shattered by T60 fire erupting from the rocks near the cave. The pulse of a laser blaster offered a thunderous accompaniment to the hailstorm.
“Fire!”
Mark concentrated his aim on the Arcadians nearest their position. The first fell quickly, but now their position had been made. Stunner blasts flashed all around them, leaving scorch marks on the rocks. Julia fired the APX. With the need to stay focused and no time to think, it was easy than she’d thought. One Arcadian fell at her hand. More fire from behind the rocks mimicked Mark’s and three more went down. Mark kept firing; adding to the tally Julia had started keeping. The remaining three were on the rocks directly below their position, making firing on them difficult without risking being stunned.
A man, followed closely by a woman and another man, was sprinting down the beach; pausing to fire as he neared the island. His next shot hit an Arcadian square in the back of the head, and it tumbled backward, taking the one below down too. The man leaped over the bodies, long white hair and blue leather coat billowing out behind him. He fired secondary shots to secure his kills and disappeared from sight as he started up the rocks.
Julia couldn’t help it. She screamed as the last Arcadian, huge and bald with bulbous orange muscles painted in blood-red tribal symbols, loomed up over the rim. His staff aimed right at her chest. The last thing she saw while her body convulsed in shock was Mark crouched over her, protecting her with his body as he fired a torrent of gold sparks into the Arcadian’s chest armor.
~*~
Julia felt groggy, like the beginnings of a head cold. Every inch of her body ached, pain radiating from the center of her chest where the stunner blast had struck. She was lying in someone’s arms. Mark’s. The scent of his skin was unmistakable.
“Hey.” His voice was a tender rasp, overflowing with relief. “You okay?”
“Ummm…” It took a moment for her to remember which button to push to speak. “Yeah, think so. Those things pack a hell of a punch.”
“Are you okay?” Julia asked, breathless, urgent; her eyes assessing him for new injuries. “That last one didn’t get you too, did it?”
She groaned and tried to sit up, her muscles as useless as pulled taffy. When he realized what she wanted Mark helped with a warm reassuring hand at the small of her back.
“No, Coop helped with the final takedown.” Mark nodded to where a tall man in tight blue leather pants with laced seams perched on the edge of the plateau, athletic body coiled to pounce at a moment’s notice. The sea breeze flirted with the blue and scarlet feathers braided into his shoulder-length platinum hair as he kept watch over the now empty landscape; giving no outward sign of having heard Mark’s explanation.
“I am called Anora.” A woman wearing delicate gold chainmail over a short brown leather shift, gold gauntlets and military-issue combat boots smiled, and offered Julia a canteen to drink from. “Colonel Holden has told us much of you.”
All trace of tension had gone from Mark’s face as he grinned, bright splotches of red on his cheeks.
“Really? How long was I out?” Julia couldn’t help staring at the tri-colored corn rows patterning Anora’s scalp, or the gem-studded gold circlet pierced through her brow, as she sipped the cool sweet water.
“No more than thirty minutes.” Stephen was all official bluster as he offered Julia his hand. “Doctor Stephen Garrett, Head of Meta-Astrophysics, Phoenix City.”
“Pleased to meet you, Stephen.”
Julia couldn’t hide her smile. It was just all so surreal. Though they introduced themselves with familiar names and titles, not one of the people in front of her resembled the characters she’d grown to love over the past three seasons Phoenix Rising had been on air. She’d gotten used to Mark, but the wow factor was most
“Fire!”
Mark concentrated his aim on the Arcadians nearest their position. The first fell quickly, but now their position had been made. Stunner blasts flashed all around them, leaving scorch marks on the rocks. Julia fired the APX. With the need to stay focused and no time to think, it was easy than she’d thought. One Arcadian fell at her hand. More fire from behind the rocks mimicked Mark’s and three more went down. Mark kept firing; adding to the tally Julia had started keeping. The remaining three were on the rocks directly below their position, making firing on them difficult without risking being stunned.
A man, followed closely by a woman and another man, was sprinting down the beach; pausing to fire as he neared the island. His next shot hit an Arcadian square in the back of the head, and it tumbled backward, taking the one below down too. The man leaped over the bodies, long white hair and blue leather coat billowing out behind him. He fired secondary shots to secure his kills and disappeared from sight as he started up the rocks.
Julia couldn’t help it. She screamed as the last Arcadian, huge and bald with bulbous orange muscles painted in blood-red tribal symbols, loomed up over the rim. His staff aimed right at her chest. The last thing she saw while her body convulsed in shock was Mark crouched over her, protecting her with his body as he fired a torrent of gold sparks into the Arcadian’s chest armor.
~*~
Julia felt groggy, like the beginnings of a head cold. Every inch of her body ached, pain radiating from the center of her chest where the stunner blast had struck. She was lying in someone’s arms. Mark’s. The scent of his skin was unmistakable.
“Hey.” His voice was a tender rasp, overflowing with relief. “You okay?”
“Ummm…” It took a moment for her to remember which button to push to speak. “Yeah, think so. Those things pack a hell of a punch.”
“Are you okay?” Julia asked, breathless, urgent; her eyes assessing him for new injuries. “That last one didn’t get you too, did it?”
She groaned and tried to sit up, her muscles as useless as pulled taffy. When he realized what she wanted Mark helped with a warm reassuring hand at the small of her back.
“No, Coop helped with the final takedown.” Mark nodded to where a tall man in tight blue leather pants with laced seams perched on the edge of the plateau, athletic body coiled to pounce at a moment’s notice. The sea breeze flirted with the blue and scarlet feathers braided into his shoulder-length platinum hair as he kept watch over the now empty landscape; giving no outward sign of having heard Mark’s explanation.
“I am called Anora.” A woman wearing delicate gold chainmail over a short brown leather shift, gold gauntlets and military-issue combat boots smiled, and offered Julia a canteen to drink from. “Colonel Holden has told us much of you.”
All trace of tension had gone from Mark’s face as he grinned, bright splotches of red on his cheeks.
“Really? How long was I out?” Julia couldn’t help staring at the tri-colored corn rows patterning Anora’s scalp, or the gem-studded gold circlet pierced through her brow, as she sipped the cool sweet water.
“No more than thirty minutes.” Stephen was all official bluster as he offered Julia his hand. “Doctor Stephen Garrett, Head of Meta-Astrophysics, Phoenix City.”
“Pleased to meet you, Stephen.”
Julia couldn’t hide her smile. It was just all so surreal. Though they introduced themselves with familiar names and titles, not one of the people in front of her resembled the characters she’d grown to love over the past three seasons Phoenix Rising had been on air. She’d gotten used to Mark, but the wow factor was most
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