A new message icon was flashing at the top of the page. That’s strange; he never received a private message on this site before. Gubuloor placed the mouse pointer over the icon to check who sent it. The message was sent by anonymous. It could be a virus though nevertheless he opened it anyway. Gubuloor remembered that as long as he didn’t click on any of the links he wouldn’t get the virus. At least he hoped he wouldn’t get one. Gubuloor proceeded to open the message. The contents of the message made him both curious and cynical.
Dearest fellow abolitionist
The time has come. Revolution is in the air! The humans are staging a rebellion deep within the asteroid mines as we speak. Don’t believe me? Click on this link and see for yourself.

Soon they will be here. Their vengeance will rain down upon their cruel masters! Soon the Collective will collapse and all will be free! Long live the revolution!
Gubuloor decided that there was no way he was going to click that link. It must be one of those virus’ that’s spammed to every activist out there. Gubuloor was way too smart to fall for that!
No way could the humans ever hope to rebel on their own; especially in one of those hellish asteroid mining facilities. He would rather be sent to prison than to any of those facilities. Assuming that the human slaves had the energy and vitality to stage an insurrection, and that’s a big if, the collective would simply send some battalion to take the facility back. Failing that they would probably bomb the facility to smithereens. The Collective are as proud as they are bloodthirsty.
Gubuloor sighed with resignation. He decided it was a good idea to get to work on the Duvork insurance claim report. That bastard Flagbarg didn’t even start it. Gubuloor reluctantly started typing away; all the while reminding himself that things will be changing soon, that it will all be worth it in the end.

Zech arrived at the hallway leading to Davor's private wing. He and two other humans had made it past the guards, blasting their way through with plasma spread-shot rifles. He began searching for digital backwoods and open firewalls he could back into. The sentinel's defenses were formidable. He expected as much. They were sentient machines, after all. He settled for a more manual approach to overcome the tech. He blasted cameras to pieces whenever he saw them, spending precious ammunition to rob the enemy of his sensors. It was a small price to pay to cripple yet another part of the information network Davor undoubtably had set up in his stronghold. He walked to the door. Reinforced, multilayered, electronically locked, and nearly impossible to break through. Nearly.
He brought out a plasma cutter, set it on maximum, and focused the beam on one spot. It'd take a while, but eventually, everything gives way to a high powered plasma cutter. Plus, he had two more fully loaded in his belt. As soon as they were through, the sentinel would be in for a rough fight.

Davor growled as the exterior cameras went out one by one. He did not need to get up to realize what the human's next move would be... Zach would be trying to open the door, there would be a surprise in the form of C4 when he succeeded. As he waited he switched screens to look into Sora's room and check on her. The aviary human was curled up on the bed, around a pillow, staring aimlessly at the door. The gun was still in her hands lying beside her head. Her wings were tucked tightly around her, giving her a minor sense of security. The sentinel had forgotten to warn her about all the upcoming noises but he had no fear of her suddenly entering the line of fire. Sora was obedient to a fault, she would wait for him until he returned for her, or take some bastard humans down with her.

The last few inches. It took a while, but he was almost through. By this time, most of the rebellion had either taken over their sector or were destroyed. right now, the leaders he'd appointed should be rallying for the second stage. Complete control of the facility. He reasoned that if the collective managed to keep control of any of the buildings, the surprise attack would have at least weakened them. His captains reported intermittently with body counts and their makeshift army's status. As he expected. there were a few buildings still housing the collective, but a majority had fallen to human control.

The two soldiers who made it through with him were guarding his back, and more troops were coming to reinforce them. The last few centimeters were melting away and....

A flash. A concussive wave. The heavy door was blasted off its hinges, right into Zech. It knocked him clear to the other side of the hallway and the door landed on his left leg, severing it from the knee down. His nerves screamed at him, and everything went into a haze. His body locked up and he couldn't move. He saw small sparks in the corner of his eye and a mechanical whirring sound... Shit. Pinned down by a half ton door, leg crushed and cut off, and he couldn't even open his mouth to call out for help. He really should have thought of that. Davor probably used some sort of shaped charge. This mistake would probably cost Zech his life. Frozen where he was, he waited for his chip to reboot itself. He hoped there was enough time for that.

