RECLAIM

Chapter 34. Hiccup

Unedited

~Arden~

He wasn't even aware that his body was moving until his right hand circled her waist. He puts his body in front of her at the same time he shove her back. Bracing himself for detection, he reached for his gun only to be stop by a hand on his shoulder. His body locks automatically. Without taking his eyes from the figure who by now standing inches from him, Arden tries to shrug the hand of. The hand squeezes instead, as if trying to tell him something. As realization dawned on him, he does better than that. He stops moving and breathing.

Arden watched as the guard pause to grips his rifle. He frowned before tilting his head, eyes scanning for any sign of disturbance. Arden tensed as the man reach for his thermal goggle, only to drop his hand. The guard shrugged before moving away. They hold their position even after the guard disappeared from view, to wary to move. Deciding that it's safe, Arden taps the hand on his shoulder. It taps back before lifting, signaling that they're ready.

They approached the door again. After making sure that there are no more surprises, Arden opens the door slightly. He sends one of his flybot trough the crack. The coast looks clear. He opens the door wider. They slip in and Arden quickly closed the door behind him. They proceed carefully, aware that it cost them a lot of precious time but can't afford to be reckless. They passed along some more guards but manage to avoid any close call.

"That went well," Arden whispered as he peer around one corner to check a deserted hallway.

"For now, though I would prefer you hadn't jump to shield me. I can take care of myself just fine." From her clip tone she was clearly furious, although he sense the anger directed more at herself than at him, but furious all the same.

"Well, you're welcome." Arden glanced briefly at her. "I'll steer clear from your path next time."

"Right, like you can help not to." She was clearly offended, which in turn only make him more adamant. Arden frowned. Wait, adamant?

"Focus you two," Alex intervention derailed Arden's disturbing thoughts. "We still need to find something, anything that can lead us to our objective. In case you lot forget, we got a limited battery time here," the Vanguard sharply add. Arden raised one eyebrow at his tone.

"I agree with, albeit jealous, mister Vanguard. I swear. For reluctant partners, you two act more like old married couple." Carlo snickered at the glares he received from three set of eyes. Just like that, Arden's felt that the tension in the air broke. Damn, they barely here and already the tension boil. They need to calm down, fast.

Alex clears his throat. Well, guess the Vanguard agrees with him. "All things aside, for a rumored top class fortress, this place security looks way too lax. Given our past experiences, it's a bad sign."

"Think positive thoughts, Vanguard." From all the way over here, Arden swears he can practically see Carlo wink. He points at a nearby access stairs before continuing, "See that stairs over there?"

"Let me guess, it leads to our next destination? Laith supply her answer.

Carlo raised his thumb. "Close enough. It leads to a one of underwater transports system. Lucky for us, it connects together a lot of things down there."

Taking the stairs down, it turns out to be a short one. They soon arrive at the underwater transport system platform. Looking around the eerie, empty platform, Aden frowned. "Surely it has some level of protection?" Nothing in this world is easy.

This time, it's Camille who turn and gave him the duh look. "Obviously. We're talking about killing first and ask question later kind of security measure. The tunnels are layered with high energy beams laser nets. Nothing uninvited penetrates that thing," she added at length.