Heyyy...

It's me... the one who takes ages to write and upload new chapters...

Hopefully, you're still with me here...

Well, I already told some of you that I was going to update this story a week ago... so, sorry that it got this long for me to actually do it. Things get in the way...

But, I won't babble much longer, hopefully, you'll enjoy this newest chapter...It's longer than usual I think but that's just because you all deserve something extra for having to wait this long XD

So, enjoy!

Until next time (I swear I try to be quicker!)

-SpaceFlora

The Story of Rebellion and Hope

11.

Oh, man...Vinnie let out a small groan scrunching his nose, his eyes pressed closed tightly as he felt the headache creeping in. Last night surely must've been great since my head feels like its' been used as a pressure cooker...For mice who don't party, the monks sure know how to make their beer kick like dynamite...The young Fighter carefully blinked a couple of times, first seeing only dots of light before his eyes concentrated on the light blue ceiling he was currently looking at. What's up with the blue? Stoker decided to redecorate the Base or somethin'..? Oh, that's not it...My visor's down...Did I sleep my helmet on? I swear, my bros better not have drawn dicks on it after I passed out... Again...Vinnie rolled his eyes, already expecting the worst but before he could even move a muscle, he got this weird scent lingering into his nostrils and the alcoholic odor made his nose ticklish. The young Fighter raised his brow. That's weird. It smells way too hygienic in here...Gone is the smell of death and shit...hehe, that must mean the Fighters are not around...Wait, what?!

Vinnie startled now all alarms on and he was to jump up and start shooting everything that moved, a trick that usually worked on every occasion, but his attempt to do so was short-lived as he only made an awkward tug and pull-movement, like a shrimp in the fishing net. His helmet touched the floor again as he sighed, now feeling the ropes around his wrists and ankles. He was tied up. Great. Okay, so either my comrades are taking this joke a bit too far or then something fishy is going on... Vinnie looked around and the place seemed unfamiliar to him, everywhere he looked there were cardboard boxes and aluminum crates piled up high. He had his visor down but even then he could tell this tent-hut-whatever-place was ridiculously well-lit and that worked as another clue that he wasn't among his fellow mice anymore, since it never was that bright on Mars, not even indoors. They had a bit of recession going on and that meant energy savings as well...And anyway, the Cave Mice had been living in the caves for centuries, they could see pretty well in the dim-lit environments. So, to have this amount of light installed to your little hut was simply just pretentious, unnecessary, and vain.

So, all things considered, and much to Vinnie's growing dismay, the scale started to tip on the side of...

Oh, shit... I got captured? That's so uncool! That's like worse than being killed! He quickly glanced around the facilities he was currently in, trying to find out who were the ones who would be responsible for this...inconvenience... while the same time trying to ignore the thudding headache, starting from the roots of his antennae and from there the pain spikes spread all around his head. So, no, he most certainly wasn't having a good time right now and the perfect cure for his misery would be to let the ones responsible for this all, suffer even more. But what on Mars' had happened? He had only hazy memories that weren't giving any answers. Although next to answers he would very much like some painkillers...

But his not-too-fruitful thoughts were interrupted by a male voice that made him jump, figuratively speaking of course, as he was tied up and couldn't really move. But it wasn't for the fact that the voice was so sudden, it was because the said voice spoke in a language he had never heard spoken on Mars...

"Well, what d'ya know, Eve...This is in your field of expertise, anyway...Because that sure does look like a damn mouse to me!"

Hu? Vinnie tilted his head and noticed that in-between the boxes, there were a couple of cramped passageways going through, connecting all four corners of this tent, making it look like the center of the tent was a fortress made out of boxes. His eyes then stopped to a little nook, and in this little nook there was a table, and around that stood a bunch of small-eared, hairless creatures without tails. Vinnie's eyes grew bigger behind his closed visor. Humans!

Vinnie tried to free his hands and legs again while at the same time mentally kicking himself. I got captured by humans? C'mon, that's beyond humiliating...This will leave an ugly record on my otherwise flawless class A reputation...The young rebel tried to pull his arms again but the ropes only tightened around the wrists, making the skin feel sore. How on Deimos' name did these space tourists end up capturing me?! I'm the most badass Fighter the Universe has ever seen! I smell foul play! I demand a rematch! But the shouts were only echoing inside his own head since even he knew deep down that now it was a good time to practice that silence thing. Since it worked as an advantage that the Earthlings hadn't yet noticed him been awake. So, it was safe to say that silence bought him time. Ugh, what an ugly phrase!