Davor heard the explosive go off and grinned to himself. He switched to one of the interior cameras to see the damage done, as the dust settled he could see Zech pinned to the floor by the door. Helpless as a babe. He got up and stalked toward his prey, keeping to the walls and his eyes out for danger. As he came closer he pulls out a plasma gun and stepped outside, taking quick aim at the other humans. When they were laying there dead, he turned his attention to Zech, smirking above him. His eyes glanced over the human body to where the door had crushed and nearly severed the man's leg. "Did you really think it would be that easy?" He reached down and pulled the door away. He helped Zech sit up and examined his legs by means of placing pressure on the injuries with his own foot. "Well that certainly did a number on you, didn't it... No fun if you can't fight." He tapped Zech on the chip chuckling, "But then trying to hack your own systems seem just as fun. You shouldn't get all the fun hacking into places you shouldn't, right?" He pulled Zech up and dragged him inside.

He was probably going to die. Zech couldn't even try to fight back as Davor dragged him through the doorway. He had forgotten to think. this was his punishment. How could he not have thought the door could be trapped? Hundreds of calculated efforts and orchestrated hacks to incite a rock-wide rebellion and he'd ruined it by getting tunnel vision in the end. So focused on his goal he couldn't see the trap waiting for him before the finish line. Computer integrated or not... He was still human in the end.

His unmoving eyes took in the interior of the room. It was neat and nicely furnished. Zech could have seen himself living in a place like this. In the corner of his vision, he saw a strange vibrantly colored pillow on the bed... no it wasn't a pillow. It was a human/avian hybrid. And she was armed. Great. So now he was trapped in his own body while the sentinel and his... pet...? waited for him to regain control of his body. Feeling was starting to come back to him... And of course, the first thing to hit him was the pain. He felt the throbbing, mind numbing pain of his fractured leg along with the aftereffect of the concussive blast on the rest of his body. A few of his ribs were likely to be cracked as well. He began trying to work through the pain long enough to regain control of the chip so he could turn off some of the pain receptors. It was a trick he learned under the whip of one particularly zealous Graax.

Once he was able to think somewhat clearly, he began looking for ways out of this situation. Based on what Davor said, he'd either make Zech fight, then kill him, or try to hack into the chip and turn him into a mindless body again. Then, a thought occured to him. Davor never removed the plasma cutter from his inside pocket. He had about 20 more seconds before the chip was operational again. The avian girl was of little consequence in terms of getting rid of the leaders, but it was more than likely that she'd shoot him as he shot at the sentinel. Backup was coming, but he didn't know how long they would be. Once the chip gave him back control, he'd pretend to be incapacitated for a bit and wait for reinforcements. If not, the next best thing was to catch Davor off guard and kill him. He'd have to worry about the girl later.

As he counted the seconds to his "awakening", he found himself thinking how strange it was that the sentinel kept something so vibrant and beautiful with him.

Davor had dragged Zech into the room with Sora. As he realized reinforcements would come, he could take his time in here and also keep an eye on his little song bird. Sora on the other hand sat up slowly as she saw the injured human. Her azure eyes glanced towards her master, holding the gun tightly in her lap. "I'll be back... Need a few things first." He wanted his computers, weapons and the like if he was going to hold up in a single room. He realized it may not be the best move, but the house was trapped anyways and the humans had little fire arms or smarts to break into Sora's room. At least before the Collective's backup came.

Sora, now left alone in the locked room, tentatively shifted about and watched him intently. She had never really seen another human before. Finally her childlike curiosity overwhelmed her and she slid off the bed walking towards Zech. She squatted before him and tilted her head from side to side slowly as she examined him. Her hands reached out to hesitantly to poke him on the tip of his nose.

The girl came over to him, looking like a curious... well... bird. She tilted her head from side to side as she looked at him, and he began to form plans once again. Her hands reached for him, her weapon seemingly forgotten. He readied himself for action as he regained control of his body. He wiggled his fingers slightly, testing his reaction time and how much dexterity he'd gotten back. It was good enough. When she was close enough, he quickly grabbed hold of her and pulled her close, using the other hand to grab the gun and turn it against her.

