Chapter 9

It had been a mere few weeks since Mica had received the letter, and already they were ready to go. They'd been communicating back and forth via letters and holograms of themselves, and now Tye Dye and Skippy were sitting with them in the biggest news room.

The building was deserted, for Mr. Fleek had laid everyone off. He knew that they'd all be fired when they were finished with this task anyway, and they needed to be completely alone for this; no interruptions were wanted.

In the days since she'd received the first letter, Mica had also gotten a gift from Slert and Zayat. It was her brand new BOA, and she was grateful to have it with her. It gave her a sense of security in this time of uncertainty.

She carried it with her everywhere, which wasn't actually suspicious at all. Zayat had thought ahead and designed it to look like a briefcase. It opened like one as well, so she could keep up her act.

"Now, are we all ready for this, Tallest Tye Dye?" Mr. Fleek asked, wanting to get started. It was now or never, and it was only a matter of time before someone started to wonder what they were doing cooped up in there.

"Please, none of this 'Tallest' business," Tye Dye sighed for the hundredth time since she'd arrived at the building, "And yes, I think we're ready."

Mr. Fleek nodded, and flipped on the record switch.

He too had a few hidden talents to go with his beliefs, and had used them to their advantage. Using the hacking skills he'd learned before he'd become the owner of his news company, he'd reprogrammed the system to show this broadcast on every television screen on Irk. It would be shown on every channel of every television.

It was past illegal, but it was the only way to be sure that the supporters would see this. And without a doubt, it would be the least of their worries.

The 'on air' button silently flashed red, signalling their cue. They knew it was time, time to start a revolution and revive the PAKless.

"You won't have much time. The police will know it's us broadcasting right away with their tracing programs, and they'll come to get us. So you'll have to make it as quick as you can," Skippy cautioned before they went in front of the cameras.

"Yes, you're very right," Tye Dye agreed, "Mr. Fleek, after you."

Soon they were standing before the cameras, and began to speak their message to the whole of Irk.

Mr. Fleek started, "My fellow Irkens, I come before you today with a message. Some of you may not remember or may not want to remember, but there was once a group called the PAKless, who fought for our freedom. Former Tallest Tye Dye, one of the most active of this group, is here to help me."

They could almost hear all the Irkens' gasps of surprise, and smiled widely. They all thought Tye Dye was dead, though she was very much alive and in front of the camera right then.

"We have found the daughter of Katz, the leader of the PAKless. Together we are planning on reviving this spectacular group, and fight for our freedom once again," Tye Dye continued for Mr. Fleek.

From there Mr. Fleek took over, "But we cannot do it without the support of all of you, everyone who still believes in this cause. We ask that you meet us a week from now, at the statue in Irk's capital city."

"Get there any way you can, but we need you here for this. If you join us to fight for the rights that all Irkens should have but were so horribly taken away from us and maybe this will lead to a future in which we're really free. Please," Tye Dye finished.

The cameras clicked off very soon after that, ending the broadcast. They had to say that it had went smoothly, and all they could do now was hope that Mr. Fleek's hacking skills had worked; they soon got their answer.

They heard faint marching footsteps heading toward them, though the rhythmic pounding steadily grew. The Irken Special Forces were on their way, with the intent to stop them by any means possible.

That's how they knew it had worked, and had gone to every television on Irk. Not realizing the danger they were in, they hoped that their message had gotten through to the supporters and they would see a good turn out come the day they rebelled.

Skippy ran to Tye Dye, half wanting to protect her idol and half wanting to hide behind her. Mica hurriedly followed, not knowing exactly what to do.

Her legs felt like jelly, she found it hard to move at all. But she forced herself to get with the others, knowing she'd die if she froze up completely. It was all so sudden, she wasn't quite prepared. None of them were; they'd thought that they'd have at least a little more time than this.

Quicker than expected the group of heavily armed Irkens burst through the locked door, all of them pointing high-tech guns at the four of them. The situation looked grave; they had no way to escape.

That is, until Mica decided to try something random. She didn't know if it would work or not, but she was scared and would do anything to save herself.

She grabbed hold of Skippy and Tye Dye, dropping her briefcase. If this worked, she wanted to keep the two of them alive as well. Her voice cracking slightly out of fear she said loudly, "BOA, teleport!"

The briefcase sprang to life, an odd magenta light surrounding it. Everyone looked in shock at it for a moment, but that moment was all they needed. Its teleportation gun charged up, it fired at the group of three.

