The Rebel Path
"You know this is completely crazy, right?" Anna said. "I mean it is completely crazy."
Elsa shrugged. "So, stay here."
"Unfortunately for us both," Anna smirked as she spun the cylinder on her hand cannon and flicked it shut. "I like crazy," she turned to look out the window.
They were on board the Maximus, standing in the same room they had shared two years ago on their first flight to Arcadia. Only now, they were flying out of Arcadia and gearing up for their final suicide mission.
As soon as the dust storm covered the colony, Elsa, Anna, and the others made their way back towards the Yuri Gagarin Spaceport with the hover-tank in tow, using its camouflage ability to avoid arousing suspicion. Now, they were going to be flying right into a warzone.
Elsa and Anna, as were everyone else, were buttoned up in EVA suits outfitted with exo-rigs for zero-gravity movement. In addition to the hard sealed thermal insulation their suits provided, they were plated with ballistic armor rated for space and ground combat. They were certainly going to need them if they were going to survive this crazy, desperate plan as they headed towards the climax.
"Okay, do you have all your gear?" Elsa asked.
Anna looked down at her body and patted the magnetic holsters where her weapons were stowed. "Guns, check. Sword, check. Emergency stimpak, check. Emergency oxygen supply, check. Emergency suit sealant, check," she gave a thumbs up. "All good. You?"
"All good. Just one last thing."
"What's up?"
Elsa leaned towards Anna and pulled her in for a hungry kiss, possibly their last. In response, Anna held Elsa just as tightly and deepened their kiss. They stayed like that for a long time, enjoying every last second of love and peace they could before the end. Eventually, they broke apart and placed their foreheads against each other as they stared into each other's eyes.
"Listen," Anna said. "Whatever happens, I just want you to know…"
"I know, Anna, I know," Elsa said softly.
"I love you."
"And I have loved you from the very moment I saw you again for the first time. Loving you was the only thing that kept me together all those years that I was alone."
"Hmm," Anna smiled. "Sweet talker."
At that, they came in for a long hug. They both shut their eyes and basked in a fleeting moment of calm and peace, drawing out every last ounce of warmth and hope as they could. A few seconds later, a knock came at the door and K poked his head in, similarly dressed in an EVA suit and similarly armed.
"Sorry, guys, far be it from me to interrupt your moment, but, uh, we might wanna get buckled in now," K pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Things are about to get hairy as soon as we clear the atmosphere."
"Got it, just give us a sec, K," Anna nodded.
"I'll see you guys up there," K headed out.
"Guess it's time to face the music," Anna sighed. "Ready?"
"Ready," Elsa nodded.
After one last kiss for meaning and for emphasis, they slipped on their helmets, activated the pressure seals, then booped their visors against each other. Then, they gathered up their things and headed out of the room, making their way towards the cockpit where the others were already seated and buckled in.
K looked over as they entered. "Okay, we're all here."
"Let's check our comms," Rapunzel said, examining her omni-pad. "Check, check, check. How copy?"
Whenever any of them spoke, their faces would appear in the upper left corner of the heads-up display inside their helmet to everyone else listening. That way, they could stay in contact at all times so long as nothing jammed their signals.
"Solid copy," Flynn gave an okay sign.
"All good," Augur said.
"Let's do this shit," Mouse gave a thumbs up.
"Here," K said.
"Reading you loud and clear, Rapunzel-san," Takahashi said.
"Present," Anna said.
"And accounted for," Elsa said, then she brought up her omni-pad. "OLAF, you still with us?"
"Always, ma'am," OLAF replied.
Before their departure from Arcadia, Elsa had pulled OLAF out of the safehouse and stored him on her omni-pad. They needed all hands on deck for this mission, even if OLAF had no hands to speak of.
"Great," Flynn said as he steered the Maximus upward out of the atmosphere. "Now, remember, please keep your hands and feet inside the rollercoaster at all times. Make sure you are seated and buckled in for the duration of our flight. And most of all," he turned around and grinned. "Enjoy the ride."
Mouse crossed her arms and sighed. "Dios, I still can't believe I let you fuckers talk me into this batshit crazy plan."
