Commander Kelly turned slowly around in his chair. He no longer expected good news and was therefore careful to gather up his hopes. He glared at the Private as if the cheery man had somehow broken the mood; a mood so miserable and dire that one might wish they were already dead. Doyle slid to attention before the two officers and made a quick and ill disciplined salute. He could barely contain himself and looked as if he was going to explode.
“What is it, Private?” insisted Kelly.
“They’re leaving, Sir, by the bucket load!” he balled.
The room suddenly turned all attention on the excited man. For a moment, the people within it felt a spark of hope.
“What are you talking about?” asked Martinez with a doubtful tone.
Kelly leapt to his feet. He prayed for good news but knew it sounded too good to be true.
“Come on, Doyle, spit it out,” Kelly shouted.
Doyle finally opened his mouth and blurted out his message.
“The enemy ships are leaving. Taking off all over the surface!”
The Commander spun around on the spot and turned to Lewis, who was sat at his makeshift console with cables hanging out all over the place, and multiple screens balanced across what furniture and mounts he could scavenge. Kelly didn’t need to ask any questions. The communications officer was already slaving away at his station to corroborate Doyle’s news that seemed unbelievable.
Several dozen soldiers waited silently for further news. They anxiously wanted to believe that Doyle was correct.
“Come on, come on…” whispered Martinez.
Lewis spun around in his chair and stared up at the Commander with a bewildered expression. For a moment he could not speak, and Kelly already knew the answer. A smile widened across his face before the man had even opened his mouth.
“He’s right, Sir. They’re leaving!”
A hail of excitement burst out as claps and whistles echoed around the room. Kelly took a few paces closer, so Lewis could hear him.
“Where are they going?”
Lewis turned back to his monitors and carefully studied the data. He swivelled back around in his chair with yet more surprise in his face.
“They’re heading for Earth…”
Kelly smashed his hand down on the table rocking the consoles.
“Yes!” he screamed.
The deep booming roar from their Commander caused the room to go silent, and all attention to turn on him. Kelly could see new life in the eyes of all those around him. They had resigned themselves to fighting to the very last man and woman, but now there was hope.
“The enemy occupiers are departing for Earth. This can only mean one thing!” he bellowed.
Silence still filled the room. None of them had heard Lewis’ last comment and had been too busy celebrating to care.
“They underestimated the human race! Earth forces are giving them hell, and they must be re-directing everything they have to get down there. The Earthers have given us an opportunity. Their blood and sacrifice may give us all the opening we need to take back our lands!”
Cheers rang out once again as further troops flooded in from the nearby corridors. Kelly turned back to Lewis who was mesmerised by the news.
“Lieutenant, open all channels.”
Lewis stared at him in a daze for a moment, finally snapping out of it and turning back to his console. Seconds later, the Commander saw the lights fire up to signify an open channel.
“This is Commander Kelly. Alien forces are leaving our colony. We are not free of occupation. We still have a long way to go, but hope is once again with us. I repeat. Alien forces are leaving our colony in substantial number.”
Rave applause echoed through the corridors as the colony’s survivors burst into celebration. A Chinese officer rushed into the room with a broad smile on his face.
“Commander, has this news being verified?” he asked.
“Colonel Chen, we have just had visual confirmation. The tide just turned in this war.”
“My Battalion is ready and awaiting your orders, Commander.”
Kelly knew the Chinese troops were eager to get into action since they arrived the week before. They were the only soldiers to come to the aid of the Lunar colony since Taylor’s mission to rescue the Prime Minister.
“Thank you, Colonel.”
He turned back to the microphone to talk to the survivors of the colony.
“All units are to be ready for combat within the hour. Be patient, be strong, and be ready. The time is almost upon us to take back our homes, over and out.”
He nodded for Lewis to stop the transmission and turned to Martinez and Chen. Martinez would never have liked giving up any authority or command to an Earth dweller, but now he would take any help he could get.
“I want to know those bastards have gone for good. I have no doubt they have left more than enough troops here to not make our life easy, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As soon as we are confident that all who are going have left, and they are entering the Earth’s atmosphere, it is our time to strike.”
“You think we can do it this time?” asked Martinez.
“I think we have a damn good chance. We’ll do this systematically. Corridor by corridor until we occupy all that is underground. I know we want the surface back, but we have to do it with caution.”
“Agreed,” replied Chen confidently.
“We are thankful of your support, Colonel, but you are likely to be the only help we see for some time, and we cannot afford to throw lives away. We paid a high price the last time we tried to move forward, so let’s do this right. Both of you ready our troops. Remind them of what we are fighting for, and the price of failure.”
“Go, go, go!” roared Chandra.
She could barely hear her own voice over the deafening explosions tearing through the base. She flinched as one struck a transport plane, and it burst into a thick ball of black smoke. Debris scattered across the ground between them and smashed into the rooftops of their billets. The Company rushed from their accommodation, desperately trying to pull on their equipment as they scurried out towards the trenches.
“So much for a rest!” shouted Hall.
“You can rest when you’re dead, Corporal!” she barked.
Silva rushed to the Major’s side with a look of bewilderment on his face. The troops of the Inter-Allied Company had been taking a much-needed spate of rest and had settled in for a few quiet card games and naps.
“What the fuck is going on, Major?” he hastily asked.
“The whole fucking Krycenaean army is advancing from Saarbrucken!”
“My God, then this wait was all about massing forces for a push?”
“Looks that way, follow my lead. We’re heading for Gate B to the west, and we have to hold!”
“I don’t see we have any other choice, Major,” he replied despondently.
She nodded with a pained grin and turned quickly, beckoning for the nearest troops to follow her. As she ran with her body held low, she could see troops and vehicles all over the base in an absolute frenzy, and as many were heading to the front line as were fleeing from it. She darted from building to building to cover the five hundred metres between them and the perimeter of the base.
Chandra could not see the front line through the scattered troops, vehicles and dust. As they grew nearer, she gained some visibility, gasping as she saw trees collapsing under the weight of the enemy tanks that were breaching the thick forest.
“Into the trenches now!” she cried.
They continued to rush forward as explosions burst all round them, and they felt the immense heat of the artillery pulses rush past. She sprinted across the open ground between the last of the buildings and the first trenches. The Major hoped her comrades were close behind, but she could no longer pause to think about it. She jumped and rolled into the closest trench, nearly knocking herself out as she landed hard in the floor beside a Russian officer.