Battle Earth: 11 (22 page)

"What is this?"

Taylor looked back to Parker and raised his hand to call silence. They watched the video screen zoom in further and further. But they were not looking at Germany. The camera was heading for France and focused down onto Paris. Finally, it reached that same point at Taylor's statue that he had been shown before.

"What has this got to do with anything?" whispered Taylor.

Then he noticed the shapes of humans. At least a hundred and fifty of them were formed up loosely, with Mech warriors surrounding their prisoners. At the front of the line was Kelly.

"They're alive?" Taylor asked in amazement.

Gasps rang out behind them as the rest of the unit realised what they were seeing.

"Why are they still alive? How?"

He watched the figures of several of the Mech elite stroll out towards them and stop. Finally, Erdogan strode out from a nearby building and stood before Kelly. The creature was unmistakeable even from a bird's eye view. They stood opposite each other as if talking when Erdogan violently lashed out with a punch to Kelly's face. It was enough to cause him to stagger back a few paces before regaining his feet. As he did so, one of the other humans rushed out towards Erdogan as if to assault him. A pulse cannon flashed, and the man dropped dead before Erdogan.

"Why are they keeping them alive?"

As Taylor asked it, they saw cloud cover begin to obscure the scene, and the feed was lost all together. Nobody said a word for almost a full minute as they tried to take it all in. Eventually, it was Silva's growly voice that piped up.

"We're going in to get 'em, right, Sir?"

Taylor turned back to his unit and could see they were all of one mind.

"Damn right we are."

"Erdogan wants you to do this. It is a trap," added Irala.

"Yep, but we know it's a trap, so we'll just have to outsmart him. Better still, we know where he is."

"We did. But by the time we could reach that position, he may well be long gone."

"Worth a shot though, don't you think? That bastard is rubbing this in our faces, and I think we have a chance to humiliate him, and rescue some of our own in the process. Hell, we even have a chance to take him on. That's what we've been aiming for, isn't it?"

"Erdogan would not set a trap for us, and then risk himself in doing so."

"Okay, so we get two out of three things we want. That ain't so bad."

Irala went silent. He seemed to be thinking about the situation, as he often did.

"Are you conferring with your people?" Taylor asked.

"Yes."

It confirmed what he had always wondered.

"This is not the best course of action, but if you are for it, then we will help you."

Kelly couldn't believe they finally had their shot. He was almost overcome with excitement, even though he knew the dangers they were about to face. "Thank you. You don't know how much this will mean to my people."

"If you succeed."

"It's the right thing to do, whether we succeed or not, and they know that."

"I would like to know one thing, Colonel."

"Anything, Irala."

"Were it me and my people down there, would you come for us?"

"Yes," he replied confidently, "Anyone who fights with us would get my help, and if you ever need it, know that I will be coming for you."

"Then we will provide you five of our ships and twenty of our Kaitiaki, the machines that you have seen."

"The what?"

"You may call them Guardians. They will be commanded by my people from the safety of their vessels, and they will default to your command if control by us is lost."

"I don't know how to thank you."

He stepped past the alien and before his own Regiment.

"Training is over! It's time to take the fight to them!"

"Sure feels good to be going home!" Rains exclaimed.

The others were silent as they wondered what they might face. The Mastiff was crammed with fifty of the Inter-Allied marines and three Guardians. They had to crawl in and stay hunched due to their height. Jafar watched them carefully at all times. Taylor couldn't blame him; after all, they had tried to kill him.

"You know how crazy and stupid this is, right?"

"Yeah, Eli, but it makes all the sense in the world, doesn't it?"

"Do you really believe this plan can work, Mitch?"

"Wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"We're jumping in five...four...three," Rains said, counting down.

From the cockpit of the Mastiff, they could see nothing but the hangar bay of the Diderot displayed on the screens around them. They felt a lurch when they were taken into the space gateway. It was always a bizarre feeling, almost like the rush you felt in your stomach when leaping out of an aircraft.

"We're through!"

Rains studied the screens before him and shook his head in amazement. Well, I'll be damned. "Right inside the atmo, just as they said we would be."

The hangar bay doors slid open, and they were met with the most beautiful of sights. It was noon over Paris, and the clear blue skies allowed them to see for as far as their eyes could, but it was still just on their camera feeds. Rains got on the power, and they burst out of the hangar bay and initially dropped like a stone before gaining some altitude.

