Renegades (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 3)

Chapter 30

5 Years Ago...

Andress walked through the corridors of the large ship as best she could, still getting used to being on her feet. It had been a week or two since the event, and she was still getting over the shock of losing her sister, and witnessing the deaths of so many. But now, she was going to get some answers. She didn't want to be left out of this fight for any longer. If the people who did this to her and her friends were still out there, she wanted to join the campaign to take them down, no matter what her medical records said. That was what she was planning on doing today. She was going to march right into Gottlieb's office and demand to be put back into active duty. Andress reached his doors, and pushed them open, and saw Gottlieb was looking up from his desk at her. "Ah, Miss Lovecraft. Have a seat. I've been meaning to talk to you." Andress was a bit surprised to hear this. "I was meaning to do the same thing, General." Andress sat down in the chair at Gottlieb's desk. "I'd like to request to be put back in deployment. It's something I need to do. The Resistance has to pay for what they did." Gottlieb looked at her with eyes that were somehow suspicious, as well as a bit humorous, like he knew something she didn't. He got up out of his chair and sighed. "That's what I was meaning to talk to you about. In fact, I was planning to tell your entire squadron, but since you're here, you'll do." Now Andress was beginning to get uneasy. "That entire operation to eliminate the Resistance...wasn't an operation. It was a diversion. A facade. You see, the Council has been recently opposed to our tactics when it comes to dealing with the Resistance. So, an ample cause to fight them was needed. And this little...accident was the perfect excuse. We plant a few explosives, tell your crew that the Resistance is on some random planet when they're really not, and when they all die, blame it on them." Andress sat staring, stunned at Gottlieb's words. What the hell was he even saying? He couldn't be serious...Andress stood up, and faced Gottlieb, her face full of rage. "So...this entire thing...the deaths of all my troops..." Gottlieb stared back at her, unmoved. "Collateral damage. I'm sorry about your sister, but sacrifices have to be made in the name of victory. I hoped you would understand...but it doesn't look like you will." With that, Gottlieb drew a pistol from behind his desk and pointed it at her.

Andress thought quickly, and reached out for the lamp that was on the side of Gottlieb's desk, throwing it at his face. The heavy item knocked his hand sideways, making the gun fire at the wall, the bullet hole appearing next to a priceless vintage painting. Andress quickly whipped around and ran out the door, and heard Gottlieb radioing for security behind her. So many thoughts were racing through her head. Her sister had died for some plan to continue the war...she was a pawn. Her, Bunker, Koil...all of them were expendable. Then, one glaring thought made everything else disappear in her mind. She had to get them out of here. Far away from the GDF. From everything. If she didn't, they would all die. And she knew how she was going to do it. She ran past several other soldiers down to the infirmary, and into Koil's room. Bunker was sitting next to his bed, and got up when he saw Andress rush in. "What's wrong? I thought you were going to go see Gottlieb." Andress started to grab Koil and lift him up off the bed. "Bunker. We need to leave. Now." She looked into his eyes, and Bunker suddenly saw something in her eyes...something that reminded him of Melinda. He recognized the urgency, and nodded, as he helped Koil up. "What's going on?" Koil said, and winced as he stood up on his relatively new legs. Before Andress could answer, two GDF guards rushed into the room and aimed their guns at the 3 of them. "Stand down! You're all under arrest!" One of them said, and without even thinking, Bunker whipped his arm out, knocking one of the guards out, and grabbing his gun, shooting the legs of the other one, making him drop to the ground in pain. Bunker tossed Andress the gun, and she cocked it. "I'll take point! We need to get a ship." Bunker picked up Koil, and stared at Andress. "First, we need to get my suit." Andress nodded, and moved out into the hall in a combat stance, Bunker and Koil following close behind. Every time they encountered a guard, Andress managed to take them out, until they finally reached the armoury. Andress managed to get in with her passcode, thankful they hadn't thought to lock her out of the system yet. Bunker placed Koil against the wall, and grabbed a few more weapons, along with his suit. Andress picked up a nice-looking composite sniper rifle off the wall. Bunker suited up, then they heard a voice come over the loudspeaker. "Attention, all personnel. This is General Gottlieb. As of this moment, Andress Lovecraft, Koil Barton, and Bronson Mackey are all charged with treason against the GDF, and are to be considered fugitives. You have orders to shoot on sight. I repeat, shoot on sight."

The 3 of them rushed through the GDF mothership towards the hangar, where their escape waited. As they passed a room, Koil called out to Bunker, who was easily carrying him. "Wait! If we're doing what I think we are, we need to cripple them. And I know how we can." He motioned to the room, and Bunker and Andress looked at each other. "I'll cover you." She said, and stood outside the door, gun raised. Bunker put Koil next to one of the computer terminals. "I hope you know what you're doing." Bunker said as Koil typed across the keyboard frantically. He could see data flying across the screen, all of it going into one separate folder, which then popped out of the terminal in a small memory drive. Koil held it up, smiling. "I managed to hack their mainframe and download every single bit of secret information that they have. We now have leverage." Bunker smirked. "I am impressed, little man." Andress looked out into the hallway, and saw several soldiers moving down towards them. "Time's up, boys!" Bunker grabbed Koil, and they all bolted towards the hangar, firing back towards the incoming attack. They finally reached the hangar, and Andress knew exactly what ship they would be taking. "Over there! Towards the dropships!" They ran across the black floor, their reflections casting artifical shadows, as the harsh sound of gunfire followed them. Andress managed to take cover behind the large dropship that she had seen so many times, and had admired for it's seemingly invisible uniqueness. She prayed that it would be good to her this time. She typed in her passcode to the back of the ramp, and after a few seconds, it began to slowly move down, as the bullets hit everywhere across the front and sides of the ship. "Bunker, hold them off! I'm gonna get us out of here!" Bunker nodded, and Andress moved inside the ship, taking Koil with her, keeping him out of harm's way. She ran up to the main cabin, and started to boot up the ship's mainframe. Even though she had never piloted one of these things before, the controls came naturally to her. The boosters began to fire, and she called back to Bunker. "Let's go!"  He ran inside the ship, and Andress raised the ramp, pointing the nose at the exit. She throttled the afterburners, and the ship peeled out of the hangar, leaving the coldness of the GDF mothership behind it. After a few minutes, they were convinced that they weren't following them yet. "We'll be ready if they do." Bunker replied, looking solemn in the copilot's chair. Koil sat up in the gunner's seat, and chuckled a bit. "Look at us. On the run from the GDF. Group of renegades if I ever saw one." Andress looked out the window, at the stars in front of them, and smiled a bit. "Yeah. I guess we are..."

Andress looked ahead at the steel wall of the containment cell that the Resistance shuttle had, thinking to herself how her life was now falling apart, how her past had finally caught up to her. "Andress? You ok?" She looked to her side and saw Nolun staring at her, looking worried. She looked at the rest of the crew, all sitting, awaiting their fates, same as her. No more secrets. She thought to herself, and spoke up. "I need to tell you all something. Something I should have long ago..."