Well, here's my story. The start of it anyway. If you did not read my first book, Lion King: Into The Pride….DO NOT GO ANY FURTHUR! Read the first book or this will not make much sense. For those who have read the first book, I hope you enjoyed. Bear with me on the first chapter. Other than that, enjoy the story!
Chapter 1-The New Reign…
It was beautiful. It was something that stood out among the land. The pink African daisy was blowing with the gentle breeze, some of its pink-and-gold petals fell away with the wind. It seemed perfect. Seemed. Because everything around it was the total opposite. Instead of grass, trees, and other flowers to go with it, there was practically a machine world. The flower was out in the open, surrounding by a metal surface and columns and columns of fuel containers. A purple-blue sky added to the eerie sight.
Running towards the direction of the flower was a figure. A two-legged being, running with a purpose. A purpose to live, as evidenced by the heavy breathing. The being jumped over the flower, definitely in a rush. Soon afterwards the flower was crushed under the reason the being was running: tank drones. The robo-tanks had the search lights on their turrets, searching for the figure.
The figure ran and stopped to catch his breath after rounding the corner around a storage container. Before his energy was back to full strength, he turned around to look back at the drones behind him. Suddenly, floodlights on his back caused him to whirl around. Danny Manning, co-king of Pride Rock, was blinded by the floodlights. He had to bring his hand up to block out most of the light. Another line of tank drones were there waiting for him. The turrets began to glow, accompanied by a low, resounding tone that began rising. They were about to fire on him.
Danny began running to his right as they discharged plasma bolts at him. As the ground exploded all around, him he tried to sort things out. Last thing he remembered, he was just starting out as king along with Simba just after overthrowing Scar. How did I end up in this place? He wanted to know why he was being attacked and where exactly was he. It didn't look like Earth. It was like he was in a very large factory.
He ran to the edge of the line, leading out into more open ground. A plasma blast struck a fuel container. The plasma boiled through the metal before igniting the fuel. The concussive wave from the blast helped propel Danny away from the tanks.
He ran over the open ground with the tanks close behind. Danny still didn't get it. He was in the Pride Lands one moment, and the next thing he knew, he was in some machine world. Why are they attacking me? And what happened to the others? He wasn't sure. The only thing he was sure of, was to keep running. The tanks herded him down an enclosed road, with various intersections criss-crossing Danny's path. Danny kept running straight until he reached a dead end. He didn't have any other choice now but to face them.
The man caught his breath. "I…I don't know who you are, but if it's a fight you're looking for…" He pulled the M4 slung around his back off and up to bear, flipping the safety switch off. He didn't get a chance to pull it up until now because he had zero time to do that. He aimed at the first tank but his weapon, though it was loaded, did not fire. Danny pulled the charging handle back and a round was ejected from the chamber. It was loaded! Danny frowned. "What's happening? Why can't my weapon fire?"
Before he could think of a plausible answer, the tanks turrets glowed and discharged two shots at him. Danny, using his quick thinking, jumped up. He grabbed a huge power cable snapped taut across the road he was on. Using all of his momentum, he swung his body around and let go, landing on a platform behind him. He only had a few seconds to recover when two of the tanks moved up close and fired again. Danny jumped back up and grabbed the cable, swinging to the next cable like they were monkey bars. Some of the tanks turned around and followed him, firing all the way.
Danny knew he couldn't keep this up forever. If he didn't think of a getaway plan, eventually one of the tanks would score a fatal hit to him. He jumped up on top of one of the cables to think. Suddenly, his eyes were blinded by white light. He thought for sure he had been killed by a tank blast. But he wasn't. The white light appeared in sphere in front of him. It then sailed over behind him to his left. It stopped over a railcar on a track running right next to him, a hundred yards back.
"Go to the light…go to the light…"
The sphere had a voice, and a very familiar voice to Danny. "Mufasa?" The light went into the railcar. Danny didn't know what was going on; the sphere only added to the confusion. But seeing as how the tanks stopped and were about to fire on him, he decided to follow the sphere's advice and jumped just as the railcar came by him. He just barely grabbed hold of the safety rail and pulled himself over. But he didn't land on something metal, but rather something soft. And that something moved.
"Hey, get off buddy." Danny jumped off to come face to face with a young girl with long brown hair. She came out of the shadows of the car and pointed at herself. "This is my hiding spot."
Danny recognized her immediately as his youngest sister. "Callie?"
Callie frowned until recognition hit her too. "Danny?" That was all they could get before the tanks opened fire on the railcar. The hits shook the car violently but it held on to the rail. The railcar went into a tunnel and the tanks stopped firing. Callie, knocked off her feet from the blasts, staggered back up. "You mind telling me what's going on? One minute, me, Mom, Dad, and Raechel are heading on a Safari in Africa while you remain home for flight school." She glared and jerked her thumb in the direction of the tanks. "Next thing you know, these yahoos are using me for target practice."
