Free The Exiled Earthborn by Paul Tassi

the past few years, much of it at close range.
    The tail of the group caught up with the head, where Guardians were being ushered inside the ground entrance quickly by Maston while he radioed something back to Tannon. As Lucas and two more soldiers behind him made it through the entryway, Maston followed them and the large metal door snapped shut behind him. Inside, the three dead Fourth Order sentries were being stripped of their black armor, and a trio of Guardians were preparing to don the gear to replace them at their posts. One of them was already speaking into the radio collar of a dead guard in a language Lucas didn’t recognize.
    Maston was busy looking at a three-dimensional map of the complex. It was a maze of winding tunnels with no discernible pattern to it. Occasionally, a vast pocket was carved out, indicating an open space. Asha’s tracking signal appeared as a faint dot on the far end of the labyrinth in one of the open outcroppings.
    “She’s there?” Lucas asked, sticking his finger into the holographic map, much the annoyance of Maston.
    “It would appear so,” he said coldly. “Unfortunately there appears to be no direct route to get there. These are ancient Lochni tunnels. We’ll have to split up or we risk the entire unit being trapped or killed in these narrow corridors.”
    Lucas didn’t want to know what a Lochni was if it was large enough to make a nest out of a thousand-foot cliff face.
    The Guardians checked their gear in the dimly lit corridor around them. It was dawning on Lucas for the first time that these men and women were in fact risking their lives to help save Asha, as was the man he intensely disliked standing in front of him. But as Maston continued, his own primary objective became clear.
    “Hex Tulwar will likely be in close proximity to the Earthborn. Her containment area appears to be the largest chamber in the facility, which is giving off the highest energy readings.”
    One female and two male Guardians had now fully donned the black armor, and Lucas saw the familiar four blood-red lines splashed across their breastplates. They looked similar to the invading force at the palace, but with no propulsion mechanisms on their backs. The large metal door opened and they sauntered out into the canyon, one continuing to chatter on the radio in the strange tongue. Lucas felt a hand jerk his shoulder plate.
    “You,” Maston said as he turned to him. “You’re coming with me and Splinter Four. I wouldn’t jeopardize another unit by forcing you on them.”
    Lucas scowled, but followed. There was no reason to continue sparring with Maston when Asha’s life was at stake.
    Splinter Four turned out to be one of eight units of six soldiers each that were being sent down the various spindly passageways of the cliffside stronghold. In addition to Maston, Lucas found himself marching alongside Kiati and Silo once more. Kiati didn’t acknowledge his presence, but Silo gave him a curt nod. The other two soldiers were a massive, bearded blond man who reminded Lucas of a certain old acquaintance on Earth, and the other was a dark-skinned woman with a shaved head who was a good five inches taller than he was and built like an Olympic athlete.
    The tunnel had a metal floor, but the walls were smooth stone. Sporadic lighting was implanted in the ceiling every few hundred feet, but it was still rather dark. Lucas checked his own micro version of the tunnel map on his wrist and found they were approaching an open area up ahead. He was in the rear and kept swinging Natalie around, peering through her infrared scope to ensure they weren’t being followed.
    Suddenly, Maston threw his arm up. The six of them split in half and pinned themselves to each wall. They stood perfectly still with their rifles fixed straight ahead. Lucas followed their lead and remained as motionless as he could.
    Maston held up two fingers, his index and middle, and motioned downward. He then switched to his ring and