Chapter 9 finally!
Remember: Scabbard is of the Sergeant of the martian army. The Hunters appeared in the episode "Stalkers"
Oh... the capital has finally a name XD

Chap 9- Sand Storm

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The following days passed quietly but the closeness of the Sand Raiders was a continue threat and the guards were around in the city taking a look on who entered in it. The guys were at the entrance of Sierra, Rimfire was ready to leave to give a paper communication to the Sgt. Scabbard. The young Freedom Fighter offered himself because he had to speak face to face with the general of the martian army.

"Watch out from the Sand Raiders, nephew, they're still along the way to the capital." Modo said that had escorted the young mouse with Throttle, Vinnie and Prime, Sharon was at the training with the bow and with her there were Carbine and Harley "Don't hesitate to call us for every problem and... don't save on the munitions if you're attacked." recommended the uncle.

"Hei! Here why you said that you wouldn't be at the trainings!" Stella exclaimed "You could tell me that you were going away!"

Rimfire smiled baffled "I'm not going away, I have some things to do at the capital." he answered vague.

The face of the girl became radiant and she jumped on the bike seat "Then I wanna come too! I've never been at Stronghold! How much time it needed to arrive?" as usual she took initiatives without asking the permission.

Throttle thought "About a pair of hours if you go at full speed and follow the way, so you can't get lost."

Stella didn't seem discouraged and her smile became widened "Then come on! Two hours aren't few!"

So the two young mice left directed to the capital, the base of the Freedom Fighters and the martian army. The trip was quiet, no traces of the Sand Raiders and Rimfire stopped the bike in front the Academy. With Stella, the grey mouse went in the big sand colored dome structure. To welcome them was one of the guards "The Sgt. Scabbard isn't here, do you need him?"

Rimfire lingered, he took an envelope from his pocket of the green jacket and gave it to the soldier, as usual the Sergeant was busy and it was hard find him "Could you give it to the General as he's back? It's a communication by the leader of the Freedom Fighters." then he remembered and took another envelope, smaller. It was a luck to have written it expecting that probably Scabbard would be absent "And this is... by me. I'd like that he read it and answer me, I'd be grateful." his look this time was secure, Stella wondered what was written in that letter.

Before to leave the capital, the two young mice went around on the feet. Rimfire greeted some old companions of war and then took the girl to eat something and take a rest, two hours of trip were still two hours. Then they sat on a bench at the center of the plaza eating a type of martian bun. Stella looked around curious about the strange structure of the buildings. A lot of them had a dome shape with long glasses.

"The city doesn't have defensive walls." Rimfire said "And the sand storm invests the buildings because it isn't diverted by obstacles. The houses are like that because they let the sand slide on them, in this way the sand doesn't accumulate on the roof pressing the structure and provoking its collapse." he explained "My uncle Modo told me some time ago." he answered at the curious gaze of the girl.

"Sierra has the walls, in fact the sand that enters is little." said Stella "But when it happens we're obliged to stay at home also if we must sweep away little sand."

"But now the sand storms aren't a problem anymore." the grey mouse pointed out "Sierra is close to a lake and there's more vegetation than sand. Only Stronghold is still in the desert."

"But this is for military reasons, right?" Stella asked "I mean, I see only soldiers here." she looked around and effectively almost all the mice wore military uniforms or they showed their membership to the Freedom Fighters.

Rimfire raised the look to the orange sky and pursed the lips "I think yes. Almost all the citizens left the city and the Sergeant Scabbard built a military Academy here. It seems that this city is in a good geography position. For this reason it's the base of the Freedom Fighters and the army. If a war breaks out they can intervene fast, and we have the catacombs that are opened and made operational in these cases. If there's a sand storm they can move in the underground and reach the place easily."

"Catacombs scare me." Stella commented finishing her bun "They're dark and wet!"

"You're a coward! OUCH!" Rimfire exclaimed receiving a a punch on the shoulder "Stop it!" he gazed at her irritated massaging the painful part.

