The Fire Of Responsibility (18.4)

Bella had known things were going south as soon as the first bomb hit near the escape shuttles, "Oh, Jesus Christ, they've found us," She muttered, gripping the table in the escape shuttle. Val was holding on tight to Nia, who had woken up while Risále, Leon, and Hyunwoo were gone. 

The second bomb hit, and Bella knew that it was closer, much closer. She could hear the screaming from outside, "Bella, what are we going to do?" Owen asked. Suddenly, the door to the escape shuttle opened, and in ran Kaedan, Xander, and Fenix.

Owen rushed over to his brother and boyfriend, looking around them, "Ariyasul?" He asked. Bella held her breath.

Kaedan shook his head, not saying anything, "...Let's focus on the problem right now. Bella, what are we going to do about this? The royal army is heading directly for us and some of the airships are headed towards us as well."

Bella looked around, before taking a deep breath, "...Okay. Okay. We need to get these escape shuttles off of the ground as soon as possible. We need everyone who isn't physically injured to help fend off the army as much as we can. We need to at least get the civilians off the ground and away. We've lost too many in town already," She braced herself as another explosion rocked the shuttle, "Everyone that can fight, go out and hold off the army! Two people on each escape shuttle to pilot it. Get as many people out as you can!" She yelled into the in-ear, communicating with the rest of the rebellion members. She looked back at her friends, "Kaedan, Xander, are you both alright to fight?" She asked. Both men nodded, "Good. Both of you go out, Chaewon and Elliot are already out there. Owen and Fenix, I can trust you to keep Val and Nia, safe, right?" 

"We've got this," Fenix said, his voice determined.

"Alright. I'm going to get Hyunwoo, Risále, and Leon. Grab Mina and Lumina on your way and as many free rebellion members as you can. Hold off the army as much as you can so that we can get as many shuttles off of the ground as we can," Bella instructed.

All of them nodded, and Bella looked to Val and Nia, "Both of you are not allowed to do anything. We're putting the plan into action now. I wish we could take a break but the White Lotus is going to start making big moves after this. I need you both in as good shape as I can get you. Do not do anything, do you understand me?" She said.

"Alright, alright, we won't do anything," Nia agreed.

"Good," And with that, Bella set off. She slammed open the door to the room Hyunwoo, Leon, and Risále were in. It seemed the conversation was going decently, so she was glad, but she did have to interrupt, "I hate to drag you three out but…We have a problem," She said, a little bit desperate.

Leon stood up, "What's going on?" He approached her immediately, letting her lean on him.

Bella looked at Hyunwoo and Risále, "They've found us. They're attacking the escape shuttles, thankfully there aren't too many airships but most of the ground army is heading towards us."

Hyunwoo stood up, pulling Risále up, "Fuck. Alright, then, Break time's over. Let's go," He said, flipping the handgun in his hand

The four of them made their way out of the escape shuttle, diving into the fray, "Nice to see you've all joined us," Lumina called out, knocking down six guards with her whip. 

"Ma'am!" One of the rebellion members yelled over to Bella, "Half of the fifty escape shuttles have made it off the ground!" 

Bella knocked another guard out with her hammer, and thought for a moment, "Get all of the escape shuttles off the ground and away from here except for two, leave two of them for us! Elliot, Chaewon, Xander, Kaedan, Lumina, Mina, Hyunwoo, Risále, Leon, Fenix, Owen, and I should be the only people left here with two escape shuttles!" She called back.

Suddenly, she saw something fly out of the forest out of the corner of her eye and turned to see what looked like a fighter jet racing through the sky. Her mind connected the dots quickly and she looked around, searching for who was missing.

"Kaedan?!" She heard Xander yell. This left her a bit confused since she thought that if Kaedan had gone, then Xander would have gone with him.

The second yell of "Mina?!" cleared all her doubts of who was in that fighter jet. She cleared a path towards Lumina and Xander and tapped them both on the shoulders. As they turned to her, she pointed up in the sky toward the fighter jet that was flying toward the airships.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, what the fuck," Xander muttered, "They could have at least asked us to go with them."

"As if we could ever stop them," Lumina said helplessly.

