Planet: Mars

Location: Galle Crater

Year: 1985 (by Earth Reckoning)

XXX

"Aagh! This is sooo boring! I wanna see some action!" Vinnie groaned as he lay back in the red sand. Charley rolled her eyes at the white Mouse's antics. It seemed he never changed as he got older. He was still the same loud mouth adrenaline junkie.

"Calm your jets, Vincent. You know how important these recon missions are." Throttle said from his position on his stomach next to Charley. They were both laying down against the hill, watching the Plutarkian camp through their binoculars. Modo and Vincent sat nearby, checking out the other surroundings.

"Yeah bro. It can't all be gunfights and glory. We need to stay ahead of the Plutarkians, and the only way we can do that is if we keep an eye on them every once and a while." Modo added as he watched his bro. Vinnie groaned.

"What are we doing here anyway? The Plutarkians already strip-mined this area weeks ago." Throttle groaned.

"That the point Vincent. If they strip-mined it weeks ago, why are they still here? That's why Stoker sent us out here, on a recon mission." He explained, slowly, showing just how annoyed he was by his younger bros antics.

"Ah man, I hate recon missions." Vinnie said as he slumped on the ground. Charley smiled as she looked back at him.

"Tell you what, kiddo, if you promise to be good and not go starting any firefights, I'll install the new laser cannon I've been working on on your bike." Vinnie ears perked up immediately and he raised his head to look at her.

"You promise?" he sounded so hopeful and desperate that Charley couldn't help but giggle.

"Only if you keep your end of the bargain." She said with a smile. Vinnie sprang up and sat cross-legged, back straight and hands on his knees.

"You got it, sweetheart." He said with the biggest smile. Throttle chuckled.

"Man, you sure know how to wrap him around your little finger, Charley." He said, still watching the camp. Charley bit her lip to stop herself from giving a cocky response back. She didn't want to give too much away, after all.

"Well, you know, it's not that hard to read him." She said softly. "Besides, I've been wanting to test them ou…" She trailed off as she spotted something to her left. Lifting her binoculars, she got a closer look. Sure enough, a group of Plutarkians appeared to be transporting what looked like a parts of a Tug-Transporter in five separate trailers. She sucked in a breath.

"Charley ma'am, you ok?" Throttle asked. It seemed he hadn't seen it. Charley shook her head.

"Yeah, it's nothing." She assured him, before turning to Modo. "Hey big guy, how about I take the night shift tonight?" Modo looked up, brow raised.

"You sure, Charley ma'am?" he asked, confused. She forced an easy smile on her face.

"I'll be fine big guy, you guys should get some rest." She added, hoping they wouldn't argue. Vinnie smiled.

"Hey, I'm sure she can handle the night shift, Modo. Besides, a mouse needs his beauty sleep." He added, striking a pose. Throttle and Modo sighed, but neither said anything. Charley bit back a relieved sigh. Now, all she had to do was wait for nightfall.

XXX

As soon as she heard the snores, Charley snuck from their hideout down towards the Plutarkian camp, armed with her tools and a laser gun. She had to be quick about this. Maybe, if she could sabotage the separate parts of the Tug-Transporter, she could buy the Freedom Fighters some time, not to mention the rest of Mars.

Jumping behind a Plutarkian backhoe, she waited until the two patrol guards passed her, before she rushed to the next one. She sat down, making herself as small as possible as she glanced past the leg of the backhoe. The parts were a few feet away now. All she had to do was rush across an open stretch with no cover, and she'd be home free. Checking left and right and seeing no other Plutarkians, she made a mad dash and dove next to the trailers, calming her breathing as she waited for any sign that she may have been spotted. When she heard nothing, she stood up and lifted the tarp, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the first part she had stumbled upon happened to be the control panel. She swung herself into the trailer, draped the tarp back over her, before digging for her pencil flashlight and switching it on. She held it in her mouth before grabbing her screwdriver and started removing the screws from the panel and quietly as she could. Once all the screws were lose, she lifted the panel to find a whole bunch of wires blinking at her. Grabbing her pliers, she started cutting through random wires, sometimes going as far as to re-connect them incorrectly just to add to the confusion. Once she was done, she gently replaced the panel and screwed it back in place. Putting away her tools, she turned her flashlight off, lifted the tarp and climbed back out, ready to move on to the next trailer when…

"Well, well, look what we have here…" the sound of guns cocking made her freeze. Shoot. "Looks like we have a stowaway. Or rather, an infestation." She didn't dare turn around. It sounded like the stink-fishes thought she was a mouse. She was wearing a helmet after all, and it was night. "Now, be a good little mouse, turn around and lift your hands up." She slowly started to obey, turning around to face the 12 Plutarkians surrounding her, before a shout sounded through the night.

