Battle Earth: 12 (21 page)

“You think I plan on dying after all this? I have put in way too much work to see it all end now.”

“Seriously, you’ve been a great pilot, a great fighter, and a great friend. My friends don’t seem all that lucky. I wish you to see this one to the end and live to tell the tale.”

He nodded in gratitude but couldn’t keep a straight face more than a few seconds.

“As will you. You’re the great Colonel Taylor. You can’t die.”

“We can all die,” he replied softly, “I might be a little harder to kill than the average, but time catches us all.”

“Then let it be a glorious death when it comes,” said Rains. He reached up and patted Taylor on the shoulder.

He was never capable of being serious for even a minute, but Taylor knew that was his coping mechanism, and he wouldn’t rob him of it.

“You know if you make it through this, they’ll probably build a statue of you bigger than the Statue of Liberty herself. Hell, they might even put it where she stood. Don’t think there’s much left of her now.”

“And if I fail, Eddie, I’ll vanish into obscurity.”

“Not a chance. Win or lose, you’ve more than left your mark in this world. Lose and you’ll forever be remembered as the biggest pain in the ass to the Krys race.”

“Nothing ever gets you down, does it, Eddie?”

“Way I figure it, when you’re staring in the face of the annihilation of your entire race, you can either laugh or cry.”

“Yeah, but you’ve always been like this, so what was your excuse before the invasion?”

“Hell, you got me,” he replied with a smile.

Taylor sat down and looked over the data on his Mappad. It was alarming how little information they actually had. He looked back up to the platoon inside the copter. They all watched him and eagerly awaited some words of encouragement.

“You all know the plan?”

“Yes, Sir!” they shouted in unison.

“We go in, and we kill all that we can. There aren’t any egos to contend with here. You get a shot at Erdogan; you take it. Just remember that this is the big one. Everything we have done up to this day counts for nothing unless we can succeed here. It’s a big task, but nothing we haven’t faced before. The enemy will be unsuspecting and ill prepared for our attack. You press that advantage at every stage. Shock and awe, people!”

“One minute to jump.”

“Okay, not long now. Get ready for the ride of your life,” said Eddie.

Taylor shook his head. He couldn’t work out who the statement was for, until he realised it was Rains merely psyching himself up.

“Jafar, these Sampions?”

“What of them?”

“They good?”

“Yes.”

“How come we haven’t come across them before?”

“You have, just in small numbers where they counted for little. They lead Mech forces; act as bodyguards, and in extreme cases, elite shock troops. They were never needed for that purpose in this last war. When in numbers, they are a formidable force.”

“Well how many more are there like them?”

“Probably not more than a few thousand on Earth.”

“Why so many in Warsaw, then?”

“Class structure. They live among their equals.”

“So what? We just drew the short straw and are hitting the hardest mother fuckers Erdogan has to offer?”

“General White specified targets based on the ability of those units selected for the task.”

“Once again, we do good, and we get rewarded with a kick in the ass for it,” replied Taylor, but he was smiling now.

“That’s okay,” said Silva, “If they’re like you, they shouldn’t be any trouble at all,” he said to Jafar.

The alien did not get the joke, but Silva still laughed at it himself and was joined by several others.

“You would be wise to not underestimate the Sampions. They are brave and capable warriors.”

“Jump in ten, nine, eight…”

“Here we go boys!” yelled Rains.

“Seven, six, five, four…”

“We’re going home!”

“Three, two, one…jump.”

It took a few moments for them to pass through the gateway, and they felt the gravity shift as they always had done. Taylor was quick on his feet once they were on the far side and was looking intently and scanning from one of Rains’ screens to another. The scanner began to bleep as it recorded activity.

“There they are,” stated Rains.

Taylor was counting the numbers on the screen before them.

“Thirty warships and about the right amount of support vessels and fighters. Must be most of what they got left here,” said Rains.

Lights flashed from the long range guns of the Diderot springing to life, and Taylor realised they had jumped straight into range with the enemy fleet. He knew that was no accident.

“Admiral ain’t wasting no time,” said Rains.

The docking bay doors opened soon after, and they could see dozens of allied warships approach the enemy fleet and screen them off for a path down to Earth. They were welcomed by a beautiful view of the Earth down below. Cloud cover was minimal, and they were looking down into the centre of the Pacific and could just make out the coastlines that skirted either side.

“Beautiful, ain’t it, Colonel?”

“Always, Eddie. It’s what we fight for. Don’t let this be the last time we see it.”

“Ye of so little faith.”

He reached forward and put all power to the engines, and they raced out of the docking bay and out into space. Pulses flashed past their position, and Taylor watched the screens as the battle ensued at their flank. He could see the enemy vessels being bombarded with far more than they were putting out.

“Good luck to them.”

He turned his attention to what was ahead. They were at the very front of the assault. The screens showing their flanks revealed hundreds of copters with them and many hundreds more vessels far larger. Rains pointed up to the screen above him that was the rear display screen, and Taylor looked up and found he was speechless. Thousands of vessels were at their back. It was the largest operation he had seen since their departure from Earth. The sensation was like a high, and in that moment, he felt immortal.

