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  “The plan is you follow my lead!”

  It wasn’t long before they arrived at the military prison that only Chandra had ever seen. The others quickly realised their purpose for being there. Strong metal doors protected the entrance. She stopped them at the door and looked back to Blinker.

  “Give me that ARMAL, Private!”

  “With pleasure!” he replied with a mischievous grin.

  “Major, you sure about this?” asked Suarez.

  “More sure than anything in my life!”

  She lifted the weapon up onto her shoulder and fired without hesitation. The doors of the building were blown off their hinges, and dust sprayed out over the already filthy troops. She threw down the device and lifted her rifle from her side. Chandra rushed forward into the dust cloud and with a dozen others at her back.

  Silva was the first in behind Chandra, with Jones following quickly behind. They stepped through just in time to see the Major’s rifle stock strike one of the MPs and knock him to the ground. She flipped the weapon around and shouldered it with the sights trained on another sat at a desk.

  “Major Taylor, release him now!”

  “You know I can’t do that.”

  She quickly fired two rounds over the man’s head, one of which clipped his cap and tore it off his head. The MP froze in utter shock.

  “You heard the lady!” shouted Silva.

  “Uhh… yeah… okay, but you’ll never get away with this.”

  “Get real, son, have you seen the shit that’s coming our way?” asked Silva.

  “Fuck this,” muttered Jones.

  He turned and rushed through the prison. Seconds later two shots rang out.

  “Go after him!” shouted Silva.

  She rushed off down the corridor after the Captain.

  “Don’t you know what’s going on out there? All hell’s coming down on us. You need to release any prisoners you have, and get the hell out of here!”

  “Release them? We have strict orders!”

  “To hell with your orders, do you know what the enemy do to any survivors?”

  The man shook his head in surprise.

  “Well I do, so unlock the fucking cages now!”

  The man stuttered and reached for the keys as Silva gave him some encouragement with the barrel of his rifle. Jones appeared at the edge of Taylor’s cell where the Major was laid flat out on his bed. He got up with a look of utter shock and amazement.

  “Jones, you’re back?”

  “Damn straight.”

  “You busting me out?” he asked.

  “Bet your arse, you didn’t think we’d let Schulz keep you locked up forever, did you?”

  Chandra rushed into view, as Jones shot the lock off the door of the cell and heaved it back. She was greeted by a broad and cheeky smile across Taylor’s face.

  “You’re in this, as well? You know what Schulz will do to you for this?”

  “None of it matters, anymore. Ramstein is overrun, and we have to get the hell out of here!” she shouted.

  “Run, where?” he asked in surprise.

  “I’ll tell you on the way. Let’s go!”

  They rushed past as the guard passed them in the corridor, fumbling with his keys.

  “You know I’ve done some serious shit in my time, but this? We ever get caught, and we’re goners?”

  “If we’d left you any longer, you’d be dead anyway,” replied Jones.

  They rushed out of the building to find armoured trucks rolling up. Taylor half expected it to be Schulz coming to arrest them all, but they were greeted by Sergeant Dubois.

  “How on earth did you find us?” asked Chandra.

  “You don’t think I knew this would be the first place you’d be when all hell broke loose?” she asked.

  “You got space?”

  “Climb in!”

  The Company rushed to fill the vehicles and climb on top. Explosions erupted all around the base. Their anti-aircraft defences continued to pour fire into the oncoming craft, but they were only able to destroy a handful of their attackers. Pulses smashed down into the ground as the five vehicles rumbled forwards and out towards the western entrance. They watched in despair as the base was hit by barrages; so heavy that many of the buildings were flattened.

  “I thought you’d never come. All that time in that cell, all I could think about was all of you, fighting where I should be,” murmured Taylor.

  “Schulz has been a thorn in our side all the way. Maybe now we can get free of his idiotic grasp,” replied Chandra.

  He turned to Jones with a smile.

