Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

support. Button depressors rested by both my thumbs. The Blood Shot was on a turret, allowing me to move the barrel of the weapon right and left, up and down, and a V-shaped sight rested on the end of the barrel.

“Short bursts will work best on the blood shots,” Tong yelled into the comm unit in our helmets. “The ammunition container holds a thousand rounds. You shouldn’t need more.”

I filed this information into my data banks. I was too concentrated on staying upright and working on calming my breathing to answer. My heart hammered in my chest. The familiar feeling of adrenaline came fast and easy.

My senses were at an all-time high as we barreled through the darkening forest. In a few minutes, we were through and on the plain headed toward the Orion itself.

Communication with the Orion kicked in at the same time.

“We see you!” Elon shouted through the comms. “My stars! Those creatures were in the mist?!”

The chatter over the channel was something I ignored for the time being. My focus was on Legion. I always got the creeps when the symbiotic virus moved its infected as one body.

Right now, every infected human or creature swung its head, looking at us in awe. I had to admit I didn’t blame it. It must have been terrifying to witness Arun barreling toward them like a battering ram with a herd of sawg behind her and three more assault vehicles behind them.

Arun was still a good kilometer away when Legion finally moved into action. It didn’t react like we thought, sending the infected rhinos after us first. It moved everything to intercept Arun.

Thousands of infected humans along with the rhinos and the centipede creatures made a rush for Arun’s predator.

“Arun, kill the sawg signal!” Stacy screamed. “Pull back!”

I knew Arun wasn’t going to obey the command in the slightest. I’d seen her eyes. She still blamed herself for the Orion. She was ready to sacrifice everything if it meant getting these supplies into the gates.

“Arun, don’t!” Ricky yelled.

“Take care of each other!” Arun yelled.

Arun’s predator slammed into the front line of Legion’s infected like a rocket. I couldn’t see much since we had the view of sawg butts in front of us, but one second she was there, the next her predator was swarming with infected both under and on top of the vehicle.

“No!” Elon and Ricky screamed. Stacy’s voice was somewhere in there as well. Hers was more of a roar of rage than a scream of sorrow.

The mass of infected beings struck the sawg next. Unlike the predator, Legion wasn’t able to take down the massive beasts.

The sawg created a lane for us, just like we thought they would. Bellowing their war cries, the sawg waded into the infected. They swung the tentacles coming from the sides of their mouths from side to side, sending infected humans and animals flying through the air.

Even the large rhino-like aliens had no chance. The sawg hammered into them, sending them reeling. Enormous sawg legs crushed anything that got in their way.

The next thing I knew, we were traveling through the opening created by the giant beasts.

Stacy opened fire first. Her weapon sounded nothing like our own or even the weapons the Rung used when they ambushed us. The sound the blood shot made was one of its own.

Dat-dat-dat-dat-dat-dat

Her weapon discharged, sending metal cylinders into those Legion controlled. Although the sawg cleared a path for us, that lane was quickly closing as Legion sent in even more infected after us.

“We have to get her,” Ricky screamed over the comms. “We can’t leave Arun out here.”

A moment later, I was within firing distance of the infected. I aimed down the sights, pressing both thumb buttons as I locked on to a group of infected centipede creatures crawling toward us on a hundred tiny legs.

Dat-dat-dat-dat-dat-dat-dat

The blood shot went off, sending shockwaves through my arms and into my chest. If Arun wasn’t in trouble and the hour so dire, I would have enjoyed firing the weapon.

I was the first to admit I wasn’t the best with a blaster, but the weapon took away a lot of the guesswork. I tore into the centipedes without remorse. The steel bolts penetrated their thick hide, sending up a shower of gore and blood.

I tracked my rounds, keeping those infected dumb enough to come for me at bay.

I cleared one side then swung the blood shot over to the other and swept that side. We were making amazing progress amongst the bulk of the horde.

The sawg peeled off, going in their own direction away from the wall. Arun’s signal had gone down with her.

The defenders inside the Orion swung the gates open. A firing team led by Boss Creed and JB formed a line at the entrance to the wall and let loose on Legion with a hose of red blaster rounds.

We were going to make it. The entrance to the wall was less than a click away.

I knew he was going to do it before everyone else.

“Ricky! What are you doing?” Stacy yelled over the comms.

“I’m not going back without Arun!” Ricky yelled.

I looked up from firing on a group of infected that approached from our right flank. Ricky kept his predator on a direct line to where Arun’s had gone down. He never deviated to go for the safety of the wall for a moment.

“Cover him!” Stacy ordered.

I was already on it. Tong followed Ricky toward Arun’s downed predator without hesitation. Jezra circled Stacy’s predator around.

Arun’s predator was on its left side. A mound of infected scurried over it like a colony of ants over some kind of larger bug.

Stacy sprayed Arun’s predator with weapon fire.

I didn’t trust myself to shoot into the mess and not hit Arun by accident.

Tong pulled our predator beside Ricky’s as he struggled to get down out of the driver seat. Still wounded, he moved slowly.

“Rick!” I yelled, jumping down from my Blood Shot and running toward him. “Ricky, I’ll get her.