Battle Earth V

by Nick S. Thomas

  “But no capitol ships, so they have comparatively little firepower.”

  “What will their tactics be?” asked Huber.

  “The ships are mostly intended for deploying infantry. They will not run. They will try and board us.”

  Huber turned quickly to the pilot. “How far out are we?”

  “Twenty kilometres, Sir.”

  He quickly looked back to the map.

  “Our guns are accurate up to almost ten, and they are based on enemy technology which is similar from what we have seen. Bring us to a halt. If they want to close the distance, we will not do half the work for them!”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.”

  He opened up a channel to the fleet once again.

  “The fleet is to hold position. Launch fighters, fire when in range.”

  “If they jam our signals, which they are sure to, what is the procedure?” asked Chandra.

  “Fleet officers have already been briefed on the protocol for such an event. We stand and fight. No one is to withdraw unless we lose forty percent of the fleet, or are in immediate danger of doing so.”

  A grim outlook,but its also a sensible contingency. Taylor thought.

  “Weapons are charged and ready, Sir. Fighters are launching in thirty seconds.”

  “Fighters in space? Not something we’ve ever seen,” whispered Chandra.

  “No, but the requirement became apparent. They are a heavy fighter design, and with three crew that borrow heavily from alien technology, as all this does,” mused Huber. He pointed to everything they were wearing.

  Huber looked away from the table and back to his crew who all looked to him.

  “Display tech projection.”

  The walls around them blurred and then sprung to life. The entire CIC appeared to evaporate and displayed everything outside the ship as if they were now floating in space. Taylor felt sick for a moment, and almost instinctively reached for his suit helmet for the environmental control and air.

  “Amazing, isn’t it? We’ve had this tech thirty years and never really needed.”

  Chandra paced around the room, inspecting the fleet. It felt as if she could simply reach out and touch the other ships in their fleet. Then she turned and looked towards the pulsating of the engines of the approaching craft.

  “For the sake of simplicity, we will call the larger enemy ships frigates, the smaller ones destroyers,” stated Huber.

  Fighters burst out from the centre of the room and into view. They were joined by smaller detachments from the surrounding vessels. The enemy were just minutes away, but it felt longer as they soared towards the human fleet. Taylor leaned in over Chandra’s shoulder.

  “I wasn’t made for this, to sit in safety at the back,” he whispered.

  “When any of those ships get through our defensive fire, and they will, you can bet your arse that marines will be all that stands between victory and defeat.”

  Taylor smiled. Huber turned to them both and nodded in agreement. He paced closer and whispered to them both.

  “If the Washington is breached, we only have enough marines to cover so much ground. Chandra, you are in charge of any internal defence of this carrier. Look after her, she’s fresh out of dock.”

  “We’ll hold, Sir.”

  “Sir, the enemy will be in range within thirty seconds.”

  “Prepare to fire!” Huber shouted the order.

  Just seconds before the first enemy craft entered range, a huge pulse of light burst from one of the enemy ships. A beam of light stretched out from the vessel and instantly struck the Maryland, one of the frigates in front of the Washington. The ship was torn in half with debris pouring from the hulk. They could see the silhouettes of dozens of bodies thrown out into space.

  Huber froze in shock at the sight for just a few seconds then turned to his gunnery commander.

  “Fire now, everything!”

  Lights flashed from them, lighting up space for kilometres around the carrier. Pulses flashed back and forth as the enemy continued to rush towards them. Three of the enemy frigates and two destroyers were obliterated in the initial burst, but it didn’t slow the rest down.

  Huber turned to the two aliens in the room.

  “What the hell was that weapon?”

  “Nothing we have ever seen,” replied Jafar in a concerned tone.

  It was the first time Taylor had ever seen the alien show concern.

  “You didn’t think we were the only ones developing our technology, did you?” asked Chandra. “We’ve given them a hard time. They’re not going to take it lying down!”

  Another beam tore through one of the human ships, but to their horror it came from a different enemy vessel. Huber looked closely and could see the vast barrel protruding from the enemy ship, and there were two others like it. He tapped his console and barked out his commands.

  “All Battlecruisers target those gunships!”

  “Sir, we’ve lost all signal to the fleet and have internal solid feeds only!”

  “God damn it! Concentrate all our fire on those things!”

  A volley of fire smashed two of the enemy craft, but they watched in horror as the third got a last shot off before it burst into flames. The pulse hit the hull of the Washington and caused the lighting to dampen and flicker. They were thrown violently about the ship and the tac projection vanished, leaving them with the bare metal walls of the bridge.

  Taylor lifted Huber back to his feet. Blood trickled from his face. They looked around for the others just as the emergency lighting system came online.

  “Status report!” called Huber.

  There was no response for a moment as the bridge staff tried to make sense of it all.

  “Sir, we’ve taken heavy damage across floors thirteen through eighteen. Breaches have been sealed, but we still have fires on multiple levels.”

  “Casualties?”

  “We don’t have that much information yet, Sir.”

  “Get me some eyes on the battle!”

  The operations table he rested on lit up and flickered, finally coming to life. Taylor clambered over to the table in time to watch in astonishment as two enemy craft smashed into the Washington.

