FicWad

Chapter Four: "The First Battle of Brimstone City"


"There it is again."
"No, no, that's only the wind."
"I'm telling ya, that's not the wind!"
A pair of Plutarkian sat on a rock at the foot of the mountains. The trees were making odd noises, and there were what seemed to be whispers in the darkness. Phobos and Deimos had pretty much set and it was a few more minutes until the sun would shine upon this side of Mars.
"Why don't you hear that?"
"I don't even know what you're talking about! I don't hear--wait! I do hear something! It sounds like--!" But the poor Plutarkians didn't get the chance to continue sentence when a lazor bolt struck him down.
His partner stood up and ran but was taken down in the same manner. Stoker and seventy-five other Freedom Fighters walked across the area, stepping around the fallen Plutarkians bodies. "Be quiet. Try not to make too much--"
But it was too late. Lazor beams began to shoot out of the trees. One man was hit and he went flying back. Stoker pointed to the origin of the attacks--Plutarkian snipers that lodges themselves into high defensive areas. "Hit the trees! Blast them and take them down! Don't concentrate on the snipers themselves!"
As barrages of lazor fire poured down, Cody pulled out his bazooka and opened fire. There was a loud creak and thud as three trees fell to the mountain ground, the snipers within rolled out into open view and were quickly taken care of.
Stoker nodded and waved his hand for the Freedom Fighters opened fire with their lazors, and launched their own grenades. "Are you okay?" asked Cody.
"Just fine. How many are out there?" Stoker asked. He winced when another Plutarkian blast took out two more Freedom Fighters.
"Two, maybe three dozen.," replied one of the look-outs.
"Alright then. CHARGE!"
Stoker leapt out first, lazor blasters roaring. Cody followed and fired his bazooka. The others were right behind them, opening fire. Grenades flew through the air, and exploded ahead of them. Their enemy cried out as the Martians drew closer.
Lazor fire picked up as the Plutarkians turned and started to pull back. No use throwing grenades now. This battle was too up close, hand to hand combat was a must.
And still the Freedom Fighters charged forward, undaunted. Shots were now coming from sides of the forest, and a few more Martians fell dead. Stoker's troops made for an outcropping of rock and settled in. The chocolate-furred mouse checked his watch. Lucas should be showing up on the south side of the mountain any minute now...

*

Lucas and ninety other Freedom Fighters sat at the bottom of the mountain and watched as the sun revealed billows of smoke rising from the mountain side. He checked his watch. It was time. Taking his position on his motorcycle, he and the others roared up the mountain in jeeps, bikes and dune buggies.
The roar of the engines as they shot up the side of the mountain could be heard all over and forces that were hoping to close in on Stoker and his team were now forced to deal with Lucas and his band. Everything was going just fine--until there was an eruption from behind. One of the jeeps had just exploded.
And then he saw them--Plutarkian grenades firing into the air, crashing upon the Mice like rain. Lucas grabbed his lazor then and fired. The others followed suit. He prayed that this would work.

*

"WHAT?!" yelled Stilton as the reports began to come in. He turned swiftly to the monitor, where Kane sat. "Are you telling me the Freedom Fighters are attacking my base?"
"I'm afraid so, sir. We had no idea this would happen."
"Well, of course you didn't, you dolt. Fine, if they want to play hard, then we'll play hard. Where is the Freedom Fighters headquarters in Brimstone City?"
"The Ashton Hotel."
"You may want to make sure your police officers stay away from the sewer ducts at the Unger River entrance near third street. Those rough-riding hamsters are going to wish they had never picked up a gun."

*

The battle was in full swing and Stoker could hardly believe it had taken so long to get only a third of the way up the mountain. Lazors and bullets wiped past him, striking his comrades hard. In the nearly three hours that his battle had been going on, he had lost nearly a dozen and a half of his men.
"Rogers! Blake! Stark! Swing around take care of the troops behind us!" yelled Stoker. He turned to Cody.
"Cody, we need to take out that turret!"
"I'm on it!" Cody replied. He fired his bazooka, demolishing the gun post. Stoker then took hold of his grenades and let 'em loose. They smashed and exploded against the turret, sending debris and Plutarkian body parts into the air.
But another barrage was soon raining down on them from above.
"MOVE! MOVE! GET OUT OF THEIR RANGE!"

