Battle Earth II (17 page)

The troops leapt up with a cry of excitement.

“Alright! Settle down! We’ve got twenty-five sets that are ready for action. Take a rest and get some food in you. At 1300 hours your task is to become accustomed to this gear. Get used to the way it moves, the increases in strength and speed you will feel. Test the weapons on the range. By the evening I want you ready to move, and in the morning we take this gear into action!”

He looked across their faces, seeing at least a spark of excitement as they waited for his final word.

“Any questions?”

“Sir, who’s in charge here?” asked Yorath.

“The Company is led by Major Chandra. However, the development and testing project here is under my command. I’m here to make sure this equipment is up to the task, but we’re all under the command of the Major as far as operations are concerned. That’ll be all, fall out and get some chow!”

They quickly drifted apart as they followed the signs to the mess hall. It was a welcome relief after the weeks of living on field rations.”

Captain Friday strode up to Taylor, seeing that there was more concern in his eyes than just the threats they had faced since arriving in Europe.

“What’s bothering you, Mitch?” he asked.

“Aside from the pressure to make this work, and the vast armies approaching us?”

“Yeah, I know General White has been in touch with you, so it must be about more than just this equipment.”

Taylor nodded.

“Mech forces have attacked across the Eastern seaboard. Our forces have repulsed several of the landings, but a few have gained a foothold on US soil.”

“It was inevitable.”

“Doesn’t make it any easier to take in. Our homeland has been invaded by foreign forces for the first time in its history, and we aren’t there to defend it.”

“But tens of thousands of troops are, as well as hundreds of thousands of armed civilians. We have the 2nd Amendment for a reason.”

“And you think that’s right? Civilians should have to fight and die in our place?”

“We’re fighting the same war. Any amount of progress we make here helps our country.”

“And our families?”

“We both know they are a long way from this conflict, as far as anyone can hope to be. If any harm reaches them, then it’s because the rest of us have failed.”

“I should never have brought us here,” said Taylor.

He sighed as he thought about the horrific casualties his company had endured, whittling the marine unit down to less than a platoon within an amalgamated force. He turned away from the Captain to be greeted by the face of Eli Parker who strode towards him. Then it struck him, the reason they had gotten to where they were that day.

Was it all worth it? Taylor asked himself. He knew in his heart that it was. They’d have to fight this war somewhere, here was as good as any.

“Major, you should get some food and rest, you’ll need your strength,” mused Eli.

He smiled. Had it been from anyone else he would have taken offense at the suggestion that he might be fatigued. She noticed the Captain Friday’s stern face behind the Major, clearly concerned for them all.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“About as good as it can be,” replied Taylor.

“Let’s get that chow,” countered Friday.

The Major turned and nodded to Chandra to follow him. She was pawing at the new equipment and inquisitively studying it. As much as she was eager to put it to the test, she would quite happily take some time off before the process began. She strode up to Taylor and followed the troops to the mess hall.

“How far do you think their armies are from here now?” asked Taylor.

“Maybe fifty kilometres or so. We can’t keep retreating like this forever.”

“Agreed. If we don’t put a stop to their advances soon, we risk losing entire divisions as they get cut off.”

“I am sure Dupont has something in mind.”

“I hope so,” replied Taylor.

Forty minutes later the officers stood by the new sets of equipment, watching the troops strap them on and begin to familiarise themselves with it all. It was at least a relief to see that the new gear came naturally to them. Within minutes, they were running and leaping across the terrain, operating the weapons.

Taylor smiled as he watched the troops have a laugh and joke as they put the exoskeleton suits through their paces and were astonished at the psychical advantages it gave them. Monty charged towards Taylor and Chandra at immense speed as if he intended to plough through them. He came to a quick halt with a grin on his face.

“I’m impressed so far, Major. But how about these guns, are they going to do the trick?”

“A damn sight better than anything we have right now...”

Taylor’s words were cut short by the sharp crack of a siren ringing out across the base. The Company stopped and looked all around them for answers. This can’t be good, thought Taylor. Seconds later a voice rang out on the loudspeakers on the buildings all around them.

