Disclaimer: I do not own the biker mice from mars, nor do I own any of the characters from it, on the other hand, I do own Zandra, Catrina, Martin, Max, Lisa and Hope.

Enjoy the story! Z.

Hope.

By Zandra

The news was all over the solar system, Mars had won the war against Venus. The war had begun over a thousand years ago, halting occasionally, and then restarting, harder than ever. But today, the war was won, and Mars was victorious. They had, however, sustained heavy losses. Throttle staggered to his feet, aided by Vinnie and Modo. He had lost massive amounts of blood from the huge wound in his shoulder made by a Venusian scimitar.

As he sat having it bandaged by his cousin, Harley, he looked around at the destruction. He sighed deeply, and then his head snapped up, and he looked at Vinnie. "Where's Stoke?" Vinnie shook his head. "I'll bet he's celebrating someplace…". Even before he could finish his sentence, however, there was a hoarse shout. Max, one of the Freedom Fighter leaders stood, a hand clapped over his mouth by a pile of rubble. Throttle was by his side in a second, and fell to his knees the second he saw what had made Max, the unshakeable, always unafraid Max shout like that. Stoker was lying in a pool of blood, gasping for air. He smiled up at Throttle, but then coughed violently, a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. Throttle held Stoker's shuddering body close to his as word spread that the fearless leader was dying. From all over the battlefield, freedom fighters and army officers alike sped towards the spot where Stoker was breathing his last breaths. The air hung thickly around them, as tears streamed down faces. No one dared to speak, though the occasional dry sob was heard from somewhere deep within the multitude. Stoker coughed again. "I dunno why…you're all…crying…" he said, trying not to shed a tear himself. "I'm not…not…going anywhere…" he coughed again, and laughed dryly. "I can't exactly go…anywhere…you'll all run a muck and join the army." Even Sargent Scabbart smiled at this. Throttle sat cradling Stoker's head in his arms. Modo sat holding his hand, as Vinnie brushed loose hairs from his face. Vinnie's voice was choked with sorrow. "Hey, Stoke…don't do this, it's all gonna be okay…" he felt Harley standing behind him, and turned to her, pressing her face into her arms as he sobbed openly.

Stoker looked up into Throttle's eyes, and spoke, in a voice that was barely a whisper, but that carried across the battlefield. "Alright, boy, I got one more thing for you to do for me." Throttle meant to say 'anything', but nothing came out. Instead, he just nodded dumbly. Stoker continued. "Find…my…daughter…"

Before Throttle could ask him anything, Stoker's body went rigid. His back arched, and he gasped once more, before he looked up at Vinnie one more time, still gripping Modo's hand tightly. "See ya, Punk."

Throttle cradled Stoker's limp frame in his arms, sobbing softly to himself, begging him to wake up. He sat like that for hours. The victory forgotten, those who felt strong enough went to prepare a funeral fit for a hero such as Stoker.

The next day, Stoker's body was carried down from Brimstone Capitol, through the ruins of the town, to a spot by the one place where there was still green on Mars, the garden of hope. All who had known or even heard of Stoker followed, such a hero was he. Carrying his coffin were seven of those who had known and loved him all their lives. Carbine, who had known him since birth and her little half-sister, Zandra, daughter of Modo, walked opposite Throttle, who walked silently. Harley, grief stricken walked beside Vinnie, while Modo walked opposite them with his wife, Catrina.

As they reached the spot that was to be Stoker's final resting place, the congregation slowed down. Standing beneath a great Martian willow, Stoker's coffin was gently lowered into the ground. Throttle stood up, with Carbine. He walked to a spot in front of the crowd, and cleared his throat, and, in a voice shaken with tears, he began.

"Stoker, was a true warrior. So strong, corageous, and brave, that none could stand against him and live. From the day he joined the Freedom Fighters association, he was a great fighter, and now, as he makes his way to the gates of heaven, we remember him as one who died, not just for strength, not just for bravery, but for the planet, for us. Stoker shall be remembered as long as there are those alive to remember him. He shall never be forgotten, not until the pillars of Mars have fallen, and the gates are closed. He was born a warrior, and he died a warrior." He bowed his head, and an almighty shout went up all around him. "Freedom!"

And so, a legacy ended. The legendary Stoker was dead, but he had left behind something, someone, somewhere, his daughter. From that day, Throttle, Modo, Vinnie, Harley, Catrina, Carbine and Zandra vowed to search until their last living hour for that girl. No matter how far they had to travel, how hard they had to fight, whatever stood between them and the daughter of the fallen hero, they would overcome it. On that day, they made their last promise to Stoker.

Eighteen years before:

The midwife beamed at Lisa as she placed a tiny, screeching pink thing swathed in towels and blankets into her arms. Lisa was beyond happiness, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at her husband, Stoker, and laughed. "Stoker, there's somebody I'd like you to meet." Stoker made his way shakily to the side of the bed, and stared down at his wife and their new baby girl. He smiled through tears that only a new father can shed, as he stroked Lisa's shaking hand. "It's all gonna be okay now, baby, I'm not gonna let anything happen to either of you, ever." He sat down and smiled at Lisa. "Can I…?" Lisa beamed back, and pulled the blankets tighter around the tiny girl, before passing her gently to her proud father. "Here you go…" She sat back, and watched Stoker hold the tiny creature to him, beaming down at her. "She's so pretty…you're a little angel." Lisa looked at him, her eyes smiling. "What do you want to call her, babe?" Stoker looked at his tiny daughter, and then at his wife. "I don't know…something special, something to remind us of what we're fighting for here. How about…Hope?" At this, Lisa smiled and nodded. "Hope."

