A/N: The Imperials in this chapter belong to Cyrannian from the Sporewiki! I just got permission to use them!

Jack's POV

"Dad!"

I groaned a little, not expecting to hear Kovu's insistent demand so early in the morning.

"It's seven in the morning!" I yawned. "Can't we try to get up after ten?"

Kovu laughed. "C'mon dad! You promised!"

I sighed as he looked up at me with his big green eyes. I was a total softie. I knew that, and unfortunately, he knew that.

"Alright. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has to get up this early."

Kovu shook his head. "No. Adia is getting Uncle Drew and Aunt Kenzi up too."

"Oh come on!" I heard Drew say in the distance. I just had to smile.

'Yep, he's up.' I thought.

"Alright, Adia." Drew began. "I'm up." Kenzi yawned but didn't say anything.

I pulled myself out of bed, and pulled on my khaki shirt.

I walked down the hall and then down the stairs. Whitetip sat on the couch, sleeping soundly.

"Hey guys!" I called. "Please don't piss off that one animal again. I still have the scar from last time!"

Kovu ran down the stairs. "I can't wait! I can't wait! I can't wait!"

"Woahh kid, slow down! What're you so excited for? What's the hurry?" Drew asked with a grin on his face. He loved to see the cubs so excited, but was still protective and curious just the same.

"Dad said we're going to go on our first trip! He got that new jeep and everything."

"Ohh, that's cool! Your Dad showed me not too long ago. So you're excited, huh?" Drew asked.

Kovu nodded rapidly. "I can't wait to see an Arrowtongue. No! A Carcharodontosaurus! No! A-"

"Slow down!" I laughed. "There's going to be plenty of time to see all of those animals." Drew laughed and commented,

"You're starting to sound more like your father by the minute, Kovu."

Kovu grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment!"

"Actually I-" Drew began to quip, but Kenzi slapped her hand over his mouth. She smiled and said,

"Have fun on you trip, Kovu. Be safe and have fun!"

"We will! See you!" He said happily, before scampering off outside.

I turned to the others. "I never remember having that much energy as a kid."

I stopped. "You guys sure you don't want to come? There's plenty of seats in the jeep." Adia gasped excitedly.

"Ohh! Oh, Daddy can we? I've always wanted to see the different animals!" Drew looked at Adia with a smile, and looked like he was mulling it over.

"Well-" Drew started.

"Please, Daddy?" Adia begged.

"Alright.." Drew gave in. How could he say no?

"Yes!" Needless to say, Adia was excited. She bolted out the door to find Kovu. "Hey Kovu! Wait up!" Drew turned to Kenzi and asked,

"Coming?" Kenzi smirked and sarcastically asked,

"And how long have you known me?"

"Right.." Drew said with a chuckle. "Well, let's go if we're going."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Woah!" Kovu cried.

We drove past a small herd of Gazelle.

I was about to comment, when I suddenly spotted something in the distance.

"Wait..."

I stopped the jeep, and pulled up my binoculars.

"Guys..." I began.

I handed Drew the binoculars. "See them?"

Three humans were walking along a river not too far away. They didn't seem to notice us yet.

"Yep." Drew replied. "I see them." There was a slight pause as he observed them. "What do you think they want? You think they're lost here just like we were?"

I nodded. "Let's go help them."

I began to drive forward.

As we closed in on them, one of them, a teenager similar in age to us, stopped, and froze.

He looked at us for a second and then began to back away.

Another individual, a man in his mid thirties by the looks of it, held up his hand as if to reassure him. The other, a woman, stood her ground, holding a small combat knife defensively. Drew kept his rifle handy in case he had to use it for defense.

I stopped the jeep, and pulled up a small cloth, and stuck it on a branch. I waved it out the window as a sign of truce.

"Its okay!" I called. "We're friends!"

The older man stopped.

"How do we know and how the hell did you get that jeep?" The younger man called back.

I sighed. "If we were enemies don't you think we'd have already killed you? We have overwhelming force and firepower on our side. Why would we offer a truce if we were being aggressive?"

"Because you're the one with a big ass truck and-" The younger man began.

"Oh for heaven's sake!" The older man groaned. "Sorry about him." He called back. "I'm sure you can understand that we all have a little trouble trusting people out here."

He stopped. "You guys can come out, we won't hurt you."

