“Right on, Colonel!”
He stepped past her and peered down the corridor to see four Mechs lying dead from the blast. Several others were badly wounded or incapacitated. Chandra leaned in to see the result and breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Pass the word. Use the grenades.”
Taylor rushed off down the line and continued to relay her orders until he reached the other end of the platoon, where the troops were still firing frequent bursts in an attempt to stop the Mechs. He peered around to see that they had gained another ten metres on them. He pulled out a grenade, primed it, and tossed it down the corridor.
“Christ!” one of the soldiers shouted out, and they ducked back.
The explosion sent vibrations through the walls again, and Taylor just prayed that any collateral damage was worth the result. The enemy corridor went silent for a moment, but it was then filled by another grenade exploding further down and punctuated by a hail of Reitech rifle fire. Taylor looked back down the troops alongside him.
“Hold your fire, lads. That’s friendlies coming in.”
He peered around the corner to see the last of the creatures cut down by dozens of rounds. Several rushed past and hit the wall close to the Major. A few moments later, he could make out the silhouettes of Exoskeleton clad troops jogging down the passage towards him. Lieutenant Grey was at the forefront.
“That’s some damn good timing, Lieutenant!”
“Thank you, Sir. We’ve dealt with one of the other assaults already, but we believe there is still at least one in the wind.”
Taylor pointed down the corridor.
“At the other end of here, trying to fight their way to the CIC.”
“Shall we...”
“Damn right.”
Taylor stepped confidently down the corridor to the Colonel with Grey’s Company close behind. She turned and marvelled at the reinforcements and the realisation of where they had come from.
“Alright, lads. Let’s cut these bastards down!”
She lifted her rifle and stepped out in the corridor in plain view of the enemy. The broad corridor allowed many more of the troops to flood in and open fire in a brutal onslaught. They walked towards the enemy, cutting down all before them. In just thirty seconds, they had killed twenty of the beasts and were still advancing forward as most of them changed their magazines. A bend up ahead concealed the rest of the enemy force who were engaged in a brutal battle with the defenders at the entrance to the bridge.
“We need to watch the crossfire,” Taylor whispered.
“I know, got any grenades left?” replied Chandra.
“Just one.”
He looked across to the others and could see three others still had some high explosive.
“Anyone with grenades. Be ready to use them!” Chandra ordered.
Taylor turned and walked backwards, so he could address them.
“Friendlies on the other side, beware of their fire and of your own!”
As they reached the corner, one Mech turned the bend, trying to either fix or reload his cannon. Chandra fired six shots into its chest without hesitation, and Jafar let off a single bullet into its head.
“Grenades!” Chandra roared.
Taylor led the way, pulled out his grenade, waiting with his other hand on the firing cap. Four others joined him.
“On three. Three, two, one.”
They twisted the caps and launched them all around the corner. Chandra knew it was a risky strategy, even more than the first few they had used. The massive explosion rumbled the corridors, sending shards of metal into the air that embedded in the corridor wall in front of them. The heat was enough to feel even through their suits.
Taylor immediately drew out his Assegai and leapt around to finish off any that were left alive. Just five creatures remained standing, two of which appeared stunned or hurt. He rushed the first one. It was disorientated, and he drove his weapon into its stomach and high up through its body. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Chandra leaping forward in a similar manner.
One of the creatures swung its weapon around, but it was too slow and clumsy. Taylor ducked under with a nimble roll and drove the Assegai into the armour at its thigh. The Mech tumbled over, almost crushing him. He ripped the weapon from the beast’s leg and blood gushed out across the deck. He reversed the Assegai and drove it down into its faceplate.
He stood up and turned to see that the enemy were done for, and all attention had turned to his personal combat. The thick dark blue blood he had become so familiar with poured down his gloves and armour, though he could not feel it.
“All clear?” called Chandra.
The silence was broken by footsteps and the troops parted. Taylor stood up and took Chandra’s side as he saw Huber step through to greet them. He wore a pistol on his side but was as steadfast as ever. He stopped for a moment and looked around at the carnage the battle had created. Several of his staff rushed in with extinguishers to put out the small fires the grenades had ignited. Huber shook his head at the wreck the flagship had become.
“Sir, all known enemy assault craft have been accounted for, but there could yet be more,” stated Chandra.
“Thank you, Colonel. The battle is over. We have destroyed or disabled all enemy craft. Our comms are still being repaired, but we know the Endurance, Chicago and Helena are gone. Many others have received severe damage. The Washington is still under her own power, but we will need weeks of repairs before we can get back into service.”
“It’s a bitter price for victory,” whispered Taylor.
Huber just about heard the Major and looked up to see he was genuinely sorrowful for the losses of many he had never met.
