Death World (Undying Mercenaries Series Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

I outranked them all.
    “Let’s go to the rally point,” I said firmly. “We’ve got to suit up and get our dragons out of storage. My briefing email said they’re in the lifters.”
    Together, our group traveled across the seemingly endless expanse of asphalt to the waiting line of lifters.
    The transport spacecraft were broad, squatty and built for utility more than looks. We marched up the metal ramp with a few dozen other troopers and an hour or so later we were lined up in our dragons beside the rest of Legion Varus. We were all standing at attention.
    As the senior noncom, Veteran Harris held the Wolfshead pennant in his right gripper. It was an honor to hold the pennant. As a newly hatched veteran, I could only watch him and note his obvious pride.
    Thousands of us lined up, unit by unit. Less than ten minutes after we’d completed our formation, the lifters took off and another set roared down to take their place.
    More troops in armor with polished weapons marched from the ramps. They had pennants too, but their flags were from a rival legion.
    “They’re flying the Rising Sun of Legion Solstice,” Harris said loudly. “Stand straight, look sharp. Don’t shame me, people.”
    Legion Solstice had fought and died with us on Machine World. I had mixed feelings about their troops for personal reasons, but I saluted them along with the rest of our dragons. Solstice legionnaires were true fighters, if a little rough around the edges. I could only conjecture as to they thought of us.
    Soon, over twenty thousand troops stood in long lines and squares all over the tarmac. We covered two square kilometers, maybe more. It was an impressive sight, and I felt glad to know my parents were in the crowd somewhere, watching us. They didn’t often get a chance to see my legion presented with any kind of honor.
    Standing on a stage in front of the two legion formations was a knot of officers and politicians. A gaggle of reporters with camera-drones clustered around them. I noticed only a few of the drones were panning the troops. Most were focused on the stage.
    Imperator Turov spoke first. I wasn’t surprised that she was there or that she was hamming it up for the cameras. She was a glory-hound that rarely missed such opportunities—in fact, she created them whenever possible.
    “In a few minutes, history will be made,” she said, her voice rolling out over the assemblage. She had an amp system set up, and some joker had cranked it up to full blast. “I welcome the eyes of Earth today. I, Imperator Galina Turov, have brought home a great bounty from beyond the borders of the Empire itself. As most of you know, I was in command of an expedition into uncharted space. After a hard-fought campaign, legions Solstice and Varus defeated no less than three alien forces on Machine World. Now today, at last, we’ll see the fruits of that expenditure of blood and treasure in space…”
    She went on like that for a very long time. The woman could make a speech, that was for sure. She made certain to mention her name and her command status in every paragraph as she waxed eloquently about the immeasurable wealth she’d brought home to Earth.
    Finally, long after I’d stopped listening, a rumble sounded above us. The skies flared brighter. We craned our necks—despite the fact we were supposed to stare at our commanders and nothing else.
    The freighter had come in. It was a big one as such ships went. A super-massive, they called them, a class of ship built to haul goods from star to star in quantities that could serve a whole planet.
    “Something’s wrong,” Della said in my headset.
    I frowned. She was right. The ship didn’t look the way it should. That first flare—what had that been? Too bright for braking jets. I could see those now, blooming from the forward modules.
    “She’s in too close,” I said. “She must have dropped out of warp too late. She should be parked in orbit by now.”
    Turov went on, seemingly