Journey to Destiny

Chapter 5: Search of Destiny

I let my leg rest for a bit as Reece got us ready to go. By the time he was done, I was able to stand up and walk just enough to get onto my sparrow. Reece had a motorbike similar to mine, but it looked much older and more worn down. We drove together back down the empty planes of Old Russia and back to the Fallen base.
The ride to the base was longer than I had assumed it would be. Reece had gotten quite a ways away from the base, in hopes of no further contact from the Fallen, at least until I could get back on my feet. I noticed that as we were riding our sparrows that I had a Guardian helmet on my head, but when I looked over at Reece, he had no protective gear, just the ragged old clothes on his body. I guess that he had no need for the gear with the skill he already possessed. But then again, who knows what kind of skills and abilities I might possess?
The sun had reached its peak in the sky by the time we returned to the base. I dismounted the sparrow and allowed Ori to teleport it back to the hold in the ship as I reached for the rifle on my back to carry with me inside the base. Reece did the same, except his motorcycle stayed parked on the grassy field, leaning onto a nearby structure. It should stay hidden there for as long as we need it to be.
With our guns at the ready, Reece and I headed back into the Fallen base entry. I could feel the nerves and fear from the last time I had been starting to seep into my stomach, making me quiver as I moved.
"You sure you'll be ok?" asked Reece. I nodded slowly, but the truth was, I couldn't be sure about anything, but I had gotten used to the risks of uncertainty by now.
We stepped into the base. I was sure there would be an attack or an ambush at any moment, but there was silence. The bodies of the Fallen Reece had taken down the previous day were scattered about the floor. We stepped over them as we walked closer to the center of the base, the control center, hopefully.
Making our way past the entry room, we came upon another room, one filled with crates containing all sorts of weapons and equipment.
"This must be where the Fallen here kept their supplies," said Reece. "We should be getting close," inside one of the crates, I noticed a small, round disk, one that you might put in a disk-player. I thought to myself that the disk could have important information on it, so I picked it up and shoved it into one of my pockets, just in case.
We made it passed the storage room and into a larger room, with a large computer in the center.
"The motherboard!" shouted Reece. He ran towards the computer and ushered me over. "Come on!" he shouted. "Let's get the information and get out of here. There might still be Fallen left somewhere in here, and we don't want to be found out," 
I quickly raced over to him and deployed my Ghost. Now hovering over my hand, Ori began scanning the computer's interface for information.
"I should be able to find the location of your friends Reece," Ori said encouragingly. "It should be in here somewhere," we waited for a few moments before Ori said, "I'm not finding anything in here that has to do with the location of any prisoners. It's not in here."
"What!" Reece exclaimed, sounding shocked. "No, wait. It's got to be in there somewhere," suddenly, an alarm sounded and big red flashing lights went off. "It's a trap!" shouted Reece and we started heading back the direction we came. We blasted through the door, only to be stopped by an army of Fallen. I started glancing around furiously until I spotted a large window high up on the wall.
"There!" I shouted, pointing up at it. "Let's get out of here!" Reece easily ran up the wall and pulled himself through the window and perched on the window seal. I tried to follow him, but I wasn't strong enough to pull myself up. I guess making dramatic escapes wasn't one of my hidden abilities. The Fallen started shooting at us. I was still wearing my Guardian armor, but what happened last time still scared me. Reece's arm stretched down towards me.
"Come on! Get up!" he shouted. I reached for his hand and tried to kick off the wall for a boost, but it was no use. The Fallen was quickly advancing towards us, and I pulled my gun off my back and started shooting the Fallen down, but there was too many. I started to think that this was it when I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me up towards the window. "Come on now," said Reece. "You don't think I was gonna let you go that easily, now did ya?" Together, Reece and I jumped through the window and fell to the ground on the other side. I looked up and saw Reece's sparrow still parked where we had left it.
We began sprinting towards the vehicle and listening to the sound of the Fallen start to run around the base to catch up to us. Ori popped out of wherever he had been and summoned my sparrow to my side.
"Once we get far enough away from the base, I can teleport us to the ship," Ori said. On our sparrows, Reece and I began speeding down towards the ship and through enemy fire. I noticed that some of the Fallen had their own vehicles, and started chasing us down with them. I pulled out my own gun from behind and started shooting as many down as I can, while listening to bullets whizz past my face as I did.
"When will we be close enough to the ship!" I shouted through the wind to Ori.
"Just... a little... longer," Ori said, focusing on where we were and the ship. I watched as the Fallen army drew closer and closer. A second too long, and were done for.  "Almost there... and," the Fallen had gained upon us. Just one shot in the wrong place and... "NOW!" Suddenly, the whole world vanished from view and reappeared inside the ship. "Made it," Ori exclaimed in relief. I looked out the ship's window and watched as we got higher and higher in the sky, further and further away from the Fallen, until we broke orbit. "Let's, not do that again," Ori suggested and fell to the ground in exhaustion. I turned around saw Reece, lying on the ground with his sparrow lying next to him.
"Reece!" I shouted and ran towards him.
"I'm ok," he said, trying to pick himself up. "Ah," he winced in pain. "My leg," I looked down at his leg to see a bullet wound, slowly spilling blood. "I have bandages... in my bag," he said. I quickly zipped open the bag on his back. I found the bandages and started wrapping them around the wound. He winced in pain again as I did so.
"It's ok," I said, trying to calm him down. "I got it," I finished wrapping the bandage and helped him sit up on his own.
"The base," said Reece. "They must have known we would go in there looking for the information. They must have relocated it. It was a trap," he turned to me. "We have to find it, Zokan. We have to save those prisoners, before..." he trailed off, the blood loss taking over him.
"I know Reece," I said. "We'll find them, I promise," and with that, he passed out in my arms. I heard Ori hovering over my shoulder.
"There's a room he can rest in," I heard him say. "Follow me," I placed my arms underneath his limp, unconscious body and lifted him up. I carried him, following Ori into a room with a bed. Carefully, I laid Reece down on the bed. "He should wake up here in a couple hours," said Ori. "You know, you should get some rest too. After all, Reece isn't the only one still recovering," I looked down at the wound on my own leg, still covered up. It didn't hurt that bad anymore, but I couldn't argue that I wasn't exhausted from the previous events.
I walked to my own room and lied down in my own bed. I thought about how Reece had saved me from the base, and how I had just saved him, for no reason other than that I didn't want to see him die. We needed each other, and maybe one day I can be a hero just like him.