Outlaws (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 2)

Chapter 33

General Kovak sat in his office and looked over the files of the 7 fugitives. He had expected every single one of them to disobey his orders, but Koil Barton had been a surprise. For years now he had been one of the top soldiers under Kovak's command, and he had decided to run away with a group of rebels and rogues that he had just met. Although, he had mentioned something about Andress Lovecraft being important to him...a thought flashed through his mind, a recognition of something. He walked over to his monitor and scanned through his records, until he found what he was looking for. Lovecraft was linked to an event that happened about 5 years ago. It was code-named: "The Matchbox Incident" and was sub-sectioned under "GDF Cover-Up Operations". The file had been declassified years ago, but it revealed that Koil had once been in the same squadron as Lovecraft, as well as the other one named Mackey. It also appeared that Lovecraft once had a sister, who had been one of the unfortunate victims of the Incident. Kovak now understood why Koil had to go with them. But since he had gone AWOL along with the rest of them, there was no possible way of tracking him down. But, as if on cue, someone knocked on the door, and his Lieutenant walked in. Kovak looked up and switched off his monitor. "Yes?" The Lieutenant stepped forward and handed him a transcript. "Approximately 5 minutes ago, we received a transmission from the planet of Maxima 1. The GDF homeworld. The transmission encoding matched that of the ship known as the Renegade." Kovak's eyes widened, and he stood up, putting his hands down on the desk. "Order all craft to head towards Maxima 1. We have a rescue mission on our hands."

The boosters on the ship flared as the Renegade began to lift off the landing platform. Knowing that they would be attracting the attention of every GDF ship in the city, they flew off at maximum speed, with the Swift, piloted by Koil, following close behind. Almost immediately, the radar began to light up with several contacts. Elicia and Trace were at the ready on the guns, and Bunker and Andress were at the controls, ready to maneuver at a moment's notice. They saw GDF Interceptors coming in from every side, and felt Elicia and Trace light them up with laser fire. Koil managed to pick off a few from behind, but also had to contend with the ones flying behind him as well. Trace appeared to be adapting to the turrets with ease, and shot most of the fighters out of the sky. But, it wasn't fast enough, as it took several hits from many of the Interceptors. Andress felt the ship rock back and forth with explosions and cursed. She prayed for the Renegade to hold together. Bunker looked up. "The orbit gate! We need to make it through!" As they got closer, their hearts dropped as they saw that the gate was already sealed off, with no possible way of getting through. Even if they managed to get close enough, they couldn't break through the shield even with their combined firepower. Andress's mind was racing, trying to figure out what to do, when a huge explosion rocked the ship. She closed her eyes, thinking that was the end, but heard Dante speak clearly. "Look!" She opened her eyes and saw the Dreadnought, along with several other Resistance ships, firing at the orbit gate, which in turn exploded, severing the shield. Everyone was stunned, and then Nolun yelled. "Can't get a much clearer signal than that!" Andress gunned the engine and spoke into her comm. "Koil, dock inside! We're going cloaked!" The Swift flew into the Renegade's cargo bay, and soon afterwards, the entire ship vanished.

The Resistance ships flew away, their heavy shielding and powerful engines allowing them to flee the system quickly before the GDF could launch a counterattack. Even the Independence Zero had no hope of catching them. Their Quantum Engine needed to recharge, and their weapon systems would drain the power even more. The Resistance made sure their ships were spread far across the system, so even if the GDF went after them, they wouldn't know which ship the Renegade was on. When the Renegade docked, the crew walked out with their hands in the air, only to see Kovak standing there with his Lieutenant and a small group of soldiers. "At ease, Commander Barton." They all put their hands down, and Koil stepped forwards. "General...I'd like the opportunity to explain myself-" Kovak put a hand up. "No explanation necessary, son. I know for a fact that camaraderie means a hell of a lot more than law." Koil nodded and saluted. "Thank you sir." Kovak returned the salute, and stared at the crew. "Now then, I believe we have a lot to discuss." The crew followed Kovak to his office, and went through a standard debriefing. All of them recounted everything they had been through in the past week, including the reveal of the High Monarch, the Quantum Engine, and the fact that now the GDF had three Dorado Pieces in their possession. After saying all this, Kovak sat quietly and pondered everything he had just heard. He stood up and paced back and forth. After a few minutes of silence, Nolun stood up. "I'm sorry, General. This is all my fault. I gave everyone the idea to steal the Piece in the first place. Andress's capture, the loss of the Pieces, Edvard's death, everything happened because of me. I accept full responsibility." Nolun felt Andress's hand close around his, tightening as if to tell him it was OK. Kovak turned around and looked at Nolun. "Sit down son." He said solemnly, and Nolun complied. Kovak leaned forward and put his hands on the desk. "Let me tell you all something you already know. There's a war coming. One that will decide the fate of all that we stand for. Going around like outlaws won't solve anything. This isn't the Wild West. So, whether you like it or not, the time has come to pick a side. You just make sure you're on the right one." Andress looked at Kovak. "What are you asking us to do?" Kovak looked at the seven of them. "I'm asking you to pick the right side." They all looked at one another, and then Nolun looked forwards. "I think we just did."