Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 26

The Elite soldier loaded another explosive warhead into the back of the launcher, then slung it back over his shoulder, focusing his visor on the hovering, slightly damaged grey dropship above the trees just a few feet away. As he was about to pull the trigger, something passed through his head at quite a high velocity, killing him almost instantly, making him fall backwards and drop the launcher on the ground, still unfired. Andress looked out from her scope and confirmed the kill that she had managed to hit. She chambered another round into her composite rifle, and looked through the sight to try and find another Elite that was hiding in the treeline not too far from where the Renegade was. She heard Koil beside her firing at the same area, his weapon pumping 3-round bursts at anything that moved. Andress focused on the launcher again, hoping that the Elites would be stupid enough to go near that thing so she could pick off the rest of them. But, unknown to anyone on the Renegade, they were much smarter than any of them had anticipated. 2 Elites had managed to sneak through the treeline, their black armour providing natural camouflage in the dark night, and had gone up right underneath the Renegade. They could see the sniper and the soldier leaning out of the open ramp, firing at the rest of their team. They both pulled out a sort of grenade launcher, and pumped a small, cylindrical device into the chamber. The 2 Elites aimed up at the belly of the ship, and both pulled the trigger, 2 cylinders launching upwards and sticking magnetically to the underside. Then, both of the small devices lit up with a small LED monitor on the front of each of them, which showed a small timer which began to count down...

Elicia found herself inside this tight area remembering the small alleyways of Rykkak where she and Edvard grew up, and how they would use the small entrances and exits that only they knew about to escape from the authorities and eventually the mob. But, out of all those time, she couldn't remember any of them being as bad as this. She, Dante, and Nolun were shimmying along the small path that was carved into the side of the vertical cave wall that they wouldn't survive if they fall off of. To make things even worse, the Elites that they had managed to lead down here were now following them, and were shooting at them with explosive rounds, making the already small path deteriorate with every single step. Nolun was firing back and hitting as many as he could, and Dante was trying his best to block all the bullets he could, but it was too much for his swords. Then, Elicia had an idea. She looked back up at the path where the Elites were, and she shook her head. "Screw it." She muttered, and drove one of her daggers into the wall beside her, then using it as a fulcrum, swung upwards to where the Elites were. "Elicia, wait!" Nolun shouted behind her, but she wasn't listening. She landed exactly where she wanted to: right in front of the lead Elite that was on the path. He began to raise his gun, but Elicia was far too fast for him. She crossed her daggers in an X-shape, and dashed forwards, stabbing him in the chest twice. The other Elites tried to shoot at her, but found that they couldn't get a clear shot with the human shield. Elicia lunged forward, using her new protection to push through the rest of the Elites, either pushing them off the side to their deaths, or giving her enough time to stab them. Soon, she had managed to clear the entire cave of Elites. Removing her daggers from the Elite she had first stabbed and casting his body over the edge, she looked down at the boys and brushed her hair to the side. "Well, shall we?"

Trace had been holding on inside the Renegade for a very long time, and had managed to live through every explosion that had hit the ship, and felt every bullet that seemed to hit the sides like a hailstorm. She was gripping her control panel like her life depended on it, which she was pretty sure it did. But, the worst for her was yet to come. Throughout all the noise and racket that persisted through the firefight, she heard a very faint beeping noise. She frowned and turned, to find that it was coming from her console. Looking, her eyes then widened. Trace had programmed the ship's scanners to locate any sort of foreign devices that contained explosives anywhere in a 10 yard radius. And there were 2 big ones right under the ship. She got up and bolted to the door out to the hangar. "Where are you going?!" Bunker shouted behind her, but she didn't hear him. She quickly skidded out to the back of the ship, and stood on the open ramp, ducking when she felt bullets fly past her. Andress and Koil saw as she ran out. "Trace! Get back in the ship! It's too-" Andress was yelling at her, but a bullet hit near her face, and she and Koil both turned around to fire back. Trace then got down on her knees, and mustering up every bit of courage, she looked down underneath the ship, putting her torso and head under the ramp, holding on with her hands. Looking around, she spotted the culprits. 2 cylinders were attached to the bottom of the ship, and were beeping. They were too far to reach, so the only thing she could think to do was to shoot them off and deactivate their magnetic hold. But if she was off by even a little bit...she didn't want to think about it. She carefully drew both her pistols, and aimed at the cylinders, aiming hopefully close enough even though she was upside down. Then, she began to be peppered with bullets, and tried to move out of the way, seeing the two Elites below her firing. Then, she felt the grip she had with her feet begin to slip, and she began to fall off. As she closed her eyes and waited for the drop, she felt a pair of strong arms close around her legs, keeping her there. Not wanting to wait again, she aimed at the cylinders and fired. She was perfect. The 2 charges fell onto the Elites, and they both exploded in a blaze of flame. Trace sighed in relief as her rescuer pulled her up. "Thanks K-" She said, before her words stopped in her mouth. Koil was still with Andress, shooting. The person who was pulling her up was Zero, and he had a solemn look on his face. She lay back on the ramp, looking with awe. "Welcome." He said as he walked back into the ship.