The Tenth Class
Chapter 14: On the Road Again
"Uggghh are we there yet?" Rose whined.
"Heehee, I told you ten minutes ago, well be there soon, miss," Engineer said with a chuckle as Rose leaned her head out the window. A voice from the back of Engineer's pick-up truck sounded out a second later.
"Attention maggots: are we there yet?!" Soldier yelled out. Rose gave out a small giggle and looked to Engineer, who was just shaking his head. The Texan rolled his window the rest of the way down.
"Not yet, Soldier," Engineer said, almost leaning his own head out the window.
"Boo..." Soldier moaned as he plopped down in the bed of the truck. Engineer just shook his head with a light smile and continued to focus on the road ahead.
"So where is this place we're going to be building this base anyways, Engie?" Rose asked. She felt like a good conversation would help pass the time. "Pauling didn't tell me much other than that its further south from the mountains and where we are currently stationed."
"Well, that's about the just of it, miss," he said, not taking his eyes off the road. "She gave me some coordinates, and told me it was supposed to be a mining facility, but that the fellas there didn' find nothin'."
"Huh. Well at least we'll be able to turn it into something useful," Rose said. "And she said the rest of the team would meet us out there once we are done, right?"
"Yes, ma'am! She'll check up on us, though, so we won't get too lonely," he reassured her.
"Because getting lonely is going to be one of our greatest problems," Wheatly chimed, popping up and illuminating the rest of the cabin.
"Well duh, I mean it's only going to be the three of us," Rose teased.
"Heeey, what about me, huh?" Wheatly whined, crossing his arms.
"Meh, I guess you'd count too, hehe" Rose continued teasing with a smile.
"Oh ho, I see where this is going," the AI said, shaking a finger at Rose.
"Do you?" she asked.
"Well, of course!"
"Oh yeah? Then where is this going?"
"Well, it's going...um...it's going to…." Wheatly trailed off, his macho demeanor suddenly fading.
"Hahahaha! Oh calm down, Wheatly," Rose laughed. "I'm only kidding! I would never leave you out of anything."
"Yeah, I know you wouldn't," he said with a smile. "Anyways, I'm going to run through possible schematics that we could use when we get to our destination."
"Wait, how are you going to do that?" Rose asked, "We don't even know what this place looks like."
"Oh, chk, duh Wheatly! I almost forgot to tell you that Miss Pauling sent me pictures of the place!" Wheatly said, pretending to slap himself in the head.
"Well thanks for lettin' us know, partner," Engineer started to tease.
"Oh don't you start too, mister!" the AI said curtly, staring down the Texan. Engineer just chuckled and Wheatly gave a soft smile, then turned back to Rose. "Anyways, just holler at me when we get there, yeah?"
Rose and Engineer nodded to him, and he disappeared. The cab became silent again as the two just sat and watched as the road below them passed by. After a moment had passed, Rose looked into the bed of the truck to see Soldier playing with the two grenades that would normally hang off the strap on his chest, a rocket launcher that he called the "Air Strike," sitting next to him. Near the back of the bed, there were multiple building supplies, toolboxes, and a few bags for crafting and other things the three would need for this mission, along with what they had brought for weapons.
The three had left earlier that day at the break of dawn, but Rose had packed all of her stuff the night before due to her excitement, and decided it would be best to take her bag full of goodies that she had when she crashed. Her pack was sitting between her legs on the floor of the passenger side of the cab; it contained her chained butterfly swords, her night-vision goggles, her multi-tool, binoclulars, the switch blade knife Medic gave her, along with a few medicinal items he gave her in case of emergencies. The pack also had a few things of food to snack on, even though they packed a cooler of food for the trip and what not.
"I can't wait to see you guys in action, though," Rose said, breaking the silence.
Engineer glanced over at her for a second before looking back to the road, and smiled. "Same here miss. Medic told me about that night you two were attacked. Said you were on top of the situation, well, for most of it anyways, heh," he said.
Rose looked down, feeling a bit disappointed in herself. "Yeah...I guess. Just wish I could have been more on top of the situation. I don't like feeling helpless..." she said with sadness in her tone.
"Hey now, you did yer best! I mean, it was in the middle of the night after all," Engineer said, trying to cheer her up a bit. "I'm surprised you were able to do as much damage as ya did."
Rose looked at the Texan, and smiled at him softly. "Thanks, Engie."
"Anytime, miss," he said with a nod.
"Attention maggots: I am bored as hell! That is all!" Soldier shouted from the back. Rose and Engineer laughed for a short minute at the war dog's statement.
