The Vanguard by G J Ogden
Author:G J Ogden [Ogden, G J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: X09
Publisher: Ogden Media Ltd
Published: 2021-09-21T04:00:00+00:00
Chapter 15
Run and gun
Blasts of plasma hammered into the deck and walls all around him, but Sterling held fast and returned fire, hitting the attacking warrior in the gut. The alien fell but another two warriors trampled over its prone body, weapons raised. Sterling felt a thump to his chest followed by a searing hot pain, but there was no time to check the seriousness of the injury. Firing again, he melted the face of one the attackers, but two more had already joined the pursuit. Backing away from the advancing horde, he squeezed the trigger again, but nothing happened; the power cell was dry. Cursing, Sterling fumbled around his armor for a replacement cell, but they were all gone. Then there was a blinding flash of light and a snarl of energy being released as a Homewrecker heavy plasma rifle opened fire. Sterling was hit, though not by blasts of plasma, but by smoldering chunks of charred alien flesh.
âYouâre wounded,â said Banks, backing up alongside Sterling and covering the corridor.
âItâs nothing,â Sterling replied, though in truth he had no idea how bad the injury was. âHow much further until we reach the shuttle?â he asked, while recovering an alien rifle off the deck.
âNot far, about another hundred meters,â said Banks, sending another volley of blasts along the corridor. Two more warriors were torn apart by the powerful bolts of energy, driving others into cover.
Sterling looked ahead and saw that Ensign One was still clearing them a path to their shuttle. It was like watching a tunnel-boring machine cutting through a mountainside. Anything that stood in the robotâs way was chewed into chunks and obliterated.
âWe need to push on even harder,â Sterling said, brushing pieces of smoldering flesh off the alien weapon before firing two perfectly aimed blasts along the corridor and killing another warrior. âItâs only going to get crazier from here on in.â
Banks nodded. âIâll cover the rear, while you help Ensign Apocalypse over there to clear us a route,â she said, slapping a fresh cell into the massive rifle.
Despite the precariousness of their situation, Sterling couldnât help but snort a laugh. They were engaged in a running gun battle on a ten-kilometer-long alien warship crewed by thousands of warriors, and Banks could still find time to make a joke.
Stepping over the remains of bodies that Ensign One had already immolated, Sterling arrived at his robot officerâs side. The plasma cannons built into the machineâs arms had barely stopped firing since they had left the field generator room, each arm tracking targets independently of one another. It was an awe-inspiring display of gunmanship. No sooner had a warrior entered the kill zone than Ensign One had perforated it with a perfectly-aimed blast of plasma.
âPick up the pace, Ensign,â Sterling said, lending his own weapon to the effort.
âI am proceeding as fast as I can, sir,â Ensign One replied. âMy energy levels are depleting rapidly.â
Sterling glanced at the machine and noticed that its ocular units had lost their earlier, piercing intensity.
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