Battle Earth X (6 page)

Kelly could see the burning hatred in his eyes. It wasn't the best place to work from, but it was better than nothing.

"If we do this, it's going to be bad. It will mean leaving people behind, letting people die. We're gonna have to become something none of us ever imagined. We are going to have to live like wild animals and fight like wild animals," said Kelly.

Doyle nodded.

"I don't think you fully appreciate what life will be like when we go down that path," he added.

"It will be life, which is more than we will get if we do nothing."

He looked back to Lewis who again nodded in agreement. Kelly shot up from his chair.

"All right, if this is how it's gonna be, let's do it right. Gather all MDF personnel here. Use no comms or trackable communication at all. Doyle. I want you to take the two guys out front. Get to the weapon stores at the airfield, and load up everything you can onto the cars and trucks there. Bring them along. We're heading for the forests south of here. They are our best chance. I want everything here within an hour. Personnel, supplies, the lot, so get to it."

* * *

Taylor awoke feeling like a new man. He had no idea how long he had been out for, and didn't care to even check on his watch. Parker had gone. It was a sign of how exhausted he must have been. She would have had to climb over him to get out, and it hadn't woken him. A shower was his first port of call, but afterwards, he realised he had but one uniform. The dirty one he had been wearing.

Walking about without the Reitech equipment was a revelation. For all the power and protection it gave, it was a true sense of freedom to be out of it. Taylor put on his pistol belt and carried on to the bridge, safe in the knowledge the ship was now free of enemy combatants.

As he approached the bridge, he heard a heated argument from the far corridor.

Not a good sign,
he thought.

When such a discussion was happening in public for all to hear, he knew things were bad. He stepped aboard the bridge and could hear Huber say forcefully over an open comms channel.

"This is not your fleet, and I will not submit to your authority. Its survival is a military decision and, as such, will be made by the military leader of this fleet."

No response came.

"They have cut communications, Sir," one of the crew said.

"Shit!" Huber shouted angrily.

He looked over and saw Taylor at the entrance to the bridge.

"Ah, good. Colonel, you have had more than a few run-ins with civilian authority and made it through. Maybe you can help."

Taylor took in a deep breath and stepped forward wearily. It was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

"Admiral. Given the choice of fighting the enemy with my own hands or dealing with politicians, give me the gunfight any day."

Huber laughed.

"Sadly true. The British Deputy Prime Minister is leading a collective of other civilian high rankers in an attempt to form a government. He's a son of a bitch called Andrew Bletchley."

"What about the President?"

Huber shook his head.

"Vice President? Joint chiefs?"

"The President's ship was destroyed well before it got out of the atmosphere, confirmed by several sources. Chief of the National Guard is with us but wounded. A few Senators made it...but not a lot else. We’ve lost a lot getting this far."

"Well we need a government, don't we? We have a fleet, but the majority are civilians. It's not a military fleet. It is a civilian one under the protection of the Navy."

"Yes, yes, we need a government, but they want to carry on as if nothing has happened at all. We cannot let these people rule when what we need at this time is a war leader, not a peacetime one."

Taylor opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself. He could already see they were facing the kind of infighting he had always strived to avoid, and yet rarely managed.

"Follow me," Huber said.

He led Taylor into his private quarters, took a seat, and welcomed Taylor to do the same.

"What do I do, Colonel?"

"Talk to them."

Huber laughed.

"Didn't you hear me doing that when you arrived?"

"Like it or not, you are a politician now, as well as an Admiral. You are going to have to deal with the civilians, so better to make your peace now and make it work. Ignore them or put up barriers between yourselves, and it'll only get worse."

"I only wish they would have your common sense and vision. All right, I'll meet with them, but you are coming along for the ride. Seems like there is more good you can do than just fight."

Taylor knew he did not have a choice.

 
* * *

"All present and accounted for, Sir," said Captain Reynolds.

The former MDF soldiers were formed up in the street outside Kelly's home. There wasn't a single uniform among them, just a rag tag mix of civilian clothing and camouflage items taken from the airfield. Half of them had weapons.

"What's the headcount?"

"Two hundred and twelve ready to fight, Sir. Three hundred and twenty eight civilians."

"There are no civilians anymore," Kelly added, "You're either a fighter or you’re dead."

He climbed up onto the roof of his truck parked in front of the house.

"You all know what has happened here. Earth has fallen. Armies have fallen, and governments have fallen."

"They've left us here to die!" one of the soldiers cried out.

A few yelled in support of the man.

"No, they have just done everything in their power to make sure the human race goes on. But us? We might as well be dead already. For those that made it off this world there is hope. For us, there is only war, death, and sacrifice. Do not be under any illusions. They have come here to kill us and will succeed. So the only question remains, how do you want to die? Will you be put up against a wall and shot like cattle? Will you go into one of their death camps, or be subject to their experiments? Will you put a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger?"

