Battle Earth X Read Online Free

one. Taylor leapt ahead and was the first through the breach. He was propping the weighty shield up with his other hand that still carried his Assegai and sprinted forward.
    The shield had transparency to a large upper section, allowing him to stay covered while advancing. He could see a pulse rushing to his head, but he continued at a rapid pace, under the assumption the shield would be defence enough against the alien weapons.
    Taylor didn't break stride but hit the Mech full force at a sprinting pace. It lifted off its feet, smashing down on the deck, as he clumsily rolled over and landed the other side of the creature. From the floor, he reached back and drove his Assegai into its head before it could get back up, killing it with a single blow. As he drew it out, the blood sprayed across his armour, and he saw Silva and the rest rush past, guns blazing.
    But then his heart almost stopped when he heard what he had prayed he would not. The Washington’s weapons batteries began firing, and they could be felt and heard throughout the entire ship. He didn't have to say a word. They all knew what was at stake. He jumped to his feet and followed on behind the cover of his platoon. They advanced on the main control panels where three Mechs now defended.
    "Take them down! Take the fuckers down!" he yelled.
    One of the marines beside him was struck in the face by a pulse and dropped dead, but he didn't even get to see who it was. There was no time. As they approached, the sheer weight of fire was knocking the last few creatures back out of their cover. He saw his moment and pushed his way to the front, leaping on the nearest creature to end it quickly. He stabbed it five times into the abdomen until it collapsed towards him. He brushed it aside.
    Taylor instantly turned to the consoles that Silva and Morris had managed to reach.
    "I can't turn this off," said Morris.
    "What do you mean, you can't?"
    "They've programmed it with something. We're locked out."
    "Who can unlock it?"
    "Ship’s engineers, I guess, but it could take them hours."
    "Not good enough!" Taylor shouted.
    He thought for just a second before grabbing Morris and hauling him aside. As he did, he ripped the officer's rifle from his hands and took aim at the console with it. He didn't hesitate for a second before firing full auto into the computer console, and then turning to the other and fired until there was nothing left but twisted metal and burnt out components.
    As his rifle went silent, they waited, listened, hoped, and then heard it. The weapons stopped. Morris gave out a sigh of relief.
    "How did you know that would work?"
    "I didn't."

Chapter 2
     

    Taylor strode towards the bridge, but when he took the final turn, a shot from one of their weapons struck the wall beside him. He stopped, looking to see it had come from one of the crewmembers beside Parker at the barricade ahead. He saw her backhand the perpetrator.
    Bodies lay atop one another, and he had to tread in an ungainly fashion from one to another. He reached Parker. Her cheek was bleeding where a few pieces of shrapnel had cut into her flesh, but she was still standing, and that was all he needed to know.
    The defenders split apart and allowed him to pass where he found Huber sitting beside his operations table, with his rifle next to him. He did not have the look of a man who had successfully held onto his ship.
    "We have secured all system control points. We're just carrying out final sweeps of any stragglers. This is over," Taylor stated.
    Huber nodded and sighed as if there was no relief in the news at all.
    "You didn't get to them in time," he muttered.
    Taylor took offence to the comment.
    "Yes we did, Sir!"
    The Admiral turned in surprise but could not get a word out as Taylor carried on.
    "We stopped the weapon systems as fast as was humanly possible. We saved all the lives that could be saved, so don't you start calling this a failure. Whatever, and whoever, we lost to our own weapon