Hey hey hey! What's up?
I'm back! Took me some time...
I hope everyone's okay and healthy out there! Sending all my love to this great fanbase in a form of my latest chapter. Finally.
Here it is. Chapter 24 (already?) Hope you guys are still with me since the story will be evolving from here rapidly! And when I say rapidly it means, well, it can take time sure for me to write it down...
Hope you guys enjoy it and feel free to leave a review, like always! They're much appreciated!
Stay safe out there!
All the love,
-SpaceFlora
The Good, The Bad and the Rebels
Chapter 24
It's Like Walking In The Dark
The ex-Lieutenant looked out of the truck window, riding the shotgun. It was night time, pitch-dark, and as they were currently hundreds of kilometres away from the closest habitat, there were no lights anywhere, only the headlamps of these two big trucks were piercing through the blackness and the two moons in the distant night sky with the blanket of stars cradled them in this chilly night. Radius turned his look back on the vast control panel setting mounted into the truck cabin and he noticed something strange in the radar. He knocked the radar's glass but the image stayed the same.
"What's the matter, sir?" The soldier driving the vehicle asked but Radius only furrowed a little before he took his walkie-talkie.
"I don't know, but if there's one thing I've learned during my time in the Army is that when there are unidentified dots on the radar following you, it's never a good thing..." He muttered and then pressed the button on the walkie-talkie, bring the device close to his mouth.
"Stoker?"
"Yo, what's up, trucker twin from another vehicle?" Stoker's voice echoed and rattled from the device as he was currently sitting in the other truck.
"We've got trouble." Radius only replied, stern-faced as always.
"Oh? Does the trouble look pretty?"
"Well, it's coming on fast..."
"Hot and willing! Sounds like a date!" Stoker's voice sounded excited and Radius only shook his head, not sharing the enthusiasm.
"Has anyone ever told you that on top of your dirty tactics you've got a dirty mind?"
"Well, war ain't a clean job, trooper boy."
Radius gave a sigh.
"You've got a manouver ready in that deviant mind of your's? A plan of some kind?"
"Well, unlike the Army, us Fighters are always prepared..."
"Right...Just spill it out before I change my mind and let you guys walk through the desert..."
"Let's see here... I'm just checking the map... The vehicles can see us?"
"Doubt it. They're still very far. But they seem to be driving straight at us nonetheless..."
"Well then, we have to get rid of any too keen followers as we're only an hour away from our sleep-over place Throttle pointed out to us... Let's see just how well-notified these guys currently are of our whereabouts. What d'ya say if we turn our trucks and hide behind the bigger mountain there up ahead? We can detect if they will make the turn as well..."
"You think they know where we are going?"
"Better safe than sorry ya know..."
"We are driving stolen Army vehicles that are loaded with military-turnacoats and a couple of loose-screws from the infamous guerilla troop, all traitors of the government, not to mention shitloads of weapons... There's nothing safe in this..." Radius talked but then made the decision.
"Fine, we'll take a turn to right and go play hide and seek... Over and out." Radius then nodded towards the looming black shape infront of them and the caravan of the two big trucks headed that way.
As they had driven fifteen minutes they stopped the trucks and Stoker hopped off the truck's shotgun seat and marched to the other truck next to where Radius was already waiting for him, holding a portable radar device in his hand, showing it to the old Fighter.
"These spots here... There are many of them, it's all a big blur..."
"They've already taken a turn towards us?" Stoker asked and Radius observed the screen but then nodded.
"Yeah. They're making their way straight to here..."
Stoker gave a sigh but then turned on his heels and marched towards the end of the other truck, leaving Radius cluelessly staring after him.
"Is that a "I've got a plan"-walk you've got there, outlaw?" Radius raised his voice but followed the dark brown furred male anyway whose half-silvery gray hair danced along the cold desert air.
"Yeah... They're tracking us down... Someone's hiding a tracker..."
"You think we've got a traitor in here?" Radius asked dubiously but Stoker shook his head.
"Nah... I think whoever is following us has planted a tracker to one of us... And guess who two we just picked up from their little adventure...?"
Stoker got the back door of the truck opened and peaked inside.
"Modo! Simson! Get your asses over here!"
Soon the big grey mouse and the brown furred rat climbed out of the truck, carefully as they both were injured and it still hurt to move. As Modo stood next to the truck, looking around him his expression changed into baffled.
"So...What are we doing out here in the middle o'nowhere, coach?" He asked carefully, giving Stoker a look but changed it to his brother-in-law, but Radius only looked away as he didn't know what Stoker was up to either. But Stoker wasn't going to reveal that either as he only turned around and left the trucks, waving his hand for a signal for them three to follow and they walked a little further away from the trucks into the darkness. Simson cringed a bit as it hurt to walk but he was taking very careful steps also because he still had trouble standing up due to the lack of his tail now. He gave his surroundings concerned looks while tryingt o dodge the bigger stones in the darkness.