They had passed through the atmosphere in no time at all and with no losses they could see. They were coming in just over Northern Italy and descending quickly. Taylor expected to see anti aircraft fire at any time, but it never came.

“Right on target, right on schedule,” Rains commented proudly. “Warsaw, hey? Always wanted to go there,” he added.

“Few years ago, maybe, but I don’t think you’ll find it quite so welcoming today,” replied Taylor.

Missile trails rushed out ahead of them as the larger vessels in the assault began to bombard ground targets while they made their approach. The city looked untouched by the wars that had plagued the world for so many years.

"Not putting up much of a fight are they?" Rains asked.

"Give it time."

They were descending quickly towards the city, and they could make out the movement of both humans and aliens below. A few pulses from small arms flew past, and the armour of their craft brushed two aside. Rains manoeuvred them in between several buildings and past the first enemy.

"Thirty seconds," he said.

Taylor turned back to the platoon.

"If they're alien, you shoot them. Humans are considered non-combatants unless they declare themselves otherwise."

"What about clones?" Silva asked.

"We won't know what’s what until they start taking shots at us. I will not risk killing civilians until we know for sure."

He reached over and hit the door release buttons so that the exits opened up either side of the fuselage. Rains lifted the nose and brought them to an abrupt hover twenty metres above the ground on one of the main streets of the city.

"Go!" Taylor hollered as he was jumping out of one of the doors.

He hit the ground running and rushed to the cover of the entrance hallway of a department store at the side of the street. He expected to take fire any second, but nothing came. He watched as the last of his unit dropped in, and Rains broke for the skies.

"Good luck, Colonel!" he said over the comms.

Taylor looked around in all directions and expected to be fired upon any second.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Silva shouted.

Taylor looked around to see that his platoon and the two that had jumped in after them had taken up defensive positions. They were so used to having to hunker down for cover that none of them thought to carry onwards.

"We have to move on. We can't let them organise," said Taylor.

He got up and gestured for the others to follow him. He clung close to the buildings on one side of the street and could see Matthews’ platoon mirroring their movements on the far side. He came to an abrupt halt when he reached a cafeteria and was astonished to find three human staff members standing frozen behind the counter.

“Go!” he yelled to them instinctively, but he soon realised there was no logic in his order, as he knew they had nowhere to go. He nudged the door open a little.

“What are you still doing here?”

“Have you come to rescue us?” one of the men asked.

Taylor shook his head. “We’re here to seek out and kill alien forces in the area.”

“Then we will take our chances.”

Hew shook his head but could see that they had accepted their fate, and he himself could not promise them anything better.

“Come on,” whispered Silva from outside.

He obliged and carried on along the street. It was eerily silent for a town they knew was inhabited, or occupied depending on your point of view. A high-pitched scream came from one of the side streets as they came up along side it. It was a battle cry, and several Krys rushed at them with guns blazing. Taylor ducked down. The bottom edge of his shield hit the road, and he was covered from head to toe as he opened fire. There were just five aliens coming at them. They looked much like Jafar did when he was not wearing armour. Each of them was firing a handheld pulse weapon that seemed to be fitted into their forearms, and they all carried a curved blade in the other hand that was almost a metre long.

Reitech rounds punctured the first two multiple times and met little resistance, but the third and fourth creatures were only clipped lightly as they rushed the troops of the Inter-Allied. Silva collapsed under the weight of one of the wounded creatures and was still firing on full auto into its torso as it collapsed and crushed him flat beneath his shield. The other wounded Mech went after Jafar while the last of them rushed Taylor. Several shots from the creature’s gun struck the barrel of his and caused it to snap out of his hands.

Taylor had just enough time to draw his Assegai as the creature smashed into his shield with what almost felt like the force of a juggernaut. He was thrown back a few paces, but the creature stuck with him so that his comrades could not fire in his aid. The creature swung at him with its blade, but it was not the clumsy strike of a Mech, but a calculated and controlled one just as Jafar would deliver. Taylor ducked down and raised his shield as the blade connected. Sparks flew, and the blade seemed to light up with electricity and cut almost ten centimetres into the rim of his shield.

He pushed off with his shield and thrust up with his Assegai as he drew it from its sheath. He fully expected to drive it deep into his attacker’s stomach, but the alien turned and yanked the edge of his shield so that he was spun around. The blade came at him once again, and he narrowly ducked under and smashed the edge of his shield up into its torso. As the alien was launched off its feet, it fired its arm-mounted weapon at him. He raised his shield in time, and the shots bounced off the thick armour, giving his people the opening they needed. Silva and two others of his platoon opened fire with multiple bursts into the creature until it dropped dead to the pavement.

Taylor scrambled back up onto his feet and looked down at the body of the creature.

“Getting slow in your old age, Colonel,” Silva joked.

“That a Sampion?” Taylor asked.

“Yes,” replied Jafar confidently.

“They came at us with some kind of frenzy, but they must have known they would die?”

“Yes,” Jafar replied again.

“So they really are as good as you say?” Taylor said to Jafar rhetorically, “They had no armour, and only the weapons they had to hand. They would have been a handful if they’d been ready for this.”

