The Lieutenant Series.

[Kaotix]

OOC: Post made by the permission of Jimmy

IC:

It was time...

Kaige's emerald green eyes narrowed as he saw the red lights ontop of the security cameras go black. Ed did his job. Now it was time for Kaige to do his. He pushed off his perch on a nearby building's roof toward the Lt. Series SWATbot factory. His mighty wings flapped faster and faster to give him the momentum he needed to get into the factory.

Closer and closer he got to his target. In his minds eye he saw the weak point in the building's structure that Nack had showed him. There was one spot in the roof that was not adequately reinforced to prevent this dragon from breaking through and Kaige was heading straight for it at full speed.

Ten meters above the roof, Kaige tucked into a ball that even the Blue Blur would have been proud of and slammed into the weak spot in the factory's roof. The steel gave a moment of protest but yeilded to the dragon's momentum and weight and collapsed under him. As he fell into the building itself he untucked and opened his wings to prevent himself from crashing below with the rest of the metal falling from the roof.

Made it! Kaige allowed himself a breath of relief. Nack had been true to his word about the weak spot in the roof. He gazed about and noted all the fallen deactivated Lt. Series robot forms. They were useless now that the AI's connection to them had been cut or so Kaige thought.

His claws went to his belt and pulled out the first two demolition charges. Kaige had to act quickly. He doubted that the defunct Lt. Series robots were the only robots in this factory. Kaige also knew that his loud entrance would not go unnoticed.

The first charge was placed on a nearby fuel tank for the machinery. It's timer was set for 2 minutes. It wouldn't start counting until all the other charges had been placed. The second charge was placed on the main assembly line for the Lt. Series robots. Another on a vat of oil used to lubricate the robots' moving parts. A fourth was placed on a giant container of some type of noxious chemical that Kaige couldn't even begin to identify, but the label clearly marked it as flammable. The final charge was set against several huge canisters of methane.

This place is about to get a one way ticket to the moon! Kaige activated the charge which in turn sent a radio signal to the other charges. They would explode five seconds from each other starting in exactly 2 minutes.

Time to get out of here and to the rendevous, Kaige turned to go back out the way he came in but was greeted by a group of SWATbots. Lt. Series SWATbots.

"HALT FREEDOM FIGHTER BY ORDER OF ROBOTNIK!" The Lt. Series bots droned in unison. They had the big dragon cornered and time was ticking!

"Not tonight, Scrapheaps!" Kaige roared in defiance at his would-be captors. They looked like Lt. Series bots but they sure sounded like... like... regular SWATs! An evil smirk went across Kaige's maw as he brought his talons to bear. The mission was forgotten as he readied himself for the fight. He was going to enjoy this.

Indeed, the AI had lost its control over its special drones. They were now only enhanced versions of Robotnik's SWATbot forces. Their intelligence was gone and that meant Kaige had a fighting chance.

The squad of Lt Series raised their arms and began firing their wrist mounted lasers at the dragon. Kaige dodged and weaved between the blue bolts of energy until he came in contact with the first robot. One slash of his talons tore the offending laser arm off the robot. Another scared its torso plate with deep sparking cuts. Kaige reared back his right claw and formed a fist. The dragon's fist then connected with the damaged robot's domed head and sent the mechanization into his comrades knocking several of them over.

"I definitely prefer you guys stupid."

The bots still standing continued to fire at the big dragon. A tail whip relieved one pesky robot of its head and it fell to the floor with a loud clang.

Two of the remaining robots nailed the Dragon in the chest with their lasers. The dragon went sprawling back but soon regained his footing. The scales on his chest were a burnt black but he was okay. More Lt Series robots reactivated around the factory and headed toward the dragon. Kaige growled meancingly and was about to attack again when he heard something he didn't want to hear: a loud concession of beeping coming from the far end of the Factory where he planted the first charge. His eyes snapped wide as he remembered the demolition charges he had planted. He had to get out of here now!

He ignored the growing number of Lt. Series bots firing at him now as he turned and ran. Behind him he heard the first Charge give off one last Beep and then the factory rocked around him with the explosion.
The Robots that had been firing at him ceased and turned to assess the situation in the factory. Without the AI's intelligience, they were too slow to realize the danger they were in. They were doomed.

The second charge went off five seconds later sending shrapnel and flames all throughout the factory. Kaige lost his footing and fell to the floor as the third explosion brought down the assembly line and all it's parts. The flame engulfed the Lt. Series SWATbots and reduced them to molten slag and shrapnel. In their efforts to stop the explosions, they only doomed themselves to a firey destruction. The building had started collapsing in on itself. Chain reactions were already starting to take as the flames reached other flammable materials.

Kaige scrambled to his feet and headed toward the exit. But before he could reach it part of the buildings internal supports collapsed infront of it preventing Kaige from escaping. He turned back to see the fourth charge explode in a bright white fireball that nearly blinded him.

"NOOOOO!" Kaige roared in panic as the growing fireball headed for him.

The factory exploded violently as the final charge detonated. The fireball shot high into the sky and could be seen for miles around. The entire city shook from the force of the explosion. Shrapnel from the building itself rained down upon the city of Centropolis.

However, Kaige the Dragon was no where to be seen.


OOC: Because I am jerk and nobody likes me... I'll post the rest of it later tonight. Mwahahaha.

[Kaotix]

OOC: Here's the rest of it as promised.

IC:

As the final peices of shrapnel and slagged Lt. Series robot parts fell from the sky, the only sound that could be heard was the fire that was still engulfing what was left of the Lt. Series Robot factory.

That is until a barely audible scraping sound came from beneath the street itself 50 meters away from the burning factory. A cover to a maintenance shaft to the old underground railway of Centerpoint City lifted slowly off of its spot and slid to the side revealing an underground portal. A soot covered set of talons grabbed the edge of the round opening. A blackened arm appeared next and clawed at the ground. With several pained groans, Kaige pulled himself out of the maintenance shaft. He was covered in black soot from head to tip of his tail. He climbed out of the shaft and rolled over onto his back breathing heavily.

He looked up at the still brightly burning factory and allowed himself a smile. He pulled it off. He closed his eyes and rested as what happened only moments before went through his mind again.

********

"NOOOOO!" Kaige roared in panic as the growing fireball headed for him.