The tan mouse chuckled perfidious and then jumped on the feet running to a point of the plaza. In vain Rimfire called her, that girl was usual to think and act right after, she was similar than Vincent in this. The grey mouse stood up from the bench and, hands in the pockets, followed the lady mouse still in front a three and looked up. Rimfire copied her and he saw with big surprise a typical Martian Squirrel Bat perched on a branch of the three "Uh, they're coming back. Carbine will love that!" he commented with a soft smile.

"Oh, I wish to have one!" Stella exclaimed touched "It's a cute little thing!" the winged squirrel gazed them back and then he opened the black skinned wings and flew away "Uh... Where's he going now?" the tan mouse wondered moving the gaze in the direction in which the little rodent flew.

Rimfire gave a shrug "I think to his family. And maybe is better for us leave. Don't forget that the Sand Raiders are still around here and is better hurry."

The tan mouse sighed disappointed "Ok..." she answered when the bike caught them at the call of the young boy.

They put on the helmets and left but no one had noticed that someone was following them.


The arrow hit the target and Harley clapped smiling "Another center!" she exclaimed.

"I want try!" Carbine said and Sharon gave her the bow but soon the grey mouse noticed something, she couldn't pull the chord "Hei.. but... It's too hard!" she exclaimed.

Sharon chuckled "This is a Gladiator bow, it's different from the others. It needed more strength to flex it, for this reason when we use them it's rare that the enemies got up after the first hit, the arrow is faster than with a simple arch." she answered taking another bow from the bow-holder "Unh... this could be good." she said giving to her a lighter model "Try."

The grey mouse pulled the chord with more facility and after had tried more times she took an arrow and was ready. Some seconds passed since Carbine stood still gazing the target with her brown eyes, she took aim and left the chord. The arrow run fast but it didn't hit the black point at the center, the tip stuck in the yellow circle, the medium.

"Not bad." Sharon commented "But I think you should assume a better posture." she gave her another arrow and helped her with the position of the arms "Try now."

The general let pass some seconds and then she left the chord again and this time the arrow missed the black point only for some centimeters and a satisfied smile printed the face of the lady mouse "I've almost done!" she exclaimed.

"What are the girls doing?" Vinnie exclaimed arrived with the others "Oh! Archery! I wanna tr... OUCH! You hurt me!" the poor white mouse received a bow's hit on the hand by Sharon in the moment in which he was getting close to the bow-holder to take one of the weapons "What I've done now?"

The black mouse snorted "You must ask the permission!" she glanced at the white mouse "Hei, I was joking" You won't be able to use it." she sneered.

Vinnie wrinkled the nose and took the first bow that came to his hand "We'll see Sweetheart!" he inflated the chest and took an arrow.

The girls sneered when they saw that the white mouse tried in every way to flex that rigid bow "Did you know that it would happen?" Modo murmured receiving a nod by Sharon "You're so mean..." he commented rolling the eyes but he couldn't help to hold a laugh.

The lady black mouse giggled, she took an arrow and stood at Vinnie's side, she pulled the chord and the arrow left hitting the black point. Sharon smiled satisfied with the nose up "Do you know do better?" she challenged him.


The space ship was getting closer and the bike ran fast in the desert, it had been a while that the mice had lost the way and they found themselves to go around among the dunes trying to leave behind the aircraft. Rimfire looked at the rearview mirror and recognized the ship, the hunters were behind and were determined to catch him, a nuisance, thought the boy above all he had a second passenger with him and the desert didn't offer a place where they could hide.

Stella stood squeezed to her friend's torso, nothing would move her to push away from him until they wouldn't reached Sierra safe.

The lower door of the ship opened and from it went out two bipeds aliens that moved on a kind of levitation devices, they had a weapon in their arms, a kind of blaster or something that looked like it. They shot and Rimfire avoided what it seemed a net, it was the old cheat, that same cheat that they used to catch him some time ago. It was an electrified net that made lose the consciousness to who was trapped in it.

