Invasion Wars 1: Crimes of War Read Online Free PDF Page A

another one of the creatures crashed into the door, coming out of the corner of his eye just in time to make him fall back. It continued to claw and scratch at the metal of the door, the scraping loud enough to drown out the still playing wall screen.
    “Once it starts shooting, it’s going to get us,” Emich said in a panic. “There’s no way to escape these things!”
    “Get away from there!” Konrad lifted his brother from the ground, practically carrying him as he got back to his feet. “Don’t make it easier for them.”
    Blasts of yellow gunfire melted the door behind them as they went up the stairs just in time to have the lower steps chip away into nothing. The steps hung in the air, the metal at the top bending down from the weight. They braced against the railing, keeping close to avoid having one of them fall back. Grabbing his brother by the waist, Konrad gave the step a quick burst of his kinetic boosters. Flying up to the top and sending the stairs down to the floor below them, he landed into a run; Emich struggling to keep up.
    “How are we going to get out of here now?” He shouted over the falling staircase and out of breath.
    Konrad pulled him by the arm, leading him to the bedroom. “Same way they got in. Hold tight!”
    Kicking what little remained of the door off of the entrance, one of the creatures fired upon the brothers, being pushed around as others poured in and scurried along the wall. Photos and decor exploded behind them as they outran the gunfire, hurrying to get behind the wall as they crossed the kitchen’s viewable area and into where the bedrooms where. Passing the doorway, Konrad shot up the window, the wind from being so high nearly sucking them out of the room with the glass shards. Landing onto the second floor behind them, a couple of the aliens already had them in their line of sight. Weapons raised, the skeletal aliens unloaded on them.
    Leaping over the bed with a kinetic boost, Konrad moved his brother’s arms around his neck in mid air, carrying him through the window and outside into the open world. Wind rushed past them as they freefell in an arc, heading towards the ground far down below. Sticking his legs out in front of him, the kommando let out another kinetic boost, spinning himself to face the building’s frame. Bolts of electricity shot out from his hand and feet, attaching him to the wall, their descent slowing down with a metal-on-metal screech. The glass continued to fall into the dust covered streets below, while they hung there firmly in place, the wind and the sudden stop nearly knocking Emich out of his grip.
    Having his gun hang on its strap, Konrad held himself with one hand while he used the other to open a panel on his left thigh armor. Pressing the second to top button, he closed the panel back up and connected his hand hook with the wall. “I have a flyer on its way to get us, all we have to do is hang around until it gets here.”
    “How long will it take?” Emich shouted through the high winds.
    “Only a few seconds.” His deep voice was still calm, the helmet's microphone able to amplify itself to be heard clearly.
    From where they jumped from, the creatures stuck their heads out of the opening, guns first. Konrad tensed up. The treads on his forearms shot them to the right as the yellow dots flew down at them, shredding the wall where they were. The long gashes along the building shredded through the exterior, like riverbeds being made in an instant. Glowing shrapnel blew away with the wind, Konrad covering his brother with his body to protect him from the traces of hot metal heading towards them.
    With his free hand up and covering his visor, the kommando quickly pulled up his carbine and tried to fire one handed — the amount of recoil limiting him to single shots. One of the bullets found its way into one of the creatures, knocking it off balance and out the window. Its guns still fired as it tumbled down past them, smashing and