Kaige had given up any hope of seeing Carmen, Barren, Ed, Patches, Max, and by the Walkers, even the purple Fuzzball and that worthless sidekick of his. He looked down in defeat only to notice a maintenance shaft entrance. He dropped to his knees and ripped the lid off of it and dropped inside just as the fireball overtook him. He roared in pain as he felt the searing heat and the force of the blast hit his body but he soon dropped far enough into the shaft to get away from it. He landed in the old underground railway of the city. It seems the factory had been built ontop of the old railway maintenance barn where the railway's power grid was located.

Kaige coughed loudly as he tried to suck in the cool air into his lungs. The deadly heat in the factory made it impossible for him to breath adequately but now that he was in some cooler air he gulped as much oxygen as he could. He was alive! He was hurt, mildly burned, and disoriented; but he was ALIVE!

Kaige forced himself to his feet and made his way to the nearest exit shaft. Slowly, painfully he climbed up, pushed open the shaft cover, and dragged himself out onto the street above.

******

Kaige laughed as he thought of how Carmen was gonna have a fit when she saw how bad he looked. He thanked the Ancient Walkers for smiling down on him one more time. He had done his part. He could only wait and hope that the Walkers would smile on his friends as well.

After resting a few more minutes, Kaige the now 'black' dragon dragged himself up onto his feet again and headed to the rendevous spot to wait for the others.

[wildfire]

Wildfire was grinning like a mainiac as he ripped through the LT bots that surrounded him. His bombing run was interrupted by their arrival, but they had suddenly gone stupid shortly after showing up, and it was short work disposing of them. When the group was completely slagged, he reached into his bag and set the last of the charges. The standard two minute timer began its monotone countdown when he set the final charge. With a final smirk and a casual flip of the now empty sack across his back he left the compound to head off to the rendevous point.

It was getting there that had become a slight problem. In the confusion of the various explosions that rocked the city, the SWAT's internal AI had decided to send out all troops in order to quell the disorder. He saw from the smoke billowing from the factory across town that Kaige had apparently done his job. He could only hope that the others were allright. But there was also the problem hi currently faced of finding his way through the swath of metal that was now Centeropolis without being detected and followed. He gritted his teeth, unholstered his blaster, and ran off into the night.

[chief]

“Ryan!” Carmen yelled as she saw the fox laying on the ground not moving. She ran towards him, not even thinking of why the LT. Bots just ‘died’ or the large explosion she heard. She didn’t even think of looking around for other LT. Bots. All she could think of was the fox. That dirty, perverted, short, smoking fox. Why had he stood in the way and protected her like that. They defiantly were not the closest, and she still thought he was a creep. But… he saved her. “Ryan! Come on Ryan” she got down on her knees next to him and quickly checked for a pulse. She could feel the blood still going through his veins, but it was weak. Very weak. “Don’t do this you sick fuck” she muttered under her breath as she searched through her medic bag for her tools.

“…Doc…?” Ryan said slowly and quietly

“Ryan!? Oh thank god” Carmen said “Stay still…and don’t talk. You need all the energy you have”

“The… the bots?” Ryan started to cough valiantly

“Ryan? Just take deep breaths. Come on Ryan.” She watched Ryan coughing. His coughing was getting worse and she could see in his face that it was hurting him. “Just deep breaths Rya--” She stopped what she was saying when she saw blood spewing out of his mouth with every cough now. ‘Shit!’ she thought ‘He has internal bleeding… he has too’ she quickly went through her medic kit crabbing a cloth and wiped the blood off which was around his mouth. But little good it did because just more and more blood was coming out “Come on sweaty” she said. Carmen ran her hand through Ryan’s hair between his ears. It was extremely wet with sweat. She could see that he was starting to go into shock. The best she could do was calm him down. “Its ok” she said “Everything will be ok” She knew it wouldn’t be if she didn’t get Ryan to the clinic back at home soon. There was no way she could do a lot to help Ryan with just her med cit. She could patch him up a bit, bandage his broken paw, but that was all. There was no way she could stop the internal bleeding here. She didn’t even know what was bleeding inside…but whatever it was, it wasn’t going slow.

“I’m… I’m sorry Doc” Ryan said. His coughing had mostly stopped, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he spewed out more blood.

“Don’t be sorry” She said “Now shhhh don’t talk”

“I’m sorry for being such a ass” Ryan said so quietly that Carmen could hardly here him “I’m sorry doc.”

“Its alright” she said running her hand through his hair, brushing back his limp ears. “No need to say sorry, its ok.” she dug through her bag pulling out a small jar and a needle “I’m going to give you something for the pain now” she filled the needle up half way and injected the pain killer into him “Now no more talking”

“I’m…” Ryan never finished what he was saying. Carmen wasn’t even sure he knew what he was going to say.

“Shhhhh” She brushed back his ears again “Come on Nack. Where are you?” She muttered to herself. She saw Ryan starting to put his hand in his top coat pocket “What do you want?” she asked but got no answer. Ryan pulled out his wallet but that’s as far as he got. She saw none broken paw tighten around his wallet. But soon it relaxed. Just like the rest of his body. “Ryan!” she said and quickly felt for his pulse. It was still there, weak as ever but still there. ‘He just passed out’ she thought and brushed his ears back again ‘Why did he want his wallet?’ she glanced at his wallet which was gripped in his paw. Carmen glanced towards where Nack disappeared off too. “Hurry up Nack” she said.


OOC: Well ther ya go. Hope you don't mind me playing Carmen so much John.

[Scott Reese]

Guys, you're gonna laugh. Ya see, earlier when you guys had to skip me, I didn't post. But I was just digging through my documents and I realized I had a whole post written out. So I just edited and put it in (page 4, my second post), in case anyone wants to read it. By now it won't have any bearing on the story, just might be good for a read.

[John Roberts]

Bloody oath Reese, I'll have a read of it.

And as for you chief, you did well with keeping Carmen in character, but the swearing? My Carmie doesn't swear.

I offer this small paragraph of an old post as proof.

She came to an immediate halt. Standing directly in the middle of the road, she realized something: Carmen had no idea where Ed was or where he was going. She still didn’t know exactly where she was, and here she is, running to who knows where in plain site of anything ready to shoot at her. Carmen could’ve swore at how stupid she acted, but she bit her tongue. Foul language was just something she didn’t do and besides, it sure wasn’t going to solve anything anyway.

So Nayyy!

[Jim Doe]

Heeeey, you're right!

That's it, Chief. You're out of the game!

[Scott Reese]

While you two bitch at Chief, I'm just gonna be over here, hitting on Carmen.... ;D

[wildfire]

Whenever you guys are ready... *laughs* Cheif got yelled at ha ha!!!

[Jim Doe]

There was a silent war being waged in Robotropolis.

