Battle Earth IV

Chapter 1

“To our fallen friends!” yelled Taylor.

He lifted his glass above his head in a salute. The crowd around the table on which he was stood roared in appreciation as glasses clashed together. He lifted the container to his lips and threw back the beer so that it trickled out of the sides and down his chin. He wiped his mouth and looked around as he gazed at the festivities.

Mitch could feel the fatigue in his drooping eyes. He wanted nothing more than to have it all stop and to settle down for some much needed rest. But the hard days of work were only broken up by hard partying. He staggered as he lowered himself down onto a stool and finally to the floor. Mitch landed hard and swayed a few steps over into Sergeant Silva who turned and smiled.

“Easy there, Major,” he jested.

Mitch righted himself and took another swig from his beer. He turned to have Eli rush at him and launch her tongue down his throat. She tasted of Vodka and was drunker than him. Neither of them cared anymore for hiding their feelings and relationship. It was such common knowledge that nobody hassled them over it.

“When are we going home?” she asked.

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders in response.

“Oh, come on, we gonna be here forever?”

“What are you so desperate to get back to?”

She looked at him puzzled. “Home, what else?”

“I’m not sure I’d recognise it anymore,” he mused.

She shook her head, not understanding what he meant.

“The war didn’t reach our homes,” she stated.

“It’s not that. It’s us that have changed. Do we just go home and go back to our old lives?”

“Why not? We’ve been here long enough. Long enough for a lifetime.”

He nodded to show he understood her, but he did not believe it. He caught a glimpse of Chandra approaching. She was pulling back a hood from her head, and her clothing was dripping wet.

“Evening, Major!” called Eli.

“I see you’re making the most of the night,” she replied.

Eli raised her shot glass in salute as she turned and left them to their business. They could both see that she had arrived to address Taylor.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Our work will be done here tomorrow. The locals who are returning will take it from here. We have orders to pack up and leave by noon.”

“Where we heading?”

“Help the clear up at Reims.”

“Christ, is this what we have become? Clearers and builders?”

She dipped her head and sighed. As much as both of them had wanted to see an end to the fighting, it was a long way from the future they had expected.

“France had some of the worst of it, you know that. It’s our job to help return some normality to these people’s lives. We’ll do whatever we can to help.”

“All that fighting, all the death, the loss? How much more can be asked of us?”

She hauled Mitch in close.

“A damn sight more. This war isn’t over. It won’t be over until every one of those sons of bitches is dead. We’ll continue to do everything that is expected of us and more.”

He nodded in agreement. Taylor felt some shame for having little compassion left for the civilians. They had become refugees, and their towns had been reduced to rubble while he still had a home to return to. But he could not help feel they had all given enough already.

“I’m going to get a drink and enjoy the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we get a change of scenery, and that’ll be a good thing. Keep it together for all of us, you hear?”

Taylor looked away for a moment as he took another drink and turned back to Chandra.

“We getting a lift to Reims?”

“That’s more like it,” she replied. “I have already organised for trucks and some engineering vehicles to join us. Sergeant Dubois was most helpful in convincing the General as such.

Taylor smiled as he turned and looked to the bar where the French Sergeant was sat. She was engulfed in conversation with Captain Jones whom she had her arm wrapped around. It brought a smile to his face to see the darkness that had grown in Jones being washed away. He was laughing for the first time in as long as either of them could remember.

“You see that?” asked Chandra. “Amongst all this pain and suffering, and the near obliteration of our race, and yet that is hope. Humans will always seek to find some good in every situation, and it’s something you should remember, Major.”

He nodded in agreement. All he ever wanted was to see an end to the war and be able to relax and enjoy the company of friends in peace, but in the back of his mind, he knew it was not to last.

“You know I thought you’d like helping to clear and rebuild. It’s a walk in the park after what we’ve been through.”

He turned and looked up into her eyes. He wondered for a moment if she really liked the peace they had won. She seemed anxious to get back to combat.

“It’s what we wanted, an end to it all. But it’s not quite the triumphant celebrations I had envisaged. Toiling over desolate waste grounds that we have already bled over and lost so many good friends.”

“It won’t last forever,” she replied.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

“Yeah, proper soldiering though.”

“The damn war’s over, Major, can’t you leave it be?”

He slammed down his glass and turned away from Chandra. She was left speechless at the bar as she was handed a drink. Can’t blame him, she thought. He’s had it tougher than most.

