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** CHAPTER 55** The Third Offense Part V

"We are running as fast as we can, Titan!" Bo, yelled through his ComPod that barely registered Titan's signal. "Sector Zero is less than a kilometer from our location. The tram system is offline and running is all we can do!"

"Get that device as soon as possible, Bo! The lives of our brothers depend on it!"

Not a few moments ago, Titan had lost all hope to win this battle. But the fast thinking of his friend Doko gave him a small ray of hope. There was no doubt that the machines had been spying on them for who knows when, but this realization made them come up with a plan that might turn the tables on their favor.

A few days ago, one of the Evocanis that were rescued from the Hive unfortunately ended up being a puppet from the machines. How this Evo was forced to infiltrate and act against his brothers was a mystery, but what he did in Canis Major's main computer could be the clue to finding a way to defeat the machines.

The artifact that the now named husky, Blitz, carried inside his arm was in custody of Sector Zero's managers. That artifact was the key on preparing a counter-offensive on the machines.

The white Retcan ran through the seemingly never-ending tram tunnel being guided by Hemi who lead him through the labyrinth of tunnels.

"We are almost there, Bo!" the black furred Evo indicated.

"Are you sure that they kept it, Hemi?" Bo questioned Kalem's son.

"I'm sure. It's their duty to take note and archive everything that Canis Major's systems goes through. I just spoke with Ariska; she's in charge of the Sector. She's waiting for us."

Both the young Retcan and the Evo ran at an outstanding speed until they reached Sector Zero's station. They climbed of the tracks and ran inside.

Sector Zero is the smallest Sector in Canis Major so it would be easy to reach Canis Major's Core. Even though they felt that the trip took forever, they actually made it in less than 20 minutes; incredibly fast, considering they had to run from another Sector.

Before even managing to reach the Zone Complex's door, they saw an Evo waving at them.

"Please, hurry!" She yelled. It was one of The Originals; Ariska.

They finally reached the Zone Complex.

"We have to go get it." Ariska said. Not waiting for them she started walking, though at an apparently painful pace. "I have it frozen in our lab."

"Are you okay?" Hemi asked worried. Bo approached her concerned too.

"I'm still recovering. But this is not the time to rest. We are working hard with my colleges to restore our systems."

The Retcan and both Evos went through various corridors until they reached what Ariska said was Sector Zero's main lab. The place was impressive. Al sorts of light's, panels and capsules adorned the lab.

Ariska finally stopped in front of a strange vault. She entered a code and with a hissing sound, a cabinet slid open. After a small cloud of freezing vapor dissipated, a bizarre figure made itself visible. That tiny and apparently harmless spider-like artifact that wiped out the systems of not only Canis Major, but also R105 sat frozen inside a small glass capsule.

"Take it, my Retcan friend." Said Ariska. "I don't know what your Engineers have planed, but I trust they will find a way to beat the machines. All I can do right now is work with my crew and restore our systems so we can regain control of our defenses."

"You have done a lot, Evo. I promise that we will be victorious once again." Bo said, placing both his handpaws on Ariska's shoulders.

With a brief smile, he headed out the lab and got on his ComPod as soon as he could.

"I have it, Commander. Can you hear me?"

It took some time for Titan's voice to be heard between the heavy static. "You have to bring that artifact to R105 as soon as possible."

"I will, Titan. Trust me."

"...please be careful, Bo. You are our only hope now." Were the last words heard from his uncle. Failure was not an option for Bo. For the first time he would prove to be a valuable crew member of R105. In his hand-paw lied the only hope for Canis Major and R105 to survive that day. He would make his brothers proud.

"Bo!" Hemi stopped the Retcan before he left.

"Hemi, I can't stay any longer."

"Just do me a favor." Hemi said. "My father is out there... Please don't let anything bad happen to him."

"I give you my promise that we will do everything we can so none of your brothers die this day." With those last words, Bo headed to Canis Major's hangar. He had to deliver that artifact to Titan as soon as possible, or else Canis Major and R105 would certainly fall.

But in Canis Major's hangar, things weren't going as good as they would hope. Almost a quarter mile separated the Ship's exterior from the hangar, divided by five blast doors of almost a yard thick. This was enough to keep the sense of security at maximum, but something went terribly wrong minutes before and most Evos inside Canis Major had no idea of it.

Anubis, Fx and Husky who managed to exit to space in search for the D.E1 cruiser, informed Alpha that they saw something incredibly disturbing. Hordes of machine assassins and breaching ships made it through Canis Major's Shell; a shell of unprecedented proportions that surrounded the entire massive colony. They tried to fight them off, but it was impossible to lower their numbers with just three ships. The three Evos were given the order to continue with their task of finding the D.E Cruiser and bringing it back.

