The Forever Siren by Scott Moon

Author:Scott Moon [Moon, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scott Moon
Published: 2019-02-08T08:00:00+00:00

19

Roosevelt Falls

“Hurry up, Connelly. I need to get in this fight,” Lovejoy said as he helped Kevin tighten his armor.

“What the hell do you think I’m doing? My unit needs me.”

“Negative, Connelly. You’ve got a new mission and I outrank you. Run your PCI. Then we’ll find Priest and get you the hell out of here. None of this is worth a damn if you don’t stop the Burner Queen and the Guide.”

Kevin wanted to argue, but thoughts of Ace and Amanda suffering pressed into his overwhelmed brain. He’d been in battles, but the chaos of this disaster shocked him. A Coalition of Worlds Marine flew over Kevin’s head, confusing him until the Burner that had thrown the man stomped closer.

Gunnery Sergeant Robert Priest sprinted behind the flaming menace and fired a stream of supersonic flechettes into the back of its machine-like knees. Glowing from the heat of his enemy, Priest closed the distance and kicked its legs as it whirled to face him.

The Burner went down. Priest retreated. Corporal McCraw and Julie popped up from a concealed position and fired rocket launchers into the downed Burner. Superheated pieces of the alien flew in all directions.

The victory was short-lived. Three more of the monsters scattered the Marauders.

“Priest, over here!” Lovejoy shouted. Rockets screamed through shifting clouds of smoke. Explosions shook the ground. Dozens of commanders and noncoms barked orders over the tac channels.

Kevin adjusted his helmet volume, pushing everything but line-of-sight radio traffic into the background. Moving with his rifle in both hands, he realized he hadn’t fired a round since putting on his armor and charging his weapons. “Fallback, I’ll cover you!”

“Moving!” Priest shouted, ducking low and running across open ground in a crouch. A smoking ship hull provided them a rally point.

Kevin was the last to arrive, walking backward as he launched grenades from the lower tube on his weapon.

A Burner void fighter blasted through the air only meters above them, the backwash of its engines forcing Kevin and his companions to hunch down protectively.

“You have a plan, Lt? Or can I get back to my squad?”

Lovejoy cleared his HUD so he could focus on the here and now. “You’re not going to like this, Gunny.”

“Fuck.”

“Sorry, Gunny,” Kevin said.

Lovejoy waved aside both statements. “Pretend I'm still a general if it helps, but this mission overrides all orders you have received or will receive in the foreseeable future.”

“Understood, sir,” Priest said.

“You are to assist Corporal Kevin Connelly. Find the Guide. Save his brother and sister if possible. Neutralize the Guide if such action serves the UNA.”

“I need details.”

“Connelly, give him the short version before we get killed. I am going to look for a ship.”

They fought back a Burner advance, then continued the conversation. Kevin explained he was trying to get Ace and Amanda back from the Burner Queen then described what kind of creature the Burner Queen AS was.

Teaming up with Priest felt right. He was probably the best Marine in the Starship Marine Corps. His reaction to the rushed briefing wasn't what Kevin expected.

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.