In the 5th or 6th grade (circa 1995/1996), I wrote a sci-fi novel(la) entitled Renegades. It is more or less a blatant rip-off of any sci-fi or action movie or book I had consumed up until that point in my life. It definitely reads like the work of a 5th-grader, and I’m fairly certain I introduce a new character with a semi-unpronounceable name every few paragraphs, only to kill them off shortly afterward. Having recently recovered this work of art from floppy disk (!), I plan to serialize it here over the coming days. Enjoy (?).
RENEGADES
… Continued from Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
Part 5
SORTAK PRISON
The X-22 Comachen patrol robot scooted down the corridor blazing it’s lasers at him. Isaac Fairthorn ducked behind an open door as it watched for him. He slouched back into the closet and found it was a useful artillery bunker. A handgun was all he needed. He the ducked behind the door again and looked for the robot, it was gone, then Vrrmmmm came the sound from behind him, he twirled to face the shining visor of the X-22, within a split second, it became a pile of scrap metal. A soon as it blew, a siren above rang, it was a trap!
He ran down the corridor and did not look back. Fairthorn stopped after running almost a kilometer down the climbing corridor, he guessed he was now near the surface when he found a door marked Emergency launchpad. He gazed inside the tinted window, a ship waited. This was his chance to get off the moon, he had to get it. But the door was locked shut… And he found himself surrounded by more killer robots, and behind them all was Paul Wallin smiling in his Comachen uniform…
* * *
The ventilation shaft that they found quickly after the waste disposal extravaganza led them directly beneath the docking port. Cassen looked up through the grating, they were about five meters from the main runway, but most of the shuttles were on the other side of the port, a couple were preparing to take off from the runway.
“What is it? Where are we?” Whispered Jonathan.
“Main docking and runway for shuttles.”
Jonathan gazed at his surroundings when suddenly he thought he saw one of Claire’s friends, Raechal. “I think I see the ship, there’s that girl Raechal.” He said as he helped Cassen out of the shaft.
“Just try to act as cargo ship pilots and we’ll slowly go to the ship.” Suggested Cassen.
Slowly at first, they made their approach to the ship. “Wait, what about Wallin and Fairthorn?” Demanded Jonathan.
“They’ll find there own way out.” Said Cassen like he had a heart of stone.
As if anything else had to go wrong a man in uniform pulled up along side them and asked them for ID. “Can I see some ID please.”
“Hi, were with that ship over their.” Jonathan said as he pointed to Claire’s ship.
“You stay right there while I get some proof on that.” He replied as he walked away.
Jonathan’s first impulse was to make a run for the ship when Tim’s grip restrained him from going anywhere. “You don’t want us to look like prisoners, do you?” Tim explained.
As he finished his sentence the guard returned. “Okay, the records show that the ship had a crew of three, now I see three people already there so that makes five…”
“-Uuhhh, two of them aren’t with us, they must be with another ship.” Cassen lied.
With hesitation, the guard allowed them to proceed to their ship. They were greeted by Claire all five climbed aboard.
* * *
The same guard watched suspiciously as the five climbed aboard the cargo vessel and the takeoff engines began to rumble. He picked up his transmitter and notified Sortak control. “That cargo vessel leaving 109-C, I think we may have an escape in process, don’t let it out.”
“Yes sir.” Sortak control replied.
The security guard did not know how to fly well, but if anything happened, he would follow them out in a lately fueled Comachen starfighter…
* * *
The cargo vessel continued it’s descent down the airlock tube out to open space, and as soon as they got to a certain point, the airlock closed behind them and now they faced the black space door, which was slammed tight. Only Claire, Jonathan and Maria were in the cockpit. As they waited for the space-door to open Jonathan finally realized. “They know, they know!”
“They should be coming up behind us any time now, we got to get out of here.”
“Well we can’t go back so I’ll have to use last resorts…”Explained Maria. Then she open a small area of the ship’s control to reveal a small keypad, she pressed a large red button and two fighter guns springed sprung from the side of the ship, she pressed another…. And she blew the space door to pieces, fragments of the door exploded in all directions. It could have missed, but a large fragment collided with the engines and damaged it.
“Shoot!” Maria yelled, “We can still travel but not long range, the nearest friendly place we could get from here is Perseus 4.”
“Perseus 4!” Exclaimed Jonathan. “That desert planet has been under civil war for four years!”
“Or we could go back to Sortak?” Said Maria sarcastically looking at him.
As the ship disappeared into the blackness of space, leaving Sortak behind, one Comachen star-fighter followed them every mile they went….
* * *
ALDERIA
Rian Broman had awaited Nicolai Berzerac’s return from negotiating with the traitor Harri Elton. “I told him Jonathan DeCartier was a traitor among the Alderians and as being in charge of Alderia until a new President is elected, he would aid us in our quest to catch Decartier and prevent him with giving the rebellion Comachen secrets. So he is now providing us with a fully equipped bounty hunter team of forty men.” Berzerac explained.
“Good.” Broman replied. “I have also good news. The Comachen base of Sortak let DeCartier slip out of their hands, but they are now tracing him and his associates to Perseus 4, they also apprehended DeCartier’s information disk.”
“Then it’s off to Perseus 4 we go.”
“Exactly.”
* * *
By chance, Daniel Preian had overheard the conversation, and he knew this was his and Denthra’s biggest chance for their plan of treason and sabotage… “Long live the rebellion!”
