Hello everyone!
Hope everyone's doing okay and you're having a good summer around the world, despite everything that's been happening...
Thanks for all the comments and support you have given me!
Now, without more further ado...
Here's the latest chapter!
Hope you guys like it and like always, feel free to leave a comment!
-SpaceFlora
The Good, The Bad and the Rebels
Chapter 31
Well, It's a Cave
Throttle walked the corridors and passed the big garage where the Fighters and rebel rats who had stayed this side of the border were maintainig their bikes while the radio was blasting Radio Free Mars but he continued his way and made the steps up to the dining area and found Charley and Aprilia drinking tea and eating what appeared to be some kind of cookies.
Aprilia had done the cookies while it had been quite quiet practise-wise as the medical facilities had stayed empty of patients these past few days and she had decided to make something with all the time at hand, even if it was to give these guerilla soldiers something else to eat than protein bars and savva wheat porridge. The cookies were made from the savva wheat, water and a little bit of sweetener. In the mix there was even a couple of desert bird eggs she'd found from outside when she had had the permission to visit the outside for a few minutes when she had pleaded that she would go crazy if she couldn't see even a glimpse of the Sun so with one Fighter tacking along as a protector she had visited the outside briefly.
To Charley, as she was now munching the cookies, they were not the tastiest cookies but she had learnt that being in here, in this drought-stricken planet, one didn't really have a choice what to use as a sustanance. And while being stuck inside the Headquarters where the Fighters had even less choices on what to cook or eat, she had just stayed content to even get something to eat, even if many of the things tasted a bit like cardboard to her. Spices would make a great deal when cooking but she didn't really know if the Martians even used spices... Judging by these quick-make meals she doubted the Headquarters had the best to offer when it came to the culinary world of Mars and she had been secretly hoping to someday maybe get to go outside the Headquarters and really learn about this fascinating albeit different culture. But as for now, she only took another bite of the savva wheat cookie and flushed it down her throat with some hot tea. The taste-combination was odd but again, she would not go hungry atleast.
Throttle observed these both women sitting there by the table a second before he took a clay cup from the shelf and poured tea to it and came to sit beside them. Charley raised her look but turned it away to her own cup of tea, studying the yellowish hot liquid. The taste of it was something that reminded her of roasted nuts but there was a slight floral taste as well.
"Sorry about that, Charley-girl..." Throttle then opened her mouth and the mechanic raised her look again to meet the green field specs behind of which she could detect the small movement of his eyes while they were observing her back. She looked away and brought the cup close to her lips.
"What do you have to be sorry about?" She asked casually and took a sip.
"You know."
"No..."
Throttle let out a sigh and turned his look to his cup as well. Aprilia only studied them silently, stroking the wooden table surface absent-mindedly.
"She had no right to act the way she did..." Throttle started again after a small silence.
"You didn't do anything. You don't have to apologize for the other people..." Charley mumbled back.
"...I know...It's just... You have to understand... She's being through a lot and..." Throttle tried but then shook his head, ditching the plan to justify Harley's acts.
"Look, honestly, I don't know why she's acting the way she is...But I do know that she had no right to treat you like that."
Charley nodded back.
"Well, it ain't the first time Harley's been lashing out to Charlene..." Aprilia stepped into the conversation. Throttle gave the blonde doctor a look but turned to the Earthling.
"Is that true? This ain't the first time?"
Charley opened her mouth, to maybe try and stop this train of accusations but Aprilia continued.
"She's been acting real horribly towards Charlene these past few weeks... I don't like saying that but apparently she's not gonna change so maybe it's best if someone actually tries to talk some sense to her, I know I've tried..."
"No. I don't want you to do anything...Let's just forget about this." Charley raised slightly her voice.
"Why you didn't tell me?" Throttle still pressed the mechanic.
"Because..." The auburn-haired woman sighed heavily but shook her head not really in the mood for talking about this now or maybe ever but she then flung her hands like being defeated already in this battle.
