Heroes of Alteria Chapter 3: Kiren Escape

Story by Steve The Visionary on SoFurry

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#3 of Heroes of Alteria Vol. 1


"AHHH!" Jeeve screamed as he hurtled forward. He began frantically scanning the area for danger, only to find . . . His family. "Whoa weirdo! All Dad asked was if you wanted your picture taken with Mickey Mouse." Jeeve turned to his sister and almost threw up. There was no way this was Amy, it just couldn't be! "I-I . . . Uh ...." Was all he could say as his father turned around, smile and all and said "What's the matter a sport? You afraid of Ole' M. Mouse?" His mother chuckled "Well honey give him a break. You do remember the incident right?" The entire car bursted into spontaneous laughter except Jeeve. "I-I thought I lost you!"

The laughter in the car quickly subsided and was replaced with eerie silence. Jeeve picked up on the tension in the car and cringed, something wasn't right. "I got the time off from work right?" No response. "We're going to Disney land right?" No response. "You guys are alive right?" Still no response. Jeeve looked out the car window and gasped. The previously beautiful day was gone and in its place was hellish night. The sky was pitch black, and Jeeve could see rotting corpses litter the ground as his father drove by. He witnessed fire rain down from the sky and scorch the ground and corpses. Jeeve couldn't lift his eyes from the scene until what appeared to be a fleshless person latch onto the window and screech at him.

"AAAHHH!! WHERE THE HELL AM I!?" Jeeve screamed as the deathly creature continued assaulting the window. His father turned around and scarily whispered "our own personal hell . . ." Jeeve looked upon the creature and wanted to vomit. This imitation of his father had its face bloodied and eyes missing. Jeeve looked around and saw his mother and sister with twisted, bent, disfigured, and bleeding faces. Their demonic gazes piercing his own, practically daring him to stare at their horridness. Jeeve began to bat them away screaming "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"

"TO WAKE UP!"

"GAHH!" Jeeve leapt up with fright and began swinging away at his imaginary foes. He sighed, falling to his knees utterly exhausted. Never before had he experienced something so . . . surreal. "Jesus Christ! I though I'd have a heart attack! Wait what the?! Jeeve noticed three things wrong with his current situation. One was probably the most obvious . . . Where in the world was he?! He spun around several times surveying the area, and each spin made him more and more confused. There was no train station, no train, absolutely no tracks! In fact he was standing on top a grassy hill without any noticeable landmarks around him, save for what appeared to be a town below.

Second and probably the strangest was this mysterious sword. When he came to, the damn thing was in his hands. In a spur of panic he threw the weapon as far as he could, desperate to get it away from him, but it was all for naught. Right at the apex of his throw, the weapon came careening back toward him and flew right into his hand. He tried over and over again, in hopes of the sword not returning, but the blade was too faithful. It returned after every throw as if it were a game. "What are you?" He began scanning the weapon for a name, model number, manufacturer, or anything to identify the thing. Jeeve looked at the markings on the hilt and strangely recognized them. "Ethos? Is that your name or something?" The sword flashed a bright green then gave soft vibration in response. So it was settled, the duo had been born, Jeeve and Ethos! A boy and sword! Not a finer duo for miles around, though there was still the last issue . . . Where did this little pup come from?

He had no idea how he had missed it before, but now the little furball sat right in front of him, yipping excitedly. "Uh . . Nice doggy?" The pup growled at him, causing Jeeve to shrug his shoulders. "What?! Don't like doggy?" The little pup barked back. "You're a scrappy little thing huh? Come here!" Jeeve knelt down with outstretched arms and allowed the pup to scramble up into his grasp. "Say what are you? You kinda look like a wolf." The wolf pup yipped happily and began licking Jeeve's face. "Ha Ha! Okay stop! I get it! So you're a little wolf pup eh? Well what's your name?" The pup rolled over and revealed her underside to Jeeve. While her entire body was a smoke colored gray except her underside which was all white, save for a gray patch of fur in the shape of a clover. "Ah I see. Clover it is!" Jeeve began playfully scratching her belly, soliciting a yawn from Clover.

