Battle Earth IX

Chapter 10

Taylor took a deep breath. He took a peak around the corner. One of the guards was in a vehicle parked across the road from Kelly’s home. It was a two-storey residence and larger than any private accommodation he had seen there so far. He looked back to Doyle who stood beside him.

“Where is the other guard?”

“Inside,” he replied.

“Where?”

“Ground floor, always near the door, except for an hourly inspection of the ground and first floor.”

Taylor stopped for a moment. He was surprised at Doyle’s competent assertions. Doyle still looked like a young man, and it was easy to forget the years of war he had fought through and survived. It was in that moment Mitch realised he hadn’t given the man enough credit.

“Do you know the guy in the vehicle?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, reckon you can deal with him?”

Doyle knew exactly what he meant, but he had to think about it for moment. It appeared that despite all his years of combat, he had never had to take the life of a human.

“Don’t think, do it,” Taylor said firmly.

He nodded in agreement, though he still looked shaky, but he had to rely on him. He only had Rains with him, and he knew for a fact that he couldn’t handle the job.

“All right, so give us three minutes to get into position, and then you take out the guy in that car, you got me?” he asked Doyle.

The young man agreed. Taylor quickly turned and headed for the back of the house and grabbed Rains to go with him.

“Why the hell are you bringing me along? I fly, and that’s it,” he complained.

“Times change, and you’re needed as well to do…whatever you’re needed to do.”

“Well, all right then, but I fly well because I’ve done it a million times. Now how many times have I killed a man?”

“Okay, so focus on what you’re good at.”

Rains froze in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“You know what you are?” asked Taylor, “A world class distraction. You dress like a hobo, you act like a permanently stoned drug addict, and do nothing better than distract men and women from their post.”

Rains was still speechless.

“So use it. You’re good at it. You’re my distraction. You’re an old friend calling in on Kelly. You do that, and I’ll do what I’m good at.”

“And what’s that?”

“Problem solving,” he replied with a smile. He led Rains on down the side of the building and around to the rear of the building. As they took a corner, Taylor stopped and checked his watch. It was almost time.

“So here it is. I break the lock on the door. You go in, no weapon in hand. You’ve just arrived, and you’re looking for your old friend, Kelly.”

“No weapon? I mean; what do you expect me to do, talk the guy to death?”

Taylor reached up and covered Eddie’s mouth. It quickly silenced him.

“No, I expect you to do as I ask. It’s one guard, who may or may not be well trained. If he is, then he will treat the first sign of movement with the utmost suspicion, and that is what I am relying on.”

“And if he’s better than trained, exceptionally trained?”

“Well, then he wouldn’t be alone, and he’d expect the first sign of trouble to be just the beginning.”

“You’re not helping,” replied Eddie.

But he went forward as asked anyway. He approached the door as confidently as he could, and with his pistol still holstered inside his jacket. Taylor crept up towards the building a few metres behind and approached the back door from a crouched position. He looked at his watch one last time. There were just twenty seconds left until Doyle was to do what he was asked. Taylor counted it down to ten and then put his pistol against the lock of the door where Rains stood, and pulled the trigger.

A shot burst through the door panel, and Taylor gave it a faint push to pry it open. The gunshot could not go unnoticed, and Rains looked at him to ask ‘are you serious?’ but Taylor merely pushed him through the doorway.

Taylor rushed in behind him and took up a position beside the cover of the nearest wall. Rains froze just two steps in. They could hear footsteps approaching, and Rains was still frozen. He’d stood beside marines and fought before, but never had he been tossed into such a high stress situation. A moment later, a man rushed towards him with a gun in hand and yelling, “Don’t move, do not fucking move!”

The gunman got within a metre of Rains when a shot rang out, and blood spurted out across the floor. The man dropped lifelessly to Rains’ feet.

“This is not what I signed up for,” Rains stated firmly.

“None of us did,” Taylor murmured, as he patted him on the back and stepped on through to the next room. As he did, he was struck in the face with a baseball bat. Taylor stumbled back, and blood flowed from his nose. He recovered, looked back, and saw Kelly standing in the shadows before them.

