Authors: Nick S. Thomas
The copters soared through a thickly wooded valley towards their target. Taylor watched the shadows of the imposing trees flash by just twenty metres from the windows. Having sat down with nothing more to do but ponder his actions, he was starting to realise how much trouble he was stirring up. He had broken orders to save Parker, but that was in the heat of a battle. This time it was different, and he knew it.
“I guess Schulz will have your balls for this?” asked Silva.
He looked up at the calm and confident Sergeant. Their two sections rode with Rains. Sergeant Parker and her team were with Kato.
“Schulz can tough talk as much as he likes, but he needs us,” growled Taylor.
“You think that’ll be enough to save us from the can?”
Taylor shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to believe that it was true, but he also knew that his insubordination could not go unchecked. Never before had he simply deemed his orders to be unjust and unreasonable.
Perhaps Schulz will see he was wrong
if we pull this off,
he thought. He shook his head in response to his own question.
Schulz was a bastard and wouldn’t ever change.
He looked down the line of marines and admired their resoluteness. They were just as calm and cool headed as if on a training exercise. He wondered how much was down to their training and discipline, and how much to do with the death and destruction. After all they had witnessed, he wondered if they had become accustomed to the thought of death and the loss of friends.
The Major had never asked his marines whether they should even be risking themselves for two British soldiers. The two units had become so integrated that they rarely saw a distinction anymore, unless it was for the sake of a quick joke. He lifted up his Mappad and studied the surveillance images one last time.
Heat signatures showed that up to a dozen humans were being held in a prison just a few kilometres south of the city. It had been constructed a hundred years previously and was a vast sprawling complex which could house ten thousands criminals. He wondered what had become of the occupants after the area had fallen to the enemy. The guards had a duty to protect them and move them to safety. In reality, he knew that in the chaos of the invasion, many would have been left to their own devices.
Thinking about the prisoners for a few minutes, he wondered why there were not more signatures of the prison’s inhabitants. He looked up to the Sergeant who he knew to be a smart and well-informed man.
“The prisoners, where do you think they are?”
Silva sighed as he looked away and back to Mitch.
“It was chaos getting everyone out of the cities. I guess they either let them loose or...”
His voice faded away as he thought about the alternative.
Neither man wanted to consider the slaughter that they both suspected. Most of the others weren’t paying attention or didn’t cotton on to their train of thought. Taylor nodded to the Sergeant. They both knew what they must prepare themselves for. Taylor sat back against the fuselage and relaxed as much as he could for the last few minutes of peace they would have.
There was barely anymore than a little light from the moon piercing into the cabin of the craft. Their vision had adjusted to the darkness. Night vision equipment was on general issue to most of their forces before the war, but the enemy’s energy weapons made them dangerous to use. A pulse from their energy blasters would blind and temporarily incapacitate anyone wearing them. Taylor now only used the night vision in his binoculars to survey scenes.
Lacking visibility in night combat was a scary situation to be in. Taylor would avoid night combat at any cost with the alien invaders. But with so much ground to cover in enemy territory, they were left with little choice.
Eddie cut the power to the copter’s engines, leaving only the retrofitted alien technology to provide propulsion. They hoped it would cover their approach as it had done before. It was clear the invaders had not yet learnt their lesson. They were clearly still ignorant of the threat the humans could present.
Taylor looked at the Mappad at their position as they came down slowly on a small access road, half a kilometre from the prison’s eastern perimeter. In an ideal world, they would put down right over the POWs’ position, but they had little of idea what to expect. The ramps thumped down into the soft and muddy ground that squelched as the heavily laden marines hit the ground. Parker rushed down her ramp, but left her section aboard.
“Sergeant, you will wait here and be ready on our signal. The flares could attract a lot of attention, so we’ll only use them if we have to and keep them to a minimum. Can you remember the colour identification?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He turned and nodded to signal for Silva and the others to follow him towards the perimeter wall. They had landed between thick trees in a well-hidden position. The two sections continued on quietly in their columns with Taylor at the head. He had clipped his Mappad device onto his left arm, allowing him to keep his rifle at the ready. The threat and surrounding danger was beginning to set in. They were all alone in occupied lands.
You’d better be alive, Jones
, he thought. Without the rescue of Jones and the others, he would be in more trouble with his superiors than he could imagine. Could it be any worse than death? He thought about it a little more as he paced on in darkness. He knew that the one thing Schulz could do was remove him from his Company. After all their struggles to fight and survive, he could not bear the thought of being parted from them.
Would that be the price of saving soldiers? To then be parted from them?
Taylor reached the end of the road and a small verge that overlooked the prison. He lifted his hand and signalled for them to halt. Silva moved up beside him to survey the situation. The main facility lights were on. They could see the city lights of Metz glimmering to the north. The unmanned nuclear power plants had kept power to the areas where cables were not obliterated by the war.
The outer fences of the prison still lay in darkness. Taylor pulled out his night vision binoculars and panned across the perimeter that was less than a hundred metres ahead of them. He nodded as he quickly identified four drones waiting silently in front of the easterly gate. The entrance was small and lightly guarded.
“Must be a secondary entrance,” he whispered.
Silva lifted his night vision goggles and held them before his eyes. The body of the device knocked into the brim of his helmet, and he cursed at the clumsiness of how they had to use the equipment. Taylor smiled at his discomfort, but the Sergeant merely continued to survey the scene.
“Going to make a whole lot of noise taking ‘em out,” he replied.
“Do we have another choice?”
“We could circle the perimeter and look for a quieter way in.”
Taylor shook his head. They were walking into the unknown and in hostile territory. Had there not been friendlies within the compound, he would avoid it at all costs.
“Once we start firing, all hell’s gonna break loose anyway. I say we take out these drones now and be rid of them.”