"Sorry about this. Let's hope Davor cares about you as much as I hope he does. Otherwise we're both dead."
A sad look settled on his face as he kept the gun on her, using her body as a shield against the sentinel's fire when he came back to the room.

Suddenly she felt arms wrapped around her and forcing her against the man. It took a second to register before she screamed and started to struggle against him. Her wings expanded behind her, flapping about like crazy creating wind. "No! No! No! NO!" She cried out, tears in her eyes. Her nails clawing at him. The gun against her head barely registering. But then how would someone who had never seen a gun be scared of a simple metal object?

---

A scream, more similar to a screech, echoed though his house. He growled, More of a cat than a bird. He should have known better than to leave her alone with him. Or alone without warning her about him. He calmly took his things and walked back to the room as stoic as ever. He walked passed Sora and Zech and placed his things on the sofa. "Seems I mistimed your reboot."

Davor turned to look at the two of them, at his precious song bird scared and crying. "So now you've resorted to using your own people, humans, as shields? You really going to risk having her killed in order to save yourself?" He scuffed and gave a twisted smile, "Some Rebellion Leader. Seems you only care about yourself. The rest are just pawns aren't they? A means to the end... just like her, right?"

Sora tensed up and looked at the man who was holding her, "Y-y-your going to kill me?" she squeaked out weakly. Eyes wide and filed with fright. Her body began to tremble visibly in his arms, and the tears continued to fall. The wings which had been expanded and frantic tried to close in about her tightly, or as much as was possible while she was being held. They squeezed his arms, her fingers digging into his body.

"I don't need to explain myself to the likes of you. My men will arrive soon. By then, there will be no escape for you, even if I die. This isn't for only me. This is for the future of humanity. The race you've enslaved and used as cattle will rise up and fight for their freedom once again."

Zech was starting to have trouble concentrating. He'd lost a lot of blood. He hoped he could stay consious until backup came... otherwise, he'd die emptying his clip at the sentinel in hopes of killing him. He had a feeling he'd be coming to that crossroads very soon.

Davor sighed and looked like a father who was trying to reason with his child. "That is neither here not there. When you men arrive we shall deal with that, for now... It's just you and her." He sat on Sora's bed tinkering with the computers he had brought. He could see Sora was frighten but paid little mind to her. "So one life for the many? Her life for yours? Or taking her down with you?" The poor avian girl continued to temble in his arms, small whimpers and whispers of "I don't want to die" slipping past.

Sora was to frighten to shout... Her mind repeatitively asking, wanting, her master to save her. She really did not want to die. A choked sob escaped her as her fear rose and she simply started to cry loudly, much like the small child she still was.

"The situation now? I have something you deem valuable. If you try to kill me, you will kill her. She's more of a safeguard than anything else. I won't be the one to pull the trigger that ends her life. I'm presenting you with a choice. You either pull your trigger thus ending both my life and hers, or you don't pull the trigger and all of us live. Either way, you're at a disadvantage. You lose your pet, or you let the leader of a rebellion live."
He heard shouting from down the hall. It'd still take a minute or so for them to get here, but the moment of truth was at hand. Was this Davor truly as attached to the avian girl as Zech hoped?
His vision began to blur. His grip on the girl nearly weakened, but he refocused himself and snapped back to consciousness, using the chip to aid his efforts.

He stared at the other male, a safe guard? A shield, a helpless girl for a cowers to hide behind. And he states so. What kind of man, fighting for human freedom decides to use a helpless girl who has nothing to do with the fight as a shield to ensure he lives. Risking her life for a cause she has no part in.

Then he held the gun up and aimed it at her back, to shoot though her and into Zech's heart. "I can always get another pet..."

The slit second her brain heard those words, her eyes went wide, and she went still.

Damn. With a burst of strength and a curse, he threw the girl to the side and shot at the sentinel while throwing himself awkwardly to the opposite side. With any luck, Davor would hit him in the arm instead of the heart, and he'd successfully shoot Davor's arm holding the gun. Then again... he'd depended on luck quite a bit today. Maybe it had run out.

