Normal POV, the next day.
"What's the plan now?" Irving asked the gang, as they sat in his quarters. Ferb, Buford, Django and Adyson all sat in thought about their next move. With the news of Isabella's and Phineas' torture spreading through the base, they knew that they had to act before their friends broke; or worse, killed.
"We bust them out and then blast our way out of here." Buford suggested.
"Yeah good plan Buford, and it's the best way to get us all killed." Django stated.
"In case you haven't noticed, Buford, we're outnumbered 20 to 1 in this base; we need to be smart and think this through. The prison section only has one way in or out. Now that Isabella is there, security is even tighter." Irving stated.
"What if we can get into the prison?" Adyson suggested.
"They're not going to let random soldiers into the prison section without a reason." Buford stated.
"No… but," Irving started.
"Irving?" Ferb questioned.
"I think I have an idea." Irving said, as he logged onto his computer.
"Well are you going to inform us?" Buford asked.
"Just a minute." Irving replied as he typed.
The group looked at each other, confused, before Irving exclaimed, "Found it!"
Irving looked towards the group and said, "I can change the duty roster so that you all will be assigned to guard the prison section. You can free Phineas, Katie and Isabella without worrying about someone seeing you, and raising the alarms."
"Great, but won't someone notice the change? Django asked.
"No. Since the roster is still incomplete nobody's seen it yet. The scheduler won't notice a few changes. I can have you all assigned to guard the prison section tonight; we'll make our move then." Irving answered.
"Okay, next problem. How do we get out of this place? It's not like they're going to let us walk out the front door with three high profile prisoners." Ferb pointed out.
"I'm not sure; we'll probably have to steal a vehicle. We'll discuss it later; right now I need to be at my post before I'm missed." Irving said as he got up.
"Yeah, we better get to our post as well." Django said as he and Buford stood up.
"We'll meet back here after our shifts." Ferb said.
"Wait, what about Isabella and Phineas? We have to do something." Adyson stated.
"Isabella and my brother are going to have to hold out just a little bit longer. Don't worry about them, they've got each other and they're both strong people." Ferb said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
Adyson nodded sadly, and exited the room; the team following close behind.
Ryan's POV, meeting room.
I sat in the meeting room awaiting the arrival of the team. I told them to get here ASAP for an emergency meeting. I paced around the table, thinking about what I had done.
My gut has been in a twist and I had nightmares all night. I can't get Isabella's screams out of my head as the Colonel tortured her or the image of Phineas as he was beaten. Somehow they didn't break; they're both tougher than they look, I'll give them that.
"You okay Ryan?" Betty asked as she entered.
"Yeah I'm fine just… disturbed." I answered as I continued to pace.
She came up to me, stopping my pacing, and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Me." I replied, "Why didn't I do anything? Why did I just stand there? Why… oh my god". I started to have a break down.
"Here, sit down before you hurt yourself." Betty said as she pulled over a chair for me to sit in.
I sat down; elbows on my knees and my hands covered my face as I began to sob. I could hear another chair being placed by mine as she sat down beside me.
"Ryan, you're not like him, as a matter of fact, you're better than he is." Betty said trying to reassure me.
"Yeah, I help him capture Katie and Phineas, stand in the room and do nothing as he tortures Isabella. I'm really better than he is." I said as I stared at the table and shook my head. I then looked towards her and said, "How many VTOLs have you sabotaged?"
"All of them, except mine and two others." She answered.
"Good, because I think we're going to have to move the schedule up and get the resistance prisoners out of here… tonight." I answered.
"Are you sure Ryan? We don't want to rush this, we have to be careful." She insisted.
"I've been careful for too long, time to make our move." I answered, as the others arrived.
I sealed the room and said, "All right people, I want an update on everything."
"I'm no closer to finding our mole than before, he gave me the slip. Good news is, I've got enough files downloaded to keep the resistance busy for a long time." Arron answered.
"I've got the vehicle depot, armory, and some other spots wired to blow. They should make some pretty fireworks. I've also stolen all the ammunition and weapons that I could." Eugene reported.
"I have all the medicine that I could steal and all the formulas written down." Avery said.
"All right then," I began, "I'm going to move up the schedule. It's time to make our move, and we're going to bust them out… tonight."
"Are you sure, Lieutenant? There's still so much to do." Eugene stated.
