Hard Nova by Calouette Casey

Author:Calouette, Casey [Calouette, Casey]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2015-10-20T16:00:00+00:00

####

Kane watched his monitor as a spec ops team rappelled down a darkened shaft. They fell so swiftly that the weighted lines could barely drop fast enough. The specs ops were all feet down, presenting the smallest silhouette possible.

His office was lit up with a dozen different screens. All showed different views, different fights, different men and women. On one, it was snowing and the firefight was complete. On another, grenades detonated in an urban zone and the camera suddenly went black. Finally on the last, an interceptor chased after a cloud of drones.

But his focus was on the team venturing into the subterranean tunnels. His main questions: Could they fight in them? Could they halt the Coalition forces from moving so easily? Gut instinct told him no. Amit insisted they try.

Tracers zipped past. Still the team dropped. Suddenly the shaft stopped. The spec ops unclipped and went into free fall for the last few meters. More rounds blasted past in all directions. One fell, then another, but the spec ops were drilling one Coalition position after the next.

Kane held his breath.

Something that looked like a massive train car rapidly slowed. The door opened and a wave of soldiers rushed out.

One of the spec ops launched a rocket. It smashed into the nose of the train. Flames burst out of the open door in an inferno of white. Coalition soldiers rushed to escape. Men walked out, wreathed in flame, and simply fell to the ground.

It should have sickened Kane. But it didn’t.

He’d been watching scenes like this for days. Battles. The personal engagements that he missed, being at the top of the chain of command. The professional in him said it was to stay connected. The father in him did it to see the vengeance that he couldn’t get for himself.

The feeling of helplessness was almost overwhelming. Here he was, at the pinnacle of the chain of command, and he was helpless to do the one thing he really wanted. Instead, he focused and watched the enemy die.

That became his goal.

What was once a war of liberation was now a struggle to annihilation. He’d just learned about the liquidations of the officer corps. He understood the logic, but he now sought to bring down the wrath he had at hand. If they wanted a war, they’d damned well get it.

The spec ops finally moved beyond the entry point.

A soldier turned the camera. The face was covered in a digital tactical mask, half armor, half digital assistant on the battlescape. It parted and showed a woman who looked terribly young. “Send down the engineers. I can see the charges planted nearby. This place is a fucking nightmare. You hear me, Stinky? I want to get my team out of here before—“

The camera went blank.

Kane slid back from his desk. His hands shook. The victories didn’t make him feel better; the defeats simply wore him down more.

There came a knock on the door.

Kane turned off the monitors. “Enter.”

A naval commander poked her head in.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.