She looked up at him, surprised it had even worked, but Taylor didn't waste any time. He jumped in to find themselves in a decompression room. Alita sealed the door behind them. They were shoulder to shoulder in the confined space with no room to move at all. Babacan was hunched down, for he could not even stand up with the limited headroom. The feeling of weightlessness faded, and Taylor saw his console was reading an oxygen and breathable environment. He released his visor. It unlocked and retracted back into his helmet. It was a relief to have it off his face.
"Damn they really are little fuckers," he joked, looking at the hunched down Babacan and felt his helmet brushing the ceiling. He pointed to the door that would lead into the belly of the vessel.
"Once we go through that door, we do not stop. It doesn't matter what happens, who gets hurt, we find a dozen enemy combatants, or even two hundred. A lot of people are relying on us today. More than any of you can imagine. You thought the mission to destroy the hub was the most important one you had ever undertaken? Forget it, this is all that matters now. So follow me, and don't stop, not for anyone or anything, you got it?"
They didn't need to say a word. He opened the door and stepped out first into a three metre wide corridor. He didn't hesitate or cautiously peer around into the room they were heading. Whatever was out there, it wouldn't change his course of action. He leapt out and moved forward at a steady jog, his rifle held ready to take aim in a split second. Like everything he had ever seen of Cholan decor, it was lavish and garish in every way; an excess and decadence Taylor just didn't understand.
There was no sign of clutter in sight, or in fact equipment, personnel, nothing. They were in a corridor that could just as well have led to the entrance of a palace. They had not seen a single exit yet, either.
"What do they even do with all this space?"
"If you wanted to make a statement, wouldn't you want the biggest ship in the Alliance?"
Taylor shook his head, but he knew Alita was right.
"I bet they don't have even have half the crew or marines you would want for this size of vessel," added Alita.
"We can only hope," replied Taylor.
His voice faded out as he noticed a bend up ahead and went on in silence. He took the turn with his rifle still held up ready to fire. As he did, he found two Cholan crewmembers approaching. They appeared unarmed and carried tool boxes in both hands. But he did not hesitate; he double tapped both of them in the centre body and rushed on past. He looked down just for a split second to check they were dead. Alita felt bad for them, but she knew Taylor had no choice.
Taylor checked the map displayed on his console for just a second as they reached an intersection, and he veered off towards the bridge. They came face to face with six Cholan marines. They were armed with carbines and wore body armour over just their torsos and tall ceremonial looking Shako hats on their heads. The hats were lavishly decorated and excessively large in some attempt to make them look bigger and more imposing. But to Taylor they looked like toy soldiers. He opened fired with a three-shot burst at the first of them while still moving forward at a jogging pace.
The powerful rifle rounds hit the marine's weapon and armour, penetrating without any resistance at all. Riddled with bullets, the Cholan dropped lifelessly to the deck. Alita opened fire, and they each cut down another two of the marines, but the last of them managed to bring his carbine to bear and in a panic held the trigger down. An uncontrolled burst of fire landed all around them, and Taylor felt the impact of one of the shots on his abdomen, though his armour easily passed off the impact. Both he and Alita riddled the last marine with bullets, but they knew the cat was out of the bag.
"That's not good," said Taylor. He stopped for just a moment and waited in silence. A seemingly long and painful ten seconds went by as they waited for some kind of response. For a moment they could all hope and believe they had got away with it. That the gunfire had gone unnoticed, but it was not to be. The lights began to strobe and alarms rang out, and they knew the game was up.
"Come on, let's move it!" Taylor yelled.
He leapt into action and ran forward at twice the pace of before, with no care in the world or fear of danger at all. The others could only follow after him in amazement.
"Give it a few minutes, and the whole ship will be shut down," said Alita.
"Then we better haul ass!" Taylor hissed.
He hit a button on his console, and his shield ignited and lit up. He knew stealth was no longer of use, but he didn't have a second to waste removing the suppressor from his rifle. There was a doorway up ahead, and two crewmembers were hastily attempting to close it manually. The electronics had failed, and it had stopped halfway. There were several more Cholans behind them. He fired at the first and hit him with two shots to the head, and he was thrown through the doorway.
The other crewmember ducked back behind the doorway. A few seconds later, his sidearm was thrust through the opening and was firing wildly. Shots ricocheted around them. Amazingly, one managed to strike Taylor's shield immediately in front of his face. He rushed to the doorway and pushed his shield up against the opening and stopped to pull a grenade from his webbing, but Babacan didn't stop. The Krys marine ran into the broken door at full speed. It barely slowed his pace as he smashed through and flattened the Cholan on the other side.
Gunfire rang out as he fired at another, and then swung his rifle around and smashed the barrel onto the next Cholan, crushing his skull with the power of the impact and throwing him into the sidewall. The last two turned and ran, but Taylor fired two shots into each of their backs, and they slumped and slid to a halt. Alita shook her head in dismay. It was like gunning children down. They could do nothing against the armour and strength of their team, and yet it had to be done.
