"Bolormaa, I assume!"
The helmet on the creature quickly retracted back into its body and revealed a head almost Krys in shape, but a deep dark red skin that was mottled all over.
Ugly motherfucker, Taylor thought.
He recognised the eyes immediately, the same as had plagued them each time they made contact with Morohta ships.
"What do you know of Bolormaa?"
He was surprised to hear a male voice and realised it could not be the infamous alien leader. That was a relief to him. It was a deep imposing voice that reminded him of Erdogan.
"What do I know? Just that she sounds like the bitch of the universe, and I'd like you to give her a message."
He looked down at his console and punched in the codes for a precision aerial strike with two coordinates.
"What message?" the creature asked.
Taylor carried on talking as he used his console and avoided eye contact.
"Just a little message that says fuck you," he replied, accepting the codes on his console.
"You are wasting your time. You will all die."
"My name is Mitch Taylor of Earth, and I am here to tell you that this isn't over. Come for us, and we will take from you more than you ever dreamed possible."
"Small words from a small creature. I could kill you where you stand and all those you bring with you."
"Really? Good to know, but I wasn't wasting my time."
The creature looked confused, but Taylor merely pointed up above him and smiled.
Two missiles from the Guam smashed into the causeway three metres either side of the creature and blew out the section where it stood, causing it to fall through the gap. Taylor rushed to the railings and watched with glee as it fell.
"You're crazy, you know that, right?"
Taylor nodded in approval at Jones and smiled.
"Son of a bitch was boring me to death. Now let's get this done."
Chapter 12
The battle was raging all around on the display screens as Jafar lay back against the sidewall of the escape pod. He was shaking his head, wondering how he had gotten to where he was today. His wound still bled, and his comms officer was trying to stop the flow, but he didn’t care for it.
“Did we do what Taylor always warned of?” Sarik asked.
“Get soft? Yes. We have gone just the same way his society had before we met humanity. But never think that was a bad thing. We lived good lives for a very long time.”
“And you don’t enjoy this more than all of the talk and politics we have endured?”
Jafar shrugged. He was not sure anymore. They felt an impact on the edge of the craft and looked up at clamps that had latched on above them.
“Maybe we aren’t done yet,” said Jafar.
They watched as they were carried and delivered towards the Guam.
“Is this not futile? Even if we survive this, is there any hope of success against the Morohta?”
“Our people survived a war with them once before, Sarik, and I thought you liked to fight?”
“When there is a chance of winning, yes.”
“There is always a chance. Taylor proved that to us. Did we not feel the invincible invaders when we first encountered humanity?”
“Yes, but this is different.”
“I do not see how.”
It was not long before they docked on the Guam. As they stepped onto the fighter bay decks, there were personnel waiting to offer them assistance. Jafar pointed them to Sarik, but passed them off himself. He strode on through the ship until he reached the bridge.
“Commander, have you anything to report?” he asked Cohen, looking at the battle still unfolding before them.
Cohen looked back and opened her mouth to answer when she saw splashes of blood leading to Jafar and pooling at his feet.
“Please, let us get you medical attention, Lord Jafar.”
“Just answer the question.”
Cohen looked uncertain.
“I’ve bled enough in my time to know if I am in trouble. What is Taylor’s situation?”
“He has recovered the device but had to call in a strike to deal with something we haven’t seen before.”
She pressed a few keys and brought up an aerial video feed from the air strike. Jafar shook his head, as he did not recognise it. But a moment later Irala was projected before them.
“It is one of the offspring of Bolormaa,” he stated.
“You are sure?” Jafar asked.
“That is what our records indicate. They serve as her leaders and champions, and are not to be toyed with.”
“Yeah, well we just dealt with it.”
“You killed it?”
Irala watched the replay of the footage and looked unconvinced. In the background they could see dozens of wrecked ships and gunfire and missiles lit up the space all around them. The Guam herself was continuing to take one hit after another from enemy frigates and their fighters.
“How long do we give Taylor?”
“There is no limit, Commander,” replied Irala, “For if he fails, we all are finished, anyway.”
“So we really are putting our future in twenty men?”
“There are thousands of troops on the surface,” Jafar added.
“Yes, but none of them have a device that can end this but Taylor.”
“I kept that for a rainy day, as you say. Remember it was the Alliance who decided in their infinite wisdom to outlaw such weapons.”
As he finished, a large impact hit the Guam, and they were almost thrown off their feet.
* * *
Taylor crept forward to peer around a corner. He could hear gunfire and took the bend to find a squad of Krys warriors battling the Morohta. He rushed out and crossed behind them to the cover of the next structure. From there he could see an opening inside where the bombardment had created a hole. He rushed inside and was confronted by three Stalkers heading his way to stem the flow.
He fired several shots from the hip, ducking in against a wall to let those behind him get a clear line of sight. They opened fire as he pulled out his Assegai and flicked it open. As the last remaining Stalker came in line with him, he thrust out from the wall and drove it deep. The creature dropped slightly, and he fired three shots into the top of its torso to make sure.
