HARDSHIPS
Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Ungar's Biker Mice series, or any of the characters.
Author Note: Constructive criticism is always welcome. Suggestions for the story are welcome, too.
CHAPTER 9
...
Charley gave a soft gasp as the wonderful images surrounding her turned from Mars's vegetation to something that looked like a small village filled with life; love and laughter and just plain joy.
The homes may have been caves, but Charley just smiled as she reminded herself that her own species used to live in caves back on Earth. Thousands of years before houses were invented. And it took hundreds of years for the buildings to even resemble that of the modern housing.
Hundreds of families were outside enjoying the day together. Some working, some playing.
Small children were running amongst the flowers and vegetation without a care in the world; some of the teenaged children mock-wrestling in the soft earth amongst flowers. Their clothing, as well as the adults, were all made out of some soft, red-hued hide that wasn't recognisable to the Earthling female.
The children were being watched by their parents, and other individuals that were working at the long, massive fields, planting crops or taking care of the small plants already peeking out of the soils.
To think that adults and children of three different species actually lived in the same area sharing crops and water. And prey. And the children of the three species playing together not caring wether the other was rat, Martian or Raider.
Charlene stood motionless in the cloudy space of her mind.
The Martians, Rats and Raiders being so tolerant of each other?! And the children didn't even seem to care that their playmates were of mixed species.
Then came a great shift in the red planet's climate that wiped out a very big part of the vegetation. Many of the planet's population perished when the food and water became scarcer and scarcer.
Sadness washed over the young woman as the beautiful, crop filled land begin to fade into a less plentiful place. Her green eyes gazed on with rapt attention as storms ravaged the lands, destroying the locals way of living and even killing off people.
The three species of mammals that used to live so peacefully together began to fight for the most plentiful parts of the land that still existed and provided water and life.
Charley grimaced as she watched the land that used to not be soiled by blood was now covered with the essence of those who faught each other.
Some did it for the sole purpose to claim the land for themselves while the other half faught the other so that their wives and children would be protected.
Tears stung Charley's eyes as whole families were destroyed or children were left orphaned. Parents who lost all or some of their children in the carnage.
Small children were kidnapped by adults who needed a source of nutrition to feed their own young.
And in the wake of such cruelty towards innocents, the thieves crimes didn't go unpunished by those unfortunate parents who's children had been taken.
Charley wept quietly as she watched parents mourn the loss of their children. Their emotional suffering was very clear to the eyes.
It was horrible that some of these people had turned towards cannibalism and had tought their own children that it was okay to eat other people.
It took years, but finally came the age of slow recovery. The land began to regrow itself back. Plants began to appear from the soil in places it had been wiped out and crops began to grow. Animals returned to the areas they'd left when the climate shifts began.
But all was not well. Some of the sophisticated species continued their crusades to own the land for themselves. Acts of crime were still commited.
Children were still disappearing; leaving the distraught parents to mourn their young ones.
Then it was discovered that it wasn't due to any accident that the children were disappearing. The root of the problem had been those individuals that hadn't let go of their hunting-ways and were targetting those who couldn't protect themselves. All it had taken was to make the children believe that they meant no harm to them, and then as their trust was at its peak the massacre was put into motion.
The innocent children that had put their trust in the people putting up a facade of a reliable person found out in the worst way possible that they'd been fooled.
This of course had fueled things up left to right with the three species blaming each other for the incidents. Finally everything became so bad that wars broke out frequently and the different species were now completely divided by anger, mistrust and blame.
The species with the better weapons and larger population was the one that kicked the others well out of their territory, not allowing them to return.
The cannibalistic attacks on the children had turned the three different species against each other, and there was no turning back to how things used to be before the climate disaster changed everything for the people on Mars. And it was quite obvious by everyones reactions, that having found those responsible for the latest crimes and executing them would not unplant the seed of mistrust, hurt and feelings of betrayel existing in the hearts of the people.
Some of those crime-commiters had been Martian low-lifes that had targeted the children of Rats, Raiders and... even those of their own kind.
'' If there ever was a small bit of truth to what that Raider spits out... then its definitely this! '' Charley thought as she wiped away the lingering tears in her eyes with the back of her hand.'' Martian history wasn't all '' flowers and goodwill.''
Now she could fully understand why her '' bros'' hated the other species that shared their planet. But as much as she didn't want to after everything she'd been put through in the course of less than twenty-four hours, she was beginning to feel somewhat sorry for the lesser species; the Rats and Raiders.
