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The Karn Dominion, The Hybrid War

Brad, Part 2

by

William W. Kelso

At first I had actually wanted to return to the Factory, to the stables where I'd spent the last thirteen years as a beast of burden, an animal with less value or rights then a slave. Not for the labor, but for my friends and the herd, the equine part of me longed for that security and companionship again. To be with others like myself, with no worries other then performing their functions to please our masters. If Rob and Bob had still been alive, even knowing and understanding what I do now, I would still have returned without hesitation as we had been totally and completely loyal and devoted to one another over all other considerations or loyalties. It went far beyond mere friendship. Had they still been alive the resistance would have had to kill me in order to stop me from leaving and going back them. But I knew they were dead, and that was the only reason I didn't go back.

At first I hated the resistance fighters, and blamed them for the deaths of my team mates. But slowly my anger and rage was redirected to the true murderers, the Karn and their slave races! One day the cougar hybrid named Tony had come to see me, and at first I had only screamed human and equine obscenities at him, my ears back and teeth bared. Then he had handed me two straps with the names "ROB" and "BOB" embossed on them, he had removed the name tags from their bridles after the massacre. They had been the only things those two mules could call their own, and it was the most kind and precious gift I ever received. I still have them to this day. I had held them to my heart and cried, still smelling my friends faint scents on them, and Tony had cried too. That big scary carnivore, mewing like a kitten with tears running down his muzzle. Carnivore or herbivore, we had all once been human and had a tie that could never be broken. After that we became friends and later I would save his life under fire after he was wounded in battle.

A few days later I received another priceless gift. Tina asked me if I wanted to go outside for awhile, and I readily agreed as it would be my first trip outside of the silo since I'd arrived a few weeks earlier. When we exited the secret entrance she had taken me to a small nearby rundown barn, and as we got closer I could smell the scent of mules! I broke into a run, followed by the sound of Tina's own hooves clopping daintily on the ground, and ran into the barn in a blind rush driven by instincts I couldn't deny. And in a stall were two mules! I let out a loud bray of joy at seeing them, and nickering and squealing I ran up and hugged them. At first they had looked up and whinnyawed eagerly as I entered the barn, but almost right away they lowered their heads again and didn't seem to see me. I knew they were still grieving for their own dead Donkey handler, and even though I was a Donkey too they didn't really care. I could see they were thin and listless, and again my instincts to care for any Mules kicked in. For the first time since my team mates had died I had a purpose again, a real reason for living. I nuzzled and groomed them, lipping their muzzles and blowing gently, but mostly I just held them, my arms wrapped around their huge thick necks. And I grieved with them for their lost team mate, and they grieved for mine. And Tina, bless her heart, knew enough to leave us alone, and quietly left.

And slowly they began to respond, at first by trying to pull away from my attempts at affection as they wanted to be left alone, but I think it was my own tears and own obvious distress that won them over. They couldn't stand to see a Donkey, any Donkey, sad or in distress. Their names were Mike and Ike, and their handler and team mate had been a Donkey named Buster who had been a friend of mine, and we had groomed one another many times. So I had another reason to grieve. They were the surviving team from the massacre. They knew me already because our stalls had been directly across from one another back at the factory. It took days of my persistent care and love for them to bring them out of their grieving for Buster, and I know if I hadn't they would have died. And they brought me back too, and together we grieved for our lost team mates and friends, but together we also gave one another a new chance, and we became a team ourselves. Under my care they soon regained their lost weight, their coats becoming sleek and shiny again. And I also cleaned up and repaired their old wagon, getting it ready for service again, but with new owners this time. US! The only thing I couldn't do was clean off the blood stains on the seat of the wagon. I shied away every time I tried, the scent just bringing back too many horrible memories. Finally Tony came by and did it for me, for which I would always be thankful.

Rob and Bob had never even known what it was like to be human, to be members of a free and intelligent race. They may have been born animals, but their sires had once been human and some of that humanity had still been alive inside of them. I would always love them, they would always have first place in my heart and soul, and I swore in their memory that I would fight to the death the help free my other fellow hybrids from their horrible bondage, and that no more would be born into lives as mere animals with no knowledge of their history, or what had been done to them and their parent race! It was made even more horrible by the fact they didn't even

realize it! That was the true horror of what the Karn had done, the true evil! They had made us into docile willing animals, unquestionably working for and serving the very ones who did this to us, and not even as slaves! It had taken the brutal deaths of my two beloved friends to shatter the hold the Karn had over me, the docile animal acceptance of what I had become. At least if they'd

invaded with armies and beaten us, we would have had the satisfaction and knowledge that we'd at least we'd had a chance to fight back and had killed a lot of the bastards!

Well, it was long overdue, but now we WERE fighting back! It was very slow at first, as small dazed bands of hybrids, often of the same hybrid species, got together. First mainly for survival, but once they had adapted to their new bodies and ways of life they had begun to understand what had happened, what had been done to them. They were the lucky few who avoided the roundups, who remained "feral". Without being captured and "broken and trained" and fed a regular diet of drugged food to keep them happy and complacent until they had been replaced by 2nd Generation hybrids who had no memories of ever having been anything but animals from the day they were born. They managed to keep more of their humanity, and also at the same time to sharpen the survival instincts of their animal selves. And they became very, very good at surviving. And they found the few human survivors, and flocked to them like lost souls. Some selfish individuals exploited the hybrids, but most helped them to start to fight back, to reclaim their identity as intelligent sapient race no matter the species or stage of their hybridizations.

