Sudo

The President tells me he has sent me the very best Motors in his and Mr. Steele's corps. All of them appear inferior compared to my extensive circuitry and programming. We cannot expect to win the day with such outdated machinery. In addition, the rebels have entered an unpredictable factor into the statistics: something the President calls "luck." They cannot be allowed to repeat this. As such, I have advised that we move out immediately. But the President has elected to wait for the insufferable life form known as Rove. I do not trust the clones. If not raised properly, they are likely to exhibit traitorous behaviors. Nevertheless, I cannot disobey the President. I will not stoop to the clones' level.

Ratchet

The troops are all ready and waiting at the airlocks. If Gayge were back already, we may actually be able to get a plan to Eclipse and leave. But she's gotten held up, I guess. Honestly, I'm worried about her. What if something really bad happened to her?

Suddenly I spot a dark figure running towards the base. It's gotta be her. "She's back!" I shout to Siren, who's standing at the airlock controls. She presses the button and the doors close behind me and a handful of troops. I press the red button as soon as it starts flashing, indicating that it's safe to press. Gayge runs into my arms as I hug her tightly. "I was worried sick!" I say, stroking her hair.

"I'm fine," she says, then addresses the troops. "Tronyx is sending out an advanced Motor named Sudo to lead his forces. There are at least six thousand of them, maybe more. Compared to our numbers, we're all going to have to take a massive step up to beat them."

I stop her. "What about Rove? Isn't she leading this thing?"

"I took care of her," says Gayge. "Are all the troops ready to go?"

"As many as we could get," I say, looking back at the people in the airlock with me.

She presses the button to close the doors and looks at me. "Let's start sending squadrons through one by one. We can also get people out through the E hall airlocks and the escape jettisons."

We set to work doing as she says. As soon as all the troops are out, Siren gets up on the roof so we can all hear her.

"Fellow rebels!" she shouts in true heroic fashion. "I understand that some of you are completely out of your comfort zone in this situation. Some of you would rather be in the back strategizing or in the tech room repairing weapons. But not everyone can do what they're comfortable with, and I commend you all on your bravery as we head out to face this threat. Tronyx and Steele have been oppressing the world for as long as we can remember, but no more! Today we end it, once and for all! Some of you will not make it back. Know that if you fall today, the free world will be indebted to you. Now let's take them down! Justice will be swift! It will be painful! And it will be final!"

The crowd cheers, and honestly, I'm inspired, too. Siren's got a real way with words. "Now," she yells, "to your positions!"

Our team, which had been standing together, breaks apart. Eclipse will be the lead strategist, and Crescent will be repairing weapons. Glitch is lying on a cliff somewhere, reporting the Motors' locations to the strategists. Siren, Sprocket, Gayge, and I are fighting.

Gayge walks up and stands beside me. "You ready?"

"No," I say, smiling a little. I can feel a tear running down my face. "Oh, god, I'm actually really scared... wow, I feel weak."

Gayge wipes my tear away. "Crying isn't a sign of weakness," she says. "It's a sign of having been strong for too long."

I smile at her and pull her in to kiss her. Her lips are smooth against mine as I look her in the eye. "Remember what you promised, all right?" She nods at me and stares straight ahead, with a coldness in her eyes. I met her under that coldness, and it seems like she only thaws out for me. I'm consoled by that thought as a bright light shines in the corner of my eyes. I look over and see the setting sun glinting off the opposing army's metal shells. Their numbers are massive; I never realized how many six thousand really was until now. They're advancing determinedly and quickly. Suddenly they stop, drawing the battle lines. All is quiet for a bit, and I can feel the tension in the air around me.

A robotic voice from their lines shouts, "Advance!"

Siren counters it. "Charge!" she shouts, and the rebels rush forth, shouting passionately. The Motors march towards us in one perfectly straight line and are met with a bunch of young, screaming fighters. I'm amazed at how many people go down during the first wave, but I can't think about that right now. I just have to stick to the plan.

Eclipse got our team together before this and told us her plan. She said that if we could take out Sudo, we may have the upper hand in this battle. She said to hold our own relatively close to one another until Glitch discovered Sudo's position. After that, the four of us are going to ambush him, take him out, and sever Tronyx's connection to his troops.

Keeping Gayge in sight, I launch grenade after grenade in random locations, blowing up scores of Motors. Right beside me I hear a little boy shouting and charging a Motor. I pull a small blade out from my belt and chuck it at the Motor's eye. As soon as it goes dead, I scoop up the boy and run away from the battle. He keeps screaming, "Let me go! I wanna help!"

