The Major looked back to see that the other copters had all landed bar one which was missing. It was relatively few losses, considering the vicious assault, but still many friends lost. They had half the Battalion with them, Jones having led the rest to an entrance a few hundred metres away.
He turned and rushed inside the facility. Within five minutes, the doors were once again shut and all were inside. Gravity had returned to normal as the doors clamped down, but the air was still thin. They were all aware that breaches in the facility meant that there was too little air to go without their helmets.
They had entered what was a vehicle depot for land based craft, but it was littered with heavily damaged enemy craft.
“Looks like a salvage yard,” Taylor said.
“They must have been using this place to reassemble what they could from parts,” replied Chandra.
“Seems a little desperate,” he replied.
“Good, it’s a sign of the times. They must be running pretty thin.”
Their communications were down once again. They all looked forward to the day their tech guys could find a way around the jamming, but for now they were on their own. The troops waited patiently for Chandra, and it made the room almost silent. They suspected much of the fighting had already started, but they were almost half a kilometre from the nearest allied troops.
“Why haven’t we met any resistance yet?” asked Chandra.
Taylor shrugged his shoulders. They all hoped there was a good reason for it, but it seemed too easy. She stood up and signalled for them to follow her. There were two exits from the room into the nearby corridors. She signalled for Jackson to take the far side, and she continued onwards with Taylor and Lieutenant Ota’s Company.
Mitch got ahead of Chandra and led from the front. He reached the doorway and peered through the Perspex plate in the centre and turned to shake his head, confirming there was no contact. He reached for the door switch, and to his surprise it opened. Chandra nodded to Jackson to give the go ahead. They all knew that from now on they only had one goal.
“Go!” she whispered.
Taylor leapt forward and charged through the doorway into the broad corridor. As he did so, he heard the clatter of feet moving quickly and approaching from the west side. He turned back and ushered through a dozen of the troops, ducked down into position, and signalled for Chandra to stop where she was. They waited anxiously as the sound grew louder, and it became quickly apparent it was a dozen Mechs rushing towards them. Mitch nodded and held up three fingers to count down as they approached.
Mitch quickly made the count, lifting himself up as the last finger dropped, and opened fire. He continued to shoot in rapid succession. The creatures seemed to be caught completely unawares by their presence. In just five seconds, they were cut to pieces and only managed to get off a few frantic shots against the hastily prepared ambush. Taylor got to his feet and wandered over to check the bodies. Jafar appeared next to him and carefully studied the fallen creatures.
Taylor had never assigned the two aliens to a platoon or company. He knew he could not trust his own people with them yet. As a result, they kept close to him and the Colonel at all times; a fact that made many uncomfortable.
“117 ^th, they were amongst the first to land on Earth. I believe they fought in Spain and were near Paris towards the end of the war.”
“End? This war never ended,” said Taylor.
“He’s right,” Chandra agreed. “It did end, the war for Earth ended. But we are in a new conflict now, and something humanity has never seen before.”
“These troops have little ammunition between them. They look malnourished, and many have wounds that are not fully healed,” continued Jafar.
“What are you suggesting?” she asked.
“That these are battle weary troops. Soldiers that are on the run from a war already lost,” replied Taylor.
Chandra looked quickly over to Jafar.
“Is that what you would draw from this?”
The alien nodded in agreement.
“The base ship is nowhere to be seen. The fact we managed to land without opposition tells me they are spread thin. The last I heard was that our leaders, our former leaders, were losing heart and looking to end this campaign.”
“Why did you not tell us this sooner?” asked Chandra.
“It is just rumour, Ma’am. We never knew much but what we were ordered.”
“Alright, well I hope you’re right. Jackson should hopefully be making good progress, so let’s be sure to keep up.”
They turned and continued on throughout the vast access tunnel. It was broad enough for them to walk twelve wide and with a sizeable space between each other. They made it a hundred metres without any contact of any kind when Chandra broke the silence.
“You really believe what he is saying?”
“I think there’s a damn good chance, yes. It’s not winning this battle that concerns me, for I know we can. It’s what we may have to face after it.”
They took a bend up ahead and the corridor lit up as five pulses rushed towards them. Taylor leapt aside, shoving Chandra out of harm’s way. They both tumbled aside and landed hard against the metal interior.
“Guess they aren’t quite finished yet!” she yelled.
The pulses died down after a moment, and the Colonel leant around just enough to get a view of what they faced.
“Fuck, I can see at least twenty Mechs dug in.”
“Then we take the tunnels.”
Chandra looked back at Taylor with her eyes wide open.
“I know you don’t like it, but Kelly and his people made good use of them.”
“Bullshit, we don’t have time.”
She looked back at the enemy defences that were a hundred metres around the corner. She turned back to the troops.
“Hall! Get me a runner! Tell Jackson to swing around our way and give us a hand!”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
They sent the runner and waited out for five minutes. Chandra grew impatient, and she stood up tall and bellowed her orders.
“Up! Now! We’ve got a job to do. Everyone is relying on us to get this done rapidly. Any delay and we risk the entire mission! Ready your weapons, and be ready on my go!”
“What are you doing?” Taylor demanded.
“We have superior numbers and firepower but limited time. We can take this position with a frontal assault.”
“Frontal assault?” he responded in shock.
“We have no choice. Let’s get in there and do our jobs!”
Taylor edged around to the corner and could see there was no cover down the long spartan corridor.
“God damn, we could have used the shields for this!”
“Well, when Reiter finishes his changes, and gets them back to us, you’ll be the first to have one,” replied Chandra.
She got up and beckoned for the troops near her to come in close.
“This plan relies on speed. We must overcome that position with all haste. We have enough numbers that a quick rush could overwhelm them with minimal casualties. Are you with me?”
She could see that none were keen, but they all nodded in agreement.
“Alright, ready yourselves, on three. We do not stop until this is over. Three, two, one!”
Chandra leapt out into the corridor, and another dozen of their troops were in the corridor when she’d fired off her first round. Just as she pulled the trigger, the first two pulses rushed down the corridor, narrowly missing