"No offense, but you might be a bit more elaborate there, Stoker, since I feel like walking the green mile here...You intend to shoot us out here in the desert...?" His voice told the others that he was only half-joking. They had been gone a few days with Modo, who knows what had been happening during that time... And as the times were chaotic, anything could've been happening during their absence. Also, to live on a planet that was constantly having a war towards whoever had their turn that time... It made the Martians a bit more cautious.
Stoker only gave a small guffaw while walking first in the line, shaking his head amused and as it seemed that the spot they now had reached pleased him, he turned around and nodded at Modo and Simson.
"Strip."
"Sorry?" Modo raised his eyebrow but it wasn't noticeable in the darkness. Or it wouldn't have been hadn't Stoker suddenly turned on his flashlight and pointed it straight at the big tall male and the much shorter brown rat standing next to him. They both covered their eyes from the extreme light.
"Shit, that's bright! Is this an interrogation of some sorts...?" Simson grunted annoyed, trying to peak through the gaps of his fingers at the two men standing presumably infront of them somewhere but there was no way telling now as he couldn't see them due to the bright white light.
"Get off of those clothes." Stoker only replied. Radius gave them all a curious look, standing beside Stoker.
"You think the tracker is planted on them?" The tall white ex-Lieutenant asked the Fighters' commander.
"Tracker? Ah ain't got a tracker on me!" Modo growled but Stoker only sighed starting to get annoyed a well.
"Take those clothes off now, or I'll leave you here in the desert... I ain't messin' around, kiddo. And do it quickly, too! We ain't got the whole night here..."
Modo gave Simson a look but they then started to take off their clothes. They both took off their vests and they could feel how the desert wind blew harder against their skin and fur and their fresh scars.
"It's cold..." Modo complained while throwing the vest on the sand.
"Yeah, yeah..." Stoker didn't seem to be too interested and only nodded towards Modo's boots.
"The boots..."
The grey giant sighed and pulled his biker boots off just like Simson next to him did, hopping on their other foot and then changing into the other one. As they've taken the boots off they could feel the little hard grains of sand prickling under their bare feet.
"See? No tracker." Simson even tilted his boot around as if something could've dropped out of the boot.
"Well, don't stop now when this was just gettin' interesting..." Stoker smirked in the darkness, referring to the pants they both still had on.
"Ya kiddin' right?" Modo asked, changing his weight to the other foot while absent-mindedly stroking his right side, feeling the bandage that was covering his fresh stitches. It stinged even from a light touch.
"Hey, you think I'm enjoying this sad excuse of a strip-tease, Big Fella'? Take them off." Stoker replied dryly.
Modo inhaled a deep breath and started to unbuckled his belt, shaking his head.
"Ah think the union might have a few words to say about this..."
"Maybe if we would belong to one..." Stoker only smiled back, not that the two half-dressed men could see it as the light pointed at them was very bright still.
Modo and Simson both threw their belts on the ground and then started to unbutton their pants as Stoker and Radius gave the radar device another look.
"How close are they?" Stoker asked his brows furrowed.
"I would say fifteen minutes...Maybe ten." Radius estimated as they both heard another thump as more clothes had been thrown into the pile on the sand. Stoker and Radius raised their looks and despite the seriousness of the situation their corners of their mouths started to twitch with humour.
"Chilly is it?" Modo heard Radius' voice as the grey furred male was now standing there naked, his hands placed strategically, trying to cover his private parts. Modo only gave a glare back, shaking his head, looking pissed off, his eye blinking on and off, before glancing around them but there was only darkness.
"Relax, Big Guy...Ah doubt there'll be paparazzis out here...And even if there were I doubt you'd make it to the next Playmouse issue..." Stoker only huffed while going through the pile of clothes with a little tracker detecting device but it didn't beep. He frowned a bit.
"See? Ah told ya we ain't got a tracker on us..." Modo only mumbled but shivered from the cold breeze.
"Well, if you don't have it planted on your clothes it could only mean..." Stoker turned around with the small tracking device towards the two naked Martians.
"I swear if you're gonna put on a plastic glove, you'll just have to try and shoot me 'cause I'll be long gone!" Simson took a hasty step back.
"...just stand still..." Stoker walked to him and started to run the detecter device near Simson's body, scanning everywhere while the rat was also trying to cover his most private parts.
"Turn." Stoker only told him and the rat turned around, now facing Modo. His eyes then fell to look near to where Modo was keeping his hands at the moment.
"Oh, you got a tattoo? I haven't seen it before..." The dark brown furred rat asked surprised.
"Why would'ya? We ain't in that friendly terms yet..." Modo only mumbled back. Simson only made a face but nodded.
