Free Battle Earth III by Nick S. Thomas

the building to see Silva standing with a ghostly face in front of the opposing detention facility. The Major’s heart stopped. What could be worse than what we have just found? he thought.
    “Give me a sitrep, Sergeant.”
    Silva did not respond. He looked into the Major’s eyes with the same lost expression that Mitch had seen in Jones.
    “What’s going on, Sergeant?” he insisted.
    Silva turned and gestured for the Major to step through into the building beside him. Taylor realised it was serious enough to warrant a look. He turned to the platoon.
    “Take up positions. Parker! Get that flare up. Silva, you’re with me.”
    The Sergeant begrudgingly agreed. It worried Taylor that one the toughest NCOs he had ever known appeared to be frightened to return into a building where he already knew what lay inside. Taylor looked to Silva’s section, and they were as stunned as he was.
    “Parker, you’re in charge!”
    He turned and gestured for Silva to lead the way. The demoralised Sergeant paced uneasily to the door and into the complex. As the door opened, the Major caught a blast of the revolting air that rushed from the building. He didn’t ask what it was. The last thing he needed was to have the rest of the platoon as paralysed as the Sergeant.
    Silva led him down a corridor until it opened up into a large hall that appeared to be designed for sports. Up ahead, he could see mounds of what looked like refuse. Can’t be, he thought. Then it struck him, and his gut was right. Human bodies were piled high from the far wall to within ten metres of the corridor.
    “My God!”
    The two men stopped at the opening to the hall. Taylor gagged at the rotting stench that filled his nostrils and throat. Silva simply stood and gazed in shock. Taylor could see that most of the victims wore prison uniforms, although a number closer to them were soldiers.
    “What were they doing here? If they only wanted to exterminate us, then why would Jones and the others be alive?” he asked.
    Finally the Sergeant spoke.
    “They are studying our soldiers, our warriors. These prisoners mean nothing to them. Looks like most of them were killed outright.”
    “What makes you think that?”
    “Most of the prisoners have been slaughtered by gunfire. The soldiers have been experimented on. Needle marks all over, subjected to biological weapons.”
    “That’s what they are doing here? Looking for our weaknesses? But why kill the inmates?”
    “A few thousand criminals would have been a damn useful penal militia at the rate we are losing soldiers.”
    Taylor nodded and shook his head in disbelief simultaneously.
    “I’ve seen enough,” whispered Taylor.
    The two men turned and strode back down the corridor with their shoulders slung low and their hearts heavy. They wanted it all to end.
    “Incoming!”
    The call echoed around the complex. Parker’s voice was like a siren. Taylor felt his heart as he imagined the terrible fate they may have assigned themselves. Explosions erupted nearby that sent vibrations through the floor beneath their feet. Taylor and Silva snapped out of their depressive state as adrenaline soared through their bodies. They lifted their rifles, rushing to the doorway as the platoon opened fire.
    As Taylor came to the opening of the building, he could hear the familiar and frightful sounds of the enemy jetpacks roaring as they came in to land. Ten metres from the door, he could see one of his marines lying lifeless on his side, but he couldn’t make out who it was. Energy pulses smashed in all around them, but they were giving them hell in return.
    The Major leaned out from the doorway to get an idea of their situation. He could see just four Mechs firing from the shelter of the next buildings. Another lay dead on the ground before them, it had clearly been knocked out of the sky on approach. Over the sound of the gunfire, he could just make out the sound of the engines of their copters approaching. He looked over