Danny was stunned. She couldn't remember how she got here as well. It was like they were in a fun house. "You don't remember either? It must be some kind of virus causing memory problems."
Callie chuckled sarcastically and smirked. "You wanna see a problem? Check this out." She pulled out a pistol and a loaded magazine. She loaded it and tried to fire. All she got was a bunch of empty clicks.
Danny nodded. "I know. I couldn't fire my weapon either. I'm guessing it has something to do with the virus." They needed to get away and hide, try to sort things out without being shot at 24/7. He shrugged. "We'll figure it out later. Right now, we just have to keep moving."
Callie pressed her back against the wall. She looked at him as though he told her to test the pistol on herself to see if it would work. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. No way this girl is leaving this titanium-reinforced ship."
Danny noticed the railcar was no longer in the tunnel. He looked over the side of the car. Down below, the tanks were still matching the railcar's speed. Danny also noticed there were more of them and they were charging up for another volley of artillery. Deep down, he knew they would not miss. Oh, screw this… He grabbed his sister and jumped out.
And not a second too soon, because as soon as they jumped, two of the shots connected with the rail car. The transport exploded in a bloom of fire and slag. Callie screamed as they fell down to the ground below. The two siblings hit the ground, rolling to avoid taking most of the initial impact. The majority of the railcar landed behind them, creating a roadblock between them and their attackers. Recovering from the blow, Danny and Callie both got up, running away to a safe place.
As they ran away, one tank drone managed to maneuver its way through the wreckage. It pushed some the metal out of its way with its hull, blasting some heavier pieces with its cannon. When it cleared the debris, it re-acquired its targets: the two humans. Calibrating its targeting systems, the tank resumed its tenacious pursuit.
Callie tried reloading the weapon again and fired. Again, she got the same result as the last time: nothing. "Come on, work. Work, work, work." Behind them, the tank the got clear began firing on them. Even though it was still far away to have any accuracy, some shots were getting uncomfortably close to them. Callie started whimpering. "Work, pretty please!"
It did no good, and Danny knew it. He didn't have a working weapon and didn't know how to fight these drones. The two of them kept on running. Before he could process any more thoughts, the white light appeared. Blinding him momentarily and appeared in a sphere again. It came up to an intersection. "Go to the light…go to the light…" The sphere moved to the left, leaving a streaking trail of white vapor in its wake.
Danny just assumed the sphere was helping him out. He looked at Callie. "…this way…" They began to turn when a plasma shot from the tank slammed into the corner. The blast propelled their momentum to the other side of the left-side road, but they kept on their feet and continued running. The tank was using all of its speed to catch up to them, and didn't slow down to make the turn. It drifted and slammed its side into the wall. But there was minimal damage. The tank backed up and then rumbled forward in the direction of Danny and Callie.
Running away, the two realized the road they were on was a dead end. They came to a small opening with fuel tanks along the sides with high walls blocking their way. They were trapped and couldn't climb out anywhere. Danny and Callie turned around to face the approaching tank.
Callie, whimpering at the terrifying sight of the tank, combined with the realization that they were about to die, tried to load the pistol and fire again. "Please…fire."
The tank stopped less than twenty feet from them. Danny looked up at the catwalk connected to the fuel tanks flanking the only way out. A shadowy figure slowly crouched on it. As the tank charged up a plasma shot, the figure jumped down. To Danny's surprise, it was a girl. She wrapped her hands around the robot's head, covering the "eyes". The tank's first shot went straight up in the air, while its second sailed directly in between and past Danny and Callie. Danny examined the girl's features. The long hair and trim, wiry build gave her away. "Raechel!"
Callie gave a laugh of relief. "Hoo, hoo…good timing, sis."
Danny's oldest of his two younger sisters struggled to stay on the tank as it fought to get her off. "Move it or lose it, guys. I can't play blind man's bluff forever." The rumbling of tanks behind her caused her to whip around. All of them aimed at her and fired. Raechel jumped off the tank just in time. The shots found a target, it was just the wrong target. The tank Raechel was on a second before exploded in flames. She landed and observed the wreckage. Her icy blue eyes narrowed at the other tanks. "Hey, you just slagged your own guy. That's deep-freeze cold." Another shot from the tanks shut her up as she ran. The tanks ignored her and rolled in front of Danny and Callie in a column.
To their surprise, the tanks transformed into robots, with the cannon on their right shoulder. It made them taller and even more intimidating. But Callie ran up to the first one in the column and looked at it. The tank had to easily be three feet taller than her. "Yo, tin-man!" The tank looked down at her. She pointed a finger at it. "Yeah, that's right. I'm talking to you, rust-for-brains." Without warning, she ran in between its legs, and with the tanks all in a line, she sprinted with all the straight-line speed she had, laughing all the way at how stupid these things were.
