Battle Earth VIII

Chapter 11

Jones regained consciousness to see lights flashing around him, but his hearing was a little more delayed while he came to his senses. He did not recognise where they were, and it certainly was not where he had been fighting the last he remembered. Parker appeared before him and slapped him in the face, which did at least something to wake him.

“Good, you’re back. We need you.”

He looked around at several dead and wounded. As his hearing returned, he could hear a furious gun battle going on.

“Where are we? Why aren’t we defending the target?”

“We couldn’t hold there. They sent Mechs in against us, and we couldn’t hold.”

“But Taylor, if we didn't keep their weapons from firing, he will never make it.”

“If he hasn’t made it by now, he never was gonna.”

He tried to take it all in for a moment, but he was still a little stunned.

“We have to take back our positions and stop their weapon systems, or King and the others won’t be able to reach us.”

“How? We’re being hammered,” she replied.

Jones could hear the desperation in her voice.

“Taylor is aboard the grid, and if he can’t stop it, then it’s all for nothing now anyway. We just have to survive!” she added.

“We have to get a message to Taylor,” said Jones.

“How? With the jamming in place here, we can’t even dream of it.”

“But if we can reach the Nassau’s own comms systems, we will be able to communicate with him directly, won’t we?”

“I guess so.”

“He has to know what has happened here and that nobody is coming to his aid!”

“Why?”

“He needs to know he’s our only hope now.”

She beckoned for Herrera to come over to her.

“We need a line of communications off this boat, and we need it now!”

He looked confused.

“We’ll need access to their systems for that.”

“Where can we get it?”

“I think I know where, but getting there is a different matter.”

“I’d rather die going forward than being cornered here,” stated Jones. “Set charges on that far wall. Leave the wounded with plenty of ammunition to keep up the fight while we go onwards.”

“Leave the wounded? Those Mechs won’t show mercy,” replied Herrera.

Jones grabbed him by the shoulder. “Does it look like they’re showing any mercy at the moment? Get to it!”

He did as ordered without any further questioning.

“You really believe he’s still alive, don’t you?”

“Of course he’s still alive, Eli. If the World was afire, and humanity facing extinction, Taylor would be the last bitter survivor unwilling to give in to death.”

Jones picked up his rifle, slammed in a new magazine, and got to his feet. His knees wobbled a little as he did so, and Parker grabbed onto him.

“You okay?”

He shook it off and nodded before kneeling down and pulling a shield from one of their dead. It was a grim thing to have to do, to salvage equipment from fallen comrades, but he had no choice.

“We should never have come here,” said Parker. “We’ve done some crazy things, but to think we could take on all this and win? Either we bit off more than we could chew, or someone wants to see an end to Taylor and the Inter-Allied.”

“Perhaps getting the reputation as miracle workers isn’t always a good thing,” Jones laughed.

A massive explosion tore through the room as Herrera ignited the charges without them hearing any warning. Dust and debris filled the room as Jones rushed to the hole in the wall. He stopped for just a split second to peer into where they were heading before taking the leap. They were in a storage facility stacked to the roof with crates.

“Lead the way!” Jones hollered to Herrera.

The two were side by side as they headed for the nearest entrance they could see. Jones looked back, and he had about twenty others with him at the most. As they reached the exit, a Mech stepped into view just a metre from them. Jones didn’t even break stride. He leapt up and threw his entire weight at the creature's torso, and it tumbled out of the room. As they rolled over one another, Jones gained his footing and put the barrel of his rifle into its face. He fired a five-shot burst, killing it instantly.

Blue blood spurted out from the gaping holes, and it felt good to see after having so much human blood spilt on both sides. He looked either side, but there were no other enemies in sight.

“Must have been a sentry. Let’s move!”

He followed Herrera on down into a corridor and a few other rooms without seeing any further contact.

“This is it!” Herrera called out.

It was a sealed security door to a communications room.

“Anyone got any explosives left?”

They all shook their heads, but Jafar came storming towards the door. He fired a burst of gunfire into one spot where the edge met the frame, and then pushed his fingers into the slot and yanked it from its hinges. The huge door sprung across the corridor, narrowly missing Jones and hit the wall with a resonating clatter before smashing to the ground.

