Second Chance

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CHAPTER 12

Departure
Everything lost

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After giving up on the fuming remains of the control panel, Lunk joined Lancer and Rand who were trying to keep the prison guards at bay.

Amidst the blasts, Sera dragged Marlene's unconscious body towards the back of the cell. "Don't give up, Ariel," she told her wounded sister mentally as she crouched close to her.

Marlene could hear her. She tried to move but her body would not respond. Trapped in total darkness, she sensed all Invid's thoughts. She felt the Regiss destroying everything that opposed her; and she understood. Summoning all strength left in her, she tried to warn him.

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Weston's forces approached the Regis. As the mecha came in contact with her deadly halo it was disintegrated. Many lives were lost in an instant. Scott gritted his teeth. Weston's pride would annihilate them.

The Vipers were to approach the Regiss next. He prepared but suddenly he heard a voice inside his head.

"Don't attack her, Scott. She wont destroy you if you don't interfere, please..." she begged.

"Marlene?" he wondered incredulously.

"She just wants to save us," she insisted. "I don't want you to be killed ..." then he felt her moaning with pain. She was wounded.

"Marlene!" he called and took his Alpha down.

"Captain, what's wrong? Where are you going?" asked Alex Bryant totally confused.

"I have to end this, Bryant," he answered.

"What? But how?" Alex inquired bewildered.

Right now, it was pointless for Scott to explain Alex about the telepathic abilities of his Invid girlfried. "It's a long story... You're gonna have to take my word on this one. The Regiss only wants to rescue her people," he answered. "If we don't try to stop her, she wont attack," he continued and opened a channel to address his whole unit. "All Vipers, retreat! I repeat, all Vipers retreat!" he ordered.

"You heard the man, Vipers, retreat!" Alex repeated witnessing the confusion among the squadron. "Hope you're right on this one, Scott," he thought.

"Pass the message along, Bryant," the Captain asked the Lieutenant Commander. "I have to do something down there."

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"This is insubordination!" howled General Weston enraged as he noticed what Captain Bernard just did. "I'll have you court-martialed! Get your sorry ass back up there!" he barked on Scott's intercom.

"I have to protect as many lives as possible," was the Captain's short answer. He converted his alpha into battleloid mode while he descended towards the prison's door.

The General knew exactly what Scott was planning. "Damn you Bernard!" he bellowed. "Fire on him!" he gave the order. The request took the weapons officer by surprise. He hesitated to comply but lastly fired on Scott's mecha. However, he had given the Captain just enough time to blast the prison's door open.

From the sky, Lieutenant Dawson witnessed the impact on Bernard's battleloid, horrified.

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"This is killing me," cried Annie as she felt the explosions filling the air on top of her head. She yelled hearing another explosion close by. "Hurry up, guys!" she whined as she nervously bit her nails.

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The prison's door exploded, letting bright light from the outside pour in. Through the suffocating fumes, the prisoners saw the opening and massed to flee. Their wish for survival was stronger than their wish for revenge. As the smoke started to clear out, Sera stood up to see what was happening. The captives were desperate to get fresh air and to get away form the line of fire. They pushed anything that stood in their way, including each other. Before Sera could help Marlene out, she found herself being dragged by the crowd.

"Sera!" yelled Lancer noticing his wife trapped in the flow of prisoners and trying to make his way towards her.

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Banged up and dizzy Scott came around inside his cockpit. He climbed out of his damaged mecha and saw the prisoners stomping out through the hole he had blown open. He spotted Sera coming out followed by Lancer. Rand and Lunk followed coughing; but Marlene was not with them.

He went towards them. "Where's Marlene?" he asked when they were in range to hear him.

"She's wounded... they pushed me... I couldn't take her with me," declared Sera being barely able to talk. Lancer reached her and hugged her tightly.

"Calm down, my love. Where did you leave her?" he asked.

"In the back section, behind some empty crates," answered the woman.

"You all go to the rendezvous point, Annie is waiting," said Scott.

"What about Marlene?" asked Rand.

"I'll find her," said the Captain as he ran towards the prison. "If you don't hear from us in 10 minutes, go," he yelled and disappeared into the smoke.

Lunk, Rand, Lancer and Sera headed to meet Annie.

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While the Regiss obliterated anything that chose to stand on her way, Kelly Dawson landed her battleloid next to Scott's. She had caught a glimpse of him entering the prison while descending. She jumped out of her cockpit and followed him. Right behind her, Robert James' alpha set down.

Through the dark smoke Kelly found Scott. "Marlene! ... no!" she heard him yelling desperately and watched as he knelt next to a figure bleeding green. Kelly's eyes went wide. The nurse was one of them, she was an Invid!

With a heavy heart, Scott took off his helmet and gently shook Marlene. He heard her moaning just about audibly. His heart jumped; she was alive! In that precise moment, the base's emergency mechanism kicked in sealing various sections of the base -including the prison. Unable to come out the way he had gotten in, the Captain wasted no time; he took Marlene's body in his arms and searched for an alternate escape route. If he managed to reach the hangars, he could fly her to safety. He moved quickly through the corridors as Kelly trailed behind.