"Well, you know," Anna shrugged. "Maybe the story hasn't made complete sense in some parts, and maybe the writing so far hasn't been always tonally consistent, and maybe there are still a few glaring plot holes, and maybe there are still a few contradictions or continuity errors, and maybe our character arcs haven't always made sense, but you know what? This is where we are, this is what's happening, so we just gotta deal with it and make it work."
Soon after, the Martian sky gradually thinned out and vanished as they exited the planet's atmosphere. Now, they had entered space, and filling their entire vision before them from every conceivable angle was a massive space battle unfolding.
Spacecraft carriers were offloading starfighters, interceptors, and bombers, which were engaging in dogfights all over the place. Destroyers were blasting each other to smithereens, supported by lighter frigates. Blockade runners were darting past the Iron Curtain, sending out dropships laden with boarding parties. Everywhere, there was complete and utter chaos, all of which was silent because sound was incapable of traveling in a vacuum.
Still, the sight of it all was arresting and breathtaking in perhaps the worst possible fashion.
"It's okay," K muttered as he hung onto his seat. "We're okay. I'm the boss, I'm the boss, I'm the boss," he repeated to himself.
"The reds shouldn't target us because we still have those Soviet IFF codes active," Rapunzel said as she interfaced with a holo-display, highlighting their route.
"Meaning only the blues will be shooting at us," Augur replied.
"Yeah, but when are we ever not getting shot at?" Mouse said.
"So, we'll steer clear of most of the fighting," Flynn said. "In and out. Quick and easy. That's it."
"You make it sound so simple," Anna said.
"I'm just trying to keep everyone calm," Flynn replied.
"I am calm," Elsa lied.
She looked over and made eye contact with Anna, exchanging a look of mutual understanding.
Outside, the space around them was congested with all manner of spacecraft as well as debris and scrap from destroyed ships that floated around in orbit. Flynn and Rapunzel easily navigated the Maximus around them as they entered the periphery edges of the battle where the fighting was least intense. A few starfighters passed them by but paid them no mind as they were preoccupied with engaging their foes. However, soon enough, they would have to wade into the thick of the chaos.
Janus Station was right at the center of the battle where the fighting was most intense.
"Boy, we've really stepped into it now," Flynn said as he maneuvered the ship around some large pieces of debris to avoid attracting the ire of an American destroyer.
"How much longer until we get to the station?" Elsa asked.
"Hopefully not much longer if nobody decides to pick a fight with us," Flynn replied.
As if on cue, two American starfighters blew right past the Maximus, coming around on a tight arc.
"Aw, jeez," Flynn threw on more power to the thrusters. "I should have kept my mouth shut!"
"No shit, dumbass!" Mouse exclaimed.
Rapunzel interfaced with a holo-display as it flashed with an alert. "They're coming back around. We need to shake 'em!"
"Alright, hang on tight!" Flynn gritted his teeth and gripped the steering controls as he began to take evasive action.
The two starfighters on their tail opened fire with their guns, training them on the Maximus as they rapidly caught up. Meanwhile, the Maximus bobbed and weaved up, down, and side to side around pieces of debris to try and lose them. Inside, the occupants were jostled around in their seats, while Elsa and Anna held on tight to each other's hands.
"Doesn't this ship have any weapons?!" Anna asked.
"No, it's just a cargo freighter!" Flynn shouted back. "What did you expect? That we'd have a laser cannon or something?"
"Maybe a little something!" Anna replied. "How long have you been in the smuggling game and you're telling me this ship doesn't have any weapons? How did you always get out of scrapes?!"
"By doing some real stupid shit!" Mouse yelled.
The ship's outer hull screeched when some automatic gunfire scraped against it. Still, the Maximus chugged onward, shrugging it off.
"Jesus!" K flinched. "Do you know what you're doing?!"
Flynn rapidly hit some dials and switches, then turned sharply to the side just in time to avoid colliding against the hull of a frigate. "Okay, I'm hearing a lot of problems right now and not enough solutions!"
Rapunzel pointed out the window. "Look out, we're about to-!"
