Blood War 1: Last Stand of the Legion: Rift Read Online Free Page B

appeared to be maintenance domes with various types of equipment stored outside. As they flew down a long canyon the main settlement emerged from the haze of the atmosphere.
    Something was wrong, there were no lights visible. As Dasan flew closer he could see that the dome had been cracked open like an egg.  What he saw next made Dasan forget his fatigue; the ground around the dome was covered with bodies, hundreds, if not thousands of them. Bodies was a nice word for the remains of those poor humans. Very few were intact, most had been torn apart by the force of the weapons used on them. Some were in exit suits as if they had tried to run away but they had been chased down and killed. Nothing was left. There were no signs of life anywhere.
    "Scan for the still living ," Aijuba said.
    Strunk pulled up to gain enough altitude so he could begin to scan not just this canyon but the planet as a whole. He launched drones to search the entire planet. Everyone was quiet as they waited for the scan's results. 
                  "They are all dead," Strunk said.
                  "What!" Dasan said.
    "The scan shows no living humans on the surface of the planet, just their remains.  Not a living thing," Strunk said.
    "Redo the scans. There must be some mistake," Dasan said.
    This wasn't happening. Not now. The scans had to be wrong, the must have missed some survivors. There had be survivors there were close to ten thousand workers and their families down there. They must have evacuated.
    "Lieutenant , all I get is human remains.  Lots and lots of dead bodies.  But nothing living," Strunk said.
    "Run a check of the remains against the data for personal ID's," Sergeant Aijuba said.
    "What are you after Sergeant?" Lieutenant Sand said.
    "Wait one. I hope I am wrong," she said.
    "You’re right Sergeant. We’re missing some bodies. About two hundred."
    "Compare the ages," Aijuba said. There was real sadness in the voice.
    "It's the children.  There are no children down there.  They have taken them."
    "Shit. I was afraid of that," Aijuba said. Her voice had sadness in it that Dasan had never heard before.
    Dasan had been so very close to being out of the Legion and now this.  The colony was a smoking ruin.  Everything had been destroyed.  His sensors showed the same, bodies and body parts everywhere. It was now time for him to decide what to do, to command men and women in what could become a battle. He was not prepared for this - not now. He was almost a civilian again. For the first time Dasan felt the real weight of command. It was now his decision and his decision alone, what would happen next. He could simply report their findings and order the patrol return to the Lyre or he could pursue the attackers. Find who had done this and extract payment. He had no idea what he was going to do, and then the names of the children began to scroll past on his situation display.
    "Elki Hideyoshi, male, age 6
    Uschi Oul, female, age 13
    Lokni Kyoto, female, age 9
    Dyami Von Woktke, male, age 5
    Ntuku User, male, age 10."
    They had taken the children, the mysterious, violent 'they', the only other sentinel race, which had met all attempts at communication with violence. The "they" that would lash out with lightning attacks, like Ixco, and now here, then disappear.  There had not been a raid for ten years. Now this attack, with no warning or understandable reason. What am I going to do? Dasan thought.  Not now. Not this. I can't. Dasan turned the scrolling screen off.  The names were putting faces on the missing children, and it was too much to deal with.
    "Scouts out, I want to know which way they went," Aijuba barked. "If that is OK, Lieutenant?"
    Dasan hesitated.  "Of course  Sergeant."
    The scouts left at near light speed, their sensors on full power, sniffing for a trail , a disturbance in the dark matter, something, anything that might give them a direction to