Blood and War by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, General
ISBN: 9781625790880
Google: A5d0CwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Baen Publishing Enterprises
Published: 1993-08-01T06:00:00+00:00

The crawlers were equipped with shelters and pre-packaged food as well as enough mid-grade armor to make a short term ground campaign possible. As the five of them rolled out of the bay of the Glavus, the Bunters went about the last stages of preparing the all-terrain vehicles. All the Bunters but the Senior Bunter would travel with their human counterparts in the crawlers: the Senior Bunter would remain with the Daichirucken. The Mromrosi announced that he would accompany Group Line Chief Sventur.

"Remember, the Yamapunkt will have its crawlers out, too. We're to rendezvous at the Suidotal, tomorrow afternoon," said Sventur as she made a last inspection of her Glavus. "If there is any delay, we must inform the Reiwald; Acting Line Commander Goriz has to know where we are and when we're ready."

"I don't like the idea that she's staying aloft. It's too risky for us, if she comes under fire." This was the same objection that Parkerman had been making for the last hour and no one paid much attention to him now.

"We're more apt to come under fire," Sventur reminded him as well as the others. "We're the ones on the ground." She checked the two scatter-guns that hung from her belt. "Make sure you're carrying extra ammunition."

"Right you are," said Godwendo, who was in charge of such things. "I've loaded spares into all the crawlers. We should be able to take on a medium-sized ground force."

"Good." Sventur could not get rid of the sense that they were truly on their own, no longer part of anything but their own unit. She looked around at the Glavus and was satisfied that it could not be easily detected from the air, for the shielding screen disguised it from visual and instrumental probing.

They had started the mission with two hundred seventy-seven Petit Harriers to do the job, and now this company stood at forty-three; Sventur did not like the odds, but she had to accept them.

Just before she stepped into the lead crawler, she signaled Emmelien Goriz. "We're about to set off," she said.

"Good," Goriz answered. "We're relying on you. The Sakibuckt is going to high orbit, to monitor as much as possible. He'll be using the over-ride emergency channel, if he has to reach any of us. We're going to screen it. Praechee has some tricks up his sleeve that might help us all."

"Wish him luck," said Sventur, thinking of what Pahnahmah Praechee could encounter in orbit—Grands.

"Luck to you, too," said Goriz.

"I'll report in at first light. Don't worry about silence until then." She found it frightening to be out of contact for so long, but she knew it was the only sensible thing to do.

"Carry on, then," said Goriz, and broke their communication.

Sventur left her Glavus for the utilitarian interior of a crawler.

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