Martian Quadrilogy Box Set by Brandon Ellis

Author:Brandon Ellis [Ellis, Brandon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookLily Press, LLC
Published: 2019-04-22T22:00:00+00:00

37

Nearing Tagus Valles, Mars

“Grab my hand,” yelled Gragas, extending his arm while standing on the Hawk’s roof. A photon beam from a Dunrakee starfighter zipped over his head.

Ozzy reached out, threw his foot outside the cabin, and magnetized his boot to the side of the craft.

Gragas leaned back and pulled.

Ozzy moved swiftly, managing to sweep his other leg over the roof’s edge and on top of the craft.

The Hawk shuddered, sending Ozzy and Gragas onto their butts. Their boots were the only things keeping them from falling overboard.

Another photon blast zipped by them.

“Do what I do, Ozzy.” Gragas went to his stomach, grabbed the edge of the roof, and aimed his double-barreled photon gun at the oncoming enemy.

Ozzy did the same and held on to the other side of the roof. He pointed his gun at the closest ship and pulled the trigger.

The gun recoiled in his hand, zipping multiple photon bolts at the nearest Dunrakee.

Every shot went wide.

“Ease up, Ozzy,” said Gragas. “The idea is one shot, one hit. If, by chance, they didn’t know we were here before, they know now.”

Gragas aimed, steadying his weapon.

Jozi veered to the right, avoiding cannon fire.

Gragas didn’t budge, his mind clearly on the task at hand, his body automatically adjusting to any movement Jozi put the craft through.

This guy was trained and trained masterfully. He let out a shot then a second and a third.

An explosion lit up the enemy craft. Fire spewed from its wing and nose, and flames and smoke licked toward the enemy’s cockpit. The starfighter jerked upward as if the Dunrakee tried to pull away from more potential direct hits.

It then dipped, spun, and careened out of view.

“One down,” said Gragas. “Four more to go.”

A starfighter was coming around. Ozzy aimed as Jozi pulled back, pitching the Hawk into an ascent. Ozzy fired, missing badly.

“Dammit, Jozi. I had the Dunrakee dead to rights.”

“Sorry, Ozzy. I’m trying to keep us alive,” Jozi said.

“Jozi,” Gragas said, targeting a starfighter. “Ignore anything Ozzy says up here. Your piloting comes first. Our targeting comes second.”

“Aye,” replied Jozi, putting them in a wide turn.

Ozzy dug his feet more into the roof, keeping himself from flinging off like a rock in a slingshot.

A starfighter flew closer and opened fire.

Jozi evaded just as Gragas fired a few rounds.

The photon charges flew like a bat out of hell, slamming into the Dunrakee’s cockpit. Sparks shot forward and cracked the cockpit window.

The starfighter spun away.

“You almost got him,” said Ozzy.

“No, I did get him. The pilot is dead. My shots were true.”

Ozzy closed one eye, aiming the best he could. In most cases, Ozzy would have a little, if not a gang, of butterflies circling his innards. For some reason, he was calm next to this guy.

He pulled the trigger, missing again.

Being next to him didn’t help his shot, though.

Gragas slapped Ozzy’s helmet. “Will you focus and pay attention?”

“It ain’t easy, Mr. Perfect. It’s not every day I’m riding a ship like a bull, firing my gun at bubble-heads trying to kill me.

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.