"This big bad, the Erdogan. He must want Earth, right? Seems every other Krycenaean does."
"I don't know."
"All right. I've seen enough, and all this information is giving me a damn headache. Captain, collect as much data as you can, and then get us the hell out of here."
"Wait!” Jafar shouted.
Taylor snapped around. It was a surprise to have Jafar assert himself so much. He could see the alien pointing at the corner of a display screen. He turned and carefully studied what at first looked like empty space. Then his eyes widened as he caught a glimmer of movement. It was the flicker of the chameleon ship camouflage that Taylor had all but forgotten.
"They’re onto us. Get us out of here!"
"No," replied Jafar, "right now, their guns are training on us. We'd not make it."
"Then what do we do?"
"This ship, the Deveron, it must be known to Demiran and many others. They would want whoever was aboard alive."
"Are you willing to bet money on that?"
"I don't have any money," Jafar replied dryly.
Taylor could not help smile for just a second.
"All right then. You seem to have an idea of what you're doing. Tell us what we should do."
They all looked to Jafar. Nobody aboard no longer doubted they could trust him, and he had the unique advantage of both his heritage and training by the Inter-Allied.
"There will be two of them out there, one on overwatch and one closing to board us. They're hoping to either board us with the element of surprise or destroy us if we try to run. Those are patrol ships. They have maybe fifty Mechs on board each of them."
"Shi…it," replied Samson.
"If they could have got aboard undetected, we'd be finished. But with a prepared defence, that's another story."
He stopped and thought for a moment about what Jafar had said.
"That one we saw closing to our starboard side must be the boarding action, right?"
Jafar nodded in response.
"Okay, I want all but a protection detail for the bridge to the starboard side and ready to repel borders. Captain, have your gun crews prepared to fire at the other ship, but do not show any sign of it until the last second."
"We don't even know where the other vessel is," he replied.
"They must put out a heat signature, however faint. Find it!"
"Why don't we just blast them now?" asked Parker.
"We need that other ship on overwatch to let its guard down. Right now, that crew is waiting with their fingers on the trigger to give us everything they have got. As soon as the other has boarded us, we should have an opening."
"Where will they breach?" asked Taylor.
"At the main hull door if they can."
"Right then, masks on for everyone. Once they get aboard, we give them hell. I'll give you the green light when to fire, Captain. When that is done, we need to get that other ship off us fast and make tracks. Parker, have charges ready to blow the breaching clamps. I don't want them hanging on any longer than we need them to."
"You got it, Sir."
She rushed off about her business.
"You all know what you have to do. Do not give the enemy any indication of our intentions. Don't even let anything slip over the comms, nothing until the firing starts. Let's go!"
He rushed to the starboard side and grabbed a shield from the racks where they were stored ready for such occasions. They were cumbersome and bulky things to lug around, but well worth it when the fighting started. He took a knee behind his shield and waited for the inevitable enemy breach. Parker positioned behind him with a crate full of magnetic explosives.
For a full minute nothing happened, and they all waited in silence, listening for the enemy presence. Finally, they heard the quiet and subtle clamps attach onto the Deveron. Had they not been ready for it, Taylor doubted anyone would have noticed until the doors were blown. They were coming through the main hull doors just as Jafar had said. Taylor looked over to the turncoat alien and nodded in appreciation for his knowledge and efforts.
Controlled charges blasted all around the door, sending it crashing into the bulkhead the other side of the room. It would have been ear splitting, were it not for the helmets they all wore. A fine cloud of dust swept out around them from the blast, and through it they could hear the footsteps of the Mechs rushing for the opening. Taylor held the comms unit on his sleeve close and whispered.
"Ryan, now."
Power surged in the ship as energy was sent immediately to the gun ports, and the ship rocked slightly with the initial salvo of everything they had.
"Fire!" yelled Taylor.
Twenty marines had a field of fire on the doorway. Nothing was getting through unscathed. The first four Mechs were killed instantly by multiple bursts of fire from the Reitech rifles. As they continued to fire, a big metal looking ball was launched in from the doorway and rolled into the middle of the room.
"Down!" cried Taylor.
He looked away and crouched down behind his shield just in time. The device erupted with a blinding burst of light and a blast that sent him off his feet. The shield was ripped from his grip as he was thrown against Parker. He staggered to get to his feet. Despite avoiding the worst of the blast and light, he was still stunned by the amount he had been subjected to.
Taylor sat up and could see several other marines lying unconscious or badly disorientated. He looked around, and a Mech stomped through the dust cloud. It lifted its rifle to fire at him. In a desperate attempt, Mitch reached for the shield and pulled it in front of him. Three pulses smashed into it. The last of which tore a hole through the centre, burning into the armour on his arm.
He let out a cry in pain as the pulse fragments burnt into his flesh, and what remained of the shield dropped to the deck. There was nothing left to save him. He was still too stunned to quickly get back to his feet. He hoped for a miracle, and it came. Jafar leapt onto the Mech, ripping the faceplate from its armour and clubbing its exposed head with the stock of his rifle until the skull fractured.
Jafar reached down and grabbed Taylor by the rim of his chest plate armour, hauling him to his feet as if he were a rag doll. Taylor just about managed to hold his body weight and grabbed the nearest rifle that had been blown across the room. Pulses and gunfire zipped from one side of the entrance hall to the ship to the other. He quickly recognised the shape of a Mech and began firing, despite his vision still being a little blurred.
Samson rushed in from the forward corridor with fresh troops and joined the fight. It was perfect timing, as the enemy was starting to make progress at getting into the ship. Six of Taylor's marines lay dead and several others wounded. Samson advanced with his unit with their shields held forward, laying down a wall of fire. More of Taylor's unit were regaining their composure and joining the fray. The Mechs visible in the entrance were smashed back and retreating into their ship. Taylor turned around to see if Eli was ready with the charges. She was getting to her feet with the crate in hand.
"Push them back! Parker, get your ass here!"
The marines advanced forward with Taylor and Jafar at the centre. They put down a wall of fire as their covered the ground until they reached the breach.
"Give 'em everything. I don't want them returning fire when we break!" Taylor ordered.
An extending corridor from the enemy ship connected the two ships, ten metres long and three Mechs wide. Parker took out the first few larger charges and punched in the timers before tossing them the length of the corridor. The last few smaller ones she placed at the nearest point.
"That's it! Everyone back!"
They rushed back as she lifted the trigger and pressed down with her thumb. The shaped charges produced a small controlled blast that cut the boarding corridor in two. The ships drifted apart. Just five seconds later, a blast erupted in the enemy ship, and it was torn apart. Taylor and Eli watched from the open breach in the Deveron.