Battle earth box set 1.., p.16
Battle Earth - · Box Set 1-6, page 16
He looked in at the second tank. It was an utter wreck. The driver’s hatch was half destroyed, and they could make out the bloody face of the distraught woman who sat at the helm. She was wounded but still fighting. The men looked at the sight in disbelief. The destruction to the heaviest tanks in deployment made them all feel more mortal than ever before. They all stood frozen and fixated on the wreckage until Jones finally yelled at them.
“Get on!” Jones ordered.
The last of the para company climbed aboard the scarred vehicle. There was nothing left of the two turret crew, other than a trace of blood where they’d been ripped out along with the main gun turret. Through the gaping hole, they could see an energy pulse had killed the hull gunner. It had blasted right through his body armour and to the seat behind him. He lay slumped on the controls.
The driver was all who remained in the vehicle. Her helmet was off and blood poured from a head wound. She looked back for just a moment to see the soldiers clamber aboard. Jones was amazed she had made it.
He gave her the thumbs up and a nod, not just to confirm they were ready to move, but in appreciation and respect. The vehicle lurched forward with a creek. Pushing the vehicle to the limit of what it could still manage, they could all tell it would survive no more than a kilometre or two. Smoke belched out in many places. Fluids were pouring out across the street. Jones looked around at his comrades. They had the grimmest of expressions about their faces. They were relieved to finally have made it away alive but barely showed it. They all knew the next few hours would only be a repeat of the same brutal onslaught.
The friends they had lost was a tragic and earth shattering strike to the morale of the troops. But more than that, they were coming to the realisation they stood almost no chance of leaving Brest alive. The only relief was that they were giving hundreds of thousands of civilians the opportunity to escape.
Jones looked down at his hands. The gloves he wore were cut and blood seeped through from where debris had struck him. His armour was covered in a thick layer of dust from the destruction of the buildings all around him. His mouth was dry from the lack of water and smoke filled air. He could taste the foulness of his own salty sweat mixed with concrete residue, and God knows what else.
As the vehicle stormed up the ruined street, Charlie looked back at the site they had left. He could see the bodies of two soldiers they were forced to leave behind. The scene was peaceful again; the same horrible quiet that follows every bloody battle. Smoke still bellowed from the tank they’d lost. They turned a bend in the road, and he lost sight of the weapons depot and the carnage surrounding it.
Charlie wanted nothing more than to forget everything he’d just seen, but he knew he never would, not for however many hours or days he had left to live. They’d done everything that was asked of them, but it was at such a fearful cost.
It was not long before they reached friendly lines. The buildings at the perimeter were lined with soldiers from the French Armoured Corps who watched horrified at the sight of the smashed vehicle they rode atop. Dozens of British troops were intermingled with the French soldiers, and there were a few from Jones’ division that had managed to reach the city. They had all fled there for safety.
The smoking wreck of the tank came to a halt in the crossroads where Girard and his command centre were setup. The driver turned off the engine, and it hissed and spat more fluids. It was the last time that tank would ever move under its own power.
Jones was glad to see the APCs were already being raided for everything they had. It was clear just how important their mission and sacrifices had been. The British troops slid off the vehicle as Girard and Chandra closed in. Jones climbed to the front of the tank and knelt down beside the wrecked driver’s hatch. The woman at the controls looked up at him with a haunted expression on her blood-strewn face.
“Captain Jones. Thanks for saving our arses, Sergeant.”
He offered his hand to the injured driver. She first looked stunned, but then grasped his bloodied hand. Jones hauled her out of her seat quicker than expected. She was far lighter than he thought, shorter than any among them and close to half his weight.
“Captain, good to see you made it back!” Chandra shouted.
“Major, we’re a tank down. We lost plenty of soldiers out there, and whatever hit us will be coming down that road shortly.”
He helped the driver down from the vehicle, jumping down beside her. Girard noticed the stricken driver with horror. He couldn’t find any words to say to her. Chandra looked down at her body armour, just able to make out her name under the dirt and blood.
“Sergeant Dubois. Good work out there. Go to the aid station and get patched up. Whilst you’re at it, find a rifle. We’ll need every able body to hand.”
It almost brought a tear to Jones’ eye that the tank driver was being asked so much, after giving everything she had and losing her entire crew. But those were the lives they now led.
The bedraggled tank driver nodded. She could not bring herself to speak or to salute her superiors. She staggered off as commanded, still badly shaken over the loss of her comrades. Jones turned back to his Major. He could feel she was rapidly heading into the same disillusioned state as the driver. Chandra was lost for words as she looked over his bloody and filthy armour. Jones quickly spoke up to break her train of thought.
“We got everything we could into those vehicles. Let’s hope it’s enough.”
She coughed to clear her throat and finally replied.
“Captain, well done. You’ve kept us in the fight, but I must get these supplies moving. They are desperately needed.”
Jones nodded as she made to leave to organise the distribution of the ammunition.