The tanks were too busy trying to grab Callie that they forgot about Danny. The front-most tank/robot looked up in time to see Danny charge it and jump into its chest. The tank was already leaning over and tried to straighten up. But it did so as Danny hit it with his feet, sending its momentum back further than it wanted to. The tank fell backwards and the tanks behind it fell over like dominoes. Danny got up and ran over them and took off after his two sisters.
Raechel ran down the road and took cover behind a fuel tank that was set up alongside. Callie rounded the corner followed by Danny. They waited and soon saw lights growing brighter and brighter with every passing second. All three of them held their breath, hoping they would not be seen. A huge convoy of tank drones roared by them, lights activated in a search to find them. None of them were spotted by the tanks. They waited until the tanks were further down the street before relaxing. They needed the break and time to catch their breath and figure things out.
Raechel looked back at the street in amazement. "Did I miss something? We were on Earth, right? I mean, why are these robots shooting at us?" Her head twitched. At the same time, Danny felt some pain in his head. He pushed it aside as they talked; he had more important things to realize.
Callie chuckled nervously. "Heh…got me. I can't even remember how we got here. Danny says its some sort of virus." She let out a yelp as pain suddenly spiked her head.
Raechel kept composure. "Not a problem. We just need to get to a hospital and find a cure for this memory loss."
Callie waved around. "Hello! We're in the middle of nowhere here." The pain in her head increased as she let out a scream, twitching in pain constantly.
Raechel also felt extreme pain in her head and let groaned in pain. Danny realized they were in trouble. "It's worse than I thought. The virus is more than just a memory problem. It's effecting our nervous systems and bodily functions. If we don't get some medical attention in the next few hours, our brain and neurological systems will cease functioning…permanently."
Raechel stared at him incredulously. "So you're saying if the robo-tanks don't get us, the virus will?" Her muscles began having spasms.
Callie groaned, exhausted from the pain plus the running. "I love having options."
Danny turned to see a tank stop and aim at them. "Run!" They moved out from their cover as the tank charged up a shot and fired. The plasma shot hit the tank and exploded. The blast sent the three to the ground about ten feet away. The ground behind them cracked and fell through the ground, revealing a pit.
Danny felt ringing in his ears. He was thankful the tanks fired plasma shots, because if they were projectiles, the shrapnel would've torn him, Raechel, and Callie apart. He looked up and snarled. Countless tanks came in from in front of him. He turned around to see more tanks from the other side of the pit. They were boxed in.
As he got up, his vision once again went white. The sphere appeared above the pit. It went straight down. Danny didn't know what was going on, but the sphere was the best source of help to him. No reason to quit believing that now. "Everyone underground, now!"
They ran to the pit and skidded only inches from the edge. Callie kicked some pieces of metal down. "What makes you think it's any better down there?" Callie asked, her pessimistic attitude evident. Danny didn't have an answer to her question, but a tank behind them did. A shot whizzed by them and connected with the support beams holding up a fuel tank. The storage container began to lurch towards them, about to snap and fall on them. Callie shrank back. "I withdraw the question."
She jumped down into the pit. Raechel followed, with Danny right behind. A shot narrowly missed him and hit the tank. The container tipped over and covered the pit. Danny, Callie, and Raechel screamed as they plummeted into the darkness. It seemed to last an eternity for Danny. His heart rate quickened with every second. The light of the pit darkened as the walls went from metal to dirt.
It was about three long minutes before they fell into a huge catacomb, with a deep pool to compliment it. All three of them wisely brought their legs together in a pencil dive and speared through the water. Danny's feet felt as if they were lashed with a bullwhip. Even so, he swam up to the surface. He gasped for air as he came up and swam softly to the ground. Callie and Raechel were already there, their breathing was heavy, trying to suck in as much as they could.
Raechel shivered. "Oh, I've had enough action to last me a lifetime."
Callie pulled herself totally out of the water and snorted. "Heh…you and me both, sis."
Danny pulled off his shirt and wrung it, draining what water he could get out of it. "At least we're alive and safe."
"Aren't we all, for the moment?" Danny and the girls whipped around to the sound of the voice. Danny cringed initially at the sound of the voice. He thought he was seeing things when he saw his sisters, but it still didn't make him remain calm at hearing his father's voice. Dennis Manning was standing at the mouth of a nearby tunnel, with his wife and Danny's mother, Gabrielle. Dennis gave the smirk that was the trademark expression between him and Danny. "Glad you could join us."
Danny ran to his father and gave him and his mother a hug. Callie and Raechel joined in as the family was reunited. Danny let go and looked between them. As much as this moment filled him with emotion, he needed to focus. He needed answers. "What happened to you? Last I heard, you were killed in Africa. Dead."