Jeeve continued his scratching until loud sounds and rising smoke came from the nearby town. Jeeve quickly darted for his bag and began sifting through it. "Ah Ha! I got ya, now let's take a look see." Jeeve pressed the binoculars firmly to his face and readjusted the focus knob. He carefully scanned the city and found another major roadblock . . . Walking and Talking animals. He shook his head and frowned. Jeeve knew the sight should've surprised him, but he wasn't in the least bit fazed. Though he knew this would pose a serious problem. Jeeve turned to his new companion asking "What do you think Clover? How am I supposed to get inside?"

Clover rolled onto her back and began wagging her back and began wagging her tail. Jeeve rolled his eyes and rubbed her belly. She yipped and sprang past Jeeve, leaping into his duffel bag. "Hey! Get outta there you heathen!" Clover poked her head out, then quickly dove back inside, tossing his clothes out as she squirmed in the bag. Jeeve tapped his foot impatiently as more of his clothes flew from the bag. Suddenly the torrent of clothes stopped and Clover hopped out the bag with something in tow.

She brought the article of clothing to Jeeve and he cringed at the sight of it. "Oh no . . . There's no actual way I packed this!" In her maw was a long black cloak, the same cloak Jeeve used to wear during his cringey grunge phase. He didn't remember packing it, but he was glad Clover had found it. The cloak was black, long, tastless, but perfect. Jeeve took the cloak and slipped it on, making sure to conceal his face and skin. Jeeve looked to the city and huffed. He had no idea what he was going to do there but he knew he had to go. "You ready to start hiking furball?" The wolf pup responded with an enthusiastic bark and sprang into Jeeve's arms again. After another belly rub, Jeeve repacked his duffel bag and set off on his way.

Kiren was often called the 'Jewel of Alteria' for its extravagant architecture and high end shops. It seemed only the wealthiest of mammals could live comfortably here because the divide from rich to poor was evident as soon as Jeeve stepped within city limits. "Oh God . . . Have mercy." Was all he the hero could mutter as he walked the poverty stricken district. Just like the corpses in his nightmare, some drunk, some dead, and others lost in between the two. Jeeve grew up in one of New York's 'lower income areas' but he had never seen or experienced something of this caliber. "How can they live like this?" He whispered to Clover while trying to hold back a tear. If Clover heard him she sure didn't act like it. Clover kept a neutral face, giving no response or indication that she had even heard him. The duo silently made their way through the district until a drunken fox, furiously grabbed ahold of Jeeve crying "Angorri! Angorri! He flys there next! Angorri Oh the ancient mines will spark the rebellion!" "Get off me you lunatic!" After a little struggle, Jeeve managed to pull the clingy fox from, and with a shove, sent the fool stumbling down the street.

The duo walked down the impoverished district for a few minutes more until Jeeve asked "Well I lost track of the fire and smoke and. I'm totally kaput out of ideas. Clover you got to know this place! Where to next?" The tiny pup started pacing back and forth until she barked and took off running away from Jeeve. "Hey Get Back Here!" Jeeve quickly scurried after her, hoping she had not gotten too far. After a few twists, turns, and pass through an alley, Clover stopped and began to scratch her ear. "You're a fast little pup." Jeeve stepped pass her, carefully making his way to the alley exit, where he saw the most incredible sights. Futuristic buildings, hovercrafts, holographic projections! "Whoa! I actually can't believe it! I must've died and gone to tech heaven!" Technologies one could only imagine completely littered this side of town.

