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Name: Killer Huxley

Gender: male

Race: liger, with dragon's genes inherited through the history of Huxley dynasty

Homeland: Kesteven

Age: 25

Height: 15 feet 7 inches

Weight: 3256 pounds

Military codename: Wyvern

First son of the powerful sovereigns of Kesteven, Seth and Isis Huxley, and only male being the second born his sister Kaya, Killer was immediately destined to become the heir of the crown of the kingdom, and in this optic he was trained and brought up from the very start. His studies went generally well, with particularly good results in humanistic subjects, but with poor ones in math and statistics. He showed in any case a particular talent for the politic science and history, despite never having a great pleasure in the political matters. Worst results had all the attempts to train him to be a perfect man of court, despite all the lessons he had to go in: in fact, despite being naturally polite and chivalrous and despite taking as habits different parts of the court's etiquette, he never really loved them or submitted himself fully to what he is used to call political nonsense. Of all things, he always refused to learn all the rules of behavior most ridiculous and for long time he refused most of the high-ceremonial dressing for jeans and casual clothes, mostly black, choosing to spend most time shirtless, admittedly to show off his perfect and impressive shape, gained with constant and hard work out, causing the exasperation of his father. Exasperation that only increased more and more when the future king took on the bad habit to show off his strength and agility, admittedly extraordinaire, during all sorts of brawls and competitions in Kesteven. At least, anyhow, the prince shown courage, astuteness and developed rapidly an amazing physical form, taking his way with massacring trainings during all of his free time, a very good thing for the one supposed to lead in the future a civilization based on strength and personal value like the tiger's one. Later, Killer had his first contact with the action that gave him his name, when during an ambush of a commando of assassins from a rival kingdom he engaged two enemy soldiers that were trying to get their hands on his sister Kaya and killed both of them, showing once more his absolutely uncommon power, value, but also aggressiveness. The king himself tried to exploit that will to prove himself and prevail to teach the prince at least in the ancient and traditional art of the fight, both with swords and bare hands... and in this field the results were spectacular. The prince would eventually develop a deep passion and love for swords, becoming rapidly a fencer elegant and deadly, continuing in the same time his extraordinary growth in terms of physical structure and power. At just three years of age, still two years far from his maturity as tiger, the prince was already a giant capable to easily overcome and beat most adults... and he soon joined all sorts of other passions, starting to play soccer, wrestling and boxing in all Kesteven, starting to collect a triumph after the other and awakening all sorts of curiosity and expectations. Later, finding that boxing hadn't challenges and rivals worth of him to oppose, he took the habit of the street-fighting, unfortunately especially of the illegal, clandestine one, both inside and outside Kesteven. His reputation grown rapidly over the borders of the Northlands as he started to face always more demanding and apparently suicide no-rule fights against a number always increasing of rivals, and later on the monarchy had several problems to justify the illegal habit of the heir prince and the rising number of victim he had made during the fights. Not voluntary, sure, and the same Killer always regretted them... reaching the point when he offered his life into the hands of the families of the numerous fighters killed as payment. Fortunately, they refused the offer, and later most of them gave him their forgiveness. It was always in this period that Killer had his first sexual adventure, when two females of his servants teased and seduced him enough to convince him to take both of them. He was inexperienced, but surely premature and he learned very fast... and had a noticeable natural talent and was a fiery, hungry lover with formidable strength and stamina. Besides, the prince was huge in his virility... big and powerful to be even dangerous. He sent both girls to the infirmary, and here begun a scandal when a young woman reporter managed to sneak there under cover and to talk with the two wounded girls, making them believe she was simply another patient. Their enthusiastic report over Killer's abilities and their opinion of how and why he was the best lover of all the Northlands "... at the very least" exited soon over the most important tabloids, putting the Royal House in deep embarrassment. Killer, instead, faced coldly the situation, building up a great hate for the press that would have only grown further in his future. Anyhow, even if he always hid it, he was very pleased of the particular reputation gained, and he is always been vain when talking of his body and lover's skills.

Seth, in any case, liked the hundredth problem with his son with heart much heavier. He had to find a solution to control the dominating, aggressive nature and extremely powerful body of his son in some way, and he chosen the colonel William Gorton, colonel of the feared Kesteven's Parachute Regiment and already personal body guard of the prince, as mentor for the young Killer.

The effects proved spectacular. Wherever the prince had a terrible wish of domination absolute, and he hated to be submitted to any kind of order of rule that he don't liked, he had a natural, deep respect for the uniform, something almost instinctive that allowed William to enter immediately in the grace of the sovereign, in his likings, and to receive all of his respect. Besides, William proved himself the only one capable to defeat Killer in a hand to hand, after the king himself, gaining entirely the respect and confidence of the young prince. The two soon become inseparable, brotherlike friends, and Killer changed radically, becoming a better person and even a better warrior. William introduced him to the Karrahi, the massacring individual physical training of the parachutists, and the prince took soon the habit to massacre himself with it not once but twice every day. The colonel Gorton was amazed of the strength and resistance of the prince, and offered to train him still harder, and on a wider range. He taught him to draw out his guns better than anyone else, making him fast as a lightning, and finding that he was a natural with mostly any kind of weapon, from a sword to a rocket launcher. And, obviously, taught him how to shoot straight... and honestly, he did a hell of good work. Besides, William and Seth had easy game in ascertaining how much the prince was gifted for tactical and strategic intuition and how he seemed to be at home between even the hardest of the problems of the military techniques. They took together the resolution to anticipate the traditional period of service of the princes in the armed forces, and so Killer was sent to spend a year away from home, experimenting the true life of the soldier in turns of four months in the Navy, the Air Force and the Army. The first period saw him rapidly trained for naval matters and then embarked for a cruise of test on the icebreaker ship HMS Indefatigable, where he had the first impact with the life on a warship at sea, before being transferred on the destroyer HMS Daring on a cruise of patrol near the limit of the pack of the North Pole, during the period of the crisis of the attacks by the Fast Raider Crafts of what seemed at the start pirates and then resulted to be a unit of the NWOA against civilian ships of Kesteven. Here he had the first true firefight when he took the place of a hurt gunner in a difficult battle against several enemy heavily armed crafts. He got wounded, too, but continued to use the Minigun of the close defence post and sunk several enemy boats, giving an important contribute in the victory. It was the start of his popularity as man of the armed forces, and made of him the hero of the day, helping to erase the memory of his preceding dissoluteness. He wasn't decorated, because Kesteven was and is extremely miser of medals, but he got a mention for the bravery shown during the action. Then he had a fast trip on board of HMS Ambush, one of the latest nuclear Silent Killer submarines, but he don't loved this cruise as much as the ones on the surface ships. The submarine proved to be tight and uncomfortable for his colossal, powerful physical structure... and the contact with the enemy far too little. He shown to understand, anyhow, how the submarines are one of the most lethal weapons ever created, and his knowledge about strategy, maritime warfare and ships grown exponentially. Last time in the navy was spent with the Royal Marines, where he had the chance to train himself at the standards of those tough soldiers of the sea, showing his impressive power and gaining easily the title of champion of the hand-to-hand fight of the unit, placing his name between the very firsts even in the shooting tests. Next come the Air Force, where he was trained to what become likely his absolute favourite kind of warfare and dream, learning to pilot both fixed wings planes and helicopters, before have a short period of test as Weapon System Officer on a fighter Tornado F3 of the 111° Squadron. He absolutely loved it, but as with the submarines, planes proved to be not exactly the most comfortable for his huge sizes, and fighters so had to be painfully erased from his list of future jobs. Then, finally, he was sent to join once more his loved friend and "brother" William in the Parachute Regiment. Without any kind of ceremonies, Killer was thrown into the massacring, traditional selection of the applicants for the regiment, and he reported amazing results, ending as absolute first that course that had the absolutely not enviable reputation of have a rate of failures of more than the 90%. During his service of three months, he followed the other parachutists in every training, very often excelling and always proving his superior physical power.

At the end of the year, the transformation of the prince was complete. He had changed into a respectful, disciplined warrior of amazing skills, famous already not only for the amazing power that had made of him the strongest soldier of the entire armed forces, but also the bravery and tactical astuteness shown during the service. At this point, his choice was to join stably the Parachute Regiment, and from that moment, the uniform become his idea of elegant, honourable wearing, the defence of his homeland his belief.

With time, he lost most of his vices. He conquered one more time the title of champion of both boxing and street fighting to leave as the undefeated specimen, and then was the time for him to progressively cease his competitive playing of soccer. He had an unmatched physical power and resistance that had allowed him optimum results, but he admittedly hadn't the technique to really realize himself there. He continued forever to love the soccer and still plays whenever it's possible, and he still loves Juventus, likely the best soccer team of Kesteven, of which he's always been a fan.

