Hellsky (Hunter-Killer #3)

Chapter 43 - When We Don't Have Something to Hate

The call came barely a day after they'd returned home.

After the gruelling expedition south, Ryke had been praying to the Everflowing, and any Lords that might have been paying attention, that they would get some time to actually rest for a little while.

Fate, it seemed, had other ideas. One minute he'd been sleeping soundly, and the next, Stamm Basin's alarm went ripping through his skull, blaring from the big speakers that lined the barracks ceiling. The thick, high-pitched pulsing summoned every able-bodied soldier in Brekka, and it meant only one thing.

All hands to battle stations.

"Report!" Ryke barked as he thundered into the Hunter-Killer bay, still scrubbing sleep from his eyes as he went. Outside the suns of Rychter were only just starting to rise, dawn creeping orange-red fingers over the city walls. The whole hangar was a cacophony of noise.

"All systems check out green, sir!" blurted the unfortunate young woman who'd been assigned as his tech. Ivy and the other survivors were still being debriefed about their brutal experiences beneath the labyrinth, so he would have to make do with whoever happened to be here.

He gave her a curt nod as he clambered up the step-ladder and hurled himself into the Hunter-Killer's pilot cradle. The impact gel caught him as he landed, slotting his hands and feet into the controls with practised ease. Green indicators winked up on his HUD showing the other mechs powering up.

"HK-Rupture," he shouted as he started spinning up his own systems, "sound off!"

"Deadbolt, solid copy."

"Haze, I read you."

"Avalanche, solid copy."

"Haunter, in the clear."

"Medea, comm check good."

"Riptide, loud and clear."

"Two-Step, reading you."

"Bloody Lords, Ryke, what is goin' on?!" Preese exclaimed.

Ryke winked through the ammo indicators frantically. "Just get your mechs online, alright! I'll tell you when-,"

The message cut him off. It blazed through the Hunter-Killer's comms, overriding everything briefly. And then he heard the voice of Marshall Llewellyn. Heard the accusing words; words that every instinct in his body said were lies. He listened, growing more and more incredulous, until the transmission cut off.

"Did we all just hear the same thing?" Kim blurted after a moment.

"Pissing Rivers," Brigg growled. "Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not about to listen to a word that oily prick has to say."

"They've been trying to cook up an excuse to take control since they got here," Fenix agreed.

"Everflowing – they're not animals!" Medea shouted. "These people are human beings just like us! Maybe there's something we don't know."

Ryke let them all get it out of their system in a frenetic rush of ill-informed comms. He just checked his systems, and once he was satisfied and ready for combat, only then did he intervene.

"HK-Rupture!" he roared. "Shut up, that's an order!"

Instantly the comm fell silent. He gave it a second. Then he nodded to himself.

"Lockjaw – Forge-CC9B," Ryke continued, switching to their command channel. "HK-Rupture here. All mechs manned and powering up. Deployment ETA, two minutes. Now, does anybody up there want to tell us just what in the Everflowing is going on out there right now?!"