  “And you, you made it? Back in uniform, and at the front of it all again.”

  Chandra smiled, but thought back to the suicidal scene she had seen at the trenches. She couldn’t bring herself to discuss it so soon after finally getting Taylor back, but she knew it was a new obstacle to overcome. Despite the fact that they were yet again on the run, she couldn’t help but be thankful to have Taylor back among them.

  “We lose anyone?” she asked Silva.

  “I saw one of Suarez’s platoon killed and a few from mine wounded, but we got off pretty lightly,” he replied.

  “What will we do now that Ramstein has fallen?” he asked.

  The others listened in intently.

  “General Schulz may be a bastard, but he isn’t an idiot. All forces that have arrived in the last couple of months have been establishing a tiered defence over the next twenty kilometres east. We always knew a push like this was possible, and that we couldn’t rely on a single barrier to stop them.”

  “Christ, he really has done his homework,” replied Taylor.

  “As I said, a bastard, not an idiot. I have no doubt the Generals will have been the first out before the base fell, and they will be eager to know how you escaped.”

  “What will you tell them?”

  “The truth. You’ve seen what the enemy does to human prisoners. It was my duty of care to ensure your safety. Quite frankly, I believe the General will have enough on his plate to worry about you right now. He needs every soldier he can get, so he’ll just have to put up with you.”

  “You really thought this through, hey, Major?” he jested.

  “No, I’m making it up as I go along, and it’s just working out for the best.”

  Taylor smiled, and he knew she wasn’t joking, although it still didn’t sit well with him that the circumstances of his rescue were attributable to the deaths of probably thousands of soldiers. He got up and stepped up towards the driver’s seat where Dubois was at the controls.

  “You saved our asses again, Sergeant, you our guardian angel or something?”

  She smiled as she looked back, gazing at Captain Jones. Taylor smiled, noting her affection for the Captain. He looked back and could see the blank expression on Jones’ face he remembered from when rescuing him. He could see that Jones was not the man he used to know. His heart sank, knowing that it was all for nothing.

  Chapter 8

  Taylor sat in a cold damp trench once again. He still wore his prison issue white clothing, and the light of day hurt his eyes. Of all the places to be in life, he would never have wanted to be where he was in those circumstances. And yet after his incarceration, he was revelling in his freedom. He lay back against the soggy earth that stained his shirt and took in the fresh air. They were a couple of kilometres from the main line.

  “Major!” He looked up to see Silva drop a clean set of BDUs into his lap. He recognised the camouflage pattern as used by the Germans. It was a darker and more disrupted pattern to their own, but it had been fitted with his rank insignia and American flag.”

  “Best I can do.”

  Taylor sat up and looked at the hand-stitched insignia and smiled.

  “Much appreciated, Sergeant.”

  He stood up and pulled off his damp and dirty clothing where he stood and pulled on what Silva had brought him. It was comforting to once again be wearing proper attire, even if it was impr
ovised. He peered around at the troops around him and noticed that a handful of others in their Company wore the same.

  “It’s pretty hard to get replacement gear from the States, right now. I guess the postal service is slacking,” Silva grinned.

  The troops looked a hotchpotch mix with three uniforms being prevalent amongst them now, and most were heavily worn and faded. He looked out east across the open plain. He could see line after line of trenches as far as the eye could see; with tanks dug in to hull down positions, and serviceable turrets from destroyed vehicles setup as emplacements.

  “Looks like the troops here have been busy.”

  “We had no idea. We thought when Ramstein fell we were in the shit. Turns out everyone expected that to happen. I guess it ain’t surprising, considering we lost Paris and all that.”

  Taylor suddenly realised he’d fallen into a daydream while lying down and peering up at the sky. A couple of hours had passed, but it had done him some good. He’d got better sleep out there on the edge of a muddy trench than he’d ever had in prison.

  “Chandra and Jones about?”

  “They’ve been called up to Command.”

