Nick Thomas - Battle Earth VI

"Two ships on our ass."

"What can you do?" asked Taylor.

"Besides get blown to shit, not a lot. We have no weapons working, no counter measures, nothing."

Taylor shook his head.

"No God damn way. We didn't get off that thing to die now."

"I don't know what else we can do. They're gaining on us, and there ain't nobody else left to help us out."

Taylor dipped his head and thought about it for a moment. He turned and looked at Jones.

"Get the loading doors open!"

Jones didn't understand what he was saying but only hesitated for a second before rushing to the back of the craft. The larger double doors at the rear were almost as wide as the fuselage and allowed for the loading of large crates. He pushed the doors open to be met by a pulse rushing towards him. Rains banked at the last second, and it smashed into the doorway, sending hot debris burning into his armour, but saving his life.

"We've got a problem here!"

Taylor rushed to the entrance and lifted his rifle to give a quick burst. Several others joined in, but what little fire they managed to hit the enemy ship with seemed to have no effect. Their fire was returned with a pulse that flew right through the doors and hit the roof of the Stallion. Debris smashed over the platoon, but their armour saved them from the shrapnel.

Before Taylor could get up, another pulse rushed through the opening, striking three of the soldiers and killing them instantly. It ripped through the length of the Stallion until it reached the cockpit. The core of the pulse hit Perez in the back and pierced through his front plate. Shrapnel was thrown around the cockpit as it did.

"Fuck!" Eddie screamed.

He recovered to look over at Perez and could see his co-pilot was already dead. Taylor looked over the dead and felt more pissed off than ever.

"Grenades!"

He pulled the two he had left and twisted the fuses.

"You'll need a short timing, so wait three seconds before you throw!"

He turned back and threw the two out of the door. The tiny high explosive devices vanished from sight immediately and blew almost as quickly. One missed the two enemy ships entirely, and the other struck nearby, forcing the pilot to take evasive action. Jones could see it might work and did the same.

"Come on! Everything you have!"

The rest of the platoon threw out their grenades, and the sixth was a direct hit on the engines, making one of the enemy ships slow to beyond range. The grenades kept going until Blinker came to the door with the very last one.

"Make it count," said Taylor.

He lifted the grenade to his mask, pretended to kiss it, and tossed it out the door. The blast struck near the cockpit of the enemy fighter and blasted the mirrored glass open. The pilot veered off for a second before recovering.

"God damn it, fuck!" Blinker cried out.

Taylor could now seethe pilot who wore a thin Mech power suit. His helmet was cracked from the blast, and he was lining up for a final run which would see them all dead.

"Fuck this!"

Taylor leapt from the storage doors and activated his boosters. He surged towards the fighter. Jones and the others watched in amazement as he hit the prow of the fighter and slid around to the cockpit, grasping the rim of the damaged glass.

"You crazy son of a bitch," said Jones.

They watched as he jumped in through the open glass and held his rifle against the creature’s body, firing six shots on full auto. The creature slumped back dead. Taylor climbed off its corpse and leapt from the fighter. Rains lowered the power and banked to see the Gezgen K'til, as Taylor floated towards them. He used his boosters to clumsily return and bounce off the walls. Jones helped him stand steady and had just enough time to shake his head in amazement before the view from the cockpit lit up from a blast. They looked up to see a massive explosion tear through the K'til.

"Yes, you mother fuckers!" Blinker shouted.

He could not hold himself back and continued with the expletives as the others roared in excitement. Further eruptions ran along the edge of the K'til, and huge segments were blown off the vessel. For a full minute, they all stood watching, and then the most unthinkable happened. Lights pulsed over the hulking ship, and a noise began pulsating from it, like a massive power source increasing in strength. Their faces turned to stone.

"What the hell is that?" Taylor gasped.

He turned to Jafar to see the same icy fear in the creature’s face.

"No, how? How can they still do this? You said it would work!"

He grabbed Jafar by the armour on his chest and hauled him in close.

"How is this happening?"

Jafar did not respond or fight back. He had nothing more to say.

"Fuck!" Taylor turned back to look at the K'til. A huge centre section began to open, revealing a massive pulsating light that could only be the weapon and the source of the sound they were hearing.

"What can we do?" he asked.

"What more can we do? We just hit them with everything we had."

Taylor slumped down in one of the seats and dropped his head into his hands.

"It's all over. We gave it everything, and still we lose.”

No one had an answer. There was no way to soften the blow of realising that all they knew on Earth were going to be destroyed in less than three minutes. Just when all hope appeared lost, Rains' voice broke the silence.

"Look!"

Taylor did not get up. He couldn't imagine anything could improve the scenario. Instead, Jones rushed to the cockpit to receive the news.

"My, God, the Washington. She's got power!"

Taylor heard the words and shot up from his seat, rushing to join the two officers. He got to the cockpit to first witness the grizzly sight of Perez's body in the co-pilot’s seat, and his blood splattered across the controls in front of him. He quickly turned his attention away to what was before them. As Jones had said, the engines of the their flagship, the Washington, were firing up.

"Can we get a message to Huber?" asked Taylor.

"Negative, we haven't got comms, and I doubt they do either."

"What have they got?"

"Probably just what we can see, engines. They wouldn't have had time to get anything else going. It's a miracle they're even moving so quickly after the EMP."

The Washington began to edge forward and gained speed at a steady pace, but Taylor could see the silhouettes of objects, seeming to be dropping from her hull.

"What's that?"

Eddie squinted to look.

"Life pods. They don't have any power, but enough oxygen to keep the crew alive for a day or two."

"They're evacuating but still going forward? What is Huber doing?" asked Jones.

"The only thing he can. The Washington is the only weapon we have left."

"But you just said the weapons were…"

Jones stopped as he realised what Taylor was saying.

"Huber's gonna ram the K'til, and he's getting everyone off that he can."

Taylor nodded.

"God, almighty!"

They watched as dozens of pods dropped from the Washington and were left floating in space. The pulsating light and sound of the K'til's Planet Killing weapon was uncomfortably loud now and was forcing them to shout to hear each other. Jafar stepped up to join them and could barely squeeze into the cockpit to see.

"Admiral Huber, will he be safe?"

Taylor shook his head.

"A Captain goes down with his ship. Huber will be at the helm until the end."

"A brave man."

"Yes, and he may well have just saved humanity from extinction."

They watched the last few pods leave the Washington, and its speed increased as it rushed towards the K'til. The massive carrier was still tiny compared to the huge super weapon of a ship. Taylor looked at his watch, praying they had enough time.