“They are the best of the Krys people.”

“You regret their loss Jafar?” Silva asked.

He nodded. “They are fine warriors.”

A single pulse smashed into the building next to them, and they turned to see a dozen Mechs advancing down the street towards them. Taylor smiled as he felt a familiarity that put him in his comfort zone. For a brief moment he thought back to the Moon when he had first encountered a Mech warrior and how terrifying they were, and then smiled again at how humble they now seemed compared to his own people. But before he could react, Irala’s Guardian stormed between their lines and went right for the Mechs.

It was firing from both of its weapons, and the Mech warriors were just not fast enough to avoid its wrath. Taylor rushed on towards them with his Assegai still in hand. The Guardian soaked up all the fire, and he advanced without incident and was able to rush at one of the creatures as it frantically tried to defend itself against the Guardian that was cutting its comrades apart, and even stamped on one on the way.

Taylor drove his Assegai deep. The creature turned, and he smashed his shield into its pulse cannon so that it was stopped dead. Disabled and helpless, the creature let go of its weapon and reached for Taylor, but he thrust his Assegai down the centreline. It passed though the creature’s armour and ran up to the hilt. Its hands tried to get a grip against his helmet, but the life was already seeping out from the creature. Taylor drew out his blade and ran on; the Mech dropped dead to the road.

Looking around the street, he could see the Mech force that had approached them was now reduced to a heap of twisted metal and bodies. He looked up at more craft passing overhead and their own people leaping out and descending onto roofs and into the streets around them.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” asked Silva, “To be hitting them where it hurts.”

Taylor nodded. “Let’s move on.”

They carried on into the next street and found a car haring down the street towards them. Taylor and his people clung to the sidewalks. Two humans were inside the vehicle, and they looked terrified.

“What are they running from?” asked Morris, “Us, the Krys? Both?”

“Everything,” replied Taylor, “They just want to live.”

They could hear gunfire in the distance, and it was a reminder for them to keep going. Taylor led the way and took a bend up ahead. A Mech ran past, totally oblivious to him. He took aim and fired three shots that killed the creature instantly. Even before it had fallen down dead, another six appeared before him. But they weren’t heading for Taylor. They were passing from one side of the road to another. They were running from allied troops.

“Take them down!” Taylor ordered.

As he opened fire, another dozen ran into view, and not one of them tried to return fire. They were running in fear for their lives. The whole of Taylor’s platoon was lined up like a shooting range now. Dozens more rushed into view, and Taylor had to slam in a new magazine to keep firing.

“Damn turkey shoot!” Silva shouted with glee.

They kept up the fire relentlessly and cut down dozens of the Mechs. Only a few got past them, and several from the platoon shouted out with excitement at their luck. Taylor felt no remorse for them at all, but neither did he take any pleasure in it. As the last of them were finished off, he carried on around the bend to pursue the rest. As he took the bend, he found a hail of pulses smash into the ground ahead, and one struck his shield. He leapt back around the corner as another pulse soared past him.

He peered around the corner very carefully. He could just see a narrow slit in the ground floor of a building up ahead. He turned back to Silva and Jafar who were waiting close by his side.

“Fortified bunker built into the ground level just as we saw before,” he said.

“That ain’t so bad,” replied Silva. “Can we go around it?”

“No time. We jump it.”

“Like you did before? That’s crazy. Okay you got away with it once, but that was then.”

“Yeah and this is now. I want three volunteers.”

Silva shook his head, and yet he said, “I’m in,” at the same time. Jafar nodded also. Herrera had been listening in.

“Count me in.”

“You all know what to do,” said Taylor, pulling a grenade from his armour.

“Three, two, one…”

He rushed out from cover. Lights flashed ahead almost instantly, but he quickly jumped and used his boosters to leap several storeys up, coming down in front of the bunker and below the gun loop. He armed the grenade, and the others did the same before throwing them in and ducking for cover.

Explosions rang out as a hole was blasted in the front of the bunker, and Taylor put his rifle through and opened fire. He cut down the remaining two Mechs, not giving them time to recover, but none of them were Sampions.

“Taylor, come in!” King called over the comms.

The sound of gunfire raged in the background.

“What can I do for you, Captain?” Taylor asked. The dust was still settling on his armour.

“We’re two klicks north of your position. We’re trying to enter the artificial garden complex there, but we’re meeting heavy resistance.”

“Artificial garden? What the fuck is that?”

“It’s what it says on the billboards, Colonel. A good few hundred of the enemy have retreated inside, your Sampions. It’s a massive dome complex, so you can’t miss it. There are only a few entrances in or out. We’re at the southern entrance. All other exits have been closed off by other units.”

Taylor rubbed his chin as he tried to fathom out what he was hearing.

“Why would they have gone in there, Jafar? There’s no chance of escape, so why?”

“To die a good death,” Jafar quickly replied.

“Then I guess we’ll just have to oblige them. We’ll be with you shortly, Captain,” he replied down the comms and gestured for the three platoons at his back to follow on. They passed through several empty streets before eventually catching sight of the massive domed complex at the end of a long road ahead.