Authors: Nick S. Thomas
"That's coming in from just a little south, maybe around Gaza!" Eddie shouted.
"Christ they must be close!"
A pulse clipped the engine of one of the copters to their side and cut most of its power. They watched as the pilot fought for control but had no hope. The troops inside bailed out and used their boosters to move as far north as they could.
"How much further?" Taylor asked.
"We're coming up on Hebron now!"
"He lifted his Mappad and saw they were over friendly positions."
"2nd Inter-Allied deploy now, and get these copters to the base north of the city!"
He got to his feet, but as he turned to speak to Eddie, a pulse that ripped a hole in the side of the fuselage struck them. Two of the platoon were thrown out.
"We're going down!"
"Come on!"
Taylor grabbed Eddie and jumped from the door. He knew his boosters would have a hard time breaking the fall of their combined weight over the several hundred metres drop, but it was Rains’ only chance of survival.
"I told you that you should have worn your suit!" he yelled at the pilot as they dropped towards the dusty, hard ground."
"I know that now!"
Guns raged below as they could see Israeli armour battling the enemy advance just a few hundred metres south of where they were going to land.
"This is gonna hurt!"
They hit the ground, and Taylor went into a roll, trying to take the impact and cocooned Eddie in the roll. As he tumbled across the ground, he lost his grip, and Rains was tossed out across the dirt. Taylor finally crashed to a halt as his shoulders smashed into a large rock. He groaned in pain, but he could tell he was still in one piece. He rolled over and got up onto one knee to look for Eddie.
"God damn that hurt," he moaned.
He was still flat out on the ground. His clothing was covered in dirt, and his arms were cut and bleeding, but he was alive.
"Next time I say wear your suit, wear you suit!"
"You got no argument from me."
Taylor stumbled over, hauling him to his feet. The others landed all around.
"That could have gone better."
"We're alive aren't we, Charlie?"
He looked up to the line of armour up ahead. To their backs APCs approached, and artillery fire shot overhead from both sides.
"Looks like we landed in the shit," said Eddie. He pulled out his personal sidearm, the only weapon he had on him.
"We need to find you a proper weapon."
"I'm sure there'll be no shortage lying about the ground."
Taylor motioned for them to go forward even though they were still missing several platoons. He got to a jogging pace as he could see the tanks were fighting from a crest that hid the enemy from view. As they neared, he slowed and through the dust and smoke could see that troops were scattered along the edge and lying in prone positions.
"Friendlies coming in!" he yelled.
There was so much fire all around that only a handful of the soldiers even noticed. He ducked down and went prone beside a few that had turned to acknowledge them. For a moment, they looked both surprised and confused to see their uniforms, but within seconds they no longer cared.
"Colonel Taylor, who's your commanding officer?"
"He's dead. Lieutenant Amar is in charge. She's over there!" he shouted, pointing east along the line."
"Thanks." He noticed several of Jones' platoon had started taking shots at the enemy who were still two hundred metres out.
"Ota! Jackson! Take up position here. Grey spread out to the west! Jones you're with me!"
He got up and rushed behind the cover of the nearest tank while he looked out east. He could see a women shouting at several of the troops and guessed it was Amar. Dead IDF soldiers lay around her position, and a medic was fighting to save one of the wounded. He rushed over to her position and hit the dirt beside her. His landing threw dust up over the Lieutenant. She spat it out, looking back at Taylor ready to yell at him but saw he wasn't one of hers.
"Colonel Taylor, we're here to help."
"About time!"
"What can we do?"
"Get firing. We've got thousands of Mechs advancing on us. We've lost five kilometres in the last hour. Much further and we'll be at the city!"
He looked back to Jones and his company and beckoned for them to move forward and take the positions where the dead lay. They were almost shoulder-to-shoulder with the IDF soldiers wedged between two tanks, one of which was a burning wreck. Taylor put his rifle on the shelf they were using for cover and immediately targeted the first Mech. They were advancing in waves and quickly covering the ground. Several armoured vehicles from both sides lay burning across the plain.
There were so many targets to choose from, he could almost fire blind and still hit something. The enemy front expanded as far as he could see both sides, though smoke and dust limited visibility. Pulses exploded all around, and he felt the burning residue landing everywhere. A heavy weapon beyond his sight hit the surviving tank next to them. The turret was ripped from the hull and sent hurtling twenty metres behind them. He looked back to the enemy and could see a never-ending surge of Mechs and armoured vehicles.
Taylor turned to look at what they had at their backs, and there was nothing but empty space. He grabbed Amar's arm, forcing her to turn away from the battle.
"We can't stay here!" he shouted at her.
"We have to. There is only a kilometre left between here and the city."
"Then we will have to take up position in the city outskirts."
"I won't leave my post!"
Without thinking, he slapped her hard across the face. He hated himself for doing it, but he didn't see a woman before him; he saw a brave officer who was going to be dead, along with all her comrades if he didn't act. Blood seeped from her mouth, and she said nothing.
