Moloch's Garden: An Eamon Tauk Space Odyssey - Book 2 (The Eamon Tauk Space Odyssey) by J.E. Park

Author:J.E. Park [Park, J.E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

The Hunt

With the line laid and the relay station set, I did not need my armorers anymore. They were too valuable to have them prancing about No Man’s Land looking for Lekki. “Get your asses straight back to the line and tell Gunny Brumit what happened,” I told Gyanis and Ghinion. “Tell her I want snipers in the trees, as high as she dares put them, scouring the NML for that piece of shit. They’re to fire on sight! Understood?”

“Aye aye, sir!”

Slapping both Marines atop their helmets, I said, “Then get the hell out of here and take the convicts with you! If any of them even hint they’re thinking about going on the run, you double-tap them right between the eyes!”

I pointed at Kal-Xati. “Jasirat! You take your squad a couple hundred meters south and fan out! Move forward from cover to cover. Do not bunch up, and do not expose yourselves! If you run into resistance, you break it off and retreat. Unless you spot Lekki among the belligerents. In that case, you fight until that treasonous little prick and all his buddies are dead!”

Black Francis returned with one of his people just as I was getting ready to dismiss Fourth Squad. “My Marines are on the move,” he told me. “They’re at home out here and more effective in small groups. If you want my advice, keep your people in squad strength. What they lack in experience, they can make up in numbers. If it’s okay with you, I’ll go with Kal-Xati’s squad so they’ve got someone familiar with the conditions out here. I’m sending PFC Terrus with you.”

The look on Kal-Xati’s face told me she was more than happy with that arrangement. Had she been anyone else, I would have had Black Francis come with me and sent Terrus with them, but Kal-Xati was the best squad leader I had. She knew she was on a mission and not a date. “Fine. The two of you get going.”

As Fourth Squad started to move out, a deafening roar emanated from the enemy tree line, and a blast of pink energy burst from the forest. Almost simultaneously, a massive explosion erupted from the far edge of the NML. A large fire flared up briefly, but it was quickly extinguished by the torrent pouring out of the sky. “I sure hope that wasn’t any of your people,” I told Black Francis.

Our side answered the attack with a missile barrage that struck the spot from which the plasma burst originated. “It’s not,” Black Francis assured me. That was our diversion. Those mortars we shot were timed radio frequency transmitters. They’re meant to attract the Narmans’ attention and coax them into giving away their blasters’ positions.”

“You think we got ‘em?”

Black Francis shook his head. “No. Those blasters are pretty mobile. They shoot, then skedaddle. As far as we can tell, we haven’t hit one yet. The intent is to desensitize them to radio signals coming from the NML. Anyway, there’re

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