"...it's Harley! Your Harley! I know how much she means to all of you... that you found she was alive and for what I've gathered she's been through hell...and I just don't want to make a great fight over this..." Her voice became more quiet again as she just shook her head and took a sip of her tea.
"Still, you should've said something..." Throttle started but Charley gave him a look back.
"Well, you really haven't been around!"
Throttle's big ears flattened back momentarily which was quite rare to see but then after briefly drooping they got back to normal and he turned his look away drinking the tea, placing his elbow on the table, between Charley and himself.
"I said already I was sorry about that..." He lowered his voice.
Charley closed her eyes feeling a tiny pinch inside of her.
"No...I'm sorry... This is not your fault. It's not anyone's fault... I still think we're just exaggerating this whole thing... Harley's been through a lot, just like you said. I think we all just have to... let this go. Give her some space to deal with whatever...Okay?" Charley's look became a bit hopeful as she gazed the tan male next to him.
Throttle shrugged his shoulders to this but remained silent. Aprilia tapped her teamug and then scratched her scalp underneath her big blonde bun on top of her head, now feeling a bit guilty that she had been babbling these things about Harley, but she still thought that someone should try to get that female to open up and tell what really was bothering her...Well, she knew already what was troubling her but she would need to learn that she couldn't accuse other people for her problems. They were a family, The Freedom Fighters. They needed to act like one, too.
"Okay. You're right. I know I don't want to make things worse at least..." Aprilia then nodded.
"Yeah." Throttle replied and put down the mug and got up.
"You can start packing, girls. We're leaving." He then left them as the both females just stared after him.
"Leaving?" Aprilia raised her eyebrow.
"To where?" Charley was just as dumbfound.
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"Well, what do you say?" Riot asked with that calm voice of his as he walked around the cave underneath the Monastery with leisurely steps, turning more lights on so the company he was having could see more further into the cave system. The lighting system was merely a few old lamps here and there, swinging from the high ceiling and they were giving just enough light inside the cave that they could see around them without squinting but the darker corners remained dark.
Even if the cave was underneath the Monastery, to get inside they had to use an entrence that was not connected to the Monastery and to get there they had to walk a bit downhill first. It didn't have a door but a smaller entrence which had been carved into the stone just like the cave itself.
Stoker looked around and absent-mindedly touched the cold stone surface of the red stone. He tapped a few times with his finger tips, still letting his eyes wonder inside the cave. A wide and excited smile appeared on his face which momentarily wiped all the fine lines around his face and he looked much younger than he actually was.
"This is perfect! We'll take it!"
Radius was walking inside the cave as well but not showing the same amount of enthusiasm as did the older rebel leader and he had his arms crossed, looking around him like evaluating every little nook and pebble.
"What do you say, comrade?" Stoker emphasized, knowing that the ex-lieutenant would not appreciate that title but Radius was not really paying him attention, or maybe he was trying to ignore the guerilla soldier all together. After a while though the white middle-aged ex-Army employee cleared his voice and turned to Stoker and Riot.
"Well... It's a cave."
Stoker gave a snort.
"Ofcourse it's a cave. You were expecting a castle?"
Radius gave the man a bored look back, not appreciating the sarcasm, but turned it away.
"I know you don't maybe have the same standards as me... But in the Army we were using actual buildings as our Headquarters and facilities..."
"You Army boys have always been just a bunch of pampered babies.. After all, we're cave mice, this ..." Stoker spread his arms.
"...is perfect for us. It blends in with the surroundings and no other soul on Mars knows about this. It's safe."
Simson walked carefully around, slightly having his arms spread to keep his balance so he would not fall facedown to the ground due to the lack of his tail as a balancer nowadays.
"I say it's perfect, too. It's big enough to accomadate all of us, all the Fighters, the rebels rats and the Army boys...We'll have room for the equipments and guns..." Simson's voice faded as he gave the monk a careful look under his brows, like wanting to know if the talk about bringing firearms anywhere near to this haven of peace was something that would not be okay but Riot only walked deeper into the cave and flicked more lights on from the next "room".
