Excerpted from my novel, UNDONE
(C) 2023 Kyrinn S. Eis All Rights Reserved
Then came the Captain's order, ~$"Select-fire. Target Neck, on one. Three-two..."$~
Carthy fired at the Rexsaur's neck as a second fireball not but three yards from him, but on the other side of an embankment, lit-up the creature as well. Without hesitation, the Swaglod opened fire on their positions and the Dragora disappeared from Carthy's view. Carthy hugged the top of the rocky ridge that separated him from the Captain and he pulled three additional salvos on the Rexsaur which was now on its knees, clutching its throat. A laser pulse shattered stone not six Inches from Carthy, and the adrenaline coursed in greater release through his already primed system. Marcher stood and backpedaled as he fired multiple salvos; once his legs contacted the embankment, he threw himself backwards and displaced buckets-full of water as he landed awkwardly. Carthy's distraction at that nearly cost him his life as a Swaglod bayonet almost impaled his face. Batting the blade away with terribly swift determination, Carthy hit his purpose-built panic button on his e-suit rig. The Swaglod's finned crest rose atop its head, and Carthy saw that it planned on blinding him with its black spit; he rolled to his right, closer to the Captain, and as he did so, drew his threat-snub from his chest holster, and fired point-blank into the Wetlander's fleshy snout. The magnum cartridge alone would have been lethal at this range, but the defensive ammo tore through the soft tissue of the Swaglod's head as if it were a marsh melon. The amphibian's body crashed down upon him and Carthy was pinned even as he was heaving from the wretched stink-glands' contents pouring over and nearly drowning him. Carthy heard more firearms blasts, nearing, and then suddenly, the Swaglod was off of him. The Captain, bloody and squinting, shouted at him to get up and fight. Carthy nodded and did his best to stop vomiting even as he hip-fired the carbine. Swaglod troops fired on the run towards them. Dragora darted about in zig-zag manouvres that defied the imagination. Another Rexsaur approached, and this one was priming a rotorcannon. Carthy looked at Marcher. The other man's left eye was possibly missing, and he had numerous lacerations and avulsions over his face, neck, and hands. The Captain shouted something to Carthy, left hand out and open towards him. Carthy reached out to shake Marcher's hand goodbye, but the other man instead turned Carthy by the shoulder and stripped a magazine from his belt pouch.
"Fall back! Fall back for flak's sake, Carthy!"