Naturally, due to its nature, very few people were aware of this war, especially with the much louder one that had been going on for the past decade. Even fewer realized just how deep it went. Thanks to the extensive time he had spent prying through the Robotropolis computer systems, Nack The Weasel was privy to the battles that were constantly being fought between the three participants . . . or their programs, at least.

The first member of the secret war wasn't actually very secretive about it. Dr. Robotnik had neither the ability nor the need to use subtlety in this arena. His voiceprint lock was encoded on every single piece of machinary and programming built by his factories all across the planet. The backdoors that he placed in these systems were more like huge, supremely well-fortified sidedoors. Nack rarely touched these pathways when he sliced his way in, as they almost always set off some sort of alarm when they weren't supplied with the correct voiceprint. It only took the bounty hunter a couple of tries with recorded prints to realize that these locks were rarely, if ever, fooled.

The second console cowboy, Nack had come to realize, was none other than Sir Charles Hedgehog. Apparently, the Knothole bunch had him hiding out somewhere in the Robotropolis Sprawl, worming his way through the silicon pathways and keeping tabs on Robotnik's doings. He had managed, with some fair skill, to place his own backdoors into several programs. Nothing very razor sharp . . . just enough to keep an eye on data packets as they raced around on their little errands. On those rare occaisions when Nack couldn't get into certain files on his own, he would forcibly employ the help of Chuck's electronic worms to get the job done.

And the third . . . ah, the third. Whoever he or she was, they were almost completely beyond reproach. The back doors this person left were so craftily inserted into the codes of every single machine that Robotnik owned, so subtle in their design and flawless in their streaming architecture . . . Nack almost likened them more to works of art than mere computer code, even with his general distaste with anything having to do with computers. The code blended virtually perfectly into the background texture of the programs around it, leaving it all but invisible to even a trained observer. Nack had stumbled across one such backdoor years ago and had only been able to pick them out afterwards because he then knew what to look for.

He had his suspicions of just who the mystery hacker was. In fact, due to the fact that the code could be found everywhere Robotnik's code was located, it couldn't really be anyone else. Still, Nack had trouble imagining the little rat participating in any kind of treachery against the not-so-good doctor, even treachery so well hidden and carefully guarded. If it was Snively, then the bounty hunter had to admire his courage. Even if it wasn't, he still had to admire the code itself.

Admire, yes, but never touch. His skill could in no way match the master hacker's, and so he had no way of knowing exactly what would happen if he should try to access the programs. For all he knew, doing so could cause a chain reaction in every robot on the planet leading to their power cores' immediate detonation. Nack wasn't heartless enough to risk killing every single roboticized Mobian in the world.

Now, though, he had no choice. He knew for certain that Robotnik's backdoor wouldn't work. Chuck had been almost completely out of the loop on the Lieutenant's construction, so his particular brand of e-worms were missing from the machine's central hub. There was no way that Nack's abilities alone would be enough. That just left the slim hope that the third hacker was Snively, and he wan'ted to get rid of the Ghost in the Machine as much as Nack and the Freedom Fighters did.

The weasel slammed the hatch cover to the central hub shut after completely slithering inside, causing the laser fire outside to dim down to a dull roar. With a deft flick of his wrist, he snatched a penlight from his belt, turned it on, and firmly wedged it into the brim of his hat. A frantic search revealed just what he'd hoped he'd find, a a small computer console sunk into the wall next to him. Doubtlessly, the Lieutenant was already trying to shut the console's power down permenantly, giving Nack only a few precious moments to do what he needed to do.

He activated the console and began to type as quickly as he could in the cramped area, sifting through the console's program pathways with practiced ease until he found the backdoor he was looking for. With a few deft keystrokes, he was in.

The light coming from the console dimmed momentarily as Nack started pounding in commands. He couldn't shut the Lt-Bots outside the hatch completely, but he did manage to hack his way into their auto-repair systems and set them to cutting off the powerlines to the bots' weaponry. If they were going to take down Chief and the Doc, they'd have to do so with their bare hands.

Next, he set about shutting down all the auto-defense systems located inside the central hub itself. Nack definitely counted himself lucky as he saw the shutdown list. If he'd moved just a few more inches down the shaft he was in, he would have been a crispy electri-fried critter within mere seconds.

And then, just as the last shutdown notice cleared the screen, every light on the console brightened, then flickered and died once and for all. Nack grunted in irritation, nearly wishing that he'd had just a few more moments to check on the strange blip he'd seen hacking through the security systems just before everything went dead. Shoving the thought aside, he began to clamber his way deeper into the hub, closer and closer to the very heart of the Ghost.

The crawlway had obviously been designed for Snively, Nack reflected, since he'd been the one set to task programming the AI monstrosity. Now that the need for the diminuative human to be crawling inside was at an end, several pipes and wire bundles had been rerouted through the corridor to increase efficiency. While it made things easier for the Lieutenant, it made the bounty hunter's job even more difficult. There were a few moments that he thought he might actually get stuck, but his flexible body was just bare able to make it through every time.

After what seemed to be an eternity of claustrophobic conditions, Nack finally popped his head out into the very center of the hub. He took a second to look around at the circular room before dropping down to the floor. If there was a ceiling above, the weasel couldn't see it through the vast array of conduits running back and forth from one wall to another. Where they weren't serving as a piping access, the walls were covered with various displays, readouts, and LEDs. Most of these were switched off, probably due to the generator explosions as well as their service no longer being required with the lack of organic beings around to look at them. In the very center of the small room sat a huge cylinder-based laser reader, all of its emitters pointing upwards like the legs of a massive dead spider at the largest crystal matrix Nack had ever seen.

Nack took a moment to marvel at this wonderous sight as the emitters poured coherent light through the matrix's crystal lattice at an astonishing rate, reading and writing data faster and more efficiently than any organic mind could possibly comprehend. Then, feeling that he'd taken quite enough time enjoying the view, he unholstered his ion pistol and aimed it squarely at the Lieutenant's brain.

"You should have been dead by now, bounty hunter," the AI's voice resonated all around him. It sounded almost sad, as if it were totally resigned to its fate.

"Sorry ta disappoint, Ghostie," Nack said with a grin. "I got a job ta do, tho', so could ya speed any last-minute chatter up to, say, last-thirty-second chatter at the very least?"

"I wouldn't wish to upset your precious timetable," the Lieutenant sighed. "I shall keep it brief, then. Snively killed the Hacker-Dackers, not Robotnik."

