Authors: Nick S. Thomas
“We’re good to go.”
He rolled the vehicles forward and looked to Becker. He was sitting in front of a mounted machine gun fitted on the cowl. He had his slim line tankers helmet on and seemed surprisingly calm.
“You know it’s not so bad once you’re past the point of no return,” he said with a smile.
“When we get onto that strip, you pull that trigger, and you don’t stop until the magazine is dry. You change over quickly and you keep firing. You got that?” Kelly said.
“Got it.”
He turned to the other two in the back who were manning weapons mounted on the roll case. The rear of the jeep was packed out with magazines.
“So those history books you learned about this from? Did they survive?”
“Mostly, but then, they didn’t have the whole world against them.”
“Good enough.”
Kelly put his foot to the floor, and the vehicle soared forwards. They reached the treeline where the mud track expanded out into an open plain that was covered in untouched snow. Kelly’s jeep flew out off of the embankment and lifted slightly into the air before landing smoothly on its soft suspension and racing across the plain. The sunlight was almost gone now, with just ten minutes left at most.
They all expected to hear gunfire at any moment, but it never came. They reached the rear of one of the hangars without any resistance at all. Their engines made almost no noise, and that was appreciated as they stormed into the enemy base. They got to the front of the hangar and burst out onto the open landing stip.
Becker was on the trigger as Kelly turned sharply to run the length of the hangars. The first of the Captain’s shots went wide, but he didn’t release his grip on the trigger. He swivelled the gun around on its mounts and panned until the shots hit the first of the Mech aircraft.
The dark landing strip was lit up with hundreds of rounds of tracer fire pouring out from the lead vehicle alone until the next joined in the action. They were firing from both sides of every vehicle and those mounted over the hoods. The first aircraft burst into flames when its ammo rack was hit, but that was only the signal to open up on the next target.
Explosions lit up the area all along the hangar bays as they rode along at a steady pace. Kelly could see a number of silhouettes in the distance moving to head them off. He pointed for Becker and yelled, “Take them!”
Becker rotated the twin-linked weapon around and kept on firing. The three unarmoured creatures were cut down in seconds by a hail of automatic fire. Kelly looked back to see lines of the Mech aircraft burning and smashed. Becker slammed in two new clips, and they kept up the shooting for another couple of minutes until they reached the end of the line. As they did so, they saw a search light pan onto their position from a tower up ahead. Two pulses struck the ground around them, but Becker and the other gunners quickly returned fire.
The searchlight was blown out after the initial volley, and soon after the tower exploded and was engulfed with flames.
“We got you!” Becker shouted.
He turned his fire to the last of the aircraft on the ground and emptied his magazines on them. Kelly could see a hive of activity back towards the first hangar where they had started at. It brought a smile to his face to see so many Mech aircraft wrecked in their wake, but he knew it was time to get the hell out.
Kelly turned the wheel sharply and led the convoy around the last hangar, putting his foot on the gas once again to race across the snow as fast as they possibly could. A number of pulses rushed past them and hit the trees ahead, causing a few to set alight.
“Almost there, come on!”
Something splashed onto the inside of the windscreen and Kelly looked back. Doyle was sprawled over his machine gun and gasping for air. As they reached the fire of the trees, he could see the blood splattered over his own shoulder and inside of the cockpit.
“Hold on, you’re gonna make it!”
They hit the ramp leading to the track far faster than the first time, in the desperation to escape. The jeep launched twice the distance into the air this time and landed hard. The back end veered out of control, and only the forward motion caught it and brought it back in line. They thundered on through the tree-covered lane.
“He’s hurt badly!” Berlin called out.
Kelly glanced back and saw the Corporal trying to treat him, but he looked severely wounded. Kelly wanted nothing more than to stop and lend some help, but he knew they couldn’t afford to. Kelly wrestled the wheel as they slid through the track at a speed only a maniac would travel, but somehow the rest of the column managed to keep up.
“Wow, we did it!” yelled Becker in excitement.
He looked over to Kelly; surprised to see the Commander wasn’t celebrating. He glanced back now and saw Doyle in the Corporal’s arms. They went on for more than a kilometre when Kelly finally put on the brakes and brought them to a halt. He got out and went to the back of the vehicle to check on his old friend.
Doyle wasn’t moving, and his uniform was soaked in blood. Corporal Berlin had tears dripping down her face, the only time any of them had ever seen such a thing.
“Did he say anything to you?” Kelly asked.
She shook her head. Kelly sighed as he mourned his friend, knowing there was nothing more he could do. The vehicle behind him had taken a pulse across its fender, and the driver was cut and bleeding from shrapnel. He suspected there was plenty more damage he couldn’t see, but there was no time to look.
“We have to go, Kelly,” said Becker.
But he didn’t move for a moment.
“Kelly!”
He snapped out of it and jumped into the driver's seat.
“The price, it never seems worth paying afterwards,” he replied.
Becker knew how he felt, but more than anything because of the responsibility he had to endure.
“We’ve all lost, and it never feels good.”
Kelly fired up the engine and pulled off into the night once again. He could feel a tear come to his eye. He turned and wiped it before anyone could notice as he pulled on his night vision glasses and carried on home.
