Rilena ducked and pulled her armored hood up more, trying to stay warm and avoid the bullets. Of course once it hits the winter months, December specifically, on Aurora it would affect the entire planet it was now part of...she felt bad for the creatures of Barora. The blizzard was not helping her and the others, it made the Blarg nearly impossible to see through the raging snow and the heat sensors were having a hard time keeping ahold of the body heat of the Blarg. She wondered if the Blarg were freezing as well.
"How did they know we were coming?! We didn't tell anyone!" Cora shouted as she turned around, only to duck again as bullets flew overhead. Thank goodness the Blarg were bad shots. "I don't know but there were signs someone broke into the Command Center when we shut down to check the energy levels of the other departments in person." Ratchet called back, grimacing as he heard several bullets hit the boulder he was behind. "They still haven't found the culprit?!" Brax called in return, grabbing his negotiator and sending off three rockets to the armored Blargian mech-suit, it exploded.
"Not yet!" Leon called over the gunfire and blizzard, grabbing a fusion grenade and throwing it at the Blarg, before ducking and everyone heard the explosion as well as screams of pain from the Blarg. "Devastator comin' in!" Takeria shouted, bringing up the giant green gun, pointing it at the remaining Blarg and letting off four rockets, ducking as it exploded. The snow kicked up with some earth and Rilena slowly creeped out from behind the boulder. "Check them." Rilena said and everyone moved in, closing around the downed Blarg.
Some were wounded and others dead. Rilena frowned, seeing some were still alive but missing limbs or suffering some other problem, most likely internal. She sighed and nodded to Brax and Qwark. "Put them out of their misery." She said softly and the two nodded, grabbing their daggers and kneeling down next to some Blarg. She turned away, ignoring the last breath some of the Blarg were taking. She knew that killing was a part of war...but even she didn't believe in letting someone bleed out and slowly, painfully die. She didn't like suffering.
A hand on her shoulder had her turning around, seeing Ratchet was there and she laid her own hand over his, giving a nod. She'd be okay in time. "Let's move, the armory isn't far now." Cora said as she looked away from her com-glove, having taken a look at the map. Everyone nodded, rushing through the foot of snow, it hampered their movement but they still got to the armory either way. As they walked in, they paused, seeing a few hallways and Cora frowned, opening her com-glove to look at the map. "Odd, did we hit the wrong section?" She wondered, curious as to why they were in a larger building than the armory they were believed to have been heading towards.
The armory would also have crystals that they could use to keep energy levels at a good, stable level and not have to worry about decreasing the output in other departments of the Rebel Home Base. Rilena frowned as she looked around as well, wondering what was going on as she also opened her own com-glove to take a look at the map. "No...we're in the right section…" Rilena trailed off as she looked around, pulling her hood off so she could hear better, ears twitching. She heard movement above and looked up...what building were they in? Drek's armories never had two floors…were they in the wrong building?
"I think the blizzard threw us off. We had to have taken a wrong turn somewhere, even though we're in the correct section." The Leopardis explained, looking at the others and Ratchet frowned, crossing his arms. "I agree, we had to have taken a wrong turn. Let's wait for the blizzard to die down and hide down here." Ratchet said as he spotted some crates they could hide behind. Rilena nodded as the others began moving the crates to set up to hide behind them. She was worried and uneasy, how did they take a wrong turn when they went in a straight line?
Rilena shook her head and moved to help rearrange the crates into a suitable hiding place. She'd dwell on it later. Once they had the crates rearranged, they hid behind them. Rilena pulled up the weather system on her com-glove, seeing they still had about an hour before the blizzard died down. She bit her bottom lip...the uneasy feeling in her gut grew...like something bad was going to happen. She glanced at the others, seeing none of them seemed uneasy and were talking in hushed tones as they tried to figure out where they were on the plate.
Rilena rubbed her chin, thinking over everything that had happened in the past few days. No one had acted suspicious, as they were still looking for the traitor in their midst, yet she kept getting an odd feeling around Kyle. He hadn't been as persistent in his advances as he once was, which was unusual and he had been disappearing from his patrol unit a lot lately. While that would cause worry, it wasn't out of the ordinary. He always came back with supplies, so his little impromptu wanderings never resulted in anything bad. So Rilena hadn't really…
Wait…
Dread welled in her gut.
