As Avery rolled to his feet and pulled a fresh M7 magazine from his vest, he saw another of the gray-skinned aliens striding toward his position. This one looked different than the others. Beneath its
harness it wore an orange tunic, emblazoned with a yellow, circular symbol. The plasma pistol clenched in its knobby hands glowed with an overcharged bolt. Avery looked the thing square in the fa-
ce, knowing it had him dead-to-rights. But the alien seemed to be looking past him. And when it loosed its bolt, the wavering ball of green plasma sizzled wide of Avery's head.

Avery whipped around to follow the shot and saw it strike the gold-armored alien in the chest. Instantly, its energy shields collapsed with a loud snap. Some of its armor broke away in a burst of

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Now the shorter escort had its bladed pistol out. As the creature took aim at Avery, he hugged Jilan tight—shielded her smaller bo- dy with his own. He had a moment to second-guess Ponder's pronouncement that they had trained the recruits well that they were ready for the split-second, life-or-death decisions combat demanded—when he heard the high-pitched triple-crack of Jenkins' BR55.

The shorter escort howled in surprise as a burst pinged off its helmet, snapping its large head back. Then all Avery could hear was the snap of bullets overhead as the twenty-four bravo recruits opened fire, full automatic. Peppered with multiple shots, the shorter escort took a shaky step backward. It jerked left and right as if fighting off an invisible swarm of bees.

Then its energy shields collapsed with a flash and a loud pop, and its armor began venting cyan smoke and sparks as dozens more MA5 rounds slammed into its unprotected plates. Now it was the aliens' turn to protect their own. The leader lunged toward its shorter escort, turning its back toward the greenhouse.

Avery punched the Warthog's horn. He didn't let up until the commanding honk cut through the groan of the dropship's anti-grav units. When the alien rose to face the sound, Byrne let him have it.

Blue sparks burst from the alien's energy shields as the LAAG'S twelve-point-seven millimeter rounds drove home. The creature staggered backward, and, for a moment, Avery thought Byrne's sustained fire would cut it down. But just as its knees looked set to buckle, the alien rolled sideways behind the sedan.-Chpt.17

The alien Avery decided was the leader-the one with golden armor and helmet with a V-shaped crest that swept back from its head like two jagged saw-blades—carried an additional item: a long-handled hammer with a stone head that must have weighed at
least as much as Byrne.-Chpt.15

Avery didn't have time to adjust his aim before one of the trailing aliens slammed into him, slashing with some sort of crystal knife fe. He parried the knife with the barrel of his rifle as their helmets
cracked together.

Avery had pinned the creature's knife against one of the beams. The weapon was energized-gleamed with internal pink fire. He was certain it would make short work of his vacuum-suit, not to
mention the flesh beneath.

Don't any of you do it! Byrne cursed. But before his recruits could lay down their weapons and disappoint, a sudden chorus of approaching engines echoed off the tower. In his current state, Byrne had difficulty comprehending the sheer numbers of his rescuers: the ten gargantuan combines backed
by phalanxes of gondolas that came rolling over the eastern ridge, the squadrons of dusters that darkened the western sky. But the sight of the approaching JOTUN army stunned the blue-armored
alien, and it pulled its weapon from Byrne's neck. When it did, all the recruits on the tower opened fire.

The massive brute fell backward, gouting dark red blood, leaving Byrne to topple forward. By the time the Staff Sergeant rolled over on his back, the militiamen had shot one of the other armored

"Staff Sergeant!" Andersen yelled, firing from a barrel past Jilan's. "Hammer!" Avery snapped focus back to the alien's barricade. Both sets of
barrels had shifted when the Tiara bucked. Some of the foam-filled canisters had tipped and rolled down the walkway, confounding the gold-armored alien's first charge. A steady stream of fire from
the recruits had kept it pinned near the control center. But now it was coming—hammer in both paws, low across its waist—flanked by four of the gray-skinned aliens, each wielding an explosive
shard.

"Get down!” Avery yelled to Thune, as the shorter escort tossed the leader its hammer.

Then he tackled Jilan, driving her roughly to the ground. In an instant, the silver-haired giant had the cudgel above its head, ready for a cross-body strike. Thune would have gotten his head knocked clean off his shoulders if Captain Ponder hadn't
pushed him out of the way and taken the blow himself. The hammer hit the Captain in his prosthetic left arm and sent him twisting through the air. He landed north of Byrne and slid a good twenty meters on the dew-slick grass.-Chpt.15