Outlanders 20 Prodigal Chalice by James Axler

Author:James Axler
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Outside the gaudy, Kane followed Fiddler, who was moving at a jog. The woman called out orders to the nearby men, and Kane was impressed at how quickly the rescue operation took form. They crossed the street, followed by most of the men from the gaudy.

"Hey, Fiddler," one of the machine-gun crewmen yelled down, "what's going on?"

"I think we're about to be attacked by Baron Samarium's shock troops." Fiddler stopped in front of a two-story building across the street. Two massive double doors fronted the structure.

"No shit?" the machine gunner called back down.

"Taylor's passing the word," Fiddler said. "Get your gear together and prep those rooftops. I don't know if we're going to try to hold the ville or leave immediately."

"Where are you going?" the man asked.

"Pilgrim's out there," Fiddler replied. "He doesn't know. He may have walked into a trap."

She glanced at Kane. "Help me with these doors."

Kane bent to the task, finding that although the doors were large, they also moved surprisingly easily on tracked runners. The interior of the building was dark, steeped in shadows, but the metallic surfaces of the large vehicles held inside glowed dully.

"You know what these are?" Fiddler asked as she walked between the two wags.

"Sandcats," Kane said, recognizing them immediately. They were prenukecaust FAVs—Fast Attack Vehicles. Covered in ceramic-armaglass armor, the Sandcats were outfitted with two USMG-73 heavy machine guns. The fighting wags were low-slung and blocky, standing on two tank treads that guaranteed them maneuverability over nearly any terrain. These two Sandcats were even equipped with snorkels that allowed them to travel underwater for short distances. "Usually they're only Magistrate issue."

"Yeah," Fiddler said, "well, they didn't get to keep them all." She reached up and hauled herself onto the Sandcat on her left. "When Baron Samarium's troops hit the second Fiddlerville, we were better prepared. We got out early, like I said, but we waited. Baron Samarium stationed two Sandcats and a small force to hold the ville."

"They were expecting you to show back up," Kane said, hauling himself aboard the Sandcat, as well.

"We did," Fiddler said. "Only things didn't go as they expected. We led them back out into the swamps, and they were so sure of themselves and their equipment that they followed. We blew out one of the first Sandcat's tracks with a rifle gren."

"Standard ops for a situation like that is to stay with the other team," Kane said.

Fiddler opened the top door and dropped down into the Sandcat. "It is. But the Magistrates were too sure of themselves. They thought we'd just gotten lucky with the grenade and that we were still running for our lives."

The Sandcat's 750-horsepower engine turned over loudly, then caused a steady shiver to come to life throughout the big machine. Kane felt the wag's familiar vibration through his hoot soles and welcomed it.

"We weren't still running for our lives," Fiddler said as she clambered back out of the Sandcat. "We'd planned on hiking out one of the Sandcats, and we'd planned on leading the second Sandcat to its doom.

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.