To Run Away...

Chapter 31

  Alice watched through the acquired laptop as every scoutbot (marked by dots overhead) stood firmly in the position that she desired them to be.

"Perfect." She grinned.

"Uh, what are you doing?" A voice to her left called.

"Oh." She gasped, surprised that that jumped in. "Uh, nothing."

"Remember the policy, Alice."

"Ugh, alright." She rolled her eyes. "I've managed to surround the infiltrators in the city of Aegnus using our Scoutbots."

"Oh? Impressive." He chuckled. "So, what're ya gonna do now?"

"Kill them."

"What?!"

"No seriously. Those were the orders that Redmond gave me, so I'm going to obey."

  Thomas glared daggers at her.

"What, didn't you want them dead to begin with?"

  He lied there quietly, not wanting to exploit a secret of the state... he wanted to, but it was too risky. Even though he knew that that policy was intended to make sure that all secrets aren't kept hidden, he also knew that RED has been untrustworthy since they first set foot in his country. However, he ran out of time to make his decision; for Alice would add. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

  She resumed to her computer and assumed her command.

  The five now had every tin man cover every inch of their surroundings, giving them no chance of escape.

"So..." Ivan said, being the first to speak. "How are you all doing to-"

  In the distance, a deep voice was heard loudly. "Not another word, foreign scum!"

"Huh?"

  In just a few seconds, a robotic platypus was flying overhead.

"Oh, if it isn't the cyborg platypus you've told us earlier." muttered Ivan to Pierre.

  *Growl!* "Huh, quite funny, is it not? I expected some more resistance out of you guys."

  Hearing that, Ivan chose to giggle at his remark. "Yeah, but what could top that is the fact that this country was able to turn a platypus into a killing machine."

*Growl!* He rested his chin over his webbed hand, "Hmm, you're right."

"Perry!" Isabella called with a hint of fear. "Can you please stand down?! I keep telling you that we're your friends!"

  He looked towards her and aimed his cybernetic fist towards her, prepping a machine gun that was embedded there. "And I keep saying that that's not going to happen, enemy of the state!"

"Ugh, I try to reason with him every time." She muttered before telling the others to. "Switch to your armor piercing rounds now."

  Without lollygagging, they quickly switched to those rounds. Then, knowing that he's watching, they made their stance.

*Growl!* "Huh, Looks like it isn't funny."

  He made another growl. "Scoutbots, aim!"

  The machines lowered their shotguns, targeting them for the kill.

"Yeah." said Isabella, not caring at the threat. "Not gonna happen. FIRE!!"

  The five then proceeded to do so, forming a circle as they fired relentlessly at every robot in front of them.

  In only a matter of seconds, fifty percent of the machines were now nothing but scrap metal.

"*GROWL!* Grrr, damn you all!"

  Perry returned the favor by firing at them with both of his machine guns. Both were aimed at Haystack as every bullet bounced off of him.

  Aware of the semi-aquatic mammal's move, Haystack aimed his rifle at him, firing a burst round.

Rat-at-at!

  The three bullets bolted towards the Platypus, hitting him in the left eye (Where a robotic monocle was at.), chest, and left hind-leg. The machine then began to descend to the nearest building he could find, feeling great anguish from the damage caused.

"*GROWL!* AAAAARRGGH, you equine snotbag!"

  In just a matter of seconds, the animal now wielded four missile launchers that spontaneously appeared from behind his back. Unfortunately, since the monocle on his left eye was blown off, he couldn't lock on to them. So, he just aimed at them easily and fired the rockets.

  Hearing that, they looked in the direction of the rockets and instinctively ran off before any of them could touch them.

"*Growl!* Damn it, all scoutbots, get them!!"

  All remaining machines nodded before going after their prey like ninjas in the very night.

  On the roof and still in pain, Perry went on to contact Alice, relieved that the pony wasn't able to destroy any chance of communications. "*Growl* Madame... Hnng... Alice, I'm hurt... Umph... ; but I managed to send all remaining scoutbots towards them. Give me your next orders... ah."