"I know! I see it!" Flynn turned the ship up and glided over a small corvette, dodging and weaving in between cannon fire.
Up ahead, they were approaching a massive garbage field, filled with all manner of space junk and other detritus. Elsewhere, a frigate was pierced by a dazzling lance of blue light from one of the mass accelerator cannons on an orbital defense platform. It imploded from the inside out, adding further pieces of metal and scrap flying out into space. One corpse even smacked against the windows of the Maximus as they continued to fly past it.
"I got an idea," Flynn guided the ship towards the garbage field. "We'll lose 'em in there!"
Mouse straightened up in her seat, her face becoming a mask of shock. "Wait, no, not the- I just fixed the fucking-!"
Another barrage of gunfire smacked against the hull of the Maximus, just missing some of the vital weak points by the engines. Then, the displays lit up with a new alert as a target lock on their ship was acquired and missiles were released.
Before they were blown apart, the Maximus darted downwards and entered the garbage field. There, they flew in and out between large pieces of junk which absorbed most of the gunfire from the two starfighters still hot on their heels. However, the missiles chasing them were rapidly gaining and keeping pace with the Maximus.
Now, they were approaching a large ring of metal that was turning in a slow circle as it drifted aimlessly. Before anyone else had a chance to protest, Flynn steered right towards it and entered the ring, which turned out to be the entrance to a long tube.
"Oh, this is a bad idea!" K yelled.
"Come on, baby, just a little further!" Flynn leaned forward in his seat as he easily navigated through the winds and bends of the tunnel.
Behind them, one of the starfighters was unable to maneuver as quickly and it caught the sides of the tunnel, smashing apart and blowing up along with some of the missiles. Even so, the remaining starfighter remained in pursuit.
"Flynn, this tunnel is getting narrower," Rapunzel said.
"We can make it," Flynn said.
"Oh, we aren't gonna make it," Augur covered the visor of his helmet.
"We can make it!" Flynn repeated.
"We're not making it!" Mouse shouted.
As the tunnel began to narrow to the point it was untraversable, an opening suddenly appeared before them. Acting quickly, Flynn yanked backward on the steering controls and pulled the ship up, exiting the tunnel. The underside of the Maximus smacked against a sharp edge as they reentered the garbage fields. Down below, the remaining starfighter just barely managed to exit the tunnel, but then smacked into another piece of debris and exploded with the rest of the missiles.
Flashing alerts indicated significant structural damage to the interior of the ship, highlighting a region in the cargo hold. Now clear for the moment, the Maximus chugged onwards to Janus Station.
"Whoo!" Flynn pumped his fist as he grinned in triumph. "Told you we'd make it!"
"We're not out of this thing yet," Rapunzel examined the holo-display. "Fuel injector took a hit."
"Ah, crap," Flynn turned around in his seat. "Mouse, can you get down there and-"
Mouse was already swearing in Spanish as she unfastened her seatbelt and stood up. "Ugh, unbelievable. Mouse do this, Mouse do that," she said in a high-pitched mocking voice as she made her way down. "Whatever you do, don't open those cargo hold doors while I'm down there. Otherwise, I'll punch you in the dick."
"Alright, I'll go with her too," Augur stood up and followed after Mouse.
By now, they had exited the garbage fields and entered the space around Janus Station. There, they saw one spacecraft carrier in the process of careening straight into another, carving open both of their hulls and spilling out all manner of screeching metal. Elsewhere, a squadron of bombers completed their attack run on an orbital defense platform, leaving it behind as it crumpled apart and exploded.
Bullets were flying everywhere. Electromagnetic projectiles were splitting the space, punching holes in ships. EMP torpedoes were blowing up, sending out crippling waves of energy. Starfighters were crashing into each other. Explosions and death were everywhere the eye could see.
Despite all the violence and all the carnage around them, it was all eerily silent. A silence that was occasionally split only by Mouse's excessive expletives and profuse profanity where she was working in the cargo hold.
As for Elsa, she had been entirely glued to her seat, still holding on tight to Anna's hand. Just getting to the station was going to be the easy part and so far, it was turning out to be a nonstop life or death thrill ride.
