Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 8

Morticia stood on the rooftop of the tallest building that stood in Eden, on the GDF homeworld of Maxima 1. She often came up here to think when the time was right. And nowadays, she found herself coming up here more and more often. It was a pleasant and welcome change from the stuffy, cramped interiors of the GDF Capitol Building, and even the glitter and chrome of the technology could get a little overwhelming at times. Being the High Monarch was a full-time job, and it was nice to have little breaks from time to time. But, that job was slowly becoming her entire life, in this war that she was raging. When she had first heard of the small pockets of freedom fighters banding together across the galaxy to fight back against them known as "The Resistance", she had disregarded it as a temporary thing, an essential and necessary part of any form of dictatorship. There would always be people who would protest to what your standards and ideals were, and they would always eventually rise up against you and try to take you down. What Morticia also knew was that it would be pointless against them. The GDF had grown too large ever since it's formation. It had advanced in technology and power and was now practically unstoppable. But now, things were uncertain. They had gathered 3 of the 7 Dorado Pieces, yes, but now things were slowly beginning to turn in the Resistance's favour. Ever since the crew of the Renegade had joined the fray, they were losing, as hard as it was to admit. And she did not like it one bit. Morticia gripped the guardrail hard, and hear the door to the roof open behind her. She turned to see a familiar scarred face walk up to her. Director Julian Gottlieb stood at attention near her, and spoke in a calm voice. "High Monarch. We have reports from Strethen. The Resistance ambushed the excavation party and has managed to escape with the AU Protocol." Morticia looked at Gottlieb, then furrowed her brow and sighed. "Well then. I suppose it's that time already." Morticia walked off the roof, motioning for Gottlieb to follow.

The large ship, when it was finally out of range of any GDF forces, managed to uncloak, and drifted past several other planets. After the Renegade and it's crew had joined the fight along with the Resistance, they had managed to give them a bit of their technology as an advantage. Trace had managed to reverse-engineer the Renegade's Phantom Drive into the Dreadnought's core, so now the most massive ship in the Resistance's armada could cloak. All in all, it was a valuable asset. Andress was resting in her quarters, looking out her window at the passing stars. She felt the warm and soft blankets of the bed, and found herself missing the scratchy, grey blankets that were in the Renegade's private quarters. She lay back, her red hair around her in a large halo, as she stared up at the ceiling. She sighed, contemplating the latest battle and the so-called "victory" that the Resistance had claimed over the GDF. It had been over 6 months since they had joined the fight for real, and it had been hell for all of them. Andress thought back to the village that they had entered and set up their ambush in. There had been hundreds of civilians in there. Men, women, children, all of them with their homes about to be invaded by the GDF yet again, only this time they were about to be caught in a crossfire between them and their mortal enemy, which was arguably worse. And Andress had been a part of that. She found herself thinking back to that day...the smoke twisting and flying up into the air, the flaming wrecks of tanks surrounding her, her sister's dead body charred and lying on the ground...she put her hands over her eyes, trying to block the images from flying into her head. Then, there was a knock on the door. "Hey...can I come in?" Andress sat up. She could recognize Nolun's soft voice anywhere. "Yeah, it's open." She said, absentmindedly brushing her hair down. Nolun opened the door, and smiled at her as he walked in. Andress gave her best smile back, and watched as he sat down next to her. "You ok? You didn't seem like your usual gruff self afterwards." Andress rolled her eyes and playfully punched him. "I'm fine, you idiot. I'm just...tired." She sighed, and then felt Nolun put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey...it's alright. We won, you know that, right?" Andress nodded gently, then slowly leaned her head on Nolun's shoulder. "Yeah...I guess we did." She muttered. They both stayed like that for a while, both content with each other.

The blade of the dagger perfectly pierced the belly of the training dummy, making the normally durable body armour crumple under it's sharpness. Once again, Elicia's aim had been true, and the throw was perfect. At least, to anyone watching. To her, she was still feeling like she needed to improve. Her arm movement was too sloppy, and her follow-through still needed work. If she wasn't fast enough...then it could mean the difference between life and death. She sighed and walked over to the dummy, and managed to wrench out the dagger. Then, she heard the door to the firing range open. Automatically, she whirled around with the dagger in a defensive stance, ready to attack whoever was coming. But instead, she just saw her teacher walking through the door. She sighed and sheathed her dagger in her grey cloak. "You're late." She said. Dante walked into the field, and regarded her and the dummy with interest. "I was held up by Kovak. He wanted a debrief on those Elites we ran into." He looked at the hole she had left, then back at her. "You need to work on-" "My follow-through, I know." Elicia sighed and looked at her dagger. Dante saw the sadness in her eyes as she stared at the blade. He thought back to the day after they had first joined the Resistance, when he first came upon Elicia in her grief...

6 months ago...

Dante was wandering the halls of the Dreadnought, and looking for his new quarters, or at least a place to train, when he heard a sobbing. Looking around, he noticed Elicia crouched up in a corner, her long silver hair flowing over her and covering her face. Her arms were on her knees, and her face was buried in her hands. She was acting eerily similar to the first time they had ever met, in the alleyway on Rykkak. He walked up to her, and knelt down to her level. He had seen these symptoms before. Edvard's death was fully beginning to hit her now. He spoke up, quietly, as not to startle her. "It's alright...this is a normal reaction. The depression will go away." Elicia stopped sobbing, and was quiet for a moment before responding. "I'm not depressed." She muttered into her hands. Then, she looked up at Dante, into his eyes. The look on her face was one that Dante knew well. It was one of confusion, rage, and loss. It was the same face he made when his parents were slaughtered before his eyes. "I'm angry. She just murdered him. She...she didn't even blink!!" Elicia shouted, as if trying to make herself understand. "I'm going to find her...and when I do..." She didn't bother finishing her sentence. Dante knew exactly what she meant. He put a hand on her shoulder hesitantly. This rage had something else in it...potential. He knew what he needed to do. "I know what you want. But I know you can't do it alone..."

After that, it had been over 6 months of non-stop training. Practicing her skills, mastering the blade, selecting her daggers, and he had to admit, she had gotten a hell of a lot better. The transition from gun to blade was always a tricky one, but she managed to conquer it with relative ease. But she was beginning to get anxious. She always wanted Dante to keep pushing her, make her better. She was letting her emotions get in the way, which could complicate things. He needed to make sure she could control it. Perhaps it was in fact time to start. "Pull out your weapons." He said to her. Elicia looked up from her blade, as if she was pulled out of her own thoughts. "Hmm?" Dante unsheathed his swords and looked at her. Getting the message, she did the same, twirling her daggers in her hands. Dante stepped into a ready stance. "Now. Watch me."