Biker Mice From Mars - The Black Rebels

Shocked Doesn't Even Begin To Cover It

Mars - 25 years later...

Night had fallen over the outstretched deserts of Mars, the usual red sand now black in the absence of the warm sun.
The two moons tried to shine down their soothing and somewhat warm light, but clouds, although rare, worked against them, transforming the already insidious environment into an even more dangerous place.
The soft patter of tiny little feet announced the arrival of a skittish yet brave Desert Gerbil, a mousey creature that lived underground but came out at night to forage.
The nights on Mars were cold and dangerous, yes, but it was the daylight that held lethal things for this little animal, like the Red Hawk, for instance.
But with the sun gone, shadows were all the gerbil needed to propel itself in a relatively safe way and so here it was, moving its little nose through the sand in an attempt to find something edible.
At first sight, there didn't seem to be any threat to the small creature, but then its tiny little ears caught a sound and the animal froze in the middle of a movement with one paw up.
For a moment, it just stood there, listening to whatever it heard, but then, another sound was heard, louder this time.
It was enough to snap the gerbil out of its freeze mode and it practically flew away almost faster than the speed of light.
It eventually found shelter in a hole under one of the big rock formations and it disappeared out of sight for the rest of the night.

The sounds, although hardly audible for those without a highly developed hearing, came from a tan-furred Martian Cave Mouse that crawled through the cold sand on his stomach, all the way up to the same rock formation as the gerbil to seek shelter in the shadows.
When he reached it, the young male mouse pressed his back against one of the big stones, his breathing a bit heavier than usual after such effort.
But time wasn't on his side, and so, instead of taking a moment to catch his breath, he pushed a small button on the black and chrome helmet he was wearing to activate the radio.
"Okay, guys, we're getting close. Remember, stealth is everything", he spoke softly with his characteristic husky voice, which sounded even more hoarse now he was whispering.
After taking a deep breath, a feeble attempt to control his irregular breathing, he turned his upper body and peeked around the red stone.
His bright blue eyes quickly took in the surroundings, or more to the point — the number of guards that were patrolling up and around the building that was their target.
Despite the low temperatures that came with the Martian Night, sweat streamed down his back, soaking his fur and black sweater and he shivered as he made himself small again.
His long and furry fingers, partially covered in a brown, leather fingerless glove, carefully took the ray gun out of the holster that was strapped around his right leg.
"There are seven targets on the ground, five more on the walls and, as it goes without saying, all armed to the teeth", he informed his team via the radio, keeping his voice down to avoid someone might hear them.
That would be catastrophic, to say the least.

As instructed, his team didn't respond, still waiting for his orders as they were also hidden in the shadows of the many rock formations this planet owned.
After checking if the gun was loaded and ready to rumble, the tan-furred mouse let his gaze wander to his right and it eventually landed on a large, grey-furred mouse sitting close to him.
It was actually quite impressive how he managed to make himself small enough to stay hidden, considering that he was about the same size as the big red stones, but the mouse with tan fur and husky voice gave himself no time to think about it.
He was the leader, after all, and there was only one thing that mattered to him right now.
The mission.
They couldn't blow this one up.
There was simply too much at stake.
And so, as the plan already formed inside his head, the tan-furred mouse opened his mouth to give the first instructions, starting with the large grey mouse he was looking at right now.
"Modo, I want you to..."
But, much to his horror, he didn't come further.
A high-pitched voice split the heavens, soon accompanied by the sound of a heavy engine roaring as loudly as a lion on Earth.
"Aaaaaoooww! Never fear, Vinnie's here!"