Read Online Blood of Heroes (The Ember War Saga Book 3) by Richard Fox - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Richard Fox
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nosed down, Hale felt gravity try to pull him back to the cockpit, but he bent forward and used the electro-magnets in his glove to gain a handhold against the deck.
The ship shook as Standish’s turret ejected. Jaundiced yellow light flooded into the cargo bay as Torni got the rear hatch open. Hale looked up and saw a sky full of smoke.
“Hey! I’ve got a malfunction!” Bailey’s cry was full of panic. Her armored fists pounded against the view block on the turret hatch.
Yarrow, Steuben, Orozco and Torni had climbed to the edge of the ramp. All four looked back to Hale.
“I’ve got her!” Hale shouted. He used his mag locks to climb “up” the deck, like he was climbing the sheer face of a mountain cliff. Hale reached Bailey’s turret, flipped open a yellow and black panel, and wrapped his hand around a red handle within. He locked eyes with Bailey through the view port and nodded to her. She braced herself against the turret seat. Hale yanked the handle.
Explosive bolts severed the turret from the ship and sent it hurtling away.
Hale unfastened his mag locks and used his augmented strength to launch himself up and out of the drop ship. He pulled his ripcord and went through the bone-jarring shake of his parachute catching air.
The Mule slammed into the ground beneath him, erupting into a fireball. Hale grabbed a riser and pulled hard, angling him away from the Mule’s wreckage. The air around him was thick with smoke and the smell of burning grease.
Hale pressed his feet and knees together and hit the ground. What was a textbook parachute landing fall went awry as the parachute kept traveling across the ground, taking Hale with it. Hale fell against fire-blackened soil and scraped along the surface. He unsnapped one riser, which put all the pull on the remaining length of carbon-fiber cord. His attached shoulder plowed into the ground, burying him up to his chest before he came to a halt.
Hale wiped soot off his visor and got to his feet, extricating himself from the parachute and unsnapping his rifle from his back. He’d landed in the settlement Galogesvi, or what had been Galogesvi. The adobe homes and wooden buildings that made up Galogesvi were burnt out or still on fire. Dead civilians lay scattered through the streets. Men, women and children…all victims of the terrible violence that had come to this place.
He was too late.
“This is Hale. Form up on…the only three-story building, the one that’s on fire,” he broadcast through his suit’s IR. He wasn’t surprised when no answer came back. With all the ambient heat and smoke, the infrared communication system was practically useless.
A banshee’s wail broke through the sound of the roaring flames.
With no other options, Hale ran toward the scream. He found Bailey’s turret embedded in a house wall, the parachute crumpled over the roof like a discarded blanket. A pair of banshees clawed at the metal sphere, digging their talons into the gaps between plates.
Hale thumbed his rifle to high power and drilled the nearest banshee through the spine. The gauss bullet penetrated the other side of its body and blew off a chunk of the house. The other banshee turned and managed a scream of rage before Hale blew its head clean off.
The banshees twitched on the ground as he ran to the turret. Bailey opened her turret pod and accepted Hale’s hand as she climbed out.
“To hell with this planet. I already hate it,” she said, slapping a magazine into her carbine and sighing at the Mule’s wreckage. “My sniper rifle was in there.”
“But you weren’t. Let’s find everyone else,” Hale said. Eagle fighters sparred with Xaros drones overhead. Aircraft darted around and through pillars of smoke stretching to the edge of the canyon holding Galogesvi.
“I got a good look at the place on the way down. Whole town is burnt to a crisp,” she said. “Big fire on the outskirts burning through farmland.”
The snap of gauss rifles crackled
The ship shook as Standish’s turret ejected. Jaundiced yellow light flooded into the cargo bay as Torni got the rear hatch open. Hale looked up and saw a sky full of smoke.
“Hey! I’ve got a malfunction!” Bailey’s cry was full of panic. Her armored fists pounded against the view block on the turret hatch.
Yarrow, Steuben, Orozco and Torni had climbed to the edge of the ramp. All four looked back to Hale.
“I’ve got her!” Hale shouted. He used his mag locks to climb “up” the deck, like he was climbing the sheer face of a mountain cliff. Hale reached Bailey’s turret, flipped open a yellow and black panel, and wrapped his hand around a red handle within. He locked eyes with Bailey through the view port and nodded to her. She braced herself against the turret seat. Hale yanked the handle.
Explosive bolts severed the turret from the ship and sent it hurtling away.
Hale unfastened his mag locks and used his augmented strength to launch himself up and out of the drop ship. He pulled his ripcord and went through the bone-jarring shake of his parachute catching air.
The Mule slammed into the ground beneath him, erupting into a fireball. Hale grabbed a riser and pulled hard, angling him away from the Mule’s wreckage. The air around him was thick with smoke and the smell of burning grease.
Hale pressed his feet and knees together and hit the ground. What was a textbook parachute landing fall went awry as the parachute kept traveling across the ground, taking Hale with it. Hale fell against fire-blackened soil and scraped along the surface. He unsnapped one riser, which put all the pull on the remaining length of carbon-fiber cord. His attached shoulder plowed into the ground, burying him up to his chest before he came to a halt.
Hale wiped soot off his visor and got to his feet, extricating himself from the parachute and unsnapping his rifle from his back. He’d landed in the settlement Galogesvi, or what had been Galogesvi. The adobe homes and wooden buildings that made up Galogesvi were burnt out or still on fire. Dead civilians lay scattered through the streets. Men, women and children…all victims of the terrible violence that had come to this place.
He was too late.
“This is Hale. Form up on…the only three-story building, the one that’s on fire,” he broadcast through his suit’s IR. He wasn’t surprised when no answer came back. With all the ambient heat and smoke, the infrared communication system was practically useless.
A banshee’s wail broke through the sound of the roaring flames.
With no other options, Hale ran toward the scream. He found Bailey’s turret embedded in a house wall, the parachute crumpled over the roof like a discarded blanket. A pair of banshees clawed at the metal sphere, digging their talons into the gaps between plates.
Hale thumbed his rifle to high power and drilled the nearest banshee through the spine. The gauss bullet penetrated the other side of its body and blew off a chunk of the house. The other banshee turned and managed a scream of rage before Hale blew its head clean off.
The banshees twitched on the ground as he ran to the turret. Bailey opened her turret pod and accepted Hale’s hand as she climbed out.
“To hell with this planet. I already hate it,” she said, slapping a magazine into her carbine and sighing at the Mule’s wreckage. “My sniper rifle was in there.”
“But you weren’t. Let’s find everyone else,” Hale said. Eagle fighters sparred with Xaros drones overhead. Aircraft darted around and through pillars of smoke stretching to the edge of the canyon holding Galogesvi.
“I got a good look at the place on the way down. Whole town is burnt to a crisp,” she said. “Big fire on the outskirts burning through farmland.”
The snap of gauss rifles crackled
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