A few trees around the gun barrel were pulled back to reveal a heavy tank carefully concealed within. They connected up a winch on the vehicle to the fallen tree and hauled it out the way in seconds.
“Pull on forwards, give enough space that all your people can get through. Then wait for me. You’ll need me with you to avoid this down the road.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, I’m just the first line of defence. You’ll have to convince my superiors yet.”
Kelly strode back to his vehicle and waved on for the other vehicles to join them. Reynolds stepped into the vehicle as he did, sighing a great sigh of relief as he sat down.
“How did you know she wouldn’t fire?”
“If they didn’t, there was no hope to this anyway,” replied Kelly.
“Hope? You told me…”
“Yeah, I tell you what you need to hear, Captain. Be it a lesson for you, sometimes those you are responsible for need you to say or do certain things. It isn’t always easy, but it’s the price of command.”
“And if I didn’t want command at this level?”
“Hard luck and tough shit.”
Chapter 6
"I'm getting reports of some serious shit going down!" Rains shouted out.
Their craft passed through the landing bay doors only to find it lined with civilians who had flocked there to try and get off the ship. Anything that could fly had already left, and they now stood about like lambs awaiting the slaughter.
Rains brought them in quickly, and the civilians quickly parted as they came in to land. As they put down, they saw a pulse soar past their position. Taylor opened the side doors, and screams rang out from all around them. Taylor knew he didn't need to say a word to his own people; they knew what to do. He jumped out from the copter and into the crowds of desperate and terrified people.
He could already hear the screams of pain beyond those of just panic as the Mech pulse cannons fired. He could see the flashes of light above, but the civilians blocked their line of sight.
"Everyone down on the ground! Down on the ground now!"
He grabbed the nearest woman and pushed her down and began doing the same to those around her while continuing to yell, "Get down!"
The civilians gradually began to comply, but they still cried and wailed. As they did so, he caught sight of one of the first Mechs and took aim. It saw him in the same moment and began to pivot and train its pulse cannon on him, but he had already squeezed the trigger and let out a controlled burst into its head.
"Wait!" he heard a voice cry.
He looked around and saw a young man running towards their ship in a desperate attempt to reach safety. As he got halfway, a pulse struck him in the back and passed through his body with no resistance at all. It then brushed off the thick frontal armour below where Eddie was still sitting in the cockpit.
The man dropped to his knees. There was a hole through his body big enough to put a fist through. He was already dead when he collapsed to the deck. Taylor saw particles of another pulse brush past him where a shot had struck his shield and burst on impact. It was all the motivation he needed to turn back towards his enemy.
There were still civilians all around him and nowhere for him to take cover. Neither could he easily get through them while as many pulses were hitting them as were coming towards his own people.
Only way is up, he thought.
Taylor took a quick step forward and fired his boosters so that he was launched forward over the crowd. He aimed himself at one of the Mechs like a rocket with his shield tilted forwards. The creature had no time to respond. He struck it head on and went crashing head over heels, as it too was knocked onto its back.
Taylor tumbled but managed to stop at a kneeling position and fired his rifle from the hip at the Mech who was trying to get back on its feet. His first two shots hit the knee joint of the armour, and the Mech dropped face first to the deck. He fired another three shots into its back. He quickly righted himself and turned to face the next enemy but stopped dead as a pulse cannon was placed against his chest. He had no time to react as the weapon fired.
The blinding blast projected Taylor through the air. He could feel several impacts on falling upon Mechs either dead or alive, but much of it was a blur as his body went limp from the impact. He felt dizzy as he rolled over a body and landed flat to the ground. He tried to get up, but he was disorientated and half blind.
Even though he was almost deaf, he could still hear a little of what was going on. Gunfire was almost constant from weapons on both sides. He got up to one knee but felt an impact against his chest. It smashed him back down onto the deck. He tried to get up, but as he raised a few centimetres off the ground, a Mech foot pressed down onto his breastplate and forced him back down.
His armour was all that stopped his chest from caving in. He reached for his rifle, but it was gone. The sling must have snapped when he was thrown. He tried to reach across for his Assegai, but he was unable to put his hand across his body for the heavy foot on his chest. The only option left to him was his sidearm. He pulled it from his holster and tried to take aim, but his vision was blurred. He desperately tried to focus, but suddenly the barrel of a pulse cannon struck his pistol and launched it out of his hand.
The impact nearly broke his fingers, and pain surged up his arm. He had nothing left now. He couldn’t reach a weapon, and he was pinned in place. He looked up, watching the enemy weapon pan across and point directly at his face.
“Screw you, you alien scum!” he bellowed.
It was his last moment, and he knew it, but he wouldn’t close his eyes. He wanted to see and witness his end. The light in the barrel of the cannon began to brighten as it gained power, and he knew he had just one second left and no way to avert death.
To his amazement, the Mech standing on him suddenly launched to one side and the weight came off him. The creature was barged out the way. The impact forced him to roll over onto his side, and he took a deep breath in surprise. As he rolled over, he could see Jafar stabbing his attacker multiple times.
Yet again saved by one I call a close friend, but an alien, nonetheless.
Taylor tried to catch a breath, but he still felt weak.
“That was foolish,” said Jafar.
He couldn’t help but agree. He had let desperation take hold of him and acted beyond what his training and knowledge would have otherwise allowed him, and paid a price for it. He looked down to see the front plate of his armour was smouldering. It was the thickest plate on their suits, and it had only barely stopped the penetration. He could see Parker and several others chasing down the last remaining Mechs in the room. Jafar reached down and offered him a hand. It was such a human gesture that it brought a smile to his face. Jafar was not unceremoniously hauling him to his feet, but offered assistance.
Taylor took him up on his offer and was helped upright. His head was pounding and his neck stiff. His arm still ached, despite the doctors having said it would be completed healed by now. He knew he hadn't given it the correct rest to heal. He heard a hive of activity and turned to see Rains’ ship swamped with people trying to climb aboard. He could sympathise, but it wasn't helping.
He picked up his rifle from the deck and fired a single shot that made them all freeze.
"Get down from the ship!" he boomed.
They stayed frozen, and he could see many were trying to decide whether to do as he said.
"Now!" he shouted.
Most of them slid back off the wings down to the landing bay deck, as he pushed his way to the ship and jumped up for a better view across them all. A couple of hundred people stood before him, and he knew their dead lay at their feet also.