Battle Earth VI

Chapter 12

Demiran lay back in his throne aboard the stricken wreck of the K'til. He still could not believe he had fallen so far. He was slumped and lost. He wanted nothing more than to leave Earth for good and return home, but he knew with so little left, he would be torn apart by the other Lords. He suspected Erdogan would have already claimed his homeworld if news had gotten back to Tau Ceti of his plight. Six months since the destruction of the K'til, and he had made no progress. He had the look of a soldier who was utterly beaten.

A projection suddenly appeared before him. Used only by his close counsel, he sat up quickly when he realised who was addressing him. Taylor stood just five metres from his throne. The projection was near perfect with only minimal transparency. He had not seen the Colonel since his time in captivity, but he knew exactly who he was.

"I am Colonel Taylor of the 2nd Inter-Allied."

Demiran stood up, and his back straightened as he felt hatred invigorate him.

"Your time is coming to an end. Your fleet is destroyed, and your armies are surrounded. Your Planet Killer is finished."

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I want to kill you like the dog you are."

"And what makes you think you could?"

"Because I killed Karadag. With my own hands."

Demiran's eyes widened at the news. It was clear he did not know Taylor had been the one to do it.

"It was you who ended my kinsman's life and mission, and you who imprisoned me. You, who did this to the Gezgen K'til! You, who have turned one of my own against me. I am going to kill you before this is over!"

Taylor could see the alien’s blood boiling and smiled to only fuel it further.

"Come and try."

The creature screamed in fury as it grabbed a table beside his throne and launched it across the room in anger.

"I'll be waiting," added Taylor confidently and ending the transmission.

Jones breathed out an uneasy sigh, thinking about what Taylor had just done.

"You've baited a dangerous opponent."

"Do you want this war to go on another six months? We'll lose thousands, maybe tens of thousands of soldiers if this war goes on. What if it could be ended in just one bloody day?"

"I'm not sure that was your decision to make."

"Well, tough shit."

"This is Taylor to the 5th Brigade. Prepare for combat. We have incoming."

He could see that many around him appeared surprised. There was no sign of movement as yet, but they readied their weapons as ordered. A few minutes passed, as Taylor stood on the flat plain above the trenches, watching south. Eventually, his Mappad began to flash, and he lifted it to see enemy advances all across the front. Phillips had been walking the line when he rushed to Taylor's position.

"Looks like they're coming at us."

"Damn right, Sir. They're out for blood. This isn't going to be a meat grinder. This ends in one pitched battle."

"What? How do you know?"

Taylor smiled.

"You did this? You riled up Demiran like you do every leader, haven't you?"

"It wasn't difficult."

"God damn you, Taylor, this better work."

"Don't worry, it will."

"Christ," he uttered, rushing off to get to HQ.

Taylor knew he would be in deep trouble for what he had done, but nobody had time to do anything about it. The Mappad showed enemy advances over ten kilometres of the front.

"He's coming," stated Taylor.

"Yes, are you ready?" asked Jafar.

"Have to be. Demiran had you as a bodyguard, am I to assume there are others like you that will do the same?"

"Yes, always four, and always from my homeworld. They will not be so easily swayed to our cause as Tsengal and I were."

"No, those were exceptional circumstances. But it does mean we'll have to take them on also."

"Yes."

Taylor was expecting some kind of emotion, but he appeared to show none. He turned and glared at his friend until he provoked a response.

"I would hope they would join us, and I would never wish to kill my own. They were brothers to me once, just as you are now. But I will not hesitate to do what needs to be done."

It was all the confirmation Taylor needed. Though he still was uneasy about the thought of four bodyguards of Jafar's calibre surrounding Demiran. His Mappad flashed as fresh orders came through.

"Hold position."

They would do so for now, but no one was in charge of Taylor any longer. He knew what he must do for himself and all who had fought from the beginning. He stepped up to the front trench and Jones followed suit.

"You can't fight him alone," stated Jones.

"I don't intend to."

"You just issued a personal challenge."

"I did no such thing. All I did was piss him off enough to want to come and deal with me himself. If he assumes this is gonna be one-on-one, then he's a fool. Anyway, when have they ever played so honourably? No, he'll come with everything he can get. He must know his war is over. It's just a matter of time. Killing me is the only thing left he could achieve."

"Let's see it doesn't happen then. As reckless as you can be, I've grown rather fond of you, Mitch."

