Cross of the Legion by Marshall S. Thomas Page A

was still lightly raining.
    "Pits, Miss. I've got an O Type 4 air effects car that's changed course—hold it. It's discharging…discharging O troops, armor & arms, fields on—deto! Six of them, they're starbursting, looks like…heading your way."
    "It's a setup!" Valkyrie exclaimed.
    "Fast reaction," Dragon replied. "I see them. The car is leaving?"
    "It's gone. They learn quick. Six Omni troopers, advancing on your position."
    "Pits, Mams, don't worry. They'll have to get through us first!"
    "Survivors, are those O's friends of yours?"
    "Negative, negative, please pick us up—we're not going to make it!"
    "That's a twelve, survivors. Drop your weapons."
    "But the O's are almost on us!"
    "Drop your weapons or there'll be no evac for you!" We were not a trusting bunch. Chances were high the Legion troopers were in the power of the O's. I watched all three of them toss their E's away. I knew how that must hurt, especially with a squad of O's on the way.
    "Orders?" Ten asked from the Kiss .
    "Kiss, maintain your position. Miss, hunt down those O's and blast 'em! Mams, kill any surviving O's."
    "Tenners."
    "Ten."
    "Ten."
    "Psycho, Thinker, we disarm and cuff these Legion troopers. Now!" I moved out of the flames and advanced on the three targets. They were sprinting towards us, frantic to escape.
    "Be careful, Three!" Priestess cried out to me on private.
    "Far enough!" Dragon barked. "Hands on your heads! Freeze!" The grating shriek of chainlink canister interrupted, followed by a horrifying multiple crack. A blinding series of tacstars rose from beyond the school, four swirling phospho fireballs, spraying luminous shrapnel. Little Miss Miss was going after the O's.
    "Don't move!" I was on the Legion survivors, aiming my E at the closest one. Dragon and Psycho covered all three of them as I frisked them. They kept their hands up, speechless and seemingly exhausted. I ripped off grenade paks and ampaks, flinging them away, and roughly cuffed their arms behind their backs.
    "All right, move! On us!"
    I looked up, surprised, from the ground as dirt and shrapnel rained down on me. My ears were ringing. I was on my back and a blazing tacstar was rising above us. Deto!
    "Any casualties?" Dragon was amazingly calm. I struggled to my feet—all in one piece! The O tacstar had thrown us all to the ground. It was writhing in the air above us, a glittering fireball, spraying brilliant tracers that were still hissing down into the dirt. A series of blinding flashes burst off to one side, followed by a multiple bang and a shock wave buffeting our armor— Little Miss Miss was hard at work! Psycho raised his E and fired a burst of canister. Trigger let lose a barrage of tacstars, ripping the air open, the stars shrieking wildly on their way to the targets. The three Legion survivors were up and moving with us as we headed for the Kiss . I could hear Mams, blasting away at the O's.
    "That did it!"
    "Twelve, that's a twelve, do another pass, Miss!"
    "There's two of them in the trees…"
    "Claws, go after those…"
    "They're still moving!"
    "Canisters! Pour it on!"
    "Come on, Miss!" Something whistled eerily overhead, the air rustled, then the charred forest erupted again, bursting into flames.
    "Ah, damn…" One of the Legion survivors was down, collapsing face first into a little gully, lying there stunned, arms cuffed behind his back. I straddled the gully, covering him with my E.
    "Get up, trooper! Get up or we leave you! I'm not gonna carry you!" I reached down and got a grip on one arm and pulled. A sweaty, exhausted, emaciated, and obviously female face looked up at me from behind the faceplate—pale brown skin, slanted Assidic eyes, high cheekbones over hollow cheeks, a wide mouth. I froze, stunned. Deadman's death! My skin was suddenly crawling, and I knew the Angels of the Lord were right there, hovering over us. I could hear the beating of their glorious wings, shielding us, protecting us from all harm.
    "Tara!" It was all I