Battle Earth VIII (Book 8) (22 page)

This can’t be good.
But he had no choice to play along.

“Go on…”

“In ten of your Earth minutes, the weapon systems of this device will destroy key cities of you and your allies. I have seen fit to isolate the key weapon systems from this grid so that they cannot be shut down remotely.”

Taylor looked back to Herbert. The Sergeant looked horrified, and that was all the confirmation Taylor needed.

“What the hell do you want?”

Erdogan ignored the question and continued.

“I have been studying you, Colonel, for a long time now, and I know how to hurt you. In ten minutes, you may get to the other weapon systems and deactivate them. Or in those precious few minutes, you may get aboard the Nassau and save your friends. Jones, Parker, I know them all.”

Taylor was frozen and began to shake and sweat with nervousness and anger. He rolled it over in his head and tried to find a way out.

“Your choice, Colonel, your friends or your planet. You have ten minutes.”

As he said it, the hologram ended, and a timer started on the main screen in the room. He rushed over to the Sergeant who was frantically flicking through keys on a touch pad.

“What’s our situation?”

“Silos 12 through 26 have been isolated from the system through two control points. If we go now, we may just reach them in time, but there is nothing we can do from here. Some of the nukes can be stopped by counter measures on the ground, but many are beam weapons that cannot be stopped.”

He looked up to one of the monitors which displayed the Nassau and thought of his friends aboard.

“We have to go now, Colonel. That is what they would want. If we don’t go now, millions will die!”

Taylor calmed his breathing and thought about it for a moment and then responded. “No, I won’t do it. I won’t let this bastard make me choose.”

“What would you have us do?”

He froze for ten seconds, and Herbert grew more impatient.

“Do you still have control of the other silos?”

He looked down at the screens.

“Yeah, about half of them, why?”

He took a deep breath and answered. “Target silos 12 through 26, and destroy them immediately.”

Herbert looked at him in disbelief.

“You want to destroy the defence grid? Those were not our orders.”

“Not then, but things have changed somewhat, wouldn’t you say?”

Herbert was silent.

“What will happen if we fire silo on silo?”

“I believe it will trigger automatic response systems. The silos would destroy one another.”

“Then fire all but two.”

Herbert looked confused.

“Just do it!”

The Sergeant punched in the targets and then held his hand over the authorisation switch to open fire. Taylor couldn’t wait any longer and turned it himself. The two of them stepped back and watched as gun ports opened along the massive defence grid. Missiles flew across space and were soon met with beams smashing into parts of the station.

It was utter chaos and destruction; huge segments were blown apart and pulled into the Earth’s atmosphere.

“We’re in deep shit for this,” stated Herbert.

“Only if we live through it,” he replied.

Taylor looked at his watch. Three minutes had passed and their work on the defence grid was all but done.

“What now?” Herbert asked.

“With whatever we got left, target the power generators of the Nassau and take them out, along with any other nearby vessels.”

Herbert opened his mouth to question it, but Taylor only stared back. He obliged and punched in the codes, and a salvo of fire erupted from what was left of the defence grid.

“You know how many trillions of dollars of stuff you just destroyed?” asked Herbert.

“Me? You pushed all the buttons.”

Herbert looked a little pale.

“Our work here is done. Let’s go and save the Regiment.”

Herbert looked around as if to ask ‘with what army?’, but Taylor headed for the door anyway. He stopped on hearing gunfire, and out from another corridor in the intersection came Captain Grey. He was covered in blue blood and carrying a shield that had been carved in two, yet he still held it.

“Nice of you to finally join the party.”

Lieutenant Spears strode out with him. They were little more than thirty in total.

“This is everyone?” asked Taylor.

Grey nodded grimly, and he could see they had suffered greatly fighting their way there. He understood now why they had met comparatively little resistance; Grey had taken the hits for them.

“Did you deactivate the weapons? Did you get it done?” asked Grey.

“In a fashion,” muttered Herbert.

“It’s a long story. Right now we need off this heap. We need to get aboard the Nassau. Know a way of making that happen?”

“There’s a shuttle a little way back, nothing great but it should fly,” stated Spears.

“Then lead the way. We’re riding to the rescue of Jones, so buckle up because it’s gonna be a rough ride!”

They rushed at speed behind Spears who was covering ground quickly and moving with real purpose. They reached the shuttle and found it was of civilian nature; shiny and new, but without any weapons or armour to speak of.

“How the hell are we going make it through an enemy fleet in this?” asked Grey.

“You’ll see,” replied Taylor with a smirk.

They were airborne in less than two minutes, but as they got out into space, the faces of the troops were of shock. They looked out at the debris of countless ships, and parts of the station they had been aboard burning.

“What the hell did you do?” Grey asked.

“What I had to, trust me.”

Herbert was still shaking his head in astonishment.

“He put the lives of our Regiment before all others.”

“What do you mean?”

“We probably could have shut down those weapons in the time we had, but we never could have saved Jones and the others. Taylor took out the weapons and gave us a clear path to the Nassau.”

Grey shook his head in disbelief.