*

Meanwhile, back at Brimstone...
On the cement banks of the Unger River, Throttle, Modo, Vinnie and Alexis all stood and watched the mountain with their binoculars. Granted, though, there wasn't much to see from this distance, save the occasional explosion and billow of smoke and debris that erupted from the sides.
"Wow! What I wouldn't give to be up there!" Vinnie said in awe.
Throttle nodded. "Tell me about it. I'd like to give those fish-faces what they deserve."
"Ha ha! Same here, bro!"
"Hey, bros," Alexis said then, lifting her head up, "do you smell that?"
The other three took a whiff of the air--and it struck them. A terrible, rotten odor that immediately made them want to vomit. Terrible...but far too familiar to forget. Plutarkians. The foursome looked down the bank and saw five of them climbing out of the river, each one armed and two with explosive on their back.
"What are they doing?" questioned Vinnie.
"They're heading to that sewer duct. It leads right to the hotel!" Modo yelped.
"Then let's stop 'em!" Throttle whistled for his bike. Lady sped over and the tan mouse leapt on, as naturally as if he'd been doing it all his life. Modo climbed onto Lil Hoss and Alexis took her place behind him as Vinnie leapt onto Streak with a howl of glee.
"Let's whip tail!"
"ROCK AND RIDE!"
The three rode down the bank and landed right in front of the five Plutarkians, standing right between them and the sewer duct. They then proceeded to drive around the Plutarkians, circling them.
"Out of our way, rodents!" said one, raising his lazor.
Throttle snickered and jumped off his bike and slammed right into the Plutarkian, knocking him into the ground. He whipped his tail out, snagged up the lazor, and held it steadily at the remaining aliens.
Vinnie moved into attack as well, but suddenly found himself looking down the barrel of a gun.
"Eep," Vinnie squeaked.
"Let him go!" yelled Modo as the other remaining Plutarkians whipped out their lazors and pointed at the bros.
"Dammit," muttered Throttle, throwing his lazor down.
"That's it, punks. Now why don't you just go back to your mommy and daddy's , huh?" the Plutarkian spat. "Or the little runt get it!"
Throttle grunted, and then looked down. And that's when he noticed something odd. There was a button on his motorcycle that he had pressed before. It was blinking for some odd readon, and the screen indicated it was his A.I. telling him something. He pressed it and the screen suddenly flashed at him.
"WEAPONS READY. TARGET?"
"Plutarkians." Throttle whispered. The A.I. complied.
"You say something, twerp?" the second man snarled.
Just then, hatches opened up all over Lady, revealing lazor cannons. They opened fire, striking two the two Plutarkians dead.
The gang then took off, but before they did, Throttle had Lady's lazor hit the explosive. Needless to say, an explosion ripped the rough the air as the Biker Mice escaped.
"Hey bros, let's not tell anyone about this, huh?" Modo suggested.
"Why? And ruin our--and mine, most of all--reputations? I don't think so!"
"Good job, bros." Throttle congratulated.
"Let's just hope Stoker's having the same luck," Alexis gulped, eyes wandering to the mountain.

*

"FUCKING SHIT!" yelled Stoker as more of the Plutarkians poured from the top of the mountain, weapons ablaze. Dwindled down to fifty men, Stoker and the Freedom Fighters moved towards a series of large rocks and trees and took cover as grenades were launched and reloaded. He looked at his watch and was shocked at how much time he had been fighting. Over twelve hours had passed since he and the others journeyed up the mountain to battle.
His stomach rumbled and Stoker pulled out a candy bar while he fired at a few men that were hiding in a group of bushes. He ducked down and ate it all in one chomp, then spun around and threw two of his last six grenades at the Plutarkians, ending them.
"What's the word on who's left out there?" questioned Stoker.
"Twenty back in that grove, and at least three dozen up above us," someone reported.
"Damn. Alright, bros, we've got to make a stand. This maybe it, so--"
"Stoker! There's something going on out there!"
Stoker spun around and watched as Lucas' pack arrived in their jeeps, motorcycles and on foot. The chocolate-furred mouse waved his hand and Stoke's Freedom Fighters leapt out of their cover and joined their brothers.
"What took you so long?" demanded Stoker, covering Lucas' back.
"Oh, you know me, just wanting to take in the sights!"
"Do you still have our little present for the opposition?"
"Oh yes!"
"Good! Let's move it! FREEDOM FIGHTERS--ADVANCE!"
The convoy of troops moved as fast as they could, covering each other's backs. Though each had their own reason for being there, they were all united in one goal and that was the salvation of Mars and her people. Stoker felt strong, more confident.
Nearing the peak of the mountain, explosions rippled out, sending many of the mice into the air. But Stoker still lead them on, feeling strong, almost invincible. He pulled out the Martian and Freedom Fighter flags and waved them into the air, as if chasing the Plutarkians away with them.
The combat grew stronger, but so did the will of the Martians. Stoker waved them on, and on, and on, tearing past the lines of Plutarkian soldiers. Units shattered and still they went on. Until finally, they arrived at the top of the mountain. The Plutarkian fortress sat there, looking a little worse for wear from the barrage from earlier.
Stoker pointed to a jeep and while weapons fire rained down on them, he and Cody pulled it out. A missile launcher with one helluva missile attached to it. It was called a cascade missile, meaning that it would continue to explode upon itself for up to twenty minutes.
"Thank God for Bob McBoob," Stoker whispered to himself.
"And his obsession with everything big," Cody added.
The pair set the missile launcher up and aimed it at the fortress. "CLEAR!" Stoker yelled. He pressed the firing button and sent the missile flying straight into the fortress walls.
BOOM!
The explosion rippled and continued on, taking up the entire base and the area around. The Freedom Fighters pulled back as the fireballs reached out and shattered the steel fortress walls. Their enemy scattered everywhere and Stoker watched as ships took off, heading away from the mountain and Brimstone City.
He then lifted up the flags once more, the exploding fire behind lighting him up with incredible radiance.