“Jones, you are to get back on the southern perimeter. We need every soldier in the fight!” Chandra yelled as she rushed off.
Charlie wondered if this new hell would ever be over. He supposed that death would be the only end in sight. He nodded, turned to his men, barking his orders. They glared at him in despair, not half recovered from the beating they’d just received.
* * *
Commander Kelly sat in what had become their operational headquarters. Computers had been hurriedly set up in a haphazard fashion with as much equipment as they could scavenge as time went by. Lewis sat at his makeshift comms desk. He barely knew what to do, having so little of the equipment and resources he’d been trained for and was accustomed to.
“Have you patched into the library feed yet?”
Lewis did not respond for a moment as he frantically punched in commands to try and get the gear working.
“Lewis?”
He was silent for a few more seconds and finally finished his work before answering.”
“Uhh, yes, Sir, we can now send messages directly from my station. It’s a hardwired connection though, so this is the only terminal that can be used.”
“Understood, good work.”
Kelly turned to look at the people at his command. Many of his surviving NCOs and officers lay about the room. Few conversations took place. The excitement of receiving help from Earth had already died down. Back was the grim realisation of the harrowing lives they now lived. Never before had he seen such a desire in his people to return to Earth, which they had all left so many decades before.
“Listen up, everyone!” he shouted.
They all turned to him, wanting nothing more than to be told that everything was going to be okay. They hung onto the Commander’s every word, praying he would bring them to victory or safety.
“The time for skulking around and scavenging what we can is going to stop. We can no longer scurry around, avoiding the trouble above our heads. We were sent new weapons for two reasons. One was to give us a fighting chance, and the second as frontline testing for the US military. We have an important task on our hands. We serve, not just to fight for our own lives, but to help those who have done so for us.”
Kelly knew that many of his people still loathed the Earth based forces for leaving them in their time of need. Some were slowly beginning to understand there had been no other option, but others still needed convincing.
“We have been given a second chance, and I fully intend to take it. It’s time to take the fight to the enemy. I want twenty volunteers. I’m leading the first party out to hunt those bastards down and see what these new babies can do!”
He held up one of automatic grenade launchers that Major Taylor had recently tested back on Earth. There was no instant cheer or hive of excitement. But people began to stand as the information was digested. The very idea of seeking out the fearsome enemy was a horror to them all, but they were keen to get some payback.
“I’ll go!” shouted Martinez.
Kelly didn’t want to put both himself and his second-in-command in harm’s way, but it was vital to lift the morale of his people. Within seconds, others around the room began to stand and volunteer. They could all feel the fear of the enemy seep away as the excitement exploded among the soldiers. They began to cheer Kelly’s name. He lifted his hand, signalling them to pipe down.
“Martinez, select a team and get them armed. I want a fifty-fifty split between rifles and these launchers. The rest of you, get the rations and ammunition distributed. You know what to do.”
Kelly slipped the sling of the launcher he was carrying over his shoulder and packed ammunition into the pouches in his armour. He only took the armoured suit off to sleep now. The burden of its extra weight was never welcome for prolonged periods, but it had become an essential part of his life.
The room burst into activity as everyone went about their tasks. The Commander had already carefully outlined plans for distribution and rationing. It was vital to both their survival and defence. Lewis looked up at him from his desk. He was the only person in the room with nothing to do.
“What do you want me to do, Commander?”
“Sit right here. We can still reach you through the hard lines, right?”
“Yes, Sir, but there are very few of them about anymore. I have people installing more throughout our underground facilities, but above ground, you’ll barely find more than one or two per square kilometre.”
“Okay, good work. I’ll need you here for an immediate report to General White on our return.”
“Yes, Sir.”
The comms officer looked concerned. He was uneasy about two of the command staff heading off for combat.
“Lewis, you’re in charge till we get back. Stay sharp!”
“Sir!”
Kelly now had twenty grenades stuffed into his body armour. He pulled his weapon around his body and looked at it intently, making sense of it all. He quickly found the chamber release switch, and the front half of the weapon levered forward, allowing access to the revolving magazine. He loaded in a full eight shells from the box on the desk and slammed the weapon shut.
He turned back to Martinez and could see the team had already been selected and was busy loading up for the mission. The group was a mix of MDF and UEN soldiers. Previously, they had treated each other with animosity and dissent. The MDF hated the UEN for being deployed on their colony and their eternal arrogance. The United Earth Nations troops had disdain for the MDF as being only a militia force. These feelings had melted away as they had quickly accepted each other as brothers in this new war.
“Let’s not forget we still face an enemy that we do not fully understand. We have likely not seen everything they have at their disposal yet, nor have we tried these new weapons. I want an even spread of rifles and launchers at all times. The launchers are all loaded with armour piercing rounds.”
“Sir, aren’t we going to breach the compound with hardware like this?” asked Doyle.
“It’s a concern, yes. However, at this point we have no choice but to upgun to whatever level we have to. Earth forces will also be using a high explosive shell, but for obvious reasons have not supplied those to us.”
