Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 2

The large GDF mothership hovered silently above the planet, just out of reach of the oxygen resting in the atmosphere. The Eden Omega was a small battleship, yes, but more than capable of standing up for itself. It was full of an able crew and had technologically advanced weapons that could handle just about anything. When General Leina had taken to the bridge, she had been monitoring the action on the ground closely. Howren was a powerful Captain, but could be a bit overzealous when it came to crowd control. Then, something came through the intercom that she didn't expect. A cry of pain echoed from one of the mics, and made the technician wearing the headphones wince in pain. Leira went over to the mic and spoke into it. "Howren? Is that you? Do you copy?" More groans and sounds of pain were her only response, and she could hear faint sounds of explosions and gunfire in the background. "Howren! Answer damn it! What the hell is going on down there?!" Finally, Howren responded with pain in his voice, something very much unlike him. "Resistance...ambush! Mission...compromised!" Leira's eyes widened, and she turned to the technician. "Scramble all available fighters! We need air support down there now!" Just as the technician turned to the monitor, he suddenly gasped. "Oh god! Enemy contact to our immediate right!" Leira frowned and looked out the window. "There's nothing the-" She immediately bit back her words when she saw it. At first, it seemed like there was just empty space, then, like a ghost, a large Resistance carrier materialized in existence, then it's cannons began to batter the Omega with laserfire. "Where in God's name did that ship come from!" Leira said with disbelief as the bridge rocked back and forth. "I-I don't know, ma'am! They appear to have some sort of cloaking device!" Leira's eyes widened. They had been ready for them.

The Dreadnought continued it's barrage on the GDF mothership, and as it blasted the exterior hull, the front of the hangar opened. Several small ships, Vulcan-class fighters, flew out in formation towards the large ship. All of them were lead by one ship. The Swift. Koil Barton clutched the flight stick tightly as the small ship flew towards the behemoth that was ahead of them. "Alright boys, keep it tight. Stick close to me, and take out as many interceptors as you can. Our men on the ground will need all the help they can get securing that Piece." He said over his comm. "Copy that Vulcan 1-1." All of the respective leaders said in response. The fighters began to branch off, then move over the large ship's top, blanketing every open area they could find with laserfire. "Damage the ship as much as you can. The element of surprise won't last for long." Koil said as he flew near two fighters. Sure enough, Koil looked over and saw the hangar of the mothership open, and several GDF Interceptors flying out, their unmistakable V-shaped wings glinting in the light of the planet's sun. The swarm flew towards the squadron of Resistance fighters. "Wing 4, Wing 7, head down to the planet and provide air support. The rest of you, stick with me and engage those fighters." Two squadrons broke off and flew down towards the planet. Koil and the rest of the fighters flew straight into the incoming swarm, and laserfire began to fly everywhere. Koil flew past several of them, and took out as many as he could, and noticed a few were following him. "Alright then. You wanna play that way? Let's play." Koil muttered as he turned his ship and went into the winding hull of the mothership, expertly piloting the small ship, daring the Interceptors to keep up with him. Soon enough, one of the ships botched a turn, and flew right into the side of a wall, exploding. The other flew out of the trench, then Koil followed suit, flipping around, and taking out the fighter with his chaingun. So far, things were going well. He just hoped the same could be said for the others.

Elicia poked her head out of the alley, and saw the carnage occurring just down the street. The tank was blasting several rooftops, but the Resistance was taking out several of the GDF troopers as well. Elicia gripped one of the daggers in her hand, and was about to charge out into the battlefield, when a hand gripped her shoulder. She quickly spun around and pushed whoever it was back against the wall, holding the dagger to their throat. "Whoa, easy lovely! Same side, remember?" Elicia looked and saw a young girl with short, black hair, and a nervous grin holding her hands up against the wall. Elicia sighed and sheathed her dagger. "Trace, remember what I said about sneaking up on me?" Trace smoothed back her hair and thought to herself. "I believe it was something along the lines of..."If you surprise me, I might kill you?"" Elicia nodded grimly. "You here to join me in the fray?" Elicia jerked her head towards the distant battle. Trace looked and shook her head a bit nervously. "Ummm...sounds fun, but no thanks. I'd prefer to live. However, that's not the only way of taking care of business." Elicia looked confused. "What are you talking about?" Trace suddenly leaped up the wall and onto a pipe, climbing up until she was on the roof. "C'mon, keep up!" She called down from the top. Elicia rolled her eyes and followed her, then kept walking behind her across the several rooftops, until they found themselves on a roof that was behind the battle. Trace was about to jump down from the roof, but Elicia quickly held her back, then pointed to a group of GDF soldiers running down beneath them towards the fight. They both nodded at each other, then Trace pulled her guns, and Elicia drew her daggers, and they both jumped down together. They each landed on a soldier, and then the rest of them looked over at the two girls. Trace gave a mock salute, then started spraying bullets, taking out one and injuring another, while the rest began to fire back. Trace moved to cover, but Elicia ran straight in, slicing the barrel off of a gun with her dagger, then delivering a roundhouse kick to one of the soldiers, and finally finishing with a flurry of slashes to the last one. After they had all dropped, Trace walked out and whistled. "You've gotten pretty good. He's teaching you well." Elicia nodded, then moved down the street. They looked and saw the tank still firing. With the both of them well-hidden, they had a good vantage point for a sneak attack. Trace handed Elicia what looked to be a handmade sticky charge, which she tossed at the tank. As it landed, they ducked behind the wall, then Trace pressed the detonator. The explosion rocked the entire block, making the tank's shrapnel rain down on everything. When the worst was over, Elicia and Trace walked out, looking at the carnage. The Resistance soldiers on the roof dropped down, including Andress, who walked up to the two of them, smiling. "Nice work. But we're not done yet."