Thanks to DinoDragonMaster for assisting me with this chapter. Check out DinoDragonMaster's the Italian Ultimatum. Great story!
A Planned Rescue- chapter 3
"Forget it. You're not going to Plutark." She said.
"I'm afraid we don't have a choice in the matter, niece."
Stoker stood in the doorway.
"Coach. A lot of people are looking for you." Throttle began, as the old leader walked passed him and into Carbine's office.
"I know. '''Saw 'em on my way over here. So now we got Plutarkians defecting to our side? What's Mars coming to?" He said.
"This isn't a joke, uncle. They claim you built a device that can create any natural resource including water. Is that true?" Carbine asked.
"It is. But the Fish Faces stole it from me last night while I was out testing it." He explained.
"Then we have to get it back somehow." She said.
"And the only way to do it is going to Plutark." Throttle told her.
"No, Throttle. I won't let you risk your life for Mars. Besides..." She began, her face softened, as her hand cupped his cheek, "You promised you wouldn't leave me again."
"As touching as all this is we still have a planet to save. We need to get the Regenerator away from those Reek Fishes."Stoker said.
"He's right. Babe, Mars needs to be restored back the way it was before the Fish Faces came and turned it into a desert. This Regenerator is the answer we've been looking for."Throttle told Carbine.
"Must you always play the hero? You don't have to always act like you have to save the day!" She retorted, dropping her hand and glancing at him frustrated.
"You never had a problem with it before! My bros and I risked our tails time and time again for this planet and Earth. We're the ones who stopped Limburger from dropping a glacier on you and the other Freedom Fighters. When you needed help getting the Pink Seed plant back to Mars, who did you contact? Us."
"That was different then."
"How?"
"I'm your wife now. You're my husband. I don't want you to go." She simply said.
"Carbine, you gotta let him do this. He and the guys will be okay. I'll watch out for them." Stoker told her.
The dark haired female looked at the two mice and sighed. She knew Throttle was right. Mars needed water. It hadn't rained in years. The planet was slowly dying. They had to take any chance they could of bringing life back to Mars.
"Okay, what's this great plan of yours?" Carbine asked Throttle. The latter gave her a slow smile.
...
"Awooooo! Am I the fastest motor jammer this side of the asteroid belt?" Vinnie crowed, as he rode his red Sports bike up large dirt mountains and flew his bike through deep holes in rocks of the stone pillars.
"Yeah and modest, too!" Charley called out, racing her bike along side him. Suddenly, they looked to see a biker ride towards them. The motorcyclist rode the bike into air it backflipped into mid-air and then stopped and landed a few feet away from them.
"Not bad." Vinnie said, awestruck as the biker rode up to them, "You got skills."
The biker removed their helmet to reveal the face of Harley. She shook her head back and forth till her hair hung down.
"Sweetheart, I didn't know you could ride like that." Vinnie said, impressed.
"Living with the Nomad Rats, you pick up a lot of things." She replied, grinning.
To Charley, there was more to that grin. She was overly friendly. Touching Vinnie's shoulder and arm in an intimate way. Charley cleared her throat in an attempt to nip it in the bud.
"Oh, Harley, this is Charley Davidson." Vinnie said, turning to Charley to introduce them, "Charley, this is-"
"I know who she is." Charley replied, glancing at her in a not so friendly way.
"The Biker Mice 's little friend from Earth, I presume." Harley said, giving her a small nod.
"I got something I gotta repair on my truck. See ya later, Vinnie." Charley said to Vinnie, putting on her helmet and riding off.
"Sweetheart..." Vinnie cried out as Charley rode off in a huff.
"Let her go, cutie." Harley said, gently placing her hand on his shoulder, "She'll be okay."
"Maybe I should talk to her."
"And leave me out here all by my lonesome self?" She asked, in a purring voice. Her eyes took on a seductive look. He gazed at her as she pouted and flickered her eye lids at him.
"I missed you. Don't you miss me at all?" She asked, sitting on a large boulder and motioning him to sit by her.
"I do." He said, sitting by her, unconsciously thinking that maybe he's making a big mistake.
...
As Charley was riding through, she fought back tears and a deep sadness. She finally had the courage to step out of the friend zone. Just when it looked like her and Vinnie were finally hitting it off, his ex-girlfriend has to show up and step back into the picture. She didn't know Harley personally, but she still didn't like the way she flirted with him right in front of her face like she wasn't even there. She felt the woman was nothing but trouble and it wasn't because she was all in Vinnie's face. Charley had a suspicious feeling she was up to something. She just didn't know what.
Charley was going through Red Rim Pass unaware someone was watching her. Two Sand Raiders were hiding behind huge rocks. One was old and scrawny. The other was younger but not as thin as the other one.
