Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) by Raymond L. Weil Page A

be on the lookout for the weapons on the perimeter. As
soon as they pop up, their sensors detect them and they’re using their RG
rifles to take them out.”
    “Most of
them,” Dylan replied as he watched two more of the popups being destroyed. “The
question is, how many soldiers will Nelson have left when he gets to the top?
He’ll also need an energy weapon or some explosive rounds to take out the
stunners protecting the deactivation button.”
    “Are you going
to let him win?” asked Mark, feeling curious.
    “I don’t think
I can stop him,” Dylan replied with a long sigh. “In all the scenarios we’ve run
on Charring, no one has used energy weapons quite the way Lieutenant Nelson is.
There’s always been a propensity to use explosive rounds when advancing up the
mountain.”
    “They provide
the biggest bang for the buck and can clear a wide area,” commented Mark,
recalling his own attempts at Charring. Well did he recall just how painful the
stunners felt; he grimaced and frowned at the recollection.
    “What the new
battlesuit recruits don’t realize is that after each attempt we reduce the
number of weapons slightly to gradually allow them to get higher up the mountain
until on the fifth or sixth try they have a reasonable chance to make it,”
spoke Dylan as he watched another of Nelson’s soldiers fall from a stun beam.
The stunner was quickly taken out by an RG explosive round. “Lieutenant Nelson
isn’t quite playing by the rules.”
    “They volunteered
for the new program,” Mark said. “They’re supposed to the toughest and the
brightest. Also, in this war there are no rules.”
    “Think you can
handle them?” asked Dylan, turning his head to look at Mark. “It’s your
program.”
    “The new Type
Four battlesuits are ready to go; we just need the men and women to operate
them.”
    Dylan nodded.
The Type Fours were supposed to be far more deadly than the previous models.
Earth’s military scientists along with the Kiveans had spent several long years
perfecting the suits to where they were now ready to be deployed. They would be
needed in the war against the Kleese, particularly now that the Zaltule were a part
of the mix. Dylan shifted his gaze back to the viewscreens. He was curious to
see how this turned out.
    -
    Ryan groaned
silently to himself as he saw Private Adams go down with an echoing cry of
anguish over the suit’s com. Lauren had been hit by an RG cannon, which had
popped up on the right flank and opened fire on her before Private Parker could
sight in his RG rifle and take it out with explosive rounds. Corporal Hunter
made short work of the offending weapon as she blew it apart with an explosive
round. On his HUD, he saw Lauren’s green icon flash over to red. He gestured
for the others to come to a halt as he checked to see who remained with him. He
still had Private Parker, Corporal Hunter, Private Rios, and himself surviving.
All were uninjured and the summit was less than one hundred meters above them.
    “Weapons
check!” Ryan called out.
    He had a full
magazine of RG rounds, but they were nearly useless against the popups. It was
necessary to hit them dozens of time to inflict any appreciable damage and by
then they would be returning fire, which was nearly impossible to avoid. He had
six explosive rounds left.
    “I’m out,”
Private Rios reported as he checked the readouts on his RG rifle.
    “Four rounds
left,” Corporal Hunter responded.
    “Ten percent
charge on my energy cannon,” Private Parker added. He had stepped forward and
picked up Lauren’s energy cannon as his RG rifle was empty of explosive rounds.
    “Damn, I’m not
sure that’s enough,” Ryan spoke as he considered their options. He looked at
the steep slope ahead wondering just how many more popups there were. The
ground was rocky with a few large boulders scattered about, some short bushes,
and only a few trees. They would be highly visible the rest of the way.
    “Let me go
first,”