His first period of service seen him work as gunner in the First Airborne Assault Regiment, deployed at the border with Edwards, a historically tormented war zone once more shattered by continuous skirmishes between the troops there deployed. Here the prince put immediately himself in spotlight, thanks to his excellent ability with most of the standard firearms, in particular with the standard assault rifle and the support machine guns. His amazing strength allowed him to carry easily on the battlefield one or two of the heavy machine guns, that normally were moved by two-men teams at the very least or on board of vehicles, and his aim and agility were still unmatched. Besides, he always proved excellent with the traditional fight with knifes and swords, and he soon learned to be deadly accurate in any kind of ranged engagement with launch of knifes as well. He was also one of the best gunners in the history of the famous Regiment, because he had all the characteristics needed to be a gunner: he was stronger than anyone else around, he was huge, cold and disciplined, and his only presence was enough to perform the gunner's second task of Military Policeman, since no one dared to question an order or show any weakness or uncertainty at the orders of an officer when the huge liger was around. During the daily fight along that tormented border, he become rapidly famous between both friends and enemies with many names different, for many different reasons. His reputation was already high from his sportive successes, his extraordinary performances at the tests of the regiment and all what the press had said of him and his life, but rapidly he gained new visibility. The new soldier was huge, putting to shame even the bigger and bulkier soldiers of the unit, and this started immediately to make people talk. Besides, the prince happened to be huge also under the belt, and this, added to the exceptional performance he shown in numerous, multiple rapes he committed over females captured during raids in enemy territory, gained for him new fame. In combat, he shown at his maximums his amazing strength and skills: his presence was always resolving on the battlefield, since he was capable to spill a tempest of fire of heavy machine guns on the enemy during the fight and then crush their lines and units with his unstoppable strength and ability in hand to hand combat and with swords. His fame become immortal and total a day when he repealed an Edward's attack alone, crushing their tanks and armoured vehicles with bare hands and brutal strength. Both friends and enemies feared him, and he had the reputation to be a real stalker: he had customized his personal machine guns and added tactical sights and bipods he had designed personally and he was able to sniper with his guns very well during the moment of pause when the two armies faced themselves from their far lines of trenches... and his rate of kills was amazing, with an accuracy on long distance that was worth of a sniper, despite the intrinsic limits of the weapon not designed for that task. Besides, he was always the first to offer himself as volunteer for a patrol, a search and destroy sweep or a raid for prisoners, and his brutal strength become rapidly famous, especially between the enemies, that come to fear him as Death and to avoid in any way to step on the path of the giant white tiger. Killer gained different praises from the superior officers, and built up a very strong friendship with his comrades, who started also to fall into his natural leadership. His moment of glory, anyhow, come later, when he and a small group of other soldiers remained cut off from the lines of the regiment and remained without contacts with the officers and the command and control section. He took the command of the group, and during the night he guided their return across the enemy territory, managing not to be discovered and even gaining information about the enemy disposition and making several prisoners. His talent as leader as well as line-breaking giant was so signalled to the superior officers, who soon promoted Killer to lance corporal, giving him the leadership over a team, five men him included, encouraging him to join the ancient and famous Royal Military Academy of Kesteven to be introduced to all the specialized courses as officer. The prince accepted with great pleasure, ensuring his efforts during the first leave available.

The occasion come with the born of his brothers, Siegfried and Alexander. Killer returned home with a long leave to stay with his family, and had also the chance to lengthen his permission for his fourth birthday. In this period, the prince was extremely busy. He ended his basic studies during the year, and chosen computer science as address for his advanced ones - a decision he would have later on both loved and hated; loved for the utility it shown in the changing, digitalizing world of the armed forces, hated because it included far too much math and statistics, his most hated subjects ever- and in the same time, he started the courses into the Academy. The courses traditionally last 44 weeks, but he had a slightly shortened, compressed course because he already had a large knowledge of war and commands and procedures from live experience. It was in any case a massacring period, where his activity was frenetic... but then his leave was lengthened again, seen that the skirmishes on the border with Edward ended and the regiment hadn't anymore immediate need of all its effectives.

A year later, with the fifth birthday as all tigers, Killer was mature... and he was an unstoppable war machine. His already powerful and massive body had grown further, his brutal strength, resistance and imposing musculature had developed to amazing levels, putting him even over the king already. Besides, his body had started to gain the deadly weapon of its terrible bone-spikes, a process rather irritating and even sometimes painful, but that Killer welcomed as a new boost of his abilities, starting soon to develop his own astuteness and techniques to put them to mortal use in hand-to-hand combat. The very day of his birthday, he gave to the press another scandal and gained new unwanted popularity when four young girl of his servant personnel offered themselves to him, and he gladly accepted. The prince had already had many sexual intercourses, after his first experience that he had liked so much, starting from oral he had been given by willing fans when he was into the street fighting, to complete relations with most of them to the numerous, fierce rapes he had made in the period on the front, but now he was at home and the press was as always ready to ambush him. Once more, the news filtrated, and the event gained him a bit of troubles and a lot of unwanted, fastidious attention because two of the females were in their fertile period and soon gave him his first sons. At this point, the "career" of Killer as lover was begun, and he soon started to build up a harem for himself. This erased most problems, since it was perfectly usual and common in the tiger's civilization, but it generated in numerous times envies, curiosity and in general hateful, unwanted attention, since the prince's harem overcome even the size of the king's one in no time. Besides, voices on the fact that the prince was used to have his time also with the king's females, the so called "Forbidden Girls", circulated continuously and insistently, especially concentrated around the figure of Diana Wales, one of the more attractive forbidden females, for long suspected as his lover. Fortunately, Killer had learned to distrust and avoid in any way and time the press, and the prince had easy game against any reporter in doing what he wanted without being discovered.

After 40 full weeks, Killer had finished the courses at the Academy of Kesteven and gained the Sword of Honour as most promising cadet. He returned in the First Airborne Assault Regiment with the rank of lieutenant, receiving the command of the basic unit of infantry of Kesteven, the Section, as Major Leader, with a command over ten men he included and a place in the decisional ring of the Regiment. In this period, Killer had a first impact with the jungle-warfare, because the unit was sent in the small Republic of Sarawak, in the east. Sarawak, one of the only two states not ruled by tigers in the Northlands, was from long time one of the very few nations friendly with Kesteven, in observation of the nature open and accommodating of the kingdom towards the other races. Sarawak had always found that its only chance to survive was establish an alliance with a powerful kingdom, and the only choice possible were Kesteven and Glacial, since all the other tiger's kingdoms were openly hostile and threatening towards the small republic and the nearby other state of Ankara. The redeployment of the Airborne Assault Regiment was requested by the same govern of Sarawak, worried of the terrible, growing violence of the merciless guerrilla put up by some terrorist groups, fed by the nearby tiger's kingdoms, that had the declared objective to put the entire nation under the sphere of influence and domination of the great tigers. Suspects that could never be proved say that the main mind behind the entire revolution was the Raja royal family of the powerful kingdom of Alfaya.

In any case, the Parachute Regiment of Kesteven was soon sent in the jungle of Sarawak with a small group of transport and combat helicopters, and there the unit established contacts with local population and the local army, spending the first weeks to get acclimatized and perfect the old trainings for the jungle environment with the local soldiers. Later, the operation begun, seeing large patrols of paratroopers and local soldiers enter in the jungle to search and stalk the terrorist groups hidden in the hostile forest. The operation lasted much more than forecasted and resulted very difficult and demanding, especially because of the environment and the ability of the terrorists to set up traps in the vegetation. Killer guided with excellent results the patrol named Bravo-1-0, that soon grown to be the largest deployed on all the front, and he again proved himself as a warrior unmatched and an excellent commander and leader. He obtained some of the best results of the long campaign, and revealed some more of his characteristics. He become friend of a man of the Kesteven's Royal Electric and Mechanic Engineers, (REME) that was attached to his formation as systems-maintaining specialist, the corporal Roger Nellis. Despite not being the best in terms of fighting, Nellis was an extremely precious element, able to make work, repair and maintain everything from rifles to enemy tanks broken down to radios. Killer soon begun deeply friend of this man, and together they begun to work in their little free time to build up new gear and try new little and big innovations that the prince thought. Huxley had basic knowledge of electronics from his studies of computer science, and had a great inventive, love for technology and spirit of innovation, and he come up very often with ideas suggested from their experience on the battlefield to improve their gear and hopes of success. Sometimes, Nellis had to discourage the young prince from the most audacious and unlikely ones, but a very good number of ideas, included completely new weapons, started to be build up by the two. Emblematic is the spring-working, Launch-Before Ignition Javelin portable missile launcher system, that troops on the field begun to truly love. It had some serious advantage: lightness, reusability, it was extremely unlike to be spotted since it produced almost no noise, no flash and no smoke and, especially, it reduced the number of different systems that the soldiers had to carry in that marshy, difficult, humid and hot environment during the long marches, since it could face both tanks, bunkers and planes. Soon, the little number of systems they produced from wrecks and recovered material was out, because everyone wanted a Javelin instead of the other missiles and rockets, and the Ministry of defence accepted the project and started the production in great series in Kesteven to answer to the urgent demand of the frontline troops. But Killer introduced also new innovations, on the field of tactics and strategy. Kesteven was already the most innovative and advanced army of all the Northlands, placing at the side of individual value, strength and swords also the most modern weapons, even if in reduced number... an absolute need, since the kingdom was so often at war with neighbours. But for the prince, it wasn't enough. He watched the slow progresses of their war in the jungle from near and thought to all sorts of new ideas, and soon he took the decision to risk and climb over his direct superiors. He wrote a small essay that he titled "Why we are failing in the jungle" and he sent it directly to the commission of defence planning and innovation in Kesteven. He suggested a whole new range of equipments, an improved and hardened general training, and several manoeuvres still more specialized. He suggested to use more helicopters, and more often, explaining his ideas for the "Vertical Surrounding" tactic to use in the jungle to face the superior knowledge of the terrain and paths of the jungle and the consequent major speed in the marches that the terrorists had. The idea was to use troops carried on helicopters, escorted by heavily equipped helicopter-gunships, to rapidly reach the needed positions in the jungle and cut the retreat to the enemy, that had the habit to break the contact and vanish each time things were going bad, avoiding the final destruction. He suggested also for the first time the creation of a specialized unit with the task of reconnaissance, intelligence and sabotage behind the enemy lines and several other totally new concepts.

