WarGate Books is offering a free novella: War Hulk Marines: Expendable. Written by Nick Cole and Walt Robillard and set in the same storyline as WarHulk: Space Marine Survival and WarHulk: Line of Battle, the novella can be had for the low, low price of…well, nothing. You don’t even need to provide your email address. And you can read it in your browser.

Survival and Horror at the Edge of Space

From the WarHulk Marines: Expendable description:

“An officer for the United Colonies Marines gets called on the carpet to defend the actions of his marines during a combat action on a hostile derelict vessel. But there’s an ulterior motive at play here, and in the after-action review of how the op went bad, Colonel Guerrero is pretty sure he can get to the bottom of things. Even if the corporations want the truth buried. And the grunts listed as ‘expendable.”

From the story:

The missing and most likely TKIA CIT element was out of One-Nine Marines off of Marine Combat Space Station Basilone at Pacifica. 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, Outlaws.

They were all dead now too. For sure. Just like Asanto and the rest. Guerrero could feel it.

Six hours within boarding the MSS Revenant’s Fury, or so her signals-ident were broadcasting, and no more recorded footage uploading back to the drop for emergency distress broadcast. They were gone. Not missing, but dead. For sure.

MSS.

Martian Security Ship.

The formal identifier for what is commonly called in the UCAS… a Warhulk.

Colonel Guerrero had a pretty good idea what had happened to them having done it a time or two… understatement there.

CIT platoon leader gets the WARNO direct from Atlas Concordia OverBase Ops section. Sensor net has picked up a transiting vessel matching Warhulk class and design via the long-range sensors.

Intercept and board.

Establish a FOB for further ops.

One-Nine was in that area aboard an automated UCAS Naval Destroyer, the Huron. They get spun up as the destroyer makes the approach. Sixteen hours from WARNO to hull contact and their dropship pilot flies a tight insert right onto what looks like a dead and lifeless warhulk coming back across the frontier beyond the official UCAS worlds.

War in Space is Still a Racket

Also from the story:

“It’s colonel, right?” this one asked.

The power suit cougar damn well knew it was.

“Yes, ma’am. Oh-Five. Lieutenant Colonel.”

She smiled coldly like it was intended to fake any kind of warmth.

He knew who she was by the briefing packet his adjutant waiting in the hall had given him.

Cavanaugh Soltero. VP, Special Projects R&D Harakawa-Krupps Weapons Division. Mover and shaker. Soon-to-be-a player.

She could have modeled in the Streams or even been Flicker Girl.

Instead, she chosen power. Real power. Corporate Power.

“Colonel Guerrero… given, the loss of the Combat Interception Team… what are the odds that an element of the next deployable size off the Svenska can make the interdiction and set up a beachhead on the target vessel. Guarantee further…”

Profit.

Tech.

Research.

Target Vessel. Martian war hulk.

“…Operations,” she finished lowering her long-lashed bright blue eyes to her display and tapping in some notes with long fingernails as she awaited his response to her question.

“They’re grunts. They’re expendable. And that’s the way the steaks get cut. That’s your first lesson here.”

You can download your copy of WarHulk Marines here online. It’s available for BookFunnel, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and Play Books. You can also read it in your browser.

And if ya gotta know more, check out the WarHulk Marines homepage.