Free Stone Soldiers 4: Shades of War by C. E. Martin Page A

shifting back to his human vision. The fog was thinner up close, and as he landed from his short flight he could see that the man was all in black- a soldier. Where his oversized goggles didn't conceal his face, Clint could make out gray and black camouflage streaks of face paint.
    The soldier seemed surprised at Clint's arrival. He shifted his aim and fired three quick pulses. Each caught Clint in the chest. They burned slightly- possibly strong enough to burn paper. But they did him no real harm.
    Clint swept forward at maximum speed and struck. His fist slammed into the soldier's jaw in a vicious, high-speed roundhouse. There was a satisfying crunch of bones breaking. Then Clint felt the pain.
    He had just broken every bone in his hand. It was a pulped mess at the end of his arm. He looked up at the soldier before him, bewildered. Then a boot struck him in the face.
    The kick was so strong, Clint was sure it had broken his neck. He was flung backwards and landed on his back, sliding in the wet grass for several body lengths.
    Clint leapt back to his feet, his hand and neck instantly healed. He squinted his eyes, staring at the soldier who was now ignoring him, again firing purple laser blasts into the fog at nearby shades.
    The soldier's face wasn't painted black and gray. It was gray with streaks of black. The soldier was made of stone.
    Clint looked closer. A name tag over the soldier's right breast pocket identified him: HADES.
    Clint swept in again, this time pouring energy into both fists, willing them to be indestructible. He struck the stone soldier with all his might, in the stomach.
    Hades was knocked off his feet, his weapon flying from his hands. Clint caught the strange-looking rifle and examined it closely. It was heavy. Very heavy. Made from what appeared to be thick iron. Not steel, but pure iron. It had simple sights and a trigger, and an opening at the end of the barrel. Otherwise it was featureless- a smooth construct.
    Clint threw the laser to the side, where it vanished into the fog.
    The stone soldier was back on his feet now, and had drawn a pistol from a low hanging thigh holster. He fired it at Clint.
    The sudden, double report of the pistol reverberated across the battlefield, the first loud noise for many minutes.
    Clint ignored the two bullets that had flattened against his chest. He swept forward and batted the pistol away. The stone soldier, Hades, was strong, but he was no match for Clint.
    He wrapped his fingers around HADES' throat and began to squeeze. Then he hesitated. His arms were nearly on fire as energy poured out of the stone soldier and into him.
    ***
     
    Jimmy Kane didn't know who this newcomer to the fight was, but if he could fly, he wasn't taking any chances. When his laser had proven the newcomer was flesh and blood, Jimmy had resorted to hand-to-hand combat. For the past month, Captain Smith and Colonel Phillips had been teaching him a variety of unarmed techniques. He had become quite proficient.
    The newcomer was far stronger than he looked though, and had recovered from a kick Jimmy knew could split steel. He had then switched to his sidearm, a .44 magnum Desert Eagle. It had proven ineffective.
    Not only was the newcomer strong, he was fast. He had knocked Jimmy's pistol away as effortlessly as he had the iron pulse laser rifle. Then he'd closed the distance and grappled with Jimmy.
    At first, Jimmy had almost laughed. The newcomer was trying to strangle him. Then he'd recoiled in horror as he began to feel the pressure being applied to his stone throat. That wasn't possible.
    Jimmy reflexively clawed at the hands around his neck. He watched in disbelief as his fingertips lost their gray color and began to turn back to flesh. The pressure on his neck wasn't choking him now, but he couldn't break the grip. He began to feel heavy. And cold.
    The sensation now sweeping Jimmy's body was oddly reminiscent of when he had been petrified- only in reverse. Instead of the Fountain's