Prologue

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Winston Churchill

Terra, Thousands of Years Ago

"The prey draw near, my khan," said Lata, almost too quietly for the great tiger she addressed to hear.

Shere Khan, Chosen of the Hunters, Tracker of the Hidden Truths, Lord and Master of Creation, did not need to hear the words to know, however. The god-building- from before the time of the Light, from even before the God-War- was slowly filling. Predators of all kinds- even those who had sometimes preyed upon one another- filed in, with little more than a muttered growl signalling the ancient feuds which had long since been forgotten since the rise of the prey.

The prey.

There had been the Long Night. Then, the Light had come, giving mammals the gift of the Gods. The Gods had been angered at the mammals, who had barely come to understand their new consciousness when they were punished in the War. When the Gods came, bringing fire and lightning down from the heavens, turning forests and fields into deadlands where to linger meant a strange and terrifying death. They had ranged at will, the legends said, and in their great hunts all became prey.

Then came the Time of Peace. Peace for the hunters, at least- they had ranged farther and wider than ever before, swooping down when hungry on the strange places of the prey, who scratched and dug at the dirt, turning the chaos of the grass into orderly rows of crops. The Great Khan could close his eyes and feel, with his ancestor's eyes, those times. To run free with the wind, brushing aside the pitiful spears of the prey, flashing claws and teeth. To fear nothing, save perhaps one of the blood feuds from other Hunters. The prey were beneath notice- only existing to sate the hunger of the Hunters.

And then. Those strange dwellings had started as earth, but then became wood. Then stone. The spears had become bows, then- within living memory- guns. The prey multiplied, which had been a blessing, but now became a curse as more and more of them ranged the earth. The land was girdled with steel roads, upon which the great iron monsters the prey called trains rode.

His tribe had adapted. They had to, or perish. They put aside their quarrels with the other Hunter tribes. The Wolf, the Tiger, the Lion, even the lowly Fox had come together. Against such an army- the Confederation of the Hunters- nothing could stand.

Khan looked around him, noting the expressions of the various Hunters. Wolf sat with Fox, Bear with Panther. Their faces showed shame, wounded pride, and, most of all, fear.

The Hunters were scattered. The Battle of the Wounded Land, near the great crater which legend said had once been created by the Gods in their war against mammals, had gone crushingly against them. The Hunters had stolen guns, even cannon that they had taken in their first lightning strike against the prey outposts. But then-

Serried ranks of herd animals, clustered together, lowering great pikes in unison. Elephants dragging massive cannons into position, blasting hot metal fragments that struck like arrows. The cavalry, horses and zebras wielding lances strapped to their sides, striking and falling back.

The host that the Great Khan had led had filled the land from horizon to horizon.

Those that remained fit into one building.

"My Khan," said Lata again, more loudly. She looked at her father, trying to see if he was listening. "The prey-"

"I know, Lata," said the khan quietly. "And so do they."

The last of the leaders of the Hunter Tribes filed into the room. They watched him impassively. He knew the usual price for a leader who failed to succeed in the Hunt. It was a measure of their confusion and fear that they still looked to him.

Finally, a bear stepped forward. "Great Khan," said the bear. "What do we- what is your-"

"My command?" Shere Khan regarded him wearily. "What is there to command? The prey draw near. They number more than the grass they eat. They are armed with guns, the long spears they call pikes, and more Hunters than I knew existed have perished on this day." His voice rose. "You ask what I command?"

There was a long silence.

Redclaw, of the Cougar clan, leapt forward. "If the khan will not command," he snarled, "then perhaps it is time to choose another."

"You, Redclaw?" said a voice.

"Yes!" shouted the cougar, rounding on the assembled leaders. "If no one else has the courage." He paced, his tail lashing furiously, meeting their eyes. "We are Hunters. They are Prey. It is our right-"

"Our right to what?" shouted Ursus, leader of the Bear Tribe. "Our right to die?"

"If that is the will of the Gods," shot back Redclaw. "They have risen us up, to rule over the Prey, and if we are too weak to rule in their stead, then I will go willingly to my death, claws and teeth striking for the jugular."

There were a few growls of agreement, but more were shaking their heads. "No," said a lion. "We have met them, tooth and claw, and were bested. We must seek another way."

