Time War: Invasion Read Online Free Page B

they could already make out hundreds of staff at work on something. At the centre of the facility was a structure that looked like a round pool, but had neon blue light emitting from it.
    "What the fuck is that?"
    "As I said," replied Beyett, pointing down to plans on a screen. It meant nothing to Corwin. It was like trying to understand a foreign language he had never even seen before. Beyett was flicking through files filled with schematics and complex equations.
    "You think this will work now?" Corwin asked.
    "I can't say for sure. I never thought I'd see the day. But if there’s even a remote chance, wouldn't you take it if you were Villiers?"
    "Chance to do it all over again? Hell, yes...How can we stop this?"
    "From what I can see, everything is in there. Someone has to get up there and stop this manually."
    "Someone? You mean you?"
    Beyett nodded.
    Corwin was surveying the vast scene for all potential paths in. He was shaking his head in disbelief.
    "What is it?"
    "Ever felt like you were just all out of time?"
    Beyett shrugged. Corwin stepped back out of the room and found Vi, Frasi, and Chas had returned.
    "We've shut down all exits. No one is getting out."
    "That ain't our problem, anymore," replied Corwin, "No time to explain. All you need to know is Villiers has built himself a time machine, and our window to stop him from using it could close any minute."
    "What the fuck? You're joking?"
    "Fuck no, I wish I was. No time to plan this. Teams stay as before, except for Harland, you go with Beyett and go left. Vi, you're taking the right side. Rest of us, we're going down the middle. At all costs someone has to make it to that machine and stop it. Beyett can do it, anyone else, just hit it with everything you've got."
    "That's the plan? That's it?" Nylund asked in amazement.
    Corwin nodded and turned back to the control room where they had just been. He pulled out a charge, placed it in the centre of the window, and stepped back to the door.
    "Ready?" he asked them all.
    But he didn't wait for a response. He tapped the trigger button on his pad, and the charge ignited with a short and sharp blast. Inside a half-metre hole had been blown through the thick armoured glass. Cracks stretched out from the breach. He lifted his rifle and fired a burst all around the hole, and then just ran and jumped for the opening. He smashed through the glass with no finesse at all, but with great speed and power. He made several metres but then crashed down onto a panicked soldier, crushing him flat. The man struggled to get to his rifle, but it was jammed between the two of them. Corwin put a hand around the man's chin and snapped his neck. He was back on his feet in seconds and rushing onwards.
    "Keep moving!" he screamed.
    They were rushing through banks of five-metre high tanks resembling capacitors of some sort or another. Two soldiers stepped out ahead of them in a futile attempt to slow their advance, but it was useless. They got off just a few pointless shots before being riddled with bullets from Corwin and Porter. As the bodies fell, Corwin dropped his magazine and slammed in a new one without even breaking stride.
    As the main team smashed their way down the centre of the vast facility, the more nimble an agile Vi, Frasi, and Chas leapt across the tops of industrial like structures of the right flank. They seemed to move effortlessly from one to another, and able to leap several metres as if they were doing little more than walking. They barely fired a shot as they made rapid progress, only engaging those directly in their way.
    On the left flank, Nylund fought to keep at the head of their assault and seize the glory for himself; Harland was close behind. They took a corner to find three unarmed enemy staff members wearing lab coats. Nylund hesitated; his obsession with chivalrous intentions would not let him pull the trigger. But Harland had no such reservations and opened up on fully automatic, gunning them down in seconds.