Vapor Trails by Joshua Dalzelle

Author:Joshua Dalzelle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-07-04T22:00:00+00:00

15

"What the hell is that?" Jacob asked, pointing at the hole in the cargo bay deck filled with a wavering blue light.

"You've never used this the whole time you've had the ship?" Crusher asked.

"You're going to love it." Then he grabbed a shocked Murph and threw him into the blue maw.

"Hey!" Jacob shouted just as 707 and 784 walked up and jumped in right after Murph. Crusher winked at him and followed the two battlesynths.

Shrugging, Jacob stepped off the edge after them.

He expected to fall or be atomized or…something. Instead, Jacob was pleasantly surprised the blue beam zipped him to the ground, slowing him before he touched so all he had to do was walk out of it. As soon as he did, the ear-shattering roar of the Phoenix throttling up and leaving the area drowned out whatever Crusher was saying to them.

"Noisy bastard," Crusher growled once the sound had receded. "As I was saying, the Devil already softened them up. All the technicals are gone, a lot of their troops are dead, and the rest have retreated into the building. There's only one door we can see, so we'll need to breach someplace else.

Thermographic scan indicates there's a corridor running along the southeast wall we can get through without too much trouble. You two want to do the honors?"

"It would be best if we did," 707 said. "Our cutting lasers should be of sufficient power to get through the wall and will be a bit subtler than the

breaching charges you are so fond of."

"I like to announce my arrival," Crusher said with a smile. "Okay, let's get to it."

"Wait!" Murph protested. "That's your whole plan?"

"We have operators from three different units who have never worked together before," Crusher said. "It's best if we don't overcomplicate this."

"Do we even know how many troops might be remaining?" Murph asked Jacob as they ran after the others.

"I don't even know how many there were to start with," Jacob said. "I was just grabbed by the big guy and told to get my weapons."

"I feel like this could go very poorly."

They ran around the back of the building they'd been dropped off by, past the construction cradles and half-finished ships and, finally, to the side of the building sporting the new scorch marks from the orbital hits. In total, it ended up being just over two kilometers. The pace set by the battlesynths and the Galvetic warrior was brutal, even for someone with Jacob's gifts. Murph looked like he was going to cough out a lung.

As he gasped and held his side, 707 and 784 were already at work burning a hole through the outer wall while Crusher kept an eye towards one corner and pointed for Jacob to take the other. Every so often, Crusher glanced at the roof even though the team still on the ship in orbit was keeping an eye on the building.

It took no time at all to burn through the outer wall of the prefabbed structure. The

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