"Well, well. Looks like a Martian Mouse Freedom Fighter decided to show up around here." One of them said.
"I don't see no mouse tail. He don't look like a Freedom Fighter." The other one said.
"Still. He'd make us a pretty penny once we sell him to the Fish Faces." The younger one replied, grinning,taking out a thin knife.
He threw it at the approaching motorcycle. It punctured Charley's back tire. The girl lost control of the bike and it threw her off. She struggled to get up. She looked over at her bike. It was laying on the ground. She saw the knife sticking out of one of her tires. Her face paled and her blood ran cold. Someone had ambushed her. She didn't have long to wait to find out who it was when she saw the older Sand Raider approach.
"Looks like you had you a little accident, pal." The older Sand Raider said.
She took out the blaster Vinnie had given her to use.
"Don't come any closer or I'll shoot!" She threatened, aiming the blaster at the Sand Raider.
The younger one had come up behind her and pulled her arms behind her back. He was so strong she ended up dropping the blaster. It went off striking her bike. It was trashed. Charley's heart sank. She couldn't even call for help.
With one hand, the younger Sand Raider removed her helmet. They saw at once she was a woman. They grinned broadly.
"This just got a whole lot interesting." The younger Sand Raider said.
...
"I never forgot about you, Vinnie. All those weeks and months, laying up recovering from my injuries, you were always in my thoughts. Tragedy took us away from each other but now...fate has given us another chance." She said, clinging to him and squeezing his hand.
Vinnie stared into her eyes. Just as blue and shimmering as he remembered. Her face was up turned towards his. She was still infinitely beautiful. Just as desirable. He was about to kiss her waiting lips when Charley's image popped into his mind. Charley. His beautiful and kind Charley. He caught himself.
"Sorry, Sweetheart, but it's too late. I'm already with someone else." He told her.
"You can't be serious." Harley replied.
"I'm very serious." He said.
"But she's-not a Martian Mouse! She's a human."
"Charley makes me happy. What she is and what I am shouldn't matter as long as we love each other." He replied, angry at Harley for judging his relationship with Charley.
"I'm sorry, Vinnie. I didn't mean it that way." She replied, "I sometimes miss what we had. What Mace took from us."
"Harley, I never forgot what we once meant to each other. You'll always have a special place in my heart, but Charley's part of my life now."
"I understand." She said, quietly.
"I gotta go find her."
"Wait! I'll come with you."
The two bikers rode off.
...
"Let go of me, you overgrown grizzly!" Charley screamed, struggling to get out of the iron chains fastened around her wrists.
"Fiesty little thing! I like that in a woman!" The younger Sand Raider said, then training his eyes on her behind, "I like something else!"
He tried to pinch her butt but she back kicked him hard in his groan. He doubled over in pain.
"Try to do it again and I'll knock the s- out of you!" Charley screamed.
The older Sand Raider was rolling over with laughter.
"B-, I ought to kill you!" He slapped her across the face. Charley felt and tasted blood on her lip. He was about to hit her again when the older Sand Raider stopped him.
"Quit it! We ain't gonna make no money off her if you beat her." He said.
The younger Sand Raider glared and backed off.
"Besides, she's wearing a Freedom Fighter vest. The only ones who wear them are the Martian Mice Freedom Fighters. She's gotta be that human friend of the Biker Mice I heard about." The older Sand Raider said.
"Then they ought to pay plenty of money if they want her back in one piece." He grinned.
"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. The Biker Mice will find me and they're gonna whip your furry hides good." Charley said.
"Oh, for your sake, I hope they do, my dear."
"Carbunkle!"
The deranged doc had just entered the small tent of the two Sand Raiders. He wore a torn lab coat. His hair was more disheveled than usual and his boots were worn.
"I have those bothersome moles to thank for ruining my life! Because of them, no one will hire me! The Plutarkians know Limburger was my boss. They want nothing to do with me."
"My heart bleeds for you." Charley replied, sarcastically.
"Yuk it up all you want, but now I have the perfect bait to lure them into my trap!"
...
"Sweetheart, it's Vinnie. You there? Over?" Vinnie called on the vidcom. No answer. No picture came up.
"That's odd. Why isn't Charley answering?" He wondered.
"Didn't she say something about repairs? Maybe she shut her vidcom off." Harley replied.
"No way. It's not like her to not to answer the vidcom." Vinnie replied, "I'll try Martian Command."
"Martian Command. Lt. Penella speaking." The red-head's face appeared on the screen, "Oh, hi, Vinnie."
"Hey, has Charley come back? I'd like to speak to her." Vinnie said.
"No, she hasn't been here." Penella replied, "Should I give her a message when she shows up?"
"Just tell her I'm looking for her. Vinnie out." He shut off his vidcom.
"Don't sweat it, Vin. She's bound to turn up." Harley told him.
