Battle earth box set 1.., p.15
Battle Earth - · Box Set 1-6, page 15
The keypad flashed as the doors prized opened twenty metres wide. They could see crates of weapons and ammunition. The rifles were obsolete compared to what they now used, but the ammunition was still the same.
“We’re in business! Get the APCs up here, and get to work!”
The first vehicle backed up against the structure, and the heavy tanks rolled on around the perimeter. The Captain had not yet seen the effectiveness of the French armour against the invaders. However, by the fact they still held Brest, he speculated that they had played a major part.
“Make sure we have eyes on all sectors. I want to know immediately if we hit any trouble!”
Jones pulled his rifle sling around until the weapon hung on his back, and his hands were free. He reached out for the first crate, hauling it off the stack and towards the vehicle. Doctrine had taught him to never dig in with the labour of the rank and file, but experience had showed him they didn’t want to be in enemy territory a second longer than they had to.
* * *
“Taylor, give us an update!” shouted White.
“The boats are on the way, as we speak, General. We expect them to hit the ground in thirty minutes.”
“You think they’ll deliver the goods and get out okay?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Then let’s deal with the next shitstorm at our door!”
“Sir?”
“A new front has opened in North Africa. Reports suggest the African nations’ forces have been pushed back at an alarming rate, along with the UEN forces stationed there. Spain is also falling at an astonishing rate. What forces left there will soon be driven into France or the sea.”
The General tapped his screen and brought up the latest map. It was received with a gasp as each of the top brass saw quite how fast the world was falling.
“Towns and cities are being lost so quickly right now that we can barely keep track of the current lines, let alone get much intel.”
“What’s our next step here, General?” Taylor asked.
“I want a full report from the Moon colonists on the effectiveness of the weapons we are sending them. Meanwhile, relying on the reports you made for us, we are going ahead with the deployment of as many of the new weapons as possible to frontline units. Truth is, we sent those weapons to the Moon because they needed them the most, but now we look to be in as much shit.”
“So we do nothing?”
“I will not risk ground forces until we have re-equipped as best we can, as per your recommendations, Major.”
“And what about Europe and Africa? We are just going to let them all die?”
“At this stage, we’d just be adding more bodies to the pile, Major. No point going there, if we can’t make a difference. Let’s make sure that when we move, we have enough muscle to make a dent.”
Taylor lowered his head. Yet more inaction and delaying on the General’s part was a depressing and ever more common experience. He knew every action would be on the General’s shoulders, but he also knew the time had come to act.
“I want reports the second those weapons have seen action, Major, and they’d better get the job done.”
“Yes, Sir.”
* * *
Lieutenant Rains looked amazed at the readings on their equipment. He’d been space trained as per regulations, but he never envisaged the speed at which they were blasting towards the Moon. Lieutenant Perez sat next to him. He’d been his co-pilot for several years.
“Never thought to be in this seat, Eddie.”
“We’ve got the best seats in the house, my friend. Delivering help to the needy and riding in probably the fastest ship that has ever existed. We’re having a blast!”
“Let’s just hope its fast enough,” Perez replied wearily.
The Moon colony was now in sight, and a vast ugly city to their Earth dwelling eyes. Like Taylor, they could never understand why anyone would want to live there. Eddie was one to be lazing about on a beach and drinking margaritas, not locked up in a concrete box with nothing but space to look at. The sort of scanning and surveillance equipment the invaders used was still unknown. They had never travelled into a combat situation without a thorough understanding of their enemy, let alone such a fear of them.
Speed and surprise were the only tools to hand for the few brave pilots rocketing towards the Moon. Taylor had already predicted they would have an absolute maximum of five minutes on the ground before encountering trouble. Previous experience showed they would have the guns to take on a small group of fighters, but not any great numbers.
The landing zone was a barren and desolate area a kilometre from the edge of the colony. Even to the well-trained eye, it was every bit as untouched by humanity as it appeared. To anyone who knew better, beneath the surface was a military bunker and tunnel system leading to various parts of the colony.
“What if we get hit by ground troops, Eddie? We haven’t planned for that possibility.”
“Then we’re fucked. Planning has been as good as can be, but now it’s down to luck.”
“Hardly reassuring!”
“If you wanted certainty, Perez, you should have worked at a desk.”
Perez nodded with a grin. They both loved their work, the thrill of the high-speed combat aircraft and exhilaration they experienced through much of their work. Now for the first time ever, their stomachs churned as their own mortality became uncomfortably apparent.
“This is it!” shouted Eddie.
The two craft tore across the lunar landscape at blinding speeds only a hundred metres above the surface.
“Be ready on the guns!”
“They better be ready for us!” screamed Perez.
Eddie closely watched the display in the cockpit, carefully timing their rapid drop onto the landing zone. Just a hundred metres short of the target area, and still with no sign of life, he put the thrusters on full reverse, bringing the ship to a sudden and violent landing exactly where he’d been told to land. All four of the men were still doubtful of the intel and the ability of the surviving colonists to be there waiting for them.