"What way?" asked Redclaw. He raised a paw and extended his claws, which glittered in the torchlight of the meeting room. "How many of the prey has fallen under these claws? How many lives have I taken? What could they possibly offer us?"

The door flew open, crashing into the wall. Two wolves, wielding prey-made rifles, stepped inside as the khan leapt to his feet. The rest of the tribal leaders turned as well, most instinctively baring teeth or claws as they looked at the doorway.

"Forgive us the interruption, oh lords," said one wolf, bowing deeply. "There is a messenger."

"From whom? The coyotes?" demanded Redclaw, before anyone else could speak. "Have they come after all?"

The wolf shook his head. "No, my lord. From the prey."

Silence fell.

Shere Khan straightened and took his great spear which Lata handed to him. "Bring him forth."

"Only Hunters have the right of free passage," began Redclaw.

"And who has hunted the Hunters on this day, Redclaw?" asked Khan, his voice grim.

The cougar's eyes widened in outrage, but before he could speak the messenger came through the door.

Or hopped, rather.

The bunny held his head high, meeting the eyes of the tribal leaders. They growled in confusion. He was Prey. He was small, weak.

But the memories of the battlefield were still strong.

The bunny bowed. "Greetings, O great Hunters. I bring a message from the Prey Nations."

Redclaw's eyes narrowed, his claws unsheathing. "Spare us your mockery, prey. We may die, but we will surely bring you with us."

"It is not mockery," said the bunny calmly. He looked the cougar over. "You are not the great khan."

Shere Khan stepped forward, his cloak trailing his pawsteps as he moved. "I am," he said.

The bunny bowed again. "I am called Horace, great khan." He smiled slightly. "Pleased to meet you."

Despite himself, the tiger smiled slightly at the pedestrian greeting. "What is your message, Horace of the Prey?"

"He comes only to mock us in our defeat," growled Redclaw. "Let us end him first, as we shall end so many of their kind when we are at last made to meet the Gods."

"I bring an offer," said the rabbit, ignoring the cougar.

"What sort of an offer?" asked the khan, curious.

"An offer of peace."

The tribal leaders stared in shock.

"Peace?" shouted Redclaw, the first to recover himself. "What peace can there be between Hunters and Prey?"

"What peace can there be?" repeated the rabbit. He shrugged. "The usual sort, I suppose. You don't eat us, we don't get eaten."

"And what shall we eat?" called one of the wolves. "We cannot eat grass and vegetables!"

"There are fish," said the rabbit. "And you might be surprised how much nutrition you can get from some kinds of plants."

The bears nodded thoughtfully, but most of the Hunters- particularly the obligate carnivores- looked repulsed. "Fish?" muttered one.

The rabbit looked in his direction. "Fish," he repeated. "For surely it is better to eat fish and survive, than to eat nothing and die."

"There is no honor in what you say," said Redclaw, his eyes glittering. "It is the word of Prey."

Shere Khan raised his paw, silencing the cougar. He looked up around the room. "What say you?"

Most of the predators refused to meet his eyes, glancing away shamefully. That was as good as an answer to him- they preferred to eat fish and live, and see their cubs live, than to die under the guns of the Prey. But silence was not enough. His eyes sought out a pair that did not look away, but instead met his without fear and without shame. "Mother Wolf," he said quietly. "Would you speak?"

The wolf matriarch slowly stood, two of her grandsons rushing to assist her. She shook them off irritably, though her muzzle was rimed with grey, her eyes blurred with age. She looked around, and even Redclaw said nothing when her gaze fell upon him.

"I am old," she said, her voice so low that even the sharp ears of the Hunters had to strain to hear it. "I have seen many a moon. I have seen the Prey push us from one land to another. From the lands that my mother and my mother's mother have known, to the wounded lands here far in the west. My sons are dead. Many of my grandsons are dead. Their cubs cry for want of food, for want of warmth, for want of their sires and dams." She bowed her head. "Some speak of pride, of honor. But what honor is there in our cubs' cries? What pride is there in the death of my tribe?"

Redclaw raised a paw, then lowered it, his ears falling. He looked at his mate, who held a small cub in her claws.