Jeeve continued his marveling, until a holographic video of a lynx, started talking. "Welcome One ,Welcome All to Kiren!" The excited lynx said. "Home of Art, fashion, and innovation. We Kirens strive to make guests feel right at home with our wonderful hospitality and bountiful amounts of things to see and do. If you get a chance please visit the Alterian Museum of Natural History. The museum is 4000 square feet of beauty just waiting to be explored. And if you do so choose to stop by, the newly built exhibit is one that does not disappoint. 'The Court of The Patriarchs' is a newly opened exhibit to showcase the recently excavated 'Weapons of The Patriarchs.' The holographic video suddenly shifted to a beautiful still of four vibrant weapons. The double edged spear was cool, the nun chucks unexpected, the claymore positively huge! Though the green broadsword caught Jeeve's attention for it looked exactly like Ethos. He casted a worry filled glance to his weapon saying "I have a feeling you're going to cause all kinds of trouble for me." "HEY WATCH THE EARS!"

Jeeve looked across the street to immediately spotting two male wolves pushing and shoving a female rabbit. Jeeve's grip tightened on Ethos as he said "Not even ten minutes here . . . Let's hope this ends peacefully." Two wolves, both respected members of the Alterian Army, were Commander Faze and lieutenant Faux. They had served the army for 24 and 16 years respectfully and generally had an easy time. Until she came along . . . "Fellas, fellas. Let's not be brutes, after all a bunny's gotta eat too right?" Commander Faze growled menacingly and replied "I don't think you realize the gravity of your situation. Do you know where we're going to take you?"

"Hmm . . . I'm going to take a wild guess and say Kiren's Central Detention Facility? You know . . Where all us degenerates go." For the first time that day Faze let out a smile "Oh no! You see we learned from the last time we stuck you in there. I have just gotten word from the Kydon detention center that my transfer request was approved. . ." The rabbit's confident smile fell for a second and was replaced with a worried gaze. "Oh wow! You went through all that trouble to get little ole' me approved for death row? I'm actually flattered!" Faze yanked on her ears, bringing her face level with his "You may hold that confident countenance now, but come tomorrow morning you'll be writhing in pain and begging for mercy . . ." Jeeve quickly ran over to the trio and tried his best to sound authoritative "HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!" Faze looked to his left and right in a confused stupor before he realized it was Jeeve who was addressing him. Jeeve removed his cloak and stared the wolf down "I'll give you one more chance. . . Let her go or there'll be hell to pay." The commander and his lieutenant laughed incredulously at Jeeve "Listen pup. You caught me in a very jovial mood today, so I'm going to let you off with a warning." Jeeve dropped his bag and began stretching "Okay pal, this is going to go down either two ways. One you let her go and we all go about our merry way or Two things get . . . physical."

The commander gave Jeeve another look of disbelief before saying "Lieutenant Faux! Hold my prize . . . This shouldn't take long." Faze pulled out his weapon of choice; A mark III laser guided pistol.

"Now I suggest turning tail, because there is no turning back once this trigger is pulled. This is your final warning."

"If you're not standing down, than neither am I."

" . . . Very well then."

And with that the trigger was pulled. Jeeve had always heard people talk about seeing their life flash before their eyes, but this was the first time he saw his. It seemed as if everything was in slow motion, the bullet or rather laser beam, was hurtling unnaturally slow toward him as if taunting him with his certain demise. Jeeve continued to watch the slow moving beam until he realized something . . . He wasn't stuck in slow motion! "What the hell is this?! It's like . . . The Matrix!" Jeeve side stepped and let the bullet crawl past him, it was a feeling like no other. Jeeve looked over to Faze and noticed that he too was almost frozen in time, the wolf commander still had that condescending look on his face, but boy was he about to get a wake up call. Jeeve continued screwing around in his little time bubble until Ethos began glowing and vibrating violently "What's the matter? You bored or something?" Jeeve grabbed the weapon and was immediately pulled out of the time field and was plopped right back in real time.

No time at all had passed for the wolf commander. His shot was perfect! Between pulling the trigger, the round's trajectory, and the close proximity of his target, the kill was pup's play. Then why had he missed? Standing right in front of him was the insolent brat, the brat who dared to question his authority, the brat . . . HADN'T DIED!

Faze looked at Jeeve in disbelief and cried "HOW?! What manner of witchcraft is this?! You should've died a terrible death, but you stand before me perfectly unharmed!"

