It was a cold morning in the Iron Mountains; or at least, it would be for a non-Arctic evolved animal. Icescale walked up the stairs from the living quarters to see rows of Rupture vehicles in pristine state on either side of him, yet no one to drive them. The white crocodile sighed in resignation. He'd driven a fair few land vehicles in his life, and could probably get to Icedawn's headquarters in a day, since it'd never taken long for Iceclaw to go there and back on speedor...if only Icescale knew where the wretched HQ was. He knew exactly what it looked like, what kind of a place it was, from when Iceclaw described it, but the Arctic was a massive region, and it could be anywhere. Even the short amount of time for Iceclaw's round trips there and back was probably exacerbated by the fact he was using a chi-powered speedor he could refuel on the way; there was barely any chi left in the Ice Hunter HQ now, and Icescale suddenly wondered whether one of the Rupture vehicles would last him the entire trip. Or should I say, the entire search? He felt frustration over his leader's secrecy once again creeping to the forefront of his thoughts, but remembered that Iceclaw withholding Icedawn's species, gender, and HQ location from the other Ice Hunters was a necessary precaution in order to keep them from revealing these details to enemies, were they ever captured and interrogated. The only reason Icescale even knew the names of the parent organization and their HQ was because he'd forced Iceclaw to tell him; in order to prove whether this faction actually existed in the first place, and wasn't just Icedawn bluffing about having an army, while being some random thief by themselves who stole chi and technology to provide the Hunters with. Technology... Icescale grimaced, thinking of the word. Gazing upon rows of advanced, combat-ready vehicles he'd helped to produce made the feeling worse. Ironic, that we have to use technology in order to free the world from it; it'd be a hypocritical paradox, if not for the fact that we'll destroy these vehicles after we've achieved our goal. Iceclaw was on the same page as Icescale on the matter, which was why he joined the snow leopard's crusade to begin with, in addition to his own (albeit moderate) dislike of the Leopard Tribe. Icewing cared only about her revenge and the safety of the Vultures; Icestrike cared just for revenge, period, likely still too young to understand the underlying philosophy of the Ice Hunters; and Icegnash, the spy, unsurprisingly never seemed to give much thought to the endgame (though Aether Gulikovsky's personal goal to destroy the Rupture crystals and vehicles ironically meant that his and Icescale's beliefs overlapped somewhat in the grand scheme of things; but he was trying to sabotage the Hunters and destroy the vehicles too early). Iceclaw, however...he was fully aligned with Icescale's ideals; a near-perfect embodiment of them, even.
Of all the beings Icescale had met in his life, Iceclaw was the most in sync with nature; with his ancestors. A true hunter, a true predator, who knew that the strong are meant to lead the weak, not the other way around. Indeed, though his right to kingship came initially from being the eldest prince, Iceclaw also had the strength to back it up, and had no interest in making any potential son of his the next Leopard King, unless that son was among the strong. Icescale had realized long ago that most Chimians had fallen from the way of nature; that this so-called "advancement" of civilization would not only perpetuate weak leaders, but lead to an even worse betrayal of nature: machines being in control of everything. Icescale frowned as he looked upon the necessary evil to save organic life from machine enslavement: the laser blasters on every Rupture vehicle. At the very least, they'd shoot freezing blasts rather than lethal ones, so they wouldn't technically allow the weak to slay the strong. That's when it happened...he recounted, the rot began with the advent of chi blasters; these deadly ranged weapons that require no strength on the part of the user, thus allowing the weak to overstep their bounds! That threw off the Balance of nature forevermore, unless we can course-correct. In the ancient days, both pre-evolution and several years following the beginning of Chimian civilization, all of their ancestors lived perfectly in line with nature, the strong leading the weak; and when one leader became too hubristic, his fellows would swiftly put him in his place, such as with Tiger Emperor Tenebrae. The strongest and brightest souls naturally rose to the top, as decided by nature itself; not by flawed dynasties that don't guarantee every successive king having the same level of intelligence and might as his forefathers; or by democracy, the glorified popularity contest that so many fools touted as a "solution" to this. Icescale spat on the floor, thinking of these disgusting systems that allowed the weak to come into power. And all because they were able to suppress and subjugate the strong from afar with their ranged weapons, once chi blasters were invented! The hypocrites who supported these systems were always quick to point out that the ancient days were "chaos"; that they were "brutal and unforgiving", whilst turning a blind eye to the method at which their neat little orderly systems came to be in the first place. Indeed, chaos was the natural state of the world, yet so many had forgotten this, and now the unworthy were in charge, causing the people to truly suffer. Yes, there were some exceptions such as King Valum, and perhaps False King Leodus, from how Iceclaw had described him...but most kings were worthless bags of meat, born into leadership rather than earning it through the pure meritocracy that was nature, drowning in excess and becoming progressively weaker with every generation, in a backwards mockery of nature.