The essay caused a true revolution. Obviously, part of the commission was simply horrified of the obvious breaking of code of discipline, and a good bit of officers protested loud for have been overcome in that way, but another large part of the commission was sincerely and favourably impressed by the ideas and suggestions of the small book. Different ideas, especially the vertical surrounding and the projects of new helicopters attached to it, soon were traduced to solid reality. A disciplinary measure had to be took against Killer, but this idea was erased because, in the same period, the young officer guided his patrol in a terrible march of 165 miles into the depths of the jungle, erasing several enemy bases and depots and coming out with swords from different ambushes and heavy counterattacks where he shined for unmatched value, power and lucidity. Besides, a few days later he managed to break into one of the most supervised zones of the terrorist territory to destroy in fight, practically alone, a large garrison that had created great troubles in the last month and destroy a huge bridge vital for the enemy efforts. The calculations about the quantity of explosives needed for the destruction of the pylons of the Reisen bridge had been bad made, besides, and so he had to return into the base and end the work with his amazing strength, getting wounded several times by enemy fire during this second raid. The result, anyhow, was amazing, because the Reisen bridge was vital for the enemy effort, since it was the only way to bring weapon and ammunitions from the north and the nearby kingdoms past the river Kyofu, to resupply the numerous groups of terrorists in the south. In the space of a month, the terrorists lost much of their strength in the south, progressively ending their stock of weapons while the activity of the counter-revolution patrols grew and a service of armed patrol boats was established over the river Kyofu to stop definitely the contacts between group north and south of the rebels. The incredible show of value, strength and courage of Killer, followed by such good results and consequences, had to be recognized and publicized by all the ministry of defence, and any idea for a disciplinary measure was subsequently not only deleted, but followed by rapid promotions. The legend of who soon would have been called Wyvern was begun.

At the last, a month after the sixth birthday of the young prince, the counter-revolution warfare had obtained decisive successes, crushing and destroying entirely the presence of terrorists in the south, and gaining terrain in the north with the Vertical Surrounding tactic, guided on the field directly by Killer that was already risen to the rank of colonel. Once more, the prince put himself in spotlight with the tactical effectiveness and audacity of his moves and the campaign finally ended, when the helicopters of the paratroopers launched a definitive attack with the support of the Sarawak air and land forces along the Shoki Valley, a terrible zone of jungle between two tall chains of mountains that was the sanctuary of the terrorists rightly because of the terrible environment, that would have easily defeated a normal attack from land. Killer and William, besides, guided a risky mission of a small team of demolition into the nearby kingdom of Mysore, where they destroyed a large weapon production plant that had for long supplied the revolution.

The parachute regiment, in any case, had new tasks to face. On the other side of the Abukirk sea, the tension in the Republic of Are was growing to terrible levels: the nearby state of Almahara was always more threatening, and troops were preparing an invasion. Much weaker that its violent neighbour, Are asked for help to Ire, but the superpower refused, probably because more interested in selling wholesale huge stocks of weapons to both the contenders at war begun, so Are decided to require the help of Kesteven, that for all its long history had been a nation well disposed to give its precious services like a mercenary. The cost was high, but Are managed to obtain the services of the powerful giants of the north. The mission was infiltrate a team from sea in a surveilled port of the Almahara's Navy where a few warships and Landing Ships full of troops were by now ready to sail and mine their keel silently. It was a work for the Special Boat Service of Kesteven, but this was too busy already in the Syrane Channel up in the north and so, once more, the Parachute Regiment was sent on the front, also because it was the nearer to the new zone of operation. There they were joined by two Sergeant-Trainers of the Special Boat Service that started to train a group of volunteers for the new, particular mission and all the tactics, gear and moves related to the undersea warfare. Killer and William participated with enthusiasm, and a pair of weeks later, pushed by the extreme urgency of the mission, 8 teams of two men each, on board of Assault Overturnable Foldable hull Rigid keel kayak were launched at sea from a Are's merchant ship and infiltrated the military port at night, overturning upside down the boats and breathing with closed-circuit bottles of oxygen to pass between the patrol boats and the check points, overcoming also the immense steel-net that closed the access of the docks and the numerous minefields. Finally, they swum for the last tract, placing magnetic, piercing mines MK138 on the keels of all the ships in the bay before return. The operation had an enormous success, because it effectively stopped the preparations of Almahara for the war: two destroyers and a large Landing Ship Dock were entirely destroyed, and the explosion of the Fleet Tanker in the nearby dock added other terrible damages, with the terrible arson of the almost 180.000 tons of fuels and petrol carried in its tanks.

Finally, for the Parachute Regiment was the moment of the return at home... But soon their joy for the return was broken down by the most terrible event in the recent story of the kingdom. A terrorist organization, known as New World Order Army, surprised the word turning its attention on Kesteven.

The Northlands are divided in numerous kingdoms ruled by packs of tigers, and this lasts from centuries, from the last battles of the tigers against the arctic wolves for the possession of these lands, and the great victory up in Syrane, on the glacial pack of the North Pole. Obviously, anyhow, even most of the races that supported the tigers against the wolves, soon were tired of the tigers, too... mostly because most of the first kings shown absolutely no respect, gratitude or care, establishing a type of domination absolute and brutal. This goes on even now in most of the Northlands where or you are a tiger, or you are just shit. Kesteven had always been tolerant and respectful, an exception that only Glacial had followed. The overture towards everyone had always been seen as a crime by the others royal families, and was the main cause of the fact that Kesteven was always threatened and so often at war with the other kingdoms. Nonetheless, Kesteven had always been extremely proud, and had never allowed anyone to interfere in their internal matters... and this had allowed the kingdom at least to become very good friends of Glacial, and the nations of Are and Sarawak, not ruled by tigers, who always seen of good eye the respect of the pearl of the north.

As always in history, oppression causes hate and feelings of rebellion... and already some years before, a series of powerful leaders and rich exponents of most races, from the Northlands and from the rest of the world, had established a collaboration to start a war and change the situation, overturning the oppressive domination of the tigers on the north of the world. Was born the New World Order Army and Kesteven and the Huxley family at the start placed even a certain sympathy in the new group, sympathy apparently reciprocated.

Kesteven, after all, had always been a bulwark for all the races against the intolerance and the useless brutality. Kesteven was so convinced that the NWOA would have recognized that and never touched their people... even, someone had the hope that the two opposites could find the way of the peace, in a way or another, with the collaboration between the superpower of Kesteven and the new para-military organization. And for some time, it seemed that this prophecy was destined to become solid reality. The NWOA started with some successes. Mostly with terrorist attacks and guerrilla tactics, they managed to bring the fear into numerous tiger's kingdoms... once or twice, they managed to eventually kill a royal family and establish a republic that changed the situation like in a mirror, oppressing tigers... just to be crushed soon by a violent reaction of the other kingdoms. These events pushed Kesteven to start to suspect of the NWOA and see it always more just as a brutal multination of the terror instead of a way to find a peace. Then, a commando of tigers from Alfaya managed to find out about the major officers of the NWOA and especially about the major financer of the organization, the multi-billionaire Rex Rockland... and they killed them all during a meeting of the organization in Sarawak. They all had been found dead whit their throats torn apart around a table in one of the numerous Rockland facilities. A work clean, without noise.