Veldin didn't have a lot to offer in supplies that would help them, it's why General Zigas often went to planets that had a treaty with Drek to gather supplies and then send them to Rilena when Drek wasn't looking. It's another reason Rilena and everyone attacked areas under Drek's control, sabotage plus supplies, a win-win. 'SHIT!' Rilena looked around in panic, wondering if she just figured out the traitor. She looked around the area, seeing holes in the ceiling that were perfect for hidden cameras, they were small and easy to pass over. A quick scan over the crates showed an odd pattern of lines in the floor. Underground cages. Looking at the walls, the same odd pattern of lines on the walls. Hidden claws. Her ears perked, the voices above them...AN AMBUSH!
"We need to leave." Rilena said as she tensed, eyes wide in panic. "What?" Qwark asked, seeing Rilena was tense, as if about to be attacked. "Rilena, what're you talking about?" Ratchet questioned, confused about his wife's actions. "The storm outside has not yet settled," Clank began as well, trying to reason with her to stay put. "If we go out there, we are bound to-" Rilena shook her head, fear in her eyes and facial features and they paled as they froze. She never looked like that. "No!" She began to stand. "We have to leave this building now! We've been-!" Before she could finish, a claw from the wall they were up against suddenly sprung forward, grabbing Rilena and slamming her into the opposing wall. A cry of pain left her from the impact with the wall.
"Rilena!" Leon shouted, jumping over the crate before Ratchet could. "Leon, no! It's a trap!" Rilena shouted as small holes opened up in the ground. Cage bars shot up around Leon, before a metal plate fell down, slamming onto the bars, effectively caging Leon. The Blarg knew they were there! "Leon! Rilena!" Ratchet shouted with wide eyes. "STAY WHERE YOU ARE! THAT'S AN ORDER!" Rilena shouted and Ratchet froze, as did the others. "They can't find out you all are here!" Leon stated, hitting the bars and growling as electricity surrounded them. They were reinforced and meant to inflict damage when struck. Leon cursed, he wasn't going to be getting out anytime soon, not with just one robotic arm.
Leon looked at Ratchet and Clank. "Especially you Ratchet and Clank. Drek doesn't know you two are back. You two, as well as Qwark, Cora, Brax, Elaris, Takeria, you all stay hidden." Leon stated, looking around. "They only caught two of us. Obviously cameras are on us but I don't believe audio bugs are here as well." Leon stated when his ears perked, as did Ratchet's and the others also heard footsteps. Ducking behind the crates, they heard doors leading further in open. "Well, well, well, looks like we finally caught her!" A Blarg said and looking over but still hidden, they saw seven Blarg walk in.
"Weren't there supposed to be more?" Another asked and the lead Blarg, one wearing black and purple armor shrugged. "The less there is, the better to deal with them." The lead said, walking toward Rilena and grinning. "You've given us quite the run around Rilena." He said and Rilena hissed at him. "Carlos. Still Drek's loyal dog are you?" She questioned with a raised brow and he laughed. "Ah, still the little shit you are, aren't you, eh?" He questioned in turn and Rilena hissed again, not enjoying seeing him.
"They have a past?" Ratchet questioned Takeria, who huffed. "Yeah, 'parently Carlos looked after her quite a bit. Was an older brother to her when she still saw Drek as a father. Seems we never really did kill him in our dimension." Takeria questioned in a whisper, her country accent thick in her worry. After all, there were still scattered Blarg remnants from when Drek was around, they just hadn't stirred up trouble until THIS Drek showed up. Ratchet shivered at that, he couldn't even think of what it could have been like to have a Blarg as a sibling-like figure.
"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HER!" They heard Leon snap and they saw the Blarg had grabbed her face. Ratchet almost blew their cover by firing but Qwark grabbing his gun and shaking his head told him 'no'; not yet and Ratchet almost growled. How DARE they touch his wife so carelessly. "We can take them." Ratchet hissed...only for the doors to open and seven more Blarg show up. "Carlos," Carlos turned his head to one of the new arrivals. "Drek's ship will be landing in an hour." Carlos grinned while the others paled. DREK WAS COMING?!