"Don't go all soft on my now, Charlie? Where's the fire in you?"

"It's coming, don't you worry."

They watched the enemy amassing in the distance. As far as the eye could see in either direction, they were coming.

"Could this really be it? The last battle to end it all?" asked Jones.

"It's about time. We've been fighting this long enough."

Taylor reached down to his comms unit and set it to a private channel to just their own battalion.

"This is Taylor. Somewhere amongst that army is Demiran. Lord Demiran who came to destroy the human race, the same bastard who escaped us and has been the cause of millions of deaths. He is coming for us because he knows who the 2nd Inter-Allied are. He knows our reputation, and he knows what we have done. What he doesn't know is what we are still capable of."

He went quiet for a moment and turned to see many were thinking hard about what he was saying.

"You have all sacrificed a lot in this war, and the war before it. But I ask you now to follow me. Let's end this today. We could fight on and sees tens of thousands die before the year is done, or you can follow me to victory today. I don't say it'll be easy. But if you do so with the same courage I have seen from the beginning, I can guarantee you, I will kill that son of a bitch and end this war!"

He hadn't said what or how he intended to do it, but it was clear to many. He looked around to see plentywere nodding in approval. Then he caught Eli Parker's gaze, and a single tear dropped down her face. They both knew it could cost them dearly to succeed in what he was intending, but she would not be the one to stop him.

"So I need to know. I can't do this alone, are you with me?"

Jones nodded in agreement, but he knew the Captain would follow him no matter what.

"Damn right," came the reply from Jackson.

"Yes, Sir, all the way," added Ota.

"As always, we trust you to see this through, we are with you," said Grey.

Thank God. He knew he had to take the fight to Demiran with their support or not.

"There's always time to reconsider," said Jones.

"No, my mind is made up, Charlie. I won't have this battle descend into a month of bitter bloodshed."

He lifted his intercom.

"Then keep a keen eye for Demiran. He is the key to it all. Be ready for him."

It wasn't long before the massive enemy armies were reaching their own trench works and passing them. They were reaching noon, and the heat was becoming intoxicating. The enemy advance began to grow as they reached their frontline, and a dust cloud was forming at their backs like a storm bearing down on the allied defences.

Artillery began to roar behind them, and the armour dug in also joined the fight. They could see the enemy had little in the way of heavy armour. What had survived the crash of the K'til had largely been expended in the folly attempt to take Jerusalem. The sun glinted off the tens of thousands of Mech suits that they could see. They approached as a wall across the desert.

"Five hundred metres," said Jones.

"Prepare to fire in your own time," ordered Taylor.

"Four hundred metres."

"Steady."

"Three fifty!"

"Fire!

The opening volley was deafening as the enemy front was smashed. Every one of the Brigade took well-aimed shots, and the effect was devastating. And yet they still came.

"Two hundred metres!"

Taylor slammed in a new magazine and kept firing. He knew Demiran couldn't be far from the line they were firing on, as he would be actively seeking Mitch out. The second magazine emptied. Just a hundred and fifty metres out, Taylor caught a glimpse of something standing out in their lines; blackened armour, that of Demiran and his personal retinue. They quickly disappeared again as Mech infantry formed around them to keep moving forward.

"This is it," said Taylor. "Our opportunity is finally here."

"What are you doing, Mitch?" asked Jones hesitantly.

"2nd Inter-Allied. Lord Demiran lies ahead of us. This is our chance. This is our time to make him pay for everything he has done."

Taylor leapt out of the trench, turning his back to the enemy.

"I'm going to kill that bastard! Who's with me?" he shouted.

"Oh, hell," Jones muttered.

The Battalion arose almost like clockwork from the trenches, leaping out onto the open plain and rushing forward with their shields held before them to cover the advance.

Phillips couldn't miss the shocking sight from his position behind the lines with Harney. They were in an armoured command truck two kilometres back.

"What the hell is he doing?"

Harney rushed to the screen and shouted at an operator beside it.

"Zoom in there!"

"Demiran, it's him," replied Phillips.

Harney turned, looking at the Commander utterly puzzled.

"He thinks he can finish this. Crazy fool."

"Yes, but our crazy fool, and one who actually has some chance of doing it.”

He moved to order the rest of the Brigade forward, but it was too late, they had already followed the Colonel. Gallo was at the head of his battalion, only a few metres short of Taylor.

"Get the Fifth forward, immediate advance!" screamed Phillips.

