Chapter 5: Viewpoints

“What…?!” Firefox half yelled, half whispered. “You can’t send Indigo! He’s not even part of the Task Force!”
“That’s what R.O.A.R. said. Don’t ask me.” Emmi shrugged. “Indigo may be inexperienced, but he’s a worthy fighter. That makes him a worthy ally.”
“And what about Splitter? He’s the youngest—” Before continuing, Jack glanced over at his unconscious, bandaged sister. “—well, second youngest member of R.O.A.R. He won’t stand a chance, especially alongside Indigo.”
“Relax, Jack, I’ll handle it.” Firefox rested a hand on Jack’s shoulder. He turned to Emmi. “I’m heading back to R.O.A.R. HQ. I need to… discuss this with the Jedi Master.” The Jedi Master was R.O.A.R. troopers’ nickname for General Grath, the highest ranking officer in Outpost 12. The reason he was nicknamed that, and also why he was a general, was because he was rumoured to be able to use what some rabbits knew as the Force to move things with his mind. However, only his immediate comrades had seen him do it before, which is why it was, indeed, a rumour.
Jack lied back down. “You sure he’ll take? He’s not really pleased by lower officers giving him orders. It’s kind of unorthodox, don’t you think?”
“Well, I can only hope he’ll understand what I’m telling him.”
Firefox began to walk towards the door, then stopped and turned around. “Jack, if I’m not able to persuade the good general not to send Indigo and Splitter… wish me luck. I’m probably going to need it. And Emmi?”
“Yes?”
“Make sure these two get better while I’m away. I’d like to see Jack up and running sooner rather than later.”
“Don’t worry. They’re in good hands.”
“I wouldn’t doubt that for a second, Emmi.”
As Firefox left the room, another figure appeared in the doorway. It was Wizard of Odds, and he had a grey pack slung over his arm. Jack sat up again, expectantly.
“Feeling better yet, Jack?”
“A bit. Thanks to Emmi, of course.” Emmi allowed a small, almost shy, smile to pass her lips.
“That’s good to hear,” Wizard replied. “Jack, I have a little thing here that might just get you out of here in less than two weeks.”
“What? You can’t do that! His leg has to be properly healed first!”
“Don’t worry, Emmi. This mechanism—” he held up the grey pack “—allows rabbits to walk, run—even fly—with a damaged leg. The thing is, if Jack uses this, he’ll still be able to fight Tank, and it won’t affect his leg at all.”
“Are you sure about this? I mean, you are the brains of the outfit, but still…”
“Absolutely positive. I know everything there is to know about this.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Emmi sighed. “I’m probably not supposed to say this, but… go ahead. If your procedure can take less time than mine, then I’m all for it.”
“Great. Thanks, Emmi.”
Wizard turned back to Jack. “Firstly, we have to take off this cast.” He flipped a tiny, grey knife, not more than five inches long, into his hand. As he was about to make an incision into Jack’s cast, Emmi stayed his hand, saying, “What are you doing?”
“I need to get rid of the cast first to put the mech on properly.”
“There’s an easier way to do that.” Emmi went to the sole of the cast, and pressed down on the heel. Suddenly, the plaster spontaneously dissolved. However, the inside of the cast was not white, like plaster. It was, instead, a luminous red.
“We started using Diamondan rubicon to make casts a few weeks ago. It dissolves by electrical impulse. Rubicon casts are a lot easier to get rid of then normal plaster.”
“Righto,” Wizard replied. Emmi didn’t catch whatever he said under his breath as she left the room.
Jack took the pack from Wizard, and slid it over his arms. He began to swing his legs over the side of the bed, but a sudden twang of pain kept him from continuing. “You said this mechanism wouldn’t affect my leg, right, Wizard?”
“Right. Now, lay on your… um, what leg did you kill yourself on?”
“My right.”
“Well then, flip onto your left. Hold your right leg straight out.”
As Jack did so, Wizard pushed a small button on a remote that had suddenly appeared in his hand. A hiss came from the pack on Jack’s back, and suddenly a flat metal rod whipped out of the bottom of the pack and extended itself down the back of his leg. A metal plate, shaped perfectly to Jack’s foot, flipped impossibly quickly onto his footpad.
