“I reckon this corridor will lead straight to the stair and elevator hall where those bastards are dug in.”
“Think we can work our way around the floor and hit ‘em from behind?” asked Lam.
Taylor took a deep breath, breathing out through his nose with a sigh as he gave it some thought.
“Maybe. But I don’t want to risk getting hit by our covering fire, and I want this done quickly. We get out into that corridor, and we don’t stop moving until we hit them hard.”
The marines nodded in agreement. Taylor lifted his weapon, pulled out the magazine, and slammed in a fresh one. Lam quickly followed suit. Neither of them wanted to go in without the maximum firepower they could bring to bear. Mitch opened the door and stepped cautiously out into the corridor. He quickly looked both ways and could see no sign of movement. He stepped over to the opposite wall and a few metres in the enemy direction, stopping to wait for the others.
As soon as they were clear of the room, Taylor signalled for them to move forward. They clung to the sidewalls of the corridor in two columns. Taylor led the right side. He could feel his heart pounding once again. The danger was always most apparent in the calm before the storm.
Taylor reached the bend at the end of the corridor and lifted his fist to stop them briefly. They could clearly hear the pulses firing now. He edged around the corner just enough to get a clear view. The creatures were waiting in the open atrium with no cover to use at all. He smiled as he realised his plan had come together, and they had caught them utterly by surprise.
Mitch turned to his marines and nodded to give the go ahead. He lifted three fingers as a countdown. As soon as the third finger was dropped, their weapons were lifted to the shoulder, and they were ready to rush. The second finger went down and Taylor took a deep breath to calm him. Finally, it was time. The last finger went down, and he leapt from the corner into the open atrium.
There was no hesitation from the marines as they opened fire the second they had a target. Ten shots smashed into the Mechs before they had time to turn to face the new threat, and their bodies spasmed with multiple shots piercing their armour. From the stairway door, Taylor could see muzzle flashes rage, and the other marines rush in to join in the slaughter. The Mechs only managed two shots between them as they were riddled with armour piercing rounds. The pulses smashed into the walls with no effect as the creatures were killed where they stood.
Taylor’s marines didn’t stop closing the distance but rushed all the way up to the enemy position, so they could stand over their vanquished enemy and fire a few more shots into the creatures while they were down. The room went quiet for just a moment as they marvelled at their work. The silence was broken by the sounds of footsteps on the stairwell.
They rushed to the doors but could already tell that it was the sound of humans, not the brutish and bulking creatures. Chandra leapt into view with her rifle at the ready but quickly lowered it as she identified Taylor.
“Good of you to join us,” Taylor grinned.
“Sorry it took us as long as it did.”
She looked over to see Eddie amongst the marines with a rifle in hand, and his ridiculous faded red bandana still about his head.
“Finally making a soldier of you, are we?” she asked.
“Don’t get used to it. I fly for a living.”
Taylor looked around and nodded in appreciation. Rains had blended into the unit so effectively and professionally that he’d forgotten the pilot was even with them. It never ceased to amaze him quite how good an asset the Lieutenant was. His appearance would never imply it.
A radio signal cut in with loud gunfire and shouts in the background.
“This is Parker. We’re taking heavy fire in the parking garage, ground floor. Need immediate assistance!”
Taylor shot a glance to Chandra with a look of fear on his face.
“Go! Now!” shouted Chandra.
Taylor leapt to the stairs with his platoon close behind. He rushed down the stairs so quickly he almost fell flat on his face. As he took the final bend to the last stairwell, he leapt the last fifteen steps and landed hard at the base. The ceramic floor cracked under his feet. He got out of the stairway to find Captain Fournier ushering people out of the building.
“Captain! The garage, where is it?”
Fournier turned with a look of shock to see the concern in Taylor’s face. He froze for just a moment before answering.
“South west corner, follow this...”
Before the Captain could continue, Taylor turned and sprinted away in the direction of the garage. He rushed so fast that the double automatic doors in front of him didn’t have time to fully open. The shoulders of his armour made contact, tearing them from the frame. Taylor didn’t even break stride as the others ran over the smashed doors.
The gunfire was growing louder, and he knew they were coming up on the fight. He reached a side door and could see into the garage through a small window. Parker and her unit were hunkered down around several police cruisers that were in a state of repair. Pulses were flashing across their positions, and they were rarely able to safely get any shots in return.
He looked towards the enemy positions and saw a dozen Mechs dug in, defending what appeared to be a large storage container that was definitely not human. Taylor didn’t give it any more thought. He was only concerned with getting to the aid of Eli. He turned and looked down the corridor for another entrance, quickly leaping into action to find one. They rushed thirty metres down the corridor, but there was not a single entrance.
“God damn it, how the fuck do we get in?”
“Sir, I saw another entrance on the far side, but it was barricaded up. Only other way in is the doors to the road, but we’ll have a hard time getting them open from the outside,” Lam said.
He turned and looked in despair for any other options.
“Sir, this wall ain’t too strong. It worked last time.”
