Battle Beyond Earth: Insurrection (3 page)

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 Cholans 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.

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?"

Alita looked stunned and couldn't respond.

"Can you or not?"

"I...I can try."

"Then do it. Get me the biggest gun this thing has got. What everyone keeps raving about; let's put it to good use."

He watched in horror as the two fleets slugged it out and tore each other apart. Hundreds of fighters battled it out between them. The station was giving as good at it got, but it was close to crippled now.

"We can't put the engines online," said Alita, "The course cannot be altered, not anytime soon, but we need to get the nose around and in line."

"We can use the docking bay thrusters for fine adjustment," said Babacan.

Taylor looked at him surprised, but nodded in agreement for him to go ahead.

"You know the moment we fire one shot they will be on to us, and we're dead in the water," replied Alita.

"But they won't know that. Send enough of a shockwave through these bastards, and they won't stand."

Babacan went at the controls as if he knew what he was doing, and that surprised Taylor even further, but he didn't question it.

"Get us in line with that heavy cruiser and prepare to fire," said Taylor. He pointed to one of the two identical craft that was off their bow to the starboard side.

"Are you going to give them chance to surrender?" Alita asked.

Taylor shook his head.

"You know nobody aboard will survive?"

Taylor nodded.

"And their loss will save many more lives, on both sides," he replied.

She didn't question him any further, but she still felt awful for it. She began powering up the Nakbe's monstrous Goliath cannon. They could feel the entire ship pulse and reverberate as masses of power surged through the vessel. They were banking ever so slowly now and almost in line with the aft of one of the heavy cruisers. Babacan put down a little power to the starboard thrusters and brought them to a halt once more, in plain sight of the engines of their target.

"Fire when ready," said Taylor.

Alita could see there were just a few seconds left until it reached full power. She looked into his eyes, pleading with him without saying a word, but she could already tell he would have none of it.

"Do it."

She closed her eyes and pressed the fire button. A huge burst of energy soared from the Nakbe and hit the powerful heavy cruiser. The impact passed through the ship as if meeting no resistance at all. Explosions burst out all over the hull. The ship was torn into five sections, with thousands more pieces of debris and bodies thrown out into space.

They looked on solemnly for a moment as Alita finally opened her eyes. She wouldn't cry even though she wanted to. The battle came to a standstill; almost every ship and fighter stopped shooting. They were all looking at the devastation between the two fleets. Taylor turned to the most senior Cholan officer still alive, a female Lieutenant. She was trembling.

"Get me a channel to the Cholan fleet."

She didn't respond.

"Now," he replied in a firm voice.

She snapped into action and pushed a few buttons. He took his helmet off and prepared to make a speech he’d had no time to prepare for.

"You are live to the whole fleet," she said begrudgingly.

He hadn't expected for it to be so quick, but after a few seconds he began to address the fleets.

"This is Colonel Mitch Taylor. I have seized the Nakbe in the name of the Alliance. I have no qualms in turning the powerful weapons of this vessel on any ship refusing to accept a ceasefire and offer immediate surrender. Your people..."

As he spoke, Admiral Eme regained consciousness without anyone noticing him in the corner where he had fallen. He drew out his sidearm and took aim at Taylor. His sight was blurred, and he was jaded from the strike, but he squeezed the trigger. A single shot struck Taylor in the neck and passed right through. Taylor staggered forward as he cupped his neck and blood gushed from it. Eme was on his feet before anyone could respond and leapt into view of the camera.

"Do not surrender! Fight for your lives!" he screamed.

Taylor spun around and rushed at Eme with thunderous intent. He had taken pity and let the Admiral live, despite despising him for what he had done. Now he regretted it. Eme lifted his pistol in self-defence, but as he fired, Taylor ducked under and took hold of the Admiral's arm. Two shots rang out and found nothing but the wall of the bridge. Taylor kicked Eme in the stomach, and then drove another kick into his left knee so that the Cholan crumpled and bowed before him. He grabbed hold of the pistol, still in Eme's hand, and turned it to the back of his head.

Eme was powerless to resist the strength of Taylor, even had he not been in his powered suit. The gun barrel reached the back of Eme's head, and Taylor forced his finger over Eme's on the trigger. Blood spewed out over the deck of the bridge. Taylor let go of the Admiral, and his body dropped limp before him. He cupped his neck once again. He was still bleeding, but clearly not enough to suggest the windpipe had been pierced. But then he remembered the video feed. He looked up. Everything had been broadcast to the fleet.

His heart sank as he realised the hope of peace had been dashed. Alita rushed to his side and pulled his hand away to look at the wound. She was oblivious to everything else that was unfolding, but he looked to the operations table. A few ships began to move, and then the firing started once again. He shook his head in disbelief.

"What do we do?" Babacan asked.

He looked to Alita. "How long until we can fire again?"

"Your wound, let's sort you first."

"Fuck the wound, it doesn't matter right now. We do our jobs first and foremost, now how long?" he insisted.

"About a minute," she replied solemnly.

"Not good enough, what else do we have to throw at them?"

She shook her head.

"Nothing that can touch a major warship. The power overload of firing that weapon fries the systems for a little while. We've got close defence systems for protection against fighters. That's it."

"Then what do we do?"

Taylor didn't answer Babacan. It was obvious now. All they could do was sit and wait.

"Why haven't they come for us yet?"