Beauty and the Fleet (Intergalactic Fairy Tales Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

answered a single question, even when they watched their fellow captives executed before them. It was clear they understood. Some of them even leaned their head toward the gun that was going to be used to execute them. They just refused to answer.
    While the Colarians as a whole were one big series of question marks, they'd been pretty consistent in their methods of battle. They fought hard, fast, and recklessly, with little consideration for self preservation. Not to say that they were stupid. Far from it. They just seemed more than willing to sacrifice themselves to gain small strategic advantages. But this time, Beatrix couldn't puzzle out their play. They were just sitting there.
    Beatrix unconsciously started to edge toward them, to be quickly chided by Torch. "Sorry, Cap, this is just too damned eerie," she said. "Why in the hell are they just staring at us?"
    As if on queue, the bay doors to the two nearest battleships' flight decks opened. The four ships that heaved out were very different than anything seen before. They didn't so much look like ships as they did strange four-legged animals. They were still uniformly grey, but hanging on the underside of each of the massive ships, easily as large as the Harbinger, were four large arms that bowed out and formed a semicircle. Adding to the animal-like appearance were the huge cables, wires, and hoses wrapped around each arm, resembling muscles and sinews. Flying beside each of the new ships was a full complement of Raptors, but it was hard to even pay them attention. "What the hell are those things? How would they even land?"
    "Focus on the big dogs," said Torch, obviously seeing the same resemblance that Beatrix did. "We know what the Raptors can do. I'm sure those things will be worse. Newer is always worse."
    "Except for me," chimed Beatrix, her battle grin sliding into place.
    "How many kills do you figure each one of those beasts is worth?" asked Hands.
    "One, you greedy son-of-a-bitch," replied Beatrix. "But if we both are tagging it, we'll both get a kill unless the other concedes."
    "You two need to stop squabbling over your hypothetical kills and get ready for some actual killing," said Torch. "Forget the perimeter circling you were going to be doing. You're joining me, Gadget, and Pickle on Hound patrol. It looks like each battleship has four of those damned legs. Stay clear of the things. I don't know what they do, but I don't like the looks of them."
    While Torch gave out orders, the Hounds and their Raptors drew closer to the artillery line. The Raptors made a defensive shield around each of the Hounds and headed resolutely into the slaughter of Harbinger's artillery, seeming content with their roles as meat shields for the Hounds. Not one of them broke formation. Harbinger's artillery was completely devastating the Raptors, but the Hounds were another story. They were hardly phased. There were five of the Colarian battleships, each probably carrying two Hounds. That meant there were likely a total of ten Hounds. That left six Hounds for the other four Flights stationed around Harbinger. Beatrix's Flight had yet to take out one of the four they faced. Things were looking grim.
    The Talons swooped in to fire on the Hounds, taking out stray Raptors as they came across them. Each of the Hounds had taken several direct hits from Harbringer's heavy artillery rounds and were still moving. It didn't seem likely that the energy rounds from their Talons would do much. Still, Beatrix and the rest of her Flight fired intermittently, hunting for any weakness to exploit.
    Finally, one of the Hounds went down in blazing, silent glory, felled by a hellacious bout of Harbinger's shell fire. There were even more Raptors concealed behind its bulk. They spread to hide behind the remaining three Hounds as they plowed through the exploding artillery, their Raptor shields disintegrating around them. Beatrix linked up with Torch, Pickle and a few others to take on the Hound that