Sergeant (The United Federation Marine Corps Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

the square. Lieutenant Xie gave Ryck a sloppy salute, then followed his men as they disappeared into the warrens that surrounded the area to the northeast of the square.
    Ryck immediately sped up his team and caught back up with the rest. The same warrens that gave the militiamen cover provided the same cover for anyone trying to stop the Marines so all senses were on full alert.
    Ryck only half listened to the recall of Capt Davis and Lt. Nidishchii’s groups to turn and move to their respective rally points. They didn’t have unprotected people riding Marines.
    An expl osion sounded in front of Ryck, and he caught a glimpse of a body being blown off one of the Marines. It wasn’t much of an explosion, probably a home-made grenade of some sort, but Ryck’s heart fell. Losing one of his charges was not supposed to happen. But much to Ryck’s surprise, the passenger got back to his feet. It was one of the Tylarians. The skin and bones he had put on had saved his butt. He shakily got back up on Hartono, and the group was back on the move.
    Despite the confined route to the rally point, they were able to move pretty quickly, only having to stop twice for one of the legionnaires who was having a hard time staying on his Marine.
    Eight minutes after leaving the square, they arrived at the rally point, which was a parking lot for a large Tesco store. Two Tylarian armored personnel carriers were there waiting. The five legionnaires and two Tylarians climbed off their Marines --gratefully, Ryck thought. The legionnaire who had fallen, a captain whose name Ryck hadn’t caught, had messed up his uniform pretty badly. It was torn, and one sleeve was hanging off. Major Gruenstein was rumpled, and his nose was bleeding where he had probably slammed it into the back of his ride, but he had somehow managed to keep the blood off of his uniform. None of the legionnaires looked good, uniform-wise. Looking at the two Tylarians, even the one who’d been blown off Hartono, Ryck thought the legionnaires would be looking much more presentable if they had put on the skins.
    “Well, Staff Sergeant Phantawisangtong, this was, shall we say, and adventure?” Major Gruenstein said, walking stiffly to the platoon sergeant.
    “Glad to be of service, sir,” the platoon sergeant said. “You should be at the LZ in another 10 or 15 minutes, so in less than an hour, you’ll be on a French vessel.”
    “Yes, and in the arms of dear Capitaine de corvette Blanchard,” he said dryly.
    Ryck laughed, despite himself. The major had escaped what could have be en a serious situation. He’d been beat up on a long run riding piggyback on a PICS. He looked like shit. But still, inter-service rivalries and personal dislikes trumped all of that. It was good to know that the Legion was just like any other service.
    The major might have a feather up his ass, but Ryck found he kind of liked the guy. He wished him well, at least.
    Major Gruenstein loaded up his four legionnaires, then turned and saluted the Marines before getting in himself. A moment later, the personnel carrier roared out of the parking lot and disappeared down the road in a cloud of black smoke.
    “Good job, everyone ,” SSgt Hecs said. “ We accomplished that part of the mission, but it’s not over yet. We’ve got another five klicks to the rest of the platoon before we can get out of here. The ROE is still in effect. We will avoid any situation that can get ugly. Any questions?”
    “Yeah, anyone got any charge on them?” Sams asked Ryck and SSgt Hecs on the command circuit.
    “What?” SSgt Hecs asked , .
    “Charge. On your PA. Money.”
    “What the grubbing hell for, Sams?” Ryck asked.
    “Coke. That’s a Tesco there. They’ve got to have Coke. I want a Coke.”
    Ryck started laughing, choking it off as SS gt Hecs flipped them back to the platoon circuit.
    “If no questions, let’s get the hell out of here ,” SSgt Hector Phantawisangtong, Federation Marines Corps, passed on