Black Legion: 02 - Assault on Khorram Read Online Free PDF

klaxon almost burst their eardrums with a blast of sound.
    “Are we secure?” cried Roxana.
    “She’s ours, get her started!” replied Glaucon, who was already dragging the crew to the hatchway.
    “What...what the hell are you doing?” asked one of the men, a grimy looking fellow with a cut on his forehead from their scuffle to capture the dromon.
    “We’re not here to cause trouble, friend. We are leaving to join the Legion.”
    Xenophon reached over to help him drag the men out of the vessel.
    “You’ve got that right, no way are we going back to work for Xenias and his friends at the border.”
    The men looked at each other in surprise. They were clearly being paid to work on the ship and not in the slightest bit interested in the Legion or probably their mission.
    “You’ll never get out of here, the landing bay doors are all security sealed for faster than light travel.”
    Roxana could hear them talking and leaned out from the small cockpit to see what the commotion was all about. Xenophon and Glaucon were busy pulling the men out of the hatch, and Roxana was covering them with a pulse pistol. After the initial struggle, the two men seemed to have given up, and they certainly weren’t offering any resistance. She looked back inside the vessel and brought up the main status and tactical display. The first few columns were good until she hit the launch status indicators. She shook her head in irritation and leaned over to the others.
    “He’s right, you know. This place is on lockdown. I’ll need a security override to get out. If we don’t get those doors open, we’ll be stuck here.”
    Xenophon left the two to Glaucon who had now reached the door, climbed into the cockpit and was looking about at the controls. He knew all too well that if Roxana couldn’t do it, then they had no chance. The computer system showed the fuel and integrity status of the vessel, as well as the fact that both the magnetic clamps and landing bay door were still secured.
    “If we’re still here when security gets down here, we’ll be screwed.”
    “You don’t say!” replied Roxana.
    Roxana looked irritated as she pulled on her straps and started the pre-flight ignition sequence. Xenophon watched her as she went through her checks. It amazed him that she had learnt so much after such a short time in the Navy. As he continued watching her, she spun around and barked orders at him.
    “Don’t stand around! Get the doors and airlocks sealed. We need to get out of this place.”
    He stood up and moved to the side door. Like most access hatches, it was double layered with a built-in airlock. Glaucon had already shut the rest and was in the process of tying up their two prisoners on the landing bay floor.
    “Find out how to open the main doors!” he called out to his friend.
    Glaucon nodded and bent down, speaking loud and fast to the two men. The body language even from this distance showed they couldn’t help. Glaucon stopped and stepped back inside, pulling the door shut behind him.
    “They don’t know. You need to get the permission of the deck chief or commanding officer to issue the orders.”
    “Or bypass the computer system,” said Roxana happily.
    Red lights flashed at the end of the landing platform; the signal that she had already bypassed the system.
    “How the hell did you do that?” asked Xenophon.
    Tamara was strapping herself in. He grabbed the main handle to pull it shut when he spotted the security unit. They appeared unarmoured but were all carried pulse weapons and were covering the distance quickly. Another man stepped down to the landing bay, and it looked like their old commander, Komes Pasion.
    Damn, he is not going to be pleased about this!
    Xenophon pulled the clamps on the door and spun around.
    “Whatever you’re gonna do, do it fast!”

CHAPTER TWO
     

    Landing Bay, Arcadian Titan ‘Olympia’
    Like many of Legion that was stationed on board, a growing number had started to announce