Gauntlet (eBook)

J.J. Snow (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2016 | 1. Auflage
200 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-0-9897781-1-4 (ISBN)

Infos

A commander driven by duty. A crew who might be humanity's only hope. A boy caught between a sociopath and a directive. A government assassin with a dark secret. As war rages across the galaxy, each of them have a role to play. For some it will be their last. Gauntlet is the second book in the Reilly Campbell Chronicles, a trilogy that follows Captain Campbell and her crew as they fight for each other and humanity against impossible odds on some of the toughest terrain in the galaxy. Their story isn't over yet.

Textauszug

Chapter 2

Sector Three was the location of the largest bunker, which sat at the opening of the mountain range. Its bay could be accessed through both sides of the mountains and was defended by several heavy turret systems. Opposite the entrance doors, positioned on top of the cold, rocky crags, was a platoon of snipers. Each was decked out in a snow camo ghillie suit that helped to hide them from the casual observer as well as any heat-detecting devices. They sat motionless, waiting as the alien raiding craft began to land at the mouth of the valley.

Sergeant Joby Ty watched the landings begin through his holographic gun sight. He had handpicked the sniper teams that had accompanied him up into the peaks. They were the best in the wing. A few of the shooters would’ve been ranked the best in the galaxy, including Ty and their ship’s mechanic, Marek. The alien troops moved out cautiously as they focused mobile laser turrets and grenade launchers with concussive rounds against the well-shielded heavy turrets firing above them. Armored vehicles rolled off the raiding craft and began to press forward, firing as they went. The snipers held their positions, waiting for the signal.

In the valley below, Tiny sat in one of many camouflaged holes leading out of the mountains and into the valley. She watched the ships set down as her own breath echoed loudly inside her respirator mask. Tiny could see the aliens moving away from her towards the blast door on the main bay. A few more ships unloaded, and soon the valley was teeming with the heavily armed angular beasts. They moved rapidly, like some kind of mutant bipedal-crabs, towards their primary target. More ships began to put down as she waited. Tiny glanced at the numbers. There were already too many for them to handle without help. Overhead, Duv and his fighters danced through the opposition, strafing the landing craft and passengers before shooting back into the sky. One of the aliens launched a missile from a pod-type device, bringing a fighter crashing to the ground. Several others prepared to do the same as Tiny entered a code on her handheld and then crouched low.

The rocky ground before the bay heaved and then fell as the concussive net detonated. Within seconds, a large portion of the alien forces had disappeared, and the others were hissing and scurrying back in dismay. Several of the raiding craft took off and began hunting through the valley, looking again for the hidden opposition. The ground continued to smoke as the enemy tried to press forward again around the edges of the huge blackened crater.

On cue, Ty and his snipers responded to the blast by picking off targets. The first to go were any pilots or alien leadership targets. His mission was to create as much chaos and confusion as possible by removing those in charge or those providing cover to the landing parties.

“All right, folks, time to do some duck hunting!” Ty said quietly into his mic. “Let’s get some!”

Ty waited until the nearest enemy gunship made another pass and then drilled through the bridge with a high explosive round. The bullet was a large .50 caliber with an explosive tip that disrupted the protective field long enough to allow the round to penetrate the ship’s hull. As it punched through, Ty had the satisfaction of seeing the Vhax pilot and crew blown out the opposite side as the bullet tumbled, turning the bridge into a blender. The ship nosedived to the ground.

“Incoming,” Ty said softly into his headset.

Tiny watched in admiration as the gunship bounced along the snow, just meters from where she and some of her platoon were hidden, before exploding.

“Nice shot,” she said softly back. “My turn.”

Ty grinned and went back to killing aliens. Several white dust trails began to stream out from the walls of the valley as Tiny and her troops mounted up. Marek had worked with her on the design and had built about thirty modified all-terrain vehicles that they called Rattlers. The vehicles were rugged and had guns mounted on the front and rear, as well as side guns that could be operated from the doors. The nickname had come from the sound the high-speed guns made as brass kicked out, rattling so fast that it sounded like the desert snakes that had populated the barren grounds of one of the Gaiden training facilities Tiny had attended.