Rimfire took his laser gun from the case on his leg and shot to push away the stalkers but they were more agile and he couldn't hit them. In addition Stella whimpered scared and asked to the guy to focus on the driving "But if we don't push them away we risk to led them to my uncle too!" he answered, he had to think something but he hadn't the time.

To the two hunters, another one appeared by somewhere in front the mice "Are you happy to see us?" he sneered shooting the net that expanded beyond measure engulfing both the mice and the bike. The electric shock did the rest.

When Rimfire recovered his senses he found himself with the hands and the feet tied, totally unarmed and in a dark place, it was a tent that he recognized and the thing didn't reassure him. He looked around searching for Stella and he felt restless when he didn't find her. Taking advantage that no one was here on guard, the boy rolled on the stomach and started to move with the elbows and the knees, it was hard and slow but he had to reach one of the weapons hung on the hooks, unwise to leave them unattended. He would use the tail, like the last time he did.

Meanwhile Stella woke up and kicked in right and left. When one of the Sand Raiders was in front her, the lady mouse put a foot on his muzzle and glanced at him with satisfied grin. Dirty Dog watched the scene dazed "You can't hold a girl?" he exclaimed "I'm dumbfounded!"

"I don't want wear those stuffs!" Stella said starting again to kick, more times she tried to bite the hand of who held her. No, she didn't want skimpy clothes like that and she wouldn't dance because she wasn't able to. And she wouldn't do it for creatures like those.

Even Dirty Dog had problems to break the will of the lady mouse who bit him more times on his hands leaving bloody marks, those incisors of rodent were dangerous. But at the end, between a whine and another, the Sand Raiders succeeded to reach their aim. They took away her clothes that she had worn until that moment and made her wearing the dancer dress with bright colors and the poor tan mouse now stood knelt in the grip of the shame trying to cover herself how she could, the watery eyes, and Dirty Dog chuckled "Oh Come on! This isn't so bad!" he exclaimed raising her chin with the index finger "And you're cuter than the girl that they took away." he commented.

Stella wanted to cry and sniffed with the nose. The Sand Raiders leader went away "And what about the other?" he asked considering appropriate to get rid first of all of the bigger problem, that boy had given him a lot of problems in the past "We can transfer him on Deimos, there are some possible buyers for someone like him. He's young and strong, I'm sure that they would pay his weight in gold!"

The tan mouse pricked up the ears, did they want sell Rimfire as a slave? She raised the gaze to look around with more attention, the tent had only one entrance, escape would be impossible, at least for someone like her but she had to find Rimfire before it was too late.

Meanwhile the young Freedom Fighter walked stealthily among the tents until he was discovered by a guard, but there wasn't the time to lose in a long fight. Before that the canine could give the alarm, the mouse was on him hitting him with the stock of the weapon he had taken before and then Rimfire had an idea. He dragged the guard in a close tent and tied him muzzling him in a way he couldn't call the helps. The grey mouse took his clothes, helmet too, and was ready for the researching.

At first the boy searched for his bike and he found it in a tent not so far, the AI recognized soon the owner who destroyed the chains to free it "At my whistle come to me." said Rimfire and the AI answered with a soft sound. The young mouse left the chains on the bike so it seemed still chained. Making sure to don't be seen, Rimfire started again the researching, he was sure where his friend was, in the tent of the leader, Dirty Dog.

Finally Rimfire reached it and, he must be honest, he would never expect what he saw. Stella's waist was surrounded by a iron ring tied to a chain to the ground, the girl wore a somewhat questionable dress and stood knelt with the face down and the eyes still watery, Rimfire's heart tightened at this. Now he had found her and was going to call his bike.

"Hei! Go back to your pl.. what? But you aren't..." a Sand Raider came close to him thinking that he was one of them but he recognized the mouse tail "WE HAVE A FUGITIVE!" he yelled before to receive an hit on the muzzle by the young Freedom Fighter but it was too late. The guard's yell attracted the attention of all the camp and Rimfire had to hurry if he wanted to free Stella from that unpleasant situation and then he whistled.