“What the hell, Kelly?” Taylor shouted.

The old Commander rushed towards them and grabbed Taylor in shock.

“Mitch? Have you lost your mind?”

Taylor was still reeling from the pain, and blood flowed between his fingers as he cupped his nose.

“Goddamn it, Kelly, you’re crazy!”

“Says the man in enemy territory trying to save me. You must have gone out of your mind. Leave now and don’t come back.”

They all heard a noise from the front of the house and turned to confront it. Taylor held his pistol up with one hand while still holding his bleeding nose with the other, and Kelly defiantly lifted his old school wooden bat. Out of the shadows came Doyle. He was a little shaky and had blood on his collar and hands. Kelly turned to Taylor.

“What have you done?” Kelly asked, horrified.

Doyle shrugged and pointed to Taylor for answers.

"You put him up to this? You've no idea what you've done. You've probably guaranteed our deaths."

"No, that was done the day the UEN took control of this town from you," Taylor answered him quietly.

* * *

Robinson crept up beside a parked car and peered over towards the guard station they had first seen when they arrived. He ducked back down to Lewis.

"We've got to take them down without them getting a signal out."

Lewis nodded in agreement.

"What would get their attention enough that they'd come out but not report in anything suspicious?"

He got no response.

"Wait, I got it. Two drunks shambling over a landing pad start a punch up. How are your acting skills?" he asked with a smile.

Without waiting for a response, he stepped out into the open and began stumbling towards the guard post station. He swayed from side to side as if he would fall over any minute. He turned back to look at Lewis and staggered a metre wide in a massively exaggerated state of intoxication.

"Hey, Lewis, you fucker! Where are you? Lewis!" he screamed.

It was part of the act and meant as an order at the same time. The Private stepped out and followed after him. His feigned drunkenness was about as unconvincing as Robinson had ever seen.

"Every goddamn time you get drunk, and every goddamn time you make it my problem!" he shouted. He spun around to notice he'd just started to get the attention of the guards.

"You gotta learn to handle your drink!" he yelled, as he stumbled back towards Lewis and fell against him.

"Whoa, whatta you doing?" he asked aggressively.

He pushed Lewis, causing them to part.

"Hit me," he whispered.

Lewis was frozen solid.

"Hit me," he said again.

Lewis hesitated, so he went forward instead.

"You know you’re nothing but a lazy punk!"

With that, he slapped Lewis across the face, which left him more surprised at the puny strike than the fact he had struck at all.

"What's the matter? You a coward?"

He slapped Lewis again, and this time he seemed to loosen up and get into the act. He suddenly swung for Robinson and clipped him with a solid blow to the chin. He reeled back and exaggerated an almost falling action, as if he'd been hit by a freight train.

"Why, you son of a bitch!"

He rushed back at Lewis and grabbed him in a standing clinch.

"Stay on your feet," he whispered.

They tussled, and each pretended to try and throw the other, punching with hooks and uppercuts. As they turned, they could see the two guards approaching. They kept up the act right until the point they felt the guards grab them and try to tear them apart. They suddenly released their grip, and Robinson turned and struck the first in the face with an elbow, knocking him to the ground with a straight punch to the face as he tried to recover.

Lewis simply grabbed the other guard’s pistol from his holster and held it to his stomach, causing him to freeze solid before him.

"You've gotta be the worst actor I've ever seen," joked Robinson to Lewis.

"Yeah, well, it worked, didn't it?"

* * *

Taylor and Kelly sat at his breakfast table. Kelly looked like a broken man, one who had accepted defeat a long time ago.

"So why here, why did you come for me?" he asked.

"Because I need you. I've got one shot at killing Erdogan, the enemy leader. I need help from within this country, and you are all I’ve got."

Kelly shook his head.

"What?"

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?"

"No, damn right I don't. Quitting ain't in my blood," he quickly snapped, "and I wasn't aware it was in yours either."

"It isn't about quitting."

