Battle Earth IX

Chapter 5

Taylor was still flat on his ass as the Mechs bore down on the scattered survivors. They lay among the bodies of those killed in the blast, and as the dust began to settle, it became clear the outer wall was slighted. He felt helpless for a moment, coming to terms with what they faced. Then he felt something brush by him. Dozens of troops rushed past towards the enemy, with Captain King at the lead. They fired on full auto as they advanced, but much of the fire was absorbed until they reached the first wave, drawing their Assegais as they went in to hand-to-hand.

He scrambled to his feet to join the fight. As he ran forward, he knelt down and grabbed a shield that lay scattered on the ground before him and the enemy. King had driven right through the first line of Mechs and was already engaging the second with a few of his Rangers. Further waves took on the enemy’s first line. Taylor reached the first, and he jumped, using a little power of his suit to launch himself up and over the hulking shield of one of the Mechs. He drove his Assegai into its head.

As he descended, he felt the Assegai pull. It was stuck in the creature, and he was forced to spin to wrench it from the Mech, forcing him to land hard on one knee. He straightened his leg but felt an impact on his shield. It brushed off just enough to push him aside but not knock him over. He looked around and saw a wounded Mech soldier that had been thrown his way. Without hesitating, he leapt onto it and stabbed it three times before it could recover.

He looked up from the ground. There was a never-ending stream of the enemy, and a volley of pulses surged towards them from the nearest soldiers. He raised his shield, watching as much of the energy dissipated over his shield.

"We can't keep this up!" King called out to him.

King turned back to carry on the fight but was struck by a shield edge to the head which buckled his legs. His attacker pulled back its Assegai-like weapon to lunge and finish off the Captain, but Taylor leapt forward, using his body weight to knock the creature onto its back. He repeatedly stabbed it until it stopped resisting. He dropped his shield and holstered his Assegai.

"Cover me!" he ordered Jones and the others fighting with him.

Taylor picked King up. He was barely conscious and muttering something which was indecipherable. He turned back to Jones. He was waiting for Taylor's order.

"Let's get the fuck out of here!"

Without another word, he turned, slung King onto his shoulder, and rushed for the next wall of the defences. The few small gates were flooded with troops trying to retreat. He knew he had no choice but to try and clear the wall. Pulses rushed past him and smashed into the wall, and as much fire was being returned from friendly positions. He looked up for just a moment to find a gap in the friendly firing solution and jumped.

The wall was fifteen metres high and easily manageable by him, but he had no idea if he could make it with the weight of King on his shoulder. He left the ground and hoped for the best. As he reached the upper edge of the wall, he came to the limit of his power, clipping the very edge as he tumbled over it. Taylor recovered just in time to land on the far side without injury, lucky to have found an open space amongst the chaos.

He looked down at King. A deep wound span from his face and down his neck, stopping at the shoulder plate of his armour. He was conscious but faint and weak.

"King? Stay with me."

His eyes opened a little further to look at Taylor.

"You're out of this fight, Captain," he said, looking up at the chaos around him. Jones landed beside him, quickly calling out, "Medic!" when he saw King resting in Taylor's arms.

"We’re in it deep here, Mitch," Jones said, kneeling down beside them.

Gunfire raged above them, but Taylor was too caught up in the moment to notice. A medic rushed up to them. It was clear few wounded had made it to safety, as the Captain had his complete attention.

"Please lay him down," said the medic.

Taylor was oblivious to his words.

"Sir, please lay him down, so I can help."

Jones smacked the top of Taylor's helmet to get his attention, and he snapped out of the daze.

"Yes, of course," he said, as he released his grip on King.

"Make sure he is well cared for," Taylor said firmly.

"Of course," the medic replied, and he went to work.

Taylor turned and looked back at the wall. It was a near identical fortification as the one that had been destroyed moments before. He quickly leapt into action towards the nearest ramp leading to the second level battlement, where he could get some visibility over the battlefield while still having protection over his head.

"Wait!" Jones called after him.

He carried on until he stood beside the troops who were laying down constant fire from the defences. Taylor looked out through a small loophole to survey the situation. Jones reached him and waited to see what he was getting at.

"Whatever those breaching vehicles were, I can't see any more of them."

"They're sure to be bringing more up," replied Jones.

"Yes, and we’d better be prepared for them next time."

He looked out at the craft they had flown in on. Only one remained intact and was swarming with Mechs.

"Well, we certainly ain't flying out of here."

"You ever thought we would?" Jones asked cynically.