“What is it, Captain?” asked Taylor.

“This is gonna come back to bite us in the arse.”

“Yeah, well, pretty much everything seems to. Let’s just get our people out of there, and I’ll call it a victory.”

 
They were coming in for their final run to the Nassau, and Herbert still stared at Taylor. He knew what the glare was for. Erdogan. Taylor hadn’t told the others, and they both knew it was a big deal. Taylor told himself it was a problem for another day and did his best to believe it.

“We’re gonna have to head for one of the landing bays, no other way in!”

Taylor shrugged. “Whatever you gotta do, do it, Spears. It’s as good a place to put down as any!”

“Going in hot without any fire support or armour, Colonel?”

“Got a better idea, Captain Grey?”

They both knew he was making it up as he went along, but neither could see any other options. They were down to improvising and overcoming all that was presented to them.

“This isn’t going to be pretty,” Spears whispered quietly.

They took a sharp turn into one of the open landing bays. There was only emergency lighting on and it cast long shadows. They could see glimmers of movement below, but nobody fired. It was clear no one had yet identified them as friend or foe, but Mitch couldn’t bear being stuck in the metal coffin any longer.

“Put us down!”

Spears obliged, and they descended quickly to a bumpy ride and slid to a halt.

“Nice…” stated Grey.

“Hey, you want to fly next time, be my guest,” cracked Spears.

Herbert was first at the door and punched the release switch. His face was still covered in his own blood, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. He was eager and raring to go. He leapt out first and Taylor was close behind.

“What are we looking for?” asked Grey.

“Wherever all hell is breaking lose. That’s where we’ll find Jones.”

That wasn’t much to go on, but he got the idea. Taylor was still surprised nobody had started shooting at them. There was still a little movement further on down the bay, but the lighting was too low for them to be made out.

“We’re in luck.”

Grey shook his head. “You call us lucky, Colonel? I call us mugs.”

Taylor got going, hoping in desperation that some of his marines were still alive. Although he was with comrades there and then, the closest of all his friends were somewhere deep inside the vessel and in God knows what state.

“You think they’re still alive?”

“Of course, Jones, Jafar, Parker, Silva? They wouldn’t go down lightly."

They all wanted to believe it was true, but none of them were immortal, no matter how much the World called them such. The room narrowed to a corridor barely a few people wide, and as they approached, they heard footsteps from a merging corridor. Taylor stopped and rested easy while the others held their rifles ready to fire. A few German marines appeared at the corridor merging with theirs and heading the same direction.

“You! Stop there!”

They did as Taylor had ordered, to everyone’s surprise.

“Where are you heading, marine?”

The man looked uneasy, but looked at Taylor’s rank and clearly felt compelled to answer.

“We’re still fighting on F23L, Sir. They’re dug in, and we haven’t been able to shift them. We have been drafted in from the Bremen to assist.”

As he was about to finish, Taylor drew his pistol, put it to the man’s head, and grabbed him into an arm lock. The rest of his marines seemed too shocked to respond when Grey and several others jumped into view with rifles held ready to fire.

“I am Colonel Mitch Taylor of the Inter-Allied Regiment. This fight is over. It is over because I said it is. And any man or woman who decides to stand in my way will be killed, like all others who do so! Lay down your weapons and return to your ships!”

It was a gutsy approach, but he could only hope his fearful reputation might mean something. Not one of the marines had even raised a weapon to fight back. They had no will to fight. Taylor could see they were utterly demoralised by the war already and had no willpower to fight.

“Turn and walk away is all I ask!”

He holstered his pistol and let the marine go.

“Thank you,” the man replied, “We will not interfere.”

Taylor watched as they turned and left with weapons still in hand. It gave him hope that humanity might yet unite once again.

“How on Earth did you pull that off?” asked Grey.

“Some of us have it, Captain, and some of us don’t,” he replied smugly. “Come on, let’s move.”

They knew where to go now, and Taylor was rushing through the corridors and ramps without any concern for his own safety. Herbert was starting to wonder if anything mattered to him in life besides their Regiment.

“You know what he did back on that defence platform?” he asked Grey.

“I got some idea. Doesn’t sound smart to me, but what do I know? I wasn’t there, and I didn’t know the options he faced. Have faith in the Colonel. He’s seen us through this far.”

“It’s not faith in the Colonel I lack; it’s faith in our ability to handle what’s coming next.”

“What do you mean?”

“Erdogan.”

Grey’s face turned to stone at the name.

“You saw him?”

“A hologram, yes.”

“Then he’s here, and we’re in deep shit.”

Grey spoke nothing more of it, knowing they must focus on the task at hand, but he could not let the feeling go at the back of his mind that they were in for a world of hurt like they had never known before.

 
Erdogan?
Taylor thought.
How could we ever be so stupid to think he wouldn’t come for us? If Earth is really the paradise they seek, why would they not come?

Shadows appeared ahead of them, and it made Taylor tighten his grip on his rifle. He stopped for a moment and took aim, but the figures continued to run towards him. He could see no weapons. Then they came into view, and he could see it was two pairs of medics. They were carrying stretchers with wounded. He looked down and both casualties were German marines. It brought a little smirk to his face, as he knew who was the cause. But it soon dissipated when he thought of the casualties their own side must have suffered.