Kelly tapped a few controls on the table before him, and a large screen projected on the wall. It was a news channel with a female news anchor reporting from the rubble of what could be one of a hundred cities. Text along the screen passed by with all those cities which had fallen to the Krys and their UEN allies.

"Oh, come on, this is just propaganda," added Taylor.

"Yes, but that doesn't make it any less true."

The reporter continued on, "A number of EA leaders have been killed in targeted attacks, and we are already getting reports of evacuations taking place throughout most remaining hold out cities. The grand Lord Erdogan has repeatedly asked us to convey the message that all who lay down their weapons will not be harmed. The war is over. It is time to stop fighting."

Taylor shook his head.

"You don't believe that shit?" he asked Kelly.

"You’re damn right I do, and it's time you did as well."

"Even if it were, we can't surrender. There will be no peace with Erdogan."

Kelly nodded in agreement. "Then there remains but one solution."

Taylor thought for a moment.

"You're not suggesting?"

"I am. You once told me to leave my homeland because it was the people who made it home, and that without them none of it was important, did you not?"

Taylor nodded. "But it isn't over. We still have a chance of taking him down."

"Get real, Colonel. You can't take down the most lethal opponent the World has ever known with you and a few old soldiers. This fight is over."

"It can't be over. We've fought too hard. We've sacrificed too much for it to be over."

"And yet you cannot change what is. You can only do the best with what you have."

Taylor was silenced.

"So you're saying what, run? Where? Nowhere on Earth is safe."

"I agree."

It hadn't occurred to him that running meant leaving Earth, but it was clear that was what Kelly was implying.

"We can't. How could we leave?"

"You are facing defeat within what, a few weeks. You've pulled off some miracles before, there is no doubt, but you know this is an impossible situation. So what are your options? Fight on, and die along with your friends. Surrender, and accept the rule of the enemy."

"Never. There is no living in peace with Erdogan. He'd kill us all."

"Then you have the answer. Run and live to fight another day."

"This isn't my decision."

"No, but if I'm thinking it, and you're warming to the idea, maybe others will too."

Taylor felt sick at the idea. They heard the doors of the house open, and he jumped to his feet and drew out his pistol. But as he took up position behind the counter, Kelly merely sat comfortably where he was. Several figures approached from down the hallway until finally they came into view. Captain Morris was at their head.

"Good to see you again, Colonel," he said in greeting.

Taylor lowered his weapon and took a seat once again. He looked to Morris and Rains.

"Kelly reckons we have no hope but to run, to flee from Earth, what do you think?"

Rains could not help but laugh.

"I'm not sure what's so funny," stated Kelly.

"I'm sorry, but how else can I take it? It's all a joke. We leave this world, then we might as well have given up years ago when this all began."

"No," replied Kelly, "none of your time and efforts was wasted. This war can still be won. The Battle for Earth can still be won. But not now."

"And if we leave, how will we ever be able to come back strong enough?" Taylor asked.

"I don't have all the answers, but I know if we stay, it's over."

Taylor looked back to Rains.

"What do you think?"

"It sucks, but it may be the only option we have out of a whole list of sucky options."

"Either way, it's not our decision to make," Morris joined in.

"No, if we leave, we have to leave en masse or not at all," replied Kelly.

"How do we do it?"

"First thing is we’ve got to get back to our own lines. If you're thinking this way, then I bet a good many others are, too. They may just need a final push."

"So we're really doing it?"

"We're gonna try."

"We can't go with you, not yet. No way we'd get across the border. Captain Morris will go with you as my representative. If you get this plan off the ground, we'll join you."

"You'll need a ship, probably several for all your people."

"Don't you worry about us, we can handle ourselves. Just remember, what matters more than anything else is this. People. If we're going to survive this, and stand a chance of winning in the long run, we need people. Not a few hundred or a few thousand. Not even tens of thousands. But millions."

"You're talking a mass exodus?" Rains asked.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. It's that, or it'll never work."

Taylor took a deep breath and tried to take it all in. He could feel some weight lifting from his shoulders at the prospect of leaving the war behind, the war he now knew they could not win.

"You know if we could just have gotten to Erdogan."

"Then he would have killed you, and you know it. There will be a time to confront him, but it is not now."

