Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1) by Adrian D Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

Captain Benz reported.  The soldiers of first platoon stirred in the troop bay behind Valerie as they prepared themselves.  It was possible with the Helos compensators to fully counteract the G-Forces involved in an orbital drop.  Valerie had decided long ago that it was beneficial for troops going into combat, to feel some of that and the Helos computer was set to allow 40% of the G-forces.  It allowed them to mentally prepare for what they were about to do.
    Satisfied it was all clear, just as both Captain Benz in the cockpit and Captain Gibson had done in the Operations Room, she switched to the view of the target area.  “Ten seconds.”  Valerie braced herself against the straps of the chair.  “Five, four, three, two, one.  Dropping.”  The last was unnecessary, Valerie felt the Windsoar being fired out of the FOBM lock, her stomach doing its best to climb up into her mouth.
    Many people vomited violently during a 40% combat drop.  The pressures it put on their bodies, too extreme for them to handle.  Some of her own platoon were not immune.  Valerie had never experienced it herself fortunately.  Maybe it was due to her unique physiology.  She didn’t know, she had never had the reason to ask while she had the opportunity.  Those who were affected, wouldn’t let it influence their performance and the others were professionals.
    There would be some light joking at the unfortunate persons expense as soldiers do, none of it would be serious and not anywhere near a combat zone.  They would save it for when the company was safe. 
    A violent lurch of the Helo, caused by it entering the atmosphere, brought Valerie out of her wool gathering.  Checking the ETA to target, she saw they would be on the ground in under ten minutes.  Valerie switched her com to a direct link to Ops.
    “Ops.  Shadow Lead.  I’m not seeing any problems at the target.  Do you concur?”  Though they both had access to the same data, Valerie relied on the computer to send her what she needed to see.  No program was infallible so there were two techs dedicated to sift the raw data in Gibson’s team, ensuring nothing was missed.
    “I concur, Major.”  Gibson replied.  “All clear at the moment.  No vehicle movement in the vicinity of the target.  The landing zones are clear of any human life and tech, as far as we can tell on passives.” 
    Valerie grimaced to herself.  Gibson was good at his job and a competent XO, but always wanted to cover himself.  The few mistakes he made were due to him making sure he was covered, rather than concentrating on his job.  He hadn’t been her choice.  He was foisted onto her, after her last XO took a very well deserved promotion and Shannon hadn’t wanted the job, even though she was senior.  He came with excellent experience from Heatseeker Company, another Devil action team, and references from senior Generals in the Commandos.  Without a tangible reason, she hadn’t been able to turn down such a well-connected candidate.
    Captain Gibson was the only member of Shadow Company she didn’t fully trust.  As she mostly trusted him, she couldn’t justify finding some way to get rid of him, it was just something about Gibson that rang her internal warning bells.  Possibly, it was the way he was more standoffish with the Manual troops than she would have liked.  Until he gave her a real reason, she had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt
    “OK, Ops.  Let me know if the situation changes.  Lead Clear.”  Recalling the intelligence briefing in her mind, Valerie ran through everything they knew about the mission for possibly the hundredth time.  Gomez was a terraformed world low on mineral resources close enough to the surface to be mineable.  It took the initial colonists longer to build the industrial base, needed to create the system infrastructure to enable them to mine asteroids and other resources within the system.
    While slowly building the industrial