Silva nodded. It was as good a plan as any.
“Spread out. Advance fifty metres, open fire on my signal, and fire up an F4 flare as soon as the guns start firing.”
“You want them going in before we’re even through the gate?” asked Silva.
“The second the guns start firing, we are working against the clock. We don’t have a choice.”
Silva nodded. Taylor moved forward over the verge, and the Sergeant stood in position, relaying the commands to the troops as they followed after the Major. The Reitech suits allowed the marines to move effortlessly with the weight they carried. The only sound was that of their boots squelching in the open field.
Taylor could feel his heart rate increase with each step as they quietly closed the distance. They still had little idea of the drones’ capabilities in terms of identification. A vast noise bellowed in the sky, causing all the troops to quickly drop onto one knee and duck to conceal themselves the best they could.
They’ve found us,
thought Taylor.
He waited for a moment to see what was approaching. The booming grew louder until the ground vibrated beneath them. They could do nothing but remain still, and wait and hope they had not been spotted. A slab fronted and bulbous ship rushed overhead and slowed as it entered the prison complex airspace.
Taylor gasped in relief that it appeared to be unrelated. He looked around at the faces of the nearest marines to see the same glimmer of satisfaction. He turned back to track the vessel. Beam lights burst into action as it came in to land in one of the courtyards. The entire underbelly was lit up as well as the ground below it.
The Major turned the bevel on his binoculars to return to normal magnified vision and lifted them to his eyes. He could see the vehicle come in to land, but it was largely obscured by one of the vast detention centres between the vessel and their position. He squinted to make out a glimmer of movement a few moments later.
Finally, through a small gap between two of the buildings, he could make out the sight of humans being led from the vessel. A Mech strode past in between them with its huge cannon slung casually across its armoured forearms.
Shit, they must be bringing
more prisoners in. We better have enough space to get them out.
The marine platoon waited and huddled in the grass for twenty minutes. They knew the drones were close but had not identified them. Their mission presented enough danger without having to take on the guards of the transport vessel. Taylor did not have to relay commands. They all knew they must wait.
The vessel finally began to lift off from the base and head quickly off to the east. Taylor waited until it was well clear, and he could no longer hear the intimidating boom of its engines. He knew they had a narrow margin to make the mission work. When he was absolutely happy that they were left in peace once again, he turned to the troops and gave them the nod to move forward.
Taylor lifted himself to his feet. His knees creaked from sitting like a statue for what felt like an hour. He stretched his muscles and flexed his joints until he softened up and then moved forward at a slow and quiet pace. Taylor lifted his rifle and quickly targeted the first Mech. The moonlight glimmered off its metallic structure.
He looked back at his marines, but they had already stopped and readied themselves to fire upon seeing his weapon raised. The time for covert action was over. He nodded to Silva for the Sergeant to ready the flare. The Major turned back to his target and took in a deep breath. He pulled the trigger and fired three shots off in rapid succession. The drone was smashed over onto its side as gaping holes were torn in its body.
The moonlit field pulsed with light as the platoon opened fire with a rapid and brutal volley into their targets. The drones were all destroyed before they could return a single shot. The signal flare burst above them and lit up the scene. Taylor quickly leapt to his feet and rushed forward, shouting for his marines to follow him. They reached the gates of the prison and the burning wrecks of the drones. Their new weapons had left the alien devices as heaps of scrap.
Taylor’s gun fired once again as he rushed forward. The round hit the broad lock of the gates and blew a hole through it and the surrounding mesh. The platoon rushed through without stopping and continued at a quick pace along the smooth concrete ground. Two Mechs quickly appeared from between two buildings up ahead but were utterly overwhelmed.
Fire poured from the marines as they continued rushing on. Each Mech was hit with half a dozen shots. Their bodies had barely hit the ground by the time marine boots were thundering past. Taylor came to a quick stop to identify his surroundings. He had only seen the layout of the facility from aerial surveillance.
Silva’s section rushed to his side and took up positions behind a narrow wall, as the Major surveyed their location. Doors burst open to their left flank and three Mechs rushed out to fight them in a futile attempt. Fire ripped into the guards, and Taylor nodded with satisfaction at the realisation that their equipment was finally up to the task. Although he knew a surprise attack in numbers was a long way from a pitched battle.
Kato’s copter flew overhead before Taylor could get to his feet. The craft’s nose lifted quickly, and the tail dipped to swoop in for a fast descent. They came to a hover just twenty metres above the building where they had identified the heat signatures of humans.
“That’s our target,” called Taylor.
He quickly looked around at the dozens of other detention rooms just like it on the facility.
“Sergeant Silva, check out these other buildings and secure the area!”
He leapt to his feet and ran towards the target building. He didn’t have to give the order to his section. They were already close behind. Taylor could see out of the corner of his eye that Parker’s section was already dropping onto the roof above. Their boosters provided for a soft landing despite their heavy gear that went unheard over the sound of the engines.
Taylor was first through the door as he threw caution to the wind. His desire to save his friend had affected his judgement, but he only realised it too late. As he burst into the entrance, he was met by the sight of a gun barrel just a few metres away. The Mech holding the weapon fired before he could raise his rifle.
The corridor flashed with light as the pulse smashed into the Major’s torso. The power of the blast launched him onto his face and tossed him to the ground like a ragdoll. The Major was conscious for just long enough to feel the pain of the impact as he slid along the corridor and smashed into a sidewall.
Sugar stomped into the corridor and stood his ground before the body of his Major. He opened fire with both of his weapons on full auto. The Mech got off two shots as he rained down fire that smashed the creature back, causing its weapon to miss the hulking marine by just a metre. He bellowed with all the air in his chest as he emptied both magazines into the creature and a second that tried to come to its aid.