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

it my best shot and I wasn’t going to give up, but the way she worded it was like I was supposed to know what she meant.

“Yeah, that’s not really helpful right now,” I said. “If you have a plan or something that will get us through Legion and to the brain plant, I’m all ears.”

A predator skidded toward us so fast, Ricky had to jump out of the way or turn into a speed bump.

Jezra was behind the wheel. She popped off her white helmet and gave us a rueful grin. I waited for her words of wisdom, hoping they weren’t couched in mystical terms that held ambiguous meaning. I was really not in the mood for riddles.

“It’s time to make the final assault on Legion,” she said as if she were telling me we should go for a walk or sit and have a nice cup of tea. I couldn’t argue that the words weren’t simple enough, though.

Screams and the sounds of wounded and dying around her didn’t seem to faze her a bit. The smell of charred flesh and the acrid odor of so many weapons discharging didn’t affect her at all. Her face was smooth and serene, and her body poised and relaxed.

Despite the madness in her calm, there was an intensity in her eyes that couldn’t be denied.

“You told me the Orion would fall again,” I said, remembering her prophecy. “Will it?”

“I told you what you needed to know at the time,” Jezra said, patting the seat beside her. “Are you coming or not?”

Boss Creed didn’t hesitate. He jumped on the back of the predator, manning the Blood Shot. Ricky went next, hopping into the passenger side seat and pressing the earpiece in his right ear.

“We’re about to do something crazy here. Anyone still able, cut a path for us to the lightning rock. We’re going to end this,” Ricky shouted.

Ricky scooted over just enough for me to be able to hang off the side of the predator.

Jezra slammed on the gas as Stacy, Elon, Dama, and the others still in the fight coordinated, covering our assault.

The predators still running swept in from the west. There seemed to be far too few of them still in working condition. Smoke fumed from their engines, and a few were even missing tires.

Stacy and Dama, along with the third suit that was still working, sprinted in front of us, creating a funnel in which to follow.

Boss Creed, Ricky, and I fired like wild men at whatever we could hit. In front of us, the jungle began to clear. Trees and bushes that were once vibrant green before now turned ashen and black. Spores permeated the air and appeared on every blade of grass, flower, and tree.

It was only then I realized Ricky and Boss Creed weren’t wearing anything that could filter out the spores.

“Jezra, stop!” I shouted. “Let them out. They aren’t wearing—”

The predator’s left tire blew out in a shower of hard rubber. The vehicle went end over end through the air. I saw ground, sky, and then ground again as I came crashing down.

The wind was forced out of my lungs. Pain exploded in my back and neck. I thought I had broken something, bruised something for sure. My armor kept the worst of the injury at bay, but it still didn’t feel good.

I blinked, trying to focus and understand where I had landed. The predator was on its side, a fire already burning its belly. I couldn’t see Jezra, Ricky, or Boss Creed, but I could see the remaining three suits, including Stacy’s fighting the few infected that had stayed this far back.

Out of nowhere, a spray of weapons fire cut through one of the three remaining power armor units.

“What was tha—” Dama never got a chance to finish her sentence.

A Rung’s unit covered in black spores with its center piece hanging open charged into the battle, slamming into Dama’s power armor unit. With a herculean crash, it sent them both into the jungle floor.

I only got a brief look at the Rung that piloted the unit. I couldn’t make out Sulk’s exact face, but it was clear he was infected.

“Go!” Stacy screamed, looking at me from her war-battered unit. “I’ll help Dama. Go!”

I jumped to my feet, only realizing now where I was. The predator had thrown me to the very base of the lightning rock formation. I stood in a field of the dense foliage covered in black spores. A hill shielded in the stuff rose behind me where the lightning bolt rock formation stood.

I was finally here. I had made it. I reached behind me for the flamethrower strapped to my back, only it wasn’t there anymore.

I looked around, panicked, searching for the weapon I so desperately needed to end Legion’s reign here on Genesis. I fell to my knees, groping through the dense black foliage.

Black spores puffed into the air as if they were reaching for my face. My helmet’s filtration system kept them at bay for the time being. Still, I didn’t want to rely on that longer than I had to. I rose to my feet, putting distance between the spores and my face.

What are you going to do now, Dean? I asked myself. What are you going to do now?

“Looking for this?”

I turned my head to where I heard the familiar voice. Legion, still using Captain Ezra Harold’s body, on which the head was now mysteriously reattached, stood on the peak of the hill right beside the lightning stone.

In his right hand, he held up the flamethrower.

I knew it was a trap. Somewhere in my head, I knew Legion was smarter than to take me on in a one-on-one battle. He knew my capabilities as a fighter. Still, what other option did I have?

I slowly ascended the hill toward Legion. With each step, I kicked up a puff of black spores. It was only as I traveled higher and higher that my vantage point became better and I