Well, even better currency to his mind would be guns, and anyway, it wasn't time he was after, it was glory! Automatically his tail went to one of his holsters, ready to grab his gun and start the Vinnie-show, and he was always packing a lot of guns. Like, a lot lot. The number of weapons he usually had on was bordering senseless but hey, guns were sexy. Some might even call his appreciation of guns unhealthy but he would take unhealthy over normal and boring anytime. But this time his tail only brushed an empty holster. With a quick check around his body using his long appendage, Vinnie could confirm that the gun situation was actually not that good and his spirit deflated a little. They took my guns?! Sons of bitches! Now, that must be against some code! You can't just steal someone's weapons... Who does that?! Okay, so actually it made a lot of sense that these people had confiscated his weapons but still... Rude. No one touched his babies without permission, or without the consequences but his thoughts were interrupted by yet another voice.

"It's a god damn mouse..!" An older red-haired woman with glasses stated after a long silence while all the other Earthlings stayed quiet, clearly in some sort of a state of bewilderment, their eyes glued on something in front of their eyes. "...It's a god damn mouse..." Vinnie mockingly mouthed, his mood turned to less-happy as his beloved guns had been taken away from him and gods knew just how much he loved anything loud, dangerous, and lethal.

"It's a god damn mouse!" The red-headed woman repeated, her voice close to a shriek now.

Well, duh...Were you expecting little green men with big heads and those weird-ass black eyes? If that was the case then you should be pleasantly surprised to see these studly bodies! The young Fighter shook his head, not believing how some folks still could be this clueless about life on other planets. Talking about small circles... He tried to pull and wiggle his arms free yet again, trying to be as discreet as he could while at it but lucky for him the humans had other things on their minds and they didn't see him moving in the background. Vinnie sighed after many useless attempts to free himself by force and he gave the people a glance, now wondering what they were so focused on...And as he kept watching the humans from this ant-perspective he realized that there was something on that table in front of them to steal all the attention...or someone, to be more precise. And the scent of her entered his mind through the smell receptors before his eyes knew what his nose already knew. Harley!

"Sophia, calm down... We need to stay calm..." A lower male voice entered the conversation and Vinnie turned his eyes to study the dark-haired man that looked like he was middle-aged but still had an athletic body. His stern and chiseled face bore resemblance to many Hollywood-movie stars Vinnie had seen via the Earth's satellite TV channels the Martians were stealing and broadcasting around their own planet in lack of TV entertainment of their own. The white-furred male quickly scanned the faces of every human being in the room. What a weird bunch. This is the best the Earth has to offer? Call me not impressed. He counted nine in total, six males and three females. They hardly looked dangerous, and without hair, they looked sickly anyway like they had mange.

"Calm down? Calm down?! There is a giant alien, no sorry, two giant aliens inside our base! There is life on Mars! There's life out there...! And we...we are all alone here! The Command Centre is not answering! We're stranded!" The red-headed woman used her very reliable lungs, now feeling the panic creeping up again and Vinnie winced at this high-pitched voice. Damn, doll, I'm with Mr. Hollywood there, calm down...Man, some people are so overly-dramatic...

How did we even end up here?! Vinnie was baffled but then his eyes saw the deep blue space uniforms in one corner and the flashback hit him like a ton of bricks on top of a jet plane crashing from the sky. Oh...It all started to come back to him now. Oh, yeah...I wanted to take a closer look...He winced slightly. I'm pretty sure this is close enough... He felt a pang of guilt inside him as he watched how helplessly the female Fighter was lying there, tied up, still unconscious he presumed as he couldn't get any signals from her, he could feel and sense she was there in the same room with him but couldn't really connect with her. Damn, this surely won't win me any gold stars from Stoker, that's for sure...

