Read Online Blood of Heroes (The Ember War Saga Book 3) by Richard Fox - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Richard Fox
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in the distance.
“Sounds like us,” Bailey said.
“No time to waste.” Hale ran toward the sound of gunfire.
They found the rest of their team on the second floor of a wrecked building, one of the few that had a Dotok language sign across the façade. A dozen dead banshees lay in the street around them.
A lance of blood-red light slammed into the Marines’ position, slicing through the thin walls and nearly hitting Steuben.
Hale swung around a corner and saw a banshee, head and shoulders taller than the rest they’d encountered, its right arm replaced by a cannon that glowed from within. Banshees loped past the weaponized creature, running on all fours like charging gorillas.
Hale aimed for the tall banshee’s head and saw the weapon swing straight toward him. He fell to the ground as he squeezed the trigger, sending the shot into the sky as a beam of red energy sliced through the air right where his head had been. The beam scythed down, severing the wooden frame of the adobe building. The walls creaked, and collapsed.
The Marine rolled out of the way as one side of the building toppled toward him and he snapped off another shot, hoping to foul the banshee’s next blast. He came to a stop with his belly to the ground and managed to half aim his next shot. The round clipped the banshee on the shoulder, knocking it back a step. Gauss rifle fire stitched across its torso and it slammed into the ground like a felled tree. The cannon arm burned from within and disintegrated, leaving the rest of the banshee behind.
“Hey sir, good job not being dead. Real proud,” Standish said, forgoing the IR and just shouting so his lieutenant could hear him.
“Did you find Bailey?” Torni asked.
“Bailey? She’s right—” Hale looked back at the collapsed building and saw the Australian Marine’s foot sticking out of the rubble.
Tossing rubble aside, Hale tried to uncover her head and chest first so she could breathe. He pushed a lump of adobe away and found her limp arm sticking out of a void.
“Bailey!”
Steuben grabbed the edge of the mostly intact wall and heaved it off Bailey. She sat up groggily, the top of her helmet dented in. Hale pulled her clear. Steuben dropped the wall and a waft of pulverized concrete dusted the three of them.
“That got me wobbly. If my head’s going to hurt like I’ve got a hangover, I could have at least been a little shit-faced,” she said.
“Yarrow, check her out,” Hale said over his shoulder to the medic.
“Raider Six, this is Gall,” Durand’s transmission came over radio waves.
“This is Raider.”
“Mission abort, I repeat, mission abort. This valley is crawling with drones and I don’t have the fighters to clear them or get you out of here safely. Everything I’ve got in the air is going back to capital, New Abhaile. The Dotok say they can sortie a couple dozen fighters to help us out. You’ll be on your own for a couple hours,” she said.
“What else is new,” Hale mumbled. He pressed the transmit button on his forearm display. “Roger, Gall. I’ve got six for pick up. Crew of Mule Eight is KIA.”
There was only static for several seconds. Hale repeated his message.
“Hale…civilians! There are civilians to—” Durand cut in and out. “East. Say again, civilians to your east—side of the fire—hostiles present!”
“Gall? Gall?”
There was no response.
Hale looked to the east where a raging inferno crept toward the edge of the town, throwing up a wall of smoke and flame from one end of the canyon to the other.
“Bailey, you good?” Hale asked her. She was on her feet, her gauss carbine in one hand, the barrel bent at an ugly angle. She tossed the useless weapon aside and drew her pistol.
“I ain’t getting any better just standing here, sir.”
“Let’s go.” Hale took off to the east. They passed over the bodies of a few dead civilians and more than one defeated banshee. By the time they reached the edge of the fire
“Sounds like us,” Bailey said.
“No time to waste.” Hale ran toward the sound of gunfire.
They found the rest of their team on the second floor of a wrecked building, one of the few that had a Dotok language sign across the façade. A dozen dead banshees lay in the street around them.
A lance of blood-red light slammed into the Marines’ position, slicing through the thin walls and nearly hitting Steuben.
Hale swung around a corner and saw a banshee, head and shoulders taller than the rest they’d encountered, its right arm replaced by a cannon that glowed from within. Banshees loped past the weaponized creature, running on all fours like charging gorillas.
Hale aimed for the tall banshee’s head and saw the weapon swing straight toward him. He fell to the ground as he squeezed the trigger, sending the shot into the sky as a beam of red energy sliced through the air right where his head had been. The beam scythed down, severing the wooden frame of the adobe building. The walls creaked, and collapsed.
The Marine rolled out of the way as one side of the building toppled toward him and he snapped off another shot, hoping to foul the banshee’s next blast. He came to a stop with his belly to the ground and managed to half aim his next shot. The round clipped the banshee on the shoulder, knocking it back a step. Gauss rifle fire stitched across its torso and it slammed into the ground like a felled tree. The cannon arm burned from within and disintegrated, leaving the rest of the banshee behind.
“Hey sir, good job not being dead. Real proud,” Standish said, forgoing the IR and just shouting so his lieutenant could hear him.
“Did you find Bailey?” Torni asked.
“Bailey? She’s right—” Hale looked back at the collapsed building and saw the Australian Marine’s foot sticking out of the rubble.
Tossing rubble aside, Hale tried to uncover her head and chest first so she could breathe. He pushed a lump of adobe away and found her limp arm sticking out of a void.
“Bailey!”
Steuben grabbed the edge of the mostly intact wall and heaved it off Bailey. She sat up groggily, the top of her helmet dented in. Hale pulled her clear. Steuben dropped the wall and a waft of pulverized concrete dusted the three of them.
“That got me wobbly. If my head’s going to hurt like I’ve got a hangover, I could have at least been a little shit-faced,” she said.
“Yarrow, check her out,” Hale said over his shoulder to the medic.
“Raider Six, this is Gall,” Durand’s transmission came over radio waves.
“This is Raider.”
“Mission abort, I repeat, mission abort. This valley is crawling with drones and I don’t have the fighters to clear them or get you out of here safely. Everything I’ve got in the air is going back to capital, New Abhaile. The Dotok say they can sortie a couple dozen fighters to help us out. You’ll be on your own for a couple hours,” she said.
“What else is new,” Hale mumbled. He pressed the transmit button on his forearm display. “Roger, Gall. I’ve got six for pick up. Crew of Mule Eight is KIA.”
There was only static for several seconds. Hale repeated his message.
“Hale…civilians! There are civilians to—” Durand cut in and out. “East. Say again, civilians to your east—side of the fire—hostiles present!”
“Gall? Gall?”
There was no response.
Hale looked to the east where a raging inferno crept toward the edge of the town, throwing up a wall of smoke and flame from one end of the canyon to the other.
“Bailey, you good?” Hale asked her. She was on her feet, her gauss carbine in one hand, the barrel bent at an ugly angle. She tossed the useless weapon aside and drew her pistol.
“I ain’t getting any better just standing here, sir.”
“Let’s go.” Hale took off to the east. They passed over the bodies of a few dead civilians and more than one defeated banshee. By the time they reached the edge of the fire
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