"Stop them!" The Plutonian officer who spots the three of us shouts out loud but his voice is drowned out by the chaos around us. The exits that lead the way out of the pits are filled with panic stricken humans and Plutonians, all of them shouting and screaming as they try to get out of this small space.
Thankfully, no one is paying attention to us aside from that one Plutonian officer. He tries to reach us but another group of Plutonians barge out of the pits, blocking his path. He stares at us and then speaks into his communicator.
"Come on," I pull Rosie and we weave our way through the mass of bodies.
I suck in a breath, suddenly stuck between someones sweaty back and another persons front. My face is pushed against someone's shirt and I am practically dragged through the exit door of the building.
I have no choice but to release Rosie's hand but my other hand is wrapped firmly around my gun like it is my life.
I know there is no going back now, especially after that officer saw us. Especially after Lucian saw Rosie, Matt and I with our guns.
Once the crowd thins out I look around for Rosie and rush to her once I spot her. Matt is behind her and the three of us take off to the army base as quickly as our legs can carry us.
We hide behind the side of a large grey building overlooking the army base and my heart sinks to my stomach when I see almost a dozen Plutonian soldiers standing guard. There are usually only two of them.
Matt taps his foot on the floor nervously and Rosie is quick to shush him.
"Let's wait for the others," She says through bated breaths and then she wipes a bead of sweat that has rolled down her forehead.
We stand in idle silence and wait but each second puts me on the edge because I know it is only a matter of time till we are caught.
"What time is it?" I whisper.
"Half past twenty one. We only have fifteen minutes till the command center becomes accessible like 'S' said," Matt replies, his voice anxious.
"We can't take on twelve Plutonians by ourselves. We need to wait," Rosie is the voice of reason among st the three of us.
I nod my head and gulp loudly, trying my best to keep from shaking as much as Matt is. We hear the shuffling of feet and I quickly turn around, ready to fire. My shoulders slump in relaxation when I see Jade, Josephine and Joon rush towards us. They are carrying guns in their hands as well.
"Ron? Tiara?" Rosie asks and Josephine's eyes fill with tears.
"Tiara got trampled on and we were almost caught but Ron created a diversion by shooting at the ceiling. They shot him down immediately," Jade says with a heavy voice. Sweat drips down his cheeks and his dark green eyes are filled with pain as he looks at us.
"Shit, there are twelve of them?" Joon is quick to draw our attention back to the guards patrolling the army base.
"We're going to have to take them on. Some of us will die but some of us may make it through," Jade says and everyone looks at him in bewilderment.
"I think the chance of all of us dying is much higher," Joon replies.
Josephine starts to retort but her words are cut off by the sound of a loud explosion that pierces my ears. The entire stone building behind us trembles and I wonder if the explosion occurred somewhere inside.
We watch some of those Plutonian officers rush into the entrance of the building, shouting for back up into their communicators as they disappear from view. Now there are only three officers guarding the gate.
"I'll go first. You guys back me up later," Joon says and then he walks towards them before any of us can stop him. He is holding his gun behind him, away from their view but as I peer over the corner of the building I can see them raising their hands to stop him.
One of them walks over to frisk him and that is when he whips out his gun and fires at two officers. He manages to hit them out of surprise but the third one is quick to aim his gun right at Joon's head.
All of us rush out of our hiding place and Matt shoots at the officer. It doesn't hit him but it is enough to throw him off and miss Joon.
Rosie manages to shoot him in the shoulder making him fall to the floor. We rush to the gates and immediately run through them. I hear one of the officers call for back up and quickly shut him up by shooting his hand and his communicator.
The sound of numerous explosions going off in the distance booms all around us and the ground shakes beneath our feet as we run through the army base.
"This way," Joon shouts. He leads us to a small deserted training room and we begin walking through the various cubicles. Thankfully, the entire place is deserted but I can hear shouts outside which is probably why Joon lead us this way.
We stop inside a small room with a few boards on one end and tables scattered all around the middle.
"It's fifteen to twenty two. Matt, you know the way to the command center?" Joon asks Matt and he nods his head fervently.
Rosie looks at me and I swallow hard, realizing this may be the last time I will be seeing her. I want to scream, hug her or hide in this room for the rest of eternity but none of that happens. Instead I watch her nod at me and then she leaves with Matt in a hurry.
