“Breach it!”
Doors opened on the floor of the copter and revealed an access tunnel that had extended from their craft. Corporal Hall manoeuvred a shaped charge on an extended bracket down the corridor until it clamped to the structure of the station. He looked up and nodded to the Colonel that they were ready.
“Do it!”
He pressed the trigger, and the small blast punctured through the outer skin with minimal effort. Hall waited for the dust to settle for just a moment to check the breach.
“We’re in business!”
“Go, go, go!” shouted Chandra.
The two platoons aboard rushed down the joining corridor and into the station. Chandra and Taylor got through after the first dozen troops and stood in surprise in a corridor to see no sign of movement other than themselves.
“This is Alpha1, we have breached and have met no resistance, over.”
She waited just a moment as the rest of the troops took up positions along the ribbed corridor. The large bracing structures allowed a natural defence. She got no response and got no radio traffic at all.
“God damn it, I thought our people had sorted this jamming out?”
Taylor shrugged his shoulders but was not at all surprised. She looked over to him.
“Alright, Taylor you can take them forward from here. Try and link up with the rest Alpha.”
The corridor was five metres wide, and clearly a main access route throughout the structure. Taylor paced forward to lead the two platoons with Chandra close by. They had got just a few metres when they heard rapid gunfire and shouts up ahead. The troops all instinctively dropped down to one knee and took cover.
“Must be Jones.”
“They clearly didn’t get the smooth entry we did. Move forward and provide assistance. I’ll bring up the rear.”
Taylor nodded before getting to his feet and beckoning for the troops to move forward with him. He rushed on at a jogging pace and quickly heard the fighting beyond get louder until he could no longer hear his own footsteps. They took a bend, and his heart raced as they came across twenty Mechs spread out through a large circular trading room. Jones’ troops had only just managed to breach and get a dozen troops a foothold. They were dug in under heavy fire, and one lay dead on the floor up ahead.
Taylor leapt into the cover of a large desk unit as they came out into the opening of the trading area and lifted his hand to draw them all to a halt. He looked back and beckoned for them to move forward with caution. He lifted his rifle and quickly took aim at the first creature that he had a clear view of from its flank.
“Fire!” he ordered.
Mitch immediately fired five rounds into the chest of the creature he could see the most of, and a final one through its faceplate to be certain. The beast dropped lifelessly to the ground as the others joined in. Dozens of rounds tore into the enemy, but they quickly took better cover as five of their comrades were dropped.
“Get those shields up here!”
The three soldiers carrying the Reitech shields rushed forward. They were all that could be taken with the confines of space.
“Grenades!” Taylor shouted.
“You sure?” asked Hall.
“The station can take it. Do it!”
He continued firing as five grenades were launched over their positions and erupted in the centre of the room.
“Forward!”
The shield bearers rushed forward, and Taylor leapt over the desk he was using for cover. A pulse rushed towards him but was caught just in time by one of the shields. The round crashed into the shield and burst into sparks that sprayed over the Major and burnt a few millimetres into his body armour.
A dozen troops followed him and fired as they advanced with the shield bearers at the forefront and joining in. The brutal volley of fire caught two of the creatures as they tried to rise up from cover and return fire. The fire intensified as Jones and several of his troop advanced from their battered positions.
Taylor’s magazine ran dry, and he ducked down behind the next layer of cover and was joined by the others. A few light pulses raged overhead as the pressure was taken off their foes. Taylor slammed in a new magazine and lifted himself, taking a quick aim at a creature. He fired two shots into its head, ducking quickly back down as a pulse flew overhead and skimmed the table where he was taking cover.
He looked back at the next wave of troops who had taken up their old positions; then back to see the first advance he had led were all hunkered down. He gestured to the others to fire over their heads, and it was quickly done. Rifle fire rushed over their heads as they waited their moment to strike. After a few dozen volleys, he lifted his hand to call a halt to their fire.
“Advance!”
He leapt up and jumped onto the table top, affording him a view of several of the Mechs from the vantage point. He stepped confidently forward as he poured fire into their positions. He snapped around as he caught movement, firing on full auto into a creature as it lifted up beside him. It dropped dead before it could even train its weapon on him.
The troops around him poured forward into the enemy positions and finished off the surviving Mechs. Taylor watched and grinned at the defeated foes before them. He turned back to the body lying on the floor in front of the breach. The Major jumped from the table and strolled over to the body of the lifeless soldier who had only gotten a metre from the breach before being struck down.
Jones joined the Major as he knelt down and rolled over the fallen soldier. Smoke still arose from the impact as the body rolled over; it was Blinker. His eyes flicked open, and he stared into the eyes of Mitch.
“Not dead yet, Sir,” he spluttered.
Taylor smiled as he hauled the man to his feet. Blinker coughed and sighed in pain, but his wounds were only minor. Monty rushed to his side and slapped him across the back of his helmet.
“Bloody idiot, getting shot like that!”
“I’ll try not to next time,” he replied.
Taylor turned back, relaxing at the realisation that they were not a man down. He looked to Chandra as she strode down the corridor, scanning the scene of carnage. Then gunfire erupted in far away rooms and echoed down the several corridors which the hall led to.
