CHAPTER 18. REBEL BASE

The four drove on until they finally reached an old warehouse, guarded by two men with assault rifles. "We're here." Nala said and they drove up to the guards. The guards opened the door and yanked Simba, Timon and Pumbaa out and forced them onto the ground, placing them in arm locks. "NO! It's okay...they're with me...that's Kingfish!" Nala told them and they released the three. "Yeah damn right." Timon snarled as he got to his feet. One of the guard's jaws dropped when he saw Simba. "Kingfish..." He muttered. Simba recognized the code name and said: "Yeah that's right...enjoy your next job at McDonalds dickhead." Simba turned to Nala. "So where do we park?" He asked. Nala just took the keys from him and tossed them to one of the guards. The guard nodded and drove the car inside the warehouse, where several other combat vehicles were parked. As the guard drove, Timon got a glimpse of all the damage done to the car during the chase with Banzai and Ed, there were scratches, dents, and dirt everywhere. "Oh my..." Timon didn't even finish the sentence and placed a hand over his mouth in disgust. A guard then opened the trunk and started unloading the weapons and ammo. "Were we just driving around like that with bullets and bombs in the back there?"

Simba nodded with a serious expression. "Jesus Christ..." Timon muttered and fainted into Pumbaa's arms. Nala couldn't help but laugh this time. The two guards led them to a closet that turned out to be an elevator, they pressed a button and it took them down at least a hundred feet. As soon as the doors opened, they all stepped out and Simba could not believe his eyes.

On the outside it looked like an abandoned warehouse, but underground it was a huge buzzing military base. Soldiers patrolled the corridors and there were several other soldiers; men and women alike enjoying that morning's breakfast, which was not much. As they were led down a corridor, Simba looked in several room's windows, there were armories, command rooms, troops' quarters, computer labs and each room had one thing in common: they all had the original Prideland National Flag mounted on the wall. Simba noticed a portrait on the wall of him and his father together, it read: MUFASA: BELOVED KING AND LEADER 1965-2006, SIMBA: BELOVED PRINCE AND CHILD 1994-2006. Simba sighed as he looked at it. "In here, General Woods wants a word with you." One of the soldiers said, pointing at a door that read: COMMAND ROOM. Simba opened the door and entered, followed by Timon and Pumbaa. "And where are you going?" Simba asked Nala before closing the door. "Uh, I need to report to the armory." She lied. Once they had closed the door Nala rushed down to the medical center, with only one thing on her mind.

She shoved the door open and walked quickly down the casualty ward, the horrors of war were unfolding in front of her, there were soldiers on beds with wounds that ranged from mild flesh wounds to limbs that had been torn off by grenades or other explosives. She tried to breathe through her mouth as the smell of flesh and blood filled her nostrils, but none of the horrific things she saw around her mattered to her now, she needed to find the truth. She opened the door to the medical storeroom and rummaged through all the equipment. Eventually she came across a pregnancy test. She then rushed to the bathroom.

The test turned out positive and Nala gasped. That can't be...I'm only 21...I'm not ready yet. She thought and tried to refrain from crying; in the ranks crying was considered weakness unless you were a new recruit. As much as she didn't like the news, there was no denying it. Sergeant Nala Kelly was going to be a mother. I can't tell Simba... well at least not yet. She thought and left the bathroom. If everything went right, there was a chance the child would be a prince or princess. Nala pulled herself together and made her way to the barracks.

Meanwhile at the command room, Simba looked around, a bit intimidated by the professionals in the room. There were some men on the phone frantically shouting orders and others quietly behind computers, and others studying tactical maps and marking locations. Two men then burst into the room, one an older gentleman in his 60s with WOODS stitched onto his shirt and the other was a much younger man with a short black haircut and had WEAVER stitched onto his uniform. Both of them had the old Prideland flag patch on their shoulder. The older man smiled when he saw him and said: "Welcome back, your majesty." He bowed at Simba. Simba just went about it casually like he was in no position of power. "Hey, how ya doing? Name's Simba." He said and offered a hand to him. The man shook his hand, surprised at his casual tone. "Anyway, everyone is extremely glad you're back, including the UN and NATO, they're glad the good guys still exist somewhere. You can tell me about how you survived the '06 bombing at dinner tonight, but now we have something far more important to do." He led him to another room, General Woods gestured for Simba to be quiet. A uniformed man stood behind a TV camera speaking.

"...So we are not just any renegades. We don't believe in genocide, greed and poverty like our government does, we are for peace, prosperity and democracy. As you may be aware, the son of our ex-king Mufasa was found alive a few days ago after years of being believed dead, he is the rightful leader of this nation so our cause is just. We believe he may be able to restore our original constitutional monarchy with your support. We would now like you to see and hear from him."

Simba looked to a TV screen and found that it was being broadcasted live to the United Nations council in New York. The man that was talking gestured for him to come over. "Shit, what do I say?" Simba whispered frantically to Woods. "Just think of something meaningful." Woods said back. Simba joined the man in front of the TV camera and stood there. He could hear all the members of the UN whispering amongst themselves on the screen. The man next to him nudged him, trying to get him to say something. "Hello everyone, you all know why I'm here. I've been in hiding ever since my father died back in '06 and now I realize why that was the wrong thing to do. My uncle has set up a terrible regime in my absence that was set up on the fact there was no one left to rule, which we now know is wrong. I've come back to save thousands of innocent lives from my uncle's greed and cruelty, and I cannot do that without support. We are the rightful government of this country and deserve to have our place back, not just for our good but for the good of the country and it's people. Did the world stand by when Vietnam turned communist? No, but people were too damn selfish to think of the people that lived there and the war was lost. We are not only a stronger force, but we are going to win because we doing it for good. So this is why we need and ask for your support...Thank you." Simba finished. The people on the TV exchanged glances and then started clapping. A man then stood up from his seat on TV and spoke. "Thank you very much your majesty and General Woods, the United Nations will put a lot of consideration into your request." He said before the TV went black. Simba blushed a little at being called 'your majesty' but realized it was something he was going to have to get used to if everything went right.