Chapter 8
PING! PING! PING!
"We really need to leave, because that sound is not a good sound, trust me. Do tell me you have an escape plan, pseudo-king?" I started to shake as the adrenaline started to surge through me, but a hand on my shoulder restrained me from doing anything excessive.
"Calm down, soldier. The way you're acting makes me think you were never a part of the military if your fear controls your actions," whispers the Commander. The hand on my shoulder was warm, and I collected my thoughts so that I could formulate a plan that could ensure all of my female's safety.
"I am calm. It's not fear that I'm feeling but adrenaline, as in I'm hyper to move and destroy, but you are correct in thinking of a plan first," I took a deep breath in, and released it, and then started formulating a plan.
"I never, actually, said anything about a plan," mumbled the Commander.
"You implied it, sir." I smiled. "Now assist me in making sure we get out of this alive. FYI, my females are trained to follow orders – MY orders." I said as I glared at him to make sure he understood the statement.
"Good! That's good that you trained them to follow only your commands, because following multiple orders from many different voices will confuse the followers. So, what's the plan?" he praised her, for her excellent job on informing him of the trained females, but now they needed a plan to escape the headache coming their way.
I needed a plan, and the only thought going through my head was to run, but we didn't know the way, so I looked toward the pseudo-king to ask him if he knew the fastest way out, but he wasn't there. I looked around, but I didn't see them.
"They left as soon as they heard the pinging," stated the Commander.
"Damn! Do you know the way out?" I growled, then sighed as I asked for help.
"Well, I did wander these halls looking for you, especially when you ran out of the room like you were on fire or something. I MAY have seen an exit, but it may be blocked by whatever that sound is coming from," smirked the Commander.
"I DID NOT!" exclaimed the Female Leader.
"You did. Now, how is that plan coming along, Staff Sergeant?" questioned the Commander as his smirk grew at my exclamation, and I glared at his smirk.
The Leader looked over all of the facts before making a hasty decision that could make, or break the entire group. She looked at the still – fallen men who she found, she looked at the small group of females who would follow every order she gave without hesitation, she looked at the Commander who followed her from the Base, she looked at their current position in the hospital, she looked at possible escape routes, and she listened for the pinging noise that sounded closer than before. She looked at herself, just to see the battle damage, and noted that with the adrenaline still rushing through her body, she felt none of the pain that was sure to come after the adrenaline wears off. She has the makings of plan, but still a plan nonetheless.
"Alright, listen up! I have an idea, and I would like to know what you think before we rush with it," stated the Female Leader who wanted an honest opinion on her near-half-baked plan. "The plan is that whatever is out there is coming toward this position, and coming mildly fast, so I propose that we impersonate these fallen men, and stash the bodies in the mind-wipe room."
The Commander and the group of females looked at the Female Leader with an odd expression before looking the fallen soldiers. The Leader was getting antsy at their continued silence, but also from the pinging that seemed to stop but still make pinging noise.
The Commander spoke first and said, "That sounds like a pretty well-built plan except for two things. 1.) While there is a surplus of fallen men here and plenty of females; none of these females know the code of the military like we do, and 2.) You, yourself, is almost infamous. You are classified as a wanted criminal, everywhere, and should be caught dead or alive on sight."
The other females had, also stated that they were not sure of their acting skills to be able to hold this impersonation for too long. The Females Leader sighed as she realized that their flaws were accurate, but no one else was coming up with a better idea, so she believed that she is good.
"Ok. How about making you appear as rookie's who just got sent here as a part of the Commander's awaiting force, but you got ambushed by me, but I soon fell when the Commander came on the scene, and I was caught?" I re-iterated the plan.
"Rookies are not a bad idea as most everyone knows that newbies are almost like scared, Useless, females, because they fear making their Commander angry, so they stay quiet and obedient," said the Commander who was warming up to this plan. He, now, remembered why she make it to the rank of Commander, at least, before all of this mess started.
"So, are we good?" she questions the whole group, Commander included.
The group of females looked at their Leader, smirked, and said, "Yes, Leader".
The Commander was about as excited as the rest, and said, "So, shall we get started?"
The Female Leader nodded her head and they all got dressed in the fallen men's clothes, had stashed the bodies in the mind-wipe room, even going so far as to hook them up to the machine, and put me under arrest with a bag over my head to cover ears, my tail was wrapped around my waist under my shirt, and they made me wear my boots to cover my clawed feet, as the hand claws are retractable.
When everything was settled, the Commander gave explicit instructions to the impersonating female soldiers, then moved into position behind me and proceeded to march me out of the hall, and the soldiers followed at a fast, yet docile pace behind the Commander.
As the group moved toward the pinging sound, the Commander continued to march the group with precision toward the exit. When we turned the corner of the hallway that indicated where the exit was; we found out what that sound was coming from, and we, the Commander and I (even when I had a bag over my head – I could still see), were correct in our fear. The sound came from a small, ball-like, machine/drone that stood in front of the only exit out of the building (it was designed that way), and from the simulation we had with it in training , we had to state our intentions, and pass by scanning our I.D. cards.
"STATE YOUR INTENTIONS," stated the droid.
"Escorting the Female ex-soldier to the King for interrogation and possible execution," stated the Commander, and he scanned his and my cards.
"CONFIRMED INTENTIONS. WHO IS YOUR SUPPORT?" questioned the droid.
"This force that the hospital had loaned to me for just this mission. Confirm group 'G' for assistance to the Capital," re-stated to the droid from the Commander who had already walked past the droid and stood in the hallway near the exit.
"CONFIRMING IDENTIFICATION CARDS…SCANNING…SCAN COMPLETE. ALL, BUT 2 MAY PASS. THE FIRST AND LAST MEMBER MUST STAY, AND BE SCANNED AGAIN AS THEIR CARDS COULD NOT BE IDENTIFIED," stated the droid who stopped the first and last person from continuing forward.
The group moved past the droid without any argument, but the other two stayed behind to be re-scanned. Everyone held their breath in anticipation, and when the scan came back negative, their hearts stopped beating in fear, especially when the droid shot them with a dart that paralyzed them.
"Are we clear?" questioned the Commander who was making his emotions.
I knew that there would be casualties, and that is why I proposed the idea instead of ordering outright. I made sure that it was their decision, so that no one could blame me.
"CLEAR. ENJOY YOUR MISSION, COMMANDER," stated the droid as it alerted the police to the paralyzed victims.
"Indeed. Alright, you rookies, let's get this criminal to the King, so we can get that reward, and when I say 'we', I meant 'me'. Is that understood?" the Commander barked, which made the impersonating soldiers jump back into formation toward the first available vehicle that could house all of them.
As soon as the vehicle was obtained, and the criminal was bound to the center counsel area, and the group positioned in the back, did the females break down in tears at the loss of their comrades. The Commander was driving the vehicle with one hand, used his other hand to pet the bag that was still on top of the Female Leaders head, which he could feel hers ears were laid back.
"It's not your fault, you know," he murmured to the bowed Leader.
"I know, but it still hurts," whispered the Female Leader.
"I know, but the only thing you can do is to move forward with mission, so that you can return to your true unit."
"Yes. The King's Guard is my job, and my mission is to infiltrate the local bandits and to find their true commander who leads the whole rebellion," stated the still monotone Leader.
"Yes, that is correct, remember your mission, and everything should be right as rain," joked the Commander.
"Yeah, right as rain," sighed the hurting ex-soldier who befriended and recruited those two females first after exiting the compound.