War Dog by Jim Roberts

Author:Jim Roberts [Roberts, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-15T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

TIME HAD lost all meaning for the big Russian. His ears echoed like someone had smashed them with a sledgehammer. Shaking off the dizziness, he pulled himself awkward onto his knees, looking over at where the explosion had impacted. Many of the structures in the village were gone, turned to debris strewn across the area. There were intermittent groans from the villagers who survived as they attempted to make sense of what hit them.

It was at that moment, Krieger saw what it was that had fallen from the sky.

A large metallic object, about thirty feet high and shaped like a giant wedge sat burrowed into the ground beyond the edge of the village. Smoke wafted from its surface as it started to cool, leaving an odd luminescent sheen on its dark exterior.

Looking past the strange object, Krieger spotted the wing of Fenrirs approaching, undeterred. The light ducted-fan aircraft zipped along at a solid clip toward the village.

Beside Krieger, Graves groaned as he came to. Both men’s hands were still fastened behind their backs. The big Russian thrust his arms under his legs and brought them up in front of him. With a hard jerk, he managed to break the plastic zip ties.

He leaned over to help Graves onto his knees. “Come on, get up! Whatever is happening isn’t finished yet!”

Just as he said that, a loud grinding noise emanated from the object. Some villagers, rather than running, simply stared at the device, wondering what it was. Then, abruptly, the object broke apart. The steel structure slid back, revealing inside what looked to be a collection of racking. From the network of racks, dozens, then what seemed like hundreds of small objects broke away and flocked into the air. The objects swooped out around the village like migrating birds.

Krieger recognized them immediately.

Drones.

Each one of them about the size of a large bird, they moved with dizzying speed, synchronized into a massive swarm.

A feeling of dread washed over Krieger. Grasping Graves by the collar he pulled him to his feet. “Get up, we have to go!”

“What the hell are those things?”

“What do you think? Drones!” Krieger pulled Graves along as he made a run towards the edge of the village, where a long brace of trees marked the beginning of the wilderness beyond. The villagers, terrified at the sight of the machines swooping through the air like flies, began running in all directions in sheer panic.

And it was at that moment when everything really went to hell.

The drones began firing on the people with what looked to Krieger like pulse weapons, similar to those Olympus utilized on their Hyperion aircraft. The blasts ripped across the village like meteors, tearing through earth and flesh with machine-like precision. Villagers died by the dozens. Krieger saw one mother attempt to shield her child, only to be caught in a blast that incinerated both of them into burning meat. A ways off, an old man was caught by a pulse beam and reduced to a grisly collection of smoking limbs.

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