Nick Thomas - Battle Earth V

“Get down!”

The explosion rocked the barrels, but clearly they weighed a hell of a lot more than they looked. It sheltered them from the blast. Taylor looked across their line to see shrapnel had hit only one of their own people. He slammed in a new magazine and lifted up once more to continue firing. To his surprise there were no targets.

For a few moments, they all stood silently with their rifles at the ready. None of them could believe the attack was over.

“Have we done it?” asked Jones.

Taylor shrugged his shoulders in surprise. He jumped cautiously over the defences and immediately lifted his rifle to the ready. He walked slowly towards the mound of enemy dead, kicking the nearest to be certain it was dead. Smoke still arose from its armour where grenade fragments had burned through.

Mitch climbed up onto the enemy dead and stumbled through the doorway, having to duck under, due to the pile of bodies. He dropped out into the corridor the other side and looked in amazement to see it was empty.

“Clear!” he called.

Cheers rang out from inside the room as the platoon rushed to join him. He turned and looked to see that the corridor was awash with enemy dead and piled high at each of the doorways.

“We did it,” said Jones.

Taylor looked down to see that he was dangerously low on ammunition.

“Form up! The Colonel still needs our help!”

It was a few minutes before the Company was able to fight their way out of the rooms through the bloody mess. He knew they’d taken casualties, but he didn’t want to think about it right then.

“Let’s move out!”

He quickly got to a steady jogging pace but was sure to keep his shield at the ready, should he meet another enemy force. A few moments later, he caught sight of familiar faces up ahead, realising the rest of the Battalion had successfully fought their way across the hangar.

“Friendlies incoming!”

He rushed through the lines to see enemy and human dead scattered among each other. Several soldiers were gathered around one of the wounded, and Taylor rushed up to see that it was the Colonel. He pushed one of them aside and knelt down beside her. She was propped up against the armour of a fallen Mech. She looked stunned and weak, but still alive.

“You okay?”

“Just about.”

“Can you walk?”

She looked away, finally looking back and almost in tears.

“I’m not sure I want to find out.”

Taylor looked back to see the medics busily working with other wounded.

“You! Help the Colonel!”

“No!” she cried.

“Can you move your legs?” he asked.

“She looked down at them and tried. Very slowly, they shifted a little.”

“Jesus, you’re okay!”

To her surprise, Taylor grabbed her and hauled her up to her feet. It was against everything he had ever learnt about injuries, but he knew it was all or nothing in that moment. She wobbled a little but managed to stay upright.

“I’ve taken worse beatings.”

Taylor sighed in relief. He suddenly realised how stupid it was to have pulled her up after potential injuries, but he was glad she was okay. He looked around to see the bodies of over fifty Mechs and twenty of their own scattered along the deck. Several of their wounded had their helmets off, to his surprise.

“We can breathe down here?”

“For up to an hour or more, yes. The mixture isn’t quite what we’re used to and could cause us problems in prolonged periods,” she replied.

Taylor ripped off the fully enclosed helmet, which he’d always found claustrophobic, and took in a deep breath. The air was thick with the smell of burning metal and sweat, but it was still appreciated. Taylor was about to settle down on a nearby crate when a loud mechanical cranking sound echoed around the huge hangar. He leapt back up to his feet and held his rifle at the ready. The rest of them froze and looked around for the source.

They quickly realised a massive shutter was opening a hundred metres away from their position.

“What the hell is this?” asked Taylor.

“Take up positions!” Chandra ordered.

They settled into what cover they could find as the shutter came to a halt. The opening it left was fifteen metres high and a similar width. They half expected to see a horde of Mechs stomp out, but they had no such luck. To their horror, a huge robotic leg stepped out into the light, and the rest of a ten metre-tall Mech followed it.

“Oh, my God,” muttered Taylor.

The creature resembled an enlarged version of the Mechs they had so recently fought, but it was vast, and like a tank on legs. It moved slowly, in fitting with the mammoth size. It finally cleared the entrance and turned to face them. Artillery size cannons festooned its arms, and the armour looked thicker than any vehicle they’d encountered. It looked unfinished, partially built, but still operational to scare the life out of the most steadfast of them.

Oh, shit, thought Taylor.

The Colonel wasn’t willing to wait to learn anymore.

“Fire!”

A hundred rounds struck the monster, but they seemed to have little effect. Lights beamed from it as pulses rushed towards them. It raised one of its arms and fired from the four-metre long gun barrel running down its forearm. The blast landed ten metres from Taylor, yet tossed him aside as if he was nothing. He looked back to see five dead, including one of their medics. Chandra was crawling for cover.

Hundreds of rounds were pouring into the massive metallic beast, but it continued to rain down hell on them all. Taylor looked to see that many were running for cover and hunkering down from the ferocious onslaught.

“Christ! Mines, Mines! Do we have any?”

“We’ve still got a few mag charges!” Corporal Hall shouted.

The charges had been their way into the facility earlier that day, and it was the only thing Taylor could think of. He gestured for them to be passed to him. A box was slid across the surface to him, and he opened it to see just one of the devices.

“Fuck it!”

He turned to see four others, including Corporal Hall, had got the devices ready to follow after him. He knew it was suicidal, but they were being butchered.

Taylor leapt out from cover and was joined by the other four volunteers. The five of them darted forward to the next line of cover as quickly as they could. He hunkered down and turned back to them.

“We’re only gonna get one chance each at this, so make it count. Aim for the legs or head!”

They looked up to see that the monster didn’t really have a head. Like the Mechs themselves, it had a mirrored plate section where the head would normally be, and the shoulder line rose above it.

“It’s probably controlled by one of the bastards. That’s where he’ll be. Head or legs.”

“Could we throw these things?” asked Hall.

“No, it’s too risky. This is the only chance we’re gonna get. It’s all or nothing, you ready?”

He could see the fear in the Corporal’s eyes, and yet he was still willing to go forward. They could see there was little to no cover left between them and the massive Mech.

“Cover the ground as quickly as you can, get the device planted, and get out! Now go!”

They rushed out from the cover, and two of the soldiers erupted in a flash of light before they’d even got up a pace. Hall was at the front, Taylor at the rear of the three. They were spread several metres apart. The quick pace allowed them to cover the ground quickly, but pulses still exploded all around them. The man between him and Hall vanished into a fireball that Taylor had to rush through and hope for the best. The heat singed his hair, and he’d wished he had kept his helmet on.

Taylor saw Hall sprint for the legs and slap the device onto the creature as he rushed past. The creature swung down its arm to strike him, but he was already sprinting fast enough to steam past. This was Taylor’s opportunity. Hall running beneath it distracted the creature. He used the power of his suit to launch him into the air to the full height of the creature.