“Indeed, Major, but we came here for a fight. We will mourn our losses, but we must now look to the future. I want you and Colonel Chandra to join us on the bridge, and keep a dozen marines with you. Have the rest of your Battalion run sweeps of the vessel. I want to know for certain we are not carrying anymore unwanted guests.”
“Not all here are marines, Sir,” replied Chandra.
“You are now,” replied Taylor with a smile.
She turned to Lieutenant Grey.
“I want you to take the upper ten decks. Send runners to find Jones, Ota and Jackson that they are sweep the remaining sectors, thoroughly.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
The former Staff Sergeant shouted out his commands as if he were trying to deafen the Colonel before turning and barking further orders to his Company. They rushed on to carry out their new duties.
“We need to get communications back online ASAP, Sir.”
“Agreed, Colonel, we’re already doing all that we can. The jamming they ran is a God damn nightmare.”
“Yes, Sir,” Taylor replied with the voice of experience.
Huber nodded and sighed at the same time.
“I know you are no stranger to this, Taylor. All the experts we have back home have been working round the clock on a way to block their jamming signal, but quite frankly, we still aren’t sure how it works.”
Within seconds of him speaking, the ship’s comms officer turned around and broke the news they were back in contact with the fleet. Huber leapt into action.
“Alright, send word to Command that we have located and secured the area surrounding the space gateway. We have sustained damage and losses in doing so and will maintain positions to allow time to repair and refit.”
The three hundred and sixty degree display of their surroundings fired back up to life, and he stood open mouthed as he experienced the results of their battle. Two of the ships they had lost were now floating hulks. The other two had been blown into multiple parts and were now nothing more than debris. Half of the remaining ships in the fleet showed major battle damage.
“There must be survivors out there. Send out any shuttles and transports we have and get the rest of the fleet to do the same.”
“But, Sir, we can’t spare the personnel. We
’re having trouble enough handling the repairs,” replied Vega.
“I don’t give a damn. There are personnel out there who may have precious little time left.”
Huber turned back to their operations table where Chandra and Taylor awaited him. Taylor already liked the fleet’s leader, but he prayed Huber would be able to maintain his control over the fleet in the face of such devastation. He tapped a few buttons on the table display, and it turned to the gateway.
“Just look at it, a marvel of technology, and yet used for such evil.”
“It must be destroyed,” replied Taylor.
“I wouldn’t be so hasty to burn all our bridges. That gate could be humanity’s great leap out into the universe, which it has so desperately pursued.”
“You surely can’t want to go through it?” asked Taylor in shock.
“You’re damn right I do. Sure we could destroy it and forget this all happened, but if they could build the gate once, they’ll do it again.”
“But that could buy us decades or even centuries of time.”
“Living in fear that they will one day come back, no thanks. We’ve started a job, so let’s finish it.”
Taylor could understand her position, but he knew what it would mean – the deaths of hundreds of thousands or even millions in a more bloody war than the last.
“Right now we can’t do anything,” replied Huber. “But I want to know we have that gateway secure. Clearly it has landing bays, and it must be crewed. I want you, Colonel, to organise an assault to capture the gateway. You have two hours to complete your sweeps of the Washington, and then you will carry out these orders.”
“Sir, the gate could open up anytime, and God knows what’s on the other side. We should destroy it now when we still have a chance,” pleaded Taylor.
“We all have our orders, Major. There is to be no attempt made to sabotage the gateway unless such orders are received to do so.”
The room went silent for a moment before Taylor finally remembered his brief moments aboard the enemy craft during the battle. He leaned in close so that only Huber and Chandra could hear.
“During the boarding action, I got a glimpse aboard one of the enemy vessels, and it is likely still there now, embedded in the hull of the Washington. They had a precise and accurate layout of this vessel and a well-planned path directly to the bridge here. I fully believe they intended to gain control of this ship and turn its guns on the rest of the fleet.”
“What? How could they have such information?” asked Chandra.
Huber shook his head in astonishment.
“The plans of the Washington were carefully guarded from the moment the conversion began,” said Huber.
“We have no idea how their technology work,” replied Chandra. “Maybe they have some kind of surveying equipment which mapped out the ship as we arrived.”
“Maybe, or maybe someone is providing the enemy with information,” replied Taylor.
“What?” Huber asked. “Why? Who would do such a thing?”
“It’s a serious allegation,” mused Chandra.
“I don’t know why and wouldn’t like to imagine we had people working with the enemy, but it’s happened in all other wars.”
“Right now, we have no proof or even leads to go on. This isn’t over, but let’s look to the task at hand. Good luck to you.”
* * *
Taylor and Chandra sat opposite each other aboard Rains’ Eagle HV as they cautiously approached the space gateway with another eight such craft.
“You really think this thing can fold space?” Eddie asked.
Neither of them answered him for a moment. They stared at each other, trying to make sense of the other’s perspective. Both were curious about the gateway, but they had vastly differing perspectives on what they believed should be done with it. It was the first time they had ever come to a disagreement about the way forward, but there was no ill feeling.