“All combat personnel report for duty! All senior officers assemble at drill square B.”

The commands were repeated as everyone looked around for answers.

“Surely they can’t be on us already?” asked Silva.

“We wouldn’t be called for anything less,” said Chandra.

She turned to see that the entire Company had stopped in mid task to await her orders.

“Platoon commanders, assemble your troops, be ready for combat in ten and await further instructions. Be ready, that’s all.”

She turned to Taylor. They both knew the war had reached them once again, but they didn’t want to believe it.

“With me, Major.”

The two officers rushed quickly to the designated site. Both still wore their rifles slung on their backs. In the new age of total war, there was never a time to be without a weapon. They arrived to find the General of the base standing in front of his personal vehicle. There were just ten senior officers gathered. Ramstein had long lost its former glory as a major US base.

“I’ll be short, Gentlemen. Enemy forces have breached the defence line on the border and are heading for us. Re-enforcements are en route, but we have been tasked with bringing their advance to a standstill at the western edge of the base until relief arrives.”

“What is the enemy strength, Sir?” asked Chandra.

“We don’t know.”

She gasped, that was not good news.

“What is our strength?” asked Taylor.

“We can assemble just over four hundred troops on top of your own people. Do you think it can be done?”

“Without any intel on the incoming forces, your guess is as good as mine, General!”

“Major Chandra, you are the most experienced combat officer in charge here, so I am placing you in command of the defence of this base. The rest of you are to report to the Major immediately. That’ll be all, good luck to you all.”

“Let’s move! Go, go, go!” shouted Chandra.

With little over five hundred troops, the Major led them at a jogging pace to the western edge of the base while Becker’s tanks rolled on up ahead. Still not even a complete battalion and that’s all that could be mustered, she thought. Taylor rushed up to her in one of the exoskeleton suits. She could see that the Major had distributed all of the twenty-five suits.

“Guess you’ll get to put that stuff through its paces after all!” she shouted.

“It’ll make the General happy, I am sure.”

She looked at the hulking weapon Taylor carried as if it weighed little more than a sidearm. The new equipment looked impressive, but she could only hope it performed as well. Chandra was suddenly startled as Friday rushed up at an inhuman speed. She turned back to the Major.

“Are your boys familiar enough with that equipment to use it effectively in combat?”

Taylor nodded. “Nothing to it.”

They reached an embankment and roadway which led up to the western entrance to the base. Becker’s tanks had already begun to dig into positions overlooking the valley. Chandra rushed between the vehicles to the edge to look beyond. She could already make out the silhouettes of Mechs approaching.

“Damn they didn’t hang around!”

“Must have been hot on our tails from Amiens,” growled Friday.

She looked around. They were mostly flanked by thick forestry that was almost impassable, leaving only a hundred metre strip of land for them to defend.

“This’ll do us well. We should be able to hold them here.”

“Should, Major?”

She snapped her head around to investigate why Taylor was questioning her to find he had a big grin on his face. She smiled briefly then looked out at the line of troops gathering behind them. Most were battle weary stragglers or inexperienced base personnel. They were waiting her command.

“I want trenches along the whole ridge here alongside Captain Becker’s armour! We’ve got half an hour, if we’re lucky!”

They looked exhausted and defeated already.

“An army is coming up that road which will destroy everything in its path! Help is on the way, but right now, we are all that stands in its way! You should know that the invasion of the United States has begun!”

Several gasped. For most of them it was their homeland, and the thought of enemy on their soil was something they could never have imagined.

“The United Kingdom will surely face the same within days! We are here because it is our job, and our duty, to do everything in our power to stop this enemy! It doesn’t matter where we fight. It doesn’t matter on what soil or country we fight and die on. We are as one now. Not Americans, not British, not German, but human! Now let’s give them what for!”

The troops roared with the first real excitement and enthusiasm she had heard in days as they rushed to unload the trench diggers from Becker’s vehicles. She knew their morale would not last long under a prolonged assault of the enemy. Many had never seen the devastation the invaders brought, and those that had knew to fear it.