The chaos provoked by the bike that ran among the tents destroying them with the laser attracted the attention of Dirty Dog too and the tan mouse raised again the gaze with the tense ears, something was happening, her heart filled of hope and her lips curved in a little smile. It didn't take long that the bike pierced the canvas of the tent and passed through it, Rimfire was on the seat of his companion, he was still dressed like a Sand Raider but the helmet was away and made him recognizable.

Stella tried to reach him but the chain held her. Then the bike shot the lasers that melted the metal of the chain and Rimfire used the gun to push Dirty Dog away from the girl. He must hurry before to find on him all the camp.

Stella was free now and ran to the friend who made her sit behind him, Dirty Dog couldn't stop her because the laser prevented him but then he smiled looking something at the shoulders of the mice "Is better for you don't make it difficult" he said.

"Oh grandmoma..." Rimfire murmured looking behind.

The Sand Raiders were on their two-legged vehicles ready to attack to the lowest order.

"Hold on." Rimfire said "Or you can fell from the bike."

The girl obeyed wrapping also the tail around the torso of the friend "But isn't it dangerous without a helmet?" she asked insecure. But before she would have the answer, the bike left at full speed soon followed by the robots that shot against them trying to pierce the back wheel of the bike, they hadn't the order to kill. This time Rimfire payed more attention and he avoided all the attacks.

"Rim..." Stella said "RIM!" she yelled when she noticed that the guy pointed to a metal beam put in a way to seem a ramp.

Rimfire sneered, he took a pair of hand grenades and went on the ramp. The bike seemed to fly and then it twisted on itself in a way that Rimfire could see where launch the bombs. Everything happened in an instant that for Stella seemed an eternity. As the mice were upside down on a pair of robots, Rimfire threw the grenades and then sped up as the bike touched the ground, the explosion followed after a second later.

Stella had the heart pounding "Don't-Do-That-Again!" she spelled receiving an amused sneer by the friend. The girl understood that it wasn't finished here. Dirty Dog himself moved to the pursuit. And Rimfire was just pointing him, he would destroy that damn robot preventing the canine to follow them. The bike made an U-turn, Rimfire had in his hand another pair of grenades ready to be launched. The guy triggered them with some seconds in advance so when he threw them they just exploded at the height of the metal legs of the robot. Dirty Dog was forced to run away from the vehicle but he didn't want renounce that cute dancer and a potential pile of moneys which Rimfire was. He ordered that they would be hunted until the bike's fuel wasn't totally consumed.

To aggravate the situation were the four hunters that joined the group of the Sand Raiders "But weren't they gone?" Rimfire exclaimed "Damn!" he sped up again decided to go out from the camp and he succeeded, the Sand raiders and the Hunters followed them. They were again in the desert and the four aliens on their aircraft shot again the nets. This time the guy got smart and launched the back missiles hitting two of the four hunters.

The pursuit lasted a long time in the middle of the desert and suddenly the Sand Raiders and the Hunters stopped letting them to escape "They're going..." Stella said turning to look "Why?"

Rimfire stopped the bike and glanced at the group of enemies that stood still on the summon of the red dune "I have no idea..." he murmured "Come on, go ahead. I wouldn't want that they would change their mind." then they left again and it wasn't long that Rimfire understood the reason for which the enemies had withdrawn. A nasty wind and sand noise reached his ears "Oh grandmoma..." he muttered widening the eyes and the sand storm assaulted them fast.

Stella held on to the guy trying to resist against the strong wind "What do we do now?" she yelled to cover the annoying noise.

For the first time Rimfire felt lost, stay here wasn't the best choice but also to move, he breathed a long and looked around. Nothing, the sand was everywhere and swirled like crazed and prevented him from seeing. Something flashed at the eyes of the young Freedom Fighters who decided to go ahead.

"Where are we going?" Stella asked at high voice.

"I saw something!" Rimfire answered. Without the helmet the sand bothered and obstructed the view. The bike went ahead for few hundred meters until it didn't jam "Oh man!" exclaimed the young grey mouse "Come on! Don't leave me now!" but nothing could start the bike that probably had the engine full of sand "Get off." the guy said at the end putting the bike so it could act as a shield and he sat with Stella under it.

