Nick Thomas - Battle Earth V

“You really believe they are going for control of the ship?” Chandra asked.

“Outnumbered and facing superior firepower, wouldn’t you? They aren’t fighting to the death, they are fighting to protect the gateway!”

They came to an abrupt halt as half a dozen Mechs turned a bend up ahead and continued, not having noticed them. Taylor quickly took advantage of the situation and lifted his rifle, pouring fire into their backs. The broad corridor allowed six more of the platoon to join in. The creatures were riddled with bullets but still managed to turn and fire a few pulses. One rushed over Chandra’s head, the other skimmed the hip of one of the privates, causing him to squirm in pain as he collapsed to the ground.

Another volley of fire finished the creatures for good as Chandra knelt down to the wounded man. She took a quick look at his wound and grasped his shoulders, peering into his eyes.

“You’ll be fine! We cannot stay here or be slowed down. You keep your rifle at the ready, you hear?”

The Private was still stunned, but he nodded in agreement. Chandra hated leaving one of their own behind, but she knew there were bigger things at stake.

“Let’s move!”

She leapt forward and led the platoon right over the bodies of the Mechs. Wisps of smoke still rose from their thick armour where the Reitech rounds had drilled right through. As they passed along more corridors, they found the bodies of several of the ship’s crew and no sign of life.

Shit, we need to get a move on. Chandra thought to herself.

She upped the pace and within a few minutes, they could hear gunfire once again. It was a welcome sound, as it meant someone had stood their ground against the incoming enemy.

“How do you want to do this?” Taylor asked.

“No subtleties, we just keep going forward.”

They passed several corridors that they recognised and realised just how close they were to the bridge now. Taylor was thankful it had been placed at the core of the vessel. He was certain the carrier would have fallen to the enemy if it had not been. They took a turn up ahead and were met face-to-face with several creatures at the back of their column. Chandra and Taylor fired a quick few bursts and ducked back as pulses smashed into the wall where they had just stood.

“Guess we found them!”

“Best thing we can do from here is to keep up the heat,” replied Taylor. “The more trouble we cause, and the more of those bastards we can take down, the better chance we give Huber.”

Chandra dropped to one knee and edged around the corner, and Taylor stood over her. They fired two bursts each and quickly ducked back. They hoped they’d taken one of the creatures down but didn’t have enough time to confirm it. Just as they were about to repeat the process, they heard panicked shouts echo from the back of their platoon, followed by gunshots.

“Incoming!” they heard down the line.

“Stay here and keep firing!” shouted Chandra.

She jumped to her feet and rushed down the corridor to find four of the platoon firing down a side corridor from either side of its entrance. One of the women leapt back to reload, and Chandra ducked in beside her.

“How many?”

“I saw a dozen, but there must have been many more with them.”

“They’re going for the CIC, and we’re blocking their path,” she replied.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“We cannot retreat, and we’re fighting both ends. Whatever happens, do not let them pass!”

The Private nodded in horror. The Mechs were still advancing relentlessly, no matter how many they cut down. The Colonel got to her feet and retreated to her previous position where she found Jafar joining in the action.

“Something’s got to give,” stated Taylor.

“When you were out there, Mitch, how many breaches did you see?”

“Three for definite, maybe four.”

“Then we must have now encountered three of those assaults. We must hope Grey got to the other.”

“This was a grave underestimation of the enemy strength. Somebody made a big God damn mistake,” Taylor shouted.

“You got that right, but we’re giving harder than we’re getting. As long as we can stop the bastards getting into the CIC, we will still pull through on top.”

She pulled a grenade off her armour and placed her hand over the arming cap.

“You think we should be using those here?” asked Taylor.

“It’s far from ideal, but the alternative is far worse. I’ll take the chance.”

She twisted the cap and launched it rigorously down the corridor, ducking quickly back around next to Taylor.

“Fire in the hole!” she yelled.

They hunkered down and counted the two remaining seconds before an ear splitting explosion rang out down the corridor. The walls at their backs shuddered violently. If it weren’t for their enclosed suits, they’d already be deaf. For a moment, Chandra sat motionless in shock at how the enclosed corridor had intensified the grenades impact. She didn’t want to look around and see what damage she might have caused to the fleet’s prize vessel. Taylor laughed at her shocked face.

“Right on, Colonel!”

He stepped past her and peered down the corridor to see four Mechs lying dead from the blast. Several others were badly wounded or incapacitated. Chandra leaned in to see the result and breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Pass the word. Use the grenades.”

Taylor rushed off down the line and continued to relay her orders until he reached the other end of the platoon, where the troops were still firing frequent bursts in an attempt to stop the Mechs. He peered around to see that they had gained another ten metres on them. He pulled out a grenade, primed it, and tossed it down the corridor.

“Christ!” one of the soldiers shouted out, and they ducked back.

The explosion sent vibrations through the walls again, and Taylor just prayed that any collateral damage was worth the result. The enemy corridor went silent for a moment, but it was then filled by another grenade exploding further down and punctuated by a hail of Reitech rifle fire. Taylor looked back down the troops alongside him.

“Hold your fire, lads. That’s friendlies coming in.”

He peered around the corner to see the last of the creatures cut down by dozens of rounds. Several rushed past and hit the wall close to the Major. A few moments later, he could make out the silhouettes of Exoskeleton clad troops jogging down the passage towards him. Lieutenant Grey was at the forefront.

“That’s some damn good timing, Lieutenant!”

“Thank you, Sir. We’ve dealt with one of the other assaults already, but we believe there is still at least one in the wind.”

Taylor pointed down the corridor.

“At the other end of here, trying to fight their way to the CIC.”

“Shall we…”

“Damn right.”

Taylor stepped confidently down the corridor to the Colonel with Grey’s Company close behind. She turned and marvelled at the reinforcements and the realisation of where they had come from.

“Alright, lads. Let’s cut these bastards down!”

She lifted her rifle and stepped out in the corridor in plain view of the enemy. The broad corridor allowed many more of the troops to flood in and open fire in a brutal onslaught. They walked towards the enemy, cutting down all before them. In just thirty seconds, they had killed twenty of the beasts and were still advancing forward as most of them changed their magazines. A bend up ahead concealed the rest of the enemy force who were engaged in a brutal battle with the defenders at the entrance to the bridge.

“We need to watch the crossfire,” Taylor whispered.

“I know, got any grenades left?” replied Chandra.