Star Crusades by Michael Thomas (best ereader for pc txt) 📕

place locked down for the marines.They’re landing any second now.”

Valentine looked up at thedistant opening, but there was still no immediatesign of their backup.

“What’staking them so long?” Kallias asked.

“Focus on the mission. We’ve got work to do.”

“Yes,Sarge.”

Valentine gritted her teeth asshe hunkered down and fought back againstthe ceaseless waves of Ski’ligs. Some of the heavies emerged fromthe right and then opened fire, hitting the Novas with a wave ofprojectiles. The interceptors showered the incoming fire withexplosive slugs, but many still made it through.

Warning,said Tex, Armour breaches in the torso and upper arms.

Seal itand move on! I’ve got nowhere elseto be.

Red alerts still sounded, butwith the audible alerts removed they were more a reminder now thanan annoyance. All sense of the missionhad vanished as the Novas fought from their exposed position out inthe open. Regular marines would have been cut down in seconds, butwith their heavy armour and powerful weapons, they were ideallysuited to this kind of fight.

“Okay, Novas, one morelevel down,” said the Sergeant,“Go!”

Valentine leaptto the entire section and came down hardalongside Hawkins. He nearly fell over, but she grabbed him andpulled him back.

“Nice landing,” he saidsarcastically, “Next time use somebodyelse to break your fall.”

The others came in quickly, andValentine covered them as best she could.Once in position she turned her fire on the gun batteries, causingyet more damage. More Novas from the other lances sent a barrage ofcannon and rocket fire at the same target, and soon all of themcheered as an entire battery detonated, scattering debris in alldirections. Some of the broken network even hit circling Ski’ligs,sending them all to the ground. One came down next to Valentine andcrashed into several of the spikes.

“Beautiful,” said Kallias as he turned back around and openedfire.

They fired an almost endless barrages of fire onto the Novas, andValentine spotted Hawkins down on one knee as the weight of fireforced him down She took a step closer, and then stopped as thefire shifted its focus to her. The sharp bolts came down for them,and Valentine felt the reassuring vibration in her chest as herintegral interceptors activated. The top of her chest plate justbelow the neck was fitted with twenty tiny barrels, each normallyhidden behind an additional plate.

The defensive fireobliterated most of the bolts, and eventhose that made it through were severely damaged by the cloud ofexploding shards. Valentine ignored the attacks, relying on theinterceptors, and fired three shots with her cannon. She turned asanother group of Ski’ligs came in from the entrance of thecavern.

“Hostiles, coming in fast!”

Others emerged to jointhe attack, and soon scores of the armouredcreatures were heading right towards them. Some remained furtherback and continued firing, using volleys of aimed fire to pin theNovas into position.

“I don’t like this!”Alexis said as she continued to fire, “They’reholding us here.”

“Doesn’t matter,” repliedJablonsky, “We kill them wherever we findthem. And then we push on. We have to destroy thoseweapons.”

Valentine tracked from left to right, sending one blast after anotheroff into the distance. The XHEC-1 cannon proved its worth time andtime against as she cut them down. But for every Ski’lig she hit,another two appeared, and soon the mass of airborne warriorscircled overhead in a menacing formation.

“Cut the bastardsdown,” said Sergeant Jablonsky, “Iwant…”

A shower of light and smokesurrounded them as the Ski’ligs dumpedsomething directly above their position. The light spread out, muchlike a pattern of flares fired from a spacecraft.

“They’re dumpingcountermeasures,” said Alexis, “Preparefor close-ranged combat. Hold your ground.”

For some like Kallias, theysimply lowered their aim and waited, butthe rest activated their close combat weapons. Valentine smashedher fists together and then spoke to Tex.

You know what to do.

The joints and movable plates onher right arm adjusted as the hand changed shape. The fingers bentaway in a sickening fashion that would have left her hand shattered had it been Human. In less than a fullsecond it had transformed into a brutal looking mace, top heavy,and covered in small ridges. At the same time, the petals on herleft arm spread out into a combat shield. It took a little longerthan the mace to form, but only a little.

“I’m blind,” said Valentine as she found it impossible to see through.Tex flipped through multiple scanning modes, but none could fullypenetrate the cloud, though it was already beginning tofade.

“Wait…here they come!”

The shapes came in hard and fast, like a mass of diving falconsheading for their prey. They flitted about in small groups of twoof three, using their speed and numerous hiding places to cloaktheir advance as they surged towards the Novas. Off in the distancethe other lances were fighting back, and even in the fog Valentinecould make out the muzzle flashes and bursts of energy fromcannons.

What thehell!

Two creatures came right at her, but they were not carryingfirearms. The pair held a glistening lance with the tip pointingright at her. She fired again. Kallias and Hawkins both joined in,sending a mass of fire at the enemy. A few fell to the ground, butthree managed to break through, slamming into the unit with alltheir speed. The impact breached the circle, and Valentine foundherself face-to-face with one of the warriors. It hissed, butValentine was having none of it. Without waiting, she slammed intoit with her shield and knocked it back. Right after that shebrought the mace down onto its head, crushing its neck, and leavingit to fall lifelessly to the ground.

“Yeah, next!” she saidconfidentially.

But as she turned to theright, two more whooshed past, and thistime neither of them stopped. They slammed their lances intowhatever targets they could find and left the weapon embedded wherethey were. Sergeant Jablonsky fired continually, but it wasn’tenough to stop the lance hitting him hard in the upper arm. Bandutook another in the left hand that ripped part of the limb away,leaving him armless and stunned. He pointed with his remaining limband opened fire at the fleeing Ski’lig.

“Those grenades areimpressive,” muttered Valentine as shespotted another Ski’lig coming in for the kill on its own. Shecarefully took aim and unleashed a powerful burst from the cannon.The creature pulled away at the last minute and dived tosafety.

“Sergeant!” Kallias yelled, “Hold on.”