Fan Fiction ❯ The Secret of the Always ❯ The Gang's Hideout ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5

Nemesis and Tii'jan strolled in the front entrance, completely protected from the surveillance systems. Nemesis still had a slight, nagging feeling of foreboding in the back of his head, but he dismissed it as nervousness toward a new situation. Sneaking around the cave, the two noticed that the base seemed oddly deserted. "Doesn't this place seem a little eerie, Macraw?" Nemesis said, looking around at the blank walls.

"If you were a thief, would you be here to greet two strangers wandering into your secret base? They're afraid of us." Just as Macraw said this, two lasers lanced out from the darkness in front of them. Macraw quickly threw two stones into their path with his levitation spell, dispersing the energy. Nemesis drew his wrist crossbow and searched the shadowy cave corridor for signs of their assailant. Finding nothing to shoot at, he let his arm drop to his side and they started walking again.

Now nervous about the whole ordeal, Nemesis turned to Tii'jan to find a hard look on his face. "I know what you're thinking, Nemesis. And no, we aren't backing out now. We have to find the Flame and that's all there is to it. If we can't release the Always… then we can't win."

Nemesis was about to ask him what he meant when they were attacked again. A thrown dagger came from in front of them, but Tii'jan hadn't time to deflect it. Instead, Nemesis bashed him to the wall and rolled back the other way, drawing his pistol, hoping to get the enemy before he could attack again. He took two quick shots into the darkness and watched as the blasts lit the dark passage, and he saw the figure move. He fired twice more at it and hit him. They both heard him yell and hit the floor. Nemesis rushed forward and knelt over where the man had gone down. Lighting a match, he looked him over, noting his insignia and outfit. He was a member of the Shisten union, a group of several older thief clans. They were a powerful and influential group in the underworld.

Few knew much about them, but they kept a firm grip on much of Giklon City.

Finding nothing else of interest on him, the pair left him and continued down the passages. Then, finally, they found something more promising. The stone passages opened into better-lit metal hallways with doors on either side. Luckily, these were deserted as well. But not for long.

As Nemesis and Tii'jan continued onward, looking for some clue as to where the Flame would be. Then, the alarm finally sounded. Someone had sneaked by and noticed them. The entire base would be on top of them in minutes. Nemesis thought quickly, weighing their options. Fighting them all was not one of them. They needed an escape. Nemesis scanned the hallway, looking to the ceiling and seeing what he had hoped for. There was ductwork attached to the ceiling. Nemesis jumped, grabbing it and, pulling his knife out, began to cut an opening wide enough for them to both fit. Nemesis crawled in and caught the metal plate he had cut out. Tii'jan followed closely, knowing what he had in mind. They would slowly crawl down the ductwork, watching to see if it would lead them to the room where the Flame was held. Nemesis waited several moments, watching to see who came by. He guessed that in 30 seconds, at least 60 men rushed down the halls. "It's a good thing I pulled that grating up, or we would've been found out," he whispered to Tii'jan. "Oh well. Let's get going. Levitate us both so that we don't make any noise against the metal."

Tii'jan smiled. "You've had a lot of experience with this, haven't you? I knew there was a reason you were chosen to help me." He cast his levitation spell on them both and Nemesis pushed his way down the shaft with Tii'jan right behind. At every branch the two would split up and see where each led. After five such branches, Nemesis found their objective.

They had had to split up and search two rooms that were, to Nemesis' best estimate, about halfway down the corridor when he found it. He lifted up the ventilation grate slightly and found himself hanging over a room with six guards and a glass case holding what appeared to be a staff with a red jewel in it. Nemesis acted quickly, hoping to catch them completely by surprise. He moved back down the vent and found Tii'jan waiting for him. Nemesis grabbed him and started moving back to the room. Once there, he unclipped a shock grenade and loaded his wrist crossbow with a stunner bolt rack. He checked the charge on the grenade, hit the timer switch set for five seconds and dropped it out of the vent through the grate. The guards jumped upon hearing the grenade hit and took two seconds to figure out what it was. By then it was too late.

The grenade went off as one guard was yelling, "Hit the deck!" The electricity ran through the ground, shocking all six of the guards with 8,000 volts. Nemesis jumped down after the charge had dispersed and hit the two guards still standing with stun bolts. When all six were down, Nemesis waved the elf out of the vent and they approached the case. "So, what should we do?" Tii'jan asked.

"Well, no doubt they have alarms on that thing, so we'll have to be very careful with our strategy." Nemesis contemplated afor several moments as he picked up the shell of his grenade and clipped it back to his kenetic battery. He then had a revelation. "Tii,jan," he said. "You have perfect control over your levitation abilities, right?"

"As good as it gets, pal," he answered, taking up his staff.

"Do you think you could levitate the staff out from over the top?" Nemesis pointed to a gap at the very top of the glass case. It was only a few inches wide, but so was the staff.

Tii'jan didn't even bother to answer. He merely waved his staff and began the incantation. With perfect control he brought the staff up to the top of the cylinder and touched the ceiling. He then turned it on its side and slowly slid the staff out of the top. It was then that one of the guards, having somewhat recovered, reached up and grabbed Tii'jan by the ankle. Startled, he lost concentration and the staff fell, hitting the glass and setting off the alarm. Nemesis kicked the man in the head and caught the falling staff in one hand.

Tii'jan took his cue and levitated both of them back up into the vents where they immediately began crawling along in mid air. They heard the loud noise of boots on metal as the theives rushed toward the room they had just been in. Nemesis pulled Macraw along by his wrist since he was so slow. They slowly made their way back the way they had come and came to the hole they had made earlier only to find that haldf of the men in the base were still crowded around it. They then heard the clang of boots on metal as several of the other troops came after them down the vent.

"Okay, what the hell do you suggest we do now, hotshot," Tii'jan asked, slightly hopeless sounding.