"She ain't built for smooth flying!"

Pulses flashed around them from the anti-aircraft weapons opening fire. One struck the fuselage, and they rocked violently but continued on without any adverse effect.

"Yep, that's why I love this bird," Rains said quietly to himself.

Taylor was looking at the rear screens as the last of the friendly craft departed from the Diderot. With the Connolly, and their two alien escort vessels, she jumped back out.

"All alone now," said Rains.

"No, they haven't left. They'll be back."

They saw a flash in the sky a few kilometres off as the second part of the fleet arrived and began to launch its assault craft. Pulses filled the sky now as the anti-aircraft defences fired with everything they had. Taylor looked down at his watch and counted the seconds, "Three, two, one.."

They watched on the screens as three nuclear weapons ignited a few kilometres away at a Mech base. Rays of light from the Aranui struck the surface at strategic targets, but the attack lasted less than thirty seconds. They watched the second wave of ships jump back out of the area, and all that was left were the wave of assault craft heading for the centre of Paris.

"Two thousand against a city," said Parker.

"Yeah, Eli, but we just evened up the odds a little."

"Erdogan was never going to be here, was he?"

Taylor shook his head. "Trap or not, he'd be a fool to risk himself in it. He's many things, but not a fool."

"And this trap, how exactly are we not gonna fall into it?" Rains asked.

"Erdogan will have expected a covert strike to get Kelly's people out. He's studied us, and he knows that's what we do. Not an offensive of this nature."

"Probably because to attack the city would be insane."

"We've hit key installations around the city. They'll be in absolute chaos for some time. And Irala has put in jammers to block their communications for a ten kilometre radius."

"He can do that?" Parker asked.

"Yeah, he says so. It's about time the Krys felt what it's like for things to go dark. They've got no communication at all, no video feeds, no surveillance. For the time we're here, this is our town."

"All right, we're going in," Rains announced.

Kelly could see his statue at the far end of the long colonnade that ran up to it. He was still amazed it was intact.

"Put us down, right here."

"You got it."

As Rains replied, a huge pulse blast struck the front of their ship and rocked them violently. Damage markers flashed all around Rains' console, and a fire broke out near the bow. Taylor didn't have to say anything; his people were already dealing with it. Rains banked hard as another pulse glanced the hull.

"We aren't landing here!" They flew off to the north as fast as Rains could put the power down.

"We need to get out now!" Taylor hollered.

Lighter pulses continued to smash into their flank as Rains looked for somewhere to land.

"I can't put you on the ground. We'll be swamped!"

"Find me an LZ, anywhere, just do it!"

He looked over and spotted a flat rooftop of what used to be a hospital. It was only four storeys high.

"On top of that do?"

"Will it take the weight?"

Rains shrugged.

"Fuck it, put us down."

Rains brought them in as quickly as he could to avoid the gunfire, using all the power to slow them down right at the last moment. They hit the rooftop harder than he would have wanted and heard the supports of the roof top creak, but they finally they came to a halt.

"Everyone out!" Taylor ordered.

All of the access ramps dropped down, and the marines rushed out as the Guardians squeezed out into the open. Mitch looked around to see they were two kilometres north of their original landing zone, but there was no time to worry about it, anymore. He turned around to see Rains climb out with a rifle in hand.

"Not this time, Lieutenant. You have a job to do. Protect this bird, and make sure she's ready to fly out when we need her."

He turned to one of the Guardians. "You stay here and protect this ship, and protect our pilot. They're our ticket out of here, you got it?"

The Guardian nodded, and Taylor turned to survey the scene. He could see that Mastiffs and other lighter craft were landing all over, but they were all forced to land far from their target.

"Gonna be a long fight to get to that Palace," said Parker.

Erdogan's Palace was a vast structure. It seemed they had attempted to mimic some of the 19th century architecture that used to stand in its place before the city was flattened. And yet the shape of the structure was where the similarities ended. It was constructed entirely from what looked like raw iron. It was dull and lacklustre, with only a natural grain. The Palace appeared to have been built as a double scale version of a former Royal residence he remembered seeing in photographs years ago. There was no iconography on the structure at all, not even a flag. It was a stark sight.

"You think he meant for the place to look like a concrete box?" Silva asked.

"Don't know, don't care," said Taylor, focusing his attention entirely on finding a safe way to reach it. He looked down. A dozen Mechs were approaching across an open square below them.

"Shortest path is right through them," he said.

