Battle Earth X (21 page)

"Colonel Taylor. After all we have been through, this is a victory, and should be celebrated as such. Don't you know what this means?"

"No, not yet, none of us do."

He leaned in closer to the Admiral.

"Sir, I must recommend we proceed with the utmost caution. Every action we make risks the entire fleet. I would not have us gamble it all on this planet, without a thorough investigation first."

"Yes, yes of course. We aren't putting down there with everything we have. I am arranging an expeditionary force, as well as a team of scientists and experts to head there right away and assess the situation."

"If I may, Sir? If boots are going on the ground, then I should be among them, and so should Jafar. Beyond the science, we are your best bet at making sure the place is safe."

Huber's face turned more serious.

"I have no doubt you are, Colonel, but your job is to maintain the safety and security of this vessel, and therefore this fleet."

"I am attempting to do that, Sir."

"Damn you, Taylor, enough of this nonsense. This is a time to celebrate, and I have plenty of work for you yet. The number of casualties three days ago was completely unacceptable. Your job is to investigate why it went wrong and find solutions so that it does not happen again."

"Sir, I must protest."

"No, you most certainly must not. You're a good man and a damn fine officer, Taylor, but right now I don't need your cynical outlook. I need your expertise where it is needed most. I want you working closely with Reiter and his team to workout whatever you need to handle those Juggernauts, as you call them. God forbid we ever have to face them again."

We? It wasn't you who had to face them.

But he didn't dare say it out loud.

"You are dismissed, Taylor. And Colonel? Try to look on the bright side. A little history is being made here."

Taylor turned and left.

"That's what worries me," he whispered to himself.

The jubilation of every soul aboard the ship was intoxicating. He wondered if he was the only one among them who saw the potential danger they were in.

"What do we do?" Jafar asked.

Taylor wasn't sure whether he meant figuratively or literally, but it didn't matter.

"What we've been ordered to."

Taylor stood before the armoured suit of a Juggernaut. It was suspended from a hoist normally used for the engines of aircraft. A pool of blood lay on the deck beneath it, expanding as the thick blue substance still dripped from the armour. It was clear the creature’s corpse was still inside. He couldn’t help but just stand and stare at it. He’d never gotten the opportunity to actually look at the details.

In combat, all Taylor saw was a figure as he focused on the centre body mass and used peripheral vision. To him the Juggernaut was just a larger Mech suit. But now up close, he could see it was something quite different. Its leg joints were set differently, and there appeared to be no power source for the suit like the normal Mech models.

“What is it?” he asked Jafar who stood beside him.

“I believe it is a Boga.”

“A what?”

“A primitive creature. Much like your apes are to humans. They share some genetic material and evolutionary path with my kind, but they are crude and simple.”

“But big and strong.”

“Yes, far stronger than we are, but they are wild animals.”

“Don’t look wild to me. They are armoured and came at us in a determined fashion. How do you explain that?”

“I cannot.”

“Modules attached to the brain,” Reiter said, walking past behind them.

He stopped between the two of them and looked at the armour with the same fascination Taylor had been doing.

“Yes, the creature itself is a rather primitive beast, but clad in this armour and with a simple control algorithm.”

“What algorithm?”

“Very simple really. The Mech armours transmit identification for friendly forces through sound. These Juggernauts are programmed to attack and kill any living creature that does not emit their code, and is punished by electric shocks if they step within a metre of one who does.”

“So they’re little more than a crazed beast they let loose to raise hell?”

“As you like,” replied Reiter.

Taylor moved along to the next creature suspended from another crane. Its arm was severed and hanging from a chain beside it. He could see it was the one he and Jafar had taken down together.

“They are formidable things, these Boga, or whatever they are. In open ground, where we could bring heavier weapons to bear, they wouldn’t be so much an issue. But aboard these ships in the corridors and confines, they’re like bulls in a china shop, and we’re the china.”

He turned and looked at Reiter.

