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Counter Earth Chronicles - Fallen Empire

Chapter 29: Changing The Game

Day 49 (Night outside the South Maze)

"That is a bizarre looking one. Are you sure that it is even a monster?" Professor Stern asked.

"It is a small black cloud here on the ground." I said irritated.

"But how can we be sure it is a night creature?" My sister's doppelgänger asked.

"Dawn, it is 3:27 in the morning and this thing is floating by on a clear winter night!" I said exasperated.

"Right adding that to the dossier."

*That is the ninth creature we have observed in the area.*

"That is a lot! It like they are still being manufactured or something." I commented to the automated assistant. "How many were made before the fall?!"

"I would like to know that too Alex. But the good news is that each and every creature has passed by the entrance to the south maze without even a glance."

"So not all of the monster world knows about it." I commented. "Just a select few."

"Overwatch what is the status of our disguise?" Dawn asked.

*The halo-projector is holding Ms. Stern. To any passers by we just appear to be a mound of snow.*

"Corey is probably glad that this night has been so uneventful." I added.

"Corbin is below keeping him company."

"That is awfully nice of him professor." I said.

"I think so too despite it being way past his bed time- we are all going to be sleeping in late today."

"I guess that will leave Shakara to look after our mending warriors." I said as something that looked frog-like with a big mouth, four legs with claws, beady looking eyes walking by stopped, looked down and then suddenly started digging.

"Did it all of a sudden just decide to start digging there or did it know?" Dawn asked me.

"I honestly don't know. But that thing is large and ugly."

*Regardless, it is about to make entry into the south maze Mr. Winter.*

"Professor?"

"Checking. Scans indicate that the other entrances to our home are secure. It is just this one that is threatened.

"Very well let's show this one the error of its ways." I said scrolling through the weapons menu.

*Laser system engaged.*

I aimed at the creature's tuchus or what I thought looked like it and pressed the fire button on the steering column.

*YOWL!!!!* It yelled rubbing it's backside.

(Yup that was it.)

It did this for several minutes trying to determine where the attack had come from before it returning to digging.

*It seems intent on making entry.* The automated assistant observed.

"Hmmm...." I said pressing the fire button again.

*RAWR!!!!!* The night creature screamed as it ran around dragging its ass on the snow covered ground trying to treat it's laser burns.

Professor Stern and I watched for a few minutes more before the thing licked its wounds and returned to digging.

"Someone just can't understand cause and effect." Dawn observed said.

"Despite having a burnt butt, it is still intent on making entry, talk about relentless."

"Alex?" The archeologist said looking at me.

"I guess we have no choice." I scrolled through the weapons menu and made another selection.

*Electric pulse engaged.*

I lined up the cross-hairs on the creature that was trying to become the latest security breach for our community and fired.

A single ball of electricity discharged from the left side-pod and fried the creature. It collapsed at the entrance to the south maze. I decided to leave the corpse there as a warning to all others who threatened our existence.

Dawn said that we should retrieve the remains during daylight; she was looking forward to studying the creature.

I remember that I slept all morning and would have slept part of the afternoon if I wasn't awakened by some mysterious paws that started with a gentle massaging motion on my shoulder and then moved down my back before fixating on my butt where they just grabbed it.

"Are you going to sleep all day little cutie?" A pleasant voice asked.

"If I answered yes would you leave me be?"

I received my answer in kind; one paw made its way from my rump to my groin to clasp my privates.

"Ok, I am up Shakara. How are our warriors?"

"Lady Ursa and the Commander are resting." My lioness said.

"Russell?"

"He should be up and around in the next day or so."

"What about Corey and Corbin?"

"They got up a few hours ago. They have been assisting the professor with her research." The dark tan lioness said. "How are you feeling?"

"A little tired. But alright."

"Great my little cutie, because I am HUNGRY." The lioness said with her red eyes locked onto me.

"Ok lets get something at the eating room." I started to say before those soft paws flipped me on to my back. I watched my devious person's smile widen in amusement.

"Not that kind of hungry."

It would be thirty minutes before I was able to join professor Stern in her office- because of one horny lioness. She was looking at some information on one of the cubes we had brought back from the Madam's hideout.

"Afternoon professor."

"Hi Alex."

"How much sleep did you get?" I asked her.