I hesitated, before climbing out. My rifle was still at the ready just in case. I motioned for Drew to follow me, while Kenzi stayed in the jeep with the cubs.

As I walked forward, I held up my hands to show I was not a threat.

The woman stepped in front of the others. "Wait. To show you're not a threat. Prove to us that you can be trusted."

I sighed. I got my gun. I held it up with two hands, and I laid it on the ground behind me. I could still get it if I needed it, but maybe this would placate them.

"Kick the guns over there." The woman said.

I stopped. "Trust goes both ways." I said curtly.

"We don't mean any harm. We just saw you guys out here and wanted to know if you needed help."

The younger man chuckled. "Well that was one hell of an entrance. Where did you get that anyway?" Drew answered this question.

"Well, it's a bit complicated, but I'll explain it the best I can: Basically we have this weird device that can replicate basically anything. If you have the right materials, you can craft whatever you want, and boom! It appears just as you wanted it to."

The younger man looked excited. He began to walk forward. "Yo! Teach me how to use that thing! Do you have another? How does it work?" He was grinning ear to ear.

"Woah, 'yo'. Slow it down. I thought you didn't trust us?" Drew questioned still keeping his guard up.

"I don't trust you guys. I trust that little thing you used to make that jeep."

"If you can produce one more of those things for us, we will join you without a second thought, and will help you in any way we can." The woman interjected. "By the way, excuse him." She added as she pulled the kid away.

I had to chuckle at that.

"So you can actually just make things like that jeep? How long have you even been here?" The older man asked.

"A month, give or take a few days." I sighed.

"About the same time as him.." Drew hesitantly answered. "Though not as long."

I nodded. "You guys need any food, water, or medical supplies?"

The younger man was about to say something, though the woman cut him off. "We have more than enough." She replied abruptly.

"Um, we actually could use some food and water." The older man declared, before sending a disapproving glare to the woman.

He turned to us. "My name's Owen Grady by the way. This is Joel and Hera." He introduced.

"Name's Jack." I replied cordially.

"Name's John. John Smith." Drew said with a hidden glaze of malice and distrust, not wanting to give up his real identity.

I raised an eyebrow at that. I could tell he didn't trust either Hera or Joel one bit.

"Nice to meet you...John..." Joel said, obviously not believing my friend's response.

"Dad?"

I turned to see Kovu had jumped out of the car, and was looking at us curiously.

"Dad? What...how?" Joel began. He seemed utterly flabbergasted. "Did you do it? Did-"

He stopped. "Actually, how can it talk?"

I blinked. "He is my son."

Joel looked like he was about to junk this whole first contact up even further, before Owen elbowed him. "Shut it." He said.

I was starting to get why Drew distrusted them. They reacted with utter hostility to us when we showed no intentions of harming them. They demanded that we give up any hint of protection to satisfy an unjustified amount of personal trust issues. And one of them had referred to my son as an "it".

"Kovu, get back in the car." I said.

"Wait! I didn't mean to say it, this just surprised us, that you're his dad, and that he talks. Did it not shock you when he first talked?"

I stopped.

I looked down. "I think it might be best if we get going." I turned to Drew.

"I thought you'd never ask." Drew said. "One more second here and I'm not sure I'd be able to control my temper.." Drew began to cautiously make his way back towards the jeep, rifle still in hand.

As we turned to leave, we heard Owen growl to Joel. "What the fuck? Why would you say that you idiot?"

I didn't take my eyes off them as I headed to the jeep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I sighed under my breath.

"Well that could have gone better." I growled as we drove back towards the base.

"Why were they so scared? It wasn't like you guys threatened them or anything." Kovu pointed out.

"They're just dicks.." Drew replied still angry at what had just occurred. Kenzi slapped Drew hard in his arm.

"Drew! Not in front of the cubs!" Drew sighed.

"I'm sorry.. I just don't trust those guys is all.. There's just something about them.."

I nodded. I was about to reply, before I spotted something else. I squinted a little, then realized something. There was a large group of maybe five thousand individuals to the northwest of our base, maybe a good mile away. However, even from here, I could tell that they weren't animals.

"What is with us and suddenly finding people today?" I chuckled humorlessly. After our botched meeting, I wasn't to keen on meeting new people.

Still, I wasn't going to leave innocent individuals out there to die.