Vinnie's tail wriggled in growing annoyance, this whole situation sucked. Big time...And then it hit his still very-much foggy mind and achy head: his tail! These amateurs hadn't tied his tail! Ha! Little did these adorably clueless people know that the tail worked nearly as a third arm for the Cave Mice. Vinnie's heart filled up with determination again as he began to untie the knots starting from his wrists that were tied behind his back. This was like 1-0-1 Freedom Fighters stuff... They were so good with locks and knots that after this whole war business was done the Fighters could consider careers in either robbery or S&M, Vinnie mused...

x

Meanwhile in the kitchen nook:

Zack shook his head, having heard enough.

" Damn it, Soph! Don't start freaking out now! We have to fight back, that's our only way to survive! What we need is to start collecting weapons! And I mean anything that can be used as a weapon! We will fight back!"

"I'm with Zack...We can't lose any time here...! We need to do something!" Charley nodded and felt a hand on her shoulder as Noah gently touched it.

"And we are. Zack, you already came up with it yourself, go gather all things that can be used as a weapon. Isaac and Dylan, you go and try to fix the line to the Command Centre, whatever happens, we need to have a way to communicate with the people back on Earth...Gather all the communication devices, too. Doc, you go and search all the essential medical stuff from the boxes... We don't know how much time we have here...Or what will happen. We have to be prepared even to leave our base and we will need all essentials with us. Lucas, take Sophia with you and gather as much food into one crate as you can, in case of an evacuation we don't have time to go through all of our stuff...We need to have the water tank ready to take with us, too. Charley, you go check that the sandtrack's batteries are charged. We need to be ready for anything. And I mean anything. And Eve..." Noah gave their biologist a look.

"...you've got work to do..." Their Captain pressed a small test tube on Evelyn's hand.

"Whatever happens, this is the greatest discovery of all mankind. And you're the only one that can open up the mystery of life."

Eve nodded and cleared her throat, feeling like there was something lodged in there. Maybe a waiting panic attack.

"Got it...Yeah, no pressure..."

As Eve turned to the ginger-furred alien again, Zack had already made the first round in search of items that could work as a weapon. He dropped the things on top of a food box in the kitchen nook, next to their main kitchen table that was at the moment reserved for the furry creature in an unresponsive state. The pilot gave the alien a glance as the tall blonde with her latex gloves on was hovering around it, now handling a syringe.

"...you're going to take a blood sample?" Zack asked carefully yet curiously.

"...well, it's like Noah said; if we die I can still be the first human to study an alien lifeform...Not really the best win-win scenarios out there but I'll take it..."

"We're not gonna die." Zack shook his head but his voice was soft, reassuring. He actually didn't even know why he was so sure, he just refused to give up hope, that's who he was. Because all the odds were really against them at the moment, so maybe someone had to be on their side and it might as well be him.

"...yeah, well, I'm a scientist, I believe in possibilities. And dying is in the realm of possibilities we're about to face. Not gonna sugarcoat it. Anyway "we're not gonna die" is technically not an option. We all die. Some point." Eve blabbered while trying to keep her own nerves intact, placing five small test tubes on a metal tray.

They heard a clang and quickly gave Sophia a look who was now standing in the pile of cutlery she had been meaning to pack but had dropped. Zack and Eve shared looks but the pilot lowered his voice, giving Eve a careful nudge.

"Don't talk about dying, it freaks people out!"

"Well, didn't mean to! Anyway, I was kinda...joking..." Eve hushed back and turned to the alien life-form again but raised her voice again.

"Sophia, pack food, we can't eat forks!"

The red-headed woman nodded back, turning around to continue her work in a sort of sleepwalk-state, searching and packing the food with Lucas, leaving the pile of cutlery on the floor.

"Anyway..." Zack pondered looking at the items he had gathered, most of them more or less useless if they ever were to fight an alien race that packed firearms.

"We might not need forks but knives we better keep handy...Noah!"

"Yeah?" Noah asked behind some big aluminum crates where he was gathering all the bullets he could find.

"I was thinking..."

"Hm?"

"That we have only two guns on this mission..."

"Yeah..."

"...but these aliens carried a lot..."

Noah nodded back, already knowing what the other man was suggesting.

"Good thinking, you should go through the weapons and try to learn how they work..."

x

Meanwhile, Vinnie had managed to untie the rope around his wrists and he glanced at the reddish bruises that had appeared on his skin, underneath the dirty white fur, to mark the humiliating fact that he had gotten caught, and been tied up like an ancient sacrificial desert pig. A frown appeared on his forehead before he clenched his teeth.

