Battle Earth: 12 (6 page)

“He was here, but not in that vessel.”

“How do you know?” Silva asked.

Jafar pointed to a deep blue shimmer coming from the steps of the museum. It was the kind of cover laid as if for a VIP, and the light was glinting off of it.

“He was here recently.”

Taylor looked at his watch.

“All right, sixty seconds, let’s find out what the hell he was up to.”

Taylor rushed ahead, reaching the stairs to find the cover was so fine in texture it was like silk, though far stronger. He rushed up the steps and through the main door with his rifle held high, expecting to find a target in any moment, but there was nothing. The museum was untouched, with artefacts on show as you’d expect, but without any staff or patrons.

“What on Earth was he doing here?”

“He was studying us,” replied Morris.

Taylor hadn’t even noticed the Captain was with them until that moment. He shrugged as if asking for Morris to continue.

“I was here before all this kicked off. This museum was untouched by all of the wars and took on thousands of pieces that were rescued from other cities. It’s now one of the finest collections in the world and had to be expanded. It’s a remarkable museum.”

“And yet nobody tried to protect all this?” asked Lang.

“They wouldn’t have had time,” replied Taylor, “Last war was over before it had really got started. We ran for our lives, took only what we could. So you think he came here as a tourist?”

Morris nodded. “You’ve told me many times he studies and understands us better than those who came before him. If you had free run of the world, wouldn’t you visit a place like this? Lots to learn about the human psyche.”

“We almost had him,” muttered Taylor, “We came so close. Must have missed him by what, a few minutes?”

“Never had a chance,” said Silva, “We acted on this as quickly as we could. This mission was a failure before we ever started.”

“But we’re getting closer,” added Morris, “You think he’s studying our culture for any other reason than working out how we’re still standing?”

Taylor looked confused.

“I doubt the Krys ever met an enemy who caused them this must trouble. You’ve killed two of their most powerful and influential figures, and after all they have thrown at us, here we are still fighting.”

Taylor turned to Jafar for confirmation.

“I believe the Captain may be right.”

“But what more can he learn at a museum?”

“Whatever he hasn’t worked out.”

An alarm went off on Taylor’s watch, and he looked to see they were out of time.

“It’s time to move out!”

He got moving, but just a few seconds later he could hear the roar of engines that were not from their own craft. He looked up to see two enemy transports soar into view overhead, and Mechs began to descend towards them.

“Cover!”

The platoon scattered to either side of the street into the cover of the buildings. A few of them began to open fire as Taylor yelled into his mic.

“Rains, we’ve got trouble. Need an alternate pickup point, and we need it now!”

“If I’d listened to your orders, Colonel, then we’d already have left your ass behind!”

“Enough of the pleasantries, get us out of here!” Taylor hollered over the sound of gunfire.

Taylor watched as two of the Guardians strode out into the middle of the street and began laying down fire on the vessels hovering overhead. The platoon engaged the Mechs. Taylor looked up; the Guardians were blowing holes in the Mech aircraft, and one of them was already falling out of the sky. But even as several in the platoon were celebrating, they could see dozens of Mechs landing in the street either side of them.

“Rains!” yelled Taylor, “We can’t get out of the city like this!”

“What do you want us to do, Colonel?”

He looked around and could see the building the other side of the street was a police HQ. It was eight storeys high.

“We’re at the police HQ, thirty metres from the city museum.”

“Museum? What the hell are you up to down there?” Rains asked.

“Does the Police HQ have a landing zone on the roof, and if so, can you provide evac from that point?”

As he waited for a response, he shouldered his rifle and took a few shots at one of the Mechs that landed on the street a few metres from where he was sheltering.

“We can do that, but you’re gonna have to lay down some cover fire! ETA two minutes!”

Taylor looked back at the carnage around him. Dozens of Mechs lay dead in the street, and a medic was attended to one of their wounded.

“Up to the roof of the HQ now!” he yelled.

He got to his feet and rushed across the road. The Guardians were still standing in the centre laying down fire without any concern for the enemy gunfire at all. He stopped at the entrance to the HQ and took cover, taking aim at a Mech dropping from the sky and fired a six-shot burst at the creature.

“Come on, move it, Marines!”

The last of them got up to cover the ground, but Fuchs was hit in the hip as he made his way across. He dropped like a stone, but two of the others grabbed him a second after he had fallen down and dragged him onwards and through the doorway. The last of the marines were inside when Taylor shouted to the Guardians.

“Come on!”

They turned and rushed inside. One of them ducked under the doorframe, but the other went right through the frame and smashed it apart with little resistance. The atrium had high enough ceilings for them to stand up straight. There were two elevators ahead and stairs beside them. He rushed to the elevators and hit the buttons to call both down. He turned back to the Guardians as the doors opened.

“Get in!”

They hunched to get inside each of the elevators as he leaned in and pressed the buttons for them before turning back to his own people.

“Go on, move!”

