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Chapter IX: Furrther Confusion

What looked like three hundred soldiers just bowed before Mark, the six foot black-furred wolf, and he had no idea why. That was until they started praying to him.

"Oh, shit?" Mark whispered to himself. "They think I'm their emperor? Then I can use this to my advantage!" He drew in a deep breath, and put on his best fancy commanding voice, before speaking to the citizens. "Soldiers, Rise!" As one, every soldier in the room rose, and saluted. Mark continued, feeling important. "Who is in charge here?"

The fox in the center of the columns stepped forward, and bowed before Mark. "Emperor Terrak, I was in command of these troops, though we are all yours to command as you wish."

"Right," Mark said, pointing to his three friends, and growling, "Those three there, the cat, and the two dragons, are all friends of the empire, and good friends of mine. Why have they been drugged?!" The color left the officer's face, until he spoke.

"My lord, we were unaware that any of the diplomats would remain behind when the drugs were used. Rest assured, the entirety of the kitchen staff will be put to death, as well as the chemist, should anything happen to your friends," the Fox stated.

"Enough," Mark said, cutting the man's words off with a paw, and acting irritated. "I will see no one put to death today. These men will be jailed, or, better yet, put to work serving the public. I have given it thought, and I see that these people have risen against me because they felt they had no better option. They have acted in what they felt was the best interest of their country; even being wrong, they have done what any good patriot should be willing to do. Furthermore, I decree here forward, and let it be known far and wide that tomorrow morning, I will begin the process of examining my laws of taxation, and other decrees that affect the populus, so that this type of incident will not happen again! This is enough. Take the prisoners into custody, and remove my friends to the finest chambers short of my own; I am weary!"

Men snapped to attention, and the officer gave orders for the "emperor's" will to be done. Mark was given a seat, and he sat in it willingly, watching as his friends were taken to rooms so that they could rest. When all was done, Mark dismissed everyone with a wave of his paw, and ordered the great doors to be closed. It was done, and Mark looked up to find only one soldier left. "Yes?" Mark asked, still playing the part of the Emperor. The soldier pulled off his helmet, and Mark found himself looking at a fox that was just as black as he, and could have been easily mistaken for Mark, though he was a little shorter.

"What a performance!" the fox said, sarcastically clapping, and advancing on Mark.

"Oh shit," Mark said, realizing this was not just a footsoldier. "I'm guessing you're the actual emperor?"

"That would be I," the fox said, with a laugh. "Well, what was that all about?" Mark facepawed.

"Well," Mark said, "historically, revolutions have not been for no reason at all. I'm not sure of the exact situation here on this planet, but I'd be willing to bet these people rose against their government for a legitimate reason."

"Most likely," the fox replied, "it's due to the food shortages, which are due to the bad harvests we've had for three years now." Mark found it hard to believe that food shortages caused a revolution. He wasn't a farmer, but he did know a few things about plant biology.

"Have you tried crop rotation?" Mark asked, bringing up a common idea on Earth.

"What's that?" the fox asked.

"Crop rotation," Mark said, "it's when you change what you plant in a certain spot season to season. Certain plants put certain things in the ground, which other plants use, and vice versa. If you change where you plant things, it will help them grow better over time."

"That works?" the fox asked, "I'll have to try that. Thank you, kind stranger. You and your friends will be welcome here, as long as I am in power."

"Thank you, emperor," Mark said, standing. "As to my friends, what is wrong with them?"

"Oh, that's my fault," Terrak said. "I ordered soldiers to pretend to surrender, and then, when the people feasted, my men, who waited in hiding the whole day, would take back my palace by drugging to sleep those inside, and taking care of the uprising. It is a good thing you did then, putting them to work for the people. They will never forget your benevolence in those actions, and so they are beholden to you."

"Right," Mark said, nodding. "So, what's going on on this planet?"

"Other then the uprising, the bad crops, and the poverty because of those two things, not much," Terrak said facetiously.

"So you're the only species on this planet?" Mark asked.

"No, to the North lives a large number of creatures, many of them hostile. Fortunately, my armies keep them at bay," Terrak replied.

"Are the people happy with the current planetary rule?" Mark asked.

"Well, recent poles indicate that 75% of the people who voted indicate they're happy with me," Terrak replied. "It was the 25% that you saw today. Many of them are farmers, who blame me for their crops failing. I cannot believe they got as far as they did before I stopped them. However, had I brought the weight of my army against them, the survivors would use that as an excuse to say I am oppressing them. It's been a shortlived, purely defensive battle, for the past month."

"Hmm," Mark replied, taking this all in quickly. "Well, that should be enough for now. Someone will be along to check on your planet eventually. How long will it take for my friends to awaken?"

"They may be awake even now," Terrak told the wolf, putting his helm back over his head, his pointed ears protruding out of the slots built for that purpose. "Do me a favor, and don't tell anyone that I'm the emperor. It's hard enough not being noticed when they would never suspect me to play the roll of a footsoldier. I have to go. Go see your friends, and then do as you will, just try not to ruin my kingdom in my name, if you would be so kind."

With that, the fox turned, and trotted through the smaller door, set into the larger ones, and Mark was left with more questions then he had when he came down to the planet. He walked out shortly after the soldier, and encountered a guard, who dropped to the floor, and led the way to Mark's friends' room, before bowing his way out. Mark opened the door, and walked in. Arath and Nath had already awakened, but Scott was still out.

"Hey, guys, turns out the food was drugged," Mark said.

"You're fucking telling me," Arath replied, rubbing the side of his head. "I haven't woken up and felt this shitty since college."

"Right," Mark said, "all joking aside, is there anything we can do to get Scott back while he's still unconscious?"

"Yeah," Nath said, and walked up to Scott. He pushed the button on Scott's wristband twice, and Scott disappeared into space. "They're pre-programmed to take the user back to the original departure point of a mission, if you push it twice. Otherwise, the user has to be conscious to use."

"Well," Mark said, "in that case, let's get the hell out of here. I've had enough excitement for one day."

"Fine by me," Arath replied, before pushing his wristband. Nath departed also, and when Mark was sure they had left, he pushed his, and felt himself whisked through space to Outpost 32 once more. Three hours later, Scott woke up, and questioned how they had gotten back to the base. Mark was debriefed by Joel, and then he went to Medical Bay to talk about the possibility of a permanent breathing apparatus.