Jones stepped inside to see two personnel sitting at their workstations. They were too scared to even reach for their weapons and merely sat with their mouths open as Jafar stepped into the room.

“Do as we ask, and no harm will come to you!” Jones said.

They nodded in agreement, but they still quivered in fear. Jones ripped his helmet off. He knew his identity no longer mattered, and he needed to feel something resembling fresh air. He took in a deep breath, wiped the sweat from his brow, and clipped the helmet onto his belt.

“You aren’t.... Colonel Taylor,” one of them insisted.

“Shut up and do as I ask of you,” he replied. “I want a direct communicate to a personal comms unit off ship.”

They did not answer.

“I know you can do it, so don’t make me ask again.”

Jafar stepped a little closer and stood intimidatingly over them.

“Okay, okay,” said one. She was a short petite woman and looked like a child compared to Jafar who loomed over her. Jones tapped a few keys on his Mappad and then walked over and held it in front of her.

“This is who I want to speak to.”

“No way this is gonna be a safe line,” said Parker.

“Nope, but it doesn’t matter anymore.”

The comms operator put in the details, and a moment later the call was accepted. A repeated heavy banging noise came over the speakers like metal beating on metal, until finally they heard Taylor’s voice.

“Who the hell is this?” he asked.

“This is Jones.”

“Yeah, right, you won’t fool me again, you assholes.”

Parker interrupted.

“Mitch, it’s Eli. This is legit.”

“Eli? How the hell did you get this message through?”

“Don’t have time to explain right now,” added Jones. “The Nassau is now fully operational, and there is nothing we can do about it. You’re on your own.”

The video screen flickered before them as Taylor activated his camera feed on his Mappad.

“What sort of shape are you in?”

“Still standing, Mitch,” though Taylor knew it wasn’t good.

“Can you still disable the defence grid?” Jones asked.

Taylor had the look of defeat on his face, and they could all tell from the background on the video he was hold up somewhere and with few people left.

“I can try.”

Parker began to speak, but gunfire lit up the room, and Taylor lost the feed.

“Eli? Jones!” There was nothing. He looked around to the other three who were with him. They looked as lost as he did. They were locked in a large empty storage facility. Mechs were banging on the door, trying to get through and kill them.

“If we stay here, we die. If we open that door, we may well die,” he stated.

“I’m not dying up here,” said Herbert.

“If we don’t get past these bastards, it was all for nothing. We might as well have put our feet up in France and watched the whole World go to hell. I don’t know about you, but the idea we did all this for nothing sure pisses me off.”

They all nodded in agreement.

"We’re gonna open this door, and we’re gonna take these bastards down anyway we can, you got it?”

“Hell, yes,” Little replied.

“Sergeant, be ready on that door.”

They each took up positions and held up their shields ready for the onslaught.

“On my go… now!”

The thick steel doors slid apart, revealing nine creatures that did not hesitate to charge at them. Shots were fired from arm mounted weapon systems. Taylor leapt into the air over the first and spun in the air firing a burst in the head of his attacker before descending on the next one. As he landed on the Mech’s shoulders, it threw its shield up at him.

Taylor was thrown off the creature, and his rifle snapped in half by the impact. He rolled across the floor and back up onto one knee, just in time to see two of the Mechs rushing towards him. From his flank, Herbert crashed into one of the Mechs and sent it tumbling into the other. Taylor seized the moment and rushed forward, frantically stabbing the nearest one several times before it could get to its feet. Herbert did the same.

They looked up to see Private Ball being pushed back and fending off strong thrusts from two of the Mechs. They were using a version of the Assegai twice the length of their own. Little was nowhere to be seen, but another three Mechs were rushing at him. Taylor passed off a thrust from one of them with his shield, but as he attempted to counter, the creature tried to crush him with its vast shield.

Taylor was knocked down onto one knee, barely managing with both hands to hold up his shield from the crushing blow. All he could see now were the Mechs' feet. He thrust his Assegai into the nearest and then drove up and stabbed again into the upper thigh area, pushing forwards with his shield until the creature was knocked onto its back and unable to support its own weight.