Destroying this shell of raw iron was next to impossible. Yes, it was of a very rustic material, but it was so dense that it was enough to make it virtually impenetrable. But how did the machines managed to breach this shell? An iron shell so dense that Canis Major's gravity had to be adjusted in the past due to the shell affecting it out due to having its own gravitational pull. Nobody had the answer. The machines just got in. It was like they had the codes to open Canis Major, although this wasn't a surprise after all they had done so far.

But what happened next was even worse. Despite all the efforts to keep Canis Major sealed, their current situation with their security systems made it impossible to keep the blast doors closed. The machines managed to find a way to open them. The war was once again brought to Canis Major.

Just as in R105, the machines had violated the peace of the gigantic ship. Hundreds of assassin machines rampaged inside Canis Major's hangar with just one purpose; destroy everything and kill everyone.

The Evos that gathered in the hangar to fight once again for their home now doubted. No matter how brave they felt, the memories came back to haunt them. But they were stronger now, and they had Alpha's team on their side. Both Retcans and Evos fought fiercely once again.

It took him longer than he would've wanted, but Bo finally made it to the hangar. He was sure that he would find a ship that he could board and maybe be escorted by one of his brothers that were with Alpha. He never expected to find what he did.

Getting close to the hangar, he started to sense a pungent smell. It was burnt rubber, or metal. As he got even closer, he could see smoke in the air. His fur rose when he started to hear the commotion that the hangar was in.

Just one more blast door to go and he would be in the hangar. This door was closed, so he immediately bypassed the lock with an electronic key he was given by Hemi. As the blast door opened, he saw something that he would never forget.

There were weapons being fired, Evos and Retcans growling, and these horrible metallic beings swarming everywhere, attacking everyone that stood before them. The peaceful hangar of Canis Major was now a huge battlefield.

But Bo had a mission, and nothing would stop him from fulfilling it. He ran to the hangar, unsheathing a Lantracit blade that he got from an armory hours ago and jumped into battle. He had never fought in his life so all the training that Silver gave him would be placed to a test at that very moment.

There was no way past that battle. There were hundreds of machines and they were still gaining entrance from a blast door that had a huge object protruding from a hole in the middle of it.

It's one of those breaching ships. How did they get so far? The young Retcan thought. He noticed shocked how some of these Evos were fighting with improvised weapons, wearing nothing but engineer suits. These would provide them with some protection, but it wouldn't be for long. Bo soon realized that he wore nothing but his R105 uniform. He didn't even have paw-wear at that moment.

Bo had never been in a battle. He stood in shock close to an improvised barricade made out of transport ships and other transport vehicles. The strategy was to funnel the enemy into their reach so taking them down would be easy. But the machines were prepared and they now not only relied on their assassin type units, but also some strange walking weapons that shot powerful rounds. Retcans and Evos were starting to loose ground.

Bo hadn't realized the danger, when all of the sudden he was tackled to the ground by another Retcan. Barely managing to recover from the shock, he noticed a smoking hole on the ground right where he was standing not seconds ago. He was soon yanked by the Retcan until they reached the safety of the barricade.

"What are you doing here, Bo?" He was yelled at. It was Alpha.

"Alpha! What's going on?" Bo asked nervously. "How did they get in?"

"We don't know. You need to get out of here. If something happens to you, the Captain will never forgive me!"

"I need to get to R105!" Bo went right to the point. There was no time to loose.

"What? No! That's impossible! Do you even know the situation outside?"

"That's..." A sudden impact hit very close to where they were, interrupting Bo.

Alpha dragged Bo closer to the ground.

"That's why I need to get to R105. Titan needs this artifact." Bo explained, showing Alpha the tiny spider bot. "I don't know what Titan has in mind, but if he says this is the key to defeating the machines, then I have to get to the ship no matter what!"

"Give it to me. I will take it!" Alpha almost yanked the capsule from Bo's hand paws.

"No! Canis Major needs you. I will do it."

Alpha hesitated heavily, but that was not the moment to enter in a discussion. He quickly unbuckled the upper part of his armor.

"What are you doing?!" Bo questioned Alpha's actions.

"Wearing clothing in this situation is a death sentence. I'm giving you the cuirass of my armor. That will give you some protection." Alpha explained. He immediately helped Bo putting on that part of the armor. It was indeed an improvised situation, but at least that would protect his heart and other important organs from any direct hit.

"We have to find a way to get you to an S Series. The machines attacked to quick and didn't give us the time to add them to the barricade."

"Can I just take one of these ships?"

"No, Bo. You'll have more chances in a fighter ship!"

