Lentan, Janus, Merelli, and all the humans in Crown Park felt their hearts leap and their lungs vibrate with the power of Chiro's roar.  Many clapped their hands to their ears, trying to keep their heads from throbbing.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>The First Sergeant nodded to Emiko, pointing ahead of them.  "Yeah, we should be-"<br/><br/>All the Resistance soldiers in the platoon stopped in their tracks, suddenly catching the main roar and a series of echoes off the buildings around them.  The First Sergeant's eyes widened and he took the long pole he carried out of the loop on his back, gripping it with the machete he had tied to it pointing upwards.  "What the fuck was that?!" he whispered, forgetting everything else for the moment.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Lady Alhanda, perched on her balcony, suddenly drew back from the railing, a paw raising slightly in surprise.  An unearthly sound - a roar the likes of which she had never heard - tumbled over the cityscape to her ears, rolling away in a steady, diminishing howl.  Her eyes darted about, searching for its source.<br/><br/>She couldn't see anything.  The steadily rising sun blinded her attempts to look to the east.  Thinking but also not thinking, she lowered her paw and stood silently.  For the first time in at least a decade she was confronting something she hadn't confronted in a long time - uncertainty.  A leader in her position could not afford to be uncertain.  But whatever that roar had been made her pause.  She did not know how to react.<br/><br/>Her cougar-fur servant whisked into the room behind her, bowing and shaking in trepidation.  "My Lady!  A great roar-"<br/><br/>"Yes, I heard!" Alhanda barked, whirling on him.  "Does anyone know what it was?"<br/><br/>"I will ask, my Lady," the servant said, bowing again and leaving.  Alhanda turned back to the balcony.  That roar had a purpose of some kind - was it an attempt to rattle her?  Perhaps.  Did the humans, in their arrogance, decide to herald the coming of the day with a captured fur's howl?  No, it did not sound like it was in pain, and it was far too loud.  But what kind of creature could produce such a sound?<br/><br/>In the back of her mind, the sound seemed vaguely and strangely familiar.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Not a hint of the roar could possibly filter into the dungeon where the old man and Karogen were chained.  Nonetheless, there was a shuffling of feet and faint murmurs out in the hall as word of the roar spread among the guards.  None of their banter was audible enough within the dark cell to be understood.<br/><br/>The old man's chains shifted slightly.  "My entire life?" he repeated, his voice still edged with anger.  "I'm already dead, you prick.  If you think I want to come with you anywhere, you've got..."  The chains shifted again.  There was a pause.  "Lions.  Big ugly lions are going to eat us.  They hate us..."  A brief hiccup, then more.  "How the hell COULD you get out of here, anyway?  Wait, don't tell me..."  The old man seemed to be stretching this pause for effect, but then it was as if he had never spoken, and he said, "I see flowers.  I see big yellow flowers right in front of my face.  They're telling me I'm going to go to Hell.  Hell must be pretty if they came from it.  Do you believe in Hell, big guy?"  His chains faintly clanked and it seemed like he had slipped into momentary sanity again.  "Something's got the guards' tits in a twist."<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Feldana clung to Sherra, squeezing her eyes shut.  The humans in the window looked at Kitten with hungry eyes.  "Then grab her, shithead!" one of them called.  "Don't let her get away!"  He slapped one of his fellows on the arm.  "Keep her covered!" he ordered, then he and the remaining other disappeared into the Fort.  The man left behind leaned out the window, aiming a powerful-looking handgun in Sherra's direction.  When he had shot at the guard in the moat, the gun had spat a continuous stream of bullets - it was an automatic.<br/><br/>The trio had mere seconds before the other two humans would re-emerge from Fort Blotar.<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Chiro fell to the earth, his battlecry at an end.  Merelli, who had heard the battle-cry of many of Chiro's kind before, threw his arms behind him and let out his own cry in response - a deep human scream of invigorated anger.  "All are at arms!" he shouted at the end, regarding Chiro with his bright, piercing eyes.<br/><br/>Lentan slowly walked to Chiro and held out his hand to him.  "Get up, my friend," he said gently.  "You have a dangerous mission in front of you, and it would be best if you conserved your strength.  Ride with the others until you reach your destination."  He bent over slightly and said in a quiet, joking voice, "And bring my sword back in one piece."<br/><br/>He gave a nod to a nearby bodyguard.  All three bodyguards stepped forward to the truck, carrying bundles of garbage.  Once Chiro was inside and the compactor was lowered just enough to close off the truck's opening, the bodyguards piled the garbage in, over the compactor, to further improve the disguise.<br/><br/>Lentan walked up to the driver's side window and held his hand to Baz for clasping.  "Good luck.  Drive fast, but don't get a ticket."  He smirked.