Sorry for the lag but there was a mixup. Anyways, here are the next two chapters. Renegade Wars is the sequel to Battle of Sol (if you need to look that up). I also suggest reading the last installment since it's been so long. Here's the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/ubb/newsdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number;=20&forum;=*EV/EVO+chronicles&DaysPrune;=25&article;=000108&startpoint;=")link(/url). Thanks for all the support! 
Now on with Renegade Wars!
Renegade Wars
Chapter 4 – Anna
"What's a Barge?" I asked as we rushed towards our ships.
"Not what, who. Barge is feared renegade and is pretty high up. My guess is that this is his new raiding squadron..."
We ran to our ships as fast as we could. As I entered the hangars of the spaceport, I noticed another UE Fighter besides mine. I squinted to see a familiar face come out.
"Scasm? What are you doing here?" I yelled across the hangar.
"Jacks said I might find you here. What's going on?"
"Just get back in your fighter. A fleet of renegades is approaching." I yelled back to him. He nodded and jumped back into his cockpit.
As soon as I was in my ship, I flipped on my hyper driver. I lurched forward and was soon on the small runway. I looked up horrified to see a Turncoat had already entered the atmosphere. Blaze fire reigned down from the heavens, obliterating several launching Kraits. I looked on as a fellow Helian was taken down when it's wing exploded as needle fire hit it. As my ship began to lift off, the crimson bolts rocked it hard. I had to hit my stabilizers just to keep steady. I finally passed up the renegade ship into the void of space.
The system was alive with activity. Militia members and Renegades clashed. Blaze fire and needles filled the system. Swarms of Kraits and packs of Helians from both sides converged on each other, shortening each other's numbers with each pass. The 4 Turncoats hovered over Their, firing down their weaponry at us. The militia numbers were obviously dwindling. We had to do something.
"Scasm! Knight! We gotta take out these Turncoats or Hatuli is a goner." I screamed over the comms link.
"Don't worry. Linx, Mark, get over here now!" Knight screamed to the two militia.
Just as the two Helians joined us, a swarm of Kraits devoured us whole. My fighter rocked violently, running into and destroying a few of the Kraits. The red bolts of fire lowered my shields dramatically. But the light at the end wasn't comforting. A Turncoat was soon shoved down our throats. Knight's and Linx's needle missiles began to hit the behemoth as we moved in for the kill. Scasm went towards the top firing his rockets and his Blaze cannons, tearing the metal skin from the ship. I went to the underbelly and began to do the same. Knight and Linx took opposite sides and began to tear the ship apart. It soon went down in a ball of fire.
"Hey, where's Mark?" Linx asked in a worried tone.
"He's not showing up on my scanners... I dunno." Knight answered in his cold tone of voice, as he knew he met his demise in the Krait swarm.
We began to move towards the next Turncoat as I heard a voice through the universal comms link.
"This is Barge of the Freedom Fighters. Surrender to the will of the Proxima." I almost laughed as he said this.
I jammed my finger on the trigger and went into my mode. My eyes squinted, focusing solely on my target. I fired a few rockets heading a direct course towards the ship. I lost all feeling as my sole purpose was to destroy this ship. The spot where my bolts were hitting wore down the shields and armor until I breached the hull. I watched a puff of air rush out as the oxygen left it. An escape pod was launched just as the behemoth collapsed in on itself.
The ships began to disperse after losing their leader. As Knight and a few militia began to clean up the rest of the survivors, we were cleared for landing.
Scasm and I got out of our ships as I asked the question. "So what made you come here?"
"Well something has happened on New Toronto. Anna Balshanova is missing."
I struggled to figure out who she was when I realized. I remembered her from the unveiling right before the Battle of Sol. She created the masterpiece I call my ship. She also made the ultimate Carrier.
"Who did it?" I asked him.
"Probably a renegade. You see she was creating a new ship that would be more powerful than the Carrier, which would rule the battlefield. It was her last gift to the survival of humankind. Then she disappeared along with the plans. We were put on the case to track her down. I just thought I would tell you. All of our patrol missions etc. have also been put off. So where do you think we should start?"
Just then Knight's Helian landed into the hangar. As he walked out my eyes turned to him. His face still unfazed asked innocently.
"What?"
