Molly couldn't help but stare at the computer monitor. From her vantage point looking through the view port of the locked door she could see most of the screen. The display current held two blips, both moving towards the base. Molly couldn't tell which was which from this far away.

She was pretty sure of the identity of those two blips. One had to be Muskateer, returning from his raid on Resonator. If the partially encrypted message was right, then the identity of the other blip belonged to the dreaded Mechanon.

As she watched, one of the blips changed course and appeared to be moving to intercept the other. Tense moments passed as Molly watched the two blips move closer and closer until they were nearly on top of each other. Suddenly one of the blips mysteriously disappeared from the radar screen.

Molly found herself holding her breath. Her mind raced with all sorts of possibilities. One of the blips had destroyed the other, but which one? Was it Mechanon who had been blown up or was it Muskateer? Molly could only watch and wait.

A few minutes later, the second blip faded from the radar screen as well. Maybe it had also been destroyed. The possibility that it could have landed crossed Molly's mind as well. With that realization also came the notion that maybe the first blip had also landed and had blown the second out of the sky. Such a lack of tangible information was going to drive Molly batty.

About what Molly would guess to be about ten minutes later, one of the blips reappeared on the radar screen. It then quickly moved towards the base. The moment of truth was finally at hand. Just who was it that was arriving?

After what seemed like an eternity, the radar was replaced by a text message on the screen. The message read: "Positive identification. Hanger access hatch opening".

Molly let out a huge sigh of relief. Muskateer was returning on his flying bike. The access hatch led directly to the bike's hanger. Molly turned and started to run towards the hanger. She was eager to see Muskateer again.

"When I ran the hounds of hell
Tripped my foot, I nearly fell
I was lucky I was alive
One look back, I could have died
I am the -- "

#7 - "Sole Survivor"

"The sole survivor
Solitary fire."

- Asia

The grav-cycle began to slow down. Sandy couldn't see much due to the dark of night. The bike appeared to be over another pile of deserted ruins. Suddenly, a concealed hatch opened below and Muskateer piloted the grav-cycle inside a small hanger. The hatch would seal up behind them automatically.

Once on the ground, Muskateer powered down the bike and ran off, quickly disappearing down an adjacent hallway. He gave no explanation for his actions. Sandy stared down the passageway he had disappeared in disbelief. It was going to take some time to get used to Muskateer's gruff reactions and moods.

"That's okay," she called out sarcastically. "I'll manage on my own."

Sandy had only pieced together part of what was going on. The message from someone named Jaime had shaken the seemingly unflappable Muskateer. After reading it, he ran back off into the darkness. He returned a few minutes later apparently empty-handed. Muskateer hopped on his bike and was off like a shot into the night. He provided no explanations for his actions and Sandy was too tired to ask. She was getting used to not having her questions answered, so didn't bother to ask any.

Alone once more, Sandy gingerly dismounted from the bike. She hopped along on one foot, trying to avoid using her injured extremity. Sandy managed to reach the hallway and once there used the wall for support. Now she would take her time in trying to find where Muskateer had ran off to. It would be even better if she found a place to lie down and rest. Sandy desperately needed to get some sleep.

Sandy had just taken a few steps down the hallway when, much to her surprise, another girl appeared. The newcomer was just in her teens and had curly brown hair. Her attire was simple, a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Muskateer had never mentioned that he had others working for him, although Sandy would have guessed that he did not from his attitude.

"Hi," the girl greeted warmly as she approached. "I'm Molly."

"Sandy."

"Nice to meet you Sandy. It'll be different having someone to talk to around here."

"I guess that means he's rude to everyone," Sandy snorted. "Speaking of which, where is Muskateer?"

"He's probably locked himself into his command center again. He just about ran me over in his rush, but he did tell me to take care of you. Let me give you a hand." Molly maneuvered beside Sandy and but her arm around the hobbling woman.

"Thank you," Sandy said gratefully as she leaned on Molly and let go of the wall. "What's going on around here? What is this place?"

"I wish I knew," Molly answered. "He doesn't tell me much of anything. This place used to be something called Tyler Labs if that means anything to you."

