Battle Earth X

by Nick S. Thomas

  "What is the point of this anymore?" she asked them, "What are we even doing here all huddled together, hoping we can live today and die another day not far from now?"

  Parker was not at all surprised by her words, but she could see it was only serving to continue fuelling the fire of fear that all around them were feeling. She was finally overcome by anger as she thought of the bitter price they had paid, and her sympathy turned to disgust.

  "Is that how you choose to remember Captain Jones?" she snapped.

  Dubois looked at her in surprise with her mouth open and unable to respond.

  "Is that how you choose to remember one of the greatest defenders of the human race? He died so that you, all of us, could live. And we are gonna bloody live! You think this is the first loss anyone has ever had? Nations have been defeated, peoples have been scattered to the winds before. This is life. This is our life! So quit feeling sorry for yourself and start acting like who you are; who we all are. We are fighters. Survivors. It doesn't matter what nation you're from, which army, navy. We're in this together, and we are the lucky few!"

  Huber hadn't said a word to stop her; despite the fact, the Sergeant had ultimately addressed the entire bridge. Her words were humbling, and he could not help but listen and agree. Dubois looked sheepish and a little embarrassed, although Parker could see Dubois was just as angry with her as she was understanding. Finally, Huber stood up tall and added some words of his own.

  "Listen to this Sergeant. She speaks the words we all need to hear! This is all a lot to take in. But we owe it to all those we lost and left behind to make this work. Even now, our people are fighting through this vessel to protect us. So we haven't got it so bad. I don't want to see any more tears. I don't want any more panic. This is the USS Washington, flagship of the fleet, and you are her crew. Start acting like it!"

  As he finished, a voice shouted from the corridor, "Here they come!"

  It was followed by gunshots as Parker's platoon began laying down fire, and she rushed to the doorway to see for herself. The crew looked to Huber, who was the only one of the bridge crew still standing defiantly and seemingly without regard for the danger. He picked up a rifle that lay on the operations table beside him.

  "Don't fear them. They are nothing but an infection that must be cured. We've made it this far. Don't fall now. Pick yourselves up, and protect this ship and all aboard it with everything you've got. All that hatred and anger you feel, vent it at those things out there!"

  He didn't get much of an enthusiastic response, but a few at least got up from the cover they had leapt to and stopped cowering down. Parker got to the barricade and could see Mechs advancing at them with breaching shields much like they carried. Their gunfire wasn't getting through in any sort of quantity.

  Dozens of shots hit the heavy wall of shields and did little at all. Parker froze, trying to think of what to do. She knew she couldn't use grenades so close to the bridge and so many of the vital systems around them.

  "Concentrate fire at their feet!" she shouted.

  She was the first to do so, and the first few shots hit the deck and glanced off one of the creature’s shield, but one seemed to make it up and through. A few others followed suit, and the Mech was forced to lower its shield to cover its advance. Just as it did, and creating an opening to its head, Jafar took a well-aimed shot. It hit the Mech’s head, and two other shots followed it but neither penetrated.

  "Their armour is too thick up front. We're gonna have to do this hand-to-hand!" Parker hollered.

  She knew the Assegai was the most powerful weapon in their arsenal, for those who were both brave and unfortunate enough to be forced to use it. She let her rifle sling down at her side, drew out her Assegai in readiness, and continued to stay covered by their barricade. The sound of a Mech crashing down flat on the deck told her they had taken one down, but it was a small result for the amount of fire they had to lay down.

  Parker stood up to look over the defences, but she realised too late that the first Mech was already on them. It struck the barriers without slowing down and smashed them aside. She ducked down just in time so that the creature barrelled over her rather than taking the force head on. As she got to one knee, the second line was already on her, and she had to deal with it, relying on those behind her to take on the first rank that had gone over the top of her.

  A spear was coming right for her. As she parried it aside, stepping out of much of the power of the blow, she noticed one of her own lying lifelessly at her feet, his neck snapped from the impact of the attack. It had distracted her long enough that the creature’s shield came hurtling towards her, losing her any opportunity she had to strike.

  Parker barely managed to get her shield in front of her when she was struck by the door-like equivalent carried by the Mech. The energy lifted her off her feet and launched her back against the sidewall. It stopped her violently and shook her a little. As she tilted her shield aside to get a view of her attacker, she saw something dart out from the corner of her eye. It was Jafar launching himself onto her attacker. He drove his Assegai deep into the creature's lead arm, forcing it to drop its weapon.

  The Mech responded by swinging its shield edge violently towards him, but the nimble alien ducked under and drove his weapon into its upper leg, dealing a finishing blow through a weak point in the joint under its right arm.

  "Get down!" a voice roared.

  Parker looked back at their line, and it was three deep, as if to fire like a musket salvo. She felt something grasp her back and knew it was Jafar pushing them both to the ground. The corridor lit up as the slaughter began, and gunfire soared over her head in a seemingly unbroken and continuous stream. After a few seconds, she turned to look at the Mechs being cut down one after the other. Only the first two ranks had been equipped with the heavy boarding equipment that had proven so difficult to damage.

