The Commander's Lieutenant

Part 48

'Hey Taz! Stupid physicals- can't they just keep the results from the last one?' Up sat down next to Taz on the couch.

She smiled. 'It was different dan de others, Up. Dis mission must be pretty bad if de Admiral put dose questions...'

'You got 'em too, huh? Shit.' Up's head fell backwards, and he put his arm over the back of the couch.

'I didn't know what to put, before you ask, Taz. I didn't know what you'd say, but better safe than sorry. Right?' Up was hoping she wouldn't be mad at him- that was the one thing they had never talked about.

Taz smiled and leaned back onto Up, pulling his arm down over her shoulder. 'Like we promised.'

One week away from the mission, Taz was running around the room in a panic trying to shove things into her bag. Ten knives stuck into the ceiling, three stuck in the door, one had slipped and cut Taz's arm, and the rest were hidden throughout her bag and various pockets on her belt. She stopped freaking out for a single second and let her fingers brush the belt. Taz took a deep breath, and walked over to the door to pull the knives away. She heard footsteps and quickly ran to her bed, grabbing her zapper and aiming it at the door.

'Oh come on, Taz.' Up's hands dropped away from his face and he pushed her zapper down.

A knife fell from the roof, landing right in front of Up. He raised an eyebrow and looked up at the swaying knives, then reached up to grab them. 'Okay, you are freaking out. We're going to the gym.'

Taz jumped up and ran past him. 'Catch jou later, old man.'

Up's mouth dropped open, and he chased her down the hallway of their Starship to the gym. He didn't take it easy on her once, and she didn't even think about going easy on Up. It was getting close to 1AM, and they agreed on one more match.

Up's knee was pressed into Taz's stomach, and his hands were holding her wrists to the ground. She relaxed, then snapped back and rolled Up onto his back and put her foot on his chest. She held her arms up triumphantly and ran back to her room with Up on her heels.

She checked out her bruises and various cuts, admiring each one as yet another win. A few scars traced up and down her arms from their various missions, each one made her feel strong. Taz hardly felt pain anymore, and thanks to Up, she could put it onto someone else. Anytime she felt weak, Up let her use her anger to push herself. She hadn't felt that way in a long time.

'Christie, Squidgy, Johns, Theo and Rabbit.' Up rattled off the names on the list the next morning, and the five privates grimly sat in their seats. 'Alright, boys and girls- I'm Commander Up. This mission to Cronos has a Blue Warnin', and most of you may not survive. I sincerely apologise, but good luck and keep focused. Lieutenant Taz here will be takin' you for weapons and combat over the next week to prep you guys for anythin' that may come your way.'

The five Privates nodded, and Taz pointed to the door. 'Gym in five minutes. GO.'

They filed out, mumbling something about bad temper. 'You sure you can do this, Taz?'

She nodded and walked after them, stopping in the doorway. 'After dis, jou can ask again.'

Taz had tried to keep as far away from Up off-duty as possible during that week- she couldn't handle being close to him if she could possibly lose him. The last week had been full of nightmares, but she refused to tell Up about them. The night before the mission, Up was expecting Taz to have yet another nightmare. She had woken up screaming every night, and he knew it had to do with the mission. He gave up on asking, and tried a different approach.

'Taz, I just wanted to ask ya... watch the Karate Kid with me? For old time's sake?' Up handed her a coffee.

Two hours later, Taz was asleep on Up's lap. He switched the view-screen off, satisfied that Taz had good memories, just in case something happened.

Up's speech was better than any Taz had ever heard. He put the fire in them, and they needed it.

'All of you have it in ya to do this- and all ya gotta do is put up a fight. If you don't go out there and try, you can be sure as hell that Taz and I will be waitin' for you on the other side. The only other way to put it, if you don't go out there and die for somethin', I'll sure as hell kill ya for nothin'. DO I make myself CLEAR?'

The crew of Starship 15-A2 had trekked across miles of broken metal, destroyed over 1000 robots, and were only two miles from Metal Gear. Christie and Squidgy decided to stay just outside the entrance, a slanted piece of metal with hundreds of hanging shards, and Theo was staying in the vents to send messages from them down the line. Rabbit was the final call-point between Theo and Taz and Up, but Johns had to stay with the Starship. If a robot got a hold of their Starship, they were doomed.

'Rabbit! Robots about thirty klicks away- hurry it up down there!' Christie shouted into the vent.

Rabbit threw the message down to Theo, and he buzzed into Taz and Up. 'Guys! You got about five minutes before a horde hits. DESTROY THE DAMN PHASON DEPOSITS!'

Taz rolled her eyes and shouted angrily back into the vent, causing Theo to stumble and cover his ears. 'JOU DON'T TELL US WHAT TO DO. NOW GET JOUR ASS UP DERE AND FIGHT DEM OFF!'

'Got it.' Theo replied, racing back up the vents. Taz turned back to Up, and they pushed on. Finally, the deposits appeared right in front of them. The large orange boxes fizzed, firing sparks at Taz. She batted them away, and ran forward. Up started on one half, Taz working her way through the others. There were only five left, when there were large, repetitive thuds.

'TAZ! GET BEHIND THAT DAMN BARRICADE!' Up shouted over the noise.

'NO! I'M NOT LEAVING JOU, UP! DERE'S ONLY FOUR LEFT!' She screamed back.

Up gave in- she wasn't going anywhere. The heavy footsteps got closer, and the room rattled.

'MIERDA! DERE MUST BE THOUSANDS OF DOSE HIJO DE PUTAS!' Taz cried as four more deposits exploded.

'WHERE'S THE BACK-UP? Theo! RABBIT!' Up called out, but there was no response.

The robots fired a blast, and the heavy doors flew across the room. Large shards of metal scraped Taz's arm, but she didn't flinch. Up whirled her behind the barricade, and they turned their zappers up as far as they could.

'I'll take the deposit. Reckon ya can hold of those damn robots for a minute?' Up whispered into the comm.

'One minute? We both know jou'll take longer dan dat, Up.' Taz replied half-heartedly.

Up's head dropped, and he let out a single chuckle. 'Good luck, Taz.'

He put his hand quickly on her shoulder, and they spun out from behind the barricade to finish their mission. The deposit exploded, and Up heard a cry from behind him. Taz was surrounded by hundreds of robots, but they fell down in hunks and exploded, taking others with them.

'COME AND GET ME, JOU ESTÚPIDO ROBOTAS! SÍGUEME!' Taz cried, blasting apart another thirty.