The name was familiar to Sandy. Back in the days before the war, Tyler Labs was a research and development firm owned by Campbell Industries International. Tyler Labs was frequently in the news due to numerous villain attacks. It barely seemed that not a week would pass before some loon tried to steal something from the lab.

Ironically, the place Resonator had built up as his private fortress was originally the main plant of CII. It also saw more than its share of villain attacks. So much so that CII had its own hero team. They were known as the Freedom League of which Resonator had been a former member. It really was a small world after all.

"Looks like we've got something in common then," Sandy laughed. "We're both guests of that psychopath."

Molly smiled politely, but made no comment. Sandy seemed likeable enough to her, but the young girl couldn't help but wonder why Muskateer had brought her here.

With Molly's help, Sandy was taken to a small chamber. There were no windows and just a single overhead light provided illumination. Molly helped Sandy get cleaned up and tended to her ankle as best she could. An inflatable cast was placed over the ankle to help hold it steady. Her minor cuts and bruises were cleaned up and Sandy was given some pills to help numb the pain.

All during this Molly related her own story with Muskateer. How he had saved her from the HK's and brought her to his base. He refused to allow her to help out in any matter and wouldn't reveal what he planned to do with the young girl. Sandy let Molly do most of the talking, as she was growing more and more tired. Finally, Sandy lie back on the lone cot in the room and fell fast asleep.

Molly watched Sandy sleep for a few moments. It appeared that she had been rescued by Muskateer much like Molly had been. However, Sandy was much older, in her thirties from the looks of it. Perhaps she had skills that would be useful to Muskateer. Whatever the arrangement that existed between Muskateer and Sandy, assuming there even was one, Molly was sure she'd be the last one to know.

With a sigh, Molly turned off the light and quietly left the room. Perhaps Sandy had the right idea and turning in for the night was the thing to do. Muskateer probably didn't want to be bothered since he appeared to be engrossed in some new project. Locating another cot, Molly laid down and quickly fell asleep.

Muskateer stepped into his command center and sealed the door behind him. He quickly moved into his adjacent electronics lab. There was a noticeable hurriedness to the man. Just on his way here he nearly ran over Molly. In his rush, Muskateer just barked at the teenager and sent her to take care of Sandy. It was the last thought Muskateer would have about either girl for the rest of this night.

Pausing before a workstation terminal, Muskateer had the computer bring up all data it could on Mechanon. What information that existed was sketchy at best. Shockwave had provided extensive documentation about Kilbot construction. Hopefully they would be similar enough in design to Mechanon himself to be useful.

There were also files and schematics received from Defender, the hero who originally created Mechanon. The idea had been to create a robotic defender for the headquarters of the Champions. Somehow Mechanon's program had been warped and changed to cause the painful extermination of all life forms. Like any piece of advanced technology, Mechanon was continually re-designing and upgrading himself. Just how much of Defender's original design remained was a mystery Muskateer would soon be grappling with.

Reaching his workbench, Muskateer reached into the Shadow Cloak and pulled out Mechanon's remains. The once powerful Prime Machine was just a shadow of its former self. At some point in the past, the legs had been removed, along with one of the arms. All three limbs had been cleanly extracted. Their removal was not the byproduct of some battle. Perhaps they had been damaged facilitating their removal, or maybe this particular Mechanon had been used as spare parts for other models.

The torso and the right arm was now all that remained. Some of the head was still present, but most of it had been destroyed by Muskateer just minutes ago. He had no idea just why the killer robot was approaching his base. But based on past encounters with the Prime Machine he had little doubt of its intent. Muskateer had exterminated this particular Mechanon with extreme prejudice.

That might had been the end of the matter if not for the strange message he had received on a private frequency just before leaving to deal with Resonator. The message claimed that it was from Jaime and that she was inside the Mechanon robot. She didn't want to cause Muskateer alarm when she arrived.

Of course the situation had played out much differently than Jaime had planned. Muskateer attacked Mechanon, doing his outmost to destroy the construct. With his heart in his throat, Muskateer rushed back to the site of the battle to retrieve Mechanon's remains. It also explained why Mechanon had made no attempt to fight back or defend itself. If Jaime really was inside the robot, then he had to try to save her.

