Battle Earth III (11 page)

* * *

Three weeks had passed since the news of Friday’s death. Taylor hadn’t seen anyone but the guards in all that time. He prayed to see Dupont again, so he could vent his anger if nothing else. He knew Chandra and the others were doing everything in their power to help him, but he also knew what bastards Schulz and Dupont were.

He closed his eyes and thought back to his nights with Eli back before the war had started. Their sneaking around seemed dangerous at the time, but now it felt little more than harmless mischief. Everyday, he tried to think of her to stop his imagination taking him back the horrors he’d witnessed or been told of.

Then his mind swayed back to Friday. He remembered the first time they met early in their careers, and how competitive they had been. Within months, they had become like brothers and remained so through their service. The only friend who could come close was Jones. It pained him to know that he could do nothing for Friday, and he couldn’t even attend his funeral. But it pained him even further that Jones had been left to become a hollowed out wreck.

Charlie’s absent staring eyes came back into Taylor’s mind. It frightened him that such a strong man could be reduced to such a lifeless state. With the loss of Friday, he held onto the fact that Jones was still alive, praying that he could return to the lively and joyful friend he used to know. As his mind crept to darker places, and he began to mutter to himself once again, the corridor doors opened and footsteps strode towards him. He jumped up out of bed and stood anxiously waiting to see a familiar face.

Chandra appeared before him once again with a smile on her alluring face. It was the most beautiful thing he had seen in recent memory, and instantly painted a picture of Eli in his mind.

“Come to get me out, Major?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Sorry, but I have at least managed this, five minutes, once a week outside my duty hours.”

“That’s generous of the General,” Taylor spat sarcastically.

She grinned at his sharpness. It pleased her to know he hadn’t been beaten by his detainment. He was still the strong and sharp officer he always had been.

“No chance of me getting out, then?”

She shook her head and looked in with sympathy.

“No. I have tried everything I can. Anyone who could help with procuring your release is out of contact, fighting their own battles.”

“So what you’re saying is, unless a bomb happened to drop on the two Generals, I am not getting free?”

“That about sums it up. But for all of their hatred of you, they also know how useful you can be. There will come a time when they need you.”

“How is the Company holding up?”

Locked up for months and still putting his friends first,
she thought. Taylor never ceased to amaze her. She could only hope to have his strength if she had to endure the same.

“They’re holding. The fighting has hit a lull. There continues to be skirmishes along the lines, but nothing like the onslaught we have become used to. It’s given everyone a little time to rest and recover, but also more time to dwell on how shit the situation is.”

“Any plan for an advance east?”

“Even if I were given access to such information, I’d never be allowed to share it with you in here,” she warned.

The two went silent for a moment as they listened to the guards’ footsteps trail off into the distance. Taylor dipped his head and thought before finally looking up and pleading with the Major.

“You promise me one thing. If those alien bastards push through this base, you won’t leave me here. Not like Jones was.”

She could see the despair in his face. She had never been able to fully comprehend what he had seen the day of Jones’ rescue, and the state he had found the Captain in.

“There’s no way in hell I am leaving anyone else behind. You can count on that.”

“Thank you,” whispered Taylor.

She could tell that it was the only fear Taylor had in life, and being behind bars made it all the worse.

“You hold on, Mitch. I’m getting you out of here, one way or the other. That’s a promise, too.”

The ground rocked beneath their feet as a huge artillery shell landed outside the building. Taylor looked up in fear, and they both quickly jumped to the correct conclusion; the enemy was advancing. Further explosions erupted all around the base that were deafening even through the thick walls. The guards came rushing down the corridor.

“Major Chandra! You are to report back to your unit immediately!”

“What the fuck is going on?”

“The enemy, they’ve launched a massive attack at our lines!”

“Jesus Christ!”

The guards grabbed the Major and started to lead her out. She strained to turn back to the Major and shout to him one last time.

“I’ll come for you, Taylor!”

“Kelly! Kelly!” shouted Doyle.