"If I were you I would go to Freeport first. That's a major renegade hub. I could probably scrounge up some money so you can bribe your way in," he said. After taking a shot of brandy he added, "And I would go in heavily armed and with the whole Squadron. You're not going to get any easy answers and if you do confront the guy who captured her, he's not going to hand her over nicely."
I nodded and radioed Jacks and the others to meet at Riomor. I turned to Scasm and thanked Knight. We were off.
Chapter 5 – The Captains
"So let me get this straight. We're just going to bust in there, look around, and if we see Anna, we take her back?" Scott said. Jacks and I affirmed it. "Wait, do we even know who kidnapped her? I mean we could all get killed!" Shard yelled.
"Look, we're just going to go in, and go out. That's it," I said one last time as we began to near the station.
I quickly made contact with the station and when the dock master heard the price he cleared our landing. We made final preparations and we slowed down as we began to enter the docking rings.
I jumped out from my ship, Blaze Rifle in hand. I expected to be greeted by a docking manager, but then realized where I was. Drunken men were hanging out of the doors of the docking bay and of their ships. Kraits and Helians littered the bay in disarray. Jacks and Scott stepped over a few dead bodies to greet me while Shard had to lay the smack down on a drunken renegade. We quickly moved out of the bay and began to search the station.
"Thank God we didn't come in UE uniforms. I think we would have been shot at the get go." Scott said shakily as we moved to the bar to search.
The bar was flooded with crowds of the drunken rebels. I scanned the area, looking for the familiar Anna. Unfortunately, I found none. Suddenly, a huge commotion erupted from the left of me.
"Get the hell off!" one of the renegades screamed.
"Come on! I thought Con Heads were supposed to be tough!" said the other, shoving the first.
"What? You want me to show you what us 'Con Heads' are made of?" one screamed as he pulled out a Blaze Pistol. A few shots later and the other lay dead.
The crowd erupted, chairs flew and blood spattered the floors. Blaze fire came from many as some pulled out weapons. Words like 'Proxies' and 'Con Heads' filled the air along with profanity. We scattered, trying to escape the deadly brawl. People ducked behind tables and the bar firing weapons. I began to take out my Blaze Rifle as well and began to take out a few of the rebels. Suddenly about six or so men came from the bar entrance and began tossing Fusion Grenades at a small group of renegades.
"This is a NAC free zone. The Captains of Freeport demand this fight be terminated." One of them screamed over the madness. A few seconds later and the din cleared.
The bar was nothing more than a few broken chairs and shattered glass. Injured and dead people started to be dragged out as a few of the dead were immediately jettisoned. Shard, Scott, and Jacks got up from behind the bar and Scasm shoved the chair that had fallen on him out of the way. His arm was injured from a blaze weapon. The bleeding burn wound was soon covered with a torn piece of his shirt. It looked as if anyone who might have kidnapped Anna had either left or was killed. That's when the unexpected happened.
"You're the ones looking for that Anna gal aren't ya?" came from a well-dressed renegade.
"What do you want?"
"The Captains are waiting."
"Can I look now?" I asked no one. The blindfold across my face began itching tremendously.
"Sure." Said a voice from a person I could not see. I reached behind my head and untied the knot, ripping of the itchy cloth. My eyes slowly opened as I noticed a small table with a few people sitting around it. They were all in shadow however, and their faces escaped me. I squinted trying to make out something but couldn't. I turned to the side to see two guards in the same uniform worn by the ones who broke up the fight. I finally broke the silence.
"Why am I here? Where's my Squadron!" I screamed at the shadows.
"You want Anna Balshanova, don't you?" came from the same voice as before.
"Yes, but..." I said but was cut off.
"Your friends are fine. So are your ships. And lucky for you, we will help you. You see the one you seek is... not too friendly to our goal. He used to be. But that has long been lost. He leads a humongous group which may even overthrow us."
"Us?" I ask quizzically
"That... is not important. We cannot reveal the identity of ourselves or of the one you seek yet. Nor can we tell you what he stands for or how powerful he really is. Let's just say, if we do not dispatch of him soon and get Anna back, we will all be in trouble. We recommend that you visit Omm soon."
With that, the guards retied the blindfold and lead me away. A few minutes later I was in the docking bay again in the midst of the Skullriders. A shuttle from Gribn was on it's way to pick up Scasm and a pilot would fly his Fighter to Huron for him. The rest of us jumped in our Fighters and we were hurried off out of the station.
(This message has been edited by moderator (edited 03-11-2002).)