Battle Earth II

Chapter 11

“Sir! What the fuck do we do now?” shouted Doyle.

Commander Kelly lay back against a stack of crates that made up the ruins of their defensive line. Light pulses flashed overhead, and the improvised wall rocked as it was continually struck by enemy fire.

“Sir! We’re getting killed out here!”

Kelly stared into the man’s eyes and then turned to see the lines of bodies. There were as many lying dead as were still in the fight. He looked back to Private Doyle and began to come to his senses.

“We can’t win, we can’t fight this. We have to fallback, we must…”

“Are those your orders, Sir?”

Kelly nodded. The Private turned and bellowed the commands across the lines. The Commander could see one of the men quickly relaying them down the wired line they had brought up with them. Kelly clambered to his feet and looked up and over the defences. Mech bodies lined the broad corridor and lobby, but a seemingly endless number followed in their footsteps. He turned back to the nearest soldiers.

“Fall back! Now!”

They didn’t wait another second, and he watched as what was left of the two companies fled for their lives. Their fight back had turned into a meat grinder with no advantage gained. Kelly prayed it had made enough of an impact to keep the enemy at bay for a few more weeks, but he knew their end was still coming.

Kelly ran past lines of dead soldiers until he reached the hidden blast doors that took them back down to the bunker. He was the last man through the door and quickly punched the lock. He turned to stare through the one way windows at the bodies they’d left behind.

“There’s no hope for us now.”

Martinez moved up to him. His face was bloody and partially burnt.

“There is always hope, but only if you stay strong for all of us,” he whispered.

Kelly turned, looking into the Captain’s eyes. He knew he spoke with sincerity and was right. Kelly straightened his back and righted his shoulders. They were not dead yet.

The last of the marines climbed up into the foundation of the vast enemy dome. Taylor looked around to see they had come up into a storage area. Huge barrels were stacked from floor to ceiling along the sidewall. The ceiling was three metres high, and the entire structure appeared to be metallic. It had a cold feeling to it. Light blue ambient lighting emitted from the edge of the ceiling.

Nobody said a word or moved. All thirty men stood silently as they listened to everything around them. They could hear the sounds of construction, grinding and other power tools. Taylor nodded in satisfaction, thinking they must be a long way off completion. They all looked to the Major.

Their orders were simple. They all knew their target was at the very centre of the dome, and the only thing that mattered was delivering the bomb safely to it. Taylor looked around at the exits to the room which were at opposite ends of the large floor space. He pointed towards one, gesturing for the others to follow. He didn’t know where he was going, but none of them did.

Taylor reached an exit and peered cautiously around into the corridor beyond. Despite the sound of movement in the distance, there was no sign of any hostiles. He continued on, confident that his marines were close behind. For ten minutes they walked carefully through empty corridors. The GPS devices on their suits constantly logged their route so that they could retrace their steps to the tunnel, but few were confident they’d ever make it out.

As they took another turn, Taylor stopped abruptly at the sight of one of the creatures. He quickly held up his hand to halt the troops at his back. He peered around the corner to see that it was a single target. The creature sat with its back up against one of the large barrel containers they had seen previously. It was enthusiastically digging into some kind of food container.

The creature was wearing no armour, just a skin tight bodysuit with various electronic devices built in, and there were no weapons in sight. He appeared to be only a construction worker. Taylor looked back, relaying the information through hand signals. He gestured for them to stay put. They couldn’t continue without neutralising the beast, but neither did he want to risk alerting their presence.

He stepped out from the corner with light and careful footing as to not draw any attention. The creature was looking away from his position, allowing him to slowly close the distance. As he got within a few metres, he noticed a huge hammer placed against a wall. The shaft was a metre and a half long, and the head was as large as a human skull and of solid alloy. It was a simple building tool that was heavily worn from use.

The Major lowered his weapon and let it hang on his side from the sling. He reached carefully for the hammer and lifted it into his hands. He could tell it was heavy, more than twice the weight of a sledge hammer, a common tool back home, but his suit made light work of it. As he continued forward, the Major hoisted the hefty tool onto his shoulder with a firm two-hand grip.

Now just a few steps from the creature, Taylor lifted the weapon off his shoulder and took a quick leap forward. At the last moment the creature turned in shock at his presence, but it was too late. The huge metal head crashed down onto the beast’s skull. Taylor swung the hammer around for another strike. He could see that the creature was hurt badly and stunned, but not dead. With one final big swing, the hammer cracked the creature’s skull.