I swear if this will ever leak into the Martian tabloids I'll come down to hunt these people down!

He quickly looked around the tent but it seemed that everyone was either running around aimlessly or having their attention on Harley... He started to feel a little left out here, to be honest... And what's worse, this all felt way too easy, like stealing a three-wheel from a kid, and even that would have been more challenging since the kids on Mars usually carried knives and weren't afraid to use them...War taught many things. He rolled his eyes in boredom but made a quick and suave backward somersault to hide behind the boxes. He couldn't tell just how long he and Harley had been captives but something told him that Stoker must have sent a rescue team after them. Oh, shoot! I'd rather be dead than rescued!

Vinnie shook his head with an unsatisfied expression while sitting on the ground and starting to untie the rope around his ankles. This ain't fair! I finally get some action but I have to keep my mouth shut and play hide and seek?! When I'll retell this tale I'll be sure to add some sound effects...! And possibly a few bombs...Maybe even a couple of cheerleaders...

The more Vinnie was thinking about it, which wasn't that much in the end, the more strongly he felt that he was actually doing everybody a favor here! Weren't they meet up with the humans anyway at some point, so why not speed things up a bit, right? So, actually, he was the national hero!

Ah, freedom! He got his legs free. Time to whip tail! Hang on there, Harley-girl! Hero is on its' way! Now, let's see...Where did they hide my guns...? He peeked behind the boxes. I guess they keep them someplace safe and secure and locked up...Oh, no, nope, there they are... His eyes focused on the table across the room where all his and Harley's weapons were organized neatly beside one another. They barely fit the table. Sure, he didn't actually have a plan here but plans were overrated anyway. Heroes didn't need plans! They improvised! They were killing it because they were awesome! Because they were born to kick ass! But just as he was to rush (or more like tiptoe) behind the boxes to grab the guns, he noticed one of the male Earthlings suddenly appearing in his field of view, and after a careful look at the weapons on the table, he grabbed one of Vinnie's handguns. Was this guy suicidal?! Stop groping my babies with your filthy alien hands! I just cleaned them!

His agitated state of mind got startled as someone rushed past the boxes, and he had to take a quick step back in order to stay hidden but he stopped dead in his track as a scent entered his nose, a scent that for a second drowned all of his worries about guns and the whole sticky situation. The scent was enticing, really and it blurred Vinnie's already hazy mind, it even dulled the piercing headache. Well, hello there... His eyes followed the auburn-haired female and her determined steps towards the sleeping quarters, where she took a big toolbox underneath her bed and started to rummage through it. His look traveled on her body, starting from the soft-looking long hair that was tied into a quick ponytail, continuing her lean but still shapely figure, her back, her behind, her two long legs. Damn... Vinnie raised his eyebrow. Do these Earth chicks smell great or what...? What is that scent...? Well, whatever it is, to have that scent bottled up, it would be an instant hit on the black market!

He stayed there staring at the human female from the shadows of the boxes like some weird creep, probably knowing that himself but he didn't care, something had totally wrecked all his senses and curious as he ever was, he wanted to know more...

But his lingering thoughts were interrupted yet again by a sharp female voice.

"Wait..! Look!"

Vinnie froze every muscle on his body.

"It's...moving! See the tail?"

Vinnie slowly and carefully turned around to peek behind the boxes to see what these Earthlings were freaking out about now but the aliens weren't looking in his direction but Harley's... Yet again, the Fighters' hot ginger-furred mechanic stole all the starlight... Damn, girl, any room for me in the spotlight...? It's getting awfully lonely here...not to mention quiet...And I don't do quiet. Like, seriously. Hadn't anybody noticed that they missed one handsome Martian hunk? Apparently not. Well, his time was to come soon enough to tear this place up and do it VanWham style! He just needed a little patience... Ugh, something else he didn't do so well...

