Colonel Bromley stood on the hilltop overlooking the field where the battle had taken place last night. The corpses littering the ground were so numerous that in many places the ground was hidden by bodies or dried blood with the occasional smoking ruins of a tank lying among the carnage, the former Cornerian field base had by no means been spared from the carnage. Living soldiers littered the field as well, recovering weapons or performing the particularly unpleasant task of moving the corpses. The wounded soldiers that were too badly wounded to be moved were laying on stretchers in a part of the field that had already been cleared of bodies where groups of medics tried desperately to save them, while the chief medical officer walked among them like an angel of death determining who could be saved and who would have to be ignored. Sydney was down there, helping move the wounded to the cleared area, her lovely form already stained with the blood of others. Bromley turned his back on the carnage and returned to his Wraith. He didn't doubt the wisdom of the High Chancellor or Grand Commander or whatever the hell Grandeur was calling himself these days, nor did he doubt senior officers like General Osborn or Grand Admiral Stanford, he did however doubt some of the officers in naval command under the Grand Admiral. Bromley put aside these thoughts as he flew off into the sky and headed back to the main base to make his report as an experienced officer on his opinion about the attack.
On another part of Dinosaur Planet there was a bustle of activity of another kind. Construction machines and legions of engineers were scurrying around the large beach and forested cliffs of the area known by the locals as Cape Claw. Throughout the organized chaos a dark figure rode a small, wheeled vehicle up one of the roads that cut through the forest, past a half constructed concrete wall and several squads of patrolling soldiers, and pulled to a stop at the edge of the cliff. Although the armies of Dinosaur Planet had been crushed within a few days the survivors had resorted to guerilla warfare and formed a resistance that was more troublesome than many officers were willing to admit.
Lieutenant Borodin stepped out of the vehicle and walked down one of the ramps that led down from the cliff to down to the concrete platform and entered through the strange, mask shaped entrance. His black uniforms and black berets marked him as a member of the BMI, Brotherhood Military intelligence. The hordes of engineers and workers gave him a wide berth because while the main task of the BMI was to gather intelligence and data it was no secret that they also doubled as a kind of secret police responsible for silencing anyone who ever got a little too talkative on the wrong subjects. Fortunately for the engineers he was here for the former rather than the later, to inspect the progress of the half constructed mines that were being built. He were escorted down through ancient rooms filled with statues of creatures in cloaks and wearing masks that resembled the entrance, and through modern equipment filled mine shafts until they arrived at a truly impressive room that was dominated by a large structure in the middle where four pulsating stones rested. After an analysis of the ancient records and a thorough interrogation of the locals the Brotherhood scientists had decided that it would probably be a very bad idea to try and move the four stones, so the engineers had left them where they were.
Lieutenant Borodin liked the aurora of power his position provided him though it got in the way sometimes, the fact was he simply liked being feared. He adjusted his sunglasses as he followed his somewhat nervous guide through a large hydraulic door and into a room filled with lockers and rows of HAZMAT and bio suits hanging on racks along the walls. When finished the elevators that would descend from this room would have to pass through an airlock and a magnetic decontamination field, as sensor scans of the area below showed intense radiation, no doubt generated by the substance the Brotherhood sought, but never actually seen. Borodin followed the engineer through another airlock into a large room that was dominated by a sealed cargo lift shaft sticking up from the floor and going on up through the ceiling. It would carry sealed barrels of the substance that had been code-named tiberon to the surface where a refinery and processing center had already been constructed, and from there processed and purified tiberon would be sent to a large research facility connected to the refinery by a large sealed pipeline through which the tiberon would be sent. Everything appeared to be on schedule and if no problems occurred mining would begin in a little over a week, the brass would be pleased with the news.
High Chancellor Grandeur was a happy man; everything was going exactly as planned. Dinosaur Planet was theirs, the planets that the inhabitants of this galaxy called Titania, and Macbeth had also fallen to his armies, Fortuna was already under heavy attack and would fall within days, and his forces were preparing to move against the volcanic planet known as Venom, three planets had fallen in just over a month. Even better than all of this reports indicated that science teams had already taken samples of the substance that had recently been code-named tiberon and reported that it did indeed have many intriguing properties. Soon mining would begin and he would be able to use the substance to achieve his ultimate goal. The comm. on his desk beeping brought him out of his reverie.
"And as I said we didn't expect the Cornerians to put such determined resistance."
The comment brought Grandeur's attention back to the commanders seated in front of him.
"But they have been driven from the planet and are now on the run?"
"Yes my leader they are indeed, but the attack proved very costly." General Osborn replied.
"We must now hurry and take advantage of their weakness by attacking them in full force at their capital." Lovell said, though nobody else seemed to agree.
"No now is not the time, we will wait until our fleet and ground forces have regrouped and until the terra forming and construction down there is farther along. Now are there any concerns with this plan."
Grandeur looked around the room as if daring anyone to speak up, as usually Grand Admiral Stanford ignored the warning and gave his opinion.
"With all do respect my leader I fear that with our armies already occupying three planets and all ready invading a fourth two more large scale attacks may spread our forces too thinly."
If this questioning of his plan angered Grandeur he didn't show it.
"Not to worry admiral. For one thing the enemy does not know of this, and for another I am told that our forces will soon be finished digging in on the planets we already control and will be better suited to fending off counterattacks."
When Stanford didn't speak Grandeur continued.
"Now I am also told that two individuals among the Cornerian army are becoming troublesome."
"Yes my leader, two vulpines who are racking up kills on our forces a little too quickly and are even said to have infiltrated our field base down there, we have already offered reward to the unit who brings them in alive or dead and provided pictures of them to every soldier."
"Then we must raise the reward and make examples of those careless enough to allow them to infiltrate our base."
The assembled commanders all nodded and a moment later, the troublesome pair forgotten began to discuss the best strategies for the invasions of Venom and Corneria.
Grandeur leaned back a little and scratched his head, most of the complicated battle plans and fleet maneuvers beyond his comprehension. Two strands of blue fur fell onto his desk.
It was evening by the time Bromley returned from delivering his report to command. Sydney was waiting in his quarters, and for a brief moment he wondered how she'd gotten in.
"My shower's broken."
Bromley looked at her clean body, she couldn't have cleaned with a shower, he smiled.
"You can use mine."
The cheetah woman smiled mischievously.
"I don't know, I think the knob is jammed."
Bromley entered the bathroom and turned the shower knob, the shower turned on with no problems. Without warning Sydney threw her arms around him and their muzzles locked together. Sydney thrust her tongue toward the back of Bromley's mouth and he could feel her warm breath flowing down his throat. The feel of her wonderful body pressed against his, her large, sexy breasts pressed against his chest, and the feel of her tongue in his mouth was all it took for the hormones to take over. Finally their muzzles broke apart and the two lovers gasped for breath. Sydney began to strip off her uniform. Bromley walked over and shut the bathroom door, before disrobing and following her into the shower; their passion saturated the air more than the steam from the shower.
On the barren plains of Titania a long line of hapless Cornerian colonist and POWs were herded off the transports that had brought them here from the temporary prison they'd spent the last week in, and through the gates of a large prison camp. They were sullen and walked with little hope in their steps, the guards at the prison had already told them what kind of things to expect at this place. It was only one of several that had been set up on the barren deserts of this god-forsaken world. The soldiers who stood in the guard towers or marched alongside the group looked on them as they might look on someone going to his execution. A large building situated in the northwest corner of the camp towered over all the others. It was an imposing structure that sported towering smoke stacks, it was not a factory.