hull of the ship and exploded on impact, sending fire and sparks high into the sky. The ship rocked in its position and came to a rest in the same hole it had made for itself.
Troops all along the kilometre line shouted and whistled in joy as they saw black smoke bellow from the enemy ship. There was no doubt it would never fly again. Harney turned to Taylor and stepped up to speak to him personally.
'Whether there were any enemy aboard doesn't matter, but if they were then good. If they weren't, we ensured the ship cannot be repaired, and look what it does for morale.'
Taylor could not deny it.
'And if they have run, which I believe they have, it is proof they fear us.'
'Do we have any other sightings of enemy in the area?'
'No, in which case you might be right. Our leaders want to buy us time to regroup and gather our strength, which may be exactly what they are doing.'
'All the reason we should hit them now.'
'That's not for us to decide.'
'No, more’s the pity.'
'Taylor, we got off on the wrong foot, and I am sorry about that. You really saved our asses yesterday, and it won't be forgotten.'
'That's my job.'
'The 5th are going to continue on south on foot to sweep and clear. I want to be certain none of the alien bastards remain. There must be stragglers about. I want you to perform aerial sweeps of the whole area and destroy any enemy presence you find. I want to hear about any and all enemy sightings and engagements.'
'Got it.'
Taylor lifted his comms unit.
'Yorath, I need air lift from our the nearest available area north of our position immediately.'
'Yes, Sir.'
He turned to leave when a new commotion began to his flank.
'Taylor! You need to see this!' Harney called him.
He raced over to the Colonel and his command staff as they laid down a map projector. The device was no bigger than a water bottle but would project a two metres square operations screen for use in the field.
'I've just received reports of massive enemy activity on the Israeli border.'
'How big are we talking?'
'We know the wall has been breached. It didn't last more than twenty minutes. Looks like they're trying to break out from Egypt.'
'Why? What is their endgame now?' asked one of Harney's officers.
'They probably realise exactly what we do, that time is on our side. They have to strike hard now, or risk ever-increasing forces as Earth’s armies gather. We need to cut off this advance before it can spread. They must be contained,' replied Taylor.
'Agreed, and that's exactly what we're going to do.'
'What about our task here?' Jones asked.
'A German armoured regiment has already crossed over into the north of the country and are en route to take over here. We have to haul ass. Whatever this enemy advance is, it's moving quick.'
He pointed to the map.
'You are to get to the southern outskirts of Hebron immediately. We'll be close behind.'
'Looks like a big city.'
'Yes, and much of the population has taken up arms and refuses to leave. If the enemy advance reaches the city, the casualties will be substantial.'
Taylor lifted his comms unit.
'Inter-Allied assemble immediately, and make your way to the landing zone north of here. Captain Jackson, get your company down here as well, we're moving out fast!'
He gave no information away, but he knew it wasn't necessary. He and Jones turned and quickly got to a running pace. On both sides he could see their units joining them.
'You wanted to get out there and strike at them. Looks like you got your wish, Mitch!”
'They reached the edge of the treeline, and the three companies swarmed out onto the open plain. The copters swooped in with perfect timing. Taylor barely had to break stride as the ramps of the copters were lowering when they reached them. He rushed aboard to a jovial greeting from Rains as always.
'’Morning, Colonel!'
'You know where we're going?'
'We received our orders from Commander Phillips en route. He's with Captain Jackson now. So we're heading for the holy land?'
'Something like that.'
'All aboard!' called Jones.
'Get us in the air, Eddie.'
They lifted off after having been on the ground for only a minute.
'Haven't several armies already got forces in the area we're heading?' asked Eddie.
'Yeah, but what is there has taken a beating. Further local troops are on the way with reinforcements coming in from neighbouring countries, but this is big. It's gonna take a lot to hold 'em back.'
In just a few short minutes, Italy had gone from view, and they were over Greece. They could make out the silhouettes of dozens of warships off to their starboard side.
'Why don't we just nuke 'em?”
'I'm sure we'll try soon enough, Eddie, but with the countermeasures we have seen them use before, I doubt it'll work. No, this going to have to be fought with conventional forces, the way we always have.'
It was just over an hour when they saw the coastline of Israel. Eddie was about to announce it when they were rocked by an impact, which he only just managed to brush off.
'We got incoming!'
Pulses rushed up between the copters. Taylor grasped one of the handles at the back of the cockpit to brace himself.
'That's coming in from just a little south, maybe around Gaza!' Eddie shouted.
'Christ they must be close!'
A pulse clipped the engine of one of the copters to their side and cut most of its power. They watched as the pilot fought for control but had no hope. The troops inside bailed out and used their boosters to move as far north as they could.
'How much further?' Taylor asked.
'We're coming up on Hebron now!'
'He lifted his Mappad and saw they were over friendly positions.'
'2nd Inter-Allied deploy now, and get these copters to the base north of the city!'
He got to his feet, but as he turned to speak to Eddie, a pulse that ripped a hole in the side of the fuselage struck them. Two of the platoon were thrown out.
'We're going down!'
'Come on!'
Taylor grabbed Eddie and jumped from the door. He knew his boosters would have a hard time breaking the fall of their combined weight over the several hundred metres drop, but it was Rains’ only chance of survival.
'I told you that you should have worn your suit!' he yelled at the pilot as they dropped towards the dusty, hard ground.'
'I know that now!'
Guns raged below as they could see Israeli armour battling the enemy advance just a few hundred metres south of where they were going to land.
'This is gonna hurt!'
They hit the ground, and Taylor went into a roll, trying to take the impact and cocooned Eddie in the roll. As he tumbled across the ground, he lost his grip, and Rains was tossed out across the dirt. Taylor finally crashed to a
