Starfist: Kingdom's Fury by David Sherman & Dan Cragg Read Free Book Online Page B

controlled an entire Kingdomite division.
    A new voice came on the comm—that of the Marine duty officer. "All hands, listen up. We have multiple reports of movement to the division front. All units, stand to and be prepared for company. Acknowledge."
    "Roger, Foot Six. Charlie standing to."
    The other two company headquarters also acknowledged the alert order. The entire 82nd Division of the Army of the Lord was moving into position.
    Macque slapped his helmet on and toggled the squad all-hands circuit. "Up and at
    'em," he said. "Look alive, we might have company in a couple of minutes."
    Seconds later high-pitched buzz saw whines came from beyond the perimeter and things with speeds too great to be deflected by the slanted faces of the reinforced ferrocrete bunkers shattered against them, gouting holes in their surfaces, sending chips flying, and raising dense clouds of dust.
    The 82nd Division and its commanders from 26th FIST were bunkered into Heaven's Heights Ridge and two hills, Hymnal and Psalm, that guarded the northeast approaches to Haven. The entire ridgeline and Hymnal Hill came under simultaneous assault. The dust clouds blocked the vision of the defenders—not that many of the Soldiers of the Lord were willing to look through their bunker's apertures.
    More of the buzz saw guns opened fire, not at the bunkers, but on the ridge and hillsides in front of them. At the same time, sappers moved purposefully on the flat below the heights. One by one, symbols blinked out on displays as the sensors feeding them died. The defenders were doubly blind—from the dust clouds they couldn't see through and the displays that no longer showed movement.
    Skink Fighters wearing full body armor with interlocking helmets had been infiltrating all day, crawling under the trees slowly and quietly enough that neither the motion nor the audio detectors picked them up. Sappers had already noted the positions of the visual detectors, and the Skink infiltration routes avoided them.
    Also, the creatures showed poorly on infra. Now, with most of the detectors dead, the Over Master in command of this phase of Operation Rippling Lava gave the command, and ten thousand Fighters rose to their feet and trotted in orderly lines to the foot of the ridge and the hill that were under attack. There, they awaited the order to begin mounting the heights.
    The Over Master gave another order, and his guns raised their aim from the slopes of hill and ridge to impact with devastating effect on the slopes of the bunker faces.
    "I want artillery on those guns, and I want it now," Commander Van Winkle ordered.
    "But Archbishop General, those guns are not firing at our defenses," Archdeacon General Crucifix, commander of the 104th Division, objected. "We must preserve our artillery fire to defend our own defense sector!"
    "Go to your quarters and stay there!" Van Winkle said coldly. He was not going to waste any time arguing with the man whose position he was filling. The Haven defenses were under heavy attack, and the attack had to be repulsed now.
    Ignoring Crucifix, who stood sputtering, he turned to the Marine artillery observer.
    "Sergeant, send that fire order to FIST artillery. Tell them they'll have proper authorization by the time the guns are ready to fire."
    "Aye aye, sir." The artillery observer was smiling as he began to speak into his hardwired comm unit.
    "Get him out of my sight before I have him clapped in irons," Van Winkle ordered.
    "Certainly, sir," replied Gunnery Sergeant Hu, the battalion's assistant personnel officer. He turned to Crucifix and gestured toward the command room door. "After you, sir."
    "Bu-Bu-But . . ." Crucifix sputtered.
    "Sir, I do believe he means it."
    Crucifix looked around the command center. His own soldiers outnumbered the Marines, but none of them were armed. All of the Marines were—and they looked ready to use their weapons. Gathering as much dignity as he could, he turned and marched out.
    Gunnery