The year is 3220. Approximately one month from today, the war between the two species of the planet Mobius, the Mobians and the Overlanders, will begin. But before dark times arise, a time of peace and celebration begin for one family of Mobian rabbits in the Mobian settlement of Sand Blast City. The hero of this story, Christopher Leporidae, will not only turn the age of one this day, but will soon become an older brother as well. At the hospital where our hero's mother is about to give birth, the father, Richard, has just returned from his trip to Mobotropolis. Breathing heavily from running, he was able to say just three words.

Richard: "Am I late?"

Nurse: "No Mr. Leporidae, in fact you're just a little early." She spoke with a smile.

Leading him to the room where his wife was waiting for him, he stopped to see his son in the daycare room first.

Richard: "I'll be right with you, got to give my son his birthday gift real quick."

Heading inside he found Chris playing with some other infant Mobians with toys. "Hey there big guy. Glad to see that you're having fun." The young Christopher laughed with joy once he saw his father. "I got something for you birthday boy." Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out what looked like a large golden ring.

"I got this when I went to Mobotropolis. I thought it'd be a pretty cool gift for you." He then had a somewhat embarrassed smile on his face. "Sorry I couldn't get you the real thing, because you're mother would kill me. They call it a power ring, which is a safe clean source of power that the city uses. Oddly enough there was this nice old Overlander living with the royal family who gave it to me. I guess it was his way of congratulating me for being dubbed the general representative of our city. It may not be the real thing, but it is based off of them." He handed the ring to his son and a smile immediately went across his face. "Happy birthday kiddo."

The nurse came into the room. "It's almost time Mr. Leporidae. I think it's best that we go to your wife's room now."

"Oh, be right with you." He rubbed the top of his son's head. "I'll be right back to get you buddy. Play nice with the others." He left the room with the nurse, and Christopher started to play with the large golden ring. He placed it on top of his head and pretended that it was his father's general hat. He even mimicked his father's smile. Even at this young age our hero wanted to be just like his dad.

Almost fifteen minutes passed since Chris's dad left him to play with the others and his gift. Eventually Richard came back to get his son.

"Come on buddy, there's someone I think you should meet." Picking Christopher up, he took him to the room where his mother was waiting for him.

Once they entered the room, the first person he saw was his mother Sylvia. His father took him over to the bedside and what he saw next put the biggest smile on his face yet.

Sylvia: "Christopher…say hello to your baby sister, Rebecca." She too had a smile on her face as she held her newborn child in her hands.

Richard: "She has her mothers black hair and white fur."

Sylvia: "Just like how Christopher has his father's black hair and brown fur."

Richard rubbed at the back of his head with yet another embarrassed grin on his face. "I guess it runs in the family. They both have blue eyes too. There's also the fact that she too was born without her buck teeth."

Sylvia: "I guess your father was right. It does skip a generation."

The two of them started to laugh softly together as Christopher crawled up to his sister asleep in his mother's arms. Still holding the ring his father gave, he reached out with it and Rebecca woke up to see her brother with a smile on his face, and the golden ring shining in front of her. Her little hand reached out he she took hold of it, and neither of them tried to pull it away from the other. She giggled with excitement, and Christopher eventually did the same. The two happy parents looked on at one another and they knew from that moment on, that their two children would always love each another equally.

Skipping ahead by four years to the time during the Great War in the year 3224, we now find our hero at the age of five and playing with his gift at home as his four-year-old sister watches him.

Christopher: "Watch this Becky." Rolling the ring down his arm and bouncing it into the air, he then balanced it on the tip of his nose.

Rebecca laughed and clapped joyfully. "Do it again, do it again!"

Before he could, Richard walked into the house returning from his visit to the communications center. The two kids got excited once they saw him come in. "I could hear your sister outside. Go ahead, do it again." He had a smile on his face as he spoke, but as soon as he walked past the kids, his smile soon faded. He sat down in his chair and took off his hat.

Sylvia: "Hun what's wrong?"

Richard: "I talked to King Max. He asked me if I could join the royal army for a future attempt at ending this war between the Overlanders. Apparently there's this Overlander named Julian Kintobor who sided with the Kingdom of Acorn, and he's exposing his people's weaknesses to help end the war."

Sylvia: "Well that's great news, why are you so upset about it?"

Richard: "I turned down his over. I told him that staying here and protecting my family and city was more important. He said he understood but…" He rubbed at his forehead. "Did I…did I make the right choice?"

Sylvia took hold of his hand and smiled. "Of course you did. You care more about us than ending some ridiculous war."

Richard smiled back. "Thank you."

Suddenly, a fellow resident of the city, and one of the soldiers of the city's small attack force, came running up to the house and bursting through the door. "General Leporidae! We have a big problem heading our way sir!" Shocked and confused, he followed his subordinate outside and listened to what he had to say.

Richard: "Calm down son, what is it? You kind of gave me and my family a jump."

Soldier: "I'm sorry sir, but after you finished your talk with King Max from Mobotropolis, we started getting radio chatter from a long range communication device. You left before we could tell you anything."

Richard: "And where exactly was it coming from?"

Soldier: "From a small army of Overlanders, heading straight for Sand Blast City."

Fear swept over Richard's face. "You're sure?"

