Authors Note: This is the final chapter of the second story in this series, thanks for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy it! A special thanks to Inuficcrzy for the recommendation she gave her constant support of the series, as well as her great fics - big hugs!

Next part of the series should commence in a week or so.

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The Freedom Fighters weren't the first mice to arrive at Tharsis Rise however. Harley, accompanied by Rimfire, Primer and Chopper, had made her way straight there. After all, she reasoned, Stoker had just told them to get away from Alternate Post Fourteen. He never said where they should go.

"Seven minutes to planetary extraction."

Harley frowned at the sound of the electronic voice, pulling some explosives out of her bag and handing them to the kids. "Stay out of sight, no matter what. Plant these around the volcano. If the Freedom Fighters can't stop the Tug Transformer in time, then this is our last chance. Maybe we can bury or damage it before it can take off if we drop enough rocks on it."

Rimfire took several of the explosives. "Think it'll work?"

Harley shook her head. "I don't know. But it's all I've got."

"If nothing else, it should distract the Sand Raiders if we need to," said Chopper encouragingly.

The four of them crawled around, planting the explosives, keeping low out of the sight of the Sand Raiders guarding the Tug Transformer. There were a lot more at the site than the Freedom Fighters had encountered at the Castle and taking care to remain unseen was time consuming. Rimfire was beginning to wonder if they'd ever get enough explosives rigged up in time…

"You behind there! Step into the open!"

All four mice froze at the sound of the Sand Raiders voice. Somehow, they had been heard or seen – and their odds of getting away when they were so heavily outnumbered were not good.

"I said…"

"It's tail whippin time!"

Over the horizon came the Freedom Fighters, kicking up dust behind them as they rode in with all guns blazing. To Rimfire, it was perhaps the sweetest thing he'd ever seen.

Primer grabbed his arm. "Come on! They'll have their hands full with the Plutarkians – so we should see what can be done about the Tug Transformer!" The three teenagers took off for the inside of Tharsis Rise, slipping inside unnoticed as the guards rushed outside to tackle the Freedom Fighters.

Vinnie stood on the seat of his bike, a gun in either hand, knocking two Plutarkian vehicles into the sides of the volcano. "Aaooww! I'm back, banged up and badder than ever!"

His celebrations were cut short when a stray laser hit the back of his bike and knocked him off balance, He scrambled quickly to his feet to see five more vehicles bearing down on him.

"…Not quite the comeback I had in mind."

A second later, a bike rode over the rocky ledge behind him, blasting the vehicles off course, sending them skidding away. Carbine landed in front of Vinnie, giving him a wink. "Save your tail special hotshot," she grinned before taking off back into the fray.

Vinnie sighed and shook his head. "Oh man. Way to impress the girl!"

The Freedom Fighters tore into battle, no formation that the Plutarkians could see, attacking relentlessly. Although the mice were outnumbered and battered from their earlier fights, they outclassed the enemy easily, with skills born of desperation and determination. A low flying missile sent the Freedom Fighters scattering, regrouping only seconds later and taking out the gun turrets that had been hastily erected at Tharsis Rise.

Throttle found himself being pursued by a Sand Raider stilt walker and four Plutarkian vehicles. He was rapidly running out of room to manoeuvre, so instead skidded to a 180 degree halt and blasted at the stilt walker. Its legs taken from under it, it collapsed, landing directly on top of the Plutarkians. "Take a load off," he joked, wincing as some debris sliced through his arm.

Harley rode up to him, bandages already in hand. "Try to steer clear of the crosshairs Throttle!"

"Gotta go with the battle mode Harley," he replied blithely, noticing an attacking Sand Raider behind her as she ducked to grab some more tape and punching him on the chin. The Sand Raider went down.

"How does it feel?"

"Factory perfect," he replied with a thumbs up.

Elsewhere, the Freedom Fighters were in an all-out war with the invaders, blasting their way toward Tharsis Rise, knocking the invaders aside or out. Vendel and Redstone traded high fives as they blasted a clear way through the Plutarkian vehicles, giving a clear run to Tharsis Rise – but they couldn't take the route as still more enemies attempted to block their paths and all the Freedom Fighters were forced to hang back just to hold them off.

Carbine fired her own gun, smiling grimly to herself. "I'm going to treat this rabble to the gentle feminine touch!" Doubling back, she rode behind a Plutarkian all terrain vehicle, blasting it into oblivion – and then a wall of flame seemed to burst up ahead of her. She leaned hard into a skid, unable to right her bike before it hit the ground and she rolled off, lying stunned on the ground.