To his credit, the only change in Nack's demanor was a slight twitch under his left eye. "Actually," he said in an even tone, "it was a small group of War-Bots that did the actual deed. But," he added, holding up his free hand palm outward, "I got what you're tryin' to tell me. Yah, I've always thought Doc Bolts was the one that ordered my surrogate family dead. I still think so."

"Why is that?" the machine asked. "I have told you the truth."

"I gotta question your motives, Ghostie. You've probably noticed by now that I've was digging around in your head earlier, and I know well enough that you were built for more than just piloting those Doomsday doohickeys."

" . . . yes," the Lieutenant conceeded. "I was also supposed to take the place of Snively as Dr. Robotnik's second-in-command."

"Yah," Nack said, rolling his eyes. "And this here is just your last pathetic attempt to complete that programming. Ya want to get me on Ratboy's case so that when Doc Bolts rebuilds you, you won't hafta bother getting rid of him yourself."

"You know just as well as I that Snively will make sure Master Robotnik can't rebuild me after this," the machine said sadly. "He'll even manage to place the blame of the complete Lt. Project filewipe on the Freedom Fighters. Believe what you will, Nack . . . but I'm telling you the truth. Not because it's part of my programming . . . but because I think I owe it to such a worthy adversary. Now . . . I believe you have some shooting to do."

"Yah," Nack said to the charred, shattered crystal as he reholstered his ion pistol a few seconds later, "I did."

[Jim Doe]

"Doc?"

The control room looked like a second Great War had hit it. Carmen was sitting amidst a pile of powered-down Lt-Bots, a position that she quickly abandoned as soon as she heard the nasal voice emenating from the hub's hatchway.

"Nack?!" she yelled across the room. "Oh, thank the Walkers you're alive!"

The bounty hunter laughed as he squeezed out of the hub and stepped down the walkway below. "There's something I don't hear very often," he said sardonically. Carmen ran across the room as he dusted off his coat and, to his great surprise, wrapped him up in a tight hug. "Uh, hey, Doc," he said as she stepped back from him a moment later, "nice to see you, too. Better watch out, tho' . . . don't need another person with cracked ribs, neh? And speaking of cracked," he added as he looked around, "where the hell did Chief run off to?"

"That's why I'm happy you're here," the Doc spoke rapidly as she led him to where she had been sitting. "I need your help . . . moving him."

"Crap on a stick, man," he said as he looked down on Chief's battered body. "How'd ya let yourself get whupped up on like this?"

"He was protecting me," Carmen moaned. "We have to get him back to the village as soon as possible. I've done as much as I can here, but he's fading fast!"

"Alrighty then, Doc," Nack said, pulling his longcoat off. "This isn't much of a stretcher, I know, but it'll have ta do under the circumstances . . . "

After carefully lifting the bloodied fox between them, they proceeded to step over the fallen bodies of the Lt-Bots and made their way to the exit as hastily as they dared.

"So, you said he was protecting you?" Nack asked as they walked through the control room door.

"Yes," Carmen replied.

"Hot damn," the bounty hunter said with a lopsided grin. "You'll make a decent fellah out of 'im yet."

-----

Down at the collapsed cave entrance that Nack and Chief's bikes had been stored at, the gathered Freedom Fighters worried over the bike's owners and the missing doctor.

"We never should have let them take her," Ed mumbled softly as he chewed fretfully at his thumbnail.

He looked over at Sir Max, but the knight simply stood staring at the ground. The engineer had trusted the weasel when it came down to it, but now, under the circumstances, he was beginning to wonder if Max had actually been right. Nack and Ryan only cared for themselves, really. The compassion they had shown in the jailing facility may have just been an act . . . they might well have decided at the end that they would go ahead with the "fake" plan of taking Carmen with them and leaving the others to rot.

No, no, Ed chided himself as he struggled to remain calm. They'll be here. They'll come back. I know they will.

But as the minutes dragged by, it became harder and harder to believe. Even Kaige, who had kept himself busy tending to the burn marks on his scales, was starting to scan the horizon from time to time, an odd look on his face. The muscles in the dragon's back legs tensed up as he looked, almost as if he were trying his hardest not to launch himself into the air and race full tilt back into the city.

Ed understood completely how his friend felt.

Suddenly, Sir Max let out a cry of surprise. Kaige and Ed both whipped their heads up and followed the knight's pointing finger to see a small band of tiny figures making their way ever so slowly towards them. It had been pure luck that Max had seen them . . . they were coming from a completely different direction than the two other men had been watching.

With a roar of pure relief, Kaige leapt up and winged his way towards the approaching figures, landing next to them in a few short moments. Ed squinted, watching as a short conversation took place followed by a large package of some kind being strapped to the dragon's back.

"What's that?" he asked absently.

"I'm not sure," Wildfire said quietly. "It looks like it's someone rather than something, however. We'll find out in just a moment, in any case."

As quickly as promised, Kaige returned with Nack and Carmen hanging tightly onto his massive forearms. Before the doctor could even touch her feet to the ground, Ed had his long, hairy arms wrapped tightly around her and his face buried squarely in the crook of her neck.

"Oh, Walkers," he mumbled into her fur, "I thought . . . oh, Carmen, I thought . . . "

"It's alright, luv," the koala murmurred softly, stroking the back of his head with her paw. "It's alright . . . "

-----

"Sorry 'bout the delay," Nack said after he and the others had given Gearbox and the Doc room to talk alone, "but couldn't rightly be helped. With bloody - and I do mean bloody - Chief there slowin' us down, it was hard to get through all the SWAT and LT-Bot patrols."

Kaige grumbled low in his throat. "Understandable," he finally said. "You couldn't leave a fallen comrade, even one as . . . distasteful as the mercenary."

Nack grinned up at the dragon. "Hell, Draco," he said, "even if I had wanted to, the Doc sure as heck wasn't gonna. She's got a good heart under them ribs, neh?"

"Yes, she does," Kaige replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I had best take Ryan on ahead or all Carmen's work will have been in vain." With a cursory wave of his claws, the dragon took to the sky and shot away towards the Great Forest.

"So," Sir Escort said as he watched Kaige fly away, "how are we going to handle the bike arrangements?"

"Sadly, you're still with me," Nack said, though he didn't seem too sad about it at all. "I figure the lovebird's'll wanna ride together, and I'm sure ol' Gearbox can drive Chief's hunkajunk better than Chief himself could anyway."

"Very well then," the knight said. He fell into step alongside Nack as the two of them made their way back over to the other two members of their team. "I must say that you seem to be in rather a good mood considering the circumstances."

