"It's here"

A family of humans was in a suburb of Tanior. They were almost in the suburbs. There the city was much quieter, in contrast to the center where the imperial invaders were busy shooting opponents every day.

The family was very simple: a man, a woman and two children, one of whom was no more than four years old. All four had worried expressions painted on their faces and were looking around frantically, even the little boy who, despite his naivete, was able to tell that something was bothering his parents.

"Are you sure this is the place?" the woman asked.

The man nodded. "This is where my source told me to come"

"We can't stay exposed for long. If they see us, we will be dragged to the military tribunal!"

"I am aware of it. Let's wait a moment longer"

Suddenly there was a noise. The four turned abruptly and saw a large black cat with a white spot on the right eye approaching them. "Kitten!" the little boy exclaimed, running to stroke him.

The cat let himself be cuddled, but stared at the two adults with a serious look. Then his mouth opened, but instead of a meow, words emerged: "Who sent you?"

"Frank" the man replied.

"And what did he tell you to tell me?"

"Canned food sucks. I'm not kidding, he meant it…"

"I know it. Come with me soon"

The cat walked down an alley and the family followed. As they walked, they noticed other cats and several pigeons patrolling the area from the other. Finally, they came across what looked like an old, battered warehouse. The cat motioned for them to open a small door, and the humans promptly obeyed.

The interior of the warehouse was huge, spacious and very dirty. Once inside, the cat let out a meow. Within moments, two large gigantoraptors appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the four humans. The children let out a slight cry and the adults hugged them, but the cat reassured them: "Be calm, you have nothing to fear if you aren't with the Empire"

"What do you mean?" the woman asked.

"That we have to search you" the answer came from an anurognathus that flew onto her shoulder. "Keep calm and be cooperative. As soon as we've made sure you're not wearing microphones or bugs, you'll be fine"

The woman seemed willing to ask for more, but the anurognathus slipped inside her shirt and started rummaging inside her. "Is that really necessary?" the man asked, not liking to see his wife being treated like that.

"Would you prefer us to make you undress?" the cat replied rhetorically. "This is the fastest and least invasive method. Remain silent and still and let my colleague do his work"

The humans didn't look comfortable, but they didn't protest. The anurognathus rummaged inside their clothes for a few minutes, then came out and signaled that all was well. Immediately, the gigantoraptors calmed down and left them, checking the door again.

"We can continue" the cat said. The humans hurried after him.

The cat took them to another room in the warehouse. There were already many people inside, many of them families just like them, and many more were entering through other doors. There were also numerous cats, dogs, bats and birds which seemed to have served as 'guides' like their kitty.

Silence reigned in the room for a while, broken only by the shouting of the children and the sound of the doors opening wide each time a new group arrived. When there were at least fifty people inside the room, something happened and a huge twenty-foot tall dinosaur with a large beak and thick plumage appeared in the center of the floor. The most expert in biology, or at least those who had seen at least one documentary in their life, recognized it as a therizinosaurus. "There are all?" he asked.

The other animals nodded. "Very well" the therizinosaurus said, then he turned to the humans: "Forgive us for our unkind ways, but it was necessary. Unfortunately, the imperials are breathing down our necks, us and our informants"

The animal stretched out its clawed paws and two other dinosaurs, a megaraptor and a deinocheirus. "Now, I have to ask you to split up. Those who wish to exit the country completely, please come beside me. Those who just want to go to the capital go next to Ducky" and he pointed to the deinocheirus. "If you have other destinations instead, go next to Chomper" and he pointed to the megaraptor.

The humans promptly complied, lining up in neat rows next to the three dinosaurs. "Okay, now hold hands. Those in the front row grab my paws, or Ducky's, or Chomper's" the therizinosaurus said. The humans complied; an instant later, the three dinosaurs activated [Teleportation] and disappeared.

