EDEN (The Union Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

delta to hook around and assault from the flank, freeing me to collect
Gritt and extract the section. I prayed that he was the only casualty, because
if we had more we would struggle to get away. I hadn’t seen anyone else behind
me.
    The
Loyalist fire resumed, and I forced my body ever lower, gritting my teeth as
more chips of wood landed on my helmet.
    ‘You’ve
got to move quick, Puppy!’ I urged. ‘We don’t have time to mess about!’
    ‘I’m on
it!’ Puppy, my 2ic, replied angrily.
    I ignored
his rude reply, understanding his frustration. No commander liked to be rushed,
especially when he was probably already rushing.
    Suddenly
a blue crosshair popped up on my display to the right of the enemy, and I
breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t think I had ever felt such elation at the
sight of a net crosshair before.
    ‘That’s
my location,’ Puppy panted. Clearly he had been running to get into position. ‘Give
me some fire support if you can!’
    ‘Roger!’
I replied, rolling to one side and lifting my rifle to fire. There was no way I
was going to lift my head and have it blown off, so I used my rifle camera to
aim instead. It wouldn’t be as accurate, but it had to do.
    ‘Charlie,
prepare to give rapid fire!’
    ‘Prepare
for rapid!’ two voices repeated.
    Thank God,
I thought, only one man was down.
    ‘Rapid …
FIRE!’
    Somehow,
despite being suppressed by such a massive weight of firepower, the three of us
managed to re-join the battle. It wasn’t enough - we were unable to take up
proper fire positions to see the enemy - but at least we were doing something.
    Suddenly
another burst of gunfire joined the noise, and somebody shouted out in surprise
as delta launched their attack, breaking out of the vegetation all at once.
    The enemy
gunfire stopped instantly, and I leapt from the ground as if I had been
released from a spell.
    Delta
rapidly swept through the trees, two men bounding forward, while the other two
covered. As I watched, an enemy soldier writhed amongst the ferns and was
quickly despatched with the steel blade of a Union bayonet. The trooper used
his boot to withdraw the blade, before taking a knee beside the body to cover. Another
Loyalist emerged from hiding, sprinting for dear life to escape the advancing
troopers. He didn’t get far. A massive bang sounded from delta’s Orion sniper
rifle, and the fleeing soldier’s head flew clean off his shoulders in a spray
of crimson, his body disappearing into the undergrowth.
    There was
no time to hang about and give praise, instead I hollered out to my section, ‘Prepare
to withdraw!’
    The
message repeated, and I looked across to the remainder of my fire team. ‘Get
that casualty …’
    There was
no need to say another word; the lads were already on top of him. Myers ripped
open the stricken trooper’s medical pouch, whilst Skelton searched his body for
injuries.
    ‘He’s
taken a dart to the shoulder,’ Myers shouted, reading straight from Gritt’s
datapad. ‘It looks like it’s passed through his left lung and part of his gut.
Came out just above his arse!’
    I stooped
over the casualty, pulling his gel armour aside to inspect the wound. The entry
hole was tiny, but there was a lot of blood. It frothed with little bubbles as
air escaped from his chest cavity. His breathing was laboured, as though his
body was fighting to get air into it. I knew that every time Gritt tried to
breath, he was simply sucking air through the hole into his chest cavity,
rather than through his windpipe and into his one good lung - he was
suffocating.
    ‘Chest seal
on his shoulder,’ I ordered. ‘Skelton, plug his arse! I want him ready to move
in one minute!’
    ‘Roger!’
    I looked
across at Puppy. Now in line with my fire team, his men scanned their arcs for
enemy.
    ‘Ready to
move in one minute!’ I repeated.
    He gave a
thumbs-up. ‘OK, mate!’
    I noticed
that the sound of battle continued in the valley, as the platoon of