Taylor wondered if he had subconsciously gone to Kelly knowing he would be the voice of reason. He was glad he did, but it was still hard to stomach."

"Then that's it. We get back to Dupont, and try and get this through to him."

"You have to. The survival of the human race depends on it."

"When?"

"Now, Rains. We cannot afford to waste any time. Much longer, and we won't have any options left. Kelly, replace the UEN soldiers with your own people and continue on as if nothing happened. Be sure to keep the survivors under lock and key. I wish you every luck."

"And you, too."

With that, he got up and left with Rains and Morris at his side. Doyle turned to leave with them, but Taylor shook his head.

"Your place is here with Kelly. Do your duty," ordered Taylor.

"So that's really the plan?" asked Rains, "Round up the population of the World and head out into space?"

"Those that will come, and something like that, yeah."

"And do what? Head out into the unknown and hope for the best?"

"The unknown is a whole lot better than what we got right now."

"But it's crazy."

"Yep," he simply replied.

Taylor knew he needed a better plan than that. He wished he had Jones at his side to talk to and plan out their course of action. It wasn't long before they were at the landing bays once more and could see some of Kelly’s people manning the guard station. Lewis and Robinson were waiting inside with them. They came out to greet Taylor when they saw him coming.

"You get the Commander?"

Taylor nodded.

"And he's gonna help us?"

"He already has. It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way."

"On the way where? Munich?"

Taylor shook his head and led them to the copter.

"This is Captain Morris, previously of the Moon Defence Force. Captain, this is Private Lewis and Corporal Robinson."

"Nice to meet you, Gentlemen," Morris said as they climbed aboard.

They were quickly off the ground, and Taylor had explained the plan in under a minute.

"Back we go again," muttered Lewis.

"Really think we can do this, Sir?" asked Robinson.

"I don't know," he replied with a sigh.

The whole idea seemed impossible to him. The logistics were beyond comprehension, but the alternative was to lose and probably die.

"Border's up ahead," Rains said shortly after.

Not again, thought Taylor.

"Get your gear on. If we gotta jump, I want to be ready for it," he said to the others.

"Captain Morris, you can use Rains’ stuff."

"You sure?"

"Hey, I'm here to fly, not fight!"

They quickly strapped into the Reitech suits and sat back down with rifles in hand. Taylor instantly felt his confidence double as he settled into the equipment that had carried him through so many death-defying encounters.

"We're coming up on 'em now!"

"Where the hell did you find this thing, a scrap yard?" Morris asked.

"Pretty much," he replied.

"So what, you're just hoping we can pass through without issue?"

Taylor nodded.

"Great plan."

"Worked the first time."

"They're checking us out!" Rains said.

A moment later, the comms indicator flashed, and a voice came over the speaker.

"Unidentified craft, you are approaching the UEN border. Identify yourself, or you will be considered hostile."

"What? Robinson asked. "They let us in, but won't let us out?"

"They probably logged our entry into UEN territory. Leaving it again to go into a warzone is going to raise suspicions for a civilian craft."

"Might have been an idea to mention that earlier, Eddie," Taylor said quietly.

"Hey, I thought it was obvious."

"What do we do?" Robinson asked.

"Can't turn back, can't run, can't hide," stated Taylor.

"Then answer them, and give them what they want," replied Morris.

Taylor looked to him for clarification. He had no idea what he meant.

"If we're to get across that border, they need to know it is UEN forces aboard."

"But there aren't."

Captain Morris strode up to the cockpit. "Well, that's not entirely true."

"He reached for the intercom button to open a channel, but Rains stopped his hand.

"Let him try," said Taylor.

Rains looked back in surprise.

"Look, we're in deep shit, and none of us have any answers. He can't make this any worse."

Rains pulled his hand away and waited with scepticism to see what words of wonder Morris could use to pull them out of such a sticky situation. The Captain opened a channel, and they all held their breath for a few seconds, waiting for him to speak.

"This is Captain Morris, UEN. Identification, alpha, whiskey, tango, foxtrot, eight, five, three, two, two, one."