I set him down and look him in the eye. "You shouldn't be in there," I tell him. "You could die."

"But my name's Blackhawk, and I'm a warrior!" he says, puffing his chest out.

I smile, thinking fast. "Indeed you are. I pulled you out of there because you've already helped out so much. I figured you'd want to watch your success from the best possible view." I spot Glitch on the cliff top and point at her. "See that girl on the cliff? Go ask her if you can watch, too."

Blackhawk grins, his two front teeth missing. "Thanks, mister!" he shouts, running off. I smile as I hear Glitch coming in through my earpiece.

"Gayge, Ratchet, Siren, Sprocket, this is Glitch," she says. "I've spotted Sudo at 300 yards from the battle lines. Initiate Operation: Weedkiller."

I touch my earpiece. "Roger that. Hey, I found an eight-year-old in battle and rescued him. He calls himself Blackhawk. I'm sending him up to you."

"Ten-four," Glitch says, and I start looking for Gayge. Running back towards the front lines, I spot her heading towards the face of the cliff. I run over to intercept her as Sprocket falls in behind her. Siren sees me and starts running with me as the four of us meet up. We nod at one another and start stealthily making our way around the battle lines. Once we're behind the main force, we see another platoon of Motors about 150 yards out. Running towards them, Gayge unfolds her scythe and starts slicing through them. I blow up a few as Siren pulls out her pistols and Sprocket opens his back. The platoon is gone in no time.

I look on top of the hill we've just run to. On top of it stands a tall, slender version of the Motors. I have no doubt that this is Sudo. Our team stands in a line as he comes towards us.

"So," he says in a monotonous voice, "this is all the rebels can throw at the great empire?"

"Well, I wouldn't say this is all we can throw at you," I say. "If you like, I can call some of my friends and we'll settle this like men. Or, I guess in your case, robots."

"There is no need for such pleasantries," Sudo says as he advances towards us. "I assure you that I am not programmed to process flattery. Please stick to your plan. You are here to kill me, yes?"

Gayge rolls her eyes. "No, we wanted to congratulate you on your engagement."

"Then let us engage," he says. With this, he holds his hands out. Two wicked-looking blades shoot out of them as we ready our weapons. I look at Gayge and nod, then take him mono y mono as the team takes him from other angles.

This guy is really good. I'm stuck trying to dodge his blades so much that I can't focus on lodging a grenade in his rib cage. Eventually, I'll make a mistake and he'll have me right where he wants me. Right as I'm thinking about this, his hand comes at my head. I duck under it, but I don't see his other hand coming at me. It catches my neck and he pushes me against a rock. The blade on his left hand grows into a full-fledged sword, and all I can hear is my own heartbeat as it comes at me. I shut my eyes, waiting for the impact.

But it never comes.

I open my eyes and see a brown braid in front of me. The figure goes forward as the sword pulls her and I see the tip of the sword poking out her back. The blade turns inside her body and I hear a feminine cry of pain. Oh, my god.

Why did she do that?!

Sudo throws Gayge off his blade, where she slams against the cliff face. I run at her as Siren shouts, "Sprocket! Help me cover him!" I don't care if I'm covered. All I care about is Gayge. I run to her and turn her body stomach-up. Her bare abdomen is stained red, and her chest heaves slightly.

"Gayge?" I say through my tears, not believing my eyes. "What... why did you do that?"

She opens her eyes and the blue looks bright against the red on her face. "I'm sorry, Ratchet," she says in a light voice. "I just couldn't stand to see you like this."

I don't understand. "But what about your promise?"

"I know I broke it," she says through shallow breaths, "and I'm sorry. But you deserved better."

"Ratchet!" I hear Siren's voice through the rage.

Sudo's shadow falls over me. "Pathetic," he says as he raises his foot. I don't move a muscle as he kicks the back of Gayge's neck, breaking it. The light leaves her eyes and she lies still.

She's gone.

A/N: GUYS I'M AT ALMOST 3,000 VIEWS!!! Thanks so much! Please keep reading/voting/commenting/sharing so I can double that! Heck, I didn't even think I would get this far... Anyways, I also started writing another book called Nameless, which is my first real attempt at realistic fiction. So no creepy hellbent robots or flirtatious guys with rocket launchers. But it's still awesome... hopefully. So yeah, read that too! Ooh, and I got a couple people to animate this thing! My buddies Marlee Stultz and Mohogany, whose last name I don't know, are gonna draw some of what you see on your YouTube channels! And... I guess that's it. TG out!