The soldiers pawed over the new launchers, not having handled such powerful personal weapons before.
“We honestly don’t know how these will do against the Mechs. Choose your targets carefully, and use your ammunition wisely. Everyone happy?”
They all nodded, but they were excited and scared in equal measure.
“Make sure you all have your air tanks and masks. A breach isn’t ideal, but we have to be prepared for it. We are heading half a kilometre north where we will enter the colony below the Metro gym.”
Kelly watched them loading the last of their kit. It felt more as if they were preparing for a hunt than a battle. Perhaps that notion was what kept their morale up, and it was not something Kelly wished to compromise.
“Let’s move!”
He led the way down a broad tunnel. They weaved in and out of countless people who were going about their business. The previous day had seen their new underground homes as a miserable place, where the survivors of the colony lay about with little to do but grieve. Now every one had a job to do, and it was forcing them to move on. Kelly knew the food supplies delivered to them would only last a week for the masses of survivors living underground, but it was a vital first step.
“Why the gym?” asked Martinez.
“We need to keep varying our entry points onto the surface to not present a pattern to the enemy. I picked it randomly as we have not previously used the access point there. The truth is that all we need to do is find some of those bastards, and that won’t be hard once we reach the surface.”
Martinez knew all too well how widespread the enemy Mechs were. Fifteen minutes later, they reached the two ladders that led up to the surface building. Climbing in full gear was no fun for any of them, not least for Kelly. He wished he’d kept in better shape, but it was too late to worry about that now.
They lifted the hatches above that opened up into a dark storage basement for the highly successful and upmarket gym. Kelly panted as he hauled himself into the room and rested on one knee, trying to hide his fatigue. After a few seconds, he lifted the mappad hung around his neck. Nothing showed on his scanner. He turned and looked to see the last of the troops climbing in.
He moved forward to the head of the column. Their military training had taught them to work in smaller teams and with greater spacing, but this new enemy had changed their strategy massively. When meeting them, they needed maximum firepower at all times. The group of twenty-one kept close and alert as he led them up to the atrium of the fitness centre.
Soon after arriving at the ground floor of the building, Kelly got a reading on the mappad device. He lifted his arm, signalling that a target was showing at ten o’clock. They all tensed and lifted their weapons ready. The huge glass walls dividing the gym to the walkway had been blown out in a previous fight.
Kelly signalled for them to hold their fire. They needed to know the effectiveness of the new weapons before unleashing a volley of fire. The men at the front knelt down so they could all have a clear line of sight at the opening, just twenty metres ahead. They waiting silently as they could; listening to the heavy footsteps of the lumbering armoured Mech stomping towards them.
As he held the new launcher firmly at his shoulder, Kelly could feel his pulse racing and his heart pounding in his chest. Not so long ago, his wife had been warning him of the risk of a heart attack with all the stress he faced at his age. Now she was anxiously waiting in the makeshift dormitory blocks as he fought on the frontline.
Then it appeared, the ugly metal monster. It turned quickly when it caught sight of the soldiers. Before it could raise its huge energy weapon, the Commander fired a single round. The large projectile hit the Mech just off centre of what would be the chest armour of a human. Landing like the punch of a heavyweight boxer, the enemy soldier stumbled back a step but caught its balance.
Kelly could see that the impact had hurt the alien, but it was far from dead. It quickly regained its composure and tried to lift its weapon again to target them. He didn’t wait a second longer, quickly firing off two more shells. Each hit the creature square centre in its mass. The metal suit went limp, and whatever was inside collapsed onto the broken glass with a crash. The soldiers stared at their fallen enemy.
“Holy shit,” said Martinez.
Kelly turned to his number two with a smile. Finally, they had a chance.
Chapter 9
“General White, the report is in from Commander Kelly!” shouted Taylor.
He blurted out his words before he’d even got through the door of the Command Centre. The Generals immediately turned towards him. Any other time they would have disciplined him for his rudeness, but they were all more anxious to hear what he had to say than to how he told them.
“Speak, Major.”
“At twenty metres, a single round hurt the Mech bad, second and third finished it immediately!”
The Major had a broad grin on his face. He wasn’t just satisfied that he had been right about the weapons, but that it would be enough to get them distributed and put into action right away.
“That’s damn fine news, Major, good work! However, I must tell you that I have already ordered the release of all stores to be allocated to combat troops, and a further mass scale production to commence immediately.”
“Sir, I thought you were waiting on the combat report?”
“For final confirmation, Major, yes. In all honesty, we didn’t have time to wait for it, and we have all come to rely on you in these past days.”
The Major gasped, realising how much responsibility lay on his shoulders. If those weapons had gone into combat and cost lives, he could not have lived with himself.
“The United States will no longer stay out of the conflict in Europe. But our location and our allies are best served by a direct attack on the enemy. We are about to mount the greatest assault that has been seen in generations!”
