“Fuck, this must have been bad.”
“God damn idiot, I told him to stand his ground,” Taylor caught a glimpse of movement up ahead and looked up to see a Mech stroll past at the end of the corridor, firing as it did.
“Christ this is a total cluster fuck. Let’s clean this up!”
He strode forward with his rifle held low and forwards, ready to blast the nearest foe he could find. They got within just fifty metres of the CP when they came up on the flank of an enemy force that was besieging the dug in MDF soldiers. Taylor lifted his hand to call them to a halt.
“They’ve not noticed us yet, so fortune is on our side if we move quickly. We do not stop until we are on top of them, you hear?”
Hall nodded and turned to see the nearest of them had too. It was enough to keep the momentum going. Taylor nodded to confirm to go ahead and was first in line heading to towards the enemy at a quick jogging pace. A few moments later, he opened fire and kept it up without slowing.
The five men at the head of the platoon fired relentlessly as they continued forward at a quick pace. Three of the creatures were killed by the time Mitch had emptied his magazine. Without slowing his pace, he hit the release catch, and slammed in a fresh magazine. He was back on the trigger within a second of the first round being chambered.
They had caught the unit of Mechs utterly by surprise, and it was clear the friendly troops they had been assaulting had seized the opportunity to brutalise their attackers. The Mech position was hit by a barrage of fire. Still Taylor did not slow his pace and ran right up to the last creature, firing repeatedly at it. Finally, he dropped his rifle so that it slung to his side and drew out his Assegai. He leapt up onto the beast and thrust the weapon down through its armour into its head. The beast collapsed down with him still holding on.
The fire had stopped and all had frozen in amazement at the brutality and unwavering determination of Taylor. He stood up and drew his weapon from the beast. Upon seeing the thick dark blood dripping from the blade, he spat on the body of the creature in disgust.
He looked up just in time to see Perera turn and rush back towards the CP. Some of his men followed, but the others were still in shock and staring at the Major.
“Where the fuck’s he going?”
They looked at him in silence.
“Where?”
“He’s gone for those alien bastards we caught.”
“Why? What’s he gonna do?”
The soldier shrugged his shoulders, but it was clear Perera was going to do what they wanted to.
“For fuck sake, with me, now!”
Taylor barged through the MDF soldiers and continued on in an angry stride that no one dared confront. He passed through a line of Kelly’s guards and rushed on through to the holding chamber. He burst through the door to find eight MDF soldiers inside. Perera had a handgun pointed at Demiran’s head and was yelling at him.
“Tell your fucking soldiers to fall back! Tell them now!”
The alien sat confidently on the bench where Taylor had last seen him. He had a defiant look upon his face, in spite of the weapon pointed between his eyes.
“Lieutenant!” Taylor shouted.
The man flinched and turned his head quickly at the voice of the man he had come to fear, but he kept the weapon raised.
“Put the gun down!”
The Lieutenant mumbled as he tried to respond, but Taylor just shouted again which made shudder.
“Stand down, Lieutenant! Demiran’s survival could be why we’re still standing!”
Perera looked conflicted, and in that moment, one of Demiran’s guards leapt forward and struck the Lieutenant, causing the gun to fly across the room. He took another step to continue the onslaught, but Taylor leapt in amongst them. He drove a heavy kick into the creature’s flank. It crumpled just enough for him to throw it off balance with a heavier barge.
The two other creatures were already on their feet, but with so many rifles trained on them, they didn’t dare move. Perera got to his feet and spat out blood. His nose was broken but not so much as his pride. He stumbled over and snatched up his pistol from the floor. He quickly trained it on the fallen creature as Demiran and the other guard watched.
Taylor turned, saw what was happening, and roared out.
“Perera!”
The man turned as Taylor’s fist connected with his face. With his other hand, Mitch took hold of the weapon and drove a knee into the Lieutenant’s stomach before shoving him down onto his back.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The MDF soldiers quickly raised their rifles against Taylor, and the Major’s own men were quick to respond in the same fashion. Perera coughed and spluttered before shouting out in rage.
“You’d take their side over ours! Whose side are you on? You left us to die once, and now you defend these things?”
Taylor looked down in disgust. For a moment, he couldn’t even find any words to respond to the man. He couldn’t tell which of them hated the other more. The whole scenario struck him as bizarre, when the real enemy stood beside them both and were besieging them as they fought each other.
“I will not have any soldier butchered like some wild animal,” Taylor said calmly.
Perera struggled to his feet and glared at Mitch.
“Have you lost your mind? Look at them! Look! What do you think they are?”
Taylor dipped his head and sighed in disbelief. He didn’t even think to reach for his rifle which still dangled at his side. He could not bring himself to aim a weapon at his own.
“You can kill as many of the enemy as you like when you face them in battle. If you want blood, then get out and join the fight. There are enough of the bastards out there. But I will not have you executing anyone. I will not have you destroying assets, and I will certainly not have you questioning my authority!”
“You know this war can’t be over until every one of them is dead?” he spat back.
“Look back into our history, Lieutenant. Genocide is not the answer. It’s not even possible on such a large scale, and God knows plenty have tried. We can win this war, but there may well come a day when we must talk to these creatures or see the annihilation of both our races.”
“You’ve lost your mind, Major. You are not fit to serve, and I am hereby relieving you of your position in this taskforce until you can face an appropriate tribunal.”
Taylor laughed in response.
“I’ll never spend another day behind bars because of assholes like you.”
Mitch stood tall and looked at the man with disgust. He couldn’t believe that in such a dire time of need, he was being so selfish and foolish. But before any of them could speak another word, an explosion erupted at their feet, and the floor around them collapsed. They smashed down to the next level and were stunned by the impact. Taylor’s vision and hearing were blurred, but from his back, he could just make out the two enemy bodyguards holding Demiran back from charging at him like a raging bull.
Mitch tried to lift himself up, but he was dizzy and disorientated. His hearing was still shot even with the defence his helmet had given. He tripped, falling back to the ground, and looked up again to see that the three enemies were gone. He faded out into unconsciousness but awoke violently a minute later as Parker slapped him in the face.
“Jesus, Mitch, what the hell happened?”
He shook his head as he tried to regain composure, and she slapped him again a little harder.
“Demiran, where is he?”
“Gone! Jesus, Mitch, we really are in the shit.”
“Christ,” he replied.
She held out her arm and hoisted him to his feet. He looked around to see Hall was just about on his feet, but one of the MDF soldiers lay dead where part of the floor had crushed his mask and fractured his skull.
“Perera?”
“Was pursuing the prisoners, last I saw.”