As the body went limp at his feet, he looked at the time once again and realised just how long the fleet had to have been battling the Morohta in orbit above them.
‘We have to up this pace!”
He ran on in the direction they had been attacked from.
“How deep do we have to go to get this thing?”
“A long way. Come on, Jones, we have to keep moving!”
They continued on and came to a large tube that appeared to be an elevator.
“Get inside!” Taylor shouted.
Many of them looked suspicious, but they did so anyway. It was twenty metres wide and more likely a vehicle lift than intended for personnel. Taylor looked for the console, but there appeared to be nothing at all. It was Babacan who saw an orifice amongst an organic pipeline running to the ceiling. He put his hand inside without hesitation, and whatever he’d done they began lowering down below the surface at a steady pace that began to increase.
“This part of the plan?”
“Heading below the surface, Jones?”
“No, this elevator.”
Taylor looked at him with a smile.
“You know we had no plans on this place, right? We find a way down. That was the plan.”
“Wow, that’s it?”
“Hey, that’s the way we gotta roll sometimes.”
“And were plans always this rudimentary with you?”
“Only when they had to be.”
The elevator took them lower and lower as it increased in pace. Taylor was clocking the distance on his console. They were nearly two kilometres below the surface when they began to slow and raised their rifles at the ready for whatever they might have
to face.
"No matter what, we go forward, okay?"
Nobody said a word, but he knew they were with him. Finally, the elevator shaft opened up and exposed them to a vast chasm resembling the insides of some titanic creature. The roof and sides were ribbed like a spine and ribs structure, but on the ground there was line after line of light emitting pods twice the size of a man and in a grid formation. There was no movement at all for a second, as if they had the element of surprise, and there was no one to stand in their way. Taylor knew that was too much to hope for.
A broad ten metre column-like object that a second before was inanimate suddenly began to rotate and open in many angles. They could not work out what they were seeing for a moment, so nobody reacted. But as four legs expanded out from the body, they knew they were in trouble. Long arms slid out from the body, and light glistened off two metre-long gun barrels. Blades were slung under the entire length of the barrel, with barbs at the muzzle end.
"Cover!" Taylor hollered.
Babacan opened fire with the Hydra, and several others joined him as everyone went forward to find any protection they could. Taylor hit the side of one of the pods and peered out from around it as the huge monster opened fire. Its first shot recoiled violently and soared towards Babacan who was advancing slowly as he fired. The shot hit the Hydra and blew in a spectacular and horrifying burst of light. The gun was blown apart, and Babacan was thrown five metres back. He rolled and tumbled, smashed into one of the pods, and went limp. Taylor had to hope he survived, but in the meantime, he forced himself to go back to the problem.
He took aim at the head of the creature. It was not hard to hit for it was a metre and a half wide. He fired three carefully aimed shots, but they did nothing. Then it turned its other weapon towards him and fired. He leapt back as the shot impacted, and he felt shreds of the pulse splash over his armour and could smell it melting the alloy. He quickly got up and ran to the next pod where Jones was dug in and firing a few shots.
"Got any great ideas?" Jones asked as he ducked down beside him.
Taylor looked out for the creature once more. It was now bearing down on their start position where Wilcox was lifting the AT gun onto its mount. Taylor saw the creature begin to take aim at the weapon, and he knew he had to act; it might be their only chance.
"Hey, asshole!" he shouted and ran out from cover. He fired his rifle repeatedly at the creature. Every single shot bounced from its hard shell armour until finally his magazine was empty, but the creature turned one of its cannons around to fire on him.
"Shit!"
He threw down his rifle and ran as fast as he could. A pulse smashed into the ground behind him, and more shrapnel of energy rushed past his head. A second shot landed even closer, but he was relieved to hear the thunderous crack of the AT gun, and the crunching sound it made finding a target. It sounded like a skull being caved in.
Taylor stopped and turned around. The monster had stopped chasing him and frozen for a moment. There was an almost half-metre exit wound in the front of its torso where the shell had gone clean through. Taylor waited and hoped for it to collapse, but it appeared more stunned than anything.
"Hit it again!" Jones bellowed.
But even as he said, it the monster spun around and charged towards Wilcox at a remarkable pace. The rest of the unit were laying down fire as it charged, but there seemed no stopping it. Wilcox stayed at his gun until the very last and managed to squeeze off one more shot as it bore down on him. The shell hit the creature’s torso just a metre below the previous shot, once again bursting through its body, but there was no stopping it this time.
The beast raised one of its weapons and cut down with the blade on the huge barrel. The barb struck Wilcox's helmet and split his body all the way down to his abdomen; the blade sliced the AT gun in half all in one. It was a horrific sight, but all Taylor could think was, how the hell could they take it down? He pulled out his Assegai and flicked it into position, but the prospect of going anywhere near the creature in hand-to-hand was terrifying.
"What do we do, Taylor?" Jones asked.
They watched the entire unit continue laying down fire, but the creature turned back to them and opened fire indiscriminately with both cannons. Pulses of light smashed into the floor and walls all around them, and many hunkered down for cover in the hope they wouldn't be seen.