"A little less then you. I spent the last few hours updating my files on the creatures that have attacked the city. I also was checking the visual records from the prototype."

"Did you find anything?"

"Yes I did." She said pulling up a image. "Look at this."

"That was the thing that tried to gain entry into the maze this morning." I said looking at the image being projected by the cube.

"Now look at its arm." The blond archeologist said.

"Three claw marks in a horizontal pattern." I replied.

"Yes, now look at this." She said switching images.

"That was the creature that attacked a few nights ago. It looked like a horn of plenty with legs and teeth."

"Notice anything interesting?"

"The same claw pattern on its body."

"Exactly and remember this beastie?"

"That was the rock-like creature that attack last Saturday." I replied. "Well I will be damned, the same markings."

"It wasn't present on all the things that attacked us but a portion of them."

"So what are you thinking professor?"

"I think the monsters that escaped the research labs are coalescing." Dawn said to me.

"Coalescing?!"

"They are forming tribes Alex. I think it would be best if we got another look at our attacker from this morning."

Dawn and I walked through the south maze to the ramp that exited to the outside world. As we traversed the maze we saw where our warriors had engaged the monsters that tried to enter the city over the last three weeks.

"Look at the markings."

"That is something you don't see in speeding by in the blue coupe- the details." I said to her.

There were blood stains on the ground, walls and ceiling at various locations.

"We are going to need to clean that up and that up and that up." Dawn said pointing to the splotches and sections where walls had collapsed.

"Remember that over there?" I said pointing to a crack in wall.

"That was where I made entry into this maze the weekend I discovered it. The weekend I met you and Lady Ursa. Talk about pressure."

"Make your discovery or else." I said imitating my brown bear.

"Ah simpler times." The professor said.

It took us thirty minutes to make our way to the ramp. Once there we propped open the hatch and took a good look around before exiting to the outside world.

"No!" The archeologist exclaimed.

I joined her topside. "The monster, its gone!"

"Alex, look at this."

"It is a claw mark in the ground identical to the one you found on our monster."

"I wonder what it means?" The blond said thinking.

That evening the professor had an impromptu meeting at the eating place in the central building.

"Wow, I keep forgetting how small our group really is." I said looking at exactly who was in attendance Corbin, Corey, Shakara, Dawn, Russell and myself.

"How is your head Russell?" The little mongoose boy asked the miniature horse.

"Better. Now if I could just sleep- I keep seeing those monsters, those hideous, ugly things in my dreams." Russell said.

"Relax, they have been dealt with." Corey said to the pony.

"That was what I wanted to discuss this evening everyone." Dawn said starting the meeting.

"What is that professor?" The little mongoose asked.

"Our findings." My sister's doppelgänger replied.

"She was analyzing some of the images she had taken of the monsters that have attacked our home."

"I noticed that a quarter of them had a peculiar symbol on their bodies three horizontal claw marks."

"What does it mean?" My lioness asked.

"I suspect that these night creatures are forming tribes. That would again seem to reenforce the intelligence aspect." Dawn said. "The creature that Alex and I stopped from breaching the south maze this morning had the same marking on its arm."

"We went topside this afternoon to examine its remains and discovered that it was gone." I replied.

"In its place were the same markings carved onto the ground. We don't know what to make of it."

"It is warning pet." A voice at the doorway said.

"Mistress?! Commander?!"

"They are saying that they know." The rhino warrior said hobbling into the room.

"My lady, commander you both should be resting!" The dark tan lioness said to her patients.

"On the contrary my dear, I have grown impatient being a patient." The rhino said to the lioness.

"What is this I hear about three of you visiting the compound?" Russell asked.

"It was necessary." Corey said to the pony.

"Regardless it was extremely dangerous." Lady Ursa responded.

"What if you had gotten caught Mr. Collins?" Rhinox added.

"It was a necessary risk. The equipment in the Infirmary was not adequate to treat your injuries." I said guiding my she beast to a chair. Shakara did the same thing for the commander. "So Dawn, Corey and myself did what was absolutely necessary to save OUR beastials."

"Well despite the risk, what you did was much appreciated." The miniature horse said to the teen. "I assume the compound is still a microcosm of hell."

"It has actually gotten worse." The teen said to everyone there. "The Intendant's ambitions aren't exactly meeting his expectations and he is letting those under him know; all there are suffering like never before."

