The Pioneers

The large spacecraft had made it’s entrance into earths orbit eons ago. Fuel spent and no hope of returning to the mother planet. It’s precious cargo of pioneers braced for impact upon earth’s surface. It hovered and slowly descended toward the landing area below what would be named Queens Mountain in Twentynine Palms, California. The Ship landed on an area now known as Tortoise Rock Casino. The landing had been uneventful and the pioneers were accepting of their fate. It was up to them to live or die in the new land. They made the best of it and survived and prospered on this new world against many new predators until now.

Other humanoids had landed later on or near Queens Mountain from another system. They made friends of the pioneers and had lived in harmony for many years with them. Both became accustomed to the climate and prospered together along with other species of the land. The pioneers were very special creatures with glorious loving souls inside them. The natives respected all of the living animals. The two legged natives walked throughout the landscape trading with other peoples who had come from other worlds as they adopted and lived in harmony with others. Thousands of years passed and passed. Other creatures hated the pioneers. The Ravens and Coyotes were sworn enemies and very jealous of the pioneers. There were others along with the new men. Ravens and Coyotes consumed with the hunger and thirst of killers. The pioneers survived through it all.

The climate had been changing and water was scarce. Man occupied the land now. The Natives too few to help. There lives were threatened and this is their story.

The Marines at 29 Palms had been placed in care of the pioneers. They protected them and cared for them like they were their own. There were many other pioneers out in area but those in the care of the Marines were protected by Marines. The predators hated this. Especially the Ravens and the Coyotes.

M.C.A.G.C.C. covers almost a 1000 square miles. Red the King Coyote had been been plotting the destruction of the pioneers for years. With his numbers growing on land with 35,000 warriors the time was at hand. The Queen of the Ravens was also ready, to kill off the pioneers. Speedy, head of the roadrunner clan claimed his troops at 20,000 and was ready to assault the Marine Base. Fire Ants the largest group of all the invaders had been massing underground for months wanting first crack at the young. Invader Recon had determined Labor Day weekend to be the optimum time for invasion, less troops on base. Ravens would search from the air covering the whole base and outlying areas, coyotes attacking on ground, fire ants massing at the T.R.A.C.R.S. facility after the young but all would share in the carnage.

The Barracks had been unusually quiet this weekend and being a Saturday night the Marines had been making a steady trek back and forth to from the exchanges buying beer not knowing of any pending attack. Due to the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 all military personnel were placed on alert to any possible terrorist attack to the base. The Invading force was unaware of this date. To them is was just another Labor day weekend to take advantage of in killing off their hated enemy, the desert tortoises. The attack was to begin at dawn on Monday the holiday.

The Marines had been on one of the largest training exercises in the base history MDX extreme. A simulated attack against the base involving ground and air forces. It was concluded and the participating marines were bivouacked at the surrounding camps around the base waiting to go back to their own bases.

Sunday after morning colors a base alert was sent out to watch for suspicious activity by the base commander. Unusual animal activity had been noticed around the perimeter for miles surrounding the base along the fence line. Coyotes, Gila monsters were seen massing in large numbers never seen before. Ravens flying in large flocks circling in the air above at all points of the compass. Enviormental Affairs was contacted and the head Biologist and Ecologist were consulted. Both of them had never seen such activity and immediately consulted with the scientific community. In a period of a few hours shared video of the strange gathering had gone viral. The scientists had no idea what was going on. Video leaked to YouTube caused the neighborhood community to panic. People exited their houses with binoculars watching the sky observing the circling Ravens searching out for tortoises. By 5PM CNN, CBS, MSNBC and all the networks were live from 29 Palms. TV camaras focused to the sky live. Bands of Coyotes started to be seen running through and around 29 Palms toward the base. Children and dogs were kept inside. It looked like the end of times. The biologist and ecologist from Environmental affairs consulting with their scientific peers had deduced the T.R.A.C.R.S., Tortoise Research and Captive Rearing Site facility was in danger. The CG was notified of the target and the Marines placed on defense. Air command sent Bell AH-1Z helicopters in the air. M240B machine gun troops were sent to surround TRACRS, along with mortar squads.

The Queen of Ravens perched atop one of surrounding hillsides surveyed the pending battle area. Surprise had been compromised, they didn’t have it. Red the King Coyote looked below to the battle area and concurred with the Queen, yes surprise had been compromised. The Fire Ants had retreated once the Abrams tank battalion had been deployed. The Gila Monsters had retreated into the surrounding hills afraid of the Marine snipers. The Road Runners made quick exits leaving the Coyote’s behind. The battle was left to Ravens and Coyotes. It was 5 hours till dawn.

The news reporters broadcast that the enemy had been vanquished. Late in the evening thousands of Ravens and Coyotes had been seen fleeing back into the hillsides running through 29 Palms. The Marines had stopped them without firing a shot.