Leon's eyes went wide, filling with fear as he began beating against the bars with his robotic arm. "Dammit! Don't you dare take her to him! What he did last time was bad enough!" Leon shouted and Carlos laughed. "Oh, that's just the tip of the iceberg for what this Drek plans to do." They all felt sick to their stomach. "If Drek had his way, Rilena never would've been saved. Hell, she wouldn't have wanted to leave." Leon's growl was low and deadly, eyes dark with anger. "What the hell does that mean?!" He demanded as Rilena tried to pull her face away from Carlos holding her head by her jaw.
"What I mean is, Drek wasn't planning to kill her. He planned to rewrite her memories." Rilena froze as did Leon, Ratchet, Clank and the others. "WHAT?!" Rilena mumbled out while Leon screamed. "Drek planned to have brainwashed you into wanting to stay with him." The Blarg said to Rilena, grin wicked. "He'd have erased your memories of your other kids, of being the Rebels leader and anything that would've pitted you against him." Carlos explained, rolling his eyes like he was talking to a child. Rilena truly regretted not having gone after the surviving Blarg now.
"In other words Rilena, you would've been Drek's obedient wife and leader of the Blarg alongside Drek and Derek." Carlos said, when one of the Blarg scoffed. "Still don't trust that kid," Carlos looked at the one speaking, "not with how secretive and suspicious he's been." Carlos nodded. "I agree but Drek doesn't want us harming the boy. Besides," He pulled out a pair of handcuffs, "Drek's already said if the boy proves to be a problem, all he has to do is wipe Derek's memory. Then good as new. That or kill him." He explained like it was normal to do. To this Drek, it probably was…after all, the original Drek had been thinking of doing something similar to Rilena to get her back.
Ratchet, Leon, the others and Rilena all clenched their teeth at that. He better not touch Derek! Once the cuffs were on Rilena, a collar was placed around her neck, a chain connected to it. The claw holding her retreated back and she was yanked forward before a hand was to her back, pushing her down and keeping her in a bowing position. "LET HER GO DAMMIT!" Leon shouted, anger coursing through him. He saw Rilena as a sister and seeing her being treated so roughly was pissing him off. He was surprised Ratchet hadn't done anything yet, though knowing how cautious the others were, they were probably keeping him still.
Ratchet almost saw red but the hand on his shoulder calmed him down, seeing Takeria was just as angry as he was but she was keeping herself composed. She had known Rilena longer than Ratchet, protected her, treated her as a sibling and was part of the makeshift family Rilena had made. She was considered an Aunt to the kids and was their godmother aside from Karla and the deceased Talwyn. Ratchet shook his head, remembering everything Rilena told him about what happened.
Talwyn, Grim, Felton, Nefarious...they were all dead. Grim and Felton passed due to old age, Talwyn had been in a ship when it exploded in trying to free Solana from Drek's hold and Nefarious had been executed from a live broadcast. How they all kept going, despite losing allies, excluding Nefarious...it was just shocking they still kept fighting. Suddenly, the doors opened and in walked Drek...Ratchet's eyes went wide as Clank stilled. He...he looked so different.
Half of Drek's face was now robotic, four pincer-like arms came from a device on his back and he now had some kind of mech-unit that acted as his legs, making him somewhat taller. It was almost like he was half robot, half Blarg. "Lord Drek!" A Blarg, Carlos, saluted and the other Blarg followed the action. Drek looked at them, before looking at Leon, then at Rilena and smirked. "Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite woman." Rilena hissed and Leon growled, kicking the bars only to give a yelp of pain as the bars shocked him. The electric shocks had jumped off his legs and up his body.
'Dammit!' Leon thought, looking to the boxes and shaking his head when Ratchet brought a gun up. He couldn't reveal himself yet! "Stay away from me you monster." Rilena hissed out, yet Drek frowned. "Oh Rilena my dear," He cooed and she blanched in disgust, "why must you hurt me so?" He mocked, eyes dark. "I gave you everything you wanted, I even gave you a son." She hissed, fur bristling under the coat she was wearing. "Derek is MY son. Not yours." She hissed out, blue eyes narrowed in anger. Drek scoffed, displeased with how disobedient Rilena was. Well, he'd fix that soon enough once she was back on his ship. "He's as smart as I am." Drek stated, yet Rilena rolled her eyes.