"What happened?" the girl asked worried "Why are we stopping?"

"The engine jammed. I think that the sand has obstructed it." he answered sighing a long, then he raised the gaze and saw something, then his eyes hadn't deceived him. He stood up and the wind invested him in full, but this didn't prevent him from looking with more attention. There was a big rock formation, probably a mesa, but there was what it seemed a big arch that linked the two ends of the rock walls, maybe it was a gorge, a repair then "We must go there." he said pointing with the finger.

Stella didn't answer and followed the friend who moved the bike with the handlebars. The rock formation appeared also at the view of the girl that stood astonished to see that Rimfire had been able to see it long before her. Effectively there was a fissure between the two walls, fissure mounted by a big arch of red rock. Little by little that it became closer, the structure showed itself bigger than expected and also the fissure was big. The two went inside it and found themselves to walk across a corridor large only seven meters but with the high walls and the sand couldn't enter in the deep.

The two continued their walk hoping to find something over the corridor that ran for hundred meters. As they were at the end of the path, the mice looked behind and watched the high walls that act like a barrier. It was Stella to call Rimfire "Look..." she murmured.

Rimfire widened the eyes astonished and fascinated by what it extended before of his eyes and he understood that the rock walls in the truth surrounded totally what it seemed a city carved into the red rock, or at least it seemed to be. In front the mice it extended a flat area covered by sand and dead grass, some little walls with squared stones seemed to form several paths to follow and only after about one kilometer it extended the city proper that perched on the red stone like carved in it.

Between the city and the walls there was a big green space, at the center there was a lake big enough with the crystalline waters and some fruit threes. This place seemed totally deserted judging from the presence of skeletons of Sand Runners and... mice.

Rimfire and Stella exchanged a worried look but something attracted the attention of the girl, a red arras with gold finishes was hung at a metal auction, it was long about nine feet and large three feet. At the base there was a skeleton of a mouse with the arms tied around the metal auction, he seemed to search for a repair from something, the skull was broken. What hit most Stella was the symbol on the arras that swayed in the light wind: it was a bicephalous snake, a symbol that she knew well, the symbol of the Gladiator's clan.

"Here Rimfire, answer!" Rimfire to the Biker Mice, please answer!" the voice of the boy made Stella turn to him, the radio answered with a muffled sound, it was impossible trying to make a contact, the sand storm prevent it and probably Rimfire would have to wait the end to try again. They needed help because the bike wouldn't work without a good cleaning and they didn't know nor they were.

Stella stared at his friend worried "What do we do now?" and then seeing the face of the boy she remembered in what way she was dressed and she tried to cover herself "Don't look at me like that, you perv!" she exclaimed.

At first Rimfire blushed and took away the gaze mumbling a "Sorry!" and then he took away the jacket that he had stolen from the Sand Raiders and put it on the shoulders of the girl "Better now?"

Stella smiled embarrassed, the cheeks purple "Y-yes." she answered feeling safer "And now?"

The boy shrugged "We wait." he answered.

Stella delayed "Do we do a round in the city?" she asked brightly "Maybe we can find something that can interests to my uncle Bruce."

Rimfire gazed at the lady mouse "Bruce?"

Stella nodded "Probably this city belonged to the Gladiators." she pointed the arras with the slender finger "That snake is the symbol of the clan."

"And now where are you running?" exclaimed the boy when the tan mouse ran to the metal auction and started to climb it with extraordinary agility "Hey! You can hurt yourself" Come dow... mhp..." he shook the hands when the arras fell on him covering his face "But.. what..."

Stella went down with a jump "Help me to roll it. Come on!" she exclaimed "This thing will make my uncle crazy!" despite it was worn-out, the fabric was still soft to the touch and the drawing of the two-headed snake was visible. It seemed to be worked with mastery and Stella wondered what would promote a so good conservation.

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I did it finally! I'm happy! So then... stay here! We'll know more things into the next chapter! See you guys!