Eight astronauts had gathered into the kitchen nook again, around the table although they were now keeping their distance to it, even the blonde biologist had taken a few steps back suddenly afraid to touch the alien again, their eyes watching as the tail that belonged to the ginger-furred alien tremored lightly. The room fell quiet as the astronauts were looking at the alien who slowly started to move all its' limbs, well it tried to but it was tied up, a fact that somehow managed to pull the alien out of the haze and the mouse-alien opened its' eyes in a flash, saw the eight Earthlings staring at her around the table and after two seconds of complete silence of horror as these two alien species were staring into each others' eyes, the red-headed woman started to scream, so loud in fact that it startled the alien to scream back, and that caused the whole room to shift into chaos: the people running around, grabbing whatever items they had nearby to have as a weapon except Noah and Zack who already had their handguns ready and loaded, now pointing straight at the alien who had stopped the screaming while its' big blue eyes stared at the guns now directed to her, her breathing becoming more upbeat and visible under her camouflage tank top.

Vinnie could smell her rising panic.

Well, that's my cue! Vinnie got excited. Time to shine! Who needs gold stars, anyway? I am the Golden Star! Vinnie got himself all hyped up again, he was practically shaking with adrenaline, ready to explode, ready for the total out-of-control-mayhem!

From that moment, everything happened very fast. Vinnie jumped on top of the pile of boxes with ease, ran across the tent using the rows of boxes as a runway, his antennae brushing the tent ceiling before making an elaborate jump on the desk that held their weapons, grabbed two of his guns, and when the people could register what was happening behind their backs, as they turned around the white-furred alien was already pointing his guns at them, standing there on top of the desk in all of his 5'9 foot glory, his polished guns gleaming in this bright light, his tail flashing through the air like a whip, his blue visor mirroring their own petrified figures.

The previous hullabaloo and racket had turned into another deep silence as the eight astronauts all gathered into the kitchen nook could only hear their own rapid breathing. Their horrified looks were glued to the white-furred Martian, in red camouflage and a bandana around his neck, his demeanor not mimicking their own terror but radiating total control, his gunhands steady, only the tip of his tail slowly moving, like a coiling snake next to his combat boots.

But the humans remembered the still tied-up alien as well and they quickly darted their eyes back and forth between these two big hairy creatures. The Captain was pointing his gun in Vinnie's direction while Zack had his weapon directed to the female alien who was still lying there on the table.

Harley was also staring at Vinnie but not in horror like the others, her look was more baffled and filled with disbelief since she didn't have a clue what he was up to and it didn't ease her worries to know that this daredevil, no matter how hot he looked right now standing there with his guns withdrawn, oozing machismo, most likely didn't have a plan...Harley had to suddenly squint her big blue eyes as the light solution inside the tent was just incredibly bright. What on Mars? Like, energy-savings, hello?

It had only taken a mere second but Vinnie had gotten the attention he had craved for. He snickered behind his blue visor as he enjoyed looking at these dumbfounded and horrified expressions and wasn't the least bit troubled for the fact that the man who he had presumed to be the boss man, was now pointing at him with his gun. It's time to save the day and do it with style! Let's roll up the curtain and start the show...!

"It's okay...We mean no harm..." The Captain suddenly stated in a very calm voice and it made Vinnie stop with whatever he was about to do, he usually was the last to know himself, and he only stared back at the man who was now trying to show with his hands that Vinnie shouldn't make any sudden movements but that he wasn't going to either. The man still had his gun pointing in the young rebel's direction though, steady. Er...What?

"What are you doing?! Shoot it!" The red-headed woman shouted behind everyone's backs, visibly shaking in horror. She honestly didn't know how much her heart would take anymore. Maybe she was already dead? Maybe she had ended up in some sort of weird limbo...

"...We need to let them know that we come in peace...We don't want it to feel threatened..." The Captain was still speaking slowly and all this time having his two brown attentive eyes on Vinnie who was now quite bummed to be honest, for it was he who wanted to have the awesome opening line here... Well, clearly that spaceship had exploded on the launch pad... His tail swooshed in disappointment. The white-furred alien changed his look on Harley who was clearly trying to mime something to him while still lying there on her back but keeping her head up. Vinnie squinted his eyes trying to make sense of whatever the female Fighter wanted to communicate with him but was distracted by another voice, belonging to one of those tall long-hairs that looked like they had accidentally hopped into the spaceship thinking it was a bus to an 80's thrash metal gig.

"But it can't understand you, Captain...! They don't speak our language!" The longhair said.