Bella shrugged, "At least they're doing us a huge favor," She pointed out as Mina and Kaedan shot one of the airships down, "It seems like they'll be fine, come on, let's focus on what we have in front of us—"

There was a loud sound and Bella turned to see one of the escape shuttles had been completely destroyed by what looked like a cannonball. She heard a yell, "Are you fucking serious?! They have cannons?!" Risále basically confirmed what she had been thinking.

"Looks like we should worry about ourselves instead of them," Bella muttered, "How many more escape shuttles do we have to get off the ground?!" She yelled towards the rebellion member who was updating her, watching the previous group of escape shuttles disappear into the distance.

The man looked down at a tablet and looked back at her, "Eight more! This next group should be the last other than your last two escape shuttles!" He yelled back. Bella looked up to see Mina and Kaedan dropping from the fighter jet with parachutes, allowing it to crash into the last airship. As the two got close to the ground, it seemed they cut off the parachutes, dropping into the fray.

Bella looked at Xander and Lumina, "Go help them! Try to hold off those cannons as long as you can but stay safe!" She commanded.

"Where are you going?!" Lumina yelled.

"I'm getting everyone out of here!" Bella yelled back. She approached the escape shuttle Val and Nia were in, seeing Owen and Fenix at the ready, a couple of unconscious and dead White Lotus members on the ground around them, "Woah, woah! It's just me! I need your help, both of you," She said.

Owen relaxed, putting his scythe down, "What is it?"

Bella winced, "The royal guard has cannons, they hit one of the escape ships. I hate doing this but I need you both to get as many of the civilians out as you can. I…Enough people have died because of my rebellion. It's my responsibility to get everyone to safety. I'm going to do as much as I can to get people out of here, especially those who aren't involved."

"Bella…" Fenix said, "I know you're not going to listen to me right now, but I need you to hear it. This is a war. You are not at fault for everything that has happened, especially since you're not the one provoking, This is only the fault of the White Lotus."

Owen looked back at his friends, "What about Nia and Val?" He asked.

Bella's eyes hardened, "I'll make sure nothing happens to them, I promise," She said, "I just need you guys to help the civilians from that escape shuttle move to another one."

"Got it," Owen said, "Protect them both. They're asleep right now," She nodded, and with that, Owen and Fenix ran off. 

It didn't take too long for royal guards—Who Bella was starting to realize were simply also White Lotus members—To make their way towards the shuttle. She kicked one down, pressing her knee into his chest as he let out a pained scream. She grabbed the nearby blade on the ground and slit his throat. Without hesitation, she spun around on the ground, kicking her leg out to sweep one of the other White Lotus members off their feet, knocking them onto the ground and stomping on his head, then swinging her hammer down.

Two more White Lotus members ran in and Bella looked at the metal rod on the ground that was about her height. Picking it up, she spun it in her hand, swinging her hammer with her other hand. She ran forward, slinging a leg around one of their backs and using it to flip them onto the ground, and then using the metal rod to knock the other White Lotus member's knees out from under them.

She slit one of their throats quickly before the other one grabbed her, shoving her against the ground, "You little bitch—"

She punched them once across the face before headbutting them and kneeing them in the groin. They groaned and rolled off of her. She pushed them onto the ground entirely and started talking into her in-ear, "How many more shuttles?!" She asked rapidly.

"We're all off the ground!" Was the response she got, "Only your team and the last two shuttles are still on the ground but the White Lotus are reloading their cannons!" 

"Alright, get out of here and find a safe place for the displaced!" She responded. Then, she addressed her friends, "Everyone, listen to me! The plan that we discussed earlier, we're putting it into motion now! The White Lotus will be on the move after this, so we need to catch up to them. Since Val and Nia are injured, I'm not going to send them to Sector 1—"

Someone interrupted her, "No, we're going," Val responded, her voice filled with determination, "We'll be fine by then. Rebellion members filled us in. It'll take us multiple days to get there and on top of that, it isn't just a straightforward battle, is it?" 

"We haven't even planned that far ahead…" Bella said.

"You know we're going to have to go to it. Either way, we'll need to sneak in. Nia and I can at least be back up if we're not back in top shape again," Nia said, "But we're going to Sector 1."

