Nick Thomas - Battle Earth IV

“St George slaying the Dragon,” whispered Chandra.

“What?” asked Taylor who was still in a daze.

“That’s what you have become, the people’s hero. That’s you.”

Taylor went silent. He was humbled by the towering figure of himself. Clapping rang out from the Company behind them and was soon joined by everyone in attendance. He turned to see the troops were alive with excitement, but he could not help feel that it did them an injustice.

“Why’ve they got to choose me? Any soldier who fought in this war has reason to be up there.”

Chandra laughed. “People need something positive to hang on to. It’s a David and Goliath story which is symbolic of our entire struggle.”

“I never wanted to be on no statue,” he snapped.

“It’s not about you, Mitch. People need hope, and you just happened to have become the poster boy. Let them have this, they need it.”

He turned and looked back at the imposing figure of himself towering over them all.

Is this what I am destined to be? A celebrity? He asked himself.

The day continued with the same surreal display of celebrations. Lights and music blared out, but Taylor could not help but look away into the desolate wasteland of the city. He felt overwhelmed by it all. It was too soon to be celebrating among the ruins that were the final resting place of so many fellow soldiers. Taylor’s ears suddenly twitched as he heard the ring of a communicator nearby. He turned to see Phillips pull out the device from his pocket.

“Excuse me, Gentlemen,” he said as he turned away and took a few paces to answer the call. Taylor watched intently as he could see the Commander’s face turn from the pleasant festivities to the calculating officer he had been throughout the conflict. He spoke for little over a minute before quickly pushing his way to the podium. Taylor tapped Chandra’s shoulders and pointed to the commotion.

“Guess that’ll be for us then,” she mused.

The Commander reached the centre podium and leaned in to mutter a few words to the President before stepping forward with a megaphone in one hand.

“Can I have your attention, please!” called Phillips.

The loudhailer spread for miles out across the open desolate ground.

“The Second Inter-Allied command staff are to report immediately to me at HQ. The rest of the Company is to gear up and assemble at landing zone alpha in thirty minutes. Transport is en route. Get moving!”

Sighs rang out among the ranks as they quickly broke formation and headed for the convoy of trucks trundling towards them.

“My sincerest apologies to President Moreau and everyone else who has made it here today. On behalf of the Company, I’d like to thank you all for your tremendous support, and the manner in which you have honoured the fine men and women of the Inter-Allied today. Thank you and good luck with your continuing efforts.”

The Commander turned and whispered a few words to the President, shook his hand, and leapt from the podium. Taylor and Chandra were awaiting him with Jones rapidly approaching. The Commander pointed for them to follow as he rushed past them.

“What’s going on, Sir?” insisted Chandra.

“I don’t have much yet. All I know is there is a situation which your team is being requested for.”

“Sounds ominous,” she replied.

“If it wasn’t, they’d not be calling for you.”

“Always we land in the shit,” muttered Taylor.

“You said it, Major. In the shit situations is where you have proven to excel, so get used to them.”

Taylor laughed at the notion.

Phillips quickly scanned the information as Taylor and Chandra stood calmly before him. He shook his head as he read further and finally looked up with a sigh.

“Time is not on our side here, so I’m going to be brief. Not like I have a wealth of information to pass on anyway. There is an ongoing incident here, in Dijon.”

He pointed to the city that they could see was around three hundred kilometres southeast of Paris. Yet more ground they were utterly unfamiliar with.

“Police who were returning to the area found one of their precincts occupied by remaining enemy forces. Along with members of the Gendarmerie, they have surrounded the complex and initiated a siege.”

“Then why do they need us?” asked Chandra.

“This is more than they can handle, Major. After the terror attacks fifty years ago, many such buildings were reinforced as protection from bombs and high explosive projectile launchers.”

“And I’m guessing they didn’t stay to defend these fortresses during the war?” snapped Taylor.

“That’s just the thing.”

“Ah, great,” whispered Chandra.

“When the mass hysteria set in, and the roads turned to shit, many key members of the local authorities took shelter in a bunker built beneath the city, along with anyone too frail to make it the distance. As far as we know, they’re still down there. We can’t bomb this building, as we simply have no idea what it’d be willing to withstand.”

The door to the HQ room burst open. They quickly turned to see Captain Jones in full combat attire with the two Majors’ equipment hanging from each arm.

“We’re ready to move,” he stated.

Chandra grasped her gear from Jones. The immense weight that included the exo suit hulked to the ground with a resounded crash. She turned back to Phillips as she began to gear up.

“Anything else? Enemy strength? Casualties?”

“Sorry. The emergency distress call was cut off in what is reminiscent of the jamming we saw during the war. Local forces say they have surrounded the facility but had sustained casualties and were unable to make progress.”

“Great, we’re going in almost blind,” she replied.

“You should be used to it by now,” said Taylor.

Chandra nodded as she gritted her teeth. It wasn’t a helpful comment, but it didn’t make it any less true. She turned to Jones and quickly snapped out her orders.

“Be ready for lift off the second we reach you.”

Charlie nodded and quickly rushed out of the room to make final preparations. She looked back to Taylor and could see that he was equally as unimpressed with their intelligence and going into yet another blind operation.

“Commander, we may punch above our weight, but what happens if we come across enemy resistance beyond the stragglers we have seen so far? With no intelligence and restrictions in our air support, we could be left to die.”

“I won’t let that happen, Major.” He paced a few steps but turned back.

“The truth is this country is a God damn mess. They’re too few troops and workers to get everything done. Now that the war’s over, few are interested, and many are stuck trying to rebuild their own countries. The only reason you and me are here is because the UK remained relatively untouched by the whole affair.”

“We’re not the only team like this, are we?” asked Taylor.

Chandra watched in astonishment as the Commander shook his head in response.

“No, but you are the most successful. Enemy resistance is being found all over in the lands which were the fighting grounds of this war.”

“That’s half the bloody world,” she said.

Phillips nodded.

“Taskforces have been set up all over to try and deal with them. There are two other units like you in France alone. Some have had it a lot worse.”

“How much worse?” Taylor asked.

“Enough to cause some of those units to be withdrawn from service and have to be replaced. The war may be over, but we are still burning through troops.”

Taylor moaned. “You’d think it was time the French Army took over the job in its own country,” he spat.

“That may well be so, but there are too few of them left as it is. This country needs our help just as much as ever. After all, what was the point in fighting, if we were just going to leave them to the wolves at the very end?”