They continued on and found themselves in a broad and unnecessarily high ceiling room. It was the approach to the bridge and adorned with jewels and crystal chandeliers. It appeared more akin to a historic palace than a warship. Over thirty Cholan marines were dug in around an improvised barricade up ahead, almost a hundred metres along the lavish and utterly useless corridor. The others formed up beside Taylor in what would have been a neat line, were it not for Babacan towering over them.
Nobody moved, no weapons fired, and no one spoke a word at either end as each side studied the other. Taylor pressed a key on his console, and a small lens slid down over his one eye, providing a telescopic image. He could see the faces of the Cholan warriors. They were terrified. He pressed another key, and a small microphone lowered from the side of his helmet. As he began to speak, the microphone and tiny speaker elevated his voice so that it echoed down the length of the room for all to hear.
"Lay down your weapons and let us pass! You do not have to die here, and we do not wish to kill you. But if you do not do this, you will die."
He took a deep breath, watching them look at one another. Some seemed ready to accept, but one of the officers shook his head, and that kept the others in line. Taylor was disappointed and both sighed and shrugged at the same time. He opened the ports to the single use charges mounted in his shoulder armour, and the others followed suit.
"Let's do this!"
He fired the charges. They soared the length of the corridor and ignited inside the barricades. They were followed by many more as all of them unloaded. Cholan bodies were thrown out over the barricade as they were hit by the salvo. It went silent, and then all they heard were the faint echoes of the wounded crying out in agony.
"Last chance!" yelled Taylor, "Lay down your weapons!"
The officer peered out from over the barricade, and Taylor saw him taking aim. He raised his shield just in time as a single shot struck the energy shield at chest height.
"That's how it is," he muttered.
He looked either side of him and didn't need to say a word. They all held their shields out in a defensive wall and began to advance, quickly accelerating so that they were almost sprinting towards the enemy. The C
holans opened fire with everything they had. Shots hit the shields and walls around them. Taylor felt one impact on the greave armour on his shin. It was enough to almost take him off balance, but failed to penetrate.
* * *
Jones stopped for just a moment to peer around a corner. He knew they were close to the engine bays now, and they had left only a handful of bodies in their wake. It was clear, except for a single Cholan talking to another via a screen in the wall. He was side on to Jones and had not seen him. He waited ten seconds in hope of the call ending, and to his amazement it did.
"We're in luck," he whispered to himself.
He raised his rifle to take a shot, but hesitated as he heard the Cholan continue to talk. He was still in audio communication with someone else on the ship. Jones knew he could not risk a shot and have the crewman give off any sign of what was afoot. He tried to take aim for a headshot, but the Cholan was constantly moving back and forth, as he accessed some sort of console of controls along the wall. Jones lowered his rifle and drew out his Assegai. He raised his hand to signal for the others to stay put, stepped out into the dimly lit corridor, and crept towards the solitary crewman.
A monotonous and continuous drone from the ship’s power sources covered the small noises his feet made, and he soon found himself just two metres away. The Cholan turned as if he might have heard something. Jones froze for a moment, trying to decide whether to pounce or wait. The Cholan went back to his work and continued chatting to someone via his comms. Jones was relieved and just about to continue on when an alarm sounded, and red emergency lighting began to flash.
The Cholan spun around and froze as he found Jones standing before him. Neither made a move for a few seconds as they stared each other down. The Cholan looked terrified by the huge armoured soldier, but then quickly reached for the sidearm on his belt. Jones' instincts cut in, and he leapt forward, driving the Assegai into the man's chest. He cupped his mouth with his left hand so that he could not get a word out. Even though he knew Taylor must have been discovered, there was no need to give away their position, too.
It made him feel a little sick to see the life drain out of the Cholan, but he held firm, and the Cholan collapsed unconscious from the massive blood loss. He let the body drop to the deck and looked back to his team, beckoning for them to join him.
"We're almost there."
"But what about the Colonel?" one of them asked.
"Taylor may have been captured, maybe not, but it doesn't matter either way. We have one mission to do, and we are going to make sure it gets done."
He sheathed his Assegai, lifted up his rifle again, and continued on towards the engines. He looked down at his map to see they were approaching the hub that was the only entry point to engineering. He stopped at the end of the corridor and peered around the bend to see for himself.
Jones gasped. More than twenty Cholan marines lay about the hub, and he could make out two heavy weapon positions at the entrance. Further automated weapons scanned the area, and two small armoured vehicles were posted there, too. They were small vehicles, no taller than a Human, with a small turret atop them. To Jones' eyes they looked like a children's toy version of what he might use, but well armed and armoured, and intended for use in the confines of the ship.
"Guess they prepped for this," he muttered to himself.
Bailey looked around, and her eyes widened at all that stood in their way.
"What are we going to do about that? That is an army," she said in horror.
Jones shook his head as he tried to find an answer, but he was speechless.
