Stalemate: The Globur Incursion Book 9 by D. Rebbitt

Author:D. Rebbitt [Rebbitt, D. & Rebbitt, D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

Pang had watched the Marines land on Tirakoni Two without a hitch. Initial landings used the planetary assault pods, but there was no ground fire and no defenses of any kind despite reconnaissance showing there were definitely Globur in at least some of the habitats.

The Marine commander had been cautious. Marines had landed in some nearby clearings so they could approach in good order. Clearing was something of a misnomer. These were just areas where the jungle was not as thick. A brigade went down in pods as a sort of reconnaissance. Pods did not exactly hit pinpoint targets. The Marines had landed in good order, but over a wide area, as they usually did.

It was not long before they found out they might not be at the top of the food chain on Tirakoni Two. Large centipede-like creatures lurked in the trees, almost invisible even with thermal scanning. They were heavily armored and had razor-sharp claws that could penetrate a combat suit. Despite their size and armor, they were quick and deadly.

Pang’s fleet group lost 11 Marines to the centipedes before they had become much more careful when moving around. Their assault rifles were effective against the predators, but only if they saw them in time.

The first Marines then had to fight giant spider-like creatures. Pang shuddered. This world was a nightmare. When the Marines had reached one of the habitats where the laser fence was down, the jungle was already encroaching on the small settlement. It had been empty of people, but one of the rooms had contained a nest of ground spiders.

The ground spiders were not much of a threat one at a time, but thousands of spiders a third of a meter across suddenly running every which way was a disturbing sight. The ground spiders had eight legs like their namesake, but they did not spin webs, preferring burrows or hollow trees. They hunted small prey by running them down or dropping on them from above. They had a sting in their abdomen, which they used to incapacitate their prey. A mouth full of razor-sharp teeth finished the job. Their bodies were covered with quills that were barbed and injected a strong acid.

If they chose to attack a combat suit, as one Marine learned the hard way, their teeth could do some serious damage. In numbers, they could be an apex predator, and Pang noted from her reports on the region that some had taken down several colonists and even some of the imperial survey team before colonization.

A Marine company was now approaching one of the settlements that still had a working laser fence and power emanations, both human and Globur. The last fence would have to be taken down by an override and then reactivated once the Marines were inside the perimeter. That might effectively trap them inside unless they used jump jets. Most of the stations were underground since any open exposure was an invitation to the jungle’s many predators.

Pang was not hopeful that they would find survivors.

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