"Do we look dead to you?" Callie said, amusement in her expression.
Gabrielle shrugged. "We don't know what happened in Africa. We just ended up here."
Dennis locked eyes with his son. "What about you? Weren't you in training for the ship?"
Danny cracked his neck before answering. "Long story. But I also can't explain how I ended up here. But all I know is I keep seeing a white light, and it's been leading me to each of you."
Callie snorted. "Yeah, right."
Danny shrugged. "Call me crazy if you want, but if it wasn't for the light, I never would've seen the railcar coming and jumped in." He looked at Raechel. "We never would've found you if the light didn't go down the alley where you were perched on that catwalk."
"Okay, okay. We get the picture," Raechel said, hands raised. "So, what do we do now?"
"Right now, I say we get off of this planet." Dennis looked behind him. "This cave leads to a series of tunnels and pipelines. If we're lucky, we may come up on the surface where those drones are not. Then, we find a ship and get away from this place."
Gabrielle looked at him quizzically. "But how? We don't have a map nor do we have any knowledge of this place. The only things we do know are that we are regarded as threats and someone wants our blood."
Danny nodded. "But right now, we need a cure for this disease that's effecting our memory, before it has some fatal inflictions."
His mother held up some sort of blue fruit. "We felt the same disease, and I've found the cure. It has enough minerals and amino acids to cure the memory disease."
The siblings each took a piece of fruit. Danny took a bite into it. A horrid, bitter taste assaulted his taste buds. He resisted the urge to spit the fruit out of his mouth and swallowed. His sisters had similar reactions. Callie was the most dramatically. "Oh, God. This tastes horrible."
Gabrielle shrugged. "Who said cures taste good?"
Callie was about to say something but shut her mouth. She, along with Danny and Raechel, forced themselves to eat the fruit. They ate the rest of the fruit and shook from the horrible taste. At least they had one problem dealt with.
Suddenly, Danny's vision went white again. He knew that the sphere was going to appear and once again guide him. He didn't know what it was, but it was helping him and his family stay alive. The white sphere headed down the cave and waited there at the corner. Danny pointed. "Let's go."
"Why?" Raechel asked.
"Because I can see the sphere. It's waiting for us."
Callie looked down the cave. "All I see is darkness. Are you sure you didn't hit your head hard back there?" She pointed straight up.
Dennis held up his hand. "Whatever Danny can see, it's something to go on. We've got nothing else, so let's just go with what he sees." He turned to Danny. "Take point, son."
Danny nodded and they headed off where the sphere was at.
The Manning family, guided by the sphere only Danny saw, worked their way through the various tunnels of the catacombs. Soon, they catacomb tunnels were transitioning to huge, steel pipelines. The sphere would wait at a certain point, generally an intersection of pipelines, until they reached it. Then it would move to another location ahead of them. Occasionally, they would hear some rumbling overhead but it would pass quickly.
Under normal circumstances, Danny would be filled with emotion to see his family again. Problem was, they were being hunted down in a world they knew nothing about. That kept him focused on his goal. The last thing he wanted was to lose his family again. The sphere stopped at an intersection. Danny walked up to it. Then it went far down the tunnel on the right. Danny pointed to the right. "This way."
"Come on, how much longer do we have to go?" Callie was growing aggravated. This didn't surprise Danny; she wasn't renowned for her patience and holding her temper in. "For all we know, we're lost."
Raechel gave her a light shove. "Right now, the sphere Danny sees is the only thing we have to go on."
Callie waved around. "Do you see it? Do you see the sphere? Don't get me wrong. I'm glad we're back together and still alive, but this is crazy."
Danny stopped and turned to look at her. "Well, if you think this is crazy, what's your plan?" Callie was silent. "Go ahead, you're the one complaining about this. What do you want to do?"
That was the problem. Callie didn't have a better plan. Even though it was crazy, Danny's guiding sphere was the only thing helping them. She fell to her knees and broke out crying. Through choked sobs, she spoke. "I just wanna…go home. All I want is to have things the way they were."
Danny and his mother wrapped their arms around her. Danny felt that last statement ring in his head. He did wish things were the way it was before. Since the day he was told his family was killed, his world flipped upside down. Since then, each day it felt more and more like a living hell. He knew exactly how Callie felt. "Callie, I want to go home as well. But the sphere has been the only thing helping me out, and we just gotta trust it. Hopefully we can all get off of this nightmare of a place and head home and have a barbeque."
Gabrielle laughed lightly. "I'm a little up for that. Even with your father's cooking."
Dennis smirked and flew his arms up in the air. "Hey! My cooking is not that bad." His eyes hardened and his voice cooled to an even tone. "But Danny is right. It's all we have. Whatever he sees, it's leading us somewhere. Maybe an escape."
