Battle Earth IV Read Online Free PDF Page A

war continues. For now, let’s just be thankful to have it all back.”
      They turned and left the rooftop, taking just a last glance at the shocking sight as they trooped down towards the mountain of work which lay before them. Chandra was pleased to see that the rest of the Company and the civilians who had joined them had already begun work. They were running rubble out of the area in the troop transports that had taken them there.
    “Count yourself lucky, Major. You go exploring while we slave on.”
    Taylor smiled, and she couldn’t have been more accurate. He was aching to get ahead onto something more interesting. The fact that what waited for them the other side was the same work was something he tried to ignore and forget. He turned to see that Parker was waiting with three marines at a side alley that was still in tact.
    “Alright, let’s get moving.”
    He paced forwards to lead them and looked back just once to see Chandra step forward and get stuck in with the manual labour they had been reduced to.
    “You know where this leads, Sergeant?” he asked.
    “I’ve got maps of the area, but they are only part of the puzzle. This should be a good start for us.”
    “We could just use our boosters and go across the rooftops,” shouted Williams.
    Taylor nodded and sighed at the same time.
    “It’s appealing certainly, but if only we can make it, that doesn’t help.”
    “If we just had some damn birds in the air, we could sort this problem in no time,” replied Clark.
    Taylor stopped and turned back to them with a stern face.
    “We’re using old tech and tactics, I get it. Look around you. Maybe last year we had access to whatever we wanted and needed, but that just ain’t the case anymore. It’s not exactly glamorous work, but at least nobody is shooting at us. Now, can we carry on with a little less bitching?”
    A large aircraft burst across the sky, sending vibrations through the ground. For a moment they all flinched. They had become accustomed to expecting anything above them to be enemy craft. They relaxed as they saw a friendly transport plane rush over the city at remarkably low altitude. Taylor relaxed and righted himself. As he began to speak, Lam leapt forward and pushed him aside, and the others scattered. A chunk of concrete almost the size of a car crashed down between them.
    Taylor pushed Lam off him and looked around with a panic to see if Parker was okay. They had all scattered with just a metre or two between them, and a crushing and immediate death. He patted Lam on the shoulder.
    “Thanks,” he snarled.
    “Bloody flyboys!” yelled Parker.
    Taylor tapped his intercom. “Chandra, this is Taylor, over.”
    “Already on it, Major. We have a few light injuries here, but everyone is okay. What is your status, over?”
    “Near miss, but we’re all okay, over.”
    “Time for someone to get a grilling. Good luck, over and out.”
    Taylor turned back to the other four marines who looked distinctly unimpressed.
    “Fucking idiots,” snapped Lam.
    “As if it wasn’t enough that we had an advanced alien race trying to make us extinct, our own bloody people are trying to kill us,” replied Taylor.
    “I’m sure they were on an urgent mission to bring General Schulz his afternoon snack,” Parker grinned.
    “Alright, let’s get moving.”
    They wandered for hours through side streets and derelict buildings, trying to find a safe route through, and marking their waypoints as they went.
    “Can’t we just use the city ring road?” asked Lam.
    “No, it’s bumper to bumper with abandoned cars, and a hell of a way to have to walk it. The civilians who fled in a panic clogged the roads solid and had to leave on foot. First thing we have to do is establish a straight route through towards Paris.”
    They continued on through the blown windows of a shop front and into another alleyway. They reached a mound of bricks that had collapsed in from a small explosion. Mitch lifted his