Dragon of the Elements: Okay, well EarthDragon is on vacation with her b/f SkyDragon(yes, apparently muse-dragons can have boyfriends, even though I am single), so I have to do this chapter without her guidance. Anyways, in this chapter it has been 9 months since the last chapter, which means it has been a full year in my story. I want to hurry things up a bit, so this chapter is going to be longer, rather than having 2 or 3 more smaller ones. Sorry it took so long!



***Borness***

"Jason, hurry up, or we won't be able to make this run safely!"

"Coming, just a minute Mikelle. The speeder isn't going anywhere."

Jason turned back to his wife. Yeah, you read right. His wife. About a month after their first kiss in the alley, he and Alaya were married. The residents of Borness were glad she had finally settled down, even though they weren't totally sure of Jason. No two freedom fighters were happier together.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked anxiously.

"Jason, I'll be fine. You know this run is important. It will probably be the last good run we can make before the Pass closes up. And those people are counting on you."

He looked at her for a long moment, then nodded, "I should be back by tomorrow, I'll contact you if I can," and with that, he kissed her, then her round belly, checked to make sure his gun was in place, then turned and ran after Mikelle, who was waiting impatiently in front of one of the 4 speeders.

Alaya watched him go. It tore her to see him leave, but she knew the others relied on him to lead them on ths mission. And the run was important. They had learned that about 50 children were being held in a slave warehouse, similar to the one Jason had been rescued from and not too far from it. The children were being moved tomorrow, and they just couldn't leave them there.

She sighed, and turned away as the speeders roared off, kicking up dust. She had been doing those runs since she was 19. Heck, she even had led a few of them. But since getting pregnant, being a freedom fighter hadn't really worked.

Pregnant, she thought, who would have thought I'd be a mother? Certainly not me. But she was just over 7 months pregnant, and the Borness doctors had assured her that the baby was growing normally. Though she would have like to have gone with Jason...

***Meanwhile, on the speeder, heading to Riiocan***

Jason sat next to Mikelle, who was piloting the speeder. They followed the other three silently, winding carefully through the mountains, to avoid being caught.

Jason glanced at the 8 other members in the back of the speeder, resting his gaze on one in particular. She had come a few months before, tall, strongly built, with dark hair. There was something about her that Jason didn't trust. She caught him staring at her and smiled.

"So, Jason, why are you doing this exactly? I mean, you don't really, you know..."

"Remember anything?" he replied bluntly, turning back to Mikelle as he answered her question, "I'm doing this because of that, Mikelle. They took something from me, something more important than my freedom or even my rights. Because of them, I lost who and what I was, and I can't get it back. Other people should never have to go what I went through, no matter what planet I came from, with or without a memory. Why do you do it?"

Mikelle looked caught off-guard at his question, then took a deep breath and responded, "I do it because I can, and will. I was living in Riiocan, and I knew people were being taken for slaves, but I didn't do anything. I minded my own business, and was left alone. But then one of the freedom fighters came to talk to some of the people in my area, to, you know, get them to join the cause. The stories he told were so moving. People were and are out there suffering, and maybe, if I can save just one person, make one life better, then I've made a difference."

Jason nodded, accepting her answer without comment. He didn't notice the tall woman with dark hair listening and watching them intently.


***Three hours later, outside the warehouse in Riiocan***

Jason, Mikelle, and the eight other members waited for the signal, hidden behind another warehouse and some crates. They could see the warehouse that housed the children. Another group from one of the other speeders was in charge of taking out the Nietzchean guards, another in charge of watching the warehouse for Nietzchean back-up, the last for getting the children out of the warehouse. Jason's group, which Mikelle was the leader of, was in charge of getting the children on their speeder and leaving. The other groups would follow when they could.

Suddenly Mikelle's com-link crackled, "We're almost out. We have about 20 children for you, the rest are on their way, but they'll have to leave with the next speeder. Get ready."

"You heard 'em, people. They're going to be coming out, so when you see 'em, grab a couple children and get them on the speeder as fast as you can. Orange team will cover you. Move!"

