MANATEE WARRIORS The Beginning:
Attack of the Chocroids
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
The first rays of daylight were bursting forth on planet Moonark, and after returning from a length journey across the vast Suenarkie Ocean during the night, Medor and Metso began performing maintenance on their land and water vehicle. Metso was holding up the land and water skimmer from behind, while Medor lay underneath, patching up a spot on the underbelly of the vehicle before they returned home for some much needed rest. Suddenly, Metso turned and looked up far off into the distance. He spotted a pair of gargantuan, filthy, apelike creatures about eight hundred feet away. Without a word to Medor, he watched the two stench-ridden beasts as they flailed wildly about. Standing approximately thirty feet tall, the creatures moved with terrifying swiftness, their long arms and legs supported by powerful muscles. Tearing at their surroundings with a fierce barbarism, the beasts were a frightening sight to behold. Medor suddenly heard the faint noises in the distance, turning his attention to the commotion just as the perplexed Metso began to speak. “Well, well now, I’ll be a Moonarkie swamp fly! Would you just look at the kind of ruckus they’re causing at this time of the morning,” he said as he turned to his leader. “It appears we have ourselves quite a strange act over there.” He flipped on his face magnifier for a better look at the two creatures in the distance, flipping it off again after a moment. “That twosome is quite an ugly looking pair, to say the least,” Medor said. Metso stood watching the creatures for a moment and then spoke to his leader as he wondered aloud. “Medor, What on planet Moonark are those ugly looking things?” Medor turned and looked up at him, hesitating for a moment before turning to observe the distant creatures once more. “They’re not ugly, my friend, they’re just different from us, and our way of life.” Medor sized them up intently from top to bottom, while the creatures tore apart nearly everything in their vicinity. He spoke again to his partner beside him. “But I think the question you mean to ask is… what are they doing here? They are Chocroids I believe, and as you can see, that is going to mean big trouble for the planet Moonark, and everything on it,” he said, scanning the aftermath of the creatures’ reckless activity. He paused for thought as he watched the creatures, then spoke softly. “We can certainly see the results of their destructive nature. Oh, yes, I am sure they must be Chocroids.” Looking up at Metso, he continued, “And I sure hope you got some rest on the way back from our trip, my old friend… Something tells me our stamina is about to be tested out here if they spot us.” “Good then, now let’s get to it,” Metso replied. “I’m ready to take on those pesky beasts. I’m not afraid of-” he stopped the words in his throat, continuing in a more subdued tone, “Hey, Would you look at that! Where did those ugly things go so fast?” Then seeing the two creatures suddenly reappear in another point in the distance, Medor pointed and exclaimed, “Aha! Oh, now where did they go?” looking around confusedly. “Oh there they are, farther down the way by those large rocks over there. But how were they able to do that, Medor?” “I don’t know my friend. But for now, I’d say, our safest bet is that we stay out of their way! We’ll just keep an eye on them to study their behavior a little while longer. We don’t want to get ahead of things, before we can come up with a good strategy for dealing with them. I only know a little about Chocroids, and from what I’ve heard they dangerous and unpredictable, to say the least. One thing we know for sure now is that that acid they’re shooting out of their mouths can penetrate its target and quickly break down organic matter from the inside out. And I’m afraid to say, that’s not the end of their surprises.” “If that’s the case, how are we going to defeat those ugly things and get them off of Moonark?” “Right now I’m not sure how we can approach them, my friend, but I do know it’s not going to be easy to get rid of them.” He picked up his communicator. “I’d better call Nattorra and Valtorra and warn them to be on the lookout. Something tells me we’re going to need all the help we can get out here before it’s all over. I heard they like to travel in packs, so these two might not be alone. If I remember what I’ve heard about the Chocroids, they can’t stay invisible for more than nine or ten seconds at a time; but as you can see, they move very fast once they get moving.” * * * Meanwhile, not too far away, Nattorra and Valtorra zipped through the air on their flying Manaboards to reach the scene. Medor had warned them to be alert, and to fly low to keep out of sight of the creatures. “Now what do we have here?” Valtorra said to her sister as she spotted one of the creatures in the distance. “I don’t know, sis.” Nattorra replied, “But seeing all the damage to those trees and rocks, I’d say that Medor was right to give us a fair warning. Those things look like trouble all right.” Flying low to the ground as Medor had advised them, the two sisters slowed to a halt and hopped off their Manaboards, walking cautiously over to Metso and Medor so as not to be detected. “What are those things,” Nattorra asked, “and where is their spaceship? What are they doing here on Moonark in the first place?” “They are Chocroids, from the planet Cremmon!” Medor replied. “And to answer your second question, I don’t know where their ship is, that’s if they even have one. But you two can see for yourselves how destructive and dangerous they are. Now you understand why we must find a way to get those things off Moonark as soon as we safely can.” “I think you’re right, Medor,” Valtorra replied. “But what are they doing here on Moonark anyway?” “I don’t know for sure, but something tells me that someone, or something must have brought them here, because