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Counter Earth Chronicles - Fallen Empire

Chapter 101: Moment Of A Lifetime (Conclusion)

Day 204 (Continued)

"Well I have been brought full circle." I said looking around the mesa.

"How?" The she ninja asked following me.

"Alex was on his way to explore a planet before he accidentally arrived on ours." The mongoose said to the spring hare.

"That planet was a possible evacuation point from Gaia. I was supposed to take some observations and some samples and return them to the professor I was working with. OH CRAP!!!"

*Something wrong Mr. Winter?* The automated assistant asked.

"Big brother?"

"Alex?"

"What do we know about this planet? Its weather patterns- day and night temperatures? Is there a night? AA can you run an atmospheric analysis? We need to know if it is capable of sustaining us."

*I am sorry Mr. Winter. That is outside my capabilities.*

"Damn. I don't have my PDA either."

"I think that we should be ok. That space gate can't be one way. The probe from the blue prototype proved that." The little mongoose boy said.

"Meaning?" Arugula asked staring down Corbin.

"If this planet was inhospitable why build a space gate/transport device in the first place?" I said to my companions.

"Alex we have another problem."

"Arugula?"

"How do we return? I don't see another platform with obelisks at the ready." The she ninja said to me.

"We also gave what supplies we had to Mr. Juke." The little mongoose boy said. "We have no food or water either."

(Oh crap.)

*It appears we are in the middle of nowhere literally.*

"Yeah but we do have a whole new world to explore." I exclaimed.

"With new challenges and dangers we can't even begin to imagine." The spring hare said grimly as Corbin and I looked at her.

**But where is here exactly?!* *

With that we returned to the red prototype. I sat down in the driver's seat. Corbin and Arugula in the passenger seat.

"Automated assistant what is the status of the prototype's power source?"

*The sunlight on this planet is adequate to power the vehicle.*

"And when there isn't enough sunlight?"

*Mr. Winter, there are two suns. Mr. Juke topped off the water tank just in case.*

"What is the plan Alex?" The little boy asked.

"We are going to have a look around. Hopefully we can find food, water, a way back and maybe what happened to Dawn as well." I said pressing the third toggle switch on the weapons console.

The copilot monitor and keyboard emerged from the glovebox. Corbin started typing.

*Surveillance probe engaged.*

"Conducting scans." The mongoose boy said as our she ninja observed. "Nothing resembling the space-gate."

"Is that it's official name now?" Arugula asked.

*I thought stargate sounded nicer.*

"Space-gate. Stargate is misleading. Space-gate as it name implies is the entrance to outer space." Corbin admitted.

"While we are thinking of names, I think the automated assistant needs one as well. The assistant in the blue coupe is called Overwatch. The assistant in the grey coupe is called Wheels." I said candidly.

*Why wheels?*

"Because when we found it, that was the only thing that worked." Corbin said giggling.

"So what should we name you?" The spring hare asked.

"How about Splitzy?!" The mongoose boy said giggling again.

*Is it really necessary?*

"It would be better than calling you automated assistant all the time." I said to the computer.

*AA will do for now thank you.*

"Wow the brush coverage around her is dense." Corbin said.

"I recommend we take to the sky." Arugula said.

"Ok. Let's use the mesa as our point of origin and move out from there." I suggested.

My companions agreed.

"AA assume control of the prototype and engage hover mode."

*Heading Mr. Winter?*

"The forest over there."

And so we took to the skies. The variable multicolored skies.

"This area is so pristine and uninterrupted." Corbin sighed.

*WHOSH*

"And primal." The spring hare said looking out the window at something flying by.

**What was that?!* *

"A very large bird with a ten foot wingspan." I replied as Corbin brought up the front mounted camera footage.

"That is just, just wow."

"It looks like it came from the forest down there." The she ninja commented.

"I guess that is where we are headed next then." I said directing the automated assistant.

*Acknowledged.*

The forest that we had seen from the air got larger as we got closer and kept getting larger and larger as the automated assistant landed the prototype near a large brown puddle in the only clearing we could find.

"Whoa, this place is huge!!!" Corbin said stepping out to look around.

"The tree trunks are as large as houses." I said as well.

"Which means that if the trees, are large the critters inhabiting the trees must be equally large." The spring hare said studying a huge trunk.

