Decisively Engaged (Warp Marine Corps Book 1) Read Online Free Page A
Author: C.J. Carella
Lamprey grav tank clipped him from behind.
There was one more thing standing between him and certain death: the limp form of Captain Chastain slung on his back. The unconscious officer he’d been carrying to safety burned under the megawatt glare of the Lamprey weapon. Sublimated armor, flesh and bone erupted in an explosion that smashed Fromm to the ground.
His mouth was full of blood. He couldn’t breathe.
I’m dying , was his last thought before the universe vanished.
* * *
Captain Peter Fromm, United Stars Warp Marine Corps, woke up with a start, memories of blood and breath still vivid in his mind.
He was safe. Astarte-Three was hundreds of parsecs away. The ‘police action’ that had decimated his company and led to the death of its commander was over, and peace reigned in the galaxy. He was safe.
“We’re putting you in a quiet spot out in the galactic boondocks until we figure out what to do with you.”
Colonel Macwhirter’s words echoed in Fromm’s mind as he watched the spectacle below the descending shuttle.
Uncontrolled fires ringed Kirosha’s capital city. Some quiet spot.
Unrest and warfare were common features in primmie planets even before making contact with a Starfaring civilization, and things usually got even more lively afterwards. The technological and sociological shocks of First Contact always brought about unintended consequences.
Earth’s own First Contact had been particularly harsh. Over sixty percent of the planet’s population had died within hours of discovering humanity was not alone in the universe. The survivors had adapted, even thrived in the aftermath, but it’d been a rough few decades. Fromm’s great-grandfather had shared lots of stories with him before passing on, shortly after his hundred and seventy-sixth birthday. Super-Gramp’s depictions of First Contact had made a much greater impression than any history lesson: the blooming fire-domes that marked the deaths of most cities on the planet; the struggle to survive amidst privation and unrest; nights spent shivering in the dark. Given that, Fromm wasn’t terribly sympathetic to the current socio-economic woes of Jasper-Five’s natives.
A closer look revealed the fires were outside the capital city proper. Fromm’s imp – the implanted cybernetic systems linked directly to his nervous system – laid a map schematic over the visual feed from the shuttle as it orbited the only spaceship-rated landing facility on the planet, waiting for clearance. The spaceport wasn’t exactly bustling with traffic, but its facilities could handle only one landing at a time. A Wyrm Cargo Globe had arrived shortly before the human freighter that had brought Fromm to his new posting, which meant a wait of half an hour if not longer until the alien vessel was unloaded and the landing pad cleared. Fromm could imagine the grumbling in the shuttle’s cockpit about spent fuel and wasted man-hours. Civvie freighter crews owned shares in their ships: all expenses literally came out of their pockets.
The delay gave him time to study his briefing packet and compare it to the reality he’d soon experience first hand.
Jasper-Five was almost identical to Earth, with a mostly-compatible Class Two biosphere and a dominant tool-using species. A pretty accomplished species, as a matter of fact. It had developed technologies roughly comparable to Earth’s first century before First Contact, or the twentieth century in the old calendar. Most sophonts in the galaxy never advanced beyond the Iron Age (the vast majority stayed at Paleolithic levels, as a matter of fact) before a Starfarer species showed up and uplifted, enslaved or exterminated them. Earth and Jasper-Five were exceptions to the rule.
The planet had been discovered some twenty years ago by an American survey ship, and First Contact had been established shortly after. The United Stars had placed the system and its inhabited fifth planet under its protection and
There was one more thing standing between him and certain death: the limp form of Captain Chastain slung on his back. The unconscious officer he’d been carrying to safety burned under the megawatt glare of the Lamprey weapon. Sublimated armor, flesh and bone erupted in an explosion that smashed Fromm to the ground.
His mouth was full of blood. He couldn’t breathe.
I’m dying , was his last thought before the universe vanished.
* * *
Captain Peter Fromm, United Stars Warp Marine Corps, woke up with a start, memories of blood and breath still vivid in his mind.
He was safe. Astarte-Three was hundreds of parsecs away. The ‘police action’ that had decimated his company and led to the death of its commander was over, and peace reigned in the galaxy. He was safe.
“We’re putting you in a quiet spot out in the galactic boondocks until we figure out what to do with you.”
Colonel Macwhirter’s words echoed in Fromm’s mind as he watched the spectacle below the descending shuttle.
Uncontrolled fires ringed Kirosha’s capital city. Some quiet spot.
Unrest and warfare were common features in primmie planets even before making contact with a Starfaring civilization, and things usually got even more lively afterwards. The technological and sociological shocks of First Contact always brought about unintended consequences.
Earth’s own First Contact had been particularly harsh. Over sixty percent of the planet’s population had died within hours of discovering humanity was not alone in the universe. The survivors had adapted, even thrived in the aftermath, but it’d been a rough few decades. Fromm’s great-grandfather had shared lots of stories with him before passing on, shortly after his hundred and seventy-sixth birthday. Super-Gramp’s depictions of First Contact had made a much greater impression than any history lesson: the blooming fire-domes that marked the deaths of most cities on the planet; the struggle to survive amidst privation and unrest; nights spent shivering in the dark. Given that, Fromm wasn’t terribly sympathetic to the current socio-economic woes of Jasper-Five’s natives.
A closer look revealed the fires were outside the capital city proper. Fromm’s imp – the implanted cybernetic systems linked directly to his nervous system – laid a map schematic over the visual feed from the shuttle as it orbited the only spaceship-rated landing facility on the planet, waiting for clearance. The spaceport wasn’t exactly bustling with traffic, but its facilities could handle only one landing at a time. A Wyrm Cargo Globe had arrived shortly before the human freighter that had brought Fromm to his new posting, which meant a wait of half an hour if not longer until the alien vessel was unloaded and the landing pad cleared. Fromm could imagine the grumbling in the shuttle’s cockpit about spent fuel and wasted man-hours. Civvie freighter crews owned shares in their ships: all expenses literally came out of their pockets.
The delay gave him time to study his briefing packet and compare it to the reality he’d soon experience first hand.
Jasper-Five was almost identical to Earth, with a mostly-compatible Class Two biosphere and a dominant tool-using species. A pretty accomplished species, as a matter of fact. It had developed technologies roughly comparable to Earth’s first century before First Contact, or the twentieth century in the old calendar. Most sophonts in the galaxy never advanced beyond the Iron Age (the vast majority stayed at Paleolithic levels, as a matter of fact) before a Starfarer species showed up and uplifted, enslaved or exterminated them. Earth and Jasper-Five were exceptions to the rule.
The planet had been discovered some twenty years ago by an American survey ship, and First Contact had been established shortly after. The United Stars had placed the system and its inhabited fifth planet under its protection and
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