The enthusiastic Private came charging down the dusty hallway into the storage room that was now their command centre. He was met with little positivity as the grim faces glared at him. Martinez turned to look at the furore. The Captain’s face was badly scarred, and he wore a makeshift eye patch over his left eye. He had the look of a man who was awaiting his death with dignity.

Commander Kelly turned slowly around in his chair. He no longer expected good news and was therefore careful to gather up his hopes. He glared at the Private as if the cheery man had somehow broken the mood; a mood so miserable and dire that one might wish they were already dead. Doyle slid to attention before the two officers and made a quick and ill disciplined salute. He could barely contain himself and looked as if he was going to explode.

“What is it, Private?” insisted Kelly.

“They’re leaving, Sir, by the bucket load!” he balled.

The room suddenly turned all attention on the excited man. For a moment, the people within it felt a spark of hope.

“What are you talking about?” asked Martinez with a doubtful tone.

Kelly leapt to his feet. He prayed for good news but knew it sounded too good to be true.

“Come on, Doyle, spit it out,” Kelly shouted.

Doyle finally opened his mouth and blurted out his message.

“The enemy ships are leaving. Taking off all over the surface!”

The Commander spun around on the spot and turned to Lewis, who was sat at his makeshift console with cables hanging out all over the place, and multiple screens balanced across what furniture and mounts he could scavenge. Kelly didn’t need to ask any questions. The communications officer was already slaving away at his station to corroborate Doyle’s news that seemed unbelievable.

Several dozen soldiers waited silently for further news. They anxiously wanted to believe that Doyle was correct.

“Come on, come on...” whispered Martinez.

Lewis spun around in his chair and stared up at the Commander with a bewildered expression. For a moment he could not speak, and Kelly already knew the answer. A smile widened across his face before the man had even opened his mouth.

“He’s right, Sir. They’re leaving!”

A hail of excitement burst out as claps and whistles echoed around the room. Kelly took a few paces closer, so Lewis could hear him.

“Where are they going?”

Lewis turned back to his monitors and carefully studied the data. He swivelled back around in his chair with yet more surprise in his face.

“They’re heading for Earth...”

Kelly smashed his hand down on the table rocking the consoles.

“Yes!” he screamed.

The deep booming roar from their Commander caused the room to go silent, and all attention to turn on him. Kelly could see new life in the eyes of all those around him. They had resigned themselves to fighting to the very last man and woman, but now there was hope.

“The enemy occupiers are departing for Earth. This can only mean one thing!” he bellowed.

Silence still filled the room. None of them had heard Lewis’ last comment and had been too busy celebrating to care.

“They underestimated the human race! Earth forces are giving them hell, and they must be re-directing everything they have to get down there. The Earthers have given us an opportunity. Their blood and sacrifice may give us all the opening we need to take back our lands!”

Cheers rang out once again as further troops flooded in from the nearby corridors. Kelly turned back to Lewis who was mesmerised by the news.

“Lieutenant, open all channels.”

Lewis stared at him in a daze for a moment, finally snapping out of it and turning back to his console. Seconds later, the Commander saw the lights fire up to signify an open channel.

“This is Commander Kelly. Alien forces are leaving our colony. We are not free of occupation. We still have a long way to go, but hope is once again with us. I repeat. Alien forces are leaving our colony in substantial number.”

Rave applause echoed through the corridors as the colony’s survivors burst into celebration. A Chinese officer rushed into the room with a broad smile on his face.

“Commander, has this news being verified?” he asked.

“Colonel Chen, we have just had visual confirmation. The tide just turned in this war.”

“My Battalion is ready and awaiting your orders, Commander.”

Kelly knew the Chinese troops were eager to get into action since they arrived the week before. They were the only soldiers to come to the aid of the Lunar colony since Taylor’s mission to rescue the Prime Minister.

“Thank you, Colonel.”

He turned back to the microphone to talk to the survivors of the colony.

“All units are to be ready for combat within the hour. Be patient, be strong, and be ready. The time is almost upon us to take back our homes, over and out.”