Danny and Gabrielle helped Callie up. Callie nodded. "Alright, let's get going."
Danny took point with the rest of the family behind him. The sphere didn't move, hovering in one spot. They headed down the tunnel to where the sphere was at. It was a full kilometer before they reached the sphere. The sphere suddenly shot straight up. Danny ran to the spot where the sphere was. He stopped at an intersection of tunnels. Looking straight up, he saw the sphere hovering above him. "It's up there."
The others ran to where Danny was standing and looked up. Callie groaned. "Great. How are we supposed to get up there?"
Danny looked around until his eyes focused on the corner to his right. "By ladder." He ran to the ladder on the wall and began to climb up. He stopped to turn around and saw his family standing there. "What are you waiting for? Let's go." The Mannings popped out of their trance and began to climb. Danny climbed up rung after rung until he reached the sphere. The sphere just hovered there. Danny frowned. "Where to now?" It just hovered there. Danny's eyes narrowed. "Come on, where do I go from here?" The sphere suddenly hit the ceiling and bounced off. It returned to its idle hovering position. Danny got the picture and pushed against the ceiling. It turned out to be a sewer plate and it came off with ease. Danny shoved it aside and climbed up to look around.
They were in a huge motor pool of some kind. Numerous vehicles and drones were on fork lifts, disassembled for repair. Thankfully, there were no active drones in sight. Aside from Danny, there was no one and nothing online. Only the light of the purplish-blue sky gave illumination. Danny watched the sphere hovered around a lone vehicle ten feet away from him. It was a rover of some sort. It sported four heavy-duty tires, which probably was on an independent axle system for off-road travel, but it would still work for the roads. It held four seats but the rover had an armament: a 25mm cannon hooked up on a swivel. But it looked like the gunner would have to stand up in order to operate the heavy weapon.
He helped his family up the ladder and pointed to the rover. "The sphere is hanging over the rover. I think it wants us to take the vehicle."
Dennis nodded. "I don't know what class of vehicle that is, but I do recognize the 25 mil. I'll man the cannon."
They ran to the vehicle. Danny sat in the driver seat. "I'm the only one who can see the sphere, so I'll drive the rover." He noticed Raechel wasn't seated. "Something wrong?"
Raechel smirked. "No, but I found some party favors." She pulled rifles out of her seat, which was the reason she didn't sit down.
Danny's eyebrows rose. "XM8 assault rifles." Originally an experiment weapon, XM8's were meant to supplant the M16 and M4's for the military. They carried 30-round magazines and 4x optic scopes. And each one of the rifles in the rover had an M320 grenade launcher, with 40mm HE grenades. The magazines held 5.56mm rounds, smaller rounds that Danny was not a big fan of. True, they gave the ability to pack more rounds in a magazine, but they didn't pack the punch that he liked in the 7.62mm rounds. Still, beggars can't be choosers, and this was no exception. "These might come in handy."
Callie and Raechel, and Danny knew how to operate the weapons thanks to their father. Their mother didn't know, so Callie gave her a quick crash course on the weapon. Dennis made sure the 25mm was loaded while the girls loaded their rifles. Danny was glad there was no key to the vehicle, only a toggle switch. He pressed the button and the diesel engine roared to life. Danny noticed his speedometer's max speed was 90mph. He would have to make do with it.
Engaging the shift stick and releasing the clutch, he gunned the engines and drove to the door. He could see the door was closed, but there was a huge window pane to his left. He veered in that direction. "Hang on to something tight!" He shouted over the engine noise. Everyone complied, but Danny felt the rover make a loud thump. A second later the pane shattered, giving him a clean shot through without hitting any glass. Danny shot through and landed on a huge highway. He craned his neck around to look at his father. The 25mm's cannon was still billowing smoke. "That works."
Dennis patted the cannon. "Happy to assist."
The sphere appeared in front of Danny and went out about ten meters ahead of him. Danny could see the sphere was leading him through the most empty roads, mostly back roads. They hadn't met with any drones, but never let their guard down. Soon, Danny realized that the sphere was leading him to a huge hangar. It was a huge dome, with steel-reinforced walls. That would provide initial protection should they be detected and bombarded.
Their were just two problems. First, they didn't know if anyone was waiting for them. It could be an ambush, but the sphere hadn't led them into one so far. Second, and this was the more important problem, there was a twenty foot gap in between the bridge in front of them. The one upside to that was the bridge was inclining where the gap was at. That left only one option.
Callie noticed the situation and slumped back in her seat. "Great, now what do we do?"
Danny shifted into reverse and backed up about another fifty meters. He hit the brakes and shifted into first gear. "The only thing we can do."
Gabrielle tightened her seat belt and placed her XM8 in her lap. "So this will be…somewhat of a rough ride, I take it?"
Danny smirked. "Mom, you've got a talent for understatement. Buckle and knuckle up, everyone."
