"Bugger."
They had entered into range. Taylor looked down the trench, and the troops were almost shoulder-to-shoulder.
"Fire!" he yelled.
The six guns fired almost in perfect synchronisation. He looked through his binoculars to see one smashed by the fire with two holes having direct hits on the centre of its hull. The other vehicle seemed to brush off the fire and kept moving.
"Shit," he whispered to himself. "Reload!"
The crews were already well ahead of him.
"All fire to be directed on previous target."
The first enemy tanks opened fire and pulses smashed into the ground before and after Taylor's trench.
"Fire!"
The salvo struck the enemy tank, five out of the six shots landed, crippling the vehicle immediately. Smoke belched from its cracked hull.
"Reload and fire in your own time."
Two more of the enemy vehicles fell soon after, but they were now within a kilometre of the trenches and showed no signs of stopping. The intensity of the bombardment was increasing, and dozens of casualties were being reported in the nearby positions alone.
"God save us if they reach here," said Jones.
Taylor pulled out one of the magnetic charges, but it seemed a near hopeless situation if it came to the point of using it. He hunkered down to the trench edge and held the mine ready to deploy. The ground began to shake as they approached.
"Five hundred metres!" warned Jones.
Then their hearts almost stopped as lights flashed to the east, and the cannon fire rang out. Taylor could see a tank regiment approaching and firing with everything they had. He turned back to the battlefield. Half a dozen enemy vehicles were smashed beyond recognition in the initial salvo. Cheers rang out across the trench lines as the enemy advance ground to a halt.
The battle raged on for two hours amongst the armour. They could do little but appreciate the cover they had inherited and hunker down to wait for it all to be over. By midnight, all had gone quiet, and both sides began to settle in till morning. It was just half an hour into the peacefulness when Jones got out his stove and began to brew up. Taylor smiled as he propped himself up against a trench wall nearby. The excitement of the initial attack was over. For once they had gotten it easy.
"Jafar thinks they'll be falling back through the night," he said.
"I would if I were them. They must have spread themselves thin over thousands of kilometres of shoreline. We're closing in on them now. They must know the end is in sight."
"And yet they still came. They came to Earth with too little, too late," replied Taylor.
"They didn't come for a stand up fight at all, remember. They're trying to survive us, not the other way around."
It was true, and for the first time Taylor was starting to realise how scared they must be, just as they had been in the first war.
"I want Demiran before this is over."
"You and the rest of the world, Mitch."
"No, he's rightfully ours. I want to see that son of a bitch bleed, and I want to see him die at the hands of one of ours."
"We usually get pushed to the front, so there's a good chance of it."
"Chance? That’s not good enough."
"There is a way of finding him."
The two of them were shocked to hear Jafar's voice. It came from up over the trench into the darkness that divided them from the enemy. He jumped down from the edge into the trench. They were both glad his abilities were put to good use with them, as he was a league apart from the regular Mech infantry.
"Go on," said Taylor.
"I know the way he thinks, and I know the way he plans. If I could get a view of their positions, in maybe just an hour or two, I'd know."
"But they must surely be moving constantly."
"If you could get me overhead of the K'til and the positions they have setup there, I could identify Demiran's location by morning."
"But how long would he be wherever you find him?" asked Jones.
"A day, maybe two."
"It could be enough."
"We can't move anywhere without orders."
"Armoured divisions will be heading north at first light. Our job here is done. We'll be heading southeast to take on the main force," replied Taylor.
"Well, probably, but not like we know for sure."
"Sure enough," he said, turning to Jafar.
"So with a little time of aerial surveillance, you reckon you can find him?"
Jafar nodded.
"I can't get you much. Rains is probably crazy enough for it, and one of the only pilots who would do so without asking questions."
"Mitch, you're treading on dangerous ground here, very dangerous.”
“What are we doing here? We came here to end Demiran and rid our world of the enemy. What if we could do that in a day, or a week?”
“Then we take it to Phillips, who will take it to those who have the authority to make that happen. I was reckless once, and you know that almost cost me my life. Don’t do this alone.”
“I’m not doing it alone. I’m asking you to come with me, all of you. We find where Demiran is, and take this brigade right for him.”
“The numbers don’t add up. We can’t take on the might of their entire armies.”
“We won’t. We’re going for Demiran. Just him.”
Jones shook his head realising Taylor would not be swayed.
“Get Rains down here. I want that information before first light.”
Jones had to accept it because no matter what, he would support his friend. In little over an hour, Jafar was lifting off aboard the copter. The rest lay in their trenches and waited. There was no sign of the enemy that night, only the sound of the odd trade of fire between the armour ahead of them.
“Tomorrow we’ll be ordered south to take on Demiran’s main forces around the K’til.”
“And you intend to speed up that process, Mitch?” Charlie asked.
Parker had been sitting with them for a while, and she joined the conversation.
“And an opportunity to end Demiran’s life. When we killed Karadag, they were beaten,” Taylor said.
“I didn’t say he didn’t need to die. If I thought it were that easy, I’d be all for it. But we are one Battalion. Even if we could get the rest of the Brigade aboard, it’ll be crazy odds.”
“The rest of the Brigade will follow, Charlie. They will follow because it’s us. Our reputation means to a lot to them, and I bet it means a lot to Demiran too.”
“What do you mean?” asked Parker. “Oh, no, no, no, no. You want to draw him out. You want to bait him with the great champions who killed his kin. You’re more crazy than I thought.”
“And why not? He wants a piece of me. I want a piece of him. Can’t we settle this properly?”
“If he could, he’d order you killed in a heartbeat.”
“No he won’t. He won’t because he has too much pride for that. He came to destroy this world through bitter hatred. The only thing he hates just as much is me. He knows who I am.”
“Wait, this isn’t what I signed up for,” replied Parker.
“No, you signed up to the Marine Corps, to do your duty,” snapped Taylor.
“And what if you’re wrong?” she asked.
“Then we fight on no matter. Our armies are heading for the K’til. All this can do is accelerate that path. Who knows what they could be planning? A lightning attack to bring this to a close is exactly what we need.”
“And what do you believe will happen to the hundreds of thousands of Mechs if and when you do kill Demiran?” asked Jones.
“I bet their number isn’t what it was when they got here. Without him, they’d scatter. Those who could will probably leave Earth on any ships still operational. Though they probably won’t make it past our grid and Navy. The rest will scatter across the continent and be mopped up in time.”
“Are you that confident that the death of their leader is enough to finish them?”
“I saw it in Jafar and Tsengal, Eli. Demiran died to them the minute he showed his true self and they had a way out.”