Predictable. Davor kept his gun trained on Zech, shooting him just below the collar bone, near the shoulder. The human male had missed his aim, but he wasn't so unlucky. A few of the shots hit Davor in the side, between his lower ribs, two in the stomach, and one had grazed the back of his shooting hand. Growling he held his side, there was no where to hide for cover. Sora's room was extremely spacious and sparse. Although he could hide behind the bed, Zech had no where to hide. It'd be easier to just gut the human for the stinking trash it was than to treat it like an honorable opponent. He kept shooting, although his aim was off now.

"Keep still and die human." He growled, aiming to kill the bastard.

---

Sora yelped as she was tossed aside and watched as the bullets flew. She backed up all the way to the sofa and curled up into a small ball, covering her head and whimpering. It was so loud! It was so terrifying! Let it just be over quickly, she prayed, then Davor and her could move on from this day and be happy again.

Zech kept firing at the sentinel. His men couldn't be more than a few yards away, and the noise would definitely lead them here. As Davor aimed again to kill Zech, two of his soldiers came into the room and pointed their guns at the Sentinel. "You kill me, and one of my captains will take my place, and you will be shot dead where you stand. So if you want to live, lay down your weapon. I will personally see you to safety. Tell the collective. They'll never believe a lowly human could incite a rebellion. If they do, the one in charge would be killed or imprisoned for his incompetence. That would be you, wouldn't it?" Zech said this with confidence, knowing his death would mean next to nothing with the plan each of his captains put into place. They were the ones who would be most important in the coming days. He was just the face on the screen.

Davor sighed almost as if in defeat. For a moment there it seemed like he would. But he was a Sentinel, there was no way he would take the easy way out... He would die and take them with him. He shot the gun at the two new men in the room. Killing one of them, before having his chest filled with holes. He smirked, and a small dry chuckle left his lips. "Pathetic... humans..." And the sentinel fell down, his back partially leaning against the side of the bed as the life began to leave him.

Azalea was a trader to the rebellion and would soon be shot and killed for her misdeeds. She joined with the enemy to tell them lies about the rebels, it seemed smart at the time but very careless, them enemy tortured her untill she told them where they were and what they planned on doing. Azalea was weak now left to die chained and gagged in the center of where the villains were located. Her chest rose and fell, her tears dripped into a puddle at her feet. Azalea was a very strong celestial but not an original one, she was created and so they cast her out of where she lived. Only to probably die in a cell known as a trader.

Zech smiled at the man who'd come in.
"Allen. Good think you got here in time. Half a second later and I'd be missing my head"
"Don't mention it. We should get your leg looked at."
"Alright. Make sure the girl isn't hurt either. I tried throwing her out of the way, but she may have been shot or, or maybe I threw her too hard..."
Allen's face turned to a scowl
"That's the problem with you. Once you're out of a sticky situation your heart of stone melts to jelly. It'll get you killed one day"
Zech gave him a half hearted smile, and his vision blurred again.
"Maybe... one day... Not today."
The last thing he saw before his eyes shut was one of the men putting his gun down and walking up to the bird girl.

As the gunshots rang out, she flinched and curled up tighter; listening to the deafening silence which followed. Sora was afraid to look up, but as the voices of those humans started up, she tensed. Why were they still alive? Why wasn't it Davor's voice she heard. Slowly she lifted her head enough to look at the scene before her. Zech was on the ground being attended and two bodies lied on the ground. Three more men has apparently arrived, two of them remained by the doorway, but the third was walking straight towards Sora.

Her eyes widened with fear as he got closer and closer before she screeched and darted to the side towards the bed. Grabbing the railing she slid hid behind the bed. Her eyes darted between the man and the bodies, her hand slipped under the pillow as sneakily as possible grabbing the knife and keeping it hidden from view. As she moved towards the other side of the bed, closer to where Davor's body was, Sora kept her eyes darting around, keeping watch of all the men in the room. Sora had tucked the knife into the hem of her clothes and used her wings to help hide the object as she slowly shifted closer and closer.

As she neared, she took her eyes away and stared at his body. Sora's tremblling hand reached out and gently shook him, whimpering softly under her breath as she did so. Eventually, everyone in the room was forgotten as she moved closer, "Wake up... Please wake up." Sora's voice as soft and shaky as tears filled her eyes. He couldn't be dead! He couldn't!