Imminent Failure: A Military Scifi Epic (Ruins of the Galaxy Book 6) by J.N. Chaney & Christopher Hopper

Author:J.N. Chaney & Christopher Hopper [Chaney, J.N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2020-01-24T07:00:00+00:00

17

The VOD blast blew Magnus backward down the aisle of consoles. McCormick’s body had shielded him and Awen from the worst of it, but still, Magnus’s shield was gone, and his armor had been damaged. Blaster fire flooded his audio sensors as Magnus pushed the general’s body off his chest.

“Awen, can you hear me?” Magnus asked, shaking her arm.

Her head rolled toward him. “Are we alive?”

“For now. Can you get up?”

“Yes, I think so. My shield’s at—”

“Zero. Mine too.” Magnus raised a hand in caution. “Stay behind the consoles.”

“Right.”

Magnus helped Awen to her knees and then peered over the next row of terminals. Recon Marines infiltrated the Command Center and laid down a heavy base of fire. The best thing the gladias had going for them was that the enemy still couldn’t see them. That would all change the moment some trooper with IR optics got wise and started calling out targets over TACNET and populating their HUD. Magnus could practically see the layout of the Repub software.

“Return fire,” Magnus shouted, and then ordered the Jujari to flank the Marines while Awen and Wish activated some Unity shielding.

Rohoar and Czyz bounded up the side stairs and bored into the enemy’s right and left flanks. A Marine left his place by the blast doors and flew through the amphitheater toward the main holo display. His body cracked against the already broken display wall, filling the air with sparks, before crashing to the ground. On Czyz’s side, a Marine’s scream filled the air as his helmet was ripped from his head, along with part of his face, thanks to Czyz’s claws raking across it. The Jujari ended the man’s suffering by knocking his head back with a wicked snap sound.

The Recon’s fire shifted to defend their flanks, as the dead Marines provided the most visible evidence of the gladias’ location. But still, Magnus and the others took heavy fire from the MAR30s.

“There’s only one way we’re putting these boys down,” Magnus said to Awen. “When I’m done, I need you to close the blast doors. Can you do that?”

“Yes, I think so,” Awen said.

“Seal them too.”

“But what about—”

“We’ll blast our way out if we have to.”

Awen nodded.

Magnus activated his NOV1’s AI-assisted multi-target fire effect mode and felt the barrel gimbal unlock. He raised his weapon above the terminals and watched his HUD pick out sixteen different targets—all Recon Marines, all about to die before they even knew what hit them. And this still isn’t any easier, Magnus thought, remembering his conversation with Titus. Then he squeezed the trigger.

The NOV1 released a bright spray of blaster fire in sixteen different directions as the gimbaled barrel shuddered to accommodate the multi-target field of fire. The blaster bolts pierced chest plates and punctured helmets, sending each Marine to the ground in a rhythmic secession of clattering armor.

“Close ’em,” Magnus ordered Awen. The doors began sliding shut, crushing Marine bodies as they did. Magnus caught sight of a man through the narrowing crack. His silver hair and dark gray senator’s uniform glinted in the flicking ceiling lights.

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