I sighed. "Looks like there's even more people out there."

I turned to Drew and Kenzi. "Guys, this time, let's not take any bullshit from them. If they're aggressive or hostile, we respond in kind."

"Agreed.." Drew said with a serious expression.

I nodded, and began to drive in the direction of the group.

As we got closer, we noticed around a dozen or so individuals were conversing near the edge of the group, while a bunch of soldiers kept a perimeter around a large amount of civilians.

Everyone stopped when they saw our car pull up.

As I stopped, I motioned for Drew and Kenzi to follow me. They both nodded in response, Drew keeping a rifle in hand.

As we exited, I noticed something that immediately caught my attention. None of the individuals were human. In fact, they all resembled the dinosaurs that lived on this world. There were at least four different species, one resembling raptors, another the Carcharodontosaurus, another with two semi-circular crests on their head, and a last with something resembling a shark fin on their head. Every species was surprisingly thin, though by no means malnourished. Maybe it just had to do with their reptilian biology.

Judging from their clothing, which was slightly dirty, they hadn't been here long.

One of the individuals stepped forward. A member of the species resembling the raptors, he wore a long, white uniform, complete with black pants and a white cape.

"Perhaps you would be so kind as to explain where we are?" He asked, his expression unreadable.

I was about to reply, but hesitated. This was a very delicate situation. It needed to be handled with great care and sensitivity.(Spongebob reference, lol!)

"You're..." I began. I couldn't quite find the proper way to explain it.

"If I may, Grand Mandator, it's obvious that we're unable to return to the Empire. Our priority now should be to get our citizens to safety. Perhaps they can help?" Another raptor asked, with a similar white uniform, blue scales, and red eyes.

"Who are you three?" The first raptor asked, with genuine curiosity. "I am Grand Mandator Deoclet Caesarius of the Galactic Empire of Cyrannus. While this tale may seem to contrived to be true, it is anything but false."

"We have been stuck here for a few hours, and have no supplies or food. We have no idea how we arrived here, and something tells us you have no idea either. That you arrived in much the same way. Am I correct?"

"That's actually pretty accurate.." Drew replied, still keeping his guard up, though not showing full distrust in them quite yet. "You say you came from an Empire of some sort?"

Another individual nodded. "The Galactic Empire of Cyrannus. We all helped establish it as a beacon of order and power, though one of our rivals has become increasingly belligerent towards our status as the galaxy's rightful government."

This individual was from the Carcharodontosaurus resembling species, with scarlet scales and piercing red eyes.

"A full explanation can be delivered in due time, friends." Caesarius interjected. "Right now, our biggest priority is finding food and water. And this desert seems to lack both."

I stopped. "We have access to food, raw materials, and the like. Perhaps we could enter into a mutually beneficial partnership?" I suggested.

Caesarius and his comrades both seemed surprised by the offer. "We're listening." The second, blue skinned raptor replied.

I pulled out the replicator. "This device gave us what we needed to survive. We'll give you everything needed to establish a colony on this world or attempt to find a way home. The choice is yours. However, should you attack or betray us-"

"I assure you we won't." Caesarius declared, crossing his arms. "If we wanted to fight, we'd have already attacked. Needless to say, your offer is intriguing. I believe a refugee ship would be more than sufficient to get our people out of here."

He stopped. "Your charity is much appreciated."

He said that with genuine thanks, and that surprised me. He had been on guard for most of the conversation, so…

Then, we heard something nearby.

I froze.

Turning, we saw the one creature we didn't want to see approaching.

The Deinofeilus snarled, and began to rush forward.

"Stormtroopers! I need-" Caesarius ordered, before I cut him off.

"No time. We'll handle this!" I replied, nodding to Drew. Drew nodded back and said with a smirk,

"I think it's time I get a little revenge."

I grinned. I motioned for him to flank on the left while I flanked on the right. I rushed forward and fired into the air. "Hey, over here you bastard!"

The Deinofeilus snarled, and began to run towards me.

"Now!" I yelled to Drew. Drew aimed his rifle up in his sights. I saw him hold his breath, and it was almost as if it was in slow motion. He pulled the trigger, a loud boom sounding through the desert, and not a second later, the Deinofeilus fell to the ground instantly, dead. It was a clean shot through the lungs.