They passed on through corridor after corridor and descended many levels until they heard gunfire. They knew they were getting close. Taylor just prayed there were enough left to save.

“Stop right there!” a voice boomed.

He could see an officer at the head of a platoon.

Don’t make me do this.

His own battle-hardened troops were far better armoured than their opponents and quickly took up positions. Taylor sighed; he was wary of announcing his presence and not getting the response he wanted, but he thought it was worth a chance one last time.

“I am Colonel Taylor of the Inter-Allied Regiment, European Alliance. You are ordered to stand down!”

“Taylor? We’ve been fighting Taylor the last hour, so who the hell are you?”

The officer stepped forward to address him and looked down at his uniform with Jones’ name.

“What kind of trick are you playing here, Captain? Taylor is in there, and it’s our job to capture him, alive if possible.”

Taylor could see the man was a Captain of the Nassau’s Marine detachment. He was now looking with more interest at Taylor’s nametag.

“Captain…Jones. You are with them. You are under arrest. Lay down your weapons!”

“Listen to me!”

“There is nothing to listen to, Captain. You are under arrest!”

“Arrest? This is a war, you fucking idiot. You ain’t arresting AWOL idiots.”

“Take aim!” ordered the Marine Captain.

Without hesitation, Taylor ripped his pistol from its holster and fired three shots from muscle memory. The room went silent again, and all they could hear was the distant gunfire. The Captain fell forward into his arms, and he lowered him to the floor. A few shots were fired from the German side, and Taylor could do nothing but lift his shield and wait it out while his own side returned fire. Gunfire zipped back and forth for two minutes until all was silent once again, and he got to his feet.

 
“Why?” he asked himself. “Why fight back now? It’s over.”

The German marines had been cut down where they stood, but their presence had gained attention, and more troops were flooding towards them from another corridor. Taylor turned back to his own people.

“I never wanted to kill a human in these wars, but by God I will not let a single man stand before us and those we care for. Follow me!”

He rushed towards the sound of the incoming troops, and as they came into sight, he could see they were a mix of German marines and Mechs, but it did not slow down his pace. He drove his shield forward, and with Assegai in hand strode at the enemy without any fear at all.

Shots ricocheted from the shield, and he was in amongst the enemy within seconds. He was in his element now. He was fighting to save Jones and Parker, and all those he cared about, and nothing would stop him. He barged the first with his shoulder so hard, the man was thrown into the two at his back. Taylor ducked under the next rifle before him and drove his Assegai up through the man’s armour.

His shield drove up against a Mech, forcing it back against the sidewall of the corridor and thrusting three times into its torso. He stepped past it, and it dropped down dead behind him. Grey and the others were not far behind and cut their way through their attackers as if there was no resistance at all.

When Taylor finally reached the last soldier of the column, he drove his Assegai deep into the man’s stomach, and he collapsed onto the Colonel’s shoulder. It was only with this last death he finally realised what they had done. The man dropped from him and slumped down dead. He told himself it was necessary to defend those he loved, but it didn’t make him feel any easier.

“Come on, we aren’t far away now,” said Grey.

Taylor looked down as his hands. They were covered in red blood, human blood. He could smell the iron of the blood mixed with the salt of his own sweat. He’d tasted his own blood more often than he would like, and it never tasted good. He felt a hand at his back; someone was dragging him along. Herbert was at his side.

“We’re almost there now, Colonel.”

He started to walk under his own power and understood what he was saying.

Parker,
he thought. She was close now; he could feel it. They took a turn ahead to find they were at the back of a defensive wall of German marines.

“What should we do?” Grey asked.

The marines were still oblivious to their presence and clearly trying to deal with the hellish situation Jones had created for them.

“Kill them all,” he ordered.

Automatic gunfire opened up. The marines were cut down where they stood until the last few lay own their weapons to surrender and were given mercy. Taylor stepped forward to their position without any care for his life at all. He turned his comms onto the tannoy and yelled out for everyone to hear.

“This is Colonel Taylor of the Inter-Allied Regiment. This fight is over. Lay down your weapons, and no further harm will come to you.”

With that, he stepped over the barricade and towards the defenders. Many of them stood up in amazement at him striding towards them.

“Can’t be,” one of them muttered.

Then he found Parker. Her left arm was in a sling and her face bloody from shrapnel. Tears came to her eyes as she spotted him. He ignored all others and leapt over them, taking her in his arms.

“You’re alive. I can’t believe you’re alive,” she whispered in his ear.

“Made it, you dog.”

Taylor turned around, and there was Jones. He had glancing wounds on both arms, a bandage wrapped around his head, and blood trickling down one leg, but he was still on his feet.

“You’re gonna need a new set of BDUs,” he stated.

“I figured as much.”

He looked around at the dozens of dead and wounded around them, some their own and others enemy who had gotten into hand-to-hand. A mound of dead Mechs formed an improvised barricade on one flank.