Thieves' Guild Series (7 eBook Box Set): Military Science Fiction - Alien Invasion - Galactic War Novels

by C. G. Hatton

  “We have to get something at our back,” Duncan said. “We can’t get surrounded.”

  They were pretty much carrying him, stumbling over the rough ground.

  “How many?” he managed to say.

  “At least three troop ships. Are you gonna be able to do that again?”

  The thought of it made him feel sick.

  “Yeah, we reckoned not.”

  He tried to reach out, looking for the others, but it sent his head spinning.

  His ankle caught in a tangled tree root and he went down, threatening to pull the others with him, Duncan almost pulling his shoulder out as the big marine dragged them forward.

  “What’s the chances of the Duck or the guild turning up before these bastards decide to make a move?” Duncan said, shoving branches out of their way.

  They had no way of knowing, no way of communicating with anything even in orbit, never mind further out. NG wanted to ask how long he’d been out, how long the troop ships had been there, if there were pods on the ground yet, but he couldn’t get the words out.

  It was either starting to get dark or he was losing his sight.

  They splashed through a boggy stream, sliding on the soft ground.

  He ended up on one knee and he would have been content to sit there in the stagnant water.

  “No, you don’t,” LC muttered, cursing, pulling him up and forward. “For fuck’s sake, NG, come on. No, there aren’t any on the ground. They’re circling right above us.”

  As he said it, one of them swooped down, banking hard. It skimmed the tops of the trees and took off again, keeping its distance.

  ‘Why aren’t they attacking us?’ he thought.

  They were scrambling uphill. He thought he heard one of the grunts shouting then they veered right and it got steeper. He was struggling to keep his footing, no traction on the damp soil that was giving way beneath them.

  “Presumably,” Duncan said, “bud, because they want you alive.”

  ‘Don’t…’

  “We know. C’mon, we need to move.”

  He bumped his arm on a tree branch, scraped his knee on a sharp edged boulder, every slight pain flaring as if his nerve endings were frayed and at their limit. The pressure in his head was a constant dense swirl of black that was threatening to overwhelm.

  “Let me sit,” he mumbled, “or I’m gonna throw up.”

  “Not yet,” Duncan grunted.

  “I’ve lost my rifle.”

  “We’ve got it. Jesus, NG, work with us here.”

  Shut up, was what he meant so NG gave in to it, trusting them, letting them haul him this way and that, almost blacking out when a branch hit him over the head, and concentrating on just breathing.

  “This’ll do,” Duncan said eventually. “Five minutes, people, then we move on.”

  They set him down. He sagged, back bumping up against a jagged outcrop of rock.

  He hadn’t realised he had his eyes closed until he opened them. Leigh was at his side, Duncan talking to one of the Security guys, sorting through a pile of weapons and packs, LC sitting some way off, staring at him. The four elite guard were standing on watch.

  “Hey,” Leigh said softly.

  It was starting to get darker, a mist settling amongst the trees. The gunships and troop carriers were still circling.

  “Where are the others?” he said.

  She looked dismayed. “You don’t remember?”

  He took it out of their minds, stomach cramping at the thought of what they’d seen.

  Sebastian hadn’t just sucked the life force out of the plants and ground he’d been standing on, he’d drained four of their own people.

  He’d killed four of their own people.

  Chapter 24

  These elite who sat here, representing the relative few of their kind that had survived, were listening with unease. They knew what it was like to run for their lives from the Bhenykhn. None there could help but think back to the dark days when they had come together, when all was lost.

  Guilt and shame mixed with their discomfort at hearing of the Man’s own people in such a plight. They could smell the breath of those monstrous ogres, hear the roar of their battle cries. They each had memories they had long thought buried deep, shivering as they surfaced, images of Bhenykhn warriors sweeping through their marble halls, Bhenykhn ships swarming in the skies over their cities, bombing, dropping pods, firing on them as they fled, taking out their defences in blow after blow. Slaughtering or enslaving those left behind as they themselves fled.

