“Major, the order has been sent out. We’re going forward across the border!”
She didn’t even look at the Private as he spouted out the news with such enthusiasm. She’d no stomach for returning to France; the land only conjured up memories of pain and suffering. The Major slowly stood up and stretched her legs, taking a sip from her mug as the Private watched in surprise at her lack of response.
“We’re going back, Major, taking back what we lost!”
She nodded slowly in response and finally replied.
“Relay the orders to Sergeant Silva, and have him form up the Company in fifteen.”
The Private turned to Taylor to look for any spark of joy at finally being on the winning side, but he found none. He sighed and rushed off to relay the orders in some hope of a response more pleasing. Chandra turned to Taylor who was waiting for her to speak.
“They have driven us back this far, you really think they’re going to give up France this easily?” she asked.
“Not a chance. I think we have hit them hard, and more than they could ever have expected. But to underestimate this enemy now would be a grave mistake. We stopped them before, at Paris, and Ramstein. Maybe this time is different, but it sure doesn’t feel like it yet.”
Within the hour, they were geared up and moving forwards across the war-torn lands still littered with the bodies of their enemies. They paced cautiously towards the forest edge where just the day before they had seen the enemy forces amassing. It was suspiciously quiet, but an hour later they had passed well into the undergrowth and found no sign of the Krycenaeans.
“You really think they are on the run?” whispered Parker.
“We’ve certainly bloodied their noses a little, who knows?” replied Taylor.
“Well that’s reassuring,” she snapped.
It wasn’t long before they reached the far side of the forest, and once again looked on at the Ramstein base. It seemed abandoned and peaceful. Chandra lifted her hand to stop the Company, beckoning for Taylor to come forward to her side.
“You think they’d leave a strategic point like this for us to just walk back and take?” she asked.
“No fucking way. No, I wouldn’t.”
“That’s what I thought.”
The two of them lifted their binoculars out and zoomed in to look at the positions ahead of them. Taylor was drawn to a small flicker of movement and a reflection as the sunrays bounced from a metal plate, but it was soon gone again.
“You see that?” he asked.
“Yeah, nothing human could have survived there.”
“It came from one of the eastern trenches.”
“Shit, you think they’re digging in?”
Taylor carefully studied the terrain once again.
“Would make sense. I think we’ve presented a tougher challenge than they thought possible. We starting to knock the bastards down in open ground, and it would only be logical for them to dig in.”
Chandra sighed.
“As much as it is good to know they are feeling the pressure, them digging in is the last thing we need.”
“Yeah, gonna be a real bitch.”
She turned to Silva.
“Sergeant, get me a line to HQ.”
Silva relayed the commands down the line. They still had to carry wired spindles as they advanced in order to remain in communication. They were a cumbersome and difficult means of contact, but they were already starting to get used to it. Before the radio had reached Chandra, she heard tank tracks rolling to the north. She turned to see a tank regiment advancing quickly in column towards the base without any regard for what may be within.
“God damn it, get me that radio now!”
“Fools, they’re gonna get themselves killed.”
Blinker rushed forward to the Major’s position with the portable radio and wires trailing behind him. She ripped the handset from the box and yelled her warning to the operator at the other end of the line, but it was already too late. A volley of light lashed out in the distance and tore through the first two tanks, destroying them instantly. They watched helplessly as the column spread out and tried to engage the enemy to little avail.
Half a dozen vehicles were reduced to burning hulks, and the others beat a hasty retreat. Taylor could see through his binoculars that they had little to show for their losses.
“God damn, they’re dug in hard!”
“Just like we were,” replied Chandra.
A call came down the handset for the Major.
“We’ve got enemy entrenched along the eastern perimeter of Ramstein, requesting immediate artillery support, over.”
“Roger that, fire support en route. Hold position until further notice, over.”
The Company lay quietly amongst the scrub just forward of the forest they had so recently departed. The foul lung-filling smoke from the friendly vehicles was quickly reaching them. They all could smell burning flesh in the thick smoke, and it was enough to make them want to vomit.
“We’re in for the long haul,” whispered Chandra.
The light on the field phone flashed, signalling an incoming call. She ripped the handset up to here ear.
“Major Chandra here.”
“Major, your company is ordered to dig in. You will have the appropriate equipment within the hour. Until that time, stay put.”
She signed in relief. As much as she didn’t like sitting around with nothing to do, facing the entrenched enemy was a frightening proposition. She found a fallen tree and sat down on it without a care in the world. She was confident they were out of the enemy’s range, but to the rest of the troops it looked like a defiant statement.
“Dig in? I thought this was our big push?”yelled Taylor.
“We can’t run onto their guns,” she replied.
Taylor sighed and spat into the mud beside them.
“After all this, we’re being stopped by our own tactics?”
“Adapt to the enemy, isn’t that what we have been doing?”
Taylor strutted back and forth with frustration until he stopped at the sight of Jones. The Captain stood out in front of them all. He stood tall and also without a care in the world. He was fixated by the glimmer of enemy movement in the trenches far off into the distance. It was as if he longed to engage them in battle. Mitch turned back to Chandra, who had noticed the Captain but chosen to ignore it.
“He isn’t right… Jones,” stated Taylor.
Chandra ignored the comment and stared ahead.
“He isn’t the same man we used to know. I am not even sure he should be in combat.”
She finally turned and looked with scorn at Taylor.
“I’d have Jones beside us if he was just half the man he used to be. None of us are the people we used to be, and never will be again,” she whispered.
Thirty minutes later their trench diggers arrived, and as the sun faded on the horizon, they sat quietly on the firing shelves. They had quickly become accustomed to long waits and cold wet nights spent below ground. Taylor and Chandra sat either side of the base of their trench with their rifles propped up and out of the way. They both knew they were far from any combat.
“Is there no way this war can end without the total destruction of one side?” asked Chandra.
“I don’t believe so. We have seen the evil inside those creatures and their disregard for life. I…I have looked into their eyes and tried to reason.”
Taylor went silent.
“Karadag… you told me about him after Poitiers. You saw him again, didn’t you?”
Taylor looked at her with a fiery hatred and fear in his eyes.
“How did he survive the nuke?” she asked.
Taylor shook his head in disbelief.
“I just don’t know, but I pray none of us have to face him again.”
Taylor couldn’t speak anymore of the enemy leader. He had filled his thoughts since the night he was nearly beaten to death by the sadistic alien. He wanted payback, but the thought of encountering the beast again made him doubt he would survive the experience. He looked up to see Parker sitting on the ledge of the trench a few metres away.