I know Sergeant, but I'm not going to allow the Colonel to torture Katie, Phineas, or Isabella another day. If any of them break; the resistance is done. Another reason why we need to make our move." I answered.
"So, what's the plan to get out of here then?" Arron asked.
"First we get all of the stuff we've stolen onto Betty's VTOL, then wait until everyone heads back to the barracks and turns in for the night. Arron, you're going to activate the building's lockdown procedure, so that doors and windows will be sealed. This way we'll only have to worry about the security inside the building when the show starts." I explained.
"What about the hanger doors? They'll be sealed when the lockdown is initiated." Betty stated.
"Nothing a few rockets won't take care of." I stated as I looked towards her. She nodded in return.
"Now all of you get some rest, we're going to have a long night. Avery I need you to grab your medical bag from your room and meet me at the prison entrance. Raymond did a number on Phineas and Isabella during their interrogation. You have your orders people. Dismissed." I said as I unsealed the room.
They all nodded and exited the room. I exited the room and headed towards the prison section.
Avery and I got through security and went to a solitary confinement cell; where Isabella and Phineas were moved shortly after Raymond grew tired of questioning them yesterday. Isabella was bruised and bloody; but remained defiant, I tried to convince Raymond to allow Phineas some medical treatment, but he replied, "It's a waste of supplies on a dead man."
I took a deep breath before unlocking the door and opening it. As I opened the door I saw Isabella, kneeling beside Phineas. He barely had his eyes open, as he stared at her. Isabella was saying something, but she was speaking in a faint whisper, I couldn't hear her clearly.
I gave Avery an uneasy look as we took a step forward, and she weakly spoke, without looking at us, "Do whatever you want to me… you can't break me. If you want him, you'll have to get through me."
"I will admit you two have taken more punishment than anyone I've ever met." I stated as I started to walk towards her.
Isabella got up, glaring at us, "Why are you here, who is she?"
I held my hands up, "Easy Isabella, Avery's a friend and can be trusted; I brought her along to help Phineas."
Avery reached into her bag and pulled out a tablet. She approached Phineas and knelt beside him, Isabella watched her carefully.
Avery pressed some buttons on the tablet and a green beam was projected from the corner of the device. Isabella grabbed Avery's wrist, "What are you doing?"
Avery looked towards her and said, "It's okay, I'm just scanning his body to find out the extent of his injuries, it'll help me treat him."
"Isabella, I promise you Avery will make him better, but you have to let her do her job, okay?" She nodded sadly as she sat against the far wall. I sat beside her and pulled some food and a bottle of water out of my pocket that I smuggled past security. I held it in front of her and said, "Here eat and drink some of this, you need your strength."
She grabbed the food and water out of my hands. "How is he?" She asked as she slowly began to eat.
The green beam shut off. Avery looked at the tablet and studied it, "He has a bad concussion, bruised ribs, a fractured nose, and that's the worst of it."
"Will he be all right?" Isabella asked.
"He's stronger than he looks, not many people come out of an interrogation with Raymond with such minor injuries." I said out loud.
"That's also because you intervened, it could have been worse." Avery said as she put away the tablet and searched her bag.
"I just stopped him for a day."
"Can I ask you a question?" Isabella asked me.
"Depends on the question." I replied as I looked towards her.
"Neither of you are like the other soldiers here, not to mention you're younger than them. Also you both actually… have a heart. How did you two end up here?" She inquired.
"I would rather not talk about it." Avery hurriedly said as she continued to dig in her bag.
Isabella looked towards me, "How about you?"
I looked away as I gave a small laugh, "I don't have a heart, I just know right from wrong, and it's because of the Colonel. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here."
"You're holding something back in that statement." She observed.
I looked away, "Yeah… you could say that."
"Why stay?" She asked.
"Like I said, I don't want to endanger my family, if I act out in any way; he'll kill them. But for others, it's fear of what he'll do to them." I then looked towards her and glared at her as I continued, "Don't make a promise you can't keep Isabella, when I help you… my family and my people's lives will be on the line." I replied.
"I honor my promises Ryan, and I always deliver. The resistance remembers its friends" She replied.
"And the army remembers its traitors." The Colonel's voice said, startling all of us. I quickly got up to see the Colonel and two armed guards standing at the door. Shit, I thought to myself as I thought of what to do.