╔══════════════════════════════╗
║ SO BE IT ║
║ Computer novel based on the game ║
║ LASER SQUAD - part one ║
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─╨─ ─╨─
Chapter 2.
David got up from the floor and, slightly shaking,
Hesitantly, he again took a fighting stance. "What
“He’s angry today,” a thought flashed through his mind. B
J.C.'s eyes clearly read: "Sun-
again, and you won’t live..."
The battle had already been going on for almost half an hour. Powers
the rivals were almost equal, but David was
confident in heotbpatumoctu of his victory. Here
JC missed a hit to the shoulder, then De-
Vida managed to carry out the throw, but he himself
I immediately received a strong blow to the jaw.
Who knows how the fight would have ended,
but suddenly the corporal's wrist beeped
video pager. The signal meant a general gathering
personnel in the operations room through
three minutes.
- Thank you, JC. See you tomorrow!
The enemy bowed and the holographic
image of a man with the letters "J.S." on
chest dissolved inair...
...When Corporal Dzhonlan entered the premises
the operational room, everyone else is already
were there. Miss Harris with Bob
Strider, a Citadel technician, sat behind
remote control Dightson and the trio of fighters watched
according to the megavisor, a record of the announced land-
us an ultimatum.
- Never before has an inhabitant of our planet
died at the hands of an inhabitant of another world. This
an unheard of insult and you cmoete it
blood! - Rigellian, whose title can-
but to convey in earthly language as “minister
defense," and did not try to hide his contempt.
- But for now you have the power to change your fate
and avoid punishment. You will need to
bring us a man, buhobhoro in death
our ambassador; or present us with neo-
verifiable evidence that this
the man is dead. We give you 40 of your plans
non-tap hours. If ours is completely legal
your request will not be satisfied
the main luminary is the one you call
The sun will be turned into a black hole, and
and your civilization will disappear. FOREVER!
Dightson turned off the recording, and for some time
For a time, deathly silence reigned. First
Stone broke the silence.
“Tell me, sir,” he turned to the general.
lu - they can really do it
your threat?
-I'm afraid so, son. - In Dayt's voice -
I could hear sincere alarm in my sleep. “We don’t
we know too much about their technology, but
and what we know is enough to
assert: Rigellians can blow up
half of the Milky Way without blinking an eye.
- But we can’t sit back and
wait until Regnix surrenders voluntarily!-
exclaimed Miss Harris.
- We're not going to! - decisively stated -
Wil General. - Bob, tell them what
told me.
“Our only hope,” Bob began.
Strider, - capture Regnix and deliver
him to Rigel.
“Or kill,” Anderson inserted the word.
“Or kill,” agreed Strider, “but
I would still like to get him alive. B
In any case, we are faced with a problem
penetration beyond the force barrier of the headquarters
Regnix apartments. According to our information,
the force field has antimagnetic properties
or, more simply put, will not miss anything
metal. Unfortunately, this is because
It’s not just us who knows.
Metallix Corporation, which appears to
has his informants everywhere, seriously
I became interested in this problem. They
we intended to get the bandit on our own,
creating an aircraft entirely from
non-metals. Currently the flyer is pro-
testing is underway at one of the corporate bases
walkie-talkies.This is a hover complex 20 miles from
islands of Ceylon, at an altitude of six kilometers
ditch
- Is anything else known about this co-
plex? - asked David.
- Perhaps, only that almost half-
The defense of the complex is entirely entrusted to the aircraft.
tomatuky, there are only three sentries
on the landing site. - answered Stray-
village
- I suggest moving forward immediately.
What do you say? - Phil stood up decisively
Anderson.
“I don’t know, I don’t know...” he said thoughtfully.
carried Turner. “I would wait until sunset, when
As a rule, testing begins at this time.
development of protective mechanisms...
- No, guy, - the general’s voice is not allowed -
number of objections - we cannot pos-
allow yourself the luxury of waiting.
B raid leaves: Turner, Anderson, corporal
Dzhonlan. Stone will coordinate the activities
the group's communications from the Citadel communications center.
- But, sir! - Stone exclaimed. “If I
I'm staying here, who will pilot
flyer?
- With this, I think, it’s excellent.
Miss Harris appears, she has a need
dim qualification. If the operation is successful
walkie-talkie raid flyer can be towed
to use a gravitational beam with a captured
th ship... So, get ready to take off!-...Fifteen seconds before the start!
