Battle Earth III

The Earth War had raged for two months, but humanity had lost more in the first week than a year of any previous conflict. The Ares research base on Mars had been the first target. The Lunar colony, the only other substantial human colony outside of Earth’s atmosphere had been next. The survivors of the five hundred thousand moon colonists had fled below ground to continue to wage a guerrilla war.

The alien invaders had deployed a base in the Atlantic that had expanded to the size of many countries. Spain and North Africa had quickly fallen. France had been the bastion of Europe, but now lay in ruins. Major Taylor remains on light duty to recover from his injuries. The United States fights at its shoreline, and South America is on the brink of falling. Soldiers from all around the globe fight alongside one another to save their planet.

Major Taylor’s heroic and successful sabotaging of the enemy super weapon at the town of Poitiers had kept the human race in the fight, but him out of it. The marine officer still lay recovering from his injuries as his comrades struggled on. At Ramstein, on the western edge of Germany, the armies of Earth and of the Krycenaean invaders continue to battle through a bitter stalemate.

“Shhh,” whispered Chandra.

She looked back to the road through the thick foliage she was taking cover in. A small enemy column approached in the narrow road at the base of the valley. She lifted her Mappad to check their location. They were five kilometres west of Ramstein; exactly where they should be. She looked down at the exoskeleton suit which was strapped to her body and the huge weapon she bore in her one hand; the weight being of little notice.
Come on you bastards
, she thought.

Across the roadway she could just make out Captain Friday’s position. He was poised and ready for the onslaught they all eagerly awaited. They outnumbered the enemy three to one and had plenty of Reiter’s new hardware. She took slow deep breaths to calm her nerves. As she breathed out, vapour rose from her mouth. They were rapidly approaching a cold winter, and it was a crisp morning.

The Company had been waiting in ambush since before dawn. Other than the approaching vehicles, the valley was quiet. Even the burning smell of the ruined cities of the country was absent from the tranquil countryside on the border; and the bitter coldness, of being immobile on an autumn morning, was only overcome by the rush of adrenaline from knowing they were about to fight.

Three enemy armoured vehicles approached along the road with over a dozen Mechs visible on top of each of them. They were clearly some form of open top armoured personnel carrier. They cruised along the road at a solid and steady pace, but without any form of urgency; just weeks before, the enemy armour was a frightful sight to the infantry.
Come on,
Chandra thought.

She licked her lips as they approached, and she envisaged their vehicles burning and Mechs scattered dead across the roadway. It was a brutal thing to wish for. She only accepted the desire in the knowledge that it was them or her. She felt no empathy for the creatures. The Major could only imagine what it must be like to have to face humans in such a conflict. Her hatred ran as deep as the soldiers of the most extreme religious wars in their planet’s history.

The Major stared intently at the approaching force, and she didn’t look back at her comrades again. She knew they had her back. The enemy below were oblivious to their position. Their forces were well concealed within the evergreens of the valley. She could feel the excitement inside her grow as she lifted her weapon into view and readied herself to scream her battle cry.

Her mouth was dry now. The build up of tension had caused her to forget to breathe as she looked down the sight of her weapon. She coughed lightly and took in one last deep breath to be able to bellow the only command she needed.

“Fire!” she cried.

Before she could squeeze the trigger of her weapon, a hail of gunfire rang out. Pulses of light emanated from the tree line as Reiter’s latest weapons rained death upon the invaders. Chandra had been lucky enough to be able to hang onto all of the latest equipment for her Company. Rifle and grenade fire joined the shooting gallery as the volley smashed the enemy vehicles.

Chandra watched as the Mechs tried to leap off the vehicles and out of the line of brutal fire. Many were struck and killed outright before they could get to their feet. She watched in amazement as the creatures were torn apart by their fire. It was a turkey shoot that only made her believe for the first time in weeks that they had a chance. She revelled in the destruction as she continued to fire relentlessly.