“What answer have you got to this problem? How can we take them down?”

Reiter shook his head. “I am not sure yet. I need your ideas. You have fought them.”

“Yes, we have, and we paid for it dearly.”

“I am working on ideas, Colonel, but you are the soldier, not I.”

“Marine.”

“Yes, that, too.”

Taylor looked back to the creatures.

“Their armour? It’s far thicker than anything we have had to deal with. The Reitech ammo barely touches it.”

“It is nothing technologically impressive. It is the same armour the soldiers wear, but three times the thickness. They are like walking armoured vehicles.”

“Then maybe that is the answer. Stop treating them like infantry, and start treating them like tanks. Maybe it is that simple. Their armour is three times thicker. Fine, we just need weapons that pack three times the punch?”

“Easier said than done, Colonel. Those weapons are already formidable pieces of hardware. If I were to increase the calibre and power of the ammunition used, the equivalent weapon would be so large you would likely not even be able to lift it. They would in fact be just like some of the Reitech vehicular mounted devices.”

“That sounds good.”

“You don’t understand me, Colonel. The weapons I developed far outweigh anything used in the past. The rifles you carry today are of an equivalent weight to heavy machine guns of by gone years. They are…come with me.”

He led them around some containers to an armaments rack for the fighter and support craft of the Washington. He pointed at a gun that was two metres long, and resembled little more than a thick pipe with a box receiver and feed for ammunition.

“That is the kind of weapon you speak of. Lift it.”

Taylor looked at him as if he were a fool.

“Go on, try and lift it. With your suit on,” he said, pointing to a rack of the exo-skeletons opposite.

He climbed into the suit and then confidently walked up to the rack of weaponry. Never before had he struggled with strength in his suit, so he did not doubt its abilities.

“The Reitech 50CMG, commonly fitted with coaxial weapons on main battle tanks and as close support and ground attack craft. A marvel, I might add. Now try and lift it,” said Reiter.

Taylor stepped up to the rack and got a solid grip on the weapon before hauling it upwards in a deadlift fashion. He strained to do so and got upright with it in his hands. He tried to raise it and turn his body as if to aim it, but felt his body shake. It was the feeling of weakness he had all but forgotten. He clumsily lowered it back down, and it slammed into the rack and echoed out across the hangar bay.

“I can’t use that!” he yelled.

Reiter nodded. “As I said. The 50CMG weighs almost four hundred kilograms. Even with the power of your suit, it is unusable in a combat situation in any manner, except a fixed point on a vehicle or emplacement.”

“That’s no good to me, Doc. I need something we can use on the move. Have you nothing else?”

“Give me time, Colonel. I understand your requirements. Though I’m not sure how much more portable I can make the kind of weapon you require.”

“Just do what you can, Doc.”

Taylor pulled off the armour and strode off with Jafar at his side.

“Those things are sons of a bitches. We need to find a better way to take them out. You got any ideas?”

“I fight with the weapons I am given. I am not an engineer.”

“Yeah, well join the club.”

* * *

“Okay, people, this is our biggest one yet,” said Kelly.

He looked out across the operations table and they all looked to him. Twenty personnel, including all of the key officers involved.

“Every single day a convoy of vehicles travels back and forth along this road,” he said, as he pointed to a map.

“That is, twelve vehicles in total.”

“These are wheeled vehicles?” Oster asked.

“Yes.”

“Why are they using wheeled vehicles when they have so many aircraft?”

“You got me. If we understood everything they did, then perhaps we wouldn’t be in the situation we are in today. We know they used land-based vehicles throughout the war. They were far more susceptible to our heavy guns, and maybe that’s why we didn’t see so many of them back then. But they think they’ve won. They think they own this country now. Own this world. So they’re moving freely without worry. Maybe they are cutting costs by travelling by road, or maybe they’re staying under the radar of remaining Earth air forces.”

“Yeah, right. Can’t be any left,” replied Oster.

