Chapter 2: Gambit

Sid lowered the binoculars from his eyes as the man walked beyond the walls; the doors slammed shut.

“Erm, so what do we do?" Sid asked.

“We report back, why did you have some kind of idea to get in and open the doors ourselves?

“I mean, we could totally do it."

“Oh yeah.. I have the perfect plan!"

“Wait, what?" Sid asked, caught by surprise. “I didn't think.. I mean really?"

“Yeah, we.. hand our asses over on a silver platter and make a daring escape!"

“Sassy roo.." Sid rolled his eyes. “Seriously though, I saw the guy that burned my village down."

Sarah's expression switched from a sarcastic one to a sorrowful one.

“Oh. Sorry, you shoulda led with that maybe. You may not want to hear this but revenge isn't worth compromising ourselves."

“Figured you'd say that. Well I guess I will make my way in somehow and get some answers." Despite feeling determined Sid's heart thumped with fear as he considered what he was going to do. Before Sarah could say another thing Sid sprinted away down the exit stairs.

“What the heck kid, wait!" Sarah quickly gave the chance to the brash rabbit 'This rabbit is either insane or so stupid!' she thought to herself as she followed after him.

“Sid!" She tried to not raise her voice too much just in case. However he didn't hear, not that he'd listen. She finally caught up to him and grabbed the scruff of his neck just before he went outside to the street.

“Ow! Hey that hurts" Sid complained.

“Good, because you're being an idiot."

“Okay, you're right. “I don't really know what I was gonna try to do. Least I know you'll follow me".

“Never leave a soldier behind. We must report back, and I will have you with me." She gestured with her thumb still a bit livid.

“Sure, as long as we get back in one piece you can have your way. I need to find this guy."

“Sid, I am sure you'll get the opportunity some other day. Your fath- I mean Captain Iron Fist requested I keep you in one piece."

“Of course he would! I'm too precious for him to ever risk losing… He always wanted to minimize risks.. It's a great thing, he has so much heart. Unfortunately it can be suffocating. He would rather me be safe than ever get any closure on this though.

“I get ya.. And yes he has heart, that's why I respect him.. But I can see what you mean." Sarah's ears shifted down a bit somewhat. “He has been minimizing risk but has hardly taken any of it here as well. It took them a couple weeks longer than what the projections showed to take that first gate."

“Oh?" Sid asked, perking an ear up. “Is it just me or am I hearing you want to get something done yourself?"

“I'm not a good little soldier all the way through. I am as human as well, any human can be. If we were to hypothetically infiltrate, I suppose those sewers must have an exit on the other side of the wall somewhere..

“Then let's do it! What are you waiting for?"

“It would be an unsanctioned ops, 'if' we failed and came back alive we would be in a lot of trouble. However.. That's quite a big 'if' anyway."

“So. After you? I could use some help lifting the cover.." Sid chided as he walked out from behind the bins.

“Hey I didn't agree to anything yet! Sarah attempted to grab Sid by the ear but he was gone before she could grab him.

“There's a sewer cover right here. Come on, you don't make a name playing it safe!" Sid said pointing at the sewer cover as he walked on the corner of the street

He walked towards it unaware that a sight had taken aim at him. The explosion of gunfire ringed through the air as the bullet whizzed by Sid's ear.

“You're right out in the open Sid!" Sarah called out pulling her own sniper from her back and taking position. She aimed and took a shot, counter sniping the sniper. The attacker went down but was definitely still alive. Meanwhile Sid flopped on the pavement. Without a moment to waste Sarah cursed under her breath as she rushed over to the sewer cover.

“Help me, now!"

“Yep!" Sid scurried to her side, scuttling low on his stomach. He helped her move the cover and they clambered down into the sewer.

Sid dropped down from the ladder, Sarah dropped down from above unaware Sid was still below her. She landed on the back of his neck with her tail end toppling them both over.

“Ow.. Again." Sid groaned sitting up after getting tumbled on.

