Read Online Book of the Guardian 3: The Last Mission by Ben Winston - Free Book Online Page A

go, but we need to move!" the Lieutenant ordered.
    The platoon spread out and ran toward the park exit, following the path of destruction left by the Tammerain force.
    The attackers hadn't been on planet very long, and taking the time to kill everyone in every building had slowed them down considerably. John's platoon caught up with them three blocks from the park.
    "Movement forward!" the point soldier reported. "Tammerain troops are checking the aircars in the park for that apartment building on the left."
    "Take 'em out Corporal! We're coming up behind you. Sampson, Hernandez, get over to the building and get a scanner on it!" the Lieutenant ordered. "Don't get shot in the process, you don't have permission to die today!"
    As he looked up at the building, John saw a Tammerain soldier through a window on the second floor. "Belay that! They're in the building! Hostile sighted on the second floor! Take out the hostiles and move into the building ASAP! Watch for snipers, that'd be a wicked crossfire!" 
    The Tammerain had been too focused on killing civilians to post a sniper for cover, and the platoon killed the four Tammerain troops in the park so quickly they hadn't been able to get a call for help out. The platoon entered the building and their scanners told them the first floor was clear.
    "How do you want to do this, Sir?" the Lieutenant asked.
    "Urban assault protocol, Ell-tee. You take first squad and clear the first floor, second squad; second floor, third squad; third floor. I'll take fourth squad and clear the fourth floor. Once you clear your floor, move up three floors until we can't, clear the top, and regroup down here. Move out!" John ordered, and the teams ran for the stairs.
    "It looks like a squad size unit, General. Two or three troopers per floor up to the fifth. I'm not showing any more above that," John's squad leader reported.
    John nodded. "Did you get that, Ell-tee?"
    "Affirmative, General. We show the same," the young officer replied.
    "Okay, I'm going to send four of my people up to clear them out, then do a floor by floor scan to make sure. Regroup in the lobby," John ordered.
    What followed was a harrowing, nerve-wracking search for the killers. The Lieutenant, showing he was a good officer, ordered two troops from each squad to go up to assist the ones John had sent to the fifth floor.
    Two of John's squad rushed into a corner apartment and killed the Tammerain trooper that had just kicked in the door to the master bedroom. They shot the big beast in the back of the head just as it was raising its rifle to kill the family hiding there. The two Marines had just checked the small family when one of them dove on the children, yelling 'rocket'! The other trooper flipped the bed over them and pulled the parents close to him before turning his back to the blast.
    When the building shook, John and his team ran for the apartment. Entering the room, his optics sighted the enemy trooper that had fired the missile. It was reloading the launcher for another shot. John raised his rifle and shot it in the head. Another trooper rushed into the room and tried to shoot John. Another of John's team killed it before it could fire another shot.
    The room was destroyed. One of the two children suffered a broken leg when he was crushed by the Marine that was shielding him. The little girl was scared, but healthy. The Marine was also unharmed because of the bed that had been thrown over them. The Marine that had tried to cover the parents hadn't fared as well. He was still alive, but his armor had been blown apart. The father of the kids was missing his left arm, and the mother was bleeding from a large wound on her right leg.
    "Medic!" John called. "Forth Floor, corner apartment! Ell-tee, there are bandits in the building to the north. They fired a rocket in here."
    'Fuck!" Okay boys and girls, no one said this was going to be easy! Erikson, finish clearing the upper floors! Second and third squads; status?"
    "Second