Battle Earth IX (25 page)

He laughed as Erdogan’s face turned to stone and then disgust.

“Whatever plan you have, it will fail,” he replied.

But Taylor continued to smile, seeing the doubt in his face. Jafar drew out a two-handed sword, and Aysen took out a long blade spear. Taylor raised his halberd up one last time.

“So how about it? Let’s dance.”

Erdogan rushed right for him, and with the weight of a massive strike snapped the Halberd in two as Taylor lifted it to parry. He came in with another strike, but Aysen lunged at him, driving him back. Jafar cut towards him. The sword cut into the pauldron of his armour, but he backed off before it could penetrate deeper.

Aysen was the first to go forward and thrust repeatedly at Erdogan. He dodged and brushed off the spear thrusts with his arm, until finally closing and striking Aysen with a punch to the face that landed him flat on his back. Jafar was next and cut in with his sword, but Erdogan parried both attacks with his mace and then slid the ball end forward into Jafar’s face. The blow knocked him back several paces, and blood gushed from his nose.

Taylor looked to his friend in surprise. He could not believe the power and speed of Erdogan and was beginning to wonder if even together they stood any chance at all. They went at him again with another determined attempt while Aysen was still on the floor. Taylor leapt upwards and drove the counterweight of his halberd at Erdogan. It knocked him back a little, and then he swung the halberd blade over in a massive arc, which he didn’t believe anyone could parry.

Just as it was about to connect with Erdogan’s head, he raised his mace and parried with arms at each end of the shaft. The halberd stopped dead with the blade just centimetres from the alien’s exposed head.

“Nice try,” he replied.

With the halberd blade locked over the mace, he pulled it forward and ripped the weapon from Taylor’s grasp. Jafar jumped in quickly as Taylor was left helpless. His cut was parried, and he closed with Erdogan and reached under to grapple but was struck on the back of the head with the mace grip. He fell face first to the floor.

“Look at you, pathetic!” he sneered.

Taylor could see Aysen crawl up onto the throne and touch a few buttons on a control panel on one of the arms while Erdogan’s attention was focused on him. They were all beaten and bloody and could see no way of winning, let alone surviving. Suddenly, Aysen gave out a deafening cry as he charged towards Erdogan and crashed into him, driving him through one of the other doorways. As they passed through, the door sealed and locked shut behind them.

“What the hell is he doing?”

“Saving us,” replied Jafar.

“What? No!”

“Come on, we have to leave.”

“Not without him.”

“He did this for us. Now honour him and live.”

Taylor looked at Parker; still staring at him from behind the doorway he had first entered. She looked so utterly relieved.

“Get to the ships. We’ll meet you there!” he shouted to her.

“He did that for you?” Taylor asked as they rushed through empty corridors to find their way back. He had nothing but his sidearm in hand and prayed they would not meet any Mechs.

“Yes, he owed me a great debt. One he has now paid.”

“He knew we couldn’t win?”

“Yes,” Jafar replied.

“You knew we could not beat him?”

“Erdogan is the most dangerous of my people to ever live in many generations.”

“So that’s a no?”

Jafar didn’t respond. It was a terrifying thought to know that one day he would surely have to face Erdogan once again. Taylor had never felt so outclassed by any opponent in his life, and he had fought some of the best.

“Next time we face him, we go in prepared and able to win,” he added.

They carried on room after room and corridor after corridor. Jafar seemed to know where he was going, and Taylor simply had to trust him. Finally, to his surprise they reached some of their Company and the Mastiff they had come in on. Parker rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around him, but as he held her firmly, he noticed Jones over her shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” he asked as he let her go. Then he noticed Coco standing with him.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he added.

“Good to see you, too, Colonel,” she replied.

“Our boat is totally out of action. We aren’t getting out that way,” said Jones.

Taylor saw they hadn’t taken many casualties and so could already tell they weren’t going to be able to fit everyone aboard.

“You send out a pick-up beacon?” he asked.

“Yes, we’re awaiting pick-up.”

Taylor looked down at the watch on his datapad.

“Jesus, we’re cutting it a bit fine.”

