Annals of the Keepers: War 267 (Book 1 in the Gashnee Saga) Read Free

station approach, just before the pods’ insertion.
    Outside each pod an ‘x-laser’ pattern fired from the spear pointed fronts cutting into the side of the enemy outpost, preparing and softening the impact location.
    The pods ripped through the outer hull like an arrow piercing flesh, gouging through metal.
    Straining against the gel, wanting it to dissolve faster, Kason heard the laser cutters hissing into the disfigured hull left by the pods entry, completing the necessary penetration.
    Soon, green checks came in over Kason’s HUD, signaling all members of the team were accounted for since the insertion. Any red checks would mean a loss of vital systems or a member of the team.
    The last gurgle of gel dissolved, freeing Kason from his cocoon.
    A green light appeared above the inner door to the pod letting Kason know it was safe to commence with the explosive release.
    With a metal stomp from his armored boot, the door lever activated with a thud , as the four speared tips on the front of the pod hydraulically wrenched open. They would fold back any large pieces of hull metal making way for the pod exit door.
    Next, the exploding door bolts activated and sent the quarter-ton door outward making sure to clear any remaining debris missed by the cutters.
    With one smooth motion Kason was out of his pod, landing on the deck. His weapon was armed and already scanning his surroundings.
    Next to him were the other four Reavers in crouched positions, a roar of their weapons came to life one after the other.
    The escaping atmosphere of the outpost met and buffeted the Reavers in the cargo bay; the room was decompressing from the five ugly puncture marks left in the hull. Debris swirled around them before being sucked out into space between the pods themselves. Severed hoses spewed liquid about the room and droplets gathered slushing against the Reavers’ black armor, before being swept away in the turbulence.
    The Reavers stood still due to their magnetic boots as the violent air whooshed towards the openings. Kason side-stepped a piece of larger debris as it was sucked out.
    The pods behind them hissed with a white gel, the same that cushioned them from impact, secreted out of exterior openings in the pods’ sides. This gel sealed the remaining puncture marks around the gnarled hulls’ exteriors from the vacuum of space to make a tight seal.
    The chaos in the cargo bay subsided and the smaller pieces of debris soon settled to the floor.
    Kason swept the cargo bay with his helmet’s internal sensors. He confirmed nine dead Kryth. Their bodies lay strewn throughout the wreckage created by the pods insertion or by the unbreathable atmosphere.
    He brought up the outpost’s schematics, taken from a Fossari starship, and located the central data core. It was still intact and showed signs of activity. 
    Four green triangles blinked in Kason’s HUD. Kason looked over each Reaver to confirm.
    All five Reavers performed a rapid exam -- a needed precaution being so close to the ion blast.
    Keelan Sern and Jens Dryden, the close-assault team, closest to Kason, raised their hands. Maddox Gower, demolition, signaled by lifting his weapon. Kieran Ramek, heavy weapons, towering over Maddox, lifted his right hand giving a salute.
    Satisfied, Kason broke the communications blackout and contacted the fleet.
    “Flashpoint. This is Reaver Lead. Arrow Point concluded. Insertion point is cold. Condition is green. Beginning Phase Two, over,” Kason said.
    He waited for a response.
    “Confirmed, Reaver Lead. Commence Phase Two,” came the immediate reply from the ship in orbit around the outpost.
    A long hallway exited the room they were in.
    Kason, using hand gestures, pointed at two of his Reavers sending them ahead into the corridor. He followed as the last two brought up the end of the formation.
    They approached a large room, close to their main objective. Each man had studied the outpost in every detail to know it better than the Kryth