At this, the freedom fighters, or team Purple, mobilized. As the first children came out of the building, they dashed up to it, grabbed a couple by the arm, and led them to the speeder.

"Sonya, guard the speeder!" Mikelle yelled distractedly, to the well-muscled dark woman. Jason thought he saw an evil grin pass across Sonya's face, but then it was gone.

He saw the next two children exit, and dashed towards them. But then something made him stop. It was the sight of Sonya jumping into the speeder and driving away before any of the children were on it.

Then he knew.

"Sonya's betrayed us!" he yelled at Mikelle, "She took the speeder, and now she's gone!!"

"What!?! That's impossible!" cried Mikelle. She turned and saw the empty space where the speeder had been.

"Fucking hell! I knew there was something wrong with that little bitch! Jason, get to another speeder and fire it up! If I'm right, she'll be going to tell the Nietzcheans so they can set a nice trap. We gotta get the hell outta here! Now!!"

Jason nodded wordlessly and ran to the speeder. He fired up the controls easily, instinct coming to him. For a moment he froze. How did I know what to do? I've never piloted one of these before, only seen Mikelle. And yet I knew...Oh god! What am I? Gotta focus!

He heard a thud and turned, but it was only the first of the freedom fighters loading the children on. They immediately got to the very back, making sure that the other children would have room.

Soon the 20 children were loaded on. The freedom fighters started to jump in what little room was left, but as they did gunfire erupted. One was killed instantly and another was wounded and dragged in by his fellow fighters.

"Crap!" yelled Mikelle as she jumped into the speeder and sat in he pilot's chair as Jason moved over, "Sonya told them where we were! This area was supposed to be clear, that's why we chose now to attack! Damn it!"

"Mikelle, calm down. That doesn't matter right now. We have to get the children out of here. That's all that matters!"

She took a deep breath, "Right, let's go."



The next hour was the most harrowing of Jason short-remembered life. Mikelle drove them through the mountains at break-neck speed, for they were being pursued by two Nietzchean speeder that were much newer and better equipped then theirs. She didn't bother with the secret route, only intent on getting back to Borness so the guards there could take out the speeders.

She was heading through a canyon, only a few miles from the village, when gunfire exploded from the sides of the rock cliffs. The speeder shuddered and buckled, and Mikelle swore so fiercely that Jason looked at her in surprise.

"She must have put a tracking device on us," said Jason, "and those speeders forced us into the canyon where the guns could pick us off."

Mikelle looked at the console and blanched visibly. "Jason...we're breaking up."

He looked at her, and the other rebels did, and they all understood. They were going to die. It was that simple. As a rebel, there was always this risk. But it had never seemed like a reality. Until now.

Mikelle took a deep breath, "Well, we might as well make as much damage as we can. Good job, everyone. See you in the afterlife."

And with that, she turned the speeder sideways and cut the speed. The two speeder behind them didn't have a chance. They were fast, but their speed worked against them. They couldn't stop in time. All three of them came together with a sickening crunch, then burst into flames.

***To be continued? I dunno...***

Dragon of the Elements: Have I got your attention? I believe this is known as a cliff-hanger. EarthDragon is still gone, so this chapter was done on my own. Actually, that isn't true. She sent me some advice via e-mail. Wonders of the Net. Anyways, please review guys. I need your reviews. And if anyone knows how I can turn off this 'signed reviews only', because I don't want it and would like to accept anonymous reviews too!

A/N: On the 5 or 6 Andromeda episodes I have seen, none of them have shown any planet vehicles. Do they have speeders? Like hell I know. It sounded good, and kind of Star Wars, though I don't own that either, so I used the idea. If you do know what they use, let me know. If not, don't hate me for it.

A/N: If you see a review by EarthDragon, that's me, in case you haven't figured it out by now. I'm usually too lazy to sign in. The next chapter...what am I saying? Jason's dead, right? Exploding into flames and all that, in case you didn't read the story. So will there be another chapter. Who knows?