Harney hesitated for a moment, for it seemed like suicide.

"Do it!"

"This is Colonel Harney, advance. Advance now!"

Taylor's Battalion was covering the ground at a rapid pace, and his shield had already brushed off two pulses when he got halfway. He pushed his rifle out to the side between his and Jafar’s shield to fire as they advanced. A wall of fire they were defenceless against hit the Mechs’ advance. But the first few shields were breaking under the weight of the enemy fire, and he knew they had to get past it quickly. He saw a dozen of their own fall around them and knew they'd have taken many more casualties covering the open ground.

Mitch activated his boosters and leapt ten metres off the ground, launching himself at the frontline of Mechs. He landed hard against the first one, one foot on the ground, and the other on the Mech's torso where he had smashed it to the ground. Before it could recover, he fired a burst into its head.

Jafar surged past him and barged into the next alien in his way. The nimble and strong alien ducked under one of the Mech's weapons and impeded an Assegai into the faceplate of another. Taylor looked back to their lines for just a second and could see thousands of troops rushing forwards to assist them. Many more were clambering out of the trenches to join in. He didn't know whether the order had been given of not, but it had gotten the effect he wanted.

Few could stand and do nothing when they saw the charge led by Taylor himself. Gallo was scared to death, and yet he still charged for the enemy beside the 2nd Inter-Allied.

"This is it, they're coming!" he yelled.

He turned back to the fight and saw a pulse rushing towards him. Jones jumped into the path of it, and the pulse burst over his shield, sending the debris shattering around both of them.

"This is your chance! Let's do it!" Jones shouted out.

Taylor stepped off the body of his first victim and strode forward. He could see Jafar had got ahead of them and cut down another two before they could reach him. A pulse hit Taylor's rifle as he progressed into the enemy ranks, and it was shattered in two. He unclipped it from his armour, let it drop to the ground, and drew his Assegai. Monty and Blinker were close by their side and jumped forward to help. Blinker ducked down but was hit full force by one of their cannons. It hit his face and snapped his neck.

Monty didn't hesitate and jumped forward, driving his Assegai deep into the Mech. The blade entered at its stomach and drove up into its chest, running the hilt up to its armour. He pulled out the bloodied blade and could see his brother was already dead. He had no words for it, only rushed on forward to join Taylor in the killing.

Jones' platoon smashed their way through three more ranks of Mechs, losing just a few of their own when Taylor finally came to a halt. Demiran stood ten metres away with his four bodyguards. He pulled off his helmet so he could gaze upon Taylor with his own eyes. A massive glaive was held in one of his hands, and he was clearly there for only one purpose. His bodyguards all carried the same weapon. Taylor looked to his side. Silva was with them, and Yorath led a platoon on his other side.

He looked back to the alien leader. The sun reflected off the gold decoration of his blackened armour. He could see a large scar down the alien’s face. It had not been there when he had been their prisoner. Demiran lifted his glaive and gave out a loud roar as he rushed forward.

Taylor didn't have to say a word. Twenty of the Inter-Allied soldiers with him rushed forwards. Monty was at the front and clearly after some payback. As he approached the first bodyguard, he went into a roll and smashed the alien’s legs with his shield, forcing it to tumble into a dive towards the rest of them. Jafar smashed the creature down into the dirt, bringing it to an abrupt halt and stabbed it three times in the back.

Monty was back on his feet and immediately took a blow to his shield. He thrust up against the bodyguard, but his arm was hit down, and the glaive spiralled around in the creature’s grip until it connected with his neck and took his head clean off. Taylor was on the creature next and used his boosters to leap up and strike the bodyguard in the face with the edge of the shield; then his bodyweight to drive it down to the ground. He thrust his Assegai into its eye socket while it lay stunned. The blade drove right through its skull and onto the ground.

The next creature kicked him off, but Silva and Jones smashed it back with their shields. Demiran reached them, and with all his power swung the glaive over his head and down onto Silva. He lifted his shield, but the massive blade cut it in two and removed his hand at the wrist while knocking him down onto his back. Jones tried to strike forward, but he pendulumed the blade over his head and struck with all his force horizontally. Jones' shield buckled, and he was thrown away like a ragdoll.

