Planet: Mars

Location: Quiet Grove

Charley felt terror seizing her heart as she raced across the plain. She was distantly aware of Stoker riding closely behind her, but her mind was focused on reaching Quiet Grove as quickly as possible.

This made no sense! The Plutarkians had already strip-mined this area of all of its resources, they had no reason for attacking now. Unless they were now attacking civilians for the trill of it. Charley shut her eyes against that horrific thought, before focusing on the road again.

"C'mon girl, we gotta go faster!" She implored Comet, who responded by speeding up on her own accord.

Having come from a different direction than when the bros had brought her, she relied on Comet to get her there. They were currently traveling through a deep valley, where the echoes of the roar of the engines did little to soothe her nerves.

Suddenly, she could hear screaming echoing through the valley, originating just ahead of them. Charley sucked in a breath just as she turned the corner, only to receive a gut punch at the sight before her. She came to an abrupt halt and her breathing turned shaky.

It was chaos.

There were bands of Sand Raiders laying waste to the area, along with several of the Plutarkian war machines. Some homes had already been reduced to rubble, most were engulfed in flames. Charley flinched as a Plutarkian launched a projectile at a cave, only for it to explode upon impact. Several Mice were attempting to flee the turmoil. Charley felt bile rise in her throat when a mouse fleeing the wreckage of his home was gunned down by a Sand Raider.

A harsh curse pulled her mind from the violence before her. She finally noticed Stoker had come to a halt beside her, and was now shouting orders through his comm.

"Freedom Fighters! We've got a Code Leaguer, I repeat, Code Leaguer! We got multiple foes on site! Civilians are taking mass casualties! We need immediate back-up!" Another explosion drew Charley's attention back to the field, along with more screams that echoed across the field. Charley turned wide eyes back to Stoker as he pulled his pistol out.

"Stoker, I gotta find Amelia!" her voice trembled from the fear coursing through her. Stoker spun to her, eyes wide before taking stock of the battlefield before them. After a moment, he nodded to himself before turning back to her.

"Go on ahead! I'll offer you some cover till the others get here." He gestured to her as he spoke. She nodded her assent, revving Comet's engine and gunning it across the field, Stoker close behind.

Two Sand Raiders spotted her entering the fray and turned their weapons on her. She pulled out her own pistol as she dodged their fire, taking out one of the Sand Raider's vehicles with two shots, leaving the dog with smoke and flames pouring from his engine. The second took a shot from behind her, taking out one of the wheels and send it veering off course. Charley glanced back to see Stoker following her, gun aimed at a new target. He soon veered to her left, taking on more enemies as she sped off in the direction of Amelia's home. She faced the road again in time to see a Plutarkian take aim at her. She gasped and pressed a button on Comet's console, launching her laser cannons. The Plutarkian fled his vehicle just as the lasers hit the target, destroying it. Charley looked back to see Stoker knock him upside the head with his pistol as he passed, knocking him to the ground.

A high pitched scream drew her attention to her left. A female mouse was guarding two children with her body, while holding a baby close to her chest as three Sand Raiders closed in on them. Her brows snapped together, her lips twisted in a sneer. Her grip on the handlebars tightened and she pulled a tight turn, skidding slightly as she raced towards them. She grabbed her whip from her side, unfurling it widely as she sped up. Activating the current she swung the whip, catching the nearest Raider around the neck. He dropped his weapon almost instantly reaching for the pain-inducing collar around his neck. Charley drove past and tugged hard, hauling the Raider into his comrade and knocking them both to the ground. By now the third had noticed what was happening, and had twisted to aim his rifle at her. Charley froze for a second as she stared down the barrel, when Comet pulled a donut which violently struck the Raider in the legs. Charley heard a crack, and the dog let out a scream as he went down. Barely sparing a glance to the downed adversary, she turned to the mother and her children who were staring at her with a mix of fear and gratitude.

"Run! Get somewhere safe!" She ordered. The mother nodded frantically, grabbing her younger kid's in one hand and running off. The older kid smiled gratefully through the tears before running off after her mother. Charley heaved a sigh of relief as the distance between them grew.

A forceful yank on her arm caused her to exclaim in pain, as one of the downed Raiders had grabbed her whip. He reached out, clamping her wrist and started twisting it behind her back. She quickly dropped her head before shoving it back, wincing as the back of her head made contact with his muzzle. As soon as his grip loosened, she forced an elbow into his gut, reaching for her pistol as he double-over and shooting him point blank.

Only when the body hit the ground did she realize what had happened. She had unintentionally aimed the gun at the Raider's chest, the shot having burned a hole straight through his chest. The stench of burnt flesh hit her nose seconds later. She felt bile rise in her throat and jumped off of Comet as she started retching, the sounds of the ongoing battle becoming a disjointed echo.

