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Chapters (44)
  1. The Crimson Worlds Series
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  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Epilogue

“We understand, sir,” Jamison said. “We’re ready to do our jobs, Captain, whatever it takes. You worry about Dauntless. We’ll keep those bombers away.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

Planet Santis

Krillus IV

307 AC

“I’d say it’s one company, Sarge. They’re lined up on the ridgeline, and it looks like the enemy is moving to attack.” Thoms was breathing hard as he forced out the words, each exhale turning into a cloud of white condensation in the frigid morning air.

“Enemy strength?” Hargraves was cold too, probably more even than Thoms, who’d run several klicks back from his scouting mission.

“Looks like two hundred or more to me, Sarge. I’d guess they want to pin down the reinforcements before they can get into the hills.”

Hargraves nodded. “I’d wager we drove the bastards damned near crazy. The last thing they want is a hundred more Marines hidden in these hills.” The sergeant was proud of what they had accomplished over the last month, the way they had held out against a much larger force. But his satisfaction was tempered by the losses they had suffered. All the civilians were dead…and so were three quarters of the Marines they’d started with. They’d been on the verge of annihilation when the reinforcements arrived out of the blue.

“We should get moving. We gotta go around those hills to link up with the…” Hargraves paused. “Wait…think, Thoms. Did the enemy have their whole force out there? All of them?”

The Marine looked right back at Hargraves. “It sure looked like it, Sarge. Had to be most of ’em if not all.”

Hargraves turned and looked behind him, staring out over the rolling ground to the south.

“Whatcha thinking, Sarge?”

Hargraves didn’t answer. He just stood still, looking off into the distance. Finally, he turned back toward Thoms. “Get everybody up and ready to go, Private.”

“Yessir. We movin’ around to link up with the Marines on the ridge?”

“No.” Hargraves could see his answer was a surprise to the Marine.

Hell, it’s a surprise to me too…

“Where we goin’ then?”

“We’re heading south. We’re gonna see just how many troops they left behind in their camp…and we’re gonna blow the place to hell. Their food, ammo…everything.”

Hargraves knew it was a daring plan—some would say crazy—but if his people could pull it off they’d do a hell of a lot more for the cause than adding eight guns to the troops on the ridge. The fact that Confederation reinforcements, from wherever they’d come, had been able to land meant that the enemy no longer controlled Santis’s orbit. And that meant the troops on the ground had no source of resupply.

“Shit, Sarge…even if they took almost everybody, there’s no more than eight of us. You gotta figure they left more than that.”