S1, 24 The Children of War (FB) (April 5, 2015)

Corresponding text underneath each picture.

**1st March 2095: Present Day**

It was getting late in the day now and as Tracks and I jetted through space in the Viper, heading as fast as we for the besieged Qoter, I couldn’t help but feel that we might be too late.

We hadn’t heard from Mr. Grey since early this morning after we, and apparently everybody else in the galaxy, received a vision from some wacko announcing that he and his army were going to take over the galaxy.

Mr. Grey had told us that the complex his office was situated in was under attack and that his escape routes had all been compromised. He needed me to go and rescue him.

But that was many hours ago and we hadn’t heard from him since.

But we were close now. Ahead of us I could see both Etrion and Qoter. There were ships of a variety of makes, some of which I’d never seen the like of before surrounding Qoter. Even from this distance we could clearly see the attack taking place. As long as we could avoid the fighting, we should arrive at the co-ordinates Mr. Grey had sent within the hour.

VOICE: “Unidentified craft, you are heading towards a no-fly zone. Divert course now or you will be shot down.”

Tank: “Who the hell’s that?” I wondered aloud before I turned on the microphone to respond.

Tank: “Negative, I have orders to proceed to Qoter to attempt a rescue.”

I waited a moment for a reply but nothing was forthcoming.

Tank: “Hello?” I tested.

Suddenly the ship jolted as something hit us. A warning light began flashing on my control board and seconds later a burst of light flashed past the canopy.

Tank: “What the?! Was that a laser?!”

Tracks tried shouting something. I got the gist of it.

Tank: “Hold on! We’re going to have to go the long way around!”

I tilted the Viper’s nose forwards and we began heading down towards Etrion. I glanced behind us and saw a pirate ship firing after us. Luckily, the shots missed.

Tank: “I’m going to have to take us around the planet and approach Qoter from the far si….”

But before I had finished speaking the ship jolted again and this time we lost altitude. Before I could regain control, we had plummeted through the planet’s atmosphere and were heading down towards it.

Tank: “No!” I shouted as I fought to regain control. I managed to get it, but it was too little, too late. I tried pulling up but the speed of our decent, coupled with the gravitational pull, meant that it was pointless. The best I could do was guide us to a safe landing.

We touched down and skidded to a stop on the edge of what appeared to be a ruined town.

I had red lights flashing all over my board telling me that the craft was overheating, low on fuel and a whole load of other things, so I shut the systems down completely.

Tank: “They’re going to need time to reboot.” I told Tracks.

No sooner had I finished speaking though, suddenly there were ‘*clank*’s’ and metallic ‘*ping*’s’ echoing out as we were shot at. We both instinctively ducked and I glanced outside.

A short distance away, hiding among the ruins, I could see several thugs. Possibly pirates, but equally as likely they live here.

I went to use the ship’s weapons but then remembered that I had shut it down. More bullets ricocheted off of the hull and canopy and I kept flinching.

Tank: “I’ll take care of them. You stay here and as soon as the systems are back online, boot ‘em up and prepare for take-off.” I told Tracks who nodded. I waited for the firing to subside and then cautiously popped the canopy and climbed out.

I couldn’t see who’d been firing any more. They’d presumably hidden when I opened the cockpit. I drew my new pistols and hid in the ruins of a small building next to the ship.

I was in the ground floor, next to a massive hole in the wall and I peered out from my cover but quickly drew back again as bullets hit the stone, inches from my head.

I dived for cover across the exposed hole and took shelter on the other side. Bullets followed me across the gap, but I made it to the other side intact.

I glanced out again and spotted one of my attackers sheltering in the ruins directly opposite the street. I drew back and then waited a moment before taking a shot at him. It missed, but it did knock a chunk out of the wall he was hiding behind. He staggered away and as he did so I took another shot. The blast hit his leg and he collapsed.

I had killed enough people today.

I drew back again as shots from other locations sounded out, more ferocious this time. Trying to get back at me for shooting one of their own.

I decided it was time to move again and so I made my way through the ruins of the ground floor of the house and came out through another huge hole the other side. The next building along was in a much worse state than the one I had just been in. There was barely any structure left, just a shell and rubble.

Bullets hit the floor and ruins around me as I ran and I dropped to the ground behind a small section of standing wall.