Raechel's eyes widened, as she knew what was coming next. "Don't even think about it, Danny."
"Never do, Rae." With that last statement, he gunned the engines. In his rearview mirror, he saw his father sit down and press himself behind Raechel's seat. Danny shifted gears as they closed on the gap. He reached the top gear and speed just before they started driving up the incline. Adrenaline pumped through Danny's veins as they reached the end. In a split second, they were airborne. Unlike the others, Danny kept his eyes open. He needed to be able to control the vehicle when it hit the ground.
The rover's tires and suspension absorbed most of the shock as they hit the ground. The vehicle bounced up in the air, but when it landed the forward axle broke. Danny was left with no steering, so he engaged the emergency brake and held on to the wheel. The rover began to power slide as it smashed through the glass. Danny attempted to steer, but ending up slamming into a huge pile of construction beams, sending the vehicle into a spin the other way. It finally stopped and everything was silent.
Danny finally looked to around. There was no one in the hangar, which was good. He doubted anyone around would be friendly. He looked to his family. "Mom? Are you still with me?"
She lifted her head and nodded, as if she were impressed. "Interesting ride."
Danny was relieved. At least his mother was still okay. "Is anyone hurt?"
Raechel gave a sloppy salute. "I'm okay."
Callie got up quickly and stepped on the deck behind her. She was looking behind Raechel's seat. "Danny, get over here."
Danny unbuckled his seat belt and jumped out. He ran around and saw what Callie saw. He felt his heart squeeze tightly. His father was against the back of Raechel's seat. A hydraulic pipe was sticking out from the side of the rover and was jabbed into his abdomen. Normally, a man would be screaming in pain. But even though his father was pushing sixty, his body was as vital and built as a football player. Still, his expression was full of pain.
Raechel came up next to him, examining the pipe. "Oh, God. Talk to me, dad."
Dennis only managed an "Ouch."
Raechel motioned to her sister. "Help me out here, Callie."
Gabrielle halted them. "Wait, wait. We're risking further injury. We need the proper tools to cut him out."
Danny looked around. His eyes instantly settled on the lone ship in the hangar. The spearheaded tips and angular disc-shaped frame gave it away. It can't be…Danny didn't understand how the Paratus Preliator got here. It was on top of the summit of Pride Rock. How did it get here? He wished he knew, but he was glad it was here. He pointed to the ship. "My ship…I don't know how it got here. But I do know it has the medical tools we need. We'll head over there."
Raechel grabbed her rifle. "I'm staying with dad."
"Me too," Callie added in.
Dennis shook his head. "Nobody's staying…just give me a weapon."
Danny nodded. "You got it." He swung the cannon around, lowering it to Dennis' position. "We're gonna come back for you, dad. You hear me?"
His father nodded. "I hear you, Danny. Now get out of here."
Danny patted his dad's trigger hand and stood. "Let's move out."
Gabrielle knelt down beside her husband. "We raised our son right, didn't we?"
Dennis gave his trademark smirk. "You got that right. You better get going, honey. I love you."
She gave him a kiss. "I love you too. Be careful." She got up and walked with her children.
Running was what it turned out to be, as Danny didn't want to waste any more time. He reached the ship and was glad to see the ramp was open. But at the same time, he was worried. Someone might've already been in there, waiting for him. He ran up and quickly looked around. After a thorough search, he found no one. Something in his gut felt wrong though; it was too easy. He placed it aside. He would sort out his feelings later. He walked back into the open bay of the ship. Raechel, Callie, and Gabrielle were all waiting for him.
Gabrielle had already found the medical supplies and equipment. "This is what I'm going to need to cut the pipe out of your father."
Danny nodded. "Okay, but first things first. We need to be set up for immediate takeoff." At seeing their stunned looks, Danny continued speaking. "Dad won't be going anywhere, and I doubt he'll bleed out within a half-hour." He opened up a box with portable headsets, handing one to each of them. "Mom, since you also have also flown, I'm gonna need your help. I need you to prep the ship for takeoff. The systems are easy for you to work on." He looked at his sisters. "I need you to wait outside. Keep an eye out for any unwanted visitors. I'll go up to the control room and rotate the air tray to align with the exit bay."
Callie nodded. "Let's do this thing and get the heck out of here."
Danny went up to the control room. As always, he was on his guard. After running for his life a few hours ago, he was fully alert for anything. The control room was a boxed room, with a huge, pipe-like window pane overlooking the hangar. The room featured two control pits, with a bridge in between them leading to the computer consoles and systems in front of the glass. Danny walked across the bridge to the consoles. He found the power switch and flipped it. Nothing happened.
