Battle Earth: 11 (18 page)

But Taylor didn't slow down or respond. He left the building, fuming with anger.

"Guess that went well," said Silva.

"Kelly is alive. He's one of them. Captain Becker, too."

"You know this for certain?"

"Yes, I've seen them, talked to them. Not sure they believed it was really me, but never mind."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Not leave them there, that's for sure, but the Admiral doesn't see eye to eye on that. Irala doesn't seem to keen to help either."

"Then what?"

"I don't know. I need time to think."

"Get some chow in you. That'll help."

He agreed, and they carried on to the chow hall, to find many of his people there. He acknowledged Parker with a smile, and then noticed Morris striding towards him with purpose. The Captain rushed right up to him and punched him hard in the jaw. It was hard enough to snap Taylor's head to one side. He shook his head in disbelief.

"As if there aren't enough people who want a piece of me in this life, now you?"

"My people are alive and still fighting, and you've known this for God knows how long?"

"Since this morning."

Morris didn't seem to believe him.

"You have my word. I only kept it from you until I could know for absolute certainty, and also have a plan for helping them out."

"Well, do you?"

Taylor sighed. "I'm working on it, but I'm not finding a lot of interest in the idea."

"You have to find a way, Colonel. Promise me."

Morris stretched out his hand and placed it on Taylor's shoulder.

"You know we owe it to him. He'd do the same for us were our positions reversed."

"Huang is concerned that we risk too much too soon."

"I don't give a shit what he says. He isn't one of us, and he has no more reason to care for our people than Irala and his lot."

"If we are gonna do this, we need help. I don't mean a few hundred marines and one ship. I mean real help. We need the fleet on board, and we need those ships the Aranui use."

"Then find a way, Colonel, I beg you."

Parker handed him some food, and he sat down in a world of his own, thinking it through. Suddenly, halfway through his food, he stopped and got up.

"What is it?"

"I've got it, Eli. I have a way."

"Way to what?"

"To get people to act. If the fleet knew what I know, they'd want to help."

"You're talking about going directly against the Admiral's orders. You're talking about a coup...mutiny."

"Or it'll shame Huang and force his hand to go along with it."

"It's a pretty big gamble, don't you think?"

He didn't respond. He simply rushed off out of the room and headed to the Diderot. Jafar and Parker followed close by.

"You sure about this?" she asked him.

"You know I am."

He reached the ship and found Captain Lasure at the loading ramp, overseeing the appointment of new crewmembers.

"Colonel Taylor," he said with surprise and familiarity, "What can I do for you?"

"I need your help."

Ten minutes later, they stood aboard the bridge of the vessel, and Lasure sat uneasily in his chair.

"You know this is a bad idea?" he asked Taylor.

"No, it's a risky idea, but not a bad one. Can you get this signal out across the fleet?"

"I can, but Admiral Huang could have my command for this."

Taylor drew his pistol and held it casually by his side.

"Then tell Huang I forced you by gunpoint."

Lasure laughed, but he could tell by Taylor's sincerity that he'd be willing to so.

“We can transmit an open message to the fleet, but Admiral Huang can shut us down if you start saying things he doesn’t want anyone to hear.”

“Trust me, when people hear what I have to say, Huang won’t be a problem at all.”

“I do hope you’re right, Colonel. I don’t want to imagine the consequences if this does not go your way.”

“What’s Huang gonna do, lock us up?”

“That would be customary, followed with a court martial.”

“Customs went out the window when we left Earth with a handful of survivors. He can’t afford to replace us, anymore than we can afford to replace him.”

Lasure looked over to his communications officer and nodded for her to do as Taylor had requested. She signalled to Lasure to say it was ready.

“This is Captain Lasure of the Diderot, hosting a message from Colonel Mitch Taylor of the Inter-Allied Regiment.”

Lasure opened his hands towards Taylor as a prompt for him to speak. He took a deep breath, suddenly realising he had not prepared any of what he wanted to say, and so he just opened up with all that he felt.

“I have been back to Earth twice since we have been out here. The second time was just this morning. What I discovered there was that humans still fight on. Most are enslaved, but some still fight, fewer and fewer everyday. I want to get them out. They are our people, fighters. If they have made it this far, then they deserve our help, and we would be stronger for their numbers. Logic would suggest we cannot afford to risk the resources to help them at this stage, but as a human being, I say we cannot afford not to. Our humanity is of more value than anything else. All I ask is that you support our own people. Those who do, please be sure to voice your opinion to Admiral Huang. He may lead this fleet, but the future of humanity is in all our hands. Just ask yourselves, would you want to know there was someone out there coming to help you, if you were left all alone to fight against an enemy as terrifying as the Krys? That’ll be all. Taylor out.”

He looked to Lasure and then the rest of the crew. They were all staring right at him in astonishment.

“Colonel. If we ever get into a deep dark hole, I want it to be you who comes looking for us,” said Lasure.

“Colonel Taylor! You are ordered to stand down. You are under arrest!”

