Nick S. Thomas
Battle Earth IX
Prologue
The outbreak of war on Earth between human adversaries shocked the foundations of the alliance of nations that had fought so desperately to keep Earth free and the human race alive.
Mechs now serve openly beside humans in the UEN armies, and the use of clones is a poorly guarded secret that came to light too late to make a difference. When the forces of the UEN took control of the Earth Defence Grid, with the intention of turning it on Earth cities, it became clear that peace was no longer an option.
Taylor was the man for the job, to save Earth from the devastation of its own weapons, but he had a choice - save his friends or save the planet. Unable to let his friends die, he compromised and destroyed Earth's defences in the process of making them all safe. Taylor only ever had the best intentions, but has his unwavering loyalty to his friends put Earth in the greatest danger it has ever faced?
Chapter 1
Taylor's eyes opened slowly, but he couldn't see much at all. His sight was blurred, and his head was pounding. He could just about hear an occasional drone that sounded like metal on metal. He could taste his own blood, which was never a good sign, and the air was stale. A face appeared before him, and even though he could not see clearly, the outline was enough to tell him it was Eli.
For a moment, he had no recollection of where they were or why, but as he looked around and saw the body of the ship's XO strewn across the bridge, it began to come back to him. Parker had still not said a word as she looked at him in amazement. She finally turned to someone else beside her.
"He's awake!"
A huge figure stepped up and loomed over her. It was Jafar. He reached down and hauled Taylor to his feet, without checking to see if he was injured. His back clicked and his joints crunched as he was hauled upright, but he had no choice other than stand on his own two feet. He shook his head at the lack of finesse, and it too clicked as it loosened up.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like shit, Parker."
"Can nothing really kill you?" Herbert asked him.
Taylor looked over at the Sergeant. He had a bandage wrapped around his head and covering his left eye, yet seemed unbothered by his injuries.
"I wouldn't be so sure."
His sight was coming back as was his hearing, and yet the pounding of metal on metal had not stopped. Every impact felt like a hammer to his aching head.
"What in hell is that god awful pounding?" he asked.
Parker's face turned from the relief and hope from when he had awoken to despair and fear.
"What is it?"
He looked to Jafar for answers, knowing the alien would give him a straight response.
"The remained Mechs aboard are sweeping the ship and eliminating all humans."
"All? The crew as well?"
"As far as we can tell, yeah."
"So the wolves are at our door?"
"That about sums it up, Sir," Herbert replied.
"Any word from Jones?"
"He survived the crash but no idea now. Last contact, he was going radio silent with hostiles nearby."
Taylor looked around to see what assets they had at their disposal. A dozen of them were still on their feet. Several others lay dead, and three were conscious but unable to walk. The survivors of the bridge crew were huddled in one corner and under guard by one of his own. As he tried to think, the banging on the door interfered with his every thought.
"What do we do?" asked Parker.
"Make that goddamn noise stop!" he yelled.
"You want to open the door? We have no idea how many are out there. They've been hitting it with everything they’ve got for the last ten minutes, to no avail. We're safe in here."
"On a sinking ship?"
The thought hadn't crossed her mind. The wave of Mechs beating at the door had been the focus of their attention. Taylor strode over to the prisoners. They looked just as terrified as Parker did when he first awoke.
"Those aliens want to rip everyone of us apart, you can see that, right?"
They nodded cautiously.
"This war is human versus alien, always has been. You can either stand with us and fight your way out of here, or die at their hands. When we get clear, you can stay with us, or hand yourselves in as POWs, but right now you have a choice. What'll it be?"
"We'll fight," said one of them, without hesitation.
"Release them, and get whatever weapons and ammo you can."
His own people looked uneasy with the situation, but they dared not oppose him.
"We're gonna get ourselves out of this heap, if we have to rip it apart with our bare hands."
* * *
"Run!" Jones shouted.
Gunfire struck the ceiling above him, and a panel smashed down over his head, but he kept moving.
"Where the hell are we going, Captain?" Herrera called out, breathlessly.
"I got no idea, away from them!"
They passed a few Navy crew, who did not even notice who they were, but as they reached an intersection ahead, Jones was brought to an abrupt halt when he almost fell over a line of German Marines. They raised their weapons at each other, but neither fired - it was a standoff. No one said a word as they tried to work out what to do. They heard gunfire off to their flank, Jones and Herrera turned ever so slightly to look. Twenty metres down, Mechs were stomping on past at another intersection, and bodies were dropping around them.
"You see that?" Jones asked the man at the front, "They're killing every human they find. It's us against them now."
The German didn't respond. Jones could see he was a Sergeant called Lang, but he looked newly promoted and was young for the rank. Charlie doubted the man had ever seen combat until that day. He lowered his own rifle, revealing Taylor's nametag. It immediately caught the man's eye. It was a lie to continue on in the persona of the Colonel, but he wasn't going to forgo any advantage he had.
"I don't want to fight you, Sergeant. That’s the enemy, right there. They are the ones tearing your friends apart. Come with me, and let's get out of here together."
The Sergeant looked back to his men. None of them looked keen on a fight. He slowly turned back and accepted.
"Okay, we will fight beside you."
"All right, where are we right now, and how do we get to the bridge?"
It's a few decks above us, but why would you want to go there? We need to get off this ship."
"I have a few friends to find first. We stick together, and we double our odds of survival, what'll it be?"
The Sergeant accepted once again.
"Lead the way," Jones ordered.
The dozen marines Lang had with him stuck close at his back, as the Sergeant formed up beside Jones. As they began to move, he swamped Jones with questions.
"Is this another invasion? Is this happening all over again? Did we do this? Did we choose the wrong side?"
Jones didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but he had no answers the Sergeant would want to hear.
"Just focus on what's before us. Whatever happened two minutes ago, two months ago, two years ago, it doesn't matter now. You can see the threat that lies before you. You put in your all, and that's all that matters."
Lang sighed and smiled a little, at least feeling a little relieved he was not being held to blame. Up ahead, five bodies of crewmembers were scattered across the deck. Lang slowed on reaching them, staring wide-eyed at the corpses.
"Nothing you can do for them now," Jones said quietly.
He grabbed the man's arm and dragged him onwards.
"The bridge, Sergeant, lead the way."