"Well I suppose I'm just lucky."

Faze aimed the weapon once more at him and said "You think you're special? You think you have some gift or purpose? Well let me educate you on something boy. . . There are no heroes." Faze fired again and this time so did Faux. Jeeve watched as the bullets made their slow charge for him and laughed. He didn't know what or why this was happening, but he knew it was cool! Jeeve began swinging Ethos around like the characters in his favorite Sci-Fi movies, and came into another surprise as he accidentally nicked the laser beams. . . They went flying in the opposite direction! Jeeve watched in unbelief as the beams hurtled back toward their origins and the wolves fell to the ground.

Jeeve ran to the two downed wolves and cringed; both of them had gaping holes where their faces used to be. The blood started as a slow leak, then began gushing out as time sped back up for Jeeve. "Oh God I-I've Killed somebody!!"

"Nah don't sweat it. These two had it coming for a long time and besides . . . You did this rabbit a huge favor." Jeeve watched in unbelief as the cream colored rabbit began looting the dead bodies, taking out what appeared to be money and taking their weapons.

"What!? What are you doing!"

"What does it look like? I'm stealing their belongings."

"Wha-!? Why?!"

"Because One, I'm a thief and Two . . . Corpses don't really have a need for security cards or money now do they?" Now Jeeve was at a lost for words. . . . He had just saved a thieving rabbit! The rabbit pocketed her stolen belongings, extended her paw and said "The name's Spitfire, Shirlene Spitfire. Ace pilot and world renowned thief!" Jeeve shook his head, but extended his hand also "Uh . . Jeeve Javari and . . . Well you should probably look for yourself." Jeeve dropped his hood and revealed his face to Shirlene. The rabbit flashed a surprised look, then quickly collected herself and said "Kid. I've seen a lot of weird things in this world, and you are by far the strangest thing I've ever seen. You might want to get lost quick, fast, and in a hurry because once the others get back from patrol and see their commander down . . . Oh wow I can just imagine what they'll do to you. One you're an alien so there's that. . .Experiments and junk. Two! You have the stolen sword from the museum, so there you go. And my favorite three . . . you kinda killed the highest ranking military official around for like 30 miles. So there you go, got some criminal charges on your ass." Jeeve suddenly felt very sick. The thought of being experimented, thrown in prison, or even worse . . executed frightened the young hero to no end. "Please Shirlene, I know we just met and all but I can't get caught! Can you get me outta here please?!"

Shirlene shook her thinking about the situation "It can't actually be this easy?!" She rubbed her paws together and said "Alright kid, you've touched my hardened heart with your pleas, but if I'm going to take you in . . .You're going to have to help me get outta this place."

"How can I help?"

"Well the fact that you're kinda like a god helps."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on! You know what I'm talking about! You killed those two assholes with that sword! Now I'm not one for mysticism, but I know what I saw! You can actually block laser beams!"

"I guess, but how does that help?" Shirlene smiled devilishly saying "Oh well my ship kinda got impounded and to get it back we're going to need to break into the impound facility."

"Sounds dangerous . . . "

"Oh trust me it is! Now first things first. To even get there, we'll need a ride, so I'm going to go rewire that hovercraft and you're going to stand watch. Think you can handle it chief?"

Jeeve smirked saying "I'll have you know that nothing escapes my eyes." Shirlene gave a lazy salute and ran across the street and began her work, while Jeeve took his post and started surveying the area. Jeeve looked to his side and noticed that Clover was there and resting against his leg peacefully. "How can you sleep in a time like this?" Clover yawned in response then rolled over and continued napping. Jeeve smiled then redirected his attention to crowd yelling and shouting from across the street. The crowd was screaming and throwing things in his direction. Jeeve backed up nervously and said "Uh Shirlene?"

"What's up E.T.?"

"There's a crowd gathering across the street and they don't look happy about the two wolves from earlier."

"Well that was to be expected. I mean like Faze and Faux were local legends here."

