“This is my fight. I came here to end this.”
“No, we came here to end this. You can’t fight him alone,” she pleaded.
“You find a way out of here, Sergeant, and that’s an order! I’ll finish this, one way or another.”
Tears once again streamed from her eyes as she realised Taylor had already accepted that he would die there.
“I told you to go, move!” he yelled.
She lowered her rifle and moved across to the left corridor of the intersection. She looked back one last time to see Taylor and Karadag staring each other down, waiting for the other to make a move. She finally continued onwards and prayed for it all to be over.
“We’re getting fucked here!” yelled Blinker.
Energy pulses smashed into the walls and floor all around their positions as they tried their best to return fire against the increasing Mech forces.
“Just keep firing, Private! We have to give Taylor as much time as we can!” ordered Chandra.
Monty leapt up to take a shot, but as he did, a pulse smashed into his shoulder and threw him back behind the cover. She watched in horror as smoke poured from his body armour, and she could see shards of hot metal burning into the skin of his face. He let out a cry in agony as his brother reached his side, hauling him in against the counter they were using for cover.
“You’re okay! You’re okay!” he screamed.
He hadn’t even looked at the extent of his brother’s wounds, but he knew the fact he was breathing was to be considered a rarity after taking a hit from the enemy weapons. He looked down to see that his brother’s armour had taken the worst of the impact, but the round had burnt a chunk out of his neck and collar and top of his shoulder.
“Jesus Christ!” cried Blinker.
Chandra wasn’t sure if the Private was yelling in concern for his brother or thankful that he had survived the impact. She lifted herself up and continued to fire. She could see yet more Mechs flooding into the vast room, more than they could handle alone.
Taylor leapt into a sprint and rushed at his opponent. He had seen Karadag’s fondness for voiding right against incoming attacks and fully calculated it into his first attack. As he approached with his shield high, the enemy leader rolled just as he had predicted. Taylor dug his heels in and used the power of his suit to re-direct with a quick spin to his left and smashed the shield in Karadag. The alien was caught off balance and tumbled over onto his face.
The remaining guard lifted his weapon to aid his stricken leader, but automatic fire ripped through the intersection and dropped the creature before it could get off a round. Taylor turned to see Eli stood at the corridor entrance with a smoking gun. He smiled in return; she truly was everything he could have ever wanted. As she acknowledged his appreciation, Karadag pulled out a throwing dagger and launched it at the Sergeant.
She responded quickly by lifting her weapon as she spun, and the huge blade embedded in her rifle. She held it up to see that the blade had penetrated right the way through and had come within a few centimetres of her face. She threw the weapon down and glared at the creature with scorn. Taylor watched as Eli drew out her assegai and looked at Karadag with the same contempt and disgust that he shared.
Taylor smiled yet further. He already knew that they were now unstoppable. Parker rushed forward aggressively and leapt towards the beast. Taylor jumped in beside her and thrust forward with his weapon. Karadag frantically cut across his body and parried the two weapons and spun with a hard swing against Taylor. He lifted his shield at the last moment, and the huge two-handed blade crashed into the thick metal.
Mitch felt the impact through his entire body and was only thankful that the exoskeleton suit saved his body from crumpling. The impact had carved a deep groove into the shield with a channelled dent that surrounded it. Taylor could already tell that it had buckled. He pushed upwards with the shield and drove his sword up towards the beast’s torso.
Karadag kicked the Major’s arm aside and lifted to make a heavy vertical stride that would have smashed Taylor to the ground, but was interrupted by Eli. She jumped forward and hit Karadag with all her force behind the shield that sent him staggering back. She knew that such a strike would have killed a human being, but it only appeared to make him angrier.
The two marines stood awaiting their enemy’s next move, but he circled them and cautiously tried to search out their weaknesses.
“Major Taylor, why will you not just die?” he growled.
The deep booming voice echoed around the huge empty crossroads.
“I might well ask you the same question. We never wanted this war. We never came looking for you. Look what you have done. You want to systematically erase our species!”
“Yeeeeesss…” he replied.
Eli shook her head in disgust. He was proud of the fact.
“What are you doing with all these people here? Thousands of them…” she replied.
Karadag turned and looked down at her as if she was a lesser being, although it amused him to sicken her further with an answer.
“Those suitable are being re-programmed. They should make adequate soldiers in our armies.”
“What, humans? They’ll never fight for you!” she spat back.
Karadag let out a slow, deep bellowing laugh that was meant to insult her as much as it was for his own entertainment.
“Humans? All these thousands of years, and look how little distance you have come.”
“We seem to be kicking your ass well enough,” replied Taylor.
Karadag’s eyes lit up a fiery red as he screamed out and swung his huge weapon down against the Major. It was a careless and uncontrolled strike that he easily avoided, thrusting his assegai into the beast’s arm. Karadag gave out a short scream in pain before kicking Taylor in the chest and launching him across the room. He then turned his attention back on Eli as Taylor sighed in pain, trying to get some air back into his lungs.
“A woman in your army? Is that how little understanding you have? You accept weakness?”
She leapt and used her boosters to launch her into the air as she screamed and thrust for Karadag’s face. He parried it aside, but she continued the assault with a barrage of attacks as she descended. In her wild frenzy, she left herself open, and Karadag thrust the back shaft of his two-hander into her stomach, throwing her back. She tumbled along the floor until she came to a stop just two metres from where Taylor was struggling to get to his feet.
The two marines got up together and looked into each others’ eyes. It was in this moment that Taylor realised he didn’t want to die there. He nodded to Eli, and she could already see his thoughts.
“Let’s do this,” he stated.
They both turned and strode in time towards the arrogant alien leader. Parker parried his first strike as Taylor attacked, and they for the first time fought in harmony. Karadag could barely respond in time to the flurry of attacks, and they could see the worry in his eyes. In a panicked attacked, he cut down with all his force against Eli, but she parried with both hands supporting her shield. Taylor leapt forward and smashed the bottom edge of his shield onto Karadag’s leading knee.
The creature’s leg buckled under the power of the blow, and he fell down onto the injured joint. Eli jumped forward and thrust her assegai into his stomach. The brutal weapon pierced his armour without any resistance. His head lifted, and his jaw opened as he let out a screech in pain. He looked back down and lifted his weapon to try and strike, but Taylor thrust forward also.
Parker and Taylor pulled out their swords and continued to stab Karadag repeatedly as he dropped his sword, and they saw the energy in his eyes fade. He collapsed down heavily on the hard floor as pools of blood spread all around him. Eli breathed a sigh of relief, but Taylor paced forward and knelt down beside the head of the dying leader. Karadag spluttered as he tried to speak a few words.