  She watched as they fell until ten Mechs lay dead before her and several behind. The sound of gunfire finally died down, and she got to her feet. She stood over the body of one of the creatures and stabbed down through its helmet, running her blade to the hilt. She then proceeded through the lines of bodies to do likewise. As she reached the last one, she looked back to the gun line and saw it was Huber who had ordered her down to cover. The Admiral himself was among them and reloaded his rifle as she approached.

  "That was just one boarding party! Maybe even just one stick. Reload, and let's get this barricade back up!" she ordered.

  Jafar dragged a Mech body to the line and stacked it up along with the crates they had been using. A few of the navy personnel looked in horror at the sight, but for the men and women of the Inter-Allied Regiment, it was a necessity of survival they had long come to accept as part of day-to-day life. He used the huge enemy shields to bolster the defence, and their bodies to hold them up either side, before once again taking up position behind them.

  "So this is what it has come down to?" Huber asked, "Every single one of us fighting with our bare hands for one last gasp chance of survival. Is this what the end looks like?"

  "This isn't the end. I say it isn't. I choose that it isn't, so don't let it be so," she replied.

  * * *

  A trail of blue drips followed Taylor as the enemy blood still poured from his boot. He carried on as if not even noticing.

  "We're not far from the main weapon controls grid," he whispered.

  As he said it, they saw the bodies of four marines ahead and several other of the navy crew scattered about them. Two Mechs lay dead amongst them. Taylor shook his head.

  "Idiots, we can't afford those kind of losses."

  "Looks like they put up a fight," replied Morris.

  "Not much of one," he spat back, "If those are the kind of losses we can expect, then we might as well give up now."

  Taylor increased his pace; knowing time was not on their side. A moment later, they heard the ship power up, and all remaining lighting come on. It revealed the extent of the bloodshed
around them, but Taylor knew that didn't matter right now. He put a direct call through to the bridge.

  "This is Taylor. Someone speak to me."

  The response finally came, and it was far more casual than he had expected, but it was good to hear a voice.

  "Taylor, how's it going out there?" Huber asked.

  "We're not far from the weapons grid control point now. Looks like power is back up, and you?"

  "Negative, nothing's changed our end."

  "That's not good."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The Krys took out our power for a reason. If they've just returned it, then it must be because they've got what they wanted."

  Over the comms channel Taylor could hear an alarm sound, and frantic voices followed.

  "What's going on, Admiral?"

  He had to wait for a response.

  "Weapon systems are powering up. Oh, God! They could wipe out half the fleet. Colonel, you must get to them. Stop our weapon systems before they are ready to fire!"

  "How long have I got?"

  "The core reboot and calibration of weapons can take up to two minutes. That's all you have."

  "Got it, Taylor out."

  Shit!

  "Two minutes until those bastards fire on our own. No time to play this cautious. Let's move!"

  He leapt forward into a running pace and had to rush right over the top of fallen soldiers from both sides. He went forward now without a care for his own life. He well understood the thousands of lives that would be lost if he did not complete his mission. He took the bend up ahead and instantly spotted four Mechs standing guard at their final destination, but he did not stop or hesitate.

  Pulses raced towards him from the creatures concentrating their fire. He fired his rifle as he closed the distance and killed one with a lucky shot, but two carried shields and firearms in the same way his own marines did. As he got halfway, he felt his shield buckle, and the heat transfer was becoming unbearable. He fought through it and kept going until the shield shattered into three parts and dropped from his arm.

  As it did, Taylor leapt into a roll. Pulses flew overhead, and he came up to one knee in front of the first creature. With his left hand, he took hold of the barrel of its pulse cannon and held it up so that the shots dispersed into the roof above. He then raised his rifle and placed the barrel against the creatures' stomach, holding the trigger until the magazine was empty. He let go his firm grasp, and the Mech dropped dead before him. His glove was smoking from the burn on the heat shield of the weapon, and he could feel his skin cooking beneath the reinforced fabric.

  A Mech spear came at him as he got to his feet. He could only step aside to avoid it and drew out his Assegai. The creature lunged at him again, but in doing so exposed its flank. Taylor's comrades took their opportunity and opened up with a devastating barrage of fire. The alien stumbled back against the frame of the doorway they were protecting and collapsed in front of the Colonel.

  The final Mech turned to face the vicious salvo and absorb the impact with its shield, but now it was Taylor's chance. He jumped towards the alien, without it even noticing under the weight of fire and unable to move. He drove his Assegai deep into its flank. It reacted quickly by swinging its shield around to strike him. Taylor was quick to respond but didn't clear the distance quick enough.

  The impact smashed his shoulder back and nearly tore it out of its socket. But as he winced in pain, he saw the creature spasm with the impact of a dozen shots riddling its body. He felt he's knees go a little weak until Silva's steady hold kept him up.

  "Let's finish this."

  Taylor nodded in response and turned to see two of his people placing charges on the door.

  "Ready to breach, Sir."

  "Do it."

  He reached down and picked up a massive alien shield that was as tall as he was. The charges blew; their shaped charges being comparatively short and quiet, and blowing the door open in one. Taylor leapt ahead and was the first through the breach. He was propping the weighty shield up with his other hand that still carried his Assegai and sprinted forward.