"The tribes have come together in their fulness," continued the Wolf Mother. "They have died in their fulness. The Light came and gave us eyes to see, ears to hear. It turned us from the darkness and into a new life. Many things have come and gone since then. Many new things under the sun." She fell silent, looking to Shere Khan.

He nodded, slowly. "New things," he repeated. He looked at the bunny. "Such as a bunny, coming into a den of Hunters?"

"Such as a bunny, who brings word from the Prey to spare the Hunters," said Horace.

"It is weak," said Redclaw, his voice trembling with emotion. "See, how small it is."

"No," said the khan. He knelt down to meet the bunny's eyes. They met his own, without flinching. "It is strong. See how little it fears."

He stood and turned to face the room. "We have long sought peace through strength," he said. "Strength to triumph over our enemies, to keep the hunting grounds of our fathers and mothers."

"There is no strength in surrender," protested Redclaw, but his heart was not in it.

"Long have we sought peace in strength," repeated the khan. He looked at the cougar, who closed his eyes and bowed his head submissively. "Perhaps it is time to seek strength in peace."

He turned to the bunny. "Will we be servants, then, rabbit Horace- hewers of wood and drawers of water?"

The bunny shook his head. "No. For what would that lead to, save greater wars to come? No, it has been decided. We shall build a city, where predators and prey can learn to live together." He looked up at the great khan. "You will learn, and we shall teach." Before the khan could speak, he raised a paw to forestall him. "And you shall teach, and we shall learn."

"You think we can teach you?" asked the khan in surprise.

The bunny shrugged. "We always seek to learn new ways to live in peace," he said seriously. "And if there can be a Hunter's Peace, then, why, we should like to learn that, too."

"Hunter's peace," mused the khan. He looked over the tribal leaders, seeing as if for the first time their fear, their desperation. Their dismay at the world being turned upside down. It must have been much like when the Light first came.

The Light was a blessing, wrapped in a curse. Perhaps- just perhaps- this was something similar.

He turned back to the bunny. "You shall have my answer," he said. He raised his spear.

The rabbit stared back at him unflinchingly.

The spear came down.

There was a loud crack as Shere Khan, Chosen of the Hunters, Tracker of the Hidden Truths, Lord and Master of Creation broke his spear across his knee.

"My arms are weary," he said in the silence. "My heart is heavy. From this day forward I shall fight no more again forever."

He reached out a paw towards the bunny, who took it.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Horace and the khan stood outside in the moonlight. The predators, in silent lines, marched past the files of prey, tossing down their weapons into ever-growing piles.

"Will it be so simple?" murmured the khan.

"No," said Horace. "It never is."

The tiger smiled down at him. "You must be a great chief in your country," he said.

The rabbit chuckled. "I'm a farmer."

The khan blinked in surprise. "A farmer."

"A damned good farmer," added the bunny. He smiled up at the khan. "Surprised?"

"Where does a farmer learn such courage?" asked the khan. "You were unafraid. I have slain many." He said it without boasting, just a simple statement of fact.

Horace looked back at the disarming predators. "I have kits."

"Kits?"

"Children." He smiled. "They give you courage you never knew you had. And I want them to grow up in a world where farmers don't have to carry guns."

The khan looked at Lata, his daughter, who was staring in wonder at the scene before them. She caught his glance and smiled tremulously. He thought about a world where she would never need fear again. Shere Khan nodded. "Perhaps the Prey are not so different after all."

Horace returned his nod.

The great khan looked up at the heavens. "I wonder what the Gods will make of this if they ever return?"

Horace followed his gaze, to a bright star said to be the nearest of the many homes of the Gods. "It's not what they'll make of us.

"It's what we make of ourselves."

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Terra, A Few Years Ago

Premier Maximus sat down heavily at his desk, which groaned under his weight. The Council of Terra had never quite gotten used to having an elephant Premier, and the hastily reinforced chair was not quite up to his weight. He suspected one day it would collapse completely.

Much like the Council.

Despite the promise of experiments such as Zootopia, the tensions between the various mammal nations were not entirely extinct. There was still a great deal of suspicion, intrigue, and outright hostility between the various nation-states, something the Council could not quite seem to grasp. Maximus was but one of a long line of Premiers who found themselves constantly scrambling to address one crisis or another.

Though, he thought heavily, this particular crisis put the others to shame.

