Battle Beyond Earth: Insurrection Read Online Free PDF Page A

trigger. A single shot struck Taylor in the neck and passed right through. Taylor staggered forward as he cupped his neck and blood gushed from it. Eme was on his feet before anyone could respond and leapt into view of the camera.
    "Do not surrender! Fight for your lives!" he screamed.
    Taylor spun around and rushed at Eme with thunderous intent. He had taken pity and let the Admiral live, despite despising him for what he had done. Now he regretted it. Eme lifted his pistol in self-defence, but as he fired, Taylor ducked under and took hold of the Admiral's arm. Two shots rang out and found nothing but the wall of the bridge. Taylor kicked Eme in the stomach, and then drove another kick into his left knee so that the Cholan crumpled and bowed before him. He grabbed hold of the pistol, still in Eme's hand, and turned it to the back of his head.
    Eme was powerless to resist the strength of Taylor, even had he not been in his powered suit. The gun barrel reached the back of Eme's head, and Taylor forced his finger over Eme's on the trigger. Blood spewed out over the deck of the bridge. Taylor let go of the Admiral, and his body dropped limp before him. He cupped his neck once again. He was still bleeding, but clearly not enough to suggest the windpipe had been pierced. But then he remembered the video feed. He looked up. Everything had been broadcast to the fleet.
    His heart sank as he realised the hope of peace had been dashed. Alita rushed to his side and pulled his hand away to look at the wound. She was oblivious to everything else that was unfolding, but he looked to the operations table. A few ships began to move, and then the firing started once again. He shook his head in disbelief.
    "What do we do?" Babacan asked.
    He looked to Alita. "How long until we can fire again?"
    "Your wound, let's sort you first."
    "Fuck the wound, it doesn't matter right now. We do our jobs first and foremost, now how long?" he insisted.
    "About a minute," she replied solemnly.
    "Not good enough, what else do we have to throw at them?"
    She shook her head.
    "Nothing that can touch a major warship. The power overload of firing that weapon fries the systems for a little while. We've got close defence systems for protection against fighters. That's it."
    "Then what do we do?"
    Taylor didn't answer Babacan. It was obvious now. All they could do was sit and wait.
    "Why haven't they come for us yet?"
    "Who?"
    "The rest of the crew aboard this vessel."
    Taylor shrugged. "Maybe because to get here they'd have to walk over swathes of their own dead, and realise that none of ours are among them."
    "He's right. Nobody could stomach that," added Alita.
    They could do nothing but watch the rest of the battle unfold. Half of the ships on both sides were disabled or destroyed. Burnt out hulks floated through space, and still the fight went on. The countdown for their weapon systems seemed to take an hour; at least it felt that way. By the time it was finally ready, the entire area was a scrapyard.
    "Ready!" Alita said enthusiastically.
    But it felt almost too late.
    "Fire," whispered Taylor.
    The familiar surge overcame the vast ship once again, and the barrel of the Goliath weapon spurt flame and fire and smashed into the second heavy cruiser, blowing it apart just as it had done the first. Taylor slumped back into the Admiral's seat. He knew it was over, but at a great cost.
    "They're running!"
    He looked up. The remainder of the Cholan fleet were fleeing through the gateway. It shut down, and finally they were left in peace. Taylor looked over several screens to survey the damage. A number of crippled Cholan vessels had been left behind. Many of the Human and Krys vessels looked beaten beyond repair. Two Aranui vessels had been destroyed.
    "Get me some comms. Let's see who is left."
    A few moments later the comms officer from the station appeared. He was badly cut and bleeding on one side of his face and burnt on the other, but still doing his job. Sparks