Without another word, Mitch ran to the edge and jumped off the roof. The others quickly followed. As he made his descent, he used his helmet targeter to fire two shots at the nearest creature. The rounds knocked it back and onto one knee, but it got back up as he landed. He took better aim now and opened fire with a well-aimed burst that pierced the creature's armour at the chest.

The rest of the marines dropped in beside him and opened fire, but before they had got off a few bursts, they saw light flashing, and a volley of white light smashed into the Mechs. It tore eight of them apart with no effort at all. Taylor saw the Guardians were providing fire from the rooftop where they had stayed. He turned back and continued on firing at the last few, and they were quickly overcome. He stood up in amazement to see the effectiveness of their allies' weapons. Two of the Guardians then jumped from the rooftop and landed hard on the ground beside them. The impacts were so great that the ground cracked before their feet.

Taylor could tell the Aranui Guardians had none of the agility the creatures themselves did, but they more than made up for it with sheer strength and power.

"Damn handy in a tight spot these fellows."

Taylor almost smiled at Silva.

"Move on!" he rushed forward over the bodies of the first creatures. He looked around for any other signs of trouble but couldn't seem to find anyone.

"Seems awfully quiet."

Just as Parker said the words, a pulse struck the ground around them, and several others followed it. They saw a Mech heavy fighter heading right for them from the south. The Guardian on the roof of the hospital had already opened fire but was having difficulty tracking its speed as it soared towards them.

"Take cover!"

They scattered, but the two Guardians stood their ground and fired all their weapons head on into the fighter. Holes were ripped through the cockpit and hull, but there was no stopping it. The aircraft began to dip further and head right for them. Pulses and lasers still smashed into it, but they could not stop the mass of the craft. It plunged into one of the Guardians and ignited on impact. The wreckage burst apart and scattered out around them. Taylor was hunkered down behind his shield and felt the impact of a large piece of shrapnel smash into it. It then bounced over the top and carried on across the square.

"Everyone okay?" he shouted, getting to his feet.

There was not much left to look at of the Guardian who had taken the impact, but the other looked ready to go on. It was a loss they could have done without, but Taylor was glad it was a machine and not one of their own that had fallen. He looked up to check on Rains. He was standing at the edge of the rooftop with the Guardian that had stayed with him. The pilot gave him a salute for good luck. Taylor turned and moved on to find their goal.

He didn't recognise any of the buildings around them. Every single one must have been rebuilt in recent years, or constructed by the enemy.

"Last time I was here, pretty much all that was standing was that stupid statue of me," he said to Parker.

"Stupid? So it doesn't piss you off that Erdogan has claimed it and paraded around it for all to see."

"Damn right it pisses me off. Just because I don't like it, doesn't mean I don't want it."

They passed through an opening between two buildings and came out at a large open square. They could see Captain King a hundred metres at one end, doing battle with the enemy.

"Where are all the people?"

"What people, Silva?" Parker asked.

"Humans. Irala said they didn't kill them all."

"Wouldn't want them ruining the look of the city though, would you?" Taylor joked, "When would you ever have a conquered populace still living beside the ruler's palace? I'd say Erdogan intends to rebuild this city into what it once was."

"I'd rather see it flattened again than that."

"Amen, Eli."

They were running at a steady pace across the square, heading towards the narrowing street that would lead to the Palace. Taylor was brought to a standstill and froze when they took the bend into the narrow street. They found a Juggernaut standing guard.

"Oh, shit," whispered Parker.

"Get that pig deployed, now," Taylor said.

But it was too late. The creature had already spotted them. It leapt forward and rushed at them. It was a terrifying sight. They all knew how hard they were to kill, and how much damage they could deal.

"Fire!"

But before they could pull the triggers, the Guardian rushed forward. It fired both its weapons and headed straight for the creature. The impacts blew holes in its armour until finally they clashed. They both stopped both dead as they slammed into one another. The creature tried to take a hold, but the Guardian drove its fist into one of the holes it had shot in the armour. The strike prised the armour open like a tin can, and then it fired its arm-mounted cannon from inside. The Juggernaut went limp, and the Guardian tossed it aside like garbage.

"The day we make suits like that, I want one," said Silva.

Taylor continued on and reached the entrance to the square they had so recently flown over. At the far end was his statue, still untouched by the war. At the entrance to the Palace were a dozen Mechs. They stood on guard as if nothing had happened.