The woman beside him hauled her wounded colleague into cover as Rogers reached the entrance on the opposite side of Jones. He saw what had caused him to hesitate. Rogers looked just as horrified as gunfire streamed down the corridor towards them, and the wave of soldiers approached. He ducked back, primed an HE grenade, and stopped for a moment. They both knew how gut wrenching it was, and Jones could barely believe what he was seeing.
Rogers took a deep breath, launched the grenade, and ducked back into cover. He closed his eyes as if instantly regretting what he had done, or at least hating the fact he was compelled to do it. The charge blew, and screams rang out from those not killed instantly but horrifically maimed. It was the worst sound in the world to them, none of them accustomed to fighting their own kind. A relentless enemy meant nothing to them at all, but these were men and women who once served beside them. Rogers still couldn't bring himself to move or open his eyes. But then he heard movement beside him, and his eyes shot open. One of them had reached him and had a rifle pointing right at him.
A shot rang out, and the man dropped dead. Jones had shot him. Rogers wanted to thank him, but it was hard to feel good about any of it. Taylor was back on his feet and knocked into Rogers as he tried to find his balance.
"Ugly, isn't it?" Taylor muttered.
"She is using our own people against us. We are killing each other because of her," said Jones.
"That is war, always has been. You've been lucky enough until this time to have to fight those you truly hate and don't care for."
"You've had to do this before?"
It was obvious that he had. That horror was in his eyes.
"We can't think of them as our own people. They are the enemy, and all we can do to help them and everyone else, is to end Bolormaa," he stated.
One of Bolormaa's men was still breathing. Taylor took aim and put him out of his misery. They could hear the clamour of boots in the distance as many more enemy troops approached. Their assault had caught the ship's crew by surprise, but they were starting to amass their forces.
"It'll be a miracle if we ever make it through this," said Jones.
"A hard fight to make it through, for sure," added Rogers.
"Then let's get started." Taylor carried on, but he soon stopped, noticing no one was following him. They were still stunned as they stared at the bodies of the humans around them. They'd all witnessed many of their comrades die, but they'd never had to be the ones doing the killing, not of humans.
"Shoot to kill, no questions asked. We kill or be killed. We are going to make it through this, you hear? Now form up, on me!"
The enemy took a corner ahead, a Morohtan warrior at their head, and leading Gurvs.
"Form up!"
They rushed to Taylor’s side, forming a wall of shields with enough of a gap between them for the muzzles of their rifles to protrude. They went forward together. The corridor lit up as fire was traded between the two sides. Together, Taylor's team was unstoppable. Their shields were taking the hits as their own return fire cut the enemy down. The Morohtan at the front went down in the second volley, and they kept advancing at the enemy even as they continued to rush them. Thirty Gurvs lay dead by the time Taylor was walking over the bodies of the first who had fallen.
The corridor soon opened up into a large communal area with dirty beds lining the walls and sheets scattered across the floor. It looked like the habitat of the filthy Gurvs. There was nobody on the ground, but as they entered, a head popped up from a bed on the far side. The bunks were stacked thirty high against the walls, and others soon appeared, too.
"Ah, hell, this wasn't the right way to go."
"It was exactly the right way, Jones," replied Taylor.
"So what do we do?"
"Same as ever, kill them all."
"That can't be your answer to everything?"
"Until you find a better one, sure."
Taylor took aim at the first one that had awoken and put a bullet into its brain. It slumped back down onto its bed, but the crack of the bullet was enough to wake the rest of them up. A shriek rang out from one, and then several others as they leapt from their bunks. Few had any firearms, just blades and other hand-to-hand weapons.
"Now you've done it."
More than a hundred of the creatures descended to the floor of the room.
"Only way is through them," said Rogers.
Taylor didn't wait any longer. He fired, and kept firing. He killed six before the horde was upon them. He parried a cut from an axe with his rifle and drove his foot into the beast’s stomach, kicking as hard as he could. The creature was thrown through the air. He drew his Assegai and his pistol into his left hand, and carried on the slaughter. From left to right, he cut and fired. Blood spewed out in every direction. The Gurvs were no match for a fully equipped Alliance marine, but their numbers were still overwhelming.
Rogers was the only other equipped with the new Assegai with cutting edges, and he was hacking back and forth with his pistol in hand like Taylor. Jones and the others were taking blows against their shields and delivering brutal thrusts at short-range. A column of Gurvs was coming for Rogers, and he thrust towards the first, activating the telescopic shaft. The blade shot forward and punched through three, skewering them all as one. He retracted the weapon, and they collapsed to the floor.
Within seconds many more were upon him, and more were flooding in through a doorway on the far side of the room. He shot one in the head and cut another's lead arm off at the wrist.
"We can't keep this up!"
"Could have fooled me!" Jones shouted as he thrust into another, and gazed upon the dozens of enemy dead, to no losses of their own.
"We have to keep moving forward!" Taylor ordered.
He drew out a grenade and launched it towards the door. A Gurv caught it, looking at it as if curious. It blew in the creature’s hand and erupted in the doorway, cutting down ten more of the enemy. Rogers continued hacking his way through more of them with the help of three others. But Taylor and Jones were reloading their rifles.
