Battle Earth VI (30 page)

"No, not at all. This ends here and now."

Demiran lay back in his throne aboard the stricken wreck of the K'til. He still could not believe he had fallen so far. He was slumped and lost. He wanted nothing more than to leave Earth for good and return home, but he knew with so little left, he would be torn apart by the other Lords. He suspected Erdogan would have already claimed his homeworld if news had gotten back to Tau Ceti of his plight. Six months since the destruction of the K'til, and he had made no progress. He had the look of a soldier who was utterly beaten.

A projection suddenly appeared before him. Used only by his close counsel, he sat up quickly when he realised who was addressing him. Taylor stood just five metres from his throne. The projection was near perfect with only minimal transparency. He had not seen the Colonel since his time in captivity, but he knew exactly who he was.

"I am Colonel Taylor of the 2nd Inter-Allied."

Demiran stood up, and his back straightened as he felt hatred invigorate him.

"Your time is coming to an end. Your fleet is destroyed, and your armies are surrounded. Your Planet Killer is finished."

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I want to kill you like the dog you are."

"And what makes you think you could?"

"Because I killed Karadag. With my own hands."

Demiran's eyes widened at the news. It was clear he did not know Taylor had been the one to do it.

"It was you who ended my kinsman's life and mission, and you who imprisoned me. You, who did this to the Gezgen K'til! You, who have turned one of my own against me. I am going to kill you before this is over!"

Taylor could see the alien’s blood boiling and smiled to only fuel it further.

"Come and try."

The creature screamed in fury as it grabbed a table beside his throne and launched it across the room in anger.

"I'll be waiting," added Taylor confidently and ending the transmission.

Jones breathed out an uneasy sigh, thinking about what Taylor had just done.

"You've baited a dangerous opponent."

"Do you want this war to go on another six months? We'll lose thousands, maybe tens of thousands of soldiers if this war goes on. What if it could be ended in just one bloody day?"

"I'm not sure that was your decision to make."

"Well, tough shit."

"This is Taylor to the 5th Brigade. Prepare for combat. We have incoming."

He could see that many around him appeared surprised. There was no sign of movement as yet, but they readied their weapons as ordered. A few minutes passed, as Taylor stood on the flat plain above the trenches, watching south. Eventually, his Mappad began to flash, and he lifted it to see enemy advances all across the front. Phillips had been walking the line when he rushed to Taylor's position.

"Looks like they're coming at us."

"Damn right, Sir. They're out for blood. This isn't going to be a meat grinder. This ends in one pitched battle."

"What? How do you know?"

Taylor smiled.

"You did this? You riled up Demiran like you do every leader, haven't you?"

"It wasn't difficult."

"God damn you, Taylor, this better work."

"Don't worry, it will."

"Christ," he uttered, rushing off to get to HQ.

Taylor knew he would be in deep trouble for what he had done, but nobody had time to do anything about it. The Mappad showed enemy advances over ten kilometres of the front.

"He's coming," stated Taylor.

"Yes, are you ready?" asked Jafar.

"Have to be. Demiran had you as a bodyguard, am I to assume there are others like you that will do the same?"

"Yes, always four, and always from my homeworld. They will not be so easily swayed to our cause as Tsengal and I were."

"No, those were exceptional circumstances. But it does mean we'll have to take them on also."

"Yes."

Taylor was expecting some kind of emotion, but he appeared to show none. He turned and glared at his friend until he provoked a response.

"I would hope they would join us, and I would never wish to kill my own. They were brothers to me once, just as you are now. But I will not hesitate to do what needs to be done."

It was all the confirmation Taylor needed. Though he still was uneasy about the thought of four bodyguards of Jafar's calibre surrounding Demiran. His Mappad flashed as fresh orders came through.

"Hold position."

They would do so for now, but no one was in charge of Taylor any longer. He knew what he must do for himself and all who had fought from the beginning. He stepped up to the front trench and Jones followed suit.

"You can't fight him alone," stated Jones.

"I don't intend to."

"You just issued a personal challenge."

"I did no such thing. All I did was piss him off enough to want to come and deal with me himself. If he assumes this is gonna be one-on-one, then he's a fool. Anyway, when have they ever played so honourably? No, he'll come with everything he can get. He must know his war is over. It's just a matter of time. Killing me is the only thing left he could achieve."

"Let's see it doesn't happen then. As reckless as you can be, I've grown rather fond of you, Mitch."

"Don't go all soft on my now, Charlie? Where's the fire in you?"

"It's coming, don't you worry."

They watched the enemy amassing in the distance. As far as the eye could see in either direction, they were coming.

"Could this really be it? The last battle to end it all?" asked Jones.

"It's about time. We've been fighting this long enough."

Taylor reached down to his comms unit and set it to a private channel to just their own battalion.

"This is Taylor. Somewhere amongst that army is Demiran. Lord Demiran who came to destroy the human race, the same bastard who escaped us and has been the cause of millions of deaths. He is coming for us because he knows who the 2nd Inter-Allied are. He knows our reputation, and he knows what we have done. What he doesn't know is what we are still capable of."