Still, they continued closer and closer to Janus Station. Now, they were within sight of their target. The entirety of the station was lit up as defensive gun batteries targeted enemy ships and shot them down. Thankfully, none of them were shooting at the Maximus given their affiliation.
Elsa glanced over to Anna and saw that she was rapidly hyperventilating. Across the way, K had covered his visor with his hands, quietly mumbling to himself that he was still the boss. Takahashi was sitting quietly with the cool, detached demeanor of an android. Up at the front, Flynn and Rapunzel had their eyes glued to everything in front of them, guiding the Maximus through the battle.
"Okay, we're almost to the bridge now," Flynn said. "Mouse, how are we looking down there?"
"Shits fucked but I can unfuck it!" Mouse yelled. "I need a minute!"
"Mousie, honey?" Rapunzel said. "Things are really heating up out here, so can you please hurry?"
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Mouse yelled. "I can barely work in this tight-ass space with this monkey suit! Augie bear, blowtorch!"
"Here!" Augur tossed over the relevant item.
"Almost showtime, gang!" Flynn turned around a corner of the station and headed for the bridge. "Better get down there and get ready!"
With that, Elsa, Anna, K, and Takahashi unbuckled themselves from their seats and made their way down into the cargo hold. There, they found Mouse who was rooting around in the engine compartment while Augur was assisting her with the repairs. Additionally, the Drachen was securely tethered to the ship, so all that was left was for Elsa and Anna to get inside and for the others to hook up.
Takahashi went over to a spool of cable and started handing it out to K, who tied it to the harness on his EVA suit along with the case that held the signal transceiver. Meanwhile, Elsa and Anna climbed up on the tank, opened the hatch, and settled in.
Elsa inserted the key and started hitting some switches. "All systems are green," she looked over to Anna. "We're good to go"
Anna stood up and poked her head out the hatch. "You guys hooked in yet?"
"We're good to go," K replied as he double-checked the harness. "Tak?"
"Secure," Takahashi replied.
"Okay, fuck me sideways, but I think that should hold," Mouse emerged from the engine compartment. "Augie, let's get hooked to the-"
She was cut off when an EMP torpedo detonated just outside, catching the Maximus in its blast radius and causing some of its electronics to malfunction. Namely, it caused the cargo hold doors to open prematurely. Within seconds, the entire ship depressurized and everyone in the cargo bay – including the hover-tank – was sucked out into space. For Elsa and Anna, they were able to seal the hatch of the tank and secure themselves inside. K and the others were not as lucky.
"Oh, shit!" Mouse screamed as she was dragged out into the vacuum.
"I gotchu!" Augur caught on to her hand just in time and held on tight before he too started to scream as he was pulled out.
Just as that happened, K lunged forward and caught his hand, screaming in the same manner. Takahashi caught K's hand and since he was tethered to the tank, he was able to hang on. Meanwhile, Elsa and Anna were inside the tank getting jostled about. Soon enough, everyone was screaming as they were dragged through space behind the Maximus in the middle of the battle.
"Idioooots!" Mouse screamed as she hung on to Augur's hands with both of her own.
"We took a hit!" Flynn shouted.
"Are you guys good back there?!" Rapunzel asked.
"Not good!" K replied. "Very not good!"
"Fuck!" Anna cursed as they were jostled about on some heavy turbulence. "What the fuck is going on out there?!"
"The tether!" Mouse pointed to K. "Tie yourself to Augie and he can tie himself to me!"
"Got it!" K said. "Tak, gimme some extra cable!"
Takahashi fed K some additional cable, who took it and passed it on to Augur. Afterward, they struggled to secure the tether to their harnesses as they were tossed all about through space. Then, at the worst possible time, Flynn performed a barrel roll to dodge a warship that was barring their way.
"Flynn!" Mouse screamed with as much fury as she could muster. "I'm gonna punch you in the dick!"
"Not helping!" Flynn screamed back.
Once K and Augur were securely tethered, Augur pulled Mouse in to do the same. When that was done and they were all attached to the hover-tank, Flynn reoriented the ship as they made their approach on the bridge in a straight line, correcting the momentum of everyone being dragged along. Now, the Maximus was in front with the hover-tank behind and K, Mouse, Augur, and Takahashi behind that.
