Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 6

The Renegade's lasers concentrated both of their massive firepower on the blast doors separating the hangar of the Eden Omega from the outside. They were giving it everything they had, and this combined with the constant barrage of laserfire from the other Resistance fighters was slowly wearing it down. The door began to scorch at first, then warp, until it finally began to crumple in on itself, and the large steel panel was suddenly detached from it's hinges and sucked out into the space beyond it as the vacuum of air inside the ship was breached. Before the emergency shields could activate, the Renegade and the Swift flew in quickly, and blasted away all soldiers that were still alive or inside the hangar as they landed. Then, a blue shield came up in front of the hole that had been left by the broken door, and oxygen was restored to the small hangar. As Andress turned off the boosters, she looked to her left and noticed the shuttle that they had been following for what had seemed like forever sitting next to them, slightly askew thanks to the sudden breach. The cargo door had been left open, showing that the captain had left in a hurry. "Alright, listen up, everyone!" Andress said to the main cabin, and over the comm to Koil. "Howren has the Piece. The GDF will have more then half of them if they manage to escape with it. We. Can't. Let that. Happen. Stop Howren at any cost, and bring the Piece back to the ship. Got it?" Everyone nodded, then began to suit up. They ran out to the armoury, and past their medical bot Dewey, who waved at them with his arms. "Good luck! I will be here to provide any health or medical care you require!" Each crew member grabbed his and her weapon, with Dante sheathing his swords, Elicia storing her daggers in her cloak, Trace loading up her pistols, Nolun spinning around and holstering his repeater, Bunker cocking his chaingun, and Andress pulling the bolt back on her composite rifle. In the Swift, Koil looked down the sights of his assault rifle. Andress looked around, then nodded. "Let's go meet the welcoming committee."

Alarms had gone off all across the Eden Omega, and every single GDF soldier that was available rushed towards Hangar 9, and saw the two Resistance ships, each of them taking up a large space in the small area. The troopers took up defensive positions around each of the craft, and aimed their weapons at the ships. The Sergeant in charge of the group activated the voice amplifier on his helmet, and spoke clearly. "Attention Resistance soldiers! You are surrounded by several GDF soldiers who have orders to shoot you on sight! Deactivate your weapons and come out quietly, and no harm will come to you!" Silence from both of the ships. The Sergeant looked around nervously, and was about to repeat the message when the ramp to the larger ship opened slowly. Every gun in the hangar turned to it. Then, all of a sudden, a black blur flew out and over the ship, leaping into the air. The Sergeant looked up and saw a man in a long black coat wielding two long black swords soar and land behind the perimeter of guards. Some turned around, and were about to fire, but the man in black seemed to fast to hit, and dashed forward, cutting through the guns and some of the soldiers with ease. Some GDF troopers began to shoot at him, but it soon turned out they were facing the wrong direction, as two more combatants stepped out of the crafts. One had a normal assault rifle, and the other was holding a very large chaingun. They both began to open up on the line of soldiers, cutting them down. Unable to handle an assault from both fronts, they soon began to fall apart. Nolun and Andress looked ahead at the unfolding firefight, and Trace came out from behind them. "Go on! Go get the Piece! We've got things covered here!" She winked and grinned, then rushed in behind Bunker, shooting her pistols. Nolun and Andress began to move out from behind the Renegade, with Elicia in tow. They were all clutching their weapons, and ran out through one of the open doors. Captain Leira was slowly beginning to lose her resolve. They were losing this fight, badly. The Eden Omega was almost destroyed, and they could barely hold back anymore. The only good news out of this whole thing, was the information she had just received. Howren was on board, and he had the Piece. But now, with the two craft having infiltrated the ship, she had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't over yet. Then, things went from bad to worse. A large explosion rocked the ship, making her stumble towards the glass. But, instead of hitting it, she suddenly stopped, and began to float serenely backwards. She looked around and saw that almost everything was floating. One of the technicians looked at her, almost terrified. "The artificial gravity generator is down." Leira grabbed onto an iron pole, and gripped it tight.

Nolun, Andress, and Elicia had made their way through the corridors, and ran into a large room that stretched upwards, and had several levels for each part of the ship, with a lift connecting each of them. At the lift door for this level, was Howren. Nolun drew his repeater and fired a warning shot over Howren's head, making him duck. "GET THEM!" Howren yelled as he ran for cover, and the GDF soldiers next to him raised their rifles. Before they could fire, the ship shuddered and jolted sideways hard, making Nolun and Elicia fly sideways, almost over the catwalk. Before they fell, Nolun saw that his repeater, which he had dropped, was floating slowly away from him. He looked around and saw that the two soldiers, Howren, Andress, and Elicia were all floating, with the girl's long hair waving like they were underwater. More importantly, however, the Dorado Piece had left Howren's grasp, and was flying upwards. Nolun, thinking quickly, pushed off the side of the catwalk, flying forwards towards his repeater. He managed to grab it, and then aimed it at one of the now defenceless guards. He fired, landing a fatal blow, but the force from his gun blew him backwards, making him hit the wall behind him. Nolun cried out in pain, then looked over at Andress. She saw what had happened, and had the same idea. She grabbed her rifle which was slung over her shoulder, then fired a shot. It hit the wall, but the force blew her in the direction of the Dorado Piece. But, Nolun heard gunshots, and saw the GDF trooper using his rifle to propel himself towards the Piece. Andress and the trooper collided, and the trooper grabbed her, trying to wrestle the Piece away from her. The two began to trade blows, and before Nolun could get off a clean shot, the trooper's head jerked backwards, and they both saw a dagger protruding out of his facemask. Elicia had thrown it perfectly, and was currently hanging on to the catwalk. Andress grabbed the Piece, and shot her way back over, Nolun catching her in his arms before she flew off. Then, a bullet ricocheted off the wall, and they all looked up and saw Howren firing off a few shots at them, anger in his eyes. "THAT PIECE IS MINE! MY VICTORY!" He yelled at them. He was about to say something else, then the ship shuddered again, and Nolun, Andress, and Elicia fell back onto the catwalk, Andress sitting in Nolun's arms. The gravity had returned, which was something that had just occurred to Howren. He was hanging on the outside of the levels with one hand, over the long drop to the bottom. When the gravity reactivated, he dropped, his hand slipping as he fell screaming to the bottom. Deciding not to look, the trio stood back up, the Piece sitting in Andress's hand. "Let's get the hell out of here." She said.

Hey guys! Sorry there hasn't been a chapter in so long. Lot of things going on in my personal life. But, hopefully the regular schedule will resume as of now! To make it up to you guys, I made this chapter extra-long! (Totally on purpose) -M