I grinned. "Nice shot!" Drew grinned in return and said,

"Thanks. My Dad and I always used to hunt together, and shoot guns all the time! I'm actually pretty good at it!"

I nodded back. Then I turned to the others.

"Impressive. I assume you haven't had much military training aside from the aforementioned hunts with your father?" The blue skinned raptor asked. Drew shook his head.

"No, not any military training. Though I was going to sign up for the Marine Corps just after my trip with my family, not too long ago.."

The raptor stroked his chin, contemplating the idea.

"Grand Mandator, perhaps we should set up a colony in this area should the ship fail? These three humans are our best chance of surviving here, temporarily or otherwise."

Caesarius nodded in agreement. "I agree Admiral Decimius."

He turned to us. "We shall take you up on your offer. What are your names?"

I nodded in response. "Jack Anderson." Drew stood in silence for a few seconds, as if contemplating something. He then looked up at Caesarius after a bit, as if he came to a decision.

"Drew.." He answered. "Drew King."

"Kenzi King." Kenzi replied in a friendly tone.

Caesarius nodded in acknowledgement. "These are Grand Admirals Tector Decimius, Carandial, Valindor Palenix, and Daeron Siriulilus. The pleasure is all our's."

The last two hadn't spoken during our meeting, though nodded in acknowledgment.

"Your graciousness is truly appreciated. Few trust our Empire, and fewer still are truly kind about it." Palenix declared.

I nodded. Then I realized something. Maybe we could all get home! Why didn't I think about it before?! Gah! I'm such an idiot!

I began entering in the data. Then...my heart sank.

The current design was unbuildable apparently. It could only travel to dimensions that were part of a so-called "Nexus", and both the Imperial and our home worlds were not part of this Nexus.

I explained the situation, hoping that the response wasn't anger or sadness.

The response from Caesarius surprised me. "Yet you can still build starships and technology?"

I nodded.

He nodded in response. "Very well. I have a proposition for you, Jack Anderson. Let us work together, to establish a new Empire on this world, and possibly expand said Empire beyond it. We will work with you, so long as you provide the resources and supplies, we'll fight alongside you."

I blinked.

"An Empire?" Kenzi questioned. "You mean like ruling an entire land?"

Caesarius nodded. "Yes. I can tell that each of you have the potential, the will, the drive to lead."

He held out his hand. "Perhaps the Empire did need to trust its neighbors more? Perhaps we can right our own mistakes here." Drew stood there contemplating what he should do. Did he really trust these guys enough to go through with something like this? After what appeared to be much mental debate, Drew smiled and shook his hand.

"Thanks."

Caesarius nodded in response. "Excellent."

I smiled a little. "There is some flat ground right by our home. We can begin setting up your colony there."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took us a while to gather the resources required to construct the new city. But within days, a large number of sandstone houses, shops and factories dotted the valley.

The biggest addition was a large citadel at the Western edge of the city, directly north of our own home. This the Imperial Palace, where Caesarius, Kenzi, Drew, and myself would meet to control the Empire.

"Wow." Drew said in awe. "The city is actually really coming together nicely."

I nodded. "It's all thanks to this little remote here." I commented, holding up the Replicator.

"Who would've thought that something so small could make something much greater!" Kenzi commented in amazement.

I still couldn't believe it. It seemed with the larger buildings, the replicator constructed it more slowly. So it gave an interesting idea of construction. Indeed, it looked like someone took a picture of the construction every day, and then strung them together in a film.

"We have our first meeting tomorrow." I commented. "Anyone have any ideas on what to bring up?"

"What about the main structure of our government as a whole?" Drew suggested. "Like is it direct democracy? A republic? A monarchy? Just something straight out of Ancient Rome? That's important to know."

I thought for a minute. What was our Empire? What was its way of ruling things?

"Why don't we bring that up at the meeting? We still haven't officially formed it yet." I commented. Drew nodded in agreement.

"Just thought I'd bring it up." He replied.

I nodded in understanding.

"My friends?"

I turned to see Admiral Carandial approaching. "If I may ask something? What is the future of the Imperial Military? Have you considered any plans or strategies?"

I blinked. That was a good question. We were still in a frontier-type environment. Any ground outside the protective fence that surrounded our city was dangerous ground. We would need a proper Army if we were to maintain our safety, whether from our potentially hostile neighbors or the local wildlife.