After that, things changed radically. The NWOA remained silent for a pair of years... and all the tigers were by now convinced that it was only a memory of the past. But in reality it was just gaining new strength after its new birth. Much more cruel, skilled and well equipped, wrapped in a curtain of secret that still has not be pierced entirely, it attacked again... and this time, Kesteven was in the sight. A commando of terrorists that from long time were living in Kesteven, assaulted and occupied a great school of the capital and without wait, they blown up themselves, killing almost everyone inside and reducing to ruins most of the palace. Other ten terrorists, instead, reached strategic positions around the zone of the attack all along the streets of the block and fired over the rescue teams incoming, keeping them away and adding other victims to the count, forcing to a terrible agony and death the wounded, the numerous cubs included, clearly and proudly announcing publicly to the world that they were the crusaders of the NWOA.

The police was in difficulty against those well and heavily armed terrorists, and once more the Parachute Regiment was the first to intervene. The paratroopers fought with hate and fury, and In little time, armoured ambulances were sent to the place of the slaughter while the paratroopers killed and slaughtered savagely the terrorists one after the other. Kesteven was astonished and completely surprised... but the disbelief of the many ones that had thought and hoped that they couldn't really be of the NWOA was erased when the organization proudly confirmed again and again on the Internet and televisions that they were the first ones that had managed to hit Kesteven to heart. Besides, they prepared other attacks, some of them successful, even if now the kingdom was in alarm and often managed to stop their attempts. The NWOA had apparently come to see Kesteven as symbol and centre of the tiger's power, and they are apparently convinced that if they would have destroyed Kesteven, the days of the tigers would have been over.

Killer suffered a lot for that attack. The sight of all those cubs, some of whom were his own sons, and of several poor young and innocent females killed, assassinated and pushed into agony for no reason had hurt him infinitely, and given birth to an endless desire of revenge in his soul. Thing that soon would have been a powerful motor for his restless new activities... In fact, his numerous shows of value and strategic astuteness as well as physical power, united to his natural leadership and capacity to make the other follow him everywhere, even in the most dangerous situations, convinced the Defence Commission to offer him the charge of General and supreme commander of the army of Kesteven. He gladly accepted, and during the ceremony he received the crimson blade that he had designed and ordered to the legendary foundry of Kesteven and that would have been forever tied to him and give him his nickname, the terrible Wyvern.

As general, Killer continued on his path of innovation and change. For the tigers, in fact, usually wars were fought only with infantry and often only with swords, spears and similar weapons. Armoured vehicles, tanks, artillery and all the modern warfare hardware was often considered dishonorable, because was a widespread thought that it reduces the warrior's spirit and most of the beauty of a battle, placing a moron with a gun at the same level of a huge tiger with impressive mastery with swords. In any case, years and years ago, ever more often challenged by other species perfectly equipped with fire arms and decided to establish their superiority, also the tigers had introduced the use of the fire arms. Is not so real that they level every the difference between the warriors... the proof is that tigers are still owner, and that there are huge differences also between tiger and tiger.

Vehicles and high war technology are another story. There were still only a few kingdoms equipped with those sections of the army, and all the others were still convinced that there was no honor in fight from behind a thick wall of steel or bullet-proof glass. Killer too had thought this for a lot of time, even if he was well conscious of the huge potential of tanks and technology.

But now he begun study over these technologies as well, for learn how to fight victoriously against them and then he ended accruing a deep passion and interest, and again with the help of Roger Nellis and a large Research & Development section, he had ended up founding the First Armoured Cavalry Regiment of Kesteven, a new unit that he had cuddled like a son and modeled, trained and equipped to be decisive on the battlefield. With the time, he had then founded also the Second Regiment and used them at the sides of his infantry in every battle with impressive effects. And he had learned that when yours enemy has heavy anti-tank guns, tanks and missile-launchers, tank-crews must have the same bravery of the infantry and theirs mode of fight the war is honorable in the same way, too. Soon, the Kesteven army had overtook even Ire in fact of military technology, weapons and systems... and this resulted soon fundamental for the surviving of the kingdom of the north.

It was beginning a very hard period, in fact... the new threats were in reality old ones. Wentworth and Edwards, on the southern border, had once more formed a coalition against Kesteven, and had started to move their troops along the borders in a constant threaten. The first move of the new general had forcedly to be a ready answer to the challenge, with a proper show of muscles in the threatened zone in the attempt of dissuade the enemy from an attack and to be ready to stop rapidly any offensive into the kingdom's territory. It was a hard task, since the enemy could attack from many a different points along a border of several hundred kilometers, and Killer hadn't still managed to strengthen enough his service of reconnaissance. He remedied with dangerous missions of small teams to insert into the enemy territory at night, taking active part in each raid, but this proved to be anyhow of poor reliability, since the depth of their reconnaissance was limited: most of the times, use vehicles or better still helicopters was impossible because of the high attention of the enemy and the large presence of Anti-Air Defense, so that their range was limited by their possibility to march in and out in the space of the night.

Killer, anyhow, soon decided to be the first to attack, to give a strong signal and warning on himself and all Kesteven to their enemies. The result was a spectacular battle into the Edwards territory, where Killer guided a decided "Spear-tip" fast penetration of his forces, with his new main battle tanks in the first line, towards the side of the enemy forces during one of their daily, provocative cruises along the border. The clash was extremely violent, but fast. The joined forces of Edwards and Wentworth leaved the field defeated and on panic, suffering terrible loses. Killer insisted in the attack, not following the fleeting soldiers, smelling the danger of a trap, since he don't knew how many other units could be deployed deeper into Edwards, but pointing against some of the camps and operating advanced bases near the border, destroying the troops there and seizing ammo, weapons and females. To his spectacular victory and the glory gained fighting all time in the very first line, crushing every enemy line of defense, added his usual, but always incredible sexual power, something important to make a career into the tiger's civilization, seen the importance crucial of sex in there. Conquered the enemy officer's camp, the Kesteven soldiers had the possibility to take the females in there... and Killer raped in front of them all a good fifty females, without a single sign of giving in. If possible, this gained it even more fame that the military victory in itself.

Wentworth and Edwards, anyhow, hadn't been defeated. A few months later, recovered from the defeat, the coalition was again threatening. But Killer had introduced all sorts of improvements and strengthened the Reconnaissance service and analyzed attentively the movements of the enemy and the environment. The discovery of a large depot of fuel dug near the border in Edwards, near the main road for Kesteven passing for Raven, proved that this was the first objective of the enemy and so he prepared himself, gradually bringing his troops towards that zone, hiding as much as possible his real strength and his movements.

Soon, the First Battle of Raven begun. Raven is a small town on a luxuriant plateau, surrounded of forests and high mountains. Its strategic importance comes from the huge dam built in the valley, that generates energy for different industrial zones, included strategic military production plants. But especially, one of the largest roads for the capital Kesteven passed on the plateau, into town and over the dam. It was the more comfortable road of the entire sector... and obviously, it was a very attractive target for the enemy.

In the space of a pair of years, three battles took place in the zone of Raven, and Killer had so the chances to increase his fame, successes and build up still more his Legend. He don't missed a chance, winning all of those battles, even if the enemy was much more numerous and had a major fire power available, exploiting his tactical ability as much as his unstoppable physical power. But his name and much of his legend are tied to his Special Force, the better military corp of all the Northlands and very likely of the world: the Predators.

The Predators born almost for pure case, even if Killer had long thought about a similar unit: during the third battle of Raven, the fourth battle of Killer as general of the Kesteven's army, to help the 5ò Line Regiment of Infantry that had been surrounded by enemy forces of the Edwards's army on the hill of Raven and that was being forced to retreat towards the lake of the dam there, where it would have been surely destroyed, Killer had selected the best five men of each other unit at his disposal on the battlefield and guided them in a bold charge against the enemy line, breaking the siege and opening a way of retreat for the 5ò Regiment, before continue in the charge and, with the close support of tanks and helicopters, win this new, long and bloody battle.