Mitch landed on the beast, but it had its shield dividing them just as he had done. Before he could strike again, the Mech pushed its shield up and launched him up like he’d come off a springboard. As he flew up, the Mech staggered to get to his feet, and he could see he was going come back down on the creature; it was waiting to stab him with its weapon. He gave his boosters a little kick to alter course, turned to land behind the Mech, and with all the strength he could muster, thrust his Assegai into its back.

He could tell it was dead because he felt the weight begin to fall back against him. In disgust, he pushed forward which threw the body down onto the floor face down. Mitch turned back and saw Herbert was repeatedly stabbing his opponent where it still stood. Taylor spun around and found Ball backed against a wall by the last remaining Mech. He could see one he had already killed on the floor a few metres from him.

Taylor threw his Assegai across the room, hitting Ball’s attacker between the shoulder blades. The creature recoiled for a moment and then staggered until it toppled to the floor. But as it unblocked his view of Ball, he could see the Private was pinned against the wall by the creature's Assegai. The weapon was driven through his thick armour at the abdomen.

“No,” whispered Taylor.

He and Herbert rushed to the Private and removed his helmet. Blood was gushing from his mouth. The weapon that had gone through him was thicker than a scaffold pole, and they both knew there was no hope.

“Sorry, Sir,” he muttered, as even more blood spat out from his mouth.

Taylor could see the Private had killed one of his attackers and wounded the other before being struck.

“No, I am sorry. Don’t you apologise for anything. You fought hard and you fought well.”

It left a bitter taste in Taylor’s mouth that he had only gotten to know the dying man that day, despite having served together for so long.

“You won’t die for nothing, Ball. We came here to get the job done, and you better believe we’re gonna do it.”

Ball nodded, but he could no longer speak. He took his last breath and died still pinned to the wall.

“Damn fine soldier, Sir,” said Herbert.

“They all were, everyone we have ever lost.”

“Help, help me,” came a muted call.

They had forgotten about Little, and they could hear him pleading for assistance. They walked back through the dead towards the sound until they found another Mech. The voice was coming from underneath, and they could see Little’s left arm and shield stuck out from beneath the body.

“Help me,” said Taylor.

The two of them got down low and pushed until the creature toppled over to one side and revealed the Private trapped below. His Assegai was embedded in the lifeless creature.

“I’m alive!” he cried ecstatically.

Herbert hauled him to his feet, but the smile was quickly removed when he saw the body of Ball.

“Fuckers, mother fuckers, they killed him!”

Taylor grabbed the Private and shook him until he was silenced.

“We’ve all lost a lot of friends against these bastards, but this isn’t the time to cry over them. Pick up your weapon, and let’s do what we came to do.”

It was a sobering message that the Private reluctantly accepted. He drew out the Assegai and stared at the blue blood dripping down over his gloves.

“I’m gonna kill them all. I’m gonna kill every fucking alien!”

“Then follow me.”

“They must know by now you have made it here and are not aboard the Nassau,” said Herbert.

“Surely. All that remains is the question, can they stop us?”

“Stop us? No one can stop us!” screamed Small.

He was psyched up and ready to kill, just as he needed to be. The main control deck for the defence grid was up ahead, and they stopped on seeing what was guarding it; Elite Krys Mechs, just like Jafar and Tsengal. Their presence sent a chill down Taylor’s spine, for he knew where they go, so do Alien Lords.

Where the hell is Jafar when you need him? Taylor thought.

“Can we take ‘em?” asked Herbert.

“We don’t have a choice.”

As he said it, a door opened at their flanks, and twenty metres inside were twenty Mechs.

“Oh, shit,” Taylor sighed.

He knew they were done for now, but in that moment Little did something both suicidal and incredible. He raised his shield up and sprinted for the Mechs.

“No!” Taylor hollered.

It was too late.

“Come on, you square headed bastards!” the Private screamed.

As he passed through the door, he punched the release switch. The doors began to shut, and they saw a few flashes as Private Little blew out the control switch and cut the creatures off. Taylor thought he had gone made with bloodlust for the loss of his friend, but he’d also given them the only chance they would get.

Taylor turned to Herbert in surprise, but the Sergeant showed nothing but pride for what his man had done.

Two against two, Taylor thought to himself, not bad odds.