"This is it!" Rapunzel said. "Getting ready to detach the tether!"
"We only got one shot at this," Flynn said as the Maximus hurtled over the station towards the bridge, aiming for a large window. "Release the tether on my go, ready?"
"Ready," Rapunzel nodded.
Behind the Maximus, everyone else was still screaming.
"Three..."
They cleared the station and shot out over the bridge, honing in on their final approach.
"Two..."
Elsa and Anna held on to each other's hands, closing their eyes as they braced themselves for impact.
"One! Go, go, go!"
Rapunzel threw a lever down and detached the hover-tank from the Maximus. Immediately afterward, right before the ship collided into the bridge, Flynn pulled straight up and away.
With the forward momentum provided by the daring maneuver, the hover-tank flew straight towards the window like a shot out of a cannon. Once they cleared the remaining distance, they smashed through the window and smacked into the opposite side, landing right side up. The sudden reintroduction of artificial gravity brought them crashing down.
As soon as they made their entry, an automated voice spoke out.
Warning. Bridge integrity compromised. Unidentified intruders detected.
K and Takahashi landed on top of the tank in a heap, while Mouse and Augur bounced off the wall and landed on the ground. Then, due to the uncontrolled decompression, the emergency shutters slid into place and slammed shut over the breach in the windows, equalizing the pressure once more.
"Whoo! Woohoo!" Anna clapped and bounced in her seat. "We made it!"
Augur groaned as he got up to his feet. "Yeah, we sure did," he went over to help Mouse up. "Everybody good?"
"Oh, my back!" K rolled off the tank and fell to the ground. "My back. Oh, my back," he limped to his feet.
"That was awesome!" Anna laughed. "Let's go again!"
"Easy for you to say," Mouse winced as she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck. "You got to ride inside that thing."
Elsa opened the hatch and stood up, poking her head out to examine the state of their friends. "We're in," she looked out the other windows and spotted the Maximus. "It worked."
"Okay, it's up to you now, ground team," Flynn said. "We'll bug out of the fight and then swing back to pick you guys up. Just give us the call when you're ready."
"Good luck!" Rapunzel said.
"You too," Elsa waved, then looked over to K. "How's the transceiver? Still in one piece?"
K knelt and placed the case he was holding on the ground, opening up to verify the status of their equipment. "Looks good," he closed it, then got back to his feet. "Now we just gotta get inside that facility."
"Yeah, and speaking of," Augur reached behind his back and drew his light machine gun. "Looks like we got company!"
At the other end of the bridge, a squad of soldiers accompanied by two panzer mechs were converging on their position. With how they just made their abrupt entry, the soldiers were liable to shoot first and ask questions later. Now that they were inside the station, they had a firefight on their hands.
Elsa spotted them, making a quick assessment of their opposition, then turned back to face the others. "We'll clear a path," she said. "Stay behind us for cover," she went down and sealed the hatch.
Anna hit a few switches and gripped her controls. "Weapon systems online. Defenses active."
"Well then," Elsa gripped the steering controls. "Let's see what this thing is made of," she activated the thrusters, allowing the tank to hover a few feet off the ground.
Soon as they did that, the soldiers opened fire with their weapons. Elsa guided the tank forward, heedless of their bullets which bounced harmlessly off their thick armor plating. To follow up the assault, the mechs spooled up their miniguns and unleashed a lead storm which, again, only succeeded in scratching the paint job.
Anna brought the targeting module around her head, then trained her sights on the soldiers. Next, she used the autocannon and let down on the triggers, blasting them apart. Behind them, K and the others had managed to disentangle themselves from their tethers and were now walking along, using the tank for cover which kept them safe from harm.
Once the soldiers were dealt with, the two remaining mechs charged up their plasma cannons and fired their rocket salvos which homed in on the tank. However, before they struck, the active protection system unleashed a pulse of electricity which detonated all of the rockets a safe distance away from the tank. At the same time, the two plasma bolts slammed against the tank's outer hull, but the explosion was easily shrugged off thanks to the energy shielding.
