Battle Earth II (2 page)

“Let’s move!” shouted Taylor.

He turned and rushed to the back as heat pulses smashed into the shop. They sent metal shelving tumbling across the room, narrowly missing the fleeing marines. Taylor reached a locked door that led to a loading alley out the back. He lifted his rifle and fired several shots into the lock until it was obliterated. He then kicked the door through. As they rushed out into the street, the building behind them began to creek and shake with the continuous pounding from the enemy’s weapons.

“It’s gonna blow! Run!” shouted Silva.

They dashed to make some distance as chunks of the building collapsed around them.

“Shit!” Silva called out.

The ground around them shook as they were launched off their feet. Half of the building collapsed into the narrow lane. Seconds later, Taylor spluttered as he found himself covered in debris. The foul and dry taste of brick dust filled his mouth, and his face was covered in its residue. His body armour had thankfully saved his back from the impact, though his joints were stiff and sore.

He pushed up; wiping his brow with the cuff of his uniform, but it was of little help. His uniform was as thick with dust as the entire scene, and the marines had almost completely blended in with the rubble. The memory of their attackers flooded back into his head, and he turned to Silva who was still freeing himself.

“Keep moving!” shouted Taylor.

The marines staggered to their feet and rushed onwards. From behind the line of shops, they could hear the engines of the Mechs firing up. Their jeep was still a couple of blocks away.

“We’re not gonna make it!” called Silva.

Taylor turned and looked at the tall buildings they had come from. He still couldn’t see the enemy, but their engines were getting louder. He turned back and could see a small local police station. The doors were left open, and it was abandoned.

“Follow me!” he ordered.

The Major knew they could not outrun the Mechs. These were faster and more agile than anything they had seen before. He gave every ounce of strength and energy to push to a sprint for the building. They rushed through the doors and quickly rolled into cover behind the reception desks. For a moment they sat trying to get their breath back.

The roar of the Mech engines came closer until Taylor could smell the chemicals emitting from the devices. They smelt like a noxious gas, pungent and acrid. Taylor lifted himself up just enough to peer over the counter and into the street. Two of the Mechs landed hard along the path they had themselves just trodden. They peered around desperately, clearly having lost the marines’ trail.

“Guess their tracking skills aren’t up to regulation,” whispered Silva.

He had a cheeky grin on his face, calling a victory over their ruthless enemy. Taylor looked to the other three marines, Jimenez, Mitchell and Paria. Fear was evident in their eyes. Facing the towering Mechs was always a harrowing experience, but safety in numbers always helped to bolster their morale. Now they were left in a wasteland with nothing and nobody to support them. Taylor smiled, hoping to give them some encouragement. After all the bitter fighting he had survived, Mitch was unwilling to die now.

He turned back to the Mechs and watched them from cover. They paced up and down the street in opposite directions. He could see no visual communication between them, so they must have comms equipment beneath their armoured suits. They finally strode off out of view, and he slumped back down behind the desk to rest.

“They gone, Sir?” asked Paria.

“For now.”

“I doubt they’ve given up, Sir. They’ll be scouring the neighbourhood for us. We just blew their shit up, and we’d never let that go unchecked,” said Silva.

Taylor agreed. He considered waiting them out, but there were too few of them to thoroughly check the whole area. Despite this, their presence implied an impending movement into the area. The last place he wanted to be alone in no man’s land.

“How we getting out of here, boss?” asked Mitchell.

Taylor looked around the reception atrium and back to the street. He still couldn’t see the Mechs, but he could hear their pacing up and down.

“It looks like they can’t stay airborne for long, so they’re not much more than our landing thrusters. Let’s get to the roof. We’ll make our way down to the street from there. We should be out of sight and with a good field of view,” said Taylor.

The Sergeant nodded.

“Most of these buildings are joined, and those that aren’t can’t be more than a metre or two apart, should be doable,” said Silva.

“Alright, on your feet, let’s get the fuck out of this dump.”

Taylor straightened his legs but stayed hunched as they made their way to the stairwell. They could still hear the imposing trudge of the Mechs in the street. They were far smaller than the armoured creatures they had faced before, little over two metres. Knowing that they were safe within the confines of buildings that the enemy could not enter was a comforting fact, up until now.

It was a long haul to the roof. The small local police station was housed in the base of an apartment block which was fifteen storeys high. They dared not risk using the elevators. The building was close to a hundred years old and the decor almost half that. The smell of food cooked days before still wafted through the corridors, unable to escape through the sealed windows.

Taylor reached the very top of the building and prized open the door to the roof. He slowly opened it a millimetre at a time and looked for any sign of their attackers. He turned back to the other marines with a nod and a grin.

“We’re in business,” he whispered.

He eased the door fully open and stepped out onto the roof. His posture was still hunched and his rifle at the ready, but his head shot from left to right always looking for any threat. As they reached the edge of roof, they could see that it was joined directly onto the next building and several more after that. They were only divided by half-metre walls which the marines quickly vaulted one after the other.

As they reached the fifth building, they could hear the sound of stomping feet getting louder. These new enemies may be smaller, but they were no quieter. Their armoured suits clanged together as they strode for all to hear.

“Hardly stealthy,” whispered Mitchell.

“Who needs to be stealthy when you’ve got the best armour and the biggest guns?” replied Silva.

They went silent and waited for the steps to pass beyond the entrance to the building they were on. They still had no idea what hearing abilities the Mechs had, but it seemed little different to their own. They were only thankful they didn’t possess thermal imaging devices.

“Back up,” said Taylor.

