their weapons.
The room fell silent and the haze seeped away. They could see the bodies of over fifteen Mechs and not a sign of life between them. They couldn’t feel any remorse for what they had done, nor anything but satisfaction. Many of the enemy had yet to gather their weapons, when Taylor and the others assaulted them.
“Fuck!” exclaimed Parker.
Taylor looked down to see a puddle of dark blue blood that had streamed across the floor and engulfed one of his boots. He felt repulsed by the sight and only felt his blood lust grow. He lifted his rifle and looked Eli.
“Let’s find this bastard.”
She looked shocked by the bitter determination in his face. She hated the alien invaders, but she could not help but feel that a turkey shoot was far from what their duty as soldiers was. Taylor appeared to want only one thing, and at any cost. She prayed he would return to the man she used to know when it was all over, but she was then overcome by the realisation that they had more urgent concerns.
Taylor strode out of the room without a fear in the world. He shot down a passing Mech without breaking stride or raising his shield. He walked like an invincible hero who hunted an inferior being, but none of them wanted to face the creatures’ leader who Mitch was so eager to find. The marines quickly followed behind.
Taylor could see a crossroads up ahead. Movement on the opposite corridor, which opened out into the same area, quickly drew his attention.
“Karadag,” he spat.
He could recognise the shape of the beast from any distance. Taylor had grown to fear the leader who had almost killed him once, but now he was more driven than ever to rip him apart. He lifted his shield and rifle and quickened his pace. Karadag lifted his right arm and tapped a few commands. Taylor heard a vast blast door smash down behind him. He turned quickly to see one of the marines had been sliced in half by the sheer force. Only Eli and Jones had made it through before the rest of the platoons were cut off.
Taylor stopped and looked at the sight with anger, but he couldn’t bring himself to show weakness in the face of the enemy. He turned back to see that Karadag stood awaiting him with a guard either side of him.
“Three on three! Seems a fair fight!” he spat.
Before he could speak another word, he saw Jones leap forward into a sprint.
“Come on, you bastard!” he yelled.
“Jones!” cried Taylor.
It was too late. The Captain had already gained too much speed for them to support him. He fired rapidly on the move, but Karadag skilfully leapt aside. One of the Mechs was struck as it tried to respond to Jones’ charge. Charlie didn’t break stride and continued to rush for the enemy leader in a furious charge, leaping to barge Karadag with his shield.
The enemy leader moved aside and grasped Jones’ shield as he did so. He used his bodyweight and rolled to toss Jones into a nearby wall at high speed. Taylor watched in despair as the alien quickly lifted his stunned friend from the ground and smashed the hilt of his weapon into the Captain’s face. Blood sprayed from his head as his body went limp and was tossed aside.
“No!” cried Taylor.
Karadag turned and confidently righted himself from the other side of the room as if to show his physical superiority. Taylor relaxed his shoulders and lifted up from his hunched position. He unclipped his rifle sling and threw down his rifle.
“What are you doing?” yelled Eli.
Taylor didn’t respond. He stared at Karadag with a murderous gaze. She could tell that he didn’t just want to succeed in their mission. He wanted to make the alien pay. Taylor slowly drew out his assegai and saw the arrogance in the alien’s face. He could see that Karadag truly appreciated close combat and that he had no doubt of success against the Major. Eli turned to him in despair.
“You can’t do this. He’ll kill you,” she whispered.
For a moment he ignored her and eyed up his opponent. Karadag turned and gave some signal for his guard to stay put as he advanced slowly and confidently forward. Taylor admired Karadag for his acceptance of single combat, but it didn’t stop him hating the creature anymore. He turned back to Eli.
“This is my fight. I came here to end this.”
“No, we came here to end this. You can’t fight him alone,” she pleaded.
“You find a way out of here, Sergeant, and that’s an order! I’ll finish this, one way or another.”
Tears once again streamed from her eyes as she realised Taylor had already accepted that he would die there.
“I told you to go, move!” he yelled.
She lowered her rifle and moved across to the left corridor of the intersection. She looked back one last time to see Taylor and Karadag staring each other down, waiting for the other to make a move. She finally continued onwards and prayed for it all to be over.
“We’re getting fucked here!” yelled Blinker.
Energy pulses smashed into the walls and floor all around their positions as they tried their best to return fire against the increasing Mech forces.
“Just keep firing, Private! We have to give Taylor as much time as we can!” ordered Chandra.
Monty leapt up to take a shot, but as he did, a pulse smashed into his shoulder and threw him back behind the cover. She watched in horror as smoke poured from his body armour, and she could see shards of hot metal burning into the skin of his face. He let out a cry in agony as his brother reached his side, hauling him in against the counter they were using for cover.
“You’re okay! You’re okay!” he screamed.
He hadn’t even looked at the extent of his brother’s wounds, but he knew the fact he was breathing was to be considered a rarity after taking a hit from the enemy weapons. He looked down to see that his brother’s armour had taken the worst of the impact, but the round had burnt a chunk out of his neck and collar and top of his shoulder.
“Jesus Christ!” cried Blinker.
Chandra wasn’t sure if the Private was yelling in concern for his brother or thankful that he had survived the impact. She lifted herself up and continued to fire. She could see yet more Mechs flooding into the vast room, more than they could handle alone.
Taylor leapt into a sprint and rushed at his opponent. He had seen Karadag’s fondness for voiding right against incoming attacks and fully calculated it into his first attack. As he approached with his shield high, the enemy leader rolled just as he had predicted. Taylor dug his heels in and used the power of his suit to re-direct with a quick spin to his left and smashed the shield in Karadag. The alien was caught off balance and tumbled over onto his face.
The remaining guard lifted his weapon to aid his stricken leader, but automatic fire ripped through the intersection and dropped the creature before it could get off a round. Taylor turned to see Eli stood at the corridor entrance with a smoking gun. He smiled in return; she truly was everything he could have ever wanted. As she acknowledged his appreciation, Karadag pulled out a throwing dagger and launched it at the Sergeant.
She responded quickly by lifting her weapon as she spun, and the huge blade embedded in her rifle. She held it up to see that the blade had penetrated right the way through and had come within a few centimetres of her face. She threw the weapon down and glared at the creature with scorn. Taylor watched as Eli drew out her assegai and looked at Karadag with the same contempt and disgust that he shared.
Taylor smiled yet further. He already knew that they were now unstoppable. Parker rushed forward aggressively and leapt towards the beast. Taylor jumped in beside her and thrust forward with his weapon. Karadag frantically cut across his body and parried the two weapons and spun with a hard swing against Taylor. He lifted his shield at the last moment, and the huge two-handed blade crashed into the thick metal.
Mitch felt the impact through his entire body and was only thankful that the exoskeleton suit saved his body from crumpling. The impact had carved a deep groove into the shield with a channelled dent that surrounded it. Taylor could already tell that it had buckled. He pushed upwards with the shield and drove his sword up towards the beast’s torso.
