Battle Earth V (17 page)

“What the hell is this?” asked Taylor.

“Take up positions!” Chandra ordered.

They settled into what cover they could find as the shutter came to a halt. The opening it left was fifteen metres high and a similar width. They half expected to see a horde of Mechs stomp out, but they had no such luck. To their horror, a huge robotic leg stepped out into the light, and the rest of a ten metre-tall Mech followed it.

“Oh, my God,” muttered Taylor.

The creature resembled an enlarged version of the Mechs they had so recently fought, but it was vast, and like a tank on legs. It moved slowly, in fitting with the mammoth size. It finally cleared the entrance and turned to face them. Artillery size cannons festooned its arms, and the armour looked thicker than any vehicle they’d encountered. It looked unfinished, partially built, but still operational to scare the life out of the most steadfast of them.

Oh, shit,
thought Taylor.

The Colonel wasn’t willing to wait to learn anymore.

“Fire!”

A hundred rounds struck the monster, but they seemed to have little effect. Lights beamed from it as pulses rushed towards them. It raised one of its arms and fired from the four-metre long gun barrel running down its forearm. The blast landed ten metres from Taylor, yet tossed him aside as if he was nothing. He looked back to see five dead, including one of their medics. Chandra was crawling for cover.

Hundreds of rounds were pouring into the massive metallic beast, but it continued to rain down hell on them all. Taylor looked to see that many were running for cover and hunkering down from the ferocious onslaught.

“Christ! Mines, Mines! Do we have any?”

“We’ve still got a few mag charges!” Corporal Hall shouted.

The charges had been their way into the facility earlier that day, and it was the only thing Taylor could think of. He gestured for them to be passed to him. A box was slid across the surface to him, and he opened it to see just one of the devices.

“Fuck it!”

He turned to see four others, including Corporal Hall, had got the devices ready to follow after him. He knew it was suicidal, but they were being butchered.

Taylor leapt out from cover and was joined by the other four volunteers. The five of them darted forward to the next line of cover as quickly as they could. He hunkered down and turned back to them.

“We’re only gonna get one chance each at this, so make it count. Aim for the legs or head!”

They looked up to see that the monster didn’t really have a head. Like the Mechs themselves, it had a mirrored plate section where the head would normally be, and the shoulder line rose above it.

“It’s probably controlled by one of the bastards. That’s where he’ll be. Head or legs.”

“Could we throw these things?” asked Hall.

“No, it’s too risky. This is the only chance we’re gonna get. It’s all or nothing, you ready?”

He could see the fear in the Corporal’s eyes, and yet he was still willing to go forward. They could see there was little to no cover left between them and the massive Mech.

“Cover the ground as quickly as you can, get the device planted, and get out! Now go!”

They rushed out from the cover, and two of the soldiers erupted in a flash of light before they’d even got up a pace. Hall was at the front, Taylor at the rear of the three. They were spread several metres apart. The quick pace allowed them to cover the ground quickly, but pulses still exploded all around them. The man between him and Hall vanished into a fireball that Taylor had to rush through and hope for the best. The heat singed his hair, and he’d wished he had kept his helmet on.

Taylor saw Hall sprint for the legs and slap the device onto the creature as he rushed past. The creature swung down its arm to strike him, but he was already sprinting fast enough to steam past. This was Taylor’s opportunity. Hall running beneath it distracted the creature. He used the power of his suit to launch him into the air to the full height of the creature.

As he flew through the air, he realised how insane his plan had been, but he was already long past the point of no return. He tumbled into the faceplate of the beast and only held on as the magnetic explosive device clamped on. The beast immediately responded by trying to reach up to Taylor, but its arms couldn’t reach. Taylor lifted himself and jumped up onto the shoulders of the creature.

He knew he had only a few seconds to spare. Mitch looked up to see the support structure of the hangar twenty metres above. He leapt up and used his boosters to reach it, clinging onto the supports for sheer life. A second later an explosion ripped out below him. He looked down to see the giant Mech begin to fall slowly like timber. As it struck the surface of the hangar, a second explosion ripped through its armour, sending shrapnel soaring across into the far wall. Taylor gave out a sigh of relief. He released his grip and let his suit bring him to a soft landing in the rubble.

Taylor smiled as he stood triumphantly among the wreckage of their vanquished foe. Hall strode up to him with a look of pure shock and awe.

“We fucking did it,” he whispered.

“Hell, yeah!”

General White stepped through the ruins of the vast armoured creature with a look of horror on his face. Chandra was still being checked over by the medics, and Taylor was overseeing the resupply of the Battalion. White was lost for words. Captain Jones walked up to the Major with a grim expression. It was the news Taylor didn’t want to hear.

“Final total, Sir. Twenty-six wounded, thirty-five dead.”

Taylor nodded, but it made him just as sick as such news always had. The General had heard, and it had finally forced him to speak.

“That was damn fine work here, Taylor. In the face of such horror, you prevailed.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Mitch gestured for their two alien allies to step up and join them.

