Teral and his command group waited impatiently on the roof of the lead
transport for the scout to return. The transports were parked just out of
sight of the warren, hidden by a small turn in the tunnel. Behind them, the 
various group leaders were trying to quietly arrange their squirrels into 
some kind of order, but it didn't seem to be working.

"This is annoying," Teral said to the others, "You'd think that after months
of training and preparation --"

"Weeks."

"[glare] After *so much* training and preparation they could get out of the 
transports in linear time. [chitter]"

"We need to wait for the scouts, anyway," said the former third-in-charge of
security, "Besides, they're probably nervous. Never been in battle before."

Teral grinned. "Anyone who's less nervous *after* being in battle has some
serious problems. [flick] Oh, wait, is that the scout?"

"Teral! Teral! They're waiting for us!" the squirrel chittered as he dashed
around the bend.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE WAITING FOR US????" Teral screeched, leaping to the
front of the roof. 

Before the scout could reply, a dark form pounced on him from the shadows,
sank its teeth into his neck, disembowelled him, and flung him aside in one
graceful, continuous motion. Teral just stared in shock.

"Pathetic," came another voice, and with a start Teral realized there were
two of them, their black armor barely visible in the dim light. He fumbled
for a grenade, but since it hadn't looked like they'd be fighting any time
soon, his weapons were still inside the transport. Oops.

Several of the squirrels from the milling mass further down the tunnel
realized what was going on and opened fire, but the lasers had no more effect
than flashlights. One of the troopers held up a claw and turned it this way
and that, examining the glints.

Then the tunnel floor to the left of the bunnies exploded from a near miss
from a more lethal weapon, and they lept into action. One lept right at 
Teral, but he avoided it by falling off the roof and scurrying underneath the 
transport, between the treads and then up into the machinery where a bunny 
couldn't follow. He banged on the bottom hatch until the driver let him in,
then hurried to arm himself.

"What's going on?" the driver asked, chittering nervously. The rest of the
crew looked similarly confused.

"A couple bunnies found us," Teral replied, heading for the main exit.
Laser? Check. Bombs? Check. Spear? Check. "No problem." Hit the exit...

Two feet in front of him, a black armored form glared defiantly at a ring of
squirrels that held him pinned against the tunnel wall. Teral looked at the
bodies scattered around the bunny, and decided that 'pinned' was not the 
right word. 'Resting' seemed more appropriate.

After several seconds, Teral began to wonder if, perhaps, 'dead' was the 
right word. He hopped down and advanced on the motionless form, carefully
picking his way around the bodies of its victims, then poked at it with his
spear, ready to leap back at the slightest hint of movement.

Then he reached out and pulled the splintered tip of a spear from where it
had lodged in a shoulder joint. The tip was covered in blood. "Wow," he said,
examining it, "It actually works." He turned to the rest of the army, who
stared at him in something between terror and awe, and asked what had 
happened to the other bunny.

"Got away," someone squeaked.

"Well," Teral said, trying to wipe the blood from the floor off his paws,
"That means they know we're here." He stopped, realizing that he was in the 
center of the carnage and would have to walk out through it anyway, and all
he was doing was coating the rest of his fur in blood as well. He resisted
the urge to lick himself clean. It wouldn't be dignified.

"We can't fight them," one of the squirrels chittered, "It took all of us to
kill one of them, and there're HUNDREDS of them! [chitter!]" There was an
aswering chitter from the rest of the squirrels.

"Look," Teral said, "Relax."

"Relax?!!?!!"

"Don't panic."

"RELAX!!!"

"They don't all have armor."

"You said there were at least fifty! Just like these!"

"Yeah, but you all have grenades, right?" A few of the squirrels checked,
most just nodded.

"Just remember to use the grenades first, and save the stupid lasers for the
bunnies without armor. OF COURSE we can't take them in close combat. [flick!]
That's why we brought the weapons!"

They didn't look reassured. So Teral decided it was time to use his secret
weapon. He took out his portable, typed a command and hit 'enter'. The doors
on the transports slammed shut, and slowly, gracefully, they trundled back 
down the tunnel, out of sight.

"They're vulnerable, [flick]" he said to the outraged masses, trying to sound 
nonchalant, "And they have all our supplies. Can't risk the bunnies getting
their paws on them. Now form up and get ready to move out."

No one moved.

"Look," he said, "What are you worried about? Most of your group leaders were
part of Rabbit's Tail..." The wave of chittering told him that, just maybe,
that hadn't been the right thing to bring up just then. "And I've fought
bunnies myself. [flick] Isn't that right, Chad?" He looked around. "Chad?"

One of the squirrels in the front row pointed, and he looked down. Oh. 
"Look," he said, "I know what I'm doing. I'll be right behind you."

"I'd feel a lot safer if *we* were right behind *you*," someone snapped.

"Agreed! [flick] Now form up, and I'll lead you in!" Before anyone could
object, Teral leaped over the ring of destruction and shoved his way through
the crowd, towards the warren. Zira intercepted him.

"Are you insane?" she said. Teral smiled weakly. "[chitter] Do you want me
with you?"

"No!" he snapped, then took a few deep breaths (for a squirrel, this meant a
series of gasps taking less than a second, but the effect was similar), "No.
You and the others aren't expendable, I need you to run the warren. That's
why I picked you. I'd stay back if I could, but we can't win without an army.
[chitter] I figure once we come through the entrance I can fade back from the
front lines... [chitter] I'll be fine. How are the others, anyway?"

"Fine, the bunny tried to follow you under, then gave up and ran. They're
with the transports. I was supposed to be with them, you know."

"Sorry," Teral said, "Just stay out the way. We have other mentats..." She
looked at him. "Other *scientists*, but you're the only one I trust." Not
that he trusted her, or the others that he'd sent out on various missions,
but there were aspects of warren operation that just couldn't be done without
a science wing, and she was the one he distrusted least.

"Things like this aren't supposed to happen," he muttered. "They're supposed
to obey me! [chitter]"

Zira [shrugflick]ed. "We do a pretty good imprint back in Science, but you
can hardly expect a bunch of half-trained scouts to get it right. [flick] 
If you'd asked our advice before sending your minions out to convert the 
masses..."

"What do you mean?"

"In UCirc we imprint converted squirrels on the warren. [flick] It's not 
absolute, but it helps. Obviously," she said, "This lot only imprinted on 
their groupleaders. If that. I think I have some ideas that could help keep 
them under control..."

"Anything that would help right now?" She shook her head.

They'd reached the front of the army, and Teral turned around and stood up
on his hind legs to survey his troops. The carpet of brown fur stretched
down the tunnel for quite a long ways... pretty impressive. Now if the
*bunnies* would only feel the same...

=----------
Teral Acorn