“What do we do, Sir?” asked Hall.
“Get the rest of the platoon out here, and start fucking shooting! We can’t let them continue!”
The Corporal spun around and barked with the same ferocity as his Major had.
“Move your fucking asses and get up there! The Major is under fire!”
Taylor leaned out and took a few quick shots but was under too much pressure from enemy pulses to make any targeted fire. Hall leapt from the doors and rushed a few metres forward with his head hunkered down until he could leap into cover behind the next rib of the corridor. Just as he got to the cover, a pulse smashed the rim of the rib and blew a football-sized chunk from the side. Hall gasped as the debris burst past, realising how close he had come to death.
Another six soldiers got into the corridor and started laying down fire. It finally freed Taylor up to take some aimed shots. His next two rounds went directly through the faceplate of one of the Mechs and killed it instantly.
“How many do you count?” Taylor shouted to Hall.
“I guess about another six!”
“We need this dealt with! If we don’t get to the CP soon, this could all be over!”
He turned to the other troops still huddled in the doorway.
“I want you to get out here and lay down concentrated fire on my go!”
The two at the front nodded in agreement. There was no fear in their eyes, and he was glad to see that they trusted him completely.
“Now!”
Three of the soldiers leapt out from the corridor, and Taylor immediately jumped up from his cover and began firing rapidly. They were quickly joined by others as the corridor was flooded with fire. The enemy before them disappeared into a cloud of sparks and smoke. A few last flashes burst from their weapons, and Taylor felt the burn as they rushed past nearby, but he kept on firing. At last, he could tell the opposition had stopped.
“Hold your fire!”
He rushed forward as the dust settled to find that the Mechs were all but finished. One struggled about on the ground, trying to get to its feet but was clearly mortally wounded. Taylor lifted his rifle and put a single shot into its faceplate. The creature dropped to the deck with a heavy crash, and once more the corridor was silent. Taylor turned to see one of their own was on the ground with another giving assistance. He rushed back to the position to see that the man was still conscious.
The man had been struck by a pulse that had clipped his hip just beneath his torso armour. He grimaced in pain but remained silent. It was clear he was in a lot of pain.
“You’ll be okay, but we cannot stop for anything.”
“Go, I’ll be fine,” he replied.
The field medic at his side nodded in agreement and lifted up the man’s rifle from the floor, thrusting it into his hands.
“You make sure you nail any alien bastard that comes this way, you hear?” insisted Taylor.
“You got it, Sir,” he replied, hoisting the rifle up into both hands.
Taylor looked to the others around him and could see they were appalled at having to leave one of their own behind. He hated himself doing it, but he diverted that hatred to their enemy for forcing his hand.
“Let’s move!”
They quickly got up to pace and were well on their way to the CP when they heard a hail of gunfire beneath them on the next level down. Taylor stopped for a moment, knowing it would be their friends and comrades in action. He knew they could not assist, but for a second he considered it. The looks on the faces of the troops around him showed they all shared the same concern.
“They can handle themselves, just as we can,” he mused quietly to those closest. He continued onwards and quickly came upon a fight close to the CP. In the corridor were four bodies of Perera’s troops, and clearly the rest had beaten a hasty retreat against overwhelming numbers. Only two Mechs lay dead around them.
“Fuck, this must have been bad.”
“God damn idiot, I told him to stand his ground,” Taylor caught a glimpse of movement up ahead and looked up to see a Mech stroll past at the end of the corridor, firing as it did.
“Christ this is a total cluster fuck. Let’s clean this up!”
He strode forward with his rifle held low and forwards, ready to blast the nearest foe he could find. They got within just fifty metres of the CP when they came up on the flank of an enemy force that was besieging the dug in MDF soldiers. Taylor lifted his hand to call them to a halt.
“They’ve not noticed us yet, so fortune is on our side if we move quickly. We do not stop until we are on top of them, you hear?”
Hall nodded and turned to see the nearest of them had too. It was enough to keep the momentum going. Taylor nodded to confirm to go ahead and was first in line heading to towards the enemy at a quick jogging pace. A few moments later, he opened fire and kept it up without slowing.
The five men at the head of the platoon fired relentlessly as they continued forward at a quick pace. Three of the creatures were killed by the time Mitch had emptied his magazine. Without slowing his pace, he hit the release catch, and slammed in a fresh magazine. He was back on the trigger within a second of the first round being chambered.
They had caught the unit of Mechs utterly by surprise, and it was clear the friendly troops they had been assaulting had seized the opportunity to brutalise their attackers. The Mech position was hit by a barrage of fire. Still Taylor did not slow his pace and ran right up to the last creature, firing repeatedly at it. Finally, he dropped his rifle so that it slung to his side and drew out his Assegai. He leapt up onto the beast and thrust the weapon down through its armour into its head. The beast collapsed down with him still holding on.
The fire had stopped and all had frozen in amazement at the brutality and unwavering determination of Taylor. He stood up and drew his weapon from the beast. Upon seeing the thick dark blood dripping from the blade, he spat on the body of the creature in disgust.
He looked up just in time to see Perera turn and rush back towards the CP. Some of his men followed, but the others were still in shock and staring at the Major.
“Where the fuck’s he going?”
They looked at him in silence.
“Where?”
“He’s gone for those alien bastards we caught.”
“Why? What’s he gonna do?”
The soldier shrugged his shoulders, but it was clear Perera was going to do what they wanted to.
“For fuck sake, with me, now!”
Taylor barged through the MDF soldiers and continued on in an angry stride that no one dared confront. He passed through a line of Kelly’s guards and rushed on through to the holding chamber. He burst through the door to find eight MDF soldiers inside. Perera had a handgun pointed at Demiran’s head and was yelling at him.
“Tell your fucking soldiers to fall back! Tell them now!”
The alien sat confidently on the bench where Taylor had last seen him. He had a defiant look upon his face, in spite of the weapon pointed between his eyes.
“Lieutenant!” Taylor shouted.
The man flinched and turned his head quickly at the voice of the man he had come to fear, but he kept the weapon raised.
“Put the gun down!”
The Lieutenant mumbled as he tried to respond, but Taylor just shouted again which made shudder.
“Stand down, Lieutenant! Demiran’s survival could be why we’re still standing!”
Perera looked conflicted, and in that moment, one of Demiran’s guards leapt forward and struck the Lieutenant, causing the gun to fly across the room. He took another step to continue the onslaught, but Taylor leapt in amongst them. He drove a heavy kick into the creature’s flank. It crumpled just enough for him to throw it off balance with a heavier barge.
The two other creatures were already on their feet, but with so many rifles trained on them, they didn’t dare move. Perera got to his feet and spat out blood. His nose was broken but not so much as his pride. He stumbled over and snatched up his pistol from the floor. He quickly trained it on the fallen creature as Demiran and the other guard watched.