"Maybe they don't even communicate with words! Maybe they use ultrasound like bats!" The other longhair nodded, wanting to support his "twin's" remark.

Vinnie rolled his eyes but darted them back on Harley who clearly had something to say to him and he could feel her occupying his mind, sending him some vibes using telepathy but as Vinnie was not a mouse who was too good at sharing his attention on multiple places the same time he decided that enough was enough and that this was his time to shine, his triumph, his victorious tale to be told years to come! Telepathy was a great thing but only if one had the ability to focus to actually use it...So, in much to Harley's disappointment but maybe not that much to her surprise, Vinnie didn't respond to her telepathic signals but instead, he gathered his enthusiasm again, and with a push of a button, he opened up his visor, flashed a mischievous grin, squinting his eyes at the Captain, who still pointed the gun at him but there was a falter as the man saw Vinnie's face the first time.

"Go ahead. Make my day." Vinnie growled and loaded his own guns with a clicking sound as the whole tent fell quiet again. Even Harley had dropped her jaw, for whatever reason or maybe for many reasons... One of the reasons might be that she wanted to kick herself for actually drooling right now, honestly, her thing with bad boys was going to kill her someday...

But Vinnie himself felt elated as clearly this awesome line had caught everyone off guard and they looked like they didn't know what had hit them. Slowly the humans started to give each other doubtful yet scared looks.

"D-did I hallucinate...?"

"Did it just speak... English?"

"...Was that a quote from Dirty Harry?"

Vinnie couldn't feel more alive, he was practically shaking with adrenaline and triumphant feeling! See, who needed plans? Plans are for suckers! He hopped off the table and his black combat boots made a thump while landing on the tent floor, an act that made all the Earthlings take a hasty step back. He slowly took a couple of steps forward again, feeling in charge here as with every inch he got closer the faces of these blue planet citizens got more frightened, paler...He could smell the fear...He snickered lightly still pointing his guns at these eight astronauts... Wait a minute...Eight astronauts? Wasn't there...nine?

Vinnie stopped chuckling as he froze the second he felt something stick to his back. A barrel of a gun. Oh, man...

"Don't move! Or I'll shoot!" He heard a trembling voice of a female behind his back. A soft voice that still had a delightful raw edge to it, belonging to the same female who had caught his attention earlier with her enticing scent and it was safe to say she had grabbed his attention yet again... Vinnie cleared his throat and his eyes met Harley's beautiful blue eyes. Vinnie frowned, did she just roll her eyes? Another quick poke to his back made him slowly raise his arms and drop the guns on the tent floor where they landed with a soft thud. I will surely skip this incident from my heroic memoirs...

x

x

"Living on the road my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
And now you wear your skin like iron
And your breath as hard as kerosene..."

Modo was singing a laidback country tune while trying to keep the sleep off his mind but the eyelids felt heavier by the minute. It had been too long since the last sip of the unpleasantly muddy-flavored but stimulative-rich tea that had been the only thing keeping him awake the past weeks and now the effect started to wear out...He needed to do something to keep his eyes open, it just happened that singing did, in fact, do just that but he would have sung, either way, sleepy or not since that was one of the best ways to spend your time on the road in his humble opinion.

"...Weren't your mama's only boy
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams..."

Unfortunately, not everyone present was thinking that singing was the best way to spend these hours on the road. Throttle sighed as his traveling companion had pulled yet another song from what seemed to be a bottomless treasure chest of tunes he knew by heart... A lot could be said about Modo but he had a great memory that allowed him to, on top of songs, recite whole scenes from movies and TV shows, and above all, he seemed to remember every word his Mommah had ever uttered, making him drop those golden yet sometimes obscure lines every so often, cherishing them like they were coming straight from the Gods. Throttle wondered how his bro had not bothered to learn more useful stuff, or maybe he just had a highly selective memory, and it looked like his heart was doing the selecting. Anyway, the singing would have not been so bad, if the singer would ever stay in key but that, unfortunately, was not the case.

"Hey, Big Fella'...Maybe something more upbeat, hu...?" Throttle suggested as the tune would've lulled him into sleep if not the off-key singing, and anyway he would not have cared for yet another song about outlaws ending up dead...A little too close to home...