Taylor grunted. He looked back to see most of his unit had made it.

That is at least a relief.

"Put the word out about those skimmers. Next time we see them, I want them blown to high hell before they get within five hundred metres of the wall," he said to Jones.

"I should imagine that is stating the obvious."

"Yeah, well let's be certain, hey?"

Jones nodded and rushed off to do as ordered. Taylor turned back, looking at the progress of the Mechs. They were digging in at the remnants of the first wall now. Gunfire had already settled down from the chaotic frenzy it had been. Jafar stepped up beside him. One side of his face was covered in blood. He had multiple cuts and impacts from shrapnel, but he didn't seem to pay it any attention.

"Have you ever seen those things before?"

He shook his head.

"I have never seen Erdogan's armies go to war."

"Yeah, well you have now, and it ain't pretty."

They heard a vehicle’s brakes skid to a halt behind them, and Taylor turned quickly to see General Heath leaping from a vehicle with gun in hand.

"Sir, you shouldn't be here!"

"I'll be the judge of that!" he snapped.

He rushed up to the wall to look out at the devastation with his own eyes.

"Christ, Taylor," he muttered, "We can't afford to lose lines of defence like that."

"I know."

"Next time they come at us we need to be prepared."

"Yes, Sir."

Heath stepped a little closer to Taylor to talk privately.

"We're in deep shit here, Colonel. Deeper shit than I thought possible. Cities are not falling by the day, but by the hour."

"I don't see what we can do about it."

Heath shook his head. "No, other than keep doing what we're doing."

"I don't understand how they got on top of us so quickly. We had no warning of this at all. No time to prepare."

Heath took in a deep breath. "Our experts tell us Erdogan's vessel, that behemoth up there, seemingly created its own gateway. Their fleet literally jumped into the system right on top of the defence grid. We couldn't have seen it coming."

Taylor turned to Jafar and gestured for him to join them, but he hesitated and looked to Heath for permission. Heath sighed at the prospect before calling him forward.

"I don't like working with the enemy, but I am also well aware what you have done for us all. You have my trust because you've earned it, but don't expect me to be so welcoming of your friends."

"These are my friends," he quickly replied, pointing to Taylor and all those around them.

Heath smiled in response, but it was clear he still wasn't comfortable communicating with an alien.

"I know you heard what we were talking about," Taylor said, "You got any light to shed on the tech of that ship?"

"Only rumours," Jafar replied.

"Well let's hear 'em."

"Some said Erdogan had the technology aboard his flag ship to travel as if through space gateways without having to use them. Many thought it was simply a myth created to keep the other Lords in their places."

"Yeah, well I guess not," replied Taylor.

"Why didn't we hear of this sooner?" asked Heath.

"There are many myths in the universe, General, who decides which are tactically important?" replied Jafar.

Heath nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so. Hindsight's a bitch. Anyway, none of that helps us now. They're here and at our door, so let's focus on the task at hand. There are nine layers of defences to this city, if you can call it that anymore. We just lost the first. Let's not lose another."

Taylor nodded in agreement, although he wasn't confident of their abilities to do so.

"And if we can't hold?" he whispered.

"Can't? You don't strike me as the kind of man who accepts he can't do something, Colonel?"

Taylor couldn't help but agree, but it didn't make him feel any better about the situation.

"Will that be all, Sir?" he asked.

Heath nodded before jumping back down to his vehicle and leaving. Taylor knew he didn't need to be there in person, but he did at least appreciate his commitment to frontline troops. Mitch turned to see Jones. He was sitting propped up against a chunk of concrete and eating from a field ration in a relaxed fashion.

"Thought you hated those things, Charlie?"

"Yeah, almost as much as starvation. So we got any better plan than wait for the next attack and get another kicking?"

"Nope," he replied, taking a seat beside him.

Just as he was getting comfortable, a barrage of heavy pulses smashed into the walls around them.

“Cover!” Taylor bellowed.

He grabbed Jones and hauled him to his feet. They both ran to the lower level battlements of the outer wall. Pulses smashed into the ground between the layers of the defences, and the troops huddled for cover in every nook and cranny they could find.

“Those are some big guns!”

“No wonder they halted the air attack,” replied Jones.

They all watched the bombardment in amazement. It went on for a full ten minutes. It caused few casualties but destroyed many of the supplies and vehicles that could yet have proved very useful. More than anything, it was demoralising to an almost crippling degree.

“You know we’re losing, right?” Jones asked Taylor.