Later after that battle, the general Wyvern confirmed into the ranks of the army a new unit called "Predators" and begun the work to make of it a special division. Establish permanently in Raven a military garrison and training centre like that had been an obvious move to strengthen the zone, and besides, Raven offered all the space and different environments needed for all sorts of training. The lake offered even the possibility to Killer to train his new soldiers in the difficult underwater warfare, the plateau allowed huge maneuvers and the mountains and forests allowed a first impact with hostile and extreme environments. So Raven become soon the "Home of the Predators". Killer maintained for this new division most of the standard organization of the other units of the army: the team of five men, traditional of Kesteven, remained the base-unit, and Killer, that even as general had never ceased to fight in the very first line, formed a team with himself as Leader, William as gunner, Nellis as assaulter and engineer and two very promising elements as complements: Ken Gatling was the best sniper in all the northlands, despite his very low age. His particular arm, an old bolt action Lee Enfield No Mk4 SMLE customized, was already deadly famous... and another element was a still younger, uniquely black furred tiger, Riaku Wales, soon of Diana Wales, the panther-like black-furred forbidden tigress, and the king, Seth. Even if someone advanced doubts that he could even be the son of Killer, the same Diana always denied. The young Riaku, anyhow, was a fencer formidable and a very good shot, even if much weaker than most Predators: these, in fact, are chosen especially for their strength and skills from each unit of the army, engineers included, and trained to be the best in everything, and to be able to do anything from undersea warfare to parachutist to intelligence, driving any type of vehicle, plane, ship or helicopter and using any sort of weapons and systems. This special team, anyhow, was gonna become world famous, and legendary in his integrity.

During this time, anyhow, happened the fifth battle of Raven, better known as "the battle of the recruits". The 1° Parachute Division of Edwards had in fact attacked of surprise the mountain near Raven, where the first Predators of the history of Kesteven were facing their training. That day, the test for the recruits was find and capture the general Killer Huxley and the lance corporal Riaku Wales. But the general Andrew, of the kingdom of Edwards, known that Wyvern was alone on the mountain, had immediately launched a full scale attack with his parachute division, trying to capture or kill his worst rival, that had already defeated and humiliated him four times. The battle is famous because of the answer that Killer gave to the request of surrender of Andrew when surrounded by the enemy parachutists. "I'm a soldier. We don't do surrenders. We don't pull up white flags." Was the message that Riaku transmitted as answer when the division surrounded them. This event is also famous because in this occasion, Killer destroyed entirely the first of the three regiments of the parachute division and forced the other two to retreat with terrible loses, gaining time for some team of recruits to come to the battle zone. During a furious fight some hours later, the rests of the parachute division of Edwards were destroyed by this small but powerful group of recruits, leaving the first Predators and their general victorious on the bloody mountain. Obviously, the legend of Killer grown to amazing levels, since Wyvern alone had managed to slaughter almost an entire division of enemy parachutists, forcing hundreds of other soldiers to flee... Wyvern by now was the hero of all Kesteven, the defender that everyone knew would have always stopped any threat.

Rapidly, the arranged but already glorious unit of the Predators become a specially trained, small division with a formidable mobility on the battle field, designed and equipped for reach the zone of the crisis faster than everyone else and with a minimal use of vehicles and cargos and then fight for at least 72 hours without receive reinforces or supplies. The unit is also able to perform every type of mission from stealth assassination to front-line service, from intelligence to underwater demolition to parachutist service. During the second year of existence of the division was also founded the Special Reconnaissance Squadron, integrative part of the unit, formed by twenty men still more trained than the others, specialized in the use of parachute or stealth gliders or other ways of stealth infiltration to overcome the enemy lines and work behind them for hit high-value targets like command posts and for gather information of intelligence. They rapidly become the heroes of Kesteven and the same symbol of the courage and superiority of the Kesteven army, but they become especially famous as "The Wyvern's guard" or, as much of them still like to be called, "The Killer's boys", because the general himself was always proud to be a Predator in first place, and was always with them, in and out the battlefield, sharing the same tribulations, dangers and pains. Called "Predators", and with a motto clear and burning, "Who dares wins", that wild pile was and is an impressive engine of destruction, compounded by the best soldiers selected every five, from each regiment of what is already the best army of the Northlands, and trained still hardly than anyone else.

For years, this continued. Kesteven known very little peace in the years that followed, especially because of the NWOA, that alternated moments of pure terrorism to the construction of true armies and coalitions to launch against the kingdom known as the pearl of the north. But Wyvern was a bulwark that never staggered, and he and the Predators become a symbol not only of resistance, but of victory and hope. They always stopped in huge and often apparently desperate battles the enemy, and on the other hand, they stalked it without never give a pause. The Special Reconnaissance Service was used without conserve one's energy, facing audacious missions of research and intelligence in all the world, often facing also the need to hide themselves from the nations they were working in, because they were seen with hostility. Their raids, both physic, phsychologic and on the net, obtained often amazing results. They erased entire counts in international banks that were destined to the NWOA with hacker tactics. They shadowed and discovered members, financers and commanders of the organization worldwide. They bombed and raided bases and meeting points... a style of operation become their "trademark": infiltrate bases of the NWOA to place miniaturized micro-spies and, especially, small GPS signallers on the personal weapons of the members every time it was possible. Their observation, made easier in this way, could so lead to discover new members and bases... and when the subject wasn't anymore useful, operatives of the Predators were used to kill them in the more different ways. The same Killer managed an operation that kept all Kesteven with hanging breath until it wasn't over: during an attack into Edwards's territory, he faked his death, exploiting part of his special training that included remain in "apparent death" for long time... and as forecasted, he was brought into the fortress of his own rival, the general Andrew. When there, Wyvern awakened himself and killed the rival, before fight his way back out and home between the ranks and lines of the enemy.

Killer "Wyvern" Huxley, already a true legend, faced his most demanding and difficult challenge at the age of 16, when his experience, as much as all the rest, was truly large for years of fighting. The NWOA, Wentworth and Edwards formed a huge, single coalition and mobilized the largest army never seen before in the Northlands. The battle, this time truly decisive and without appeal for Kesteven, would have took place in the small village of Wycherley

The battle of Wycherley is remembered as one of the biggest and hardest battles of the long, warrior's History of Kesteven, probably the biggest of all. Coming out from a long period of battles against the near kingdoms, Killer's homeland was victorious but still surrounded of mostly untamed enemies, even if weak after the continuous fights. The same Kesteven had loses to weep, but especially it had his army scattered in numerous departments along his long borders and it was, paradoxically, weaker now as nation victorious than before, when at least his army was united, gathered in the same place and ready to fight.

In this situation, an army of arctic wolves had probably signed an alliance with Wentworth and Edwards, two of the beaten but not tamed enemy kingdoms neighboring with Kesteven, obtaining help and permission for walk freely in their territory. So, this army had begun to carry out audacious and vicious raids in the Kesteven's lands, almost every night, daring every time nearer to the capital and every time fleeing again in the territory of Wentworth or Edwards.

The situation was rapidly become intolerable, but follow the wolves in the enemy territory was equal to a war declaration and beside it was like run whistling cheerfully in a huge ambush. Killer, returned home with the biggest department of the army after a victorious campaign in foreign lands, had gathered in Kesteven the major number of forces possible, ignoring his own fatigue and the tiredness of his soldiers in front of the rapidly worsening situation.

In the same days, in fact, troops of Wentworth and Edwards had joined stably the wolves and a huge army of other species had reached them, too, shaping a huge army ready for a serious attack against Kesteven. The numeric advantage of this army against the Killer's own was of about 15 to 1, and the risk of other deteriorations was high.

Fortunately, tigers were stronger of both wolves, lions and everything else, but only in the hand to hand combat. Unfortunately, on the other side, the enemy was perfectly equipped with the latest fire arms, artillery and tanks and decided to fight the decisive battle with these weapons and not with swords and muscles like the tigers usually do... Besides, the invasion force was guided by a huge black wolf sadly famous for a long career of murders, crimes and rapes, merciless, unbiased and expert of fire arms.

Tall almost thirteen feet, he was much more impressive than the other wolves, even of the members of his army, a huge pack of arctic wolves of considerable sizes, weight and ferocity. He was famous for be an excellent warrior, even if not too fond of loyalty when in bad situation. His reputation was born during some battles against other packs of wolves, then when he had guided a terroristic group of warrior in a two years long bloody enterprise along some tiger's territories and then it was grown incredibly when he had guided a series of lucky campaigns against some tiger's kingdoms.

He was by now seen as a hero, a hope for the oppressed species for break the age of predominance of the tigers, even if he was one of the more despicable guys in the world. He was strong, he was smart and able of create bolt and effective strategies and the promise of power and wealth was enough for control him the minimum indispensable for exploit his abilities. Stupidly, kingdoms of tigers like Wentworth and Edwards had seen in him an easily exploitable cog in the wheel for destroy Kesteven... that was, all in all in their vision, the biggest and strongest bulwark of the tiger's dominance.

On 3 January, the ex terrorist wolf known as "Dark", that was probably only a nickname, was probably the strongest man in the world. Under his command, he had not only the NWOA, but virtually also Wentworth and Edwards, controlling their two armies, a huge pack of arctic wolves and an enormous army of wolves, lions, horses and much other, with a great fleet of artillery and tanks.