"Something's wrong." Vinnie said,
"Baby, use your transceiver to locate Charley's bike." He told his bike. The bike beeped yes. It scanned the area.
Within minutes, it picked up the signal from the bike. It rode to a clearing at Red Rim Pass. Harley followed. There off to the side in a jumbled heap was the bike Charley rode on.
"Who? What happened? Harley asked.
His heart sank. He looked around. Where was Charley? Then he saw foot prints on the ground: Charley's and someone else's. A struggle took place. He took a good look. Then he saw a cheap hoop earring. He picked it up and examined it.
"What is it?" Harley asked, as he held out the earring to her.
"Sand Raiders." He said. And from the looks of it only two.
"Those two bastards just messed with the wrong mouse!" He said.
...
"And you're sure you can take us to the Regenerator?" Throttle asked.
"Of course." Finn told him.
Throttle, Carbine, and Stoker went down to the prison to question the four Plutarkian rebels.
"Your story checks out. We're gonna let you out. Don't try to escape or we shoot." Carbine told them.
"You have our word. We won't escape." Finn said.
Throttle opened their cell while Carbine held a blaster on them. Zephrine stepped in front of Finn to protect him.
"It's alright. They won't harm me." Finn reassured her. She let him step out to talk to the Martian Mice.
"Their general has already railed on you." Zephrine replied, angrily.
"We're in a war with your people! What do you expect? That we were going to welcome you with open arms?" Carbine fumed.
"We didn't destroy your planet! Those orders came from the High Chairman of Plutark." Zephrine replied, "Finn tried to stop him but he threatened to harm him."
"He was the only one brave enough to stand up to the High Chairman in public."
"Yes, he spoke out against the Plutarkian greeting."Gil said, "A federal offense on our planet."
"I'm sorry, but it's still hard for me to believe that there are good Plutarkians." Carbine explained.
"I understand. But not all of us are bad. The majority of my people don't want to go around strip-mining planets but they have no choice. The High Chairman reigns supreme." Finn explained.
"That's why we escaped and came here."Zephrine said, "We wanted a new life."
"And where does the Regenerator fit in there?" Stoker asked.
"It can create any natural resource you choose. If we can get it away from Lord Camenbert, we can use it to save your Mars." Finn said.
"And why would you help us?" Carbine questioned.
"Because we want to get out completely from under the High Council's thumb." She replied, "You saw what he did to Limburger."
"How do you know about Limburger?" Throttle asked.
"It was broadcast on Plutark before we came here. Limburger was declared a failure and a traitor to Plutark so the High Council voted for him to be executed. The High Chairman himself signed his death warrant."
"Loyalty doesn't exactly rank high among your people." Throttle said, whistling.
"Tell me about it." Finn replied, shaking his head and looking sad.
"How do you know all this?" Carbine asked.
"I was the High Chairman's Secretary of Defense. I foresaw every document in his office." She explained, "Finn and Gil here were members of his defense force."
"Can you get us close to Plutark under the High Chairman's radar?" Throttle asked
"We can try. The planet is protected by a powerful forcefield." Finn told them, "It's impenetrable."
"We're gonna need disguises." Throttle said, then to Stoker, " 'Think you can help us out, Coach?"
"Sure can." He replied.
"Guys!" Penella said, running down towards the three mice.
Everyone let her through.
"Vinnie called. He asked me if I'd seen Charley. I told him I hadn't." She said.
"Do you have the coordinates of where he was headed?" Throttle asked.
"Right here." She said, handing her a read-out from the computer.
Carbine and Throttle both read it. Both of them paled.
"He went through Red Rim Pass!" Throttle said.
"Oh, mama! That place is super dangerous even for Vinnie. Filled with cut throats and thieves." Modo said.
"I know every kind of lowlife hangs out there." Throttle said.
Both mice got on their bikes.
"Wait!" Finn held up his hand.
"I want to help." Finn said.
"We all do." Zephrine said.
"No funny business." Carbine said, aiming her blaster at them.
"There is none, I assure you." Zephrine held up her hands, "Gil, you and Puffer remain here till we get back."
Gil motioned Puffer to get back in their cell. Stoker locked them back up.
"Trey told us that Sand Raiders reside in this Red Rim Pass." Finn explained, "I've heard stories of from my people about them. They're slave traders."
"Hop on." Throttle told Finn helping him on his bike. Modo helped Zephrine onto his bike. Carbine kissed Throttle passionately. The tan-furred mouse blushed.
"Come back to me safe, Mighty Mouse." She said, gently.
Penella hugged Modo then kissed him on the lips.
"Please be careful." She told him.
"Let's kick it, Modo. Our bro gonna need some muscle." Throttle said.
The two mice got on their bikes and rode off.