It was easy to say it, but getting to the group of S Series fighters docked almost 300 meters from where they were would be an almost impossible task. Still, the choice was better than risking Bo inside a simple transport ship.

Every time they peeked outside the safety of the barricade, a burst of rounds came directly at them. There was no way they could even get out and push forward. The funnel was working to keep the Assassins at bay, but the ballistic droids were a deadly threat. Many Evos and Retcans lied on the ground injured by the shots. It was just a matter of time until they ran out of ammo and stamina.

Alpha and his team barely managed to do a good job by destroying some of the ballistic droids, but for every droid destroyed by their outstanding aim, two more came in from the hole. The situation was very bad.

"We can't do this!" Bo yelled desperate. Some Evos fought fiercely at the funnel, some Retcans shot at the ballistic droids. But for every step forward, it seems the machines pushed them two steps back.

Alpha didn't respond. There was very little they could do.

"We are getting support!" One of the Retcans yelled.

"From where?" Another one questioned.

"It doesn't matter! Major Aloha, we are getting fire support!"

For a second, Alpha didn't understand, until he saw a single shot flying above them, and then hitting a ballistic droid. The droid was shattered. Another shot immediately succeeded the first one, destroying another target on contact.

"Now is the time!" Alpha yelled, seeing the opportunity that was placed on them. "Riffle crew; push forward!"

Another series of rounds were fired from an unknown location far back from their position. Half a mile where these shots came from, a figure lied flat on the ground. Holding a smoking long-range plasma rifle, he once again took his yellow eye into the weapon's scope and scouted for another target. Holding his breath for a second, he lightly pushed into the trigger. A scorching round of plasma was fired, traveling at lightning speed towards his target. Another droid was shattered into pieces.

"You got another one!" Next to him, a very small Evo swept the area with a pair of binoculars. "Another two are deploying a few meters to the right of where the last one was."

Not even five seconds separated both shots. The two rounds hit their target too.

"Ammo..." A silent but raspy voice said. He was the one holding the rifle. A smoking capsule was ejected from the rifle and replaced with another one. A small display in the rifle that read EMPTY now had a green number 50 being displayed.

More shots were fired, making the windows of the control room where they were rumble by the deep and guttural shockwave that the rifle produced. It was the perfect location; almost three floors above ground, giving a perfect view of the hangar.

Whoever they were, they were not alone. A small group of ten Evos carried rifles and were doing a magnificent job at slowing the machine's offense. This gave Alpha and his team a chance to push harder. And it was working.

"Your ability is outstanding." One of the Evos said. A Saint Bernard that held a rifle didn't look to sure of himself, but he was doing a good job as well. "Don't let those monsters hurt any of our brothers or our friends the Retcans!" the Saint Bernard doubted for a second, but his morale was raised when he managed to destroy a ballistic droid in one shot.

More rounds thundered in the small control room, hitting their target at a constant rate. Not all of them were as skilled as the yellowed eyed Evo that destroyed each and every target he acquired.

"We have gained the upper hand." The yellow eyed Evo said, getting up from his prone position.

"Where are you going?" The small Evo questioned him when he saw his intentions.

"To fight..."

"Wait, I'm going with you!" The Chihuahua contradicted him.

"No. You stay here. Your aim is as good as mine, or even better... You will give us some cover. This is personal, Laser."

"Lay, but..."

"You were right, my brother. I need to fight my fears. I can't be hiding or pretending nothing would ever happen again. They are here now, waiting for me to clear my past. I have to do this."

Laser, Lay, Ben and other older Evos they encountered on their way made it to the battlefield. They would fight once again for Canis Major. But this fight was something more important for Lay. This was an opportunity to leave his traumas behind and redeem himself from the tormented life that he had after the last attack.

Laser smiled at him and nodded. A tear almost made it out of his amber eyes. He understood what Lay needed to do. He was proud of his best friend; his brother. He knew he would be alright.

Packing a small E.M.P gun on his side and a long two-handed Lanthracit blade on his back, Lay ran to the battlefield. His yellow eyes full of rage and the desire to destroy their enemies; enemies that represented his deepest fears and devastating memories...

But Lay wasn't the only one fighting his past. Far from Canis Major, two older generation Evos flew onboard the D.E Cruiser. They had no idea why they were there. They only knew they had to.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Hasky." Kalem, also known as Captain K9 told the female husky. They both stood in front of the main control panel. Alerts echoed through the bridge. Their ship was being brutally attacked by the machines.

"I am sorry I couldn't convince you not to do this." The female husky replied.

"I guess that our need for defending our family tends to blind our judgment. We would be safe in Canis Major, I now understand that."

A furious explosion made both Evos drop to the ground.

