Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 10

General Kovak stood looking out the window of the Dreadnought, the newly found Dorado Piece sitting on the desk behind him. It had been a few hours since the Resistance had fled the battle on Strethen, and he was quite happy with the victory that had come afterwards. They finally had a foot up in this fight. The crew of the Renegade had been hesitant to join the fight at first, but over time they had come to accept it as a necessity. He had given them a few hours to rest, then he would eventually call them to figure out the newest Piece's puzzle, and then they would move to the next location. It would all move like clockwork, at least, that was the plan. There was a knock at his door. "Come in." He said, without turning his head. Koil walked through the doorway, saluting as soon as the General turned his head. "At ease, Commander." Kovak said before motioning for Koil to sit down. Koil complied, and spoke to the General with a wary tone. "General, I need to ask you something. And I need you to be completely honest with me." Kovak looked at Koil with a raised eyebrow, then leaned forward. "Proceed." Koil nodded, then spoke with his hands in his lap. "I've been under your command for a long time, General. I trust you with my life. That isn't something I take lightly. I always trust your judgment and decisions in conflict." Kovak nodded. "Thank you, Barton." Koil sighed and leaned forward. "Once we do manage to collect all of the Pieces...what do you exactly intend to do with them?"  Kovak stared at Koil for a while, then stood up to face him. "The Resistance was formed for one reason, Commander Barton. And that is to ensure that humanity embraces what was given to them. If we need to enforce that fact...then we will." Koil looked at Kovak with confusion, and for the first time, doubt. "Did you have any other questions, Barton?" Just as Koil was about to reply, Kovak looked at him, with a face that was signalling him how wise it would be to end the current topic of conversation. Koil, knowing when to quit, agreed, and shook his head. "No sir."

The sound of twin swords could be heard clashing for what seemed like forever throughout the entire ship. It symbolized learning, training, and pure emotion. Elicia felt all of these things as she stared down Dante, who was staring back at her, both of his iron swords in a ready stance. She was panting, her hair matted to her forehead, both of her daggers gripped tightly in her hands. They had been sparring for almost an hour, and it seemed like she had fought through an entire war in that amount of time. Dante was ruthless, and he showed no holds barred when he fought against her. All of his training had been like that. She remembered when she had just been a small pickpocket on a backwater planet. If only Edvard could have seen her now...as she was thinking about her brother, suddenly a black flash came out of nowhere at her, and she barely raised her blades in time to block the incoming attack. Dante stared at her and pushed back with his swords, gritting his teeth. "You need to focus." He muttered. Suddenly, Elicia found that she had had enough of being Dante's sparring dummy. She wanted to prove herself to him. He wanted her to focus? She could do that. She suddenly extended her leg out, kicking his knee, making him drop. Then, she used his sudden shift in movement as leverage to push his swords out of the way with her daggers. She stabbed down, hoping to pin him to the ground, but soon found herself on her back, the wind knocked out of her. He had swept her legs while she wasn't looking. He stood up, breathing heavily. "Keep your guard up. Don't telegraph your movements." She grit her teeth, and yelled slightly, springing upwards slightly and towards Dante, swinging her daggers in front of her. Dante seemed to block all of them, but had to move fast to keep up with her. Suddenly his back was against the wall, and Elicia had stabbed the wall next to his head. She was looking into his eyes with fury and hate, then, seemed to slowly draw herself out of it. She looked at the dagger in the wall, and saw Dante looking back at her. "I think that's enough training for today." He said, with an impressed look.

The map room of the Dreadnought was filled with several Resistance soldiers, along with Bunker, Trace, and Koil, who were all sitting relatively near the front. Soon afterwards, the rest of the crew walked in. As Andress sat down next to Koil, he whispered to her. "I need to talk to you." Andress was looking at Nolun, then turned to Koil. "About what?" Before he could answer, General Kovak walked out and held out the Piece, and instantly everyone in the room fell quiet. Kovak nodded, then began to speak. "The recent skirmish on Strethen was a successful operation, and we have managed to secure one of the Dorado Pieces. However, this does not undermine the fact that the GDF still has 3. But, I believe that we still have the advantage. As Nolun Metreo has clearly stated several times, the Dorado Pieces contain a puzzle, which, when solved, will reveal the location of the next one. And since we have the one that the GDF were trying to find, we now have the key to the next Piece." Everyone in the room made reassuring mumbles and nods, now more confident of their situation. "Now, we shall figure out where this next Piece is. Mr. Metreo?" Nolun stood up from the stands and walked down to the map, and picked up the Piece. Reading the hieroglyphs on the cube, he managed to move around a few of them, rearranging them into the familiar pattern that he now knew all too well. When he finally did it, the Dorado Piece began to glow even brighter than it already was, filling the room with a golden light. Then, that light began to focus onto one side of the cube, then shot out the window of the map room. As soon as it did, the technicians in the room began to track the trajectory of the light. A few minutes later, one technician looked up. "Found it!" He moved the holographic map in the centre of the room to the spot where the light was headed, and everyone saw a large green planet, with occasional speckles of blue. "Hyltia IV." Nolun said, immediately. He knew what that place was. It was a large planet that consisted of one big jungle, that was said to be one of the most harshest and dangerous territories in the galaxy. "Of course it has to be there." Kovak looked at the planet, then the soldiers. "Alright, all of you, suit up. ETA 3 hours."