RSTC: The Bells of Notre Dame
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"Rifles on the ready!" Lt. Rico clenched his jaw as he raised his morita. With a heavy heart, he took a sidewards glance just to see Carl Jenkins, Doc LeCroix, Max Brutto, and Sgt. Zim in a similar form while Bobby Higgins filmed the scene as evidence.
Only Dizzy Flores took a step back from the firing line. She gave him an apologetic gaze and he nodded. He understood. Coupled with a well known fact the two were once in relationship, Rico wished she weren't present to witness this.
Besides, none of the troopers here wanted to kill the former fleet officer. It didn't matter that they rarely got along. As his nickname suggests, the Big Dog was an arrogant, often over- confident man and he had the skills to back it up. He was hard to like but Rico was sure everybody secretly liked him anyway-- no matter how miniscule that feeling was.
"Take aim." He ordered closing his eyes momentarily to steel his resolve. Half- bug, half- man. The bug part killed every scientist and trooper here. The man was the one standing with his back to them facing the wall awaiting judgment.
It was simple.
SICON had ordered him dead.
They were troopers.
They had to pull the trigger.
--
Now here is a riddle to guess if you can,
Sing the bells of Notre Dame...
Corporal Jeffrey Gossard watched as the civilian hunched over a trooper as she accessed information through a makeshift console whose parts were littered on the floor. "Private Anderson, I must say, for you to be able to do this with such little resources and time-- it is amazing." He spun a screwdriver between his fingers shaking his head in annoyance. The last thing he needed while he scavenged the research facilities's machinery for parts to repair the ship's compressor was to hear this kind of drivel from a man far too smooth for his liking.
"Well, Mr. Toscana, I think it's King Mech over there you should be praising. He taught me a bunch of things about wiring things together without which this really can't be done." The technician heard the girl answer flatly. He stifled a chuckle to himself when he caught a glimpse of the girl's confused expression directed not at the businessman scientist but at the small panel of screen infront of her. He grinned knowing that the trooper's state of mind rendered her oblivious to everything else but the work at hand.
"Please. It's Leo." The scientist continued on. "Ah! Modesty. That is an exceptional quality only a few now possess."
The girl shook her head slightly. " And which should never be confused with honesty." Andy replied quickly. "What's this? Footage?" The worried tone in her voice made Gossard stop pilfering for parts. He caught her wide- eyed distressed expression as flickers of light were reflected of her mask. "Oh no."
He quickly stood from the floor and headed to where she was seated. "Andy? What's wrong?" He asked.
"Everything." She leaped off the floor running for the stairs without another word.
--
Who is the monster?
"STOP!" A woman cried running into the line of fire between the creature and the troopers.
"Rifles down!" The lieutenant ordered immediately.
Sgt. Zim slowly loosened his grip on his weapon eying the fleet officer. This was madness. "Lt. Ibanez! We have our orders. Move away." He said sternly at the defiant pilot putting herself in harm's way.
"Rico, please." Carmen Ibanez pleaded with her arms outstretched. "There's got to be another way."
"There IS no other way." The sergeant heard Rico answer sadly.
"What about never leaving your own behind?" She insisted staying where she was.
Zim saw the troopers flinch but stayed uncharacteristically silent. He knew this was going to hurt them all more than sustaining injuries from fighting the bugs. This was something he would never wish upon any trooper especially this bunch.
"I'm sorry Carmen but Sgt. Zim is right." Rico finally replied. "We have our orders. Please move away." He finished.
The creature turned its head in a very human like fashion that bothered the former Camp Currie instructor in more ways than one. "He's right, Carmen. It's alright. " It agreed to its fate. "This is how it should be. You should go." It faced the wall once again.
"But Zander--" Ibanez started to argue.
"I said go!" It boomed. "That's an order, Ibanez."
Sgt. Zim nodded bitterly as the lieutenant slowly stepped aside. The order came for the rifles to rise once more. He tried to convince himself that he was not shooting down a human being despite what had just happened. Zander Barcalow was a bug. It killed innocent civilians in this research station and thus deserved to die.
The sergeant just had to keep telling himself that.
--
Who is the man?
"Andy, wait!" He shouted out when he realized what she was about to do. "Cazzarola." Mr. Toscana cursed under his breath as he sprinted after the trooper. He was about to turn the corner and head up the stairs she took when someone forcefully pulled him back. He spun around ready to face the technician that was left behind. "Corporal Goss--" He started to argue. But his hazel eyes grew wide as the soldier shoved him against the wall of the stairwell.
The trooper growled eying him menacingly. "Don't call her Andy."
Sing the bells of Notre Dame
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Note: Lyrics from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame "The bells of Notre Dame"