Chapter 2
Taylor leapt into the air, and his suit carried him a metre over the barricades and heads of the first rank of Cholans. He landed on one of them and crushed him dead with his bodyweight alone. He was already firing with his rifle as he landed and struck another one dead with two shots to the chest. He spun around and clouted the next with his shield. It flashed as the alien connected with the translucent energy and was thrown three metres, smashing into a sidewall. Its spine snapped as it broke over a support beam.
He felt a burst of rounds hit his back, and he turned quickly and found the Cholan officer standing before him. The man who could have let them lay down their arms and live, but would not. The shots had only just brushed the surface of the Colonel's armour, and he returned two shots of his own that killed the officer instantly.
Finally, the room fell silent, and Taylor looked around for any sign of life. There was none. They had cut through the Cholans with ease. Alita couldn't help but feel it wasn't fair, but she was glad to be alive, and that thought overwhelmed all her concerns. Taylor looked at the door to the bridge and could see a small camera tracking his motion from above.
"Come on, Eme, open the damn door!" he shouted.
The Admiral was suddenly projected before him from a piece of glass attached to the camera.
"Colonel Taylor, you have conducted an illegal and immoral violent action during peaceful negotiations. You have broken the very rules of the Alliance you work for, and now ask me to stand down as the leader of a sovereign nation. No, Colonel, you are ordered to stand down, and surrender alongside the Alliance leaders. For you will soon realise that you have no choice, just as they do. This is your final warning, Colonel."
Taylor smiled as he drew out a large explosive device from his back. He walked right through the projection of Eme and towards the door. Just before he reached it, a hatch opened over the door beside the camera. A large three-barrelled gun extended out and aimed towards him. Taylor responded quickly by grabbing hold of one of the barrels, ripped the gun from its mounts, and threw it down the corridor behind him. He looked back at the projection to see Eme looked horrified.
"You're going to regret ever turning your back on us, you spineless bastard," replied Taylor, as he threw the magnetic device onto the doorway and took a few steps back.
"Now, Admiral, this is your last chance. Open this door and surrender unconditionally, or die by my hand. Either way, the Nakbe is mine."
The projection ended. Taylor waited for ten seconds, all the time Eme needed to give up and open the door, but that never happened. Taylor dropped the magazine from his rifle and slotted in a full one, unclipping the suppressor and lifting his arm to access the controls on his console. He looked back to his team for just a second, and then nodded to give them the go ahead. He pressed a key and the charge blew. It was loud, but far from deafening. The device provided a breach just far enough to force the door from its mounts, and it smashed down to the floor.
Lights flashed and shots flew through the opening. Two of them struck Taylor's shield, but he was not deterred. He advanced with his shield before him and his rifle barrel just reaching around its right side. He fired a burst of suppressing fire; the others advanced relentlessly at his side and rear. The smoke from the breach soon dispersed, and he could see one Cholan already dead.
They finished the last few who opposed them. Several of the crew had already laid down weapons, the rest were huddled behind their stations in fear of Taylor and his people.
"Where are you, Eme? Show yourself!" Taylor ordered.
He looked around to every corner of the bridge. At last the Admiral stood up from behind the navigation station. He still seemed confident and defiant, qualities not shared by any of his crew. He brought up a display screen showing the jump gateway, and they could hear the engines of the vast vessel powering up.
"The course is already set, the future already written. We will soon be back in Cholan space, and you will have no choice but to surrender," he said.
Taylor smiled as he pressed a button and opened a comms channel.
"Jones, cut it."
A few seconds later the engine noise faded away, and several warning lights flashed on consoles around the bridge.
"You're not going anywhere," Taylor said, smiling.
"Several Cholan vessels are preparing to fire."
Taylor turned to see Alita
was looking at the Admiral's own war table. The entire formation was projected before, it with the manoeuvre and action of every vessel in the fleet.
"You are already too late," said Eme.
The two heavy cruisers opened fire on the Alliance space station, and the badly damaged fleet that had returned there. They were the crews that had seen Taylor's mission to success, and it made him feel sick to know those who were supposed to be their allies were now killing them.
"Call them off!"
But Eme shook his head. "I will not."
Taylor rushed forward, grabbed the little alien by his collar, and hauled him over to the console where Alita watched the battle erupt. The table displayed every ship in live 3D, including the gunfire being exchanged. He drew his sidearm and put it to Eme's head.
"Call them off now!" he screamed.
The Admiral seemed oddly calm and shook his head once again.
Taylor sighed, knowing it would get them nowhere, and he didn't want to be seen as the villain by the Admiral's crew. He smacked the alien over the head with the butt of his pistol and knocked him unconscious. He looked back to the display. Volleys from both of the heavy cruisers flanking the Nakbe were pounding the station. They had closed towards the Alliance fleet to shield the Nakbe. Three Human vessels had already been destroyed, and Jafar's own ship was burning.
"What do we do?" Alita asked desperately.
Taylor thought for just a few seconds, "Can you get control of the weapon systems?"
Battle Beyond Earth Box Set Page 22