they are a very long way from their home planet. All we can really know is that we and all of the other Moonarkiens have a very dangerous situation on our hands. If we don’t hurry to get these things off of Moonark, we’re sure to be eradicated from our very homes. It could mean the end of every living thing on this planet. “The way I understand it, it seems they don’t communicate too well with other creatures, and are very destructive. One cannot reason with them at all. I’ve heard tales about them from a strange traveler, who told me that he and his companions once tried to land on the planet Cremmon and barely made it away from the place with their lives. The way he described those creatures to me, I’m sure those two are what he was talking about. “I tried to imagine them in my mind, but I never thought I’d actually see one. But now that they are here on Moonark, we’ll have to figure out a fool proof way to deal with the two of them!” Valtorra took another gander at the two giants in the distance before she spoke. “Well I sure hope Sweegees’s finished with most of those new defensive tools he’s been working on. Maybe those can help us out here. Just look at the size of those two! Something tells me we are going to need whatever he may have made right away.” “I’m sure you’re right about that, Valtorra.” Medor replied. “But I want to try something first, because something will have to be done soon before those two make it to the poor defenseless creatures sitting out there in their homes. I think if I can get behind one of them without being spotted, I may be able to lead them away from this area into another part of Moonark. Then we can try to figure this all out.” “Okay Medor, that sounds like a wise plan,” Nattorra agreed. “I’m with you, but just be very careful; I don’t like the looks of those things at all.” “They seem to be slowly making their way toward us,” Medor remarked. “Maybe once I lead them away from here, I can somehow try to communicate with one of them.” Then suddenly, one of the giant creatures shot a stream of filthy hot
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Who will step in to save the vulnerable planet Moonark from those who would destroy it and sap its valuable resources? Who would dare to do battle with the fierce Chocroids, the giant and terrifying Muck Mock spiders, and to fight crime from Moonark all the way to distant Earth? Enter the Manatee Warriors, an intrepid group of galactic superheroes whose mettle and bravery sees them through wild adventures of treachery and danger. Aided by the incredible technological advances pioneered by the genius inventor Sweegee, the manatees work as a team to defeat all who would threaten their homeland. In this thrilling science fiction novel, read on as the Manatee Warriors struggle against the invasion of the powerful Chocroids, restless and dangerous beasts with an appetite for destruction. Then follow our aquatic heroes as they travel to a distant planet called Earth, evading human interference as they seek to understand the source and very nature of the strange mutations which have given them their awesome powers. Will they uncover the answer to this great mystery? Will they succeed in saving Moonark from the forces which besiege it on all sides? Read on, and find out!
About the Author
Warren Levi Jones was born on July 11, 1959 in Jacksonville Florida. He is the eighth of nine children, born to his parents, Mrs. Thelma L. Jones and the late Mr. Arthur Jones. As a young boy, the Jones brothers and some of the other neighborhood children would walk down to a place known in Jacksonville as McCoy’s Creek, on the west side of town. There, he and some of his friends would watch the Manatees feed on the plant life. Sometimes, in the winter months, Warren and some of the other children would go to the creek and watch the “Sea Cows” blow what looked like steam shooting up from their nose. Seeing that kind of thing happening was so exciting to him, as a child. Sometimes he would stay there for what seemed like hours, watching their feeding antics. Jones was totally fascinated by the sight of these manatees, and has never forgotten those wonderful childhood experiences at McCoy’s Creek. Eventually he and his family moved away from that part of town. But even as a young adult he often thought about what it might have been like if those manatees could have just gotten up out of the water and started walking around and talking and doing all types of heroic and amazing things in and out of the water. And that is how “The Manatee Warriors: Defenders of Planet Moonark” came about. Jones started inventing things and writing songs and stories right after he retired from the City of Jacksonville, after twenty years of being a heavy equipment operator. He has invented a group of products and written fifty-nine other stories and twelve songs to date. He is C.E.O. and founder of a company called, Nat & Val, Inc. named after his three kids, Natalie N. Jones the President, Valerie D. Strickland Vice President and Warren L. Jones Jr. Chairman, in the city of Jacksonville. Sometimes, when he’s out speaking in public, people often ask him about the word, “Moonark.” He usually tells them that the word came about because of how he thinks about certain things.“Moonark is just my concoction of two words, ‘Moon’ and ‘Ark’”, he says. “We know, from what we see, and from science, that the Moon is a planet and place in our part of the galaxy… we can actually see it with our own two eyes. Some people call it a dead planet, maybe it is, maybe not… I don’t know for sure, without getting all technical,” he says. “But we know that the Moon has a very powerful effect on the planet Earth’s oceans and animals, and it even affects some people, at certain times of the year in some very interesting ways. But enough of that, I’m not a scientist, so I’ll just leave it at that. Anyway, the word, “Ark” can mean a type of water vehicle, like in the Bible.”