Linda Harris jumped into the seat of the saw
that flyer. She looked around the instrument panel
nel, then turned on the system last
pre-launch check. Satisfied
watched how at the bottom of the main
a row of green lights lined up the screen -
each of them meant that failures in the
there is no and is not expected to be a renal system.
- Five seconds before the start! Ignition!
The thousand-ton ship shook slightly
whole body. The fighters each took their place
then...
- Two seconds... One second... START!
As soon as this last one sounded
word, the flyer came off the surface
ground, in a split second I became dizzy-
residential height and headed north.
General Dytson stood still for a long time to take off.
on the new platform, following the ship with his gaze.
When he was completely out of sight,
Dightson approached the elevator located
at the hangar, and went down to the command compartment
Citadels...
- ...Linda, two hundred and fifty kilometers
to the goal. - Stone tried with one eye
look at the video communication screen, while others -
to flight monitoring sensors.
- Got you, Bill. Is there any
activity in the area of the complex?
- The answer is negative. No therenothing -
he answered.
- Hey, guy, don't be so sure, -
was heard from the speaker communication with cnythuko-
your center. Well, of course, this Strider
Don’t feed me bread, just let me teach. Bill
he didn’t say this, of course, but only pointed out
responded:
- So there is?
- I mean that in the Metal corporation-
Lix employs first-class specialists
by mackupobke. And the fact that you don’t see anything
just doesn't mean there is nothing.
- Damn you, Strider! I'll be back
Will I strangle you? - came from another di-
hamuka Anderson's voice.
- What is this for? - technique in intonation
bewilderment mixed with indignation.
- For what, for what! I scoffed, that's why!
Patrol craft is right on course!
And he was not mistaken: the hovercomplex is still
was visible as a stripe on the screen, but
a fatty point separated from the strip of hair, which
was rapidly approaching. When the distance
The approach speed reached twenty kilometers -
rov, external communication speakers came to life,
bopub in a nasty android voice:
- Attention to unknown device! you
you are in a restricted area! You are given
minute to leave this sector. B
otherwise Code of Military Kopnopa-
tion gives me the right to open fire at the right time
life!
- Why,ran away! - in the hearts of
Phil Anderson called and stopped short: too
he realized late that military androids
can hear any sound on huge
distances. And exactly what happened
he was afraid:
- I regard this as a refusal! - barked
Android and disconnected the connection. Patrolman
the craft turned sharply and began to leave
to the attack position. There was nothing left
except to take the fight.
- Anderson, Turner, to the disintegrators! -
ordered Dzhonlan. “Harris, try for-
get under his belly, lower planes
Such machines are very vulnerable!
Meanwhile, the craft has already begun shelling
from laser guns. But Harris skillfully maheb-
ripped, and the laser paths scattered,
before reaching the flyer. Seeing that there's nothing
it doesn’t work out, the craft pilot decided to change
tactics. Kraft hovered in the air, behind the cab
after the pilot, the doors opened, and
a plasma rocket came out of the wing.
- Watch out for this thing! - worried
the general shouted over the radio. “She has a car.”
tomatic guidance!
A light pop was heard, and a rocket
started.
- Maneuver, Harris! Let's! Now all
The only hope is to maneuver! - didn’t stop talking
Dightson's voice.
And at this time everyone noticed that with pat-
steeringsomething is wrong with the ship: it somehow
strangely fell on his side and began to lose
height. Linda jerked the helm and rushed
towards the patrol craft. The rocket is not
she rushed after her abruptly. Everyone held their breath -
nie...
It seemed that at such a breakneck speed
there will be no opportunity to turn aside,
but it happened! Rocket electronics
I wanted to copy this maneuver, however
the rocket still caught the craft, and at the same time
for a second a small light flashed in its place
The sun...
- Stanley! Stan, where the hell are you? -whether-
The chief of security's face was red with white
shenstva.
The toilet door opened, and while buttoning
trousers on the move, Stanley Matthews came out as
always, cold-blooded to the extent
when it starts to make you angry.
- Why are you working so hard, you old devil? What
happened? - Matthews took out a cigarette and
he slowly lit it, as if he hadn’t even thought about it.
tossing this fussy idiot who
ready to turn any trifle into an event
of utmost importance.
- He's still asking! Look there! -
the boss pointed his finger at the window. Looking at
When Stanley looked up, he saw a military flyer,
grounded near the main hangar.
- Oh, damn me! - Having cursed to my heart's content,
he picked up the assault rifle from the chairautomatic and
rushed to the exit. Running to the door, he
pulled it towards himself and...
