Fire Brigade (Star Dragon Book 2) by James David Victor

Author:James David Victor [Victor, James David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing
Published: 2024-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

13

MONSTROUS MACHINES

“Keel!” Sabo’s voice over Keel’s comm link was intense and defiant, a moment before his health bar shot from a healthy full green to flashing red.

“Sabo, report!” Keel called again, and he could see across the crater where the two small indicators of the rest of his team were moving in opposite direction. Venez’s had a shade of red across it, while Sabo’s was blinking as it moved downward.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Keel whispered to himself. The entire third of the crater where they’d been was precisely where the vast bot had fired its enormous plasma cannon.

What was that thing? How did the Fire Brigade have access to it? Was this what Prince Yuri had meant when he said they had weapons that could cut through Marine armor!?

The chasm itself was vast, but Keel had the jets on the back of his suit. He flung himself forward, feeling the impossible darkness below him for a moment before he closed his fists and shot ahead.

Keel raced across the crater toward the four-legged creature now straddling the crater wall on the other side. He saw a glimmer of light below him, a sheen of metal, and thought the crater must end in some kind of metal plate—a bulkhead door, perhaps—but there was no time for speculation. He was flying over the thing’s head, spinning to bring his legs up before he slammed into the side of the crater. He grabbed his blaster instead.

“Sabo! Venez!” He looked briefly to the other side to see that there was now an avalanche of rock down there, with more rocks free-floating through the vacuum. He couldn’t see Sabo’s suit, although his vector was behind the debris somewhere. It still flashed a warning red.

The metal creature had seen him. Keel saw it repositioning its two front legs and turning its cannon body toward him as the giant mechanisms groaned. He threw himself into a roll as the gun flared a brilliant white just before a beam shot past him to the crater lip where he had been.

As soon as the plasma hit the rock, it exploded and sent out shockwaves so powerful that the entire section fractured, blasting apart and flying across the crater.

Keel was tumbling through the air, carried by the shockwave. He saw a rock fragment coming straight for him. He just barely managed to twist out of the way, but in the next moment, another boulder hit his shoulder and sent him spinning in another game of robot pinball.

WARNING!

/Suit Damage: Back plate 75%

/Suit Damage: Left Greave 45%

His vision was eclipsed with alerts as he slammed into one rock and then another. He tumbled head over feet with completely no control of his flight before he hit the asteroid surface and slid across the sharp stone.

“Dear stars,” he murmured, feeling an electric haze of pain through his mind. He knew that his suit had to be badly affected.

Could he still move!?

Where was that thing?

He managed to push himself up, seeing that two sections of his leg plates had been completely torn away to expose his thinner robot legs inside.

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