“God damn it, those bastards are pissing me off!” Taylor shouted.
The Major lifted himself up and casually took a few paces out into the open as the fighters turned sharply to make their second run. He stood defiantly before them.
“Taylor! What the hell are you doing!” shouted Chandra.
He ignored her and lifted up his new weapon as the three craft levelled off for their attack. As they soared towards the cowering troops, their weapons opened up and light pulses smashed into the ground. One of the blasts struck a tank and its armour was ripped open. The Major stood calmly as he targeted the centre craft.
He took a deep breath as they came into range and fired five shots from the launcher in quick succession. The rounds flew with a flat trajectory, just as Reiter had said. The troops watched in amazement as the alien craft burst into flames and veered out of control. The guns of the other two stopped firing as they pulled up and increased speed to escape from the scene.
Chandra got up from the cover to stand by the Major and watched the flaming craft smash through the canopy of the nearby forest, bursting into flames. A roar rang out from the men as they celebrated the Major’s victory. She turned to look at him. He’d acted with blatant disregard for his own life, and in doing so had won them a sizeable victory.
“Hell of a gun,” she said.
That was just the boost the troops needed, maybe we can win this fight, she thought. She saw that their casualties were minimal, but the tank that had been struck was immobile. A hatch on the stricken vehicle opened and the crew staggered out. She looked back to the troops who were still celebrating Taylor’s victory.
“Medics, see to the wounded! Everyone else get to work!”
Her troops hauled the trench devices from the vehicles with a new sense of enthusiasm and confidence. Within minutes the defences were being carved out into the landscape, and the vehicles were being dug down into a hull down position. The defensive line ran around the western road and the embankment that ran up it. The enemy would be bottle necked by the road and have no choice but to attack uphill to their positions. She stepped up to Taylor where only he could hear.
“That was a damn risky thing to do, and yet you may have just made the difference in this fight, Major.”
He smiled in response. He hadn’t wanted to be a hero or risk his own life. He had acted out of instinct and the hatred of the enemy. Chandra looked once again through her binoculars. She could see dozens of Mechs pouring out of from the wooded road into the open valley. She walked over to the smouldering tank where Becker was supervising the crew checking it over.
“She won’t move again, but we can keep the gun working while we stay here.”
“Right now our only concern is surviving where we stand, Captain, so that’ll do.”
The Captain nodded, it was yet another loss which he could not easily replace.
“How long until they come into range, Captain?”
“We can hit them from here, but I’d not be confident about armour penetration at this range. We don’t have enough spare to risk it. How long until those re-enforcements get here, Major? We aren’t going to last long.”
She shook her head as she could not answer that question. He nodded in acceptance, turning back to help his crew. She could see Taylor looking out at the incoming enemy with a smile.
“What’s making you so happy, Major?”
“This hardware. It’ll make every soldier who wears it twice the man he was.”
She sighed. “Then I hope we all live to see the day we are issued it.”
Fifteen minutes later the trenches were in place and the tanks were dug in. There was nothing left to do but wait. Captain Becker sat on the turret of his tank with a mug of coffee awaiting the opportunity to engage the first targets. He kept a keen eye on their advances. Chandra knew that, just as before, his calm and confident nature was very much a well practiced technique. Becker was as scared as the rest of them, but his demeanour did wonders for his crews.
“I never thought we’d end up fighting in my homeland. At least not this quickly.”
“The thought of a major war on European soil has long been considered to be a thing of the past,” said Chandra.
“Clearly our experts didn’t tell those bastards that,” snapped Taylor, pointing to the approaching force.
They knew that they were just minutes away from battle, but they were savouring their moment of peace for as long as they could.
“Major,” asked Becker.
“What is it, Captain?”
“Would you do the courtesy of telling us your first name?”
The Major looked at him inquisitively. Her fellow British officers were well accustomed with it in their life together. She noticed that Taylor turned and also awaited her answer.
“We aren’t going to die here, you know,” she replied.
“Major, you have me all wrong. I don’t want to know who I am going to die beside, but who I am going to fight beside.”
Taylor nodded in agreement. Chandra was touched by the statement, never having felt closer to those around her, but one. It was another sore reminder of the loss of Captain Jones, the only one among them who did know her name.
“Anna,” she whispered.
“What was that?” asked Taylor.
She knew he had heard her and only smiled in response.
“Nice to make your acquaintance, I am Lukas Becker,” stated the Captain formerly.
The three officers fell silent as they stared at each other, each praying that they would live to see the next day. The Captain peered around towards their advancing foe.
“Well, Anna, it’s about time we got to work.”
“Good luck to you, Lukas. Fire when ready.”
Becker gave a casual and friendly salute as he climbed into the turret and bolted the hatch down. The Major stood up on the embankment above the trenches where the troops had started to get comfortable in.
“Fire in your own time. I repeat, fire in your own time!”
The words echoed along the line as officers and NCOs relayed the order. They had trained without communication equipment before, but never expected to have to use it. In the frenzy of battle, it was clear to Chandra they needed better means of passing commands. She watched as the troops readied themselves at the trench shelves before jumping back into hers.
She looked along the line of troops. To her left was her own platoon, and to her right Taylor and his. The Major had taken half of Friday’s marines and they were all outfitted with Reiter’s new equipment. She peered over the embankment to see that the enemy were closing to five hundred metres. There were more than a hundred Mechs approaching up the hill with many more taking the road behind their tanks.
An energy pulse smashed down just in front of them as Becker’s tanks opened fire. The combined blasts rocked the ground. Chandra felt a little dizzy as she was almost thrown from her feet. She rested against the edge of the trench with her rifle at the ready. She looked down at the weapon and back at Taylor’s.
“Feeling a little inadequate, Major?” he jested.
She smiled in return and looked back at the incoming troops. Many of them with weapons effective at longer ranges had already opened fire. She could see Ortiz and Campbell firing as quickly as they could with their anti- materiel rifles, but she could not hear the shots. Taylor turned to Parker standing with him. He thought, I love you, but he didn’t say it. He gave a small nod and his eyes spoke pages. She smiled back, appreciating his sincerity.
“Let’s give these bastards a taste of the new age!” he shouted.
The exosuit marines slung their weapons over the edge of the trench and readied to fire. Chandra watched with baited breath. Their survival that day was important, but she knew the new technology could make all the difference in the war.
“Fire!”
A volley of loud cracks rang out as small flickers of light gushed from the barrels and small embers puffed out. She was so fascinated by the weapons that she was still fixated on them after the first shots. They stopped firing to investigate their results. Chandra turned just in time to see several of the Mechs drop to the ground with several others badly damaged.
