Read Online Valley of Fires: A Conquered Earth Novel (The Conquered Earth Series) by J. Barton Mitchell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: J. Barton Mitchell
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It was the Landships. They were firing back.
Cheers erupted as the first of the spear points found their marks. In the distance, colorful explosions blossomed into the sky as they punched through the red Spiders’ armor. He watched those machines crash to the ground in flames, and felt a glimmer of hope.
Still, there were more. Many more.
Behind him, another Landship exploded, tearing itself into the earth.
“Keep moving!” he shouted, running through the yellowish, slow-motion world of the Agility power. He and the others were almost there, and when they reached the Assembly, debts would be paid.
Dane couldn’t see the other ships, the unarmed ones, and he didn’t have time to look. He only hoped that Avril had escaped.
* * *
HOLT BARELY MANAGED TO keep from falling as the Wind Rift darted around another Landship at breakneck speed. The fleet was moving, which was good. The problem was, every ship here was headed southwest, while the Wind Rift was trying to go due south. It meant they had to cross through a massive wave of traffic before they could get clear, and that was proving tough.
The crew scrambled frantically to adjust the sails and rigging as Olive barked orders. Yet again, Holt was impressed by their discipline, their ability to not lose their heads in all the panic. Then again, maybe it had something to do with the knowledge that one slip by any of them probably meant their end.
Explosions rocked the ground. Raptors roared past, their cannons screaming. Holt watched three wheels on the side of a nearby Landship separate from the hull and send the entire ship listing into the ground.
The Wind Rift banked hard left, claiming the gap left by the disintegrated ship, desperately trying to get away from the buzzing gunships above.
Very little of the chaos around Holt registered. He just looked north, to where the other Landships moved to intercept the approaching army, and the sky above them was absolutely full of Raptors, firing down a constant hailstorm of yellow bolts. Two more ships incinerated and fell apart, their Barriers unable to hold.
Holt’s eyes found the massive Wind Star, Mira’s ship, watching it desperately. Its Barriers were holding, but it was the biggest target out there.
And there was something else now. Something huge. Behind the line of Spiders. Something that filled the horizon with its girth. A single, massive object, the source of those terrifying footfalls. A giant walker. Something no one had ever seen, and if it was real, it towered hundreds of feet above the ground, and it was headed right toward Mira.
Holt gripped the railing, looking down to the ground racing by below. He could jump, run as fast as he could, but he wouldn’t last ten seconds and he’d never reach her in time.
Antimatter crystals shot into the air from the deck behind him. Two Raptors exploded as they banked past, caught by Masyn’s and Castor’s spear points. The Helix fired again and another Raptor crashed in flames.
“Light ’em up or not, boss?” one of Ravan’s men asked, his rifle drawn. The Menagerie looked eager to join in.
“Sure,” Ravan replied, grabbing her own weapon. “Why the hell not?” Gunfire echoed as they shot into the sky.
“Captain!” The first mate shouted down from the crow’s nest at the top of the ship’s central mast. “I don’t see any way out of this, traffic’s just too—”
“Well, find a way!” Olive shouted back. She was at the front, where the helmsman spun the ship’s huge wheel, trying to keep from running into the vessels on either side of it. “If we don’t, we’re going to end up—”
Two nearby Landships crashed directly into one another, the front of one’s hull tearing loose as both ships disintegrated.
“Pull starboard!” Olive shouted. “Pull—”
Her voice was lost amid the screaming of Raptor engines. Holt felt the ship shift under him as it turned hard, barely avoiding the spinning, flaming debris.
In spite
Cheers erupted as the first of the spear points found their marks. In the distance, colorful explosions blossomed into the sky as they punched through the red Spiders’ armor. He watched those machines crash to the ground in flames, and felt a glimmer of hope.
Still, there were more. Many more.
Behind him, another Landship exploded, tearing itself into the earth.
“Keep moving!” he shouted, running through the yellowish, slow-motion world of the Agility power. He and the others were almost there, and when they reached the Assembly, debts would be paid.
Dane couldn’t see the other ships, the unarmed ones, and he didn’t have time to look. He only hoped that Avril had escaped.
* * *
HOLT BARELY MANAGED TO keep from falling as the Wind Rift darted around another Landship at breakneck speed. The fleet was moving, which was good. The problem was, every ship here was headed southwest, while the Wind Rift was trying to go due south. It meant they had to cross through a massive wave of traffic before they could get clear, and that was proving tough.
The crew scrambled frantically to adjust the sails and rigging as Olive barked orders. Yet again, Holt was impressed by their discipline, their ability to not lose their heads in all the panic. Then again, maybe it had something to do with the knowledge that one slip by any of them probably meant their end.
Explosions rocked the ground. Raptors roared past, their cannons screaming. Holt watched three wheels on the side of a nearby Landship separate from the hull and send the entire ship listing into the ground.
The Wind Rift banked hard left, claiming the gap left by the disintegrated ship, desperately trying to get away from the buzzing gunships above.
Very little of the chaos around Holt registered. He just looked north, to where the other Landships moved to intercept the approaching army, and the sky above them was absolutely full of Raptors, firing down a constant hailstorm of yellow bolts. Two more ships incinerated and fell apart, their Barriers unable to hold.
Holt’s eyes found the massive Wind Star, Mira’s ship, watching it desperately. Its Barriers were holding, but it was the biggest target out there.
And there was something else now. Something huge. Behind the line of Spiders. Something that filled the horizon with its girth. A single, massive object, the source of those terrifying footfalls. A giant walker. Something no one had ever seen, and if it was real, it towered hundreds of feet above the ground, and it was headed right toward Mira.
Holt gripped the railing, looking down to the ground racing by below. He could jump, run as fast as he could, but he wouldn’t last ten seconds and he’d never reach her in time.
Antimatter crystals shot into the air from the deck behind him. Two Raptors exploded as they banked past, caught by Masyn’s and Castor’s spear points. The Helix fired again and another Raptor crashed in flames.
“Light ’em up or not, boss?” one of Ravan’s men asked, his rifle drawn. The Menagerie looked eager to join in.
“Sure,” Ravan replied, grabbing her own weapon. “Why the hell not?” Gunfire echoed as they shot into the sky.
“Captain!” The first mate shouted down from the crow’s nest at the top of the ship’s central mast. “I don’t see any way out of this, traffic’s just too—”
“Well, find a way!” Olive shouted back. She was at the front, where the helmsman spun the ship’s huge wheel, trying to keep from running into the vessels on either side of it. “If we don’t, we’re going to end up—”
Two nearby Landships crashed directly into one another, the front of one’s hull tearing loose as both ships disintegrated.
“Pull starboard!” Olive shouted. “Pull—”
Her voice was lost amid the screaming of Raptor engines. Holt felt the ship shift under him as it turned hard, barely avoiding the spinning, flaming debris.
In spite
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