He went quiet for a moment and turned to see many were thinking hard about what he was saying.

"You have all sacrificed a lot in this war, and the war before it. But I ask you now to follow me. Let's end this today. We could fight on and sees tens of thousands die before the year is done, or you can follow me to victory today. I don't say it'll be easy. But if you do so with the same courage I have seen from the beginning, I can guarantee you, I will kill that son of a bitch and end this war!"

He hadn't said what or how he intended to do it, but it was clear to many. He looked around to see plentywere nodding in approval. Then he caught Eli Parker's gaze, and a single tear dropped down her face. They both knew it could cost them dearly to succeed in what he was intending, but she would not be the one to stop him.

"So I need to know. I can't do this alone, are you with me?"

Jones nodded in agreement, but he knew the Captain would follow him no matter what.

"Damn right," came the reply from Jackson.

"Yes, Sir, all the way," added Ota.

"As always, we trust you to see this through, we are with you," said Grey.

Thank God.
He knew he had to take the fight to Demiran with their support or not.

"There's always time to reconsider," said Jones.

"No, my mind is made up, Charlie. I won't have this battle descend into a month of bitter bloodshed."

He lifted his intercom.

"Then keep a keen eye for Demiran. He is the key to it all. Be ready for him."

It wasn't long before the massive enemy armies were reaching their own trench works and passing them. They were reaching noon, and the heat was becoming intoxicating. The enemy advance began to grow as they reached their frontline, and a dust cloud was forming at their backs like a storm bearing down on the allied defences.

Artillery began to roar behind them, and the armour dug in also joined the fight. They could see the enemy had little in the way of heavy armour. What had survived the crash of the K'til had largely been expended in the folly attempt to take Jerusalem. The sun glinted off the tens of thousands of Mech suits that they could see. They approached as a wall across the desert.

"Five hundred metres," said Jones.

"Prepare to fire in your own time," ordered Taylor.

"Four hundred metres."

"Steady."

"Three fifty!"

"Fire!

The opening volley was deafening as the enemy front was smashed. Every one of the Brigade took well-aimed shots, and the effect was devastating. And yet they still came.

"Two hundred metres!"

Taylor slammed in a new magazine and kept firing. He knew Demiran couldn't be far from the line they were firing on, as he would be actively seeking Mitch out. The second magazine emptied. Just a hundred and fifty metres out, Taylor caught a glimpse of something standing out in their lines; blackened armour, that of Demiran and his personal retinue. They quickly disappeared again as Mech infantry formed around them to keep moving forward.

"This is it," said Taylor. "Our opportunity is finally here."

"What are you doing, Mitch?" asked Jones hesitantly.

"2nd Inter-Allied. Lord Demiran lies ahead of us. This is our chance. This is our time to make him pay for everything he has done."

Taylor leapt out of the trench, turning his back to the enemy.

"I'm going to kill that bastard! Who's with me?" he shouted.

"Oh, hell," Jones muttered.

The Battalion arose almost like clockwork from the trenches, leaping out onto the open plain and rushing forward with their shields held before them to cover the advance.

Phillips couldn't miss the shocking sight from his position behind the lines with Harney. They were in an armoured command truck two kilometres back.

"What the hell is he doing?"

Harney rushed to the screen and shouted at an operator beside it.

"Zoom in there!"

"Demiran, it's him," replied Phillips.

Harney turned, looking at the Commander utterly puzzled.

"He thinks he can finish this. Crazy fool."

"Yes, but our crazy fool, and one who actually has some chance of doing it.”

He moved to order the rest of the Brigade forward, but it was too late, they had already followed the Colonel. Gallo was at the head of his battalion, only a few metres short of Taylor.

"Get the Fifth forward, immediate advance!" screamed Phillips.

Harney hesitated for a moment, for it seemed like suicide.

"Do it!"

"This is Colonel Harney, advance. Advance now!"

Taylor's Battalion was covering the ground at a rapid pace, and his shield had already brushed off two pulses when he got halfway. He pushed his rifle out to the side between his and Jafar’s shield to fire as they advanced. A wall of fire they were defenceless against hit the Mechs’ advance. But the first few shields were breaking under the weight of the enemy fire, and he knew they had to get past it quickly. He saw a dozen of their own fall around them and knew they'd have taken many more casualties covering the open ground.

Mitch activated his boosters and leapt ten metres off the ground, launching himself at the frontline of Mechs. He landed hard against the first one, one foot on the ground, and the other on the Mech's torso where he had smashed it to the ground. Before it could recover, he fired a burst into its head.

Jafar surged past him and barged into the next alien in his way. The nimble and strong alien ducked under one of the Mech's weapons and impeded an Assegai into the faceplate of another. Taylor looked back to their lines for just a second and could see thousands of troops rushing forwards to assist them. Many more were clambering out of the trenches to join in. He didn't know whether the order had been given of not, but it had gotten the effect he wanted.