He immediately powered down the engines to silence the scene and draw as little attention to them as possible. They could only hope their presence had gone unnoticed, but they knew that was too much to hope for. Rains reached forward and tapped the display, bringing up the under slung cameras on the craft. At first they saw nothing but the same boring rocks spreading as far as the eye could see beyond the colony.
“Think we hit the right spot?” asked Perez.
“We hit the right co-ordinates. That’s for sure.”
“Great, suits fucked it up again...”
But before he could say another word, a few metres away from the landing sleds, the ground opened between the two vessels.
“Holy shit!”
The opening was thirty metres wide and disguised the man-made structure below. On the cameras, they could see a platform rising to the surface with dozens of people suited up and ready to get to work.
“We are in business, Eddie!”
He hit the cargo doors as the massive platform rose to the level of their side doors. The pilots had been ordered to stay in their seats at all times. They wanted nothing more than to greet their comrades, but they had to be ready to leave or operate weapons at a moment’s notice.
Eddie watched the screens intently, rocking back and forth with the stress and excitement of it all. Perez scanned the skies with his monitors and camera displays, sneaking a peak at the colonists every few seconds. They set on the supplies like a swarm. They were highly organised and efficient, just as the pilots had hoped but never expected.
Rains typed into the display monitors in the docking bay. It was the only way they had to communicate with the colonists. His message read ‘three minutes remaining’. A man looked up at their cameras and gave a nod in recognition.
“They’re brave sons of bitches,” said Perez.
“What else could they be?” replied Eddie.
“What ya mean?”
“With this enemy, you either run or you fight. They had no place to run.”
“They could have just given up, accepting a quick death.”
He nodded in acknowledgement. There was no doubt that it took balls to combat a vastly superior enemy when isolated from Earth. In just two minutes, the colonists had shifted half the payloads of the two ships, an impressive feat. Desperation was pushing them to work faster than any crew back at the base.
“Any sign of trouble?” asked Eddie.
“Nothing yet, but you know those bastards, damn bitch to see them. Plus we’re exposed from every angle here.”
“Just a little longer.”
Perez’s eyes shot across the cockpit glass in front of them.
“What the hell was that?”
“What? What did you see?” shouted Eddie.
“I don’t know, maybe something.”
He hit the keyboard violently, signalling for the ground crew to shift their butts. Perez’s instincts were rarely wrong, and a fact Eddie wished was not the case now.
“Be ready on the guns. This is gonna be a hot exit!”
“I never expected anything else. Riding with you is never boring, Eddie!”
Rains looked down at the screen. The colonists were unloading the last few of the crates. One of them walked up to the camera he was watching them on. He looked directly into the lens and held his thumb up with a grateful nod, followed by a salute. Eddie was as chilled out as any man could be, but the sentiment brought tears to his eyes.
He knew it would likely to be a fight to get home, but for them it was just in and out, back to safety. For the lunar colonists, it was going to be a war with no end in sight. He typed one last message into the display box, ‘good luck friend’.
“We’ve got incoming!” Perez shouted.
Rains took one last look down at the screen to see the man step off their docking ramp. He hammered the retract switch, knowing he could not spend any longer considering their allies on the ground. From now on, the only mission was to survive.
“Weapons hot! Let’s get off this rock!” shouted Eddie.
He fired up and put power down to all engines. The craft hopped off the surface with immense speed, lurching forward so quickly that it caught Eddie off guard.
“Whoa! Easy now!”
“They’re closing on us!” shouted Perez.
“Give them everything we’ve got!”
Perez squinted to distinguish the enemy ships from the terrain. He was forced to use the manual targeting pads, something he’d only ever done in simulation and training exercises. As he looked across the sky in his wall of monitors, he gasped at the sheer number of anomalies in the sky.
“Jesus Christ! Get us the hell out of here!”
Rains could see through the cockpit window that the vessels were closing in. Perez opened fire immediately as they began to build speed. The enemy fired their energy weapons, narrowly missing both of them.
“Damn, this is one fast son of a bitch!”
“Whoa, Eddie, yeah!”
The enemy fired once more, but it was too late. Their smaller craft, with far higher power output, were vastly superior in speed to the enemy ships.
“Didn’t think I’d see the day! We gotta get some more of these babies!” Eddie laughed.
Rain’s broad grin swiftly turned to a grimace as he thought about the colonists. They were free and clear, and able to outrun their enemy, but it was a whole different story for Kelly and his people. They could only pray the supply drop would go some way to giving them a chance of survival.
* * *
“Let’s move!” shouted Kelly.
His helmet dome was folded back, being safe in the oxygen supplied tunnels. He could only hope the enemy had not identified their access point to the surface, but he doubted they would have such luck. His people were exhausted and mentally hammered, but the supply drop was driving them on to give everything they had.
The Commander had already outlaid a plan for the food and ammunition to be divided between three key safe zones underground. They were all a safe distance from the drop zone. The few underground vehicles built to haul military and scientific resources throughout the tunnels were proving to be invaluable.