My heart sinks to my stomach as I see her curly dark hair disappear from view and it takes all my effort not to curl into a ball and cry.
"Come on," Jade says and I turn to look at him. We tip toe out of the room and sneak down the empty halls till we reach the exit nearest to the hangar. Our plan is to use one of the bottle space crafts at the East end which is usually devoid of officers.
There is a wide empty field between us and the hangar but there are Plutonian officers scattered all around the army base. We wait for the coast to be somewhat clear before all four of us charge down the field.
I run as fast as my feet can carry me but sure enough there are Plutonians who spot us and soon we have a few on our tail. I turn behind me and shoot at some of them, throwing them off and a timely explosion diverts their attention just enough for us to reach the hangar with all the space ships.
"Stop them!" A fast approaching Plutonian shouts as we head down the ramp. I am out of breath but I push myself forward with all that I have in me. Josephine is by my side and she trips suddenly and falls down with a loud cry.
I stop instinctively and so does Jade but Joon pulls me hard, dragging me along with him. I hear shooting behind me and loud cries but we have no time nor energy to turn around to see the aftermath.
There are still footsteps behind us and my breath catches in my throat when I see a laser beam miss my foot by mere centimetres. I jump and then pick up the pace just as Joon turns around and fires at a few space crafts. I see him aim at their engines and some of them blow up behind us immediately leaving a cloud of fire and smoke in our wake.
We finally reach the East end of the ramp where the bottle space crafts are and just then I hear a familiar voice call out my name.
"Aria! Stop!" I turn around to Altair's voice and a laser beam shoots out through the smoke. It hits Joon's leg making him cry out in pain. Joon staggers to one of the ships and fiddles with its monitor while I shoot out at no where in particular hoping I don't hit one of my squad members.
I see someone coming through the smoke with their hand raised and watch them aim their gun at Joon. The tip of their gun glows bright red and I jump in the crossfire without thinking. The laser beam hits my arm and I suck in a breath. The pain is so unbearable, I can hardly breathe.
My body collides with the side of the ship just as it's ramp lowers to the ground.
"Come on," Joon struggles to speak and he pulls me up the ramp. I close my eyes as the pain from my wound spreads throughout my entire arm like needles, momentarily blinding me.
"Aria, get up and cover me while I get this thing started," Joon tugs my shoulder urgently causing the pain to intensify further.
I wince but the sound of footsteps approaching make me open my eyes and force myself up. I roll to the side and take cover while I shoot at the smoke and dodge laser beams as the ramp begins to lift. Joon limps inside to the control room and soon I hear the low thrumming of the engines starting.
Now all we have to do is wait for Rosie and Matt to grant access for clearance. My eyebrows crease together in a tight frown when I notice there are no more laser beams being fired my way and then our ship's ramp freezes in mid air, like it has stopped working.
I pull on the lever used to manually raise the ramp but it doesn't budge.
"Joon! The ramp!" I call out in panic as I attempt to pull the lever over and over again to no avail.
"You're making a grave mistake," Lucian's voice pierces me through the cloud of smoke and then I see him walk through it with a slight limp. He stops at the foot of the raised ramp and looks up but I don't see the familiar warmth in his eyes when he looks at me.
Instead all I see is anger.
"Lucian, I have to do this. For Earth," My voice breaks as I stare at him and the way that he is looking at me. Like I am a stranger.
"You won't succeed and even if you do, it will bring nothing but destruction to Earth. You will create a war," Lucian's voice is low and deadly threatening.
"I can't let you turn Earth into the pits. Into the slave quarters," I reply in a pained voice and although our world is crumbling it is also liberating to finally tell him the truth.
Lucian's face lights up in realization and then he laughs bitterly. "So you never wanted a future with me. You were using me this entire time? To do this?"
Now his expression changes to something I find unbearable. His face is filled with betrayal and distrust as he stares at me, his eyes filled with pain.
My words get stuck in my throat and my guilt threatens to swallow me whole because in a way he is right. I have been using him to get out of here but I also love him with every fiber of my being. I open my mouth to speak but there are no words I can think of that will help the situation. All I can do is pray that Rosie succeeds and we are able to fly out of here so that I won't see Lucian's broken expression anymore.