The almost continuous hail of gunfire began to die down as Mechs tumbled to the hard mud beside the road, and others slumped lifelessly atop their vehicles. The Major got to her feet and admired the results of their work. Smoke arose from one of the vehicles, and steam poured out from the charred wounds of the Mechs.

Chandra had become accustomed to seeing the sight of dead soldiers, and it always made her feel sick, but not Mechs. She could not see them as people. They were not their equals, and they had no value. Their thick blue blood that seeped out through the gaping holes in their armour was no different to seeing oil leak from a car for the battle-hardened Major.

The valley went silent once again as the Company awaited the Major’s orders.
They’re nothing,
she thought,
and
no better than us. We can beat these bastards
. Chandra knew the war was far from over, but she was starting to gain some hope of victory. Taylor’s heroic deeds had shown the strength that was left in the human race. She turned and looked to the section beside her, nodding for them to follow her as she waved them forward with her weapon.

The Reitech exoskeleton suits, as they had become to be know after their designer, proved their worth every day. The first few useable suits had been delivered to Brigadier Dupont’s command, but they were still far from a common sight among the human armies. Chandra found the equipment to fit like a glove. Ever concentrating on their enemy, she barely noticed its presence anymore.

She stepped cautiously down the embankment to the carnage below. The stabilisation of the suit kept her balance perfectly on the uneasy terrain, as others slipped and slid on the slope. She reached even ground and stepped over the bloodied body of one of the creatures. Smoke arose from the burning hole in its armour.

Chandra walked past one of the vehicles, but there was no sign of life. She could already hear her troops ripping the cab open to be sure as she moved on to the next. As she approached, a door to the front of the vehicle swung out and smashed into her weapon. The force ripped it out of her hands and broke the sling hook holding it to her side. Her back crashed into the hard hull of the vehicle. Her armour took the impact, but the wind was taken out of her.

A tall creature climbed out and stood before her. The beast towered over the short officer who, with a frame so slight, appeared as a child before the monster. It studied her for just a moment before rushing at her like a charging bull. Its sudden turn of speed caught her off guard, but she still managed to narrowly avoid its strike.

The monster crashed into the side of the vehicle with the loud resonating clash of metal on metal. It wore a skin-tight suit that was of much smaller and less bulky proportions than they had been used to seeing the creatures in. It appeared to offer only minimal protection. From her hunched position, the Major thrust up with the power of her body, and aided by her suit and with all she could muster, delivered an uppercut into the creature’s stomach.

The Reitech suit afforded her a strength she had never known. Her hardened kneecap drove hard into the creature, causing it to fold at the waist. Before she could make a second strike, the beast swung wildly with a powerful hook. She ducked under the strike and spun around the beast. As she lifted back up to a standing position, she drew her knife and thrust it up under the beast’s jaw.

Thick warm blood gushed down over her hand. If she had closed her eyes, she could not have told the difference between their blood and her own. The beast spun in anger and struck her with the back of its hand. The strike felt as if it almost broke her neck and threw her onto her back. She looked up from the ground as the creature took a few wobbly steps towards her. It finally collapsed onto the hard and cold ground beside her.

“Major!” shouted Monty.

The soldier rushed to her side with his brother close behind. He outstretched his hand and hauled her to feet. Blood gushed from her nose and trickled out from her mouth. She saw Monty looking at the wound and instinctively drew her hand across her face, looking down at the smear of blood on her skin. The blood tasted sour in the cold morning, and worse than it normally would.

“Jesus, Major, that’s some hard core shit,” exclaimed Blinker.

Captain Friday arrived beside her and looked down at the body of the creature with the Major’s knife still imbedded up to its hilt under the jaw. He looked up at the Major to investigate her injuries.

“You ok?” he asked.

She nodded. Chandra was still in shock from the attack. Her instincts and muscle memory had taken over her actions to save her life, but now she was starting to realise how close she had come to death.

“Thank God he didn’t have armour.”

Chandra nodded in agreement.

“Every time they get close to our troops, they rip us apart. These new suits have given us a lot more strength, but we need weapons that can handle hand-to-hand combat.”

