Absolute Annihilation by Ross Buzzell

Author:Ross Buzzell [Buzzell, Ross]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Archimedes Books
Published: 2024-04-09T00:00:00+00:00

25

TACHYON BURST

Walking through a trench, Lance kept his eyes on the flickering shield overhead as the infected slammed themselves against it. Screaming and snarling, they burned against the energy barrier. Madam Devris’ guards surrounded his team, their guns at the ready. Valdivia’s weapons hummed with orange light. Piles of bodies burned as turrets strobed, piling bodies high, protecting the entrenched position ahead.

“Devris guard entering, disarm defenses!” the woman in front ordered.

“Mines deactivated, you have fifteen seconds,” a voice replied.

“Run!” the woman ordered.

In a burst of speed, everyone rushed through the last hundred yards of the trench. Passing into the defensive position, Lance turned around to see the last portion of the trench blink with hundreds of red lights in the ground and walls.

Lance turned, looking around. Behind them was held off strictly by the overwhelming firepower of the dozens of turrets. Several people in fire gear were close to the pile of bodies with flame throwers, ensuring they burned, keeping them down. Ahead of them was the open hangar. Dozens of ships waiting for evac. The underside of the Cyte ship stared at them, its arms implanted in the surface of the space station.

Piles of bones lay on the ground inside the hangar. Lance turned toward the dead, scorch marks streaked along the steel around the bodies. Explosions detonated across the under part of the ship from Keppler’s cannon fire.

“It’s about time you showed up!” Madam Devris shouted.

Lance turned to see the crime lord in form-fitting armor, covered in blood, as she marched toward him.

“We don’t have much longer before the power core detonates. We’re running out of ammo and we can’t get into the hangar,” she said, motioning to the ships. “Any time we try, that thing shoots a beam, killing everyone who tries.”

“It has clear line of sight. Why not just wipe you out?” Cthylla asked.

Valdivia sheathed her knives as she looked from the infected to the Cyte mother ship.

“It’s taunting you,” she said softly. “It wants to give you hope that you can escape.”

“They’re mindless infected, do you really think they can think that complex?” Devris scoffed in disbelief.

“They might be, but whatever’s controlling them is highly intelligent,” Lance replied, looking at the mother ship.

A soft whisper tingled in the back of his skull as the horrifyingly familiar chill continued to shoot down his spine. He clenched his teeth while looking at the scattered dead and injured around him. The survivors huddled together, their still useful weapons on the ground. Only a handful still fought against the insurmountable odds.

“They want to kill your hope,” Lance whispered. “They don’t care how many you lose, so long as you die, hopeless. That’s why you still have your ships.”

Lance turned toward Madam Devris. Her cold, measured demeanor cracked at the comment. She swallowed hard before putting her brave face back on.

“Then they don’t know who they’re messing with,” she snarled. “The people of Tachyon don’t lose hope. We live here because no one else can…”

“No one’s going to be living here in a few minutes,” Akta replied.

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