Stoker was the proudest father ever to walk Mars. He never spoilt his beloved Hope, but lavished love and care on her constantly. He took the same care of Lisa, but one day, when Hope was about three years old, he got a telephone call. When he hung up the phone, he just sat, staring into space. Martin, Stoker's best friend, who happened to be passing dropped in, and saw him sitting, aghast. He knelt down in front of Stoker. "Stoke? What's wrong, man? You okay?" Stoker just shook his head, unable to speak. He just fell onto Martin's shoulder, sobbing quietly. Martin, who had no idea what to do, just let him cry, as he did all he could to make him feel better. In the end, Stoker took a deep breath. "Lisa…she's…she's been killed…" Martin's eyes grew wide, and he held Stoker closer than ever, listening to his dry sobs of despair. "What…what happened?" Stoker went on to tell him how she'd been shopping down in the centre, and a fight broke out nearby. Always the one to try and make the fights turn to peace, she tried to break it up, and one of the people fighting pulled a knife. She was stabbed in the throat, and died almost instantly. Stoker just sat, gazing into space, while Martin rubbed his back gently. Try as he might, Stoker couldn't do anything, and then, one day, Hope went missing. No kidnap note was found, though there was evidence of a small struggle. Stoker never forgave himself. He searched for years, and so, when he found nothing, he moved, grief stricken to find a new life in Brimstone. That's where he met Carbine's family, and Throttle, Modo and Vinnie.

He never spoke a word about Hope to anyone, it just hurt too much. In the end, he made himself believe she was dead, just like his beloved Lisa. He only had one photo of Hope, when she was three years old, just before Lisa's death. He left it, hidden away in a book of verse that he had left to Zandra in his will. Opening the book, Zandra noticed the tiny envelope containing the picture. She showed it to the others, and they knew that this was Stoker's daughter.

Zandra took the picture first to her computer, where she scanned in the image, and did a scan of all the Freedom Fighter and army files to see if she was present in any of them, but unless she'd changed drastically, or didn't have a picture, she wasn't in there. She tried the name, Hope, that was printed on the back of the picture, but after searching through hundreds of different Hope's, she gave up, and it was Carbine's turn. She took it to all the people she knew, all across Mars, asking them. A few people thought they'd seen someone looking like her, but in the end, the search came to nothing. Harley, Catrina and Modo searched the medical records at the hospital, and found a file on her, but nothing since she had gone missing. Then Throttle and Vinnie had a bright idea between them. She would have to have records, but since she had none under her birth name, they needed to find a file that stated no early life, no birth certificate or parental records, only later life. They found her.

Under the name of Inama, meaning Heart, in Saturnite, she had been working for the Freedom Fighters rescue mission on Venus, when she and her troop were taken as slaves by the Venusians. All the Venusian hostages had returned home, they knew that, so they went in search of her. For weeks they searched the hostage records, until one day, at 3:47am, Catrina opened her record. Leaping up, she waved it at everyone. "I found her! I found her!" The next day, the group set off to her last known home, and found that she was still there. She let them into the small flat, and sat them down, listening to the story they told, of everything they knew of Stoker, and of all they had done to find her. In the end, she nodded. She had run away as a little child, afraid that it was her that had driven her mother away, and was causing her father this agony. She just sat when they told her of his heroic death, and how to find her was his final wish. She agreed to return with them to Brimstone. From there, they took her to the garden, where there were still flowers laid out for the fallen warrior. The others fell back as they came near to the grave. Hope held her head high, and walked slowly towards it. Those who had come with her turned and walked back, as she knelt in front of the grave, a single tear falling from her eye onto the soil. "I'm so sorry, Daddy, I'm just so sorry…" and with that, she curled up on the grave, and cried herself to sleep. When the others returned, they found Hope lying out on the sand, her long reddish brown hair blown gently by the breeze, her deep tan fur ruffled gently. Modo bent down next to her, and shook her shoulder gently to wake her, but she didn't move. He shook her a little harder, calling her name, but still, she made no response. He placed a shaking hand on her wrist, then on her neck. He looked at the others, and shook his head. They all bowed their heads in silent prayer for the child who had died of a broken heart, having lost everything in her life. The next morning, the body was gone, but in its place, lay a single white rose, and a not written on a tiny scroll of white paper. It read, in beautiful golden letters, "This, my friends, is not the end. It is only the beginning."

Neither Stoker, nor Hope will ever be forgotten by those who knew and loved them. They are still with us, watching us, helping us when we need it, ready to guide us when the time comes. Until then, we salute them. Two brave freedom fighters, who are together once again, with Lisa, in heaven, where they belong.

Forever.