"What symbol is that?" The rat asked still curious.
"It's a symbol of "can you please raise ya look from my privy parts?" Modo's eye blinked a bit and Simson nodded back, raising his look.
"Roger that..." The rat chuckled back as Stoker then started to scan Modo's body with the device, looking for the tracker. Modo let out a sigh, trying to tempt down his again rising annoyance but just when the device was on his flesh forearm it suddenly started to beep.
"Aha!" Stoker shouted and made the others nearly jump.
"Aha what?" Modo frowned, trying to see something on his forearm, but couldn't.
"It's only skin..." He started.
"That's easy to check..." Stoker concluded and took his knife from his belt with one swift movement that caused Modo to take one step backwards.
"...is there a way to check that doesn't include slicin' me up?"
"No, I'm afraid not." Stoker took a step forward and took Modo's arm, trying to find something underneath the skin even if it looked like there was no mark.
"It can be very tiny..." Stoker talked and then brought the sharp tip of the knife on contact with the skin just visible through Modo's grey fur, still feeling the place but when he was sure or atleast somewhat sure that he got the right spot, he pressed the knife's tip carefully inside the skin and Modo made a grunt and looked away. Man, this really was not his week... And just as he felt the knife turning slightly under his skin and as he started to feel slightly sick to his stomach, it was all over and he blinked and gave Stoker another look. The old male was holding something on his palm and everyone gathered around to look at it. It was a tiny tiny circuit board.
"See?" Stoker only stated but then knelt and placed the little tracker on a stone nearby and with the end of his knife he crushed it. After that was done he only stood up, flipped the knife back to the holster on his thigh and started to walk back towards the trucks.
"Okay, let's hustle."
Radius had a faint smile on his lips as he gave the two naked Martians a look before walking after the commander of the Freedom Fighters.
"Better get dressed, soldiers, you don't wanna catch the cold..."
Modo gave a quick look to his forearm where now was a small streak of blood dripping but then he and Simson quickly gathered all their clothes and got dressed in a hurry before running after the two males.
x
x
Throttle was looking at the border from further away, behind the dark sand dunes. It was still night and he had to use the nightvision to be able to count how many soldiers there were at the border. After counting the soldiers in this area alone, he gave a sigh and withdrew behind the dunes again, staying down to prevent the Army's eager patrol eyes seeing him as well. He got up once he was safely on the other side of the dune and walked towards the Fighters and one rebel rat that had stayed with them in this spot as they had divided into two groups as the other half of them were currently patroling closer their Headquarters.
"So?" Maico asked, rolling her weapon using her index finger.
"There's no way they can cross the border from here either..." Throttle muttered, his brow furrowed as he was deep in his thoughts. He then scratched his chin and looked around.
"Any news from the other team?" He asked.
"Nope..." Hudson shook his head, hunching with his his big body over the handlebars of his bike. Throttle nodded before giving a frustrated sigh and placing his arms behind his neck, walking a bit further away from this group of guerilla fighters. He shook his head and finally lowered his arms and ran his palm over his face.
He just couldn't keep his mind from constantly making up scenarios around everything they did know by now and about all the things they only had hunches. How had all things comen to this? During the war people of Mars had been on their side. Well, at least a big majority of the citizens have known that the Fighters were the good guys. Now, their own government were hellbent to keep them out of the mouse territory just when it was a critical time to fight back what should've been a mutual enemy. How could they fight back if the ones they were suppose to help didn't want their help? Or was the government only taking actions that were not supported by their own citizens? It was hard to know since they couldn't just go and ask the people what were their thougths on all this.
As Throttle had comen to the conclusion that the Plutarkians had their dirty fins all over this matter he just couldn't quite wrap his mind around the fact that, it would seem, their current government could be as corrupted as their last government. But who took orders from who? Were the Cave Mouse government taking bribes in gold gills or did they gain something more from this all? Why would they be doing this again? Had not the history shown already what could happen when letting a species from another planet to interfiere with their things? Throtte knew that history usually repeated itself but this was happening very soon after the war with the Plutarkians and the last scandal where the Cave Mice had learned that their own government had infact tried to sell their home planet to the highest bidder. Why they were doing the same mistakes again? And how could they fight against them? Against their own government? If the people believed their government to be right and just they could see the Fighters' attack against the government as an act of treason and as a way of trying to overthrow their trusty government. It could turn very nasty. And with every bad move the Fighters would make, would make them look more and more unreliable and more dangerous in the eyes of the citizens. They would start to fear them. It was like they could only lose, whatever they did. Somehow, the people of Mars needed to learn out the truth. But that could put them all into jeopardy, too and he didn't want that. Because everything they did and everything they have ever done had been for the people of Mars. Their safety was a priority.
