ARISEN, Book Twelve - Carnage Read Online Free PDF Page A

them didn’t quite overrun their opponents. And the Russians didn’t stand and shoot it out. Instead, they withdrew, and like ghosts melted back into the forest.
    Ah, shit , Juice thought. That’s not good.
    * * *
    Baxter stayed on station, one hand on the drone controller, the other pointing his M9 pistol behind him at the open cargo door. The silent-disco battle outside was freaking him out. And he really wished Juice would update him.
    And then with no warning or preamble, Juice crashed in through the open cargo hatch, al-Sif spilling in behind, then turning and covering out. The urgency level in the dim space skyrocketed.
    “Move!” Juice said, shoving him aside. Baxter complied. “Shit!”
    “What?”
    “Your altitude!” Juice jammed the joystick into the console, sending the UCAV into a dive. “Didn’t I tell you to be ready to crash it?” Baxter suddenly felt stupid. Now he understood that meant being closer to the ground. But Juice was already disconnecting the mini-GCS from its power supply and the helo’s external antenna. He tucked it into the crook of his arm, turned and ran.
    “Come ON!” he shouted, not turning to say it.
    * * *
    The three of them leapt over underbrush and around trees for a good four seconds before Baxter managed, “What? Why?”
    Not slowing, Juice said: “There’s only one reason guys like that withdraw.”
    The forest behind them exploded spectacularly, sparks and debris and great gouts of flame blasting out into the surrounding bush. Then it did so again, possibly even bigger this time.
    “To put in rockets or heavy ordnance,” Juice said, stopping, crouching, and turning. “RPGs. But those look like TFAA warheads.” Baxter looked at him wide-eyed. “Thermobaric Fragmentation Anti-Armor.” This did not bode well for the state of their downed helo – and drone piloting shack. Juice shoved the little GCS into Baxter’s chest.
    “What now?” Baxter said.
    “Now we assault back in, before they can consolidate. And hope they only had two of those things…” He stood up and ran back the way they came, obviously expecting the others to follow. They did. Juice was switched on and savvy enough that they all got back to the crash site before the attackers did. Which meant they still held it. The three of them got under cover, started defending – and drove the attackers back under cover.
    “Hold here,” Juice said, meaning at the barricade. He took the GCS back from Baxter, then darted into the crashed helo behind them – which looked a hell of a lot more crashed after two thermobaric RPG hits. Juice went straight to the APU, the helo’s auxiliary power unit, which he had been using to power the GCS and overwhelm the Russian’s hacked control signal.
    It was a total write-off. The connections he had jerry-rigged were gone and the unit itself was badly scorched, with its metal cover torn open. Keeping low, Juice ducked back out into what was now a desultory and low-key firefight. Both sides had gotten into ammo-conservation mode. Ammo was heavy, and you could only hump so much through the bush, however badass an operator you were.
    “Come on,” he said to Baxter and al-Sif. “We’re leaving. There’s nothing here for us to defend anymore.”
    The three of them ducked down and slipped out the back way, only straightening up when they had the helo and a fair bit of forest between them and the Spetsnaz shooters.
    “Jingle bus,” Baxter said, not wasting words, nor sounding as if he was inclined to fuck around.
    Al-Sif got it. “This way.” He took the lead.
    Juice was already on the radio. “Cadaver One, Cadaver Four, urgent sitrep, over.”
    “Send it, Four.” It was Handon.
    “Be advised: we have lost positive control of the UCAV. Repeat – we have been overrun and lost control of that asset.”
    “Copy that.”
    “We attempted to ditch before we were overrun. Interrogative: can you see if the UCAV is still in the air? Are you visual, or do you have a