Since the invasion had begun, Kelly had done little but lose ground and friends. The supply drop had given him more than just hope. It had been intended to boost morale as much as provide genuine help, but it was still much appreciated. He’d already been briefed on the necessity of immediate feedback on their new hardware. He knew they were being used as a test bed for the American military, but it was nothing he would complain about.
The crews sat atop the haulage trailers, many on the boxes of supplies. They smiled and slapped each other’s backs. They were celebrating a victory. In any other situation, Kelly would have talked them down, made them put it all into perspective. Today, however, it was the only glimmer of hope that existed for them all.
* * *
“We’ve got incoming!” shouted Lieutenant Green.
The officer peered down over the rooftop at the APCs being loaded below.
“Shit! Get rolling, now!” Jones ordered.
The second vehicle was loaded as best it could be, but the third was still empty. He looked over to a sergeant who was next to him.
“Tell those two to get rolling and back within the perimeter. We’ll follow ASAP!”
The Sergeant stared back with a gaunt expression. Jones had just volunteered for them to take the brunt of an attack for the good of the defending forces. He knew it was the right decision. They needed to get the ammunition to those needing it quickly, but that didn’t make it suck any less.
“Yes, Sir!”
The cannons of the heavy tanks bellowed around their position as the two vehicles began to roll, their heavy tracks ripping apart the civilian streets. Jones waved back the third and last APC. Gunfire erupted on the rooftop as his men began to engage the attackers. He knew it was a dire situation, but he had a task to do. Every fibre of his body told him to join his men in the fight, but the sooner they were loaded, the sooner they’d be out of there.
Pulses smashed into the buildings around them and debris blasted out across the street, covering in them in an ever-increasing layer of dust.
How much longer before Brest is completely flattened? He wondered.
The driver was nervous and rushed, missing the Captain’s command to stop. The huge steel beast smashed into the building. Bricks and motors tumbled down onto the soldiers below, crashing on their helmets. Fortunately, the reinforced armoury walls supported the structure and brought the vehicle to a complete stop.
“What the fuck!”
The Sergeant rushed forward to grill whoever was responsible, but Jones lifted up his hand to stop the NCO.
“Forget it, Sergeant. Just get this shit loaded!”
Jones rushed to the crates of cannon rounds for the big guns and hauled them up with all his strength. His body was aching in every place, and sweat dripped down his armour. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going.
“Load, load faster!”
The fire above was chaotic and desperate. The Captain knew they’d been hit by a substantial wave of the enemy, but he would not return to the other survivors with anything less than what he had intended.
“That’s it, Captain!”
Jones swung his rifle around to his front, taking it in both hands. He ran out of the building and to a corner of the structure, peering around at the unfolding battle. As he did so, a huge energy pulse hit the heavy tank just twenty metres down the street. The massive blow prised off half the turret, and the superstructure of the tank twisted under the pressure. The blinding light soared through the thick armour and struck the ammunition store, sending it into a ball of flames.
Black smoke bellowed from the wreck, creating a smoke screen between them and the enemy. Jones knew nobody could have survived the impact, but he took relief from the fact they now had some cover to make their retreat.
He looked up to the ledge of the rooftop and couldn’t see any of his men, but he could hear their weapons still firing. He cupped his hands about his mouth and shouted at the top of his voice.
“Evac now! Go, go, go!”
He had no way to communicate with the other two tanks, and he wouldn’t risk any of his men to do so. Jones had to rely on the fact they were observing the situation through their rear-mounted cameras. He signalled with his hands for them to pull back, hoping someone was watching. Without wasting anymore time, he turned back to the loaded APC, but his men were already climbing on top. Their faces were full of fear, and they wanted nothing else but to leave the deadly battle.
Green and the others from the roof slid down the ladders on the side of the building, desperately trying to escape the ferocious onslaught. There were less soldiers returning than had been sent up, but Jones knew it was a waste of time to ask after them. He would mourn their loss when the living were to safety.
“Get onto the vehicle!”
The soldiers on top of the tracked APC hauled their comrades aboard. There were now just seventy men left in his company. As many as possible were piling aboard the final APC, though only thirty were able to fit at a squeeze.
“Get this junk moving!” he shouted.
The APC lurched forward, leaving the Captain and more than half of his men behind. He turned to look back, praying the others had got his message. They could hear tracks rolling, but they were muffled through the continuous gunfire and explosions around them. The first vehicle appeared out of the smoke.
Several scorch marks were burned into the armour plating. The tank stopped briefly to allow many of the men to climb aboard. Seconds later, the second heavy tank burst through the thick black smoke. It barely resembled the first anymore. The turret was completely missing, blown off from a huge energy pulse weapon. Smoke bellowed from the engine block, and the turret ring was still smouldering.
Jones could tell the two heavy tanks had barely survived their encounter with the enemy and would have been utterly vanquished had they stayed a minute longer. He knew they had made all the difference in getting his work done.