"Heh, I guess we should pull over for a bit. I know I could stretch my legs a bit," Rose said, giving off a small stretch in her arms, raising them over her head and stretching her back.
"Yeah, I guess yer right. Wouldn't want to get too cramped before we get there," Engineer agreed.
He then began to slow down and pull his red pick-up to the side of the road, almost until the whole truck was completely off the road. Once stopped, Rose immediately jumped out of the truck and stood up as straight as she could while she stretched. Soldier jumped out of the back and dropped to the ground, doing a few push-ups as Engineer slowly made his way out of his side of the truck and walked over to the two as they continued to limber themselves up.
"Hey Engie, we should probably break out something to eat. It's almost lunch and I didn't really have much to eat before we left," Rose suggested as she finished stretching.
Soldier jumped up from the ground and smiled at her idea. "I second that, maggots! My stomach is screaming for food to shoved in it!"
"Okay, okay. That actually sounds like a good idea, too," Engineer said, putting up his hands. "Yer just on a roll, ain'tcha miss?"
The two just laughed as Soldier gave them a curious look, but then shook it away as the three made their way to the back of the truck. They ate for about an hour, talking and laughing while they rested, then Engineer decided it was time for them to get back on the road in order to make it to their destination before nightfall. The others agreed and piled back in the truck, but this time Rose said she'd drive while Engineer could take a nap and rest up for the next stretch. He didn't argue and decided to sit in the passenger seat, and Soldier didn't mind sitting in the bed again. The two men ended up napping all the while Rose drove, and she made sure not to wake up Engineer as she asked Wheatly for directions when she needed them.
Rose drove for quite a few hours until she started to get a bit drowsy. The scenery had changed from green hills with flush trees, to brown hills with sand and many types of desert bushes, scarce with trees. Engineer began to wake up from his long nap, and sat up straight with a stretch and yawned. Rose glanced over, pleased that he was able to get the rest he needed, hoping Soldier got the same.
"Sleep well?" Rose asked, staying focused on the road.
"I sure did!" he said with a big smile. "You ready to switch out yet?"
"You better freakin' believe I am!" she said.
"Hahaha, I can tell. You look a bit worse for wear," he teased.
"Well, driving in a baren wasteland can do that to you," she teased back. She started to slowly pull the truck over to the side of the road . Once stopped, Rose got out first and stretched again, rubbing her eyes from looking at nothing for so long. She heard the door on the other side open and close, and decided to look in the bed to see how Soldier was doing. She walked over a few feet and peered over to see the war dog cuddling up next to his rocket launcher. Rose let out a little giggle, but then stifled it quickly as to not wake him up.
"What's so fun...oh, heh wow," Wheatly said, letting out a short chuckle.
"Shh!" Rose hushed softly. "Be quiet! And don't make fun of him! I think it's a bit adorable..."
"Psh, hehe if you say so, Rose," Wheatly came up shrugging. "Anyways, we are almost to our destination. About two or three more hours and you guys can start hammering away!"
"Hnk chnk, I WILL HAMMER YOUR FACE INTO MY BOOT YOU COMMIE BASTARD!" Soldier screamed as he sat up suddenly from his nap. Rose and Wheatly froze, scared looks on their faces, and Engineer slowly leaned over to see what was going on. Soldier quickly looked around for a quick minute and when he realized that he wasn't in any immediate danger, he looked over to see Rose and Wheatly still staring at him, now with worried looks on their faces. "Oh, hello Miss Rose! Are we there yet?"
"Pfff hahahaha!" Engineer bellowed. Rose and Wheatly looked at one another for a second, and Rose almost busted out laughing but put her hands over her mouth to keep her from being too loud.
"Um, hmhmm," Wheatly cleared his throat, "Um we are not there yet, Soldier. Did...did you sleep well?"
"I did sleep great, shinny hippie man! Thanks for noticing!" Soldier said as he stood up and hopped out of the bed next to Rose and Wheatly. The AI gave him a stern look.
"Ugh, Soldier I'm not-" Wheatly began.
"Hey Engie! Are you hungry? I'm pretty hungry? Who else is hungry?!" Rose interrupted.
"I am very hungry!" Soldier chimed.
"Heh, I hear that, fella!" Engineer agreed. They all started to make their way back to the back to grab another bite to eat.
"Seriously?" Wheatly said, giving Rose a disapproving look.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, trying to give her most believable poker face.
"I mean..." the AI gave a short sigh, "Alright, you win this round." Rose just gave a satisfying smile as she came up to the back.