  The shield had transparency to a large upper section, allowing him to stay covered while advancing. He could see a pulse rushing to his head, but he continued at a rapid pace, under the assumption the shield would be defence enough against the alien weapons.

  Taylor didn't break stride but hit the Mech full force at a sprinting pace. It lifted off its feet, smashing down on the deck, as he clumsily rolled over and landed the other side of the creature. From the floor, he reached back and drove his Assegai into its head before it could get back up, killing it with a single blow. As he drew it out, the blood sprayed across his armour, and he saw Silva and the rest rush past, guns blazing.

  But then his heart almost stopped when he heard what he had prayed he would not. The Washington’s weapons batteries began firing, and they could be felt and heard throughout the entire ship. He didn't have to say a word. They all knew what was at stake. He jumped to his feet and followed on behind the cover of his platoon. They advanced on the main control panels where three Mechs now defended.

  "Take them down! Take the fuckers down!" he yelled.

  One of the marines beside him was struck in the face by a pulse and dropped dead, but he didn't even get to see who it was. There was no time. As they approached, the sheer weight of fire was knocking the last few creatures back out of their cover. He saw his moment and pushed his way to the front, leaping on the nearest creature to end it quickly. He stabbed it five times into the abdomen until it collapsed towards him. He brushed it aside.

  Taylor instantly turned to the consoles that Silva and Morris had managed to reach.

  "I can't turn this off," said Morris.

  "What do you mean, you can't?"

  "They've programmed it with something. We're locked out."

  "Who can unlock it?"

  "Ship’s engineers, I guess, but it could take them hours."

  "Not good enough!" Taylor shouted.

  He thought for just a second before grabbing Morris and hauling him aside. As he did, he ripped the officer's rifle from his hands and took aim at the console with it. He didn't hesitate for a second before firing full auto into the computer console, and then turning to the other and fired until there was nothing left but twisted metal and burnt out components.

  As his rifle went silent, they waited, listened, hoped, and then heard it. The weapons stopped. Morris gave out a sigh of relief.

  "How did you know that would work?"

  "I didn't."

  Chapter 2

  Taylor strode towards the bridge, but when he took the final turn, a shot from one of their weapons struck the wall beside him. He stopped, looking to see it had come from one of the crewmembers beside Parker at the barricade ahead. He saw her backhand the perpetrator.

  Bodies lay atop one another, and he had to tread in an ungainly fashion from one to another. He reached Parker. Her cheek was bleeding where a few pieces of shrapnel had cut into her flesh, but she was still standing, and that was all he needed to know.

  The defenders split apart and allowed him to pass where he found Huber sitting beside his operations table, with his rifle next to him. He did not have the look of a man who had successfully held onto his ship.

  "We have secured all system control points. We're just carrying out final sweeps of any stragglers. This is over," Taylor stated.

  Huber nodded and sighed as if there was no relief in the news at all.

  "You didn't get to them in time," he muttered.

  Taylor took offence to the comment.

  "Yes we did, Sir!"

  The Admiral turned in surprise but could not get a word out as Taylor carried on.

  "We stopped the weapon systems as fast as was humanly possible. We saved all the lives that could be saved, so don't you start calling this a failure. Whatever, and whoever, we lost to our own weapon systems was tragic, but let's not forget who the enemy is. Let's not forget wh
o fired those weapons. We cannot afford to turn on one another and blame one another when this is all we have left!"

  The Admiral nodded in agreement as Taylor approached.

  "I don't like losing a single soul anymore than you do, but let's get real here. This is a war. We may have escaped it for a while, but we are going to keep losing people until we have won."

  "Won? You think we can win this?" Huber whispered.

  "Fuck yeah. And if you don't believe it too, we have no chance."

  Taylor was speaking quietly, but it was still carrying throughout the room. Everyone stood and listened. Taylor took a step closer and whispered to Huber.

  "They need you. So what do you say? Will you fight for this?"

  Huber nodded in agreement, and Taylor stepped back for him to address the crew.

  "We've got people that need our help. I want emergency crews out there now, doing what they can. All crews are to be escorted by marines until further notice. Let's get to work!"

  He looked to his XO, Captain Vega. "See to it."

  "Aye, aye, Sir," he replied, calmly moving to take control of the situation.

  "What are our losses? What sort of damage was done?" Taylor asked of the Admiral.

  "One frigate, the Valiant destroyed, severe damage to a Destroyer, the Tuscon, and one of the barges destroyed."

  "Completely?"

  Huber nodded and brought up a small display screen so that only the two of them could see. Taylor saw thousands of little bits of debris floating in space. It was only as Huber zoomed in a little that he could see many of those pieces of debris were actually bodies.

  "There were up to twenty thousand souls aboard that ship. Gone, just like that, and at the hands of our own weapon systems. This happened on my watch, and I will never forgive myself."

  "You take that anger, and you vent it somewhere else. You are the leader of this fleet, and perhaps the de facto leader of the human race. You do not have the luxury of feeling that guilt."