Rebel Sword by Peter Bostrom

Author:Peter Bostrom
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2020-03-30T04:00:00+00:00

21

PLASMA SLUGS WERE zipping toward me and the other Dominion troopers from almost every direction. I looked around for cover, but couldn’t find any. I began to hear a faint, but triumphant song at the back of my mind and before I knew it, my arm shield was glowing purple. I dropped to one knee, thrust forward the shield, and felt my arm buzz as several plasma slugs ricochet off it.

Now that I had at least a little breathing room, I looked up at the overturned transit vehicle and saw Peacekeeper soldiers in blue fatigues wearing reinforced metal cloth flack jackets and helmets with cams mounted to the side.

They weren’t the only ones firing plasma weapons. I looked around and saw Peacekeepers standing in the building entry ways just past the transit vehicle and others crouching behind shattered second-story windows. All of them were firing at the Dominion troopers, which meant that they were also firing at Kovac and me.

I turned and saw my over-sized crewmate huddling against the trooper in front of him for at least some protection from the hail of plasma. The other trooper kept trying to push Kovac away, but the giant couldn’t be moved when he wanted to stay put. And as long as Kovac couldn’t get his shield to work, he was going to stay as close as possible to someone who could.

Another plasma blast bounced off my shield and brought me back to my terrible situation. This was another one of those “stuck between a six-headed monster and a giant whirlpool” situations. Kovac and I had to fight to stay alive, but without harming—or, at least, without killing—the soldiers who were trying their damnedest to kill us. Every few seconds, I raised my crossbow and fired off an arrow. Each shot was high and wide, and I hoped none of the troopers would notice that I never hit anywhere close to a Peacekeeper.

The troopers around me were definitely outnumbered, but with their arm shields, they were able to deflect most of the plasma fire and it ended up being a pretty even fight.

Until the Peacekeepers brought in a plasma canon.

The shot came from somewhere along the second story and was aimed at the center of our group. There was a flash of blue light, a loud explosion, and then bodies and chunks of pavement went flying. Dust and smoke filled the air. I’d been knocked onto my back, but I was still conscious.

I rolled over, coughed, and looked for Kovac. I could see his giant form through the hazy air just a couple of meters away, so I grabbed my crossbow and quickly crawled over and nudged him.

No response.

“Come on, big guy,” I said, hoping the short-range comm unit in our suits hadn’t been damaged.

I shook his harm, then banged on his helmet. Suddenly, he sat up and, at the same time, swung his inactivated vibro-hammer at me. I somersaulted out of the way.

“Kovac, you idiot—it’s me!”

He shook his head to clear the cobwebs, then answered.

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