“Forwards!”
She raised her weapon towards their enemies, screaming with all the power of her lungs. Taylor’s face lit up in a frenzy as he leapt from the ruined vehicle. They fired on the move as they had done before. Only two of their Company fell, one wounded and one killed. Taylor rushed to the flank of an advancing enemy tank and drew out his assegai. He thrust it into the side door mechanism and cut through the lock like butter.
Chandra watched as Taylor sheathed the assegai and ripped the door from its hinges while it continued forward. He lifted his rifle and put the barrel through the opening, firing into the compartment with a bloodthirsty grin on his face and his teeth clenched. She could tell he was enjoying dealing out death; she was only glad he had vented his anger on the enemy and not their Generals.
Two hours later, they stood at the heart of a burning battlefield. The bodies of allied soldiers littered the fields; only outnumbered by the debris and wreckage of the Krycenaean forces that had been mauled on the open plain. Chandra eventually found Taylor once again. The marine Major had enemy blood trickling down his face and staining his uniform.
She knew that Jones was not the same man she used to know, but neither was Taylor. Jones had a death wish, but Taylor was hungry for blood. He smiled as he panted and scooped in the stale air. Cries of excitement continued down the allied lines. The only words they could make out were ‘Immortals!’ being screamed en mass.
“We’ve done it, broken the cycle,” said Chandra.
“You think that’ll be enough for the brass?” asked Taylor.
“Well, we didn’t exactly stick to the plan, but fuck ‘em. No one can doubt what we have achieved here today.”
“Why should it stop? We’ve got them on the run, so let’s keep moving forward and finish them!”
Chandra stepped up closer to the Major and whispered.
“All in good time, let’s savour what we have and re-group.”
Taylor’s wide eyes settled as he calmed himself. He knew she was right and was starting to see the brutal and bloodthirsty hunger within him that he didn’t like. He hunched his shoulders down in shame and looked away from Chandra. She grabbed him, stopping him from walking away.
“Hey! You’ve done a great job here today, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If Schulz wants to bitch about it, then tough shit!”
Taylor smiled, but it wasn’t his concern at all. Confinement had made him a little crazy, and he could already see in himself a part of the emptiness he’d witnessed in Jones. He ridiculed himself in his mind for comparing his hardship with that of the Captain. He sat down on top of the torso of a fallen Mech. Gunfire continued to rage all around as the rest of the human armies drove the Mechs back. He watched in amazement as he could see the creatures in the distance turn tail and flee.
Captain Jones strolled up to the Major with his weapon slung on his back and not a care in the world. Blood still stained his clothes and skin. He looked out at the enemy with a frenzied look. Taylor felt like he should have a witty comment for Jones, but he knew it would be lost on the dire Captain. Chandra rushed back to them.
“Come on! What are you stopping for! Let’s drive these bastards back to hell!”
Jones wrenched his rifle from his back and eagerly stepped forward at the idea of further bloodshed. Taylor yawned as he stood up and wished for it all to be over. He turned to see Parker. He’d barely spoken a word to her since his rescue. Her face was filthy, but her teeth shone through with a dreamy smile. It was a vivid reminder of what he was fighting for.
“Come on, Major, we’ve got work to do,” she whispered.
He turned back and watched as Chandra and Jones led the Company into the flank of the enemy, firing as they ran. His fatigue suddenly seeped away as he got his second wind and leapt into action. For all the fear and dread the enemy caused, they were now being slaughtered in a turkey shoot like none of them had ever seen.
An hour later, they stood on the bloody plain with the enemy utterly vanquished. Taylor looked out towards the tree line and could see the rest of their forces had halted at the sight of the destruction. Chandra felt a warmth in her stomach that their foes were being made to suffer as they had. Now they can know what it is like to live in fear, she thought.
Chapter 9
Taylor sat once again upon the battlefield surrounded by the dead of both sides Have we broken them? Soldiers passed him with smiles and patted each other on the back for a job well done. He felt a new kind of hope, like he’d not felt since the beginning. It was a hope so long forgotten that it felt entirely alien to him.
A column of vehicles approached from the east and he could already make out stars on the bonnet of one of the armoured cars. General Schulz coming to claim his victory, thought Taylor. Chandra paced up to him with a smile which quickly turned to scorn when she saw the incoming vehicles.
“Ahh shit,” she exclaimed.
“Yep, no peace,” he replied.
“You’re gonna have to take this lightly. Schulz has let you off the hook, but he will be quick to anger, so no macho bullshit, okay?”
“That an order?”
“You’re damn right it is. The last thing we need is to lose valuable members of this Company over some stupid pissing contest.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got you.”
Taylor watched nonchalantly as the impeccably clean vehicles rumbled into view, and General Schulz jumped triumphantly onto the battlefield. He spun around with a huge smile as he looked at the success they had won, and reached out to shake the hands of all the soldiers he passed. He stepped up towards Chandra and quickly noticed Taylor sat down beside her. At first his face turned to scorn, and he tried to ignore the American Major, but he knew it would be in vain.
“Major Chandra, what is this new equipment I see?”
“Doctor Reiter wished to field test new equipment, and we did it for him.”
“Fascinating.”
He turned to look down at Taylor and knew he must do something to smoothen over their hatred of each other. Chandra’s Company was invaluable to him, and Taylor was an important part of that.”
“Major Taylor, I see that you and this war are inseparable.”
Taylor looked up at the General with a tired and uninterested expression.
“That seems to be my curse.”
“You must understand that I never wanted to have to punish and detain you, but neither can I have my army running amok. The chain of command must be adhered to.”
Taylor nodded, as he had nothing left to say. He’d never stop hating the General for his spineless response to the captured soldiers, and his subsequent incarceration for doing the right thing.
“Damn good work here, Major Chandra. Get some rest. The first issue of Reitech equipment is going operational this evening. Tomorrow we push on into France!”
He waited for an enthusiastic response from the Major, but it never came. The thought of returning to the lands where they had been so badly mauled did not appeal one bit.
“We’ll be ready, Sir.”
“I am sure you will,” he said with a smile.
The General turned back and shouted out words of praise to the troops as he returned to his vehicle, to be spirited away to the life of comforts he rarely left. Taylor lay with his head in his hands. His return to the Company hadn’t been all that he’d envisaged. Friday was gone, and Jones seemed to be a different man altogether. Boots squelched in the mud, and he saw Parker looking down on him. Her smile was enough to make him forget it all. They had one night to spend together before the fighting continued.
“Major, Major!” shouted Blinker, rushing along the lines of popup tents where they had spent the night. Chandra stood beside a kettle awaiting her coffee while Taylor sat down next to her cleaning his rifle. She turned casually to see what the fuss was about, but showed little enthusiasm. The rain hadn’t let up overnight, and it was a soggy and bleak start to the day. The Private rushed up to Chandra and didn’t wait for her to answer before continuing.