Home (Part 4)

[tweezers 1,034]

Crackle (Part 1)

Crackle (Part 2)
Advancing (Part 3)

 *

 

They had all frozen. Looked towards the sound. Silently wondered what it was.

 

And then that wonder turned into terror as it rounded the corner, turret swinging, an evil slit of lights above each set of tracks glowing red in the shadows between the neon’s set into the roof.

 

‘Run. Run, GO GO GO!’ the shout came over each of their radios, Luke and James voice’s both shouting in unison even as they realized what it was and realized that they were in trouble.

 

The Mk IV Hornet. They had heard rumors that it was in development, heard tales of the destruction of the advanced Railgun mounted on top of the sleek, silver body. It was moving with frightening speed, gaining on the fleeing set of tanks, a glowing barrel signaling that it was about to fire a shot at them.

 

Dan’s Smoky fired a shot into the front of it, causing it to judder slightly, and the shot went wide. The shell smashed into the wall in front of it, and a chunk of ceiling, helped by James’ Thunder shooting it as well, cascaded in front of it, hiding it from view and buying them a few seconds to escape as it searched for another way out.

 

James and Dan turned and gunned their engines, making for the path that the others had taken. They soon caught up with Bob and Sarah, Sarah unwilling to leave Bob despite the speed that her Wasp held over his Viking. They reached a fork, Dan taking the left tunnel following Luke, Jack and Sophie, James racing straight on down the right, tracks slightly slipping as Bob and Sarah both kept on his tail.

 

‘Guys, what the hell are we going to do?’ Bob’s slightly panicked voice came over the radio.

 

‘Keep going’ replied James through gritted teeth. ‘Put some distance between that thing and us get out of this place.’

 

He spotted light shining at the end of a corridor and made a sharp left. They were racing down towards it, Bobs Viking lagging slightly behind, towards the light that became bigger and bigger, turning into an exit leading away from the factory. They drew closer and closer….

 

A light glowed from behind them, a concentrated whine that ended with a hiss as the Mk IV Hornet that had been waiting in a side tunnel fired at the fleeing tanks. The shell flew down the corridor, covering the distance between them effortlessly, missing Bobs Viking as he jinked left into a wall, missing Sarah’s Wasp as she too swerved away, but finding its mark on James’ Hornet.

 

They exploded into the sunlight, the Hornet losing stability and almost flipping, smoke trailing from its badly damaged rear end. A testament to Dan’s skills, the shielding had held and the engine was not heavily damaged, meaning that James could continue their run into the shelter of the trees that lay just ahead.

The Mk IV still tailed them, firing shot after shot that missed them by inches, exploding rocks and debris into their paths, sticking through their tracks, damaging their armour and impeding their progress.

 

James, Bob and Sarah desperately tried to shake their pursuer, running further and further into the woods, but the Mk IV always seemed to be able to track them.

 

Then they broke through a line of bushes and then their worst fear was realized. They had come to a dead end. A massive cliff wall blocked their path and they were hemmed in on both sides by some particularly thick trees.

‘Guys, we can’t go back. It’ll pick us off the moment we try to run. Our best bet is to stay here and defend.’

 

Sarah’s voice reached both Bob and James. Much as he hated it, James knew she was right. They readied their weapons, all three clustered together, searching on all sides, looking for the threat. The threat that they couldn’t see, but they knew it was coming. Waiting…..

 

A high pitched whine again. A burst of light. And then they were thrown away from each other, tracks spinning uselessly, turrets swinging wildly as they hit the ground, skidding and then stopped. It seemed that the Mk IV had hit all three of them with just one shot of its railgun.

 

It stood before them. Bob had positioned his tank in front of Sarah, both of them damaged, Sarah’s quiet sobbing audible over the radio. All of their turrets were too badly damaged to fire. The Railgun began to glow, preparing to take out both of them with one shot.

 

And then James remembered. That day four months ago. Just before his tank had been fired upon, he had seen a silver and gold blur reflected in his mirror. The same blur that was sitting in front of him, preparing to take out his closest friends. And in that moment, he realized that they weren’t just his friends anymore. They were his family. Just as Ben and Alice had been.

 

And they were about to die.

 

With a roar of fury, James launched his dying Hornet straight at its newer counterpart, metal smashing into metal as the Railgun fired, and both of them exploded in different directions, James smashing into the cliff wall, metal crumpling, and the Mk IV wrapping itself around a tree before exploding into a brilliant golden ball of spinning chunks of metal and earth.