The alien forces turned to protect their flank as the main push continued towards the large blast doors of the bunker. The aliens were fast, but the Rattlers were faster. The armored dune buggies held up to six people and were blinding as they darted in and out of fire, taking out ships and mowing down the adversary. The enemy was smart, though, and soon a few of the Rattlers had been rolled over by well-placed propelled laser-grenade strikes. The teams struggled out of their rides, then formed up to begin bounding away from the enemy and back towards cover. But Welch’s forces had numbers to their advantage. Within minutes, the teams had been surrounded. Tiny watched as one of the officers pulled pins on his concussive grenades, dropping them as the enemy rushed in for the final kill. A large blue flash flared outward, consuming everything instead. She turned away and focused on the rest of the battle. There was no time for remorse or regret. They all had known that some of their own would die today. She put it aside in favor of survival and pressed on.

Tiny drove the Rattler hard as her team worked the guns, deftly cutting down the enemy while she weaved and dodged. Large chunks of debris rained down around them, distracting her for a moment as a friendly gunship crashed, followed by two enemy vessels. A huge metal wing dropped in her path, forcing the Rattler to roll up it like a ramp and then flip over. As the vehicle went airborne, Tiny looked back to see a rush of aliens headed for them. A few began to drop, and she realized Ty must have ordered his men to focus their fire on protecting her team. As they hit the ground, the Rattler slid upside down while Tiny and her crew hung inside the roll cage. The aliens continued to charge. Tiny opened her harness and allowed herself to drop, rolling with the momentum of the vehicle before coming to a stop on her feet facing the threat. She pulled her light machine gun around on its sling and began to mow down the first wave of aliens.

The rest of her team struggled out of the wreck to set up a loose perimeter using the Rattler and a rocky outcropping for cover. Rounds streaked by her on all sides, both friendly and enemy, as she hoisted the machine gun and unleashed another string of laser tantalum projectiles while walking slowly back to the shattered vehicle.

A shot destroyed the ground just in front of her right foot, the snow turning an obscene purple from the blood of the dead alien dug in below her.

“Thanks,” she said, continuing to fire.

“No problem,” Ty came back to her, sounding a bit breathless as he once again shifted his position to avoid detection.

As she reached the Rattler, she gestured for two of the team to help her get the heavy blaster unmounted from the vehicle. They pulled it loose and swiveled the gun towards the rush of aliens heading at them, using one of the rocks to help balance the tripod. Suddenly, one of the gunners went under. Tiny and another soldier tore up the snow with their guns until they saw the telltale purple leak to the surface. It was already well known that if you went under, you weren’t coming back. The soldiers who hesitated to fire for fear of hitting their buddy usually were grabbed next. It had been a hard lesson.

“Stay back here,” Tiny ordered as she looked at her handheld. The rocks ran deep, and the snow on top of them had drifted so that it would be too shallow for the aliens to burrow under. Her team complied and continued firing as the enemy converged on their location.

Tiny flipped her handheld and pushed a button. A bright laser shot out of the back as she rapidly registered their current position and the enemy positions approaching them. Then she entered another code and went back to firing. A four ship formation of fighters screamed overheard, dropping ordnance on her designated targets. The heat from the explosions rocked them all back. When the smoke cleared, the enemy was still moving in, but the fighters had bought them some time. Tiny turned back to the Rattler and with the help of her team flipped it over. The vehicle was mangled badly. Tiny tried to restart it anyway. No luck. Her soldiers were continuing to fire, but once again the aliens were massing on their position. Above them, the blast doors on the main bunker finally yielded with a deafening explosion. She could hear the exchange of gunfire as the soldiers attempted to hold their turret positions before being forced to retreat into the bunker itself.

Tiny heard a scream as one of the men at the front of their perimeter was hit. Another soldier pulled him back and took his place while Tiny threw on a tourniquet to stop the blood streaming from his arm.

She was back up in a second as she took in their situation. A second soldier had a shoulder wound but continued to hold his ground. Tiny marked four new spots for close air support and waited for the fighters to return. The forward-most aliens continued to drop as Ty and his snipers helped them from above. But it wasn’t going to be enough. The fighters were off to her west, and another series of enemy landing craft had cut them off from her valley. She couldn’t wait for them to return. She turned and handed her earpiece to one...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 13.6.2016
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Science Fiction
• ISBN-10: 0-9897781-1-8 / 0989778118
• ISBN-13: 978-0-9897781-1-4 / 9780989778114