The two Krys soldiers wore agile and close fitting armour, just as Jafar and Tsengal had. It was adorned with elaborate silver symbols and detailing. It reminded him of the last time he had seen Demiran; the day he had killed the alien Lord. But these symbols were different. He assumed they must serve a different Lord, and that was a terrifying prospect.

‘Think you can handle this?” he asked Herbert.

The Sergeant didn’t reply, but he looked confident enough it was an answer in itself. The two creatures were armed differently with what appeared to be their own unique weapons. He studied them, and they stepped out into the open room to face off against the two humans.

One carried a pole weapon two metres long, with what looked like an iron ball one end and a double headed axe the other. The other dropped a hollowed out sphere to the floor. It had spikes protruding from every angle and a chain running up to the creature's grip. In its other hand it carried a metre-long curved blade that was glowing from some energy source connected to the alien's suit.

“We get past these bastards, and we’ve got a free run at it. They are all that stands in our way; all that stands in the way of the success of this mission. One of us has to make it through.”

The two creatures simply stood their ground, blocking the path they had to take, and waiting for Taylor and Herbert to come to them. He couldn’t decide which he’d rather fight less because both looked ready to take his head clean off. He turned to Herbert and nodded. It was all that the Sergeant needed to see as confirmation to attack. He jumped towards the pole weapon-wielding alien, firing on full auto as he did.

The alien leapt aside to dodge the rounds and swung the massive weapon around towards Herbert’s legs. The Sergeant jumped at the last moment, but only one leg fully cleared the weapon. The shaft clipped his other leg and sent him into a tumble. His rifle was smashed as he crashed over it, but he landed back on one knee with his hand already on his Assegai.

It was Taylor’s turn now. He went forward but didn’t know quite what to expect from the beast. Then with lightning speed the Mech snapped the chain, and the ball of the weapon came flying directly for his head. He moved his shield over barely in time, and the ball struck the corner taking it clean off. The impact was just enough to divert the weapon over Taylor’s head. But as he continued on, the creature yanked the weapon back, and the ball smashed him in the back, almost taking him off balance.

In that moment, the alien swung the huge curved blade to his right side beyond the reach of his shield. He turned and quickly spun around in time to catch it with his shield and spin past the creature. Sparks flew from the shield, but the sword had cut halfway through his armour.

Shit!

He now stood three metres from the creature and knew he had to close the distance. He circled it, and trying to find some way past the chain weapon that wouldn’t see him cleaved in two by the sword. He heard beside him the clash of weapons as Herbert went forward. He had to rely on the Sergeant to take on the other; he was having a hard enough time against the one he was fighting.

Before he could think any longer, the ball came at him once again. He leapt aside and narrowly avoided it, but on the return it lashed around his shield, and the creature launched him through the air. He crashed into a wall and felt the wind knocked out of him.

That's it! I've had enough.

He got back up, holding the shield forward, and slipped his Assegai into his shield grip without the creature being able to see.

He circled the creature and waited for it to yank the chain back to throw at him once again. As it did, he moved his shield aside and drew his pistol like a gunslinger, firing three shots from the hip. Two of them struck the chain when it was at the moment of changing direction. It split apart and the bladed sphere was launched back across the room and embedded in the wall. Taylor smiled at his ingenuity and fine shooting, but the creature cried like a banshee, rushed at him and swung a quick and strong vertical strike. He dodged the blade that took a heavy slice into the floor, but a second later it was coming at him again.

He took the impact with his shield, and the blade carved in thirty centimetres, stopping just millimetres from his arm. This was his chance. With the blade embedded, he twisted the shield and levered it from the creature's grip. Simultaneously, he struck at the cable to the power source of the weapon with his Assegai and severed it from the creature's suit.

It worked, but the alien backhanded him a moment later. He was thrown to the ground, and the shield was tossed aside. The alien was unarmed now but came at him viciously. First it stamped down at him, but he rolled out of the way and back onto one knee, but a second kicked launched him through the air and against a wall. He was at least on his feet now.

“Come on, you ugly son of a bitch!” he shouted.