As he sat down, his aide- Philip, a opossum- nodded circumspectly towards the other representatives in the room. "The Gallian representative seems pretty eager today," he said quietly. "Think it's something to do with the Zootopian controversy?"

"Probably," murmured Maximus. "He's trying to save face after all his snide comments about the predator species. Bellwether's arrest makes him look like an idiot."

"As if he needed help," said Philip.

"Indeed." Maximus watched the various representatives to the Terran Council as they whispered to one another. "You would think after nearly five hundred years of peace that we would be unified."

Philip sniffed. "I suspect that our long peace just changed the forms of conflict. You must admit, snide comments and passionate denunciations beat teeth and claws as forms of fighting."

The elephant nodded. "True. But perhaps that will be behind us now." He appeared not to notice the quizzical look Philip gave him. He stood up, wincing slightly- his seventy years were starting to show. He pitched his voice to fill the room, quashing the various conversations that were still on-going. "I hereby call this meeting to order. The Council of Terra is now in session."

At the ritual words, the other members of the council quieted, with the exception of Jean Escurel, the representative of Gallia. The squirrel jumped up. "Premier, if I may have the floor?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the other members of the council. They regarded him with an air of weariness, even suspicion when it came to the predator species on the council. His carefully worded diatribes- always phrased in such a way as to avoid outright prejudice- against predators were well known. Even those nations formed primarily of prey species found him wearisome at times.

"Fellow members of the esteemed Council of Terra. Our forefathers created this Council to address the issues that face all nations in a time when-"

Maximus cleared his throat. "With respect, Councilor Escurel, I have not given you leave to proceed."

The squirrel whirled to face the elephant, his eyes wide with apparent outrage. "Your Excellency, I had informed your aide-"

"Sorry, councilor," said Philip. "I hadn't had a chance to speak with the Premier yet."

"But-"

"I am sure everyone will be most interested in what you have to say, councilor," said Maximus, mixing a soothing tone with sarcasm in a way that even the seasoned politicians of the council marvelled at. "But there is something critical I must bring to the council."

"What could be more important than the relationship of predators to prey?" demanded Escurel. He turned back to the rest of the representatives. "The arrest of Mayor Bellwether doesn't change the fact that there are certain issues-"

"Four hours ago," said Maximus, raising his voice, "I was informed that astronomers on the Great Isthmus observed an object appear just outside the orbit of Neptune."

Escurel stopped, turning his attention with the rest of the assembly towards the Premier. "What do you mean? Appeared?"

Maximus continued. "The appearance of the object was accompanied by a burst of Cherenfox radiation, which I am told is the result of an object breaking the speed of light in a given medium."

"But- that's impossible," protested the representative of Antelopia. "There's no medium in deep space where the speed of light could be exceeded." Maximus recalled that he had been appointed to the council as a sort of sinecure, due to his achievements in physics research. Ironically, it seemed he might be better equipped to deal with this news than the politicians and sycophants- the two categories frequently overlapped- that primarily composed the Council.

"Impossible or not, it happened," said Maximus gravely. "Approximately one hour later, a communication was received from the object, which appeared to be using a form of fusion as a thruster source."

"Thruster-" said the Antelopian. "You mean-"

"The object was a space vessel," confirmed Maximus. "The message was decoded by members of the International Scientific Association." He paused, taking some small satisfaction in the rapt attention he was receiving. It was rare for even the Premier to gain the attention of the Council.

"The object identified itself as the human vessel Hephaestus, of the Human Stars. They have requested diplomatic contact with Terra, which they designated as the lost human homeworld."

For a long moment, the representatives of the nations of Terra stared in shock.

Then all hell broke loose.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Zacharias Hunter, a twenty-some odd year veteran of the First Landing Police Department- he had long since stopped keeping track- regarded his most recent caller. "Run that by me again."

The man who had called gave a loud, exaggerated sigh. "Are cops born this stupid, or do they teach it to you in the academy?" He held up his hand, which held several small reddish spheres. "I'll explain it again- maybe this time you'll get it. I bought these from a guy who swears it's genuine Luyten Rose. But I'm not sure about it."

Luyten Rose was a highly addictive, highly dangerous, highly illegal narcotic. Hunter squinted at the spheres. "Looks like it is to me."

