The engineering chief appeared before them. He was filthy dirty and working on something with a wrench.
"I’m kind of busy here, Sir."
"Chief, it's like this. If you can't get us out of here in under ten minutes, we're all dead."
"This is insane," added Wilcox, "We can't do what can't be done, Colonel."
The Chief looked appalled, but he gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement. "I'll find a way," he added before ending the call.
"He can't do it. Nobody can," Wilcox said.
Taylor strode up to him, put a hand forcefully on his shoulder, and spoke quietly in his ear, "You are not helping anyone by scaring them. As it stands, we are all dead here. Anything we can do to improve on that situation is a good thing, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yes, but..."
"But nothing. Man the fuck up and fight this. This isn't over because the enemy tells you it is."
The Captain nodded slowly. He would agree to anything Taylor said, but he still didn't believe it.
"They have clearly lifted their block on our communications, but can they listen in?" he asked.
Wilcox shrugged. "You know more about them than any of us, Colonel."
"We will assume so. I need you to send runners to relay a message. On open channels I want you to put out the order to get docking bay systems up and running."
He looked around to the guards at the entrance to the bridge.
"You are going to relay this message to everyone you see, and tell them to do the same. We are about to be boarded. Prepare to repel borders. All crew are to draw small arms and ammunition. Now go!"
They rushed onwards.
"Even with the ammunition we were supplied by Admiral Vega, our stocks are dangerously low."
"We don't need to fight for long. If the Chief can't get our engines up and running, none of this will matter. Get on the comms. It's important they hear us doing what we said we'd be doing."
"You're playing a dangerous game," said Jones.
"Come on, you and I both know that if we give them what they want, we are dead anyway. They have no use for us after this."
"Apart from you being Bolormaa's golden boy. She wants to kill you herself, doesn't she?"
"Thanks for reminding me, but this is about more than just me."
He looked down to see that half their time had gone already.
"Wilcox, you have any hard-line communications aboard that are completely isolated and secure?"
"We have a few maintenance lines that are for emergency use in the event of complete power failure."
"Trust me, this is an emergency. How many and where are they located?"
"One per floor, staggered from aft to bow every other floor, as per regulation."
"It's not great, but it'll have to do."
He turned back to Jones.
"Get down to engineering, and you make sure nobody gets near it. Take a company with you, and send my platoon this way. Once things get going, we are just gonna have to plug the holes where we need to."
"Will do," he said, as he pulled on his helmet and rushed off the bridge.
Taylor looked down at the time once again. He almost didn't want to accept it. They had less than a minute left. His stomach began to turn as he realised what they were about to face. The time soon passed.
"Colonel, we're being hailed."
"We've got four craft incoming."
"Put them through."
The Prince stood before them once again.
"Open your docking bay doors now, or we will tear them apart."
"Just give us a few more minutes. We're almost there," he pleaded.
"How did you ever kill a Prince, a puny human? You are small and weak. Pathetic!"
Taylor just nodded along.
"You should be slaves to Bolormaa, every one of you. Maybe you are not even worthy of that."
"Colonel Taylor is more than worthy. He has beaten your kind before," said Wilcox.
Taylor just shuddered as he heard the Captain come to his support.
Why now of all times did you finally find your balls?
"Enough, we will take what is ours," said Yisun before vanishing once again.
Taylor turned back to the Captain who was shaking in horror, but there was no point in ridiculing the man. It didn't matter anymore.
"The games up. Action stations, full alert, prepare to be boarded!"
Seconds later they fell the ship rock as they were hit by multiple blasts.
"We've got breaches in three decks of the docking bays!" yelled an ensign.
"Can they get aboard anywhere else?" Taylor asked.
"Armour is so thick on this vessel, that's probably the only place worth trying."
"Then that's where I am going. Sit tight, and be ready to jump the moment you can. Get us back to the fleet. If we do get out, we're gonna need some help when we arrive."
"Yeah...yes...yes..." shuddered Wilcox.
"Stay calm, Captain. We might make it out of this alive yet."
The doors to the bridge opened, and Irala raced aboard.
"What can I do?"
"Stay here, and keep the bridge safe."
He rushed off the bridge. Babacan and the platoon he had requested were waiting for him. "Come on, let's move!"
They headed towards the landing bays, and it wasn't long before they heard the echo of automatic gunfire raging. He led them to a gallery that overlooked some of the transport craft to find it was empty. Hundreds of friendly troops were dug in all around the landing area as Morohtan warriors swarmed towards them. These were not Amitads, nor drones. These were the finest warriors Bolormaa had to offer, or that they knew of.
Two dozen lay dead on the ground, but there were almost as many of their own dead and dying, too. Shots ricocheted from their thick armour, and they continued to pour through three breaches in the dock doors. Taylor lifted his rifle over the gallery wall and opened fire with quick bursts. Babacan lifted his machine gun onto the same wall and fired. They were soon cutting down the enemy and stalling their advance, but they couldn't help but think how many more were coming, and how many more breaches there were.