He put his hand to the wall and thought.
“Alright, but I don’t want to give them any idea we’re coming. What charges have we got left?”
Silva rushed up to their position and overheard the last of what they had said.
“We’ve still got two breaching charges. They’ll take this baby down, no problem.”
“Do it,” said Taylor.
Silva turned and pointed to two of his team members to come forward. They drew out satchel charges and ripped off the tabs on the rear of the charges that revealed a self-adhesive surface. They slapped them onto the wall and pressed just a few buttons before turning to the Major.
“Twenty seconds, Sir.”
“Clear out, take cover!” he ordered.
He rushed ten metres back and ducked his head down. He stared at his watch, counting the seconds. The satchel charges blew with a surprisingly quiet eruption that was a perfectly controlled charge, removing a segment from the interior wall wide enough for three marines to fit through.
“Go!” he shouted.
Lam was through the breach before Mitch could get back onto his feet. He was moved by his companion’s faultless bravery. They were as eager to take on the Mechs as he was. He couldn’t tell if they were rushing to the relief of friends or just wanting to feed their bloodlust, but it didn’t matter.
As he got through the breach, a pulse rushed past him, killing the marine beside him. He had no idea who it had been. Mitch continued onwards while firing to the cover of a workstation. He hunkered down and pulled out his last grenade, launching it over to the enemy positions. Before it had landed, he was back on his feet and firing like hell. He watched in joy as the creatures were pelted with dozens of rounds before the grenade erupted amongst them.
He ducked back down to change his magazine to see Chandra rushing through the breach to join him. Gunfire raged from Parker’s side of the room, and Taylor leapt to his feet to join in. Seeing the enemy taking continuous fire before them, and ducking for cover, he jumped over the desk.
“Taylor!” screamed Chandra.
It was too late to stop him. Mitch rushed at the enemy positions and jumped up onto the roof of a police cruiser that formed part of the enemy defences. He was stood tall above the last surviving creatures and quickly pointed his rifle, opening up on full auto. The others watched in amazement Taylor fired down into their positions. Chandra’s face turned from concern to a hopeless grimace as she watched the morbid scene.
Taylor dropped the magazine onto the roof of the car and drew out another while he still stood on the roof.
“That’s enough!” Chandra shouted to him.
He snapped around and glared at the Major. For a moment, he was in such a frenzied state he’d forgotten the friend she was to him. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. Taylor turned back to the carnage below and looked at the wash of blue blood seeping across the hard floor. Then the reason they had gotten there sprung back into his memory, and he turned and jumped from the roof. He rushed to Parker’s position to find her sat beside the body of a dead marine.
“You okay?” he asked.
She looked up with sad eyes. Two tears seeped down her face. Chandra paced up to them and placed a hand on Taylor’s shoulder. She looked down at Parker and the body of the marine beside her, but she knew there was nothing she could say to help, besides taking her mind off the loss.
“Any idea what’s in that container?” asked Chandra. “Clearly it was important to them.”
“No idea, but it had better be worth it.”
Chandra nodded in agreement. She turned and hauled Taylor with her to investigate. As they reached the breach, a soldier stumbled through in pain, struggling to breathe. It was Williams, who Taylor had seen left for dead in the stairway.
“Still with us, then?”
Williams looked up with a pained expression and replied in a hoarse voice.
“Just about.”
The two officers continued onwards to the container. It was ten metres long and five metres wide by five metres high.
“How on earth did that even get here?” she asked.
“And why?”
Jones and Fournier stepped up beside them as they stopped beside the curious container.
“Everyone from the bunker safe and secure?” asked Chandra.
“Yes,” replied Fournier but was distracted by the sight of the container. They could see dents and gashes in the outer frame that could not have been caused by the firefight.
“Looks like that came down with a bird!”
They turned to see Eddie Rains approaching. They turned back, realising what he was saying made sense.
“Must have been shot down towards the end of the war,” he continued.
“Yes, I have a report of a crash site just half a kilometre from here,” replied Fournier.
“What the hell’s in it?” asked Rains.
Taylor shrugged his shoulders.
“Let’s find out,” replied Chandra.
“Should we not leave it sealed and notify our commanders?” asked Fournier.
“Yes, after we’ve got an idea of what we’re dealing with,” she said.
Chandra stepped forward to what were clearly the entrance doors and studied the locking mechanism for just a moment. It had two levers to release the catches but no security device of any kind. She lifted each lever, and the door seal burst open. The doors themselves only opened a few centimetres. She squeezed her finger through the gaps and heaved them open.
“My God,” said Taylor.
They stood before twenty incubation chambers like those they had seen in Paris, during the raid. But these containers were not empty, as they had found the others after the war. The humans, or what appeared to be humans, were still inside. A power source in the centre of the container was connected to them all. Two of the chambers were damaged and had clearly lost power, but the rest were completely intact.
“What is this?” asked Fournier.
“A piece of the puzzle which could be vital to our future,” replied Chandra.
