Disclaimer: I do not own Hero: 108.

Chapter 7:
"Are you sure?" The question was aimed at the Cheetahs, ready to go. They nodded. This had cropped up suddenly, only Panther King & Queen, Jaguar King & Queen, the few Cheetahs carefully handpicked by Cheetah King and Queen, and Lin Chung knew about this.

The bombs had worked so far, but there was always a danger that it could one day explode on them, since they needed it.

Out of all of them, Cheetah King and Queen volunteered to go, bringing along some Cheetahs, since the Panthers and Jaguars would be far too obvious a choice if they were missing, and they were desperately needed in the fight now.

"Besides," Cheetah King said, almost confidently, "We have to try and ambush them and see if we can get more intel or even the Ultimate Power that Twin Masters is using, if we are lucky. We have to, to try and turn the tide of the war, right Lin Chung?" The Ultimate Power had somehow found it's way back into Twin Masters' hands again, and this spelt out trouble for all of the residents at Big Green.

Said person nodded, though he was looking reluctant as well to allow the Cheetahs to go. He stepped forward, his eyes revealing nothing, his calm aura soothing the nerves of all the jittery Cheetahs. "Are you sure you don't want to send clones? I can still get some up in time."

"You said it yourself." Cheetah Queen countered, though she understood his reasoning. If this failed, then they would be blindly heading out to a suicidal mission. "They are made of Harmonic Energy, and we would have a higher risk of being discovered if we use clones. Besides, clones do not know how we fight. We can do this." Lin Chung nodded, before sighing.

"I can try and protect you from the bombs until you reach a 5 mile radius of East Citadel and the Volcano. That is where Twin Masters can break any sort of protection I put on you. If I try to fight it, he'll know something is up." And the unspoken came up. And you'll probably be killed before anyone can do anything to help you.

The Cheetahs all nodded. The ones who were going had already talked with their families, and were ready to go.

They were all bright young strong Cheetahs that had a chance of making it out of there, being some of the fastest. Cheetah King and Queen were in front of them, looking determined.

The night outside was dark and stars twinkled in the night sky, almost as if it didn't know of this War down on Hidden Kingdom. The night would have been a perfect camouflage for the Panthers' coat, but it was still too obvious, and there was no guarantee that they could get out of it before the next round started possibly tomorrow.

Ambushing the East Citadel would be near impossible to most.

The Citadel had been built for exactly that reason, and none had ever managed to get into it and walk out alive if they were trying to attack or assassinate someone. That is, anyone except for the Panthers. The Panthers, having been part of the building crew, knew of every small tunnel and cranny that could get the Cheetahs inside safely with no worries.

Panther Queen worriedly faced Lin Chung. If the Cheetahs failed completely, then this all would have been for nothing. Just some unknowing deaths.

In truth, she was not sure how he would take it. A few days ago, several Panthers and Jaguars had gotten themselves killed trying to protect some of the Navy and Air Force as they wound up on land and tried to make their way back to Big Green. When Lin Chung received notice of this, he had locked himself up in his room until it was time for the next round with the enemy.

If she wanted to be honest, she was beginning to think that this was someone else's game. Each had a winner and a loser, and rounds kept on going, again and again with no clear winner. Both Twin Masters and Lin Chung would have to be exhausted using all of that power up. It had already been 3 months since this pointless War started, and still no clear winner was shown.

Lin Chung had changed during the war. Months of fighting and killing viciously had taken it's toll on all of them, but having be expected to lead and manage all of the forces of Big Green would wear anyone down easily. His hair had been hacked around the beginning of his neck in battle, since he had not had time to cut it, him wearing the same clothes (Unlike everyone else), his Harmonic Energy protecting him like a sort of armour.

He now rarely showed any expression, but, tonight, in the velvety blanket of night, his skin shone out, pale, though considerably darker than before from fighting long hours out in the sun, was worried. Worried for the Cheetahs.

The Cheetahs all nodded. Panther King looked slightly perturbed as well. "Good luck." And the Cheetahs left, glowing only briefly in the darkness, surrounded by a light purple aura, but then disappearing into the night.

"Are you sure about this?" Panther Queen asked Lin Chung as he stared after where the Panthers had disappeared.

Lin Chung nodded, but he sighed. "We shouldn't have sent them." Panther Queen understood where he was coming from. t was not that he didn't trust them, but it was that he didn't want any more casualties. Even now, he kept on trying to heal any of the wounded, preventing them from dying, but also wearing him out right before the battle. This was making more of Big Green try to push him away from doing this, needing to win this War.

"They can do their job. They will come through." Panther King joined them, sounding confident, though there was the slightest hint of doubt in his eyes. No one wanted to send the Cheetahs to their death. More so all of them, since Jaguars, Panthers and Cheetahs had been good allies for years.

Lin Chung sent a faint smile at them, something that had grown increasingly scare throughout the weeks, before walking out of the room, but not before turning back one last time.

"I need you to lead the remaining Panthers to the right, but leave a few for the middle. The Jaguars will take the left, with some in the middle. The animals will be divided, most of them either at the centre or the back. We need to win this round. We've lost too many times already this week."

Both Panthers and Jaguars nodded, understanding his desperation, cleverly hidden beneath a mask of calm facade. Turning around, three of them disappeared through the door. But Panther Queen stayed, turning around only once to say: "Put some faith in them." Before turning and leaving.

Lin Chung sighed. "I wish I can."

After about a day of defeating the enemy, the Cheetahs returned, much to shock of most of the animals and heroes of Big Green, who had not known that they had left in the first place. From what Lin Chung could see, they were victorious, but many of them were missing, and not one of them that had returned was unscathed.

Cheetah Queen was leading them, hobbling along on a broken leg. Without hesitation, Panther Queen ran over, and helped support her up before she collapsed.

They headed towards Panther King, who was ordering his Panthers to help the Cheetahs, and Jaguar King & Queen, who were doing the same. Lin Chung was silent as he watched her, worried. He immediately could see who was missing.

And he could tell the others did as well.

Cheetah Queen's face was mournful, even as she approached the four standing quietly in front of Big Green. The other heroes and animals of Big Green were rushing to and fro, helping the remaining Cheetahs.

Her eyes already revealed what had happened, but she looked like she didn't know how to approach it, and so, she turned to Lin Chung for help, who sighed and bowed his head, before looking up. "Cheetah King?"

Cheetah Queen's eyes barely held back tears. "We suffered heavy casualties…he is dead." She placed something in Lin Chung's hand, and his hand curled around it.

With that, Panther Queen gently led Cheetah Queen back to Big Green, eyeing her old friend worriedly even as she murmured soothing words. The Cheetahs that had not been picked were scampering around, each partnering up with an injured Cheetah, making sure that they reached help safely.

Panther King turned to Lin Chung, who was staring intently at the thing in his hand, mentally calculating what he could use it for. "Will it contain the information?"

Lin Chung nodded. "Without the hard copy, Twin Masters wouldn't be able to convince anyone that it's real. No copies have been made."

"How are you so sure?" Jaguar King frowned, now joining them once again. "He could have copies sent somewhere else."

Lin Chung looked up. "No. Twin Masters would have permanently disable any possible uplink so that no one but himself would be able to view it. If he had copies, it would be too easy to get someone over there to get a copy." He sighed. "Now that we have the location, we should be able to move the forces further onwards, towards the East Citadel."

AN: Soon reaching the end.

24/04/16: Finally managed to get this up...thought I already had.