Slaves of Hyperion (Star Crusades Uprising, Book 6) Read Free

even penetrated the main building, let alone spotted their hated enemy. Losing a man so early would be a heavy price for the mission. They were interrupted by an almost elated message from Sergeant Yobun.
    “Sir, we’re in!” he called out over the communications unit. The commander of the Third Troop was on the other side of the compound and performing the same mission as Spartan’s team. Just seconds later, and Spartan could already see ammunition expenditure on his HUD. It meant they were in combat and firing their weapons.
    Third Troop is in action already. Come on, we need to get in the fight, or they’ll be on their own!
    He turned to Corporal Lina Sovana to encourage her to speed up, but she was already on the door and placing charges at key points. It was fast work, and Spartan allowed himself a moment’s pleasure at the skill and precision exhibited by his team. Most had come straight from the Marine Corps like himself, but some, such as Corporal Sovana, were from the police Anti Terror Units; the elite tactical teams used to bust drug dealers and stamp down on organised crime. She looked to him, nodded and then stepped back.
    “Blow it!” he ordered.
    With a simple tap on the detonator device on her suit, the series of three charges ripped chunks from the wall. Spartan pushed forward to find their way still blocked by the scorched but still standing door. Through the holes he could see there was another layer of armour behind the first section. He looked back to the young woman.
    “It’s still up, Corporal. Bring down the wall!”
    She needed no further encouragement and took up position along the wall just a few metres away. It was a procedure they had tested already in case of such an eventuality. There was always a chance the entry points would be reinforced, and there might even be deliberate diversions from the main ways inside. Corporal Sovana placed a new series of shaped charges and double-checked them before again stepping back. She looked to Spartan who gave her the nod.
    “Fire in the hole!”
    There was a mighty flash that the suit’s visor instantly deadened, much like the way a welding mask might react to the arc of a welding torch. His thermal imaging picked out the signatures of two figures, both on the floor but already standing. One was carrying a weapon of some kind, which was all he needed to know. He stepped inside the breach and fired two short bursts at each figure. The triple-barrels fired one after the other, allowing a high rate of fire yet giving the weapon time to load the chambers, a round to the head and a round to the chest, just as he had practiced so many times before. It was classic double tapping, and then he was past them and inside the lower level of the old police compound. The first eight fighters of First Troop moved in behind him while the second team set up a perimeter in case anybody tried to escape. They frequently practiced working with the troop of sixteen so that they could operate as one unit or break down to smaller groups of either eight or four. It gave them the flexibility to operate in all kinds of situations.
    “Stay frosty people, we have reports of up to a dozen tangos in here. Watch for wires and traps. I don’t want to lose any one today.”
    “Sir!” called Sgt Seven Troky from outside the building, “We’re picking up movement at the militia barracks. Looks like somebody spotted the explosions.”
    Spartan checked the overhead view from their circling reconnaissance drone. The barracks was far enough away that he reckoned they had at least ten, maybe fifteen minutes before they might be found. The wrecked Cobra was no longer burning and not obvious from the ground. He spotted the shapes of the other three Cobras as they took off and moved away. While they were on the ground, they were vulnerable to gunfire.   They had another way out, and there was also the assumption they would need a larger vehicle to extract prisoners and potentially