“Not gonna lie, I was worried I broke your neck there.. Heh." Sarah joked. Her expression shifted back to one of utmost seriousness after. “Seriously, has James taught you anything? You wandered straight out into the open!" She cuffed the silly rabbit in the back of the head.

“Yeow! Again!" Sid groaned, gritting his teeth. “I thought for sure no one was around!"

“It doesn't matter what you thought! We are in an active warzone, if you get careless you'll get dead."

“Well whatcha want from me? I never been in an active zone before."

“Yeah I can see that.." Sarah stood up and dusted herself off. She walked down the corridor and peered down it. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind.

“Wait, I've been with you the entire time since we left Valor. You still haven't killed anyone in your life yet have you?"

“I mean, I killed plenty of monsters." Sid shrugged.

“Monsters, yes but people.. Well that's another thing. Just remember we are the good guys. We kill those who deserve it.

“Okay, okay. Let me just check my gun."

Sid realized his breathing was uneven so he steadied his breath. He unholstered his pistol and checked his ammo. Full, unused as he left it. “Maybe I shoulda been given a smg or something.."

“Shit I knew we forgot a requisition." Sarah drooped her ears in embarrassment.

“You're supposed to be the professional!" Sid double facepalmed in disbelief.

“Hey, even we make mistakes kiddo. Just stick close to me like you have been, this should be the easy part. Dark shadowy sewers and all."

“Right, right. Sneaking in your shadow."

They began navigating the winding systems of the sewers. As they walked Sarah kept hearing a faint thumping noise. She looked towards Sid, it seemed to be coming his direction.

“Hey, you holdin up? I can hear your heart beating out of your chest. It's okay to have nerves, just remember to breathe."

“Don't patronize me." Sid's grimace is suddenly illuminated by the golden glow of his crystal necklace. “Huh?"

“I assume that's new." Sarah said, observing the glowing crystal.

“Yeah, I'm not sure why it's doin that. Pretty cool, but it's kinda noticeable."

“Yeah, tuck it in your coat. You can figure that out whenever we get outta this."

Sid did as he was told and tucked the crystal away. The two of them crept through the dim and dank corners of the sewer. Roaches and rats scurried around in the dark amongst them. Up ahead a more open portion could be seen, and dim lights.. Broken pieces of what appeared to be a glass-like substance littered the ground. A lump of broken crystal sat in the middle. The ground was scorched beneath it. Nearby there is a rusty door on the wall.

“Well. That isn't very normal is it?" Sarah asked.

“Nope, not at all." Sid squatted down to investigate. “Is that a crystal but broken? It's like mine but with red, or purple.. Purple red? That's a color right?"

“I guess, but what's with the crystals here?" Sarah shook her head. “You have that one as a necklace and now there's some weird broken ones. I guess that's just another sign of supernatural stuff."

“Yeah, it's strange," Sid admitted. “The scorch mark especially."

Out the corner of her eye Sarah saw an enemy approaching from up the passage. She quickly drew her gun but the attacker was already aiming to shoot. In a flash the two of them took their shots. The attacker took his to the chest and fell. To Sid's horror however Sarah also fell to the ground, blood seeping from her head.

“Sarah!" Sid yelled out. Before he could move towards her, the door burst open, behind it was another sickly looking man with a knife. The man lunged to stab Sid; but Sid grabbed the man's wrist as they tumbled to the ground with the man landing on top.

The man growled aggressively pushing the knife down closer towards Sid.

“Aaaa!" Sid screamed, without much thought he kicked his foot upwards. Luckily being rabbit sized his foot hits a rather vulnerable mark. The attacker's face contorted to one of pain as Sid reversed the knife onto his attacker. The knife found its mark plunging deep in the man's throat. The man collapsed on top of Sid, frantically he pushed and punched attempting to force the corpse off of him. Blood dripped onto his face as he finally shoved the man off.

“Hah.. Hah.. Oh no.. no no no.."

“AAAAAA!"

