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

and ran down over her left collar. She tried to force itback as she answered his question.

“How did I become a Nova? It wasnothing impressive, believe me.”

“Nah,” said the maninsistently, “I bet it’s one hell of astory.”

“She died.” Alexisquickly silencing the excitable man, “She wasengaged in an assault at Helios Prime when the bombs went off. Whatyou see here is a marine reborn.”

“For real?”

Valentine nodded.

“Yes, it’s true. The2nd Battle of Helios Prime two years ago. We’d boarded theenemy flagship.”

“The Leviathan Class BattleshipBurijas?”

Valentine laughed.

“You’re a student ofhistory, I see.”

“It’s one of the most famousbattles of the last decade. The boardingaction that ended the war with the Star Empire.”

“True. It did that, but I neversaw it. My unit assaulted entrenchedpositions on the flagship and ran into a wall of hidden charges. Iwas mortally wounded and pulled away by Captain Olikhimself.”

“There’s something here,”said the squad’s sergeant. He movedforward and looked inside one of the small rooms. He paused andthen looked back to the others.

“There’s just a bench cut intothe wall. I don’t like it.”

Valentine moved over and lookedinside, though not so far as to trigger anything that might be fitted in there. With her right hand,she held onto the frame around the doorway cut into the diamondrock and found a panel.

“Oh,what’s this?” she said with feigned interest.

A tech marine moved to assist, but without waiting, she tapped it withthe fingers on her damaged right hand. A light blinked, and then alattice of diagonal bars spread out to create mesh likedoor.

“Uh…Val. You know what this is, right?” Kallias asked.

She thumped her fist intothe tunnel wall in frustration and tapped thebuttons again. The doorway opened, and Kallias stepped inside. Hewasn’t there for long when he reappeared with a pair of translucentbangles joined with a chain.

“Manacles,” saidValentine, “These are prisoncells.”

“For who?” asked one of themarines.

“For whom,” replied Alexis, instantly regretting her correction, itseemed unnecessary, especially now, “I’ll tell you who it’s for,those poor hairy creatures with the lances and the breathingapparatus, or those other ones that we just killed.”

She hesitated, and Valentinethought she might lose it again.

“All of them must be slave workers forthis rock. That changes everything down here.”

Valentine placed a hand on hershoulder.

“We had no choice. It was us or them.”

“I’ve got readings,” saidHawkins, “There’s a transfer tunnel tothe left, and it goes right to the Captain.”

“You’re sure?” Valentineasked, “What if we continueforwards?”

“I’m pretty sure it just keeps ongoing until it gets to another opencast mine. Scans show an openingfive kilometres wide down there, and thenit opens up like an atomic bomb went off inside theplanet.”

“Okay, the transfer tunnel is the one for us. Let’s go.”

They moved from the cells, butAlexis remained where she was. Both hands were on the frame of thecell door, and Valentine could tell shewas in trouble.

“Alexis, we need to…”

She stopped as flickers of lightcame from where the tunnel continued downwards. It was along distance away, but the light wasgetting closer and closer.

I calculate onehundred plus lifesigns, all coming this way, said Tex.

Valentine gulped.

Incorrect.More are coming behind them,perhaps two to three hundred.

“No! Novas, we’ve got to reach that transfer tunnel before theyget to us first. We’re gonna be swamped.”

“You heard the LanceCorporal!” said the Marine Sergeant,“Move out!”

The slow, careful advance through the tunnels transformed into abizarre race as they rushed through the passage, the Novas leadingthe way. Some slipped and fell, but waiting arms grabbed them. Thedistance closed, and then Valentine spotted it, a small gap in theshaft wall with a bulkhead bracing section half broken. There weretwo mining cars nearby, with one on its side. More worrying werethe bodies of several IAB marines. It didn’t take long to reach theentrance, and no sooner had they made it than the gunfire started,solid slugs from Ski’lig weapons hitting all aroundthem.

“Push themback!” Alexis shouted.

The Novas spaced out in the openarea, while a dozen marines fanned outaround them or behind cover. Both sides unleashed a storm offire.

“Valentine. Take the marines through. We’ll hold themback.”

Valentine gulped nervously.

“They’ll kill you.”

“Don’t worry about us,”she said calmly, “We’ll be right behindyou.”

Valentine licked her lips, and then gave a short nod.

“Marines! Follow me!”

Without checking, she turned and pushed through the service passage.It was partially collapsed in many places, and her bulky armourmade it harder to move. Once making progress, she checked the videofeed coming from the others. Like all Novas and the IAB units theycould share data, including feeds from their armour and weapons.But the flashing light from the battle behind more than encouragedher to keep going. Metre by metre she pushed on, the marines movingquickly behind her. And then to her shock she reached little morethan a walled-up exit point.

“No,”she said bitterly as the armies pushed in from behind.

Tex…What’s going on?

The mainchamber is directly ahead.Three metres through the…

Valentine sighed.

Tex, you can see the same as me.Explain.

“Oh…screw this…Marines, get back!”

She lifted up her arms andtook aim with her shoulder cannon.

Tex, overload the damned cannon!

A bright light built up insidethe weapon, and this time Valentine waited until the gun was facinga critical failure. Warnings sounded inside her helmet, but she still waited another full secondbefore firing. The bright blast of energy struck the sealed wallahead, and a blinding flash engulfed the material. Some of themarines cried out as part of the ceiling collapsed, and then dustspread out inside, as well as fires from the burning plasma.Valentine watched carefully as the dust cleared, and then she couldsee the hole she had just created.

“With me!”

She forced her way through thebreach, stumbling over the brokenmaterial. To her surprise she found herself in a wide chamber, muchlike the one they had been travelling down with the General. Butthen as the marines poured through the gap, she noticed the bodiesin front of them where the blast from her cannon had engulfed themin the super-heated material. But as she looked at the fallen, shecould see movement to her left.

No way!

Just ahundred metres away, and heavily entrenched slightly above theirposition were a great mass of Ski’ligs. Most were the heavies, withtheir thick armour and heavy guns. But there were also scores ofthe more common type, but