"AAAAOOOOWWW!" she gasped as the bros suddenly dropped down in front of her, each of them knocking out one Plutarkian, before the other began to open fire. Charley ducked down to avoid a shot that flew over her head, and the guys ran back towards her, Throttle grabbing her arm as they ducked down behind the trailers.

"Charley, what the hell were you thinking?" Throttle sounded angry, really angry. The only time Charley could remember him sounding that mad was when they had discovered that the Road Ravens were responsible for the gas heists, and Vinnie and Modo were injured after the accident with the gas truck. Charley realized with a start that all of the progress she had made with the guys would probably go down the drain because of this.

"I'm sorry, I thought I could…" She was interrupted when a laser shot went over her head. Throttle growled.

"Never mind, we gotta get out of here." He whistled loudly. "Vincent, Modo, Duck & Dodge number 15!" he shouted. His bros nodded as they all whistled. The bikes roared to life and opened fire on the Plutarkians, who all scattered but continued firing at the bikes. The bros, including Charley, made a mad dash to the bikes, firing their own guns as they did so. Vinnie's tails wrapped around Charley's waist as he hoisted her onto the back of his bike. As soon as they were seated, they all spun around and drove away as fast as they could. Charley looked behind her as they continued to speed away through a ravine, and to her horror, it looked like the Plutarkians were pursuing them.

"We've got a tail guys!" She shouted. Vinnie growled.

"Not for long." he said as he pressed a button on his control panel, and two rockets appeared from the sides of his bike, firing back at the ravine walls, causing the walls to collapse and block to road. Charley breathed a sigh of relief, before Modo's voice cut through.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Miss Charley." She winced at the Big Guy's tone.

She royally screwed up this time.

XXX

Planet: Mars

Location:Freedom Fighter Headquarters

XXX

Stoker was glaring at all four of them, arms crossed over his chest. Charley and the bros were standing to attention in front of the General, all with their heads bowed. The rest of the Freedom Fighters were watching them, most of them murmuring. Charley bit her lip. This was not what she wanted. She spared a glance at Harley, who was standing off to the side, her facial expression a cross between worry and anger. Stoker growled.

"Now, would any of you be so kind to explain why your recon mission ended in a gunfight that you had to flee from?" his voice was soft, but charley could hear the fury dripping from it. She saw out the corner of her eye as the three bros winced. She had forgotten how much the bros looked up to Stoker, and here they were, being at the wrong end of their hero's ire, thanks to her. Well, she wasn't gonna let them get in trouble because of her. Throttle opened his mouth to answer, but Charley beat him to it.

"It was my fault, General." Her voice rang out across the mess all, and everyone fell silent. She could feel the bros watching her. "I wanted to get back at them. I thought I could try and infiltrate the camp, sabotage their machines and get out again before anyone noticed. I was wrong. If the bros hadn't jumped in when they had, I would've been captured, or worse." She finally lifted her head, looking Stoker dead in the eye. "The bros had nothing to do with this. It was all me. This was my fault." She finished, standing tall. Stoker glared at her, and opened his mouth, probably to scold her maybe even kick her out of the Freedom Fighters, when…

"No Stoke, it was my fault." Charley's eyes widened as Modo suddenly stepped forward. "I was supposed to be the lookout while Charley messed with their machines. If I had been paying better attention, none of this would've happened." He finished looking sheepishly, but Charley was staring at him her eyes wide.

"No Teach, this was on me." Charley turned around to stare at Vinnie as he stepped forward. "I was getting antsy and I was so desperate for a fire fight that when I saw the first few guards I immediately tried to take them out, which caused the other guards to notice us. If I hadn't, Charley would have been able to go through with her plan." He added, looking down at the ground, his tail twitching behind him.

"No, it was my fault." Charley sucked in a breath as Throttle stepped forward. "Charley told us about her plan before she left. I thought it was solid, so I didn't try to stop her. I should've known better. I'm sorry coach."