The three began to pull out some food, and Engineer pulled out a blanket for them to sit on while they ate their dinner as the sun came close to setting. After about half an hour of eating and telling jokes, the three decided it was time to finish their journey. They all piled into the truck again, Engineer driving, Rose back in the passenger seat, and Soldier still wanting to sit in the bed, and with no time at all they were back on the road, energized and ready to start building. After a few moments of silence, Rose thought it would be a good idea to go over the contents of her pack again, just to make sure she had everything she needed. She pulled it up and the first thing she pulled out were her swords and set them to her side.
Engineer looked down at them for a moment before he said anything. "So Rose?" he asked.
"Hmm?" she replied, looking up at him from her sack.
"If you don't mind me askin', why swords?" he asked. She looked down at her swords, smiled, and then looked back at him.
"Well, don't be mistaken," Rose began. "Give me a gun, and I can be just as deadly, but I've always had a thing for sharp objects. I like getting up close and personal, I guess."
"Huh, that kinda sounds like something Spy would say," the Texan said.
"Well, there's more to it but I don't really want to ruin the mood with something creepy," Rose said. "And by creepy, I mean something very deep that I wouldn't want to get into right now."
"Huh, then it's a good thing I second guess askin'," Engineer said. "Think that's a discussion for another time." Rose nodded as she turned her attention back to her pack.
Rose continued to mentally note all of the things in her sack, when Engineer gave out a low chuckle. Rose looked up at him with a confused look. "What's up?"
"Heh, oh nothin'," he said. "Just rememberin' the looks on y'alls' faces when Soldier woke up." Rose shot him a quick glaring look, but then softened when she realized how she and her companion actually looked. She then let out a small giggle.
"Heh, yeah, I just wasn't expecting that kind of an out-burst," she confessed. "Does he do that often?"
"More than you know, miss," he said. "Most of the time, when he thinks somethin' ain't goin' his way, he'll take it out on Scout than anything."
"Wait, what? Why?" Rose asked, a bit concerned.
"Oh it's nothing serious, Scout's just normally the one closest to him when it happens," Engineer casually explained.
"Oh...okay," Rose said. She slowly continued with messing around the contents of her pack and the two became silent.
After what seemed like forever, the three finally came up to their destination. It had jut turned to night, with the glow of the setting sun in front of them, and the stars above. It was a full moon night, so they were able to see the few buildings, but not much was there.
"Well, we sure do have some work ahead of us," Rose said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, but I don't think we have the energy to start right now, miss," Engineer said.
"I couldn't agree more," she said. "We should at least unpack, and then we can rest up for the rest of the night."
"Sounds like a plan, ma'am," Engineer said, as he made his way back to the truck. The others followed right behind.
The three started to unload the truck and placing everything down near the entrance of the actual mine. There were some sturdy buildings near the entrance along with a bridge connecting the gap between the buildings. As they started putting things down and setting up their beds, Rose looked around, already getting ideas on what to set up and where, as well as where the best defensive points were. Before they left, Rose had the idea to use Engineer's teleporters to transport all of the actual building materials, instead of shoving all of them into the back of his truck and not have room for the three of them. Engineer had set down the tool box that held the receiving teleporter next to where they were sleeping so when they got up, he could go set it down immediately. After a few minutes of unloading, the three were finally ready to call it a night.
"UP AND AT EM', MAGGOTS! IT'S TIME TO KICK SOME ROBOTIC ASS!" Soldier yelled, his face mere inches from the others. The two sat up straight, screaming at the sudden noise, but Rose was so startled that she ended up punching Soldier in the face so hard he went flying backwards.
"OOOOOoooohh...oh, OH DEAR! Soldier I am so so sorry!" Rose said, feeling nothing but guilt when she realized she wasn't in danger. "I didn't realize it was you!" She got up to check on the war dog, but when she went over to him, he had a huge smile on his face, along with a bloody nose.
"HAHAHAHA! That was the best punch my face has had for a long time!" Soldier exclaimed.
"Seriously? That's all he had to say?" Wheatly said, careful that no one else but Rose heard him.
"Oh hush," she said to the AI. She stood back up and held her right arm for Soldier to grab, and pulled him up. "Still, sorry about that Soldier. Still in defensive mode when I sleep ever since that one night."
"That's okay, Miss Rose," Soldier said, adjusting his helmet. "A punch in the face is a good way to wake up in the morning!"
"Um, yeah. Anyways...we should go ahead and power up your teleporter, Engineer," she turned to Engineer. She then walked over to her bag and pulled out a watch and put it on her left wrist. "We could get a head start on building. Wheatly, do you still have the blueprints we need?"
"Well duh," he started to tease.