Danny looked around and found a systems primer similar to the one in his ship. He flipped the switch back down, pulled the lever a few times, and flipped the switch back up again. This time, the power came back on. He could see his mother in the cockpit of the Preliator, working on the controls. Danny placed his headset on and spoke into it. "Mom, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, son." She paused for a moment. "This baby of yours will fly itself."
Danny smiled. "She can do that, can't she?"
The ship was amazing, and Danny hadn't been able to use it much with everything going on. He looked around for any activity. So far, there was nothing. It didn't make sense. Before, countless tank drones were chasing after him and his family. Now, he had yet to see one. He was disappointed, almost wishing there were some to ease the queasiness in his stomach.
He heard his mom's voice over the headset. "Flight path is set."
Danny nodded and found the controls for the air tray. "Beginning rotation." He twisted a knob and pressed the power button. The tray, and the ship, began to rotate. Only a second after he pressed the button, did he hear the stress of metal, groaning in the hangar. Danny knew that meant that they had a problem. What's that noise?
His mom answered his question quickly. "Wh-whoa, stop the air tray. We have a problem." Danny complied and stopped the rotation. A few moments passed before she came back. "I'm reading an impounding tractor still attached to the prow of the ship."
Danny at least knew what the problem was now. "Can you disengage it from the cockpit, mom?" Please say yes. Please…
Disappointment settled in at his mother's answer. "No. I'm gonna send Raechel and Callie over to take care of it. Raechel can fix the problem."
Danny remembered she could hotwire things better than anyone out of the family. He knew what had to be done, but it meant doing the thing he hated most: waiting. "Do it."
Raechel and Callie ran to the front of the ship. They ran fast so they could get the tractor off the ship and take off. The last thing they wanted was getting noticed and killed before they even got away. Raechel spotted the tractor. It was a huge beam with couplings that looked like suction cups. "There's the problem." She ran up on the deck of the tractor and headed to the controls. Callie just stood guard. Raechel was the guru at this sort of thing.
Raechel set down her XM8 down and tried to unlock the control panel. All she got was an annoying beep. "The controls are locked…naturally." She sat herself down and popped open a hatch underneath the controls. As she began working on the wires, she talked. "Hey, Cal. Let me ask you something. You think we're going to get out of here alive? I mean, I wonder if there's anyone else trying to do the same thing? You think anyone's made it this far, huh?"
Callie turned to her. "Uh…"
Raechel kept on talking. "You think Danny is seeing a sphere that guides him? I mean, what if it's all just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo?" Sparks burned her hand as she accidentally crossed the wrong wires. "Ow." She groaned. "Callie, do you mind if we stop talking? I'm trying to concentrate here."
Callie smirked. She knew Raechel was implementing her humor in all of her verbal jabbering. Humor ran thick in the Manning family. Every time something came up, one of them would have some wise-cracking joke to give. And unlike some obnoxious people, they usually knew when to input their jokes and antics. But at least it helped ease the tension the family was feeling.
It was only a few minutes before Raechel clapped her hands together. "Yes!" Keying her headset, she said to Danny, "Danny, we're good to go, bro." Raechel got up and grabbed her rifle. The tractor pulled back, away from the ship, and retracted down to the ground. Soon after, the tray was moving again. Raechel let out another cheer. "Yes!" She turned around and gave Callie a "who's the best?" expression.
Callie smiled, but then the smile disappeared. Raechel's smile went away and suddenly gasped in pain. She looked down. Translucent, orange tentacles were sticking out of her chest. Callie saw in horror as some phantom-like monster rose from underneath the ground. Raechel suddenly turned into a bright, transparent blue body and vanished with a cry.
Callie's anger and horror let loose at seeing her sister die. "NOOO!" She opened fire with her rifle. Even though she had it on burst, the timing in which she pulled the trigger made it seem like it was fully automatic. She kept firing on the phantom, orange goo exploding on the surface of the creature and the floor. Soon, her rifle clicked empty. It took a few seconds before she realized it, and stopped. She looked around, only to see many more orange tentacles rising from the ground. They were huge, and they were all over the area.
She knew she wouldn't escape. Even though she was afraid to die, she knew there was no getting away from this thing. Over her headset, she heard her brother's frantic voice. "Callie, get out of there." She ignored the command. She knew it was futile. "Get out of there now. Go. Callie!" She set her rifle down next to the panel, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Get the heck out of there! Callie!" She feebly brought her hand to the headset, as if she could barely hear him. She looked up, and the ceiling was the last thing she saw as a tentacle swiped through her. There was a flash of blue, and she was gone.
Danny watched everything happen. His sisters were dead within seconds of each other. It was like he was living through what the chaplain had told him that day: his family's death. Why didn't Callie take off and run? She could've gotten away. He cursed and slammed his fist against the glass. I'm not letting it happen again. He already had the air tray in motion when he grabbed his rifle and aimed at the glass. He fired two bursts into the glass. He then jumped through the glass, landing on the deck in front of him.