Chandra looked down on the advancing enemy. She could make out only a few vehicles, but dozens of soldiers were approaching. She pulled out her binoculars to take a closer look as Taylor strode up beside her.

“Where’s their air power?” he asked.

“I guess they’re busy fighting the main armies.”

Just as she had said it, they heard the thundering engines of the enemy aircraft low across the treetops. Three fighters burst into view and were approaching them at a tremendous speed.

“Incoming! Take cover! God damn it, Major, you tempted fate!” she shouted.

The troops scattered. She rushed to the rear of Becker’s vehicle and ducked down as the craft soared overhead. Pulses smashed the ground. One struck twenty metres to the Major’s side where she saw it catapult several soldiers into the air. She knew that few of them would have survived.

“Where’s our damn air support?” shouted Yorath.

She looked up to see the young officer had taken refuge behind the vehicle alongside her.

“Taking as much as a beating as the rest of us!” Taylor replied.

She turned around to see the Major the other side of her. The ground shook as dozens of energy pulses crashed into the ground and tore up the road. Dirt and tarmac was thrown in every direction. The last few blasts rang out as the enemy craft zoomed overhead and banked sharply for another pass.

“God damn it, those bastards are pissing me off!” Taylor shouted.

The Major lifted himself up and casually took a few paces out into the open as the fighters turned sharply to make their second run. He stood defiantly before them.

“Taylor! What the hell are you doing!” shouted Chandra.

He ignored her and lifted up his new weapon as the three craft levelled off for their attack. As they soared towards the cowering troops, their weapons opened up and light pulses smashed into the ground. One of the blasts struck a tank and its armour was ripped open. The Major stood calmly as he targeted the centre craft.

He took a deep breath as they came into range and fired five shots from the launcher in quick succession. The rounds flew with a flat trajectory, just as Reiter had said. The troops watched in amazement as the alien craft burst into flames and veered out of control. The guns of the other two stopped firing as they pulled up and increased speed to escape from the scene.

Chandra got up from the cover to stand by the Major and watched the flaming craft smash through the canopy of the nearby forest, bursting into flames. A roar rang out from the men as they celebrated the Major’s victory. She turned to look at him. He’d acted with blatant disregard for his own life, and in doing so had won them a sizeable victory.

“Hell of a gun,” she said.

That was just the boost the troops needed, maybe we can win this fight, she thought. She saw that their casualties were minimal, but the tank that had been struck was immobile. A hatch on the stricken vehicle opened and the crew staggered out. She looked back to the troops who were still celebrating Taylor’s victory.

“Medics, see to the wounded! Everyone else get to work!”

Her troops hauled the trench devices from the vehicles with a new sense of enthusiasm and confidence. Within minutes the defences were being carved out into the landscape, and the vehicles were being dug down into a hull down position. The defensive line ran around the western road and the embankment that ran up it. The enemy would be bottle necked by the road and have no choice but to attack uphill to their positions. She stepped up to Taylor where only he could hear.

“That was a damn risky thing to do, and yet you may have just made the difference in this fight, Major.”

He smiled in response. He hadn’t wanted to be a hero or risk his own life. He had acted out of instinct and the hatred of the enemy. Chandra looked once again through her binoculars. She could see dozens of Mechs pouring out of from the wooded road into the open valley. She walked over to the smouldering tank where Becker was supervising the crew checking it over.

“She won’t move again, but we can keep the gun working while we stay here.”

“Right now our only concern is surviving where we stand, Captain, so that’ll do.”

The Captain nodded, it was yet another loss which he could not easily replace.

“How long until they come into range, Captain?”

“We can hit them from here, but I’d not be confident about armour penetration at this range. We don’t have enough spare to risk it. How long until those re-enforcements get here, Major? We aren’t going to last long.”

She shook her head as she could not answer that question. He nodded in acceptance, turning back to help his crew. She could see Taylor looking out at the incoming enemy with a smile.

“What’s making you so happy, Major?”

“This hardware. It’ll make every soldier who wears it twice the man he was.”

She sighed. “Then I hope we all live to see the day we are issued it.”

