Chapter One: The Legions on the march

The ground was damp with dew and the morning air hung thick with mist. A horn blew in the distance snapping a rabbit legionarie from her sleeping stupor, looking around and gathering her tower shield and spear that were leaning against a nearby tree, Judy Hopps started jogging back to where the rest of the XVII Legion was gathering for the next leg of its march. Starting along the trail from the creek from where she had been filling her water skin, Judy began the climb up the small embankment that led to the camp, now nearly desolate of all tents and buildings.

Mumbling under her breath, Judy remarked "I hope they haven't put away all of today's breakfast, I would hate to march on an empty stomach."

Arriving at the summit of the hill, Judy gazed down at the massed crowd of mammals that comprised the legions of Zootopia. Only three legions were present, with those legions comprising of five thousand soldiers, ranging from large hulking mammals such as bulls, hippos and rhinos, to medium sized ones such as pigs, sheep, deer and antelope. Making her way down to the lengthening column of soldiers preparing once again to begin its delve deeper into the heart of the Vesanus forest.

Walking through the jumble of animals Judy found herself carefully attempting to dodge the stampeding feet of other legionaries, barely managing to scamper out of the way of a buffalo's foot,

"HEY, watch where you're going you stupid rabbit!" the buffalo exclaimed with a snort of his breath.

"Sorry" Judy exclaimed darting in-between pairs of legs until she reached the stump of a tree, which the other soldiers gave a wider berth, and for good reason. Leaning over the stump was general Swinton, a well-respected swine who lead the combined forces of the three legions which, along with the auxiliary troops, held the authority of an army 20,000 strong. To any and all mammals, her word was law. Judy, spying her destination, started toward the rest of her cohort. Her sensitive ears swiveled as she picked up on swinton's conversation with her Legates, the highest-ranking officers that headed a specific legion. The three Legates present for this particular crusade into the Vesanus Forest included: Legate Doug, the brawny sheep with shifty eyes, and supposedly connections to the magistrate Bellwether, head of the Senate. Legate Moosebridge, a tall, firm talking moose, and legate Jumbeaux, a massive hulking elephant whose weapon of choice was a massive iron mace with a Zootopian crest engraved onto the top of its flanged head.

"Are you sure elongating our lines once again is a wise choice, any attack by the preds could spell disaster with the orders you are proposing" Mossebrdige exclaimed, leaning against his lance.

Swinton responded in a slightly condescending tone "Our lines will certainly not be spread too thin, are you saying that these savages can overcome the natural superiority of the Empire?"

MooseBridge replied in a deep, yet hesitant tone "no General, it only that our marching column would stretch for miles, and with the march through so many valleys and in this god forsaken forest, it could prove devastating!"

A snort confirmed Swinton's position "Fear not Legate, we shall place our auxiliary along the sides of our formation to soften the blow of any charge or ambush attempted."

Doug nodded, whilst giving Moosebridge a look, "Excellent idea General, let the heathen pelts take the brunt of a fight."

Moosebridge replied" now that just seems…."

The remainder of the conversation was drowned out by various greetings of the cohort as Judy left earshot of her superiors' conversation

A brown Rabbit swiftly embraced Judy as she fell into her position on the right side of the designated rectangular marching formation.

"Oh hello Jessica!"

"Hey Judy" Jessica cheerily replied.,

"are you ready?" Judy inquired, curious as to how the fairly new addition to the cohort was holding up to life on the march.

Jessica tried her best to remain stoical, but smiled all the same "I'm just ready to get started, all this waiting is making me crazy!"

"yeah, me too, although some of the blame can be put onto the Legates arguing with General Swinton"

Several other members of her cohort turned their heads at mention of the general's name,

Jessica looked puzzled "What is there to argue about? We go in, we kick predator butt, and we go home, wreathed in spoils!"

