Read Online March of the Legion by Marshall S. Thomas - Free Book Online
Authors: Marshall S. Thomas
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was fighting off the pain. Priestess helped him to his feet.
"Which is the one you wanted?" Priestess asked.
"Bay Three—right over there. Get me in the cockpit."
"Three, Five—" Beta One looked around the installation, his E in one hand. "Cover all the exits—see the tacmap. It looks like this site connects directly with the starport. See that corridor? The O's could kick in the door in a frac. I want silence. Ten, what's the sit?"
"Let me get in the cockpit first, will you?" Priestess was helping him hobble up the service stairs to the aircar cabin.
"Do it!" Snow Leopard was uncharacteristically nervous.
"Ten sir! Deadman!" I wasn't worried. If the aircar could be fixed, Redhawk would do it. Psycho and I found our places. We were each covering two doorways. Snow Leopard craned his neck, inspecting the ceiling and the launching locks.
"Three, Five—if it's the O's, we go all out. Five, use tacstars. The rest of us go to xmax and laser."
"Mother is pleased," Psycho replied. Snow Leopard ignored him. Mother was Five's Manlink—the Mother of Destruction. She'd saved our asses more than once.
"These bastards shouldn't be here," Snow Leopard said, kicking a door open into what looked like a mini office. "I'll be in here looking for info." He ripped a file drawer open and scattered the contents.
"Ohhh, that's good." Redhawk was off his feet, in the pilot's seat, right where he belonged. "Now let's see what's ailing this old gal." It was a DefCorps aircar, an older model, but still a highly dangerous beast.
My blood stirred just looking at it. I couldn't help it; I had been bound for the Legion ever since my birth. It had just taken a little time for me to realize it. But all it took nowadays was an aircar, sitting in the repair bay. On Andrion 2, we had seen Legion fighters, booming over the burning ruins of the Systie base, flashing past and wheeling in the night sky; and they were so beautiful, I had almost cried. On Coldmark, the Spawn had dropped in the whole fighter force to rescue us and the System had met us, face to face; and we had smashed them to bits. No, I was with the Legion, for life or death, for good or evil, in sickness or in health, for better or for worse, no looking back. And every once in awhile I realized it. It was scary. I tore my eyes away from the aircar and clutched my E tighter. My fate was to die, under strange stars, for the Legion.
"Ten, report." Snow Leopard did not like it here, I could tell.
"I can fix this girl, One. But I'm going to need some new internal power packs. I'm giving Priestess instructions on what I'll need right now."
"Is it all here?"
"Sure, we'll find it."
"So you can fix the aircar?"
"That's a big ten!" Salvation, for us all! Redhawk was a genius—how could we survive without him? We were going to get out of this madhouse!
"Alert! Movement! Life! Human! Target approaching, as marked!" Sweety's icy metal voice hissed in my ears, the tacmap glowing red, pinpointing the target, a flashing red dot approaching us in the corridor to the starport. We ran to cover the door. It was a personnel door, closed and locked. Snow Leopard and Psycho and I skidded to a stop, bracketing the door, ready to fire. My E was at my shoulder.
"Three, E on v-max auto," Snow Leopard ordered. "Fire when the target appears. Five, stand by on laser. Fire only if the target's in armor. This one's human. I want it alive." Priestess dropped to the deck from the aircar, running to us, shouldering her E. "Nine, cover the other entrances. If anything else shows up, be prepared to go to energy systems."
Priestess whirled around to cover the other doors.
I could taste the fear. E on v-max auto, sights centered on the door. I watched the target on the tacmap. As it came closer, Sweety got a faint energy image.
"Target not in armor," she informed me. "Confirm it's human. No weapons."
"Thinker, v-min auto," Snow Leopard hissed. I made the adjustment.
"This is crap!" Psycho objected. "I don't
"Which is the one you wanted?" Priestess asked.
"Bay Three—right over there. Get me in the cockpit."
"Three, Five—" Beta One looked around the installation, his E in one hand. "Cover all the exits—see the tacmap. It looks like this site connects directly with the starport. See that corridor? The O's could kick in the door in a frac. I want silence. Ten, what's the sit?"
"Let me get in the cockpit first, will you?" Priestess was helping him hobble up the service stairs to the aircar cabin.
"Do it!" Snow Leopard was uncharacteristically nervous.
"Ten sir! Deadman!" I wasn't worried. If the aircar could be fixed, Redhawk would do it. Psycho and I found our places. We were each covering two doorways. Snow Leopard craned his neck, inspecting the ceiling and the launching locks.
"Three, Five—if it's the O's, we go all out. Five, use tacstars. The rest of us go to xmax and laser."
"Mother is pleased," Psycho replied. Snow Leopard ignored him. Mother was Five's Manlink—the Mother of Destruction. She'd saved our asses more than once.
"These bastards shouldn't be here," Snow Leopard said, kicking a door open into what looked like a mini office. "I'll be in here looking for info." He ripped a file drawer open and scattered the contents.
"Ohhh, that's good." Redhawk was off his feet, in the pilot's seat, right where he belonged. "Now let's see what's ailing this old gal." It was a DefCorps aircar, an older model, but still a highly dangerous beast.
My blood stirred just looking at it. I couldn't help it; I had been bound for the Legion ever since my birth. It had just taken a little time for me to realize it. But all it took nowadays was an aircar, sitting in the repair bay. On Andrion 2, we had seen Legion fighters, booming over the burning ruins of the Systie base, flashing past and wheeling in the night sky; and they were so beautiful, I had almost cried. On Coldmark, the Spawn had dropped in the whole fighter force to rescue us and the System had met us, face to face; and we had smashed them to bits. No, I was with the Legion, for life or death, for good or evil, in sickness or in health, for better or for worse, no looking back. And every once in awhile I realized it. It was scary. I tore my eyes away from the aircar and clutched my E tighter. My fate was to die, under strange stars, for the Legion.
"Ten, report." Snow Leopard did not like it here, I could tell.
"I can fix this girl, One. But I'm going to need some new internal power packs. I'm giving Priestess instructions on what I'll need right now."
"Is it all here?"
"Sure, we'll find it."
"So you can fix the aircar?"
"That's a big ten!" Salvation, for us all! Redhawk was a genius—how could we survive without him? We were going to get out of this madhouse!
"Alert! Movement! Life! Human! Target approaching, as marked!" Sweety's icy metal voice hissed in my ears, the tacmap glowing red, pinpointing the target, a flashing red dot approaching us in the corridor to the starport. We ran to cover the door. It was a personnel door, closed and locked. Snow Leopard and Psycho and I skidded to a stop, bracketing the door, ready to fire. My E was at my shoulder.
"Three, E on v-max auto," Snow Leopard ordered. "Fire when the target appears. Five, stand by on laser. Fire only if the target's in armor. This one's human. I want it alive." Priestess dropped to the deck from the aircar, running to us, shouldering her E. "Nine, cover the other entrances. If anything else shows up, be prepared to go to energy systems."
Priestess whirled around to cover the other doors.
I could taste the fear. E on v-max auto, sights centered on the door. I watched the target on the tacmap. As it came closer, Sweety got a faint energy image.
"Target not in armor," she informed me. "Confirm it's human. No weapons."
"Thinker, v-min auto," Snow Leopard hissed. I made the adjustment.
"This is crap!" Psycho objected. "I don't
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