Star Crusades by Michael Thomas (whitelam books txt) 📗

nodded to the top of thecraft where fire from inside had widened the breach in the armour.Some flashed above them, and a section of the plating rippedopen.

“We’re being boarded!”Sergeant Jablonsky shouted, “Do not let thosebastards touch you!”

He lifted his weapons andlooked to the others.

“Novas…defend yourselves.”

Part of theportside armour split apart, and theentry door hatch ripped off and vanished, leaving the flank openand vulnerable. Valentine looked as energy bolts crashed aboutoutside from the formation of dropships unleashing an inferno offire against the aerial foe. Many were shot down, but others splitaway and darted between the vertical spires hanging down from theroof of the cavern. Some hung like bats and returned fire, whileothers vanished into the myriad of holes and tunnels hidden insidethe glass like metal.

“Blast em!” said the Lieutenant.

Valentine tracked their hidingplaces and fired again and again. TheXHEC cannon was a monster, and due to the extra cooling and powersupply direct from the dropship, she could fire long bursts, asopposed to the limited firing when used as a mobile weapon system.More came for their craft, and Valentine fired at point-blankrange. Some of the energy from the impacts splashed back and burntthe exposed amour of the dropship.

“They are not goingto let us land without a fight,” said SergeantJablonsky.

“I don’t care,” the Lieutenantshouted, “Novas, explain it tothem.”

Valentine fired again, and threemore came in so close they were able to grab the side of thedropship. She blasted two, but the thirdpulled itself up to the top of the dropship.

“We’ve got one, topside!” sheshouted.

A moment later a Ski’ligdropped down into the hull and was met by theSergeant. He’d been waiting for it and grabbed the alien about thethroat. He held it there for a second, using the full power andstrength of the Rhino armour to snap its neck. Another appeared andwas about to drop inside as Valentine pointed her right arm at it.She opened fire, showering it with slugs from her machine pistol.It fell away, and she spotted it flailing about as it vanished offbelow them. Her eyes gazed across to Alexis who seemed almoststunned by the short, brutal engagement that had takenplace.

“Novas,” said Lieutenant Sterling,“This is too hot. I’m putting us downright now. You need to get outside and show them what you cando.”

The dropshiprolled to the left and then the right,just as the massive guns hidden deep inside the cavern fired. Theycould have destroyed every dropship in the cavern had they hitthem, but thankfully, the pilots of the Jackals coordinated theiractions and avoided the heavy fire. One moved perilously close tothe roof of the cavern. It sustained heavy damage and surfacescoring, due to the razor-sharp material cutting open the dropshiplike a can of sardines.

“Hold on! We’re coming in hot!”

The Jackal shookonce more as it changed position and came downtowards the surface. It was a rough landing, made worse perhaps bythe hard surface as well as the stronger gravity putting greaterstrain on the engines. The forward guns roared asLieutenant Sterling did his best to create asafer landing ground for them to settle on. The spikes and outcropsof diamond looked like spear points extending out of theground.

“Incredible,” said Alexis,“Just like the hedgehogs atNormandy.”

Tex brought up the images forValentine as she struggled to remember them. They were simply pieces of metal joined together to createobstacles on beaches. As well as providing a barrier for landingcraft and ships, they were also hidden at high tide, making then adeadly threat to the hulls of unsuspecting craft.

Thanks. Not what Iwant to be looking at rightnow.

The imagery vanished, and in itsplace the battered, yet functional interior of the dropship. She half-expected to see the spikespushing up through the hull as they hit the ground and continued topush forward. It was unlike any landing she’d experienced before asthey pushed on for over two hundred metres. The guns fired non-stopand continued even after they came to a complete halt. No soonerhad they touched down, the one remaining external door opened toreveal the surface of the alien world. It glistened white, andalready she could make out alien soldiers off in the distance asthey fired at the dropship.

“It’s time.” Lieutenant Fletcher detached from his harness. Valentinefelt her heart pounding deep inside her chest, and she knew thetime for transport was over. Now it was time for them to do whatthey had trained for.

“Novas…out now!”Sergeant Jablonsky ordered.

Valentine hit the release on herweapon control and rose to her feet. The others were alreadyheading out, with one lance out on theleft side of the craft and through the breached hull. Valentine wassecond out from the right, just next to Alexis who stepped out anddropped a metre to the shattered floor. Valentine crashed alongsideher and landed on top of the broken body of a fallen Ski’lig. Shelooked down and noted the colour of its armour was different to theones she’d fought against before. Even its armour was different,with bulkier plates and a slightly different aesthetic.

“Move it!” roared theSergeant, as he landed next to them andsignalled for the unit to advance. They all stepped away from theJackal and split into two groups, with the Sergeant in the middle.Valentine instinctively lifted her right arm as she looked fordanger. She’d assumed they were landing in a flat cavern, butinstead it was steeply angled, and she had to be careful not toslip and fall away from the entrance. Paths led around to the sideswhere they joined a series of winding walkways cut into the diamonditself.

Scanning fortargets, said Tex, This is atarget rich environment.

The place looked like a bizarrecombination of a scrapyard, deep core mine, and a magicalwilderness filled with glass towers, bright lights, and a light haze that caused the light to shift anddistort.

“There are the guns,”said Tsarkov.

Valentine looked in thedirection he’d tagged. They were several hundredmetres away and deep inside the steeply angled cavern. They lookedtruly monstrous and dwarfed anything she’d seen fitted onto awarship before. The guns were also above their current position andpartly hidden by the long sections of jagged rock. The cavern wallswere slightly curved and covered in inward facing spikes like theinside of some cruel mouth. Small,