Fifteen minutes later the trenches were in place and the tanks were dug in. There was nothing left to do but wait. Captain Becker sat on the turret of his tank with a mug of coffee awaiting the opportunity to engage the first targets. He kept a keen eye on their advances. Chandra knew that, just as before, his calm and confident nature was very much a well practiced technique. Becker was as scared as the rest of them, but his demeanour did wonders for his crews.

“I never thought we’d end up fighting in my homeland. At least not this quickly.”

“The thought of a major war on European soil has long been considered to be a thing of the past,” said Chandra.

“Clearly our experts didn’t tell those bastards that,” snapped Taylor, pointing to the approaching force.

They knew that they were just minutes away from battle, but they were savouring their moment of peace for as long as they could.

“Major,” asked Becker.

“What is it, Captain?”

“Would you do the courtesy of telling us your first name?”

The Major looked at him inquisitively. Her fellow British officers were well accustomed with it in their life together. She noticed that Taylor turned and also awaited her answer.

“We aren’t going to die here, you know,” she replied.

“Major, you have me all wrong. I don’t want to know who I am going to die beside, but who I am going to fight beside.”

Taylor nodded in agreement. Chandra was touched by the statement, never having felt closer to those around her, but one. It was another sore reminder of the loss of Captain Jones, the only one among them who did know her name.

“Anna,” she whispered.

“What was that?” asked Taylor.

She knew he had heard her and only smiled in response.

“Nice to make your acquaintance, I am Lukas Becker,” stated the Captain formerly.

The three officers fell silent as they stared at each other, each praying that they would live to see the next day. The Captain peered around towards their advancing foe.

“Well, Anna, it’s about time we got to work.”

“Good luck to you, Lukas. Fire when ready.”

Becker gave a casual and friendly salute as he climbed into the turret and bolted the hatch down. The Major stood up on the embankment above the trenches where the troops had started to get comfortable in.

“Fire in your own time. I repeat, fire in your own time!”

The words echoed along the line as officers and NCOs relayed the order. They had trained without communication equipment before, but never expected to have to use it. In the frenzy of battle, it was clear to Chandra they needed better means of passing commands. She watched as the troops readied themselves at the trench shelves before jumping back into hers.

She looked along the line of troops. To her left was her own platoon, and to her right Taylor and his. The Major had taken half of Friday’s marines and they were all outfitted with Reiter’s new equipment. She peered over the embankment to see that the enemy were closing to five hundred metres. There were more than a hundred Mechs approaching up the hill with many more taking the road behind their tanks.

An energy pulse smashed down just in front of them as Becker’s tanks opened fire. The combined blasts rocked the ground. Chandra felt a little dizzy as she was almost thrown from her feet. She rested against the edge of the trench with her rifle at the ready. She looked down at the weapon and back at Taylor’s.

“Feeling a little inadequate, Major?” he jested.

She smiled in return and looked back at the incoming troops. Many of them with weapons effective at longer ranges had already opened fire. She could see Ortiz and Campbell firing as quickly as they could with their anti-materiel rifles, but she could not hear the shots. Taylor turned to Parker standing with him. He thought, I love you, but he didn’t say it. He gave a small nod and his eyes spoke pages. She smiled back, appreciating his sincerity.

“Let’s give these bastards a taste of the new age!” he shouted.

The exosuit marines slung their weapons over the edge of the trench and readied to fire. Chandra watched with baited breath. Their survival that day was important, but she knew the new technology could make all the difference in the war.

“Fire!”

A volley of loud cracks rang out as small flickers of light gushed from the barrels and small embers puffed out. She was so fascinated by the weapons that she was still fixated on them after the first shots. They stopped firing to investigate their results. Chandra turned just in time to see several of the Mechs drop to the ground with several others badly damaged.

“Alright, open it up, boys, give them everything you’ve got!” Taylor ordered.

“Oorah!” shouted Friday.

Light pulsed from the line of marines. The blinding light pulses from the enemy weapons had become something to fear. Chandra smiled as she realised that they were getting a taste of their own technology. She opened fire with her rifle. It was pretty ineffective compared to the others, but they had to maintain the pressure.

“It’s a god damn turkey shoot!” shouted Silva.