Read Online Koban: The Mark of Koban by Stephen W Bennett - Free Book Online
Authors: Stephen W Bennett
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the
issue. Now the highest status warrior in this raiding party was Daktor, and he would
lead.
Daktor ordered all of the survivors to return to the ship
with haste. The resupplied warriors would attack the humans from an unexpected
direction, after he repositioned the Clanship on the other side of the blocked
canyon. Telour had warned that humans were fond of traps and trickery.
Therefore, the key was to place his warriors were humans did not expect the
Krall to be.
****
The aliens would not expect the humans to be here. Sanji was
taking the trucks off-road by the most direct route to the alien ship. He had
learned of Saul’s death from Brad, but his chief engineer had taken many of the
killers with him. The last of the explosives stored at the Pipe had killed the
only three aliens that had made it past the initial blast in the canyon.
In a show of intestinal fortitude that Sanji admired, Brad
had climbed the bluff to see what the aliens were doing where the canyon road
was blocked. He could have run right into them, bypassing the blockage in the
same way. Instead, for some reason they were racing back towards the town, he
reported seeing the flicker of their shadows from the backlight of fires that
they had set earlier.
Speculating, Sanji asked, “Brad, if you could climb
up to get around the blocked road, why do you think they didn’t? Give me
your best guess.”
“Boss, they somehow spotted Saul in the shadows and started firing
at him, just before he blew the canyon. The number of shots they fired was relatively
low. Only ten or fifteen rounds, from at least a hundred of them that were
leading the charge. Of the three that got past the destruction, they all drew
their weapons, yet only one fired a single shot, wounding one of the riggers.
They holstered their guns and drew knives, still running at us, before Jason
blew them to Hell. I think they used up most of their ammunition in town.”
Sanji considered that a moment. “Then you think the retreat
is just to resupply at their ship?”
“Yes Sir. Would you invade a world only with the ammunition
you could carry on your belt?”
“Makes sense to me. It sounds like there are two parties
heading back to their ship now. So,” he mused. “They’ll be there soon getting
reloads, with the others close behind. All the rats in the same hole…” he left
the thought hanging.
Suddenly he made his decision. “I’ll get back to you Brad.”
Next, he turned to Will for some instruction. “Show me how
you link up a lead truck to make the others follow.”
Suspecting what his CEO had in mind, Will told him, “It
won’t work without at least one certified transducer equipped driver in the
lead truck, Sir. I’ll bet that isn’t you. The other drivers and I can drive them
where you want. Tell us what you plan to do, and then you should get out.”
“Will, I won’t allow you to do something that I expected to
do alone. I’ll not let any of you do it in my place. It could be a one way
trip.”
“Relax Sir. I’ll tell you how a real Turd would do this.” He
grinned.
****
Daktor, the K’Tal pilot, and one hundred twenty eight novice
warriors reached the edge of the pad where the Clanship had landed. Using his
com button on his shoulder, the K’Tal tapped out the coded signal to open the
lower hatches. All four hatches snapped up into their hull recesses, revealing
the stacks of pistol and rifle ammunition inside, and even heavier plasma
rifles, if they were required.
Addressing his octet leaders, Daktor instructed them, “Make
sure every warrior takes the maximum ammunition they can carry. We will use
knives only when we have captured the last of the enemy, and no other traps or
long pursuit is possible.” He wasn’t going to allow his warriors to
rampage recklessly and run out of ammunition. That was Grodol’s mistake. One of
several he made.
Reloading and stocking up was still underway when all of the
Krall heard the sudden
issue. Now the highest status warrior in this raiding party was Daktor, and he would
lead.
Daktor ordered all of the survivors to return to the ship
with haste. The resupplied warriors would attack the humans from an unexpected
direction, after he repositioned the Clanship on the other side of the blocked
canyon. Telour had warned that humans were fond of traps and trickery.
Therefore, the key was to place his warriors were humans did not expect the
Krall to be.
****
The aliens would not expect the humans to be here. Sanji was
taking the trucks off-road by the most direct route to the alien ship. He had
learned of Saul’s death from Brad, but his chief engineer had taken many of the
killers with him. The last of the explosives stored at the Pipe had killed the
only three aliens that had made it past the initial blast in the canyon.
In a show of intestinal fortitude that Sanji admired, Brad
had climbed the bluff to see what the aliens were doing where the canyon road
was blocked. He could have run right into them, bypassing the blockage in the
same way. Instead, for some reason they were racing back towards the town, he
reported seeing the flicker of their shadows from the backlight of fires that
they had set earlier.
Speculating, Sanji asked, “Brad, if you could climb
up to get around the blocked road, why do you think they didn’t? Give me
your best guess.”
“Boss, they somehow spotted Saul in the shadows and started firing
at him, just before he blew the canyon. The number of shots they fired was relatively
low. Only ten or fifteen rounds, from at least a hundred of them that were
leading the charge. Of the three that got past the destruction, they all drew
their weapons, yet only one fired a single shot, wounding one of the riggers.
They holstered their guns and drew knives, still running at us, before Jason
blew them to Hell. I think they used up most of their ammunition in town.”
Sanji considered that a moment. “Then you think the retreat
is just to resupply at their ship?”
“Yes Sir. Would you invade a world only with the ammunition
you could carry on your belt?”
“Makes sense to me. It sounds like there are two parties
heading back to their ship now. So,” he mused. “They’ll be there soon getting
reloads, with the others close behind. All the rats in the same hole…” he left
the thought hanging.
Suddenly he made his decision. “I’ll get back to you Brad.”
Next, he turned to Will for some instruction. “Show me how
you link up a lead truck to make the others follow.”
Suspecting what his CEO had in mind, Will told him, “It
won’t work without at least one certified transducer equipped driver in the
lead truck, Sir. I’ll bet that isn’t you. The other drivers and I can drive them
where you want. Tell us what you plan to do, and then you should get out.”
“Will, I won’t allow you to do something that I expected to
do alone. I’ll not let any of you do it in my place. It could be a one way
trip.”
“Relax Sir. I’ll tell you how a real Turd would do this.” He
grinned.
****
Daktor, the K’Tal pilot, and one hundred twenty eight novice
warriors reached the edge of the pad where the Clanship had landed. Using his
com button on his shoulder, the K’Tal tapped out the coded signal to open the
lower hatches. All four hatches snapped up into their hull recesses, revealing
the stacks of pistol and rifle ammunition inside, and even heavier plasma
rifles, if they were required.
Addressing his octet leaders, Daktor instructed them, “Make
sure every warrior takes the maximum ammunition they can carry. We will use
knives only when we have captured the last of the enemy, and no other traps or
long pursuit is possible.” He wasn’t going to allow his warriors to
rampage recklessly and run out of ammunition. That was Grodol’s mistake. One of
several he made.
Reloading and stocking up was still underway when all of the
Krall heard the sudden
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