Read Online The Exiled Earthborn by Paul Tassi - Free Book Online Page B

refined weapon.”
    “You should know, you built it.”
    “It was largely a creation of my father, though I did some work on the engine systems when I was younger. This ship brought Commander Omicron many victories, though often his enemies did not even realize it was present.”
    Lucas walked up to the viewscreen. The vista before him of the planet’s curved surface was astonishing. He wished Asha were there to see it.
    “What do you make of the cloaked ship the Fourth Order used?” he asked.
    “It is hard to say,” Alpha replied. “But I imagine it is a much, much smaller craft, and developed by someone with an intimate knowledge of the science.”
    Alpha became quiet for a moment.
    “I would like to apologize in advance.”
    Lucas broke his gaze out the window and turned to him.
    “For what?”
    “For not being able to accompany you on this mission on the ground. I must remain here, as I am the only one trained to fly this craft.”
    “Of course, I never expected you would be coming. Why would you apologize for that?”
    Alpha sighed.
    “Asha is my … friend,” he said, as if the word was foreign to him. “We have fought many battles together, the three of us, and I would not see her lost after the journey we undertook to get here.”
    “Neither would I,” Lucas said firmly. “We’ll get her back. Have you seen these guys?” he said, motioning to the hulking troops around him. “We have an army of monsters behind us now.”
    “But who is behind those we seek?” Alpha pondered.
    “I guess we’ll find out.”
    The blue edge of the planet turned red as land appeared over the horizon. Reading off Alpha’s monitor, Lucas saw the famed cliffs of Rhylos were below.
    “Suit up,” Tannon called from behind him.

5
    It was nearly dawn when they set out from the Spear. All five moons were still visible in the night sky while the sun lurked under the horizon.
    The cliffs of Rhylos were indeed impressive to behold. A thousand feet of sheer red stone wound away from them for as far as Lucas could see. They’d landed on the muddy beach, where murky streams of brown water, spawned by a few trickling waterfalls on the sides of the cliffs, fed into each other. Clearly, a great body of water had flowed through here once, but not for ages, and the area was now desolate.
    Advance recon had found multiple entrances to the underground base where Asha was being held inside the cliff. They made their way to the one at ground level. The darkness helped hide them from view on the ground, but it wouldn’t for much longer, and they’d be much more visible climbing up the face of the massive cliff come daylight.
    Lucas followed a long line of Guardians sprinting toward the rock wall. Rather than heavy battle plating, each wore a light mesh suit made of tough fibers that promised to stop a shot or two, but no more than that. It made their approach quiet and undetectable, as the stealth suits masked their biological heat signatures and heartbeats from any sensing equipment nearby.
    It was impossible to see Maston, who was leading the charge a few dozen soldiers ahead of Lucas. There had been no time to train him in the formations and tactics of the unit, so Lucas was simply told to “stay in back,” much to his dismay. And with Alpha at the ship’s controls and Tannon running point on the bridge, he had no allies out here. He did, however, recognize a bandaged arm and a few tufts of red hair a couple yards ahead of him.
    Lucas heard a few dull, concussive thuds up ahead he couldn’t place.
    “Three down,” came Maston’s voice over the comm. Gunshots. So that’s what silenced energy blasts sound like. Lucas switched on Natalie’s silencer as well, a firing mode he’d never had occasion to use in their past frenetic firefights. Their previous fights hadn’t required the element of surprise the way this operation did. Lucas was convinced he’d suffered a bit of hearing loss from all the gunfire he’d endured over