"Well now they have weapons and they're aiming them at us!"

"Alright! Alright! Give me a second kid. Sheesh so impatient." The crowd continued their unruly behavior, menacingly marching toward the trio. "Alright Jeeve it's now or never, once I drop this wire this baby's going from zero to sixty in no time flat. So . . . Hop on!" Grabbing his bag and Clover, Jeeve jumped on the hovercraft., and grabbed on as the vehicle accelerated down the road. Shirlene began shouting gleefully as she knocked over pedestrians and trash cans. "So my fine furless friend what's your story? Get sucked into a wormhole, Blown up by space pirates, oooh! I know! You came from another dimension to spread your alien seed in animal wombs!" Jeeve gagged and said "Are you insane!? I-I don't even know how I got here and I'm definitively not here to spread my alien seed around."

"Sorry not sorry! So . . . What's a tall dark alien like you doing on a god forsaken world like this?"

"I-I actually don't know . . "

"Nah don't sweat it. Every lowly bottom feeder, degenerate, and cretin has a purpose on Alteria! Whether it be to do great things . . . Or perpetuate the poverty statistic, We all have to play our part."

"Wow . . . Thanks I guess." The trio rode in silence for a bit until Jeeve felt a rush of wind and heard a whizzing noise. "Hey What was that!?" Shirlene looked over her shoulder and casually replied "Oh it's nothing, Just the Kiren Guard using laser artillery."

"LASER ARTILLERY!?"

"Yea. Pretty sure that's what I said."

"How can you be so calm!?"

"Because I have something they don't."

"Wha-?!"

"I have a very special friend who can smack laser beams like a bitch in heat." Jeeve looked back and noticed the guard's convoy getting closer and closer. Jeeve shakily stood up and readied himself for the next volley. Shirlene made a hard swerve right and cursed as she tried controlling the vehicle. "Okay pal got good news and bad news."

"What's the good news?"

"Good news is the facility is literally straight ahead."

"Wow that's not so bad! What's the bad news?"

"Bad news is this puppy's engine block is shot."

"Okay . . . So that means we'll just have to walk the rest of the way right?" Shirlene laughed rudely saying "Oh that's rich! Walk the rest of the way! Yea pal that ain't happening. This rig is going it explode as soon as it maxes out speed."

"WHAT?! HOW LONG DO WE HAVE?!"

"Uh ten?"

"TEN WHAT!? TEN WHAT!?"

"I know this one! It's either ten seconds from when it reaches max speed or ten minutes. Though I can't be certain." Jeeve face palmed and resumed blocking the laser rounds. The hovercraft made a sickening crunch noise and began smoking. Jeeve coughed and said "Are you trying to make this thing explode?!"

"Well that is the plan, just need to get in position."

"How close are we?"

"We already here. You see those animals lining up the huge weapon?"

"Uh . . . yea?"

"Welp right under them is the bay door. Have to do is drive straight into it. Easy right?"

Jeeve didn't answer and instead grabbed his bag and Clover. "Sorry I have to do this, but You're going to need to go in the bag." Clover nodded and hopped into his duffel bag, right as he hauled it on his back. Shirlene pressed some more buttons and slashed some wires "Alright Jeeve, she's rigged to explode on contact Soooooo . . . Time to jump." The hovercraft barreled uncontrollably toward the bay door, leaving a split second for the two to jump off of it and to safety. The duo watched as the vehicle careened into the door instantly igniting the door and it's guards in fearsome flames. Shirlene wasted no time and dashed for the entrance leaving Jeeve to awkwardly shuffle behind her.