"Warning: Shield malfunction detected." Could be heard coming from the ship's computer.

"We can't go back to Canis Major." K9 realized.

"We are a good distraction. This will keep these monsters away from our home." Hasky responded. Their mood seemed as if they were accepting their deadly fate. Little they knew that Canis Major was already breached.

"Warning: Life support ceased at Hangar level. Emergency lockdown initiated. Access to Elevator 1 has been sealed." The computer once again warned.

"They destroyed the hangar blast doors. They are in, Hasky!" Kalem informed Hasky, but she already knew as she was next to him reading the damage reports.

Hasky gently placed her hand-paw on Kalem's shoulder. This startled him for a second, but he immediately looked at her. Hasky smiled as if telling him that everything was going to be okay. But she was just accepting their fate.

"I hope our sons can forgive us... We broke our promise. But we were just trying to protect them." K9 said. He grabbed Hasky's handpaw and looked at her eyes.

Both Evos closed their eyes and held each other in a hug while the ship was engulfed in larger explosions every second...

But after a few minutes, surprisingly, the explosions ceased. Both Evos thought it was over. But as they opened their eyes, they realized that the attack on them had stopped. No enemy ships were being detected by the radar anymore.

The bridge was now in total darkness. The computer gave priority to life support systems on the upper levels, so they miraculously were still alive.

"Can... s...body here me?" A confusing voice was heard at the bridge. The Com Systems were fried and it was difficult to establish contact, but they were sure they heard someone.

They didn't respond immediately. They just listened to the static until the voice made itself present once again.

"D.E... iuser... Can...hear me?" The voice said again.

"Oh no... Not him..." Hasky said. She thought she recognized that voice.

"Boosting signal..." K9 did what he could to locate whoever was trying to communicate with them. Their screen was still functional, but it was very difficult to see anything. A few more adjustments and K9 finally managed to get a good connection.

"This is Captain K9; who is it?!" K9 demanded.

It took a while to have a response.

"...Husky reporting, Captain." The blurry image of Husky appeared on screen. Both Hasky and K9 were shocked.

"You! I knew it! What are you doing here? Get back to Canis Major!" Hasky yelled.

"Negative. What are you doing here, Hasky?" Husky responded harshly. "I thought we made a promise..."

"You can't be here. You don't understand why we did this! Now get back to Canis Major!"

"You are in no position to give me orders, Hasky! You broke your promise and you can't expect us to do the same!"

"Let me guess, Fx is here too?" Hasky confronted Husky. She was less defiant now, but still upset.

"...I am here." Fx replied. His image also appeared in the screen.

"And me." A large black Evo also appeared. It was Anubis.

"Anubis, what are you doing here?" K9 immediately questioned him. "If Lucas knows about this, he will be very upset with me! You have to return!"

"Alright. This has gone out of hand." Hasky interrupted hitting the panel angrily. "Husky, Fx, Anubis, you just saved our lives. We are grateful for that and we are sorry we ever underestimated your strength, but we need to get back to Canis Major. Husky, Fx, I am sorry... I broke my promise... I..."

"Now is not the time, Hasky! I understand why you did it. But you have to listen to me; all of you!" Husky yelled. Surprisingly, everyone kept silence. "We can't go back to Canis Major just now. Not in D.E1's current state."

"What do you mean? Explain yourself!" K9 demanded.

"The D.E cruiser barely survived just now. What do you mean we can't go back? We need to get out of here!" Hasky also questioned Husky.

"The machines breached Canis Major..."

Something that K9 and Hasky didn't expect to hear. These were the most shocking news they've heard. Their home once again invaded by those monsters. When was it going to end?

"I am sorry..." Could be heard from Fx's side while Husky, Hasky and Kalem held on a discussion.

What happened next would change Husky's family forever...

Fx's ship suddenly accelerated at an outstanding speed towards the battlefield. It took everyone by surprise, especially Hasky and Husky. Their Fx was rushing towards a fierce and deadly battle. This was the bad feeling they have gotten from Fx all this time.

"Fx! What are you doing!?" Husky yelled through the Com Systems.

"No, Fx! Come back!" Hasky's yelling came after.

"I am sorry. It is my duty. We were informed of the machine's main fleet being not very far from here... three massive ships. Fibi and Xy..."

"No, you know that's not possible, Fx! There will be another way to bring them back if they are still alive!" Hasky's attempts to stop her son were in vain.

"Fibi and Xy could be there. It is my duty as their son... I'm sorry Hasky. You raised me, you took care of me. I see you as my mother... And you are my mother. But understand and respect why I am doing this!"

"Get back here!!"

"I hope you can forgive me... I love you, Hasky and Husky. Fx out..."