blocked his way and brought him to an abrupt halt. He could see from the look on her face that she had been listening in and did not approve.
“Don’t do it.”
“Don’t do what? Help our friends?”
“Don’t throw your life away again. Last time you were left to rot in prison because you disobeyed an order, and as a result a friend died, anyway. The Colonel is more than capable of looking after herself. The best thing you can do for her is to do as she asked, and protect the fleet.”
He wanted to disagree and knew he could quite easily ignore everything she said, but deep down she was right.
“Why do we have to leave so many friends behind?” he asked.
“Why do we have to fight this damn war in the first place? I know she means a lot to you, but she does to all of us. You know what she’d want you to do.”
He shook his head in disbelief.
“How can we just leave them there?”
“She may just surprise you yet. The Colonel is a hell of a woman.”
“Yeah, she is.”
“So what’s it gonna be?”
Taylor thought for a few seconds, and she could already see he’d come to accept the grim turn of events. He lifted up his comms unit once again.
“Captain Ryan, belay that order. Sergeant Silva, stand down.”
He looked back to Eli and was thankful she’d been there to stop him, but still in his heart, he knew it was the wrong thing to do. Eli lifted her hand and rested her palm on his cheek. She didn’t envy his position as second in command.
“I am sick of this fucking war,” he whispered.
“I know,” she replied even more quietly as she leant into his shoulder.
“It’ll be the death of us all.”
“Don’t talk like that. We’ve made it this far. What makes you think we can’t see this through?”
“Just how much more luck do you think we have? We’re put on the frontline every time. We can’t go on like this forever.”
“Well then I guess we better just win this war soon.”
He smiled in response. A little light humour was the only thing that would break him from the cycle.
Chandra leapt down from Chen’s position and rushed on to find Klimenko. In a war where they had little communications or visual displays, she had to see it all for herself. She could hear Suarez cursing under his breath at having to follow her, but she didn’t care.
As she reached the Russian lines, she could see a number of dead who had been set aside and several wounded being carried away. The battle was clearly already over. Along the defensive wall, the marines had propped up Reitech shields in a regimented fashion every metre, providing protection and firing positions that resembled the ramparts of an old castle.
Major Klimenko sat at a table with a box of ammunition on the ground beside him, reloading his magazines. Several of his marines were with him. He looked surprisingly calm as his troops helped the wounded and adjusted the defences around him. As she approached, he peered up and greeted her.
“A good start, Colonel.”
She leapt up onto the line of defences to peer over at the destruction below. The bodies of several dozen Mechs lay there. Some of the marines were passing through the enemy wounded, and she watched as one of the Russians fired two shots into one of the aliens that was still struggling.
Nothing seemed to shock her any longer, and she could see the rest of the troops had become just as polarised. She turned and jumped back down to address Klimenko.
“Any news on their strength?” he asked.
“Sorry, all I can say for sure is it’s big.”
He nodded in acceptance. “Any possibility of reinforcement?”
“Not likely. I’d think plenty of the enemy fleet have continued on to the gate.”
“Do we present enough of a threat to draw some of their attentions and give Huber a fighting chance?”
“Hell, yes. I’m sure they’re already well aware they’ll need more than a few hundred soldiers to take this colony back. We’ll make them pay a high price here.”
“And ourselves? What price will we pay?”
“Whatever we have to. Our fate is now tied to this planet. Nobody leaves.”
“I wasn’t intended on going anywhere,” he replied dryly.
“We’re in this for the long haul. I’ll arrange further supplies to be brought to you, presently.”
He nodded, and she turned to return to where she had come from. The CP was still as silent as when she had left. The five personnel inside all turned to her for news. She was hoping for answers from them, but they had little information to share.
“The first wave has been held off. Casualties are as minimal as could be hoped for.”
There was a small sigh of relief that was barely audible from several inside.
“Have you got any news on their numbers and the state of their fleet?” she continued.
“We still have a few camera feeds open. About half of the enemy ships continued on for the jump gate. The others have remained in orbit over our position.”
“Then they must be readying themselves for a proper assault. They tested our defences today. I would not be surprised if the next wave comes before the day is over.”
No one responded. They didn’t want to speculate at what horrors they might face next.
“Have we got any means of contacting the fleet at all?” she asked.
“The only possibility is to send a physical message aboard a ship or something similar, like one of the delivery drones.”
Delivery drones. It’s time we put drones back into action, she thought.
“Do you believe such a message would get through?”
Bradley shrugged his shoulders.
“We have no idea what’s out there now, or what capabilities they have for stopping whatever we send out.”
“That’s reassuring.”
“Sorry, Colonel.”
“It’s alright, there’s nothing worth saying yet, anyhow.”
She turned, leaving the room in silence once again. Tsengal was the first thing she saw as she stepped outside.
“They will not stop,” he stated.
“We will break their armies over this colony.”
“I have no doubt, but they will never give it up.”
“Then let’s make them pay a bitter price for it.”
She carried on to Warren’s position, as it was where she felt most at home. Chandra didn’t like having to fight a battle without the 2 ^nd Inter-Allied soldiers she had become so close to. Several wounded were being carted through to designated rooms with sealable environments. The breaches in the colony walls were causing oxygen shortages through much of the complex.
Chandra reached the commandos’ position and stepped up again to their defensive line. Dozens of the marines were busy rebuilding and improving the walls. Many others waited with their rifles at the ready for the next assault. Major Warren paced up to talk her privately.
“Do you think the General will send any help?”
“It’ll be sometime before he could organise and get troops here. I fear they will be a long time short of reaching us in our time of need.”
“So we’re fucked. Left out here alone?”
“Pretty much. But we have a chance to make a difference. We have the opportunity to make those bastards