Bella could tell she couldn't convince them, "...Alright, fine. Elliot, Chaewon, Xander, Kaedan, Hyunwoo, and Risále, I need all of you in the escape shuttle with Val and Nia."

"Hold on!" Risále called, "What if you need Apocalypse to find the map? Shouldn't I go with the Sector 3 team?"

"Don't worry, Risá," Leon spoke, "Apocalypse isn't the only person who's seen that tracker. I think I know what she's talking about. Besides, if we need to, we'll just call you and show you on the tablet."

"...Alright," Bella continued, "Lumina, Mina, Leon, Owen, and Fenix, get to the other escape shuttle that the rebellion left behind!" She directed, running out as soon as Elliot and Chaewon reached the shuttle, leaving them to watch over Val and Nia. She ran forward and helped fend off a few more of the White Lotus members, "Get going, all of you!" She yelled.

"Bella!" She heard Hyunwoo yell, "What about you?! And the cannons?!"

She turned back and grinned, seeing that most of them had gotten onto the escape shuttle, "Don't worry about it, this is my responsibility! Start taking off without me, leave the back of the Sector 3 escape shuttle open, and let the rope ladder hang off!"

She went running forward, but was stopped by someone yelling, "Wait!" She turned to see Risále running towards her,

"Risá?" She asked, looking back at her confused. The girl was running straight for her and before she could do anything, her eyes widened as she felt the girl crash into her, arms around the taller's waist, almost pushing her back with how hard she was kissing her.

Risále was kissing her.

She shut her eyes, kissing the girl back, her hands resting on the side of Risále's face, the kiss surprisingly tender for what the two of them normally did. It was more inclined to what Bella wanted to do with Risále for the whole time she'd known her, but she'd been too scared to find out that maybe Risále only liked her sexually. But something about this kiss, the way Risále was pliant in her arms, letting Bella gently control the kiss.

Bella was almost entirely certain that her feelings were returned.

Risále pulled away, breathing hard, looking at Bella. She leaned up and pressed another quick kiss to the taller woman's lips, "Don't you dare die, you hear me?" She said softly but firmly.

"Of course, Blueberry," Bella smiled at her, "It seems like we have a lot to talk about when we see each other again anyways."

Risále blushed a bit and nodded, "Good. I'm—I've gotta go. Just..Stay safe, will you?" She said, over her shoulder before running off.

Bella huffed out a little laugh, watching her, "You too, Risá," She said quietly. She had only just then realized that she could hear cheering in her in-ear. It seemed that all their friends had seen the two of them.

"Finally!" Leon was clapping, "It took you both long enough! The sexual tension was actually unbearable!" 

"You have absolutely no right to talk, Leon, shut up," Fenix retorted. Bella rolled her eyes, and her eyes shifted back into a hard glare as she stared at the army in front of her, setting up the cannons.

"Start take off, now!" She yelled, running forward, pulling something out of her pocket. She heard the whirring of the shuttles taking off.

She could hear someone's voice, "Is that a fucking grenade—" In her in-ear and sprinted forward even faster. Winding up her arm, she flung the grenade in her hand, the grenade that she knew had a large area of destruction. As soon as it left her hand, She turned and started running in the opposite direction, right back towards the shuttles that were now floating off the ground.

"Keep increasing altitude!" She yelled into the in-ear. Beginning to hear the commotion behind her, it seemed that the people had realized what she had thrown exactly.

She made it to the ladder just as it was about to move out of her reach, jumping up and grabbing onto the bottom rung of the rope ladder, pulling herself up and climbing up, "Go, go, go, go, she's on the ladder, go!" She heard someone yell from near the top of the ladder. As she got there, an angel looked down at her.

Or in other words, Leon.

He reached down and she took his hand, letting him pull her up, over the edge. His body went slack after coming down from the adrenaline high, knocking Leon to the ground with a yelp, landing on top of him, "Close the back! They're both here!" Fenix called to the front.

As the back of the shuttle closed, Leon stroked her back, "You know that Hyunwoo is not going to let you near a grenade for the next year, right?"

"Oh, I'm aware," Bella laughed, and in that laugh, there was so much relief.

They had escaped for now.