Fortunately, Killer had introduced this kind of equipment from long time in his army... so, at the eve of the decisive fight, he could count on a little but well equipped and trained towed artillery, a recently founded group of self propelled artillery and on two regiments armed with huge and really powerful tanks, plus a regiment of fast jeeps WMKRV for reconnaissance and light cavalry's tasks. He was in huge numeric disadvantage, but he could trust in his men and his equipments and in the common determination of save the homeland. His soldiers were almost all veterans, forged by the battles, heavily trained and well equipped... but Killer had available only three companies of his elite force, the Predators, each with 100 men, and about 13.000 soldiers of the Line's Infantry divisions for face an army of almost 200.000.

On 4 January, at the end of a terrible snowfall lasted for three days, Dark moved rapidly forwards from Edwards, entering in the Kesteven's territory. Finally aware of the position of the enemy, Killer gathered every vehicle available in the capital for move his own forces towards the invasion force with a march with forced stage, as fast as possible. An interminable convoy of tanks, armored transport vehicles, civil cars, trucks, everything, leaved the city of Kesteven, every vehicle full over every limit of soldiers, munitions and supplies. The objective was fight the enemies far from the capital for protect the population and possibly contain the damages. The two armies entered finally in collision in the zone around the little village of Wycherley around the 10.00 pm of the night of the 5 January.

The battlefield was a little uneven plain cut in half by a large river frozen and covered by a thick layer of ice. The left half of the zone was defined by a rocky hill at the west-southern extreme and by the little village of Wycherley at the east-northern one. A road from Kesteven pass in plain and overcome the river with two bridges, one in correspondence of the village and one about two kilometers north of it. Everything was covered by a thick layer of fresh snow, the temperature was terrible and the night foggy.

The first meeting between the rival forces happened at the bridge at the village at the 10.06 pm, when an advanced patrol of Kesteven found Wycherley already in the hands of the enemy and tried in vain to keep the possession of the bridge with a short but furious gunfire against stronger enemy forces, before being forced to retreat. Neither ten minutes later, Dark ordered to destroy the bridge to gain time and avoid a direct contact with the always powerful rival army, placing a garrison in the buildings of the village to reinforce that side of his lines.

At the 10.15 pm, also the northerner bridge fell in the hands of Dark, who keep it intact and placed a great force of surveillance on it, beginning to place solid positions in forecast of a long resistance. He ordered also of place demolition charges of high explosives on the two pylons of the bridge for emergency cases. The bridge was indispensable for both the armies: Dark needed it for march on the other shore and open the road for the city of Kesteven, Killer needed it for attack his enemy and stop him from go further forwards. Cross the river on the ice was an invite for be killed: a single attack of artillery or mortars, and the few survivors at the bombs would end in the freezing water under the broken ice and die rapidly. The Dark's orders were to maintain absolutely the possession of the bridge or at least destroy it if really the enemy was too stronger and the position was in danger of fall in the Killer's hands.

Dark lined up his army along his shore of the river, placing furiously mines and large fields of barbed wire in front of his line, then ordered to the soldiers to dig a trench for prepare a long resistance. Behind all this formidable, deadly system of defense, he lined up his artillery. A cannon every five meters, for all the length of the battlefield. About 800 guns, placed between the hill and the village. In the rear echelon he placed also his reserve and his huge fleet of tanks, ready for intervene everywhere along the front or for charge on the bridge and open the way for Kesteven at the right moment. The same general, with his elite force of arctic wolves, reached the top of the hill at the other side and established there a fortified camp, spreading barbed wire and mine fields and placing smartly mortars and machine guns for cover the slope. With the huge number of guns available, he had only to defend that perfect line for win and erase Killer and his army from the face of the Earth. Probably overvaluing the number of the Kesteven's soldiers and underestimating the Killer's ability as strategist, Dark chose a defensive tactic instead of exploit his huge numeric advantage for charge immediately the tired Kesteven's army. The first, heavy mistake.

Killer understood immediately the gravity of the situation, but also his chances of victory and designed immediately a complex plain for overturn the fates of the battle, already largely against him and Kesteven. He exploited at maximum possibilities the fog and the darkness, ordering to his soldiers of dig trenches and holes in the plain... Not for resist there, but for hide a good part of his forces and appear still weaker than he really was and protect his army from the fire of the enemy artillery as best as possible.

Behind the first line, he placed all his artillery, hiding the guns still better, with every smartness and notion of camouflaging. He was well aware that he could use it only later, recognizing the right moment: the enemy artillery was much bigger and well supplied with counter-battery radar and sensors, capable of find the position of the enemy's gun observing his fire. Besides, Dark could see easily the Killer's batteries fire from the camp on the mountain. Killer had absolutely need of the artillery... but make a mistake was a sentence of Death.

Still behind, he hidden the Logistic Tanks of the engineering regiment, vehicles equipped with special systems for open passages in the barbed wire and mine fields and his smart tanks bridge-layer, fulcrum of his plan. On the road, he leaved in waiting his tanks and jeeps, ready for charge. Yes, charge. He had every intention of attack, despite the disadvantage.

At the 11.40 pm, a squadron of 20 tigers of the 1° Company of the Killer's elite force, the Predators, reached silently the shore of the river, about half kilometer south of the intact bridge and opened a hole in the thick ice. They were equipped with a thermal skin diver's wetsuit and little water-proof submachine guns with silencers. Their commander had also a radio on his shoulders and a smart board with watch, GPS receiver and magnetic compass in his hands.

Despite the freezing temperature, only softened by the smart wetsuits, they swam under the layer of ice in the cold water, silently, everyone with the hand on the shoulder of the man ahead, in the complete darkness, the commander first in line, his eyes on the table. When they finally reached the position under the structure of the bridge, between the two pylons, they broken the ice from under the surface, slowly and silently, then exited from the water as dark shadows in the darkest night.

That was the second fire contact of the battle. At the 11.50 pm, the Predators killed silently the two sentinels, one for pylon, and rapidly checked the structure, cutting the cables of the detonators and removing the explosive charges. Two of them undressed the two enemy killed and took their places with their uniforms on, dissolving every suspect in the rest of the enemy guardian force, that was solidly placed on and around the entrances of the bridge.

At the 00.00, on 6 January, the bridge was virtually clean from any explosive charge, even if the certainty was impossible. One of the Predators had given a careful look around on the bridge and seen the main detonator, placed in a position reinforced with sand-sacks and full of soldiers, but they were only a few and their only hope was remain hidden under the bridge. No possibilities of success in a mad attack against that garrison... The other defenses were other positions similar, each with machine guns and even anti-tank cannons. Even without can attack and take the detonator for grant the integrity of the bridge, they had already done much more than forecasted in the best hypothesis. The commander of the squadron transmitted the message of success with his encoded radio, giving to Killer the first good item of news of the day. After the message "Hammer", the commander gave a detailed report about the defensive position of the enemy on the bridge, giving to Killer incredibly precise, amazingly precious, and unexpected situation awareness.

At the 00.25 am, the rest of the 1° Coy Predators reached the bridge from the sky, on board of two black glider, silent and stealth, invisible on the enemy's radars, that had waited flying some miles far away, towed by two aircrafts. The first, huge but light winged body glider landed directly on the right entrance of the bridge, the second landed on the entrance at the other side. Every glider had on 40 Predators heavily armed with assault rifles, grenades, anti-tank rocket launchers, a few machine guns and an heavy anti-tank cannon.

The huge tigers with their white uniforms jumped out from the gliders, shooting furiously and throwing grenades. They knew exactly where shoot thanks to the report of the comrades that now were emerging from under the bridge like demons, causing other panic in the enemy's lines. The defenders, terrorized and disbelieving, tried a defense, but all was vain.

The third fire contact was furious and bloody, but rapid. The Predators killed in a few seconds of fight the incredulous defenders, taking no prisoners. At the 00.28 am, the bridge has changed owners and a first line of defense was already placed, with twelve machine guns (four captured from the enemy), 6 anti-tank cannons (4 captured) and a total of 72 soldiers. Five loses and three wounded soldiers has been the price for Kesteven. The enemy had lost at least ninety men, probably more. A perfect blow of surprise. Killer received with incredible relief the message "Pegasus", which means complete success. His genial, bold and incredibly cheeky plan was gone perfectly.

At this point, the Predators answered at some calls on the radio from the enemy headquarters, talking with the same Dark, sometimes. The noise of the battle for the bridge was gone far in the night and the enemy was suspicious, but the Kesteven's soldiers managed of deceive the rivals until the 01.15 am, passing themselves as the Dark's garrison that they had killed and telling, surprisingly cheeky, to Dark and to his officers the bullshit that they had "...Repelled a Kesteven's attack of valuation on the bridge."

When finally the enemy understood the trick and the artillery begun to thunder, throwing a rain of burning steel on their positions, the Predators entered in the legend giving to Dark and his general staff some insults very creative on the radio. A way as another for keeps high the mood during the rain of Death of the cannons.