However Sid snapped back to composure when he heard her voice echoed to him.

“I'm not dead Sid." Sarah sat up suddenly, blood still flowing from the side of her head. “That one did hurt a lil bit though."

“Oh thank goodness!" Sid sighed in relief, still feeling trembles throughout his body. “I was properly losing it there. Your heads bleeding through!"

“Don't worry about it, just grazed the side of my head. That's gonna scar but hey, that just makes me cooler."

“How are you so calm? You almost died!"

“Trust me, I am mentally shitting myself still. It wouldn't do us any good to both be freaking out. I'm glad you handled that guy yourself there, hope you're okay after all that."

“Oh yeah, I'm.. Well." Sid collapsed down on to the floor breathing deeply just letting himself process. “That was close and intense. I need to be strong. Be strong and press on."

“You're strong for sure. I will lend an ear later if you need it."

“Thanks. So, this.. This wasn't a good idea huh? Should we should try going back?"

“You got us spotted back on that street." Sarah reminded him.

“Right, right. Maybe there's another way out further back?"

“There could be.. But there's a problem with just turning tail and leaving."

“Oh yeah? What's that?" Sid questions cocking an ear.

“The guy I shot isn't there still, he's gone. We need to catch up to him before he reports back."

“Just our luck! If we let him do that then that means.."

“They will fortify down here" Sarah finished his thought. “We have to get going, there's no time to waste!" Sarah got to her feet ready to run.

“Okay, give me a second, you go on ahead." he said.

“Are you gonna say a prayer or something?" she asked, giving pause.

“Nope, I'm not that type. Just go, I'll be right behind you."

Sarah nodded and left in pursuit of the other man. She wondered if she should have urged him to leave with her, but there is no doubt a lot on his mind right now..

Moments later Sid followed the tunnel way to where Sarah was. It was a dead end with a ladder leading up.

“Oh, good." Sarah commented, kneeling down checking the body. He bled out just before he got to the ladder.

Light shimmered through the holes of the sewer cover leading up. The golden rays of opportunity begged them ever closer. Sarah looked behind taking notice of Sid's presence. She stood back up and walked to the sewer exit looking up towards it and back to Sid.

“We made it, maybe," Sarah said. “This could be inside the second gate but I'm not entirely sure, we did stumble around in the dark after all."

“I wanna believe we just ended up back near base" Sid sighed out; “but I have a feeling we're actually under the second district."

“If we are" Sarah asked; with a more delicate tone do you still want to go up there? Even if we don't find what's-his-face, we have ourselves a golden opportunity to shift the balance for us. Everyone has their limits though, we can retreat before we get in real deep. Like you said, there's probably a route back near the base."

“No, I.. I can do this. For my father, for Valor." Sid raised a fist up in the air, determination burned bright in his eyes. “I'm gonna make my name, starting now! I ain't terrified anymore. Scared sure, but I don't want fear to control me. I know we can do this."

“There's that fire again, good. It's good to see a guy who can bounce back and get shit done. I'll take point, follow me closely."

They ascend up the ladder, removing the cover they are greeted by sunlight. In the middle of the street they stood, the second gate wall behind them.

“Well. You were right." Sarah commented, “we are on the other side."

“Yeah, okay. First moves?" Sid asked.

“First moves? We get in that alley and fast. Someone will have eyes on us if we don't hustle."

They wasted no time making their way to the alley. Once they were sure they had been unseen they started making their way through buildings towards where the gate should be.

Meanwhile the man from Sid's past stood above the wounded sniper from earlier.

“They were down there, in the street?" he questioned.

“Y-yes sir." The underling coughed. “I didn't see where they went, I'm afraid they disappeared!"

“No one can simply vanish you fool."

Looking down at the street with his binoculars he saw the moved sewer cover, it was never slid back into place fully.

“Hmm, clever animals they are.. Clever indeed. If they were smart they would be retreating away from us.. However I have a feeling that they are coming. No one can resist the pull of destiny, like gravity itself..