Icescale knew what happened under the rule of weak kings; he'd experienced it firsthand. The only reason the pro-war faction had been defeated–the only reason Icescale's son had fallen–was because the pitiful Crocodile King had remained in the comfort of his castle while having his minions shoot down the strong from afar. When Cronois had grown increasingly eager to avenge his grandparents by starting another war with the Leopards, Icescale had cautioned him against it, but acknowledged it as an expression of free will; for his son had most definitely been among the strong. But, once again, the weak feared change and artificially cut it short. All eyes in the Crocodile Tribe were turned on Icescale's Great House following this, and he took full responsibility for "creating" his son's pro-war faction, so that his wife wouldn't have to be punished as well. Icescale's exile led him to the Arctic, to Iceclaw, and to his new name. The Hunter rubbed his lower jaw. Indeed, it was the father's fault for making the son crave revenge on the Leopards, even if unintentionally. Icescale's own hatred of the tribe had ironically waned considerably over the years. Though he'd been born near the end of the Crocodile–Leopard War forty-six years ago, growing up hating the Leopards for destroying his parents' colony and them with it, he'd realized in adulthood that the Crocodiles' Arctic colony was another example of the weak overstepping their bounds. His parents didn't survive because they were weak, yet he survived, as a mere infant, proving that he was strong (and also proving that strength or weakness wasn't guaranteed by genetics). Simply by recounting his early life to Cronois, however, Icescale incidentally seemed to "transfer" his hatred of the Leopards onto his son (though he himself still had a degree of adversity toward them for slaying his parents, despite acknowledging it as the natural order of things). Nevertheless, might makes right, and Cronois was deserving of Crocodile Kingship regardless...only for the Coward King to have the stronger force shot down from afar! The Ice Hunters' co-founder didn't actually know whether his son had survived or not. The laser burn was in what looked to be a non-lethal area, and Cronois had fallen into a rushing river in the territory; certainly not life-ending for a crocodile. He obviously hoped his son still lived, and even suspected he did; but either way, this had been such an utterly blatant example of the weak and their chi blasters standing in the way of true progress, that it solidified Icescale's resolve to prevent the world of machines and restore the world of strength. True, the existence of chi may appear to be a contradiction to his philosophy, being an apparent "equalizer", but it really wasn't; a weak being would plug chi to boost his power and get on the same level as the strong, but the stronger opponent plugging chi would maintain his superior strength, preserving the Balance.