“I can speculate till the World ends, and you can be a cynical idiot till that time, too, but it isn’t going to get the job done.”

Oster didn’t say another word.

“Okay, so here’s how it’s gonna happen. We know the route they take, and we know roughly the time they make it each day. During the night, we are going to move four of the main battle tanks into dugout hull down positions overlooking the road here, and here. That will have to be done in complete blackout conditions. You okay with that, Captain?” he asked Becker.

“Shouldn’t be a problem. We start early at sundown so we can let the engines tick over most of the way. We shouldn’t attract any attention.”

“Okay, the plan is simple. The road at this point crosses from one side of the valley to the other. That’s half a klick. We position two tanks in well-concealed positions at either side of the valley and near the roadside. Additionally, we establish trenches with fifty men here, and another twenty in reserve here,” he said, pointing to the map.

“It certainly is a simple plan, think it can work?” Decker asked.

“I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t think so.”

“Remember,” Kelly said, “The three priorities here in order are, maintain the safety of this facility, get back alive, and kill the enemy. Those are your priorities at all times. If we have to abandon those tanks, we do so. If we have to kill the wounded, or else have them captured by the enemy, we do so. Do you all understand?”

It was a grim outlook, but they agreed anyway.

“All right then, we move at nightfall. Dismissed.”

The group split up, and only Becker remained sitting opposite Kelly.

“So this is it, first big one?”

“No,” said Kelly, “Merely an escalation of what we have already been doing. And you’d do well to ensure your people know that, or else they’ll have doubts as to our success.”

“And do you not have doubts?”

“Of course I have doubts. If I did not, I would either be foolish or insane.”

“Do we have any idea what is aboard those vehicles?”

“No, and we have no way of doing so. Except to track them to their source. And I have no desire to go anywhere near the cities or their bases. Are you okay with this plan? You can back out or question it at any time.”

Becker took a deep breath and thought about it for a moment.

“No, I am as confident as I can be.”

Becker pulled out a hip flask and took a drink before passing it over to Kelly.

“No, not tonight. Not until I have seen this through.”

Becker didn’t mind and took the drink for him.

“Okay. I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said as he got up and left. Kelly swivelled around in his chair to see Reynolds waiting at the door for him.

“Something you want to talk about, Captain?”

“Not really.”

“Then what can I do for you?”

“Just be yourself, Sir. We have a few hours before all this kicks off, can we not get a coffee and chat like it were old times?”

Kelly smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

He would say anything to calm the nerves of his people, but this time he actually welcomed the proposal to sit with old friends before it all began. They headed for the canteen where they found over a hundred personnel sat about socialising. They took a seat and soon found Corporal Berlin heading for them.

“May I sit with you, Sir?”

“You don’t need to ask. The old rank structure is not what it was. I lead because I am good at it, but not for any other reason. You treat me as your equal.”

It was clear she didn’t see his point of view and responded, “Thank you, Sir.” She sat down opposite him.

“What can I do for you, Corporal…”

“Berlin, Sir.”

“I know that is your family name. But what is the name you choose to go by, what do your friends call you?” he asked.

“My name is Letta, Sir, and that is what they call me.”

“And am I a friend? Would you have me call you Letta?”

“If that is your preference, Sir.”

Kelly shook his head. He opened his mouth to respond but decided he wasn’t going to get anywhere and stopped.

“Sir, what I wanted to ask you is what many here are asking. What are you doing in Germany? You are colonists of the Moon. Why come to Germany?”

Kelly laughed. “It wasn’t by choice, I can tell you. Not that I had anything against the country, but I knew little of Earth, except for what I learnt at school. We were placed here by the UEN. They chose the spot. We just went where they told us.”

“And that was okay with you?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? You are born some place that isn’t of your choosing and you learn to get on with it, and hopefully like it. So we got another place that wasn’t of our choosing, and we got on fine here, too. I’d certainly appreciate a warmer climate in winter, but beggars can’t be choosers.”