"I have been thinking about it a little. However, no concrete plans have been drawn up yet."

Carandial nodded.

"And what of any new survivors that we find?"

"If I may ask," Kenzi cut in. "what do you mean exactly?"

Carandial replied quickly. "More survivors not too far away. Some troopers are escorting them back here."

I blinked in surprise.

"What?!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Carandial led us through the city to the other side. To our surprise, it was a large pride of lions! Two males, a muscular, golden furred, red maned one, and a skinny, brown furred, black maned individual.

I stopped.

"Grand Admiral. Mandators. We found them in the desert while on patrol." The leader of the squad explained.

Carandial nodded. "I'll let you handle this." He said to me. "Trooper, scout the area, find out if there are any others."

"Sir!" He replied with a salute, before he and his men marched off.

I turned to the pride.

"Greetings." I began.

The golden furred male blinked, but acknowledged my greeting. "Um, hello. Could you please tell us where we are? We can't seem to find our home."

The lion spoke in a booming, baritone voice.

"We aren't quite sure ourselves.." Drew answered. "I'm assuming you also just miraculously appeared here and you've been wandering about trying to find out what the hell happened?"

He nodded. "Yes. We have noticed that while there are a lot of animals we know of, there are far more we don't. And none of them talk. We were surprised when your soldiers found us and brought us here."

"I'm pretty sure they mean you no harm.." Kenzi cut in. "We're still just trying to figure all this out just like I'm sure you are."

I nodded in agreement. "We're just trying to make sense of all this."

The lion was about to reply, before the other male cut in.

"And I suppose that gives you the right to just keep us captive like this!?" The male lion spat.

I was taken aback by the ferocity of his tone.

Carandial, however, responded with the same degree of caustic sarcasm. "Let me remind you, feline, that it was us who rescued you. You would do well to show more respect when you're in our territory." The lion growled.

"I respect no one! We could've handled ourselves, reptile!"

The larger golden furred male cut in. "Enough Scar!" The lion known as Scar merely suppressed a growl in response.

He turned to us. "The point is that we have no wish for conflict. Many of the lionesses here are carrying cubs, and we need a place to live in peace. It is obvious that this environment is not safe for us, let alone our children. So I formally request the right to remain here, or at least close by until such time as we locate our home."

I nodded. "We will create an area for you to live in close by. However, you must respect our laws and in return, we'll give you all the food and assistance you may need."

"This is ludicrous!" Scar objected. He turned to his brother. "Mufasa, don't be a fool! Do you really think these… things, are really trustworthy!? They'll stab each and every one of us in the back the first chance they get! Don't let false promises coax you in!" The bigger lion we now know as 'Mufasa' looked at his brother with annoyance and slight anger.

"Scar, enough I said! I won't have this petty and senseless distrust happen anymore! These individuals have offered to help us in our time of need. Don't you see that?.. Think about the lionesses, about the cubs on the way! You have to accept that there are simply good beings in this world. You can't be so negative and malicious all the time, especially if it jeopardizes the future of our pride and family!" Scar looked slightly taken aback. He wasn't aware Mufasa had such words within him. He quickly snapped out of it though and replied,

"Fine, Mufasa! Let the 'King' decide for himself.. Just don't come crying to me when they turn on you!"

There was silence following this exchange.

With a huff, Mufasa turned. "Thank you..."

"Jack. This is Drew, Kenzi, and Carandial." I introduced.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! This whole chapter was fun to write! Again, if you have any ideas or suggestions, let us know!

LionKingIsAwesome: I'm actually really having fun with being one of the writers on this story! It's definitely way different from what I've done in the past! I hope y'all are enjoying the story so far, as much as I am writing it.

Just a couple of things I would like to say: if you haven't seen it already, there is a reboot of my old series 'The Human Pridelander' by an author by the name of KurtCobain2001. He's just as talented a writer as I am, and I have complete faith he'll do great with the series. :) Also, I plan on writing a crossover story of my own real soon. The category? God of War/ Kung Fu Panda! It just sounds like a hell of a lot of fun to write in my opinion XD. It will be named, 'Kratos: The Dragon Warrior'. I hope y'all will check it out when it's released! Anyways, I've rambled on for too long. XD Have a great day/night guys! God bless!