But the very important thing, in these first hours of the second day of battle, was that Kesteven was owner of the bridge and that they had gained enough time for clean the road and to permit at the Killer's Cavalry to charge forwards and cross the bridge without meet resistance, at least for a bit, opening a leak in the differently unassailable Dark's front.

Killer was in his mobile command post, surrounded by his better officers and an army of radio-operators, nervous. His spirit was roaring for the wish to run and go in first line with his boys, but he was well aware that in these decisive hours, his place was bended on the maps, as head of the army and not as his heaviest punch. But at the 02.30 am, the battle around the bridge has become a Hell, and he had feel the sensation of be a coward, there, in an armored trailer-command post, far from the place where the fight was burning, where the Death was kissing...

The Predators were in huge troubles. The enemy artillery was the hardest problem... there were no possibility of defense against the rain of steel from the sky that was plowing literally the ground all around them. Enemy infantry was attacking them furiously from the near village with the help of a good number of armored vehicles, but Predators were well equipped for face them. Besides, the enemy had thrown forwards his tanks, littler and weaker than the Kesteven's model, but much more numerous, so the Cavalry was really busy in one of the bigger battle of tanks of the recent History, really too busy for help them. At the very least, fortunately, also the enemy's tanks were stuck, instead of charge on the bridge.

This the decisive moment. At the 03.00 am, Killer, well aware of the deadly risk for the 1° Coy "Predators" and for his two regiments of armored cavalry, played three bold, cheeky moves.

First, the Predators charged forwards instead of remain motionless in defense, attacking the village of Wycherley directly. It would be an hard battle against much more numerous forces well placed in the houses and buildings, but at least the enemy artillery was cut off from the game: shoot on Wycherley was for them friendly fire on theirs soldiers.

Second, Killer dared with his self-propelled artillery, a little regiment of heavy howitzers placed in made-on-measure turrets with automatic charging system, inserted on the body of a normal tank. He made outline the position of the enemy artillery and then ordered to this unit to open fire on the perfectly determined co-ordinates, every time fleeing at full speed after the first shot, for take again the attack from another position, avoiding the furious enemy's reaction.

The game worked wonderfully: thanks to their mobility, the 27 self propelled guns begun to be a serious problem for Dark and his much more numerous and powerful but fixed artillery. The projectiles were fired with great precision on his cannons, every time destroying a precious gun or more and despite the perfect localization that he was able to do every time with his radars, acoustic sensors and even with his eyes, he was incapable of destroy the enemy's SPGs, because the answer of his own guns landed always in an already leaved position. After some minutes of this, he ordered of reduce the use of the artillery and the creation of a group of guns and sensors with the lonely task of try to kill the hateful SPGs. Finally, Kesteven's forces had relief from the furious bombardment.

The third move of Killer was launch his Light Cavalry Regiment in a long, bold attack behind the enemy's lines. The forty jeeps WMKRV roared in the night, getting around the large zone were the tanks of the two armies were fighting and then running down towards the mountain at the other side of the battlefield, bursting into the long line of cannons of the Dark's artillery, shooting with every weapon available for kill the servants and destroy the weapons or the huge piles of projectiles.

The battle lasted all the night, with terrible ferocity and more than a time Killer must fight himself for remain in the command post instead of reach the cauldron. The first company Predators was paying a high price in Wycherley, conquering house after house the entire village and already repelling the first counterattacks. The 1° and 2° Cavalry's regiments were fighting furiously in the plain all around the city against an enemy numerically advantaged and Kesteven was counting heavy loses. The awareness that enemy was paying a still much higher price was a consolation, but not at all.

But the three Killer's moves reached the target, almost hissing the enemy's artillery, reducing drastically the number of the enemy's guns and forcing Dark to move all his reserve and all his tanks against Wycherley for stop the terrible Predators and the powerful Kesteven's cavalry. A side of the battlefield was already in the Killer's hands, and that was going to be very nasty for him.

On 6 January, at about 08.00 in the morning, the sun broken the fog on the battlefield and Dark seen from his camp the other shore of the river, finding out that the Kesteven's army was still weaker than what he had imagined. He had committed a fatal mistake... he had chose a defensive tactic and had lost the control on it, too. He was no longer owner of the left side of his lines and had given a night to the big of the rival army for rest and prepares the fight.

Wycherley was completely in the hands of the exhausted but still combative 1° Coy "Predators", reduced to only fifty or so men but still equipped, trained and strong enough for resist in the conquered city against much more massive forces. The Kesteven's Cavalry was maintaining solidly the rest of the side, offering to the enemy a wall of shooting guns and gaining laboriously and bloodily ground. The Dark's artillery was reduced to a shadow of what was been only a few hours before, by now in numeric disadvantage against the Kesteven's one. Dark had still a great vantage in term of number of soldiers... but the general advantage was rapidly shifting towards Kesteven.

But at the 08.15 am, Killer found that the main offensive was by now indispensable. He had sent some little troops in reinforce to the 1° Coy across the bridge by now ruined after the long fire of the artillery, but for decide the battle he had to launch the decisive, frontal clash and broken the stall's phase.

Kesteven's artillery opened his fire on the trench of Dark, on the mountain and especially on the rival's gun's batteries in a furious attack. At the 09.30 am, a part of the Kesteven's cannons begun to shoot smoke-grenades in front of the enemy's trench, raising a thick curtain of artificial fog along the entire front line.

At the 10.00 am, a wall of smoke covered the movement of the first part of the Killer's army: all the gunners and the snipers of his army reached the best position possible on the shore for cover with their fire the successive phase.

At the 10.30 am, the logistic tanks charged forwards, reaching the shore in accurately selected points, beginning to shoot across the thick artificial fog their special explosive charges for destroy the fences of barbed wire and clean the opposite shore from the mines.

At the 11.00 am, all the Kesteven's infantry raise from his hiding places in the snow, lined up perfectly and marched towards the river with his flags proudly waving in the freezing air, Killer this time finally in first line, just behind the bridge-layer tanks, under the steely umbrella of the continuous fire of the artillery.

The tigers advanced roaring and beating their swords on their rifles or on their armors, together with the solemn, slow rhythm of drums along the line. The racket was terrible for the Dark's soldiers, lacking of sight on the enemy cause' the fog, scared stiff by the terrible bombardment of the artillery and for the roars of the huge warriors, the trench shaking every time when a powerful explosive charge landed on the shore and exploded, destroying the mines and tearing apart the barbed wire... the panic begun to wind in the Dark's lines.

For the exhaust, blood stained and often wounded Predators besieged in Wycherley and for the men of the Cavalry, instead, that was the music of Heaven, and they joined cheerfully the impressive voice of their comrades. Someone later written "that was the voice of the Hell".

At the 11.30 am, 96 bridge-layer tanks reached the shore near at the still working Logistic Tanks and launched their long, steely gangways over the broken ice. The Kesteven's army launched the attack across these passages, being welcomed by the heavy fire of the enemy. Despite the heavy loses, the tigers continued the attack with high mood, 96 floods of warriors emerging suddenly from the fog directly in front of the enemy trench, on a by now completely lacking of mines but plowed, moon-like shore.

At the 01.15 pm, Dark received the notice that the army of Kesteven was solidly landed on his shore, on his side of the river. Every attempt to stop the charge of the tigers has failed, and the fight was becoming a bloody hand to hand. In some points, the enemy warriors were already penetrated in the trench. All the huge army of Dark was already busy in the fight. A reserve was inexistent, apart from his personal army of arctic wolves that was ready in his camp on the top of the mountain, with the mood already destroyed by the impressive sight of the wave of white uniforms that was gaining ground in the plain.

Despite heavy losses, at the 03.20 pm Kesteven was owner of the major part of the trench, the 1° Coy Predators and the Cavalry were advancing with renovated vigor, crushing the scared, exhausted enemy army backwards in the plain.

At 04.45 pm, Dark thought to have found a weak point in the confuse line of Kesteven at the feet of his mountain, that Killer had baptized "Bloody Hill", and launched the arctic wolves at the attack. But the battle was already lost and in answer Killer advanced directly against the wolves with the 2° and 3° Companies "Predators", beginning to destroy the last troops and climb the hard, rocky slope of the hill. That was the beginning of the end, and in a few hours, Wyvern guided the Predators on top of the mountain and killed the same Dark in duel.

This enormous victory had had a high cost... the 1° Company Predators leaved on the field 62 victims on 100 effectives, and almost every man survived had been wounded. At 03.16 pm on 6 January, the hard, bloody fight was end. Kesteven had suffered loses, in terms of life, of about the 12%, with a 15% of wounded and loses of material almost insubstantial. At 10.00 pm of 5 January, the wolf named Dark, ex terrorist, murderer and general, was the stronger man in the world, ready to crush Kesteven, conquer the throne and erase probably forever the domination of the tigers. At 07.16 pm on 6 January, Dark was only a headless corpse on the ground, his army reduced to a faded memory: the losses of life were around the 75%, with almost a 20% of prisoners and loses of equipment of 100% between destroyed, abandoned, damaged or captured by the enemy.

