War for Freedom

(Chapter 54)/Love and War (Part 2)

Rena's POV:
May 25th, 2093, 11:12:
Vanguard Base, Carway:

Patrolling the perimeter with Chloe, I was keeping an eye primarily on Chloe, especially since it's been four days since Zero was taken. He'll be fine, he has to be, but Chloe...that's a walking nuke on a very sensitive fuse. Turning to her, she was composed, calm, but I see the way she looks out at the horizon, hoping for Zero to come back safe and sound. Safety isn't a part of Zero's dictionary, but he would come back soundly.

Heh...he always has a way of making capture seem more like an inconvenience then a problem, especially since I'm thinking about it so casually with him being the captive. Hearing the sound of Chloe's weapon clicking the safety off, I turned and looked at Chloe, who stopped walking and seemed intense at looking at something. Turning to what she was looking at, I saw what looked like a very distant dot in the sky, like an object.

It looked weird, like some sort of rocket flying...straight at us. Almost as if thinking the same thing, Chloe suddenly grabbed the back of my body plating before pulling me back just as the object became clear, a rocket, with two other objects on it, or rather, people. However, before I could even think about who they were as they flew past us, Chloe suddenly shouted,

Chloe: "ZERO!"

After hearing this, the rocket suddenly crashed onto the ground, sliding on the road before crashing through the main gate, followed by a metallic clank before it stopped. As it did, a familiar voice shouted from inside the Base,

Zero (distant): "Ow, my fucking spine!...(crack)...ow...much better but ow..."

Hearing Zero's voice, Chloe and I looked at each other before running back to base, wondering what mind of mess he got himself in. As we approached, the Alliance soldiers posted at the gate were looking in disbelief at the barracks with a opening formed, likely where Zero was. As Chloe and I stood a distance away, the rest of the Alpha Team and Bravo Team, along with Helena, Dr. Lesley, Commander Bailey, and Brian came out to join us, with Ruby asking,

Ruby: "We all heard him, right?"

Dicena (nods before preparing her weapon): "Yeah...and another scent...a metallic one."

Immediately after she said that, we all started sniffing the air, and it caused all of us to prepare our weapons, since it was too familiar, Huntress. Hearing footsteps, we all raised our weapons, preparing to fire when another familiar voice spoke through our coms,

Orion (coms): "Hold your fire, friendly coming out."

Immediately after hearing this, Chloe was the first to lower her weapon as Zero stumbled out, with the rest of us following suit. As he fell onto his knees, coughing a bit, Chloe shouldered her Assault rifle before running over to him, embracing him in a hug while saying,

Chloe: "You need to stop worrying me, I'll die from a heartache if you keep doing reckless things."

Zero (slightly choked while hugging her back): "Right, of course, my bad...mind letting me breath?"

Chloe (chuckles while laughing, pulling back and looking at him): "You have no idea how worried I was."

Zero (nods): "Yeah...Chloe, listen to me, whatever you do, don't attack-"

Before Zero could even finish his sentence, metallic footsteps made us raise our weapons at the entrance again, and I saw Chloe immediately grab Zero with one hand while unholstering her pistol with the other. As we all aimed, Zero quickly got out of Chloe's grip and got in front of the entrance, raising his hands while saying,

Zero: "Wait, hold your fire, don't shoot, Huntress just-"

Chloe (stiffens her Tail): "Huntress? Zero, why are you defending her?"