Taylor pushed his way through the troops to look for Eli, but he stopped as he recognised an old officer enter the bar in front of him. The face was just a little familiar, but he could not place it. The man must have been close to sixty but was in good shape. His face was scarred and weathered. He held himself high and proud.

On the man’s arm was the faded symbol of the Moon Defence Force. Either side of him stood younger men of the same army. He could already tell that they recognised him.

“Fuck,” he said under his breath.

He remembered his first encounter with the enemy on the Moon colony, and the mission they had carried out. No MDF soldier would have fond memories of that time. Taylor had his orders, and that didn’t involve assisting the colonists.

“Major Taylor,” he spat with a dour face.

Mitch shook his head. He could already tell it was not a situation he needed right now.

“How you doing, fellas?” he responded.

“Still standing, no thanks to you.”

He remembered the man’s commanding voice. Then it came back to him, the MDF Commander Kelly, who he had met during the rescue of the Prime Minister. Ah shit, he thought.

“Another time, alright?” he asked.

Taylor took a few steps to go past them, but one of the MDF soldiers shuffled along to block his path.

“Let him be!” Kelly ordered.

The despondent soldier glared into Taylor’s eyes before the Commander shouted his command a little louder.

“Lieutenant Perera, step aside!”

Taylor didn’t remember ever meeting the younger officer, but he could see the hatred in the man’s eyes.

Perera moved aside and watched Mitch like a hawk as he avoided eye contact and shuffled on towards the restrooms. Jeez, thought Taylor. Save the fucking world and they’re still not happy.

As he stood relieving himself, he thought back to his last battle. The killing of Karadag should have been an event to celebrate for years to come, but it did not bring the satisfaction he sought.

The doors swung open behind him, and he caught a glimpse of Jones staggering in to stand at the receptacle beside him. The Captain had a delirious grin on his face and was drunk enough to have forgotten the horrors he had seen for just a while.

“We moving out?” he slurred.

“That’s right. To Reims.”

“They got better beer there?”

Taylor chuckled.

“Captain Reyes reckons he can score a few kegs of English ale for us. I told him you might be interested.”

Jones turned and looked in amazement.

“No shit?”

“Hey, if it can be done, I’ll have it.”

“Feels could to kick back and enjoy life a bit, don’t you think?”

Taylor thought for a moment before mumbling in agreement. He couldn’t think of a town or a country he even wanted to be. All he wanted was Eli and to leave it all behind. He loved the Company and all the friendship within it. But their faces reminded him every day of all those he would never see again.

“The Major believes the Krycenaeans are far from gone,” said Taylor.

“Ah fuck it, they’re not here now, are they?”

Taylor smiled. He’d never seen the British Captain be so vulgar and casual. It was a relief to see life return to his eyes. It made him wonder why he felt so down. Jones had been through all he had and worse, and yet was in a better place emotionally.

“How do you do it?” asked Mitch.

“What?”

“Put all this behind you and move forward?”

Jones grimaced as he thought back to his horrifying experience as a prisoner of the invaders. He tried to smile through it, but Taylor could see the pain still burning inside.

“There’s nothing else to do, is there? You can wallow in it all and become a head case like I did, or man the fuck up.”

Taylor’s eyebrow lifted as he turned his head and looked at his old friend in surprise. For a moment he had sounded like the forever cool headed Captain Friday. It was a sad reminder of the loss of one good friend, but a pleasant experience to see the return of another. Jones stepped past and patted him on the back.

“Come on, Mitch, this ain’t half bad. War’s over, and we can finally enjoy ourselves a little.”

Taylor finished up and strode over to the washbasins as Jones left the room. He cupped water from the tap and splashed it over his face. The cool clear water instantly gave him a wake up kick. He breathed in deeply as he tried to relax and settle down. For all the time he had wanted to see the war end, having to confront a new life of peace was more difficult than he expected.

He walked past the drier and shook his hands off as he stepped back out into the bar. Within a few metres, he was once again stopped by one of the MDF servicemen. Lieutenant Perera stood before him with an angry face and a bottle held at its neck by his side. Taylor shook his head. He only wanted to return to Eli and enjoy the rest of the evening.

“Come on, man, give me a break,” Taylor snarled.

“You were there when it all began. You were there and could have helped,” replied Perera. “Where were you when our people were butchered, and we fled for our lives?” he spat.

