Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 17

The water sloshed around Andress's waist, chilling her to the bone, as the light from her flashlight illuminated the water beneath her and the extremely low ceiling above her. She was practically kneeling in the small river that she and Trace had found in this dark system of caves. Hopefully it would help them find a way out soon. She was getting tired of crouching so much. But, just as soon as she thought that, Andress began to see the water beneath her light up slightly, even more than what the lights in their hands were outputting. "Trace." Andress said quietly. Trace stopped walking close behind her and looked over her shoulder. They both looked at each other, then turned off their lights. The water appeared to be brightened by a more natural light, and the terrain beneath their feet appeared to curve down slightly, then back upwards beyond the ceiling. Andress sighed. It looked like they would have to be going underwater for this one. "Alright, I'll go in first. After a few minutes, you follow." Andress said, swinging her rifle over her shoulder. "What if you get trapped?" Trace said, looking at her worriedly. Andress stared at her, then smiled as reassuringly as she could. "I'll be fine." Then, she took in a deep breath, and dove down into the water, her hair moving around her. She swam into the small u-shaped bend in the river, and managed to just squeeze past the ceiling. She kept swimming upwards, the light above her providing the only way of seeing. Then, just as she was about to run out of breath, she felt her fingers breach the surface and feel air, and her head shortly followed. Andress gasped for air, and grabbed onto the side of wherever she had come out. As she caught her breath, she looked up, and her eyes widened. In front of her, moving only slightly, were large, grey, crustacean-like creatures scattered around a large cave. Their pincers were snapping slowly. This was going to be a problem.

Elicia saw the man who turned out to be Mister Zero land in front of her, Dante and Bunker, and stare at them like they were prey. She gripped her daggers tightly, waiting for him to strike. She had no idea how he had managed to escape from Rust, but she knew that there would be no chance of him ever escaping from anywhere again. Just as Elicia was about to attack, she heard Zero utter two words she didn't expect: "Help me." She hesitated slightly and looked at him with surprise. What was it? A trick? Some sort of GDF trap maybe? Before she could ponder any other options, Zero immediately staggered on his feet, looking like someone who had just been shot in the back. Dante rushed forward to see if he could catch him, but Zero managed to stab his sword into the ground, and then balanced himself on the hilt. Zero stared up at Dante with his one eye, and for the first time, Elicia noticed the bolted eyepatch on his left eye. What the hell happened to him? Elicia thought to herself, for the first time worried about Zero. "Come any closer, man in black, and this blade will be the last thing you see." Zero muttered in his gravelly voice up at Dante. Dante considered this for a moment, then stepped back slowly, never taking his eyes off of Zero. Zero then pushed himself back upright on his sword, and coughed slightly, the cough of someone who was sick with a deadly fever. Elicia wondered if he maybe was. "What are you doing here?" Dante asked warily, eyeing Zero with suspicion. Zero looked back at him. "I've been looking for you, man in black. For a long time now." Bunker looked at Zero, gripping his chaingun. "Dante, what are you doing? How do we know that the GDF isn't here right now, and they're sending him out to kill us?" Dante looked right into Zero's one eye, and his gaze turned from one of suspicion to one of sympathy. "You're not under their control anymore, are you?" Dante said, cooly, and Elicia and Bunker stared at the both of them in shock. "Andress was brainwashed like you, and she broke free. You did the same thing, didn't you?" Everyone in the clearing stared at Zero, who looked up, unconsciously rubbing the barcode on the back of his neck. "Free." He said, softly, his eyes wide and almost innocent.

Koil had been sitting there for a long time, but now he was finally starting to get impatient. The Vulcans should have passed over this area a long time ago. They couldn't have all run into the same bird that he did, could they have? No. He knew his crew. They were too skilled to be taken down by one bird like that. Koil began to grow uneasy as he kept looking up into the sky. There was something wrong...and he didn't like it one bit. Then, he felt something pass over his head. He moved his gaze upwards quickly, raising his gun as well, expecting the bird to have come back to finish off it's supper. But, oddly enough, there was nothing. Just a clear, blue sky. Then, he heard jet boosters activate somewhere over the ridge that was to his right. He frowned, not having seen any sort of craft large enough to make those kinds of noises previously. He warily grabbed his assault rifle and  his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. He moved silently towards the noise, and aimed his weapon, looking through the trees. Ahead of him, he saw the source of the noise: a small, sleek, black craft, it's black chrome paint reflecting the sunlight off of it. It's two jet engines were letting it hover almost silently over the ground, without causing too much noise or attracting too much attention. The belly of the craft opened, and 6 soldiers clad in black armour dropped out, wielding advanced weapons. Koil recognized them. They were the GDF Elites, the High Monarch's personal guard. But why were they all the way out here? Koil didn't have time to ask, as they began to spread out in every single direction. The one that was moving towards Koil ran past him swiftly without noticing. Then, as soon as he had a clear shot, Koil fired. But, incredibly, the Elite somehow ducked out of the way of the bullets and fired back. Koil cursed himself for giving away his position so quickly, and kept shooting, hoping to pin him down for long enough for him to run away. But, Koil's wishes were too much, as a red and black cylinder flew through the air and landed at his feet. Koil had just enough time to register the incendiary grenade before it exploded.