"Here are a few smaller rooms.. They could be used for the sleeping... And over there..." Riot turned and walked to the opposite direction and flicked lights on there as well and what they could see was a long but more narrow facility, filled with wooden barrels.
"...this is our wine cellar but we can empty it and you can use it as a garage... There's another entrence to this area and it's a bit more wider so you can easily drive in with your bikes..."
"Wine cellar, eh...?" Stoker mused as he had his arms behind his back while walknig in-between the barrels. He touched the wooden surface of one of the barrels and smiled, approvingly.
"Wait, 'til my men find out about this..."
Riot gave a light-hearted laughter but Radius only rolled his eyes, not pleased.
"I thought we already established an understanding that this won't be one giant party..."
"Not when you're around anyway..." Stoker muttered under his breath but gave the tall and slender white furred male another look.
"I know what we agreed upon...I was only teasing you. Trust me. I've allowed my men to have an occasional pint or two, two celebrate a victory or whatever, but I'm not letting them to drink while being in the Headquarters, while being on duty... You better believe me when I say that I don't tolerate soldiers on hangover and they know it too... I need my men to be in good shape and their brains sharp as a razor, I don't have use for the sloppy hazy-brained drunks..."
"Well, nice to hear that you've got some principles that are sensible..." Radius answered and turned around to look at the facilities once more.
"Oh, man! Wine!" They heard a voice booming behind them and as they turned their heads they saw Rimfire standing there, looking at the wine cellar his eyes wide in excitement but as he turned his twinkling brown eyes to meet the eyes of the others in the room, mainly his step-father's eyes, the twinkle disappeared and he cleared his voice and looked a bit ashamed.
"Just making an observation..."
Rimfire's twin sister walked in as well, clearly she had been trying to keep up with her brother but her being nearly twice shorter than him, she hadn't being able to keep up with the pace. Primer looked around the facilities, making quick notes about them and then turned to the others.
"Where's the kitchen?"
Rimfire let out a laughter.
"This ain't a city apartment, sis...And we're tough men, if we want to eat we just throw meat on the camp fire!"
"You have never caught an animal in your life, if you'll be surviving on wild animals, you'll starve to death." Primer huffed, not impressed by the male bravado.
"Well, I've caught fish... When, you know, there still was any to catch around here in this sand box we call home..." Rimfire muttered.
"You should consider turning to vegetariasm, the sprouts are more suitable for you to catch, they don't move..." Primer snickered and Rimfire crossed his arms, a bit offended.
"Man, you're on fire today, who stepped on your tail...?"
"All I'm saying is that we need to cook somewhere." Primer placed her hands on her hips. Radius sighed and shook his head and pointed at the girl.
"You don't need to do anything, Primer. What you need to do is to wait until I can figure out how I can get you back to the Brimstone City, young lady."
Primer squinted her brown eyes as she looked at her step-dad.
"No!"
"Primer, don't raise your voice at me. And this is not debatable. You're leaving this place as soon as we can figure out how..." Radius' voice was strict.
"No!" Primer raised her voice even more and the high-pitched voice echoed in the cave.
"Primer..." Radius' voice got more warning undertones.
"I'm staying! You can't make me leave!" The slender sand coloured female shouted and ran out of the cave.
"Well, apparently your Army discipline doesn't work on everybody..." Rimfire snickered but while meeting the disapproving eyes of the ex-Lieutenant he cleared his voice again.
"I'll just...go after her..."
After a little silence Riot walked to them.
"As for the cooking... You are all welcomed to use our kitchen facilites and eat with us anytime you wish to do so."
"Thank you." Stoker nodded with a kind smile and turned his eyes to wander inside the cave system again.
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As the night had quickly taken over the vast desert and pulled everything under its' cold dark blanket, the truck's headlamps were the only source of light and it covered only this relatively small area of sand dunes, casting long shadows on the red sand.