And yet... It was chi that allowed for the creation of blasters, an uncomfortable thought that had crossed Icescale's mind many times before. He couldn't fathom why the gods who created the world, if they did exist, would make such an oversight that'd have disastrous consequences. Moreover, it seemed fate was no longer on the side of the Ice Hunters. I may very well be the only one left. He'd seen Icewing stow away on the landing skids of Aether's helicopter, most likely with the intent to assassinate him and Valum before they could ally the Gorillas with the Vultures; but her wings looked like they'd been burned almost to ash, and she'd either crashed the helicopter and gone down with it, or ended up deep in enemy territory. There was a very small chance of Icewing's survival. Iceclaw and Icestrike, meanwhile, still hadn't returned from the Leopard outpost after two days and two nights. They might've been proven weaker and slain by the Leopards. "Oh gods," Icescale growled, "why must you make us suffer?!" He'd been confident in Iceclaw's power; to think he could've been defeated by normal Leopards...but then, the reason he went to the outpost in the first place was because Icescale and Icestrike had spotted Leia, who had the same unique power. Not to mention, it was possible Leodus was there. Icescale rubbed his lower jaw in contemplation. If False King Leodus had defeated Iceclaw, then he wasn't the "false" king, but the rightful one, proving his superior strength. That left Icescale with a dilemma; like Aether and Valum, Leodus presumably didn't entirely share Icescale's ideals. Only Iceclaw had acted as a perfect window into the world of strength Icescale wanted to restore. "Then again," he murmured, "there was another, wasn't there?" Long ago, when he was but a child, Icescale had met a being who seemed to embody similar principles. The thought had crossed his mind before, but only in passing: "Could it be...that she is–?" The white crocodile was interrupted by a sudden pounding on the hangar door that prompted him to spin around with Rupture Vengious poised for a strike. Once he processed what the sound had been a moment later, he roared, "Who knocks?!" He knew there was no point in staying silent and pretending no one was home; for the intruders, if they were, would soon find the blasted-open back entrance and pour in through there. "Reinforcements," the voice called back, "Icedawn sent us." Icescale's head spun. He hadn't expected that answer. Icedawn had never sent any of his or her forces to assist the Ice Hunters directly, instead only sending them south to liberate chi from tribes' monthly shipments. Icescale had met with them only a few times, when they supplied chi to the Hunters. No one in the world outside of the Hunters and their parent organization knew the name "Icedawn", so the answer seemed to prove the arrivals' claim. But then, how could they know that Icescale needed reinforcements to begin with?
"I don't recall asking for reinforcements," Icescale said carefully, "or being able to in the first place. We don't have radios here." "'Twas Iceclaw who sent for us," the voice replied without missing a beat, "he was injured at the Leopards' outpost and we found him up north. Logos–or, Iceclaw–told us everything and asked us to reinforce you here while he recovered in our HQ. Icedawn approved and sent us south." Icescale nodded slowly. The voice's "slip-up" in referring to Iceclaw as Logos probably wasn't a slip-up at all, but in fact, another way of confirming their claimed identity. They know the name Icedawn; they know Iceclaw's original name; they know Icedawn's HQ is in the Arctic; they knew where our HQ was, and that it was lacking in manpower. How could they know all of this, if they weren't who they claimed to be? "Very well," he said aloud, pulling the lever that opened the hangar door, yet still holding the Rupture Vengious at the ready, "but stay right where you are." Taking his double-bladed sword in both hands as he walked below the rising hangar door, Icescale was met by the sight of at least twenty beings, some crouching on rocks and mountain outcroppings, others on the ground; the one who'd knocked on the door having stepped back a couple feet. What he immediately noticed was that every one of them had their entire bodies covered in black suits that hid their fur, feathers or scales. Icescale narrowed his eyes. The few times he'd seen Icedawn's forces, they'd all been wearing cold weather gear necessary for non-Arctic evolved animals in the north, but otherwise they'd seemed to have a focus on not appearing like a homogenized group; nothing like this. Moreover, Icescale spotted something even more out of place in a group that supposedly came from the Arctic; a faint orange glow leaking out of the closed carrier bags at many of their hips. Fire chi–?? By the time he realized they all had the same vaguely feline head shape despite the black helmets that obscured their species, it was already too late. Just as the crocodile raised his sword for a wide ice blast, a very different kind of blast struck his left leg, with such force that it blew his entire lower body off the ground and brought his lower jaw smashing down. His mouth snapped closed and his sharp teeth naturally aligned next to one another rather than cutting into his jaw, but it still hurt immensely. The pain in his left leg was the worst part, a searing burn from what was undoubtedly a chi laser blast. "Scat–!" Icescale bit out, his pain overpowering his anger and threatening to pull him into unconsciousness, but he resisted. He watched as the Rupture Vengious, having skidded across the ground after his fall, was carefully picked up by one of the Leopards as they all plugged their fire chi, transforming their black outfits into Phoenix armor and causing the helmets to vanish from existence. Icescale managed to push himself up onto his elbows.
