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Death To The Insectoids – Insectoids 03

Steve Gordon

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Chapter 1: Gladiator Games

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Humanity had let down its guard, and paid a terrible price.

After decades of war a conflict-weary population was eager for

peace. So when the Insectoids offered an armistice, the civilian

leadership of theAlliancejumped at the chance to reach a final end to

the bloody war.

The rest was history. The Insectoids ambushed the fleet at

Vitalics, killing thousands of sailors and destroying the bulk of the

fleet. After that here was nothing to stop them, nothing left to

protectAllianceworlds, both League and Directorate planets. They

landed onAllianceplanets at will, killing those who resisted and

enslaving the rest.

The destruction of the fleet at Vitalics was almost total--but

not all the fleet was actually there. A small force under the command

of the legendary War Admiral Norman North escaped an ambush and rallied

the surviving forces. "Escape from the Insectoids" describes their

flight from known space as they desperately searched for new technology

they could use to take back their worlds. But the Insectoids weren't

content to leave them to their search and made many attempts to destroy

them. Finally after nearly twenty years of being chased, when the War

Admiral's fleet was about to be destroyed, they were saved by a

mysterious allied force, which was led by an old friend long thought to

be dead.

During these nearly 20 years there was scattered resistance to

the Insectoids on the worlds they occupied. Small bands of resistance

fighters took the battle to the Insectoids, but at first their numbers

were few and they were relentlessly hunted down. One of the most

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famous resistance leaders, former agency operative Clifford Croft, led

one of the most successful teams to hamper to occupation force. But

now the Insectoids struck back hard, killing some of his friends, and

capturing others.

Date: One Year, 11 Months, and One Day after the Invasion

And now they were after Croft himself. The enemy had located his

secret base and a heavily armed platoon of Insectoid troopers had

surrounded it, awaiting only the order to attack.

The Insectoid officer surveyed the scene. Its troops were in

position. It had more than enough firepower to assault the hideout.

The humans had cleverly emptied out a power generator and hidden their

base inside the outer shell. The officer clicked its mandibles. The

successful completion of this operation would give its career a strong

boost.

The officer had orders to take the Croft pest dead or alive. But

the officer was taking no chances. Its troops had orders to shoot to

disintegrate. If all went well the officer might even be permitted to

reproduce.

"Attack," said the officer in a neutral clicking voice.

The troopers moved in. They simultaneously closed in from all

directions. They saw a crack in the wall that looked like a hidden

door. The Insectoids bunched around the entrance, their weapons at the

ready. The trooper in the lead pushed the door open and-

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A fireball blasted its way out of the generator and engulfed the

troopers. The Insectoid officer, at the edge of the explosion, was

thrown off its feet. As it painfully struggled to get up, the sight of

the burned body parts, splattered globs of green blood, and the screams

of the dying troopers occupied its senses. There would be no chance of

reproducing now. The officer would be lucky if it wasn't summarily

dismembered.

A video monitor in a room half a mile in another direction

clearly showed the fiery remains on the factory floor. The monitor also

showed the faint reflection of the face intently watching the burned

Insectoid body parts scattered across the factory floor. A face that

was very much wanted.

Clifford Croft watched the scene with a measure of satisfaction.

He wouldn't be that easy to catch; and if they ever did catch him, they

would pay a higher price than that.

Croft reflected on the situation. Most of his allies had been

caught or killed. General Markov. Markov's men. The Silencer.Preston.

He continued to watch the scene, burning the image into his mind.

The only thing he felt was anger. He had knownPrestonfor decades. The

Silencer had saved his life countless times.

Croft suddenly heard a clap behind him, then another, then

another. Without turning, he said, "Thanks for the applause."

The Clapper continued to clap. He had some sort of mental

illness that caused him to clap when he was nervous, or bored, or

agitated, or whatever. The Silencer had managed to curb the Clapper's

urge to clap by sheer force of intimidation, but now-

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Croft suddenly turned around, a look of annoyance in his eyes.

The Clapper froze, in midclap. He was a powerful telekinetic, but was

too timid to use his powers against allies. The same, however, could

not be said of his companions.

"Where's Red?" said Croft, looking around. The only one in the

small room besides them was Sashay, who was keeping an eye on the door.

"She went out," said Sashay. "She thought she heard something in

the corridor."

"When was this?" said Croft. He elbowed Sashay away from the

door.

"A few minutes ago," said Sashay.

And she wasn't back yet? Croft bit his lip as he looked down the

gloomy corridor. Despite his bravado, he realized they were being

chased and hunted down by an enemy who outnumbered and outgunned them

in every department. The shock of the loss of his friends was still

sinking in. And all he had left was the Clapper and Sashay, also known

as the Paperweight.

He couldn't just abandon Red Sally. "Stay here," said Croft. "If

I don't return in ten minutes, you're on your own."

Sashay grew wide-eyed, and the Clapper's hands fluttered

nervously. Croft didn't stay to look for any further reactions before

heading out the door, his blaster drawn.

If he ran into an Insectoid patrol he could take out two, maybe

three of them before they got him. If only he had the Silencer with

him! But the Silencer was dead. Or was he? Croft had seen him shot, but

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Steve Gordon - Insectoids 03 - Death To The Insectoids.pdf

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