Apeworld: Civil War III Chapter Twenty-Two

Urko was scared, and fear was not something he was used to. As a proud member of the gorilla race of apes, it was his duty to strike fear into the hearts of the other races. He had never thought that he would ever feel such a fear. It had all started when the human from another world arrived, in his strange clothes and with his strange powers. He had found the astronauts and now, they were all gone. And shortly afterwards, they arrived.

Men carrying magical weapons, dressed in white armor, their faces hidden from view, their expressions unknown to all who saw them. Urko did not like that. He liked to see the eyes of his opponent. A strange burst of energy crackled past him and hit a nearby tree, causing it to topple over. Urko knew that was just a warning shot. As leader of the guard, he had used that tactic many times himself.

As he ran, Urko surveyed his surroundings, and almost everywhere he could see, he could see dead bodies. The bodies of his platoon, all wiped out by these metal men with their superior weapons. Now, as he fled for his life, two of these metal men chased him. Whether they wanted him dead or alive was unknown to Urko.

The gorilla soon came upon some old caves. He ducked into them and watched as the two metal men ran past the entrance. Urko thought himself lucky. But his luck just ran out. As he turned around, still trying to catch his breath, he saw one of the strange weapons pointed right into his face. Looking up, he saw the expressionless mask of the metal men looking down at him. He expected death to come quickly. Instead, it didn't come at all. The metal men placed some cuffs around his wrists and dragged him away.

 

In the capital, Cornelius looked out of the window of his home as the strange invaders marched seemingly hundreds, both ape and human, through the streets. They were marched into massive holding pens on the outskirts of the city, cages made of metal and protected by an invisible barrier. Inside, his wife, Zira, was hastily packing two small cases.

"We can't stay here much longer!" she urged. "We must leave!"

"But where do we go?" Cornelius asked. "These metal men are everywhere!"

Then, what was now left of the door came flying into the room, as five of the metal men came flooding into their home. One grabbed Zira around the wrist, hard enough to cause her to scream out in pain. Cornelius tried to protect his wife, but one of the other metal men hit him with his strange weapon. Then, as Cornelius wiped the blood from his lip, he watched as another entered. This one was different. He was human in appearance, but his hair was pure white and his skin blue. A human with a strange affliction, perhaps? But now was not the time to worry about such matters. The stranger looked down at the two chimps.

"These are the ones I've been looking for," he said. "Take them away."

The metal men pulled them from their home. However, to their surprise, they were not taken to where the others had been taken. They were taken in the opposite direction. These metal men had something different in store for them.

 

Aboard the Peregrine, the Dreadnought starship of Garm Bel Iblis, Magus quickly walked through the corridors towards the bridge. Drathro was finding it hard to keep up such a brisk pace.

"Forgive me for asking," said the young Time Lord. "But why are we in such a hurry?"

"You will find out as soon as we get to the bridge," Magus replied.

It wasn't long before they reached their destination. Upon their arrival, they found the General studying many reports and shaking his head in the process.

"I'm glad you're here, Doctor," he said. "I think you should look at this."

Bel Iblis handed Magus a small pad. It contained several long-range sensor readings. The news was not good.

"This is not good," he said. "I should have known that the Imperials would invade the apeworld after we left! I led the Imperials there! Against such a force, the apes have no chance!"

"Isn't there anything we can do?" asked Drathro.

"We must do something," said Magus. "General, how many of your ships can you gather together?"

"It wouldn't be enough for what I think you're planning," replied Bel Iblis. "You've seen the reports! The Imperials would outnumber us ten to one! It would be suicide!"

"Then I have another idea!" said Magus. "For this, I need just one ship! This one will do!"

"Are you mad?" asked Bel Iblis. "One ship against an entire Imperial squadron!"

Magus reached into his pocket and took out a small device. He handed it to Bel Iblis.

"What is this?"

"A smaller version of the Istarian cloaking device. It should be powerful enough to cloak the Dreadnought. With this, we should be able to slip past the Imperial lines... unless they've found a way of detecting us, that is!"

Bel Iblis studied the device.

"I've never seen anything like this before!" he said.

"I will be able to install it for you. Until everything is ready, I'll be in my quarters."

And with that, Magus strode away, as Bel Iblis handed Drathro the cloaking device.

"The stories I heard about him were true! He is mad!"

"Not mad, General!" said Drathro. "Just eccentric!"

 

As an ape of science, Zaius was intrigued by anything he didn't have any knowledge of. He would have been intrigued by the strange invisible barrier, had it not been holding him prisoner at the time. The strange armored men, Imperials they called themselves, had thrown him, his assistant, Virgil, and the all-but-unconscious Urko into the confines of the invisible barrier hours previously. He had no idea how long they had been inside. All he did know was that when he touched the barrier, it caused him pain. So then he began to think of other ways he could escape from this prison. So far, he hadn't thought of any.

Soon, he heard footsteps. Judging from the sound of metal on stone, the Imperial forces were returning. He was hoping the blue-skinned human would be with them. He might finally get some answers from them. Three Imperials entered the cavern. This time, they brought company with them. Zaius recognized Cornelius and Zira. They were very groggy as they were thrown into the prison with him. Zaius kneeled next to his pupil. Groggily, Cornelius looked up at him.

"Where are we?" the chimp asked.

"Behind some invisible barrier," Zaius replied.

"Why are they doing this to us?" asked Zira. "Why have they separated us from the others?"

"I have no idea!" said Zaius. "Perhaps we are special! I don't know! All I know is that these Imperials are far too powerful to fight!"

"Imperials?" asked Cornelius. "Is that what they're called? From what Empire are they from?"

"Enough with the questions!" said Zaius. "We must find a way out of here!"

Zira then motioned for them to be silent. Together, they heard more footsteps. Another Imperial soldier was coming. This time, it was only one, but he had another prisoner with him, another chimp. The force field was again lowered, and the chimp was all but thrown inside. The force field raised; the Imperial left them alone again. As Zaius began to shout at the now-departed Imperial, Zira approached the new arrival. She did not recognize him. She thought she knew everyone from the capital.

"Who are you?" she asked. "Why have they put you here with us?"

"I have no answer to your second question, I will only answer your first! My name is... Caesar!"