Disclaimer: I don't own the original BMFM charas. However, Vikky and Jesse are my O.C.s.
I am so so so, sorry that this one took me so long. I'm trying to keep my muse alive when another story is barking at me. So, we left off on quite the ending last time. We got a glimpse of an old friend from Mars, and Throttle just did a BIIIIIG no-no. For those who are wondering, no, Vikky is nowhere near done with Throttle yet for what he did, as for Jesse, you'll soon find out. Enjoy!
Warning: Slight rewrite of 'Once upon a Mars.' Nothing real big, just so you guys know.
Chapter 8: War Stories
Back on Mars
Jesse was in the war room, planning their next move to aid the Mice against the Plutarkians. He knew about the voice called 'Deep Pocket,' and he had made it a point to all of his men that they were not to do any kind of business with the stink-fish puppet. Mars was their home, and he wasn't going to give it up without a fight. Looking at his map of Mars with his lieutenants, Jesse pointed out several essential cities that had been taken by the Plutarkians recently, including Brimstone. Reports had indicated that a female Freedom Fighter had been seen around the town just hours before the bombs had detonated. And she had been seen just outside the city when the skunk fish attacked. It wasn't so much the description of the rider herself, but the of the bike that scared him most. A dark blue, that was modeled after the Earth Ducati bike. Jesse knew only one mouse with that kind of hog.
'But she would never work for the Plutarkians, not without good reason.' The Halfling tried to convince himself. But still, it frightened him at the thought of her becoming a turncoat. Dismissing his lieutenants, Jesse just stood there staring at the map on the table.
Pulling the picture out of his vest pocket of him, the bros and Vikky as kids, his eyes locked onto her grease-covered smiling face. She always was a gifted bike jockey, even at eight years old. They were so accepting of him back then, back when every other mouse ran away from the half rat freak, and Vikky, she had this kind of 'tough love' thing about her. At first, he hated her for it; they were practically always biting each other's heads off over some kind of mechanic thing. One time it nearly came to blows, but thanks to Modo, he managed to keep the fiery mouse-et from slamming her fist into his face. He never really knew any other person that could calm Vikky like Modo could, it impressed even Vinnie.
'Where did you go Vikky, what happened to you?' Jesse asked the picture before slipping it back into his vest and leaving the war room.
Four weeks. Four weeks and still no word from or about Vikky. Vinnie had called Jesse a few times, but neither of them had seen tail nor hair of the younger van Wham. Jesse knew the rest of the Army had already done labeled Vikky as KIA, so they weren't looking. He wasn't sure what angered him the most, that the Plutarkians had killed someone close to him, or that the Army didn't give a damn.
Though, there was Throttle's girl, Carbine. At least she seemed to care.
Hitting the punching bag again, the Martian stood there for a moment and focused on his breathing. He couldn't afford to lose his cool right now. After the Freedom Fighters retook Brimstone, Deep Pocket had been hounding him and his men over the past month. Jesse had been adamant with his men, and he knew a majority were with him, but it was the minority that worried him. Some of his men had been whispering about taking D.P.'s offer; those whispers had been dealt with when either their comrades or Commander would deliver a mean right hook. Then there were the ones that had accepted but stayed smart and quiet about it.
Jesse let out a deep breath and delivered a nasty roundhouse kick to the punching bag that nearly broke the chain holding it up.
"Commander!" He heard one of his fighters scream as they rounded the corner to the training room. He was in a state of panic, and when he tried to speak, the rat merely stuttered.
"Calm down, Cory, what's going on?" Jesse said in a much calmer voice.
The rat took a deep breath, and in a rush, said, "The leaders of the Freedom Fighters have just been captured, ambushed, when they attacked the Plutarkian tug transporter."
Time stopped. Throttle. Modo. Vinnie and Stoker. Captured by the Plutarkians. No, that wasn't possible.
"Commander?" Cory called.