  “Ah, shit, Schulz know I’m out?”

  “No idea, but he doesn’t miss much.”

  “Ain’t that the god damn truth?”

  A new round of shelling rang out in the distance. They were too far from the action to see it, but they all knew the kind of relentless brutality that was being thrashed against their defences. Taylor looked out over the forest canopy to the west to see plumes of smoke rising and alien craft on the skyline.

  “Poor bastards.”

  “Hey, we’ve done more than our fair share,” replied Silva.

  “True, but I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. To have to live through such a time… what did we do to deserve it?”

  “Wrong place, wrong time, I guess.”

  Taylor chuckled. He admired the fact that Silva could never be reduced to the depression and misery that plagued so many of their fellow soldiers in such dire times.

  “Do you know what our orders are?” asked Taylor.

  Silva looked up with a bemused expression. He’d never in his life heard the Major ask him such.

  “I don’t believe we even have any. Allied forces have been ordered to dig in all over, but I doubt anyone even knows where we are, right now.”

  “How did Chandra get called up then?”

  “Despatch riders relayed the command.”

  “Then I guess they know where we are!”

  “I wouldn’t take it for granted, Sir. Communication and organisation has gone to shit. As far as I know, the only stand is to dig in and hold your ground wherever you are.”

  “That worked a treat in Ramstein.”

  Silva sighed, as he knew it to be true. Taylor hadn’t been at the front line, but he knew all too well what it was like to face their invaders with such antiquated equipment.

  “I hear the first production Reitech gear has been issued,” stated Silva.

  “That scuttlebutt, Sergeant, or have you seen it with your own eyes?”

  Silva shrugged his shoulders as Taylor looked at the horizon lighting up in the distance with artillery fire. Facing the Krycenaeans was a fearful thing, but he hated knowing that fellow soldiers were dying just a few kilometres away while he stood and chatted. He turned back to Silva.

  “This tiered defence. It’ll work you know. Or at least, it has the best chance of working, but it’ll cost countless lives.”

  “Which option wouldn’t?” he retorted.

  An hour later, Chandra returned hitching a ride on a Jeep along with Jones. They found Taylor sat with a mug of coffee staring aimlessly out towards the raging battlefield.

  “Good to see you back in proper gear!” she shouted.

  He turned and leapt to his feet.

  “What are our orders? Am I to be arrested again?”

  “Schulz knows you’re with us, but he doesn’t know the circumstances of how. There’s not much he can do about it, right now. He can’t spare the people, or time to sort you out, and doesn’t even have anywhere to keep you. His orders are that you are to remain under my custody and may carry a weapon, but have no privilege of rank until a full investigation and tribunal is possible.”

  “Jesus, what a fucking asshole!”

  “Give the man some credit. He’s letting you walk free, and that’s all that matters, right now. For the foreseeable future, you will remain as my consulting officer.”

  Taylor shook his head in astonishment.

  “I guess it’s better than prison.”

  “Look, as far as the Company is concerned, you’re still a Major, and they will take your orders, no matter what. As long as you stick with me, and we maintain that capacity publicly, you’ll be fine.”

  “Alright, and my weapons?”

  “Gear is still tight. We are to beg, borrow and steal whatever we can get. I believe Suarez has a spare rifle, and that will have to do.”

  “A rifle, you’ve seen what those creatures can do? We barely survived when we faced them the first time with gear like this!”

  “All I can say is be thankful we are alive, and not at the front,” she said as she gestured towards the front lines which Taylor had been so fixated on.

  “They’ll get to us eventually,” replied Taylor.

  “I have no doubt, but that time is not now. Let’s get some rest while we can. We have rations being brought up within the hour.”

  She stepped forward and strode past the trench onto the next where the other platoons were set up. Taylor quickly rushed to her side and paced along with her.

  “There’s word Reitech gear’s being issued, you know anything about that?”

  “Only the same rumours you do,” she snapped back.

