Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 31

The shuttles, along with the now captured Renegade flew towards the new home base of the Resistance, the Barricade. After the Dreadnought had been destroyed, this was now the safest place in the galaxy for all Resistance forces. General Kovak looked out the front of the captured ship, and breathed out a sigh. Today had been a difficult day for several parties, including his own men. He should have known that he couldn't trust the Slingers. It was a tactical miscalculation that he would make sure wouldn't happen again. Lovecraft and her crew were all wild cards, and they could compromise the mission at any moment. Bringing the GDF clone on board had been the last straw. Anyways, it didn't matter anymore what they did. He had what he needed. The General nodded to the pilot next to him to take over, and then walked into the back of the Renegade, seeing the soldiers and technicians that had managed to transfer in between ships during the moving of the prisoners to a more secure area. He looked down and saw what the technicians were looking at. In the middle of the hangar was a golden cube and a cone, both of them marked with strange hieroglyphics. The Resistance was now in control of two Dorado Pieces, and even though they were still behind the GDF in terms of number, they could locate the next ones easily. Kovak still had Metreo in his possession, and knew that he would help him easily, given the right incentive. He didn't like having to resort to leverage to extract information, but for the Resistance, no cause was too great for achieving victory. That was the oath he took when he joined. Just as he was heading back up to the bridge to begin the landing procedures, one of the technicians called up to him. "General Kovak! You may want to take a look at this, sir!" Kovak turned around, and saw something that made his eyes widen. 

Gottlieb was sitting on the bridge of the Independence Zero, and waited for the ship to appear. He could still feel the tingling pain in the back of his neck. This was the price he had payed for his insolence all those months ago. He had invented the microchip control system as a way of keeping Project EO under wraps, but Morticia had seen other uses for it, namely as a way of torture for anyone she saw fit. Gottlieb knew that she was just using her power to exert control, but sometimes, she even scared him. As if even thinking about her brought her close, Gottlieb saw Morticia's shuttle drop out of warp. The Quantum Drive, although not used to it's full potential half a year ago, was deemed a success by the GDF after the acquiring of the 3 Dorado Pieces. With their added data, construction began on more, and soon it entered mass production, not just for carriers, but for smaller ships as well. Morticia's shuttle docked in the hangar of the Independence Zero, and she soon made her way up to the bridge. Every technician and soldier, including Gottlieb, saluted when she entered. Morticia stared at Gottlieb with her piercing eyes. "Director. You said you had something to show me?" Gottlieb nodded, and walked over to one of the technician's monitors, namely the footage from the research labs on Maxima 1, where the 3 other Dorado Pieces were still being held. The footage was from half an hour ago, and had been received while they had engaged the Resistance ships. As Gottlieb and Morticia watched, they could see several scientists surrounding the 3 golden shapes, then, they all suddenly began to pulse in a pattern, each of them doing it simultaneously. Morticia's eyes narrowed as she processed this new development. She suddenly turned away from the monitor, and spoke to Gottlieb without looking. "Director, I want full contact with the research team back on Maxima 1. If they have even the slightest idea of what this means, I want to know." Gottlieb saluted. "At once, High Monarch." As she walked out, Gottlieb couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding, like a storm was just cresting the horizon. Like the end was drawing near.

The Renegade, along with several other shuttles landed in the hangar of the Barricade, and the shuttle carrying the 7 prisoners opened it's ramp, and the guards inside forced all of them out, weaponless and restrained. Nolun looked ahead at Andress, her red hair hanging in a tangle around her head, her face looking tired and worn. He flashed back to the story that she had told the rest of them on the way here, about how she, Bunker and Koil had escaped, how Gottlieb had set up the entire operation, about how her sister died...she had looked like she was ready to break down in tears throughout the whole story. The entire cell had been silent after she had spoken, then Nolun had broken it. "Andress...we don't think any less of you for being one of them. You're our friend. And if you want to honour your sister by taking down Gottlieb...then we'll be right behind you, no matter what." Bunker had smiled at Nolun's words, then watched as Dante, Elicia, and Trace nodded in turn. Zero had even spoken up. "Gottlieb is one who plays with lives like they are toys. He will pay for what he has done to all of us." Andress had nodded solemnly, and they had sat in silence for the rest of the way, but with Andress looking a little less remorseful. Now, as they were walking across the hangar, Nolun heard someone call out his name. "Metreo!" The walking train of prisoners stopped, as Nolun turned around to see General Kovak walking up with a case in his hand and Koil at his side. Nolun narrowed his eyes at Koil, and turned to the General. "Something you want?" Kovak opened the briefcase. "Explain this, now." Nolun's eyes widened. The two Dorado Pieces inside the case were pulsing, like what he had seen back on Hyltia IV. The voice from his vision flashed through his head. Journey to the beginning so you can experience the end...Nolun looked back at the General. "This is a message. It means that we're getting close to the end. And that means...we have to go back to the beginning." Kovak looked at him like he was insane, as did everyone else. "Son, what the hell are you talking about?" Nolun looked at all of them. "I know it sounds crazy, but we have to go back to the place where the Dorado Pieces were found. Don't ask me how, but I just know." Kovak now had some recognition in his eyes. "You're saying that the last Dorado Pieces are on the planet where the Tablet is? The most protected GDF planet in the entire galaxy? How do I know that this isn't some kind of trap?" Nolun looked up at Kovak unflinchingly. "The way I see it, General, is that the best Marker expert in the galaxy is standing right in front of you. So you either take me and my friends, or you can find the last Piece with a road map and a compass." There was a deathly silence in the hangar, until Kovak spoke up. "Fine. But you're still under our custody." Then, Koil said something. "General. I'd like to escort them personally to the planet." Kovak nodded. "I'll send some security with you. Move out! Wheels up in 10 minutes!"