The Mauler: The Ravager War Prequel by C.A. Gleason

Armor that gallops.

That’s what the lieutenant called it. But he’s wrong. It can be killed. There’s always a chink in armor, even if it’s been impossible to find so far.

Sergeant Ryan’s forced optimism hasn’t been contagious, at least not since their aircraft crashed under mysterious circumstances. They had to scrap their mission of finding the missing explorers who were supposed to greenlight colonization on the alien planet. Even before being hunted, they were down a soldier, so he understands his compatriots’ frustration.

But their situation isn’t hopeless. All they need to do is kill the creature that’s been stalking them since the crash.

Trekking the hundreds of miles back to Fort Beckett will also require outrunning the roaming packs of predators, but based on the predators’ seemingly tactical behavior, Sergeant Ryan can’t shake the feeling they aren’t dealing with ordinary animals.