Read Online The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #4, Retribution by Andrew Beery - Free Book Online
Authors: Andrew Beery
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… look sharp ! ”
Private Stone inched forward in his seat. As soon as the transport touched down, the rear ramp would drop and the marines would be given the order to deploy. He knew that the first few minutes a landing craft hit ground were the most dangerous. Soldiers were concentrated and comparatively vulnerable. Their training emphasized getting up and out before bad things could happen. It was not a lesson he wanted to learn the hard way.
The transport touched down with a deafening crunch. At first the ship was not quite level, but then ,with a grinding noise, it settled the rest of the way. Private Stone tried not to think about what it was they might have landed on and why it was suddenly much flatter.
“ GO GO GO ! ” The sergeant yelled.
Private Stone found himself rushing out the rear of the transport and into a scene from an apocalyptic nightmare. Buildings were shattered. Everywhere he looked he could see signs of violent and brutal fighting. Smoke and flames emanated from burned-out vehicles and piles of rubble that once had been small buildings.
“ Get a move on, so n … this ai n’ t no sightseeing tour. Secure a parameter one hundred yards out . ”
Private Stone felt a shove on his shoulder as the sergeant backed up his command with a not-so-gentle shove. It was less than fifty feet away that Private Stone found the first of the bodies.
Chapter Seve n – Total War...
General Moss scanned the readouts from the bridge of the Redclaw . Try as he might, he saw absolutely nothing. None of the scanners gave any hint of other ships within the Naanac system. How in the Great Shell had so many GCP troops and short range support craft suddenly appeared?
He had just been forced to send an FTL message with orders for several ships scheduled for the invasion task force to redeploy to his position in the Naanac system. He was taking a great risk in doing so. The chairman himself had ordered their participation in what the he was callin g“ The Grand Undertaking . ” Still, the general had no choice. Losing control of Naanac after the chairman had ordered him to suppress the uprising would almost certainly ensure his early retirement in the form of a very public execution.
He turned his attention back to the planet below.
“ Redeploy and focus all our troops on Harromag. We must retake and hold the Capital. Inform Captain Breakwater that I will be arriving shortly to take personal command of the ground situation . ”
“ As you order, sir , ” his executive officer answered .“ If I may as k … what are your orders for the other cities where we are seeing slave uprisings ? ”
General Moss looked deeply into his executive office r’ s eyes. As was often the case in the Modos senior command structure, his exec reported his activities directly to the Chairma n’ s office. This insured elements of the military were not tempted to stage a hostile takeover. He was not going to give his exec an excuse to question his commitment.
“ Send them a message , ” he said, quietly.
“ Sir ? ”
“ Nuke them . ”
***
“ Reports are starting to come in, Admiral , ” Commander Ken Kirkland said, from his station as first officer aboard the GCP Yorktown . “ Our troops are only encountering resistance in a couple of location s … most notably the capital. All other locations had minimal Modos presence and our people essentially just walked in and setup shop alongside the Naan resistance . ”
“ Very good. Have Commander LeAnder focus his attention on the Syndicate Headquarters district. Any action by those two Syndicate Frigates in orbit ? ”
“ Negative. Combined they are not as big as we are, so the troops they deployed on the surface may be all they have to send. They are actively scanning the space surrounding the planet. My guess is they are trying to figure out how and where our forces came from. Since we are cloaked, it must have seemed like they appeared out of thin air .
Private Stone inched forward in his seat. As soon as the transport touched down, the rear ramp would drop and the marines would be given the order to deploy. He knew that the first few minutes a landing craft hit ground were the most dangerous. Soldiers were concentrated and comparatively vulnerable. Their training emphasized getting up and out before bad things could happen. It was not a lesson he wanted to learn the hard way.
The transport touched down with a deafening crunch. At first the ship was not quite level, but then ,with a grinding noise, it settled the rest of the way. Private Stone tried not to think about what it was they might have landed on and why it was suddenly much flatter.
“ GO GO GO ! ” The sergeant yelled.
Private Stone found himself rushing out the rear of the transport and into a scene from an apocalyptic nightmare. Buildings were shattered. Everywhere he looked he could see signs of violent and brutal fighting. Smoke and flames emanated from burned-out vehicles and piles of rubble that once had been small buildings.
“ Get a move on, so n … this ai n’ t no sightseeing tour. Secure a parameter one hundred yards out . ”
Private Stone felt a shove on his shoulder as the sergeant backed up his command with a not-so-gentle shove. It was less than fifty feet away that Private Stone found the first of the bodies.
Chapter Seve n – Total War...
General Moss scanned the readouts from the bridge of the Redclaw . Try as he might, he saw absolutely nothing. None of the scanners gave any hint of other ships within the Naanac system. How in the Great Shell had so many GCP troops and short range support craft suddenly appeared?
He had just been forced to send an FTL message with orders for several ships scheduled for the invasion task force to redeploy to his position in the Naanac system. He was taking a great risk in doing so. The chairman himself had ordered their participation in what the he was callin g“ The Grand Undertaking . ” Still, the general had no choice. Losing control of Naanac after the chairman had ordered him to suppress the uprising would almost certainly ensure his early retirement in the form of a very public execution.
He turned his attention back to the planet below.
“ Redeploy and focus all our troops on Harromag. We must retake and hold the Capital. Inform Captain Breakwater that I will be arriving shortly to take personal command of the ground situation . ”
“ As you order, sir , ” his executive officer answered .“ If I may as k … what are your orders for the other cities where we are seeing slave uprisings ? ”
General Moss looked deeply into his executive office r’ s eyes. As was often the case in the Modos senior command structure, his exec reported his activities directly to the Chairma n’ s office. This insured elements of the military were not tempted to stage a hostile takeover. He was not going to give his exec an excuse to question his commitment.
“ Send them a message , ” he said, quietly.
“ Sir ? ”
“ Nuke them . ”
***
“ Reports are starting to come in, Admiral , ” Commander Ken Kirkland said, from his station as first officer aboard the GCP Yorktown . “ Our troops are only encountering resistance in a couple of location s … most notably the capital. All other locations had minimal Modos presence and our people essentially just walked in and setup shop alongside the Naan resistance . ”
“ Very good. Have Commander LeAnder focus his attention on the Syndicate Headquarters district. Any action by those two Syndicate Frigates in orbit ? ”
“ Negative. Combined they are not as big as we are, so the troops they deployed on the surface may be all they have to send. They are actively scanning the space surrounding the planet. My guess is they are trying to figure out how and where our forces came from. Since we are cloaked, it must have seemed like they appeared out of thin air .
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