Bionica: Origins

Chapter Three

We sit in the med room, back where we began. We're all stocked up on weapons and first-aid supplies, so now we've turned it over to Eclipse.

"Thank you," she says, and sits on the examination table. "Now, Glitch tells me the Motors will be here, judging by their current speed and the strength of the teams before us, in about half an hour. This gives me just enough time to explain the plan and for us to get in position, so there's no time to waste. As for positions, I'm pairing you up in teams of two- one person scouts, one person takes out the Motors. I'll be with Glitch. Crescent, go with Sprocket. Siren, be Ratchet's partner." At this they exchange a look of pity before Ratchet props his elbow up on Siren's shoulder, giving her the smolder. Eclipse looks at me. "Gayge, you've trained for this. I figured you'd be fine on your own." I nod. "Now, judging from the current response teams out there, there should be about ten of them here when we get there. That means each team needs to go after two of them. Ratchet and Siren, go ahead and take out three of them, seeing as you've got your little friend." When Eclipse says this, he holds up his rocket launcher and smiles at her. "You too, Gayge.That accounts for all ten of them. Now, Glitch and I are going to stay fairly close to the compound in case any of them get past the rest of you. Crescent and Sprocket, you'll be about thirty yards ahead of us, to the opposite side. Ratchet, Siren, you guys will be about forty yards ahead of them. Gayge, be at about the same level they are, just a little bit back. If a Motor gets past your group, let it go so the last group can catch it by surprise. By doing it this way, the stronger fighters will take the troops by surprise and we should be able to finish them all off. Are we clear?" Everyone nods. "Dismissed."

I catch Siren running out the door and give a halfhearted laugh. "Oh, man, I feel so bad for you. You have to team up with Don Juan over there."

"Yeah," Siren replies. "Knowing him, he'll just go out and try to blind the Motors with his smile." We laugh at this until Ratchet wraps Siren in a headlock and starts noogie-ing her.

"All right! The three of us are going on a little road trip!" he says. Then he looks at me. "Is this what you call picture-perfect?"

I want to punch him so bad, but I don't want him to screw the battle up by getting hurt. "No, this is what I call ready for battle. You should get a picture of that in your head instead of all..." I gesture to all of him, "... this."

He looks at me like I just kicked his dog. "I'll have you know that it is, in fact, possible to be ready for battle and still look amazing. Maybe you should get a picture of that in your head instead of all... this."

That does it. I trip him, but catch his gun so it doesn't break. "Battle isn't always pretty, my friend. You just saw that a bit earlier." I keep walking until I get to the door that leads outside. "Ratchet, you may want to put your gas mask on. We wouldn't want you getting radiation sickness, now would we?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." He pulls out a mask that pretty much looks like a face window with a tube attached to it. Siren and I don't have to wear them because our bionics already filter radiation out of our bodies.

Siren looks back at the team. "Everyone who needs them have their gas masks on?" The rest of the team nods. "All right! Clear!" she shouts and presses a large silver button. Doors close behind us, cutting us off from the rest of the compound. A wheel turns and the doors become completely airtight. Siren looks back at us.

"Friends, siblings, Ratchet..."

"Hey!"

"We are about to exit the compound and enter the outside. I commend you all for your bravery in taking on this mission and wish you luck. Should any of us fall in the battle to come, know that it has been an honor being your leader... and your friend. Now let's do this thing!"

She reaches over and presses a large red button. Another set of doors opens, and we rush out into the wild landscape that we used to call the United States. Now the landscape consists of a bunch of boulders, some sand, and a few shrubs. The sky is hardly blue anymore due to all the bombs and missiles that have gone off here; it's more like a muddy orange. We run out about forty yards away from the compound when Eclipse and Glitch drop off and hide behind a boulder. Glitch nods at me as I run forward. Another thirty yards out, Sprocket and Crescent duck to their left behind a worn-down, splintered crate. I keep running about forty more yards before Ratchet, Siren, and I stop. I duck behind a rock to my right, they kneel under a huge hunk of metal from god-knows-what to the left. And then we wait.

It's been about ten minutes, and everything is dead silent. I'm starting to wonder if the other teams took all the Motors out before we got to have any fun. But then I hear a whirring noise off in the distance. I look up and see a pack of them coming towards us.

And there are way more than ten.

I signal to Ratchet and he looks over at me. I point out in front of us and make a shooting motion with my hands. He understands and positions his rocket launcher on top of the big piece of metal and gets ready to shoot. I signal him by bringing my fist down.

BAM!

A huge explosion out in front of us shakes the ground and I'm left groping for something to hold onto. Once I see that the smoke still obscures the Motors from my sight, I decide to go forward and surprise them. I wave Siren and Ratchet forward and we sneak from our hiding places, toward their lines. I hear the Motors' tinny voices in front of us.

"It is an ambush!" one of them calls. "We must retreat immediately!"

"You would have us withdraw without the target?" another one asks. "The Maker would be displeased beyond reason. We would be reduced to scraps. One of our own must have malfunctioned. We push onward."

Well, they would've "pushed onward" if I hadn't jumped at them.

I look back and see a Motor sliced in the torso, the edges of the metal still glowing where my plasma blade hit. They all turn their guns at me and I begin dodging bullets and slicing wherever I can. I hear gunshots. Siren must be taking out her twin pistols. I feel another explosion shake the earth and I grab a Motor's arm to keep from falling. Once I have my bearings, I use my bionic hand to twist its arm off and whack its head clean off its shoulders. It falls and I keep slicing. I've taken down maybe five of them before the smoke clears and I can see just how many there are. Too many. I see Siren and Ratchet over the hill, doing their share of work.

"Siren! Ratchet! We have to pull back and find the others!" I stop and take out a Motor. "There are too many of them! We can't do this alo-"

Suddenly I feel a blow to my head and go down. I see dots before my eyes and think I'm losing consciousness. As my eyes close I hear Motors coming at me and feel myself being dragged over the rocky terrain. Then I hear something I don't want to hear.

"No!"

It's Siren, running at me and taking out Motors. All I can think is that she's gonna die if she doesn't get out of here. I try to wave her off, but my arms won't work. So I hear her going on. Then I hear something I really don't want to hear.

Another thud against the ground.

They're taking Siren.

I have to wake up, I think to myself. So I try. I've almost got a little of my coordination back before I feel myself being dragged across the rocks again. I try to fight back, flailing everywhere. Finally, I'm able to pull myself up and my hand finds a target.

"Ow!" I hear someone say.

Motors don't normally shout when they're hit. I look up and see that Ratchet was the one who dragged me away. I look at him holding his face in pain. Then I slap it again.

"Why did you do that?!" I shout, on the verge of tears.

"You were going to get captured, too!" Ratchet starts, still rubbing his cheek. "I figured you and I had the best chance of getting her out-"

"I could've gone! I could've gotten myself out!"

"They were already taking her! I can't take on that many Motors at once, Gayge. It was you or her."

I look back at the platoon of Motors taking my best friend away. A tear rolls down my cheek.

A/N: Going on vacation tomorrow and I'm not sure if I can get another chapter done before then. If I can, great. But if not, see you guys in a week!