Operation Orion - Kevin Dockery [80]
A rocket zoomed in from the left, trailing fire and smoke, streaking faster than the eye could follow. By the time Falco flinched back, an involuntary reaction that would have been too late in any event, the round impacted with a sharp, fiery explosion. The sniper’s first thought was that an enemy shot, with a new and terribly lethal weapon, had gone wide.
The explosion smashed the flat rock where the three attackers had taken shelter, blowing Eluoi, shards of rock, and instantly melted snow into the air. It took only a moment for Falco to realize that the shot had not targeted the two SEALS, after all. Instead, it had come from beyond the battle, and it looked a hell of a lot like one of Rocky Rodale’s M76 Wasp missiles.
“Look, there!” crowed LaRue, the big man’s voice cracking in excitement. Falco looked and saw: Two shimmering shapes had risen from the snow and fired point-blank bursts from their G15s into the Eluoi shooters at the outer rim of their semicircular formation. He recognized the ghillie cloaks of the two scouts at once.
Immediately the sniper and G-Man added their own noisemakers to the party, popping up from behind their rocky barricade to shoot into the ranks of Eluoi who were reacting in panic to the sudden attack from behind. A glance to the left showed four SEALS in pressure suits approaching along the edge of the cliff. Two raised their guns, covering their partners, while the other two rushed forward to new firing positions where they fired bursts into the flank of the Eluoi formation as their comrades advanced.
The shock of the counterattack was complete and utterly demoralizing. Falco saw the enemy soldiers scrambling to face the new and unexpected threat, but most of them never got turned around before they were gunned down where they lay. A few leaped to their feet and started to run, sprinting up the canyon, away from the installation—and the only hope of long-term survival on this hostile world. The SEALS dropped most of them with bursts from the G15s.
But one of the Eluoi was already out of range and running fast, pushing frantically through the deep snow. Wiping the frost from his eyelids, Falco once again picked up his squirrel gun. He rested it on the flat rock that had been his lifesaving barrier for the last twenty minutes. Blinking away the tears that almost constantly blurred his vision, the SEALS sniper settled in and entered his “bubble.” The snow, wind, and discomfort disappeared for a moment; all that existed for Falco was the target he was aiming at and the weapon in his hands. For that instant of time, the man and the weapon were one. He sighted through the scope, refined his point of aim, and gently squeezed the trigger.
The last round of the battle snapped like a firecracker through the canyon, the report echoing from the walls even as the big 10.2-mm round shot straight and true, dropping the last Eluoi as it punctured his body squarely between the shoulder blades.
Falco blinked again and made sure of his kill.
Then he passed out.
Seventeen: Ursine Allies
Lieutenant (j.g.) Sanders paced the control room in agitation. Baxter continued to punch and tap at the various keyboards and control panels, and the young officer felt about as useful as the proverbial tits on a bull. He confirmed that the three dozen or so Eluoi of the garrison remained trapped behind the hatches Baxter had sealed by remote control. The electrician’s mate pointed out that the IR signatures meant that the hostile troops were still alive. He couldn’t read the exact quality of the