Silva watched the scene from the end of the corridor and heard nothing but the almost silence crunch of the two hammer strikes. He watched with a morbid curiosity and appreciation of the Major’s ingenuity. Taylor looked back to the Sergeant and beckoned for them to follow up.

Taylor looked down at the bloodied body of his victim. For a moment he thought about the fact that the creature was likely not a combatant, nothing more than a labourer. Then he thought about the immense death and destruction he had seen in the previous week. He lifted the hammer and looked at the almost black blood dripping from the head. He nodded in appreciation of the weapon, lifted it into his left hand and took up the grenade launcher with his right.

The marines continued quietly onwards. Each corridor and room looked identical to the next. All they had to rely on was a direction and approximate distance to lead them to the centre. Taylor stopped at a large intersection as he noticed the sound of footsteps. Metal on metal rang out as two Mech guards passed through an adjacent corridor. He was surprised there were only two, and that therefore their mission may have a chance.

Silence once again filled their area, and with only the ambience of construction echoing through the massive structure. Taylor was astonished at how few personnel they had encountered. He could only think that they didn’t work much through the night. It was a stroke of luck, but he wasn’t wholly convinced it was true.

Up ahead, at the end of the corridor, a vast light emanated into every sector surrounding it. Taylor looked back to Suarez and nodded. They looked at their mappad devices fitted to their left forearms. It was indeed the location they had been looking for. Taylor still didn’t believe that it could be so easy. They clung to either edge of the corridor as they approached the vibrant blue beacon.

As they grew nearer, it became apparent that they were a floor above the base of the device which had been dug down into the ground. They were approaching steel walkways running like a balcony around the weapon that was more than a hundred metres high. The smell all around them was of strong solvents, but nothing they could identify.

Taylor stopped as they reached the end of the corridor. He didn’t want to expose them to the open view ahead. The metal flooring which made up the balcony was of a grille type which allowed him to see down to the ground. The Major could make out five creatures. They seemed to be technicians or scientists, and they were working at the base of the weapon.

He peered up at the weapon itself. It was encapsulated in some kind of steel with large translucent sections from where the vivid light originated and obscured much of the framework. It was twenty metres wide and appeared as little more than a vast glowing tower. Whatever it was, Taylor knew they had found the weapon which could bring an end to humanity. He leaned out a little further and peered around the site.

There were no guards in view, but a large window to the eastern side of the room drew his attention. The location itself was as large as a baseball court. The ceilings were hundreds of metres high, and the Major suspected there were many layers of cladding protecting the roof. He looked back down to the broad viewing window. It was lit up, and he could make out the figure of a creature stood watching the device.

Taylor knew the creature must be important. He also speculated that the room housed the control centre for the base. While they looked on at the core, there was no hope of placing the nuke. He ducked back into the corridor and beckoned for Suarez, Silva and Evans to join him.

“This has to be the place. There’s a control room off to the eastern edge, a few hundred metres from here. We will have to create a diversion if we want to get the bomb in place.”

“What have you got in mind?” asked Suarez.

“We’ll head for the room and make some noise. I want Bravo to stay put and out of sight. When you hear all hell break loose, that’s your opportunity to get the bomb in place.”

Suarez nodded. It was a simple plan and about as effective as any of them could think of in the time they had. Taylor was all too aware that there were so many variables involved, and that improvisation was the only way the mission could work.

“Remember to stay low. When you get down there, don’t leave any of them alive, and be sure to put the nuke somewhere out of sight. It’s only got to elude them for a short while. We rustle up enough trouble here and this might just work.”

“Got it, Sir.”

“Once that bomb is in place, you must get back to the rendezvous. You don’t go looking for us, and you don’t wait for anything, you got me?”

Taylor knew it was a hard thing for them to swallow. Never leaving men behind was something they’d had drilled into them, but it was a doctrine they now had to ignore. Suarez could see that Taylor’s diversion could well mean the sacrifice of his unit. The two men gave a final nod to say goodbye. The Major turned and continued around the tunnels.

He could feel his pulse racing and was aware that they were improvising at every turn. After a number of corridors, he stopped when they came out into a broad circular room. At the opposite end there was a wide transparent door, and two Mechs stood guard. He knew it must be what they were looking for. As he peered cautiously around the corner, he could make out the glimmer of movement on the far side of the guarded entrance. He turned back to see his marines waiting for his word.

“This is it, lads. I want as much noise as possible, you got me?”

