Mavericks by Craig Alanson

Author:Craig Alanson [Alanson, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2018-05-31T06:00:00+00:00

“I see them!” Derek held his voice steady as he swiveled the Dodo dropship’s belly maser cannon turret and sent withering fire toward a pair of Kristang who were shooting at the away team, stitching a line across the ground and slicing into one of the armor-suited figures. “Damn it!” Derek shouted and the maser cut off. “Bring us around, that damned building got into my line of sight.”

“What’s inside that building?” Perkins asked from her console behind the pilots while her stomach flip-flopped from the tight turn Irene pulled the dropship into.

“Nothing important,” Derek replied distractedly, concentrating on holding the targeting sensor on the gap between buildings where the enemy had been.

“Then light it up,” Perkins ordered. “Away team, keep your heads down.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Derek cursed himself for not thinking of that. “On the waaaay!” With the maser exciters cranked up to full power, the beam blasted the building apart, smoke, fire and debris erupting skyward. “I can’t see anything. Away team, you see any hostiles?”

“We can’t see shit,” Jesse reported as a camera popped up above his helmet on a thin stalk, showing him only a chaotic cloud of dust and scorch-marked debris raining down. No way was he sticking his head above the crater lip until he was certain the two Kristang were dead. “Ow!” He ducked down as a chunk of debris clanged off his helmet. “We’re getting pelted with building parts down here.”

“The transmitter is safe,” Shauna assured the team as she huddled over the device, protecting it with her body.

“Should I hold fire?” Derek asked.

“Hell no!” Jesse snorted. Seriously, he asked himself? The infantry have their asses hanging out to dry on the ground, and the close air support is asking whether to expend ordnance? “Hit it again! Maser beams don’t cost us nothing.”

Derek poured maser fire to saturate the area, in case there were more Kristang hidden in the cluster of buildings, until there was no cluster of buildings, only shattered and smoking ruins, pieces of walls standing by themselves, and debris cascading down all over the area. Derek winced as he saw pieces of building spinning through the air in the direction of the research compound, and he was relieved to see puffs of dust kicked up on the ground as the chunks fell well short. “I’ve got nothing left to target, Ma’am,” he glanced back to Perkins, just as his console flashed red with a new threat. “Shit! Irene get us out of here now now now now now!!”

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