Chapter 3
Kiara's First Encounter
BANG…
BANG…
BANG…
Gunshots interrupted the temporary peace near the border between the Pridelands and the Outlands. Just moments ago, a botched infiltration led to what could be the first proper battle between the Zira and her exiled pride and the royal family. It was a very lopsided battle, with the outlanders losing all hands and the Pridelanders suffering none. Technology played an important factor in determining the outcome and it was a battle which they would not forget.
Now the human who had earlier been piloting one of the UCAVs was on the ground. He moved about on his ATV, stopping near the mortally wounded survivors and granting them a quick death. Most of them understood the gesture and patiently waited for their turn but a select few panicked when they heard the gunshots. They tried to scurry away but the human shot them down first.
Despite looking like a cold blooded killer, Dornaus knew it was the least he could do for the foes to show the mercy he had left. He knew how painful wounds like those could be, and even though he was cold towards his enemies, the human never allowed them to die painfully. Even in his military days, he would order his men to perform mercy kills if they found an enemy combatant who couldn't be nursed back to health.
With the lionesses taken care of, he carefully approaches the gunman who had opened fire on his UCAV and several Firescouts earlier. Much to his surprise, he was still alive, and his Kalashnikov lay beside him. The man tries to draw his pistol but Dornaus takes aim with his rifle.
"I wish to make this painless." He states his gesture. "You're mortally wounded."
"And I thought you would leave me here to die alone." The man groans in pain. "Or worse, watch me die painfully."
"Anything you want to tell, say it now."
"I have a son… If you somehow manage to sneak in undetected, tell him daddy died bravely in battle."
"Yes sir, I will."
"Thank you…"
BANG
A bullet terminates the life of the gunman and ends his suffering within seconds. To signify a lack of hostile content, Dornaus empties his carbine and loads a magazine of three blanks. He then performs a lone 3-gun salute in honor of the fallen and returns to his ATV, taking off into the distance. He had no time to clear the bodies as there was a security meeting with Simba in 5 minutes. Just out of sight, Vitani and Nuka, two of Zira's scouts, have witnessed the scene unfold.
They were quite surprised that the "royal bodyguard" still had the decency to grant a quick death.
"What do we do now?" Nuka asks his younger sister.
"I think we should just go back." She answers. "Rafael deserves to know."
"About what?"
"The death of his father. It's against policy to conceal the death of someone to his or her family members."
"Right."
"Let's move before the bodyguard stumbles upon us. I can already sense an emotional moment coming up."
Vitani was right; it was an emotional moment for the young boy. He broke down when he heard the news of his father's death, and no amount of comforting from Zira or her pride could lighten his mood. Rafael had been very close to his father and he couldn't understand why he had to die. When he came to Africa, the young boy's father told him that they were going into the Savannah to study lions.
Just two days later and they were mingling with Zira and her pride. Everything seemed normal in the eyes of the child, who was young and naïve at the time. He thought his dad had powers of his own. Little did he know that his father had actually been to Africa before and had heard of the exiled pride. The man felt sympathy after falling for Zira's words and wanted to help her regain her power.
And now he was gone, leaving his son, who still didn't know why his own father died, to fend for himself. The leader of the pride felt sympathy for him and took him under her wing. She sends two of her followers to escort Rafael to the exact area where his father was killed in action. Much to their surprise, the lionesses and their human companion found the bodies left exactly where they fell.
In his hurry to return to the royal den, the former serviceman had no time to clear the bodies. Standard protocol would call for the removal of serviceable arms from the scene should the removal of bodies be impossible. Unfortunately for Dornaus, he forgot about that too. Rafael approaches the body of his father and saw the multiple gunshot wounds on him.
Five were large .50 caliber sized holes and they were a tight group around the chest and belly. The one on the head was a 5.56 caliber hole and the boy believed that this was the shot which killed his father. Earlier Vitani told him about the bodyguard shooting his father but the boy wasn't mad because of this. In fact, he felt a little relieved that Dornaus at least granted his father a quick death. Rafael was still pissed off at the man though, mainly because he used a drone to gun down someone very dear to him.
On the belt of the dead gunman was a UM92II holster, and inside was a Berretta M9 pistol. Rafael retrieves the pistol and its extra magazines, swearing revenge. Back in the royal den, Simba was talking to his bodyguard. The action near the border wasn't to be taken lightly, especially since the 9th tactical UCAV wing was scrambled for action. What concerned the king the most was the fact that several of the Firescouts were fired upon.
"This is NOT to be taken lightly, Dornaus." He said. "We should launch a preliminary strike against the Outsiders and eliminate all human support."
"It would be a very unwise decision, your honor." The human replies. "Not only would we invoke the wrath of Zira but we would lose popular support from the Pridelanders. They see you as a peaceful Gandhi type benevolent leader, not Adolf Hitler II."
"But hostile gun armed humans are a threat and you know it yourself."
"They don't have that much support from human elements."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because if they did, then they would've placed a lot more within the intrusion unit, given the fact that they know we operate armed drones now."
"True. But a wise guy once said if your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is superior in strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, so that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."
"Ah, a quote from the Art Of War. Indeed, you have a point."
"Yes. So…"
"Nope, still wouldn't advise that we strike."
"Then we should be prepared on all fronts."
"More UCAVs on patrol?"
"Yes and pack as much firepower as you can."
"Now we're talking."