Jesse hadn't realized that his breathing had stopped, and his body was shaking beyond belief. So much so, that he had fallen to his knees as tears burned his eyes.
First, the stinking fish took Victoria away from them, from him. Now they decided that they were going to take the rest of his family too. No! He wouldn't allow this.
"Commander Ratte!" Cory had ran to the kneeling half breed intending to try and help. But Jesse would have none of it. When he heard the boots running towards him, his breath rushed back into his lungs, and he stood back to his full height, his eyes cold.
"When were they taken?"
3 hours later
"Intell says that Karbunkle has the bros and Stoker. Also that he has a machine that he intends to use on them, he calls it the 'Mind Bender Beam.' " One of the Lieutenants informed Jesse as the half breed donned his battle gear. Carbine had given him a call that she was going to get the bros, and intercepting Rimfire when he reached the castle.
"How many forces on the ground?"
"Too many for a frontal assault. But for a small group, to sneak in under their noses. It sounds like it would be suicide, but it could work." The rat lieutenant said somewhat tentatively.
Jesse never planned to blast his way into the base; he planned to blast his way out before Karbunkle could do anything to the bros. Walking out of the armory, Jesse whistles, and his chopper came to life.
"Ready to kick some Plutarkian tail, Merc?" The halfbreed asked the A.I. His reply was an almost threatening roar of the bike's engine. "Then let's go." Jesse practically growled before pealing out of H.Q.
He made it to the rendevous point only to find two abandoned bikes. Perhaps Carbine had brought another Freedom Fighter with her. But if that was so, why didn't she contact him? Something didn't feel right about this. Dismounting the halfbreed searched the area. Hearing some rocks tumbling, he went stock still. When no other sound came, Jesse slowly rounded the corner with his weapon drawn. A young mouse was what he found, a very prominent orange stripe going down the middle of his head fur.
"Rimfire?" that spooked the kid, and he nearly lost his balance if Jesse hadn't grabbed his arm and settled the youngster.
"Jesse?! What are you doing here?" The future Freedom Fighter asked, confused.
"Carbine called me and told me about the guys. Don't worry, Rimfire; we're getting everyone out." Rimfire stared up at him, and Jesse could see that past his anger and want to save his uncle, he was afraid. Ruffling up the mouse's hair broke the tension that was in the air. "Ok kid, its time for you,"
"Don't say it, Jesse, I'm not going anywhere until uncle Modo is out of there." The kid had spunk, Jesse would give him that.
"Alright, alright. Then let's get him out of there."
Everything after that happened in a blur. When Rimfire discovered Mace as the turncoat, Jesse just made it to see Carbine kick the rat into a stone wall knocking him unconscious. Jesse just stared at the rat, and a glacier just crashed into his stomach. It wasn't too long when the rat came to and met the blue eyes of the half breed.
"Well, if it ain't baby brother. Finally gonna accept my offer and get in on the take?" The rat dared to say to Jesse.
"You're not my brother," he growled and aimed his gun at Mace's chest. But before he could pull the trigger, he heard sand raiders heading his way. Making eye contact with his half brother, Jesse gave him an unspoken vow that they would meet again. Then he left. Jesse only just made it to his chopper when the explosions started from the castle, and the bros came riding out with Carbine and Rimfire.
"Nice job, kid." Mounting up Jesse headed back to base.
When he got there, though, his men were acting strangely. Cory approached him with a strange look in his eyes when he reached his Commander. "What's going on, Cory?"
"I wish I could tell you, sir. But," the rat just shook his head. An engine revved to life from behind the rest of the rats. That caught Jesse's attention, and his comrades moved out of his way when he came closer. The sight he saw, ultimately shattered him. Velocity was between the rat resistance and a bloody unconscious white mouse. But when she recognized Jesse, the A.I. beeped happily and let him pass. The Commander knelt next to the still figure, reaching for the mouse with shaking hands. His world was barely holding together as it was, he knew who it was, he just never prepared himself for what she must've gone threw when the Plutarkians were holding her. When his hands finally reached her and slowly rolled her so that he could see her face, that's when he broke. "Vikky!"