"This position has fallen. Don't be foolish and stay here to die. Fall back, regroup, and stay in this fight."
It was the reality check she needed, even if it did hurt her pride more than her jaw. She spoke something in Hebrew through her comms unit that meant nothing to Taylor, and then shouted a second time louder. She staggered to get to her feet. She was clearly exhausted. Taylor reached out and helped her.
"Fallback!" he ordered.
He repeated the same into his radio. He turned to see Eddie taking a rifle from one of the bodies and salvaging what ammunition he could. Taylor knew how heavy the bulky weapons were without the aid of a suit and did not envy him for having to manage it.
They got to a quick jogging pace as a few of the tanks began to roll back with them. Taylor could see that less than half of the Israeli armour at the line was able to move.
"We're losing a lot of ground!" said Amar.
"And we'll lose a lot more until we get some serious support," replied Taylor.
"We were promised support from all over, but you're the first to arrive."
"We have another regiment en route. Should be here within an hour."
"Then I hope we can last that long. Militias have made defences at the edge of the city. We'll have to hold there."
The Israelis were one of the few nations still putting people through National Service, and he knew that meant they'd at least have some training, though he doubted their equipment would be up to muster. Pulses still burst around them from indirect fire. The shelf they had fought from at least covered their retreat. Jafar rushed up beside Taylor. He didn't seem to shock Amar. It seemed news of one of the enemy fighting alongside the humans was spreading quickly now.
A few minutes later, they had passed behind the range of the enemy guns and thought they'd reached safety, but it was not to be. Aircraft rushed overhead, and a new wave of enemy pulses crashed down in between them as they ran for their lives. Soldiers from both units were thrown through the air by blasts and tossed around like rag dolls.
One of the pulses burst in front of Taylor, and he dipped his head just in time for the shrapnel to brush over his helmet and save his face. The crater left in front of him was four metres wide and a metre deep.
"They're not going to let up, are they?" asked Jones.
"No," replied Jafar.
"At this rate, they'll be in Jerusalem by tomorrow unless we can stop them," said Amar.
They kept running, and it wasn't long before they could see the defensive positions at the edge of the city. Several kilometres of trench works and walls were being manned by the militias. The defences were at least a welcome sight. They reached the trenches and flooded inside. The pulses continued to burst all around them. Amar and Taylor stuck together as they slid into a trench. The militia looked scared. Taylor could already see they were beginning to regret standing their ground once they could see the troops running for their lives.
"Jones, get on to Phillips and find out when we're getting reinforced!"
"Nobody has seen the Commander since hitting the ground. Word is his copter was hit on the way in."
"Well, find a radio and get on to Harney, and tell him we need more than just 5th Marine Regiment!"
"I'll do what I can."
We're in deep shit,
Taylor thought.
The bombardment settled down a few minutes later, but they knew it wouldn't last.
"Be nice if we had some aerial support."
"We did this morning. They took a beating," replied Amar.
"Let's get this straight. We can’t stop them. If we don't get some serious numbers here soon, we're gonna be swept back to Jerusalem in no time."
It was too late. The enemy was already at the edge of the city with their rapid blitz to cut a path through human lines. The tanks begun firing, but the enemy was still out of range of their rifles.
We can’t have made it this far to die in the dirt here.
“Ready your weapons and hold fast!” he yelled.
Jones came running down the line, and he prayed it was good news.
“What is it?”
“Harney has been ordered to the defence of Jerusalem. All forces are ordered to rally there.”
He looked over to Amar.
“That goes for you too, Lieutenant. This is a joint command for all allied forces in the area.”
“What about all these people? We can’t leave them.”
“No, but neither I am willing to risk my life and the lives or my people because they’re too stubborn to save their own skins. Tell them they’ll all die if they stay, and that they need to move out immediately. If they go now, we’ll stay and defend these trenches for ten minutes to give them a head start.”
She knew it was the best offer she was going to get, and she wasn’t keen to stay and die either.
“Time is running short, Lieutenant.”
She nodded in agreement and turned away to relay the message for her soldiers to convey along the border of the city.
“Ten minutes for them to get through town?”
“It’s ten minutes longer than I want to stay here, Jones.”
“True, but what about us? We’ll have a hell of a time getting through with all them ahead of us?”
“After their ten minutes is up, they’re on their own. I want us air lifted out of here.”
“Now we’re talking!” yelled Eddie.
“Find us somewhere they can pick us up and radio it in,” Taylor said to Jones.
Amar stepped back up to his side.
“Looks like most of them are excepting it and moving on.”
“Well they better. It ain’t much of a window to get clear. We’re getting airlifted out of here as soon as those ten minutes are up. I suggest you do the same.”
“No, we’ll fight a retreat back to Jerusalem to make sure the civilians make it.”
Taylor nodded in agreement. He knew it was going to cost them lives, but he was done arguing.