"Nope. No time for sass right now, mister," she scolded. "We have a job to do right now, and I need my AI."
"Oh alright. Yes I do have the blueprints," Wheatly said with a bit more professional tone. Then a holographic map popped up in front of the crew, that showed the current state of the soon-to-be-base they were in.
"Woah, how are ya managin' that, Rose?" Engineer said, currently holding his toolbox with the teleporter.
"Oh heh, I forgot to mention that I have been tweaking a watch that I found in Medic's office. I asked him if I could tinker with it some and said yeah, so it's been kind of a side project," Rose explained. "It's basically the same tech from the VR training room, just smaller."
"Holy smokes," Engineer said. "So that projection is coming from that there watch?"
"Yup!" Rose said with a smile. "Now where were we...oh yeah! Wheatly, go ahead and show the first part of our building expedition, please."
"Can do!" the AI cheerfully complied. The project twitched a bit as it changed to show what they needed to add.
"Okay, currently there are just these small building here on each side of the entrance along with the bridge connecting them both. There is also a small hallway just past the bridge leading under the building to the back of the of the building," Rose explained, pointing away at the hologram. "We are going to add on to these buildings, building up on the one to the left of the entrance..."
"Wait, with one do you consider left?" Engineer aksed.
"Oh, look at it as if you are facing the entrance to the mine," she stated.
"Ah, okay I gotcha'," he said, allowing her to continue.
"Once we are done with these two side buildings, well start moving on to this center building that will wet right behind them," the holograph changed to add in a building in the center of the map, just past the two bigger buildings and the bridge. "We will also build a ramp right behind the bigger building on the left, and that will lead to the this small cliff that is on the left edge of the map. As you can see, the cliff eventually slopes off itself, leading to this big open area, but I'll get to that in a moment.
"The building here in the center is where we will hold most of our defenses, so it needs to be the sturdiest. Past it we will nave two bridges gaping this little ravine to the wide area in the back. And don't worry if you fall down there, there is a little ramp leading back up to the start of the right bridge. Finally, we have the open area in the back..." the holograph changed one more time to show two buildings on each side of the open area. "These two building area basically the two that will house our supplies and allow us to add on any upgrades that come our way..."
"Just like it has before," Engineer added.
"Yeah, not sure how you guys do that, but I'm sure you can explain it to me later," she said. Engineer nodded to her. "We also have the real-but-actuall-fake bomb entrance that the bots will obviously try and get to. We need to make sure they stay away for as long as it takes to run Gray down with his stupid robots." She pause to look at the two mercs; Engineer looked like he got it all down and was ready to go, but Soldier had the most confused look on his face. "Uh, did you get all that Soldier?"
"Uh….yeeah..." he grunted. Rose smiled, knowing that he was just trying to prove that he didn't actually get any of what was just said.
"Heh, don't worry, Soldier. Rose n' I are here if you have any questions along the way," Engineer said, patting him on the back. The war dog smiled, and stood up straight, waiting for his orders.
"Okay, so what we'll do is just make our way back. Engineer, go ahead and start up your teleporter and let Pauling know we are ready for our first shipment. Soldier, you go ahead and go with him and help carry the stuff back to the middle of the bridge. I'll go look for any structural weaknesses that we might have to look out for, then come join you two for the building. Sound good?" The two men nodded in agreement. "Okay, then let's get to work guys!"
With that the three were off to their respective duties. Soldier and Engineer went to set up the teleporter in the building off to the left, while Rose and Wheatly went to go check for any bad structural weaknesses that the building that were already there might have. It took the two mercs about twenty-three minutes to get the portal up and running and to start moving supplies in. About the same time had passed for Rose after she started and she made her way to the two to help bring in supplies. With all three of them, it took about two hours to get all the supplies.
After everything was moved out and put it the places they were going to build, Rose decided that it would be a good time to get something to eat, since they didn't get the chance earlier that morning. Soldier and Engineer agreed and the trio decided to sit down for a bit and eat some of the food the had packed up. Once fed and relaxed enough, they got straight back to work; much to Roses surprise, they worked rather fast in building everything, and it took almost no time at all to get the two decoy buildings up near the front all done before they began working on the center building. All the while, the one that continued getting injured the most was Soldier, but only because he really wanted to build up this base.
Lunch time came around, and they were about half way done with the center building when they started to get hungry. Again, they all agreed to sit down for some food and rest, and while they were eating Rose had suggested that they take a nap to regenerate some energy. The only one who gave a bit of a fuss was Soldier, but after some talking, Engineer and Rose were able to convince him that it would be beneficial and they could probably work harder after they woke up.