"Nah, man, it's usually more purplish. You cops have those testers, right? Can't you check it and see if it's real?"

For a moment, Hunter stared at him. "Let me get this straight. You want me to test this to make sure you're actually in possession of an illegal narcotic?"

The man nodded. "Hey, eventually even a cop can figure it out. Who knew?"

"You know," said Hunter wearily. "I really wanted to just have a nice quiet night for once."

The caller scowled at him. "Lazy damn cops. Look, just let me know if it's the real stuff or not and I'll be on my way."

Hunter opened his mouth, then shook his head in defeat. "Hang on a second." He walked a few steps away and keyed his mike. "Dispatch, this is Hunter."

There was a slight pause. "Dispatch to Yankee Four Five," said the dispatcher, pointedly emphasizing his unit number. "Go ahead."

"Can I get a unit with a narcotics test kit to check by please?"

"Yankee Five Two," said another voice, which Hunte recognized as Louis Wu, another officer in his district. "I'll be there in two."

"That's clear." Hunter turned back to the caller.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"All right, settle down," said Bogo irritably to the cops in the roll call room. He eyed them, swishing his short tail back and forth. "I'll make this short and sweet."

Judy leaned forward slightly. Nick, beside her, gave her an amused glance. "Excited to get parking duty again?" he murmured.

She flashed him a grin. "Not anymore, not after the Bellwether case."

Bogo glared at them and they quieted. The chief cleared his throat. "First of all, some of you may have not heard the news."

It turned out none of them had. The assembled cops all shared puzzled glances as Bogo continued.

"It seems that the humans- for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, read up on ancient history- have returned. For now, things are peaceful- most mammals aren't sure what to make of it." Bogo looked up, watching them carefully.

"The humans?" said Judy uncertainly. "I thought they were- you know, a myth or something." She looked to Nick and blinked in surprise.

The fox was sitting up straight, his eyes wide. His ears were up, swiveled straight at Bogo, his stance almost quivering with fight-or-flight emotion. He caught her glance and calmed slightly, plastering on an unconvincing smile. "Myth? Didn't you pay attention in your history classes?" he said to her.

"Well..." Judy hesitated. "It wasn't exactly critical to police work, so-"

"Come on, Carrots, is that all you ever thought about?" Nick shook his head. "This is big."

Bogo pointed at the fox. "That's exactly what I'm worried about."

"Who, me?"

Bogo nodded, then caught himself. "No, not you." He stopped, frowning. "At least, not right now. No, I mean that reaction. A lot of mammals aren't going to know what to think about this. Some of them may not react well at all. So all of you need to be on your hooves today. Or toes," he added, forestalling Delgado's raised paw.

"I don't get it," said Judy uncertainly as Bogo began doling out the assignments. "I mean, at least it's not aliens or something. Didn't the humans leave when we evolved? What's so scary about them?"

Nick shook his head. "Ever hear of the War, Fluff?"

"Which war?"

"The war." He looked down and smiled ruefully at her confused expression. "Never mind. I guess it's all ancient history now." He stretched ostentatiously. "I don't see how it's going to matter to us, anyway. I doubt we'll ever even lay our eyes on a human."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So what do you need tested?" asked Wu, as he walked up. He stared in surprise when Hunter's caller stepped forward and held out his hand.

"This!" said the caller irritably. "Is this Luyten Rose or not?"

Wu looked at him, then raised an eyebrow at Hunter. "He wants to know if he has dope or not?"

Hunter shrugged. "He thinks it might not be real."

"Did he think this through?"

"Oh, come on already! Can't you just test it so I can go?" asked the man angrily. "I pay your salaries, you know."

The two cops gave each other knowing looks and Wu carefully took the alleged narcotics. "Right away, sir." He walked to his patrol car, Hunter following. "So did you hear the news? It's pretty crazy."

"Did the Harriers finally win the cup?"

Wu shook his head. "Game's not until next week, Zach."

"Well, it would be pretty crazy if they won already, wouldn't it?"

The other cop rolled his eyes. "The X-Corps discovered a new world."

Hunter shrugged. "So? Isn't that, you know, their job?"

"Yeah, but not like this." Wu popped the trunk of his patrol car and pulled the test kit out of his bag. He looked at Hunter. "It's Terra."