Just then, Pumbaa and Timon barge into the den and interrupt the meeting. They had been assigned by the king to escort his daughter but... Err, they lost her? Kiara had gone to Dornaus' dome for some stick time but had disappeared when they came. Dornaus was the last to see her but he too was puzzled. Before he left for the border, the human told her to stay inside the dome while he dealt with the survivors.
She must've snuck off since she was kind of disappointed when the human told her she couldn't follow him for safety reasons. Everyone immediately leapt into action. Zazu flies ahead to scout out the path while Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa gathered the rest of the lions. Dornaus mounts his ATV and takes off after Zazu. If the bird covered the air then he would comb the ground.
Miles beyond the Pridelands Borders, Kiara had just bumped into a male cub by the name of Kovu. He was clearly an outsider but the female cub found no issue mingling with him. He was a lion just like her and the only thing separating them was the fact that they were in two opposing prides. Her father wouldn't be happy if he saw her mingling with an outsider but she couldn't care.
A friend was a friend, no matter their background. Their friendship got off to a rough start since Kovu was a tough headed an independent male cub who felt he would be better off on his own. The arrival of his female counterpart softened him a little and introduced him to the art of making friends. Both of them leap onto what they thought was a log on the river.
Out of nowhere, the gaping jaw of a Nile Crocodile came from behind. Kiara was nearly eaten but she leaps out of the way in the nick of time. The two friends leap from the first "log" onto a second "log". Again they fail to realize that they were standing on a greenish scaly floaty thing and we once again ambushed by the croc they stood on. Again they lucked out and leapt out of the way.
Both of them leap across the backs of a crocodile cluster and find safe refuge on a fallen tree branch, which they climb. Kiara barely makes it back onto dry land as one of the crocs decide to chomp the branch in half. With her feet firmly on terra firma, the female cub blows a raspberry at the crocodilians before joining her male counterpart. She tries to play tag with him but he had no idea what she was doing.
Unlike Kiara, Kovu's upbringing was more focused on survival and less on playtime. He didn't even know what tag was, let alone the rules. His female counterpart picks up on this and growls playfully. Finally he understands but just as he roars, Simba appears in between the two. Zira, who happened to be watching the whole incident unfold behind a bush also leaps out.
The two longtime enemies stare each other in the eye. A rumble causes Zira to shift her attention and she finds that the king's bodyguard has arrived, and he had a new toy with him. Dornaus disembarks from his ATV and reaches for his Annihilator automatic rifle, which he made by fitting a grenade launcher and 100 round beta magazine onto a R0901 M16A4 Rifle(Safe-Semi-Auto variation).
It was a lightweight automatic weapon he kept on the vehicle in case he had to get himself unfucked when things go south. He takes aim at the leader of the rival pride and flicks the selector onto "Auto". This was one of the rare instances where the human actually forgoes the "Semi" option.
"Ah, Dornaus. Nice new toys you've got there." She spoke. "But have you ever imagined that you'll one day have to face a human enemy?"
Rafael emerges behind Zira. His Berretta M9 was aimed directly at Dornaus and the bodyguard immediately reacts by pointing his own weapon at the boy. This was possibly the first confrontation where the two sides were almost equally matched. And it was making Dornaus quite uncomfortable.
"You're one mad bastard, Zira." He said. "Training kids to kill."
"I didn't need to." She smiles. "Rafael here volunteered after you mercilessly gunned down his father."
"Tough luck, kid. Your father was threatening the sovereignty of the Pridelands. I wished I didn't have to fire but he was popping shots off at the Firescouts and my UCAV."
"Those steel beasts can withstand plenty of shots. A human body gets torn apart by bullets." The boy said.
"Zira!" Simba pipes up.
"Simba." The lioness speaks before the king could say anything else. She was about to attack the king when she notices Nala and the lionesses approaching. "Nala?"
"Zira." She replies.
"Timon, Pumbaa." Timon said as he approaches the scene on Pumbaa's back. "Now that we know each other, GET OUT OF OUR PRIDELANDS!"
Zira growls at the two, causing them to back off in fear. Dornaus turns his gun but the pressure put on him by Rafael forces him to keep his attention on the boy.
"These lands belong to Scar." Zira explains.
"I've banished you from the Pridelands." The king reminds. "Now you and your young cub. Get out."
"Ow, haven't you met my son Kovu? She circles around her cub. "He was hand chosen by Scar to become… King."
Simba growls, causing Kovu to shiver in fear. Timon scoffs and spits as he tries to contain his laughter.
"That's not a king, that's a fuzzy Maraca."
"Kovu was the last king before you exiled us to the Outlands." Zira explains to the others. "Where we have little food, less water…"
"You know the penalty for returning to the Pridelands." Simba replies.
"But the child DOES NOT!" she pushes her cub forward. "Of course, if you need your pound of flesh. Here…"
Despite the laws, Simba found himself unable to kill the innocent cub. "Take your cub and get out!"
"Oh, Simba. We have barely begun."
The two enemies pick up their respective cubs and turn to leave. A Terminator Drone flies overhead. It was flown by a replacement pilot who had taken over the human's duties as we went out to search for the king's daughter. Quite a perfect timing too as it reminded the Outlanders who had the ultimate weapon up their sleeves. Rafael starts breathing heavily as his anger grew.
He cocks the hammer on his Berretta but Dornaus knew the kid didn't have the balls to shoot just yet. The former serviceman turns around and places his Annihilator on the ATV before mounting and leaving the area with the rest of the Pridelanders. Dornaus was right, his younger foe didn't have the guts to shoot. The boy decocks and holsters his gun before catching up with Zira and her pride.