The Hidden Terror (Opus X: Fleet of One Book 4) by Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Anderle [Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2022-05-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Rockets and autocannon rounds flew from the Wyvern into the rear of the screecher force. Explosions flung half-burned lizards into the air. Blood splattered from massive bullet holes.

The onslaught would have intimidated many animals. The powerful showing didn’t send the screechers fleeing, but both groups slowed, raising their snouts in the air as if unsure how to handle the aerial threat.

Cyrus appreciated the support. He could have used an AI-piloted gunship on past digs. He’d learned to handle himself as much for defending against hostile local lifeforms as smugglers.

The screechers’ hesitation cost them. The exoskeleton machine guns roared to life to add to Wyvern’s effort. Rivers of bullets ripped through the lizards’ armored hide with ease, sending them tumbling to the ground as nothing more than obstacles for their fellow angry, confused creatures.

Plasma grenades and rockets joined the bullets. Bright blasts vaporized the screechers who’d escaped the initial massacre. The terrible threat posed by the creatures came to nothing before human technological ingenuity.

Cyrus kept his breathing steady and swept his machine gun back and forth in a tight arc so as not to overlap with the closest exo, putting his simulator training into practice.

He launched a rocket past the front line of screechers. The explosion flattened a charging group of the monsters and flung a screecher directly in front of his machine gun. Those behind it charged through the spreading mist.

The APC’s turret barrage of bullets fed a bloody cloud through the rear horde. Then the turret spun the opposite way, and the invisible laser beam carved through a group of closely packed screechers.

Cyrus lost himself in the moment, careful concentration giving way to muscle memory. The screechers had failed to advance from either side. Bodies were building up, along with shell casings.

Jade’s drone squadron swept low, taking close, deliberate shots rather than firing angry bursts like the Wyvern, the exos, and the APC. They lacked sufficient ammo for sustained strafing. Screechers leaped toward the diving drones with their claws and teeth, desperate to catch their tormentors. The lucky ones didn’t end up with a bullet in their heads.

Cyrus’ body rattled with the vibrations from his machine gun and the background rumble of the weapons of the exoskeletons and vehicles. Dead beasts continued piling up to the point where their allies stumbled over the bodies, making for easier targets.

“These things are determined to take us down,” Cyrus shouted.

“There’s nothing wrong with a live-fire exercise,” replied Russo with a chuckle. “It gets the blood pumping.”

“Keep your focus,” Kat barked. She punctuated her sentence by throwing a plasma grenade into a trio of screechers, leaving only blackened bones.

Despite the order, Cyrus couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so focused on a single task. With their rear secured by a full exoskeleton squad and Jade’s air force disrupting a straightforward mass charge from either enemy horde, taking down the remaining lizards turned into a game. He downed an advancing screecher, then tried to string together kills, counting in his head before realizing how easy it was to lose track.

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