They rushed on up the stairs, and he was quick to follow suit. Eight flights of stairs felt like nothing at all when they knew what being left behind would mean. When Taylor finally reached the rooftop, he found the Guardians blazing away at two enemy craft and driving them away from the rooftop. He took a deep breath and revelled in the air that reminded him where he was. In that moment he knew what he was fighting for. Not just revenge and survival, but the world that was home.

Taylor turned to see Rains’ copter and two others. They were flying a few metres above the rooftops, and several Mechs were taking shots at them but not finding their targets. In the distance, they could see the silhouettes of a whole fleet of enemy craft heading their way. Taylor raised his rifle and used the scope to look a little closer, but they were still just dots on the skyline. Even so, he knew that meant they were only a minute or two out, and there were far more than they could handle.

Matthews and Anders rushed onto the rooftop with their platoons as the three copters came in to land. The first hit the ground a little hard, and Taylor ushered the first platoon aboard and then the next. Rains then came in with a perfect landing. He heard the sound of pulse fire nearby and saw two Mechs advancing onto the rooftop from the stairway. The only Guardian still with them returned fire with him, and they were cut down, but several more followed.

“Go!” Taylor ordered those who had stopped embarking.

He kept up the covering fire until all were aboard, and then leapt through the door himself and continued firing as they lifted off the roof. His magazine finally ran dry. He dropped the magazine and pulled out another, but Silva reached forward and closed the door before he could put it into the receiver.

“We’re done,” said Silva.

Taylor still rammed the magazine home. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and turned to see Morris.

“We came close,” he stated.

“How’d you figure that?”

“Well it wasn’t a trap. We got one over on Erdogan. Okay, we got there a little late. But he didn’t see it coming and was unable to hide his presence from us. That’s got to have rocked him.”

“Why?”

“Because he knows we can find him, and because he knows we want to,” replied Silva.

“Is this what it has come to?”

The two of them looked confused.

“Hit and run attacks because we don’t have the strength to take on his armies? We’re fighting a guerrilla war.”

“Yes we are,” replied Morris.

“And how often in history has that worked out?”

“More than a couple of times.”

“Good enough for me,” added Silva.

Taylor shook his head in amazement before making his way to the cockpit.

“Cutting it a little fine there, weren’t you, Colonel?” Rains asked as he approached.

“Made it out, didn’t we?”

Rains pointed at a screen showing the incoming vessels.

“Only just. They got to us, and we’d have been done for.”

“Yeah, but they didn’t.”

“You know, Colonel. If you’ve got a death wish, I’d rather you fly with someone else.”

Taylor’s smile disappeared when he looked at the Lieutenant’s face and saw that for once he wasn’t joking.

“This is your job, Lieutenant. If you don’t like it, well that’s just tough shit.”

Rains guided them up and out into the atmosphere and quickly docked with the Diderot, as they had done so many times before. He didn’t say a word until they had come to a standstill, and he knew they were safe. He slowly took off his helmet and turned to Taylor.

“About time somebody said it to you straight, Colonel.”

He looked put out by his comments but finally responded. “Well, go on, straighten me out.”

“You’ve been taking liberties with the lives of everyone you know. These are people that love you and would follow you to hell and back. But it’s gone further than that now. You’re pushing them too hard and taking risks that are beyond fair. We need to kill Erdogan, we all get that, but being reckless with all of our lives isn’t the way to do it.”

Taylor couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His initial reaction was to be defensive, but somehow coming from Rains it made a difference. Rains was a joker and a clown, so for him to question his actions in such a serious manner really drove it home. He opened his mouth to speak but could not find any words. It was starting to sink in, and he felt sick. It reminded him of the moment he saw Eli drop to her knees. He never wanted to feel that way again, and it was a stark reminder of why they were doing all this.

He sat back down in his seat and contemplated everything for the rest of the journey, trying to make sense of it all. He went utterly blank and was oblivious to all around him when Silva gently shook him on the shoulder.

“We’re home, or close as,” he said.

Taylor looked up. The door was open, and they were back on Ony. He realised he must have been out of it for some time, and it was a sobering experience. He looked up to Rains who had gotten out of his seat and was standing behind Silva.

“You okay, Colonel?” Rains asked quietly.

He gently nodded his head, and Silva helped him to his feet.

“We came close,” said Morris.

“Not close enough,” he replied.

They stepped out of the copter to find that the sun was going down at their base. He could hear music coming from one of the bars that had been set up nearby.

“Come on, Colonel, time we got you a drink,” said Rains.

“Best idea I have heard all day, Eddie.”

As they walked away from the copter, he stopped and looked over to Jafar who had remained behind. The alien rarely joined them for their evening entertainment, as he was not usually welcome by many of the troops who gathered for such occasions.

“Come with us,” said Taylor.

Jafar did not hesitate to follow them. It was a short walk to the bar, but as they entered, it took just a few seconds to hear a comment about him.