  The two of them turned as they heard vehicles roaring towards them. Two trucks were racing over the mottled ground away from the front lines. They could already make out a dozen or more wounded on each of them.

  “Christ, they’re getting murdered out there,” Chandra said.

  “Tiered fighting, there’ll be a lot more before it’s over. This is a war of attrition now.”

  “Aren’t all wars?” she replied.

  Chandra strode away, leaving Taylor watching the trucks of wounded pass by. It was a demoralising sight for the rest of the troops to have to witness. They could make out the blank and lifeless expressions of many of the casualties. Others screamed in agony as medics worked on them deeper inside the vehicles.

  The troops of the 2 ^ nd Inter-Allied watched for two days as the wounded were ferried back from the front, and the artillery and bombardments drew nearer. They could tell the enemy was now just two kilometres away, and so they waited anxiously each day to see if they would have to fight. They could only hope the losses on the enemy side were as significant.

  “Giving ground every hour doesn’t seem like the best move,” mused Campbell.

  “It’s a solid tactic. It may seem like we are giving up ground and losing a lot for it, but you lose troops however you fight. Think about it, you set up one big wall, and if there is one breach in that wall, you are finished. Spread your forces in deeper layers, and each breach by the enemy is less significant. They get further and further away from their resources and can never bring everything to bear against one target.”

  “And the troops at those front tiers? Are they expendable?”

  “In a way, yes, but soldiers fight, and soldiers die. Sacrifices have to be made.”

  “Not always wisely, though. It wasn’t so long ago you said Schulz had no care for the soldiers in his command, has that changed?”

  “Probably not, he is a bastard, but that doesn’t make him wrong.”

  Taylor could hear a few vehicles heading towards them from the east. They had gotten used to seeing trucks transporting troops forward and casualties back, but he stood up beside the trench to look out. He didn’t recognise the trucks. They weren’t mi
litary issue.

  “What the hell is this?” he asked.

  Three trucks rolled towards their position. They were similar in size and layout to a regular army truck but of distinctly civilian usage. Chandra walked up to him and watched out of curiosity as they drew up to a halt. They half expected to be asked directions for somewhere, but could not understand why. It was a peculiar thing to see such shiny civilian vehicles in their warzone. The driver of the first leaned out and shouted.

  “Major Taylor here?”

  “You’re speaking to him.”

  The passenger door on the other side of the truck opened, and they heard someone jump out. Seconds later, the passenger strode into view, and they were relieved to see it was Doctor Reiter.

  “Major, I am glad to see you are no longer behind bars.”

  “Yeah, thanks for reminding me of it,” jested Taylor.

  “I hear the brass have been keeping you busy?” asked Chandra.

  “Most certainly, Major, but I am sorry to see that you are no longer reaping the benefits of my work. I was sad to hear of the removal of the equipment from your Company and protested most vehemently on the subject.”

  “We’ve been fighting an uphill battle since. Your equipment gave us a fighting chance, but we’ve lost some good people these last weeks.”

  “Then you’ll be glad to know that I am here to rectify that. I am returning all of the Reitech equipment which was issued you.”

  “Shit, are you serious?” asked Taylor. “Has General Schulz authorised this?”

  Reiter shook his head and smiled.

  “The General may decide what equipment he issues from the factory, but what equipment I build for myself and my testing, is to do with as I please. Your people remain the best test bed for my creations.”

  “We’re getting it all back? Everything we had from you?” asked Chandra in amazement.

  Reiter nodded. Taylor turned back to the trenches.

  “Form up, and collect your gear!” he yelled.

  A cheer rang out down the line as the troops hopped out of their trenches with an enthusiasm none of them had seen in a long time, not since before Taylor’s arrest. Reiter gave a hand signal that was answered with a number of his assistants opening up the sides of the vehicles and hauling box loads of equipment to the edge of their trucks. The Company, who were desperate to get their hands on the gear, mobbed them.