Star Crusades Nexus: Book 05 - Prophecy of Fire by Michael G. Thomas

before embedding in his bone. He cried out and dropped his carbine. Private Jana Jenkell dropped down next to him, covering him with her carbine while the others continued forward. Callahan and Riku automatically moved to one knee and opened fire on the group, keeping their fire to the right to avoid striking Jack who was almost upon them. One was killed outright, and another of the Animosh staggered about, temporarily blinded. The Helion had already turned away from them, and instead of running, aimed his gun in the direction of the marines and held down the trigger. Thermal rounds clattered everywhere, and then Jack was amongst them. He ducked under the blow of the last remaining insurgent and struck with the butt of his carbine. Incredibly, the lithe and agile fighter pulled back his torso to avoid the strike and fired a shot at Jack.
    “Bastard!” he cried, stumbling back.
    The burning round left a scorch march along his flank where it had almost burned through. Another few centimeters, and it would have stuck his chest straight on. Even so, he stumbled and found himself falling before crashing onto his back. The insurgent was on him in a flash, but even he wasn’t quick enough to avoid the charge by Private Callahan. The man was like a bull and shoulder barged the alien. His bulk and strength sent the Helion flying through the air and crashing onto his side in the dirt.
    “Stay down!” snapped Riku. She chased after him, her weapon pointing at his head. Only then did it occur to her he probably had no idea what she was saying.
    Callahan helped Jack to his feet and looked over to Riku.
    “Don’t worry, he understands. And if he doesn’t, you know what to do.”
    Frewyn groaned from the pain of his injury, and Private Jenkell was already busy seeing to the damage. That left just the three of them plus the two prisoners waiting outside the doorway. Movement came from the corner of the building, and three marines charged around it with their weapons raised.
    “Lieutenant,” Jack said with a slightly raised pitch to his voice.
    The adrenalin was now pounding through his body, and he could feel a violent rage starting to build up inside him. He tried to focus on the data from the drones, anything to try and stop his blood from boiling inside.
    “There are more inside the building. We need to secure it, and fast!”
    Lieutenant Elvidge nodded in agreement.
    “Good work, marines,” he said, turning to speak with Sergeant Stone who had only just arrived with another four marines.
    “Sergeant Stone, secure this position and the prisoners. Guard this door, and make sure they don’t double back. Morato, Riku and...”
    “Callahan, Sir,” answered the marine.
    “Yes, the three of you come with me. We have work to do.”
    Jack was surprised to see the green officer to be so fit and keen to get stuck in. The run across the open ground from the ambush location had been significant, yet the officer showed no obvious signs of fatigue. Even better was the fact the man stopped at the entrance and checked carefully before entering.
    So, he isn’t just a pretty boy from Terra Nova, he thought optimistically.
    Then they were inside and moving through a narrow corridor. There were no lights, and so as not to give away their position, the four marines used their thermal and infrared overlays to allow them to see in the darkened structure. Callahan went first with Jack following. The Lieutenant came next, and Riku brought up the rear with her L48 rifle now slung on her shoulder.
    “Can you hear that?” asked Jack.
    The sound amplification unit built into their suits was capable of identifying discrete sound and located them in both direction and distance. His suit had amplified part of the sound, and he could hear what sounded like something heavy being dragged across a floor.
    “I hear it, sounds like equipment,” suggested Riku.
    “Maybe, it could also be an attempt to barricade themselves in,” Jack added.
    The