Mirrored Man: The Rob Tyler Chronicles Book 1 Read Free

choppers to use as a guide.
    One of the helos started down as the other
climbed to provide high cover for the SEALs. Rot and Sack moved
toward the descending bird.
    They were almost there when the unmistakable
sound of AK-47 assault rifles rang out from every direction.
    Ambush! “God help us!” Rot called out
as he felt Sack back up against him. The big man began firing into
the shadows of the rocks with his MP5. Rot, still carrying his
sniper rifle, cursed himself for having let his guard down.
    “On yer nine!” Sack screamed over the din of
battle.
    Rot looked left and saw several silhouettes
in the moonlight charging them from behind a rocky outcropping,
rapidly closing what few yards were between them. Without thinking,
he turned the barrel of his weapon toward the closest attacker and
fired from the hip. He watched as the fifty-caliber round struck
the man in the chest, dropping him to the dust, dead. But the
round, traveling at 2850 feet per second, passed through his
target's flesh, somehow missing bone. It struck the next man in
line just below his throat, activating the explosive within. The
assailant’s loosely fitting clothes seemed to balloon out as his
head simply disintegrated. What was left dropped heavily to the
sand. The next man stopped in his tracks, blinded. He began to wipe
the gore from the second man's exploded body from his eyes with the
sleeve of his tunic. Rot fired again, forever eliminating his third
opponent’s need to clear his vision.
    “Cover!” Sack screamed as he began to sprint
toward the rocks their enemy had been using as a shield.
    Rot spun 360 degrees, searching for targets
in the clamor. Finding the closest two, one behind the other and
only yards away, he fired again with incredibly similar results as
those of his first two victims. “Ya should a paid better
attention!” He screamed at the men as what was left of them
crumpled to the riverbed. He saw a flash from behind the boulders
on the opposite side of the chopper. The entire area exploded as
the helo's weapons went to work. Above him, he heard the telltale
buzz of the twin M134 mini-guns and the thud-thud-thud of
the two M2 fifty-caliber machine guns as they opened up, their
muzzles flaring, lighting up the night.
    Danger! Move! Run!
    He searched for another target as an
explosion rang out above him. The aircraft he was standing under
shuddered violently. Rot's ears were filled with the unfamiliar
sounds of a dying helicopter as it plummeted straight down, a
shower of sparks, smoke, and bits of broken bird following closely
behind. Scrambling, he back-peddled away from the crippled Black
Hawk and tripped, landing on his back. The sickening sound of metal
screeching in protest was deafening as the helicopter’s belly
smacked the rocky riverbed. The force of the crash caused the
starboard mini-gun operator to lose control of his weapon. It tore
up a swath of ground to Rot's immediate left.
    Go! Now!
    The battered crewmen were shouting and
jumping from the chopper as it bounced violently up and down,
turbines still working hard to lift the crippled bird. Its landing
gear had collapsed and the hulk was beginning to roll toward Rot,
rotors leading the way. The ground exploded into a blinding cloud
as he tried to find some footing. Somehow, he avoided the spray of
the rotor blades as they shattered into a thousand, thousand
pieces.
    Rot found himself standing near the cockpit
of the downed chopper, which was now resting on its side. His M82
gone, he watched through stinging eyes as Sack, silhouetted by an
explosion, was down on one knee firing in his general direction,
covering his six. Grabbing his MP5, Rot spun just as he felt the
sting in his lower back. Ignoring the pain, he found an enemy
closing fast. Having no time to line up his weapon for a shot, he
used his momentum to swing the machine gun as hard as he could,
catching his opponent across the jaw. Blood and teeth exploded from
the man’s mouth as he went down in a