"Oh please, Derek is so much smarter than you." The Leopardis was not happy about how Drek outdid them, yet she knew Derek's intelligence far surpassed Drek's. It probably surpassed her's and Ratchet's as well. With all the experiments performed on Derek to have mentally advanced his age, he was incredibly smart in retaining everything he learned. "Which explains why I'm so much smarter than you. Can't believe I had to set up all of this just to catch you but, well…" Drek chuckled darkly, waving a hand about. "I guess it was worth it just to have you back where you rightfully belong." He commented and Rilena hissed, baring her small fangs at him. A pincer hand shot forth, gripping her face by the jaw and lifting her head up slightly, exposing her throat and making her almost choke at the positioning of her head. Leon was slowly losing his patience and almost said 'fuck it' and was going to signal Ratchet to shot. Rilena glaring at him made him silently curse and still though.
Did she have a plan?
Rilena shifted her feet a bit, slowly getting them under her but her shifting made Drek frown, bringing a hand back. His pincer had let her jaw go but her head snapped to the side as Drek backhanded her, face turning toward the crates. Ratchet almost lost it, eyes going wide but Brax placing a hand over his mouth and holding him tightly kept Ratchet still. Rilena groaned and shook her head, blue eyes looking at Drek as he kept his frown. "I don't like it when you struggle dear." He muttered and she chuckled darkly. "Really?" Rilena questioned with a dark, amused tone. "You never complained about that before, stating you enjoyed your prey fighting back." She hissed, fangs bared once more.
Drek scoffed, straightening his outfit once more as his pincer hand shot forth, gripping her jaw once more. "Not when they make me work in finding them." He muttered, before nodding to a Blarg who handed him a syringe that had a red liquid in it. "Now, this ought to help me keep you still, or at least, stop you from struggling. You remember this, right?" Eyes going wide, seeing what he held, she now began struggling in earnest. She knew what that would do! "Stop struggling Rilena!" Drek shouted, brown eyes wide in anger and annoyance. "No! Not that thing again!" She shouted, blue eyes wide with fear. That would do more than keep her still.
"You…ah!" A Blarg pushed down harder on her back, forcing Drek's pincer hand to let her go in order for his Blarg to keep her still. "You are…are not-ack!" Her hair was grabbed and yanked, forcing her head back and her collar was situated in order to reveal a small hole. A perfect spot for the syringe. "Are not…injecting me with…that again!" She shouted, trying to get the Blarg to let her go. She was not going to let herself slip into that mess again. Drek chuckled. "But it'll allow you to be more accepting of me, forcing you into heat." She hissed at Drek's words, fur bristling before she looked around.
She didn't want to, they could surprise him later…but she had no choice. She was not going to let that drug be forced into her system again. Looking at Leon, she gave a miniscule nod of her head. Leon looked at the others and nodded, fear in his own eyes; Rilena's reaction meant that syringe held nothing good. Letting go of Ratchet and Clank jumping on Ratchet's back as they grabbed their weapons; Ratchet jumped off the crates. "HEY DREK!" Eyes going wide at the unfamiliar voice, Drek spun around, eyes going wider at seeing Ratchet with Clank.
"EAT THIS!" Ratchet pointed the Devastator at him and let a rocket off. Drek brought a hand up to protect himself but it slammed Drek into the wall, making him shout in pain. The syringe though was grabbed by a Blarg as Drek dropped it and the Blarg stabbed it into her neck where it was needed. A scream tore from Rilena at the sudden pain and Ratchet's eyes went wide. "NO!" He shouted, shooting the Blarg with his blaster and rushing toward his wife, wrapping an arm around her waist. "We…we have…to go." Her voice was strained and her body was heating up and his eyes went wide.
Was this…the heat drug she told him about?
Menacing green eyes spun to land on Drek who was slowly getting his bearings, looking at him in shock. "You…you're alive?" He was beyond surprised that Ratchet was, in fact, alive. Had he been hiding all this time? He had expected Ratchet to be on the front lines like usual, like he had been back on Aurora fifteen years ago. He was surprised he was actually alive! Ratchet brought his blaster up, pointing it at Drek and growling harshly. "You touched my wife, you're going to die." Ratchet's voice held nothing but promise for a painful death when suddenly the building shook. "What?!" Everyone, Drek and Blarg included, shouted as it seemed like rockets hit the building.