Taylor shook his head in astonishment. He couldn’t help but feel that after everything he had done, he didn’t owe the man anything. He looked down away from the Lieutenant’s angry eyes and could not find any words to utter.

“The deaths of our people are on you! You could have helped!”

Mitch could feel the anger brewing inside as he was being condemned for not saving the lives of people he could never have helped. Perera stood tall in front of him and awaited an answer. Finally, Taylor looked up and stared into his eyes. A frown grew in his face as his tolerance of the man seeped away.

“I have done everything in my power to save as many lives as possible. Why don’t you take some fucking responsibility and stop acting like a pussy?” growled Taylor.

Perera’s face went red with anger, and he took a wild and uncontrolled hook for Mitch’s face. The Major was a little dulled by the alcohol but no more so than the Lieutenant. He ducked under the strike and drove an uppercut into the man’s stomach. As the man reeled in pain, he yanked him back upright and drove a push kick into his torso that threw Perera back across the room and tumbling into several other MDF soldiers.

Before Taylor could marvel at his work, he felt a sharp pain as a punch connected with the side of his jaw. His stumbled a few paces before regaining his balance. Kelly stood there with his guard up and firmly ready to defend his colleague.

“Get ‘em!” shouted Monty.

The bar burst into action as a melee erupted. Taylor was rushed by two of the Moon soldiers who came between him and Kelly and tackled him to the ground. He struggled to get them off but was trapped under their weight. He punched up into the flank of one to soften him up, and the man yelped in pain but did not move. He lifted his knee and smashed it into the same man’s chest that made him gasp for air. The other punched him hard in the face. His head bounced off the ground, and his vision blurred for a moment. He gritted his teeth and thrust upward, striking the man on the edge of his chin. His head recoiled backwards but quickly recovered.

Taylor struggled to get free but could not get out of the grasp of the two men who stubbornly refused to move, no matter how much he softened them up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jones rush across the room and launch one of the men across the room with a brutal kick. Mitch cut down with a knife hand to the other man’s collar, quickly incapacitated him. Jones hauled Mitch to his feet, and they looked around for their next targets.

“Can’t take you anywhere,” Jones smiled.

Over a dozen soldiers were engaged in an all out battle across the bar with others joining in as it spread. Jones turned to face off against an incoming bunch as Taylor squared up against his next opponent. The MDF soldier before him was a woman, a fact that made him hesitate for a moment. She saw the opening and jabbed him hard to the face, and blood burst from his nose. He turned back with a smile as the blood gleamed on his teeth, her feistiness amusing him.

The woman thrust another strike forwards, but Taylor voided it and took a hold on her arm, wrenching her forward. As she was launched off her feet towards him, he drove a knee into her stomach and quickly followed it with a left to the jaw that knocked her to the ground. He looked up with a smile to revel in the destruction but was met with a snooker cue being wrapped around his face.

Taylor staggered back and tripped over the woman’s body, landing hard on his back. The cue had snapped and splintered off. The impact had been taken on his left cheek and side of his head, momentarily disorientating him. He got to his feet and took a wild swing at another soldier that sent them both off balance and the other man flat on his face to the floor.

He turned around and swayed to one side causing him to stagger and fall into a table. He could feel blood trickling down his face and more than a little dizzy. Sirens rang out from outside the building, quickly followed by the cries of the Military Police as they rushed into the complex with stun batons. He ducked under a strike from one of the batons and hit the officer with an uppercut to his gut. The man folded and collapsed down.

Taylor turned to face another but was hit full force in the back of the knee by a baton. The Major stumbled to get to his feet but was thrust with one of the electrified batons and pushed to the ground. He remembered shaking from the voltage before being struck in the head and knocked unconscious.

Taylor awoke in a small pool of his own blood and saliva. He was face down on a hard concrete floor. He rolled onto his side and rubbed his eyes as he tried to regain composure and focus. As he began to get his sight back, he could make out cell bars a metre in front. It was a grim reminder of his incarceration, and he leapt up to his feet. He turned to see several other bloodied soldiers sharing the cell with him. He recognised the brothers, Monty and Blinker.

Opposite them were sat Commander Kelly and three of his troops. They looked up at him but showed no aggression. Despite the pain in his body, he felt remarkably sober. He must have been out for some time.

“How you doing, Major?” asked Blinker.

Taylor turned away from the Commander to look at the two friendly faces.

“Still standing, how long we been here?”

“Few hours,” replied Monty.

“Guess they aren’t too keen on a little friendly disagreement?”