The magenta light engulfed them, and they could feel themselves being sucked away. They could hear gunshots, but knew they couldn't be hit. Soon the entire scene was gone and had been replaced by a nicely furnished apartment.

"It…it worked!" Mica gaped in amazement, looking around. She hadn't known that the robot had the ability to teleport, yet they were standing in Talloo's apartment.

Skippy and Tye Dye both looked around in a daze, just as confused as Mica.

Mica was the first to fully grip reality again, and realized that the other two had to go. Though the Irken military didn't know of Talloo's death, she knew that in time they'd search the place, looking for leads.

Before the others knew what was going on, the magenta light had reappeared, and they were being transported back to their underground lair. It was the only way to make sure they'd be safe.

Mica had commanded her BOA to do this, and was soon all alone again, left to contemplate the fate of her boss. Whatever it was, she knew it wouldn't be good. But she shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind to focus on other things.

She was in a sticky situation. She'd gone and helped with the broadcast, and wasn't sure if Slert would approve of it or not. The alternative, however, was enough to convince her to return to Slert's hide out.

Very soon there wasn't a soul in sight, the apartment completely silent and deserted, cleaned of any potential evidence.

************

"Mica, I saw the broadcast," Slert said slyly, as she eyed the nervous reporter. Of course she had, everyone who had a television did. And she happened to have one in her possession, to keep an eye on the outside world.

"Yes…" Mica said quietly, waiting for Slert's reaction. She winced as time went on, predicting that her reaction would only bring pain.

"Good job!" she said suddenly, clapping her hands, "Now we'll have a small army to assist us, giving us a better chance of success."

A shocked look crossed Mica's face. She didn't believe it; her actions weren't going to result in a punishment, and were instead pleasing her captor. It most definitely was not the reaction she'd been expecting.

Upon seeing her surprised expression Slert laughed, "Oh, you don't think I'd have let you go through with it if I didn't like it, did you? I knew what you were thinking all along, and could have stopped you at any time if I'd wanted to."

That statement clicked with Mica, and immediately she remembered the chip that Slert had implanted in her brain.

"I…forgot about that…" she muttered, hanging her head. She hated being a complete slave and having no real control like this.

There was a moment of awkward silence, broken only a few moments later by Zayat bursting into the room. She had a frantic look on her face, like something wasn't quite right. It was obvious that she had something important to show her.

"Mica, you'll want to see this," she said, running back into the room she'd come from. Mica followed, and ended up in a room with entertainment items, the most prominent being a medium-sized television.

She found that on the TV was a special report, taking place in the same newsroom she'd been in only hours ago. A terrible sight met her eyes as the cameraman showed several different views of the scene.

Lying slumped in the corner was Mr. Fleek. Blood stained his clothes, he'd been shot multiple times, and apparently one of them had been fatal. It was a bit of overkill, there were so many holes in him; they really weren't taking any chances.

It hurt her to see him in such a state, and she nearly cried. But she didn't dwell on it for too long; she'd known this might happen, and he'd given them a way to start the revolution.

Mica turned away, not wanting to look at the bloody scene any longer. She knew that if she did she'd break down, something she didn't want to do ever.

Zayat saw that she didn't want to see it any more, and turned off the television for her. While letting her take in what she'd just seen, she left her alone and approached Slert.

"I'm done constructing my robot, and it's fully operational as well," she said, pulling a small orb out of her pocket, "I call it a SUPER."

"SUPER, eh? And what does that stand for?" Slert asked, eyeing the orb curiously.

"Superior Undestroyable Protective Energetic Robot, named as such because it's not only designed to protect me, but also to act as a friend to me. Hence why it's programmed to be energetic at times," Zayat explained proudly, a smile crossing her face.

Slert was probably long used to it, but Zayat wasn't used to being all alone all the time. This robot, while working on everything else, had helped her stay sane this last little while.

"Very nice. Keep that on you at all times now, because you never know when it might come in handy," Slert said, though she didn't need telling. For all this time she'd already been keeping in with her always, for comfort reasons.

Now that that was settled, it was time to prepare for the revolution, the epic fight that would take place in a mere week. They had a lot to do, and not much time to do it in.

::End of Chapter 9::

Another chapter? No way! Yes way, it's staring you right in the face! How does that make you feel?

Anyway, things are starting to heat up in Slert's world. She's sent out the call, but the question is: will they get what they want?