“Major! Come on!” shouted Friday.
The Captain’s words were utterly ignored as Taylor reached his fallen Sergeant and the only woman he’d truly loved. He threw his rifle around to his back and hauled her onto his shoulder. He had no idea if she was even alive but he would not risk leaving her even if there was no chance of her being saved.
Light pulses smashed into the wall behind the Major as Captain Friday returned fire with his rifle, doing his best to cover him. The shock of seeing Eleanor hit had sent such adrenaline pulsing through Mitch’s body that he had found a second wind. He stormed across the floor and into the corridor.
The entire company ran with all the energy they could muster. They reached the room where they had originally breached and found the Air Force pilots had smashed new holes in the hull allowing them to land at their level. They clambered aboard gratefully. Taylor laid Parker down in the seat next to him. He was oblivious to anything as he checked to see if she was breathing.
Captain Friday was the last aboard and barked at the pilot to get in the air the second he had a foot in the door. The pilot lifted off and immediately spun the craft around speeding off westerly. Captain Friday watched as many of the other ships desperately tried to escape, many were destroyed in the process.
Pulling out his datapad, Taylor quickly checked a few details before running up to the cockpit.
“Glad you made it, Major!” shouted the pilot.
“Lieutenant, you have new orders, I want you to take us to these co-ordinates!”
He thrust the datapad forward for the pilot to see, but the man looked confused and uneasy.
“Sir, I have orders to evac you immediately back to base.”
“I have a Sergeant in there who is dying, there’s a British destroyer north of here that you can reach in half the time!”
“Sir, I have my orders.”
Taylor snatched his pistol from its holster and placed it up against the pilot’s head. He froze in shock.
“Lieutenant, this is not optional!”
Captain Friday stepped up also in shock.
“Sir, what are you doing?”
“Stay out of this, Friday!”
The Captain knew better than to interfere with Mitch. His superior had also become his friend over the years. No matter how crazy an idea was, he’d learnt to trust Taylor under any circumstances.
“Lieutenant, get us there, now!”
“Alright, alright!”
It was a relatively short journey to the British destroyer HMS Battleaxe. Everyone aboard knew that Taylor was directly contravening the orders of their command, but not one of them had the heart to stop him. The other craft carrying his company were quick to follow suit, having every confidence in their leader even without knowing his intentions.
The surviving marines of D Company dropped onto the deck of the carrier. Their pilots refused to land with them, returning as ordered to base. Of the one hundred and nine of the company who had got off the enemy island, they carried only eight wounded. They had left seventy-one marines dead in the hellish alien hulk. ‘Leave no man behind’ was an ideal they could no longer afford to adhere to.
The British Navy and Marine crew were shocked to see their American counterparts, but eager to assist. Some rushed to help the few wounded, though most stood in shock at the distressed state in which the soldiers were. Taylor carried Parker immediately to the medical bay as Captain Friday reported to the ship’s Captain who came out to greet them. The Royal Naval Captain gasped upon news that they were a company upon seeing their numbers.
Taylor burst into the doctor’s medical bay. The Doctor reeled at the sight of the fully armoured and armed marine crashing unto his impeccably clean and kept room.
“Doc, this marine needs your help right now!”
Chapter 10
Charlie looked out through the windows at the French scenery below. He’d become well accustomed to recognising it from the air. He could see enemy Mechs and tanks rolling down the roads. They were approaching the base at Rennes, though they were not slowing or dropping altitude. He watched as the base came into sight. It was nearly empty, with the last few vehicles rolling out and heading east.
Getting up out of his seat the Captain strode forward to the pilot’s cockpit, as much to talk to them as to see easterly.
“Thought we were heading for Rennes?”
“No, Sir! The enemy are closing in fast. They are closing in on Le Mans from the south as well. All forces are being directed to Paris!”
“My, God, it’s come to this already?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Jones staggered back to his seat, he could not believe what he was hearing. Now he was beginning to understand why they had been left to defend Brest. The situation had been far worse than they had realised. Their defence likely delayed the enemy by many hours, perhaps even a day.
The transports that had made it out of Brest finally put down in a public park not far from the centre of Paris. They were not greeted by a crowd or even ground crews. As Jones jumped out he saw that Brigadier Dupont and Commander Phillips were waiting for them with no more than a dozen soldiers. Buses were waiting to take the wounded to a nearby hospital. The survivors of Brest left the craft but had little idea what to do with themselves until finally the Brigadier climbed onto the back of a small truck and got onto a loudhailer.
“Welcome back, all of you! I would like to personally extend my gratitude to all of you that have made it, as well as the many more who were not so lucky. A lot was asked of you over the last few days, and I am sorry for your losses. However, I cannot be sorry for the task you did. You have saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of people!”
No one responded to the Brigadier, they were too stunned and traumatised from their experiences.
“As much as I would wish you all to have adequate rest and leave, we are in a state of war. The enemy approaches Paris in vast numbers. We will need your courage and strength once again in the coming days. For now I ask that you rest easy here. I will see to it that everything you need is brought to you. Please rest and await further orders, that’s all.”
Saunders turned to his Captain, angry at the speech they had just heard.
“Wow, we go through hell and that’s the thanks we get!”
“If you wanted thanks you shouldn’t have joined the army, we did what we had to.”
Jones was relieved to see trucks arrive with food and water. There was little that could help them feel better at that moment, but that was it.
“Captain! Come with me!” shouted Chandra.
The Captain sighed, he was just about to sit down. He stretched his body as he walked, aching from the days of fighting. He walked up to a meeting of the surviving officers with Commander Phillips, the Brigadier was already leaving the scene on his personal truck.
“Any ideas on numbers?” asked Phillips.
“Not exactly. However, I estimate about three thousand troops entered Brest, I think little more than three hundred made it out.”
“Christ, we can’t afford those losses!”
“Yes, Sir. How is the rest of the division doing?”
Most fell back after the defeat at the coast. We fought running battles all the way to Rennes where we finally made some headway. Casualties average maybe thirty percent of the division, a damn sight better off than your para boys.”
“Sir, I think we have enough to amalgamate into a single company.”
The Commander shook his head.
“Do it! Paris is becoming the number one priority. Infantry and Armoured Divisions are setting up on the west and southern perimeter. We’ve got maybe a day until they hit us. Emergency shelters are en route, I suggest you all get some kip.”
“Major?” asked the Doc.
Taylor was hunched in a chair outside the medical room with his head in his hands. He shot up in hope of hearing some good news.