“Time you head off. We’ll wait for the boat.”

Taylor didn’t want to agree, but he knew there was little more he could do.

“We can cram in about forty of your people. It won’t be comfy, but it’s a start.”

“Much appreciated, and I would ask that you please take my wife with you.”

“No, I will stay with you,” she insisted.

Taylor could see the concern in her face, but he could also see the determination in Jones’. One way or the other, she was going with him.

“Please no,” she pleaded, “I just got you back. I can’t lose you again.”

“Exactly my thoughts,” he replied, “Now, we will get off this boat, but I want to know my wife and son are safe at the first opportunity. We may have to go out into the black to get a lift, and you don’t even have the gear. I need to know you are safe, and I don’t have to worry about you any longer. You are going with the Colonel. You will be safe with him.”

She opened her mouth to protest but could see in his eyes that it was no good. Finally, as a tear dropped down her cheek, she nodded in acceptance. He turned around to Taylor.

“Get her to safety, both of them, you promise me?”

He looked deadly serious. Taylor stretched out his hand in friendship to confirm it, and Jones took it.

“She will make it. You have my word.”

He looked at his datapad once more before looking to the others who eagerly awaited his word.

“Let’s load up. We’re out of here!”

Cheers rang out as they rushed aboard the Mastiff.

“You know you look like hell, Mitch,” Jones joked.

He nodded in agreement.

“So did you get him?”

Taylor shook his head.

“Losing your edge?”

Taylor smiled. He leaned in close.

“Erdogan is like nothing we have ever seen or faced. You get your ass off this hulking piece of shit ASAP, you hear?”

Jones was surprised at how defeated Taylor looked, and he was starting to understand how serious their situation was.

“We’re about to enter a new phase in the history of humanity, and I want you there for it,” he added.

He turned, took hold of Coco, and led her into the Mastiff. She pulled free and looked back one last time, blowing a kiss to Jones as she continued to weep. Taylor pulled her along once again inside the ship. He put her into one of the bays and strapped her in before heading back to the pilot’s cabin.

“We ready to go?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then take us out.”

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

Taylor looked around to see the pilot flew via a series of cameras that showed all angles of the exterior of the bullish craft. He fired up the engines as the doors sealed shut. They were crammed shoulder to shoulder throughout. A few moments later, they lifted off from the deck and soared out through the gaping hole they had created.

“Any news on the fleet?”

“Yes, Sir, whatever that alien did to interfere with the enemy systems, we have regained full communications.”

“And how are they doing?”

He did not respond.

“Well, come on, tell me.”

As they broke free of the enemy vessel, he could see some of the extent of it to himself. There were floating hulks of vessels all around of both human and alien construction. A few battles still raged between those craft still able to fight, and he could see several hundred vessels approaching from Earth’s atmosphere.

“Is that all that made it?” he asked in horror.

The pilot nodded. Taylor shook his head. There was nothing he could do about it now; just hope Jafar and Aysen’s efforts had worked. He looked at Earth and was simply in awe of its beauty, despite all of the horror going on at ground level. From space, it looked picturesque.

“Are we really leaving?” the pilot asked.

“Leaving or dying,” he replied.

He looked up to Parker.

“Get Dubois a suit.”

“Will she need it?”

“No idea, but let’s play it safe.”

“How long?” he asked Jafar.

“Any moment now.”

Taylor took a deep breath as he prayed for the plan to work. He closed his eyes and looked away.

“Sir, I’m getting some readings… what the hell is that?”

A beam of light ten metres wide surged from Erdogan’s ship. He looked up in time to see it. For a moment, they all thought it was a weapon. But the light stopped and expanded out into a huge sphere that began to spin. It looked just like the entrance of a space gateway, only without the framework.

“Have you done it, is that it?” he asked Jafar.

Jafar nodded.

“That’s it. We’ve got a way out of here!”

A few cheered, but most realised that survival meant leaving Earth, and that was a terrifying thought. He tapped his communicator.

“Jones, come in, Jones.”

“Colonel? What’s happening?”

“We’ve got our way out of here. What’s the ETA on your ride?”