Once inside Shirlene began frantically scanning the room, scanning as if each second was her last. She ran down aisle after aisle of impounded ships, desperately searching for hers before she sighed in relief. "Oh . . Thank the stars! Hey alien! I found my ride, so you might wanna hurry up before I change my mind about keeping you." Taking the hint, Jeeve quickly scurried after her and boarded the ship. As he ran inside he took note of the ship's exterior and . . . He found it very underwhelming. From his many hours spent watching space movies he could immediately tell this ship was a freighter of some kind and boy was it in bad shape. Dents, almost mistakable for craters, littered the ships body. The ship itself was a putrid grayish green mixture, with weird out of place white streaks along the sides. The ship lacked wings like a traditional airplane, and instead had these large trapezoidal parts sticking from the main body. Each trapezoidal wing also had a large tri-pronged propeller inside. Needless to say, he was very worried about it's ability to get off the ground.

Once inside Jeeve followed Shirlene to the ship's bridge, where she began briefing Jeeve on the next complication "Okay. So I realize today has probably been a very weird and strange day am I right?"

"More than you realize."

"And I know you're probably tired after blocking countless laser bolts. Look I get it, but we're far from safety and closer to death than you know it."

"Uh . ."

"You're probably wondering why I was so eager to let you tag along."

"I'm guessing it's because of my abilities."

"Well you'd be guessing right. You see Kiren is not the beautiful, art rich country the media wants you to think. It's really a huge prison, once you're in there's no getting out."

"Okay that's sounds awful, but how do we get out?"

"I'm glad you asked. Now pay attention!" Shirlene pressed a button on her computer's console and a holographic image of an ocean appeared. "Okay look here. You see that tower right there?" Jeeve squinted his eyes then nodded saying . . "Yea I see it. Why's it important?"

"Well on that tower is the K4 ARK. A cannon that shoots a ship disabling beam. If this ship is hit with that beam, it'll fall right into the Kiren ocean where we'll all drown."

"Oh and I'm guessing you want me to deflect that beam?"

"Well if it isn't too much trouble! I really don't want to impose . . . OF COURSE I WANT YOU TO DEFLECT IT! Though no pressure." Jeeve gulped nervously and replied "Are you sure there's no other way we can avoid it? Can't you like do a barrel roll out the way or something?" Shirlene smacked Jeeve's arm and said "What are you? Some kind of stupid? That beam locks on to ships. Once it fires, it's all up to you, but don't worry. I have the utmost faith and confidence in you!"

"Really?! Even though we just met?"

"Oh that's right! We did just meet. Nevermind then. I have no faith in you whatsoever. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go prepare my last meal."

"Wait?! How am I supposed to block the beam from inside the ship?!" Shirlene looked at Jeeve, then laughed incredulously at his question "Oh that is rich! Inside of the ship! Oh wow. I had no idea your kind were comedians!" Shirlene laughed again and started speaking in an overly patronizing voice "You Do know that you're going to have to be on the outside of the ship right?"

"Well I guess I know now."

"Great! Now hop to it, while I get us ready to bounce." Jeeve left the bridge and made his way toward a ladder leading to the top of the ship. As Jeeve began to climb, he felt a tug on his pants and looked down "Sorry Clover, but this is super dangerous and I kinda have to do this alone." Clover whined understandingly and let go as Jeeve started climbing again. Once Jeeve got outside, he realized the error of their ways. "Uh . . . Shirlene?"

"Now what?!"

"Well we're still in the hangar and there's soldiers surrounding us!"

"Calm down. Don't get your boxers in a bunch. I just gotta rewire this and . . . Bingo! The C Wing is back in business!" Jeeve opened his mouth to reply but was instantly silenced by the loud roar of the ship. The C wing puttered and sputtered before it sprang to life, surprising both Shirlene and Jeeve. "YEA BABY!! SHE'S ALIVE!" Shirlene cried as she pulled up on the control stick. The ship began to hover in midair, then without warning . . . Shot into the sky like a rocket. Jeeve held on to the railing desperately as Shirlene apologized. "Sorry kid. I got a little excited there, but back to business. The watchtower is about 70 klicks or roughly 45 miles north. The tower's going to shoot out a red targeting laser. The laser is going to be right about where you're standing so say your prayers now cuz' once I accelerate there's no going back." Jeeve gave a small nod and said "I understand! Let's do this before I chicken out!"

