Nick Thomas - Battle Earth V

They’re never going to give up, are they? Taylor whispered to himself.

The Washington’s guns opened fire as their fighters soared towards the enemy fleet. The aliens were closing the distance as quickly as they could, as they had in every previous engagement. Only thing this time, the human fleet did not have the firepower to stop them in their tracks. One of the destroyers to their starboard side burst open as a heavy pulse smashed through its bow and down the length of the hull.

Six of the enemy ships were destroyed as they advanced and many more damaged, but it was not enough. Huber could see the enemy was about to burst through their frontline and cut in between the fleet.

“Major, prepare your marines to repel borders.”

They all knew that a boarding action was now inevitable.

“Sir, we can’t hold against these numbers,” Taylor whispered in response.

“We don’t know that, Major. Now man your stations and defend this ship!”

A few seconds later, their communication links with the rest of the fleet blacked out once again, in what was becoming an annoyingly familiar situation for the Navy crews. The bridge was reduced to fixed video feeds on the hull of the ship only. Huber watched in horror as several of the frigates ahead of them were smashed by continuous enemy fire and reduced to derelict hulks, with no life on board. Taylor rushed to the door where Eli’s platoon was waiting for him.

“Pass the word. We’ve got incoming.”

“We’ve got a breach!”

Taylor heard the cry from the bridge, and it was shortly followed by Huber’s booming voice.

“Major!”

He rushed back inside.

“Floor five, sector E, breach.”

“Any idea on their strength?”

Huber looked to his crew.

“All I can say is it’s twice the size of the ship that breached us at the gateway, Sir.”

“Christ,” replied Huber.

“Sir, this is only going to get worse. We can’t hold like this. We risk losing the entire fleet.”

“You just deal with the breach, Major, and make sure all your units stay near to comms stations. This is only the beginning.”

“Jackson’s Company is nearest, have him informed immediately!”

Taylor rushed out of the door, without a word to Jafar and Parker. The platoon rushed after him, Parker at their head.

“Shouldn’t you be staying on the bridge?” she asked.

“Probably, but we need to make sure this attack is stopped quickly before it has time to spread. Jackson will be heading from the stern. We’ll head them off from the other side and make sure they cannot spread through the ship.”

They rushed to the nearest elevators and poured in. Taylor already knew the battle was lost. They couldn’t withstand such a brutal and overwhelming assault. Eli looked to his face and could already read it in his eyes.

“What are we still doing here?” she asked him.

“What do you mean?”

“You know we’re fucked. Does the Admiral want to kill us all?”

“We came here to make a stand with the largest fleet in human history. Think what it would do to morale if we ran at first sight of an enemy fleet. We can’t leave unless it is clear we can’t win.”

“So we’ll throw lives away to prove a point?”

“That’s about the sum of it,” he replied.

“At least there is a point to these deaths. Krycenaean lords will throw you to your deaths without reason,” said Jafar.

“And that is why we will win in the end, because we value our people,” Taylor said quietly.

Jafar’s reminder of how despicable the enemy was brought him a new sense of purpose. If he could not save Chandra, he would at least make their foes pay a wicked price. The elevator doors opened, and they rushed out at a fast jogging pace. They didn’t have time to carefully check every corner. If they didn’t stem the flow of the enemy advance, the ship would be infested.

Within a few minutes, they heard gunfire raging as the sounds of war echoed down the long broad corridors of the ship.

“We’re close now,” whispered Taylor.

A crossroads lay up ahead, but Taylor didn’t slow down. He could hear the fighting long off down the right turn and rushed to it, taking the bend. He stopped dead as he came face to face with a column of Mechs who were advancing briskly towards him. They were just fifteen metres ahead. Parker took the bend soon after him and stopped with a gasp.

Taylor leapt back and threw Parker out of the corridor and himself the other way as the first pulses flashed ahead. He slammed back against the entrance to the hallway and took a deep breath to calm him, for his heart had almost stopped. He drew a grenade and tossed it down the corridor, without peering around the corner.

The blast rang out a few seconds later, and he was quick to bring his rifle to bear against the stunned and wounded creatures, but many more pushed forward. Parker joined him, firing from the other side of the archway. They both ducked back as a hail of pulses rushed towards them.

“Damn good timing!” Taylor grinned.

They both knew that if they’d been just a minute later, they’d likely not have contained the spread of the Mechs.

“Think this is the only breach?” Parker called out.

“I doubt it!”

The vast chasm of human incubators was eerily silent as they awaited the incoming hordes. The few hundred survivors had long accepted they were going to die. As they sat waiting for their time to come, all most could think was of their bitter hatred of the enemy.

Chandra sat with her back against one of the consoles, looking out to the defensive line of troops formed up at the outer circle. The wall they defended was just a metre high, and enough to provide a little cover at least. Major Warren sat next to her with his rifle propped beside him.

“You really think he’ll reach Taylor?” asked Warren.

“I can’t say I was fond of Taylor bringing those two into our ranks, but they have proven themselves more than capable of the task. I’d put my life in their hands. If anyone can do it, it’ll be him.”

“Humanity has held together throughout this and that has kept us strong. If they can eat away at us from the inside with these things, it could be the end for us all.”

“Then pray Tsengal makes it through.”

A droning sound rang out of the continuous clatter of footsteps. She stood up to look out over their lines and could see columns of Mechs advancing towards them for as far as she could see. They would be in range within a minute. She looked down to see all the troops looking to her for a last few words before the end.

“Less than three thousand of us held this planet against a number many times that. They may finish us here, but not without paying a heavier price than us. We have single-handedly halted the advance of their troops. They’re going for Earth again. I have no doubt about that. What have we done here? We’ve given them a reason to fear us. The human race will not lie down and die. We’ll fight to the bitter end, and kill ten for every one of us that falls!”

She paced along the lines and could see little hope among the troops.

“When this war began, the enemy were a frightful sight to us all, but now we stand as Gods against them. Superior soldiers — superior people in every way. If this is our end, then I am proud to say I stand beside the best that ever was. Our deaths will not be in vain. We’ve bought valuable time for our people back home, and made these bastards pay dearly. Now let’s make them bleed a little more!”

A cheer rang out as she rushed up to the line and lifted her rifle, firing a well-aimed burst at the first Mech her sights found. It dropped dead and was trampled underfoot by the next rank.

“Come on, you bastards!” she shouted.