He nodded for Lewis to stop the transmission and turned to Martinez and Chen. Martinez would never have liked giving up any authority or command to an Earth dweller, but now he would take any help he could get.

“I want to know those bastards have gone for good. I have no doubt they have left more than enough troops here to not make our life easy, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As soon as we are confident that all who are going have left, and they are entering the Earth’s atmosphere, it is our time to strike.”

“You think we can do it this time?” asked Martinez.

“I think we have a damn good chance. We’ll do this systematically. Corridor by corridor until we occupy all that is underground. I know we want the surface back, but we have to do it with caution.”

“Agreed,” replied Chen confidently.

“We are thankful of your support, Colonel, but you are likely to be the only help we see for some time, and we cannot afford to throw lives away. We paid a high price the last time we tried to move forward, so let’s do this right. Both of you ready our troops. Remind them of what we are fighting for, and the price of failure.”

* * *

“Go, go, go!” roared Chandra.

She could barely hear her own voice over the deafening explosions tearing through the base. She flinched as one struck a transport plane, and it burst into a thick ball of black smoke. Debris scattered across the ground between them and smashed into the rooftops of their billets. The Company rushed from their accommodation, desperately trying to pull on their equipment as they scurried out towards the trenches.

“So much for a rest!” shouted Hall.

“You can rest when you’re dead, Corporal!” she barked.

Silva rushed to the Major’s side with a look of bewilderment on his face. The troops of the Inter-Allied Company had been taking a much-needed spate of rest and had settled in for a few quiet card games and naps.

“What the fuck is going on, Major?” he hastily asked.

“The whole fucking Krycenaean army is advancing from Saarbrucken!”

“My God, then this wait was all about massing forces for a push?”

“Looks that way, follow my lead. We’re heading for Gate B to the west, and we have to hold!”

“I don’t see we have any other choice, Major,” he replied despondently.

She nodded with a pained grin and turned quickly, beckoning for the nearest troops to follow her. As she ran with her body held low, she could see troops and vehicles all over the base in an absolute frenzy, and as many were heading to the front line as were fleeing from it. She darted from building to building to cover the five hundred metres between them and the perimeter of the base.

Chandra could not see the front line through the scattered troops, vehicles and dust. As they grew nearer, she gained some visibility, gasping as she saw trees collapsing under the weight of the enemy tanks that were breaching the thick forest.

“Into the trenches now!” she cried.

They continued to rush forward as explosions burst all round them, and they felt the immense heat of the artillery pulses rush past. She sprinted across the open ground between the last of the buildings and the first trenches. The Major hoped her comrades were close behind, but she could no longer pause to think about it. She jumped and rolled into the closest trench, nearly knocking herself out as she landed hard in the floor beside a Russian officer.

The Company poured into the trenches all around her, squeezing in between those already huddled in for safety. Chandra shook her head to re-gain her senses and wiped the dust from her face as she looked to Silva.

“We can’t stay here. We have to get our guns into action!” she yelled.

“Not like we’ve got a lot that’ll touch them, Major.”

“That’s life. We’ll just have to hope someone else can do some of the work.”

She looked at the troops around her. Their own Company were mixed in with two other units. They all looked as scared as each other. The last few weeks had made them complacent. They had gotten used to holding their ground and forgotten how terrifying their opponents could be.

“Let’s move! On me!” ordered Chandra.

She clambered to her feet and followed the trench works further west. There were six layer of trenches constructed around the entire western perimeter of Ramstein. As they got closer to the front, they could hear the raucous grinding of the enemy tanks rumbling towards them. They were not stopped by any obstacles in the battered no man’s land that had been fought over for so many weeks.

They finally reached the front line trenches, where German infantry were frantically trying to stop the oncoming tanks with what little heavy equipment they had. She didn’t recognise any of the faces. With the tens of thousands of soldiers operating along the lines, it was rare for her to see anyone twice. She wondered how many of those she had stood beside in combat were now dead, but they were names she never knew.

“What the hell are we doing here, Major?” shouted Blinker.

