“Why don’t we just blow this place from here?” asked Harris.
Taylor thought about it for a moment. He wanted nothing more than to put an end to it there and then and be on his way, but he thought back to what they had seen on their route in. Taking out a single silo could not destroy the vast complex. It would be isolated from the grid and do little to help.
“No, we stick to the plan.”
He felt more than a little vulnerable and naked without his rifle in hand. They were going deeper and deeper into enemy territory with just a handful of fighters. He was anxious now, scared even. He tried hard to keep his breathing in check and put one foot in front of the other. It was when he thought of Parker and Jones and all his others comrades aboard the Nassau that his willpower really kicked in.
The platoon took a bend and found a line of guns trained on them. They froze for a moment, but no shots were fired. Taylor pointed to the warning signs that were all around.
“A single shot could blow us all to hell!”
Thirty Italian soldiers stood in front of them ready to open fire, but they turned their attention to what Taylor was pointing to.
“He’s bluffing!” one of them said.
“Look around you!” he shouted back.
He could see the panic start to kick in, but they soon lowered their rifles and drew out Assegais.
“Step aside or you’ll all die here,” said Taylor.
He had no desire to fight them, but neither could he afford to have them stand in his way. No response came, so he strode forward with his shield at the ready. He knew they would make light work of the soldiers who were without shields or the experience of his own troops. Nevertheless, they stood their ground, and when their officer commanded, charged forward.
Taylor ducked under and launched the first soldier over his shield and back into his own ranks. He parried off an Assegai coming at him with his own and kicked the soldier back before driving his own into the flank of another. He did not stop to engage a single one of the troops but worked his way through, allowing the rest of his comrades to get stuck in.
By the time he reached the back rank, two of the troops threw down their weapons and ran.
“Let them go,” said Taylor.
He knew they were terrified enough not to cause any further trouble. He looked back to see the carnage they had created. The floor was thick with human blood and bodies. He did not feel the triumph and pleasure he had when cutting his way through Mechs. It made him feel sick to know he had to do the same to his own people.
“Any casualties?” he asked.
“One dead,” replied Herbert sternly.
“One more than we can afford right now,” he replied.
Taylor didn’t even have time to ask the name of the fallen. He turned and carried on. He knew they couldn’t be too far now, but as they passed into a broad corridor, they heard a large mechanical lurch and looked ahead at the blast doors that were shutting.
“Come on! Run!” he screamed. They rushed at a full sprint for the doorways, but they were closing rapidly. He was at the head of the column and jumped through with ease. Herbert got through after him and two privates, one of which bounced off the doorway and narrowly missed being trapped in the door as he was catapulted into Taylor.
All went silent as the doors sealed shut.
“Sorry, Sir,” insisted the Private.
Taylor helped the man to his feet and could see his name, Private Little, and the other beside him Private Ball. “Shit,” he said to himself. “We’re losing numbers at a hell of a rate.”
“We need to get these doors open sharpish,” said Ball.
“If only, but you saw their depth. More than we can expect to handle anytime soon. We’ve no choice but to go on,” replied Taylor.
“Go on with four men?”
“If only one of us makes it there and gets the job done, then so be it, Ball.”
Taylor turned and led the way. He knew their chances of success with so few were slim now, but he had no choice than to continue. He wanted nothing more than to rip his helmet off and get past the stifling effect of it, but he could not, and he had to bear it for now. The stale smell and taste of his own sweat was killing him now.
Just a little longer, he told himself.
“You really think we can do this, Sir?”
“Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we could, Private Little.”
“Sometimes I just think you hope for the best and fight like hell to make it happen, Sir,” added Herbert.
Taylor was surprised to hear the Sergeant speak, let alone what he said. He couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah, well, it’s worked so far.”
He prayed the others would find a way to reach them, as well as Grey, but he already suspected they were on their own. It was in that moment he thought back to the gladiatorial fights where he had been paraded about. He felt so alone before such massive crowds, and yet he didn’t now with just a handful of comrades and surrounded by those who wanted to kill him.
This is my natural habitat, he told himself. I am the hunter here. He was trying to psych himself up to overcome the fear, and it was working.
A pulsating sound rang through the corridor around them. Full lighting came on, and a security turret on the ceiling ahead rotated around and took aim.
“Cover!” he shouted.
They scattered each side of the corridor as shots hit the ground.
“They’ve got full power back!”
He tried to get up to fire, but shots quickly smashed all around him with one glancing off the top of his helmet. He pushed his shield out from cover enough so he could use the transparent view port on it, and then put his rifle out on top and used his targeter. Three shots hit the shield, but he was not deterred. He took careful aim and then fired a three-shot burst into the security turret, and it blew apart.
“If they have power back, we’re in deep trouble,” stated Herbert.
“What do you mean?” Little asked.
“With the defence grid operational and under the control of the UEN, our fleet will have to break off its attack. Without the fleet, our forces aboard the Nassau are done for, and the UEN can use this thing to fire on whatever targets it wants."
“Should take some time for them to power up the big guns,” replied Herbert.
“Yeah, I figure we got about ten minutes until they’re ready to vaporise any city they want.”
“What do we do, Sir?” asked Ball.
“The only thing we can do, what we came here to do. We have to disable this system.”
“But with four of us, how?”
“We aren’t far now. We may not have much time to stop this, but neither do they have a lot of time to bring in reinforcements. Speed is the only thing we have on our side. Let’s take this fucker down now!”
They all agreed, and Taylor led them on. Up ahead was a broad domed intersection, exactly as he was expecting.
“Only half a klick from here now. We’re almost there!”
They reached the entrance to the intersection and turned to the left as they needed to but were halted by a shocking sight. The Mechs stood guarding the entrance. They each wore a modified form of Reitech weapons bolted to their arms and shields twice the size of that Taylor carried.
“Oh, shit…”
Chapter 11
Jones regained consciousness to see lights flashing around him, but his hearing was a little more delayed while he came to his senses. He did not recognise where they were, and it certainly was not where he had been fighting the last he remembered. Parker appeared before him and slapped him in the face, which did at least something to wake him.