The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

A New Journey

Lash stood and again went to the window.

"Nighthawk One, Lash. I'm hearing weapons fire. Sitrep."

"Lash, Nighthawk One. Incoming rockets were detected. Gatling fire initiated to terminate inbound tracks before target lock was achieved," was the quick answer.

"Acknowledged. Maintain ACU. Lash out." As he pushed away from the window, he could see the armored metal and ceramic fuselage pushed in in a handwide furrow where the M134s were trying to cut the plane in half. He then looked over the breeders, who were huddling on the deck, many of them whimpering in fear.

"Everybody okay? Anybody with holes they weren't born with?"

"We're good, Lash!" Ellie said from somewhere in the uneasily group of breeders.

"Good." Then louder: "Pilot! Get us moving!"

Slowly standing back up from the crouch she had fallen into when the second helicopter was dropped out of the sky, Absinthe exchanged a quick look with Morel, and Fordricht, who had joined them just as the first Puma was blasted apart to signal all the breeders were safe. Then she was looking at the Nighthawk slowly weaving back and forth, its gatling guns silent for the moment.

"Dark Father's fuzzy beard, I didn't know we had those!" Then Fordricht was giving her a push in the shoulder.

"Focus," the North African growled. "The enemy has somehow found us. We need this plane cleared out of here so we can get number three in here and offloaded preferably before we come under fire again!"

With the Ventru refocused, they got the plane turned around in short order and pushed back out of the hangar bay. Then, as plane three moved to the side to give them room, they roared down the airstrip and jumped into the air at the end with a rocket assist to quickly climb out of sight. However, the third plane already moving forward didn't give them the opportunity to admire the second plane getting away

Props rumbling, the scarred transport slid into the hangar to put its ramp under shadow. But before the Ventru could move forward to get the ramp down and the breeders offload, the space was filled with heavily armed, black uniformed and helmeted vampiresses in tactical gear. One of them with what appeared to be a flash of silver on her collar, used tight gestures to send the rest out into the sunlight to set up a perimeter. Then the ones closest to the ramp were standing to the side to let the ramp drop.

Lash frowned as he spotted the black uniforms in a perimeter out in the sunlight. Legionnaires? Here? Then he pushed that out of his mind to look back at Ellie, giving her a nod. The former Ventru little sister returned the nod then turned to her fellow breeders.

"Come, my sisters," she called out. "Time to leave this plane behind!"

With a smooth surge, the breeders moved down the ramp, took a hard left and headed straight for the recessed staircase leading into the building. As they did that, Lash squeezed out the side with his duffel bag, teeth grit in effort to move quickly and smoothly with only half of his blood supply.

"You're looking a little shaky there, fella," one of the legionnaires turned to remark in a familiar voice. "You need a hand with that big, bad duffel bag?"

Lash couldn't help his snort.

"Captain Naryan Kingsguard," he said with a half smile. "A long way from NachtFeuer, aren't we?"

Naryan laughed lightly.

"Yeah, just a bit. Colonel Kassidy said something about a part two of a shared mission? I'm pretty sure you know what she's talking about."