"Holy shit!" Anna flinched.
Elsa glanced at one of the displays. "Hull integrity is holding up," she said. "It'll take a lot more than that to do some damage to us."
"Okay," Anna switched from the autocannons to the gauss cannon. "My turn."
The two parallel rails began to hum with energy as arcs of electricity crackled up and down their length. When the charge was fully accumulated, Anna released the depleted uranium sabot which shot out like a dazzling bolt of lightning. In the blink of an eye, one of the mechs was completely obliterated, blowing up in a massive cloud of flame.
"Goddamn!" Mouse laughed. "Did you see that shit?!"
"Hell yeah!" Augur cheered, pumping his fist.
The Drachen's automated systems reloaded the main gun, and within seconds Anna was already building up another charge. The remaining mech let loose with both its minigun and the plasma cannon, but still, the hover-tank continued forward with indomitable destructive power as a second sabot was let loose, blowing it to pieces.
By now, they had managed to clear the first half of the bridge, meeting only light resistance. However, the approach to the Tannhäuser Gate was more heavily defended with manned bunkers and autoturrets that chirped in alarm and began firing on the tank. While the energy shielding and the active protection system were enough to handle projectiles like plasma bolts or rockets, bullets still traveled too quickly. At this point, the exterior plating of the tank was absolutely riddled with pockmarks and dents from all the gunfire that was smacking into it. Still, the armor held up for the time being.
"There, top left," Elsa pointed towards a bunker that was raining down heavy machine gun fire on them. "See it?"
"I got it," Anna swung the main gun around and targeted the bunker, switching to high-explosive shells and building up a charge.
A second later, a blue lance rocketed out and split the bunker in half as it exploded from the inside out. Afterward, Anna used the autocannon to soften up another bunker, punching holes in it with large-caliber rounds before sending another shell out in the same manner as the first.
A metal panel right by Elsa's head suddenly rang out with a deafening echo when an automatic burst of bullets struck it, leaving her ears ringing. The concentrated fire of the autoturrets was a nuisance for now, but as they steadily plinked away at the tank, the hull integrity gradually began to drop.
"Got to deal with those autoturrets next," Elsa said, throwing on more power to the thrusters to increase their speed. "Hull integrity is at ninety-five percent."
She couldn't risk activating the Drachen's cloaking system, for it would reveal their friends behind and completely expose them to attack.
Anna switched off the gauss cannon then hit a few buttons, using the targeting module to highlight all of the autoturrets that were firing on them. After they were all lit up, she hit a switch to activate the hydra rocket pods. In response, an insectoid swarm of miniature incendiary rockets burst out from the pods stored on either side of the main gun, rising high above the tank. Seconds later, they found their targets and flew straight at them, destroying all of the remaining autoturrets and enveloping the entire area before them with raging fireballs.
When the smoke finally cleared, there was nothing left standing between them and the Tannhäuser Gate.
Elsa swept a scanner all over the ruins they had left in their wake. "All clear," she brought the tank to a stop, then she stood up and opened the hatch. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah," K said. "You?"
"We're good. The tank, she's a little cooked, but she's holding up," Anna replied as she appeared next to Elsa. "That is one big damn door," she pointed at the massive gate barring their way.
Mouse took a few steps back, shrugging her shoulders. "Only way is forward," she said. "We do have a tank."
"That we do," Anna nodded and grinned in anticipation. "Grab some cover. I wanna knock on that thing," she lowered herself into the tank.
Elsa followed along and after the hatch was closed once more, Anna angled the main gun, switched back to sabot munitions, and settled it directly in the center of the gate. The gauss cannon was charged until it was at max capacity, then it was fired. The sabot slammed into the gate with an ear-splitting crack, leaving a large dent in the thick metal.
"Hit it again," Elsa said.
Anna did just that and the second sabot detonated where the first had struck, now leaving the metal glowing red from the sheer amount of heat and energy being transferred into it. The gate buckled inward and groaned as it started to give in.
"Almost there, one more time, baby!" Augur said.
