When the Leonids came into our world we didn't have any idea where they had come from. They appeared late in November as the annual meteor shower called the Leonids put in its appearance, and so some scientist somewhere called them Leonids. They were not anything like lions, of course. They were, in fact, more like rabbits in appearance. If you can imagine a rabbit with no ears and eight legs and no fur. They did have a sort of face but it had no expression whatsoever that we as humans could discern. Basically all we knew about them was this appearance of theirs during the Leonid showers and their physical appearance.

And, of course, their effect upon us. We were defeated and conquered within hours.

Every major city in the world had Leonids appear in the offices or homes of the local leaders. The political, military, financial, and media leaders. They instantly had the effect of turning these folks into groveling slaves, and any person who came within a certain, unknown distance fell under the same power. Of course the remaining billions of people were ready to fight against this onslaught from another world or dimension. But we soon found that they had arrived with a certain device that allowed them complete security in any building they had appeared in.

It was a box like object, of course. Aren't they all. But its function seemed to be to form a force field around the building or place of whatever kind a Leonid was in. It appeared with them and then protected them from all attacks from the outside. We tried. Every military force on Earth attempted to destroy them even if it meant destroying the people they had enthralled. It never worked. Field artillery, small arms, drone missiles, even cruise missiles had no effect except to play havoc with the area surrounding the Leonids. The use of atomics was ruled out. It was thought, with some validity, that the destruction would be worse for us than for them.

At least it was ruled out by the vast majority of existing governments and militaries. One country did attempt to destroy the Leonids in their center in the city of Pyongyang. That one nation attempted to drop a nuclear device on the Leonids there. What was left of the city was uninhabitable for decades after that. The Leonid stronghold was not disturbed.

After the initial invasion the indoctrinations began. The leaders and their followers carried out with them some Aura instilled by the Leonids and used this power to compel others to place themselves before the Leonids and become completely enslaved. Then they would continue outside to do the same. It took only a few weeks for most of the people with the most power outside to be under the power of the Leonids. The Leonids seemed to not care about the masses of people out there who had not been enslaved. They just were concerned with the movers and shakers, so to speak.

These power brokers still wielded great power and they knew how to use it. And use it they did, for the benefit of the Leonids. And, of course, they had help from the inevitable traitors, concerned only with their own comfort and benefit. Soon all the mechanisms of society were under their control, as they had been before, of course, only now it was for the benefit of the Leonids.

The entry of these Compelled Ones, as we named them, into the structures occupied by the Leonids was through a simple portal that had sentries of enslaved men guarding it. They had apparently been instructed to allow in all the Compelled Ones and their new recruits who had fell under the power of their Aura.

Oh, it was fairly simple to capture these enslaved ones, but they either sent out the aura and compelled even more to present themselves to the Leonids, or they died, begging to be allowed back to the Masters. We had no idea if the creatures were male or female, or something completely beyond our comprehension. In fact, our description of them came to us only from enslaved people who were attempting to extol the grandeur of their Masters. We will just use that word for simplicity.

About seven weeks after the initial invasion those still able to put up a resistance started to notice something. Once in a long while one of the followers compelled to enter the presence of the Leonids would come out the same way they went in, with only the slight initial Aura compulsion from the Compelled One. But without the full blown Compelling endowed by the Leonids. Upon closer examination by the doctors and scientists still working with the resistance it was determined that these few people were actually suffering from various forms of mental illness.

They were isolated and it was found that most had been controlling their conditions, and in many instances, masking them with medications. Some had been important lights in all of the walks of life, including finance and politics, but the majority were common folk like most of the resistance. With the invasion had come a complete disruption of the movements of goods and services of modern life. These poor souls had not been able to get their medicines and were reverting to their initial mental conditions with all the unfortunate consequences.

There was no indication the Leonids realized they had not enslaved these few unfortunates. Or perhaps they were more fortunate then we realized at first. They were suffering with their mental problems, but they were free of the Leonids indoctrination. They were essentially free people even after going before the Masters. How could we use this to our advantage?

It was discovered that many of these few fortunates were ex-military. When we were able to use our combined resources to obtain the medications they needed to function properly around regular folks they were desperate to do anything to help their species repel the monstrosities that were enslaving the world slowly but surely. The ex-military, men or women, were placed in charge of their fellow sufferers. With the communications we still had available to us, mainly shortwave radios running on battery power, we passed the word to other resistance groups around the world.

You cannot understand how much hope was engendered by the simple realization that some of us were not susceptible to the Leonids. Even if these few had been cast off and rejected in the past, they were now seen as saviors and the one last hope for the human race. Their necessary medicines were found in the hospitals and clinics that had not yet been taken over by the enslaved ones. Our mentally deficient ones were now the last great heroes of the race. At least, that was the expectation, if not the certainty.

Our plans were made and passed from one group to the next. Soon the plans were promulgated around the world. It lacked only the effort and courage to follow through. Some of the lucky ones lacked that strength of character, but it was to the honor of our species that the number of refusals was few. The vast majority, men and women, volunteered to do what needed to be done. We did what we could to help, but in the final analysis, it was left to them to carry out the needed work that would free the Earth of the Leonids.

The plan was simple but had to be coordinated and carried out at the very same time around the world. We could still fail if we got complacent and did not use our minds and imaginations to come up with problems we might encounter and develop methods to overcome them directly and quickly. We had studied and were able to replicate the manner and demeanor of the Compelled Ones. All we would have to do was fool the sentries at the portals. After that our plans could be carried out to fulfillment.

So we at last came to the time for the plan to be implemented. Our mentally challenged were indeed challenged this day. Our day of freedom. They were outfitted and readied and they were sent out as Compelled Ones with entourages of volunteers to fake compulsion, and to gain entry through the portals, and to complete the mission.

At the chosen hour the faux Compelled Ones lined up at the portals, were given entry by the enslaved sentries, and were escorted before the Masters who would give the final indoctrination to the new recruits.

As soon as our heroes were before the Leonids they all reached into their long coats, extracted the swords, bayonets, machetes and hunting knives they had secreted and began the attack. They knew they would all probably be killed by the Compelled guards and sentries. No matter. This was their mission, their obligation to the race, their honor. Only a very few lived. The vast majority died from gunfire or other methods employed by the guards.

But their mission was completed. They were able to strike at the enemy and they slaughtered all of the Leonids they could before they died. When the sentries were called away from the portals by the calls of their Masters this left the entries vulnerable. The resistance forces around the world stormed the buildings and finally were able to overcome the Compelled. There and around the cities where the Compelled were running the world for the good of the Leonids.

The Leonids had always depended upon their power. It had always apparently worked before upon all the races they had enslaved. We only discovered this information much later. Some linguists and psychologists made the Leonids their life work. We learned much about them from the few we were able to capture and study in our labs. It was a certainty that they had never encountered an intelligent species that included members that were mentally challenged. They had here on Earth and it was their downfall!

The word "crazy" was never used in a derogatory way again. Our "crazies" will be honored from this time forward, even until the world may end or the species should become extinct.