“This place, what does it mean to you? What can you tell us about it?” he asked.

“So much of what is here we have never seen before,” replied Jafar. “It looks like a testing ground for new technology.”

“An experimental base?” asked White.

“If this had been a primary colony, we would not have taken it with ten thousand men,” replied Tsengal.

That’s reassuring,
thought Taylor.
We survived because of the luck of the draw.

“We’ve had a couple of years of reverse engineering and development under our belt. Clearly, they haven’t been sat idly by either,” stated White.

“This monster, this Goliath, could very nearly have been the end of our entire Battalion. Just like that,” replied Taylor, clicking his fingers.

It was a frightful thought, and he still could not believe he’d survived the ordeal.

“What do we do now, Sir?”

“We aren’t setting up home here, Major, that’s for sure. But we are going to hold here for a while. I want to know everything we can about this place, and if we can justify pushing on into the system.”

“That would not be advisable, Sir,” replied Jafar quickly.

White snapped around and stared into the eyes of the towering alien.

“Explain it to me.”

“The Krycenaean people are strong. We are too few.”

“We?” White asked in surprise.

He looked down at the creature’s uniform, not unlike his own, at least in insignia and colour.

“You believe we need a lot more soldiers to continue this war?”

Jafar nodded quickly in return.

“I agree, but convincing the appropriate authorities is no easy task. They will need to hear as such from someone they will believe.”

“They need to hear it from you, Sir,” Taylor added.

The General sighed and shook his head. He knew it to be true. He stepped past Taylor and stood before Chandra. She was still in pain.

“Colonel Chandra, I am leaving you in command of all operations on Red 1. I need troops who can fight, and yet I must go and plead for them with ignorant politicians.”

“We all have our battles to fight,” she answered.

“Indeed. I will return in four weeks. With any luck, at the head of the army we need.”

“Did we not muster every ship we could for this fleet?” asked Taylor.

“There are still plenty of civilian transports that could carry tens or hundreds of thousands of troops into combat. I want to take this war to their soil and spill their blood over it.”

“And if we are attacked in your absence?”

“You are to hold as long as is realistic, Colonel. Should the fleet be endangered, Admiral Huber has been ordered to return home.

The General turned and rushed away to his shuttle. Taylor was still curious as to how surprised Jafar and Tsengal were to behold one of their own planets.

“Experimental planet?” asked Taylor. “I bet Reiter could have a few things to say and learn about this place. I want him and his team down here asap.”

Chandra nodded in agreement.

“Make it happen.”

They’d been on the enemy planet for less than half a day, and the General was already departing for Earth. Taylor was well aware of the bureaucracy and still hated it as much as ever. He turned to see that Chandra had laid down flat on her back. She was both exhausted and physically weak.

“You’re gonna have to handle things for a day or two,” she said as he stood over her.

“No problem.”

It took several days before they fully understood how the docking hangar worked and allowed the Deveron and many other ships to land on Red 1. The ships were a welcome home for the troops stationed there. Reiter was clearly fascinated by so much of what he saw, but it was clear to Taylor that anything learned would not assist them anytime soon. On the third day of their occupation, Chandra returned to full duty.

The bridge of the Deveron had become their office and command post. The enemy had only a few thousand troops on Red 1 that had fallen within a day. Taylor could not help but feel what power the enemy might hold if they brought their population to bare against the humans. No matter how he asked Jafar and Tsengal about the aliens’ population, they seemed to have little idea on numbers.

For the troops of Inter-Allied, their time on Red 1 was nothing more than another posting. They had seen enough of the enemy for a lifetime, and anything that could be learned there was not for them. On the morning of the fourth day, Taylor strolled out onto the surface in gear to marvel at the alien planet.

It was an ugly place with no redeeming features. He wondered how life could ever have been supported there, or why anyone would choose to live there. Yet he thought back to Commander Kelly and his love of his homeland, despite similarly inhospitable characteristics. Huber’s fleet still waited in orbit, and it was a reassuring sight. Taylor thought he was alone and went into a daze as he stared out across the barren surface.

Time seemed a glide by as he fell into a dream. A hand grasped his shoulder, and he turned quickly to see Parker standing with him.

“What do you see in it?” she asked.

“I’m not sure I see anything. Look at it, what’s to like?”

He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but their suits made it impossible. He settled for grasping her hand and looking out to the fleet. Their engines suddenly fired up, and they began to move off from the planet.

“What the hell?”

Taylor turned and rushed back inside. He tried to contact the Deveron, but their channel was busy. He rushed on board to find Chandra awaiting him.

“Huber’s leaving?”

“We have picked up readings of enemy ships in the area and even a few sightings by recon parties. The Admiral is returning to the gateway to ensure its safety.”

“And us? What about our safety?”

They had just over two thousand troops on the now desolate enemy colony.

“We can look after ourselves. Follow me.”

Taylor was surprised she shrugged off the situation so lightly but did as she asked. The Colonel led him deeper into the colony to a floor he’d never been to. They came to huge blast doors.