Fighting Flatlines (War Over Mobius Saga: Rebel Route #2)

Casualty

By the time Infinite's blast from the Phantom Ruby cleared, eighty percent of the Resistance was dead. The Mobian field they had been fighting in was now covered with the blood and bodies of rebels, ranging from Sonic's former colleagues to unproven recruits.

Gadget was on the brink of tears as he and most of Rookiez Special Forces, all rookies, stared at the destruction around them.

This was war.

Sonic, Knuckles, Rose, and their friends were having a hard time processing the destruction as well. Gadget was also worried, because one of their teammates was missing: their strategist, Nadia the Wolf. He was certain that she was dead, along with most of the rookies. And this hurt. He had realized something in that painful moment: He was in love with Nadia.

He turned his head, still trying to process the devastation when he spotted Adalia, a fellow Rookiez agent. She was being led by a field nurse that was clutching the cat's arm right above a gashing wound, muttering hushedly, 'Stay with us, soldier, stay with us, soldier' over and over again to her.

He continued to look around, his heart and breathing became shaky, unstable and speedy as he looked around desperately, trying to find Nadia. At that point, he didn't quite care whether she was dead or alive, he just wanted to find her. "Nadia! Nadia! Nadia!"

About thirty paces and a hundred bodies, Gadget saw a familiar red tint. He walked, then sprinted over to find a sight that was both relieving and heart-wrenching: He had found Nadia.

She was alive. However, she was severely injured and had blood gushing from her wounds, which covered the length of her body, and emphasized the damage to her beautiful tail. The pool of blood under her neck suggested it had been torn up, bone visible in a spot on the left side of her neck. She was frozen in a figure that resembled writhing in agony, her body in shock from the injuries she sustained. She groaned endlessly in pain, a glitching dagger piercing her chest not far below her heart; her teeth clenched as she endured her outstanding pain.

"Nadia!" He reached for her in desperation, falling onto his knees, splattering her blood on himself. Ripping the dagger out and throwing it against a rock, Gadget pressed against the hole in her chest with his paw.

"Gadget.... Are we dead?" Her voice crackled as she looked up at him, blood staining her face crimson.

"No. But you're dying..." He started to cry. "Nadia.... I need to tell you something.... Just in case you don't make it."

"What?" She said in a weak whisper, struggling to keep herself awake.

"I.... I love you, Nadia." He crawled closer to the dying she-wolf.

"I love you too.... Gadget." She kissed him longingly, hoping that she was not already abandoned by life.

He caught her body and held her up with one paw, still pressing against her chest wound with the other. "I'm not gonna tell you 'goodbye'.... I can't.... I won't..." He exhaled loudly as he began to shudder and tears ran rampant down his face. "...I sound so selfish but.... don't let this be my last memory of you!"

Nadia began to sniffle as tears ran down her face as well, both from her extreme pain and seeing him so troubled. "I... won't..... force... you...to... remember...." She then stroked his face, her face twisted in a look of deep concern for him. "...goodbye, Gadget.... beat up.... the... Empire for... me...." She closed her eyes; and with a voice that had almost perished she somehow found the strength to sound one final groan.....then collapsed. The she-wolf became silent and lifeless almost instantly.

Completely off instinct, Gadget let out an ear-piercing, heart-tearing howl. Everyone on the field, and quite a bit beyond, heard his anguish.

Tears poured out of his eyes and down his face as Commander Knuckles and company raced over.

A field nurse snatched Nadia's limp body from Gadget, causing him to cry out at her. She pressed against Nadia's gushing wounds, instantly becoming drenched in the endless pour of blood and fluids from the she-wolf, trying to find even the slightest pulse. "She's alive..." The nurse looked up at the commander "we have to get her back to base." Amy placed a paw on Gadget's shoulder as she consoled him, eyeing the falcons that Knuckles was waving over to transport the unconscious Nadia back to base. Knowing the urgency of the battlefield, the falcons flew off towards the base as soon as Nadia was secure.

Gadget had stopped howling, Sonic's ears were very grateful. However, Gadget was essentially still sobbing, staring at the piece of sky where Nadia had been whisked away, while surrounded by hundreds of fellow soldiers, all dead and scattered haphazardly on the blood-soaked ground.

"I wanna go back to base now, Commander." Gadget mumbled, his voice hoarse from his cry. Knuckles nodded and screamed to the still surviving troops, in a voice that seemed to be a whisper compared to Gadget's howl:

"We're going back to base!"