Been Working Overtime. Here's A Snippet

I've been knocking out some serious hours at the real job, and writing.  Sleep is overrated.

Here's a snippet of Jessica, working with a team of Nines, to help save a friend...

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    The four Nines ahead of them stormed the open room. The lead Nine turned to face the large shadow, just out of sight, and became an instant smear of blood and meat. The second Nine had just enough time to fire a burst of fire from his heavy support weapon, then he, too, was cut to pieces by the whine and roar of the rotary cannon.

    Whatever the shadow was, it was big, and it was packing some serious heat. The two surviving Nines from the entry team dove into the rows of boxes and storage drums, trying to hammer rounds into the unseen beast. Heavy footsteps fell, and hundreds of rounds ripped into the pallets and containers sheltering them.

    Dodger turned to her, pulled a satchel charge about the size of a load of bread off his thigh armor, and pointed through the wall.

   “Suppress. Selfsame activate demo charge. Stand by,” the Nine said.

    “Suppress? Suppress what? I don't have a shot on that thing, whatever it is!”

    “Suppress. Through cover. Engage. Priority Utmost.”

    The Nine pressed a switch, and an orange light started blinking in rapid sequence on the demolition charge. She turned, bladed at an angle of 45 degrees, and dumped the contents of her carbine's ammo drum through the wall. The solid thud-thud-thud of the 20mm weapon echoed through the building.

    The fire shifted from the pinned-down Nines in the cargo racks back to her and Dodger. A stream of bullets chewed off the corner of the wall ahead of them, and a trail of punctures tore back towards her through the side of the passageway.

    Dodger dove under the exploding wall's fragments, entering the open kill zone. Jessica fell back on her butt, rolling and kicking to escape the oncoming stream of fire. The satchel charge flew from Dodger's hand, and he rolled into the shattered containers to join his surviving team mates.

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Best,

JBR