But this time, the triumph was so big that Kesteven had finally found the peace and had the time to weep and honor his dead and build up a huge monument on the plain of Wycherley... and in the successive two years, finally, no one ever dared again to bother Kesteven. In those two years, Killer trained still more his army, prepared his homeland to the future challenges and lived finally a bit of pacific life. But he wasn't suited to do that for too long... he had grown to love the fight, and he soon leaved his homeland, family, friends and comrades to start a solitary journey in the rest of the world.

The seven years that followed saw him lose himself. It was his first time out of the different universe of the Northlands, some days after he had leaved the finally peaceful Kesteven for experience something new in his life. New... he was looking more for new battles than anything else. But in a bar of Newbury he had faced the reality of one of the town with the highest rate of crime of the entire continent, where rival gangs of assholes were constantly at war each against the other for the control of the huge takings of prostitution and drug traffics or for the complete control of entire zones of the city. For the tiger, used to the world of discipline and the rules of honor of the north, that seemed a lost Hell where chaos was the supreme power. A vision disconcerting... and a sight more than enough to infuriate him with every step in the roads full of junkies and domineering assholes loaded of guns, knives and chains and scattered hardware. He had always hated arrogance, even if sometimes he could really reprimand himself for that same defect... and he hated see morons that he could beat to pulps with hands tied at his tail act like the owners of the town. He resisted to his rage and to every wish of crush them, mostly because they were wise enough to not bother the muscular newcomer giant that was freezing them with his icy blue eyes from his towering height of fourteen feet. No one had had the bravery to stand against him and try to threaten him or to steal him money like they did with all the others along the streets. Most of them weren't tall enough to face his crotch and no one was taller than half his own eight and the more muscular of them wasn't anywhere near at his behemoth, tank-like built body... and they all exited rapidly from his path with ears flat and tails curled between their legs even before see that he had his usual three swords, too...

He had thought to join the police for help with that scum... Hell, he liked the idea and the police seemed to have really need of help for the chaos that he could take in his eyes everywhere around. But he had to find out that most of the police itself was corrupted. To learn that politics were behind everything, too weak and too tied in dirty money jobs with the gangs for do anything. He had to find out that democracy, there, was only a rapid, easy way to make possible all that mess. And he was about to find how these fancy laws of protection of life and rights were only bullshit made for protect more the gangsters than everyone else.

He had entered a calm-looking bar for a quick drink and a moment of rest for overcome the rage in his body, well knowing the danger hidden in the strangely hot blood that he felt in his veins. He had always been unstoppable in his fury. He had always been easy to rage. He had always hated crime and arrogance... and then, all happened. A gang of criminals had suddenly assaulted the bar... a grey, dirt and clearly drug addict wolf that had aimed a shotgun at the face of the bartender, asking loudly for money whit his muzzle drooling and his face horribly twitching in a crisis. Several more criminals, most wolves and badgers, had assaulted every table with weapons of every sort, without any hesitation putting pistols against the noses of elderly, child and kids, men and women as two more approached his table, not really trying to reach his massive, dangerous figure but only aiming their handguns over him for force him motionless as he looked at them with the deepest disgust.

The head of the pack was, strangely, a cold, merciless looking grey wolf female standing probably about seven feet and half tall, towering a few inches over practically all the others of the gang with hers toned, muscular body. She was dressed with a long, worn black raincoat opened over a simple, dirty and torn white shirt tightly molded over notable breasts and a muscular but somehow seeming suffering-frequently-for-hunger belly, whit legs tightly wrapped into shattered blue jeans and large bare paws, armed with two black 9 mm pistols and a small arsenal of chains and iron-punches. She was even nice, despite the mess of hers uncared fur and the ruffled tail.

And soon things fallen in an unstoppable downwards spiral. The female gangster recognized the white tiger from the legendary prince of the north that she had so many times seen on news, Tv, magazines... she tried first to seduce him, and he gave her fake attention... but when it was clear that he would never have supported them, she tried to use force with her 15 pals to capture him to ask money to his family... and obviously, that had been a very bad choice. Killer had lost the control of his rage and inner darkness, and in a matter of a minute, he had slaughtered the gang and was raping savagely the wolf boss. He raped her to death, without restrain himself. Then he called the police and waited for them to come... completely peaceful about what he had done, since in the Northlands, such an act would have just been seen as a good act. Things, anyhow, gone differently once more. The police, both for the different laws of Ire and both for their large corruption, tried to arrest him, and once more, he easily freed himself, and the slaughter of Newbury started. He massacred the police, raped to death the policewomen and then he was completely out of control. He begun to travel along the streets killing every person he met and preferably raping every female. He razed to the ground several palaces... badly damaged several more. He entered into flat after flat to search his victims... raped wife in front of husbands. Mothers in front of sons. Only a miracle always restrained him from killing also the kids and the babies: he always stopped himself in front of a cradle, because they were still innocent, and even in his rage, he wasn't and he would have never been like the terrorists that he had seen kill all those innocent cubs in Kesteven. But he erased their families from earth... He destroyed the police stations, found there weapons and explosives... and with that, he continued his opera with still major violence. The people of Newbury was fleeing on the highway by now... but he destroyed a flyover and stopped them, creating one of the major traffic jams of history. And then hit the queues of cars and trucks with rocket launchers and overturned and wrecked vehicles with his brutal strength. When he finally leaved, Newbury was a Hell of fire and corpses and ruins, a city erased from the maps.

And that was only the start of the seven years of his fury, all around the world. Often he destroyed teams of cops and of the International Security Force that were searching him for the crimes of Newbury. He often destroyed other villages and towns, the monster in him still strong, pushing the legend to the darkest pits of Hell every now and then... He also easily killed a lot of careless "hunters" that were trying to capture him. Dead or alive. The prize was an amount of money fabulous, and in the first period, many dared... but after the first massacres, even the police and the army renounced to try to capture him.

He wasn't out of control all the time, anyhow. He also continued his career of soldier... many a nations and organizations in the world had the need of such a trained, merciless giant. He especially served into most armies and especially Special Forces around the world, with the only restriction that he always avoided anything that could be of danger for his homeland. He was into teams of Combat Search and Rescue in the desert during the battles in Almahara, that even if he had years before retarded, had finally blown up with a terrible war against Are. There, he saved lives as much as killing, and he was again proud of himself and hoped to never again fall in the darkness. But when the war ended and he was discharged, he fell immediately again in his dark life and in the degradation of his violence and unstoppable power, until he took the chance to join the Special Reconnaissance Squadron of Are for the missions of search and destroy against the mobile ballistic missile launchers that were continuously firing missiles against the small Republic of Are... but then he was once again a terrorist, assassin and rapist. He ended up accepting for a bit the work of assassin on commission... he was extremely expensive, but there was nothing that he couldn't do, and the different families of the Mafia in Dacca rivaled to gain his service to kill each other's members. When he decided that he was tired of that life, he completely destroyed all the families and their patrimonies, messing up most of the entire Dacca. Then he was into the Parachutist Regiment of Java during the conquest of the island of the Yellow Sea, then again into the Special Boat Service of Seawing, where he exploited once more his knowledge of underwater demolition, infiltration and of how to properly mine the hull of a warship until he was ordered to sink a destroyer with a raid in a heavily supervised port and he did it, adding on the push of his thirst of blood and destruction the crumbling of most of the port itself. And for all the time, he continued his private, merciless war against the remaining of the New World Order Army in the world. He was the one who killed three suspected terrorists of the NWOA with a pistol in the middle of the main street of Ankara, for example. And he was so feared that, despite all the people who assisted, no one is ever been able to say neither that the assassin was a tiger. Strange, because he had on only a pair of sunglasses with no claims of secret... Last, he was into the Special Assault Service in Urania... terrorists had captured an airport in the jungle with more than 130 hostages and he was brought in the zone with helicopters into a team of 64 men in teams of eight, all heavily armed. They marched for three days, then assaulted the airport on multiple directions... a classic attack "Silent, then noisy" and saved all the hostages. Killer was once more so proud of himself. So happy. He brought out from the airport a lot of cubs, bringing them to the helicopters on his shoulders... but then he fallen again in the hands of his terrible, inner darkness and thirst of blood and power and domination... But then, finally, after another short period of darkness that closed this period known as "The seven years of the Fury", he met two young tigresses, Athena and Joy, in Freedall, and let himself being convinced by them that it was moment to become a king... and he so assaulted Kendrew and begun his walk of redemption...