Jaime was the cybernetic alter ego of the Scarlet Sabre, of course. Scarlet and Muskateer had a short, but passionate love affair before Destroyer made his bid for world domination and after his split with Gwen. Both Scarlet and Jaime were instrumental in defeating Destroyer. At the time, Muskateer thought both had perished in the assault that ended the war.

By now, Muskateer couldn't be sure. Given Jaime's ability to travel from electronic storage device to electronic storage device, it was conceivable that she had somehow survived all these long years. But where had Jaime been? Why had it taken almost eight years for her to surface again?

These questions ran through Muskateer's mind as he worked. He just prayed that the central control unit for the robot was concealed in the heavily protected torso portion of the body. It would only be logical for Mechanon to have placed his CPU in a heavily protected area. If he could access the CPU, then perhaps Jaime would be able to transfer into his main computer system.

Emotions long dead and buried couldn't help but swell up again. Muskateer had not been in a relationship since the day Jess and Jaime had died. Everyone he had loved had met grisly fates and Muskateer hardened his heart so that it would not be hurt again. The events that followed only helped to drive away any emotion outside of revenge.

The few short months that Muskateer and the Scarlet Sabre had been together were very happy ones. The two were very much alike, having many of the same interests. The fact that Jess existed as a human being and also as a cybernetic being was disconcerting to most. Muskateer just considered them to be different sides of the same coin. A package deal was the only way that he could rationalize it to himself.

Muskateer worked feverishly in his attempt to restore his lost love. At the same time, the events of that faithful day couldn't help but be replayed in his mind. It was the day Destroyer was defeated and most of his friends and companions had died. It was a day forever burned into his memory and one that was replayed over and over in his nightmares. It was the day when the war ended and the real conflict begun.

Destroyer had constructed his main base in the least hospitable place on the planet. It was constructed out of the very ice mantle that covered Antarctica. Robots had carried out the construction, carving out a vast base from the very ice itself. The entire task was carried out virtually unnoticed from the rest of the world.

Its remoteness and the hellish weather were the first line of defense for Destroyer's fortress. It was enough to keep most away. However when it came to dealing with a small army of superbeings, such natural barriers were not sufficient. Of course Destroyer had spent a lifetime analyzing heroes all over the world. He knew their strengths and he knew their weaknesses. Destroyer considered his fortress prepared to deal with any contingency.

In hindsight, the battle plan was very similar to the one used to take down the Crimson Claw. A powerful force was to directly assault the base from the outside, hopefully drawing the attention of the defenses while smaller units were dispatched inside the base. The plan was a simple one. Destroy the satellite control system by any means possible. Ideally, the Scarlet Sabre would be able to insert Jaime into Destroyer's mainframe where she could wreak havoc. Ironically, it was Blade who had a hand in coming up with this particular strategy.

Heroes and villains alike besieged Destroyer's fortress. There were those criminals who had a natural disdain for Destroyer and those who felt cheated by not being permitted to join his side. Still others were horrified by what Destroyer had done to the world and vowed to stop him. They were as eager to trounce the villain as any of the other heroes.

Firewing led the charge, his flames burning away much of the ice. His fire blasts impacted upon the fortress with great effect. Together with Starbolt, Phoenix, Scorch, and Helios, they made an impressive combat unit. Entire hero teams also assisted in the assault.

Many died in the battle. The most tragic turn of events was when Ripper killed the earthmover Tremor by snapping his spine. The event pushed the mutant known as Firestar, and Muskateer's close friend, over the edge. Her second, deeply buried personality erupted to the surface in an impressive display of flames. On that day Starfire was born and Firestar died, as did those unfortunate enough to be to close. The powerful and insane mutant cared not about the conflict with Destroyer and simply flew away.

Inside Destroyer's base, three separate assault teams were inserted. Sabre winked into existence bearing Shockwave, Guardian Angel, and Captain Lighting. Shockwave had at one time been a teammate with Sabre in X-Factor. Currently, she was the teammate of Guardian Angel in the Avengers.

Captain Lighting was not the man he had once been. In the opening stages of his war, Destroyer had obliterated all those things that were a personal insult to him. Such as Great Britain, who had nearly killed the man who would become Destroyer many years earlier. The incident had severely scarred Destroyer and his revenge was most terrible. Neutron bombs killed every living thing in Great Britain. The once proud and venerable empire was reduced to a graveyard in a matter of minutes.