The two brothers chuckled.

“You got us in here, Major,” muttered Kelly. “Think you can get us back out?”

Taylor turned around to see that the MDF Commander was not joking. Blood had dried where it had poured from the man’s mouth. He was stern and confident but not confrontational.

“It was your boy that started this. Striking a superior officer, that’s a serious offence.”

“Ah, hell, what does it matter anymore? We just need to get out of this shithole.”

“It matters to me. We have given everything in this war, and I don’t appreciate having the efforts of my Company brought into question by an officer who wasn’t even here.”

Kelly nodded in agreement.

“Look, I get it. I have seen the reports. I know what you and your people have done.”

“No, you don’t,” interrupted Taylor. “You weren’t there. You think you can have any idea of what we went through by reading a few notes?”

Kelly nodded in agreement once again.

“I get it, Major, I really do. We cannot know what you went through, but we didn’t sit this war out either. We were prisoners in our own colony. We had nowhere to run. We were waking up every day and expecting it to be our last. Do you know what it feels like to live within a siege? When you know that if the defences fail, everyone dies. Every soldier, every civilian, all the children.”

Kelly stopped for a minute to take in a deep breath and calm him. “Our war was no walk in the park is all I am saying.”

“I never said it wasn’t, but I didn’t look for a fight back there,” snapped Taylor.

Taylor turned and paced back across the room.

“I am not saying what Lieutenant Perera did was right. I’m just saying that under such extreme pressure, we don’t always make the best decisions. We’ve lost our home colony and a great deal of our friends. I will discipline him appropriately.”

Taylor strolled over to Monty and took a seat beside him on the hard and uncomfortable bench that ran the length of the wall.

“You should know that I never wanted to leave your colony back then. I wanted to help you, but I had no choice.”

Kelly sighed. “I know. None of us could have foreseen this was the way it was gonna go. Who could have known we would ever have to face such an enemy in our lifetimes? Hell, in our history?”

“We made it though, didn’t we?” replied Taylor. “We’re still standing.”

“True, but many aren’t. All we ever wanted was to be left alone on our colony. We thought the threat upon us came from Earth, from corporations and governments wanting to muscle in on what we had. Never could we have imagined that we’d have to flee our homes.”

“You really like it up there that much? Living in artificial environments?”

“It was our land. Few Earthers ever understood.”

“No, I get it. A man will defend what is his to the very end, no matter how little it may seem in the face of others. But now you have a chance to rebuild your community here on Earth. Hell, there’s certainly some space going free.”

“It’s not a pleasant thought to be filling a space where a population has been exterminated,” he replied.

The cell went silent as they all thought about it for a moment.

“By that thought, we’d never live anywhere. Humans have butchered each other for as long as we have lived, and wherever you are, you stand over bloodied ground.”

“Maybe that’s why we liked the Moon. We started from afresh,” replied Kelly.

Doors opened down the corridor and footsteps approached. Moments later, Commander Phillips appeared with an MP on either side. No one in the cell uttered a word.

“Major Taylor, it seems you are adamant to get back behind bars. Commander Kelly, I was surprised to see your name on the list of those detained during this disturbance.”

“It was a soldier’s disagreement, nothing more.”

“I trust it has now been resolved?”

The two officers nodded in agreement.

“Good. We have seen enough conflict over the last year, so how about we work together from now on? I can put this down to a little too much drink and a one off incident, but Gentlemen, do not let it happen again. The French authorities are trying to rebuild their country, and the last thing they need is trouble. You’re all here to help rebuild, not destroy what’s left.”

“Understood, Sir,” replied Taylor.

“Major Chandra informs me that you are moving out at noon. I have procured release for all of you, on the condition that you will all return immediately to your billets and sleep off this silliness.”

“Much appreciated, Sir. You won’t see any more trouble from us.”

“See that I don’t.”

The MPs stepped forward and opened the doors of the cell. The soldiers sat on both sides of the room sighed as they stood up and worked their aching muscles and joints. Kelly stood before Taylor.

“We don’t blame you for not helping us. You have become famous for your deeds down here to save Earth, but you can’t help some of my lads feeling a little put out.”

“I was only following orders,” replied Taylor.

Kelly nodded. “I know. Sometimes orders are the best thing to do, but not the right thing. I know you have some experience of this.”

Taylor smiled in response, and Phillips laughed at the sentiment. Taylor had breached his orders more than any man could ever expect to get away with.