Taylor looked around in surprise to see if anyone else had heard, but he knew Jones would not be ill disciplined enough to have said as much if they were able to. The artillery bombardment ensured nobody could hear any words spoken beyond half a metre from their ears.

“How often have things ever looked good for us? We’ve come back from worse.”

“Have we, Mitch?”

Taylor turned to look at his face full on and see if he was being his usual cynical self, or actually being brutally honest. His eyes told the entire story, and it was the first time Taylor worried they could not win the war. His heart sank as it all came home to him.

This truly is the worst it’s been, he thought.

“We’ve barely fought against this new invasion, and yet you must see where it’s going.”

"So what, Charlie, we just give up? Was it all for nothing?"

"I didn't say that, but maybe staying to die here isn't the answer either."

The bombardment suddenly stopped. Taylor climbed up to a loophole to get a look out across the plain between them and the enemy lines. He could already see glimmers of movement amongst the rubble.

"Here we go again," he muttered.

"Incoming!" a voice hollered from high above them.

Taylor rushed up to the next level and could dust clouds in the distance. Enemy vehicles were rushing from the coast over the flattened ruins of housing neighbourhoods and parks where nothing had lived for many years. He already knew it would be a repeat of what they had seen earlier, and that he could do nothing now but hope the defenders at the wall were able to take them down, knowing what they now knew.

Jones appeared at his side and pointed up to the sky that was filled with the silhouettes of enemy vessels. They turned and looked back west; friendly aircraft were en route to intercept.

"At least we got air cover," he muttered.

They watched with bated breath as the Mech vehicles soared towards their defences. They had all seen or experienced the horrific destruction of the first line of defences, and it took immense willpower to stand their ground on the second. Taylor readied his rifle. He had no idea if he could penetrate the frontal armour of the vehicles, but he was gonna put everything into them he could.

He looked along the line. Every anti tank weapon and heavy weapon they could muster was positioned ready for the next wave.

But will it be enough?

It wasn't long before the vehicles passed into range, and he could start to make out their shapes through the dust cloud. He held his fire for them to close the distance and watched as the gun towers above him opened fire. The crews took the small armoured skimmers seriously this time and targeted them immediately.

Taylor could see how terrifying the breaching vehicles were to all those around him, and he felt it too. The last one had almost been the end of him, and it made him think of Eli and how much they had to lose. He stood back and looked for her. About ten metres along the line he spotted her, and she was looking at him at just the same moment. It was all the time he could spare, and he went back to his position as the first wall mounted weapons opened fire. Two of the vehicles ahead burst into flames, and one of them veered off course, smashing into another that caused it to flip over and dig itself into the ground and come to an abrupt halt.

Cheers rang out across the line, and Taylor briefly thought they had a chance of stopping them, but the gunfire continued all the same. Their nearest vehicles were now within two hundred metres and closing fast. Taylor took aim and fired three single shots in rapid succession and watched as each one glanced off their armour.

"Not good," he grumbled.

He looked around and wanted to say something. He wanted to call on some reserve, bring something else into play, but there was nothing. Engines roared overhead as Mech flyers soared over them, unopposed by the gun towers that were too occupied on the ground. Mitch looked up at doors opening on the vehicles, and Mechs leapt out, descending onto the open plain before them and throughout the tiers of defences beyond.

"So not good," he said to himself.

He knew he could do nothing against the incoming vehicles, so he turned his attention to the airborne Mechs dropping among them. He targeted one descending near to him and fired a burst into its back, killing it before its feet hit the ground. He turned his attention to another and fired several shots as it landed, but most missed, and only one hit it and glanced off. Remembering the assault beyond the wall, he turned back for just a moment and watched another of the vehicles be engulfed in flames. But out of those flames came two more heading for the wall thirty metres to the west.

The fixed weapon emplacements tracked as quickly as they could, but most of their fire missed the vehicles, and it was too late. They hit the wall with a vicious impact, and just as before, went silent for a moment. Jones froze and looked to Taylor in horror.

"Off the wall!" Taylor screamed.

He immediately ran to the edge and jumped. He had to hope the others would follow suit. Taylor was heading head first onto a Mech and simply slipped his shield beneath his feet like a surfboard and landed square on top of it. The weight of the impact smashed it head first into the ground, but that wasn't enough certainty for Taylor. He landed fairly solidly and quickly put the barrel of his rifle to the back of the Mech and fired a three-shot burst.

"Take cover!" someone yelled.