Taylor shook his head. He suspected it was coming, but he had hoped Huang would see sense. He was still on the bridge of the Diderot, with a crew now utterly devoted to serving him and his plan.

“Distribute firearms and prepare to defend this ship!” Lasure ordered.

Silva, Parker, and Jafar were all of his own unit Taylor had with him, but he did not fear a thing.

“He has to do this, you know,” said Parker, “or he looks like a weak idiot. Can’t have a Marine officer telling him what to do.”

“If he doesn’t have the balls for the job, then I’m sure we can find someone better suited,” snapped Taylor.

“Mutinous once again, Mitch. We’re too used to getting our way, but it can’t always be the case.”

“I don’t want my own way. I want the people around us to do the right thing.”

“Colonel Taylor!” a voice echoed from a loud hailer and piped in through the cameras on the hull of the ship. He instantly recognised it as Huang’s voice. A moment later, Lasure had a screen displayed before them, showing the Admiral and twenty of his staff and marines standing at the entrance ramp to the ship. “Colonel Taylor, I am ordering you to report to me immediately and explain your actions!”

“Such a schoolboy,” remarked Taylor.

“Colonel Taylor, get down here now!”

Taylor shook his head. “I have to go down there.”

“He’ll arrest you. I can’t see you go behind bars again,” pleaded Parker.

“He can’t lock me up. He can’t afford to. He’s just trying to save face and stop me doing what I’m about to do.”

“And when has anyone ever succeeded in stopping you?” Silva asked, rhetorically.

Taylor looked around to everyone on the bridge to see if they would stand beside him. There was not a hint of hesitation. He got up and went to leave the bridge, and half of those on the bridge followed him. He stopped and turned to them.

“You don’t have to fight this fight with me.”

“Go on, we’re right behind you,” said Parker.

He nodded in gratitude and carried on leaving the bridge. As he exited through the main door, he found the crew of the vessel lining the way for him. They were still and silent, but as he stepped off the bridge, they began chanting his name.

“Taylor, Taylor, Taylor!”

He knew he had the support of the people, and he strode confidently down to meet the Admiral. Finally, he stepped out onto the ramp that led down to the ground where Huang stood. The Admiral tried to appear confident, but it was clear to Taylor he grew ever more uncomfortable by the power Taylor held over all around them.

“I cannot allow you to go on like this,” stated Huang.

“I don’t believe you have a choice,” replied Taylor smugly, “All I want is the best thing for humanity. If you are willing to stand in the way of that, then you are not my ally, and you are not one of us.”

“I am the Commander of this fleet, and as a result, the leader of the human race, and…” Huang continued, but Taylor interrupted.

“But this isn’t the entire human race, is it?” Taylor hollered, “This is what we left with, but it isn’t all. You know it isn’t all. I want to bring back our own, and you want to shoot me down. You don’t have that right!”

“I am the commander of this fleet,” replied Huang.

He went silent and seemed to hope that statement would end the argument, but it only made Taylor shake his head in amazement.

“You weren’t chosen to lead this fleet. You are the Admiral of the Chinese fleet. You have no authority over the dozens of other nations among us. You can earn our respect and lead us the right way, or you can leave the job to someone who is capable and able to do it.”

Huang didn’t reply for a moment, and everyone within twenty metres was silenced. They waited and watched for a response from either of the men. Finally, Huang turned to his own marines.

“Arrest the Colonel!” he shouted for all to hear.

The Chinese troops began to move forward, and Taylor didn’t move an inch.

“Don’t move!” Lasure ordered, and he paced down the ramp, with pistol in hand, and several of his marine detachment at his flanks.

“Captain, you are ordered to step down!” Huang shouted.

“As the senior French Naval officer in the fleet, I am assuming command of my nation's Navy and do not owe you anything. If any one of you steps aboard this vessel without invitation, it will be judged as an act of war!”

Huang couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but his marines had already stopped and looked back to him for confirmation. They looked uneasy, and Taylor only made them feel more uncomfortable, as did Jafar towering over him.

“Admiral, do you want a fight here, or do you want to do the right thing and go to bring our people back?” Taylor asked.

“That is not your decision to make!”

He ordered something in Chinese, and the marines seemed to hesitate before finally moving forward against Taylor. They approached with shields and Assegais drawn, but using them as batons without them being powered up. The first came at him with remarkable speed and accuracy, and he narrowly avoiding the weapon with a side step and threw the man towards Jafar. The man struck Jafar like he had hit a brick wall and fell flat before him.

“Is this what you want?” Taylor shouted to Huang.

A rifle fired in the air, and several shots followed it. It brought everyone to a standstill. They all look for the source and found Captain Morris, with several of the Inter-Allied at his side.

“Admiral, we are going to Earth, whether you like it or not!”

As he said it, a dozen Chinese marines approached to join their countrymen. They held rifles at the ready. Taylor could see it was escalating way out of control. He stepped forward alone and placed himself between the two sides.

