Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 29

Gottlieb sat at his desk as he waited for the call to connect to Morticia. He had never usually been nervous when it came to talking to people in high positions of power, but whenever it was Morticia, he was more nervous than a small boy being scolded by his father. It sounded pathetic and unbecoming of a Director, but he had good reason for being afraid. It mostly had something to do with what Morticia did to him as punishment for his failures over half a year ago...The call suddenly connected, bringing Morticia's face to the screen, as well as making him jump slightly. "Gottlieb. I am hoping that you have good news for me." Gottlieb looked up at Morticia's stern face, and swallowed slightly, feeling his heart rising up in his throat. "I...um...unfortunately not, High Monarch. The Elites were unable to secure the AU Prerogative, and the Slingers managed to escape, along with several other members of the Resistance." Morticia gave him a glare that would have managed to shatter several panes of glass if focused hard enough. As for Gottlieb, it made him seem to shrink several feet in size. "And how exactly did they managed to do that, Director? As I recall, your ships are much faster than theirs." She spoke this sentence deliberately and piercingly, looking at Gottlieb with barely contained rage. Gottlieb spoke up again, much quieter. "Well, High Monarch, I made a tactical error...during the battle, I focused all of our ship's power into the cannons. As a result of that, we were not able to generate enough energy to activate the Quantum Drive...and we lost them." Morticia stood there for many moments of terrible silence, then spoke with a clarity that Gottlieb found absolutely horrifying. "You have failed me once again, Director Gottlieb." A large pain began to flare in Gottlieb's head, making him cry out and drop to the ground, his mind being squeezed with a vice-like grip. In desperation, he clutched the back of his neck to try and stop the pain, right over the spot where Morticia had placed the chip inside him.

The shuttles had gathered in a remote area that was far away from Hytlia IV. After General Kovak had launched a distress call to any other Resistance ships in the area, he turned his attention to the crew of the Renegade. They all seemed tired, beaten and worn, like soldiers who had just been through a war. He suspected that was very close to what had just happened. Kovak decided he had given them enough time, and walked up to the main person he wanted to talk to. "Now then, what exactly are you doing here?" Kovak took out his gun and aimed it directly at Zero's head. Almost immediately, like a reflex, Zero drew his sword and levelled it at Kovak's neck, making sure that he was in just as much danger of dying as he was. "Whoa, whoa! Everyone just calm down!" Nolun shouted from across the room, and Andress, Dante, Bunker and Koil all stood up to stare at the General. Elicia and Trace stood by the console, waiting for anything to happen. Koil spoke up first. "General, what are you doing? He's on our side." The General looked over at Koil, then back into Zero's eyes. "I'm afraid that's where you're mistaken, Commander Barton. This...thing isn't on our side. It's not even human. I read your report on the GDF Enhanced Operator project. Once I saw the barcode on it's neck, I understood everything. I don't know how it managed to convince you it's on your side, but I'll be remedying that soon enough." The cabin was dead silent, until Andress spoke up. "Koil...how did you know about the Enhanced Operator project? We only just found out about it from Zero..." Koil sighed, then stared at everyone in the ship. "I'm sorry Andress..." He suddenly drew his pistol from his holster and aimed it right at her head. "But I'm reliving you of command."

As soon as Koil turned his gun at Andress's head, Nolun drew his repeater and pointed it right between Koil's eyes, and he saw Bunker aiming his gun at both Koil and the General. "Don't even try it, Barton." Nolun heard Bunker mutter. "Koil! What the hell's going on?!" Andress said, surprised. Koil stared down at Andress, not breaking his stoic expression. "I'm doing what I was ordered to do. You remember the day we went rogue? I found out a lot more than I told you. I learned that he was just the beginning." He motioned to Zero as he said this. "The GDF has plans for not just us, but for the entire galaxy. We're just doing what's right." Andress gave Koil a glare that could have melted steel. "I trusted you. You were like my brother! I thought you were better than just some soldier." Koil seemed to flinch slightly as she said this, like the words actually hurt him, but he managed to keep up his facade as he kept aiming his gun at Andress's face. "That's enough, Lovecraft." Kovak spoke up, and stared at all of them. "I'm doing something that I should have done a long time ago. I'm bringing all of you in. As of right now, you're all under arrest." Andress stared at Koil, her eyes wide, as if begging or pleading for him to do something, but he stood there, like a good soldier, awaiting for his General to relieve him. "The 6 of you are too dangerous to be soldiers. Too unpredictable. That's why I gave Koil his special mission. He's been working for me a lot longer than you think." Out of the corner of his eye, Nolun could see Dante reaching for one of his swords, clearly aiming to use it on the General. Nolun slowly looked up and met Dante's eye, then shook his head slightly. As much as Nolun wanted to see Koil pay for what he did, he didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt, especially Andress. Dante saw what Nolun did, and moved his hand away. Andress looked down dejectedly, and stared at her crew. "Alright...we surrender." She put her hands up and dropped her rifle to the ground. Soon, everyone else did the same, solemn looks on their faces. Zero even did the same, knowing he was outmatched, and didn't want any of his assets to be killed. Kovak radioed into his communicator. "This is General Kovak. The Renegade is in custody. I repeat, the Renegade is in custody."