Authors Note: This is my 3rd fanfiction. I know there was a lot of backlash for my previous fanfic's being riddled with plot holes and just poor writers block crap writing. Also, being that it's been 5x years since my last update, I've gained some more real world experience in terms of writing, experience and such.
This story will restart the John Carter series from what & where it needs to be and continue on a singular plot line (with slight off-shoots for content of course) until I die or get tired of it.
The other two stories (JC: UNSC Marine Corps & JC: Reality) will stay posted but do not represent the current flow of the story line. The titles of those other two stories have been changed to reflect that.
Prologue
The room was dimly lit, dust and clutter strewn about the oak table top and concrete floor. The small enclosures' walls were bare save for cracks in the grey concrete, overall the appearance seeming that of a military bunker in a modest state of disrepair, the air scented with a mix of mustiness and dirt. At the far side of the broad oaken table sat a lithe built leopard, a large news style camera setup off to his right with a short, semi stocky coyote manning it. As the leopard sat waiting patiently, his paws pensively toyed with a pen over his writing pad, an array of idly constructed doodles and some scant notes sprawled across the yellow paper, his eyes a soft curious green that glanced all about the dank room and up to the light, him musing internally if it was even enough light for why he was here. Letting off a nearly inaudible sigh, his eyes trailed back down to his paper patchwork of notes and he let his pen tip rest alongside his top note, a singular question that had been starred and underlined, "Who is he?"
As he sat and pondered his own self-made question, his sensitive ears perked up and shortly thereafter his attention followed, his eyes drawn to the door where a trio of soft boot steps could be heard tracking down the hallway, a flush of nervousness washed over him and he gripped his pen in his writing paw, using his other to smooth the thin fur over his muzzle before clearing his throat out of habit, a firm knock on the hefty door echoing into the room. His panic ebbed away and he sat confident in his seat as his voice noised the room clearly, "Please come in" was his simple response to the knocking request for entry, upon which time the steel door slowly swung open, the trio being shown to the dim light and thusly entering. Among them being a short, muscled fox, a much taller and equally as muscled dark furred wolf, and lastly, an oddity at best for the group to see… A human, tall, taller than each of them, square jawed with several days' worth of stubble along his cheeks, chin and neck. His brow beaded with sweat.
The leopard was a bit in awe as he looked over the sight before him, him allowing his jaw to drop open, if only slightly. The green inquisitive orbs, full of desire for learning scanned over the tall human, from his short dark brown hair all the way down to his boots, the leopard taking in every detail of the man's uniform, his bulky yet efficient looking body armor and subsequent attachments. The way he stood there, commanding respect silently as his scratched and well-worn rifle hung from its sling in front his kit and armor. The camouflage the man wearing being a mix of green, tans and brown small splotches, the leopard wracking his memory to think of what it had been called… "Multicam…" he thought to himself. He noticed furthermore that the man's uniform and gear looked worn, dusty, and soaked through with sweat, not to mention the dark red blood stain on his left forearm sleeve, the cuff of his blouse cut away and rolled up to his elbow, a stained white bandage wrapped around his muscular forearm. The leopard let his eyes travel back up to the large humans face once more and studied it for a few moments, noticing the tiredness in his features but the intense alertness in his eyes, as if he'd not slept for a long while yet remained dedicated to his mission.
After his several seconds of shock and review, the leopard gestured to the seat across the table in front of the tall man. "Please, have a seat" was the leopards quiet offer to the human, who nodded and smoothly pulled the chair back, easing into the old wood frame resting piece, it creaking under his significant bulk. The leopard smiled a bit, the sides of his muzzle creasing up lightly as he did so, him looking down to his notes before pulling out and donning a pair of slim framed reading glasses, getting his pen ready as his ripped his first page off and set it to his left, exposing a fresh sheet of paper before looking back up to the human in front of him.
"So, you're here because you accepted an invite for an interview for the Cornerian Military Historical Society, correct?" The leopard looked on pensively, hoping the human would back out at this time… the man in front of him nodding and resting into the chair easily.
"Great! Now I'm going to be asking you a long series of questions if you don't mind. At any time, just feel free to request a break. Oh, and if you're about to divulge classified data for the record, please denote that so it can be properly edited and stored. Is this alright?" The human nodded and for the first time spoke, his voice low and clear, with a tone of fatigue edged in, "Yes, that's fine by me."
At this point, the two other who had entered with the human had turned and quietly exited, their footstep sounds diminishing to nothing down the long corridor behind the now re-closed door. All that could be heard for a few moments was the quiet breathing of all three individuals and the occasional shift in a seat before the leopard spoke up again, "Okay, let's start from the beginning… I am Ensign Connor Marcius, what's your name, rank, position, etc.? Sorry, I normally know these things ahead of time, but you were just sent at random for the interview."
Nodding a bit, the man let off a small smile at the edge of his lips, "No worry. I'm Captain John Carter, commander/leader of the Blackfox Initial Response Team."
The leopards jaw fell agape and he set his pen down upon his pad. This was the one man he'd desperately wanted to interview ever since all this had happened. The one man who had stood in the face of the enemy and led his race to battle when no one else had the courage.
The leopard glanced down to his pad again, his pen making its way back into his fingers and him scrawling out four simple letters and a period below his initial question; HERO.