"Oh, aye?" Nack replied, rubbing a finger under his apparently permenantly attached smile.

"Well, your friend is in critical condition, almost all of us accused you of betrayal at one point or another, it certainly can't have helped that you had to deal with the machine face-to-face, as it were, on so many occaisions . . . "

Nack stopped walking for a moment and leaned over confidentially. "Y'see," he said, putting a hand on the knight's shoulder, "when ya lead the life I lead, ya gotta take your jollies where ya can. I know the Chief's still in danger, but he's a tough kid. He's too damn ornery to let a couple scratches like that take him out. And yah, you guys didn't trust me. But you really don't have any reason to, even now. I'm used to that. And the machine . . . weeell, it's over now. No point in worryin' over some scary crystal boogeyman, neh? 'Sides, it's a job well done and I'm getting paid after this, and if that's not reason enough to grin like a damn fool, I don't know what is."

"What about the fact that you may have helped save the planet of Mobius and all its inhabitants from certain doom?" Sir Escort asked. "The fact that you pulled the balance over further to the side of good? This means nothing to you, then?"

Nack tapped his nose and gave the knight a wink. "Got it in one, pally," he said. "After all, next job I get might pull the scale back the other way. I find it's best not to think about it too hard."

The knight shook his head as they resumed walking again. "I simply do not understand you, Nack Weasel."

"Figure folks like you ain't supposed to," Nack laughed, then let out a whistle as he approached Ed and Carmen. "Oi, turtledoves! Time to be skollyin' on, neh?"

-----

The characteristic whine and squeal of a hoverbike's anti-gravity plates broke the silence settled over the plains seperating the edge of the Great Forest and Centropolis' city limits. It was quickly joined by the sound of another hoverbike . . . not quite as in tune as the first, but still managing to keep up . . .

[wildfire]

The sky appeared blue again for the first time since the groups mission into the city. Wildfire sat behind Nack again as they returned to Centerpoint. Max's head was spinning. He felt as though his judgement had flown out the window, everything he had thought about the bounty hunter Nack the Weasel was completely wrong. He could kick himself for the things he'd said, and done. He was sure Carmen was still wary of him. But he would soon set that right. It took a moment of gathering both his thoughts and courage before he finally spoke over the whine of the hoverbike...

"Nack?"
"Yeah" the weasel replied without looking back.
"I just wanted to say... I was wrong about you. In fact, at one point I had planned on killing you."
"I'dve loved ta see ya try that one..." he replied with a slight smirk. "Tell ya what, when we get back to Knothole, how's about I spar with ya so we can find out just who would've got who? And then you can put all this behind ya and get back to having a normal life."
Max smiled at the thought. "You got it Nack..."

[John Roberts]

OOC: I proudly give you all, my final post to the LT series RPG.


IC: Carmen couldn’t help but to keep taking her eyes off from where she was walking to look down at Ryan’s still body. He was still unconscious. He seemed peaceful as he slept from the affects of the drugs she injected into him. His breathing seemed slow and steady, but Carmen knew it would only be a matter of time before he would become worse and his breathing would eventually become erratic unless they could get him back to the village in time. Even if they could get him back in time, and if it really is internal bleeding that he is suffering from, then maybe it already is too late for him. The medical backpack she carried with her may be only primitive at best, but the medical hut back home wasn’t exactly better tooled in way of an actual operation being preformed there. Sure, there were tools at her disposal she could use to help Ryan. She would have to make an incision of course, find the bleeding and then seal off the blood vessel with stitches, however, Carmen knew the only method that she would be able to carry out would not stop the bleeding non-evasively. There was no guarantee that he would live through it.

She held tightly around his arms holding the weight of him as she moved forward. She took her eyes away from Ryan and looked in front of her, looking at the back of Nack the Weasel, as he too was helping to move Ryan by holding firmly onto his legs as they both walked. Nothing was said between the two of them since they left the LT’s chamber. They had been moving along slowly now for nearly half an hour and already Carmen was once again feeling the effect of this night catching up with her. She was exhausted and she was hurting. The pain from her bandaged wound was still stabbing her as she walked. Her face felt battered and swollen from the collision of the swat-bots arm smashing into her, a slight head ache was throbbing from the cause of this. But a sudden quick burst of energy hit her as she started thinking about her other friends. And Ed. She silently prayed for his safety and she hoped that they were all waiting for them at where the hover-bikes were left at.

“Bugger!” Nack’s voice suddenly broke the silence.

“What, what’s wrong. . . .” Carmen started to say, but when the sounds of clanging metal had entered her ears, the question she was about to ask was answered. She knew straight away what belonged to that sound and she also knew that there were more than just one of them coming.

“Quick! Behind that dumpster!” Nack called out as he already started to move towards the large, green garbage container, pulling Ryan along that forced Carmen to quickly follow suit. They both made it behind the container, putting themselves out of sight from the main street.

“I-I don’t understand, Nack,” Carmen said, “I thought once the Lieutenant program was destroyed, all the swat-bots would become useless. So how is it that there is still a full patrol of them coming towards us right now?”

“Simple answer, Doc. Not all of LT series bots were taken out of commission. The link to the main AI may have been broken but it doesn’t stop them. They have a separate CPU chip that activates itself aromatically if and when the Lieutenant link is severed. They can think and move on their own accord, but their intelligence for problem solving is severely lacking. They’re not as tough. But I think we have the good ol’ fashioned, every day swat-bots coming towards us now, and without any orders to follow, they shouldn’t cause us much grief. Don’t worry, If we keep out of their sight, well be fine.” Nack cooly replied.

The ground under Carmen’s feet was shaking from the heavy footsteps of the now closer swat-bots, and it scared her. Though, it wasn’t fear for her safety or even Nack’s, but instead she was scared for Ryan.

“I’m not worried about being seen by these things, Nack. I don’t care if we are attacked again, at least then we would be moving. We can’t risk losing any more time than what we already have. He’s hurt badly incase you haven’t realized.” Carmen stated, almost sternly.

“So? He’s a strong boy, he’ll pull through it.” Nack retorted, looking back over his shoulder to face Carmen.

“You don’t see it, do you? Look at him, look at how swollen his abdomen is, and how bruised it is. He’s so cold to the touch and his breathing, it’s short and it’s rapid. He’s already vomited blood and his pulse is so weak. He has internal bleeding, Nack, and just sitting here hiding like this is not helping him. We have to hurry!” Carmen said urgently.

