She half-dragged Capicza the first dozen meters until he managed to get his feet under him. Then they were sprinting through a shooting gallery as the rapids of the River unleashed themselves on the plateau.
Ivy was too stunned and terrified to take in more than fragments of the unfolding battle. She caught glimpses of Scraegans bulldozing their way through the human defensive perimeter. Furnace blasts screamed back and forth – the Alpha from the dig site slew one of the interlopers with a pulverising blow of its immense axe, painting the plateau with dark blood.
Then her earpiece erupted.
"All hands, immediate evacuation! I repeat, immediate evacuation! Implement emergency protocols!"
She dimly recognised the voice of the Blackwater sergeant, McKaine, his voice charged with fear even as he tried to give orders.
"All guard units, heavy weapon deployment authorised. Suppressing perimeter fire-"
The comm went dead.
"Emergency protocols?!" Capicza squealed. "What in bloody Rivers is that gonna do for us now?!"
"Just keep going!" she screamed back, pelting away from the fast-expanding epicentre of the battle. The protocols were straightforward enough: get to one of the emergency slip tunnels dug by the engineers when they first arrived here. The narrow passages had been intended for use if the plateau became geologically unstable, but right now they were all she and the others had.
Somehow Kelso's Blackwaters were keeping their composure through the mayhem. Several of them passed her, moving in the opposite direction, faces obscured by blackglass helmet plates and carrying all manner of heavy personal firearms from anti-armour rifles, to rocket and grenade launchers.
One of the tents nearby suddenly broke open, its sides fall outward propelled by a series of small explosive charges. Her eyes widened when she saw what it had been hiding.
A double-barrelled turret sat there, like those she normally saw bolted to the deck of Scout Cadre skiff. A pair of grim-faced Blackwater soldiers manned it, and as soon as the tent sides fell the weapon began traversing. Then it thundered into life, pumping shots into the enemy Scraegans.
That thought jolted her. Now they had friend and foe among the Scraegans?
One of the fire-furred brutes went down under a ferocious salvo from the Blackwater cannon, before two furnace cannons rounds came screeching out of the smoke and blew the gun – and its crew – to pieces. The debris flew in all directions and a secondary explosion almost knocked her off her feet as the ammo cache went up.
A triumphant roar erupted in the air.
Close by.
Too, too close.
Ivy turned and a whimper of terror slipped out of her mouth at the sight of a towering shape emerging from the smoke. The Scraegan's head lowered, teeth bared in a snarl, and it let out a roar so deep that her ribs shook and she barely felt like she could breath. She staggered backwards into Capicza.
"Oh, Everflowing..." he managed to gasp as the warrior raised its huge, blunt club, ready to pound them into mulch.
Something exploded in the Scraegans face before the blow could land.
A flare of light erupted from the detonation that stung her vision and she had to shield her eyes with a curse. A phosphorus grenade – fired right into the monster's teeth. The warrior went reeling backwards, bellowing in anger and clawing at its eyes, and when Ivy could focus again, she saw a familiar figure come limping out of the smoke.
YOU ARE READING
Hellsky (Hunter-Killer #3)
Science FictionAfter decades of all out war between human and Scraegan, the planet Rychter has finally settled into an uneasy peace. Both sides can rebuild, lick their wounds, and for the first time try to coexist. But the war isn't over for everyone. Without the...
