Nick Thomas - Battle Earth V

The rest of the troops opened up with a devastating volley that decimated two full ranks of the enemy soldiers. Blue blood spewed out of the metal floor and the incubation chambers beside them. Glass shattered as shrapnel ripped into the rows, and human blood seeped out from the chambers. The Mechs opened fire, and pulses smashed into their small defences and past them. Several of the humans were struck with their opening volley.

Chandra could not tell the three Battalions apart any longer, for the survivors fought side by side as one. She took careful aim with every shot and used just two or three shots per target. It was the minimum needed to bring down the heavily armoured enemy.

“Ammunition isn’t going well!” Warren called.

It doesn’t matter anymore, whispered Chandra.

She didn’t mean for anyone else to hear her muttering, but Warren did and had to smile. He had accepted death was now the only path and could only laugh so as not to cry. The volleys from the troops ripped the incoming Mechs apart so that there was an almost continuous stream of bodies from where they had first come into range.

Chandra ducked down behind cover to change her magazine and could see more than fifty of their own were dead or dying. Several more who were wounded continued to fight on. She looked down to see she had just two magazines left. Chandra slammed in one of them and jumped up to continue firing.

Despite the number of Mechs that continued to fall, they were still gaining ground. Within just a minute, her magazine was empty. She looked around to see that many others were running dry. She fired off her last magazine quickly and threw her rifle down. She drew out her Assegai, and several others could already see what was coming and followed suit. She leapt onto the small wall they had defended and thrust it into the air.

“Come on!” she screamed.

She turned and jumped to the ground beyond and was immediately at a running pace. Their shields were long gone, but the rest of the troops were hot on her heels. Several fired the last of the ammunition as they charged before drawing the last weapons they had. Pulses cut thirty of the humans down as they closed the distance, but Chandra made it at the front by nothing more than luck.

The Colonel leapt a metre into the air as she reached the enemy frontline and on top of the first Mech. She thrust the Assegai like a lance into the faceplate of the creature, killing it instantly. It smashed down to the ground with her still on top of it. Warren and the others were into action well before the creatures could respond to the Colonel.

In less than a minute, the area turned into a mass melee where every man fought for himself. Humans and aliens were scattered, and all fought savagely. Chandra ducked under the clumsy swing of one Mech, thrusting up into the next she encountered. Even with nothing more than hand weapons, they were still giving more than they got. But their numbers were too few.

As Chandra spun out of the way from one of the enemy’s attack, she saw Warren shot point blank range with one of the pulse cannons. At the short range, the shot burst through his breastplate and killed him instantly. She was sad to see him fall. He had become a great friend. It only boiled her blood further, and she turned and screamed out as she jumped onto one of the Mechs, stabbing through its armour with three relentless thrusts.

Pulses continued to rip through their positions. Many of the oncoming Mechs fired into the melee, killing as many of their own as they did the humans. The bodies of both sides were amassing to the extent that Chandra now stood on a layer of bodies. She could no longer see or touch the floor. Soldiers from both sides dropped all around her. She thrust frantically at the nearest creature. As it dropped, all seemed to go silent.

She turned to the direction where the enemy had come from. The Mechs had come to a complete halt and were dividing to let someone through. She looked around in surprise as she stood in the line of fire of a hundred guns, and yet none fired. Only twenty-two of the humans still stood with her. Klimenko was close at her side. His helmet was smashed open, and his face covered in a mix of both his own and enemy blood.

Chandra pulled off her helmet. She could no longer bare the closeness of it. She stood upright and awaited what was pushing through the Mech lines.

“What is this?” asked Klimenko.

The all stayed frozen in place until the last line of Mechs divided and through the parting lines came the one alien she could recognise — Demiran. He wore a lavish version of the armour Tsengal had. It was adorned in alien text and gold. He looked just as Taylor had described Karadag.

Demiran walked with an eloquence and grace that the Mech armies never displayed. A black cloak hung from his shoulders, and a lavishly decorated pistol was held onto his thigh armour. He wore no helmet and bore a huge bladed weapon that was three metres long, resembling a glaive. The last metre of it was a broad curved blade, and the other end a solid metal ball with spikes protruding from it.

“Colonel Chandra,” he stated.

“Demiran, you bastard!”

“Lord Demiran,” he replied.

“I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

The creature smiled wickedly as he lifted up the vast hafted weapon, inviting her forward and taunting her. Her anger overcame her, and she rushed towards the enemy leader at a sprinting pace. Klimenko and the other survivors remained still, watching in astonishment. As she approached, she used the power of her suit to launch her into the air, heading right for him, but to her surprise he was not clumsy and slow like the Mechs she had so recently despatched.

The alien Lord stepped aside and smashed the tail end of his glaive into her. It smashed her off course, and she tumbled down to the floor. She landed hard and rolled over several times until crashing into the legs of a Mech. It kicked her backwards, causing her to roll over again. Her body armour was all that had saved her from being crushed.

Despite her tumble, she nimbly got to her feet and held her weapon at the ready. She had underestimated Demiran, and she would not do so again. She circled around him with her Assegai held out in front. The alien had a grin on his face, and his teeth glinted between his wicked smirk. Demiran was enjoying it, and she wanted nothing more than to spoil his fun.

She rushed forward again, avoiding a thrust from the glaive, but was hit by a kick that pushed her back. Demiran rushed at her, swinging a mighty vertical strike that would have crushed her in one blow. Chandra leapt aside, and the blade smashed into the metal floor, cutting several centimetres into the thick surface.

As Chandra spun out to avoid the strike, she swung out with the Assegai, and the very tip of the weapon slashed Demiran’s cheek. The burning hot blade scorched his flesh, and he stumbled with a scream. He regained his composure and came on guard once more to see the defiant Colonel was waiting for him. The smile was gone from his face. She was satisfied now.

Demiran charged at her in a frenzy, swinging the blade in a huge horizontal arc. She avoided the strike, but he used the weight of the blade to pendulum the weapon around his head and struck as hard a second time. She quickly lifted her weapon in time to meet his blade, but the mass and speed drove through it, cutting deeply into her armour and knocking her off her feet.

Chandra stumbled to get back up. Blood seeped through a gouge in her armour. It was clear to all that she was badly hurt. She lifted up her weapon to taunt the creature one last time.

“Taylor’s going to kill you, just as he killed Karadag like the dog he was. You’ll end this war steeped in the blood of your own people!”