The bros had never let her help during their fights with Limburger's goons. They would always give an excuse, saying it was a macho mice's job, and she shouldn't have to worry. She wrote it off as them just being overall jerks. They certainly seemed to be having the time of their lives whenever they were off fighting goons, Vinnie in particular. They appeared to get a thrill from the violence…yet flinched at seeing a man being shot on TV.

They had said they hated the idea of someone dying…

They never said they did not KILL anyone…

Charley coughed and gasped as she fought to stay in the present. An outraged cry made her turn, seeing the Raider she had first taken down with her whip back on his feet. His fur was singed around his neck where the whip had made contact. His wrath-filled eyes were welled with tears as he turned to face her.

"You BITCH!" He took aim.

Suddenly his weapon was shot out of his hands, and a battle-cry echoed across the field.

"AAAWOOOOOO!" Charley spun to see Vinnie and Modo leading a squad of Freedom Fighters towards her, Vinnie in the lead. He passed by her and smashed his fist into the Raiders face as he passed. Modo came to a stop beside her, disabling his visor to show his face. His eyes were wide and filled with concern.

"Charley-ma'am, you alright?" He asked earnestly, grasping her shoulders when she started to tip forward. "Charley, talk to me." She gave a weak nod.

"I'm ok." She whispered, before swallowing the remaining bile in her mouth and repeating in a stronger voice. "I'm ok." She firmly avoided looking at the body.

She whistled for Comet to return to her and was in the process of mounting her when she realized.

"Where's Throttle?" Modo's face contorted in as if in physical pain and looked away.

"We…we drove past his place on the way…" He trailed off, but Charley could draw her own conclusions. Modo shook his head to clear it before turning to her. "Go…your family needs you now. The rest of us can handle this." With that he drove off to join his comrades.

Charley wasted no time in driving in the direction they had come from. She prayed to whichever gods were out there that it wasn't as bad as Modo had thought it was. That Amelia had gotten away like that mother and her children had. That she was fine, and alive, and safe.

It all came crashing down when she saw the cave.

Or rather, the site where the cave had once stood.

It was nothing but rubble now, smoke still rising from the burnt remains. Charley came to a halt as a devastated sob escaped her throat.

Oh God, no. No. Please, no. Anything but this. Throttle doesn't deserve this.

A rapid series of beeps along with a light flashing in her peripheral caught her attention and she turned to see Lady shakily trying to point her in a direction somewhere in the rubble. Where the living room had once been. She got up from Comet and rush forward in the direction Lady pointed, removing her helmet as she did so. She heard the sound of frightened muttering and the rattling of rocks hitting rocks.

Throttle was on his knees, his helmet and shades left on the rubble behind him where he had dropped them in his dread. There were tears streaming down his cheeks, and he was gritting his teeth as he clawed at the rubble, ignoring the blood that was starting to pool around his knuckles. His breathing was shallow as he swallowed the sobs, but a few still escaped. Throttle had always seemed larger than life.

He had never looked so small before.

"Ju-just hang on, Mom. It'll be ok. I-I'll get you out." His voice felt forced, stressed and overwrought, and Charley turned her gaze down with a growing dread. Her helmet dropped from her grasp at the sight.

Amelia lay trapped beneath what used to be the east wall of the living room, her legs and lower torso pinned beneath the rubble. Blood was pooling from the large wound in her upper torso where a piece of shrapnel had penetrated her. Her face was covered in small lacerations. The right side of her torso and her right arm was covered in what could be no less than third degree burns. Charley could hear her wheezing, her breathing far too shallow.

Throttle's head snapped up as the helmet crashed to the floor. His breathing turned shaky as he stared at her, fresh tears falling to the ground.

"Charley. Help me!" his voice broke. "Please!"

He was terrified.

She snapped out of it, stumbling towards her brother as they began to dig out their mother together. Charley tried to blink back tears as the sound of Amelia's rattling breathing hounded her, becoming worse by the minute. She ignored the fact that her knee was resting in the growing pool of warm, sticky blood. No sound left her or Throttle, other than grunts of exertion when moving a heavy bit of debris.

Soon enough, the only piece of rubble that remained was a large stone slab. Charley could see that they would not be able to lift it on their own and get Amelia clear at the same time. She fell to her knees and turned to face her brother, who had already started shoving his weight against it.

"It's too heavy, we can-"

"NO!" Charley startled at the vicious tone in the mouse's voice. He gasped as he paused for a moment before straining again. He cried out as his feet slipped across the floor, his root gone he caught hold of the rubble to break his fall. His breathing turned harsh as he geared up to try again.

"Throttle, stop, please!" Charley cried, afraid to see him destroy himself to save another. Throttle ignored her, seemingly intent of freeing their mother with sheer force of will alone. Charley felt tears run down her face. "Throttle! We can't move it!"

