Slingers (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 1)

Chapter 11

The lift dove further into the darkness, the lights on the shaft walls being the only source of illumination for the three figures on the platform. Nolun had his repeater raised, ready for anything. Andress and Bunker had their respective rifle and heavy gun pointed in combat stances. Then, suddenly, the lift ground to a halt, shuddering the platform and knocking the three off-balance. "What now?" Nolun groaned as he got back up, and then heard explosions and gunfire from above, making him look up. He saw several Resistance soldiers rappelling down into the mineshaft, and land on the platform, raising their guns at the three of them. "Freeze! Put down your weapons!" Nolun looked around at them. "So...do you want us to freeze, or put down our weapons?" Andress looked at him, glaring. He shrugged. "It's a valid question." The Resistance weapons cocked. "You have 3 seconds! 1...2..." "DUCK!" Andress yelled, and Nolun and her dove down without question, as Bunker fired up his heavy gun, spinning in a circle and taking out the entire squad. Nolun looked up and got up off the ground as Andress pressed buttons on the console. "Damn it! They shut down the lift generator!" Nolun stared at the beam of light shooting out of the Piece. "Looks like the other Piece is only a few more floors down. We'll have to walk it!" The three of them climbed up to the floor that was just above them where the lift stopped. "Why are we shooting the Resistance guys again? I thought they were on our side." Nolun asked as they continued into the mine. "They think we're part of this whole operation. As far as we're concerned, if they shoot at us, we shoot back." Nolun looked unsure, then nodded. "Let's just hope the twins got the shields down."

Elicia was typing on the mini-computer she had brought from her gear, and was making her way past the absurdly weak firewalls located in the Obsidian Dragon's system. You'd think that these so-called "top mobsters" would get better virtual security. Elicia thought. She finally managed to get into the source controls for the entire base. She found the controls for the shields within the mines, and deactivated the ones in the lower levels, just as Nolun had said. "It'll most likely be deep in the core. The Markers would have hidden it well enough, but not too well." "How do you know?" Elicia had said. Nolun gave that smirk that he usually did when things were going well for him. "It's what I would do." Elicia rolled her eyes in her head. Although she did enjoy guys who were self-confident, and she had to admit, he was kind of cute, she wasn't too interested. Besides, her brother would never have allowed it. God, sometimes her brother could be such a-"Distress signal transmitting. Distress signal transmitting." Elicia turned back to her computer confused. Her eyes widened, as she saw that the base was transmitting a distress signal to a location somewhere not too far from the planet. She looked worried, and traced the signal's location. What she saw confirmed her suspicions, and also put the pieces together as to who the "Anonymous Benefactors" were. She quickly closed the computer and ran to her brother's side. "We need to go. Now." He looked confused. "The people who run this place? I know who they work for. And if I'm right, we're screwed."

The small loading cart that Nolun had commandeered wasn't much, but it was enough to get them around, and was much faster than walking. It sped down the winding caverns of the mineshaft. Bunker was positioned on the back with his gun, and Andress was sitting beside him, acting as lookout. The light from the Piece was still shining, and by the looks of things, they were getting closer. Finally, as they turned a corner, they saw what they had been looking for. The beam ended in a wall on the side of the shaft. "Here!" Nolun shouted and hit the brakes. "They dug right past it." Nolun smirked and chuckled. Andress noticed that he genuinely was pleased by this. He didn't seem to be nervous at all. He really was right for this life. "Bunker, explosives." Bunker nodded and strapped a thermal bomb to the wall, and the trio ran behind a corner. "Fire in the hole." Bunker muttered and pressed the detonator. The explosion shook the cave. Nolun sighed. "Well, at least we didn't cause a cave-in." The three walked over to the new hole in the wall. Inside was another metal door, but this one wasn't like the others in the mine.It was ancient, and covered with Marker symbols. "This is it." Nolun breathed. He walked forward and saw the door adorned with what looked like several glass globes. "What are those?" Nolun shrugged. "I honestly don't know. This isn't in the-" They were interrupted by the Piece in Nolun's bag flashing noticeably. Nolun pulled it out and saw that the Piece was flashing faster and faster until the single beam of light spread out and lit up the globes, and then the door began to creak open. "I...guess that was supposed to be the puzzle for this Piece, but since we already have a Piece, we can skip past it." The door swung open with a creak, and the three of them gasped once they saw what was inside. It was a golden pyramid, with the top of it tapering off into little cubes, similar to the sphere. Nolun stepped forward slowly with his eyes wide, and then bit his lip as he reached out for the Piece, and then quickly pulled it off the pedestal, flinching. But when nothing happened, he opened his eyes warily and got up again. Andress looked up at him confused. "What was that all about?" Nolun shrugged and laughed nervously. "Sorry. Something bad usually happens when I do that." Suddenly, their comlinks burst with static as Dante came over the radio. "Andress! Nolun! Does anyone copy!" Andress flinced. "I'm here. Dante, what's-" "They're here! They've surrounded the planet's orbit!" "Who's here?" "The GDF! They've surrounded the planet!"