“You look after yourself, Major,” said Kelly as he strolled out of the cell.

“Go home, Major, enjoy what sleep you can get before dawn.”

Home? He wasn’t sure he had one any longer. The company of Eli seemed to be the comfort and security a home might offer, and it was the best thing he could hope for. He stepped forwards and out of the cell. In the corridor, he found the other doors open and the rest of the troops being released. Eli stood awaiting him with a bruised jaw.

“You just couldn’t stay out of it, could you?” he asked.

She smiled in response.

“Hey, it’s been years. After the battles we’ve been through, it was nice to have a fair fight for a change.”

He threw his arm over her shoulder, and she wrapped hers around his waist. He winced as he felt new bruises on his flank where someone must have kicked him on the ground after he’d been knocked unconscious.

“You okay?” she asked.

“This? It’s nothing.”

She didn’t press him any further. Taylor had been through far worse beatings and didn’t need to be reminded of it. The bloodied soldiers staggered back to their billets. It was a pleasant reminder of some of the good nights out they had enjoyed before the war had begun, but the locals didn’t seem to agree. Civilians continued to pour into the country day and night. Vehicles rolled past that were packed to the roof while others walked back to their homes.

“What are they even going home to?” asked Eli.

“Whatever is left, it’s still their homes, where else are they supposed to go?” replied Taylor.

Police sirens rang out as MPs tried to weave through the heavy traffic and clogged paths. Many roads were still not clear of debris, and some no longer existed. Much travelling had to be done by military vehicles and the few civilian cross country vehicles that could be mustered.

“Think we’ll be here much longer?”

Taylor sighed. “I guess not.”

She stopped him and looked in surprise. “You don’t want to go home?”

Taylor shook his head.

“This has become home, more so than ever. Does going home mean returning to lives we no longer know, and leaving behind so many we now call friends? Returning from where we came is not going home.”

“Well that’s pretty fucking cynical.”

Taylor shrugged his shoulders. He could not help but feel disassociated with his old life. Victory had not been anything like he had hoped for. He knew he should be thankful for escaping any charges that night, but it was little relief. His head was swollen, and his worn and faded uniform soaked in fresh blood of his own. None of them spoke anymore on their return.

Mitch kicked open the door of his temporary shelter and stumbled inside with Eli close behind. He winced as he pulled off his uniform. He was tired of the pain he felt physically and emotionally. Eli came close and wrapped her arms around him, but he had little care for it. He brushed her aside and climbed into bed. She could see the sadness in his eyes and did not pursue it. They lay side-by-side for a few moments until she realised neither were ready to sleep.

“Karadag…” she said.

“What of him?”

“We never discussed him.”

“What is there to say? We left the bastard in a pool of his own blood.”

“I know. What I meant was, there must surely be more like him? We have many Generals and many heroes in our armies.”

Taylor stopped and thought for a moment. They had been so focused on taking down the enemy leader that the idea of others had passed him by. It was a depressing thought as he realised she was bound to be right.

“Maybe, but armies of Earth used to led by Kings, so maybe he was the same. When Alexander the Great died, his armies scattered to the wind. Same as Genghis Khan.”

“That’s wishful thinking,” she muttered.

“Have we not suffered enough against them? Maybe they want this war to be over as much as we do?”

They both fell silent as they thought on that concept. It was hard to imagine that the Krycenaeans could ever live in peace.

“Makes you think, doesn’t it? If they exist, what else is in the universe? Are there whole other worlds?”

“That have already been conquered or obliterated by the Krycenaeans?” asked Taylor.

“Or something bigger and meaner?” she responded.

“All we ever wanted to do was reach the stars, and look where it has gotten us. Had we not gone to the Moon, to Mars, maybe they would never have found us,” mused Taylor.

“And maybe they would have found us just the same, and they would have found a far less capable opponent. We survived this war by the skin of our teeth. We survived it because the human race always strives for more and better. What happened to you Mitch? Since the fighting ended, you’ve become a shell of your former self. Isn’t this the peace you wanted?”

He grunted and lay silent.

“What more can we ask for?” she insisted.

“I can think of a lot. For this war to have never happened.”

“And I am sure all that have seen such days they wished they had not, but we made it through.”

She knew she wasn’t getting through to him. She went silent and cuddled into his side in the hope of giving him some comfort. There was little time left until dawn, and as much as dire thoughts plagued Taylor’s mind, he eventually succumbed to his exhaustion.