  “We were so arrogant,” one said quietly.

  •

  NG almost doubled over. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t remember any of it.

  He raised his eyes and saw Duncan look over.

  The big marine tossed the axe he was holding onto the pile and stood.

  “Sebastian took out the Bennies,” Duncan said. “If that’s what it took, that’s what it took.” The big man walked over, holding out a ration pack and a flask. “They drop more pods, we need him to do it again, preferably without killing any more of us. Can he do it? Where is he?”

  NG took the flask. “I don’t know.” His hands were shaking, hardly enough strength in his fingers to twist open the cap.

  Duncan crouched by his side, taking the flask and saying quietly but intensely as he opened it, “Can you do it?”

  NG took the flask and took a sip of lukewarm water. He couldn’t tell if it was that or the question that made his stomach turn. “I don’t know.”

  “We have enough explosives to make a perimeter ten metres out.”

  That wasn’t far enough. They could easily throw an axe that far.

  “Harder for them if we make it to high ground,” Duncan said. “They’ll have to climb after us or drop down on top of us.”

  “If they decide they still want us alive.”

  The big man shrugged. “We have flares. We reckon if Elliott brings the Duck straight in and he can see the beacons, we just need to make it through the next four or five hours.”

  “They won’t give us that long.”

  There was a rumble overhead as a gunship buzzed them.

  “They might if they want you and we can keep you away from them.” Duncan popped NG on the shoulder and pushed two Epizin injectors into his hand. “You good to go?”

  He wasn’t but he could feel the Bhenykhn closing in.

  “If it happens again, if Sebastian takes over again, get away from me,” he muttered.

  “Buddy, if it happens again, we’re done. We need to hold out and hope the Duck gets here. C’mon, we need to get moving.”

  They made it up over the ridge as night was falling, emerging from the trees into hazy twilight and the sound of the droning engine of a troop carrier. It banked and circled in a lazy spiral around the hill, dropping pods at regular intervals that crashed down below the treeline all around. Surrounding them.

  They stood, watching the lights as they plummeted to the ground.

  “Shit, I lost count at thirty,” LC muttered.

  Duncan and the others were sorting through what they had left, redistributing ammunition, stuffing explosives and spare magazines into packs.

  NG turned slowly.

  He couldn’t feel anything except a pressure at the back of his mind. “Did you see Sebastian when he did it?”

  LC looked round. “He didn’t enjoy it, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Are you getting anything from them?”

  The kid shook his head. “Headache. That’s all but I don’t know if that’s from you more than them.” He was cradling an assault rifle in his arms and he absently checked the mechanism as they stood there. He didn’t look like a Thieves’ Guild field-op. As far from the list and the standings board as you could get.

  LC raised his eyes with a half smile as he overheard that thought. “Can we ever go back?”

  NG took a deep breath. “They’re going to keep coming. And as long as they do, we’re goi
ng to be in the middle of it.”

  The others were pretty much geared up.

  “Do you need energy now?” LC asked. Casual, almost offhand.

  NG squinted at him. “You need it.”

  The kid pulled a flask off his belt and waved it. “Moonshine. Take what you need. I can get it back.”

  Christ, it was tempting. He didn’t know if he could even hold the weight of a gun right now.

  ‘Take it.’

  ‘Sebastian.’

  ‘Take whatever is offered, Nikolai. We’re going to need it, you and I, if we are to fend them off again.’

  LC held out his arm.

  It didn’t feel right, and it wasn’t totally necessary to have that physical contact, but he clasped his arm and drew on the kid’s life force like a freaking vampire.

  He pulled away, before Sebastian would have done, feeling his disapproval, and muttered a thanks.

  LC tipped the flask at him and grinned, taking a mouthful of whatever liquor it was in there and turning as Duncan approached.