The two Fighters who were now stuck in this unfriendly environment, where they occasionally heard a Saber Squid searching for its' prey somewhere in the distance, were trying to contact the Monastery with the truck's radio but it was no use. The Army used passwords for the radio system and as they had realized just the second they've tried to log into the radio system, they hadn't thought of asking the password from Radius or any of his men. As for their defence they hadn't even thought of it as they weren't meant to go far. Even if Stoker had called their little trip a patrol ride, everyone knew that Kasei Valles being so distant place, there hardly would be anything to patrol so Vinnie and Modo had both thougth that they would only go take a leisurely ride in the desert, just to clear their heads. And it would have been merely a joy ride and they would have returned in no time that is ofcourse if Vinnie hadn't decided to drive to the border, or near it anyway. And here they were, only an half an hour ride from the border sitting inside the truck's cabin trying to figure out how on Mars would they get back or even signal or contact the others where they were.
Vinnie was trying to type passwords, trying to guess the right one but ofcourse he had no luck. It could be anything. Finally, as the radio bleeped once again as the password Vinnie had typed was wrong yet again, the white furred male gave an exasperated grunt and hit the machine.
"C'mon you stupid piece of technology! Work!"
He heard a low chuckle coming from beside him.
"Ah think the radio won't take orders from you..."
"This is useless!"
"Ah know."
"Damn it! Why did we have to get stranded in here!"
"Ah might have a couple of ideas about that..." Modo muttered but his voice wasn't filled with anger anymore. He had managed to calm himself down in the cool desert air. Now, the only things occupying his mind were the many possible beginnings of a good plan to get them out of this situation but everytime he follow one thought he quickly realized it would not work.
"Let's just walk back!" Vinnie hit his back against the back of the seat rather violently and crossed his arms. This business was, above all, becoming really boring and he did not do boring.
"That'll take us atleast three to four days to walk back... And we don't have any water or food..." Modo leaned against the window with his bionic arm, scratching his forehead with his metal fingers, trying to think.
"We can't just sit here!" Vinnie protested, already decided that anything was better than this mindboggling boredom and uneventfulness.
"Right..." Modo only answered and Vinnie gave him a look.
"Right?! So what are we waiting for? Let's go already!"
Modo sighed and shook his head and felt how the annoyance was slowly starting to rise inside him again. But as he was to comment he suddenly saw something in the distance, somewhere in the dark of the desert. Light. He immidiately jolted and stopped leaning against the window and squinted his eye to see what it was that was flickering in the dark.
"What's that?"
Vinnie turned his gaze into the dark night as well and he too saw a small dot of light. He leaned to the wheel, using both of his arms and raised his eyebrow.
"Well, whatever it is, it's quite small..."
"Obviously, it's pretty far away still..." Modo blurted out, shaking his head in a bit of a disbelief that his bro didn't understand the logic behind the fact that if things were more faraway they appeared to be smaller...
"I know that!" Vinnie snorted at this comment but cleared his voice, changing the course of the discussion.
"Well, whatever it is, it's coming from the border..."
Modo didn't answer this but he had figured it out himself as well and a small frown appeared to his forehead.
"Maybe it's the Army?" Vinnie tried and gave his bro another look who only absent-mindedly shrugged his shoulders back.
"Maybe... They detected us somehow?" Vinnie rubbed his chin but that comment got Modo suddenly awake from his thoughts.
"Vinnie! Turn off the lights!"
"...what?"
"Turn off the lights of this truck, now!"
"Oh...Okay..." Vinnie answered and pulled one switch but it made the lights to blink.
"Turn them off! Don't blink them!" Modo yelled back as Vinnie tried the same time to figure out where the lights went off.
"Yeah, yeah...Right...On it! Let's see here..."
And the lights blinked again, and again.
"God damn it! Just take the keys off!" Modo shouted but then rushed to do that himself but as he yanked the keys with too much power the key broke inside the lock and the lights stayed on.
"Well, that was helpful." Vinnie commented dryly but gave the small dot of light another look and now it seemed to becomen a bit bigger dot.
"It's heading this way, bro..."
"Yeah." Modo only replied.
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