"...yeah, yeah..." Modo yawned into his fist the second he stopped singing.

"Or maybe, lay off completely...?" Throttle muttered under his breath.

"Well, if you ain't diggin' the tunes..."

"I would if you'd ever stay in one..."

"Harsh..."

"That's life, bro..."

"Yeah, well, maybe life could keep its' mouth shut if its' only whinin' when someone is trying to make this damn trip more pleasant..."

Throttle started to chuckle at this dry comment back while giving his bro a quick look and Modo shook his head but snorted tired laughter as well. They'd known each other too long to let some snarly comeback lines hurt their feelings. Many years ago there had been times when they had been fighting over a toy or the other one had said something to upset the other one, so they'd ended up punching each other while rolling on the dusty sand, getting their bare knees and calves scraped by the hard ground but it was safe to say those days were gone. Now instead of innocent games, they got their scars from the battlefields.

Their bikes' radios started to beep. Throttle pushed the button to answer.

"Hey...Stoker. How's the situation there?"

"Victorious, comrade!"

"You won? I mean, we won?"

"Yup. Was that a surprise?"

"No... Well, you know... You can't really predict the..."

"So, what's the situation there?" Stoker didn't bother to hear any small talk coming from his protege and Throttle pressed his mouth shut into a tight line, giving Modo a look who only shook his head, chuckling.

"Okay, straight to the point, gotcha'... Well, I think it won't take us too long to reach the humans' basecamp..."

"Was it easy to find the road there?"

Throttle was looking at the tracks on the sand, going between his and Modo's bikes.

"Like following the breadcrumbs..." His husky voice replied.

"Good, I assume you'll notice me as soon as you find the place and hopefully our two missing comrades?"

"Will do."

There was a small silence but Stoker cleared his throat, like remembering something.

"Oh...and since the Plutarkians along with their little sidekicks suffered great losses... I decided that some of the men could visit the Camp..."

Throttle nodded silently and turned to give his bro a careful look, noticing how Modo tensed up, now completely awake.

"Ya mean, they got to go home?" He asked with his baritone voice.

"Yeah, just for a week, I think the frontiers will be silent for a while... while the enemy will be licking their wounds..."

"What about us?" Modo asked and Throttle could feel his heart sink a little. He knew how desperately Modo wanted to go meet his family again. After all, it had been already many months since their last visit, and for a family-oriented man such as Modo, it felt like years if not decades.

"What about you?" Stoker only replied with a toneless voice and Throttle sighed. Subtle.

"Do we get to go visit the Camp?" Modo's voice had a hint of hope in it.

"Obviously you've got more urgent matters at hand there, bros..." Stoker answered but hastily added.

"Sorry."

Modo shook his head and turned his attention back to the road and the sceneries around them. Throttle observed him awhile, the Big Fella' was pissed, he could tell. But it wasn't in Modo's nature to shout profanities at their Commander to ease his own hurt. Throttle sighed.

"We'll contact you as soon as we find them."

"Copy that. Ride free."

"Yeah..." Throttle worded and gave his bro a careful look after the call from Stoker ended.

"Don't worry... You'll see them soon enough." Throttle knew the words were clumsy and lame but he felt a need to say something. If for no other reason but to get his bro's thoughts back on track, they still had a mission. They had to stay alert and distracting thoughts were dangerous in their line of business.

Modo gave him a look back but Throttle was already focusing his eyes back on the road ahead of them. The big grey-furred Fighter studied his friend for a few seconds before opening his mouth.

"For some reason, Ah don't get the feeling like you're counting the days to get back to the Camp..." Even if trying to hide it, Modo's voice had a hint of judgment in it, or maybe it was disbelief that someone didn't feel the same burning desire to get to the Camp. Anyway, it wasn't even a question, it was a statement. Throttle let out a little annoyed sigh. They've been here before.

"There's nothing for me."

Throttle could hear Modo sigh through the radio. With their speed, if they were to communicate they had to use the radios. Throttle waited for a response from his bro but seemingly Modo had laid off the conversation, probably knowing that it would not lead anywhere and also knowing that he might not take the conversation too well either while being in this mood.

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The lyrics belong to Townes VanZandt

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I try to update more regularly from now on,

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Peace!