The Malachite Islands were targeted as well and also hit with neutron bombs. Malachite had dared to think himself the equal of Destroyer and had become something of a thorn. Begrudgingly, Destroyer did consider Malachite nearly his equal in the field of genetics. Destroyer put the information and new techniques taken from Malachite to great use.

Less known was Destroyer's war against all things magical. Squads of his killer Destroids were dispatched to slay any and all mages. Captain Lighting helplessly watched as the love of his life was slain before his very eyes. Tanya Chamberlain, better known as the Sorceress, was just one of Destroyer's many victims. Insane with grief, Lightning vowed to kill Destroyer for what he had done.

As soon as they appeared, Captain Lightning streaked into the nearest electrical outlet. He abandoned the others in his suicidal attempt to avenge his beloved Tanya. Ironically, Lightning would be one of the few survivors. He never did fulfill his plans of revenge, but the destruction of Destroyer was enough for him. After the formation of the HKA, the Captain became one of the leaders of the rebellion along with Sabre and Eclypse.

Gigaton intercepted the trio and made short work of them. His nuclear spawned powers were more than a match for the three. Shockwave fell before Destroyer's henchmen, while Guardian Angel held her own. Terribly wounded and at the urging of Guardian Angel, Sabre teleported away to safety. The final fates of both Guardian Angel and Gigaton remain unknown to this day.

Blade teleported the second group into the base. With him were Sapphire, Centurian, and Maverick. The assault squad quickly went to work, smashing everything electronic that they could find. Blade's powers were much like those of his son, Sabre. He simply infused electronic consoles with destructive energy and then watched as they blew themselves apart.

The Azurian Warrior Sapphire smashed anything she could get her hands out. Consoles were ripped up and violently thrown against anything looking important. Centurian and Maverick of the Superior Seven were even less subtle than their companions. They simply blew everything away with the deadly weapons that they carried.

Destroyer's forces quickly responded to this threat. Stormwatch led a squad of Destroyer's crack troops to deal with the heroes. The weapons the troops carried were specifically designed to counter foes wearing armor. Centurian was the first to fall, but not before talking out nearly a dozen of Destroyer's men.

Maverick wisely took cover and methodically blasted away the opposition. Unlike her normal six-shooters, these ones had been further upgraded and were specifically designed to eliminate foes. Without a sign of remorse, Maverick gunned the enemy down.

Sapphire continued to cause wide scale destruction wherever she went. Destroyer's weapons hurt her, but she would survive. Her enemies would not. Enrage over how cowardly Destroyer had dealt with his enemies grated on Sapphire. If her enemy had not a shred of honor, then Sapphire would respond in kind.

Blade and Stormwatch battled for a time. Blade had mastered many different weapons during his long lifetime and was nearly the equal of Stormwatch in the bo stick. The commander of Destroyer's troops had never battled anyone so skilled in combat before. The two men were lost in the enjoyment of their struggle.

Of this particular group, only Sapphire survived when the base was destroyed. It all happened so fast that Blade never had time to teleport to safety. Maverick's broken body was found in the wreckage. Sapphire, while gravely wounded, did withstand the destruction of the base.

The last of the insertion groups was also the largest. They used the Shadow Cloak to penetrate Destroyer's base. After Tanya's death, the item had been given to Muskateer to use on this particular mission by Captain Lightning. To most a magic item like the Shadow Cloak was useless. Only those skilled in the art of magic or who bore the taint of magic could use the item. In this particular instance, Muskateer fit the bill.

This particular assault team was also the most eclectic. Along with Muskateer was his love, the Scarlet Sabre. The two said their goodbyes before entering the base. Both knew that it was highly unlikely that either would live to see another day.

Three full-fledged villains were also part of this team. The first was the malevolent Black Paladin. The armored villain never had any particular like of Destroyer in the past. The dark knight found Destroyer to be a childish and clumsy in his dealings. He was as subtle as a jeweler trying to cut a gem with a sledgehammer.