"We also have a potential spy as well commander." Shakara said as Dawn sat down next to Corbin. "Ida who I used to work with in the Infirmary wants to leave there."

"She was the one that provided us with the tools we needed to treat your injuries." I added.

"Getting her out would prove to be a difficult endeavor right now with everything that is happening. But we could use her to keep an eye on the Grand Kingdom." The black haired teen said.

"That is if we survive." Russell said glumly.

The room fell silent at his admission.

"Yes the big problem is the constant attacks which led to the loss of one of our own." The rhino warrior said.

"We should have a remembrance ceremony." Corbin said.

"And burial." The professor added.

"I would like that, he would like that." The wolf's boy admitted.

"That will have to wait because we still have to deal with our main problem. How do we put an end to the attacks?" Shakara asked.

"By making the creatures stop attacking us?" I said.

"Or preventing the attacks. What if we were to seal off the south maze?" Corey suggested. "We did that with the north maze."

"That would work, but we would be forced into using the eastern maze or western mazes." The little mongoose boy said.

"And if any of us are seen entering or exiting we will be back in the same position we are in now." The miniature horse said.

"What if we just close off the existing exit to the outside world and build a new one, a more secure one elsewhere in the maze?" The professor said.

"My dear that is brilliant!" The rhino warrior said.

"You know that would work." Lady Ursa said.

"But how long would it take?" Russell asked.

"I will need to determine possible new exit points." Corey said.

"What about the original tunnel I used to find the lost city?" Dawn asked.

"Corey, go and survey the south maze. Determine the feasibility of relocating the exit, where, what materials you will need and how long." Lady Ursa ordered.

"Also determine what you will need to seal the existing exit." Commander Rhinox ordered.

"Ok, professor, Shakara, Corbin and Russell with me." Corey said assembling his team.

"Um, and what about me?" I asked.

"You get to look after our recovering warriors." The lioness said as she followed the two humans, the mongoose and horse out of the eating place.

(Um, okay.)

"With respect commander, mistress you two should not be up and around. Your injuries may have been healed but I bet that they still hurt. Now back to your rooms." I ordered.

"Yes pet." My brown bear said.

So as afternoon started to turn into evening I looked after the rhino and bear. I had my perfect person lie on her stomach as I gave her a full body massage to help her relax and sleep. I started at her foot paws rubbing her heel then moving onto the sole and instep. From there I went on to the paws, arms, shoulders, back and legs.

"What are you doing there Alex?" She asked.

"This is a technique Shakara taught me to block pain receptors and to help you sleep." I said as I moved on to her rump. "If performed just right...."

My fierce ursine warrior was out cold in no time. I then went to the next room next door where I found the rhino warrior on his back.

"Come to knock me out too son?"

"If you don't mind sir." I said entering. "I can blot out the pain that you are feeling from your injuries so you can sleep."

"I would rather be in the south maze right now." The commander admitted.

"I am sure Corey will make do. Now sir if you would please roll over onto your stomach and just relax."

A few minutes later my other patient was snoring.

I decided to head to the eating room downstairs to take a break passing by Dawn's office where she was studying the remains of several night creatures our warriors had killed while defending the city. They looked eerie lying on the stone slab she had prepared.

As I was heading back to the infirmary, I walked by the room where Corey had been sitting with his wolf's remains. We would need to bury Rumble pretty soon before his body started to rot. I took a quick peak underneath the cloth. Fortuneately, the werewolf hadn't started to decay yet. In fact, there was no smell and rigor mortis hadn't even taken place yet. Which was kind of odd.

Within the hour Corey and his helpers returned with a plan. He would use the debris from the wall that collapsed on my mistress to seal off the ramp of the south maze leading to the outside world effectively preventing any further breaches.

Dawn further suggested collapsing the entire corridor where the exit was located. Once that was completed he would get work on expanding the original entrance Dawn had made to the maze when she discovered it, widening it for the blue coupe to enter and exit and to some how disguise it from the outside world.

When my mistress and the commander asked how long the entire project would take, our resident tinkerer wavered. He didn't give a definitive time table only that it would move faster if he had as much help as could be spared and the available weaponry on the prototype.

And so....

