Demise
Chapter Three
Mr. Moss and Hamish
Priorities

"Hamish! You ready boy? They'll be getting here soon."

"You sure they gonna be comin'?"

Mr. Moss looked over at the young man, who was fiddling with his hands nervously. "Oh, they'll be a comin', Hamish. I'm sure of it. You let out the track beasts like I asked?"

"Yes sir," Hamish replied quietly, not quite meeting Moss's gaze.

"Just stick close to me, boy." He turned to go. He needed to warm up Bessie for the coming invasion.

"Mr. Moss, sir! I..." Hamish blinked unsure of what he was trying to say.

The corners of Moss's mouth twitched in amusement. "Things'll be fine boy... You know, it's funny. Ain't nobody who ever tried breaking in to Zartacla before. Usually it's the other way around."

The young man chortled, although it sounded nervous and forced.

The warden turned away from him. "Come with me, son. You can help me get Bessie ready." He strode off through compound not bothering to see if he would follow; he knew he would. Sure enough, the sound of Hamish's boots clacking behind him was heard. Moss allowed himself a thing smile; some things never did change, did they? Staying silent, he made his way to the hangar bay. He patted Bessie affectionately while Hamish watched.

The two men were silent as Mr. Moss prepped Bessie for the invasion. Turning on the heli-blade, he smiled as the engine purred. Good ol' Bessie. She always came through for him, no matter what. It was the one thing he could trust above all else. His hand lingered on the scratches that Aerrow had inflicted for a moment. It gave him a reminder of what he was fighting for.

"When do you reckon that they'll be gettin' here?" Hamish's gaze lingered on the hand stroking the scratches for a few moments before flickering away to the rest of the prison guards preparing their own rides.

"Before supper, I reckon."

"That's not even an hour away!"

"Yep," Mr. Moss replied. "They'll be gettin' here soon... Now, I'm a trustin' you to guard the prisoners while I'm gone. The rest o' the guards will be out fightin'."

"You're leaving me here alone?" Hamish's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Please, Mr. Moss, sir! Take me with you! Don't leave me!"

Taking Hamish with him would be such a chore... The boy was well meaning, but always caused more harm then good... It would be best if he stayed behind in the prison... He stared into the boy's large fear filled eyes. He had never been in a real battle before... The only thing close was that mishap in the Wastelands. It was natural for him to be afraid, but he would just have to suck it up... Staring at Hamish for a few more moments, Moss sighed. "You ever fly before, son?"

Hamish nodded enthusiastically, his eyes filling with hope.

"Fine. You wouldn't do much good as a prison guard anyway." He removed his hat and wiped his brow. "Now you go and find yourself a ride, you hear?"

"Yes, sir Mr. Moss, sir!" the boy exclaimed, scrambling off to go find a ride.

"Hmph. You know, Bessie, sometimes I'm too nice for my own good," Moss commented, putting his hat back on. Taking a nearby rag, he knelt down and began polishing his beloved heli-blade. "Well, I s'pose it won't be so bad havin' him out there, so long as he doesn't get in my way."

A small rumble was felt throughout the prison, causing Moss to get to his feet. "They're here, boys. Let's go get 'em!" Getting onto Bessie, Moss roared out of the hangar, his men right behind him. "Now y'all best be leavin' now, Sky Knight scum!" he called out at the battleships that were preparing to fire. "We don't take kindly to strangers on Terra Zartacla!"

Instead of heeding his words, the ships began firing at them, a rainbow of shots raining down.

"Mr. Moss, what do we do?"

Moss glanced over to Hamish who was flying right next to him. He wasn't surprised to see him there although he didn't see him fly up. Somehow Hamish always managed to show up at his side; even when he didn't want them there. "We fire at them, you twit!" He eyed Hamish for a moment as the other guards began attacking the Sky Knights. His ride was rusty, and it was a miracle that it even got off the ground. "You ridin' that bucket of bolts?"

Hamish nodded again.

"Well maybe it'll be able to take a couple of shots aimed at Bessie," he reasoned, turning his attention to the battle. The bolts rained down, and Mr. Moss had a hard time just dodging them, never mind shooting back. He dodged left and right, twisting and turning before finally being able to snap a shot back. It bounced off the shield of one of the ships, doing no damage. He ground his teeth in frustration as he saw the rest of his men having similar results.

Deeming the Talons to be unimportant, the invaders turned their guns to begin bombarding the terra directly. Moss let out a cry of rage as he watched his beloved terra be damaged by the large amounts of shots. Trees were felled as the ships made sweeping runs on the ground below. He was startled as he heard an inhuman cry. At first he thought it was a track beast that got hit by the lasers but as he glanced around he noticed that someone that should have been next to him wasn't. "Hamish?" He scanned the surrounding area just to make sure before glancing back at him men. "You boys keep the attacking up... I'll be right back..."