* * *
PERSEUS 4
Takroth was the capital city of the free republic of Perseus 4, but for four years the Comachens have occupied the desert planet trying to seize it’s resources. Most citizens in Takroth lived in poverty and it was known for it’s large factories and trade industries. They had landed in the west end of the city inside a large shipping companies’ unloading center where they were to refuel. Jonathan sat with Claire and Timothy in a street side parlor just down the dusty road. Cassen stirred his drink as he listened to the conversation going on.
“So they have the disk, so why are they still after you?” she demanded.
“They want to make sure I wouldn’t do it again, and nobody is daredevil enough to hack a Comachen space-liner.”
Timothy was longing to speak up. “So when do we get back to Alderia?”
“We’re not going back to Alderia.” Jonathan replied.” I have to do it again to save the rebellion back home, and if I don’t, I’ll be caught if I do it or not.”
“And this time you want us to help you get on board a Comachen super-ship .” Said Claire.
“That’s it-”
“Wait, but first we got to get off this dirtball, how do you expect us to do that, Raechal and Maria announced that they had done their part and are not helping us no more, so if we don’t get out, are journey will end here…” The grim toned Timothy said.
Claire sighed. “There is a place on the other side of the mountains next to Takroth that might be crazy enough to help us, two brothers…”
* * *
Four hours later, a small fleet of miscellaneous ships had arrived on Perseus, Rian Broman knew anyone with the Free Perseus 4 Campaign who saw their Comachen ships would start to protest and cause a riot, that’s why the bounty hunter fleet landed in a secure port on the tip of town, just beside one of the largest canyons on the planet, Bishop’s Canyon, a great way to slip undercover. While Rian Broman, some street bounty hunters and Roman Denthra slipped out into the population of Takroth, Berzerac and Comachen Lieutenant Brian Leerots stayed at the port with the rest for refueling.
Daniel Preian was preparing, his sabotage plan was to begin any moment. He sat on a ledge in the second floor of the port, he was on a deck overlooking the warehouse below. He began loading a Gatling gun with 20mm bullets, any time now, Nicolai Berzerac would come out of the office area with the Comachen Lieutenant, and he would take them out. Their first priority was to eliminate the chain of command. While he did that, the others would fly their crafts down Bishop’s Canyon to downtown Takroth, where they would search for DeCartier, and while still in Bishop’s Canyon, as being part of the rebellion, Roman Denthra would destroy Rian Broman. As Preian watched, voices came closer, as if they were soon to exit the office.
Suddenly, the large body of Nicolai Berzerac walked out the entrance and Preian, hiding on the upper floor, pointed the gun and fired a round of bullets into Berzerac’s chest. Berzerac fell to the floor and three Comachens came storming out of the office, led by Lieutenant Leerots, returned fire in a split second. Preian dodged bullets and dived to the floor. He tried to fire again, but in such confusion, he could not hit a target. He decided to run, he got up and ran down the corridor of the upper level. He spotted an open hangar ahead of him used for crane shipments. He stood at the opening, and below him was a ten meter drop to the pavement below. The crane was right in front of him with a loose hook dangling two feet in before him. He climbed onto the hook, punched the crane release, and the rope carrying him and the hook lowered slowly to the ground.
In a great hurry, he ran to a freshly refueled Bounty-Hunter ship, climbed aboard, started the engines, and as he was about to take off, a troop of Comachen commandos appeared at the lower level hanger with guns pointed at the cockpit. But as he did with Berzerac… He switched on weapons control and powered up the twin Gatling guns on either wing. In the next few seconds, most of the Comachens were on the ground, but some remained standing. Several shots had nearly plummeted through his windshield, but before they could, he was safe in the air, and heading away into the Perseus 4 desert.
* * *
The group of fourteen Bounty Hunter ships sped down Bishop’s Canyon towards downtown Takroth. “Sir, there’s a band of free Perseus rebels here in fighter ships nearly twice our force here demanding that we go no farther cause were Comachens.” Said Broman’s scout over the transmitter.
“Good, we’ll give ‘em a beating they’ll never forget.” Replied Broman. “Come on guys, we’re goin’ in!”
This was Denthra’s lucky day, in this battle it would look like Broman was killed by the rebels. The thirty-four pack of rebels in rusty 2185 Perseus Corvette fighters armed with old-model Gatling guns were waiting as the bounty hunter team sped around the turn in the canyon guns blazing taking out three in they’re first wave of fighting, one of the first that came around the corner lost control and slammed head-first into a rebellion Corvette taking them both into oblivion. Broman had taken out two more after he turned corner. Denthra had risen over the battle to get a clear bomb’s drop over Broman, but Broman remained defending his fighter under a ledge, so Denthra had to lower his craft back into the canyon, then he piloted his craft just below the ledge but directly above Broman. He targeted, and then armed two radiation bombs to drop directly on him. But as like he knew, Broman turned upwards, and fired at the base of the ledge, and rock debris came crashing down on Dentrhra’s ship, Broman sped out of the way as the two radiation bombs Denthra forgot to fire, turned Denthra’s ship into a burning ball of fire.
As Broman speeded sped past the battle, he whispered under his breath. “I knew it, I knew it…”
The ongoing serialization of “Renegades” will continue in the coming days. Please stay tuned.
Read Part 6.