His breath was heavy, body trembling, and he was barely holding back his sobs while he sat outside the med center. The damage those Plutarkians had done wasn't as severe as it looked but all the same. Snow had lost a lot of blood. Her bike was currently deactivated so that the wrench jockeys could do a few repairs. Jesse's face was hidden in his hands when Cory finally approached him.
"Sir," the rat said timidly. He knew that his friend was hurting, but this was the first time he had ever seen him so broken.
"What is it, Cory?" The half breed's voice was barely above a whisper as he tried to keep his tears from falling and looking weak in front of his men. But it was too late for that. They had seen how desperate he had become when he noticed Victoria's face, how he had screamed for a medic, and was practically dragged from the room by five other rats before they docs could start their work. Not before he threatened to kill them all if she didn't survive, though.
"Are you alright?" The rat asked somewhat sheepishly.
"I'm fine. Great, my best friend has been found alive." Jesse said a little harsher than he meant it to be. But he was angry, and poor Cory had put himself on the receiving end. "O' wait no. She was broken and bloody, dozens of open wounds on her back, and passed out on the ground while her bike guarded her." The Commander pushed himself up from his chair as the fire in his eyes raged.
His hands clenched into fists, causing the rat to take a step back. "She is currently in surgery from the wounds, and she has lost so much blood that she may not survive!" Jesse was yelling now as his tail slashed threw the air as he took a few angry steps towards his comrade.
Cory was backing away with each step his Commander took and suddenly wished that he had just kept his mouth shut.
"On top of that, the main bastard responsible for all of this is my damn brother! So, you tell me, Cory, am I alright?!" Jesse growled dangerously.
"I'm sorry, Jesse, I didn't me-" Cory didn't get to finish his sentence when Jesse suddenly went still, the fire in his eyes dimming as he stared at the ground.
"No, Cory, I'm sorry, I'm not mad at you, and I shouldn't have snapped like that." The half breed said much more calmly as his rage receded. How could this be happening? Why did everything that could go wrong happen? His world was crumbling all around him, and the only mouse that would be able to put even a little of it back into place was fighting for her life in the next room. He had to keep it together, if not for him, then for his men, but if not for them, for Vikky.
Cory knew there was nothing that he could say that would help, so he left Jesse to his thoughts. But thinking was the very last thing the Commander needed to do. So he went to the training room, not even bothering with changing or getting his sparring gloves as he just started wailing on the punching bag in front of him. However, in his haste, Jesse hadn't noticed that his clan ring was still on till after a few rounds. Just a simple gold signet ring with an 'R' engraved on its face. The most important thing his father had ever given him.
He stared at the bit of jewelry, and a sick feeling settled in his stomach. 'Damn Mace. Damn him and all other traitors with him!' As the thoughts crossed his mind, Jesse ripped the ring off his finger and chucked it across the room, the echo of a soft *ding ding ding* as it bounced off the floor. In one final bout of anger, Jesse spun and slashed his half nacked tail across the punching bag, causing the sand within to start pouring out onto the mat.
"Commander," a fellow rat called into the training room where Jesse still stood a half-hour later.
"What?" His voice held nothing in it. No anger, no sadness. Nothing.
"The docs are finished. They say that she is going to make it, but she needs to sleep." The rat hesitated when he finished, wondering if he should tell his Commander the last bit of information.
"Spit it out, man, what else do you have for me?" The half breed practically ordered but didn't face the messenger for fear of him seeing the tear stains on his face.
"She is, she is calling for you. She's still asleep but, I think she knows where she is." that hit home for Jesse.
"Thank you, Dennis, you're dismissed." The rat walked off, and when Jesse was sure he was gone, he made a mad dash for the med bay.