What goes around, comes around went the so called human saying; which was very true.
The hate that existed between the Martians, Rats and Raiders was like a wheel that kept turning a full circle and coming back again to stab them all in the back over and over again.
The Martian population weren't above all evil acts when it came to the way of living.
Of course, things had changed a lot from the day the mice drove the other species away from the area with their superior numbers and weaponry.
But the hate was still deeply rooted in the hearts of Mars's lesser population. And this had no doubt led to the Rats acting as if they were on the Martians side in the war, when really they were betraying their own planet's population by working for those stealing Plutarkians.
Charley grimaced, running a hand through her short auburn hair.
She knew the Mice had battled hard and long against the fish-like aliens so they'd be able to preserve their home planet that had hardly recovered from the damage done by the climate changes. Even forced to fight against political corruption that had been all about their spineless government willingly selling off land to their enemy.
And the odorful baracudas had went ahead to mine and strip the planet from almost all its natural recources and putting a stop to the Red-planets growth for years forward until the Plutarkians had finally been forced out with the dedication that had come from all their Freedom Fighters.
It had been joyful news to hear from Carbine that total destruction of her friends home planet had been avoided and the planet's regrowth had then been put into motion once more; speeded by the help from the Regenerator that Stoker, the former Commander of the Freedom fighters, had designed and built.
But then other predators had come to the planet. And this time it was cats. Cats!
The Catatonians had attacked the planets population and had flung the Martian population back into a War-zone as they sought the Regenerator for their own use.
'' Could Mars have been saved from the Plutarkians much earlier if all three species had been united together to fight off the planet-intruders. And would the war against the Catatonians be much different if the Rats and Raiders bothered to fight beside the Martians for real.''Charley thought, gritting her teeth.'' But no one bothered to make the effort to try and patch up the hate that's existing between the three dominate species. They just let it all fester.''
It saddened the young woman that she would never see Mars in it's ultimate former glory other than in these memories Primer had shown her. But she hoped that the children born today and in the future would see this amazing natural beauty and be able to enjoy it to its fullest.
But she hoped to one day see Mars with lakes and plant-life that hadn't been there for years. That is, if she'd ever see any sort of daylight again and breathe in the sweet smell of freedom.
Primer and her both!
She hoped for it, craved for it to be possible.
Shaking her head slightly, she thought back to everything Throttle, Modo, Vinnie and everyone else had lost in the war that had dragged on for years.
'' Modo sure had the right idea when he said politics stinks. War STINKS! And hell, business REEKS when it involves getting your own forcefully shut down by another's want for more land. Damn it!'' Charley lamented as her thoughts made a wheel-turn to the magnitude of what she had lost.
The '' Last Change Garage'' had been her father's pride and joy, until his sudden death had swapped the ownership of the business to his only child.
But now that part of Charley's life, so unchanged for almost two decades, was gone! Completely wiped out in the split second it had taken for the dynamite to go off underneath the foundation.
She hadn't seen it destroyed, of course, as by that time she was already inside the vortex of white light transporting her to another planet, but she could well imagine it all happening.
Everything she had ever owned, and some of her father's treasures that Charley hadn't had the heart to get rid off had been decimated into tiny particles and then taken away by Ronaldo Rump's goons.
Charley's knees suddenly buckled at the last thought, and she slid down onto her knees. She felt Primer's hand squeeze her on the shoulder, but she didn't have the energy to turn around and meet her gaze.
She heard Primer saying something to her, but whatever the young mouse was trying to say to her was lost in her moment of deep contemplation.
'' No wait, I know why the hate between the three races wasn't put to rest! '' the woman muttered as the sudden realization struck her. ''Of course it all comes back to the reality that people dwell on the past and don't think of the now when its most needed. Its like that everywhere, it seems. On my home planet, and here on Mars.''
She turned around to talk to Primer but was greeted by absolute nothing except mist that was beginning to swirl around her again. Gasping, Charley looked around her and found that the clear image of Mars's history was quickly fading into the black canvas before it, too, was swallowed by the white mist.
The human was alone in her mind again.
Sighing sadly, Charley dropped her head and stared down at her hands that were beginning to fade.
Actually, she realized, everything about her was fading.
She could no longer retain her human form now that Primer had left her concience.
End of Chapter 9
Author note: I hope this chapter is worth the long wait. And thank you for all you readers.