The alien did just that and rushed towards him, swinging a furious horizontal strike at him. The alien's anger was its undoing. He cool-headedly waited for the perfect moment, jumped over the attack, and took hold of the alien's neck. He rolled over and snapped the creature over onto its back. Instantly, and before it could recover, he drove his Assegai down into its chest. It let out a shriek in agony and punched him hard in the face. Taylor recoiled back and watched in amazement. The creature leapt back to its feet, pulled the weapon out, and tossed it aside.

“Die already,” he muttered.

He had nothing left now. The beast came for him with a hammer blow from above. He raised his arm to parry, but the weight of the blow shook his legs, fortunately not enough to make him fall. He punched with all his strength to the gushing open wound, and the beast fell back, cupping it in agony.

Taylor looked around for a weapon and noticed the bladed ball in the wall with much of the chain still attached. He grabbed the chain and ripped it out. It was the closest he’d had to holding a football since college and gave him a great idea. He launched it up and over the beast as it came at him, and then yanked the chain back. The weapon smashed into the back of the alien’s head and dug in deep. It was dead at last and tumbled down to the floor.

With a sigh of relief, he looked over to Herbert. He was on one knee with his attacker standing over him. Both had a grip on the huge pole weapon the creature used.

“Right, you bastard,” Taylor said.

He picked up his blood soaked Assegai, rushed at the creature, and drove it deep up into its rib cage. It swung around to get a hold of him, but he ducked under and stabbed again and again until it slumped dead. He offered out his hand to the Sergeant who was battered and bloody but still breathing.

“Time to end this,” he stated.

The Sergeant gladly took his offer and was hauled to his feet. Taylor hit the button entry to the room they had fought so hard to reach, half expecting to find an army awaiting them, but there was no one.

“We’re in luck,” he said.

It was hard for either of them to believe, but they didn’t want to question it. There were screens all around the room, showing both the interior and exterior of the ship. The very middle screen had all the ground targets programmed in, including over a dozen capitol cities.”

“My God,” Herbert said, “they were really going to do it.”

“Colonel Taylor,” said a deep and booming voice behind them. They both spun around with their weapons raised as their pulses pounded. An alien Lord stood before them who looked not unlike Demiran. His armour glistened as if lights shining on diamonds. Spikes protruded from every joint, but he not carry a weapon.

Before another word could be said, Taylor threw his Assegai for the alien’s head. To his surprise it made no attempt to move. The blade passed through with no resistance or effect, striking a monitor behind the creature.

“It’s a hologram,” said Herbert.

Thank God, Taylor thought.

Neither of them had the strength to fight such an opponent.

“What do you want?”

“The question is what do you want?” he responded.

Great, an alien who speaks in fucking riddles. Now I get to be bored to death, too.

Taylor glanced at Herbert, knowing they must stay focused.

“You know what to do. Deactivate all weapon systems.”

The Sergeant quickly complied and went for the main console.

“You have a choice, Colonel. Save millions of people, or save your friends.”

Taylor didn’t want to hear anymore of it, but the subject matter was one he could not ignore.

“All right, you ugly bastard. Quit beating about the bush, and say your piece.”

In all honesty, he was terrified of the alien Lord's presence, as two had come close to killing him before, but he would not admit it or show fear in the face of another.

“I am Erdogan, and I have come to do what my counterparts could not.”

Taylor knew the name, and he knew what that meant. The most powerful of the Krys Lords was here.

This can’t be good. But he had no choice to play along.

“Go on…”

“In ten of your Earth minutes, the weapon systems of this device will destroy key cities of you and your allies. I have seen fit to isolate the key weapon systems from this grid so that they cannot be shut down remotely.”

Taylor looked back to Herbert. The Sergeant looked horrified, and that was all the confirmation Taylor needed.

“What the hell do you want?”

Erdogan ignored the question and continued.

“I have been studying you, Colonel, for a long time now, and I know how to hurt you. In ten minutes, you may get to the other weapon systems and deactivate them. Or in those precious few minutes, you may get aboard the Nassau and save your friends. Jones, Parker, I know them all.”

Taylor was frozen and began to shake and sweat with nervousness and anger. He rolled it over in his head and tried to find a way out.

“Your choice, Colonel, your friends or your planet. You have ten minutes.”

As he said it, the hologram ended, and a timer started on the main screen in the room. He rushed over to the Sergeant who was frantically flicking through keys on a touch pad.