  “Jesus Christ!”

  “Sir, we have multiple breaches on floor three and eight!”

  Huber turned to Chandra.

  “We’ll keep the guns firing. Do not let this ship fall!”

  “What about the bridge, Sir?”

  “We have enough guards to look after us. Get to those breaches!”

  Chapter 4

  Lights flickered as power fluctuated throughout the Washington. Engineering and medical crews rushed about their duties. Taylor and Chandra fought through the chaos with Jones’ Company in tow. They now wore their full helmets with independent oxygen supply, so they could be ready for anything. The Colonel stopped at a junction and looked down two of the corridors feeding onto it.

  “God damn, it all looks the same,” she whispered.

  “This one,” replied Taylor.

  “You sure?”

  “No, but we have to keep moving.”

  “Alright, go!”

  They rushed forward down yet another corridor they’d never seen before. Taylor held is Mappad forward and tried to make some sense of their location. It shook about in his hand. He reached over, clipped it to his left forearm, and continued. It looked like they were heading the right way, but in the desperate rush and in a maze of corridors, it was difficult to know.

  “I think we’re about a hundred metres away!”

  As he said it, an explosion ripped through the corridor only ten metres from their position. The massive impact threw them off their feet, and the hull of a smaller enemy vessel smashed through into their corridor and passed right through into the next. Even before Taylor could get to his feet, he was sucked through a hole in the breach and out into space. He looked back to see the corridor had been shut off and its atmosphere normalised. He could see Chandra stood
looking in horror as he floated away. The blast skin closed up around the hull of the enemy vessel, instantly sealing the breach.

  “Fuck sake!” he shouted.

  He’d never been tossed out into space before, and it was an oddly frightful, as well as fascinating, experience. He knew his suit and its integrity were all that was keeping him alive. But he turned and could see the whole battle before him. Several of their fleet had been hit by boarding actions, but the fight continued to rage. Enemy and friendly fighters soared about between the larger vessels, and pulses of light zipped across the sky. It was a fascinating light display, like watching fireworks.

  Realising he needed to get back to the fight, he hit his boosters which instantly brought him to a halt and put him back on course for the Washington. He stared up and down for some way in. The nearest airlock was fifty metres from where he had exited. Within a minute, he was up to speed and descending towards the door at speed. He landed and saw they were thick blast doors that he’d never get open. There was no lock and entry system in sight, but he could see a small camera monitoring the door. Taylor manoeuvred his head in front of the camera.

  “This is Major Taylor. Open the doors!”

  He got no response.

  “Open the fucking doors!”

  Still no response, and fear began to set in. He knew his air supply would not last forever. He turned back to the enemy ship and thought about his options. He could see it was already damaged from various pulses on its way in.

  “Alright you bastards, I’m coming for you.”

  He leapt off from the Washington and hit his boosters once again. As he soared towards the ruined hulk, he fired in rapid succession at one of the damaged parts within its hull. He got off just ten shots and hoped for the best. He tucked his legs under and forwards so that he was going feet first. Mitch hit the structure hard, but he burst through and tumbled into the interior of the enemy vessel.

  There was no obvious sign of life. He staggered to his feet and looked around. The interior had the same utilitarian and sterile feel that he had become accustomed to seeing. Then something caught his attention - a display screen with two routes from their current position and to the CIC.

  “My, God. They’re going for the bridge!”

  Footsteps broke the silence, and he quickly lifted his rifle so see a Mech in light armour step into view. Its weapon was slung low, as if seeing a human was the last thing it expected. Taylor did not hesitate to take advantage of his position and fired four shots into its chest. The armour penetrating Reitech rounds punched right through its thin armour and out the back of the creature’s body. It tumbled to the ground, and Taylor made a quick sweep of the room and its two exits. The dead alien had little equipment or heavy weaponry. He quickly came to the conclusion that it must have been the pilot.

  Then he remembered the map he had seen and rushed over to take another quick glance.

  “Christ,” he blasphemed once again.

  Mitch leapt into action and rushed out of one of the exits, heading in the rough direction of where he thought the breach into the Washington could be found. He finally found it and rushed out into the carrier, to be met by two shocked soldiers of Ota’s Company. They lifted their rifles rapidly when they saw his figure tumble out of the enemy vessel.

  “Sir, what the fuck is going on?”

  “They’re going for the CIC. Where is the Colonel?”

  “Some way down this corridor, we believe.”

  “Alright, find Ota or Jackson and tell them to get as many of your Company back to the CIC immediately. You must protect Huber and the bridge!”

  “What are you gonna do, Sir?”

  “Try and hunt the bastards down from the other side. The Mechs that came from this ship are going for the heart of the Washington. Now go!”

  They turned and ran, as did Taylor in the opposite direction. He could hear gunfire intensifying up ahead and knew he must be in the right place. A few minutes later, he reached a junction where Chandra and Jones were huddled, trying to defend from a stream of Mechs. Jafar and Tsengal were fighting at their side.

  “Colonel!” he shouted.

  She fired a few more shots before realising who it was. She turned in surprise and relief that he was alive.

