Authors: Nick S. Thomas
"Where will they breach?" asked Taylor.
"At the main hull door if they can."
"Right then, masks on for everyone. Once they get aboard, we give them hell. I'll give you the green light when to fire, Captain. When that is done, we need to get that other ship off us fast and make tracks. Parker, have charges ready to blow the breaching clamps. I don't want them hanging on any longer than we need them to."
"You got it, Sir."
She rushed off about her business.
"You all know what you have to do. Do not give the enemy any indication of our intentions. Don't even let anything slip over the comms, nothing until the firing starts. Let's go!"
He rushed to the starboard side and grabbed a shield from the racks where they were stored ready for such occasions. They were cumbersome and bulky things to lug around, but well worth it when the fighting started. He took a knee behind his shield and waited for the inevitable enemy breach. Parker positioned behind him with a crate full of magnetic explosives.
For a full minute nothing happened, and they all waited in silence, listening for the enemy presence. Finally, they heard the quiet and subtle clamps attach onto the Deveron. Had they not been ready for it, Taylor doubted anyone would have noticed until the doors were blown. They were coming through the main hull doors just as Jafar had said. Taylor looked over to the turncoat alien and nodded in appreciation for his knowledge and efforts.
Controlled charges blasted all around the door, sending it crashing into the bulkhead the other side of the room. It would have been ear splitting, were it not for the helmets they all wore. A fine cloud of dust swept out around them from the blast, and through it they could hear the footsteps of the Mechs rushing for the opening. Taylor held the comms unit on his sleeve close and whispered.
"Ryan, now."
Power surged in the ship as energy was sent immediately to the gun ports, and the ship rocked slightly with the initial salvo of everything they had.
"Fire!" yelled Taylor.
Twenty marines had a field of fire on the doorway. Nothing was getting through unscathed. The first four Mechs were killed instantly by multiple bursts of fire from the Reitech rifles. As they continued to fire, a big metal looking ball was launched in from the doorway and rolled into the middle of the room.
"Down!" cried Taylor.
He looked away and crouched down behind his shield just in time. The device erupted with a blinding burst of light and a blast that sent him off his feet. The shield was ripped from his grip as he was thrown against Parker. He staggered to get to his feet. Despite avoiding the worst of the blast and light, he was still stunned by the amount he had been subjected to.
Taylor sat up and could see several other marines lying unconscious or badly disorientated. He looked around, and a Mech stomped through the dust cloud. It lifted its rifle to fire at him. In a desperate attempt, Mitch reached for the shield and pulled it in front of him. Three pulses smashed into it. The last of which tore a hole through the centre, burning into the armour on his arm.
He let out a cry in pain as the pulse fragments burnt into his flesh, and what remained of the shield dropped to the deck. There was nothing left to save him. He was still too stunned to quickly get back to his feet. He hoped for a miracle, and it came. Jafar leapt onto the Mech, ripping the faceplate from its armour and clubbing its exposed head with the stock of his rifle until the skull fractured.
Jafar reached down and grabbed Taylor by the rim of his chest plate armour, hauling him to his feet as if he were a rag doll. Taylor just about managed to hold his body weight and grabbed the nearest rifle that had been blown across the room. Pulses and gunfire zipped from one side of the entrance hall to the ship to the other. He quickly recognised the shape of a Mech and began firing, despite his vision still being a little blurred.
Samson rushed in from the forward corridor with fresh troops and joined the fight. It was perfect timing, as the enemy was starting to make progress at getting into the ship. Six of Taylor's marines lay dead and several others wounded. Samson advanced with his unit with their shields held forward, laying down a wall of fire. More of Taylor's unit were regaining their composure and joining the fray. The Mechs visible in the entrance were smashed back and retreating into their ship. Taylor turned around to see if Eli was ready with the charges. She was getting to her feet with the crate in hand.
"Push them back! Parker, get your ass here!"
The marines advanced forward with Taylor and Jafar at the centre. They put down a wall of fire as their covered the ground until they reached the breach.
"Give 'em everything. I don't want them returning fire when we break!" Taylor ordered.
An extending corridor from the enemy ship connected the two ships, ten metres long and three Mechs wide. Parker took out the first few larger charges and punched in the timers before tossing them the length of the corridor. The last few smaller ones she placed at the nearest point.
"That's it! Everyone back!"
They rushed back as she lifted the trigger and pressed down with her thumb. The shaped charges produced a small controlled blast that cut the boarding corridor in two. The ships drifted apart. Just five seconds later, a blast erupted in the enemy ship, and it was torn apart. Taylor and Eli watched from the open breach in the Deveron.
"Jesus, how short did you set those timers?"
"Twenty seconds," she replied with a smile.
Taylor laughed.
"Hey, you said to be sure they wouldn't shoot back."
He slapped her on the shoulder.
"Nice work."
He lifted his comms unit.
"Ryan, get us the hell out of here!"
Before he'd finished the sentence, the engines were roaring at full power. Samson stepped up to the breach and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Close call," he whispered.
