Rage War Incursion 13

As he and Snowdon headed off along the uneven tunnel, she started flickering from view. He made sure his suit sensors were attuned to the devices' specific frequencies so that he could still make out the shadow-shape of every one of his unit. To outside eyes, however, they would be faded into the dark, damp, stony background.

"Just inside the tunnel?" Snowdon asked.

"That's what I'm thinking. Not too close, but not out of sight of each other."

His display showed one red dot approaching their location from one side, the other two somewhere above and behind them. The local layout seemed complex, so it was difficult to discern just where the Yautja might emerge. What was clear was that they would be upon them in moments.-pg.185 chpt.15

Mains sent instructions to one of his shoulder drones. It parted from his suit and drifted through the destruction. He switched views and checked out the drone's feed, arming its weapons at the same time. The infrared view was confused by the heat of plasma blasts, so he switched to normal view, the scene now lit by fires. The drone moved slowly, its small camera panning left and right. The tunnel floor had been ripped up, walls fractured, ceiling dripping molten rock that splashed and hardened in complex patterns.

No sign of the Yautja.

"Stay sharp," he whispered, knowing he didn't really need to.

He checked his suit scan for movement, and saw only himself and the other Excursionists lit up. But this was a warren, and he couldn't afford to trust the scan fully. Back to the drone view, and the tunnel beyond the battle site grew darker again. "Looks like the target fled and-"

A shadow shifted, a clawed hand swiped, and the feed from the drone suddenly cut out.

"Son of a bitch," Mains said. He sent an order for the drone to self-destruct, but the Yautja must already have crushed it, disabling its systems.

"Faulkner, Snowdon, wait here. Lieder, with me." Com-rifle set to plasma, he stormed into the ruined tunnel, Lieder close behind. Twenty yards in, past the flames and torn-up walls, his suit scan showed no signs of movement. Even when the huge Yautja reared up before him, it showed that nothing was there. Mains skidded to a halt. "Drop!" Lieder bellowed, and Mains fell to one side. The Yautja swung down two heavy bladed weapons, one in each hand, and he heard them whistling through the air. Lieder fired. The plasma shot struck one weapon and ricocheted, blasting into the wall and sending the melting metal blade across the alien's chest. It screeched and swiped at its chest with its other hand, then unleashed a fusillade of shots against Lieder from its shoulder blaster.

Mains rolled onto his back and fired his com-rifle almost point-blank. The shot struck the Yautja beneath the chin, and for a couple of seconds light glared from its mask's eyepiece as the plasma charge melted into its skull and illuminated from the inside out. The dead alien released a low, sad sigh, then slumped down beside him.

"Check for any more," Mains said.

"I've been checking, L-T," Cotronis said. "Nothing on my scans, but their signals earlier were weird, in and out."

"Yeah, they must be carrying some sort of new stealth tech," Faulkner said.-pg.189-190 chpt.15