Assault Teams Away!
A little taste of an upcoming story
I am very excited to be a part of this upcoming anthology from Three Ravens Publishing coming out this Friday, March 29th!
My story, titled Critical Objectives, is in the same universe as the short story Laugh or Cry that can be found in the Clash of Steel anthology from Bayonet Books. Reappearing are Sergeant Henry Colton of the Terran Expeditionary Forces and his platoon.
The alien Kugh have attacked a supposedly secure planet, right at the worst possible time. And B Company, 5th Independent Hunter/Killer Battalion are thrown into a do-or-die situation well outside their training and experience. But enough about the background, on to the action!
From my story Critical Objectives:
Sergeant Henry Colton, Terran Expeditionary Forces, fought down his gorge as the assault boat twisted in an insane spiral through space to avoid slashing Kugh blasters. He grunted, squeezing his leg and abdominal muscles as gees slipped through the boat's inertial compensator. Jerking as the boat maneuvered, his armored form clattering against Drake in the seat beside him. He gripped his restraining straps, praying the assault boat pilots knew what they were doing. Around him twenty-eight troopers of the 5th Independent Hunter/Killer Battalion fervently did likewise.
"Hey Sarge. They couldn't find any Marines for this job?" Billy the Kid grunted in a strained voice.
"They must have all been busy, Billy. Captain told me they needed real soldiers for this job anyway, so that disqualified the Marines. Kind of them to loan us this fancy armor, though." He slapped the chest plate of the unfamiliar Marine boarding armor, prompting chuckles from a few soldiers.
"Don't worry, Billy. As soon as we clear out this station and recover the objective, we'll be back on solid ground where we ugh—" He fought the intense pull of gravity as his vision grayed out around the edges.
The weight vanished after an eternity and he experienced an instant of freefall before his normal weight reasserted itself. Someone up-boat from him lost their battle with a full stomach and vomit splattered across the decking. In moments, three quarters of the assault team joined in.
Colt flipped his faceplate closed and held his breath for a handful of seconds. He sucked in a deep breath of internal air that only held a whiff of vomit. He was suddenly very grateful he'd been too busy organizing their lift from the surface this morning to gorge himself on steak and eggs at breakfast.
You will not puke. You will not puke. You will not puke.
He repeated the mantra to himself over and over, trying to ignore the puddles of vomit rolling around the decking as the craft dodged and jinked all over space.
Deciding he needed more of a distraction, he activated the VR display linked to the boat's central computer. As an acting platoon leader, he'd gotten a fancy officer's suit with all sorts of helpful goodies equipped.
The troop bay faded away, replaced by a wide tactical display of the surrounding space. He quickly forgot all about the puddles of vomit sloshing around the compartment and really started to fear for his life.
Barely an hour ago, a swarm of Kugh warships had dropped out of hyperspace above the completely unsuspecting planet of Korecki. Now the planet's orbitals were chock full of vessels clawing each other's eyes out.
Behind their assault boat lay their ship, the troop transport Corusca. She spat combat drop pods at maximum rate towards the planet below. Colt watched the stream of pods longingly. He'd much rather be in one of those pods instead of the assault boat. At least then he'd know what to expect on the surface.
Only a handful of pods were occupied with actual troops; those who'd been in the process of shuttling up to the vessel when the Kugh launched their assault. Most were filled with weapons, ammo, and equipment for the three divisions of Terran Expeditionary Force soldiers who'd been happily enjoying their R&R an hour prior. That was going to be a complete clusterfuck. There were going to be drop pods everywhere on Korecki, all full of top-of-the-line Terran weaponry. Whatever. That was a problem for later.
A hundred kilometers below them a Kugh destroyer wove and twisted through a cloud of debris from its latest kill, a massive civilian cargo hauler. The Kugh ship rotated, bringing the stingray-shaped ship's wide dorsal surface into view. In his HUD a crimson circle strobed around the vessel.
"Wonder what that mea…" He cut off as angry red flashes of laser fire surrounded them. The boat spun ninety degrees and went to max acceleration. The punishing turn glued Colt to his seat and left him gasping for air. He felt air bladders in his legs and lower body inflate, squeezing his extremities to keep blood from pooling.
With another flip the weight was gone and Colt shook away the memory of a mountain falling on his chest. Returning to the HUD, he found the Kugh destroyer in the display, now a victim of its own success. Its last kill had broken up completely, spreading thousands of cargo pods across low orbit. One of them had impacted the Kugh destroyer, tearing off most of the drive section. The two vessels began a slow spiral into the embrace of gravity together.
If you liked this sample, you can go ahead and preorder on Amazon right now here. I think this is a great story in a book packed with great stories, so check it out on Friday, March 29th. And if you’ve not read Laugh or Cry where Colt and his platoon were introduced, you pick it up here!
Thanks for reading!