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

Legion’s been busy taking out the Rung, I berated myself. Stupid, how stupid were we to sit and wait behind our walls for an entire month, hoping for what? That Legion would one day leave on his own?

For as much as I beat myself up, I knew that we hadn’t just been sitting inside of our walls playing dice. We had emptied the Cerberus Installation of everything we could use, reinforced our walls, and trained a Civil Authority contingent that would be able to give Legion hell when we called on them. Still, it wasn’t enough. I realized that now.

“We’re not going to make it,” Tong said via the comms in our helmets. “We’ll still have two minutes’ worth of driving left when the infected reach the canyon walls. There have to be over a hundred thousand of the infected now, including humans, Rung, and animals.”

“Get ready to clear the walls,” Stacy instructed Tong. “You too, Lou. We can bet they’ll be raining down fire on us, maybe even boulders.”

“Got it,” Lou said with a confidence I didn’t feel.

“Understood,” Tong answered.

My eyes traveled back and forth as I studied the map and the terrain ahead.

“Incoming in under a minute,” Tong said, his voice tense.

“Cover the right side of the canyon,” Stacy told him. “I’ll cover the left. Lou, you go back and forth, lending a hand wherever the infected presence is the heaviest.”

Both Tong and Lou gave an affirmative.

“I know we don’t all believe the same thing here, but do you mind if I say a prayer?” Lou asked. “It’ll only take a moment.”

“I’m not going to say no to any kind of help,” John said.

“We can spare a few seconds until they show up,” Stacy answered. “Make it short. And make it count.”

“We’re here for a reason,” Lou said more as if he were talking to someone than any kind of prayer I had ever heard. “I believe we are here to help the Rung and Remboshi live in peace once more. By defeating Legion together, we’re setting them on a course for their planet to live in harmony again. Give us courage to do the hard things and the wisdom to make the right decisions at the right time.”

That was it.

Then Lou went quiet.

I wasn’t sure if I believed any of this fate or destiny talk, but still, I felt compelled to add my two cents. “Amen.”

That was all the time we were getting. Lou’s prayer did make me feel better for the briefest moment.

Tong beginning his countdown ruined that for me. “Contact in five…” he began.

The dots on our screen were so close to the canyon edge, they looked as though they were falling into it from both sides.

“Four, three…” Tong continued.

I could see where the canyon ended on our map. The darkness didn’t allow me to see it with my eyes ahead of us, but very clearly, the diagram in our HUD told us we were almost there.

“Two… ONE!” Tong screamed the last word.

Stacy and Tong lit up the tops of the canyon cliffs above us, followed with Lou’s own Judge.

I couldn’t look up to see what they were shooting at more than a second or two at a time. To be honest, I couldn’t see much anyway. The lights on our vehicles shone straight ahead. The only light available to us from above was courtesy of the moon and stars.

Dark silhouettes of madness popped over the edges of the canyon. I couldn’t see what they carried, but a maelstrom of hellfire descended on us from above, as well as rocks the size of my head, so I could just imagine what they had available to them.

Rock and debris hit the predators along with the enemy fire as we snaked our way through the canyon.

War was hell, especially as we were outnumbered by the enemy. I had only glimpses of it before, but this was no exception to the rule. The discharge of enemy firepower thundered in the canyon, echoing even as rock and dirt exploded around us. I was grateful for the ear protection of my helmet to dampen the sounds, otherwise I would have trouble hearing for days to come when this was over.

Infected began to fall from the tops of the canyon. Bodies hit the predator with a squishy metallic sound, causing me to jerk the vehicle from side to side. The sickening thuds struck the frame of the vehicle so hard, the predator shuddered under the assault. I was certain John was having the same issues.

More and more bodies fell on us. Along with them came rocks, which I wasn’t sure were thrown intentionally, and sporadic weapon fire from those infected able to use blasters.

“Keep the bodies off the predators!” Stacy screamed as I continued to swerve to avoid them.

“There are too many of them!” Tong yelled back.

9

The open top of the predator was shaped like a T. As such, rocks bounced off my armor and helmet. I almost felt sorry for Sulk as he hunched over in his seat, trying to protect himself from the onslaught.

“They’re not just falling as we shoot them,” Lou roared. “They’re throwing themselves off the cliff trying to get on top of us!”

The idea was so insanely out of the box, I almost disregarded it. But I knew Legion was crazy and his box, so to speak, did not have a secure lid. With thousands of infected to offer up as sacrifices, it would make sense he would pay the heavy price of loss if it meant us not getting out of the canyon alive.

Something slammed into the T-framed roof above us. I had the chance to take a quick look as an infected Rung—a female, it seemed—with a mechanical brace around her neck snaked a hand toward my head.

She grabbed my helmet in her three-fingered grip, trying to rip my helmet off my head.

My heart pounded in my chest as adrenaline flooded my system and I