“Enough of this!”

But even as he said it, the sound of rifle fire rang out amongst them. Nobody could tell who had fired first, but both sides were quick to pull the trigger. Several dozens shots were fired as Taylor ducked down beneath the fire, yelling for them to stop, but it had little response.

Reitech rounds zipped overhead until finally a bright white light flashed among them. It was blinding and brought the gunfire to an immediate halt. Taylor was sheltering his eyes through the flare. As it finally died down, he stood up and looked for the source. Irala and two of the Aranui stood beside the Admiral. As the humans on both sides of the affray stood up to look at him, they heard the sound of heavy footsteps hitting the hard ground around them. Three of the Aranui robots strode into view and took up positions around Huang.

Nobody said a word for several moments as everybody waited and watched for some response. Everyone feared the enemy robots, and it was terrifying to be looking down the barrels of their guns. Nobody moved and nobody fired, and everybody looked to the aliens for them to say a word. Taylor could recognise Irala out of all of them now. He couldn’t even say how. It was in the body language and expressions that made him identifiable. He stepped forward and raised his hands in a human gesture to call for peace.

“Lower your weapons!” he commanded.

Everybody did so, as they were too afraid of the consequences of getting on the wrong side of the highly advanced alien race. All looked to them for answers now.

Irala spoke, “Huang, you will assist Colonel Taylor in his mission to help those humans, your people, still fighting on Earth.”

Huang nodded in agreement and mumbled some words.

“Colonel Taylor is our representative of everything humans do while on our world, and you will submit to his authority.”

“But he is just a Marine officer, you do not understand…” appealed Huang, but it did no good.

Irala glared at the Chinese Admiral until he was silenced. The alien strode up the ramp towards Taylor; everyone else stayed frozen still. Taylor smiled in response. “So you’ve come over to my fight.”

“I understand your reasoning, and I have seen fit my people understand.”

“So your trust in me is as important as my trust in you?”

“Yes, but if my faith in you is false, I will pay a price beyond all you can imagine.”

“Then help me prove you were right.”

Taylor stood up to address all the humans who were waiting for him to speak.

“We are going to Earth. We are going to help our own people, and we’re gonna bring some of them back with us!”

Cheers rang out from the crowd, but Taylor could see he Admiral still looked unimpressed.

“Admiral Huang. We are going to get our people back. Will you lead us on this great mission?”

Huang quickly realised he could no longer oppose the decision, but could still benefit to stand with it.

“Colonel Taylor, we need a competent ground commander to lead this operation. Will you take the job?” he asked.

Taylor smiled as he accepted, knowing Huang had no choice, though he was glad he understood that fact.

“Then I leave this in your capable hands,” stated Huang.

Irala approached the Colonel, and that made Jafar anxious as it always did.

“Easy now,” whispered Taylor.

“We will help you,” said Irala.

“I think I got that.”

“You want to get your people back. Tell me how you intend to do so, and I will do all I can to help.”

“What I need from you first is information. If we’re gonna get Kelly and the other resistance fighters out, we’re gonna need a diversion. We need to know Erdogan’s location, his intentions, and the strength of his forces. We need every piece of information you can get.”

“But what are your intentions, what would you have us do?”

“I need to lure Erdogan into a trap and bring their forces into chaos. I want to rescue our own people. If any one of those things works, then we will have succeeded. Do you see what I am getting at?”

"Then come with us. Both of you," Irala said to Taylor and Huang.

He led them out to the open plain and the stairway below the surface. Troops loyal to both men followed them to the entrance, stopping when waved off by the two officers.

"You wanted in on this, Admiral, now is your chance," said Taylor.

Huang looked uneasy, but he followed Taylor and Irala in, anyway. They were led into the same observational room where Taylor had first seen Kelly. This time the screens focused half on groups like Kelly's, and half on substantial enemy locations. Taylor squinted as he recognised something on one of the screens.

"That is you, isn't it?" Irala asked.

Then Taylor realised he was looking at the statue of himself that had been erected in Paris during the rebuilding of the city. He was amazed it was even still there, and he could see Mechs and their drones parading past it.

"Why are you showing me this?"

"This is where we believe Erdogan is. He has established a base in Paris."

"Right there? Paris was a central point of the fighting through much of the wars. It was a city that held in defiance of their armies, and that bastard Erdogan knows it. That statue of me was put there for a reason, and he's pissing all over it."

"He is trying to make you angry?"

Taylor nodded and could feel his blood boiling.

"Then his plan is working?"

"Yes, but not in the way he wants it to. He's making a point that we can't touch him. But all that's doing is making me more determined to take back what is ours."

"Krys forces are mostly amassed at your former capital cities. At least the ones that still remain."

"So they've just take everything, they have taken our lives?"

"Only temporarily, Admiral," Taylor snarled.

"How many troops does he have there?"

"It is hard to say for certain, but many."

"How many is that?" Huang asked.

"Many thousands."