“What’s our situation?”

“Silos 12 through 26 have been isolated from the system through two control points. If we go now, we may just reach them in time, but there is nothing we can do from here. Some of the nukes can be stopped by counter measures on the ground, but many are beam weapons that cannot be stopped.”

He looked up to one of the monitors which displayed the Nassau and thought of his friends aboard.

“We have to go now, Colonel. That is what they would want. If we don’t go now, millions will die!”

Taylor calmed his breathing and thought about it for a moment and then responded. “No, I won’t do it. I won’t let this bastard make me choose.”

“What would you have us do?”

He froze for ten seconds, and Herbert grew more impatient.

“Do you still have control of the other silos?”

He looked down at the screens.

“Yeah, about half of them, why?”

He took a deep breath and answered. “Target silos 12 through 26, and destroy them immediately.”

Herbert looked at him in disbelief.

“You want to destroy the defence grid? Those were not our orders.”

“Not then, but things have changed somewhat, wouldn’t you say?”

Herbert was silent.

“What will happen if we fire silo on silo?”

“I believe it will trigger automatic response systems. The silos would destroy one another.”

“Then fire all but two.”

Herbert looked confused.

“Just do it!”

The Sergeant punched in the targets and then held his hand over the authorisation switch to open fire. Taylor couldn’t wait any longer and turned it himself. The two of them stepped back and watched as gun ports opened along the massive defence grid. Missiles flew across space and were soon met with beams smashing into parts of the station.

It was utter chaos and destruction; huge segments were blown apart and pulled into the Earth’s atmosphere.

“We’re in deep shit for this,” stated Herbert.

“Only if we live through it,” he replied.

Taylor looked at his watch. Three minutes had passed and their work on the defence grid was all but done.

“What now?” Herbert asked.

“With whatever we got left, target the power generators of the Nassau and take them out, along with any other nearby vessels.”

Herbert opened his mouth to question it, but Taylor only stared back. He obliged and punched in the codes, and a salvo of fire erupted from what was left of the defence grid.

“You know how many trillions of dollars of stuff you just destroyed?” asked Herbert.

“Me? You pushed all the buttons.”

Herbert looked a little pale.

“Our work here is done. Let’s go and save the Regiment.”

Herbert looked around as if to ask ‘with what army?’, but Taylor headed for the door anyway. He stopped on hearing gunfire, and out from another corridor in the intersection came Captain Grey. He was covered in blue blood and carrying a shield that had been carved in two, yet he still held it.

“Nice of you to finally join the party.”

Lieutenant Spears strode out with him. They were little more than thirty in total.

“This is everyone?” asked Taylor.

Grey nodded grimly, and he could see they had suffered greatly fighting their way there. He understood now why they had met comparatively little resistance; Grey had taken the hits for them.

“Did you deactivate the weapons? Did you get it done?” asked Grey.

“In a fashion,” muttered Herbert.

“It’s a long story. Right now we need off this heap. We need to get aboard the Nassau. Know a way of making that happen?”

“There’s a shuttle a little way back, nothing great but it should fly,” stated Spears.

“Then lead the way. We’re riding to the rescue of Jones, so buckle up because it’s gonna be a rough ride!”

They rushed at speed behind Spears who was covering ground quickly and moving with real purpose. They reached the shuttle and found it was of civilian nature; shiny and new, but without any weapons or armour to speak of.

“How the hell are we going make it through an enemy fleet in this?” asked Grey.

“You’ll see,” replied Taylor with a smirk.

They were airborne in less than two minutes, but as they got out into space, the faces of the troops were of shock. They looked out at the debris of countless ships, and parts of the station they had been aboard burning.

“What the hell did you do?” Grey asked.

“What I had to, trust me.”

Herbert was still shaking his head in astonishment.

“He put the lives of our Regiment before all others.”

“What do you mean?”

“We probably could have shut down those weapons in the time we had, but we never could have saved Jones and the others. Taylor took out the weapons and gave us a clear path to the Nassau.”

Grey shook his head in disbelief.

“What is it, Captain?” asked Taylor.

“This is gonna come back to bite us in the arse.”

“Yeah, well, pretty much everything seems to. Let’s just get our people out of there, and I’ll call it a victory.”