She turned to Silva. “Sergeant, contact Commander Phillips. I want an immediate evac of this freighter to Ramstein.”
“Yes, Ma’am, what shall I say are the contents?”
“You don’t tell them anything. All they need to know is the weight and size for transport. Nobody knows about this until it’s in safe hands. She turned to Taylor.
“Get hold of Captain Reyes. He’s still working as a liaison officer in Ramstein. We can trust him with this, so he can liaise with Phillips to sort this out.”
“Why the secrecy?” asked Jones.
“Because we have no idea what we are dealing with here. Back in Paris, we saw hundreds of thousands of these chambers. We need to know what their purpose is, and what is inside. We have no idea if these are human prisoners, clones, or re-education and indoctrination modules. We only trust those we know with this for now.”
She turned back to the rest of the troops in the room.
“You are all sworn to secrecy in what you see here today. It is not to be discussed again, even amongst yourselves. This could be a major breakthrough for humanity in our struggle against the enemy. Let’s make sure it gets to Ramstein safely.”
Chapter 7
The troops of Inter-Allied sat in a temporary dining shelter enjoying their evening meal. Through the windows of the solid structure they could see the snow growing ever thicker, but the warm heaters kept them grateful they were not out in it. Taylor sat with Chandra and Parker either side of him and the rest the officers and senior NCOs of the Company.
“I hear we’re being reinforced soon,” said Silva.
Chandra smiled. “And where would you hear such a thing, Sergeant?”
“You know, here and there.”
“More scuttlebutt?”
“I’d say by your reaction that the Sergeant is on the ball,” Taylor grinned.
She nodded in agreement.
“That’s certainly the plan, and God knows we need it.”
The table fell quiet as they all thought about what that might mean.
“Surely it’s time our tour of duty was over and someone else took over our job?” asked Taylor.
“Well, I’d say France is clearing up of any remaining insurgency pretty quickly, thanks to our efforts. Construction and building is already well underway, and this country is starting to get back on its feet.”
“Then why do we need reinforcing at this stage?”
“The next phase of the war is coming. We all knew it would. While the Krycenaeans occupy the Moon, or any territory in this solar system, there can be no peace.”
The table went quiet once again. Chandra had accepted long ago that the war was not over, but the others had hoped for it. Jones finally spoke up.
“This war has almost killed me many times over. I have been through hell and given everything I have. That isn’t to diminish the rest of your service and devotion. But I, for one, am finished. Is there not a point where a man has simply done enough? Have we not all done enough for a lifetime?”
The others remained silent. They were stunned by the Captain’s words. He was as respected in the Company as much as the two Majors, and they all knew his word had both merit and influence. Chandra didn’t agree, but she found it hard to speak up against him. She finally tried to speak but was interrupted by Taylor.
“I agree. Are we to continue until every last one of us is dead? What purpose would that serve? How can we ask the men and women of this Company to go on, knowing that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and nothing to work towards, nothing to go home to?”
“It isn’t an ideal situation, or one I would ever have wished on any of us. But simply put, we are an essential part of the line that holds the defences of this world together. If it were not us out here, enduring such hardships, who would it be? Would you leave civilians to their deaths, rather than face the enemy yourselves?”
“But when do you draw the line?” asked Jones. “Historicall
y wars go on and on. New reasons, new enemies, and the same soldiers can’t keep fighting them day after day, year after year.”
Chandra took a deep breath, sighing as she realised the morale of the Company was being sapped away. None of the others spoke. She could see they were all thinking hard about Jones’ words, and there wasn’t one among them who didn’t agree with him.
“These past few months we have fought over ground which saw some of the greatest and most bloodthirsty battles the world’s ever known. You all know your history. Look back to the twentieth century when a relentless enemy sought to conquer the world.”
She took a deep breath again as they thought back to their military history.
“When Hitler took hold of Europe, Britain was all that stood against the Nazi regime. Surrounded on all sides, it was a state of total war. Negotiation and diplomacy was at its end. That war would end when one side was utterly vanquished. Our troops did not get leave. Their leave would be when victory was won, and the war was over.”
She could see they thought about her lesson in history, but it had not yet changed their minds.
“Did the allies stop when France was re-taken, with an enemy still on the doorstep? No. They knew that peace could only be won through absolute victory. Make no mistake. This war is not over. You can go back to your homes and try and enjoy a normal life until the next invasion, or you can take the fight to the enemy with me.”
Taylor looked up and began to realise what her initial words had meant.
“We’re going to the Moon, aren’t we? It’s the only reason we’d be reinforced so quickly after the war was over. We’re invading the Moon.”
She shook her head, knowing that her privileged information was out.
“Keep your voice down,” she said.
Jones sighed in disbelief as she continued on at a whisper.
“Yes. The Moon must be re-taken. This unit has more experience against the enemy than any other. It has proven its worth, and Taylor’s marines have already fought there before. We’re going to the Moon, and we’re ridding ourselves of this invading force for good!”
Battle Earth IV Page 10
