Battle Earth V (26 page)

White grabbed the scuff of Dupont’s shirt and wrenched him upwards, hauling him in close.

“You’re scum. Disloyal, jealous, greedy, self-centred and zealous; everything I hate in a man. Were you a marine, I’d have you shot, and I’d probably do it myself. You hate Major Taylor because you are a coward, and he is a hero. One of thousands of heroes I know. Thousands who may die out there while weasels like you sit back in comfort. One day, Taylor is going to come for you, and I won’t be the one to stop him.”

He struck him with a quick jab to the same bruised rib once again and tossed him against the wall. The General strode away in disgust, but if he was honest to himself, it felt good to deal out a little pain. It was a long time since he’d been a field officer, and it was men like Dupont who made him wish he’d stayed as one. As he reached a turn up ahead, he noticed Commander Kelly once again.

“You know, it’s incidents like that which have put Taylor behind bars more than once,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, and now I can understand why it’s worth it.”

“Dupont is a bastard, but he’s also one of us. If we can’t stand together in times like these, what chance do we have?”

“You’ll get no argument from me.”

The General continued onwards at a quick pace.

“Good luck to you, General, and may you bring our comrades back home.”

It was only a few hours later when the General was once again setting off from Earth. He didn’t want to leave familiar lands. He was reminded of how much Taylor had always voiced his hatred of space, and he knew exactly what he meant.

“Chart a course to the gateway, maximum speed.”

* * *

“Sir, we’ve got reports back from our recon missions.”

Huber looked up in the hope of good news. Taylor sat by him at the briefing table. There had been nothing more to discuss for the last hour, and it had largely passed staring at the screens.

“Go on, Captain.”

Vega tapped a few buttons on the console before them and brought up a few images of an enemy fleet.

“The remnants of those who attacked us. They’ve rallied at a point near enough halfway between here and Red 1.”

“That’s no accident.”

“No, Sir. Looks like they’re repairing and redressing their ranks, same as us.”

“And awaiting reinforcements,” Taylor added.

“Almost certainly,” replied Vega.

“Mmm,” murmured Huber.

“Admiral, we could strike out at them while they are vulnerable. Otherwise, we are merely waiting for them to grow in number and become a sizeable threat. If we succeed in crushing them, we could even continue on to the planet. Worst case is we fall back to the gateway here.”

“You know we cannot leave this gateway, Major,” replied Huber.

“No, you can’t, but some of us can. Give me enough ships to take them on, and we will crush them before they can recover.”

“It’ll take you ten hours to reach their position,” replied Vega.

“We sure could do with keeping their number in check, Sir.”

“Agreed, but we cannot risk too much in doing so, what do you think Captain?”

“The Washington must remain in position, Sir. It is the core of our defence. But neither can we send too few ships that they sustain heavy casualties in accomplishing the mission. The Major will need an overwhelming force to ensure a safe completion of the mission.”

“Then you believe it to be the right course of action?”

“Hindsight will only tell, but I believe it to be the best course of action, Sir.”

“Very well, Major, then you will take six frigates and the Trafalgar.”

Taylor’s eyebrows widened.

“We still need your marines to defend the Washington. You can take one company aboard the Deveron. Admiral Uxbridge will of course be in charge of the mission. You can brief him en route. I’ll have the orders despatched and confirmed within the next thirty minutes.”

Taylor was taken aback. He’d been fighting to have the Admiral push forwards ever since he had gotten there, and now his wish was coming true.

“Thank you, Sir!”

He saluted and turned to leave, but Huber interrupted him.

“Major!”

Taylor turned slowly and hoped it was not all too good to be true.

“Your mission is to destroy that fleet. It will be for Admiral Uxbridge to determine whether it is safe to continue to Red 1. The priority is the defence of this fleet. If you have a solid chance of reaching the planet safely then take it, but nothing more. You will follow my orders in this.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Taylor had broken more than his fair share of orders in the past, but he knew he couldn’t break his word to Huber. He finally felt like they were getting somewhere, and he rushed out of the bridge with new life in his body. Jafar was waiting for him beside the other guards and had clearly been there without rest.

“Still here?”

“Always, that was my promise.”

Taylor lifted his communicator.

“This is Taylor to Captain Jones. Have your Company assemble at the Deveron immediately. Full combat order. Captain Ryan, prepare your ship for departure.”

“Sir, you sure about this?” asked Ryan suspiciously.

Taylor smiled.
The Captain is already becoming familiar with my antics.

“Orders direct from Admiral Huber. We’re heading out. Be ready to move ASAP.”

Taylor signalled for Jafar to follow him as he leapt into a jogging pace. He could feel his heart rapidly thumping with excitement.

Finally, I’m coming for you,
he thought, as images of Chandra passed through his mind. He felt new life in his bones at the realisation there might be a chance to save his friends yet.