(Killjoy. But still...)

"AA engage the surveillance probe. Continuous scans."

*Right Mr. Winter. You will be happy to know that the fauna are not the same size as the flora.*

"Whoa! Alex look at this!!" The little mongoose boy said.

"Is that an apple?!"

I fired my grappling hook at a low hanging branch and went up to take a look.

"It is an apple!!" I said studying it. "You know how many pies we could make with this thing?!"

"That is if we could cut it down and then carve it up and if it isn't poisonous." The spring hare responded.

*Alert!! I am detecting movement!!*

"Where?" Corbin asked the automated assistant.

*There!!*

"The mud puddle?" Arugula said surprised.

"Big brother!" Corbin said drawing his boomerang.

"Right. Coming down."

I arrived at the forest floor as bubbles started appearing in the brown puddle. They grew larger and larger forming shapes and those shapes into beings.

"Mudmen?"

Four appeared right in front of us. Humanoid with short roundish legs, long arms, roundish torsos, oval eyes that were slit like with pig noses. They appeared to be a foot taller than us and made this grunting groaning sound.

"Alex?" My little brother said holding his boomerang ready to launch it at a moment's notice.

Arugula had also drawn her blade.

"I am not sensing anything. Nothing at all."

"So they are not hostile then?" Corbin said lowering his boomerang.

"I mean my clairvoyant ability- it's gone!" I gasped.

I had had it for so long that, I felt naked without it.

"Should we engage?" The spring hare asked. "You are the hostile environment specialist."

"Only if they act hostile in return. Remember this is probably their first time meeting beings like us. We wouldn't want to make a bad first impression." I also said lowering my grappling hook.

As I said that, the four mudmen looked at each other and all four of them pointed one direction; into the forest.

"Um thank you?!" Corbin said as the beings dissolved back into the brown puddle.

*I think they knew we needed assistance. But what is in that direction?*

"Let's find out." Arugula said disappearing then reappearing inside the red prototype.

"The forest is also too dense to drive through, we are better off flying over it." I concluded.

Past the mesa and then the forest was a vast dryland of canyons, valleys and then a rocky shoreline near a huge body of water with large translucent spheres hovering over it. Of course we landed to take a look.

"Looks like we solved the water problem." Corbin said.

"Yeah, but is it safe enough to drink?" I asked.

"That depends is this a giant lake or an ocean?" The female ninja asked.

Corbin knelt by the water's edge, cupped his paws and then dipped them in.

"Not salty. In fact it is rather delicious."

*Interesting phenomena here. Is it natural?*

"It is beautiful is what it is." I said as our resident spring hare drew her short blade. "Arugula?!"

"We are not alone."

No sooner had our ninja warrior uttered those words eight beings arose from the water in much the same matter as the mudmen from the puddle. They were dark humanoid looking creatures, black bodies, weird looking heads, hourglass like torsos, long limbs and then there was those red eyes.

Corbin looked upward from where he was drinking to see one standing right in front of him.

"Eww!! I hope you were not bathing!!!" My little brother shouted recoiling backward as the creature nearest to him blinked its eyes.

*Yeah, that would be pretty disgusting.* The automated assistant said.

"It's them, the beings Dawn encountered in the chasm!" I shouted.

"The same individuals took the professor?" Arugula asked.

"I can't be sure, they all look the same!" I said to the she ninja.

"Are they hostile?" Corbin said crawling back to us."

"I can't tell. My clairvoyance it's gone."

*They appear to be startled Mr. Winter. Like we interrupted their swim time or bath time.*

"Thank you AA." The little mongoose said trying to clean his tongue.

"You eight there I am looking for a blond haired human like myself, but female, yellow shirt, brown shorts. I believe she was transported to this world. Has anyone seen her?"

Corbin, Arugula and I received blank stares from the eight red eyed beings like they were trying to process what I had just said to them.

(Or were they translating?)

We soon got our answer as one by one they pointed to the left with both their forearms and paws in unison the same way that the mudmen had.

*What is that direction that you are pointing north, south, east or west?*

The eight beings were silent. They just kept pointing.

"Alright. Thank you." I said as we piled back into the prototype and continued onward.