And there were a few hybrids who had fought back from the start. The stallion Roth had been a major in the US Special Forces, and had watched in horror as he and his team members had changed. But somehow he kept most his force together, even after most lost the ability to speak, and was the leader of the first and most effective guerrilla resistance action from the very first. At times his original team members had left to find, and organize other groups of hybrids, and the rare priceless pure humans, into other cells of freedom fighters. And so on, and the number of groups and their organization was steadily growing and becoming more organized, and more determined. We wanted our planet back, we wanted our HUMANITY and identity as intelligent beings back!

At first they mainly scavenged, living off of and using old earth technology, stealing some Karn tech, but mainly staying out of sight. The Karn colonists were not concerned at first as there were always feral hybrids until the 1st Generation, the original hybridized ones, died out. After the first generation was gone there were no more problems. And they also underestimated how many of the few carnivore hybrids they had created to be pets and guards would escape from the start, or how fast they would began to breed in the "wild". And one day after the viruses had been deployed large contingents of US Army and Guard troops had deployed from various bases to take part in maneuvers and war games, and these had taken part right in the middle of an isolated area that had been seeded with Human/Feline viruses. So these highly trained and organized soldier Human/Feline hybrids, many combat veterans, had also been available to help train and organize other "civilian" hybrids. The herbivores and carnivores had also learned to cooperate and live as equals. No matter their hybrid species they all once been human, and that tie remained. The few carnivores who did prey on fellow hybrids were soon destroyed without mercy. It was considered cannibalism, the number one ultimate taboo. Yes, it was very rare, but the Karn did on occasion make mistakes, and one of their biggest was underestimating the resilience of the human spirit, even in the bodies of beasts.

And so I joined the resistance. By my nature I was too gentle and caring to be of any use real use as a frontline soldier. Donkeys hybrids were created to care for, not take lives. I just couldn't bear the thought of killing another living being. At first I did what I had been created to do, I drove a wagon with my mule team mates, but this time we did it for ourselves in the cause of freedom, and even Mike and Ike knew this. Later I also became an ambulance driver and a frontline medic, and a very good one. Donkeys make excellent medics, we became famous for our total devotion to our wounded friends. While others killed, we fought to save lives. It was not unusual to find a dead Donkey medic in the front lines with the bodies of soldiers they had tried to save while under fire, sometimes even enemy soldiers. We simply have no real concern for our own safety when someone is hurt. To their credit our enemies tried to avoid harming Donkeys even in combat conditions. My main command was the 2nd Equine Heavy Artillery and Mortars Battery.

The best soldiers were of course the carnivores, but horses and bulls made excellent shock troops in the right situations. Their sheer size and brute strength came to terrorize the enemy. The smaller equines, Donkeys and Ponies, and the goats and sheep, were mainly support troops and medics like myself. Thought goats and sheep did make good light infantry and specialist support troops like communications or veterinary personnel. I was also a personal aide to Colonel Roth, whom I came to love as much as I had loved Rob and Bob, and loved Mike and Ike. He helped to fill that huge empty hole in my soul. He was still a valiant soldier, but he was also a horse and needed the companionship I gave, someone he could relate to as a fellow equine. We would mutually groom and bathe one another, often sleeping together. But there was nothing sexual about the relationship, it was just the need of two lonely equines for fellowship and comfort

they could get from no one else.

And years later I was there when we overran and liberated the Feed Factory I had been a beast of burden in for so many years. During the fighting most of the livestock had remained locked in the barns and stables, terrified and confused. And even after they were liberated it was a long time before they truly realized what had happened. But once the drugs wore off, once the human memories began to return and they started to realize again what had been done to them, things changed quickly. As I had known no Donkeys would leave their mule team mates, even after their awakening, it was just not an option. So they and their team mates came to work with us, providing much needed transportation for troops and supplies. Even the mules came to understand what they were fighting for. More than one Donkey or Mule would die with weapon in hand fighting to save his team mates as they never abandoned one another under any circumstances, if one was wounded the others stayed by his side until the end no matter what the odds, and none surrendered. And many others would also die, but without any hesitation for what they believed in, for what they fought for. Soldiers who have nothing to lose, and do not fear death are invincible.

And at the Factory I met many of my old friends again, both Donkey and Mule, and when we had time we played and had fun together like we used to, had the same comradeship and herd comfort and security, but this time as a free people. The mutual grooming, the bath parties that meant so much. And better then that I found some of my old mates, including my first mate Peaches, and our reunions were joyful occasions. And when the impotency drugs wore off we were able to chose our own mates in a combined human and equine way, and I sired many fine Jacks and Jennies whom I loved dearly, and they would grow up free knowing who their sires and dams where and both their human and hybrid histories.

But the ongoing conflict with the Karn was far from over. The Karn do not take being resisted lightly at all, especially from what they consider to be only be sapient animals, and they would fight back. It was very rare that this happened, and they had ways of dealing with it.

END, for now.

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