"Dawson!" yelled Robert James when he saw Kelly ran, but she was too far to hear him. He had not seen what the Lieutenant saw, but something told him she was headed to no good. Against his better instincts, he chose to follow her.

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Weston kept firing everything he had upon the Regiss to no avail. Each time, she swallowed rays and missiles rendering them harmless. She had enough of his annoyances. She shifted direction and hit the control room dead on, melting the structure and its contents instantly. The last thing Weston saw was the Invid Regiss face to face.

Meanwhile on the ground, Rand, Lunk, Lancer and Sera dodged debris and blasts on their way to the military ambulance. Annie waited on the brink of insanity.

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Scott carried Marlene to the hangars and hid waiting for the opportunity to steal an alpha and ultimately join the rest of the group. The nurse's green bloodied uniform would easily give her away. As he gently placed her down, she recovered consciousness. He tore a piece of cloth from her blouse and wrapped it around the wound on her leg to stop the bleeding. When he raised his face, he found her eyes fixed on him.

His heart was crushed. "I... I'm so sorry," he said while refraining himself from hugging her. "I'll never forgive myself," he added looking down. She knew he was telling the truth; they were sharing a strange mental connection.

They both realized those were their last moments together. Tears filled her eyes and his. He could not ask for her forgiveness again. But he did not have to; she had granted it already. She did not want her human life to end with resentment in her heart. She held on to the love she still felt for him. He helped her to stand up and held her in his arms.

"I didn't fall in love with a perfect man, Scott," she said "I don't regret having loved you..."

"She loved me," he thought in agony. Contrarily to his intent, he had caused her much pain. And he was about to lose her forever.

Then, she said it softly. "I love you still." His feelings overtook him as he kissed her passionately one last time.

Kelly Dawson watched them paralyzed. The sight of them together devastated her. She looked away dejected, not being able to take it. But anger started boiling inside her. He was hers... And now he was with the nurse. "Damn her!" She stole him away, but... She was an Invid! She remembered the agony the aliens had inflicted on her and her nightmares at the hospital. "The enemy must die!" She thought tightening the grip on her semi-automatic Mars Gallant. She screamed.

Scott saw Dawson's Gallant aimed at Marlene. "Dawson, no!" he yelled. Marlene turned to face the jealous woman. She gasped reading the hate in the Lieutenant's eyes.

"Move out of the way, Captain!" Kelly shouted. But he was not about to move.

"Lieutenant, please put down your weapon, " he said trying to calm her down.

"Now I'm the Lieutenant!" she burst into mad laughter. "You weren't so cold when we were alone in your room. Did you tell the alien about it?" she asked furiously. "Did you?...I bet not!" Scott remained silent and embarrased, concerned for the humiliation Marlene was suffering. "You used me!" Kelly yelled getting madder. "You're in love with that thing! That's sick!" she added disgusted and pointing her gun in Marlene's direction.

He gritted his teeth but controlled his temper, Kelly could blast them at any second. "I ... I'm sorry... " he stuttered trying to explain. But Dawson was beyond reason.

"No, it's that thing, the Invid has blinded you. I have to finish it, now!" she shouted and shot. Scott managed to push Marlene aside just on time, causing Kelly to miss her target. He took the blast instead. Suddenly, Lieutenant Robert James struggled to take the weapon out of Kelly's hands.

"Stop, Dawson! Let it go, it is not worth it!" he told her, but she would not let the gun go. "Get out of my way!" she roared. "No! Listen to me, he doesn't love you!" he yelled. "Shut up!" she cried. They struggled and rolled on the ground together. "Damn you!" she said and fired on him. "I do," he muttered closing his eyes.

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Bryant succeeded at halting the attack on the Regis. Without further resistance on her way, the mother began taking her children one by one. Her phoenix was onto Sera. Lancer, Rand and Lunk were insignificant to her. She was about to disintegrate them when Sera yelled, "No!" stopping the annihilation of her friends and husband. "Don't harm them, mother," she begged while Lancer hugged her.

"Step away humans! All Invid belong to me," the Regiss hissed.

"Never!" replied Lancer. Sera looked at him. She knew he would not let go of her. Tears blurred her vision as she took her decision; she had to save him. But her mother had read her mind. In a second, Sera took Lancer's weapon and placed it onto her temple. The light of the Invid engulfed them all, sending the humans to the ground.

"No! Sera!" yelled Lancer crazed; but she was gone. Rand and Lunk grabbed and pulled him towards the ambulance.

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Wounded and with his heart breaking, Scott told Marlene to go. Kelly was trapped under James' body but it would not take long for her to break free. Marlene's tears flowed as she took a few trembling steps. As predicted, Dawson unburdened herself and got back on her feet; immediately she tried to get another shot at the nurse. Scott used his leg to trip her. She stumbled to the ground. Both soldiers started to get up and, from a distance, Marlene saw Kelly aiming her weapon at Scott; a blast from such a sort distance could kill him. "Scott!" the nurse screamed desperately as the revengeful Regiss invaded the space. The all-knowing mother was ready to destroy her child's enemy. Blinded by the light, Kelly fired. Scott fell to the ground as the phoenix blazed. He had lost everything.

The Invid left Earth.

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