I didn’t wait this time and leant on the wall to fire off several rounds into the general area that the shots were coming from.

I ducked down again and pressed my back to the wall. I quickly examined my guns. Did these things need reloading? I had no experience with laser weaponry, other than the prototype I had stolen a while back.

I snapped back to the moment very quickly though as I heard something land very close by.

Tank: “Oh s\*\*t!” I cursed and dived further along, just as the grenade exploded and blew the wall to pieces.

I landed hard on my front and groaned, before using my arms to haul myself along through an open doorway to what would have been the house next door.

This room was a little more substantial than the previous one, so I got up and took a moment to breath. I leant back against the wall and closed my eyes for just a second.

And then I heard something unexpected. In the midst of a battle, gunshots ringing out and all that, the one sound I wasn’t expecting to hear was crying. The crying of a child.

I looked around for the source of the noise and crouched on the opposite side of the room, huddled in the corner was a young boy.

Tank: “Hey.” I called softly and he whimpered even more.

Tank: “No, no! Shussssh.” I tried to comfort him and made my way towards him.

Tank: “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you.” I promised. “What are you doing here?”

The boy sniffed before replying in a quiet voice.

Boy: “I live here.”

Tank: “What, in this house?”

The boy shook his head.

Boy: “Nearby. But I can’t get back home because of the men with guns.”

I felt so sorry for the kid.

Tank: “Are they new here?”

He nodded. Well at least that answered the question of whether they were residents or pirates.

Tank: “Are your parents at home?”

Boy: “I don’t know. I got lost. I couldn’t find them.”

Tank: “Okay. Don’t worry. I’m going to get you back to them, okay?”

He nodded and wiped his face on his ragged sleeve.

Tank: “What’s your name?”

Boy: “Aril.”

Tank: “Nice to meet you Aril. I’m Tank.” I smiled as warmly as I could. Seconds later a barrage of bullets burst through the thin wall and Aril screamed. I covered him with my whole body until the firing stopped.

Just moments later I heard a faint ‘*ping*’ing’ coming from my belt and I scrabbled to pull out my holo-com. I activated it and a hologram of Mr. Grey flickered into life.

Mr. Grey: “Where the hell are you?!” he shouted through a very bad transmission.

Tank: “Uh, there’s been a delay.”

Mr. Grey: “This complex is compromised Tank, do you understand that?! Those pirates, or the Collective, or whoever the hell they are, are going to be here very soon! My men can only hold them off for so long!”

Tank: “So what do you expect me to do?!” I retorted. “I’m no soldier! You want me to charge in there and rescue you like some sort of cavalry, well you’re forgetting something! I have no training in that sort of thing! Everything I know, I’ve learnt on the job! Learnt on the run from the GI. I’m not a fighter, Grey! I despise taking lives!”

Mr. Grey: “Tank, I need you! I need you to get me out of this! The GI sent a rescue speeder to pick me up, but it was blown out of the sky!”

He paused, appearing to think.

Mr. Grey: “Get here and you can have answers!”

That got my attention.

Tank: “What?” I had to double check I’d heard right.

Mr. Grey: “Get here, rescue me and I will give you the answers you have been searching for!”

Tank: “Okay, okay! I *am* on my way. I’ll be there as soon as possible.” I assured him, although I decided against mentioning Aril.

Mr. Grey terminated the link.

Tank: “Okay, we’re going to go and find your parents now. You have to be brave, okay? Can you do that for me Aril?” I asked urgently, aware that I had to get out of here. I had to get to Qoter and rescue Mr. Grey. I couldn’t be too late. I needed him alive. If he had the answers to my questions, I needed him.

I had to get this done as quickly as possible.

Tank: “Come on.” I grabbed Aril’s hand and pulled him up. We made it to a hole in the side of the building and dashed out. With my left hand, I held Aril’s and with my right, I fired off several covering shots with my pistol.

We made it into the next building along which turned out to be mostly rubble but I told Aril not to stop and we kept running.

During one short paused, I asked him which way his house was and he pointed through a hole in the wall to a side street on the opposite side of the road.

This was going to be difficult. The pirates were still after us and I hadn’t managed to take any more of them down yet.

Tank: “Come here.” I scooped the young boy up into my arms and adjusted him so that I had my right arm, the side that would be closest to the pirates, free to hold my gun.