Shirlene put the ship in autopilot and reclined back. She looked at the looming tower in the distance and smiled . . . she was happy. Whether Jeeve succeeded or not it honestly didn't matter. This was the farthest she had come to getting out of Kiren and the thought of actually leaving excited her to no end. She reached under the computer's console for something she hadn't tasted in a long time. "Ah wine. My old crystalline friend, where have you been these past years?" Shirlene began pouring herself a glass until a violent shake from the ship stopped her. Setting the bottle down, she opened the radio channel between her and Jeeve "Hey J! What's going on out there?"

"Well . . . These two other ships showed up and they've been barraging me with bullets ever since!"

"Nah forget about em'! We're already here." Jeeve turned around and got a little nervous as he saw the huge menacing tower.

INSIDE WATCHTOWER 1

"Sir we have a fast approaching ship from our south side!"

"Hmm. Have you issued the standard warnings?"

"Of course sir!"

"Well then proceed with the ARK ship disabler then."

"Well sir that's the problem. We scanned the ship and found three life signatures. A wolf, rabbit and an undefined one."

"That's odd . . . Are they using some kind of masking device?"

"No sir! If they were using a masking device, the signal would be obscured, but here it's plain as day."

"So then what the hell is on that ship?"

"We have reason to believe it's the stolen weapon from the museum."

"Hmm . . . Destroy the vessel and recover the weapon."

"Sir . . Are you sure about this? Destroying the ship seems like a very brash move. The ARK weapon systems are highly unstable when used for things other than disabling ships. If the beam proves too powerful, then that ship is not the only thing that'll be destroyed."

"I don't care what it takes, but I want that ship burned to a crisp. I can deal with the weapon in watery depths, but a downed ship doesn't not account for a spry crew."

". . . Yes sir. Boosting ARK weapon system's power now."

WITH C WING

Just as promised a thin laser beam was fired and lined right up with where he was standing, though he could've sworn Shirlene said it would be red. "Alright Jeeve, the weapon is about to fire. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll be."

"Alright they're firing!" Just as she said that Jeeve's world came to a screeching halt. He saw the beam move slowly across the sky to his position and readied himself for the contact. "Alright Jeeve it's now or never!" The beam had picked up a little speed and before he knew it, the beam had made it's way right to him. Jeeve swung Ethos with all his might, but quickly ran into trouble. Unlike the laser beams from earlier, this one had serious recoil. Jeeve gritted his teeth as the green beam pushed violently against his sword. Jeeve could feel his muscles straining to keep the beam back, but he knew that any second he would fail.

He had been pushed to the absolute edge of the ship and just when he was about to fall over, the beam suddenly stopped. Time snapped back in place and Jeeve could hear Shirlene excited exclamations "NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

"What's wrong? I saved us right?"

"Oh my fine extra terrestrial friend, you've done a lot more than you realized. Not only did you stop the beam, you also destroyed the tower!" Jeeve looked to the tower in disbelief and sure enough it was up in flames and crumbling into the ocean below. "Well what happens now that the tower is gone?"

"Well I guess folks can come and go as they please. Come on inside now, I'm going to throw the ship into full throttle and trust me when I say you don't want to be on the hull when that happens!" Jeeve obeyed and climbed back down into the ship, where he was met with a slap on the back. "Now this one's for the history books kid! We're the first animals to escape Kiren and come tomorrow morning, the entire world's gonna know how awesome we are!"

"Yea I guess, but doesn't that worry you?"

"Kid you'll come to realize that they are only tow things that worry me; Running out of fuel and running out of wine."

" I just have a feeling that the attention is going to cause all sorts of trouble." Shirlene smiled darkly and said "Jeeve. Hanging with this rabbit is nothing but trouble!"

Welp That's chapter three, clocking in about 6400 words. This one was seriously tough to write because of the action sequences, rapid progression and various set pieces. I promise you that chapters from here on out will be more consistent as far as story and progression goes. And I hope you stick around for the ride! Until next time my lovely readers!

-Steve The Visionary