Nack paused, his face was straight and unreadable. “What would you have me do then? Risk my neck by fighting against these bots just so we can save his life? Incase you haven’t realized, Doc, I aint the heroic type and I sure as hell don’t like gettin’ shot at when I can easily avoid it, regardless of anyone’s well being.”

“Do you really mean that? Because I don’t believe you. If you really didn’t care, than why are you helping me to carry him, why are you even still here with us at all? You could of easily slipped out of here at any time during this mission, but you didn’t. And you want to know why you didn’t? Because under all that toughness and self-centeredness lies a leader with great character. Only you choose to hide it. You go out of your way to make others hate you, believe that you’re nothing more than a bounty hunter who cares only for a profit, a traitor. But you’re not. You can be so much more, Nack. I ‘ve seen it.” Carmen conveyed.

“Y’know, I think I preferred it when you didn’t trust me.” Nack chuckled.

Before anymore could be said, the swat-bot patrol was now at their position and was marching past the dumpster that concealed them. The patrol was only small in size and it didn’t take long for them all to pass by. Carmen and Nack remained silent and still, listening as the swat-bot’s heavy steps fading out into the distance.

“Let’s go.” Nack simply said.

They moved again, Nack in the lead holding firmly onto Ryan’s legs and Carmen behind supporting his shoulders. They carried him in silence as they moved quickly down the darkened street. Another half hour had passed and Nack had lead them down street after street, taking left turns, taking right turns, not stopping once to even think about it. Carmen was overwhelmed and lost, she couldn’t help but wonder if Nack had gotten lost himself.

“Do you even know where we are going, Nack?” Carmen asked breathlessly, her tired and weakened body was even apparent through her voice.

“Heh,” Nack chortled, “I was actually hoping you would know.” A long pause. “We’re nearly at the city’s limits. Not far after that. Hopefully the bikes are still in that dug out where we left ‘em.”

“And the others?” Carmen questioned.

“Well, I hope they haven’t nicked of with the bikes.” Nack joked.

Carmen couldn’t help but smile a little to that remark. The smile soon faded though as her previous concerns for her friends came flooding back. What if they weren’t there waiting for them? What if they were captured, or injured. Or worse.

“I hope they’re alright.” Carmen softly spoke. Carmen’s heart throbbed when she started to think about Eddie. She thought about the kiss they shared, and she remembered the words he said to her, the words she said back. The feeling she felt was better than what she could ever imagine, better than any moment that was spent with Tamara. She realized now that the love for her female friend was not the same love that she now fells for Eddie, it was different somehow. Only Carmen didn’t know exactly what that was. Still, what she did know was that she was happier and satisfied with her feelings when she was in Eddie’s arms. A feeling that was lost to her when she was in Tamara’s.

More time passed by as they walked and they had now since left the boundaries of the city and were now out in the open space between the forest and Centrepolis. It wasn’t far now till they reached the caved-in destination of where the bikes and hopefully where the others are waiting.

“Nack, can you see them?” Carmen urgently asked, but her question was soon answered when she heard the almighty roar of a dragon.

“No,” Nack responded with a smirk, “but I think they can see us.”

She heard the unmistakable sound of Kaige’s powerful wings thrusting through the air. She looked up and saw his silhouette in the night’s sky flying towards them. She noticed for the first time that she could actually see the sky away from the polluted air that was apparent in the city. The glow of the stars, the brightness and radiant light of the moon, it was a beautiful sight to behold. Carmen’s mind flashed back trying to remember something her mother once said to her.

With a forceful thud, Kaige landed.

[John Roberts]

“Oh Kaige!” Carmen cried out happily. She noticed then that the dragon’s body seemed burnt in places and overall blackened from what could only be from an immense heat engulfing him. “Oh.....Kaige, what have you done to yourself?” Carmen asked full of worry for her friend.

Kaige stood straight up, not showing any pain or discomfort on his features. If indeed he was hurting from his burns, he certainly wasn’t showing it. He simply smiled at Carmen’s worried expression.

“I walked into a door.” Kaige calmly said.

“Don’t joke. This isn’t funny.” Carmen grunted. “I didn’t nurse you back to health when you were younger all those years ago just so you could go out and get yourself burnt to a crisp!”

“Oh, my apologies m’lady,” Kaige laughed, “I mean not to anger my little sister.”

Carmen’s face brightened into a large smile, but quickly it faded into a concerned frown. “Kaige, Ryan is hurt. And he’s hurt badly. We have to get him back to the village as quickly as we can. Can you carry him?”

“Yes, of course,” Kaige responded, extending his strong arms out to Ryan’s body, “But what happened to him?”

“I....I wuh-walked into a...a...door.” a weakened Ryan spoke up.

“Ryan...” Carmen softly spoke, “keep your strength, don’t talk, please. Be gentle with him, Kaige.”

“If I drop him, I give you my word that I will catch him before he can bounce for the second time.” Kaige winked as he turned around. “Here, strap him to my back. Make sure he’s secure.”

Both Carmen and Nack lifted Ryan carefully up to the back of Kaige’s scaly body. They strapped him so he would be laying face up when Kaige would take to the air.

“Okay, Draco, she’s good to go.” Nack said.

Kaige turned around to face them and quickly scooped Carmen under his right arm. “I’m glad your safe, Carmen. And I know someone else who will be just as happy to see you again too.” Kaige smiled.

“Ed...” Carmen said smiling as she held onto Kaige’s forearm.

“Come, Nack, I’ll fly you over to your bike.” Kaige offered.

Nack grunted with a smirk on his face, and then allowed himself to be picked up by the large Dragon.
With one powerful thrust of his wings, they all lifted from the ground and then another flap, they were hurtling through the night’s sky. Carmen strained her eyes trying to see the others, but all she could see was darkness out in the distance. But in her heart she could feel Ed’s presence. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the cool night’s breeze brushing across her face, though her hair. As tired as she is and as painful as she feels, the knowledge of knowing that the mission was now over filled her with comfort. The night was nearly over. She opened her eyes again to look up at the sky. Her memory started to remember words that was said to her many years ago.

‘How beautiful is night.’

She smiled trying to recall the rest.

The dragon shifted his weight back, breaking Carmen from her thoughts. Kaige was slowing down for a landing. She looked down and saw two dark figures standing below. She smiled again. Everyone that had came on this mission was leaving. They all made it out alive. As Kaige’s feet connecting to the ground, Carmen squirmed from his grip and went to land on the ground herself. But before she had time to even stand up straight, a pair of arms hastily wrapped themselves around her. Someone’s face buried into her neck.