  He heard a slapping noise coming from the other end of the line. "Ugh, is that bitch Isabella with them?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Damn it. I'll send the other RED machines to help you out... Uh huh... there... they're on their way."

"Thanks, Miss Alice... ow... Now get me a goddamn Medic!"

"They're on the way... Alice out." She hung up.

  Relieved, the platypus rested his head on the concrete above, muttering. "*Growl* Man... I got nothing."

  Several yards down the road, the quintet were still being chased by the machines.

"Damn, when do you think they'll get off our back!" Ivan wondered, shooting at the robots who were now neck and neck with them.

"When we wipe them-" The answer Isabella was offering them was cut short when he heard the sound of multiple explosions coming from afar. "Uh oh."

"Whaddaya mean, uh oh?"

"Look." She pointed at the sky, where multiple robots were flying in the air, carrying rocket launchers in their hands.

"Crud... what are those anyways?"

"Their cavalry."

  Suddenly, the robots fired their rockets... and those rockets were heading towards them.

"Crap!" Ivan shouted.

  Fortunately, they missed; exploding right behind them.... However,

"Haystack!!" Maribelle cried, for her companion was knocked to the ground and overrun by the machines.

  The scream caused the others to look back, to find that that was the case.

"Oh son of a bitch!" Ivan shouted. "We need to turn a-"

  Unfortunately, the robots made sure that they didn't try to retake him.

"Damn."

  This made the little girl burst into tears before she began to feel dizzy. Swaying her body, she then collapsed onto the ground, losing consciousness.

"Oh great." Isabella looked up, to find the moon shining bright in the sky. So, to keep her safe, she picked her up and carried her on her shoulder. "We have to go!"

"But Haystack's-"

"He's gone, we can't fight 'em..."

Meanwhile, Haystack was on the verge of losing his consciousness as well. With time, he knew that he had no choice but to give in. Knowing that his fate was sealed and everything he was fighting for... was gone.

  He began to sob softly, ashamed that he failed in his mission. He looked up and found that the mares he was fighting for was looking down at him with empathy and tears. "Ah-Ah'm sorry... Ah-ah'm sorry... Ah-"

"What are you crying about?" said a familiar voice from behind.

  He looked in that direction, to find Maribelle looking back at him without a single tear on her face. Behind her, or maybe around them was nothing but a lime green haze that surrounded them like a bubble.

"Ha, funny, according to your memory, you're a farmer pony."

  He nodded

"Another funny thing is, your name isn't Haystack after all... Hey, did you know that there's a restaurant outside this country that has a Burger that's... kind of, sort of, named after you?"

"What?" He looked down to find that his fur was now red, rather than tan. He was his normal self, how? But that didn't matter right now. She asked her. "B-but... H-how do you-"

"No time to explain... Plus, you asking that is a dead giveaway. Anyways, why aren't you fighting the robots?"

  He was still speechless and on the verge of moping. "It's that-"

"You know what, I don't wanna know. Look, you're on the verge of death. And the reason is because you're not using your farmer pony skills to kick their asses."

"B-but..." He wiped away his tears with his foreleg. "Ah-Ah can't do anythin'! Ah'm a farmer, not a soldier..."

"Ugh, excuses, excuses, excuses. You're a marksman, god damn it!"

'Yeah, b-but, that's more for huntin'."

"You're doing the same here, buddy."

"B-but look at how many-"

"I helped you find the vending machine so you can buy that dice drink, you know why I did that?"

"Uh, wh'ah?"

"I resort to what I yelled at you when you were about to extract me from all that Gabe inside me at the museum. Remember? When that bitch, Blythe told you to do it?"

  He remembered, she wasn't as important as his family back home. He looked back at the three ponies; who were still frowning, had watery eyes, and still had tears on their cheeks.

"I'm just here to help you... that's all." advised the little girl

  The three ponies stepped out of his way, revealing a bright light in the distance.

"Now go." She said.

"Go." said the little filly.

"Go." said the orange mare.

"Go." said the elderly mare.

