Crimson Worlds: 05 - The Line Must Hold by Jay Allan

Author:Jay Allan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: System 7 Publishing
Published: 2013-06-19T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Hobson’s Ridge

Planet Garrison

Alpha Corvi III

“The Line”

“We’ve got Reapers breaking through in sector 9.” Captain John Horace shouted into the com. He was trying to stay in control, but his lines were caving in all around him. He could feel the fear, the panic starting to build, but he pushed back hard against it. “We can’t hold them. Half the battalion is down, and the rest are falling back.” There were too many of them…and the Reapers were just too damned hard to bring down.

“Hold your position, Horace.” It was Major Timmons. Horace’s mind raced – what happened to the colonel? “I’ve got three companies of panzergrenadiers on their way to reinforce you.” There was a pause, only a few seconds, and then, “ETA ten minutes.”

Horace took a deep breath. Ten minutes, he thought…it might as well be a year. “Ok, 7th battalion, we’ve got friendlies inbound. We need to hold for ten minutes.” He was struggling to sound calm. He was as scared shitless by these things as anybody in the battalion, but his troops were hanging on by a thread, and the last thing they needed was him sounding anything less than 100% in control. “Everybody grab the best cover you can, and fire everything you’ve got.”

Horace had commanded the battalion for 20 minutes, the fourth officer to hold the posting since morning. Major Klein was dead…he wasn’t sure about Pinter and Vine…they may have made it to a field hospital. Whether they were alive or dead, they were out of action, and that left 7th battalion in the hands of its junior captain.

Horace clicked a reload into his mag-rifle and made his was forward. The battalion was going to need every bit of firepower they could scrape up if they were going to hold out. The enemy fire was thick as he made his way to the front. He crouched down, staying low as he moved slowly toward the line. The battalion was pinned down behind a small lip at the top of the ridge. They’d had a better position 300 meters farther forward, but they hadn’t managed to hold it. The enemy hit them in force, and they had to fall back. That’s where Captain Pinter got hit…and Vine a few minutes later.

There were dead Marines everywhere. There were a lot of wounded, too, but most of them were still in the firing line. His people were clinging to the tiny ridge, firing their weapons with grim resolve. They’d beaten back the first two enemy assaults against the new position, but now the Reapers were coming.

He crouched behind the lip, bringing his rifle to bear. It was nearly impossible to take out a Reaper with a mag-rifle…it took a SAW at least, and usually more. But there were regular bots advancing too, and a perfect shot could hurt one of them.

“Captain Horace, I’ve got air support approaching your sector, inbound and hot. ETA one minute.” It was Major Timmons again, and he cut the line before Horace could acknowledge.

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