Battle for Proxima by Michael G. Thomas Read Free Book Online Page A

one of them. It knocked the creature to the ground, where it was finished off by a savage kick from Teresa’s armoured metal foot.
    The remaining three managed to hang on tightly and continued striking his visor, even managing to crack the side. More blows rained down and Spartan started to flail about. As he struggled, one of them lifted and up and was thrown several metres, followed by a cloud of flesh from the other two. Marcus and three of his marines fanned out around the group, proceeding to pour a devastating avalanche of shells into the remaining enemy. Either their numbers were dropping, or they’d decided to retreat. The end result was the same as and the shaft became quiet. It was as if nothing had ever actually happened down there.
    “Spartan, I know we say we never leave a marine behind, but this is ridiculous. You could at least try and get out next time!” laughed Marcus, helping Spartan to stand up.
    “Nice, give us a hand, we need to get Alsop back to the surface. Get your team to return him and escort the survivors to the LZ.”
    “What about the rest of us?”
    “We have a job to do. They are still down here and, apart from the civvies, we’ve obtained no useful intelligence on what was actually going on in this place. For starters, I want to know who the hell is in charge!”
    They started to make their way back along the tunnel. In less than two minutes, they reached the bottom of the circular ramp leading back to the Platform. Two more Vanguards came down to assist, one of them carried a small trailer with several metal units on top.
    “Sir, the first landing craft has arrived. They’ve brought a rescue party from Charlie Company. Their CO, Captain Miranda Hobbs, wants to see you.”
    “Hobbs?” asked Spartan, looking at Marcus and Teresa.
    “Yeah, I’ve seen her on the ship. She missed the fighting on Prime and seems pretty pissed about it,” said Teresa, who then clunked her metal fist against his armour.
    “Marcus, there’s something down there I think we should take a look at. When we took our diversion to escape, Alsop found a fibre optic loom. It continued down the shaft and out to the side into a narrow tunnel.”
    “How narrow?”
    “Too narrow for a Vanguard suit, even a marine. One of the sentry drones could do it,” Teresa answered.
    “What’s so special about this loom?”
    “I don’t know. It is relatively new and that means it wasn’t part of the original mining station. It must be something to do with the Zealots.”
    “Okay, I’m sold. Here’s the plan. Take one squad back into the shaft and set up more sentry units to scan for movement. Send a drone down the tunnel and see what you find. I’ll get back up from the battalion down here to assist. We aren’t leaving till will have something solid,” Spartan said firmly.
    Teresa nodded and turned to the two marines stood waiting. With a simple hand gesture, she beckoned for them to follow. Spartan moved past and continued up the ramp until he reached the Landing Platform. The marines had done good work and based on the number of bodies, they had repelled quite an assault themselves. As he moved closer, Sergeant Lovett, leader of 2 nd Squad, closed the distance.
    “Sir, the area is secure. The civilians are already boarding the landing craft, you heard about Hobbs?”
    “What about Hobbs?” came a voice to the side of them.
    Spartan looked to his left and then down slightly. He spotted the form of Captain Hobbs in her standard issue Marine Corps Personal Defence Suit. Unlike the Vanguard armour being used by Spartan’s troops, hers was close fitting and more like an armoured wetsuit. It was much lighter and less resilient than the heavy exo-armour, but it was sealed for use in all environments and also proof against small arms fire. She wore a helmet, though the visor was slid open to reveal the glass beneath.
    “Captain, the Sergeant was just letting me know of your arrival. Good to see you here,