Silva smiled as they all nodded in agreement. They wanted nothing more than to raise hell with their alien foe. Taylor lifted his hammer and slipped the shaft into the waistband of his armour. He would need maximum focus on his primary weapon. He lifted the launcher into both hands and gave the nod for his troops to move. Taylor leapt out first from the corridor and quickly targeted the first creatures before they could lift their weapons.

Five rounds surged from Taylor’s weapon. Light burst from the barrel as the armour penetrating rounds riddled the first. It crashed against the far wall and tumbled to the ground. Before he could target the other guard, it had been hit by Silva and two of the others multiple times.

Even before the second creature had hit the ground, an ear piercing alarm rang out and the lights around the edges of the walls quickly transitioned to a pulsating red flash. Taylor smiled as he marvelled at the chaos they had created. They waited and listened for the inevitable sound of thundering footsteps that soon followed. Huge structural supports running around the rim of the circular room would give solid cover. Taylor pointed towards them and they quickly took up position.

They listened as a horde of the Mechs rushed down the corridor to the right side of the room, and they readied their weapons. Taylor looked back at the door that had been guarded, and it was still shut. He knew that whoever was inside would have a clear view to the site where Suarez was putting the bomb. He turned back to see the first wave of Mechs pouring into the room.

Light pulsed from the marines’ weapons as their grenades smashed into the first line of approaching Mechs. Taylor marvelled at the firepower they now possessed. Their new weapons made the enemy body armour almost obsolete, and they could put out a higher rate of fire. It was clear to the Major that their enemy would soon realise the humans were far more a threat than they had ever expected. As the battle raged, he turned to Ortiz and Wright.

“You two, on me!” he cried. He turned to Silva. “If we aren’t out in five, you get your asses out of here, that’s an order Sergeant!”

Taylor leapt out from cover and dashed towards the doors with the other two marines at his back. Light pulses flashed across their path, but Silva and the others were quick to silence their guns. Explosions rang out in almost continuous bursts as the Mech advance was smashed to a halt. As the three marines rushed for the door, Taylor lifted his launcher and fired three rounds into the translucent material. The first barely damaged it, but the second caused huge cracks to surge up to the frame until the final round caused the doorway to shatter and implode.

The three marines continued to rush forward. They were aware that stopping could result in death. Taylor got to the rubble of the door and leapt into a roll, tumbling into the room over smashed debris. He rolled to his feet to see half a dozen creatures with pistols already firing at them. Two of the shots hit his torso armour and were absorbed by the thick plating.

They lifted their weapons to the shoulder, and the three men quickly returned fire. Wright was struck by a pulse to his face. He was killed instantly, and his body tumbled to the ground as his burnt flesh smouldered. Taylor and Ortiz dropped to one knee and fired rapidly. Their ammunition blew apart the consoles and the creatures using them for cover. Their launchers quickly overcame the unarmoured and lightly equipped foes. Taylor could only imagine that they were technical staff.

Smoke rose from the burnt units and the room became silent. They could still hear the battle raging through the doorway behind them. Taylor looked around to see Wright’s body, but at least he had died a quick and painless death. Out of the corner of his eye the Major caught just a single glimmer of movement and turned quickly as he lifted his weapon.

He turned just in time to see a tall dark figure appear from between the burning consoles and shadowy corner of the room. Before he could pull the trigger, a pulse lashed out and struck Ortiz in the neck, cutting his head from his shoulders. Taylor pulled the trigger of his weapon but it dry fired. The magazine was empty.

He looked up in horror as the figure stepped out of the shadows. The creature wore a finely tailored armour that was something between the skin tight body suits he had seen and their soldiers’ armour. It was intricately detailed and gave off a bluish finish as was still liked by many old gun collectors. The armour glimmered as the red flashing beacon lights bounced rays from it. The creature’s head was unprotected, and it was obvious that he was of major importance to their forces.

The creature looked down at his weapon, studying it intently. It was clear that it understood the launcher no longer presented any threat. Taylor threw it down before him and stood up straight and proud. He would not be intimidated by the creatures. Out of the corner of his eye, and behind the creature, he could make out the shape of Suarez’s team advancing into position. He looked back into the eyes of the beast.

The two studied each other for what felt like an age before finally the monster stepped over to a console and placed its weapon down.

“Who are you?” shouted Taylor.

He knew that his death was almost certain. He cared only about buying his people enough time to place the weapon that would blow the complex to hell. The creature turned and glared at him, and then to his utter surprise, it spoke.

“You are Major Mitch Taylor, are you not?”