I dashed out from the rubble and started firing randomly at the ruins. Several pirates emerged and charged towards me, firing their own weapons. Luckily they didn’t seem to be very experienced and before I had made it to the opposite side of the street, I had incapacitated two of them.

I didn’t stop running and kept heading up the road.

Aril: “Up there!” he pointed to an alley on our left and I ducked as bullets flew past us.

I spun and fired several shots back towards the source of the bullets. I didn’t stop to see if I hit anybody but I heard somebody cry out so I assume I got something. We headed up the alley a short distance before Aril told me to stop. I set him down and he went straight for his front door.

Tank: “Wait.” I told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Hide in the rubble here. I’ll go inside and check that there aren’t any pirates hiding inside.” He nodded and ducked underneath a broken down door in a pile of debris on the opposite side of the alley.

I tentatively opened the door and stepped inside. The house seemed to be intact, or at least, the parts I could see were. I crept further inside, my guns at the ready. I couldn’t hear anything. I went upstairs and checked the rooms one by one. There was nobody.

Then in the final room, the master bedroom, two bodies lay sprawled on a blood-soaked bed.

I let out a groan. The poor kid.

Now what was I going to do with him? I couldn’t leave him here to fend for himself! On the other hand, I had to get to Qoter ASAP.

I ran a hand through my hair, desperately trying to think of a solution.

Tank: “Oh….. damn it.” I muttered aloud and charged back downstairs. I burst outside, ready to fight but there was no ambush waiting.

Tank: “Okay, Aril,” I told him as he emerged from the rubble with a hopeful smile on his little face.

It almost broke my heart. I got down on one knee and took the boy’s arms in my hands.

Tank: “Listen to me. You’ve got to be strong now, alright? You have to be brave. You can’t go inside now. You’re going to have to trust me.”

He looked confused and I didn’t blame him. But I couldn’t tell him the truth.

Tank: “Do you trust me?” I asked urgently. He nodded, slowly at first but then with a little more assurance.

Tank: “Good, then come with me.” I took his hand again and we set off back the way we had come, Aril running as fast as he could, and I jogging so that I was more prepared to defend us if necessary.

We ran behind the row of destroyed houses that the pirates had been hiding in and started making our way back towards the Viper. Hopefully, the systems would have had a chance to reboot by now and Tracks would have it ready to go, as I’d ordered.

Sure enough, as we got a bit closer, I could hear the engine humming.

We stopped at the final corner and I poked my head around to check the coast was clear. I could see Tracks waiting in the ship, the cockpit open.

Aril: “Where are we going?” he asked.

Tank: “Um, we’re going to pick up a friend of mine and then we’re going to find your family, okay? My friend is really great at finding people. I promise that he’ll help us find your family, okay?” I asked with as best a smile I could manage but Aril’s face beamed as he nodded.

Tank: “Hey, you like robots? Do you like droids?” I asked quickly before we set off across the road.

Aril: “I never seen one before.”

Tank: “Well I’ve got one. His name is Tracks. I think you’ll like him.” I said with a slight smirk to myself, knowing that Tracks probably wouldn’t like having a kid playing with him.

We dashed over to the Viper and I lifted Aril up into the cockpit before climbing in after him.

Tracks whirred and bleeped some indignant sounds with his arms out, palms up, that I could easily understand to be “Who’s this?! What the heck’s he doing with us?!” Or at least, something along those lines.

Tank: “Tracks, meet Aril. Aril meet Tracks. Aril is going to be coming with us for a little while. I promised him I’d help get him back to his family.” I explained as I closed the cockpit and prepped the ship for take off. In the reflection in the glass canopy, I saw Tracks shake his head in disbelief and I smirked again. Aril sat in the spare seat with a great big grin on his face as he watched Tracks.

Tracks looked at him with a blank expression.

Aril giggled.

Tracks looked at me. I knew what that look meant.

I chuckled.

We rose into the air and as we did so, a few more bullets clattered off of the hull. I thumbed the ship’s machine gun switch and fired a volley randomly into the ruins before tilting us up and away.

As my series is going to be jumping around though time, I will include a date on each episode and add it to the timeline at the end of each episode so that you can follow it.

TIMELINE