Hello my dear readers!

It took me a little time but I finally managed to write a new chapter..

Truth is that my mind's been occupied with this new story idea... It won't be any prequeal or sequeal to this one, so it'll be a totally new one and I've already written most part of the first chapter already... But I really want to write this story into completion, too... So, I'm trying to think whether I should write this story first or do I start writing two stories simultaneously... But I've been thinking about this current story and I already have a pretty good plan how everything will work out in the end, and I don't think it'll need THAT many chapters anymore but still, it needs quite a few before I'll be able to unravel everything... But, we'll see what happens. Maybe I'll post the first chapter of the new story while still writing this one, we'll see. I'm actually quite eager to release that new story...

Anyway, hope you're all well and please enjoy the latest chapter.

Thanks to all of you who have supported me. Means a lot to me.

-SpaceFlora

The Good, The Bad and the Rebels

Chapter 32

Meanwhile

"You think she's dead?" A guard asked from the other guard as they had stepped into this dark cell and they were both now looking at this motionless figure lying on the bed, her back turned towards them.

"Nah... The General might just feel a little...tired, you know." The other man said with a light snicker but he stepped forward and push the figure in the shadows with his rifle but the figure remained still. The men gave each other a look but the man poked the figure with the gun another time, again the figure remained quiet and still.

"Maybe we should call the doctor...?" The other guard tried but the other one only shook his head.

"No, we had strict orders to keep the visitors in minimum..."

"But surely that doesn't concern the doctor...?"

"Orders are orders." The other man said with strict voice but then nodded towards the thick cell door.

"C'mon. Let's go."

"We can't just leave her in that state...?"

"Well, what can we do? I'm sure it's all just because she's only trying to make us believe she's in a bad shape and that way she would take her to the hospital and then she'll just run off..."

"Yeah, maybe..."

"C'mon... Let's go. We'll come back to see if she's more...cooperative tomorrow... See you tomorrow, General Carbine." The guard gnarled as they both left the cell and closed the thick cell door after them and the cell became pitch black.

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A lonely Army truck was driving across the desert towards the truck they had spotted in the distance.

"Wonder who's out here in the middle of nowhere...?" A soldier asked while driving.

"I don't know... But it sure looks like an Army truck to me..."

"Think our comrades got lost?" The driver snickered.

"I don't know... Or then these dummies ran out of gas..." The other one mused but frowned.

"But we better be careful..."

"Why?"

"Because... Like we heard from the radio, two Army trucks got stolen..."

"What would they be doing out here? And it said two trucks, this is only one... If this is one of the stolen trucks then where's the other one?"

"Good question... Okay, slow down now, we're coming to them... Let's just be careful..." The other soldier riding the shotgun said while taking his gun and loading it as their truck started to slow down and it crept nearly cautiously forward, now only one sand dune away from the truck that stood there like it was abandoned but the headlights had just blinked awhile ago...There had to be soldiers in the truck. The soldier riding the shotgun showed the driver to move even more slowly while he tried to see in the dark any signs of movement but it was really dark and they could only see clearly the way the truck's headlights were showing, which was sand.

They drove so slowly the truck merely moved as they were trying to see in this pitch black night.

"Seeing anything?" The driver nearly whispered and as the one sitting next to him was about to answer they both got startled as there was a knock on the left window and as they quickly pointed their guns towards the left window at a figure standing outside they got startled again as someone knocked on the right-side window. The soldiers were frantically trying to make up their minds to which window they should point their guns but quickly realized they were both aimed at guns, too.

"Turn off the truck." A low rumble was heard behind the right window. The soldiers were a bit dumbfounded but turned their heads to the left window where they heard a more high-pitched voice.

"Or we'll turn it off for you, and not very politely."

"Oh, man..."

"What? That's a cool phrase!"

"Doesn't apply to every situation..."

"Everyone's a critic..."

The soldiers were turning their heads from left to right to left again as this small dialogue went between the two strangers in the dark but then the driver turned off the truck but gave his soldier friend a look in the dim-lit cabin.

"What's happening?!" He asked, trying to keep his voice down but the two strangers heard it anyway.

"What's happening is that we're taking your truck!" The high-pitched voice stated from the dark.

"And ya get to hitchhike your way back to where ever ya guys came from." The lower rumble joined in from the right.

"You can't do that! This is Army property!" The other soldier raised his voice.

"Hey, dude! Does it look like we care?" A sing-songy chuckle was heard.

"Step out of the vehicle." The other voice was more demanding. The soldiers gave each other a look but then slowly obeyed the order. As they opened the truck's doors they carefully stepped out of the vehicle. The driver nearly bumped into the big man who was pointing a gun at him and that gun appeared to be a some sort of a bionic weapon that was attached...to the man...

"Drop your gun." A low rumble ordered and the driver stared at the tall stranger still in the shadows but nodded and threw his weapon on the ground. The soldier swallowed and was to turn to see what had happened to his comrade but he was turned around with a firm grip.

"Keep still. Your comrade's okay..."

The soldier gave another glance at this giant infront of him but nodded again, not really able to answer. Soon they heard steps and the other soldier walked to them his hands above his head as he was guided to their direction by the other stranger, poking his laser gun at the soldier's back.

"Please...Don't hurt us!" The soldier cried.

"Well, you just be good lil' soldier boys and we won't hurt you.. too severely..." The shorter stranger snickered and the taller one let out a sigh.