  ‘They’re about to move,’ Sebastian murmured. ‘And Nikolai, if you care anything for any of these people, tell them to get away from you, right now, as fast and far as they can go.’

  It was more consideration than he’d ever had from Sebastian before.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going soft. I may need them later.’

  NG pulled a gun from a holster and checked it.

  “You need to go,” he said. “Set up a perimeter half way down the slope. Take LC.”

  Duncan nodded and signalled to the others. They took their kit and bugged out. They were good. The best the guild had. And they’d chosen the playing field here. Duncan would make sure LC didn’t get into trouble.

  He turned to Leigh. “You’re not staying.”

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “Go hide somewhere,” he said and he didn’t give her any choice in the matter.

  She gave him a disapproving glare and took off.

  NG closed his eyes. ‘Do it.’

  There were nine squad leaders, spread out at the base of the hill. He felt their hearts pumping, breath misting, felt the adrenaline flow as they hefted their weapons. He felt the hive pressing as Sebastian lifted the shield, focused on one of the grey cloaks and connected.

  Gunfire echoed from the trees below them. Sebastian took out the squad leaders with one devastating shot that resounded from one to the next to the next and let go.

  NG dropped to his knees, drained.

  ‘Get into cover.’

  He didn’t question it, staggered to his feet and ran to the treeline. He slid down the slope as a roar rumbled overhead, another troop carrier dropping down low, banking.

  Sebastian shoved him aside, targeted the pilot and threw a blast at the craft. It lurched, dropped further, engines straining and veering away with a groan. Another carrier loomed right behind it, releasing pods that dropped right into the clearing.

  He felt Sebastian switch his focus, scrambling down the hillside, stealing energy from everything he touched, reaching ahead and obliterating two units in front of them to make a gap in their line.

  Gunfire was resounding in all directions. He couldn’t concentrate enough to sense any of the others.

  ‘Sebastian…?’

  A shot punched into his shoulder, throwing him backwards.

  He lost his footing and slid on wet ground. Poison was pumping into his bloodstream, Sebastian struggling to neutralise it, reserves on empty.

  The hideously familiar figure of a Bhenykhn warrior emerged ahead of him, looming, rifle up, a twisted grin on its face. It stepped close, breath snorting out in clouds, and kicked, enough force to send him rolling across the slope.

  He felt his ribs snap, nothing he could do as Sebastian grabbed handfuls of wet leaf mold to drag himself to a halt, twisting and killing it with one blast, connecting with the rest and throwing everything he had left at them, the energy sparking and crackling as it rippled out.

  ‘Get us out of here,’ Sebastian hissed and let go.

  NG fell back, chest heaving, agony flaring with every breath. He pressed a hand to his shoulder, feeling the heat of the poison, feeling himself going under.

  ‘No, you don’t,’ Duncan thought, sliding in beside him, LC on the other side, both of them with rifles slung across their backs, both breathing heavily but grabbing him and dragging him into a run.

  He was vaguely aware of one of the elite guard on their flank, gun up and firing, chameleonic body armour shimmering as it blended with the woodland.

  He tried to find Leigh but he couldn’t sense her anywhere.

  They staggered down the slope, past the hulking bodies of fallen Bhenykhn, dense smoke starting to mingle with the mist, cloying and black.

  NG coughed and almost greyed out as a stab of pain shot through his chest. He could hardly feel his legs.

  LC was struggling, low on energy. “Is there a plan B?” the kid said.

  NG coughed again. “We could steal one of their ships. Why didn’t we think of that sooner. We’re Thieves’ Guild. We should be able to hotwire an alien spaceship.”

  Duncan laughed.

  “Don’t laugh,” he said, well aware that he was sounding delirious. “It might come to that.”

  “Just keep walking, buddy.”

  They made it to the bottom of the slope, gunfire chasing them all the way, and took two steps out onto the flat.

  A craft thundered overhead, dropping four pods just ahead of them, the massive shapes crashing through the branches. They opened with a hiss on impact, Bhenykhn warriors stepping out into the mist, weapons up.