Chandra paced along the battlements to be sure that the troops saw her face. A small pulse from an enemy scout smashed into the wall just two metres from her position. Two of the commandos near her flinched but not her. A second after the pulse landed, a gunshot rang out from their own lines.

“Got you, you bastard!” shouted out the sharpshooter.

The Colonel smiled as she passed him, but their joy was short lived. A massive explosion burst out ahead of their positions, causing the floor beneath them to shake and them all to duck down behind cover. Dust and debris blasted over their position and knocked anyone still standing onto their backs.

Chandra was the first to peer up over the battlements but was soon joined by Warren. All was silent for a moment as the dust settled, but then it came; the thunderous sound of an army of Mechs advancing through the breach. The almost continuous drone of their heavy footsteps was a fearful sound to even the most veteran among them.

Through the smoke ahead, they could see a wave of drones pushing forward ahead of the main force. She looked down across the line to see that the troops were readying their rifles along the makeshift battlements. She looked back to see that the first drone was in range and in her sights. She shouted her order as she looked down the length of her weapon.

“Fire!”

She squeezed the trigger before the sounds had even left her throat. The shot alone was enough to signal to the rest who quickly followed suit. The first volleys were carefully aimed shots that stopped a dozen drones before they could get off a single shot. The next wave passed right over them and met a similar fate after getting off just a few shots. The first pulses smashed into the defensive lines and were broken across the mix of enemy materials and the human shields.

Chandra was glad of the cover they had assembled. It allowed them to fight in relative safety. Another three-dozen drones came through the cloud of dust and despite getting off several shots, were smashed by the volley of fire. The hall went silent for a moment until they finally caught sight of the Mechs. They were packed in deep, as the breach was still small enough that they had to enter shoulder to shoulder.

“Knock the bastards down!” Chandra screamed.

She wasn’t sure if any of the troops could hear her, but it instinctively came out anyway. The Mechs were amassed in such deep columns that she barely had to aim and resorted to bursts, despite the distance they were firing at. The hallway ahead was rapidly becoming a corridor of death. Smoking armour and blue blood scattered every metre of the floor within a few minutes.

In just ten minutes, the bodies of over a hundred Mechs and many more drones lay there, but there seemed no end in sight to the enemy attack. Chandra ducked back down into the barricade and looked back to see there was now a constant stream of troops reloading at the crates behind them.

Suarez was among them and appeared to be casually going about his job in a fashion she did not consider acceptable of any soldier, let alone one in combat.

“Lieutenant!”

He looked up in surprise as if he’d been caught doing something naughty, and froze.

“Get to the CP. I want to know the current condition of all sectors!”

“Wouldn’t it be best for you to go?” he asked.

She glared at him with fiery eyes.

“Get me the fucking info, Lieutenant!”

She could see him mouth some curse as he rushed off in a huff.

“Arsehole,” she muttered to herself.

Pulses continued to light up the defences as they rushed overhead, and others smashed themselves over the line. She rose up once again to join in the action. She gasped as she realised the Mechs had gained ten metres of ground and were pouring in thick and fast. There seemed no breaking of their morale. Tsengal was alongside her and giving everything he had.

“What does it take to stop them!” she called to him.

“Death.”

She wasn’t sure if he was trying to be funny or not, but it brought a smile to her face as she turned back and continued to fire.

* * *

“The Trafalgar will be in range in three minutes, Sir.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” replied Taylor.

He stood on the bridge of the Deveron with Jones and alongside Captain Ryan. The Deveron was the smallest ship in the group that had assembled to sally out against the recovering enemy forces. They kept close to the carrier and within the defensive perimeter of the frigates assigned to protect her.

“Feels good to stick it to them, doesn’t it?” Taylor asked Ryan.

“Hell yes, Sir. About time, too.”

“Let’s not count our blessings just yet, gentlemen,” Jones added.

“You can be one cynical bastard, you know that?”

Charlie looked to Mitch in surprise but could see it was a mere jest, though not a very funny one. They both remembered the dark times of misery he’d suffered through. His present state was of utter joy by comparison. He leaned in close to Taylor so that only the three of them could hear.

“What really are your intentions? Will you really stop here like Huber has ordered?”

“The Admiral was clear that we were to proceed to the planet if it is within our power.”

“And if it is not? Will you go anyway?”

Taylor was torn between saving Chandra and the forces on Red 1, and risking the lives of just as many aboard the ships he had been given by the Admiral. He shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Sixty seconds until the Trafalgar has a firing solution.”

They all went quiet and watched the display screen of the enemy fleet ahead. They had formed up to face the human fleet but maintained their position.

“Why aren’t they going anywhere?” asked Ryan.

Jafar, who was stood quietly in the background, spoke up.

“Because they have been ordered to stay there and await reinforcement.”

“So they’ll just wait there to die?”

“No, they’ll fight to win.”

“Then we’ll end them,” replied Taylor.