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.He keyed his radio.The aliens would be monitoring their traffic, but they shouldn't be able to get real-time decryptions – at least if the intelligence on their computer software was accurate.British forces in Afghanistan had been able to monitor their enemies transmissions and use it against their foes, sometimes as targeting information.It was a risk, but one Gavin felt was worth taking.The same considerations about wanting prisoners ensured that the aliens couldn't simply drop a rock on the transmitter from orbit.“Fire,” he ordered.The forest seemed to erupt as the concealed GPMGs opened fire on the larger helicopters, while a single Stinger – the only one at the hall – roared upwards towards one of the attack helicopters.It struck the helicopter on its armour-plated underside, sending the helicopter staggering off in search of a good place to put down, smoke billowing out from its lower regions.The aliens had clearly been armouring up their helicopters, Gavin noted, as the other attack helicopters turned and started to fire back towards the soldiers in the forest.They stopped firing and started to run, but some weren't quick enough to escape.Gavin saw them die, just before one of the larger helicopters heeled over and fell towards the ground.It came down with a terrifying crash, but didn't explode.A moment later, he saw alien troopers emerging from the wreck, shooting to force the humans to keep their heads down.It would have been admirable if it hadn't been aimed at his troops.He cursed as the attack helicopters made a second run over the hall, firing down with heavy machine guns towards the British positions.His men had had plenty of time to prepare defences, but building something to stand off a helicopter without being noticed by alien orbital satellites would have been difficult.The aliens knocked two of the positions out – he forced himself not to think about the men inside – before their second transport helicopter started dropping aliens down towards the ground.From his point of view, it looked as if they were dropping out on bungee cords.The moment they touched the ground, the cords broke, releasing them before they could be yanked back up into the air.Gavin’s soldiers, positioned at the windows around the hall, opened fire on them; the alien attack helicopters, sighting the firing positions, hurled a deadly storm of lead towards the windows.Their heavy fire smashed chips off the stone walls and blasted through the windows.Below, two alien assault teams ran forwards carrying what looked like an antitank weapon.They launched it into the main doors and shattered them backwards, smashing through the interior walls like paper.Gavin clicked his radio twice – the signal to the outside teams to break contact and retreat to the RV points – and then abandoned the radio on the ground, kicking it under a bush.It would be too dangerous to use it now that the aliens controlled most of the ground.He could see a fireball rising up in the distance from where one of the larger IEDs had detonated, but he had no illusions about their ability to prevent the aliens from taking the hall.His close-protection detail spread out around him as he started to walk away from the hall.The remaining soldiers inside the building should be running for the exits, where they would link up with their fellows and start walking east.Gavin was the only one who knew that the PM and his team had headed west; the eastbound soldiers should provide some cover for his escape.Another flight of alien helicopters swooped overhead, lowering a pair of light armoured vehicles to the ground.Gavin had seen the reports on their use against civilian rioters, but there hadn't been any report of them being used against resistance fighters before.They weren't as heavily armoured as Viking or Jackal vehicles, which should make them easy prey for antitank missiles or IEDs.On the other hand, they carried heavy machine guns and what intelligence claimed was a portable mortar launcher.It gave the aliens a surprisingly heavy punch for such light vehicles.The ground shook as the first explosive charge inside the hall detonated.It had taken some specialist work by the defenders to position a fuel-air explosive in the basement, intended to send the entire hall up in flames.The aliens, picking their way into the building, were caught by a sheet of flame that seemed to roar up and out of nowhere.Gavin had been told that the main structure of the hall might survive – they’d known how to build tough buildings in those days – but anything the aliens might have been able to use to track the resistance to their next base would be destroyed.They’d never know for sure how close they’d come to decapitating the resistance, or bagging the PM.The Prime Minister’s ability to broadcast to the country, using the internet, had helped keep the resistance going.Gavin said a silent prayer for his safety as they continued to head into the countryside.The aliens would be putting up roadblocks and cordoning off the area, intending to trap them before they could escape.They had to move quickly before time ran out.Behind him, he heard another series of explosions, followed by rapid gunfire.It was impossible to guess at what was happening, although most of the gunfire seemed to be coming from alien weapons.They kept running through the forest, despite hearing alien helicopters overhead, searching for fugitives.If they’d managed to improve their tracking technology, part of Gavin’s mind insisted on reminding him, their helicopters or drones could keep track of them and steer a blocking force right into their path.Or maybe they’d just hose down the forest with bullets and leave their targets to bleed out and die.The forest came to an end suddenly, broken by a road leading northwards towards the motorway.They crossed it rapidly, just as they heard the faint humming of alien vehicles racing towards them.Gavin heard the sound of gunfire and threw himself to the ground, trying to bury himself in the mud.Bullets were snapping right over his head, smashing through trees and branches with equal abandon.He heard one of his men yelp as a bullet slashed across his back – a inch or two lower and it would have shattered his spine – before the sound of alien helicopters came closer.The aliens, if they were still tracking the small party, would be sending in ground troops.“Come on,” one of his escort detail hissed.“We need to get out of this trap.”The aliens were firing to force them to keep their heads down, but they could still crawl.Gavin squelched through the mud, just as he heard what sounded like incoming fire
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