Above her, Mace had joined the battle. The flamethrower he had used to throw her off course was still clutched in his hands as he took careful aim.

"Oh let's please redefine those overused words – well done Carbine!" He sniggered, raising the weapon – and then a bike came into view, circling around Carbine and her bike, blocking his shot.

Vinnie.

"Word of advice Mace," he shouted, unsmiling. "Don't touch my girl!"

Hitting a button on his dash, he sent a couple of shots from his bike, smashing through the rock on which Mace was stood and knocking the traitor down along with the rock. Carbine scrambled to her feet and leapt on her bike, the two mice riding away as the rocks tumbled down on the spot where they had been mere seconds before.

"Impressed sweetheart?" Vinnie waggled his eyebrows at Carbine, grinning smugly.

"My hero," she replied dryly, using the blasters of her own bike to shoot the Plutarkians in her path out of the way.

Vinnie laughed as he joined in the shooting, hitting a Sand Raider that was trying to play chicken with them. "Aaooww! Who says couples shouldn't work together?"

"That's right." Carbine yanked the pin from a grenade and hurled it and the few enemies in their way, blasting the vehicles into shards of scrap metal. "Makes for a healthy relationship."

Throttle zoomed up beside them, noticing that the run to Tharsis Rise was finally clear, the Freedom Fighters still taking care of the few Plutarkians and Sand Raiders left. "To the heart of the matter!"

"Planet extraction in one minute," intoned the machine as the three of them rode into Tharsis Rise and saw the Tug Transformer for the first time. It was huge, ready to go and seemingly unstoppable.

"Okay, here's the plan," said Vinnie. "Zip zap n' Ziering zero!"

Carbine snorted. "You're dreaming hotshot. Gotta be a rip n' Remini and ten!"

"No, no, no, no!" Throttle shook his head emphatically. "Rob bop n' Paulsen doggle two!"

"That's lame-o that Remini ten!"

"Paulsen doggle is way overused!"

"Never works that Zeiring zero!"

A voice from above broke through their bickering. "Try hitch and ditch three!"

The three mice looked up to see Rimfire shouting down at them, Primer and Chopper right behind him. Carbine rolled her eyes. "Those kids have an obnoxious habit of disobeying direct orders!"

"The sign of good Freedom Fighters," said Vinnie with a grin.

"I only buy that excuse when we're the ones using it," she replied, giving a half-smile.

"Got the lay of the land kids?" asked Throttle as the teenagers jumped down from the platform they stood on.

"There's only three bolts anchoring this tug to Mars," said Primer, grinning.

"Fifteen seconds."

"Let's ride!" shouted Carbine urgently.

The three bikes took off, whirling blades emerging from the front and then ejecting. The blades sawed through the tubes attaching the bolts of the Tug Transformer to Mars.

In the background, the machine continued its countdown. "Ten… nine… eight…"

Meanwhile, the three teenagers were fiddling with the tracking system of the Tug Transformer, identical wicked smiles on their faces. As the older mice rode past, they slowed down long enough for the kids to jump on the back of their bikes and then sped up again, anxious to be out of the volcano before the Tug Transformer began its ascent.

"Three… two… one…"

Throttle, Carbine and Vinnie rode up to where the rest of the Freedom Fighters had gathered after defeating the stragglers of the Plutarkian guards, waiting to see if their plan had worked…

The Tug Transformer lifted from its resting place, no longer anchored to the planet, taking off for Plutark without Mars going along for the ride.

The Freedom Fighters all paused to watch it lift off as it dwindled out of sight, flying past the moon of Phobos and knocking off a sizable chunk.

"Oops," said Primer with mock dismay.

"Did we do that?" added Chopper.

"Our bad," finished Rimfire with a smirk.

Carbine glanced sideways at Vinnie. "Remind me never to have kids."

"Oh, I dunno," said Vinnie as he watched the chunk of moon sail toward Stilton's Castle. "I've heard of bringing down the house – but that's something else!"

Sure enough, the chunk of moon landed directly on Stilton's Castle, smashing it into oblivion. A cheer went up from the assembled Freedom Fighters as the symbol of Plutarkian oppression in Brimstone collapsed into rubble.