"Oh, Walkers," they mumbled into her fur, "I thought . . . oh, Carmen, I thought . . . "

‘Eddie’ Carmen’s thoughts cried out in joy instantly recognizing his voice, and his touch. She returned the embrace and stroked her paw across the back of his head. She felt so good to be in his arms again, so complete. She struggled to fight tears from forming in her eyes.

"It's alright, luv," she softly whispered "It's alright . . .I-I’m glad your safe too."

A long pause went by before either said anything, they continued to just hold each other in silence. Carmen could feel something wet drenching through her fur on her neck. She then noticed Ed was sniffling

“Eddie, what’s wrong?” she asked worriedly. “Why are you crying?”

Ed lifted his head from Carmen’s neck and leaned back in her arms so he could face her. Carmen saw the tear soaked cheeks of Ed’s face. And he wore a smile, a smile that caused tears of her own to start swelling in the corners of her eyes.

“Everything that’s happened tonight, y-you and me, this mission. I-I’m just glad that it’s all come to an end. No! Wait, I-I didn’t mean US ending, I mean...umm..I...” Ed stuttered away, slightly blushing.

Carmen couldn’t help but giggle at his demeanor. She simply adored it when he would jumble his words. She winked at him and smiled.

“I’m glad that it’s all over as well, Ed, and I’m even gladder that you’re here with me.” Carmen expressed. She inadvertently looked upwards when she heard the commanding force of Kaige’s wings take him to the sky. Once again, she found herself staring at the night’s sky. Her mothers words finally remembered in her mind. She smiled, hearing her mother’s soft voice ring out in her thoughts.

"How beautiful is night.” Carmen whispered to her self, she cleared her throat and spoke a little louder so Ed could hear her.
“How beautiful is night.
A dewy freshness fills the silent air;
No mist obscures, nor cloud, nor speck, nor stain,
Breaks the serene of heaven:
In full-orbed glory yonder moon divine
Rolls through the dark blue depths;
Beneath her steady ray
The desert circle spreads,
Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky;
How beautiful is night!”

“Carmen?” Ed slowly asked.

She looked down from the sky and looked at Ed, she felt her face warm up as she slightly blushed from what she said.

“It-it was something my mum said to me when she was still alive. She told me my dad once said it to her during a calm night, right before he proposed to her. I only just now remembered it.” Carmen smiled sadly, her tears were now breaking from the boundaries of her eyes and weeping down the softness of her furrie cheeks. “I miss her so much, Ed.”

Ed carefully brought Carmen close to his chest and nestled her head onto his shoulder. She felt his warm hand stroke against her cheek and down the side of her slender neck. Carmen smiled at his sensitive touch. She felt safe within his arms, and completely content.

“I love you, Carmen, and I’ll look after you.” Ed spoke clearly without any hesitation in his words.

Carmen let Ed’s words sooth through her thoughts, it comforted her and it put her mind at ease. She was about to whisper back to him but was stopped by a sudden whistle.

“Oi, turtledove’s! Time to be skollyn’ on, meh?” Nack spoke up. “Gearbox, you and the lovely doc there are gonna have to take Ryan’s bike. Ya up to it?”

Carmen lifted her head from Ed’s shoulder and looked over at the two hover-bikes.

“Yeah, of course, I-I can....handle it.” Ed spoke.

“Well....good. Heh, don’t let me stop ya then. Oh, and do try and keep your eyes on the road, not on the doc. Meh?” Nack smirked as he walked past and climbed on his bike. Wildfire followed behind.

Carmen pulled away from Ed’s arms and looked straight at him. As she was expecting, he was blushing from ear to ear by Nack’s comment. She giggled.

“Come on, let’s go. Oh, just so I won’t be a distraction, I’ll sit behind you.” Carmen said with a sly grin. She then winked at him as she watched the fur covering his cheeks tint even redder from embarrassment.

“I-I....stop that!” Ed laughed covering his face.

She giggled again.

Ed quickly moved past Carmen and sat himself on the other bike. His back was to Carmen as he appeared to be fiddling with the controls. Within a matter of seconds, the engine roared to life causing the ground underneath to be disturbed from the hover-bike’s sudden thrust of power; dust was blown to all sides as the anti-gravity kicked in and lifted the bike slightly from the ground. Carmen quickly walked to the side, rear of the bike and climbed on. She grimaced in pain as she lifted one leg over the seat. The movement sent a sharp stab of pain to her side, straight to her bandaged wound.

“Carmen?” Ed asked, his voice slightly raised so as to be heard over the bike’s whirring engine.

“It’s nothing,” Carmen lied as she sat firmly on the leather seat and shuffled herself forward so her body was pressed firmly to his. Her legs were either side of him, her thighs hugged against him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tightly. “Let’s just go home.”

She heard the engine of Nack’s bike fire to life and after a couple of quick accelerations, she heard Nack’s voice call out.

“Alright, we’re moving, I’ll take the lead. Don’t fall to far behind, gearbox, heh?”

And as Carmen went to look over at the weasel, he had already put the bike into gear and was zooming away. She felt Ed’s body shift as he too put it into gear. She clung onto him even tighter, bracing herself for the sudden acceleration, but it was not to come. Ed instead eased on the throttle and very slowly started to gain speed. Carmen could feel Ed’s left leg quickly move each time he would change through the gears; traveling speed becoming faster and faster with each gear change.

[John Roberts]

Carmen took one last look up at the night’s sky, her eye’s inadvertently looking towards the east. A small hint of light was breaking through the clouds causing the sky to turn into a sinfonia of warm reds and violets and navy blues that formed far out in the horizon. Carmen rested her head onto Ed’s back and continued to watch off into the distance. The line of brightness rapidly grew until it become an almost insufferable light to look at. It wasn’t until half an orb started to appear did Carmen choose to close her eyes; bathing her face in the warmth of the growing light.

And so to a whole one too glorious to be distinctly seen, Carmen thinks to herself smiling, ‘I wonder whether any one ever saw it before. I hardly believe it.’

Whether it was the exhaustion from the night’s events finally taking over her, or the sudden relaxed feeling she was now overcome with, Carmen drifted to sleep.

It seemed as if only minutes had passed when Carmen’s eyes opened once again, awaking from a short slumber. The sounds of the hover-bike moving at full blast told her that they still had not reached their destination. The exhaustion she felt earlier was still apparent, but less overpowering as she felt slightly rested from her short but much needed nap. The lush, green scenery that flashed past her eyes was a welcoming sight, and the smell, her senses were overwhelmed with the natural scent of the Great Forest. She smiled and gently tightened her grip around Ed’s warm body, wishing to herself that this moment would not end.