"AA are we still traveling in a straight line from our point of origin?" Arugula asked.

*Yes, Ms. Hare.*

"Any one noticed that the beings we have encountered on this planet have been nothing but helpful?" Corbin said studying the copilot monitor.

"Yeah that is very different. Normally in these situations we encounter hostiles that are either trying to possess or kill us." I said as my little brother's face was glued to the monitor.

"I found something!" The little mongoose boy exclaimed gleefully.

"Put it up on the main screen." The spring hare said.

*It is another of those large birds yellow beak, white plumage. It seems to be pointing.*

"Whoa!!!"

Nestled between several mountains in the distance is what appeared to be an ancient settlement.

"Alex, Arugula I think this is what the professor was looking for when she disappeared."

*Which is Mr. Mongoose?*

"The sister site of our underground colony. It wasn't on Counter Earth at all but on another planet in the universe. AA take us down."

We landed just outside the settlement. The structures were composed of marble and stone. The settlement made the lost city look like a small town in comparison.

"Looks like several of the structures are in need of repair." I commented.

"Anyone notice how similar this city looks compared to our own?" The ninja warrior commented.

Corbin was silent as he took a few scans with the surveillance probe. "I am detecting several life signs in that central structure there. It kind of resembles the central building in our own colony."

"Alright let's investigate." The spring hare said.

"AA weapons at the ready. Continuous scans, we don't know what we are going to encounter."

**Acknowledged Mr. Winter.* *

"It is twice the size of the lost city." I replied as we made our way toward the highest structure a lone tower that looked like it needed a new coat of paint and some structural reinforcement.

"It is a little more worse off than our home." Corbin remarked.

"This city is above ground exposed to what weather patterns are present on this world, Corbin." The spring hare said drawing her blade and disappearing.

"She has to teach me how to do that." My little brother remarked.

"It's clear, no traps or ambushes." Arugula said reappearing just outside the doorway.

"So do we knock or just invite ourselves in?" I said as my companions looked at me weird.

*creak*

We looked down the hallway after opening the wooden door inside. It was a mix of marble and stone, recently polished to look like new. There were some rugs here and there.

(Someone was definitely living there.)

This structure was the spitting image of the central building in the lost city; the floor plan was identical! There were offices on the first floor, a eating room which looked more like a cafeteria stocked with produce that the three of us did not recognize.

Just around the corner from that were stairs. We followed them to the second floor which again seemed very reminiscent of the central building in our colony. More vacant rooms, a storage room which was identical to the infirmary Shakara and I worked out of and then there was a conference room. We heard voices. A female, a male. No, two males and even screeching. It had to be coming from one of those beings.

Quietly we made our way to the room and peered inside. There was this marble conference table. In the center was one of those beings red eyes, hourglass abdomen and long arms as black as night. Seated on either side of it were some very familiar faces a nervous cheetah in what remained of a knight uniform, a grey donkey similarly dressed and a blond archeologist who was the spitting image of my sister. Seeing that, that Corbin immediately blew our cover.

"PROFESSOR?!"

"CORBIN?! MY LITTLE BOY?!!" The blond said running to her little mongoose.

"I have missed you so much!!!" The two said in unison.

"COLE & CHEMAR!!"

"Alex you figured out how to use the stargate/space bridge!!" The cheetah said.

"So it was a good idea to send the probe back through!" Cole said.

*Screech* The creature said at the center of the conference table.

"And who do we have here?" My sister's doppelgänger said kneeling down to look at the spring hare.

"This is Arugula. She is one of the new warriors who joined our colony." I said candidly. "A lot has happened since you became part of what you sought".

"So how did you wind up here?" The little boy said hugging his adoptive mother.

"I got very obsessed with finding the sister site to the lost city that I stumbled on these guys using the stargate/space bridge to leave Counter Earth." She said pointing to the red eyed being in the center of the table who tried to look quite innocent.

"They call themselves the Chado, an ancient but sentient race of beings who have traversed worlds; they inhabited Counter Earth before we inhabited it." Cole said.

"They also built the stargate/space bridge." Chemar added.

"Space-gate sounded better." The mongoose boy pouted.

"And the lost city near World Five on Counter Earth." Dawn said.

"Why was it located underground?" I asked the archeologist.