*

‘James! James! C’mon!’ someone was yelling and he was lying on a pleasantly warm soft surface. He opened his eyes. Bob and Sarah were kneeling over him, their faces scarred and bleeding, Sarah still tearful, Bob looking anxious.

‘What? What’s wrong?’ he asked looking between them.

 

‘James…you saved us. But… you got hit.’ Bob said fearfully, pointing at James’ chest, where blood was seeping out of a jagged cut that ran right across his heart.

 

‘Ah well’ was his only comment. ‘It was gonna happen sometime’.

 

‘James, you need help’ Sarah this time, eyes open wide.

 

James knew that it was too late for that. He could feel his lifeblood draining away, too much to be stopped.

‘It won’t work. And I don’t mind. It’s been a good ride.’

 

‘James….no…’

 

‘C’mon guys. Its ok. Really’ James said with a soft smile on his face.

Bob and Sarah each took one of his hands, their facing speaking more than words ever could.

‘Bob, take care of Sarah. Both of you stay safe. And…I guess I’ll see you around.’

 

James was feeling pleasantly drowsy. He took one last look around, at Bob, at Sarah, at his faithful Hornet, and with a contented sigh, he closed his eyes.

 

He was going home.

 

 

Epilogue:

Bob looked at Sarah across the coffee table as they sat in their rocking chairs, gifts from their two children. They were in their both in their late sixties now, hair graying and skin wrinkled but to him she still looked perfect. He took her hand in his, and they continued to watch the sun going down over the horizon.

 

After James had sacrificed himself and taken out the Mk IV, all the pockets of resistance had gathered together and dethroned the government. The absence of their best fighter had demoralized the government forces and the takeover was relatively easy. They had established themselves and had been accepted by the people. Peace prevailed and James had been hailed as a national hero.

 

But those who knew him and who had fought by him knew him not as a hero, but as part of a team, a courageous fighter, and above all, as a friend.

 

They would all get old. None of them would ever forget what they had all sacrificed in one way or another. But they would always remember the times they had had together, the memories they had made with each other. Because those memories didn’t just last a lifetime.

 

Those were memories that would last forever.

 

 

 

 

I'd like to take a moment to remember twinnies, b.e.n, and the old crew of EN26. Gone, but never forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And to you, if you managed to wade through this wall of ramblings by a writing n00b, thank you.

 

Now go make yourself some memories that will last forever.

 

 

 

[fe4f3 1,002]

Hey, well done!

[Hex 11,520]

Good story. I would suggest a header and another font.

[Great-Killer 39]

xDDD damn xD w0w io guess we r havin fun tweez xDDD but in the next one be sure to add urself n caramel xDDD along wid us cause we r one ;)


btw awesomely done :D

[tweezers 1,034]

Good story. I would suggest a header and another font.

Thanks! Wrote this at like 1 AM so wasn't really paying attention xD

Also first time story :ph34r:

[Crip 4,735]

xD great story bro! Tragic and yet uplifting at the same time.

 

Please add me in next time xD but def add yourself too

 

btw... do you know something we don't about a Hornet M4? A spoiler maybe for the next update? (a non XT version?) ;)

[Nullf0x 34]

Cool! But does this mean, the series stop? Awww.....

[tweezers 1,034]

Cool! But does this mean, the series stop? Awww.....

The series is over since James dieded xD but I'll try to write another one soon  ;)

[ToHoYoNTaDa 1,147]

Tweezers i wanna ask you that how many articles have you wrote?

[tweezers 1,034]

Tweezers i wanna ask you that how many articles have you wrote?

Um. Just this series and another work in progress xD

[Quarks 2,255]

^Nug reporter people. All hail the mighty pliers  :P

[ToHoYoNTaDa 1,147]

Um. Just this series and another work in progress xD

Good Luck for other works!

[ToHoYoNTaDa 1,147]

.

Not fair!

There was the post of @fe4f3 !!!

[tweezers 1,034]

Good Luck for other works!

Thank you! :D

[TTK_229 1,080]

Nice job pliers.

[Manly_man 86]

So...much... WORDS

[NERF836 202]

He...died?

[tweezers 1,034]

He...died?

A little bit. Ok a lot. Ok yes he died. xD

[Indian_Tanker 468]

I wonder who read this  whole 

[Crip 4,735]

I wonder who read this  whole 

I did.

 

I big fan of da Tweezers.

[I3.R.0 1,700]

The nug is back to ruin AWS :ph34r: