To Run Away...

Chapter 28

  To justify the fact that he wasn't hallucinating, Ivan took out his walkie talkie and contacted his comrade. "Uh, Haystack?"

BOOM!

  The sound of the four-legged drone exploding got him to get up from his position.

  However, a different voice came in through the lines. "Yeah?"

"Oh, it's you. Put Haystack on the line!"

"Can't, he's busy!" She replied. "So what's up?!"

"What do you mean he can't. Grr, forget it. Anyways, Your 'friend' just fired electro-bolts from his hoof!"

"Oh, that's what you're calling for? Huh, to be clear, I told him to buy a new dice called 'Emperor's strike'."

"What!"

"Whoa, I just told him that that vending machine was there, don't blame me!"

  He hopped down the rooftop and shot three state soldiers on the spot. One of the soldiers would drop a tape recorder, getting Ivan to pick it up before dashing off. "Ugh... so, how were you able to convince the colt?"

"Didn't do anything. He just saw the situation, and went on to buy the dice."

"So, it was that easy?"

"Yep, by the way, Maribelle out."

"Wait, what-" *Static!*, "Ugh!"

Zap!

  He fired another round of electro-bolt at a sentry gun that was planted past the gates of the checkpoint. Following, the firestorm girls would terminate the Sentry with their shotguns.

"Into the corn fields, now!!" Isabella yelled.

  The squadron wasted no time in entering the fields before the air reinforcements would arrive.

"Do not engage the choppers! We're getting the hell out of here!"

  Since they were running, Ivan decided save that issue for later. Also, while doing so, he chose to take a listen into the newly acquired intel, "Last time I saw him... was three days ago... He was taken by the Sancta Fructum... the next day, I found him in their uniform, wielding a rifle... and shooting at our men... Oh god, Ryan... what did they do to you... You need to be safe, not insane."

  The man began to cry. "My own brother... would go against the state... Damn... this world is cruel!!"

  The recording ended.

"Hmm, I don't know buddy, you often question what we're fighting for."

  They exited the small patch of corn plants and reached an area of barren land where it looked like it was being prepared for agriculture.

"So, what explains this?" He asked the captain.

"Despite Aegnus being an agricultural city, this country has been through a lot since Heinz came into power... and the pinhead wasn't prepared to deal with it!" She looked to the far left at another cornfield patch. "That way!!"

  She ran in that direction, getting the others to follow along.

  Entering it, Isabella would slow down before signaling them to stop. All that could be heard now, was the sound of the chopper rotors in the distance. She lowered her hand to reach the ground where a cellar door was there, made a fist, and proceeded to make a series of knock patterns.

"So Haystack..." Ivan whispered to him. "Why'd y-"

"To get us over here, okay?" He interrupted.

  Iva rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine."

  But he knew that this wasn't done yet.

Knock! Kn-kn-knock! Knock! Kn-knock! Knock!

  A few seconds went by before the door slowly creaked open, revealing a light.

"Aah, Isabella." said the man on the other side. "You know what comes next, right."

"Of course, Aaron."

  Aaron opened the door and let them in, but not without cutting them with a pocket knife. Each and every time, it was the same result. All the girls would receive cuts on their arms, while the three mercenaries would receive nothing. However, despite that, Maribelle would revieve a cut. But instead of screaming like a little girl, she,

"Ow!" She then slapped the man. "Don't do that again."

"Well, looks like that is subject A1." He smiled.

"So, why are you here again?" Isabella asked while she and Ivan walked alongside each other.

"Silver Fox."

"Oh, You're out to find her?"

"She? I thought he was a he?"

"No, she. Who told you that?"

"Uh... do you know Troy?"

"Oh boy." She looked down with a smirk and nodded. "He keeps forgetting that we don't need to disguise her anymore."

"So... he's a she."

"Of course, my friend... but doesn't answer on why we were told to help you go across the border into Aegnus."

"Oh, uh... we found a piece of intel from the department of security."

"Oh, can I see it?"

"Sure." He turned around to find the person who still has it. "Maribelle?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have the USB?"

  Not questioning what he was talking about, she checked her pockets. "Here you go, Mister Ivan!"

  She tossed him the USB in which he was able to quickly catch without problems.

"Hmm, strange little girl." He mumbled.

"Huh." Isabella said, after she got a hold of it.

"Yeah, but it requires a password in order to-"

"No problem, buddy." She then turned to the rest of her squad. "Take a rest my friends, we group at twenty-two hundred."

"Eye-ai, Madame!" They saluted, before parting off, leaving just the four with her.

  They reached a room down the hallway which seemed to be a computer lab. After about two minutes, they were able to open the files to discover that the password requirement was a breeze to the captain.

"Ha, this shouldn't take long at all."

"So you know the password?" said Ivan.

"Of course." She then went on to type in the code. In about a couple seconds, a new window opened, which revealed a letter.

Dear Mercenary contracted for this operation,

  You have now discovered the passcode to this file. Here's the thing, the next file will require a password in the next city named Spark city. From who? You might ask. Well, here's your next task. I want you to infiltrate Aegnus's city hall. There, you will find some files in the mayor's office that belong to a man that only I and the state know. Specifically, the files will be located to your right in one of the cabinets... good luck.

                                                                                                        - Silver Fox

"This is why I told my girls to take a rest before twenty-two hundred." she explained.

  All Ivan did was sigh, "So let me get this straight, we got until ten PM until we'll be heading towards the city hall, right?"

  She nodded, "Yes sir, so, is there anything I can offer you before we move out?"

"We're hungry." said Maribelle. "Would you kindly give us something to eat."

  She grinned, hoping that she didn't insult her or anything; but all Isabella did was smile and say, "I knew one of you'd say that."

  In the hospital room, everything was quiet. Neither Thomas or Alice said a word to each other. It felt as if this were a standoff between two nations who have just declared a cease fire on each other. While doing so, they both chose to read newspapers that happened to be on the nightstands near their beds. On the headline it read. "THE DEPARTMENT OF SECURITY ATTACKED!"

  With subtext underneath it, reading. "The infiltrators have struck again, killing more than two dozen of our fellow comrades in the armed forces."

"Well, if you should at least explain why you chose to bail on your own troops like that." Alice suggested, finally breaking the long silence between them.

  He wanted to slap his face, but refrained from doing so. "I did it so I can keep on serving my leader! How difficult is it for you all to-."

"Soldiers aren't cowards, Tom."

"But what was I supposed to do? Do I have purpose fighting for the state, or am I just a puppet?"

  She rolled her eyes, reading through the article. "You always had that type of problem all your life."

"What?"

"Ditching your friends so that you won't get hurt?" She gave a little scoff. "Back in elementary school, you'd always do that... leave them behind and let them suffer consequences, punches, kicks, you were such a woos."

"Yeah, but that never meant that you never did the same. Being one of the 'lucky' ones to escape from our dear country. And now look, you're working for a company that serves a long side it."

"Ha, at least I didn't whined up sleeping with the dictatress of Doofania slash the Dictator's daughter."

  Thomas frowned.

"So, how did you end up dating the cougar."

  He blushed, feeling a bit of anxiety from how that happened. "I, uh... don't want to t-talk about it."

"Oh." She frowned too. "Okay then... I-I didn't know that it went that way."

  He nodded, looking up at the white painted ceiling above him.

"So, how has she been with you."

"She's... treated me well. " He tried to lighten the mood by reminding himself of certain memory. "But the funny thing is, she's constantly trying to hide it from the people... constantly telling her highest Generals and their apprentices to keep a secret. But hey, every soldier knows it by now. Pfft, even the Platypus Cyborg knows it."

"Wow... glad the people don't."

"Who?"

"The citizens."

"Oh, yeah."

  There was silence between them. "Tom?"

"Yes, Alice?"

"When we were little, do you remember when I asked you that you'd come with me to the outside?"

"Yeah... but I wanted to stay, remember? Because of my dream to become a cadet."

  She put one hand over her other as she looked down on them with gloom on her mind. "You know, when I left, I never knew that you'd end up with her."

"Huh, neither did I."

  She wanted to cry, thinking that he was oblivious to what she meant.

  However, Thomas knew; but didn't have the will to tell her. Only thing he could so was mutter. "I'm sorry."

  On the verge of tears, her phone chose to interrupt. "Huh?"

  She rushed over and picked it up as fast as she could and listened in. "Hello?"

"Yeah, Alice, it's your boss." said Redmond.

"Oh, hi, Redmond." She held back the tears she wanted to let go of, putting a smile over her face. "How's it-"

"Look, I've sent a squadron of scoutbots towards the city of Aegnus. Where the infiltrators are now located."

"What?"

"Just do your job. Look, I'm sending Walter to deliver you a laptop so that you can command from there. Good bye."

  He hung up.

  Frustrated, from both her job and Thomas's oblivion, she lied her head back onto the bed and groaned.

"Hmm, I know how you feel." Thomas muttered to himself.

"So Pierre." asked Isabella, as the two walked down an empty hallway of their underground resistance cell. "How has it been?"

"Ugh, nothing's been well."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Ugh, remember when I told you about that woman that went rogue?"

"You mean Blythe Baxter."

"Yes, I had to confront her at Danville's museum last night."

"Oh... how did it go?"

"She shot herself in 'ze head."

"Well... thanks to all the Body builders she drenched herself in, I should've figured."

"Ugh, if she never went off with that son of bitch Josh, everything would've been fine."

  Isabella looked down onto her boots and sighed. "Is it because of Delilah's son, Preston?"

  He nodded.

"'Ze boy was so shy when he was around her. Kind of like how you were with Phineas."

"Shut up, Pierre. I just didn't want him to know it." She frowned. "Only to realize that it was too late."

"Sorry, by 'ze way."

"Mmm Hmm. Now, how have the others been, I mean, the ones you're fighting along side."

"Odd. That's all. 'Ze pony Haystack and Maribelle are having a strange Symbiotic relationship. While Ivan is just being himself 'ze whole way through."

"What do you mean by 'himself'?" She asks.

"Nothing. The guy's just a normal teenager, that's all."

"And what about the pony and subject A1?"

"I don't know much about them, all that I know is that they have been close since we rescued her from 'ze department of labor."

"Oh...um, speaking of Ivan, how will we tell him that Silver Fox actually knows him personally?"

"I don't know... what about you?"

"Judging by both Preston's and your experience, I say that he discovers it on his own."

"Agreed." He says. "Anyways, what should we do now?"

"Don't know, walk around?"

"Good Idea, I got nothing better to do anyways."