*screech* The creature said answering my question. Dawn translated.

"To hide from ONE. The entity has tried many times to take over Counter Earth in the past. The Chado realized that things were getting worse, used the stargate/space bridge to evacuate to this planet. They have been living here ever since first in this city before spreading outward."

"So exactly where are we?" The spring hare asked.

The red eyed being on the marble table turned its head ever so slightly.

"A young world in a distant galaxy far, far away from our own." The donkey said.

"ONE has not discovered this place." Chemar said looking at the Chado.

*screech* *screech* It responded.

"And according to Manderine here it never will either."

(Really?)

"Judging from the looks on your faces things have gotten worse on Counter Earth since my departure." My sister's doppelgänger said.

"They have." The she ninja said calmly.

"But once things stabilized in our colony we reached out to help other survivors. We made friends in the process." I said.

"Your time here must have been difficult." The little mongoose boy said to his adoptive mother.

"It was, until I learned that the Chado were friendly. They healed my injuries and even saved Chemar and Cole from some spider creatures before bringing them through the gate. I tried to return to Counter Earth but the other side of the gate is in remote wilderness and oh yeah and it was winter."

"Actually we saw the spider creatures when we reacquired the silver prototype." I said cheerfully. "The front camera recorded you two running for your lives before it was disabled."

"Yeah, not one of our better days." Chemar said blushing.

"So you were able to salvage that huh? It was severely damaged." Cole said. "And the weapons exhausted."

"We now have all three prototypes in our possession." The little mongoose exclaimed. "We brought one of them with us."

"That will be very valuable here. Outside of the city, there aren't any roads. Just wilderness." The donkey said.

"Given our situation, we settled down here with the Chado's help. That was when I realized that this planet, this place could be our new home, our starting over point." The female archeologist said.

"You mean you aren't coming back with us?" The little mongoose boy asked.

"No I think what she means is that our colony as well as those of our friends could escape the chaos and the encroaching darkness on Counter Earth by moving here; the long night would be essentially over." Arugula said.

(It would be hard at first, but at least we would have a bright future after what we have been through since the fall.)

"To that end we have been in discussion with the Chado to evacuate a portion of Counter Earth to here." Cole said.

"They have agreed to lease this city to us. It is a fixer upper, but the neighborhood and the surrounding area is nice." The cheetah added.

"What is the price?" Corbin asked.

"Our forever friendship and peaceful coexistence for eternity." The professor answered. "They also added a few stipulations as well. Our new colony on this world will be overseen by a ruler who will be the liaison between us and them." Ms. Stern said. "Additionally they will have one of their kind live with us and one of ours live with them. A sort of peace offering to encourage understanding and tolerance."

*screech* *screech* Manderine said.

"To ensure peace between our peoples." Cole said translating.

"We were just ironing out the details when you three arrived." Chemar said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Still working on the cultural exchange thing but Cole, Chemar and I have decided on who should be the ruler of this new colony." My sister's doppelgänger said. "Another whom the Chado saved."

"Manderine?" The donkey asked.

The being with the red eyes nodded and disappeared.

"He is going to present the details of our arrangement to his people. I don't anticipate any problems." The cheetah said.

"Here we go again. Will this new ruler be kind and benevolent or a maniacal dictator or just a general pain in the ass?" I said sarcastically.

"Dawn why don't you take Alex, Arugula and Corbin for a meet and greet?" Cole asked. "Chemar and I can finish up here."

"Good idea."

Dawn led us out of the conference room to one of the upper floors of the tower.

"One step forward two steps backward." I huffed.

"Oh quit grumbling Alex." Dawn said placing her hand on my shoulder. "It is not as bad as you are making it out to be."

I noted that Corbin and Arugula were absolutely silent as we arrived at a closed door; the throne-room of this future ruler of the new colony as decreed by the Chado.

Dawn knocked on the door twice before opening it wide.

"Everyone I present to you King Dragon The First!" The blond archeologist said.

My eyes went wide, my mouth dropped open as we entered. There was a chair at the far corner of the room and a familiar being sitting on it. A very familiar being.

"SORREN?! HOW?? WHY??

"I think it is because the Chado liked my cooking." He said bouncing his eyebrows at me. "So Alex how are things?"

To Be Continued...