"AAOOOOWWWW!" Vinnie leapt off his bike, sliding back the visor on his helmet and punching the air. Noticing Carbine had also got off hr bike and taken off her helmet, he grinned suggestively at her. "Hey Carbine – how'd you like…"

Carbine cut him off with an unexpected display of public affection, kissing him full on. Vinnie immediately forgot how to be cool and sophisticated, beginning to blush and snigger instead. "Yeah," he said, his expression self-satisfied, Carbine still pressed close to him. "Well…"

"Smooth talker, huh hotshot?" said Carbine, raising her eyebrows with a smile.

"Oh please," said Stoker with mock-disgust, trying not to smirk.

"Come on Stoke, romance isn't all bad is it?" Harley snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Stoker immediately started stuttering. "Well, uh – heh heh – I guess… um, yeah…"

Throttle shook his head, turning his attention to Rimfire, Primer and Chopper who were approaching. "High calibre job kids. Look us up in a few years."

"You bet!" said Rimfire in excitement, exchanging high fives with the girls.

"Quite a few years," added Throttle, reaching out and ruffling Chopper's hair affectionately. Chopper ducked out of his way, protesting.

"Throttle," said Primer solemnly. "Do you think Uncle Modo was in the castle when we smashed it?"

"Hard to say," said Throttle, staring out at the column of dust rising on the horizon. "With him being under Plutarkian control, it's the obvious place for him to go back to."

"But – he saved me…"

"And he's not here," said Throttle, putting his hand on her shoulder. "But don't worry. We'll get him back – and that's a promise."

"Damn right!" said Chopper enthusiastically.

"I'm proud of you kid," said Throttle to Chopper, pulling on her ears playfully.

Chopper backed off, covering her ears protectively. "If this is what adults grow up to act like – remind me to never have kids!"

Throttle laughed, noticing that Vinnie and Carbine had finally come up for air and going to join them. "We did it!"

"We are the champions, my friends…" sang Vinnie, totally off key.

"And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end!" Carbine and Throttle joined in, grinning.

Stoker sighed, hiding his own smiles. "It gets worse…"

"Lighten up Stokes," said Vinnie. "You can…"

Another voice cut in, too familiar – and too unwelcome. "A little nightmare to remember me by!"

The Freedom Fighters turned to see Mace stood behind them, a smug look on his face – and a grenade launcher in his hands.

"Look out!" yelled Stoker in alarm, taking his own advice and hitting the floor, as the Freedom Fighters did likewise, reaching for their guns.

A second later, the grenade launcher shot its contents in their direction. The launcher only held one grenade but one was all it took for some major damage to be done.

The grenade missed hitting the mice by sheer luck as they dived to the floor, instead smashing into a nearby rock formation and blowing it into chunks. The rubble collapsed in a pile of dust, burying the mice unfortunate enough to have ducked into its shelter.

Laughing, Mace hit the button on his transporter and vanished an instant before the first laser hit him. There was a complicated moment as shots rang out and the dust hung thick around the mice, then Stoker realised Mace was long gone.

"Hey. HEY! Cease fire already!"

The gunfire ceased and he mice got to their feet, checking around to make sure no one was hurt. Throttle glanced beside him and saw Vinnie and Carbine with their weapons still in hand, rising to their feet. Stoker was helping Harley to her feet, the other Freedom Fighters were scattered in the area, seemingly no more injured than they had been before the fight and the kids were…

His gaze went to the pile of rubble left by the grenade. From beneath it poked a tail, a tan tail that looked an awful lot like Primer's.

"Quick!" he yelled at Vinnie and Carbine, running off with the two of them in pursuit, clearly not understanding what had him so frantic. Reaching the pile, he began to drag rocks off and toss them aside.

Vinnie spotted the tail sticking from beneath the rocks and turned to the rest of the Freedom Fighters. "The kids are trapped under here!"

"They'll suffocate if we don't hurry up!" Carbine began to aid Throttle and Vinnie in pulling the heavy debris aside.

Within seconds, every Freedom Fighter there was desperately trying to clear the pile in a hurry. The smaller rocks, little more than pebbles, were brushed aside quickly, the larger ones tossed aside, still larger ones beneath. It became quickly obvious that the further down the kids were trapped, the harder it would be to move the heavier debris.

"I got Primer clear!"

Vendel dragged the girl out of the rubble, pulling her clear of the rescue operation. Filthy and dazed, there was a steady stream of blood flowing down the left side of her face, spread around so much that it was impossible to see where it all came from or how severe the cut was.

"Talk to me kid," said Vendel urgently.

