Read Online First Casualty by Mike Moscoe - Free Book Online

held it down, slowly sweeping the barrel over the gap three hundred meters away. Figures in armored space suits poured through the pass. Some flew .. . mines, she remembered. Good luck, Mary.
    Her rifle quit spitting. For Mary, she popped the spent magazine out and slammed in a new one. Cassie glanced at Joyce. She slumped over her rifle, surprise still showing in her empty eyes. Her faceplate had taken a direct hit. She hadn't suffered. A needle's tiny hole showed between her eyes.
    Cassie turned back to the gap, finger on the trigger, gun venting. She wondered why her throat hurt. It wasn't until she slipped the fourth magazine in that she realized she was screaming. She didn't try to stop.
    * * * *
    Captain Tran did a belly flop in the dust at the end of the pass. He'd made it! From the looks of things, he might be the only officer who had. Company B was taking a pasting. They'd always been a hard luck unit. Tough luck. The rifle fire on his side of the gap was lighter. “First and second platoon, keep going. Third and fourth, give them fire support.
    When they've got the rill, third and fourth will leapfrog over them.”
    Shouts answered him. A dozen men took off hopping. Was that all that was left of the forty who jumped off with me at the escarpment?
    Eight made it to the rill. They ducked down and started looking for hidey-holes. “It's like shooting fish in a bowl” came over the net. Tran would give them a minute, then order third and fourth up and forward.
    * * * *
    Dumont held Tina. “I can't go out there,” she whimpered.
    “Don't worry, hon, we ain't going nowhere. No LT's gonna make us.”
    “They shot her,” screamed a voice on the squad net. “They shot her right in our...”
    “That was ...” Tina started.
    “Yeah,” Dumont cut her off. He had the hole right down from them. Dumont raised his helmet just enough to see. Someone in space armor with the red unity lightning patch was emptying his rifle into that hole. Unthinking, Dumont pulled his gun out, sighted quickly, and blew the gunner away. Someone on the lip of the rill turned toward him. Dumont walked his fire up to blow him off his feet.
    Needles stitched the other side of the rill's wall. Dumont ducked before they got him. Needles ricocheted all over the place, but none hit him.
    “Du, what is it?”
    “Hon, if you want to live, you got to kill 'em. It's us or them time. Tina, can you stand up a bit more and see what's coming up behind me?”
    Trembling, she did.
    “See anything?”
    “No.”
    “Good girl. Now, something's coming up the rill behind you. Don't turn around. I'm gonna get 'em.” He edged his gun out a bit. The vid on it relayed the sight picture to his heads-up. Nothing. He pushed the gun a bit more. There was someone, down a ways, hiding behind a twist in the rill. Not much to aim at. He held the gun with both hands and pulled the trigger. His target fell, kicking and trying to slap his wounds. Dumont put two rounds through his helmet. He didn't move anymore.
    Using his gun camera for a sweep, Dumont spotted nothing more at either end of the rill. Lying on his back, he pushed out—hoping the whole time his suit would hook on something and keep him in his hole. Nothing. Crouching, he risked a peek above the wall of the rill. Four dudes hopped forward, firing at the old ladies in the holes behind him. Without thought, Dumont swung his gun over the four, trigger finger locked down. They folded over backward. He felt Tina's hand on his shoulder. “What do you want me to do?”
    “Cover my back. I'll take care of our front.” One of the four bodies rolled over, grabbing for the gun nearby. Dumont shot him through the soles of his feet.
    * * * *
    Captain Tran blinked. First and second platoons were gone. Just gone. He needed artillery before he'd order another assault. He crawled to the crest of the pass to get a line-of-sight on artillery. Climbing up on his knees, he got a signal from the artillery net—and a needle in