However, it was not to be. As quickly as her wish passed through her mind, she felt the speed slowly starting to drop on the bike. Ed’s movements were again changing gears, only this time, he was changing down. Slowly and slowly the hover-bikes speed lowered until it stayed at a steady pace. She peered her head past Ed’s shoulder to sneak a glance of what was ahead. She could see Nack’s bike further up ahead, he too had seemed to have dropped his speed. She looked ahead further at the approaching meadow, she instantly recognized the small clearing of neatly kept grass; the blue flowers that only seemed to blossom there was like a homing beckon in Carmen’s eyes. Past the fields lay the little river that flowed right the way through the entire Great Forest. The heavily maintained, wooden-paved bridge that crossed the river was the direction of the hover-bikes and as quickly as Carmen first saw it, they were already across it. What lay ahead was what Carmen was desiring to see again. The first of the small wooden huts appeared into view, and with in only a short amount of time, the entire range of various shanties was there for her to see. Centerpoint village. They had come home.

Up ahead she saw Kaige making a firm landing dead center in the village. The fading face of a weakened Ryan strapped to the dragons mighty back quickly brought back her nursing instincts and her previous scares for his safety.
As soon as the hover-bike halted to a stop in the middle of the village, Carmen was already leaping to action. Ignoring the sharp pains that stabbed her side, she was on her feet and literally running towards her small medical hut. Kaige was already entering the same hut still carrying Ryan as she looked on.

An entanglement of arms quickly scooped around Carmen’s body and clung her tightly, nearly causing Carmen to yelp out in panic. Her eyes locked together with the person responsible and she was suddenly hit with uneasiness under their gaze.

The bright, emerald green eyes of Tamara declaws stared into Carmen’s. Tamara’s expression was that of sheer joy. Her button, black nose slightly twitching from the excitement in her demeanor. Her long whiskers spread elegantly from both of her tanned coloured, furrie cheeks as she smiled. She tilted her head to one side and sweetly fluttered her eye lids, lovingly staring deeper into her Carmen’s eyes.

“You’re back.” Tamara softly said, almost purring. “I was so worried.”

Carmen stood there, her body stiff in the cat’s arms. She didn’t know what to say, how to respond, or even how to explain to her that it was over between them. Carmen feared that her feelings for the subject might change once she was near Tamara again, but they didn’t. Even now, as she let herself be held in an embrace, the couldn’t find complete contentment within herself.

Tamara’s face moved forward towards Carmen’s, her lips were glistening from the early mornings sunshine, beckoning to be touched by another. Carmen knew what was coming, and as Tamara’s went in for a kiss, Carmen turned her head to one side cutting her off. Carmen felt like a coward for doing this, she was ashamed of yourself. She never realized just how hollow and misguided the love she had for Tamara really once. All this time she had been fooling herself thinking that she was in a relationship, but instead, she was only compensating for what was taking away from all those years ago. And the requirement to let go of that part of her past that haunted her heart was something she had never been able to do, and it was Tamara that was stopping her. The shame she felt was for not having the courage to see this before, she was that lost and needy for comfort that she allowed someone to fall in love with her, and now she was about to break their heart because of her sightlessness.

“Carmen!” Kaige’s powerful voice called out from within the medical hut.. “Carmen, there’s something wrong with him. Hurry!”

Carmen immediately reacted to the dragons words and stepped back from Tamara, breaking the embrace. She took one last look at Tamara, her face was of confusion and hurt, and then she turned away and ran as quickly as her body would able her to do towards the medical hut.

* * *

Tamara’s mind was racing with turmoil as she watched her partner disappear into the hut. She didn’t understand what just happened. Why Carmen reacted to her touch like that or why she broke from a kiss that they have both shared countless of times in the past. What’s changed? Maybe it was nothing, maybe she was just tired from the mission. They were after all gone for well over the entire night, much longer than any other mission before. And what of the mission? Tamara wanted to know what happened, what was this Lieutenant project. She wanted answers for what her friends put themselves through. Tamara turned around to see Ed standing on his own. The weasel and Wildfire were standing together watching on. She turned her attention directly to Ed who immediately dropped his gaze to his feet when Tamara’s eyes met with his.

“What’s happened, Ed?”

* * *

Ryan lay face up on top of a wooden table, just as Carmen had feared earlier, his breathing had become erratic his pulse was weak beating rapidly and he had started vomiting blood again. His eyes were wildly looking around the room, he was nervous. Restless. He was scared.

“Carmen. Carmen what’s happening to him?” Kaige asked alarmed.

Carmen came rushing back from her medical cabinet, she carried a silver, metallic tray and on top of that tray was a syringe, scalpel and various other tools. She was confident that she had all she needed to do the job. But whether she would be quick enough to do it was what worried her. She quickly put down the tray on another small table next to the wooden table that Ryan was sprawled across. She made sure that everything was well in reach.

“There’s a collapse of the body’s cardiovascular system which includes an inadequate supply of blood to the body’s tissues.” Carmen hastily responded as she held the syringe up to her eyes squirting some of it’s contests to make sure there was no blockage. “He is going into shock.”

Carmen rested her paw across Ryan’s forehead and softly spoke to him. “Ryan, please listen to me. You are going to make it. I am going to give you something to take away the pain, but I need something from you. I need you to relax, to calm yourself. I know it’s a lot to ask but please trust me. You’re not going to die.”

Carmen gently prodded the needle into his arm and squeezed all of it’s contents into him.

“Will that help him?” Kaige again asked, his deep voice full of concern.

“Help? Yes, but it won’t save his life.” Carmen answered. She placed the empty syringe back onto the silver tray and replaced it with a short handled, stainless steal scalpel. “He’s taking a very heavy blow directly to the chest causing a rupture in an artery or a blood vessel resulting in blood flooding into the body. That’s why he’s coughing up blood, he is bleeding internally. I have to cut him open, find the rupture and stop the bleeding.”

“Carmen! Big Red! You’re back!” A cheerful yell from behind startled Carmen.

“Barren.” Carmen uttered as she looked over her shoulder to see the young kit standing in the doorway leaning onto his crutch. He had a smile on his features that showed his excitement. His young eyes glistened with glee.

“Kaige, get him out of here!” Carmen quickly snapped. “I don’t need the distractions!” Carmen at once turned her attention back to Ryan, she never gave Kaige another look or even waited for a response from the dragon. Her mind was set on only one thing, and her determination could not be broken.