"My eye," moaned Primer, covering her face, leaning on Vendel for support. "It feels weird – ruptured – oh, I'm gonna be sick… it huuuuurts…"

"Here!" Carbine uncovered an arm, dirty but recognisable. Rimfire. "Give me a hand!"

Vinnie scrambled over and helped her clear enough rubble out of the way to reveal Rimfire's upper body, limp and unconscious, a gash slicing down his forehead and worse, one of his antennae snapped and listing in a ninety degree angle.

Not seeing any wounds worse than those around his face, Vinnie grabbed the kid under the arms and pulled him from under the rubble. After the initial resistance, the stones holding him down gave and Vinnie managed to drag him away from the rescue mission.

"Rimfire's clear, but he's out cold!"

Harley broke away from the rescue mission briefly to hurry over to Rimfire, taking his pulse quickly and glancing worriedly at his wounds. "We need to get him looked at by a real medic, Primer too. But it's not life threatening. Vinnie, go get my med bag from my bike."

Throttle threw some more rubble from the heap and suddenly a hand emerged through the bricks and started waving.

"Found Chopper!" announced Throttle, relieved, clearing the stones out of the way until her face was revealed, filthy but with little damage that he could see.

"How you doing kid?"

"Something's pinning down my legs."

"We'll get it clear right now." Glancing over at the other Freedom Fighters, Throttle gave them the thumbs up, to much relief. "She's pinned down, can we get her clear?"

Harley stood up from her quick examination of Rimfire, glancing at Primer and narrowing her eyes, looking up as Vinnie returned with her bag.

"Thanks. I need to get Primer sedated before the shock wears off and when Rimfire…"

Harley trailed off, moving her head to one side to look at the site of the rescue. Vendel and Redstone were about to clear the last of the rubble, a large rock pinning Chopper's legs to the floor, Throttle sitting next to her and talking calmly.

Vendel grinned over at Redstone. "Okay, after three – one, two…"

"NO!"

Vendel and Redstone both started as Harley raced over to them, indicating frantically for them to leave the rock alone. They didn't move he rock, but stared at her with identical looks of perplexity.

"We need to get her free babe," said Stoker, speaking into Harley's ear so no one elae could hear him.

"Not like this!" Harley turned around and stared Stoker right in the eye. "Look how close that rock is to the ground. Chopper can't feel any pain because the nerve endings are pinched off. And the reason she's not bleeding to death is because the arteries are pinched off too. We move that rock, we might kill her."

"So what do we do?"

"First thing, get Throttle the hell away from here and get something for tourniquets. And arrange for us to get to Utopia as soon as possible."

Stoker turned, going directly into leader mode without thinking. "Vinnie, get over here with the medical kit! Throttle, go get a sidecar attached to your bike, Carbine, you too and Vinnie. Denel, Shrapnel, come over here in case we need you. Vendel, Redstone, see to the twins. Everyone else, watch out I case we have uninvited guests."

Throttle looked up, suddenly worried. "Why? What's going on?"

"Come on," said Carbine, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him to his feet. "It's fine Chopper, we're just going to get the bikes ready to get you back to Utopia."

"Typical," muttered Chopper, her voice mildly slurred.

"So let's move already," said Vinnie, helping Carbine to hustle Throttle away from the area. He doubted their maniacal optimism was fooling Throttle for a moment, but Stoker's aim was obviously for them to be out of the way for a reason.

Harley pulled a syringe from her bag and talking calmly to Chopper the whole time, injected the girl in her neck. Breaking off for a moment, she handed the painkiller to Denel. "Go deal with Primer and Rimfire. They'll need it."

Nodding, Denel took off.

"You need anything else babe?" asked Stoker as Chopper's eye closed and her breathing slowed. She was out for the moment.

"Yeah," said Harley dolefully, shining the torch beneath the rock and biting her lip hard at what she saw. "Those tourniquets. A laser saw. And a blowtorch."

"What's really going on over there bros?" asked Throttle as the three grabbed their bikes, planning to ride them the short distance to Alternate Post Fourteen to grab the sidecars left there in case of emergency.

"I've no idea," said Carbine grimly. "But if Stoker wants us out of the way, you know there's nothing we can do."

"We're better suited to getting them to Utopia quickly than dealing with the medical stuff anyway," added Vinnie. "They'll be fine once we get them to a medic."

"They'd better be," snarled Throttle. "Because if Chopper's hurt if anyof them are hurt - then Mace's future has Throttle in it. Front and centre."