*

News spread like wildfire.
But Stoker didn't care. The immediate threat was over, he proved that the Freedom Fighters were worth something and he knew that it was time to move on. Spring was caressing Mars with its usual beauty and grace, but Stoker knew that if was going to be an even harder summer ahead of them.
The battle may be over, but there were still Plutarkians here on Mars, tearing apart cities and killing families. And since the Military wasn't going to do anything about it, Stoker knew that only he could.
He and his Freedom Fighters, that is.
Most of the next day had been spent packing up the jeeps and convoys to carry their supplies to their next location, the Argyre Plantia region and northeast, into southern Noachis.
"Stoker, this is the right thing, right? Leaving Brimstone, that is?" asked Lucas.
"Yeah. Yeah it is."
Three days following the attack and the victory, clouds had formed over the city, causing a somewhat comfortable overcast. Stoker wrestled with saying goodbye to Throttle, Modo and Vinnie. He even considered asking them to com along--hell, Lucas was bringing Cassie. But he knew in his heart that was wrong. The kids have no place in this war. He knew that deep in his heart.
Gathered in a hotel lobby, Stoker hugged each of his little bros. "You guys, take care of yourselves. And take care of each other."
"We will, Stoke." Throttle agreed. Always the leader.
"Hmph. I can take of myself," Vinnie shot. Of course, in Vinnie's world, he could do everything himself.
"Don't worry, Stoke, we'll be okay," Modo said then. The peacekeeper, this one was.
"I'm sure you will. And don't worry, bros. I'll be back in one piece!"
They all laughed and then Stoker walked out and joined Cody, Tawny and nearly two-hundred Freedom Fighters. He nodded to them all, and then the group pulled out. Stoker sighed, leaving Brimstone, leaving Red Tower, and leaving his bros behind...

*

As evening fell, Alexis, Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie all met up in the garage. The four of them all had their backpacks on, which were all filled with clothes, food, water, and few weapons they had managed to take away from the artillery jeep.
"Are you sure we wanna do this?" asked Vinnie suddenly.
"If you don't want to go, you don't have to," Throttle replied. "Neither do you, Modo. Or you Alexis. But I...I have to. Stoker is doing this because he lost his family to the Plutarkians. Well, I lost my family too. The Plutarkians are responsible for my mom dying, for my brother being taken away, and my dad all alone out there. I need to find them and make sure no one else goes through what I went through."
Modo nodded. "You're right, bro. I lost my niece to those bastards."
Vinnie smiled. "Well, uh, they nearly killed me, and that would have been a huge loss to Martian society, right? I'm in."
"And you guys need me to keep you together." Alexis added. "Then it's settled. We're leaving."
"Where are you going?" asked a voice then. The four turned around and found Jessie standing in the door.
"What's going on?"
Vinnie faced his sister. "We're leaving, Jess. Stoker can't fight this war alone, can he? We need to be out there. There's an extra seat for you if you want to come."
She paused. "No. No, I'd better stay here. But you get your butt back here, okay?"
The twins hugged. "I'll miss you, sis," Vinnie whispered.
"No you won't," replied Jessie with a laugh. "But I sure will miss you."
Vinnie handed her a note. "Give this to Mom, alright?"
"I will."
Modo also handed her a note. She waved good bye, then, as they drove of the hotel garage and headed out of Brimstone City.

*

"They left?!" cried out Relena, after reading the note. "That stupid, arrogant little shit!"
Rose wiped away a tear. Rimfire looked up at her. "Why are you crying, grandma?" asked the child.
"Your uncle Modo, he's left to fight in the war, honey."
"He has?"
"Yes."
Relena sighed and looked at Jessie. "Why the hell didn't you stop them? At least you have brains to stay here. It's all Stoker's fault!"
Rose looked up at her then. "Actually, Relena dear, I believe they did this on their own. They've all suffered because of what those people have brought to this planet. They're young men, it's their right to fight in this war."
"So you actually approve of your only son going out there to face death and torture?" she snapped at the older woman.
"As if you care that your only son is out there facing the same, Relena VanWham. I care, yes, I care for all of them. But they are not ordinary boys. They'll be all right, you'll see. You'll see."

*

Throttle, Modo, Vinnie, and Alexis all stood next to the three biker as they looked out from the top of the ridge. Before them was the southeast route through Argye Planitia. Without a word, they all hopped onto their motorcycles and headed down the ridge, and towards their destiny.