  “How on Earth did you get back?”

  “Doesn’t matter. The Mechs are going for the CIC.”

  “What? How do you know?”

  “That doesn’t matter either. If they can take control of the bridge, we’ll lose the command of this fleet, and they’ll turn the guns on the rest. Control of the guns of this ship could end us all!”

  “Fuck! Do you know where they are now?”

  “I’ve got an idea, yeah.”

  She spun around. “Jones, I need a platoon, and you two.”

  She point to the aliens. Taylor was surprised she was so keen to have them at her side, but they all knew what an asset they could be. The Captain shouted for the nearest unit to follow the Colonel.

  “Lead the way!” she yelled to Taylor.

  They passed down two corridors and could hear fighting throughout multiple sectors, but they could spare little time to assist anyone.

  “You really believe they are going for control of the ship?” Chandra asked.

  “Outnumbered and facing superior firepower, wouldn’t you? They aren’t fighting to the death, they are fighting to protect the gateway!”

  They came to an abrupt halt as half a dozen Mechs turned a bend up ahead and continued, not having noticed them. Taylor quickly took advantage of the situation and lifted his rifle, pouring fire into their backs. The broad corridor allowed six more of the platoon to join in. The creatures were riddled with bullets but still managed to turn and fire a few pulses. One rushed over Chandra’s head, the other skimmed the hip of one of the privates, causing him to squirm in pain as he collapsed to the ground.

  Another volley of fire finished the creatures for good as Chandra knelt down to the wounded man. She took a quick look at his wound and grasped his shoulders, peering into his eyes.

  “You’ll be fine! We cannot stay here or be slowed down. You keep your rifle at the ready, you hear?”

  The Private was still stunned, but he nodded in agreement. Chandra hated leaving one of their own behind, but she knew there were bigger things at stake.

  “Let’s move!”

  She leapt forward and led the platoon right over the bodies of the Mechs. Wisps of smoke still rose from their thick armour where the Reitech rounds had drilled right through. As they passed along more corridors, they found the bodies of several of the ship’s crew and no sign of life.

  Shit, we need to get a move on. Chandra thought to herself.

  She upped the pace and within a few minutes, they could hear gunfire once again. It was a welcome sound, as it meant someone had stood their ground against the incoming enemy.

  “How do you want to do this?” Taylor asked.

  “No subtleties, we just keep going forward.”

  They passed several corridors that they recognised and realised just how close they were to the bridge now. Taylor was thankful it had been placed at the core of the vessel. He was certain the carrier would have fallen to the enemy if it had not been. They took a turn up ahead and were met face-to-face with several creatures at the back of their column. Chandra and Taylor fired a quick few bursts and ducked back as pulses smashed into the wall where they had just stood.

  “Guess we found them!”

  “Best thing we can do from here is to keep up the heat,” replied Taylor. “The more trouble we cause, and the more of those bastards we can take down, the better chance we give Huber.”

  Chandra dropped to one knee and edged around the corner, and Taylor stood over her. They fired two bursts each and quickly ducked back. They hoped they’d taken one of the creatures down but didn’t have enough time to confirm it. Just as they were about to repeat the process, they heard panicked shouts echo from the back of their platoon, followed by
gunshots.

  “Incoming!” they heard down the line.

  “Stay here and keep firing!” shouted Chandra.

  She jumped to her feet and rushed down the corridor to find four of the platoon firing down a side corridor from either side of its entrance. One of the women leapt back to reload, and Chandra ducked in beside her.

  “How many?”

  “I saw a dozen, but there must have been many more with them.”

  “They’re going for the CIC, and we’re blocking their path,” she replied.

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “We cannot retreat, and we’re fighting both ends. Whatever happens, do not let them pass!”

  The Private nodded in horror. The Mechs were still advancing relentlessly, no matter how many they cut down. The Colonel got to her feet and retreated to her previous position where she found Jafar joining in the action.

  “Something’s got to give,” stated Taylor.

  “When you were out there, Mitch, how many breaches did you see?”

  “Three for definite, maybe four.”

  “Then we must have now encountered three of those assaults. We must hope Grey got to the other.”

  “This was a grave underestimation of the enemy strength. Somebody made a big God damn mistake,” Taylor shouted.

  “You got that right, but we’re giving harder than we’re getting. As long as we can stop the bastards getting into the CIC, we will still pull through on top.”

  She pulled a grenade off her armour and placed her hand over the arming cap.

  “You think we should be using those here?” asked Taylor.

  “It’s far from ideal, but the alternative is far worse. I’ll take the chance.”

  She twisted the cap and launched it rigorously down the corridor, ducking quickly back around next to Taylor.

  “Fire in the hole!” she yelled.

  They hunkered down and counted the two remaining seconds before an ear splitting explosion rang out down the corridor. The walls at their backs shuddered violently. If it weren’t for their enclosed suits, they’d already be deaf. For a moment, Chandra sat motionless in shock at how the enclosed corridor had intensified the grenades impact. She didn’t want to look around and see what damage she might have caused to the fleet’s prize vessel. Taylor laughed at her shocked face.