Task Force Mars - Kevin Dockery [80]
Engines roared on all sides, and through the swirling smoke Jackson saw a number of the pursuing jetcars settling onto the grassy field. LaRue raised his rail gun and, after checking behind him for friendlies, sent one of his slugs shooting through the turbofan of the nearest aircraft. The stricken vehicle dipped nose down and plunged into the ground with a satisfying explosion while Baby’s backblast trimmed the grass in a wide, fan-shaped swath.
Another transport craft roared almost directly overhead, and Jackson held up his hand to shield his face from the searing heat of the jet exhaust. Char-Kane leaned against him, almost falling, and he supported the Shamani, half carrying her as he stumbled toward the welcome cover of the dense grove of trees. Bullets and plasma rays from the pursuing Eluoi shot past him, and he veered instinctively, dodging back and forth while lumbering as fast as he could. In another second he and the consul de campe passed between two large trees, and he released her. She collapsed against the trunk, safe for the moment, as the lieutenant raised his G15 and took a look at the flame-and smoke-swept field.
He saw that Rodale, like LaRue, had his weapon up and was standing boldly just outside the fringe of woods. Rocky sent a missile set to heat-seeking mode sizzling toward another one of the Eluoi aircraft. The round went right up the tailpipe to blast the jetcar out of the sky, scattering shrapnel almost as far as the retreating SEALS. The three wrecks burned furiously, spilling smoke everywhere, but there were still more aircraft settling to the ground, jet engines roaring. Rodale retreated into the woods as a hailstorm of bullets chewed up the turf around his feet.
Ramps dropped from the descending transports, and soldiers spilled out of many of the aircraft, moving with skill and discipline. Some dropped to the ground and opened up with firearms or launched searing bolts from the plasma guns. One of those bolts crackled past close enough to set Jackson’s hair bristling on the nape of his neck, but the smoke still was giving them some cover. The Eluoi advanced in a rough skirmish line, keeping space between the men, some providing covering fire while the others rushed forward.
Jackson dropped one of the charging Eluoi with a well-placed single round from his G15, then looked for the positions of his men. Robinson limped past, his trouser almost torn off his left leg by the energy bolt he’d taken back at the landing pad. Teal had patched him up with gauze and a bandage wrap, but the officer could see blood seeping through the dressing; the wound looked worse than the man had let on.
Then all the SEALS were in the trees, the cool darkness shading and sheltering them. A quick glance showed Jackson that his men were lined up at the fringe of the grove. Each man had found good cover and was using it to snipe at the enemy troops, who were still out in the open, protected only by the smoke and the wrecks of the burning aircraft. The SEALS understood the situation well enough that each man was conserving his ammunition without any orders from his leader.
From the air Jackson had seen that this grove was a small clump of tall trees, and he knew that the enemy aircraft were landing on all sides, disgorging dozens of soldiers. The way the lieutenant reckoned it, they had about sixty seconds to catch their breath and set up a perimeter before they would be in the fight of their lives. Their lethal controlled fire from the fringe of the woods had given the enemy pause, and now it looked like the Eluoi soldiers mostly had gone to ground and were creeping forward very carefully, in many cases worming their way around the bodies of comrades who had attacked more impetuously.
There wasn’t any time to set up a hasty