Many were open mouthed in shock. Nobody said a word. They waited for the good news, as they expected there must be some.

"If one of those options is favourable to you, I suggest you do it now!" he shouted, "Where I am going is right to hell, and I am dragging every one of those sons of bitches with me that I can manage. This isn't survival. This is revenge. This is payback. Will you die as sheep, or will you die as warriors? There are no rules any longer. If you follow me now, you know there is no line I will not cross. No sacrifice I will not make. I will do anything and everything in my power to make those alien bastards pay for what they have done to us. Who's with me?"

There was silence for a moment. It was a grim prospect, and he knew it. But he also knew their hatred of the aliens was all that could fuel them any longer.

"I am!" Doyle finally answered him.

Doyle had always been a quiet and reserved young man, but this was the day he changed. This had been the day he showed Kelly the way and now stood by him for all to see. Kelly nodded in appreciation.

"We never got the payback we deserved for what they did to us on our own colony. Now is our chance!" Kelly spoke to them all.

The crowd suddenly erupted into a frenzy of excitement, shouting and whistling in support. It was utter commitment and devotion to the destruction of everything they knew and loved, and it was the only way. But as they shouted in support, a pulse smashed into the group and killed two instantly. Before they could respond, two Mech fighters soared overhead and strafed their position, causing people to scatter for cover.

"Load up and follow me!" Kelly shouted.

He jumped from the truck and went to open the driver's door when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked around to see Doyle.

"Sir, on me!"

It was a surprise but his newfound confidence in the man compelled him to do so. Doyle rushed over to one of the trucks he had acquired. It was a military vehicle with canvas covering on the back. He leapt up onto the rear bed, but Kelly could not understand why. As the Commander took the corner to the rear and could see inside, he understood. Doyle was fighting to pull back the canvas cover because inside was a twelve barrelled anti-aircraft gun he had taken from the airfield.

"Christ, how'd you get this thing in here?"

"Forklift truck, thought it would come in handy. Help me get this off!"

Doyle had become a different man with this new conflict, and Kelly was as surprised as he was grateful. He climbed up into the back of the vehicle, took the other side of the canvas, and started tugging it back as the fighters strafed them once again. One pulse hit the front cab of the truck and tore the roof off.

"Christ!" Kelly screamed.

With one last pull the canvas slid back, and Kelly leapt into the control seat of the gun system. He'd never used one before but had watched others do so. He hit the power button, and the engine inside fired up, giving him full control of tilt and elevation. He turned to the targeting computer. It was fizzling where a shard of metal from the front cab had embedded in it.

"Shit!"

"You'll have to fire on open sights!" Doyle yelled, "And fast, they're coming in for another run!"

Kelly turned the guns around quickly with the foot controls and took aim as the fighter came in low and opened fire. He squeezed the trigger, and all the guns burst into life in a deafening volley. The muzzle flashes blurred out most of Kelly's sight, but he could see something explode before him. The debris veered off and crashed into one of the nearby houses.

"Woohoo!" Doyle shouted, "Hell of a shot!"

Kelly could barely hear him as his eardrums were still pulsating, and he was almost deaf. They watched as the other fighter banked quickly and fled rapidly.

"You did it!" Doyle exclaimed.

Kelly got up to look around at the devastation. His house was riddled with damage, and a dozen people lay dead in the road, with several other wounded screaming in pain.

"Not soon enough," he replied.

His truck was amazingly still intact and had sustained no further damage.

Many of those who had got to ground or cover got up and looked to Kelly for orders.

"We can't stay here. The town will be crawling with Mechs within a few hours after they hear about this. Gather the wounded. Leave the dead!"

None of them wanted to hear it, but they knew it was necessary.

"Load up and let's move!"

Kelly raced towards his truck, picking up one of the wounded along the way and helping them into the back of his vehicle.

"Reynolds, you're with me!"

The two of them climbed into the front of his vehicle. They waited, watching the rest of their people embark on dozens of vehicles along the road.

"Captain, with Morris gone, you're my right hand man now, you do realise that?"

"If you will have me."

"Good man. I need to know you are with me one hundred percent. The time for compromise is over. Are you with me until the end?"

"Yes, and let it be far from now, so that we can kill as many of those fuckers as possible before our time comes."

Kelly nodded in agreement. Knowing their chance of survival was gone had given them a new resolve. They feared the enemy far less now knowing their fate was sealed.

* * *

Taylor sat around a conference table with twenty representatives of Earth, who now stood together in an attempt to create a new government. Huber had placed him at the centre, opposite them all in a crescent. He had agreed to help, but never did he expect he would be placed as a figurehead to take all the fire that would come Huber’s way.

Shit,
he thought.

The fresh and invigorating feeling he had awoken with was being sapped away from him as each second passed. General Dupont sat on one of the flanks with another officer he did not recognise. Huber was by Taylor’s side, positioned so it appeared as though Taylor stood as his right hand.