“Guys? What’s the deal?” continued Rains.
“You know as much as us, Eddie!” Taylor answered.
“I doubt that,” he muttered in response.
Chandra looked sympathetically towards Taylor. She could completely understand his desire to end it all there and then, but she also knew they had a responsibility to the future of humanity.
“I don’t want to go on fighting, you know,” she said quietly.
Taylor barely heard what she said, but the few words he caught and the look on her face tallied up.
“I know. Who knows what the right answer is here? When we look back on this in years to come with hindsight, then we’ll know,” he replied.
“Those bastards came close to bringing humanity to extinction. If we let off now and let them come back stronger, do you really believe we could survive? Maybe we’d never see another war in our lifetime, but in another fifty, hundred or two hundred years, that would be the end. Could you go home and back to your old life, knowing we have forsaken the next generations?”
Taylor shook his head. He no longer knew what was the right course of action, but at least he was among friends. He simply smiled in response, and he thought deeper about their conundrum.
We’re still speculating without all the facts, he thought.
“How come they ain’t shooting at us?” asked Rains.
Taylor and Chandra leaned forward to look out of his cockpit. In the depths of their conversation, they had forgotten they were approaching the enemy gateway. Lights still faded in and out around the device, but there was no sign of any opposition to their landing.
“Landing in two!”
They watched as he took them in to what was clearly some sort of a landing bay. It was easily large enough for all of their craft to dock, but only five of Eagles swooped in on the initial wave. None of them could believe they had not yet been fired upon. They passed through the vast cavernous entrance and were beginning to get an understanding of just how vast the structure was.
From a distance, the landing bay looked tiny, but now they could see it was the scale of the gateway that had made it appear so small. The gateway was the size of a substantial moon. As they put down, they noticed the landing bay was completely empty.
“Looks like there’s nobody home,” said Taylor.
“I don’t like it,” replied Chandra.
She turned to Jafar who was sat just a few seats away.
“Where is everyone? Could this vast structure be unmanned?”
“Could be. I have never seen inside one of the gateways, but certainly it is a possibility.”
The craft touched down, and Chandra was quickly out of the door before anyone else. She peered around at the aliens’ docking bay. It appeared uncannily similar to one of their own bays. Most of the structure was made of slab sided metal, and it could only be described as spartan in design and layout.
“I don’t like this at all,” whispered Taylor.
“It’s more than a little creepy. Do you think it’s possible this thing runs itself?” she asked.
“Why not? We have more and more unmanned machines and facilities on Earth. This is probably just a bay for maintenance crews.”
“I’d like to know for certain that we are alone.”
Taylor looked around, remembering quite how much the structure dwarfed them. He peered around for any ways out of the docking facility.
“It could take weeks or even months to search this thing.”
She sighed as she realised he was right.
“Alright, we’ll have to maintain a presence here, though.”
“Agreed.”
Taylor shook his head as he panned around the area.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Just that I was expecting a fight.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
She turned to Captain Jackson.
“I want you to continue to investigate what you can, and keep a constant watch here. Make sure to keep an eye on your oxygen tanks, and refill them from the ‘copte
rs at regular intervals. You’ll be relieved in six hours.”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
Taylor and the Colonel climbed back aboard with Rains and slumped back into their seats. It should have been a relief to them not having to fire a shot, but none of their questions had been answered.
“Back to the Washington, Lieutenant!” Chandra ordered.
“Damn quick visit!” he replied.
“Fleeting certainly.”
“We could have stayed and investigated further,” mused Taylor.
“That’s not our job. We came here to secure the landing area and deal with any hostile forces. We will maintain guard for now, but it’s time for the appropriate experts to take over. What the hell do we know about such things?”
“A damn sight more than most,” he retorted.
Chandra thought about it for a moment and then looked around the docking area again. She shook her head.
“No, experts like Reiter and his people were brought on this mission for a reason. We need to leave it in their hands to make some sense of this… thing.”
There was a brief silence as Taylor tried to understand whether she was marvelling at the technology or disdainful of it.
“To use it or destroy it?” he asked.
“That’s not a decision we can make anymore. We can send in our recommendations, but ultimately, we are here to follow orders.”
“And that’s okay with you?”
“Okay? When have we ever had to like our orders? We will do whatever is decided for us. Now, this appears to be in hand. We can leave it to Jackson. World leaders will want our reports on this without any further delay.”
It was not long before they both sat in Huber’s quarters. The first transmission would still not reach earth for several days, leaving them in an anxious position.
“Acceptable losses and the enemy gateway in our hands. This was as successful as the mission could have hoped to be,” Huber said, but he sounded tired.
Acceptable losses? Taylor thought. He hated the term, but he could see that so did the Admiral.
Battle Earth V Page 7