“So they’re little more than a crazed beast they let loose to raise hell?”
“As you like,” replied Reiter.
Taylor moved along to the next creature suspended from another crane. Its arm was severed and hanging from a chain beside it. He could see it was the one he and Jafar had taken down together.
“They are formidable things, these Boga, or whatever they are. In open ground, where we could bring heavier weapons to bear, they wouldn’t be so much an issue. But aboard these ships in the corridors and confines, they’re like bulls in a china shop, and we’re the china.”
He turned and looked at Reiter.
“What answer have you got to this problem? How can we take them down?”
Reiter shook his head. “I am not sure yet. I need your ideas. You have fought them.”
“Yes, we have, and we paid for it dearly.”
“I am working on ideas, Colonel, but you are the soldier, not I.”
“Marine.”
“Yes, that, too.”
Taylor looked back to the creatures.
“Their armour? It’s far thicker than anything we have had to deal with. The Reitech ammo barely touches it.”
“It is nothing technologically impressive. It is the same armour the soldiers wear, but three times the thickness. They are like walking armoured vehicles.”
“Then maybe that is the answer. Stop treating them like infantry, and start treating them like tanks. Maybe it is that simple. Their armour is three times thicker. Fine, we just need weapons that pack three times the punch?”
“Easier said than done, Colonel. Those weapons are already formidable pieces of hardware. If I were to increase the calibre and power of the ammunition used, the equivalent weapon would be so large you would likely not even be able to lift it. They would in fact be just like some of the Reitech vehicular mounted devices.”
“That sounds good.”
“You don’t understand me, Colonel. The weapons I developed far outweigh anything used in the past. The rifles you carry today are of an equivalent weight to heavy machine guns of by gone years. They are…come with me.”
He led them around some containers to an armaments rack for the fighter and support craft of the Washington. He pointed at a gun that was two metres long, and resembled little more than a thick pipe with a box receiver and feed for ammunition.
“That is the kind of weapon you speak of. Lift it.”
Taylor looked at him as if he were a fool.
“Go on, try and lift it. With your suit on,” he said, pointing to a rack of the exo-skeletons opposite.
He climbed into the suit and then confidently walked up to the rack of weaponry. Never before had he struggled with strength in his suit, so he did not doubt its abilities.
“The Reitech 50CMG, commonly fitted with coaxial weapons on main battle tanks and as close support and ground attack craft. A marvel, I might add. Now try and lift it,” said Reiter.
Taylor stepped up to the rack and got a solid grip on the weapon before hauling it upwards in a deadlift fashion. He strained to do so and got upright with it in his hands. He tried to raise it and turn his body as if to aim it, but felt his body shake. It was the feeling of weakness he had all but forgotten. He clumsily lowered it back down, and it slammed into the rack and echoed out across the hangar bay.
“I can’t use that!” he yelled.
Reiter nodded. “As I said. The 50CMG weighs almost four hundred kilograms. Even with the power of your suit, it is unusable in a combat situation in any manner, except a fixed point on a vehicle or emplacement.”
“That’s no good to me, Doc. I need something we can use on the move. Have you nothing else?”
“Give me time, Colonel. I understand your requirements. Though I’m not sure how much more portable I can make the kind of weapon you require.”
“Just do what you can, Doc.”
Taylor pulled off the armour and strode off with Jafar at his side.
“Those things are sons of a bitches. We need to find a better way to take them out. You got any ideas?”
“I fight with the weapons I am given. I am not an engineer.”
“Yeah, well join the club.”
* * *
“Okay, people, this is our biggest one yet,” said Kelly.
He looked out across the operations table and they all looked to him. Twenty personnel, including all of the key officers involved.
“Every single day a convoy of vehicles travels back and forth along this road,” he said, as he pointed to a map.
“That is, twelve vehicles in total.”
“These are wheeled vehicles?” Oster asked.
“Yes.”
“Why are they using wheeled vehicles when they have so many aircraft?”
“You got me. If we understood everything they did, then perhaps we wouldn’t be in the situation we are in today. We know they used land-based vehicles throughout the war. They were far more susceptible to our heavy guns, and maybe that’s why we didn’t see so many of them back then. But they think they’ve won. They think they own this country now. Own this world. So they’re moving freely without worry. Maybe they are cutting costs by travelling by road, or maybe they’re staying under the radar of remaining Earth air forces.”
“Yeah, right. Can’t be any left,” replied Oster.
“I can speculate till the World ends, and you can be a cynical idiot till that time, too, but it isn’t going to get the job done.”
Oster didn’t say another word.
“Okay, so here’s how it’s gonna happen. We know the route they take, and we know roughly the time they make it each day. During the night, we are going to move four of the main battle tanks into dugout hull down positions overlooking the road here, and here. That will have to be done in complete blackout conditions. You okay with that, Captain?” he asked Becker.
“Shouldn’t be a problem. We start early at sundown so we can let the engines tick over most of the way. We shouldn’t attract any attention.”
“Okay, the plan is simple. The road at this point crosses from one side of the valley to the other. That’s half a klick. We position two tanks in well-concealed positions at either side of the valley and near the roadside. Additionally, we establish trenches with fifty men here, and another twenty in reserve here,” he said, pointing to the map.
“It certainly is a simple plan, think it can work?” Decker asked.
“I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t think so.”
“Remember,” Kelly said, “The three priorities here in order are, maintain the safety of this facility, get back alive, and kill the enemy. Those are your priorities at all times. If we have to abandon those tanks, we do so. If we have to kill the wounded, or else have them captured by the enemy, we do so. Do you all understand?”
It was a grim outlook, but they agreed anyway.
“All right then, we move at nightfall. Dismissed.”
The group split up, and only Becker remained sitting opposite Kelly.
“So this is it, first big one?”
“No,” said Kelly, “Merely an escalation of what we have already been doing. And you’d do well to ensure your people know that, or else they’ll have doubts as to our success.”
“And do you not have doubts?”
“Of course I have doubts. If I did not, I would either be foolish or insane.”
“Do we have any idea what is aboard those vehicles?”
“No, and we have no way of doing so. Except to track them to their source. And I have no desire to go anywhere near the cities or their bases. Are you okay with this plan? You can back out or question it at any time.”