Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 20

Andress and Trace finally crested the hill, only to find that it was almost impossible to see anything in the dense jungle with no lights, having lost them in the scramble to leave the cave. Then, out of the corner of their eye, they could see a circle of lights in a clearing, showing the landing site that the Renegade and shuttles were still at. Andress breathed a sigh of relief until she saw what else was illuminating the night sky. On the side of the mountain that was overlooking the jungle was a large plume of fire, that was raging furiously, having consumed almost everything on the side of the mountain. She looked through the scope of her rifle to see what had exactly caused it. It focused on the smoking wreck that was the fuselage of a Vulcan fighter, with the word "Swift"painted on the side of the cockpit. Andress's heart dropped into her stomach, and she let out a small cry. First her sister...now Koil..."Andress? What's wrong?" Trace looked over at her distressed face, worried. Tears began to run down Andress's face. Then, fear and sadness was replaced with something new: determination. She wasn't going to sit by and watch. Not again. Never again. She grabbed her rifle and started walking towards the landing site, Trace following close behind. When they arrived, they deactivated the shields around the Renegade, and were about to take off when they heard a noise in the trees. Andress and Trace whirled around and pointed their weapons into the darkness. Bunker stepped out, raising his hands. "Andress?" Andress's face brightened, her eyes widening. "BUNKER!" She dropped her weapon and ran out of the ship, hugging him tight and close. He returned the hug just as hard, muttering in her ear. "I'm sorry..." Andress smiled and held him. "It's ok..." As she pulled out of the embrace, she looked behind Bunker and saw a familiar face holding a plasma sword. Mister Zero was leaning against a tree and staring at the both of them, an eyepatch now over his left eye. Andress gave the both of them a skeptical look. Bunker sighed. "Andress...you will not believe the day I've had."

Nolun sat down in the light of the Dorado Piece, and examined the journal more closely. He found that it wasn't bound in leather or plastic, like most writing journals. It was encased in some sort of hardened metal, that was surprisingly light. The book itself appeared to be locked with a latch, something that couldn't be opened without some sort of key. Nolun had examined the body and the entire cave, but couldn't find anything. He realized that what he was doing was probably bordering on grave robbery, but he also found that he didn't care much at the moment. He sighed and sat down, the book in his hands, looking for something that could help him. Then, he noticed something glittering on the book's back cover. He turned it over to see that there were some familiar markings on it. His eyes widened as he recognized the language of the Markers. Whoever this Merrick Crossman guy was, he apparently knew about the Markers as well, and how to translate their language. Quickly, Nolun thought in his head as to what these symbols could mean, and his research came flooding back to him. He managed to translate everything, only to find himself even more confused. What the markings supposedly meant, if he wasn't mistaken, were a bunch of numbers. 4 to be exact. As he pondered on what this could mean, he examined the lock to the book again. Then, he looked closer and saw that he had been wrong about his previous thought. The lock didn't need a key. It appeared to be a basic tumbler system, with each tumbler corresponding to a number. 4 numbers...Suddenly, it clicked in Nolun's head. He quickly input the numbers into the tumblers, and then the book opened. Alright, Merrick Crossman, Nolun thought. Your move.

Koil was quite surprised when he noticed the Elite getting back up, and saw that Dante's sword was still sticking out of his chest. The sight would have been comical, if not for the fact that this meant trouble for the both of them. The Elite threw the sword aside, and fired at the both of them down on the ledge. Dante and Koil dove for cover, and hid behind a part of the cliffside wall. "You got a plan?" Koil asked, a bit worried as he fired up at the Elite with his pistol, only hoping to draw him back for a little bit. "Yes. And she should be arriving hopefully very soon." Koil looked over at Dante, who was looking down the side of the cliff. Then, Koil noticed a small figure in a grey cloak that was fluttering and flowing in the wind climbing up the footholds that had been left by Dante's swords. Koil had to smile at Elicia's tenacity. Then, a bullet whizzed past his head, and he shot back. As he looked around, he saw that the black ship that had drawn him to the Elites in the first place had taken off, and was currently hovering just beside the cliff, casting a light onto the two people standing there. Koil felt like a Frugarian rat in a trap. Then, out of nowhere, a large laser bolt cut through the back of the ship, taking out it's hover systems and making it jolt and drop slightly in midair. Koil looked and saw another ship, it's grey hull floating out of the darkness like an angel of war. He smiled to himself. Took you long enough, Lovecraft. He thought. The Renegade shot the hovercraft out of the air, taking out any chance of it flying again. The Elite saw all this with an emotionless regard, and kept firing at the two on the ledge. Then, he heard a whistle over to his right, making him look over. A dagger flew through the air towards him, and he was barely able to dodge in time before the dagger knocked the weapon out of his hand. Elicia cursed that she had missed. She ran towards the Elite, and executed a flying jumpkick, knocking him backwards. The Elite raised his hands in an open-palm strike, hitting Elicia back, but giving her enough time to grab his arm and break it in at least one place. Oddly enough, however, the Elite didn't even flinch. He then headbutted Elicia, his hard helmet knocking her off balance. She then dodged a punch, then did a high roundhouse kick to his head, knocking his helmet off. Elicia looked into the eyes of the Elite, only to see the bright eyes of Mister Zero staring back at her, only with more rage and less intelligence. As he was about to charge again, a single gunshot rang out, and a large bullet hole appeared in the Elite's head, making him go limp and fall forwards, finally dead. Elicia saw Koil and Dante standing there, with the Renegade flying overhead. She wiped the sweat off her brow and looked down at the body. "What the hell is going on?"