Demiran rushed forward to move onto Taylor who was getting back to his feet, but Jafar came from his side. He thrust quickly, but Demiran noticed in time and stepped away from him. Jafar followed with a series of quick and brutal thrusts that Demiran knocked aside. The massive glaive moved at rapid speed with the leverage and power he wielded it with. One of the bodyguards jumped in to help his Lord, but Taylor seized the opportunity and smashed his shield into the creature’s kneecap. Not even its armour was enough to save it from the fierce strike that sent it crashing down onto the body of one of the others.

Taylor thrust his weapon forward, but it was beaten aside as the alien turned, stopping his attack with its glaive held across its body. He landed on top of the creature to stop it moving the weapon any further. They were locked and unable to move. The bodyguard released one of its hands and swung a punch to his head, but he moved quickly, and it brushed his helmet. He looked back to see an Assegai imbedded in its head. Yorath was wielding the blade.

Before he could thank the young officer, a glaive pierced through his chest and spurt red blood over Taylor. Yorath released his grip on the Assegai imbedded in the creature’s head and fell. Taylor drew out the blade and jumped up at the creature with a long thrust. It evaded and knocked him away with the shaft of its weapon. But it landed against two of John's platoon. They thrust their blades into its back, killing it where it stood.

Taylor could see Jafar and Demiran locked in battle. Blood poured from Jafar's face, and a deep cut ran from his shoulder and almost to his hip. Demiran didn't have any visible injuries, but he was being pressed hard. Mitch rushed to help. Jafar ducked under one strike and jumped forward to drive his shield up against the glaive and hold it away. He thrust his Assegai quickly into Demiran's stomach, and the alien screeched out loud in pain. Demiran reached down and pulled the weapon from his belly, throwing it aside in disgust.

He kicked Jafar back, swung the glaive about his head, and brought it down hard. Jafar managed to pass the strike off with his shield, but Demiran brought the bottom ball weight around and onto his head. The strike landed so hard it smashed Jafar off his feet and down into the dirt. He lay lifeless among the dead.

Taylor stopped at the sight of it, doubting for a moment if he could beat the towering enemy Lord. He saw the Mechs all around had stopped to watch the fight, and the allies were doing likewise. Demiran yelled something in his own language to his soldiers. There was no response. They remained mesmerised by the fight.

Jones staggered to his feet and stumbled over to Taylor. He could barely walk from the multiple broken ribs and arm.

"What are they doing?" asked Taylor.

"Starting to see it. That they are going to lose. You have to do this."

Fear overcame Taylor when he saw what was being expected of him. The enemy wanted to see Demiran defeated in single combat. It was the one thing that could save countless lives on both sides. He looked down to Demiran's wound. Blood still gushed from it, and he limped a few paces as a result.

I pray Jafar did enough damage to give me a fighting chance.

"Taylor, slaver of Karadag. You could not have killed such a great Lord alone. You are weak, small, and insignificant," spat Demiran.

Taylor knew he could not show his fear.

"And yet here we are. Your death imminent, just as your kinsman died. Your people do not want to fight for you. With your death, it will be over, your entire legacy."

That angered Demiran, and he spat out on the ground. But his spit was blood from the wound.

"No, you will die at my hands, just as Colonel Chandra did."

Taylor looked into his eyes and could see he was telling the truth. It only enraged him further.

"Then it was surely she who left you that scar?"

Demiran hissed, and it was clearly true. Taylor smiled.

"You hear that? Chandra gave him that wound! He thinks me small, but he was bled by a woman who stood half his height!"

It pleased him to know so, and he knew it would do the same for the whole Battalion.

She wouldn't have died without a vicious last fight.

A Mech pushed and shoved to get through the ranks and slid back its faceplate at their flank. It was enough to turn Taylor's attention.

Tsengal, he thought. He would not say it aloud through risk of giving away his identity.

Taylor lifted his Assegai and pointed it at Demiran.

"This is between us now, and you cannot win. You cannot win because the human race won't be defeated!"

Demiran lifted his glaive and rushed at Taylor with a loud roar. Taylor spun aside from the first strike, and narrowly missing the second as Demiran used his trademark double strike, utilising the weight of the massive glaive to pendulum the long blade around. Its thrust then smashed into his shield, and the energy threw him off his feet and into a line of Mechs. Demiran rushed at him with a heavy strike, but Tsengal grabbed Taylor and threw him out of the way.

Gallo, who had been watching the fight, thought Tsengal to be attacking the Colonel and lifted his rifle, firing two shots into his chest to save Taylor.

"No!" yelled Taylor from the ground.

Demiran smiled.