"Move!" Taylor shouted.
Rogers and the others separated to give a firing solution, and the two of them opened up with rapid, but well aimed semi-automatic fire. The Gurvs were bottlenecked in the doorway and had no firearms. They were cut down one after another until the two weapons ran empty, and only a few wounded remained. Rogers went forward and finished them off.
“This is crazy. They weren't even ready for a fight."
"Maybe they never expected to have to fight one?" Rogers asked.
"But how? They had to know we'd be making a run for that gate," said Jones.
Taylor was shaking his head.
"Maybe she expected to finish more of us off on the surface."
"Or flee under impulse power? It would be logical in the face of such an enemy," said Rogers.
"She wasn't looking for a fight?" Jones asked.
"Maybe not. Maybe she isn't strong enough for it," Rogers added.
It seemed to good to be true.
"She called our bluff. Blocked the jump gate in the hope that we would run, but not out of sight," said Taylor.
"So she could get reinforcements in and finish us off?"
"Maybe," replied Taylor.
"But she'd have to be pretty confident that they could get here quickly. We'd be out of her jamming range before long," said Jones.
"Not with all the transports we've got. We have plenty of ships that couldn't make the jump, and not enough space to move people over to the ships that could. She is trying to trap us here, but she wasn't looking for a fight. Not yet."
"If that is true, this might just be our chance," said Rogers.
"Chance at what? Getting all our heads blown off?"
"We caught her off guard, Jones. If she is on this ship, I want her found. Let's move."
Taylor slammed a new magazine into his rifle and moved on as they waded their way through the enemy dead. They'd not taken anything mor
e than a few light cuts between them in the fight. They were fortunate to have found the enemy unequipped and unprepared.
"I'm getting some massive energy readings from this ship. Whatever is on board, it is important," said Rogers.
"Could be the weapon that wiped out a few of our ships on the way in?"
"Could be," he replied in a doubtful tone.
"Enough talk," stated Taylor.
He went on from room to room and corridor to corridor. He had no worries nor care for his life anymore. He was out for blood, and he didn't care what it cost. A Morohtan warrior was rushing towards them, and once again equipped with nothing but hand-to-hand weapons. He ducked under a powerful swing from the creature and slashed both of its front legs off. As the beast began to tumble forward, he cut up and severed the head.
The others saw how angry he was, but nobody questioned it. This was Taylor at his best. They stormed up a ramp to find six Morohtan soldiers standing guard at a large steel door. Taylor and Jones opened fire on them as Rogers threw a grenade. They had nowhere to hide. The charge blew two of them apart, and gunfire had already killed a third. Taylor let out a loud war cry as he rushed forward in a terrifying charge. One was on the floor where it had leapt to avoid the blast. He rushed that one first and flew at its head with the armoured plate on his right knee.
The impact was brutal and nearly snapped off the creature’s head. He went to finish it off when he noticed another taking aim at him. He threw his Assegai at the beast, and it embedded deep into the throat. The warrior gurgled as blood spluttered out around the blade. A hail of bullets from Jones and the others took down the last of them. Taylor gripped the stunned creature’s head and broke its neck. He threw the body down in disgust, retrieving his blade from the bloody body of his other victim.
"What is this place?”
"Whatever it is, Jones, it's important." He pulled out a device from his armour and placed it against the security console by the door. A few seconds later a light flashed green, and the doors slid open.
"A little something Rivers knocked up for me," he said with a smile.
Five Morohtan engineers were working inside. Unarmed, and unarmoured. They gunned down three before the last two threw up their arms in surrender, something none of them were used to seeing. Taylor still watched them like a hawk as he approached.
"What is this place?" Jones demanded.
They were tight-lipped.
"It's the comms jammer. I've seen one like it before," said Taylor.
"This is what has been keeping us in the dark?"
Jones lifted his rifle, took aim, and opened fire. He didn't stop firing until his magazine ran empty.
"Attila, this is Colonel Taylor, come in."
There was no response. Maybe they were wrong. Maybe Jones hadn't done enough damage.
"This is the Attila. We hear you loud and clear," a voice finally replied.
They couldn't believe their luck.
"All right, we're getting somewhere!" replied Rogers.
Taylor grabbed one of the enemy and smashed his head down onto a table.
"Where is she? Where is Bolormaa?"
"I don't know."
Taylor drew his pistol and shot the other one in the head. His brain matter splattered out over the wall, and he dropped down dead.
"Worried about what she will do to you? Maybe you should start worrying about what I will do to you. Tell me where she is, and I'll let you live. Don't, and you die here and now."
"She isn't aboard this ship."
"What?"
"This is too large a target. She would not expose herself."
"So where is she!"
He lifted the alien up and wrapped his hand around its throat, smashing it back against a burning console.
"Where?"
"Aboard the Toghaimur."
He released his grip, lifted his pistol, and fired. He stepped aside as the body collapsed towards him so that it passed him by.
"You said you'd let him live?"
"I told him what I needed to, and that's it, Rogers."
