Beyond Armageddon V: Fusion Read Free

stepped to Stone’s shoulder. The sound of the Leviathan grew louder still as the gigantic creature sucked in air. Fink knew the barn lay beyond the immediate blast zone but not completely out of danger.
    Trevor appeared unconcerned. Or, at least, distracted by his thoughts.
    “The difference is that when we make our smart bombs and build our jet planes we use words like ‘area of affect’ and ‘yield’ and ‘operational radius.’ All so sterile. So—so detached .”
    Fink watched the Leviathan stoop, as if trying to get a better look at the tiny little creatures daring to block its path. As it bent, the massive hole that lived at the top of the giant swung down like the barrel of God’s gun taking aim.
    “But Voggoth’s gunsmiths use words like ‘pain’ and ‘terror’ and ‘suffering’. You’ve got to hand it to them, they’ve boiled war to its essence. You have to admire their honesty.”
    There came no noise from the blast of wind exhaled by the mighty Leviathan because that wind moved faster than sound. From the top of the loft Fink and Stone watched a storm of dirt and dust blow away tanks, artillery, and pieces of what used to be soldiers.
    That supersonic blast of air twisted out of the mountain passage, through the center of the defensive line, and across the jagged land between the battlefield and the command center. The sound caught up to and overtook the slowing gust, reaching their ears in a beastly howl.
    Fink shoved Trevor to the hay-covered floor. The lethal blast of wind dissipated fast but still hit the barn with hurricane force. Chunks of roof tore away, the map table flipped and rolled; the barn doors exploded in toppling gear and sending the staff diving for cover.
    It passed.
    Something metal and squeaky swayed back and forth at the rear of the barn. Static broadcast from radios. A cloud of hay, dust, and papers floated about. Soldiers emerged from under chairs and tables with soft groans and sharp cusses. The barn grew brighter with half the roof blown away.
    Fink had fallen atop Stone in order to protect him from debris, but Trevor quickly broke free and returned to his view of the battle.
    A wide swatch of smashed, toppled, and otherwise obliterated landscape lay between the south side of Wetmore and the battlefield, as if an F5 tornado had roared through. That battlefield had been cut in half—a north side and a south side—nothing between. Nothing where the Leviathan’s weapon had struck.
    Sharp reports and blasts broke the quiet as what remained of The Empire’s front lines regained their composure and faced swarms of infantry pouring forward around the giant’s legs.
    Fink knew this to be the pattern. It could nearly be called a game, something like rock-paper-scissors. Wherever The Empire formed defensive lines, along came the Leviathans to blast through. Fortresses? Trenches? Caves? Mountains? It did not matter. Anything in the direct path of the supersonic winds would be tossed aside.
    Then the hordes would come.
    With a great deal of effort, the full force of a dreadnought could destroy a Leviathan if that Leviathan could be directly engaged. And the Empire’s ground forces with proper support could hold off the tide of Voggoth’s insane foot soldiers. But the combination of the two? Deadly, as proven multiple times since last Summer, especially considering that Voggoth had found ways to deal with the dreadnoughts.
    Of more immediate concern, today—at the centermost of the day’s war zones—no dreadnought waited. Today Trevor Stone prepared a different plan, one born either from desperation or invention, Fink could not be sure which. Then again, had not all of Stone’s tactics over the years been the same?
    “Is it in position? Damn it, Fink, get on the radio with Simms!”
    But Fink did not need to get on the radio. As the staff officers on the ground floor of the barn re-assembled their gear they eavesdropped on a conversation between Simms’ observation point