He walked over to see the monster that appeared in the hangar. It was huge, about the size of his ship. It looked like a hybrid of a scorpion and a scarab. With a round, shell-like body and a tail that curved up and resembled a gargantuan cannon. It was moving toward the ship, its tentacles flailing around. Danny growled. "You're not taking anymore of my family." He raised his voice. "Over here, you son of a-" His voice was drowned out by the sound of his rifle firing. He fired in quick, sustained bursts. He launched his only grenade, and continued firing. He knew he couldn't do any serious damage with his rifle, but maybe he could get the thing's attention, long enough for his mother to escape. Danny was beginning to reload when the exploding sound of a cannon echoed in his ears, followed by a cry. He looked over to where the shot came from.
"Aaahhh!" Dennis continued firing the 25mm cannon, letting out a cry. Some of it from the pain, but most of it was a war cry. He saw the creature come up and head to the ship, and he was determined to stop it. Unlike Danny's rifle, the cannon actually did some damage and catch the monster's attention. Its tentacles were now retracted and heading his way. Dennis tightened his lips as he continued firing the cannon. Shots punctured the skin of the phantom, but it continued towards him. Dennis knew he was dead, so he didn't even think about pushing the pipe lodged in his body and trying to run. He just kept firing.
He aimed a little too low and a shot bounced off the ground. A little further past were a huge stack of fuel barrels, and the phantom was almost over them. Dennis saw it and aimed down towards the barrels. He wasn't sure if he was lined up, but he hoped it was. Dennis waited a few more seconds to let the creature come closer, and pulled the huge trigger. The shot connected with the barrels and exploded, enveloping the creature in a mini-mushroom explosion. When the blast cleared, all that was left in the area was smoke. The creature was nowhere in sight.
Danny, seeing this, let out a sigh of relief. "Glad to see you still got it, Pops."
Dennis shouted, despite the pain. "You're lucky you're my son, otherwise I'd smoke your hide." He let pumped up his fist in the air in victory. He sat back in the rover, waiting for his wife to come and get him out.
But that would never happen. The creature rose up from underneath him. The monster wasn't dead; it only used the explosion to dip underground again like a ghost. Dennis grabbed the cannon, but it was useless. It was directly underneath him, and he knew it wouldn't die even if he got a few shots off. The creature's tentacles swiped him and he was gone.
Danny watched in anger, shock, and terror. He just lost his father, the closest of his five immediate family members, taken by the creature. He aimed his rifle and fired like a madmen. "DAADDD!"
As if things couldn't get any worse, tank drones smashed through the doors and surrounded the Paratus Preliator. Danny watched helplessly as the tanks fired upon the ship, with his mother still on board. The ship was frantically trying to get off the ground, clumsily hanging in the air because of Gabrielle's lack of piloting skills. Danny could hear his mother's voice, completely in panic. "Come, get up!"
Danny was screaming through tears. "Pull up! Pull up!"
The shots boiled through the titanium hull and superheated metal. All he could now hear was his mother screaming. "AAAHHH-" The fuel cells were soon breach and the ship exploded. Huge chunks of metal were sent everywhere. Danny tried to let out a scream, but all he could manage was a half-choked cry. His family was dead in a matter of minutes. The tears began to run down his cheeks. He wanted to go out and kill the creature and tanks, but that would be suicide. It didn't matter to him anymore; his family was dead and he had nothing left. Before he could even move, he heard a cry.
"Danny, help us!" The voice was familiar.
Danny knew who it was. It was Sarabi's voice. The lioness who took him in as a second mother when he had nothing left. The white sphere appeared in front of him and began to head down a hallway. Danny followed it. He made a vow to protect his family, and now he heard the cries of someone who might be the only family he had left.
The sphere led him down a corridor. The corridor was long, with prison cells on either side of the walls. He could hear footsteps echoing through the hall, but he couldn't tell where they were coming from. He needed to hurry. At the end of the prison cells was one huge cell. Numerous lions and lionesses were crammed in there, but only one stood out to him: Sarabi. He ran to them and stopped right in front of them. "Hang on, I'll get you out."
A sudden, loud pop reverberated in the corridor. Danny felt excruciating pain enter his chest. He recognized too late that it was a gunshot. Heat and sweat began to build as he fell to his knees. His heartbeat began racing faster and faster. Danny's vision started to blur as he tasted blood in his mouth. He looked up at Sarabi. Her face was an expression of utter shock.
"Such a shame." Danny turned to his left to the eerily familiar voice. He looked into the barrel of a pistol. He couldn't make out who the figure was, as the dim light and his blurry vision made it impossible to identify him. The figure let out a low, dark laugh. "Welcome to my world, Danny." The next thing Danny saw was a flash of light as the figure pulled the trigger.