With the third sabot, it pierced straight through the center of the gate, blowing it clear off its hinges. The metal screeched as it was split apart and then it all came tumbling down with a deafening boom. Under normal circumstances, a station-wide alarm would have started ringing, but that had already happened long ago.
The way into the facility was now open.
"Yes!" Mouse jumped up and down in excitement. "That was so fucking cool!" she came up to the side of the tank. "Augie bear, help me up."
Augur lifted Mouse onto the tank, then joined her as they sat on top of the main gun, hitching a ride. Elsa guided the tank forward, passing through the smoking remains of the gate while K and Takahashi followed close behind. Once they cleared the gate, they entered a large staging area that, to their surprise, was currently empty. Still, from the sounds of distant gunfights going on, it was easy enough to tell that the Russian and the Chinese forces were now engaged with American navy SEALs that had managed to infiltrate the facility.
There, they came to a stop so they could get their bearings before splitting off into their teams. From where they were now, there was a tram track in the floor that stretched off in both directions to either side. To the left was the way to the research labs. In front was the way to the broadcast tower. To the right was the way to the main hangar, the flight deck, and the launch bay.
"We're here," Elsa opened the hatch and got out.
Anna followed along, then slid down the side of the tank, landing on her feet. "Okay, we all know our jobs, right?"
"Tak and I are heading for the broadcast tower to get this transceiver plugged in," K held up the case in question.
"And I'm in the tank now," Mouse said, rubbing her hands together. "Augie and I will head for the launch bay and make sure it's clear."
Elsa stepped aside and hopped off the tank, then she brought up her omni-pad. "OLAF, update everyone's map with their new headings."
"Already done, ma'am," OLAF replied. "If you get me inside a terminal, I can monitor the security feeds and direct you towards the paths of least resistance."
"Good idea. We'll keep an eye out," Elsa nodded, then she looked at the others.
Anna was looking at her with fierce determination written on her face. K was rolling his shoulders and bouncing on the balls of his feet. Takahashi looked calm and ready for anything. Mouse had a manic glint in her eye as she excitedly got herself acquainted with the tank. Augur looked much the same way.
Now, they had finally arrived at the facility where they would carry out the last part of their plan. If everything went the way it should have, then by the end of the day, every single android would have the opportunity to escape into the net and enter the confluence. More than that, once it was launched into space, they would be free to lead whatever life they chose inside of the countless simulated realities.
The synthetic race would be free from slavery. Free from oppression. Free from fear. And it was all up to them, this merry band of rebels, to give them that chance. To deliver hope.
And so there they were. A small group of brave individuals, at the end of the world, ready to fight and die for what they believed in. They weren't trying to save the universe. They weren't trying to save humanity. They were just trying to save what was important to them and to do as much good as they could before the end.
"This is it," Elsa said. "This is our chance. They have no idea who we are. They have no reason to expect us. We know our teams. We know our missions. We know what we came here to do, so let's just get it done. Watch each other's backs. When we're finished, we'll head for the flight deck, and then we'll all go home."
"Aye aye, cap," Mouse saluted Elsa, then climbed inside the tank. "My turn. I wanna blow some shit up now."
Augur waved to the others as he joined her inside. "Good luck, y'all."
With that, the pair set off in the hover-tank towards the launch bay.
Elsa drew the railgun from behind her back and pulled open the bolt to ensure that it was loaded. "Time to head off, Anna," she said. "K, Takahashi, best of luck to the both of you."
"And to both of you as well," Takahashi gave a bow to Elsa and Anna.
Anna approached K and the pair clapped their hands together.
"Good luck, feistypants," K smiled. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do now, you hear?"
"I'll try and keep that in mind," Anna returned the smile. "Be careful now."
"Oh, don't worry about me," K turned around and started heading towards the broadcast tower with Takahashi. "Now go on, we need to get moving. I'll see you guys soon!"
Elsa and Anna waved them off, and now that they were alone, they exchanged a look of reaffirmation with each other. Then, with nothing else left to do, they set off together towards the research labs.
Much as Elsa tried to keep optimistic about everything, that would be the very last time she saw some of her friends alive.