But what had drove Paladin to partake in this particular mission was vengeance. During Destroyer's magical purge his consort, the black sorceress Lady Bale, had been murdered. Black Paladin took an oath to see Destroyer's life blood dripping free from his mangled body. Destroyer would feel the pain and anguish that Paladin had felt.

Black Paladin insisted that he bear the Shadow Cloak, since he had a passing familiarity with it having briefly possessed it in the past. However, Captain Lightning was violently opposed to this idea. In the end it was getting at Destroyer that Paladin sought, not the possession of magical trinkets.

The only woman of the three was the Engineer. It was her hatred of Mechanon that caused the villainess to side with the heroes. The Engineer's ability to control and manipulate machinery would be a boon in the task to come. The woman was cold in personality, but possessed a dry wit to her.

Last, but not least, was Neutron. The megalomaniac considered Destroyer to be a threat to all mutant kind that must be dealt with. That was his official story at any rate. Most of the other present felt that Destroyer thought Neutron to be unworthy of assisting him in his task. This was a snub that someone with such a colossal ego like Neutron couldn't bear. Neutron's magnetic powers would help counter any metal-based threats the group might encounter, such as running into Mechanons.

Rounding out the group was Lady Blue, Howler, Gladiator, and Defender. Lady Blue and Howler had been typically neutral when it came to things such as being a hero or being a villain, but in this particular instance there was no choice. Destroyer must be stopped for everyone's sake. Intelligence reports suggested that the current crop of Mechanons were vulnerable to sonic attacks, prompting Howler's inclusion.

This particular group had moved deeper into the base than any of the others. Once in, they split up into separate groups. All three of the major villains went off on their own to deal with the forces of Destroyer. Muskateer would never see any of them ever again. Neutron's body was found in the wreckage, while there was no trace of the Engineer or Black Paladin.

The remainder of the group mostly stayed together. Numerous Mechanons were encountered and destroyed. The intelligence was true and Howler destroyed many of the constructs on her own. Lady Blue and Defender held back the Mechanons with their ranged attacks, while Gladiator, Muskateer, and the Scarlet Sabre reflected incoming attacks back to their source.

Finally, the group reached a computer terminal. Scarlet went to insert Jaime while the others covered her. However, Destroyer was ready for such a thing and the heroes had walked into a trap. Banks of blasters dropped down from the ceiling and opened fired. Most were able to either withstand or deflect the attacks.

The Scarlet Sabre activated her force field belt for protection while she worked. Destroyer's security protocols were quite impressive, but not enough to stop someone so intimately familiar with the way computers worked. Blast after blast ricocheted off Scarlet's forcefield while she feverishly worked. Finally, the transport cube that held Jaime's essence was plugged into the system and she invaded Destroyer's network.

At that moment, Scarlet's forcefield gave out and she was struck by multiple blaster fire. Her body was instantly vaporized, along with the transport cube that held Jaime just a few moments ago. Not a trace of her was left behind.

Muskateer went numb in shock. He hadn't been there when Gwen died, but he had felt her death due to their special connection. Glitter had died in his arms, but she was never as close to Muskateer as Gwen or Jessica. Unable to bear what he had witnessed, Muskateer went blank. He could only vaguely recall the base exploding and Gladiator urging him to use the cloak so that they could escape.

The heroes could only guess at what happened next. There was no doubt that Jaime felt Jessica die in her mind. The two had been linked and were always conversing telepathically. Jaime, enraged by what had occurred, overcame Destroyer's computer network and turned his orbital weapons back upon themselves.

Destruction rained down from the sky as the satellites fired upon themselves and all of Destroyer's ground targets. Dozens of missiles slammed into Destroyer's main base, blowing it to kingdom come. Some of those involved in the conflict managed to escape the destruction.

The rubble was searched for survivors, but mostly all that was found were bodies. Captain Lightning entered what remained of the electrical and computer systems to search for Jaime. He would find no trace of her. The war was over, but at a very high price.

The hours rolled by while Muskateer worked. He had to proceed with restraint and caution, in spite of the urgency of his task. There was no telling if the interior of Mechanon was booby-trapped or not. Layer after protective layer was peeled away as the masked swordsman worked, ignoring his growing fatigue.