Moss landed Bessie in a clearing that had never been there before. He stared around at the felled trees and the devastation the Sky Knights were causing to his terra. "Oh, they're gonna be payin' for this one!" He heard a loud moan, and his eyes were drawn to one felled tree. Lying on the ground with one leg under the tree was Hamish. "You alright, boy?" He made his way over to the tree.

Hamish just shook his head, a pained look in his eyes. Tears tacked their way down his face as he tried pushing the tree off of his leg.

"Hold still, boy," the warden ordered. Taking out his energy whip, he squinted and aimed carefully. Lashing out, he watched as the buzz saw flew out at the end and cut through the thick tree an foot away from where his leg was. Taking aim again, he repeated the process for the other side of the leg.

Just then, the ground began shaking as the bolts began making their way in Moss's direction. "Ah, shoot..." It took one glance to see that the bolts were going to hit Hamish, but even more alarming was the fact that they were coming Bessie's way as well. Bessie, his pride and joy, the one thing he valued in the world above anything else. "Sorry, boy. I've got to have my priorities after all..." Turning, Moss began sprinting towards his heli-blade. He was going to get there in time to save her, he could see that clearly.

"D-dad! Don't leave me, Dad!"

Just as he reached Bessie, Moss heard Hamish's cry. He turned his head to look at him. "I ain't your daddy, son."

Hamish let out a cry of pain, unable to stand it anymore. His was gaze fixed upon where he could see Mr. Moss mounting his heli-blade. Slowly, his vision began to fade as he felt the rumble of the lasers come closer.

Suddenly as his vision faded to black he felt a pressure gone from his leg. His vision returned to focus to see Mr. Moss throwing the log that had been on his leg aside. The flash of lasers suddenly became blinding, and Hamish suddenly felt the pain of being thrown aside. The rumbling faded away, and Hamish opened his eyes.

"You still alive, son?" Moss asked, pushing himself up from his position. It took the boy a moment to realize that the warden had been using his body as a shield to protect him.

"Yes Mr. Moss sir," he replied weakly.

Moss stared down at Hamish's leg. It had been shattered by the tree's impact. "That must've hurt..."

The boy just nodded, not having the will to say anything else.

"Guess you won't be walkin' then." Sighing, the warden stood up before picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder. Probably not the best way to carry someone with a shattered leg, but it would get the job done. He paused next to the chunk of molten metal that had been Bessie and took of his hat with his free hand, bowing his head in reverence. "She was a fine ride, that Bessie... You better appreciate this, you hear?" Without waiting for Hamish's reply, Moss continued on through the forest wanting to get to a more protected area before the lasers came back.

He came to a cave and half-place, half-dumped Hamish on the ground. Reaching into his pocket, Moss pulled out a green-blue crystal. "This'll kill the feelin' in your leg. It'll be weird, but better than the pain, I'll reckon." He held the crystal over the boy's leg and watched in satisfaction as the greenish blue glow emptied out of the crystal and into Hamish's leg. The pain trickled out of the boy's eyes, leaving only fear. "What are you afraid of, boy?"

"Are we gonna die?" Hamish's eyes held none of their usual dimness. Instead they glittered with tears and terror.

"We ain't gonna die," Moss replied. "I sacrificed my Bessie for you, so you're gonna live, you hear?"

"Yes sir..." He hugged his arms around himself and squeezed his eyes shut as the rumbling came back. He whimpered slightly.

"Shh... It'll be alright, boy." Moss put a hand on Hamish's shoulder, bothered by his shaking. "Just calm down... Stop shakin'."

"But I'm scared, Dad." He grabbed on to Moss's arm, clinging to it as if he were drowning.

"I ain't... Aw heck..." Mr. Moss gave up on trying to pry Hamish off and let his arm fall around the boy's shoulders. "Things'll be just fine. I promise."

Hamish whimpered as the rumbling grew closer and the ground began to shake. He pushed his head into the warden's chest as if hiding his face from view would make it all stop.

"Just calm down, son," Moss said quietly. Rubble began to rain down on them and he shifted his position to block the rocks from falling on Hamish. "We'll be out of this mess soon enough."

Sky Knights searching for survivors found them like that. Hamish clinging to Moss who was using his body to shield the boy from falling rubble. They mistook the pair as a father and son, and Mr. Moss found no need to correct them as he was lead a long with Hamish to the prisoner area.

A/N I quite like this one. :D Their accents were really annoying to write though.... I didn't want to overdo it, but at the same time I don't want to make it seem just stuck in there... I don't know, I just kind of saw Hamish as seeing Moss as a father figure... Although I do have this theory... Does anyone else think that Moss could quite possible be Hamish's real father?