Jack winced as the plate struck the bottom of his foot. “Ow…?!”
“What?”
“Was that supposed to happen?”
“Yeah. It’s all fine, I assure you.”
Sides seemed to grow out of the edges of the plate, so that the plate turned into a metal shoe. Jack took a look at it, inspecting it carefully. As he glanced over the bottom, he noticed a pair of holes, a smaller one at the heel, and a slightly larger one at the base of his toes. Jack looked inquiringly to Wizard. “What are…”
“Jets.”
“That small?”
“Very small jets. Powerful enough to propel a large hare, though. You’ll have no problem with them.”
“Spiffin’.”
“You like?”
“Indeed.”
“Goody. Now flip onto your right. I’ll put the other one on.”
Jack held his left leg out, and another metal rod zoomed out of the pack. A second metal plate smacked onto his footpad, Jack flinched a second time as the plate struck, and the plate formed a shoe on his left foot.
Jack grinned. “Nifty. Now then, how do I control these jets?”
“OK. Remember those yo-yos that you used to love when you were a leveret?”
“Yeah.”
“Flip your hand out like you have one of those yo-yos in your hand.”
Jack flicked his hand forward as he was told, and spontaneously a control stick, mounted on a rod that fitted itself along his arm, erupted from the pack and flipped into the palm of his hand. It had a small, red button atop it, and another red button where his index finger would be. “Neato. What’s it do?”
“Before you ask, flip the other one.”
Jack followed the same procedure with his other hand, and the pack emitted a second stick into the palm of his hand. Before Jack was able to ask what the buttons did, Wizard answered.
“The button on the front controls the jets. You’ll need to practice with them to get used to longer, jet-propelled dashes.”
“And the top buttons…?”
“Well, push them and see. You’re going to enjoy this.”
“Won’t I… fly into something? Or something?”
“No, don’t worry. Those aren’t the ‘fly-into-something’ mode buttons.” He chuckled.
“OK, I’m taking your word for it.” Jack pushed the small, round button atop the control stick. His heart missed a beat as a long, grey blast cannon swung itself quickly over his shoulder and came within two inches of his head.
“Whoa.”
“Now push the other one. And keep your head out of the way.”
As the second gun whipped itself into place, Jack’s trademark grin appeared on his face. “You don’t know how much I’ve wanted something like this before, Wizard. I get the feeling I’m going to enjoy kicking some shiny Buster behind with this.”
“I knew you’d like it.”
Jack stood up, and he was slightly surprised that the pain in his leg didn’t flare up again. The rod running up the back of his leg apparently was taking all of the pressure, so that his leg might heal properly. “Ingenious.”
“What?”
“Everything. I’m amazed you can fit this much into this tiny little pack.”
“Scientific ingenuity. Works wonders, doesn’t it.”
As they left the room, Firefox met them in the hallway. “I couldn’t convince the Master to keep the two… rookies… back. They’re coming with us.” Jack noticed a hint of contempt in Firefox’s voice when he said the word “rookies”.
He paused, looking Jack over. “So this is the famous BIAS, eh?”
Jack was puzzled. “BIAS?”
“Bypass-Injury Auxiliary Support Unit. Best name I could think of for it.”
“And too true. Now I want one.”
“Then break your leg. That’s the only way I got mine.”
“You didn’t break your leg, you just dislocated it!”
“Your point?”
“Guys, hold up a sec,” Wizard interrupted, just before Firefox smacked Jack upside the head with the side of his blaster. “Arguing is getting us nowhere. Let’s head back to the R.O.A.R. outpost, meet up with Indigo and Splitter, and find out if there’s any other information we need.”
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.”
Just as they left the hospital, Emmi came back into Jack and Headcheese’s room, and sat, once again, forlornly at the small rabbit’s feet. An almost imperceptible tear rolled out of her eye, but it was absorbed by her fur. The gold-furred nurse sighed, and waited for Headcheese to wake up, and resume her part of the fight against Buster Tank.

...yarr!