Chandra crawled up the side of the trench to look down the shallow slope towards the oncoming enemy. They were still a distance away and making slow but steady progress. Artillery shells whistled overhead and crashed down into the enemy advance. She watched as Mechs were tossed into the air like ragdolls and thrown back down into the mud. The pulse cannons on the tanks fired volleys into their positions, and dirt peppered the hunkered down troops. The Major looked down at the soldiers hiding from the enemy guns.

“Get the fuck up here and start shooting!” she yelled.

She lifted her rifle up onto the edge of trench and took careful aim at the first Mech that drew her attention. The armoured creature was still seven hundred metres out, but she had to feel that they were doing something. She aimed, squeezed the trigger and watched the round bounce off the Mech’s faceplate.

“God damn it!”

She looked over at Sergeant Silva.

“We need our god damn weapons back!”

She watched as Campbell laid his huge anti-materiel rifle down and quickly took aim. He was careful to select the creature the armour had defiantly brushed off the Major’s rifle. He quickly pulled the trigger, and she turned to see blood spew from the baseball-size hole in its facial armour. The beast went limp and smashed down into the dirt. She turned and nodded in appreciation to the marine sniper.

“Get the ARMALs up here, and anything else we have got!”

Mortars fired off in sequence in the trench behind them, sending further fire forwards. The big guns roared to the east in support. She could hear gunfire and pulse weapons raging for miles. They all knew the time had come. The enemy weren’t stopped in their tracks weeks before, and they were only rallying their forces to smash the allied forces in Ramstein.

As the troops prepared what little heavy weaponry they had, the Major once again peered over the firing shelf to witness the fearsome advance. She could hear allied tanks rolling forward at their backs to join the fight. The sky lit up as an aerial strike began. She had just enough time to spot the multiple wings of enemy craft as the first pulses smashed into their positions. The vibrations threw her into the base of the trench. Lying flat on her back, the Major watched the enemy fighters rush past overhead with guns blazing.

“There’s nothing left to stop them,” stated Silva in a sombre tone.

They could hear the anti-aircraft weapons of the base blasting away, desperately trying to bring down the enemy craft, but their systems were woefully antiquated.

“We’ve lost the sky,” muttered Chandra.

“Then be thankful we’re bloody infantry!” shouted Silva.

“Not so much, we’re the ones getting shit on!” yelled Blinker.

Chandra looked over to see the cheeky grin on the soldier’s face. It astonished her that amid such a brutal bombardment and assault, he could keep his spirits high. It was enough to make her remember her job in it all. She rolled over onto her front and pushed herself up to her feet. Standing tall in the middle of the trench, she looked at the scared soldiers lining the walls.

“This war isn’t going to fight itself! Do you want to wait here to be killed in this shithole, or give those bastards hell?” she cried.

Several of the beleaguered troops looked up at the Major. Her short stature never ceased to make her imposing.

“Come on, you bastards!”

They scrambled to the firing ledge and opened fire. The tiered trenches running down hill meant that gunfire flew over their heads from the allied units at their backs. Smoke plumes raced towards the enemy as the rockets soared towards them. Chandra knew their equipment was inadequate against the Krycenaean armour, but they could not lie down and do nothing.

Tracer fire lit up the battlefield, but it was overwhelmed by the vast energy pulses smashing into their positions. No man’s land was little more than a scrap heap and pile of rubble. Many of the craters were so large that the advancing tanks all but disappeared in the dips. A huge explosion rang out as one of them ran over an anti-tank mine. Chandra watched as the monstrous vehicle bounced a few centimetres off the ground but kept moving. Seconds later, it hit a second which finally blew the tracks off.

Further explosions sent earth blasting into the sky as the advancing infantry reached the minefield that had been laid. Soldiers across the trenches screamed out in celebration as Mech soldiers were blasted into the air. Chandra revelled in their destruction. The bloodshed of humans made her want to howl, but she cheered the slaughter of their enemies. The cheering died as massive explosions erupted around the trench works.

“They’re still coming,” cried Monty.

“They mean to roll over us,” growled Silva.