“Another one of your friends? Shame."

Taylor got to his feet and kept his distance. He opened up the gap between his Assegai and shield just enough to invite a thrust, which Demiran fell for. He lunged quickly and powerfully forward. Instead of parrying, Taylor stepped aside a few centimetres and released his shield. The glaive passed between his left arm and body, and in one quick action Taylor wrapped his arm around the shaft, locking it against his body.

Demiran tried to tug the blade, but it was too late. Taylor threw his Assegai. It embedded in the creature’s chest and forced him to release his grip. Taylor quickly grasped the shaft with his other hand also and spun it around and up over his head.

"This is for Chandra!" he cried, as he brought the blade down with all his strength. Demiran lifted his arm in defence, but the massive blade cut straight through and into his skull. Taylor released his grip, and the alien Lord fell flat to the ground with the glaive firmly embedded. All watching were utterly silent and could not think of a response. Taylor quickly remembered Tsengal and rushed to his body. He spun over his friend who was wearing a full Mech suit.

"Tsengal! Tsengal!"

The alien opened its eyes for a second and spat blood.

"He's alive! Get some help over here!" he shouted to his friends. The Mechs around him watched in utter shock as he held Tsengal like one of his own. Tsengal tried to speak but passed out.

"Get some God damn medical attention here!"

Jafar staggered over to see his comrade lying in Taylor's arms.

"He's alive?"

"Barely."

Taylor realised that it was still silent and looked up to the faceless Mechs. They were gazing at the scene. It was an odd sensation, but he knew he must address them. They could see two of their own with Taylor, and that alone was clearly confusing them.

"Demiran is dead. Your reason for being here is over. You don't have to keep fighting this war! Lay down your weapons, and you will not be harmed!"

It was obviously an alien concept to them. Many looked to Jafar for answers. He was the only one of their own race standing at Taylor's side. He nodded in agreement and added his own comments. Though he spoke in English, so both sides could understand.

"The war is over! Don't die for Demiran. He is no longer your master!"

With that comment, the first few Mechs began to drop their weapons in front of Taylor and Demiran's body. Several raised their faceplates, revealing themselves to the humans.

"Spread word through your army. This is over!" Taylor shouted.

The gunfire in the distance began to die down as the message was spread.

"This is Taylor to HQ. Demiran's army is laying down arms."

Phillips could not believe what he was hearing, but he too had watched the whole seen from the camera feeds. He looked along the line of screens to see battle had all but stopped. Many of the Mechs simply lay down their weapons and retreated back towards the K'til. Others just froze where they stood.

Medics began to pour onto the scene, and Jafar was quick to strip Tsengal's armour and carry him to one of the copters. The medics appeared utterly shocked at the sight. Few had ever seen the enemy alive, let alone had to treat one. Taylor moved to Tsengal's side, as he was loaded aboard the medical copter. He regained consciousness for just a few seconds, which gave them hope. He uttered just a few words.

"Red 1, hundreds of thousands of, of, pe…"

He faded out once again.

"Tsengal!"

There was nothing more Taylor would get from their alien friend.

"Go with him," he said to Jafar.

"Thank you."

Taylor stepped aside to let them lift off. Jones hobbled up to his position.

"What did he say?"

"God only knows. We can only hope he makes it."

"You really did it. It worked."

"No, we did it."

Gallo rushed to the Colonel, weeping.

"I am so sorry, Colonel. I thought, I thought."

"Save it, you couldn't have known. Tsengal is a tough one. He'll pull through.

Tsengal had not been able to deliver Chandra's message. Taylor could see whatever he had to say was important, and that bothered him, but for now he turned to the scene of carnage before them.

"We paid a heavy price here, Yorath, Monty, Blinker, all dead. I saw dozens of others drop but not sure who. Silva's in a bad way too, Mitch.”

"Eli? Where is she?"

He turned, looking across the battlefield where they had made their charge. He couldn't believe she wouldn't have been there for the final fight. She staggered towards with him, using her rifle as a crutch. He rushed to her, grabbing her so tight thatshe squirmed in pain.

"God you scared me, Mitch."

"Demiran is dead, and most of the Mechs have surrendered or laid down arms."

She could barely believe it but sighed in relief.

"What do we do now?"

"What we fought all this time to do, live. Earth is ours."

Tsengal's words still preyed on Taylor's mind, but for now he knew they had entered a new age of peace. He was going to enjoy it while it lasted.