Charley couldn't believe her ears. What were they doing? She had been willing to take the fall for this, as she should have, but here they were taking the blame with her.

Stoker groaned suddenly, pinching his nose with his thumb and forefinger as he closed his eyes, shaking his head.

"You're saying that all four of you are partially to blame for the mission's failure?" he growled, and while the fury was still there, it was mostly replaced by frustration. Charley was frozen, but the bros all responded with a resounding yes. Stoker sighed, rubbing at his forehead before looking up at them. "Alright. All four of you are gonna take the next two weeks off. And once you get back, none of you will be going on any field missions for a week. Instead, you'll be handling the repairs to all the bikes and making sure that the equipment is all in working condition. Got it?" Numb, all Charley could do was nod along with the guys. Stoker sighed again. "Alright, the rest of you get back to work." And with that, everyone dispersed until just a few people remained. Charley felt a hand on her back gently guide her out of the room, and as soon as she saw the Bros bikes, she found her tongue again, wheeling around and facing the bros with a glare and her hands on her hips.

"What the heck was that?" she demanded. "Why did you guys go and do a thing like that? Now Stoker thinks you guys made some stupid mistakes!" She ended, but was shocked when the bros smiling at her.

"Well, we couldn't let you take the fall for us by yourself, Charley." Throttle said gently. Charley's arms dropped to her sides.

"But, I should've. You guys didn't know what I was planning on doing. You didn't have to lie to Stoker. This wasn't your fault." She added, wincing at how defeated she sounded.

"Nah, but it kinda was, Charley ma'am." Charley turned her eyes to Modo, who was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "See, when you said that you would be taking the night shift, we all suspected you were up to something. But, we wanted to see what you wanted to do." Vinnie nodded, kicking at the ground.

"Once you left camp, we followed you. We all acted as lookouts for you. What I told Stoker about me drawing their attention to you, was the truth. I saw these two guards standing off to the side, I thought I could take them out all quick and quiet like. I made more noise than I thought I would and when the other guards turned around, that was when you climbed out of the trailer." He looked up at her, a sorry expression on his face. "If it weren't for me, you would've gotten away with it. I'm sorry Charley." Charley just stared at him, unable to form any words. That's when Throttle stepped forward, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Charley, you had a pretty good plan in mind, but trying to go at it alone was stupid and reckless. We're a team, we're supposed to stick together." He smirked. "Besides, weren't you the one who said we shouldn't be reckless?" Charley couldn't help but giggle at the cheek in his voice.

"Yeah, alright, you guys have made your point." She declared, smiling. Throttle smiled, squeezing her shoulders then stepping back, sighing.

"Well, we might as well use the time we got to make a few house calls, huh bros?" He turned to the other two with a smile. They both smiled broadly.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to go visit Rimfire and Primer again." Modo said with a smile as he walked towards Lil'Hoss, grabbing his helmet. Vinnie chuckled.

"And my grandma's been calling me just about every second day, asking when I'm gonna visit. I guess now is as good a time as any." He did the same as his bro.

Charley just stood there watching them. They had never mentioned any other family to her back in her time. Other than Modo speaking so highly about his momma, and meeting Rimfire, she had never even considered the fact that the bros had other family waiting for them on Mars. She hoped that the only reason for that was because they had forgotten, and not because they had lost their families before she met them. She sighed and turned, planning on going back to her room, when Modo's voice stopped her.

"You coming, Charley ma'am?" She stopped, turning back towards the bros, who were all looking at her expectantly. She blinked.

"You…you want me to come with you?" she asked, flabbergasted. Throttle smiled.

"Hey, I just said we're a team, right? In our books, that makes you family. So it's only right that you get to meet everyone else." Modo and Vinnie nodded.

"Besides, what else are you gonna do for the next two weeks?" Vinnie asked smugly. Charley blinked again, then smiled and moved over to them, accepting the helmet Throttle gave her, before getting onto Sweetheart behind Vinnie. The bros smiled at her.

"So, who are we going to see first?" She asked, Modo smiled.

"Well, Throttle's home is the closest, so I guess we'll stop there first." Throttle chuckled.

"My mom will probably insist on us spending two or three days there, so just be prepared." Charley grinned back at him.

"I can't wait to meet her."