But they were the Freedom Fighters. Their only mission was to fight for the freedom of their people. But could they even be fighting for people who didn't know they needed to be freed? How could they win this without too many people getting hurt because their brothers had been slaughtered already, in silence, in secret. Mice gone missing and there were no news about that in the papers. Only their faces decorating the covers of the magazines, with screaming headlines telling people to be aware of these renegades. Did people actually buy all that? Somehow they needed to have a reliable contact, to ask from the people what was it that they actually knew...
"Man..." Throttle then let out a small sigh still looking out into the distance.
"Things were much simpler during the war...Atleast then we knew the score... Now, it's like walking in the dark..." He continued nearly whispering, mainly talking to himself and the Fighters behind him barely got to hear the words.
"It sure was simpler..." Maico sighed sitting on her bike, scratching her scalp underneath her dark brown hair with the barrel of her gun.
"It is simpler when one just gets to shoot the villains." She added, sounding nearly wistful. Hudson gave a guffaw next to her.
"So, what's stopping ya now then? Just go over the hill with your guns blazing, why don't you?"
"Right... It ain't that simple now... Now, for some reason I feel...unsure..." Maico replied, not really eager to admit that. Throttle turned to her and nodded.
"This situation we're in does make us vulrenable. Because we have doubt. About everything."
"Well, we're only a tiny handful of fighters against thousands and thousands of them, against a whole machinery..." Hudson mumbled back and a silence fell over them. Throttle nodded.
"Yes. And that if anything should make us fight with even more stamina and determination. We need to fight back, we owe that much to the ones we've lost." Throttle sat down on his bike and gave Maico a look.
"Watch the border, I'm going to get a signal from the other group. There must be a way for our brothers to cross the border. We need to get them here. There's just something that ain't right here... And I can't say that I like it."
x
x
The lights flickered on before the whole garage wass filled with brightness. Harley stretched a bit before walking towards a few bikes she had been tinkering with just to get the time by. Her head felt a bit foggy as she had maybe drank a bit too much Martian liquor with her tea during the night-time, luckily Aprilia had taken the bottle with her as the roundfaced medic had left to sleep for what ever few hours there still was before the dawn. Harley had headed straight to the garage as she had figured there won't be any sleep anyways, she might as well work. Maybe this was what she needed now anyways, some peace and quiet to clear her messy head. To try and clear out these thoughts about Vinnie, once and for all... He had clearly chosen this Earthling, right? Her chances were over. Maybe for good. There would hardly be another man for her out there that could cause her heart to skip beats like this white daredevil did. Gods. Why hadn't she bought two bottles of liquor instead of one, she would really need one drink yet, just to ease up, just to try and forget about it all. Forget Vinnie. Forget her daughter. Their daugher. Their future.
"Need help?"
Harley nearly fell on her ass as she was currently knelt down infront of one of the machines as she heard this soft voice speaking behind her. She had not heard her entering the room, mainly because she was too distracted and too drunk. She only cleared her throat and shook her head, without giving Charley a look.
"I'm fine, thanks."
"Okay..." Charley nodded quietly, feeling through the Martian mechanic's husky voice that she might not be welcomed here at the moment, for whatever reason that might be but she had figured that this was just Harley. Unpredictable. So she only was to turn around and leave the garage but then changed her mind and instead the Earthling took a seat next to a table full of bike parts and other crap.
"Okay. Clearly I have somehow offended you...or something. I don't know. But I'd like a some sort of an explanation or a reason or just...I mean, we haven't even really talked or anything since I came here and... I feel that maybe we should." The auburn haired mechanic rambled, trying to find the right words but she just couldn't really find them. Or then she knew exactly the right words but refused to say them out loud.
Harley rolled her eyes, still not giving Charley a look as she was picking up a wrench from a tool box next to her.
"Not really in a mood for talkin', honey..."
"Why I've got the feeling that you're never gonna be in a mood for talking with me?" Charley's voice started to be a bit more piercing and Harley's movements stopped just for second but it was long enough for Charley to notice the tiny falter in her. The ginger coloured mechanic then only shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't take it personally, I've just got a lot to do around here... We're having a mission and that includes a lot of duties and work."
"Right. You know I know there ain't that much to do around here, not right now anyway..."
"Maybe not for you since you're not part of the mission." Harley's husky voice cut through the already thick air like a knife and Charley only stared at the knelt-down figure's back. All these lines and words and feelings started to pile up inside her, burning her throat, just begging to be let out but she wouldn't let them out. Instead after a few seconds she stood up still having her green eyes on the ginger female and she just shook her head and left the garage.
Harley heard the steps in the hallway and she closed her eyes and hung her head. Yes, she knew she had been mean and yes she had done that in purpose but right now, she just couldn't even stand to look at the alien female. Not right now. She needed time.
x
x
x
x