As Taylor put in his second magazine, he realised how low on ammunition they were once again, and as he primed his rifle, he noticed a huge figure burst through the breach ahead of them. It was unmistakeable. Yisun himself. He wore armour that was twice the thickness they had seen any other Prince wear. He carried an energy shield that looked like an upscaled version of what they used. In his other arm was a spear like weapon with winged blade tips and two barrels either side of the blades. He rushed forward under a wave of fire.
His warriors took some of them, but others bounced right off his thick armour and shield.
"Take him down!" Taylor shouted over to Babacan.
The Krys Sergeant didn't even stop the trigger as he swung the barrel around and poured fire into the Prince. It slowed his advance but didn't seem to do any damage at all. He opened fire with his spear like weapon and killed three of the marines on his opening salvo as he kept going forward. He reached the lines of defenders and leapt right in. He skewered one, stomped on another, and then cut another in two with the wings of his spearhead. It was a horror to behold, and Taylor knew they couldn't stand against it.
"Come on!" he shouted to his platoon. They left the gallery and ran onwards.
"Where are we going, Sir? The fight is back there!" Antos insisted.
He said nothing as he reached one of the emergency consoles and ripped a handset off.
"Captain! How long until we can jump?"
"I don't know. I just don't know, Colonel!"
"Well, it better be fast. We're getting murdered down here. Whatever you have to do you do it, or we're all dead!"
He slammed down the set as he looked back and forth at the faces of his platoon. They were looking to him for answers, but he didn't like the only one he had.
"Come on, follow me," he said as he turned and picked up the
pace.
No one questioned him until they reached the brig, and the reality of what he was about to do was setting in.
"You are not going to do what I think you are going to do?" Antos asked.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," replied Taylor, as they reached the door to where Zaya was being held. He stepped inside without hesitation. He knew he had nothing more to fear, as if this Prince didn't kill him, the other one would. He stepped right up in front of the creature who just waited for what he had to say.
"I am gonna lay it out simple. A Prince called Yisun has boarded us. We can't jump out till our engines are fixed. He comes to take you and the spear. I don't want that to happen, and I don't think you do either."
There was still no response.
"I have no idea if I should trust you, but I seem to be left with no choice."
He could see Zaya understood. He didn't bother asking him for any promises, as he knew they would count for nothing. He pressed a few keys on the pad on his arm, and the electrified harness disconnected. He soon began unlocking the shackles that held him in place.
"Come on, help me," he said to Antos who stood in the doorway.
The hulking marine looked scared as he approached, and they finally released the Prince. They backed off and waited for him to do something.
"We've got no beef with you," said Taylor.
Zaya stretched out and stood up fully. It was an intimidating sight.
"I don't fight for you, or with you. But I will fight them," he stated.
"That'll do."
"My weapons?"
Taylor led him to the vault. He was so large that in the smaller corridors his head touched the ceiling. He put in the access code in and then looked into the eye scanner. The vast doors slid open. Taylor led the way into the room that was barely large enough for them to both stand in. Zaya reached for his sword and shield as Taylor took up Bilgunn's hammer. It was then that Zaya caught a glimpse of the Pauri Tau inside a toughened glass security barrier.
He looked back to Taylor to see if he was going to fight him for it, but they both knew he could not.
"That in there is our hope of victory, of survival. Don't tread on me."
But Zaya didn't care for his sentiment. He punched straight through the glass with one swift strike and drew out the spear. He placed it into the protection of his shield hand.
"When this is over, you and I are gonna have words."
"No, we are not," replied Zaya.
He ran out of the vault and pushed past Taylor's platoon. Wherever he was going, it was in a great hurry, and it was right towards the sound of gunfire.
Chapter 12
"Follow him!" Taylor hollered.
They quickly picked up their pace, but Zaya was moving at an astonishing speed.
"It was a mistake to set him free," said Babacan.
"Any other day I would agree with you. But between setting him free and certain death, there isn't much choice at all!" replied Taylor.
They soon reached the sound of gunfire once more and rushed into the landing bay they had overlooked before. There were piles of bodies from both sides. Yisun stood atop a dozen bodies of the Immortals. Most of the survivors were ducking down for cover or fleeing. As Taylor stepped onto the deck, he froze when Yisun turned to face him, and there was no sign of Zaya.
"He's cut and run," muttered Antos in the background.
God I hope not!
The fighting seemed to pause almost completely as the alien Prince paced slowly towards him, as if cherishing every moment of the anticipation of killing him. Taylor was all out of ideas. He'd fight if he had to, but he didn't put much on his chances. He lifted the hammer up ready to fight.
"You are not worthy to wield that weapon," Yisun snarled.
"Yeah, well, the previous owner won't be needing it any longer."
Yisun let out an angry cry as he rushed forward with murderous intent. Taylor told himself he could handle it, but he knew it couldn't. As the creature descended on him, he tried to duck under the shield. Yisun lowered it and struck him like a bulldozer blade, the rim of the shield scraping along the deck. Taylor was picked up and thrown five metres into the nose of a transport craft. He crumpled and collapsed to the deck. He didn't have the energy or will to win this fight. He wasn't even sure he was capable of even trying to, and that made him realise he was already screwed. Still he got back up and lifted the huge hammer into two hands once again.