“Shit, you really want to do that again, Ma’am?” snapped Blinker.

She quickly turned around to oppose the Private. The blood on her face had already begun to congeal in the cold morning chill. She could never stand tall over any of the men, but her presence was enough to command respect.

“Uhh... sorry, Ma’am.”

“No, you’re right. I wouldn’t want to do it again, and certainly not against one of the fully armoured bastards. But were it a choice, we wouldn’t fight them at all! Fact is we have to do whatever we need to. The next time we get into hand-to-hand, I want to be prepared.”

“Guess we better get on to Reiter,” mused Friday.

“He’s probably thought of it before us, Captain. Let’s see what he has to offer. Do a last sweep of the site, and be sure none of them live. We move out in five.”

They were on foot to return to base. Vehicle patrols to the west of Ramstein attracted too much attention from enemy air and artillery support. Neither side had launched any noteworthy offensives since the destruction of their facility in Poitiers. Chandra thought to herself as she peered around the valley.
They’re in disarray.
For once
they aren’t moving forward. We could break them here.

The return to Ramstein was without incident. They passed four other allied units, and each one of them from another nation.
Was this what we needed?
Chandra asked herself; a common enemy to ally the Earth’s people together for the first time in its history. Then she remembered the loss of Charlie Jones and the Frenchman behind it, Legrant. The Mayor of Amiens, where they had been betrayed. She still harboured a bitter hatred for the man and prayed to never see him again, for she didn’t know if she would be able to restrain herself.

As the Company approached the western Perimeter of Ramstein, they could all make out the outline of Taylor waiting for them in front of the trenches. Behind him lay dozens of armoured vehicles and many more troops. His crutch had gone. His injuries had healed quickly, but he still showed the scars of the beating that Karadag had given him. The marine Major was smiling as they drew near.

“Good to see you back with us!” shouted Chandra.

She strode up to Mitch until she was close enough to speak privately.

“You cleared to come back?” she whispered.

“I figure so.”

“You figure?”

Taylor’s smile grew wider.

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“Without you there might not have been one,” she replied.

“You trying to kiss ass, Major?” he jested.

The two of them laughed as they turned and led the Company through the defences and into the safety of the base. It was already a hive of activity. Just a few weeks earlier, they had rushed across abandoned and desolate districts of the base to reach the western perimeter. Now it was littered with military vehicles and soldiers.

Ramstein was no longer an Air Force base. Its airfields had been lined with armoured vehicles. For the first time in decades, the base was truly alive. The hangars were over spilling with troops using them for accommodation. Tens of thousands of troops now occupied the base which was previously just a few years from closure.

“General Schulz still making you work at HQ?” asked Chandra.

“Just as an advisor. You know things have run a hell of a lot smoother since he took command.”

She nodded in agreement.

“Dupont still bitter about it?”

“Of course.”

“Well, we’re on German soil now, so it’s only right and proper they oversee the defence.”

“Commander Phillips is also still on board and assisting, along with leaders from most nations around here that I can think to name. A day with them could never be described as fun, but it is interesting.”

“Whoever thought it could work?” she asked. “The military minds of all nations coming together in a joint cause?”

“It isn’t all plain sailing. Dupont is still bitter, and rightly so. He has lost his country and many of his people.”

Chandra stopped and turned back to look at her Company. The troops came to a halt without command. They looked weary. The war had been reduced to a slog over the western border of Germany with no significant progress for either side. It was a meat grinder. They knew the brass would think that a good thing. All intelligence would suggest that the human forces significantly outnumbered the enemy, so much so that they could afford like-for-like losses.

“Good work! We kicked some arse today! Get some chow. At 1500 hours we take over guard duty at the western gate. Until then your time is your own!”

A restrained cheer rang out. It was a relief to the troops to be given a rest, but none of them were under any illusions concerning their situation. Captain Friday paced up to join the two Majors.

“We got any news on re-enforcements?” he asked. “We need to get back some way to battalion strength if we’re going to stay effective.”