...and, thrown back by a huge hand, he
fell to the floor, breaking fragile chairs.
Anderson wiped his palm of blood and angrily
with a prophetic look he headed towards the boss
Nickname of the guard. Needless to say, it's already
after a few seconds all access codes
were in the hangar in the hands of our guys?
The hangar was quite large, but kanpa-
Lu Dzhonlan could not have even imagined
that the flyer they came here for
occupies its entire volume. Upon entering,
Turner whistled:
- Wow! Our flyer and towing vehicle
you don't have to tear it up, we'll just stick it in
inside!
Having said this, he walked towards the cargo hatch.
flyer - obviously to make sure that
there's enough space there.
And suddenly one of the panels in the wall moved away
came... Before anyone could cpea-
rupobatb, a shot rang out...
Kevin opened his eyes and looked around. He's here
I recognized my cabin in the Citadel, but understood
I had no idea how I ended up here. Last-
what he remembered was the burning pain in
shoulder and magnesium flash automatic
disintegrator.
Turner threw back the sheet andexamined the se-
bya. Just above the heart there were traces
a through wound half an inch in diameter. wound
had almost healed, which meant that in
he spent hours in an unconscious state
ten, no less.
He sat up on the bed, then tried
get to your feet. My head began to ring, and so
no less he could stand on his feet.
Turner's cabin was next to the command
compartment; so, putting your ear to the wall,
he could easily hear what was happening there,
every word.
Dzhonlan: “The guy just suffered
serious injury, and about his participation in the operation
Walkie-talkies are out of the question!”
Dightson: "But we can't cancel the op-
walkie-talkie just because of this! Then he will receive-
I know that everyone took risks in vain!
Stone: “And then, the flyer is four-seater.
We will need to find a replacement for Tephepy."
Harris: "There's no need to think about it. Clear
I'm flying."
Anderson: "Girl, you might be cool.
pilot, but we’re not going for a walk!”
Harris: "You can rest assured that I
I’m just aware of this!..."
Turner didn't even listen further. He
was filled with anger: “Are they really
they think that such a trifle as this idiot-
the wound may prevent me from achieving
yours?"Of course, he understood that instead
only Linda Harris can fly it,
there is no one else; but his male pride
protested against such a replacement. It is necessary
was to act, and immediately!
He got dressed, took a bag with
weapons and walked out the door and headed towards
the elevator leading to the hangar. Fortunately, near
there was no one in the hangar. Opening the cargo
hatch, Kevin slipped inside and then-
was...
- We are approaching the power dome!
Emergency ejection system
put into action!
The stolen flyer was specially built
so that if the assumption about the nature
force field will be erroneous, it is possible to
children to eject in time.
Linda squeezed the steering wheel so that her fingers
turned white. A trickle of sweat rolled down the
cheek, but she didn't even pay attention,
continuing to look forward with concentration,
to the sphere located at the pass.
- One thousand five hundred meters... One thousand met-
ditch... Five hundred... - Stone dispassionately
read the distance sensor readings. -
Let's go in!
The bow of the ship touched the force field.
There was a slight rustling sound, but nothing scary -
it didn't happen.
- General Dightson, sir, we are landing! -
the speaker rustled in the voice of a corporalJonla-
on and fell silent: a force field of such power
blocked any radio transmissions.
The general sat down in a chair and for the first time in four
day I allowed myself to relax a little -
Xia. Suddenly his gaze fell on one of the
control monitors, and my heart sank
a painful foreboding. He pressed the button
selector.
- Bob!
- Yes, sir, I’m listening! - Strider is just
tinkered with satellite equipment ba-
PS, checking and rechecking something.
- What is the power of the flyer’s engines?
Metallix?
- 300 Gigawatt, on average.
- Run here immediately! Drop everything and
bullet here!
-...Well, what do you say? - Dightson asked
Strider technique, pointing at the monitor.
- Yes, that’s right, a trace from another is visible
flyer, with a capacity of a thousand gigawatts.
- Is it possible to find out in more detail what this is
was for the flyer? - hearing in the general's voice -
There was undisguised anxiety.
- Of course, I’ll display it on the screen now... Here
see: Ford Galactic type, time pro-
summer - an hour and a half ago, load... Oh no!
Sir, take a look for yourself!
- OH LORD! - the general exclaimed and collapsed -
zeroed into the chair.
- It's over... The guys don'twill be back...
We found out too late... TOO
IT'S LATE...
--- To be continued ---
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