Battle Earth VII (25 page)

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The World is in far greater danger than you realise, General. I have an opportunity which could make a difference, that could save us from something terrible, and I'm gonna take it."

White opened his mouth to speak, but Taylor simply cut the transmission off. He knew he couldn’t explain any of it over an open channel, and he was bored of arguing. He knew now that even if he survived, he'd lose everything if the mission failed, but it was more important than any of it.

He reached the landing pad and found his comrades exactly where he had left them, except for Hughes. He looked to Waters for an answer.

"Gone to medical," he quickly answered before Taylor could open his mouth.

The rest of them were waiting for some explanation of what was going on, as only Jafar and Waters had any clue of the actions and revelations of the last few days.

"All right, listen up. Councillor Armand, you might have seen him on TV. He's a Krys agent, one of many, but the only one I know of for sure. We need him. He could well be the key to surviving whatever plan they have next to take this planet which we fought so hard for. He is the evidence of these enemy agents. Without him, they won’t be able to operate among us without check."

"Let's nail the bastard then," replied Silva.

"We need him certainly, alive if at all possible, but here's the kicker, he's deep within UEN territory, exact location unknown at present. Despite what you did for me earlier today, we cannot fly military ships over the border and expect to be left alone to do what we need to do. I've got a bird coming, no idea what or how big, but it'll have to do. "

"You expect us to fly to war in some random piece of junk?" Rains asked.

"I expect you to improvise and overcome. This is what we have to do, so this is what we'll manage with."

"What sort of window do we have to find this guy?" asked Silva.

"Five hours."

"From when we get the ship?"

He shook his head.

"No such luck. I didn't say this would be an easy mission, but when do we ever get the easy ones? Our task is to find Armand, capture him, and bring him back to Meaux. That's it."

"Support?"

"Grey is being notified of our situation, Parker, but even if he does join our cause, he isn't gonna get here quickly. After we're over the border, we are on our own. No reinforcements, no support, and if we get trapped or captured out there, we're on our own."

"What do you mean trapped, Sir? It's only over the border."

He took a deep breath before the revelation that he was still trying to take in.

"We have five hours because that is the time frame before war is declared by the Alliance against UEN. Either way, we'll be foreign soldiers on sovereign soil. If we're assumed to be with the Alliance after that time, we'll be enemy combatants."

“And getting this guy is really as important as you say?”

“Absolutely, Parker.”

“And we’re the only chance of getting him before all this kicks off?” asked Silva.

“Yes. Now I have to say, anyone who wants out, leave now because once this kicks off, I need to know who I can depend on.”

None responded, but he looked to Waters. He was not one of them.

“You’re not a rifleman. I don’t expect you be a part of this.”

“I’m a part of this now. I’m no marine, but I’m one more fighter than you’ve currently got.”

“Well, all right then.”

All in. It’s a start.

“Okay, I’m off to chase a few contacts and get a line on where we can find this Armand bastard. For those of you who don’t know, he killed Tsengal, or had him killed at least. There’s nothing I’d rather do than to ring his neck, but that is not what we are going to do. Alive at any cost! He’ll suffer plenty worse in the long run, anyway. We leave as soon as our ride arrives. I suggest you use the time to gather any ammunition you can and get some chow!”

They split up to go about their business. Taylor wanted nothing more than to rest his aching body. He walked over to the shade by a small storage building, slumping there on the hard ground. He took off his helmet and put it down as he stretched out his legs. Parker was approaching. She kicked his feet until he looked up at her.

“Days ago you were bitching about having to fight a few Mechs. Now you’re leading troops in to fight in combat, and against humans no less. What changed?”

“We have a reason to fight. Not for entertainment or recruitment, or any of that shit. But a reason like we had back in the wars.”

“But it’s not, is it? You can dress it up all you like, but then we had ironclad aliens coming at us. It was kill or be killed. But now the enemy is human.”

“Or it looks human.”

“When this starts, we’re gonna be fighting humans, and you know it. Both these Krys agents and others who are little more than misguided.”

“What do you want from me?

“To know what you want out of all this? Where are you going with it?”

He had to think about it for a moment.

“Wherever I have to for the survival of our people.”

“But what does that mean for you? As soon as we won peace, you looked for another war. What are you fighting to achieve?”

“To fight for everyone else, I guess.”

“And what about us?”

“We’ll just have to wait. Let’s not forget we signed up for this, both of us.”

She couldn’t argue with that, but she wanted to. She sat down beside him, and it was at least a relief for both of them to enjoy a peaceful moment together. A few minutes later that peace was broken. Silva threw down a box of ammunition before them.

“Load up,” he ordered.

From any other NCO, Taylor would have taken it as an insult, but he nodded in gratitude. As he loaded his magazines, Rains strolled over, still looking uncomfortable and unimpressed.