It was the only reminder he needed. He rolled over and lifted his shield to hide behind it, and had just five seconds before the blast ignited. Showers of debris impacted over his shield, but nothing substantial. He pulled it aside and got up. The wall before him had remained intact, but then he turned westward and could see the dust settling and a gaping hole in their defences. In his daze he had forgotten all about the Mechs dropping above them, and a pulse stuck the ground only centimetres from his feet. He raised his shield, and as he looked up, one of the creatures was hurtling towards him.

The Mech struck the base of his shield. It gave way and twisted his still recovering arm. He let out a cry in agony, as he felt the pin sharp agony run up the arm as the creature landed beside him. With one swing, the creature swung its pulse cannon around and used it like a club to smash him in the flank while the pain was distracting him. He felt his body fold at the waist, and he dropped to the ground.

As he hit landed, he realised the trouble he was in and pulled his shield around to cover his body. The cannon opened fire, and three pulses struck his shield in rapid succession. He had no idea what to do, for he was pinned down, and the shield wouldn't last out much longer.

The firing stopped, and he carefully peered around his shield. His eyes widened on seeing a foot of the Mech stomping down towards him. He raised his shield at the last second, and the impact forced it onto his helmet with such immense force he was knocked unconscious.

* * *

Taylor awoke to a bumpy ride. He was moving fast and looking at the floor. His vision began to clear, and he could tell he was being carried, but was noticeably higher than any human could carry him. A moment later he was placed down to rest and was able to see the face of his saviour - Jafar.

"How long have I been out?" Mitch quickly asked.

"Too long!" a voice yelled at his flank.

He turned and saw Jones bandaging up a superficial wound on his own arm.

"Really, how long?" Taylor insisted.

"Couple of hours."

Taylor's eyes widened.

"Two hours? What the hell has happened in that time?"

"About what you'd expect."

Taylor shook his head. He was relieved to be alive, but the sensation was overwhelmed by his anger that he had not been there to fight the battle. He looked around at the subway station a little over fifty metres ahead of him. It was where he had been called to Heath's operations room.

"What are we doing here? Why aren't we in the fight?"

"We've been pulled back for a little R&R," replied Jones.

"How much have we lost?"

Jones went quiet and looked down as he finished tying his bandage.

"How much?"

He slowly looked up at Taylor, and he could already tell it wasn't going to be good news.

"To the east and north four tiers, but we still hold them to the south and west."

"Four?" asked Taylor.

He wasn’t really surprised but still felt shocked. He went silent, taking in everything around him. He could hear the war still raging in the distance.

"We can't stay here," he muttered.

Jones looked over to him.

"What was that?"

Taylor took in a deep breath.

"You were right. We're losing. Stay here and we all die."

It was loud enough that a number of the troops around him also heard what he had said. It was clear they agreed with him. Taylor looked around for a rifle and soon found one, though he had no idea if it was his. He propped it beside him and used it for leverage to get to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Jones asked.

"To make sure the General knows what’s what."

"He ain't gonna like that."

"I don't give a shit. We either get out of here ASAP, or it’s over for all of us."

Jones couldn't disagree, so he leapt to his side and followed him on towards the subway station entrance. Taylor passed Parker. She stood talking with her platoon, and he acknowledged her as he stepped beyond. He hadn't even thought to ask after casualties and who of his friends might be dead. The survival of them all was too important to be distracted with anything.

"How you gonna play this?"

"Same way I always do, Charlie."

"Piss everyone off, then?"

Taylor smiled a little in response, but it soon waned at the thought of their present situation.

"Something like that, yes."

The guards let him by without question, for they all knew who he was. As the two of them stepped into Heath's war room, they could feel the tension there. Nobody was speaking, and Heath was sitting back and upright in his chair deep in thought while many of his staff just looked lost and confused. The General had the look of a broken man about himself, and Taylor knew it was the prime time to make his point. He strode up to the General so he might talk privately.

"Sir, we're done here," he whispered.

Heath nodded in partial agreement, but Taylor could see General White approaching to join the conversation.

"If you have something to say, Colonel, then let it out," he stated for all to hear.

Taylor looked up and nodded, thinking carefully about how to word it.

"Well come on," added White.

"This fight, this city, it's over. All we can do by staying here is prolong our deaths."

"You are famed for many things, Colonel, cowardice is not one of them, so don't start now."

"Cowardice!" Jones shouted, "You've got some nerve..."

Taylor lifted his hand and stopped the Captain as he tried to lunge forward in his verbal attack. As he did so, he noticed the enemy advances displayed on the map projection. It was clear their were being encircled.