***********

In Frigeria, inside a large warehouse, Snock was lying on his back on the floor, observing a map drawn on the ground, when a sudden change in the smell of the air warned him that he was no longer alone. "Hello, Joker"

The therizinosaurus approached him. "We have completed another transfer to the city of Tainor, Snock" he said. "But I don't know how long we can go on. The imperials are becoming more and more wary. We have to constantly change our hiding place and our movements"

"I know" Snock growled. "The other captains from the other occupied cities also have the same problem"

The therizinosaurus looked at the map drawn on the ground in front of Snock. It was a map of Siran, and the cities occupied by the Empire were marked with a cross; but at least three of them were also marked with a circle, indicating that they were a 'high risk area'. "How do we want to act?"

The giganotosaurus snorted. "I do not know. I've asked Rambo to find out if human tools can detect us as well with [Ambush], but I haven't heard back yet. For now, the best choice is to continue as we have done so far"

"Are you sure? It's a big risk"

"Even with increasingly difficult conditions, we are still able to move at least two thousand civilians every day. Therefore, it is worth continuing. However, we will also need to increase our spy network and create stronger security protocols"

"And if that weren't enough?"

"That will be enough for now. If we then see that a city becomes too dangerous, we will give up and withdraw"

The therizinosaurus looked satisfied, if only a little. "I can't figure out why we don't just use [Teleportation] and [Ambush] to take every civilian out of the city at once"

"Because that's exactly what the Imperials want. Don't forget, this war is their test. They're studying us" Snock growled. "We can't give him a chance to see our powers even for an instant. We'd just play their game"

The therizinosaurus rubbed its beak with one of its huge claws. "I'd better go back to Tainor. I'll be back tomorrow and I hope I can bring you good news"

"I really hope it too"

The therizinosaurus disappeared. Snock let out a growl. It was all so much easier before, he thought. 'Damn Empire… why the hell didn't they just choose to accept the new world and join us? This war would have already ended…'

The giganotosaurus didn't want to show it, but he too was starting to feel the weight of the years. After all, he'd been fighting that war for nearly seven years, and he'd fought in illegal dinosaur fights before that. He was no longer in the prime of youth and he was getting really tired of fighting. While he was proud of his role, which had been vital in the advance of his people, he seriously wished he could finally get some rest.

He wasn't the only one. Even many of his subordinates were tired, and so was Rambo. He was pretty sure Buck and Carnopo were too, not to mention Old Li who was barely on his feet now. And Sobek too. The pack leader had never specifically said that about him, but Snock was smart enough to notice certain attitudes. He knew that even Sobek was fed up with that situation of fear and tension and he wanted nothing more than to rest.

But he couldn't. Sobek knew his job wasn't done, and he couldn't afford to let his guard down. Snock knew that too. For this he hated the emperor: it was only his fault that all of them were still there fighting, instead of sleeping in a den and enjoying the company of a member of the opposite sex. If Snock could have, he would have teleported to the emperor and devoured him in one bite. But he knew that doing so would only make the situation worse.

He had to have patience and trust in his pack leader. Maybe, with luck, he could have avoided fighting until he died.

*********

"Your Imperial Majesty, it is clear that the dinosaurs understood our game"

In the war room, Emperor Wafner and his generals were discussing their battle strategy.

"We have to push deeper if we want the dinosaurs to show themselves" said one of the men sitting at the table. "I propose to step up our operations. Let's push the dinosaurs into a corner"

"I doubt it will work. If we did, the dinosaurs might choose to abandon Sinar altogether, and all of this will have been for nothing" said another. "We need something more. A powerful and swift move, too swift to think of how to counterattack, forcing them to use whatever they can to survive"

Suddenly someone entered the room and handed Wagner a paper. The emperor looked at him, and then a wicked smile formed on his face. "I think we've just received the answer to our questions, gentlemen. Our scientists have just informed me that they want to test something… very interesting. Therefore, we will use it to force the dinosaurs to show their cards. General Sora?"

"Yes, your imperial majesty?"

"What is currently the most powerful thermonuclear bomb in our arsenal?"

"I think professor Croft built a 100 megatons one a few months ago. He only made a prototype, too heavy to be transported or launched with missiles, therefore effectively useless"

"Not anymore. Tell him to prepare it. It's time to show the world our true power!"