“And they bloody will, if we don’t get some damn support!”

The guns of the allied tanks roared at their backs, but it was not enough to slow the enemy progress. As they reached the effective range of grenades, the troops opened up with a hail of gunfire and explosives in a desperate attempt to halt the creatures. Chandra could make out hundreds of Mechs in their field of fire alone, and many more through the smoke to both the north and south.

“Major, we can’t hold here!” shouted Silva.

“We have to!” she replied desperately.

The Mechs increased pace as they bounced along the rough terrain on their spring legged armour, approaching a jogging speed. She leapt up onto the trench and fired on full auto at the nearest, striking it with twenty rounds to the faceplate until it smashed down into the dirt. It slid a metre uphill with its momentum. The Mechs advancing towards them were smashed down by the heavy weapon fire and sustained weapons in the line, but it was not enough.

The surviving enemy Mechs rushed into the trenches and kept firing as they moved. Chandra saw a creature leap in just a few metres from where she was standing. It crushed one of the German infantrymen as it landed, obliterating another with its pulse cannon at close range. Screams of panic rang out across the lines as gunfire opened up inside the trenches.

Bullets bounced off the thick armour of the creature. It was almost impossible to get a fix on its weak points as it thrashed around the trench, firing and crushing soldiers as if they were toys. Four of the German soldiers were dead before Chandra could even respond, but Hall was already on his feet. He climbed out the back of the trench and rushed along the top.

“Aim for the head!” cried Chandra.

Hall reached the edge of the trench above the creature as it trained its cannon on a group of soldiers whose rifle fire was ricocheting off its armour. He lifted his rifle and opened up on full auto against the top of the creature’s armoured suit. It spasmed sharply and smashed its cannon into the Corporal. Hall was launched into the air and tumbled back down to the ground hard. He rolled across the muddy surface until coming to a dead stop.

The Major turned to shout her orders but found Silva stood with an ARMAL launcher held at the hip. She leapt aside as he fired. Smoke filed the trench, and a split second later a huge explosion tore through it. Metal shrapnel burst across the area, hitting several of the troops. Chandra yelped in pain as a sliver of metal impeded into her left arm. She turned away as the heat from the explosion blasted past.

As the dust settled, the Major turned to look at the carnage in the trench. The Mech had been blown apart and scattered across the bodies of the four dead soldiers. Gunfire continued to rage in the nearby trenches, and artillery fire still roared overhead. Silva rushed to her side and quickly checked her wound.

“You okay, Major?” he yelled.

She nodded back but could not yet get any words out. Her eardrums had popped, and she was still in shock at the devastation. She turned and stumbled, slightly falling back against the wall of the trench. The Major could see the distraught faces of the troops around her. The war was taking them face-to-face with their enemy, and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

“We don’t get our gear back soon, and we are fucking goners,” whispered Silva.

She climbed back up to look over the trench with Silva. The Mech forces lay in ruin, but they could see columns of the enemy in the distance and heading for them.

“That was just the beginning,” said Silva. “Within a few hours, those armies are going to roll up these hills, and there will be nothing we can do about it.”

“Alright, Sergeant, gather up any wounded and head back to re-supply.”

“Re-supply what, ammunition that can barely touch those bastards? The launchers we got early on this war finally gave us a fighting chance, but now we may as well throw stones at them!”

She grabbed the Sergeant’s webbing and hauled him in close.

“I am well aware of that, Sergeant, but what am I to do?”

“Whatever you have to! This isn’t just about us. If our armies fall here, it could be the end of the war in Europe.” He pointed to the line of tanks behind their positions, several of which were engulfed in flames. “That armour and artillery is all that is keeping them from running us into the ground, and how long do you think it can last?”

She looked back to see Captain Becker kneeling down beside one of the wounded tank crewmen as medics were doing the best they could. She wished she could have his resolve, but she also knew that deep down he was as scared as the rest of them. The tank commander looked up at her and instantly recognised her even over the distance. He gave a friendly and informal salute that she acknowledged. Silva carried on.