The beast spoke in a rough and deep voice. Taylor was taken aback by the question. His mind went from the mission and to his curiosity over the monster’s knowledge.

“How would you know that?”

“You have proved most troublesome for our armies, Major. Captain Jones speaks very highly of you. Credit which I see is due.”

“Captain Jones? You have spoken to him?”

The creature smiled, but it was clearly not in any mood to answer. The name of his friend being used left Taylor desperately trying to imagine what could have become of him. He had heard enough from the beast. He wanted nothing more than to cave in its skull if it had nothing more to say. He reached for the head of his recently acquired hammer, pulled it from his belt and took a wide grip in both hands.

“Why did you come here, Major? Did you believe you could save your Captain?”

Taylor stood ready with his weapon and glared at the monster.

“Because you came in vain. You chose your location poorly.”

Taylor smiled, knowing there was a chance that his friend was still safe.

“Who are you?”

“You may call me Karadag for the time you have left on this world.”

The beast put its weapon down on the burning console and lifted a device from its armour which quickly expanded to the height of a man. A heavy ball end extended from one end and a double-edged recurved blade the other. Taylor’s eyes widened at the sight of the savage looking implement. The creature was certainly no stranger to combat.

Taking the initiative, Taylor rushed at it with his hammer held high for a powerful strike. Before he could bring the weight of it down, the beast had leapt nimbly aside and swung its vast weapon around, smashing the heavy ball end into his back. The power of the strike sent him hurling into a tall console that smashed on impact. His torso armour was all that had saved his spine from snapping under the force of the impact.

As he sighed in pain, Taylor turned to see that Karadag had already recovered his posture and stood ready for a second pass. Taylor stretched in pain. His face had smashed into the sidewall, his helmet only cushioning the impact a little.

“What do you even want with this planet?” he shouted.

The creature circled around him as it eyed up his intentions.

“What are you doing here?” he yelled.

“This land should not belong to lesser beings.”

“Then there is no end to this war?”

“Yes, when you are defeated.”

Taylor lifted the hammer to his side and rushed forward. He swung with a wide strike that was easily avoided, but kept the momentum into a second swing. Karadag narrowly avoided it and cut up with the blades of his weapon. One of the recurved edges caught Taylor’s left arm, cleanly cutting the flesh open.

The Major yelped in agony as he staggered back. The creature had both strength and speed that he could not hope to match. He looked over the creature’s shoulder to see the faint silhouette of Suarez’s team discreetly leaving the weapon site. He could make out the bodies of several of the creatures that had surrounded it. Their deaths had gone unnoticed to the arrogant Karadag.

Taylor rushed forward and hit the boosters of his suit to strike at such a speed that the alien would not be able to dodge it. The beast parried the weapon dead with a horizontal parry. Getting the engagement that he had wanted, Taylor yanked back with the hammer, the head latching firmly onto the shaft of the villain’s weapon. The huge weapon ripped from the creature’s grasp and was launched across the room.

Mitch grinned at his efforts, but they were short lived. Karadag rushed forward and quickly grabbed hold of the hammer shaft. He smashed his elbow into the Major’s face, and blood gushed from his broken nose. The beast ripped the hammer off him and threw it across the room.

“How did you ever think you could win?”

Taylor staggered to his feet. He could see a ramp that led up and out of the bunker. He made a dash for it with his body hunched, still aching from the pain. All he wanted to do was keep the monster’s attention away for long enough for their plan to succeed. Karadag strode after him with a slow pace. He was confident in the knowledge that he’d already won. The building shook as loud mechanical grinding noises rang out all around.

As Taylor followed the ramp up as far as he could go, he reached a window looking down at the vibrant tower. It was the weapon that could end them all. He looked up at the roof to see that a huge section of the dome was drawing back in preparation of firing.

“You will be witness the end of your civilisation,” said Karadag.

Taylor turned to see the imposing leader coming up the ramp towards him. He drew his sidearm and quickly lifted it to fire, but before he could do so the creature threw a dart into the weapon, knocking it right out of his hand.

“Standing before your destruction and you are still defiant. I have known far weaker adversaries.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” snarled Taylor.

Taylor spat blood onto the floor but it mostly passed through the grilled surface. He turned to see an opening from the dome leading to an observation platform that was barely over a metre wide. He got up on his feet and staggered out into the moonlight. The low ambient lighting gave a dulled red tint to the moons rays.