"I don't know what Bolormaa sees in you. Perhaps after I have killed you, she will finally see that you are nothing but a pathetic little mortal, and nothing compared to the greatness of our Queen."
"Yisun!" a booming voice rang out.
They both turned to see Zaya standing off to their flank. He was covered in blood with some of it still dripping from his blade.
"Finally, I am going to enjoy this," said Yisun.
Zaya looked to Taylor. "They are trying to stop you from jumping. If they succeed, we will all die."
Taylor got the message and was glad to leave Yisun to him. Without another word, Zaya ran forward and cannoned into Yisun. They crashed into the nose of the craft Taylor had struck, cutting the cockpit clean off. They then smashed through one of the interior walls and drove into the next hangar. Gunfire erupted as the Morohtan warriors and marines went back to their fight. Taylor ducked down for cover and took a few shots before backing out into the corridor he had come from.
"Shouldn't we help, Sir?"
"Zaya or the others, Bailey?" Taylor asked for clarification.
"Both."
He shook his head. "Only one thing matters right now, that we can jump the hell out of here. If we can't, then it's all over."
They ran onwards and soon took a bend. They collided with a platoon of Morohtan warriors. Taylor fell into one and tumbled over them. He fired a burst into the creature from the floor. Gunfire rang out overhead as the others fired at point blank range. He saw Antos take a hit to his left arm, and he let out a cry of pain. Babacan opened up with his machine gun. It was deafening in the narrow corridors, and Taylor could do nothing but stay down as the shots flew overhead. He took aim and fired a few shots more from the ground. Soon the guns went quiet.
Taylor climbed up to his feet to see one of their people dead from a shot to the face. He couldn't even make out whom it was. Antos was trailing his wounded arm, but kept his rifle up in his right.
"Keep going. I'll be fine," he insisted.
They ran onwards. Gunfire rang out through the corridors of the ship where fights were breaking out all over. They didn't have time to stop. As they drew nearer, they heard the gunfire they had expected. It gave Taylor their only hope that Jones was still holding on. They took a corner and found the Morohta advancing on an entrance to engineering. They seemed to be pushing a pavise like cover that was almost as broad as the corridor, allowing them to advance with minimal casualties, but not now. They had come up right behind it. Twenty Morohtan warriors were in plain view and completely unaware of their presence. Taylor didn't need to speak a word, as they all knew what they had to do. They quickly formed a gun line and opened fire with a vicious salvo that caught the enemy in the crossfire.
It was deeply satisfying to see them gunned down so easily. As the last of the bodies were dropping, Taylor rushed across to their position.
"Friendlies coming through!" he shouted as he leapt the pavise and kept running. The defenders had stacked up boxes of engine components and other equipment. Scorch marks ran all along it, and a line of Morohtan bodies up to and on top of the defences.
"Taylor?" Jones asked. He sounded surprised.
"How's it coming along?"
"We're almost there, or so the Chief says."
"We have bigger problems down in the hangars, a Prince."
Jones' heart sank, and Taylor could see the look of fear in his eyes.
"Why aren't you there to deal with it?"
"The Colonel sent Zaya instead," said Babacan.
"You did what!"
"It was the only play we had. That thing would have torn the whole ship part, and all of us in it."
Jones was shaking his head. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"So do I."
"That's it. We're good to go!" an enthusiastic voice rang out from far behind Jones. The Chief rushed out to announce it. "Colonel, what are you doing here?"
"You’ve got the engines up?"
"Damn right we have, Sir!"
"Then send word to the bridge, and tell Wilcox to get us the fuck out of here!"
But before he could move, Taylor felt an impact on his left ear that deafened him for a moment. Blood splashed his face, and he turned in surprise to see a new wave of Morohtans heading towards them. Jones reached over the barricade and hauled him over as the others leapt for cover.
He landed down beside the body of the Chief who had taken the shot that had skimmed him in the face. He had been killed instantly.
"You okay?" Jones asked.
He nodded in agreement as he struggled up to stand up.
"Just keep them back!" Taylor shouted.
He staggered forward into engineering until he spotted the communications console. A few of the crew were huddled around it, too scared to do anything now. He lifted the console.
"Taylor to the bridge. Taylor to the bridge."
"This is Wilcox. What is our situation?"
"Our situation is a complete clusterfuck, but the engines are online. Get us the fuck out, now, Captain!"
Gunfire still rang out in the distance as Jones and the others held off a wave of the enemy.
"Affirmative, readying jump sequence."
Taylor slumped down to the console with the handset beside his head. He could only pray that the engines would work, and that the ship would hold together. It was their last hope. The engines were firing up beside him and causing the deck below his feet to vibrate as they increased in power. It was a good sign.
"Preparing to jump in five, four, three..."
"Come on, girl, you can do it," muttered Taylor.
"Two, one...jump!"
The stomach churning feeling was a welcome relief as they made the jump.
"We made it," said Wilcox in surprise.
Battle Beyond Earth: Invasion Page 17