Judy's ears fell behind her as she retold her friends about the conversation she had overheard. Looking around, she saw mixed reactions ranging from indifference to disgust to intrigue. She didn't know how the others didn't see the brilliance of swinton's plan, after all, she joined the Legion to help make Zootopia safe, to in some way repay the debt of the legion saving the mostly merchant and farmer inhabited bunnyburrow from marauding Predator tribes. Her fellow legionaries were not there to see the horrors that those savages subjected her family to. They had no idea of how evil predators truly were.

Jessica was the first to respond "the auxiliary troops are unpredictable, I mean, they're predators, what can you expect from them? I wouldn't put them anywhere else, they are here so prey lives can be saved, after all, it is what we paid them for, right"

Judy considered this, they were being put in the most vulnerable position in the formation, seemed ok given the fact that they were little more than mercenaries. The predator auxiliary troops were forced to live outside the protective earthworks that made the border of a camp, they were lowest priority for medical treatment and resupply, and were treated with general distaste, being used as fodder to slow the momentum of an enemy charge. Judy was still resolute in her thoughts, allowing the treatment of the auxiliaries to be justified considering that predators were indeed unpredictable. Not dwelling on the subject, she simply slid on her helmet, which one of her friends had been holding for her, accepted the bread offered to her, and readied herself for the order to begin marching. Their orders were to march deep into the heart of the Vesanus Forest, and engage and root out any Predator presence, to make way for the civilized world of Zootopia.

Hearing a slow but noticeable decline in noise, Judy looked around, seeing the final cohorts take their positions. Wolves, tigers, lions, and other assorted predators marked the auxiliary troops taking their place in thin lines ling either side of the column. The tension that found itself lodged in Judy's heart was almost immediately eased upon hearing three short beats of a drum, the signal to begin marching.

Several Hours into the march was when the unease started to creep into Judy's mind, as light fog had replaced the mist of that morning lending the forest an eerie vibe where, save for the constant beat of the legions on the march, was deafeningly quiet. The flattened path had lead them into a narrow valley, with wooden forest on both sides, each side on top of a slight hill, sloping down to the path where the legion nor marched. This had been a place of concern for Swinton before they had even started, and had foreseen possible danger. She had sent the auxiliary troops ahead of the main force, and into the forest on their side as reconnaissance.

"why waste prey lives" Judy thought, "when you can use heathens to kill heathens, Swinton understands who is most important" Silently praising Swinton's stratagem, she was slammed from her thoughts when she heard the pounding of legion war drums, two solid beats, then silence.

"DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS!" exclaimed the head of each cohort.

Judy's training kicked in, she knew exactly what to do, each cohort would split in half down the middle, the left half turning left and interlocking shields, the right half turning right and doing the same. Thus, even when in their marching columns, the legion could defend itself. Deep resounding bellows echoed from the dark trees. In front of her the underbrush seemed alive as trees swayed and the underbrush bristled. A bright light caught her attention as a massive ball of flame erupted along top of the hill nearly directly in front of her, Jessica's squeak to her left likewise demonstrated her dismay. Glancing left and right, similar fiery masses were dotted long the hill overseeing the path, she could only assume the same was true behind her. Javelins, arrows, and rocks from slings, were pelted at the now stationary forces of Zootopia, mostly bouncing off their large shields. The balls of fire started down the hill as the legion's lines, bristling with spears, readied itself for battle. As the balls gained speed and barreled toward her, Judy panicked as she realized that with her cohort's dense formation, no one could move to escape from the path of the massive sphere of death. Angling her shield, hoping to protect herself from the worst of the flames she braced for the impact.

Screams erupted as the balls of fire slammed into the lines, setting fire to fur and flesh, the screams of those set ablaze pervading the air as lines struggled to deal with the fiery masses that were interrupting the battle lines the Empire so heavily relied upon. Judy quickly glancing around at her cohort's formation and saw that, like many others, their battle lines were in tatters. Battle cries in strange, foreign tongues assaulted the air as the Predator Tribes erupted from the undergrowth, their roars filled with malice accompanying their charge toward the legions ranks. Reading her spear and steeling herself for the nearing heathens, Judy glanced over the top of her shield toward the charging mass of Tribesmen.

And directly into the savage green eyes of a red fox.