Ratchet growled, they couldn't delay! Taking the collar off and breaking the cuffs, Ratchet hefted her up as her body began trembling. "Break Leon out!" Ratchet shouted, jumping over a Blarg and landed on Drek's head, slamming him to the ground and headed to the door. Qwark and Brax shot the bars to weaken them enough to break them and they yanked Leon out, before rushing to the door. "STOP THEM!" Drek ordered the Blarg that weren't too wounded. They began shooting at them all and Takeria growled, spinning with a frost grenade. "Hope this chills ya' to yer bones!" She shouted, throwing the frost grenade at them and it slammed off the wall, exploding and freezing those in the area, giving them enough time to escape out the door.
As they got a little ways away from the building a ship sped towards them and they cursed, seeing it was a Blargian ship flying low. However, it let off two more rockets to the building and let off a stream of fire at the entrance, before flying up to do a loop around. Takeria hummed, having a feeling that the pilot might have been Derek, the others thinking the same thought. They got to the ship and got in quickly, before taking off, watching the ship come back and let off two more rockets at the building, before heading their way.
They tensed but the screen on the dash flickered and it showed Derek, whose face was contorted into concern. "Are you all okay?" Derek asked over the communication, both ships activating their camouflage, yet the connection kept them close. "Yeah, thanks to your arrival." Elaris said with a sigh, looking over her shoulder at Rilena, in which Ratchet was trying to help her. Sweat beaded Rilena's forehead and she was flushed, snuggling closer to her husband and a whimper escaped her, sounding somewhat strangled.
Takeria glanced over her shoulder at them as well, sitting up front with Elaris, before looking at Derek on the screen. "Hey, Derek, does Drek have an antidote for some kinda heat drug he created?" She asked, thick country accent heavy with her concern and Derek blushed. "H-H-HEAT DRUG?!" He questioned, wondering what the hell they were talking about. It sounded familiar but he hadn't really known about it. Takeria's expression fell flat. "I'mma gonna take that as a no." She muttered, sighing in defeat. Derek hummed, trying to remember if he got any files about something related before sighing. "I can look into files when I get back to the Command ship. I'm just glad I was on time." Derek explained, flying to the sector's end and stopping, they turned their ship towards him.
"How did you know we were there?" Leon asked, walking closer to the dash to talk to Derek, Clank coming over as well. "When Drek called his ship to Barora, I knew something was up. He looked far too gleeful when I passed him in the hallway. He said something to the effect that your 'mommy will be back soon'. Tch." Derek scoffed, shaking his head. "That was a dead give-away that he had mom. I was not going to stand by and let Drek do what he wanted with mom!" Derek hissed, his own fur seeming to bristle in anger, before taking a deep breath to calm himself.
"Anyways, hurry back to base. Stay low for the next few days and avoid the three battleships nearby." Derek said and they nodded, before Derek cut the connection and headed back to the other side of the planet to return to the ship. Elaris turned the ship around and headed back to Veldin, going into warp drive to bypass the other ships. Sighing, Elaris turned to look over her shoulder again, seeing Ratchet was whispering to Rilena who snuggled her head against his neck, trembles wracking her body and teeth clenched to prevent any sounds from escaping her.
Elaris' eyes tightened in pain and concern, hoping Rilena would be alright. No one knew how this drug affected her, she had it once before but that was about ten years ago, almost eleven now. She didn't seem to have grown an immunity to it despite how much Drek used it on her back then. They got back to Veldin safely and headed towards Grim's garage, landing on the platform by the garage and the sides moved back from the middle, allowing the ship to lower into the base.
The top closed as the ship went underground, spinning a bit and allowing them to disembark on the platform. Once the ship stilled, Ratchet stood up, scooping Rilena into his arms and looked at Leon. "Can you watch the kids?" He asked, not wanting his kids to see their mom like this. Leon nodded, rushing on ahead to get the kids out of the house. "If you need anything Ratchet, call us." Takeria commented, taking in Rilena's condition.