"You're not going anywhere. If you come down here now and surrender yourself, you will not be executed publicly," Lucian says in a strained voice.
I smile at him sadly. "But I will be executed nonetheless. I'd rather you got it over with now."
My words seem to push him off the edge because Lucian takes out his gun and aims it right at my forehead. He winces slightly and I notice the blood seeping out of his shoulder. I bite my lip hard, torn between wanting to help him and staying put.
"Pollux is in the command center," Lucian threatens me.
Just then we hear a flurry of voices and shouting behind us. I hear Lazarus's voice and watch Lucian's eyes widen in panic.
I see him walk through the smoke with a few of his officers and the rest of Lucian's squad members.
"See! I knew it! They were in this together! Get him! Kill her!" Lazarus shouts at his officers. "Kill her now!"
I hide by the side of the door and look beyond the ramp to see utter madness. Smoke, lasers flying in all directions, Lucian's squad members and Lazarus's officers shooting at each other.
Lucian takes cover beneath the elevated ramp and for a split second I watch him turn to me and then he speaks into his communicator.
"Pollux, grant access for lift off." I stare at him in shock and suddenly the ramp begins moving up again.
"Stop her!" Lazarus screams and I see him running towards Lucian with a gun in his hand.
The ramp seals shut just as I let out a piercing scream for Lucian. All I can hear are the sounds of guns going off outside and shouts but I don't know anything as the ship lifts off the ground.
I collapse to the floor as I feel the craft zip through the air without any resistance.
"Aria! We did it. The ceiling opened! We're out of here,"I hear Joon's voice from a distance and then feel him pull at my arms. There is a loud buzzing in my ears and my body feels numb as I try to comprehend what just happened.
Lucian helped me escape. No, he allowed our escape and now I don't even know if he's alive or dead.
I let out a strangled cry and a loud gurgled noise erupts from my throat. I lean forward and cough loudly as my body begins to shake. Joon rubs my back and I look up at him through tear filled eyes to see him staring at me worriedly.
After a few agonizing seconds I can finally breathe again.
Both of us limp to the small control room and I stare out at the vast darkness in wonder. I can't believe I actually escaped, a part of me still doesn't believe it.
Joon programs our passage to Earth and alters our flight path to use the smaller lanes so that we can avoid the space drones. He does all the work while I sit in silence, my body frozen by the turmoil of wondering if all those I care about are safe.
Are Rosie and Matt alive? And my squad members?
My mind tiptoes around those questions in circles but they all lead back to one person.
Lucian.
"He helped us," I croak out loud suddenly and Joon turns to look at me.
"I know. I thought we were going to have to surrender. I was ready to blow up our engines," He admits and then he slides to the floor and inspects his leg. "We need to fix ourselves up and get rid of our trackers. It seems like a victory but we still have a long way to go."
Victory? We lost almost everyone to get here.
I stare at him blankly as I ponder his words, my shoulder is aching like crazy but it is still the last thing on my mind. As I stare out into space it finally dawns on me that I've escaped Pluto, the one thing I promised myself I would do since the beginning.
And I had to lose everything in the process. I stare at the tracker in my arm and think of Lucian as a newfound fire slowly ignites deep in my chest. He risked his life for me and I will not allow that to go to waste.
Now it is time for us to head to Earth to expose the Plutonian abductions and warn them of the oncoming invasion.
"Joon," I say suddenly catching his attention. "I propose that we land in one of the busiest cities on Earth. That way even if they catch us, it will be too late. We would have exposed them already."
Joon's dark almond shaped eyes narrow my way and then he smiles. "Have you ever heard of Tokyo?"
THE END.
Of part 2.
Sooo Aria did it guys! Are you happy? Sad? Conflicted? Tell me what you think below. Ahhh I can't believe I finally finished this book.
I will def do an a/n to explain further because there is obviously so much to happen with Aria going back to Earth and who knows what happened to Lucian and Lazarus. Will update on that by tomorrow :) :)
Also I really want to thank all of u guys for supporting and giving this story your love and time. I really appreciate all your reads and votes and comments. I enjoy reading each and every one of them sometimes more than my normal messages lol and probably know most of ure profiles by now (dw I'm not a stalker) but I do love you guys so much :) :)