“Gunboat just offered us a ride. It’s en route.”

“Good, get the hell out of there now. We’re getting out of here.”

“Affirmative, over and out.”

Jones looked back to those who remained with him. Five of them were firing back down a hallway at Mechs advancing on them. The rest eagerly looked to him for the order to leave.

“That’s it. Boat is incoming, but we can’t get aboard. We’re making a jump for it. Let’s go!”

None of them moved, as they couldn’t believe the time had finally come.

“Come on, go!”

They rushed several rooms over to the breach and looked out to space. They saw the ship approaching. A fast and agile gunship with limited stowage capacity.

“It’ll have to do,” he said. He took the leap and used his boosters to accelerate towards the incoming vessel, which banked and came to a standstill ready for them.

As he floated through space, he looked at Earth just as Taylor had and marvelled at its beauty. “It was worth fighting for, wasn’t it?” he asked through his intercom. Nobody responded, but he knew they felt it too. The large side door opened on the gunboat ahead, and Jones was first through and turned to wait at the door to see everyone safely aboard.

“Come on, come on! Come on!”

The last of them was through. He hit the door shut button and felt the artificial gravity systems take effect. He rushed through onto the bridge to find the Captain awaiting him.

“Glad to give you a ride, Captain Jones.”

“Much appreciated. Now let’s get a move on.”

“With pleasure.”

He looked out to see the fleet approaching the jump gate.

“It’s really happening? We really did it?”

Pulses and missiles continued to race before them as the two sides continued to duke it out. He could see the Mastiffs towards the rear of the fleet, but they were a distance off.

* * *

“We’ve got incoming!”

Taylor looked at the scanners at a single craft soaring towards them. It was small for a Mech craft, not a lot bigger than the Mastiff they were flying aboard.

“They’re not firing on us?” asked the pilot in surprise.

“No,” Taylor replied, “They mean to board us.”

“What? Why?”

“Because they value whatever we have aboard more alive than dead.”

“What, you?”

Taylor shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter, but count yourself lucky. They shoot us out of the sky, and we’re finished. They board us, and they got a hundred plus angry marines ready to kick some ass.”

The ship rocked as they felt the enemy vessel crash into them from above and then clamp onto their hull.

“All right, let’s great ready to deal some pain!”

He grabbed a rifle from a rack nearby and holstered an Assegai from the same source. It felt good to know he was once more facing an enemy he knew he could beat. He knew now that were he ever to face Erdogan again, he had to be a lot smarter about it, but right now, he was happy to take an easy fight.

Sparks flew from the ceiling above, and they parted out as much as they could, waiting with rifles held at the ready. Taylor grabbed a shield from the rack and waited, now still and calm. Twenty seconds was all it took them to cut through the upper hull, and a two-metre square section of the hull collapsed down and landed between them.

All was silent for a moment until a small metal object dropped through the breach.

“Grenade!” Parker shouted.

They ducked for cover, and Taylor looked away and sheltered behind his shield. The cabin lit up with a blinding flash, and their shields only provided a little cover. Taylor was slightly disorientated, but he had been saved from the worst of it. He was quickly up on his feet in time to see the first Mech descend through the hole and land in the middle of them.

There was no safe way to use projectile weapons and so dropped his rifle and advanced on the first creature, drawing out his Assegai. It carried close quarter weaponry as he was now becoming familiar with.

“Come on, you bastard!” he yelled.

He slammed into the Mech with his shield and drove it back against several of his comrades, who stabbed it in the back. It dropped dead without him having to do a thing. He turned around to see another Mech descend into their Mastiff, and one after the other they dropped in.

It was a futile attack, for the weight of numbers aboard the Mastiff swamped the attackers, and it was a killing frenzy. Within a minute, Taylor was coated in blue blood, and he was fully indulging in the pain and suffering he could inflict. It felt good to be winning once again.

Over twenty Mechs had fallen to the bloodthirsty forces of Taylor and his Inter-Allied when finally they stopped coming. Taylor climbed up on to the pile of Mech bodies and stood below the centre of the breach.