His anger began its push to the surface, and he glared at the blaster-wielding Leopards with hatred, even as his vision blurred. "You're all...traitors to nature!" he ground out. "You resort to those little blasters, your pitiful, evil technology, because you know you couldn't defeat me in a battle of real strength–!" "There's nothing treacherous about outgrowing the cradle from which we spent our 'infancy'," a voice that sounded like an old woman interrupted. "'Evil' technology, you say?" The voice was growing closer as Icescale's vision grew more blurry, but he held on. "How can inanimate objects be 'evil'?" The red and gold-armored legs entered Icescale's small field of view. Yes, that's right...come closer. You think I'm weakened... Maybe I am, but I'll take at least one of your legs down with me. "It seems that, like many, you've fallen into the trap of romanticizing physical concepts," the holder of the voice was upon him, the left leg inches in front of his snout. "Then again, perhaps I have too, by referring to nature as a 'cradle'. Ah, well." With the last of his strength, Icescale raked his forearms on the ground, pulling himself forward as he turned his head sideways and opened his jaw to its full extent. Before the crocodile's jaw could close down on the leopard's leg, however, he felt a sharp knock on the upward-facing side of his head, and instantly fell into a deep sleep.
156 BR... Suddenly, there was a slight rumbling. As it grew increasingly louder, Leodus looked to his right to see a thick patch of snow breaking from the mountainside, drifting down in a small avalanche. The nearest Vultures reflexively lifted into the air, and the other Leopards at the front of the line started to back up in alarm, but their king stood his ground. Leodus plugged an orb of fire chi with his left hand and swung the Inferno Blade with his right in one motion, powering it up just in time to wash its heat over the coming snowfall, instantly melting it. The otherwise cold water, already becoming lukewarm from the heat, flowed harmlessly around the feet of Leodus and his soldiers. The small streams poured off the edge of the mountain path. Leodus quickly removed the fire chi from his harness to prevent the Inferno Blade's "activated" heat from causing more snowfalls, stowing the orb as Valum alighted next to him. "Fire chi does have its uses, does it not?" Leodus couldn't resist asking the present Vultures. "We're still not going to use it," Valum replied stubbornly, "...but yes." Leodus would've countered his friend's claim by bringing up the Fire Fleet, but he knew that was now a moot point. The Vulture-Leopard force continued on its path; the path that supposedly would lead them to the Ice Hunter HQ. Agent Fire (having earned his codename by being the second leopard to ever plug fire chi, after Leia earned its usage for the species forty years ago), the only member of Leopard Intelligence who didn't go missing five months prior, had pinpointed the longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates, and drawn a map of the quickest route to the enemy base, several days ago. "I didn't see anyone on the outside," the gruff old spy had reported, "but I'd still advise bringing a decent-sized force, in case." Though Valum had been to the HQ, he'd only found it by following the late Icewing (through the sky, no less), and King Guernica had refused to give him its exact coordinates, which his tribe knew of thanks to their former spy, Aether Gulikovsky. Luckily for the Vultures and Leopards, the Gorillas seemed to have been occupied with other matters in recent months, preventing them from taking control of the HQ and its factory (that, and the fact that they were likely still figuring out a way to counter Icescale's Rupture crystal powers, since the Gorillas didn't possess fire chi like the Leopards). Truth be told, Leodus and Valum hadn't been focusing their attention on finding Leia, the rest of LI, and the Ice Hunters until recently, despite all that had happened in September of the previous year. In the five months following the Hunter debacle, the two kings had been in a planning phase; weapons were crafted, armies reviewed. Leodus' blacksmith had forged the Inferno Blade, identical in shape to the Rupture Blade, but opposite in color; a bright red even when it wasn't being powered by fire chi.