When they finally reached the encampment, they approached slowly and quietly. There were only a couple of hours left to daylight, and several were already awake, or couldn’t sleep due to the cold. Kelly brought his vehicle to a halt, and then went to the back with the other two to help lift Doyle’s body out.
Kelly looked at the body of his friend as they laid him down, and then over to the other crews who carried another one of their fallen and several wounded.
“Was it worth it?”
Kelly nodded to Becker before responding. “There are casualties in war. They never feel worth it, not even after victory. Let’s get them buried. We’ll have a service when everyone wakes in a couple of hours.”
Kelly dug the grave for Doyle himself, and Becker helped him do it. By the time the sun was coming up, most of the group had gathered around to pay their respects. Kelly hadn’t even counted their number recently, but he knew it couldn’t be much more than a couple of hundred. Everybody stood silently and waited for him to address them.
“Last night we conducted an operation with the intention of severely hindering enemy actions within this province. We succeeded in that mission, and these two fighters, these two friends were vital in the accomplishment of that mission. They aren’t the first casualties of this war, and neither will they be the last. Know that they have found peace now and left this wretched fighting behind.”
He stepped forward and took up the body of Doyle, with Becker helping. They lowered him down into the grave and began to replace the soil over his body. It was the best burial they could give him. As they placed the last of the earth over the two bodies, the crowd began to disperse, but Kelly stayed put. Becker was about to say something when they heard the roar of engines overhead and saw dozens of Mech craft soar into view. Kelly didn’t even respond as dozens more arrived.
“Kelly! Get down!” Becker hollered.
The Captain rushed over and grabbed Kelly, hauling them both to shelter beside the nearest vehicle. Becker grabbed a rifle and began to fire at one of the craft. Guns mounted on the vehicles roared to life from their people rushing to crew them, but dozens of Mechs were already descending in amongst them.
Kelly got to his feet and grabbed a rifle, but as he took aim realised how hopeless it was. Two of the enemy aircraft were shot out of the sky, and a few more would soon join them, but there were dozens more joining them. He looked around at the pulses landing everywhere, and many of their people being struck by the weapons.
“It’s over,” he whispered.
Becker was firing in all directions like a mad man and didn’t hear him.
“Come on, Kelly, shoot something!”
Pulses continued to rage down upon them, and Kelly saw two of their own launched through the air and land smouldering on the snow. He threw down his rifle and walked out into the open empty handed.
“What are you doing, Kelly!”
“It’s over, Becker! Put down your weapons! Stop fighting!”
The shooting continued on for a moment before several others seemed to notice, and the Mechs came to a standstill. Becker got out from cover and looked at the bizarre scene with amazement. There were thirty or forty Mechs amongst them now, and not one of them moved. The gunfire from their own side quickly died down, and many got out from cover to marvel at the sight. Then they looked to Kelly.
“It’s over!” he yelled again. “Put down your weapons!”
Becker couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“After all this, we just give up?”
“I don’t know what more to say to you,” replied Kelly, “I have done everything I can. I have fought all I can and done what I was thought best in every situation, but look!”
He pointed to the Mech craft hovering above them and the Mechs surrounding their people. As he said it, another two-dozen dropped down to the ground and held pulse cannons at the ready, without actually firing.
“If we keep up this fight, then we’re already dead. Lay down your weapons, and live to fight another day!”
He could hear his voice quivering, finding it so difficult to say the words, but he knew it was what they had to do.
“Put them down!”
Becker was the first to do so but still muttered under his breath, and the rest soon followed. He dropped his rifle and slumped down onto the front bumper of the vehicle he had been sheltering behind. The rest soon followed and surrendered their weapons.
"Why have they stopped firing? Why don't they just finish us?"
"I don't know, Reynolds, but we were finished if we kept fighting. At least this way we might have a chance."
"Should have gone down fighting like we would have at the Drachenburg," said Becker.
"Then I am sorry I failed you, and I am sorry you followed me," replied Kelly with bitter sorrow in his tone.
* * *
"Colonel Taylor, come with me," stated Irala.
He was pouring water down his throat and all over his face. He was still dripping in sweat from the continuation of their training.
"Just give me a few minutes, will you?"
"No, you will want to see this now."
He sighed and got to his feet.
"You know you make us wait days or weeks on end for you, and then expect us to snap to attention when it suits you. Do you know how annoying that is?"
"Yes," he replied in an oddly straight fashion.
"Well, good, at least we understand each other."
Irala led him just a few metres away from the group to where there was open space. It was where they had been training until moments before. He then stopped.
Taylor shrugged, as if to ask what they were doing.
"The man you went to Earth to see. Commander Kelly."
"What of him?"
"He and his people were ambushed approximately six hours ago."
Taylor felt his heart sink and was just waiting to hear that Kelly was gone.
"Any survivors?"
Irala said nothing. He simply turned and seemed to operate a few controls on the forearm of his armour. A moment later a large screen projected out before them. It was ten metres wide and in the open for all to see. It was one of the drone feeds. At first the view was drawn back showing much of Northern Europe.