Star Crusades Michael Thomas (speld decodable readers .TXT) 📖

thecreatures swarmed over two of its kin. Another section in theceiling broke apart, and three of them fell on top ofher.

Overload!

Tex made the quick adjustment,and then she fired. The energy blasthurled her attacker high into the air, and then she was back on herfeet. With her right weapon damaged, she aimed with the carbineshe’d been loaned and opened fire. It seemed so puny in her hands,and yet it was more than capable of killing her foes. The cannonflashed again, and then Kallias moved to her side and joinedin.

“Yeah!” he yelled,“Now we’re talking.”

Many of the marines scattered in terror as the hairy, bear like beastsoverran their position. Alexis remained firm and called out to theothers.

“Stand your ground. Cut them alldown.”

Their firepower was brutal in theclose confines, and soon a few marinesjoined them. As they caught the upper hand, the last few enemywarriors melted away. In seconds just the dead and dying were lefton the ground.

“Right, keep moving.We need to link up.”

The Novas blastedtheir way through the debris partiallyblocking their path and moved to reach the others. It took severalminutes, but finally they dropped down to the next chamber andfound themselves alongside a Maverick who had stopped in front ofanother partially collapsed ceiling. It had brought down the wallto the right and exposed another set of tunnels that the marinesmoved into.

“Novas, about time you made itdown here. What took you so long?” TheMaverick looked back to them.

“Hawkins thought he sawElvis back there. He was wrong,” saidValentine.

The Maverick marine burst outlaughing and then smashed his armoured fists together.It was a strange sight, though to the Novas itwas just another armoured figure having a good chuckle at theirexpense.

“Love it!”

He turned back around and pointedahead. Part of the massive ceiling hadcollapsed, with entire sections hanging down like blades into thefloor. Valentine moved to the edge and looked down. The damage wassignificant and revealed a ravine cut into the diamondrock.

“It’s deep. Active scans showthree kilometres down, maybe more,” saidValentine.

The wreckage hadcreated a broken bridge across the deep chasm.There were large gaps, and small sections buckled and twisted underthe monstrous weight.

“We have to get across.”

“No,”said a firm, almost angry voice.

They turned back, and there was abloodied General Gun. He moved to the edge and shook his head.

“Olik is that way.”

He pointed down into thedarkness.

“We’ll go first,”said Alexis.

“Good. Time for you to earn yourpay.”

The Novas steppedforward, and as they stepped gingerlyover the wreckage, Hawkins looked to Valentine.

“Pay? We get paid?”

She laughed, and asshe did so, she slipped and tipped forward. Atthe same time, a bright red beam of light cut past her, meltingpart of her shoulder plate and then hitting the wall behindher.

“Get back!” Alexis yelled as a volley of fire erupted off into thedistance.

TheNovas struggled back, taking cover behind the towering chunks ofshattered diamond rock. The General was a little further behind,while a platoon of his marines spread out and sought cover aswell.

“Talk to me,” he roared in frustration.

“There’re enemy soldiers down there, and they’re using heavyweaponry.”

The beam of light punched throughthe tunnel once more, catching a marineas he lifted his head up for a better look. The beam burnt throughhis face, leaving a lifeless corpse to drop to the ground. GeneralGun snarled and turned to face Alexis. At the same time, hismarines opened fire and began to advance through the rubble. Theykept on moving, but it was clear it would be slow work.

“We’ll keep pushingforward in here, but we cannot hand theinitiative over to the enemy. Scans show two parallel passagesheading further down.”

He nodded to the right where severalsmaller shafts split away from the main tunnel.

“Take a squad of my marines withyou, work your way around, and deal withthem. We have to reach Olik.”

“General. Thosepassages do not run anywhere nearOlik.”

“No, but they intersect them.Find a way through, and break your wayinto one of the parallel passages. An engineering team will go withyou.”

Valentine looked to her left as adozen marines inched their way towardsthem. They’d only just arrived and many bore marks from thefighting.

“Yes,General,” said Alexis, “We’ll do our best.”

“No.” He grabbed her by the shoulder, “Your best isn’t good enough.Get it done.”

“Yes,Sir.”

He moved away and called to his marines. They flocked to his position,firing as they went, and one even ran past carrying a companystandard. Two beams of red light reached out to them, and onestopped suddenly as the marines blasted away. Alexis sighed, andthen leaned in closer to the other three Novas.

“Val, you up for this.”

“You’re kidding, right? We need to getthis done.”

“Hell,yeah,” said Hawkins, while Kallias merely grunted.

“Okay, let’s get moving.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The Trench, EkatiAlpha, The Ski’lig Territories

Valentine moved alongside Alexisas they worked their way through the much smaller passage. Threemarines stayed close by, with Hawkins and Kallias behind them andthe rest of the marines bringing up the rear. Many of the marinescarried heavier weaponry than normal,with some now holding automatic grenade launchers and rocketsystems, weapons Valentine had not seen them use before. She duckedunder a protrusion above her, and still the hardened rock scrappedher armour, leaving bright cuts in the metalwork. This tunnel wasquite different to the others, with rougher walls and anunsupported ceiling that left her feeling on edge.

“Look at this invasion,” saidHawkins, “It…is…crazy!”

Valentine glanced at theplanetary scans and smiled to herself.

“You’re not wrong. That’s fifteeninfantry landers on the ground at sixdifferent locations. I’d say close to forty thousand marines arealready inside, and the second wave will hit the ground in lessthan an hour.”

Hawkins whistled.

“That is what youcall overwhelming force.”

“What other way is there? Scansshowed millions of lifesigns down here. Best case is we’reoutnumbered ten to one, assuming we get all of our landers onto thesurface.”

“Valentine’s right,”said Kallias, “Either we keep thepressure on them and force them to surrender this rock, or they’lljust dig in and beat us with time and numbers.”

“Or maybe we shouldn’t be here at all,” suggested Alexis, “Howcan this be worth a massed invasion? It’s a lifelessrock.”

“For us, maybe,” said adisgruntled Hawkins, “But there’s loadsof space to soar in here. Maybe to them, this is home.”

Valentine nodded as she listened.

“And our scanners confirm almostbreathable air another