The Terran Mandate Read Online Free PDF Page A

super heated plasma that lit off
in a brilliant blue haze. Every Terran Guard soldier within 50 meters of a
canister was incinerated. Six more canisters thundered over their heads,
slamming into the ground and bursting open to create a 700 meter plasma barrier
putting up a wall in front of Dekker's battalion. His squad leaders immediately
took advantage of the cover and ran their man back across the flats to the MEF
perimeter bunkers. A few of them fell to sporadic arms fire from Terran Guard
troops recovering behind the line of plasma fire as it dissipated. Marines
stopped to pick them up and help them the rest of the way.
    "Two Bravo Delta, Enforcer Six
Actual. That's some pretty good shooting for a bunch of ass drivers. Fire for
effect."
    "You bet, Enforcer Six. They're
falling back Colonel. I think they just needed a touch more of
encouragement."
    Dekker started to smile, but stopped
short when he heard the next transmission from one of the pilots. "One
Charlie Four, eight enemy tangos moving fast on the line." The tanks that
were escorting the flanks of the Terran Guard infantry barreled through the
line of plasma fire, which was now nothing more than a thin veil of white
smoke.
    The ground stopped shaking as the Cats
halted their advance. Another chorus of steel thumps rang out as they swung
down their rotary cannons. For a full minute, all Dekker could hear was the
clatter of mechanisms preparing the guns to fire on the advancing tanks as they
tracked down the slope of the Highlands. Nothing stood between them and
Dekker's men except thin air. He had to force himself to breathe as he counted
off the seconds while the Cats reset their systems to engage the tanks.
    One of the tanks wheeled its gun to
point straight at Major Walker's Cat. Dekker gritted his teeth when the barrel
recoiled. The tank round slammed into the Cat's left leg. The Cat started to
step forward and Dekker heard the screeching wail of grinding metal.
    The tanks raced towards them. A second
volley from their gun rails pounded the ground around Dekker's Marines running
across the flats. Marines who weren't cut down by steel shrapnel from the tank
rounds flopped to the ground and started crawling the rest of the way to the
bunkers. Without slowing down, the tanks let off another volley, peppering the
ground with shrapnel that sent up plumes of dirt around Dekker's men. Through
gritted teeth, Dekker said, "Come on, come on."
    Behind him, rotary guns stuttered and
jerked as their tracking computers zeroed in on their targets. The Cats creaked
and swayed back as their rotary guns thumped out three rounds from each side.
The steel bolts cut through the sky, cracking the air with a snap of thunder
above Dekker and his men. The tanks chasing down his men stopped as the bolts
ripped into their hulls and turned them into shimmering smears of molten metal.
    Dekker let out a sigh when he heard Lt.
Simmons say,  "All stations, Second Brigade is falling back to their
compound. First Brigade is setting up defensive positions just behind the
crest."
    General Lane cut in next. "Marine
Six, all stations, consolidate your lines and report."
    Dekker closed his eyes and let his face
pull into a long grimace, stoking an aching ember of anger that welled up
inside him. Marines stopped running and surveyed the ground, looking for
wounded comrades and picking up men who were still crawling across the ground.
Dekker watched as one of them crouched down next to a body that wasn't moving.
The Marine laid his hand on a dead man's chest, shook his head and stood back
up.
    As Marines dragged their comrades to the
bunkers, corpsmen scurried among the bodies, checking wounds and slapping
recovery kits on those that could be saved.
    Dekker stepped out of the bunker and
crouched down next to a Marine with a wound in his belly oozing dark red. The
man's face was pale and encased in a glean of sweat. The Marine looked in
Dekker's eyes.
    Looking over his shoulder, Dekker asked,
"What's