Renégats - Volume 1 : A Fallen Angel

Volume 1 : A Fallen Angel - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The three men raised their guns, ready to shoot Tofer and Nyx. The latter simply lowered the LX24 he'd just picked up towards their chief's head, stuck underneath the unconscious young woman.

"May we talk?" Nyx suggested.

The man in black spat through his teeth.

"He's bluffing!"

Nevertheless, the three thugs stopped, unsure. Nyx knew he was only saving time.

If I shoot, I lose my hostage and they kill us immediately. As soon as they get that, we're screwed.

Keeping his eyes on the thugs and his gun on their chief, he turned his head towards Tofer.

"Any idea?"

"A few."

"Any good?"

"None."

The situation wouldn't have been so dire if it weren't for the young woman. They couldn't run away with her. Heavy as she was, they'd only go a few yards before the thugs caught up to them.

"Leavin' her ain't an option?" Tofer asked.

"Obviously."

If she could do the same as in the alley, we'd be off the hook...

The man in black was steaming.

"Shoot, you morons!"

"But, boss..."

The three thugs clearly weren't equipped with the brightest lightbulbs, but they seemed sincerely worried about their boss's life. They stared at him like dogs stare at their masters.

"We've got to try something, and fast," Nyx said.

"I could smoke 'em. But we ain't gonna go far, and the Corp won't miss it."

Nyx thought it out.

"I might have a plan."

The three lap dogs were not going to hesitate much longer, pushed by their boss' barking.

"Will you shoot, dammit?!"

Forced to act, they fired one shot each.

Nyx and Tofer jumped to the floor, in opposite directions, avoiding the plasma beams.

"Now!"

Tofer threw his smoke grenade at the signal, drowning the street in a thick grey fog.

"Where are they?" a thugh screamed.

"Just shoot!" ordered their boss.

A stream of plasma beams went right over their heads, as they each grabbed one end of the young woman's body.

"We go right to their hovercraft!" Nyx said.

They lifted her up and rushed into the fog.

But Nyx felt a pressure on his ankle and fell forward. The man in black had grabbed him.

"Stay here, you little shit!"

They didn't have much time before the fog would disperse. In the heat of the moment, Nyx didn't have a choice.

He aimed and pulled the trigger.

The man in black's arm imploded, sending blood flying everywhere.

That's why I hate LXs...

Free, he got back up, grabbed the young woman, and told Tofer to keep going. The man in black screamed ghastly.

"My fucking arm!"

They rushed straight ahead, as plasma beams flashed around them.

Finally, they could see the horrendous LED flames of the hovercraft through the smoke and rushed towards it.

The three thugs didn't even notice that their targets had passed them and kept shooting at the fog.

They threw the young woman on the back seat, and the hovercraft's frame hit the ground. Tofer got on the passenger's seat, and Nyx started driving.

The neon green car soared through the skyscrapers, as plasma beams went past it.

In just a few seconds, they had reached the upper bypass road, and clumsily entered traffic, as a concerto of angry horns welcomed them.

"Er... Nyx?"

"What? I'm doing my best, we're a bit weighted down!"

"No, I mean... Ya got somethin' on your ankle."

Nyx looked down at the pedals and noticed that a bloody hand was still attached to him.

"Ew... Can you get it off?"

"No way! It's disgusting."

"Don't be a wimp, I'm driving."

Tofer gave up. He grabbed the severed hand, with a disgusted expression on his face, pulled at the thumb and freed Nyx's ankle. Holding the member with two fingers, he slid open his window and threw it out.

A few hundred yards down, the hand crashed on the lounge of a rooftop bar, offering welcome entertainment for the patrons.

At the heart of thick traffic in the aerial bypass, the neon green hovercraft was moving at an alarmingly slow rate.

"We going straight to the hangar?" Tofer asked.

"In that thing? We're trying to be discreet."

Tofer sighed.

"I was having a great night, before ya called. Playin in a nice VR arcade. I'd saved up for it!"

"Sorry. I owe you one."

He turned to look at the back seat. The young woman was still unconscious. You could have believed she was peacefully sleeping, if you didn't notice the bloody metal shard coming out of her belly.

"Where's she coming from?"

"No clue."

"We gonna have to carry her again?"

"Yup."

They finally left the aerial traffic jam, and dropped down towards Gorgona's Quays, where hundreds of hangars had been built for the many interplanetary ships that would stop into town.

"We'll stop a few streets from the hangar and leave that monstrosity in a dark spot."

As they landed, the back of the frame once again ripped against the floor. They left the hovercraft in a narrow pass between two private hangars and took the young woman out of the vehicle.

"About sixty yards left," Nyx estimated.

"Still sixty yards to go..." Tofer sighed.

With all their remaining strength, they carried the woman up to the entrance of public hangar B28.

Suddenly, Tofer panicked.

"Down!"

They jumped behind a cargo crate, a few feet from the entrance.

"What's up?" Nyx asked, confused.

"The Corp!"

Nyx had a quick look. A patrol of about ten Corp officers, with their blue uniforms and gun holsters, was posted at the hangar's entrance.

Come on! What are they doing here?