Curiously, it appeared as if this particular Mechanon had been opened recently. Whoever put Mechanon back together again had done so in a great hurry. The lack of quality workmanship was telling. A few parts were missing and not all the bolts had been tightened.

Finally, Muskateer reached the object of his search. As he had expected, the central processor and core memory were buried deep inside the torso of Mechanon. Each was heavily shielded against just about any type attack that could be imagined. Defender's blueprints were useless in this task. Mechanon had evolved far away from his original design. Likewise, Shockwave's Kilbot info was nowhere near as advanced compared to a true Mechanon robot.

The CPU appeared to be intact. As gently as he could, Muskateer removed the components and set them on a small tray. The tray was transported to an adjacent workbench where the next phase of this operation would begin. A computer station was located there as well.

Muskateer couldn't take the chance that Jaime was not inside Mechanon. This could be an act of deceit by some unknown adversary after all. The network connection for this computer was removed, completely isolating it from the rest of the system. If there were some malevolent inside, then it would be trapped in an isolated computer and Muskateer could easily deal with it.

A recovery program was brought up and Muskateer made the necessary connections to the storage device. There had been some damage to the internal drive, but nothing serious. The transfer was started as the stored files were transferred onto the computers hard drive. Muskateer sat back and watched as the transfer began. He would have his answer soon.

As time began to pass, Muskateer found himself thinking about his first true love: Gwen Kingston. Strange, he had tried not to think about her for some time now. That thought was always too painful and filled with failure, loss and unfulfilled potential. Still, try as he may, he couldn't seem to get her out of his mind's eye.

"What I wouldn't give to have a chance to fix everything that happened with her," he mumbled to himself absentmindedly. "At least I can fix a few things that went wrong." Muskateer closed his eyes and tried to relax.

Sandy awoke, feeling refreshed. The tiredness and fatigue she had felt from the night before had faded. The pain in her ankle had subsided to a dull throb. She was in the same place where she had fallen asleep the night before. The chamber was dark, as the overhead light had been turned off. The door to the small underground room had been left open and provided some illumination.

Sandy sat up and gingerly tested her ankle. Putting weight on it was still quite painful, but not as bad as the night before. The cast helped a great deal in this matter. Sandy carefully pulled herself up on her one good foot and reached for the light. At her pull, the light came on, blinding her momentarily.

Using the walls and table for support, Sandy made her way to the adjacent sink. She cleaned herself up as best she could, given her current circumstances. A fresh set of clothes would nice about now.

As Sandy worked, Molly peered into the room from the doorway. "Hi! I see you're up," the young girl stated.

Sandy glanced Molly's way before turning back to her cleansing. "Did I miss anything while I was napping?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Molly answered as she stepped into the room. She was carrying a pair of crutches with her. "I haven't seen Muskateer since last night. I found these and thought you might need them." Molly crossed the room and laid the crutches against the wall beside the sink.

"Thanks. What time is it, anyway?"

"It's the middle of the afternoon. You must have been really tired to sleep so long."

"I needed it," Sandra admitted. "Right now, I could use something to eat. There is a kitchen around here, isn't there?"

"Sure. Come on, we'll see what we can scrounge up. And we can talk some more. There are extra clothes as well, if you want to change."

"Sounds good." Sandy grabbed the crutches and briefly experimented with them. "These will make getting around much easier on me. Okay, Molly. Lead the way."

"Just follow me," Molly grinned in response.

"Steven?"

Muskateer awoke with a start. Somewhere during the data transfer, Muskateer had fallen fast asleep. The computer had carried out its task all the while. Files were transferred and unlocked. The task carried on all through the night and into the next day.

"Gwen?", he mumbled incoherently.

"Steven, are you there?"

Rising to his feet, Muskateer tried to shake away the grogginess he was feeling. He glanced at the computer monitor. It reported that the data transfer had been completed and was a success. The onboard clock also indicated that he had been asleep for several hours now.

"Is anyone there?" The computer-modulated voice spoke once more. It didn't sound like Jaime in the slightest. Granted her audio files might have been damaged causing her to use the default.

Grabbing a microphone, Muskateer finally spoke. "This is Muskateer. Who are you?"

"Steven! I never thought I'd hear your voice ever again! It's me, Jaime. I've finally made it home."

The End

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