"Terra?" Hunter frowned. "Like, the mythical human homeworld?"

"Um, you know it's not mythical that we come from another world, right? We work in a city called First Landing. That's what we in the police business call a clue."

"Don't be sarcastic at me, Wu. I've got dibs on that." Hunter broke off a tiny piece of one of the Rose spheres and dropped it in the tester.

"That's not the craziest part, though," said Wu as Hunter shook the tester. "Apparently, the whole planet's inhabited."

"By who? The Drex?" asked Hunter absently. "Sounds like another war brewing. It does seem to be that time of the decade. Hope they don't blow up anything important."

"Nope," said Wu. "By talking animals."

Hunter paused. "By what?"

"Talking animals. Elephants, wolves, squirrels, bunny rabbits- intelligent, sapient mammals." Wu grinned at Hunter's befuddled look.

"Sapient mammals?' said Hunter. "You're joking, right?"

"Afraid not. Some sort of experiment of our ancestors, I guess, something that got out of hand." Wu shrugged. "We've entered diplomatic negotations with them."

Hunter blinked. "I didn't know the government knew how to do that."

"Yeah, I guess the Ministry of First Contact had to dust off a really old playbook for this one. One that doesn't start with 'shoot first,' and have 'ask questions' at the very back."

The tester slowly turned blue, then green. Hunter frowned at it. "Damn."

"What?" said Wu, surprised. "It's real Luyten Rose, all right."

"Yeah," said Hunter, annoyed. "Now I have to arrest the idiot. I was hoping I'd be able to get through the entire shift without doing anything."

The idiot in question, who had been nervously kibitzing behind their back, suddenly approached. "So what's the deal? Is it real?" he demanded.

Hunter turned to him. "Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, you are in possession of genuine Luyten Rose." He held up the tester and regarded it with a critical eye. "Pretty potent mix, looks like."

"All right!" enthused the man. He reached for it, but hesitated when Hunter drew back his hand. A thought struck him. "What's the bad news?"

Hunter took out his handcuffs. "Same as the good news, actually."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Maximus glanced down at Philip. "This is the human ship?"

The opossum nodded. "Yes, Premier- well, their shuttlecraft. The main ship is still in orbit." He pointed up. "See that bright dot?"

The elephant looked up. "The one that's moving?"

"Yes, sir. That's the human ship."

Maximus blinked. The space program of various Terran nations were still in their infancy- the Luna landings had happened when he was only a child, and not much had occurred since. He had long ago stopped paying close attention, as his focus was consumed with working his way through the byzantine political process that had replaced- well, largely replaced- the former violence between the various species of the planet. "It's visible from here?"

"It's quite large, Premier. The size of a tanker ship, at the least." Philip regarded the bright dot thoughtfully. "And it's a scout craft of theirs." He looked up at the elephant. "We must be careful, Max. The humans have been in space for longer than we've been civilized. We cannot underestimate them."

The elephant nodded soberly, and turned his attention to the shuttlecraft.

Slowly, it slowed in its approach, hovering before finally coming to a standstill a short distance away. Maximus- and the other Terran representatives- stared in awe. Despite the large size, it seemed to float in the air- no sound was heard, no disturbance of the dust of the landing field could be seen. "Is it some sort of hovercraft?" asked Maximus hesitantly,

"No, your Excellency," said a panda, adjusting his spectacles. He was Dr. Qing Yu, a noted physicist. He watched the shuttlecraft intently. "If I am not very much mistaken, it's some form of anti-gravity. Note the lack of a ground effect."

"Anti-gravity," murmured Maximus. He shared a look with his aide. "It seems like something out of a movie."

"I will be most interested in finding out how they do it," said Dr. Yu.

"I will be most interested in finding out if they will tell us how they do it," said Maximus, though too quietly for the panda to hear.

The shuttle finally landed, and the assembled Terrans held their breath as the door slowly slid open, a ramp extending to the ground. Most of them took a step back when two armed beings- humans, it seemed- appeared. A few gasped when they saw them, and Maximus suppressed a wince when he heard a low growl. Some Terrans remembered their history all too well.