An hour had passed the the trio was back in the right building napping, when Soldier decided he was done napping. He got up and walked over to Rose and Engineer, who were still sleeping, and decided to wake them up again, forgetting what had happened to him earlier that day. Slowly and quietly, with a smirk grin, he got close, but not too close before Rose pulled out one of her swords from under her pillow and pointed it at him while she was still laying down.
"Don't. Even. Think about it," she warned with a deathly tone. Soldier stopped dead, looked at the sword, then putting his head down like a child that had just gotten their favorite toy taken away, he turned around and slowly walked back over to his sleeping bag. "We'll get up in half an hour Soldier."
"Heh heh," Engineer softly chuckled, still laying down.
Soldier got back to his bed and lied back down awake, waiting for his teammates to get up. Suddenly, he sat up, looked out one of the doorways of the building to the halfway done center building, and a mischievous grin grew across his face. He looked over at the others, as it seemed they fell back asleep, and quietly stood back up and left the building.
Rose woke up to distant banging noises and wondered what could possibly be making that noise. "Hng...what…Wheatly, how long did we sleep?" she asked, slowly getting up and rubbing her eyes.
"Well, after being woken up by Soldier, 'bout and hour and a half," Wheatly said. "You two slept pretty hard."
"What! I told Soldier half and hour! Wheatly?!" she scolded, "Why didn't you wake us up!"
"I didn't want to interrupt your perfect snoring with the reminder of work!" he fussed.
"Seriously?" she said, crawling out of her sleeping bag towards the sleeping Texan. "Know what? Never mind, I'll reem you later. Engie….Engie wake up. We over slept."
Engineer tossed over to see who was disturbing his sleep. He stil had his goggles on, so it was hard for Rose to tell if he was still sleeping, but after a moment of not moving, she nudged him harder to try and wake him up. After the first few nudges he finally woke up. "Alright alright, I'm up, doggone-it!" he snarled. "What is it?"
"We over slept..." she trailed off as she looked over to Soldier's bed and saw he wasn't there. "And Soldier isn't here…."
"Wha – what do ya mean he ain't here?" the Texan asked as he sat up to see for himself. He was going to say something, but was cut off by the sound of a drill whirring. "What in the world…?"
The two got up, straitened themselves out and walked out to see what the commotion was about. The sun was staring them right in the eyes, and Rose squinted to see where the noise was coming from when her jaw dropped, Engineer not to far behind in doing the same. They looked and say that the center building was already up and that the bridge on the right side had already been completed as well. The two looked at each other in amazement and decided to find their dedicated friend.
The went around the building and saw that their friend was hard at work on the left building in the clear back area, already having the foundation set and ready. Rose and Engineer made their way to him, noting that even the left bridge was done, and as she passed the back of the center building, noticed that there was the word "Roof," and an arrow in white point up the back ramp to the roof of the building. Amazed that the old war dog was able to accomplish so much in so little time, she continued walking with Engineer to go help Soldier.
Once across the bridge and next to the building, Rose and Engineer stopped to admire the commando's energy and dedication to make this plan happen. "Hey Soldier! How did you do all of this man?" Rose shouted to get his attention. He stopped hammering some nails into a wall he put up on the far side of the building and looked to see who was talking. Seeing that his two fellow mercenaries had finally woken up, he smiled, dropped the hammer and ran to greet them.
"Hello, maggots! I have built a building! And painted words!" he said, still smiling.
"We see that," Rose said, looking around. "Well, would you like some help then?" Soldier looked around, and seeing that he still had a bit to go, he turned to Rose and Engineer and nodded. The other two began helping and in no time they had the left building done and ready.
They started to work on the right building and had it done in a few hours, with a few minor distractions along the way. The sun was starting to slowly set and the trio were almost done with the right building and the place that the robots could drop their payload. Once done, they had one more meal and rested before deciding to move on to the next phase of the mission. The three made their way back to the teleporter and their beds, and before she layed down, Rose had to make a call.
"Well, I think it's time to let her know," Rose said, grabbing her pack and pulling out a flip phone.
"It's a little late to be doin' that now, don'tcha think?" Engineer said, taking off his yellow hard hat and setting it next to him.
"Nope. We need to be ready first thing in the morning," she replied.
"Well alrighty then," he said as he and Soldier lied down for the night.
Rose smiled, then started typing the numbers that Ms. Pauling had told her to use when calling her when things were finished on their end. She dialed, and there was a long wait as the phone rang before there was finally a pick-up on the other end.
"Rose?" the assistant asked.
"Pauling, we're ready."