Black Legion: 02 - Assault on Khorram by Michael G. Thomas Read Free Book Online Page A

at the far end were dragging a third wounded soldier after them. A powerful blast shook the Titan with such a force that all of them were thrown hard against the wall.
    “Uh, guys? What the hell can make a Titan do that?” asked Glaucon.
    Xenophon said nothing, but his expression was all Glaucon needed to see. A clatter of small arms fire rattled out in the distance, but there was no easy way of telling quite how far away it was. As they stood against the wall, the old man from the brig appeared. Another violent shake threw them about, and he stumbled towards Xenophon. He grabbed him and pulled him to the side before he almost fell to the ground.
    “You okay, old man?” he asked in an amused fashion. The man looked up and grinned.
    “Kid, you can call me Marcus. You know those sounds are heavy pulse weapons, don’t you? This ship is in big trouble.”
    Glaucon moved off down the corridor and vanished into the smoke but quickly reappeared. Several bright flashes behind him gave the impression he was jumping back from a violent storm.
    “We need to get out of here, let’s do it!” he cried.
    He turned back to the smoke and vanished, quickly followed by Roxana. The others did the same and left the brig behind. As they moved their way along the corridors, they passed many more dead or injured crew. Some were badly burned but most showed firearms injuries. Marcus knelt down and examined one of the casualties of whatever battle seemed to be raging.
    “This is odd. He’s carrying webbing and ammunition but no weapons.”
    No weapons, what happened here? Xenophon thought.
    Tamara jumped back, looking in vain for somewhere to hide. She looked at the others with a desperate look on her face.
    “Somebody is coming!”
    There was nowhere to hide, and even as they looked about, a stream of dozens of the crew dashed past at the end of the corridor and kept moving. One collapsed to the ground not far from Tamara, and then they were gone. The clatter of gunfire continued. Xenophon spotted a weapon on the floor and reached out to grab it. He pulled the sling towards him and lifted the carbine up to his face, checking the safety was off and there were rounds still in the magazine.
    “Anybody got a suggestion?” he asked.
    “I know the way to the evacuation deck. It’s about eighty metres from here, one level up and near to the port observation deck. But there’s one problem.”
    Xenophon leaned in closer.
    “Yeah, why am I not surprised?”
    “There is one armoury on the way, so we might run into trouble.”
    Glaucon nodded in agreement.
    “Maybe, but we’ve already run into trouble. We might even get our hands on some weapons. I say we do it and fast. We need to get somewhere safe, arm ourselves and then try and find out what the hell is going on.”
    Xenophon pulled back the bolt on the carbine and locked in the first multi-pulse round. The weapon was now ready for use. He looked up to the others.
    “Good point. Is this a prison revolt, a coup or is the ship breaking apart?”
    “I suggest we get moving and find out for ourselves,” suggested Roxana.
    With unspoken agreement, they moved out from the corridor and took the first turn to the left. Marcus moved close behind with Xenophon and their single firearm. The sound of gunfire and battle continued along with the occasional blast that shook the Titan. It took several minutes for them to reach a wide open space that was the main level hub with elevators, ramps and staircases leading to a dozen different levels. The damage from battle was everywhere. Pulse rounds, discarded magazines and dozens of bodies lay scattered. It was one of the more attractive parts of the ship. At least it had been prior to the recent violence. The elevators used tube like tunnels to move about the ship, whereas the ramps were more oval in shape and ran like arteries through the vessel.
    “Which way?” asked Xenophon. He dropped to one knee, lifting the weapon to his shoulder to better to