The two armed humans scanned the area, their gazes resting on the elephant, before stepping to either side of the ramp. They snapped their weapons- rifles of some sort- into present arms.

Dressed in a severe black uniform with gold piping, another human walked down the ramp. The human hesitated slightly before stepping onto the soil, and when the human's foot hit the dirt Maximus heard an almost inaudible sigh of satisfaction. He frowned- there was an almost proprietary air about the human.

The uniformed human- a female, if Maximus was not very much mistaken, though he couldn't be sure- stepped forward and saluted smartly. "Captain Lata Moreau, Human Stars Explorator Corps."

Maximus inclined his head gravely. "Captain. I am honored to be the first to welcome you to Terra. I am Premier Maximus of the Council of Terra."

"The honor is mine," said Moreau gravely. "It has been over ten thousand years since a human has stepped foot on our ancient homeworld." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "It feels like home."

Maximus ignored the concerned murmurs from the other representatives. "I suppose it is," he said neutrally. "Home for all mammals. A place of rest. A place of peace."

Moreau looked him in the eyes, her gaze assessing. "A place of peace?" she said, musingly. "I hope so. My people need such a place." She gestured to the armed humans, who saluted and trotted back into the shuttlecraft. Maximus and the other mammals- who had long ago forsworn such weaponry- watched them go with trepidation.

The human captain extended a paw. "Premier Maximus. Thank you for your kind greeting. I expect great things from the coming days."

Cautiously, Maximus accepted her paw in his. "I, too, hope that our civilizations can reach an understanding based on mutual respect."

He had spent a fair amount of time reviewing the history of humanity known to mammals, such as it was. Since the conflict between humans and Terra's mammals had started almost as soon as mammals became sentient, there was little to be found. Modern archaeologists had reconstructed the war- a misnomer, as the conflict had been closer to a failed attempt at extermination than a true fight- to some degree, but who the humans truly were, what they represented, was still a mystery to the premier. Were they the monsters legends made them out to be? Or was there more to it than that?

The human inclined her head again politely. "We bear you no ill will, Premier, and hope for peaceful relations. The past is in the past, as they say. It falls to us to create a better future."

The words failed to break the tension Maximus could feel in the mammals behind him, but he forced a smile. "Well said, captain. Will you be handling the negotations, then?"

She shook her head. "No, I was tasked with making initial contact. The Ministry of First Contacts will be sending diplomats as soon as possible." She smiled at him, though it didn't quite reach her calculating eyes. "For now, perhaps we can exchange information about each other's cultures. To avoid misunderstandings, you know."

"Misunderstandings," repeated Maximus. He nodded slowly. "Yes, it is important that we both understand one another."

Moreau raised an eyebrow. "I think, Premier Maximus, that you will find you understand us without any difficulty at all." Her eyes flicked towards the sky, where a bright dot leisurely made its way across the heavens.

Author's Notes:

Okay, folks, don't mean to get your hopes up- this is just the prologue. It's still going to be a bit before I get well into the story proper. I just wanted to post this because I enjoyed writing it so much.

The basis of the predator-prey conflict is the real-life conflict between herders/nomads and farmers/sedentary peoples in human history. I figured predators would naturally gravitate towards the nomadic lifestyle, and this gives them various advantages in battle. Even the Romans, the preeminent military power of its time, lost decisively when fighting the Scythians. The Huns and the Mongols also devastated the settled peoples. Only with the increasing numbers, organization, and technology (especially firearms) did the advantage finally swing back to the farmers. A parallel history seems likely with predator-prey conflict.

The speeches given by the predators (the Wolf Mother and the great Khan) are based heavily on the speech of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce when he surrendered, though the only line I stole completely was the "I shall fight no more again forever" part. There's no way to improve upon that. Please note that while I am drawing parallels here, I don't mean to imply that the situations were identical- the morality of the wars against the Native American peoples and this fictional war between the predators and prey is substantially different.

There is also a parallel to be drawn between the high-tech (comparatively speaking) prey versus the predators, and the high-tech humans versus the mammals of Terra in the "present day" of the story. How this is handled is going to be important.

As far as how long it will take me to continue- please be patient. I'm hoping to get a substantial amount done by next week, enough that I can start posting a chapter or two. I will also be keeping humor involved in the mix, of course. Hope you enjoy!