Taylor looked around for some answer, but it was Alita that his eyes found. She was hunkered down in cover, clutching her carbine. She was frozen solid, and her face was pale. She stared out in front of her and was unable to even turn her head. She was in shock. It pushed Taylor over the edge. He got up with nothing but his Assegai and shield in hand. Jones' hand grabbed at him.
"What are you doing? You can't fight that in single combat!"
Taylor looked down at the Assegai and back at the creature. It was constantly turning and shooting at targets as his people went from cover to cover. Then he noticed the huge holes that Wilcox had punched in its body with the AT gun. He retracted his Assegai and holstered it. Jones was relieved, but what Taylor did next was the last thing he expected. He drew out a grenade from his armour and ran towards the creature without any fear at all.
"Taylor!" Jones screamed, but it was too late.
The Lieutenant lifted his rifle to lay down covering fire, although he knew it would do little more than to be a distraction.
Taylor rushed at the creature and ducked under one of its legs. It swung for him with a blade, but he turned and spun, punching off the side of the barrel as it went past. He then jumped as high as he could, primed the grenade, and launched it inside the lower entry wound on the creature. As he landed, he was struck by the barrel from the return swing and launched ten metres. He smashed into a group of pods, one bursting in half as he passed through it. A red viscous-like jelly burst over him as he hit the second pod and dropped heavily to the floor.
"Cover!" Jones ordered.
They ducked down and prayed as the grenade rang out. Compressed inside the creature’s torso, the explosion was massive and echoed from the ceiling. Fragments of metal, blood, and tissue were launched in every direction. A half-metre length of the creature’s armour smashed into the pod beside Jones and pierced deeply. He knew it would have killed him outright if it had been a little closer.
Jones slowly got up and looked around at the carnage. He wasn't sure what part of the creature was organic and what was machine, as it was scattered in equal measure.
"Everyone okay?"
But they were too horrified to answer. Jones saw Taylor lying lifelessly in a pool of the disgusting red fluid. He rushed to the Colonel's side and turned him over. As he did so, he heard a groan and breathed out in relief at finding him alive.
"You're crazy, you know that, right?"
Taylor groaned again and wiped the liquid from his face and brushed it off his equipment.
"Yeah, and we're still alive."
Jones helped him to his feet. They looked over at Babacan being carried between two of the others. He could barely support his own weight, but he still looked up and nodded at Taylor in appreciation.
"Let the drones carry Babacan. We have work to do. We must keep moving. Longer this takes us, the more people we lose up there. If it takes too long, we won't get off this fucking place at all."
Taylor turned and carried on. He got up to a jogging pace and quickly felt pain shrieking through his body. He was limping slightly on his left leg, but he fought through the agony. He looked back to check on the bomb and could see the two carrying it were not far behind.
"How much further?"
"As far as we can take it, Jones."
Suddenly, a door opened, and six Morohta warriors rushed out towards them. Taylor turned, deflected a shot with his shield, and ran right at the first one. He smashed it off its feet, and with his shield held high drove his Assegai deep. Gunfire rang out as the others with it were cut down. He pulled out the Assegai to strike again, but the wounded creature
swung the stock of its weapon towards him. The sharp edges cut into his jaw and up to his lip, but he quickly countered. He lifted up the Assegai and plunged it down into the warrior’s neck until it went limp and collapsed.
"Keep moving!" he shouted, getting up to pace once again and ignoring the blood pouring down his neck. They carried on for another hundred metres when the chasm opened up into a vast underground canyon lake. It spanned out as far as the eye could see, and even the mouth was several hundred metres wide. A hundred metres into the water along a metal walkway was a green illuminated tower. It reached up to the ceiling and into a vertical corridor that seemed to rise to the surface.
"This is it, this is what Irala meant," said Jones.
Taylor looked around suspiciously for any sign of danger, but there was nothing. For a moment he marvelled at the beauty of what they were beholding. It was a magical sight, and Jones was clearly thinking the same.
"Be a damn tragedy to destroy this level of beauty," said Jones.
"Not as much as it would be to see Earth die."
Taylor pointed to the two carrying the weapon.
"You two, Jones, Antos, on me. The rest of you hold your ground, and do not let anything pass!"
He led the way forward to the gantry over the water that led to the tower. It was just two metres wide and made of a widely dispersed mesh that allowed you to see every glimmer of movement of the water below. He ran faster and faster towards the tower. Every pace he drew nearer, he expected some new danger to step out from the far side, and yet nothing came. They reached the end; the gantry circled around the tower and was a complete dead end. The base of the tower was ten metres thick and glowed from many semi-transparent windows.
Engravings and rune-like letters were cut and painted over almost every piece of surface area, but it meant nothing to any of them. Taylor placed his hand on the side of the structure and could feel the warmth it was transmitting. He could also feel a pulsating that was not unlike a heartbeat.
Battle Beyond Earth - Box Set (Books 1-5) Page 18
