"Take cover!"
Even over the sound of the alarm, they could hear the lumbering steps of the heavily armoured Mechs. It was a moment of nostalgia Taylor could have done without. He turned to see they were boxed into the room and could only hope there weren't too many coming for them. He jumped behind a metre-high metal workbench and lifted his rifle to the ready. He expected the Mechs to enter at any moment, mercilessly and without fear as they always had done, but what happened next was not what he was expecting at all. A flash grenade was launched through the entrance, and he had just enough time to yell, "Grenade!"
He ducked down for cover. The room was filled with light, and despite his best efforts, he was still hit by the shock of it. His ears were ringing, as he brought his rifle to bear but wasn't quite recovered. He fired two shots at the first Mech coming through the door, but they didn't come close to their target. Shots hit the top above him, and he was forced to duck back down.
His eyes were stinging and his vision blurred. His hearing was equally impaired, and he could taste the coarse chemicals that made up the grenades they had so often practiced with in training exercises before the war. He coughed and tried to get some air back in his lungs, but his mouth was dry. He looked up just in time to see a rifle barrel.
A burst of gunfire rushed over his head, and the rifle was dropped and fell over onto him. He could then see Jafar firing repeatedly. Mitch put his elbow up onto the worktop and hauled himself up with everything he had and brought his weapon to bare.
Erratic gunfire was smashing the doorway where the Mechs were trying to get through, and as many rounds were hitting them as were striking the wall. He got the last remaining enemy soldier in his sights and let rip with a burst of shots that riddled its body armour and all finally went still. His hearing was starting to come back, but it was met with the rather unnerving alarm buzzer going repeatedly. He tried to shake off the drowsiness, but it wouldn't budge. He got to his feet and almost stumbled over again. Jafar grabbed a hold of him and held him upright. He looked around and could see he'd been closest to the blast and was glad to the others were in far better shape than him. He gratefully took Jafar's arm to support him.
"Riley, lead on," he muttered.
Jafar hauled him over the bodies of the dead Mechs. When he got into the corridor, he started to get his balance back.
"Whose clever bloody idea was this?"
"That'd be yours, Sir," replied Riley.
The Corporal took the lead and was quickly engaged in gunfire at the next turn that Taylor was glad to sit out from. He looked at his watch. Five minutes had passed, and they were making slow progress.
"We have to keep moving forward!"
He looked in through a doorway to another room and could see exactly what they needed, a few Reitech shields. They seemed to be experimental models, but they'd have to do.
"Get those damn shields in there and drive forwards!"
Three marines each grabbed one of the devices and rushed to Riley's aid. They passed him, advancing as a steel wall down the corridor. Shots bounced off the thick armour. Mitch was finally getting back to normal, slammed a new magazine into his rifle, and rushed out to join the rest of them. They passed three Mechs who were smoking on the floor but more were still firing up ahead. They reached a bend and could hear someone shouting.
"Human, good, I want one alive."
"Why?" Jafar asked.
"Because it's about time we got some information on Armand's whereabouts."
"And they would give it to you?"
"I intend to be persuasive."
He looked out and saw the human was an officer working with two Mechs.
"Advance, but keep him alive!"
The shield bearers rushed out and stormed down the corridor. One struck a Mech with a barge; another used his shield to drive the Mech's weapon up and out the way, firing several shots into its legs. It collapsed, and he put one through the faceplate.
Taylor was in quickly, but the officer had already thrown down his rifle to surrender.
"Armand, where is he?"
The man shook his head. Taylor drew out his pistol and fired a shot through the officer's foot. He screamed and collapsed in agony, but Taylor wasn't done with him. He grabbed him by his helmet, unclipped the straps, and ripped it from his head.
"Armand, where is he?"
"I don't know!"
Taylor spun his pistol around and clubbed the man's jaw with the grip, causing blood to spew out across the wall he was lying against. Riley was shocked, but he did nothing to stop the Colonel.
"I'm running out of time, and I'm willing to do whatever I have to here. I don't want to kill you, but your life is not more valuable than our task here. Tell me where we will find Armand, and I promise you no more harm will come to you."
The man coughed out blood and turned to look at the crazy expression in Taylor's eyes, realising he wasn't kidding around.
"Live or die, your choice."
"Conference room at the lowest level."
"What's he doing there?"
"I don't know!"
"There must be another way out from this place!"
When he didn't get a response, Taylor lifted the pistol, once again threatening a strike.
"There is, there is!" he cried, "There’s an access corridor from beneath the compound. It leads to emergency escape shuttles in a hidden area of the mountain to the east."
"How long does it take to get there?"
"From here, five minutes, maybe. Please, I don't want to die."
"And I don't want to kill you. Do not make any more attempts to harm me and mine, and you'll make it out of here alive."
The man seemed surprised.
"But you’re Taylor, the Butcher. You don't leave your enemies alive!"
"Then don't be my enemy."
It was yet more evidence of the distain and resentment that was being felt towards him. He could only think it was as a result of carefully targeting campaigns against him, as well as Weaver's idiotic schemes. He was now starting to wonder if Weaver had been one of the enemy agents like Armand, but it didn't bear thinking about.
"How do we get to the conference room?"
"Just carry on the way you were going. It'll take you there."
"And this secret landing pad?"
"Only accessible from a room marked as Storage 24B, or through the outside landing doors which are completely hidden until open."
"Then we’d better move. I won't kill you, but neither can I let you spill the beans."
Taylor smacked the man across the head with his pistol, knocking him unconscious.
"How can we make it before Armand flies outta here?”
“We run, Riley, and we hope,” replied Taylor. He jumped forward and carried on at a pace far beyond safe when they were in such proximity to the enemy.
He lifted up his comms unit. “Eddie, are you okay?"
“Yep, just about!”
“Bring Adrienne around to the east side of the mountain, ASAP!”
“Got any co-ordinates on that?”
“No, I don’t. Just do it, and be ready to give pursuit!”
“In this piece of junk?”
“We’re running out of options. Armand might be leaving shortly from a hidden landing area on the east side. You must not let him leave. Just make it work!”
“You got it,” he responded wearily.
“Any craft they have will outpace the Adrienne, surely?”
“Sure will, Riley.”
They carried on deeper into the facility, finding no resistance for several minutes. They finally arrived at a broad atrium that was clearly the entrance to something important; the conference hall they had been looking for. He could see two Mechs guarding the door, but they did not have time to take cover. Taylor’s rifle opened up, as did several others beside him. The two Mechs frantically tried to return fire and got off a few wild shots as they were bombarded by a salvo from the marines. There was a keypad security system to get in, but the doors didn’t look all that strong. Mitch fired a few shots into the pad and then the centre locking mechanism before getting his fingers through a small hole he’d blasted.