"As always. Get these wounded to medical. Parker, get engineering crews down here to patch it up."
He looked around to the wounded one last time.
This mission has cost us dearly just to confirm what we already suspected,
he thought.
"Jafar, Your information was correct, but I wish to God it hadn't been. Walk with me."
They carried on back towards the bridge. As Taylor threw his rifle over his shoulder, he was reminded of the pain in his arm. The thick Reiter designed armour only covered their torso. The rest of their armour was the same old stuff they had worn from the start and was only effective against minimal blast damage.
"That device they used cost us dearly. We must find a way to minimise its effects, but I fear we have much greater issues upon us."
"Demiran bringing the Gezgen K'til here can mean only thing."
Taylor was listening intently.
"That he has a bitter hatred running so deep for humanity that he would go to any length to end it."
"Why?"
Jafar shrugged his shoulders.
"I cannot think of any offence caused which would do as such. We have killed many of his soldiers, but that alone would not be enough. Either he is sick of the stubbornness of your race who refuse to quit, or he suffered more personally in the last battle in a way we do not know."
"When though?"
"We left Tau Ceti with Colonel Chandra still fighting. I don't know what could have happened or how, but something happened to Demiran then which has changed this war for him altogether."
Taylor sat gazing out of the window at the flagship Washington they were approaching. Rains was at the helm. It almost felt like the Lieutenant had become Taylor's personal pilot since it had all begun. The trail of vessels from the Moon had stopped now. He could only imagine the evacuation was complete. They had fled to Earth for safety, but he wondered how safe they really were.
"You ever seen such a grand fleet?" asked Eddie.
It was indeed something to marvel at. The combined human fleet was over three times the size of what set out for the fated Tau Ceti expedition. The Earth Defence Grid was equally as impressive; a chain of gun satellites and missile silos floating in orbit. Earth had become a fortress, and rightly so.
"Bloody fantastic," replied Taylor sarcastically.
"Hey, you don't want a chance to give those alien bastards what for?"
Eddie turned back to look at Jafar sitting beside the Colonel.
"No offence," he added with a smile.
Jafar didn't respond to either comment. It was as if he didn't see himself as anything but human anymore. Within thirty minutes, the two of them were sitting in the officers’ briefing room aboard the Washington. Key Naval and Marine officers sat around the vast conference table. Many empty places were filled with projection devices so that those on Earth could partake remotely.
Taylor laid out everything they had experienced and all the information they had learned from Jafar. He simply nodded in agreement with each statement. Admiral Huber was orchestrating the meeting and was the first to speak.
"This Planet Killer must obviously be stopped. That is not an option. We therefore have no choice but to engage the enemy in space. We cannot fight them on the land as before."
There were grumbles in agreement. Nobody could see an alternative.
"What strikes me here is that we still have a great many things to learn from you, Sergeant... Jafar. You would be far better stationed on the Washington, or even sent back to Earth to assist with our intelligence gathering and understanding of the enemy."
Jafar shook his head.
"We could order you to do as such."
"And I would refuse. My brother and I allied ourselves to Colonel Taylor and gave our word to protect him. I cannot perform that duty anywhere else."
"You're in the Marine Corps now," spat Vega.
"Yes, with a responsibility to my fellow marines. I will not leave Inter-Allied or cease to serve the Colonel through any means but my death."
Vega opened his mouth to continue, but Huber stopped him.
"Captain, it seems to me that these are exceptional circumstances. The Sergeant has proven invaluable to us in the field and continues to provide vital intelligence from his current position. As a member of the fleet, he can carry out all that is required of him. Jafar has taken a leap of faith for us. Let us do the same for him."
"Thank you, Admiral," replied Taylor.
"Is that what you desire?" asked Huber.
"Yes. I am a warrior. All I know is how to fight, and that is what I will do."
"Okay, then tell us what we can expect from the fleet which is bearing down on us."
Everyone in the room had their attention on Jafar. Many had never seen an alien with their own eyes before, and yet now they were fixated on one.
"To Lord Demiran, the Gezgen K'til is everything. It is the unique feature of his family and their reputation. It is his symbol of power and control among the other Lords. It would also be impossible to replace. The Gezgen K'til will not be an easy target to strike. It will be preceded by a wave of far smaller ships. Skirmishers if you like. But these ships, they are a power unto themselves. If you want a shot at the Gezgen K'til, you must destroy them quickly, before the Planet Killer reaches Earth. If you do not, you will never withstand the onslaught of their combined power."
"How many ships are we talking about?"
"I grew up on stories of the Gezgen K'til. I have never seen it being used. From my knowledge, I would expect ten to twelve cruisers, of which I have encountered. They are collectively known as The Purge, and will carve their way through everything in their path to make way for the Gezgen K'til."
"Then we should make an impassable wall with our fleet," stated Vega.
"No, you will not stop them. Not like that. They will smash through anything. You cannot use a barrier defence. You need a tiered defence. Allow them through a weak frontline and funnel them into a gauntlet of mines and warships."
"We are familiar with the strategy," replied Huber. "One that has been employed many time in our history."