Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 4

Howren frantically piloted the shuttle up through the atmosphere, and as he did, he grabbed his comm and started shouting through it frantically. "Can anyone hear me? This is Captain Howren broadcasting on all emergency channels! I have the AU Prerogative and am currently fleeing the planet in a GDF shuttle! I need immediate air support!" After a few minutes, the voice of General Leira came over the mic, sounding a bit shaken. "Howren! There you are. What the hell happened?" Howren gripped the mic in anger and shouted back as he urged the ship forward. "The damn Resistance ambushed us! All of my men are dead! I need backup if we're going to secure the Piece!" Leira came back over the radio with a wary and ominous voice. "They ambushed us up here too. One of their ships seemed to have some sort of cloaking device on it, and they took us by surprise. All of our Interceptors are currently engaged with Resistance fighters up here. You're on your own." Howren's heart dropped. They had been ready at every possible point. The Resistance members that Howren had encountered over the years had been scavengers, rag-tag soldiers who didn't know the first thing about strategy or combat. These ones were different. It was like they had gained 10 years of experience in the 6 months since the first Piece had been found. He had no idea what to do. For the first time in his life, Howren felt...at a disadvantage. "Captain! Captain!" Howren realized that Leira was calling him over the radio. He picked up the mic and answered in a slightly stammered voice. "Y-Yes, General?" "I've managed to task a few Interceptors to your location, but I've also detected several hostile ships moving in on your location!" Howren's eyes widened, and he sprung back to the controls. "How long do I have before my support gets here?!" Howren yelled nervously. "ETA 3 minutes. You'll have to hold out until then." Howren gripped the flightstick. He would make it, or die trying.

Koil flew the Swift down through the clouds above the planet, the ship's pointed nose poking through the soft white mist. He had his two wingmen flanking him, and knew that with them at his side, the shuttle wasn't getting away. He had flown with Vulcan 1-2 and 1-3 since his earliest days at the Resistance, and they knew each other like the back of their hands. Koil's radar beeped, and he looked out his left side window to see the the shuttle flying upwards, trying to escape as fast as it could. "There it is guys! Follow me!" Koil turned the ship, and 1-2 and 1-3 followed him. "You want me to take point, chief?" Saul, aka Vulcan 1-2, said. Koil nodded. "Block off his right side. Mayla, take the left." Mayla, or Vulcan 1-3, nodded, and the two ships beside Koil flew forwards and began to fly side-by-side with the shuttle. Inside, Mayla could see the GDF Captain at the controls looking around and trying to make the ship go faster, but it was impossible with the power that the Vulcan fighters had. "Hello." Mayla smirked and waved playfully to the Captain. Then, their radars began to flash, and they looked up to see a squadron of GDF Interceptors flying downwards, swooping towards the 4 ships beneath them. "Contact, 11:00 high!" Koil shouted as the Interceptors moved past them. Koil knew that they wouldn't shoot at Mayla or Saul, seeing as how they were too close to the shuttle, so Koil would have to deal with them on his own. "Saul, Mayla! Take the shuttle back to the Dreadnought! I'll handle the Interceptors!" "Good luck chief. Don't die on us." Saul said as the 3 ships flew off, leaving Koil on his own. Nolun, Bunker and Dante drove the commandeered GDF ATV back towards the main digging site, and when they arrived, they found Elicia, Andress, and Trace talking with the other Resistance soldiers. As soon as they pulled up, Andress looked over at the, then walked over to Nolun, smiling. "So, you made it. Not surprising." Nolun rolled his eyes. "Y'know, you can admit you were worried about me." Andress looked back at him with a withering glare. "I don't need to admit anything." As she was about to say more, a Resistance radio operator came running up to their group. "Captain Lovecraft!" Andress sighed. "I told you not to call me that. Just Andress, please." The operator looked confused, then continued. "We've just gotten word from the Dreadnought! Commander Barton's ships have engaged the shuttle with the Dorado Piece. Barton's ship is fighting against several Interceptors...but we've lost contact with the two that were escorting the shuttle." The group looked at each other, then Andress looked at the operator. "Tell the Dreadnought we're going up there. We're not letting this Piece slip through our fingers."

With that, Andress and the rest of the crew rushed off towards a landing pad, where they found their home, the fastest and most important ship in the galaxy: The Renegade. It's gunmetal grey hull shined in the sunlight, and it's twin guns pointed out from the main cabin, with it's large thrusters prepped to take off at a moment's notice. The 6 of them moved in and shut the cargo bay door, and they took their positions. Andress and Bunker sat in the pilot seats, Trace and Elicia sat in the new navigation and communications seat, and Nolun and Dante took positions at the turrets. Andress throttled the boosters, and the ship began to lift off the ground. It then tilted, pointing upwards, then shot upwards into the sky. "Trace, we need location on Koil!" Trace nodded, then quickly tracked down the Swift and passed the coordinates to the ship's HUD. The flashing numbers appeared right on the ship's front window, where Andress could see them more clearly. She turned the ship in the direction of the tracking beacon, then Bunker called it out. "There!" They could see what looked like a swarm of black objects chasing a green and white one, which they could see as several GDF Interceptors and the Swift. Andress hailed Koil on their frequency. "You need help, Barton?" A few seconds after, Koil responded. "Nah, just holdin 'em for you guys." He replied sarcastically. Trace chuckled a little bit, then Bunker spoke. "Nolun, Dante, you're up!" Nolun activated his console, and began to blast away at the Interceptors, taking out as many as he could, knocking several out of the air. As usual, Dante was using his seemingly supernatural skills to hit every single ship with a critical hit. This continued until only one was left. "Cannon needs to recharge." Dante muttered. Nolun shook his head. "He's out of range, not gonna get a clean shot." Trace smiled. "Then it's my time to shine boys." She typed out a few commands on her console, and a screen with a targeting system appeared. She locked onto the Interceptor, then pressed a button. Simultaneously, a small projectile launched out of the side of the ship. Trace had designed several heat-seeking missiles for the ship, and was about to put them to the test. The missile flew fast, and followed the Interceptor, and just as it was about to take out the Swift, it exploded itself. Trace did a fist pump, and flashed her toothy grin. Andress smiled and shook her head, then contacted Koil again. "Nice shot, Captain." Koil said. Andress could hear his smile, then sighed. "Don't call me that. Your two wingmen have gone offline. The shuttle is in the open. We need to take it out, now." A few moments of silence, and then Koil responded. "Then let's fly."