Walker. That was beyond your doing. Now let’s be sure it never happens again. You saw that camp, and you have some idea of what went on there. You be certain to put a gun to your own head before you ever have to face that. Better still, go down fighting.”
Silva reached forward and slapped his hand down onto the Captain’s shoulder.
“I’m not going anywhere, Sir, and neither are you. We’re back together for the first time since Amiens. Together we are unstoppable.”
“But we aren’t together, Sergeant, not yet. Taylor is the back bone of this Company.”
Silva gritted his teeth as the smile was removed from his face. He hated to think of the Major locked up just a few kilometres away. He turned as he heard the sound of crashing trees grow nearer.
“They’re almost on us.”
“And all we’ve got are these fucking peashooters,” replied Jones.
Silva missed the liveliness that had inhabited Jones at even the bleakest of times. That light within him had been driven down deep inside and he knew it may never come out again.
“ARMALs at the ready! cried Chandra. You are free to fire at the four hundred metre mark!” she shouted.
“Did you really lose all your gear for rescuing me?” asked Jones.
Silva nodded.
“When Taylor found out you may be in Metz, he went to Schulz with a plan to get you out. The General expressly forbid him from going through with it. That night he did it anyway. The General’s been making us pay ever since.”
“Christ, all this for me, was it all worth it?”
Silva turned with a look of shock.
“Don’t blame yourself for this. This is Schulz’s doing, and someday he’s going to know about it.”
Chandra had heard half of their conversation and turned to look at Jones as he waited calmly with his rifle in his hands. He noticed her gaze and turned to return a smile. She saw there was some glimmer of the original man in his body, but it was deeply buried. Getting Jones back only made her remember how important it was that she secured the release of Taylor.
“Good to see old faces back, Major?” asked Parker.
“Bet your arse. Taylor’s next, and don’t you forget it.”
“I’ll hold you to that, Major.”
They lowered themselves into their trenches as the enemy breached the final wall of the forest, and their tanks rolled across the barren and war torn plain. The energy pulses intensified as their positions were pounded by enemy fire. Their trench works protected them from most of the incoming fire, but the aerial attacks and artillery bombardments still tore trenches apart along the line.
After a long wait, the Major heard the troops of the first trenches open fire as the enemy came into range. It was only a minute later that the second trench opened fire. She crawled back up to the trench shelf to survey the scene and gasped as she saw hundreds of enemy vehicles and thousands of Mechs advancing towards them.
“My, God!”
She felt her lips were dry, and her throat was sore. Her breathing stopped for a moment as she realised that they couldn’t hold. Parker crawled up beside her and had much the same reaction.
“What the fuck are we going to do?” she asked.
Chandra shook her head in astonishment, but she had no answer. Explosions erupted along the lines of the enemy as the artillery bombardments continued, but they continued to pour from the forest in a seemingly never- ending column.
“Prepare to fire!” she cried.
The first of the enemy forces were now less than a kilometre from their trench and in range of their rifles, but not of their effective penetration. Campbell had already opened fire with his high-power rifle, but it was doing little to scratch the numbers pouring towards them. The Mechs and vehicles were already laying down fire on the move, and the trenches were getting ripped apart.
Mines erupted as the enemy passed, and thick black smoke poured into the sky, but it did nothing to hinder the enemy advance. Chandra wondered if they felt anything at all. Are they heartless? Are they truly nothing like us? she asked herself.
“Fire at will!”
The Company opened fire, joining in with the other units. Tracers rushed across the battlefield as many of the creatures were stopped in their tracks by the sheer quantity of ammunition striking them, but few were falling.
“Bastards won’t die!” yelled Yorath.
“How can we stop them with this shit?” muttered Suarez as he continued to fire.
They watched as many of the creatures took close to a hundred rounds to eventually stop. The first lines of Mechs were cut down as they closed to three hundred metres, but it was not enough. Hundreds more of the metal clad enemies filled their places, and drones continued on between them.
Chandra watched in horror as a dozen of the Mechs reached the first trenches and leapt in like fanatics, thrashing around and firing as they crushed all before them.
“Grenades and ARMALs into that trench, now!” she yelled.
Several of the Company looked at her with pity when they realised they were being asked to fire on friendly forces.
“There’s nothing more we can do for them, fire now!”
Light pulses continued to flash in the first trench, and they raised their weapons and readied themselves to fire. Screams of agony and pain rang out as they threw a dozen grenades and fired off ARMAL launchers forward into their own positions while the soldiers ran for their lives. Seconds later, the ground shook and earth from the trench blasted into the sky, and all within it were silenced.
The bodies of Mechs and humans together were scattered either side of the crater for all to see. Silva looked to Chandra with a bleak and defeated look.
“We can’t do this!” he shouted.
She looked around to see the first line of trenches had been overcome in several places along the defences. Her mouth was open, and her eyes wide at the horror she was seeing. We can’t hold. We’re fucked, she thought.
“Major!” shouted Parker. “We have to get the hell out of here!”
“Run? Who is going to keep up the fight? Who is going to stop them?”
“There’s nothing more we can do here!”
She looked over to see Captain Jones stood on top of the trench, screaming insults at the enemy and firing as quickly as he could downhill into their positions. Pulses erupted all around him. He wants to die, she thought. It was the final confirmation she needed that their time was over.
“Fall back, everyone fall back!”
Silva turned in relief, and he relayed the orders with his booming voice along the lines. As he did so, he noticed Jones still stood up above the trench, reloading his rifle with no concern for his life. He reached forward, grabbed his ankle and pulled. Jones was thrown off his feet and landed hard on his back. Silva grabbed his webbing and hauled him back into the trench. An explosion erupted where the Captain had stood just seconds before.
The two men were thrown back against the opposite wall of the trench and showered in dirt as they were deafened. Silva stumbled back up to try and regain his senses but was grabbed by Jones.
“What the hell are you doing? That was my time. My time to die! You have no right!”
Silva shook his head from side to side and coughed, trying to regain his senses and make some sense of what Jones was yelling about. He slapped the Captain who stumbled back and stood over him with anger.
“You may not give a shit about your life, but the rest of us do! You are needed here, so get your fucking act together, and start acting like a soldier!”
“Retreat! Retreat!” shouted Chandra.
Silva grabbed Jones, tossed him out the back of the trench and leapt after him. He hauled the Captain to his feet, pulling him along as they rushed back into Ramstein. Chandra looked back to see the survivors of the trenches clambering out and retreating in a frenzy. The armour that was at their backs was already beating a retreat and firing to give them cover.