"Sir, we’re being surrounded. We cannot survive this. I'm sure everyone in the room is familiar with a tactical withdrawal. You are all qualified officers, after all?" Taylor asked dryly.

The question was rhetorical, and he knew it would piss White off, but they all remained silent as they waited for more explanation.

"This simple fact is we are in deep shit. I don't have the answers, but I do know dying here, and it won't take long, will not help anyone. I say we get out, and put some distance between us and them."

"We were ordered to hold here, and that's precisely what we'll do. I know following orders is a concept entirely alien to you, Colonel, but let's not forget who is in charge here."

"No, let's not," he replied sternly, looking back at Heath who had still not spoken a word or even acknowledged either of them. As Taylor waited for a response, his senses had begun to recover, and he could smell and taste everything around them. A waft of coffee spread through the air, but more than anything, rank sweat dominated the room. He looked over to Heath. There was a burn mark on the side of his helmet and deep scratches in his armour. He had clearly joined the fight at some stage and smelt as bad as he did.

It all only served to make the entire place even more depressing. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, only a grizzly few hours or days left to survive through. He wouldn’t hold his tongue any longer.

“General Heath. Baltimore is a pit for us to crawl into and die. I won’t be a part of it. I won’t let my people die here because of a fool’s errand. We’re out of here, and so should you. You’d better decide whether you want to have our help getting out of here, or if you want to stay here to rot.”

White jumped into the conversation furiously.

“We cannot leave. We have a duty to…”

But Heath finally moved and slammed his hand down on the table before him. It was enough of a shock to bring White to a halt. As the officer in command, they all looked to him.

“Baltimore couldn’t be defended the first time, and it cannot be defended now. I will not stand to lose everyone under my command for no good reason. We’re leaving here, and we’re doing it as quickly as we goddamn can!”

General White looked astonished by his statement but did not argue it. Heath took in a deep breath. He looked like a broken man who had finally been given a way out of his misery. He looked across his briefing table and the map displayed on it.

“So where will we go?”

“Washington,” a voice replied from a hopeful officer nearby.

Heath shook his head.

“DC? Are you kidding me? New York is a wasteland. We’re getting run out of Baltimore, and you think Washington will be safe? No, no, anyone with any sense bugged out of the capitol as soon as this happened.”

He slid his hand across the projection until he reached Pittsburgh.

“Yes, this is it. Clearest route out, enough distance from our current location to make a difference, and we should be able to rendezvous with Army forces there. Pittsburgh was a key point in our lines last time we fought on this soil. I know for a fact that emergency measures will already have several regiments in situ. Let’s fight this battle on our terms.”

Most around the room nodded in agreement, except for White. The General looked to Taylor. It was not hate in his eyes. He didn’t like what Taylor was doing, but he smiled in response, for he certainly appreciated it.

“We’ve got maybe nine thousand troops in this city. Getting them out is going to be no easy task,” said Heath, “We’re gonna need an hour to get a plan together, Colonel. You’ve shown us the way. Now I would ask you to go back to your people, and keep doing what you do best. You’re a fighter, Colonel. It is where you belong. We’ll find a way out of this.”

Taylor wanted to turn and leave, but he could not help but think he wanted a hand in the decisions that could mean life or death for so many thousands of his countrymen.

“Sir, I think I can be vital to the planning of this operation…”

“Colonel Taylor!” White interrupted, “You have your orders. Get to them.”

Heath turned and glared at him as well, and he knew he had said all he could say without creating new enemies; and he had enough as it was. Taylor nodded in acceptance.

“Thank you, Sir, and good luck,” he said to Heath.

He turned and left with Jones by his side.

“You went easy on them,” said Jones as they were leaving the building, “Going soft in your old age?”

Taylor stopped and looked at Jones.

“Honestly? My head hurts. My whole body hurts. Standing in there, all I wanted was to get out here and take a breath of fresh air, or as fresh as we can get. Just because I had one idea, doesn’t mean I’m full of them. We have always been fighters in this war. We’re field officers, nothing more. Let’s stick to what we’re good at.”

They carried on back to their unit. They were getting what rest they could while scattered around the centre of the city. Parker was the first one to approach and had tears in her eyes.

“We’re not getting out of this one, are we?” she asked, standing in front of them.

Taylor righted himself and stood proud with a stern expression on his face.

“When have we ever not got out? We are getting out, and we are winning this war, and don’t you forget it!”