"This is hard work." Russell complained as we continued to move stone, dirt, rubble to and fro.

"Be that as it may, this is necessary for our survival." I said to the pony.

"Great put it over there." The teen ordered. "Professor, Corbin, start digging! Alex, Russell you too."

"Just a second, I am checking to see if anything is trying to enter from the outside." I announced.

"Wow. I didn't know this was going to be so hard." The tiny horse exclaimed.

"Well I didn't exactly say it was going to be easy either." Corey said to Russell.

"Russell dear, you know that the maze system that protects the city was not constructed overnight right?" Dawn said to the pony. "It is over a century old if not a couple."

"So exactly how long did it take to build all this?" I asked the archeologist.

"That I am not entirely sure." The blond replied as Corbin face palmed.

Thank goodness the overnight was uneventful but as the five of us worked we could swear we heard some pounding on the trap door that lead above ground. As the day began we managed to move the debris from the collapsed wall to the ramp.

Day 50

The five of us decided to rest for several hours before resuming the work. When we did, we discovered that Shakara, Rhinox and my mistress had continued where we had left off while we rested.

(I guessed they had convinced the lioness, that they had recovered enough.)

Given the severity of the situation, Lady Ursa, and the professor decided that work needed to be performed around the clock. So a rotation was set up where there would always be at least two working within the maze while the others slept.

Day 54 (Overnight South Maze)

*THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK*

"Whoa those things are quite aggressive tonight." I said to Corey. "Are you sure that seal is going to hold?"

"Will it hold them off?" The snarky teen asked. "Alex everyone spent the last few days ceiling the ramp and part of the tunnel so that it can't be opened from the outside or inside at all."

*THUNK* *THUNK* *THUNK*

"No matter how many night creatures pound on the former entrance?" I said eyeing the teen.

"Yeah, well pretty much yeah." He said to me as we ran back to the prototype.

"I feel there is a big however coming though." I said as we sat down inside the blue coupe.

*Emergency Authorization Alex Winter.*

*Recognized Corey Collins The Lost City.*

"But to be sure we should collapse this section of the maze." He said to me.

"So until the work is completed on the new exit, we will be sealed in?" I asked.

"Not exactly, we can still use the east and west mazes if need be."

*Surveillance probe engaged.*

"Wow it looks like there were two night creatures trying desperately to get in." The teen said pulling up the image with the copilot monitor and keyboard.

"Well let's finish this section and start working on the new exit. Overwatch if we wanted to collapse this corridor of the maze..."

*Way ahead of you Mr. Winter. Set grenades at each of these locations indicated.*

"More ammo we won't be able to replace once it is gone." I huffed.

"It is for a good cause." The snarky teen said.

*Grenade launcher engaged.*

Corey watched as I launched three grenades at the ceiling and adjoining walls inside.

*I would recommend a hasty retreat Mr. Winter.*

We backed up and moved out of the corridor just in time as the ceiling and adjoining walls collapsed sealing off that section.

We then drove to the section Dawn had broken through when she first discovered the maze several years ago.

"Well what do you think?"

"That is quite a drop Ms. Stern took. It was amazing she didn't break anything."

"Yeah I think we are going to need about 20' ramp to get to the surface. I am also going to have to widen that tunnel so the hover vehicle can traverse it easily." Corey said to me.

"How long?" I asked.

"I am not sure." The teen said grimacing. Or we forget the ramp and use hover mode to get to the surface. The cliff and drop will be an added layer of security."

*Mr. Winter. Mr. Collins, the probe is detecting additional life forms inside the lost city."

"Why didn't we detect it earlier?" Corey asked.

"When the probe is removed from the prototype like when we were exploring the new exit, we don't have the ability to scan the immediate area."

"Nice limitation." Corey snarked.

"Overwatch where? The east or west mazes?" I asked.

*Negative.*

"It can't be the north or south mazes." Corey admitted.

*No Mr. Collins, the mazes are secure.*

"Then there is no breach." I said to the automated assistant.

*Negative Mr. Winter I am showing more life signs than there should be in within the city.*

"Cause?" Corey asked.

*Unknown.*

"Origination Overwatch?"

**The central building Mr. Winter.* *

"How could that be?!" I shouted.

"We have to warn everyone!" Corey shouted.

Alex Winter February 24, YOE 34