Strange Company by Nick Cole (best ebook reader for ubuntu txt) 📕

is always a privilege to fire. Has been ever since there were soldiers to fire it.

“One night I drive over to her college to pick her up. We were gonna see a spectacuthriller. Lethal Monarch. Ever see that one, Sar’nt?”

I hadn’t.

“She ain’t there. At her dorm. Friend tells me she’s at this guy’s. So… I go over, knock on the door, and he answers. Shirtless. Smile on his face like he knows what’s up is up. Real Jodie type. Know what I mean?”

I do. I really do.

“I ask for her. Sinda here? He says no. But I hear her, and she says yes she is. Like someone else was coming to look for her not me. He disappears, and she opens the door a crack and I’m just standing there, and the look on her face is…”

Two minutes to LZ. I check my weapon. I can see the airfield out there on the desert floor. There’s already black smoke rising from across the city of low buildings around it. It’s clear we’re flying into a battle. But like all battles it looks peaceful from above. Almost lazy. I’m betting it’s a real different story down there right about now with Amarcus and company fighting a street battle to take the airfield. Ghost shooting down as many as they can while moving from position to position. The First Sergeant running the whole show with his particular brand of relentless good humor.

There were dead. I knew that already from the comm chatter.

I look at the Kid as I get ready. We’ve got some ammo and weapons. I’ll be going with the captain to take the armored transport once we’re down.

I look at the Little Girl. She’s watching me and I swear an autumn leaf dances into the open cabin of the cargo deck, swirls around, and we both watch it knowingly. Her, a child watching a leaf play, never minding all the death and chaos about to go down. Me, freaked out but numb. Thinking… This might as well happen. It’s probably for the best. The Wild Thing might not even be enough considering the mounting odds and growing casualty reports we’re getting.

Besides. Her friend is showing up whether we like it or not.

It’s get it on time. And then some.

I take a deep breath. This might as well happen.

I’ve got two mags now. And some beat-up dudes to take to the transport. Hauser is ruined. But he’s going anyway. Of course he is. The captain is shot but he’s hard as nails so that don’t matter. Jacks and Punch and Choker look like three killers ready to do what they do best. The Monarch slithers out of the co-pilot’s chair as we make our approach. Fresh mag, chambers a round, and flips the safety to off. The airfield grows wide ahead and below. Tracer fire and explosions all across the city. The taxi aprons and clamshell hangars down there are silent. Other ships are departing fast, rocketing off into the upper atmosphere and the burning daylight. One ship is on fire in the late-day desert sunlight down there on the tarmac. It explodes suddenly sending hull plating and debris in every direction.

I spot the company crawler making the airfield. Under heavy fire. Dog soldiers are falling back in squads. Firing and covering. Carrying their wounded to the crawler, or around the crawler, for cover. Local security forces are pursuing in armored technicals and teams on foot. Someone fires AT and it smokes off and smashes into a building. Blowing debris out the back.

I can’t believe we’ve made it this far.

I can’t believe we’ll make it any farther. I can’t believe that at all.

That seems impossible as I see Monarch Ultra Marine death squads sweeping in from all points of the compass now. Like this was some kind of trap they knew we’d arrive at eventually. Nice try, Strange Company. But the dice were loaded the whole time. Whether you listened to the ghost of John Strange in the Bar at the End of the Universe or not. Don’t believe in anything, Orion. Not ever. It’ll just get you killed like it’s about to.

“She just looked at me and said, It’s over.” The Kid is watching it all too out his side of the aircraft as he finishes his story of who he was before the Company of Strange. “Maybe for her, Sar’nt. Maybe. I love her though. Still do even though she doesn’t anymore. Maybe sometimes, she’ll think of me and wonder what happened to me. Ya think? Wonder if I bought it in some battle no one remembers but that made a difference for someone I’ll never know, y’know. That’s all I guess I wanted. That’s my story, Sar’nt. And it ain’t much of one. But… it’s mine. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I joined. I loved a beautiful girl, and she didn’t love me anymore. Dumb, huh? I thought I’d just do something dumb because…”

Someone’s shooting at us. Rounds smack into the fuselage. He doesn’t finish. We’re in it now.

Nothing after that because we were down and clear. Door gunners laying the hate in every direction because the environment was absolutely target-rich. We hustled out into a firefight we didn’t start, with every intention of finishing it. ’Cause that’s all we had. All we ever had. Strange Company gets paid to finish the fights other people start.

I think John Strange would be proud of that. He was that kind of dude. I only met him once, and he was a ghost then, but I think he’d proud of how we hung together even when the odds were against us

But I’d heard the Kid. Heard his story that was the same as all of our stories though the details and reasons are often different. You should hear Choker’s. It’s really messed up.

I knew the parts the Kid didn’t know. Not yet. You gotta live longer to know those parts. That you can love someone even if they don’t love