shouted.
He rushed to the window and quickly raised his rifle. Drones were soaring towards them for another pass. The guns along the hull were still firing, and he saw one of the drones blasted out of the sky. But for all of their ammo expenditure, they were achieving little. He raised his rifle and took aim at two of the drones that were flying close to each other.
Gunfire rushed at their vessel, but Taylor calmed his breathing and squeezed the trigger. The shot rushed from his rifle and expanded out. The web instantly encompassed one of the drones and knocked the other off course. The trapped drone dropped from the sky like a brick.
"It works," he whispered, "Take 'em down!"
Others rushed to the gunports and opened fire with volleys of the web rounds that saw the drones being swatted like flies from fifty metres away. The fixed guns turned their fire to the drone carriers and bombarded them with prolonged bursts. Taylor sighed in relief as the rest of them cheered at their victory. He looked around; Lang and the other Germans were genuinely impressed. He didn't have the heart to tell the Sergeant that the drones were little more than a scouting party.
"Baltimore, here we come!" Parker shouted.
Chapter 4
Taylor was the first to step down the ramp onto the surface and stopped to look out at the ten-metre high walls either side of them, thinking of how they had seen layers just like it from the air.
"Looks like Minas Tirith," said Lang.
"What?" Silva asked.
"Layer after layer of thick walls housing a city. Tolkien?"
Silva shook his head and that brought a smile to Jones' face.
"We'll bring some culture to your world yet," he added.
Silva was still oblivious to what they were talking about and shrugged it off.
A dozen friendly vessels passed overhead, coming in to land throughout the city, and many more could be seen on the ground. Troops and vehicles were busy at work all around them.
"Will it be enough?"
"Probably not, Jones," replied Taylor.
Jones could not help but laugh at his scepticism, to avoid crying instead. Taylor was looking around for some semblance of authority. Army and Marine personnel were intermingled, and he could make out the uniforms of cops and Coast Guard. National Guard and Marine reservists were there too.
"One big happy family," said Silva.
A stripped down utility mule jeep parted some of the troops and stopped by them. It had just a single seat for the driver; the rest being a flat topped carrying deck.
"Colonel Taylor?" asked the driver.
"Yeah," he replied casually.
"Sir, General Heath requests your presence immediately, and that of Captain Jones if he is with you."
"And he couldn't have called this in?"
"Comms are haywire, Sir. We've got interference coming in all over the place, and we have no idea who is listening in. Fixed line communications have been established every one hundred metres on all the walls for when they are needed."
"Going old school."
"Yes, Sir."
"King, you know what to do. We'll be back shortly." Taylor climbed onto the flat-topped vehicle with Jones.
"Sorry about the ride, Sir, but we're a little hard pressed right now."
The driver raced off, causing troops nearby to jump out of the way. Taylor and Jones hung on rather unceremoniously to the rim of the storage basket they were sitting on. They passed through the huge reinforced gates of one of the walls and could see troops piling down into bunkers below that were integrated into the giant structures.
"Defences above and below?" Jones commented.
"We started digging in a few years back until their armour started rolling over us, so we started building up!" replied the driver.
"You were there for the defence of the city?"
"What's left of it, Sir, yes."
"So someone got out alive," whispered Jones.
They passed through another wall, and as they did, they could see four ships coming into land and a welcome party waiting for whoever it was.
"That's General Heath, Sir," the man said, pointing to
He rushed to the window and quickly raised his rifle. Drones were soaring towards them for another pass. The guns along the hull were still firing, and he saw one of the drones blasted out of the sky. But for all of their ammo expenditure, they were achieving little. He raised his rifle and took aim at two of the drones that were flying close to each other.
Gunfire rushed at their vessel, but Taylor calmed his breathing and squeezed the trigger. The shot rushed from his rifle and expanded out. The web instantly encompassed one of the drones and knocked the other off course. The trapped drone dropped from the sky like a brick.
"It works," he whispered, "Take 'em down!"
Others rushed to the gunports and opened fire with volleys of the web rounds that saw the drones being swatted like flies from fifty metres away. The fixed guns turned their fire to the drone carriers and bombarded them with prolonged bursts. Taylor sighed in relief as the rest of them cheered at their victory. He looked around; Lang and the other Germans were genuinely impressed. He didn't have the heart to tell the Sergeant that the drones were little more than a scouting party.
"Baltimore, here we come!" Parker shouted.
Chapter 4
Taylor was the first to step down the ramp onto the surface and stopped to look out at the ten-metre high walls either side of them, thinking of how they had seen layers just like it from the air.
"Looks like Minas Tirith," said Lang.
"What?" Silva asked.
"Layer after layer of thick walls housing a city. Tolkien?"
Silva shook his head and that brought a smile to Jones' face.
"We'll bring some culture to your world yet," he added.
Silva was still oblivious to what they were talking about and shrugged it off.
A dozen friendly vessels passed overhead, coming in to land throughout the city, and many more could be seen on the ground. Troops and vehicles were busy at work all around them.
"Will it be enough?"
"Probably not, Jones," replied Taylor.
Jones could not help but laugh at his scepticism, to avoid crying instead. Taylor was looking around for some semblance of authority. Army and Marine personnel were intermingled, and he could make out the uniforms of cops and Coast Guard. National Guard and Marine reservists were there too.
"One big happy family," said Silva.
A stripped down utility mule jeep parted some of the troops and stopped by them. It had just a single seat for the driver; the rest being a flat topped carrying deck.
"Colonel Taylor?" asked the driver.
"Yeah," he replied casually.
"Sir, General Heath requests your presence immediately, and that of Captain Jones if he is with you."
"And he couldn't have called this in?"
"Comms are haywire, Sir. We've got interference coming in all over the place, and we have no idea who is listening in. Fixed line communications have been established every one hundred metres on all the walls for when they are needed."
"Going old school."
"Yes, Sir."
"King, you know what to do. We'll be back shortly." Taylor climbed onto the flat-topped vehicle with Jones.
"Sorry about the ride, Sir, but we're a little hard pressed right now."
The driver raced off, causing troops nearby to jump out of the way. Taylor and Jones hung on rather unceremoniously to the rim of the storage basket they were sitting on. They passed through the huge reinforced gates of one of the walls and could see troops piling down into bunkers below that were integrated into the giant structures.
"Defences above and below?" Jones commented.
"We started digging in a few years back until their armour started rolling over us, so we started building up!" replied the driver.
"You were there for the defence of the city?"
"What's left of it, Sir, yes."
"So someone got out alive," whispered Jones.
They passed through another wall, and as they did, they could see four ships coming into land and a welcome party waiting for whoever it was.
"That's General Heath, Sir," the man said, pointing to
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