Battle Earth IV (23 page)

“Colonel, we have another two breaches, one on this deck and one on 2A.”

“Alright, Kelly will have to handle one. We’ll take this level.”

She turned to Taylor. “Can you handle this, here?”

He nodded quickly in response.

“Alright, we’ll head to the other breach. Pray for us all, Major. Pray we make it through this. Pray the enemy are in few numbers, and pray Schulz is as quick to respond as we might hope.”

“Too much to chance, Colonel. I’ll rely on me and my own, first and foremost. Let’s show these bastards why you don’t mess with the human race!”

He turned and rushed back to his positions to peel off half the platoon to continue on to the new destination. He knew he was spreading their troops thin, but there was little else to do.

“Hall, we’ve got to move, now!”

The Corporal turned to look at the battle ensuing ahead where Jones had clearly flanked the enemy and engaged them with a brutal salvo of fire.

“The Captain can handle this, come on!”

Taylor led just twelve men to the next breach. Hall led the section he now commanded; a corporal was all they could muster anymore.

“Sir, we can’t keep covering so much ground!” yelled Hall as they rushed down a narrow corridor.

“We have to. We have to hold!”

“Spread this thin, one break in our line, and we’ll be fucked!”

“That’s a chance we’ll have to take, Corporal. Now haul ass and give ‘em hell!”

* * *

“Morris! Get down that corridor and cut them off!” Kelly shouted.

The Commander was stood at the entrance to the command centre with rifle in hand. A fallen Mech lay just twenty metres down the corridor. He shook his head in disbelief at how close the enemy had got. Martinez rushed to his side. The officer had blood splattered across his face, but it was clearly not his own.

“Sir, you must get back in to the CP. We can handle it here!”

Kelly looked around and initially thought to lash out at the man for tell him what to do. But he thought for just long enough to appreciate it had to be done.

“Alright, but you get back to the fight. Don’t let any of those bastards near the holding cell. Those prisoners may be the only reason we’re still alive!”

He quickly turned and rushed back into the command post to see Lewis receiving frantic communications from around the station. Kelly could do nothing but stand beside him and await the news. Eventually, the comms officer looked up and reported with a stunned and grim tone.

“Sir, we’ve got five breaches. Two are within the containment areas, but I have lost the video feeds.”

Then you can bet your arse they’ll be banging on the doors soon enough. Where are they likely to try and break through?”

Lewis leapt to his feet and strode over to the projected map of the station.

“The enemy craft that breached within the confinement areas are here, and here. Captain Nichols will have to face one, the other force is coming for us.”

“Alright, let Major Achen know. How is Perera doing?”

“Only light contact so far.”

“And the Navy boys?”

“From what I can see, they’re still slugging it out. They have been able to stop a number of the assault ships, but clearly they’re still getting through.”

The room shook violently as a blast rang out just ten metres from where they were stood. The two of them ducked instinctively as items on the desk beside them were launched onto the deck.

“What the fuck was that?” yelled Kelly.

He heard a myriad of shots and screams ring out from the corridor outside, and it was followed by automatic weapon fire.

“They must have breached the adjacent corridor, Sir,” replied Lewis.

“God damn it! Get Taylor and tell him we need assistance, now!”

A comms unit flashed on the wall opposite where Taylor was huddled.

“Hall! Get that call!”

The Corporal looked at the Major for a second in astonishment. Dust and debris still floated around the corridors, and they were still taking fire. A pulse had hit the wall next to the unit just twenty seconds earlier.

“Get the God damn call, Corporal!”

Hall didn’t hesitate a second time. He leapt across the open corridor, and hit the open channel key.

“This is the CP, we need immediate assistance. I repeat, immediate assistance! We have a breach at 2A, and Achen is tied up!”

Taylor could hear the desperate call, even from the other side of the corridor and over the noise of the battle.

“We’re on our way! Hold on!”

He turned to Chandra, but she responded before he could ask the question.

“We’ve got it here, go!” she shouted.

“3
^rd
platoon, on me!” he cried.

Taylor rushed to the stairwell, knowing none of them could risk using the elevators. He leapt four steps at a time and rushed so quickly through the automatic doors that he buckled them as his exosuit caught the frame either side. As he burst into the corridor, he caught sight of a Mech and quickly fired as he passed to the other side of the corridor, unable to stop himself with the momentum. Mitch saw his round land wide of its target, but it was enough of a distraction to get him safely behind cover.

As he smashed into the far wall, he lifted up his hand to signal for the others to stop as three energy bursts rushed down the corridor between them.

“Jesus Christ!” Hall screamed, and he stopped just in time to save having his head blown off. He backed up against the side of the doorway Taylor had only moments before smashed in passing. He quickly reached for a grenade, but Taylor noticed as he was about to twist the firing cap.

“No grenades!”

Hall looked down at the grenade, looking sheepish for a moment for not remembering. He slipped the grenade back onto his webbing as pulses continued to fly down the gap between the two men. They could tell the enemy were advancing towards them because the pulsating of their weapons was getting louder with each shot.

“What do we do, Sir?” asked Hall.