“See that bird?” he asked. “One of the finest flying machines the World has ever known, and you want me to leave her on the ground and take God knows what to war?”

“That about covers it, yeah,” replied Taylor.

As he said it, dust kicked up around them, and an aircraft descended. Rains looked around, and his shoulders slumped.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

The craft was at least forty years old and had clearly been used for tourism, as the signs of the tour operator were still partially in tact along the fuselage.

“Come on, Colonel,” pleaded Eddie. “I’ve flown you to hell and back, but all I ask is you don’t make me fly a coffin.”

The craft came to a rough landing, but the undercarriage held firm. The pilot stepped out and strutted up to the Colonel to address him. Taylor was speechless as the man opened his mouth.

“She doesn’t look like much, Colonel, but she’ll get you across the border and won’t attract any attention. She’s called Adrienne, and she’s been travelling northern Europe for decades.”

“No shit,” Eddie added.

“I know the owner, Sir. He says you can depend on her.”

“To do what, give us a quick death?”

“All right, Rains,” said Taylor, leaping up to the delivery pilot. “Thank you, we’ll take her.”

The man left as quickly on foot as he had arrived by air, but it wasn’t the last he had heard of Rains.

“Come on, Mitch, I’m all up for this, but in that heap of junk? It’s suicide!”

“Yeah, well, we’ve been through worse and made it out.”

“But…”

“But nothing!” he yelled.

Rains was silenced and surprised at his sharp response.

“I know this sucks, but we’re on the clock here, and this is our only chance. I asked you twice if you wanted to leave, and I’ll only ask once more. We’re gonna have to go through a whole load of crazy before this is over, so this is the last time, are you with me?”

He looked to Rains who turned and gave the ship another once over. He paced up to it. They were all silent, watching him run his hand down the bow of the ship. It was twice the size of one of their copters and obviously a clumsy beast.

“It has a little charm, at least,” he replied.

Taylor smiled. He knew the hard sell had been made.

“Right then, load up. We’re moving out!”

Taylor stood over Rains as he powered up Adrienne, and they began to lift off the ground. The ship shook a little, and her engine exhaust ports crackled in a way that made Eddie grit his teeth and wince.

"Never thought I'd see the day where you wanted me to fly a coffin to war," he said.

"She ain't so bad. She's got character, you have to admit."

"Oh, yeah, character certainly, just no positive qualities. This is one old girl falling apart at the seams. She should be laid to rest at a junk yard, or maybe donated to a trailer park."

Taylor smiled. Rains’ whining always entertained him. He turned and looked to the other copter crews that had come to his aid, now sitting as passengers the same as the rest of them. They carried carbines from their craft but had no armour to speak of.

"Your job is to guard this bird wherever you go, got it?"

They looked as suspicious of the ship as of Taylor, but nodded in acceptance.

"Yes, Sir."

Silva and Parker stepped up beside him. They were now clearly looking to him for answers.

"We'll split what we have into three squads. I'll take first, Silva, second, Parker you get third. I'll leave it to you to organise."

"Yes, Sir, but what about the mission?"

"What about it, Silva?"

"You got any idea how we're gonna find this Armand?" asked Parker.

"I know someone who can help. Just waiting to hear back."

"Bit of a long shot, don't you think?" asked Silva.

"You should be used to it by now. We lived on long shots during the war."

He shrugged. It was hard to disagree.

"Sir, we're coming up on the border. What do you want me to do?" asked Rains.

"Stay well away from the north and Belgium, cross near Saarbrucken, and remember, this is a civilian transport. Follow no military protocols, and give no implication of them either. That shouldn't be too hard for you."

"No, Siree."

"You think they'll just let us cross over?"

"There have been open borders here for a few hundred years, Parker. Until war is declared, I see no reason for that to change."

"Apart from France departing the UEN?" asked Silva.

Taylor shrugged. He could only hope they'd make it through.

Rains looked back at them.

"What's our story for being here?"

"University sightseeing."

"War's breaking out, and you think that story will hold?"

"That war hasn't broken out yet. As far as most people are concerned, this is just the usual strife in the World. Until it hits their doorsteps, they won't pay it much heed. If they do thermal identity checks as we pass by, I want it to look right we having this many aboard and little cargo."

"Sir, we got a call coming in," replied Rains, "It's anonymous and secure."

"Put it through to my pad."

Taylor lifted up the device and accepted the call. A projection appeared before them of a UEN officer they all recognised, Lukas Becker. But gone were his Captain’s pips, replaced with a single one wrapped with a laurel.

"Major?" asked Taylor, "Congratulations on the promotion."

"And yours, Colonel, but shall we get down to business?"

"Certainly."

"You are the last person I expected to hear from at this time, and your recent stints in the World news have not endeared you to many hearts. And yet, out of the blue, I get a request from you that is most bizarre, and to fulfil would be a complete breach of my duty. Would you like to expand any further?