  “Spread out,” Duncan yelled.

  NG wavered on his feet as the support on both sides vanished, LC and Duncan letting go and bringing up rifles, firing. He had nothing but a pistol but he drew it as he dropped to one knee and fired, one shot after the next after the next, right at the grey cloak’s head. Every round flashed off a shield that shimmered with each impact.

  There was a blur of movement as the last of the elite guard appeared as if from nowhere and jumped, ramming a blade into its neck, the blow driven home by the full strength of the powered armour. It fell.

  There was another roar of engines above, more pods dropping behind them.

  They were going to get overrun.

  ‘Need a hand here,’ NG thought, desperately trying to reach Sebastian.

  Nothing.

  He stopped firing. He felt like shit, but he stopped firing and threw everything he had at one of the Bennies, taking hold of its mind and squeezing, draining its energy and taking everything it had for himself.

  He stood, aware that there were others emerging behind him, and he walked forward, past Duncan and LC, hearing the crack of their rifles loud in his ears. He didn’t stop, driving it to its knees, the same as he had the captive on Poule.

  Another shot hit his leg.

  He hardly felt it. He finished off that one and turned, taking hold of the next squad leader’s mind and throwing so much raw energy at it that it keeled over, dead before it hit the ground.

  He turned, vaguely aware of the elite guard slamming round after round into one of the others, a weighted chain tumbling through the air and slamming into LC as the kid staggered, shot in the arm, another three chains careening at Duncan. More pods were crashing down around them, hissing open. Four Bennies turned and descended on the elite guard, driving him to the ground.

  NG didn’t know where Leigh was, couldn’t do anything other than try to target another grey cloak. He spun, looking for one. There was one staring right at him, orange eyes dull in the misty half light, a smirk twisting the corners of its leathery mouth.

  He sensed the club being raised behind him too late to move fast enough. It hammered down and he crashed into resounding darkness.

  Chapter 25

  He let that last linger. They were enthralled, dismayed. He’d never kept their attention so keenly.

  He had b
een hardened by his dealings with humans, he decided, sitting there, recounting these events, briefing this assembly before they made their decision. They were peaceful, his own kind. They abhorred violence, disliked even hearing of it. That did not make them weak but nor did it make them innocent of all failings.

  She couldn’t help but ask, “What of Nikolai and Luka?”

  “They learned first hand what it is to be captive in the hands of the Devourers.”

  “Then all is lost?” one said. “What now?”

  “All is never lost,” he said. “Not until the Bhenykhn have killed the last of us will all be lost.”

  •

  He could feel his heart beating, hear it resounding in his ears, punching against his ribs.

  Too fast.

  He had a nasty wound in his shoulder, another in his leg just above the left knee, broken ribs, burning around his wrists, a swirl in his mind that was a sure sign of concussion.

  He didn’t want to open his eyes.

  ‘Welcome back.’

  He couldn’t sense the Bhenykhn anywhere.

  ‘That’s because we’re on the Alsatia, you fool. Well done, Nikolai, you managed to get caught. Be glad your precious guild came to the rescue. You might wish they hadn’t. Evelyn, your dearest Evelyn, is more than pissed at you. She just lost two thirds of the guild’s combat capability rescuing you…’

  He knew his breathing was shallow. Forced. He tried to breathe deeper but it was restricted, controlled.

  Isopod.

  ‘I’m doing my best, but believe me, Nikolai, that was close. Let’s not do that again, shall we?’

  He reached further. No one.

  ‘Are the others alive?’

  ‘Just. Do I need to say it again? That was close. Too close. I need energy to heal and ironically, placing you in isolation has deprived us of any contact I can use. Hit the alarm, get someone here and I can sort you out a hell of a lot faster than we’re managing right now stuck in this machine.’

  The alarm was right by his hand. He didn’t know if he wanted anyone here.