"We won't hurt you. We just need your truck."

"Who...Who are you?" The soldier asked, still keeping his hands raised but kept on eyeing the two strangers, moving his head. He let his eyes wander on the metal plate the other one was having to cover the other half of his face and then turned to look at the other man who was still pointing them with his...arm cannon.

"Who are you?!" He asked again, now more demanding.

"We are just two fellows who are having a small transportational problem...That's all ya need to know." The taller male answered but nodded at the shorter stranger to pick up the guns from the sand.

"Okay, dumb and dumber, take a hike." The shorter male then nodded at them and the soldiers gave each other a little clueless look.

"You heard me! Shoo! Go!" The white furred male then took a step forward, pointing his gun at them both and the males scampered a little but started to walk towards the dark desert. They tried to look back over their shoulders but a shout stopped their actions.

"I said walk! Don't look back or I'll shoot you both! You heard me! Move!" A high-pitched voice shouted after them and the Army soldiers started to run to the pitch-black desert, nearly tripping on the stones and bumps on the sand. The two strangers looked after them, their arms crossed.

"Look at them go..." The shorter one chuckled.

"Well, they're the Army. They've got years of practise in retreating..." The taller one chuckled back but slapped the other one to his back.

"C'mon! Let's go back to the monastery before these guys figure how to contact the Army..."

The men turned to the truck but as the shorter one was to hop on the driver's seat he got pulled back from his shoulder.

"A-a, no way, Ah'm gonna drive us back! Ah'm not lettin' ya drive anything with four wheels ever again!" The taller one boomed.

"Oh, c'mon, bro... You drive like an eighty-year-old...I thought we were in a hurry?" The shorter male whined annoyed.

But the taller male was already sitting behind the wheel and banged the door close and started the truck while the other one had to hurry to circle the truck to hop in but the truck already nudged into movement and gassed off, leaving the shorter male behind.

"Modo! What are ya doin', bro?! Stop the truck!" Vinnie shouted while trying to reach the vehicle.

"What's the matter, kid?! Ah thought we were in a hurry?!" Modo only shouted from the window while Vinnie ran after the truck and managed to get a hold of the right-side's door's handle and opened it while still running beside the truck and finally hopped in, banging the door close.

"You didn't need to do that...!" He muttered while the truck hit another gear and it was gunning down the desert.

After a few minutes of ride in the desert Vinnie started to look around in the cabin.

"What these guys were doing out here anyway?"

"Beats me..." Modo muttered back.

Vinnie still looked around and saw some documents on the dashboard and took them to his hands, starting to leaf them through in a bored manner before he suddenly stopped with one of the papers, eyeing it carefully before his eyes got bigger.

"Bro..."

"Yeah?"

"This document holds some information..."

"They usually do..." Modo chuckled lightly.

"No! I mean...This... This says something about water..."

"Oh?" Modo got curious too.

"Yeah... There are coordinates and then...oh, this is interesting..."

"What?" Modo asked, glancing at the white furred male while driving.

"It says that in case of inquieries... Contact Mace."

"Mace?"

"Yeah."

"Well... That's odd... Why would the Army contact Mace...?"

"I don't know! Just reading what it says in here... Oh, wait a minute! Here's a number! This has the code to Mace's VidCom!"

"Yeah? Well... Ah think that can come very handy to us..."

"Yes in deed... I wouldn't mind giving that piece of turd a prank call..." Vinnie snickered.

"Wonder what that fellow is doing right now.." Modo thought out loud while shifting another gear.

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Mace was lurking around one corner of a building in Brimstone City. He looked at the mice pacing around, doing their evening activities.

"Oh, how delightfully clueless creatures..." Mace smiled crudely but then turned to give a big bunch of his rat troopers a look behind his back.

"C'mon, let's sneak us into the government building using the back door!"

"Can you first tell us what we're doing in here, among these...mice?" One of his men asked, not really disguising his hatred for the other race.

"I said I had a plan how we're gonna lure these Freedom Fanatics from their hidey-holes..." Mace started but gave another look around the corner, eyeing the big governmental building.

"Yeah? So, what's the plan?"

"The mice government hasn't been too effective with their help to catch those stupid wannabe-rebels... So, we need to speed things up a bit. I'm not gonna wait any longer, already too much time has been wasted. I need to catch those Fighters...dead or alive. But preferably dead." Mace talked and his men gave each other a look, still not really knowing what the whole idea behind the reason they've comen here to the Brimstone City was. Mace gave them a look but let out a sigh while seeing the clueless faces they all sported.

"Do I have to spell out everything to you?! We're gonna take over the city!"

"Oh... Okay. How?" One of the troopers asked.

"By making a coup. We're gonna march to the Mice Government's bureau and take those big wigs as hostages... And taking over things. Soon, I'm gonna be the one who gives orders around here and I'll make sure to put some speed to their Army to help us to destroy the Fighters."

"How we're gonna be able to make the coup? They got the Army while there's only a handful of us...? The rest of us are still waiting in the tunnels but in total we're only a small group compared to their Army of soldiers." A trooper asked. Mace was silent for awhile, still carefully watching the mice citizens roaming about. He then gave his men another look.

"It'll be enough. The Mice government has ordered nearly all of their soldiers to guard the border...There won't be many of them left here in the city. It'll be easy and painful... For us anyway." Mace gave yet another look at the big building in the centre of the city but then turned to his men.

"C'mon, let's go. We'll use the back entrance..."

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