He’d automatically blanked the surrounding fire but all four of the defense points in their direction were down. The same could not be said of the far end of the corridor, however, where his section was getting hammered.

“I said boot don’t piss on them,” the General muttered on the local net. “Raw… ”

“On it, sir,” Sergeant Rawls said as an HVM ripped Kermit apart.

“And what do we have here… ?”

Mike looked down the right-hand corridor, depending on Sergeant Rawls to get Julio’s former section in gear on clearing their side. The corridor curved, again, which meant there were probably more defense points down it. However, it was also going to have access to both the surface and the deeper areas where the Posleen commanders, and their forges, must reside.

Intel had shown no Posleen moving on the surface since the redoubt was invested. So everything had to move around underground. The problem was, there were a billion ways to defend a position like this. God-Kings in sealed bunkers barely scratched the surface.

However, they were inside. They’d keep digging until all the rats were gone.

CHAPTER TWO

See the door that lies before you And know this too shall pass The confrontation of your tears In strength drawn from the past

Ceel Banash looked at the encoded message and then took a deep breath, calling upon a calming mantra to keep from becoming too angry or excited.

Banash was a Darhel, the most politically powerful race in the Galactic Federation.