"Charley! Throttle!" A call from behind them made Charley turn. She could see Stoker leading the rest of the Fighters towards them, Modo and Vinnie beside him. She saw their eyes widen in distress when they saw them. Stoker was the first to rush over, moving to stand next to Throttle, who had still not given up on moving the slab.

"Modo, Vinnie, Lance get over here now! Scythe, call Harley and the medics! We need them!" He bellowed. The three mice he called for rushed forward, while Scythe began frantically calling on the comms. Stoker placed a hand on Throttle's shoulder, forcing the younger mouse to look at him. "Throttle, help Charley to pull her out once we lift it." Charley watched him hesitate for just a moment before he moved over to Amelia's right side, tenderly resting his hands under Amelia's back avoiding her burned skin. Charley shifted, grasping Amelia under her left arm with one hand while bracing her back with the other. She winced and murmured a soft apology when Amelia moaned in pain. Looking up, she saw Stoker, Vinnie, Modo and Lance each poised at a point of the slab.

"On three bros!" Stoker hollered. "One, two, three!" The mice all strained groaning with the effort of lifting the heavy load. It was slowly rising off of Amelia, and she cried out. "Pull her out, now!"

The two sibling began to pull her, trying hard to block out her scream of pain as they did so. Once she was clear of the slab, the four mice released it, letting it drop with a solid thud. Stoker recovered first, taking stock of Amelia's condition as he pulled off his vest and balled it up, handing it to Charley.

"Charley, use that to slow down the bleeding. Lance, go and find a working Raider vehicle, and bring it here. Modo, Vinnie, get a stretcher together move it!" Charley pressed the balled up article onto Amelia's wound, making her hiss in discomfort, Throttle murmured comforting words in her ear. She her hands began to shake when she felt the blood soak through within seconds. Stoker cursed as he looked down.

"Dammit, she's losing blood way too fast…Scythe, where are the goddamn medics?!"

"They're 5 minutes out, General!" Charley and Throttle shared an alarmed look.

That's too long...

"I's ok, ba'ies." The soft gurgle made them both look down. Amelia was gazing at them with a gentle smile, looking almost peaceful even as her breathing rattled more. She shakily lifted her hand, reaching out to them. Charley grasped it as Throttle leaned forward, resting a hand on his mother's cheek. His breathing was growing hitched as he looked down at his mother.

"Mom please…please don't go...we need you." he pleaded. Amelia had a rueful smile on her face as she shook her head.

"You do…don't need me any-more…You have…each other now." A tear fell down her face as she blinked, turning her gaze to Charley, gesturing weakly for her to lean forward. When she did so, she felt the warmth of a telepathic connection enter her mind, and heard a soft voice.

"I'm sorry, Charlene…I wish we had more time… Take care of Throttle. He's going to need you…now more than ever."

Charley sniffed and nodded as she pulled away, pressing a kiss to Amelia's forehead.

"I will. I promise." She whispered close to her ear, before pulling back. Throttle was shaking from head to toe as he too leaned forward, forming a connection with Amelia one last time. It only lasted a few seconds, all too soon Throttle was pulling back, trying to hold back the sobs. Amelia smiled at them, using the last of her strength to squeeze their hands.

"I love you both…so much…" Her breathing suddenly hitched, a choking gasp escaped…and then her breathing stopped.

Throttle's own stopped in shock and he shook his head.

"No, no, no. Mom, please, don't-don't go!" He cried, reaching out to cup her cheek. Her eyes remained lifeless. "Mom, Please!" Charley still held Amelia's now limp hand. Slowly, she turned it over, placing her two fingers on her wrist.

…no pulse.

She wept as she placed Amelia's hand down, turning to look at her brother, who was still trying in vain to speak to their mother. She turned tear-filled gaze towards their group. Lance and Scythe were both looking away, heads bowed. Modo had his eyes closed, but she could see the tears running down his cheeks. His hand was on Vinnie's shoulder, who was silently weeping for his friend's lose. Finally, she looked at Stoker. The man had a heartbroken expression on his face, and he turned away with broken sigh, placing his head in his hand. She turned back to her brother, standing and moving over to him. She placed a hand on his arm, pulling slightly to grab his attention. He turned his wild eyes towards her.

"Throttle….sh-she's gone…" She whimpered. Throttle stared at her, uncomprehending, before looking back at his mother. His breathing grew more and more shallow until he let out a gut wrenching howl to the heavens. The howl turned to sobs as he rocked in place. Charley reached out to him, and as if sensing her, he threw himself into her arms bawling into her shirt. She could do nothing but cradle her brother as he cried, the two of them lost in their grief.

*peeks from the closet*

I'm...sorry?

Please review?

*hides again*