As the creature’s footsteps grew ever nearer, Taylor knew he had nowhere to go, but he thought at least he’d have a front row seat when the bastard went up in flames. He turned to see Karadag taking a brisk few steps to reach him. The creature lurched forward with a powerful strike. The Major parried it, for the suit he was wearing gave him just enough strength to do so.

Taylor returned a strike to the beast and struck it in the face as hard as he could. The creature’s head snapped around from the impact and then turned quickly back in disgust. Taylor smiled, revealing his blood-soaked teeth. Karadag struck with a fast uppercut which knocked the Major off his feet. He landed hard on his back as the wind was knocked out of him. Quickly rolling over, he scrambled up and kept moving.

“What do you hope to achieve here, Major, but to entertain me with your death?”

Taylor had reached the very end of the viewing platform. He knew he could make a jump with the boosters on his suit, but he wondered why he should bother. He dropped to one knee, his body aching all over. Karadag stopped and looked down at the humble human.

“Did you come here to die? Is this your final act of heroism? No one will survive to remember it.”

Suddenly, Taylor noticed the Eagle FV banking sharply around the dome. He turned his head away from the creature to hide his smile. He looked back up to see the creature studying him with curiosity. Taylor could hear the engines of the copter grow louder as it approached at speed. Karadag turned sharply to investigate the noise.

The side door of the craft was open, and it was swooping in low and close to the ramp. Mitch could already make out the shape of Eli stood at the door shouting. As the alien glared at the copter, Taylor took his opportunity to leap to his feet. He launched himself with all his bodyweight and threw his knee into the creature’s stomach. Karadag folded with the strike and exhaled from the impact. He quickly followed it with a hard push kick that tossed the creature onto its back.

Within a second of landing, the alien had flipped back onto its feet and growled with anger. Taylor turned and took a quick leap from the observation ramp. He hit his boosters onto full and was launched into the air. He smashed into the side door of the copter, shaking the entire craft. His arms only just made it in through the door as his legs dangled in mid air.

Eli grabbed his armour as he began to slip. She struggled to haul him aboard as Eddie banked hard and put power down quickly. They all knew there was little time to escape the blast. Major Chandra appeared beside her and grabbed at his other arm, and between the two women they hauled him aboard.

Karadag stood at the end of the ramp watching with a bitter hatred as they soared into the distance. Taylor clambered into the other side of the copter and in between the other marines. He sighed in relief as he lay back, looking around the compartment. It was far less full than before, even with the addition of the two women. He saw Silva. The Sergeant’s face was singed and grimy. It was clear to Taylor that they had lost more than he had seen. He looked to Suarez.

“Is it done?”

The Lieutenant nodded.

Taylor smiled. It was a relief that almost allowed him to put the deaths of his comrades past him. He wriggled to try and get more comfortable but winced in pain. His face was covered in blood from his nose that was mixing with the grimy sweat.

“Are you alright, Mitch?” asked Eli.

He nodded, but there was little to say on the matter.

“What was that creature?”

“He called himself Karadag.”

“It spoke to you?” Chandra asked.

Taylor nodded. “And another thing, he suggested that Jones is alive.”

Chandra’s eyes lit up. She had so many questions, but she refrained as she saw that he had little else to tell. Before they could say another word to each other, a flash erupted, lighting up the sky as if it had turned to day. They turned their heads away from the blinding light for a second until it settled. Taylor crawled to the window and peered out to see the dome in the distance had been obliterated and a mushroom cloud was expanding out from where it had stood.

The explosion was a couple of kilometres wide. The blast dome had contained the radius substantially, but in doing so had ensured the utter destruction of what was inside. He had nothing to say, no smile or cheer. Taylor simply watched as the light began to fade.

“You did it!” shouted Parker.

He turned back to face her.

“We stopped the weapon, but we have lost France. We have lost Jones. We continue to lose our Company.”

Eli wrapped her arms around him as much to comfort the Major as herself. They all knew that the war was far from over. The victory they had won did not put them in any better stead than they were a week earlier. Taylor thought back to the creature he had met; Karadag. Something told him that he had not seen the last of the alien leader. The beast had shown Taylor that the aliens were not so different. They were not a faceless enemy. He looked up to Chandra.

“Why did you come for me?”

“Because we have lost enough in this war.”

“Then you must believe we can get Jones back as well?”

Chandra smiled.

“We’re still in this war, aren’t we?”

Taylor watched out of the window of the copter door as they once more darted across the treetops to return to their latest home.

Yes, they had lost so many, but there was still hope.