, kneeled down as well and looked inside. They both rose, looked at each other, and Chiron peered over Cyron's shoulder, stealthily over to the Unicorn mare. They stood there for quite a while, talking, and seemed indecisive. Cyron went to Sandra and whispered something in her ear. She then followed him to the chest, in front of which Chiron still stood indecisively. She looked inside and marveled. Inside the chest lay two huge double cannons. But they looked different from the laser cannons. These ones had a narrow, slim barrel and no energy readings at all, instead there were several large drums in the back part. "Do you think you can carry the parts?" Chiron asked the mare anxiously. She looked at the two tigers. "I think so. Let's give it a try. With a little practice, I think I can manage it." All three sighed. "What's wrong, darling?" Tarja asked, who had stepped unnoticed behind the three of them. She leaned forward and mewed softly. "What's the matter, darling?" Chiron asked anxiously, "Are you all right? "Yes, yes. I'm fine. I just have to go in the house to do something." She smiled at him. "Ah! Yeah, all right. Hurry up, please. I don't want to miss you." She nodded and kissed him briefly. Cyron didn't understand what it was all about, and asked. "She has to go into the house quickly and do something private", Chiron whispered into his ear. Cyron nodded affirmatively and watched his daughter worriedly. He turned around and mounted the double guns with his son-in-law. The Unicorn seemed to take the load well. Sandra walked a few steps and then said that she would make it and that she had imagined worse. She also tried her weapons and reaped real applause for the demonstration. "Well, we've almost finished with that", Cyron said and stepped in front of the groups. "Now we have here three light machine guns for AnChafren and five flamethrowers, plus three heavier machine guns for a QuChafren. So the weapons were taken. The light machine guns were given to three of the wolves. They put the carrying and guiding ring around their hips, locked it in place, put the weapons on the guide rail and were ready. The flamethrowers went to Hadron, Stella, one of the sabre-toothed tigers called Crown, a wolf called Syrgon and to Tarja, who was visibly relieved when she returned. The four-pointed sabre-toothed tiger named Pedro was strapped to the heavier machine guns, one on each side of his body and the third crowned his back and aimed right over his head. With this the pack was equipped and ready to fight. "So, folks. Watch this. It's getting pretty late today. I'd say we all go to the village square and settle down. We're going to eat and drink something. Afterwards everyone can go to the big meadow and do target practice. But be careful not to shoot each other over the head. We can't do without anyone." Chiron suddenly remembered something else. He was scurrying through the gun crates and suddenly he shouted something. The troops stopped. "Eh, folks... I found something else", he shouted. He had set up in front of a chest they had missed completely. Everyone came closer and gathered around him. Cyron pushed his way through and stood beside Chiron as he opened the lock and lifted the lid. Machine guns appeared, and there were so many of them that everyone would get one. They distributed them, and the recipients hung them over their shoulders. They also gave each one a magazine pouch and three spare magazines. "Wonderful", Cyron finally said, "That went just great. We really should be prepared for all eventualities." Chiron patted him on the shoulder and nodded approvingly. While the others went to the village square to satisfy their hunger, Cyron, Chiron, along with their partners, Pathenon and Hadron, packed the crates together and piled them in a pile. In the process, Hadron came across further instructions.