They continued quietly and cautiously across the roof until they reached the edge, gasping at the gap which divided them and the next building.

“That’s got to be two metres or more,” said Jimenez.

“But with a metre’s drop, should be doable,” said Silva.

“Has to be,” replied Taylor.

Without another word, he took a few steps back and sprinted to the edge to launch himself across. The Major landed hard the other side on the gravel, rolling into a tumble. He was brought to an abrupt halt by a small wall.  He shook his head to regain his composure, got up to one knee and nodded to the others.

“Oh, shit,” said Silva.

He followed suit by leaping after the Major. The other three marines were left humbled and quickly made the jump. Mitchell was last. As he made his run for the jump, Taylor could hear a Mech approaching the alley, and so lifted his hand to signal for the marine to stop. The signal caused Mitchell to hesitate, but it was too late for him to completely stop. He jumped short and struck the edge of the building.

Silva jumped forward landing belly first on the gravel and taking hold of Mitchell’s arms. The weight dragged the Sergeant to the edge, but the others took a hold of his legs. They stopped with Mitchell hanging precariously from the roof, and they all froze. Taylor looked down the narrow alleyway towards the location of the Mechs, dipping his head in the hope of remaining unseen.

The footsteps of the creature grew near as they waited, not wanting to make another sound or movement. Silva winced, his elbows and wrists being stretched by the weight of the man he was holding. Their hearts raced as a Mech appeared at the entrance to the alleyway. It stopped and turned to look down the dim, shadow cast alley, scanning for any sign of life.

Taylor prayed that the beast did not look up, or they would all be doomed. A moment later the Mech turned and strolled on. The Major sighed in relief before reaching for Mitchell and hauling him onto the rooftop. They all sat back breathing deeply.

“Fuck me,” said Mitchell.

“For a species with such technology, they aren’t too smart are they?” asked Silva.

“We are just as alien to them as they are to us. Think you can predict the way they think, the way their will respond and act?” asked Taylor.

The Sergeant nodded, genuinely thinking about what the Major had said.

“Do not forget what you learnt in training. Just know that what we are dealing with here was never included in no manual. We are re-writing the rules as we go along,” said Taylor.

“Let’s get the hell out of here, Sir,” said Paria.

“Agreed.”

Taylor stood up, realising that he was covered in yet more dust from the gravel. He considered patting it off, but any help with camouflage right now was useful. They continued onwards across another eight buildings until they reached the end of the street. Taylor and Silva crawled to the edge and looked down to where they had left their jeep. It sat alone, and untouched by the enemy.

“Guess they don’t see it as a threat,” said Silva.

“Why would they? It has no weapons or armour, and it could be anything to them.”

They looked up and down the street, but the Mechs were nowhere to be seen. They crawled back to the other three. Taylor had a broad grin across his face, happy in the knowledge that they were so close to escape.

“We’ve got enough power left to make the jump, and I don’t want to waste anymore time up here waiting to get our asses blown off. On my go, we make a break for the jeep. We don’t stop, and we don’t hesitate. Ready?”

They all nodded eagerly. None of them wanted to run before the guns, but neither did they want to get left alone in what was quickly becoming hostile territory. Taylor checked his weapon and looked back up at them. The situation was far from ideal, and he wished he’d trusted his gut about the intel and taken more troops to investigate.

“Three, two, one...”

They leapt to their feet and ran for the edge of the building, launching themselves into the air. They hit their boosters on the way down and landed hard on the tarmac below. The street was still empty with no sign of the enemy, but they didn’t wait to find out. Silva was the first to the vehicle and leapt in into the driver’s seat. The engine fired up before two of them had even got aboard, and they desperately hoisted themselves on as the jeep lurched forward.

Taylor didn’t have to give any further commands as Silva was well aware of the urgency. Jimenez and Paria had got into their seats as the vehicle stormed down the abandoned streets. Just as they thought they had made it, a tingle went down Taylor’s spine at hearing the pulsing sound of the Mechs flying packs.

“Incoming!” he shouted.

He snapped his neck back and looked down the street they were racing away from. Two of the Mechs took a sharp turn around the bend into their street, and their engines roared as they stormed towards the escaping vehicle. Taylor stood up and rested his rifle in the roll bar of the vehicle, taking quick aim. He fired a few bursts, but the rounds appeared to bounce off with no effect.

“Take them down!”

The others trained their grenade launchers against their pursuers while Paria tried desperately to unload the ARMAL launchers from his webbing. Jimenez fired first, and a grenade landed just ahead of the Mechs, showering them in debris. The two flying monsters burst through the smoke as if unfazed. The one at the front trained its weapon on them ready to fire.

“Turn!” shouted Mitch.

Silva wrenched the wheel round and slid the vehicle across an intersection as the enemy’s weapon fired. It blew out the front of a shop, narrowly missing them. Taylor hung onto the roll bar for dear life as the back wheels regained grip, and they continued on at full pelt. He lifted his launcher and fired a single round which again landed just short.

Having gotten his range, Taylor fired all further five grenades in his launcher with a short dispersal pattern. Explosions erupted all around the Mechs. One disappeared into a plume of smoke and debris while the other spun out of control and crashed through a nearby building. Mitchell turned back to look at the Major with a grin. Taylor flipped open his launcher and quickly reached for the next shells on his webbing.

“Guess we got them, Sir,” said Mitchell.

Before the Major could respond, the marine was struck by an energy pulse which took his head off, leaving a smouldering cauterised wound at the neck and shoulder.

“Holy shit!” cried Paria.

Taylor turned to see four more of the enemy flyers approaching an intersection they were passing.