“Get the rest of the platoon out here, and start fucking shooting! We can’t let them continue!”

The Corporal spun around and barked with the same ferocity as his Major had.

“Move your fucking asses and get up there! The Major is under fire!”

Taylor leaned out and took a few quick shots but was under too much pressure from enemy pulses to make any targeted fire. Hall leapt from the doors and rushed a few metres forward with his head hunkered down until he could leap into cover behind the next rib of the corridor. Just as he got to the cover, a pulse smashed the rim of the rib and blew a football-sized chunk from the side. Hall gasped as the debris burst past, realising how close he had come to death.

Another six soldiers got into the corridor and started laying down fire. It finally freed Taylor up to take some aimed shots. His next two rounds went directly through the faceplate of one of the Mechs and killed it instantly.

“How many do you count?” Taylor shouted to Hall.

“I guess about another six!”

“We need this dealt with! If we don’t get to the CP soon, this could all be over!”

He turned to the other troops still huddled in the doorway.

“I want you to get out here and lay down concentrated fire on my go!”

The two at the front nodded in agreement. There was no fear in their eyes, and he was glad to see that they trusted him completely.

“Now!”

Three of the soldiers leapt out from the corridor, and Taylor immediately jumped up from his cover and began firing rapidly. They were quickly joined by others as the corridor was flooded with fire. The enemy before them disappeared into a cloud of sparks and smoke. A few last flashes burst from their weapons, and Taylor felt the burn as they rushed past nearby, but he kept on firing. At last, he could tell the opposition had stopped.

“Hold your fire!”

He rushed forward as the dust settled to find that the Mechs were all but finished. One struggled about on the ground, trying to get to its feet but was clearly mortally wounded. Taylor lifted his rifle and put a single shot into its faceplate. The creature dropped to the deck with a heavy crash, and once more the corridor was silent. Taylor turned to see one of their own was on the ground with another giving assistance. He rushed back to the position to see that the man was still conscious.

The man had been struck by a pulse that had clipped his hip just beneath his torso armour. He grimaced in pain but remained silent. It was clear he was in a lot of pain.

“You’ll be okay, but we cannot stop for anything.”

“Go, I’ll be fine,” he replied.

The field medic at his side nodded in agreement and lifted up the man’s rifle from the floor, thrusting it into his hands.

“You make sure you nail any alien bastard that comes this way, you hear?” insisted Taylor.

“You got it, Sir,” he replied, hoisting the rifle up into both hands.

Taylor looked to the others around him and could see they were appalled at having to leave one of their own behind. He hated himself doing it, but he diverted that hatred to their enemy for forcing his hand.

“Let’s move!”

They quickly got up to pace and were well on their way to the CP when they heard a hail of gunfire beneath them on the next level down. Taylor stopped for a moment, knowing it would be their friends and comrades in action. He knew they could not assist, but for a second he considered it. The looks on the faces of the troops around him showed they all shared the same concern.

“They can handle themselves, just as we can,” he mused quietly to those closest. He continued onwards and quickly came upon a fight close to the CP. In the corridor were four bodies of Perera’s troops, and clearly the rest had beaten a hasty retreat against overwhelming numbers. Only two Mechs lay dead around them.

“Fuck, this must have been bad.”

“God damn idiot, I told him to stand his ground,” Taylor caught a glimpse of movement up ahead and looked up to see a Mech stroll past at the end of the corridor, firing as it did.

“Christ this is a total cluster fuck. Let’s clean this up!”

He strode forward with his rifle held low and forwards, ready to blast the nearest foe he could find. They got within just fifty metres of the CP when they came up on the flank of an enemy force that was besieging the dug in MDF soldiers. Taylor lifted his hand to call them to a halt.

“They’ve not noticed us yet, so fortune is on our side if we move quickly. We do not stop until we are on top of them, you hear?”

Hall nodded and turned to see the nearest of them had too. It was enough to keep the momentum going. Taylor nodded to confirm to go ahead and was first in line heading to towards the enemy at a quick jogging pace. A few moments later, he opened fire and kept it up without slowing.

The five men at the head of the platoon fired relentlessly as they continued forward at a quick pace. Three of the creatures were killed by the time Mitch had emptied his magazine. Without slowing his pace, he hit the release catch, and slammed in a fresh magazine. He was back on the trigger within a second of the first round being chambered.

They had caught the unit of Mechs utterly by surprise, and it was clear the friendly troops they had been assaulting had seized the opportunity to brutalise their attackers. The Mech position was hit by a barrage of fire. Still Taylor did not slow his pace and ran right up to the last creature, firing repeatedly at it. Finally, he dropped his rifle so that it slung to his side and drew out his Assegai. He leapt up onto the beast and thrust the weapon down through its armour into its head. The beast collapsed down with him still holding on.

The fire had stopped and all had frozen in amazement at the brutality and unwavering determination of Taylor. He stood up and drew his weapon from the beast. Upon seeing the thick dark blood dripping from the blade, he spat on the body of the creature in disgust.

He looked up just in time to see Perera turn and rush back towards the CP. Some of his men followed, but the others were still in shock and staring at the Major.