Ash: Rise of the Republic Read Online Free PDF

the night. The smoldering bodies of a man
and a woman were found in the wreckage, their corpses showed signs
of mutilation even after the inferno. Two small cots and an
assortment of toys betrayed the existence of children, but no small
bodies were found.
    “You don’t know what you’re chasing, old
man.” His wife handed him a tortilla filled with peanut butter and
dried apple slices, “or what you’ll do with it when you catch
it.”
    “It’s not me they have to worry about,”
replied the Captain between bites, “I wouldn’t want this
bloodthirsty bunch after me.”
    “Cap’n Mac, how many do you ‘spect we’re up
against?” asked Jennings from his perch on a low pine branch a few
feet away. Jennings was the problem child of the troop. He never
quite shirked a task, but he never had much enthusiasm. When his
blood was up he was deadly enough with a rifle, but his pale,
sickly, slender frame had worried the Captain since the beginning.
He wouldn’t stand a chance if it came down to a wrestling match
with an outlaw tough.
    “The tracks say fifteen. But I wouldn’t
worry too much about how many there are, kiddo. Just focus on how
many you feel like killin’. You can have as many as you want.” The
Captain gave him a wink.
    “You scared Jenny?” taunted Legs from his
seat against another pine trunk. The appendages that gave him his
name stuck straight out in front of him, half the length of his
arms. His thickly bearded face held a snide grin as he tortured
Jennings. His strange proportions fueled a burning inferiority
complex that he completely abandoned when the shooting started.
Those same proportions had kept more than a few outlaws guessing
until their blood was spilling out in the ash. The Captain had
rarely seen a ranger so adept with a knife, or so protective of his
comrades.
    “I ain’t scared Corporal, I just want to
know what to expect. And if you call me Jenny one more time
I’ll…”
    “You’ll what?” snapped Legs, jumping to his
feet.
    “Cancel that shit rangers!” barked Deb,
launching a chilling glance at each in turn. “You’re both heading
for latrine duty when we get back to base if you don’t keep your
mouths shut!”
    Both boys backed down quickly, their
feathers ruffled. The six other rangers in the grove looked down
and found their rations suddenly interesting, hoping Deb’s cold
gaze would land elsewhere. She was notorious as a disciplinarian.
Although she was technically second in command, they had seen her
tear the Captain down on several occasions. Though they feared her
temper, they had all witnessed the ferocity with which she
protected the Captain on the battlefield. They shared a fierce
loyalty with her and they respected her. Many of them had seen her
tender side as well; she had grown accustomed to playing mother to
the orphans in the troop when they had need.
    Mol was the first to break the silence. “Do
you think we’ll go all the way to The Refinery on this trip, Cap’n
Mac?”
    “You know we’ll go as far as we need to go
to get the job done, young lady,” the Captain replied, adding a
wink. He knew she was eager to see the colony. She was a redhead,
barely seventeen, the tallest woman in the troop. She had a strange
beauty; none of her features were ideal, but combined they
approached perfection. Mol was the company’s medic.
    A soft voice drifted from behind the large
pine the Captain was leaning against. “If this is the gang we’re
lookin’ for, we won’t be getting anywhere near The Refinery.”
    “Dammit Stone, you fuckin’ spook, I told you
not to sneak up on me like that! Save it for the enemy! What’d you
find?” rasped the Captain in surprise, springing up to face the
scout.
    With a rare smile, the albino plopped down
against the Captain’s tree, lifted his mask, and produced a morsel
of jerky. Between bites, he made his report.
    “They’re holed up in a small warehouse a few
miles down the road…left a trail that a blind