Dear Zoni, what was that drug doing to her?!
Ratchet nodded and ran on ahead, the others watching in concern as he stepped onto the teleport platform, appearing outside his house. A perk of his ears told him that Leon had already gotten the kids and left. Thank Zoni, he was quick. Sighing in relief, he hurried inside and closed the door before locking it, when Rilena's teeth latched onto his jaw. Suppressing a groan and trying to keep a clear head, he hurried to their room and repositioned Rilena so he could lay her down when her legs wrapped around his waist and he jumped.
"R-Rilena!" He yelped as he lost his balance, toppling backward onto the bed. He felt his wife nuzzle his jaw, a breathy sigh escaping her and her body temperature was still rather high. However, Ratchet felt his own body respond to his wife being in a forced heat and he groaned softly, slapping a hand to his forehead. 'I hope I have the stamina to keep up.' He thought, flipping his wife over so she was underneath him. "Something tells me we're in for a long night." Ratchet mumbled, kissing his wife's neck.
Hopefully the drug didn't have any bad side effects.
**(One Hour Later, Research Center)**
Karla hummed as she took the empty syringe Clank gave her. The residue of the drug was still within, Karla only hoped it was enough to research and create an antidote for. "Hopefully I can work with this." She mumbled, turning it over a bit, mentally making notes about the smell and brightness of the red liquid. It had a pleasant smell but from what Elaris, Clank, Leon and the others told her, it was not pleasant to experience. Leopardis natural heat cycles weren't as intense and, from what Karla remembered, they weren't as painful.
Then again, being forced into heat would never be a pleasant experience.
Sadly, as a Lombax, Karla did not know what heat cycles were like. Lombaxes did not have heat cycles and Takeria, as well as Rilena spoke very little about what their heat cycles were like. Karla knew heat cycles began in May, but that was about it. Other than that, there was still too little information about Leopardis race and, with Aurora having been destroyed, all other information was most likely forever lost. Clark's death also destroyed any information that there might have been about the Leopardis race.
Sniffing the empty syringe again, she hummed, she could detect other traces of certain chemicals but she'd have to do tests on it to, first, see if she can replicate it, then test it on some animals. Walking over to her table, she looked around, glaring at Kyle as he seemed rather interested in what she was doing. She looked at Takeria, Elaris and Clank. "I'll begin work on trying to replicate the drug so I can test it on some animals here on Veldin, then see if I can create an antidote to it." Karla said before motioning Clank over and knelt to him. She hoped Clank wouldn't mind staying with her.
"Do you mind staying around? I'd prefer your presence here." She said softly, once more glancing at Kyle and Clank did as well, before nodding. "I do not mind staying." He said and watched as Kyle clenched his teeth in annoyance. It seemed the Lombax had planned something. "I'll stay as well." Takeria offered, smiling at Karla who smiled in return. "I need to head back to my office but I'll check in once in a while." Elaris said softly, making Karla, Clank and Takeria nod before the woman left.
Sighing, Karla stood up and Clank hopped up onto the table, even as Karla took a swab of some of the residue, placed it on the small glass panel and slid it into place. She adjusted the microscope as she looked into the residue, seeing if she recognized anything familiar before she used the other equipment to get a better reading. She recognized a little bit of what she saw but sighed, she would have to use the mass spectrometer to get a better reading.
It was going to be a long day.
Must I explain why the story is Rated M again? Sensitive theme people, I have the warning up and its just a precautionary measure so people understand. Rated T seems a little to...eh...weak I guess? Anyways, as we can see, Drek is actually somewhat of a genius. He found the PERFECT drug that would mkae Rilena more fertile. Granted she doesn't need it as we find some things out at the end...but we won't go into details... Yet. Drek is also a sick Blarg...he was going to force Rilena into being his wife, rewrite her memories and have her as an obedient woman by his side. Rilena ain't your typical wife...she's a fighter and a leader, it'll take a lot to bring her down.
Anyways, as we can see...they have the syringe and there's some residue on the sides of the red liquid that will allow Karla to examine it. Kyle is a little too curious for his own good and he wants to get his hands on it. Shall we wait and see what happens to next day?
Stay tuned!