Gunship Read Online Free PDF

glanced back “Shit! Look out!”
    An Enforcer had launched from the top of the canyon ridge, using the high ground to propel itself down onto the TORR. They watched as the machine opened up, revealing laser-rifle barrels and titanium claws as it fell.
    Suddenly, the Enforcer disappeared in a bright blue flash. Reilly looked over to see Duv on her left providing top cover as they made their way down the canyon. He swung the gunship sideways, facing in towards the canyon wall, watching for any other movement. Ty gave a whoop and kept the gun trained behind them as they continued to jostle down the canyon edge. Reilly motioned to Duv, gave the rally sign, and pointed at the end of the canyon. “You sure?” he asked in her earpiece.
    “Yeah, we gotta get off of this rock before we die here—and we’ve still got two more Enforcers about to be on us in a hot minute.”
    “Alrighty. I’ll meet ya there!” Duv veered off, the ship’s engines roaring overhead.
    “Hey! Where the hell is he going?” Ty hollered out. The last two Enforcers reappeared and began to gain ground again. He unloaded another stream of fire at their pursuers. When Reilly didn’t answer, Ty glanced over his shoulder. And then did a double take.
    Duv had positioned the ship at the end of the canyon ridge and was opening up the cargo bay doors.
    “Oh, hell no! We ain’t doing this!” Ty looked back to find an Enforcer almost on top of them. He blasted a few more rounds, which the machine dodged. “Shit, go faster, go faster!”
    “I thought you said we weren’t doing this,” Reilly yelled back at Ty.
    “I changed my mind!” Ty fumbled with his gear rack and pulled out a smoke grenade. It wasn’t much, but it might just buy them a few seconds while the machine switched sensors. He pulled the pin and lobbed it in the back of the TORR. White smoke whirled out, obscuring his view and hopefully the Enforcer’s, too.
    Ty turned to look forward as Reilly reached the cliff’s edge and launched the TORR. He looked back again behind them just in time to see the Enforcer’s head burst through above the smoke.
    “Duck!” he yelled. A laser round sizzled in the air above them and was gone. Maude hit the rear ramp, skidding a bit as Reilly floored it to prevent them from sliding backwards into the canyon. The wheels caught and gained traction, flinging the TORR into the cargo bay and promptly flipping it upside down as the bay doors closed behind them. Maude grumbled, then wheezed and became silent as the engine cut out. Reilly and Ty dangled upside down in their harnesses, gasping for breath and surrounded by the scattered cargo that had broken loose.
    “Well, that was a first,” Ty noted as he painfully moved his limbs to make sure they were still all there. They could feel the gunship lurch upwards and then gain altitude. Reilly slowly unbuckled her harness and let her feet slide down to the ground while hanging onto Maude’s now-dented frame.
    “That was awesome!” a voice called down from the catwalk up top.
    They looked up as they climbed out of the TORR to see Duv’s son, Seth “Skeeter” Jackson, bouncing along the catwalk excitedly.
    Reilly gave a crooked grin and shook her head, then continued digging her way out of the crates surrounding Maude. She examined the dent and decided it could be hammered out. It wasn’t the first time they had had to give poor old Maude some body work.
    “Well, quit your blabbing and get your skinny butt down here. You can help me get this mess cleaned up, starting with moving this cargo up to the front of the hold,” Ty groused as he worked to free himself from his harness. “Damn. I think I dislocated my shoulder again!”
    “You know that entire sequence had a twenty percent chance of working? I mean, the physics was totally against it, and if the right trajectory and speed hadn’t been met, you guys would be dead right now!” Skeeter happily reported as he jounced down the steps to the cargo