“Fight isn’t over,” she stated. “Assemble the troops. Jones, you take half the Company down corridor 17B. We’ll take 17A.”
Jones quickly nodded to show he had understood and turned to relay his orders.
“1
st
and 2
nd
Platoon, on me!” he yelled.
“3
rd
and 4
th,
follow me!” Chandra shouted.
They quickly formed up in the market area as they changed their magazines and prepared to move onwards. Chandra and Taylor waited either side of a two metre corridor. She pulled out a Mappad and quickly studied it.
“We’re about five hundred metres from the command centre, but it’s three floors down. I want command of this station ASAP. There are stairs here and here. You take the first with 3
rd
Platoon, and I’ll continue on to the next with 4
th
.”
“Got it.”
She looked back to see that all eyes were on her and awaiting the advance. She nodded and without a word, stepped forward. They hugged either side of the corridor, all keeping their weapons held at the ready as they advanced. The corridor was eerily quiet, but they could still hear gunfire in the distance. There was a bend up ahead, and they crept slowly towards it until Chandra could edge around the corner for a quick look. She leapt back around as automatic fire rang out, and small pulses smashed into the corner where her head had been a second before.
“Christ! Looks like some kind of sentry gun!”
Taylor leapt to her side of the corridor and drew out his Mappad. He pulled out a telescopic camera, twisted a kink into it, and held the edge to the corner. The camera displayed the view beyond onto the device. He got just a few seconds look when a light burst smashed into the camera and wall, tearing the wrecked Mappad from his hands. He quickly ducked back away from the edge.
“Yep, that’s something we haven’t seen before.”
“I guess they weren’t on the defensive before,” she replied.
“We could advance with the cover of the shields?”
“No, I don’t think they’d withstand the output of that thing.”
“Then what do you reckon?”
She took a deep breath, but before she could find an answer, they heard a rush of gunfire emanate from the parallel corridor Jones’ had taken. Chandra took a quick look around the corner to see that the sentry gun was engaged in firing at Jones and the others.
“Taylor, I reckon we’ll have a few seconds opportunity to lay down fire.”
He nodded in return and turned back to the others.
“You three, on the Colonel. When we get round that corner, we give it hell, got it?”
They readied their weapons and grimly agreed, having seen the Colonel almost killed by the fearsome defences.
“Go,” she whispered.
Chandra leapt to the far side of the other corridor, allowing them to get an angle on the device. She quickly opened fire, and the others joined in after she’d fired the first shot. A dozen rounds hit the sentry gun’s flank that got around the thick frontal shields, but it began to turn for them.
“Keep firing!” she screamed.
She continued to pour fire down the corridor in the hope it would be enough. But by the time the gun had rotated and trained on them, she could already see light building in the barrel. Just as the rounds were about to burst from the barrel, an explosion blasted out from behind the shield of the gun and twisted it into a wreck. Chandra breathed out deeply, knowing how close they had come to death.
“Let’s move!” she cried.
The two platoons rushed into the corridor at their backs, and the two officers led from the front at a quick pace. Using their helmet targeting devices, they continued to pour fire down the corridor. They could see Mechs rush to defend against Jones’ attack. Taylor had got to the forefront and burst out of the corridor into what was a bar and restaurant district. Light pulses and muzzle flashes lit up the vast space, and Mech bodies were scattered in front of him. He smiled at the sight and lifted his rifle to join in.
Chandra and the others rushed to his side and joined the firing squad. They outnumbered the Mechs in a vast way, but it didn’t make them feel any sympathy for the creatures. Over the gunfire, they could just about hear Monty and Blinker yelling insults at the tops of their voices as they gunned down the beasts.
Finally, when the gunfire subsided, they turned to see two of their dead amongst Jones’ troops. Chandra shook her head in sadness, but she knew it was only inevitable. She was only thankful they hadn’t lost more.
“We’re not far from the command centre, let’s move!”
They rushed down a corridor at the far side of the sector and reached the stairs as planned. Taylor was descending to the control point and was eager to get there first to deal out some more pain. He reached the semi transparent doors at the base of the stairway and could see that they were sealed shut. Without breaking stride, he fired three shots into the toughened glass and then leapt at it. His body weight ruptured through the fractured plastic, and he tumbled into a roll. Taylor nimbly landed on one knee and was quickly back to his feet.
Three creatures stood before him. One wore ornately inscribed armour that was reminiscent of Karadag’s, and his face was visible. The other two creatures displayed the painted red lines, clearly representing their importance as some form of guard to a senior officer or official. For a moment, the two groups looked at each other in amazement.
“Lower your weapons!” he shouted.
He surprised himself to even say it. He’d never met one of the creatures that he wouldn’t have shot on sight if he could. They hesitated, but he could see they knew there was little other choice beyond death.
“Lower them!”
The two guards looked to their master, who after a few seconds of thought, nodded for them to comply.
“You would let us live?” asked the enemy Commander.
“I’m here to win this war, not eradicate your race.”
Taylor could see the two guards look at each other as if surprised, but he could not see their faces beneath their armour. Gunfire rang out, and plastic shattered as Chandra breached the other entrance and rushed into the room with her rifle at the ready. Taylor held up his hand to stop her. She quickly came to a halt and looked on at the situation in shock.