Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

The Story So Far...

In the distant future, humanity has left Earth due to it's toxic environment, and has used machines to terraform new planets to live on. The tyrannical Galactic Defence Federation (GDF) has seized control of all the new occupied systems, but finds themselves opposed by a group of freedom fighters known as the Resistance. But, the discovery of an ancient artifact known as the Tablet changed everything. It revealed the locations of several different items known as the Dorado Pieces, that were scattered across the galaxy by an ancient race known as the Markers. If these seven Pieces were returned to the homeworld of the Markers, it would grant the finder either infinite wealth or infinite power. The largest treasure hunt in the universe began, and continued until a young archeologist found one of the Pieces, and then teamed up with a former space pirate, two con artists, two smugglers, and a Resistance soldier to find the rest of the pieces and restore peace to the universe. 

After several skirmishes with the GDF, they managed to collect three of the seven Pieces. However, an evil GDF Director managed to track them down, and captured one of the smugglers. In a desperate rescue mission, the crew managed to sneak aboard the GDF ship and find the smuggler, but the archeologist and the smuggler were sent halfway across the universe thanks to the GDF's newest weapon, the Quantum Engine. They crash-landed on a GDF prison planet, and all seemed lost until they managed to form an escape plan with a young thief, and managed to outwit the malicious Warden. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew travelled to a planet of Scrap to find the other two, but came across a GDF super-soldier who had a grudge against the pirate. The two fought, and the crew managed to escape the planet with the location of the other two. As soon as the crew was reunited, the High Monarch of the GDF used a mind control device implanted in the smuggler and control her, capturing the crew. They were taken to the GDF homeworld, and one of the con artists was killed in order to protect his sister. But, in a daring escape, and with some help from the Resistance, the crew escaped, but left the three Dorado Pieces behind. Now, the war that has been raging for years is about to reach it's climax, and both sides are poised for the ultimate battle for control over humankind's fate...