"Pretty cold," added Jones.
Taylor didn't disagree.
"The Toghaimur is one of the smaller frigates in this fleet, not far from us," said Rogers.
"Why would she be there?"
"To hide, she's scared," Taylor smiled.
"He could have been lying?"
Taylor shook his head. "You saw the look on his face, Jones."
"So what now?”
"I promised to end that bitch, and end her we will."
CHAPTER 2
"You know this could be a trap, don't you?"
"Sure, Jones, anything could be a trap, but I don't think that is what is happening here. She didn't have any time to prepare for this. She never expected to be half dead and ruined. She is rolling with it and doing the best she can, same as us."
"And if this is exactly what she wants?"
"A chance we will all have to take," said Rogers.
The docking bay doors of the Attila closed, and they began to lift off.
"If she is there, she won't go down easy. And that frigate, it might be smaller than this behemoth, but it isn't small. She'd be a fool to not surround herself with an army."
"No army in the universe will stop me."
Taylor knew that wasn't the truth. He'd hit so many brick walls in the past, and yet now he was riding on a high. He had to stay on that high, or he would dwell on the billions of lives lost. It was almost enough to break him, but he still had a job to do, and he was going to focus all of his energy on that.
They soared out into space, and they could see on the video feeds the battle continuing to rage all around them. The Alliance fleet was pushing hard, and were almost the equal of Bolormaa's forces, but many hulks now floated in space. Thousands of bodies floated about them. It was a horrific scene. The comms was alive with activity now they could once again reach one another.
"Why not call this in? We could get some help," said Rogers.
"Look at them. They have enough on their plates already. We are the best ones suited to this task."
"Getting our heads blown off?"
"Everyone is in the same shit here, Jones. We all have a part to play. Anyway, we can't announce what we know about the Toghaimur, not on open channels. You think we would get near Bolormaa if she knew we were coming?"
"I still don't like it," replied Rogers.
"Neither do I. We are in a shit situation, so let's make the best of it."
"So this is what it has come down to. Of the billions of men and women on both sides, this is what is left at the end," said Rogers.
It was a depressing thought. That after colonising so much of the universe, it all came down to the few left in the Solar System. Once more the future of humanity had come back to Earth, or what remained of it. They could see the world in the background of the battle. It appeared as a gas giant, and it was hard to imagine how anyone could be alive down there anymore.
"What was it all for?" Jones asked, "We failed."
"What made Earth were the people and all life that lived there. That life is not extinct, not yet," replied Rogers.
Taylor was with Jones. He had fought so hard to defend his homeworld. He’d felt his gut wrenched out when they had to abandon Earth to Erdogan during the Krys wars. But this wasn't different. They could never go back to it now. It made him feel sick, but it also made his anger and hatred of Bolormaa burn brighter. He had nothing left to lose, or at least nothing but the few friends who were standing beside him.
"You know I never, ever considered the prospect of failure in war. To consider failure is to accept that you have already lost," said Taylor.
"What are you saying?" Jones asked.
"We can never win this war. Kill that bitch, and we still lose."
"Rogers just said Earth was about the people."
"And how many of us are left?"
Rogers could see Taylor was spiralling down into a pit of des
pair. He needed something to occupy his mind. He needed an enemy to fight or a plan to work to, or he would be his own worst enemy. Rogers smacked his helmet hard, and Taylor was so shocked he didn't know whether to hit him back or say something.
"You aren't helping anyone by letting your mind wander. You are Colonel Mitch Taylor, the champion of the Alliance, and don't you forget it!"
"Champion suggests I won something."
"Haven't you? You have been winning things your whole life, spanning hundreds of years," said Jones.
"Maybe to you. To me it's been no longer a life than anyone else, and all I have seen is loss. Death, pain, and more suffering. Makes me wonder what it was all for. Maybe if you hadn't taken me off ice this would never have happened."
"Bolormaa was coming for us way before anyone thought to remember your name. You aren't a symptom. You are a cure. Ever since we woke you up, you have been kicking butt and being a constant thorn in her side."
"As her plaything, because she enjoyed the sport," he snarled.
"Well, that was her mistake, wasn't it? It wasn't so long ago that she seemed invincible. That worlds would fall within weeks and there was no hope, and look at us now. Yes we have lost a lot, more than is bearable, but so has she. You almost ended her, and her armies lay in ruin," said Rogers.
"Almost, that's the point, isn't it? Almost isn't the same as completing an objective. We failed."
"We haven't failed. We haven't failed until we are all dead and she is still standing. Do you know what I see?"
Taylor shook his head.
"I see the finest fighters in the universe standing beside its greatest defender. Ready and willing to put it all on the line for you, and for the Alliance, for our families. For the ones that were lost, and the ones still living. That is a force that cannot be so easily defeated. Look at them."
He pointed to the company waiting to go back into action yet again. Ten body bags were on the floor where their fallen comrades lay. The rest of the wounded had been patched up and were ready for combat once more. One had lost and eye and had it covered. Another had his arm lashed in a sling and still carried a rifle in the other.
Battle Beyond Earth - Box Set (Books 6-9) Page 66