Page 190 of The Other Omega

“Take her to one of the landed craft.”

Two soldiers reached for her while the rest fired into the hall. I went in with them, shooting a man who leaned around a pillar. His blood struck the stone behind him as he fell, and we advanced through the space he had been defending.

A crystal cannon fired somewhere below. The blast shook the floor beneath us, followed by another that sounded close enough to split the mountain.

“Our guns are firing on the outer defences,” Zorya said. “Keep your teams inside.”

I could barely hear her over the weapons around me. Mercenaries were pouring through the doors at the far end of the hall, some firing while others dragged the wounded behind cover. Two moved aside, revealing a Thunder cannon. Light filled the crystal above its barrel, and I caught the soldier beside me by the arm.

“Thunder!”

We dropped behind a pillar as an electrical blast tore across the hall, cutting through the stone behind us. The crack drowned out the gunfire, and fragments fell from the ceiling as two of my soldiers went down.

The idiots were going to bring the mountain down on all of us. I leaned past the pillar and shot the operator in the head before he could fire again. He fell backwards from the weapon while my soldiers killed the men beside him.

I reached our fallen soldiers as a medic dropped to her knees. One was trying to speak. The other lay still, his eyes open beneath his helmet. I looked towards the doors as the rest of my team gathered around me.

“Forward.”

My soldiers went through with me. The next corridor was crowded with mercenaries running towards the entrance, and our gunfire drove them back into one another. A man came at me from a side door and struck my rifle aside. I caught his wrist and drove my knife beneath his ribs, then pulled it free and struck again at his neck. I withdrew the blade, shoved him into the men behind him and moved clear for my soldiers to fire.

We reached the stairs with blood spreading across the corridor behind us. I left a team to secure the upper level and led the others down.

The mercenaries were waiting at the next landing. Their first volley struck the soldier ahead of me, and he fell hard against the railing. I pulled him down onto the steps while the men behind us returned fire. He was still breathing when a medic reached him.

I went past them and fired down the stairwell. My soldiers followed, forcing the defenders away from the landing and through the doors to Level Nine. We pursued them into a hall already thick with smoke. A shot struck the wall beside my face, and I turned towards it, firing until the man behind the weapon fell.

“Eastern cannons destroyed,” Zorya reported. “We are inside Level One. Two dead, six wounded.”

“Rear entrance?”

“Level Five breached. Heavy resistance inside.”

“Hold the entrance. We are coming down.”

The fighting continued through the next levels. I left soldiers at each junction while the remaining teams pressed towards the stairs. Mercenaries fired from doorways, withdrew and fought again farther along. Each time we reached them, more stayed on the floor.

By Level Seven, blood had soaked into my sleeves. The smell filled the hot air beneath the smoke and dust. One of our soldiers sat against the wall with his arm hanging uselessly beside him. He tried to rise when he saw me.

“Stay with the medic.”

I took the stairs with the next team. At Level Five, our rear force was advancing from the far end of the corridor, trapping the remaining defenders between us. Some dropped their weapons. Others kept firing until we brought them down.

A wounded man caught my boot as I passed. I looked down, shot him and stepped free of his hand.

Near the rear doors, mercenaries knelt among their dead with their hands raised. One was crying so hard that he could barely answer the soldier questioning him. Another stared at me, his fingers trembling above his head.

“Secure them. Keep moving.”

My soldiers went past the prisoners while medics worked their way through the bodies. Through the open channel, I heard Zorya directing her teams towards the remaining resistance below.

Then Veska, who led the recovery teams, called from Level Four.

“Commander, we have reached the occupied wards. Seven Omegas located. We need Medical.”

“They are coming to you. Keep the armed teams outside unless they are needed.”

Another report followed before I reached the lift.