Soldier: "We're sure sir. We triple checked, and it's clear that they're finally attempting to attack our city."

Richard: "Seems that the Kingdom's new Overlander ally is indeed turning this war around. They must be getting desperate and trying to take Mobian settlements that have fewer offensive numbers. Did they sound like they wanted to negotiate in any way?"

Soldier: "Afraid not sir. They intend to take this city as a hostage to try and turn the tables on the Kingdom. If I were to guess sir, they are getting desperate."

Richard: "Right after I talked to the King, out of nowhere, this happens." He rubbed at his forehead. "This is not good. All right, tell the men to get ready for a fight, and start an evacuation for the citizens to the emergency underground shelter. I have to go and take care of my family first."

The soldier saluted him. "Yes sir." Then he left to do as he was told.

Richard felt confused. "What do I tell them?" Pulling himself together, he headed back inside to see a concerned family looking at him. His stomach began to ache.

Rebecca walked up to him and took hold of his hand. "What's wrong daddy? You look upset? What did that scared man say?" Looking at his son and wife, he could tell that the same question was on their minds.

Richard: "Go play with your brother, I have to talk to mommy about something okay?" She did as her father said and he took Sylvia into the next room. "We have a big problem."

Sylvia looked worried: "What is it?"

Richard: "That Overlander that I told you about, it seems that I was right about him turning this war around with his knowledge of his own people. The Overlanders are getting desperate, and they plan to attack Sand Blast City because they think we're a weak settlement. The soldier I talked to said they plan to take the city hostage to try and turn the tides back into their favor."

Fear swept over Sylvia's face. "What are we going to do? You once told me that our city's military strength is only fifty including yourself. Is the Overlander force larger in numbers?"

Richard: "I don't know, but we have to at least try to hold them back. Take the kids and get ready to head to the underground shelter with the other citizens. I already told the young man who came here to spread the word. Yours, the kids, and the safety of all the other innocent people are more important. Okay?"

Sylvia almost began to cry but only one tear ran down her face. "Okay, I'll get the kids ready, and then we'll go."

Richard smiled at her and wiped the one tear off of her cheek. "Don't worry, everything will be fine." Leaving the room he then walked by Christopher and Rebecca and picked up two swords in their sheaths hanging on the one wall.

Christopher: "What're you doing with grandpa's spadroon swords?"

Richard: "Something came up kiddo. Your dad's got to go take care of it." One look at his kids and he could tell that they looked either worried or scared. Rebecca almost started to cry, thinking that something bad was happening or was going to happen. Richard knelt down to the two of them. "Hey, hey don't worry everything's okay. Look, you two and mom are going to go somewhere where there's going to be a lot of people. I don't know how long you'll be there but it's so that you all will be okay."

Christopher: "But what's going on dad? Why do we have to go there?"

Richard smiled and rubbed at his son's head. "I'll tell you later, okay? Here." He took off his general hat. "Now you be just like your old man okay? Be a brave soldier, and look after your mom and sister until I get back."

Christopher took hold of his father's hat and showed a confident smile. "You can count on me dad." He then gave a salute to him, which made Richard laugh joyfully.

Richard: "Ha, that's my little man." He then picked up Rebecca and kissed her on the forehead. "You listen your brother and mom you hear? They'll take care of you, and you be strong for me as well." She smiled at him and he then set her back down on the floor.

Heading towards the door, he paused as soon as he took hold of the handle, and turned around to look at his family. They still had looks of fear and worry, but he merely smiled at them with onfidence. They too were able to bring smiles to their faces and he opened the door and made his way out. Once he was outside, a small group of five soldiers was waiting for him. They saluted him and he did they same, and eventually they were all soon on their way to the outskirts of the city, where the small army of Overlanders was marching towards. All around Richard could see people leaving their homes and taking only what they needed for such an event. Each step closer to the edge of the city only made Richard's heartbeat grow faster.

Once they were at their destination, all of the city's troops were accounted for and awaiting further orders from Richard. "Is this everyone?"

Soldier: "Yes sir. Everyone who can fight is here ready and waiting."

Richard: "Where's our one tank?"

Soldier: "It's still in need of repairs sir, I don't think it'll be joining us for this fight."

A look of disappointment came upon Richard's face. "Blast it. Just when I remembered it too." Another thought came to his mind. "Have we been able to at least figure out the enemy's numbers?"

Soldier: "We have. Our one scout returned not that long ago and has determined that the small army is made up of at least eighty-five men. Neither of which seem to want to turn back. We're all starting to think that they do indeed plan to take the city."

Richard: "Be it a battle or war, when the enemy gets desperate, they've already lost. Be confident, we'll win this fight…I know we will."

A short time passed, and soon the Overlander army came into view. Richard was the first one to witness them and first to alert the troops. "Get ready men, they're here!" They all took to their positions and readied they're weapons. Richard unsheathed his one dual sword and took up a defensive position with the others.

One calm soldier spoke what almost all of them had on their minds. "Do you think there's a way we can negotiate with them?" After he spoke, an explosion close to their location suddenly appeared. It came from one of the Overlanders carrying a large blaster.

Richard: "Seems not. Everyone…ATTACK!" And so, the battle that will determine the fate of Sand Blast City, and their first major involvement in the Great War, has begun.