  He stood up on all four of his legs, feeling the urge to hug them. But Maribelle was quick to stop him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

  He stopped, asking. "Wh'ah?"

"Just go, buddy."

"But-"

"Go!!" The little girl shouted.

"Yes!" He nodded, giving them a salute before galloping towards the light. But as he did so, he managed to eavesdrop on Maribelle's muttering which explained why he couldn't.

"Because they're nothing but hallucinations." She said, watching as the three mares faded into dust.

"Ready!!" The scoutbot yelled, "Aim!!"

  His mechanized comrades aimed towards the defenseless pony, only to find that he opened his eyes wide with both his irises now blazing purple.

Boom!!

  In the distance, the explosion was loud enough to grab the others' attention.

"Hey. Hey! Turn me around!" A now conscious Maribelle shouted.

"Oh, you're awake. Uh, sorry." Isabella apologized, putting the little girl down so she can see.

"Uh huh." She nodded, feeling a tad bit annoyed. 'Don't carry me like that again."

  She then joined the others in witnessing what was happening. All they could see was that metal scrap was flying into the air.

  The sight was such ecstasy for Maribelle. "Ah... atta boy... I mean, colt."

  Ivan then readied his M16, and went towards danger. The others would follow.

Zap!

  A trio of robots were electrocuted, and were then blown to bits by Haystack's burst rounds.

  One of the Rocket launcher wielding soldiers fired a rocket. Only to have miss, have its weapon stolen, and it and its comrades blown to bits.

"Blow up and die, you witch crafted bastards!!" He yelled, tearing one of the scoutbots to shreds with his bear hooves. Then, finding two shotguns on the ground, he fired another electro-bolt, picked the shotguns up, and spun around; firing non-stop and blowing the robots to bits. Within a couple of seconds, most the machines were decimated, leaving only them scattered across the empty street. The remaining dozen were dealt with via his hooves.

  By then, the others had arrived to his position, stunned to realize how he was able to accomplish that.

  Haystack breathed heavily as the purple on his irises slowly faded into obscurity.

"Uh, Haystack, you alright?" said Maribelle.

  The pony was surprised. Thanks to her, he was okay. He could just hug her like a stuffed bear right now. But...

Shwwooooom!

BOOM!

  The explosion got their attention. Turning to the past, they found that the troops were sending reinforcements, and fast.

"Crap." Isabella muttered, turning to the left, she noticed a sewer lid in the alley. "Ugh, why didn't I notice that?"

  She reached into one of her pockets and took out a smoke grenade and a launcher. Inserting the grenade into the barrel, she aimed at the reinforcements. Then, pressing a button located on the launcher. It exploded, releasing a massive amount of white smoke in between them and the enemy. So big, it covered at least seven streets across.

  The three were stunned at the sight, but the lady had them covered. "This way!"

  She ran off, causing the others to follow. In only a matter of seconds, she was able to alert her comrades below of their arrival, and they were able to get inside before the enemy could show up.

When they show up, all they could do was pout for their prey had already left. Perry, who managed to parkour his way to the scene (Despite falling many times because of his injury.). Annoyed at the fact that he failed his mission, he decided to contact Redmond to alert him of the bad news.

"*Growl!* Redmond, they got away."

"God dammit, Perry."

"*Growl!* Yeah, I know... So, what now?"

"Just keep finding them. And do what Alice tells you, alright."

"*Growl!* So-"

"Now, don't call me until tomorrow, I'm having dinner with my associates. Okay? Bye."

  He hung up, leaving the Platypus cyborg to give himself a facepalm.

"So, did you read the letter?" asked Isabella as they sat against the walls in relief that everything was just fine.

"I'm reading it now." He took out the letter, and read it word by word. "Huh, it says that the person's name is 'Golden eye'. Huh, nice reference-"

"You mean Candace?"

"Uh, who now?"

"She's the leader of the resistance."

"Oh really?"

  She nodded.

"Hmm, looks like this job keeps getting better... even though I still hate it."

  The others wanted to laugh, but the fact that they nearly got themselves killed prevented them from doing so.