"Please await verification."

None of them expected it to work, but they hoped. The response finally came back.

"You're clear to pass, Captain."

The fighter broke off and left them be.

"No way," said Rains, "How in the hell did that work?"

"We're still officially UEN members. The MDF may have been disbanded, but my commission still stands."

"That's a bit of a stretch," Rains grinned.

"Yeah, well, it worked, didn't it?"

Morris took his seat opposite Taylor once more.

"What were the chances of that working?" Taylor asked.

"Do you really want to know?"

Taylor shook his head.

They continued on without further issue. As they made their approach for Meaux from the north, they could see smoke bellowing from parts of the base, and battles still raging on the plains. It was surreal and looked more like a scene from a movie than anything else. They had all been used to being in a battle, not looking onto it from afar.

On approach, they were glad to be noticed this time and asked for identification and guided in to a secure landing zone. It was clear Dupont had wrestled control of the base and the surrounding area back into his hands, but none of them were under any illusions that it wasn't just a short term measure.

Taylor had half expected Dupont to have a greeting party waiting for them to see if he had succeeded in his mission to kill Erdogan. But as they came into land, they could see that despite the number of personnel in the area, none of them were there for them.

"You think the General is gonna be pissed?"

"I couldn't give a damn, Eddie," replied Taylor.

The second they had touched down, Taylor ripped open the door and made a break for Dupont’s headquarters, with Morris close beside him. They stepped inside and found Captain Grey and Lieutenant Ota standing with Dupont, discussing enemy positions. He stopped in surprise, for he had not expected to see any of his own people for some time.

"What are you doing here?" Taylor asked.

"Seems you're not the only one who seemingly ignores his orders when he sees fit," replied Dupont.

"Sir, as soon as we found out where you'd gone, the entire Regiment insisted on following after you. Captain Grey returned to duty as we left and assumed command."

"And you made no attempt to stop the Regiment coming here?"

"No, Sir," he replied curtly.

He couldn't complain. He needed friends right now.

"So you didn't kill Erdogan?" Dupont asked.

"How'd you know that?"

"Come on, Colonel, what do you take me for?"

"It's true. I went for help from Commander Kelly, formerly of the Moon Defence Force, and he opened my eyes a little."

"To what exactly?"

Taylor took in a deep breath because it was hard for him to admit.

"To the fact we have lost Earth, and to continue on fighting is to see the end of us all."

Dupont nodded in agreement, which surprised Taylor.

"You've been thinking the same?"

"Since before you left. I thought we had a chance with you, and it was worth a shot. But I never believed it would ever work."

"Okay. Kelly believes we need to evacuate Earth, and run to fight another day."

He was surprised at Dupont's lack of response, as if it came as no shock to him at all.

"You already had it in mind, didn't you?"

Dupont nodded. "After we narrowly survived the first war, we all knew then that we came close to extinction. A council of key representatives around the World laid out plans for a mass evacuation of the planet."

"And?"

"And certain resources were set aside, plans put into place. Of course, this was before the division of nations we have today. The UEN nations were well involved with these plans."

"Yeah, well, not a lot we can do about that now."

"So tell me about it."

"It's a long story."

"Give me the gist."

Dupont took in a deep breath and looked around his war room. Every single one of the staff was staring at him.

"Follow me," he said to Taylor, "Just you."

The General led him to his private quarters, and he sat down with a groan.

"Review boards were setup to determine how we could leave Earth. How many people we could take, how quickly it could be done, where we would go, and how we could amass the resources to make it happen."

"Okay," replied Taylor.

He was glad to hear a plan was in place, but he was waiting to hear the caveats.

"Evacuating Earth is not like evacuating a city or even a country. It is an event of unimaginable magnitude. The simple fact is we never had the resources to get everyone out, not even close. Our best estimates showed we could transport fifty million people into space."

"Fifty million? That's a tiny fraction of the World’s populace," Taylor replied in shock.

"Yes, and that assumes no variables, such as an aggressive enemy. Many experts estimated that if we tried such as exodus under wartime conditions, as seen in the first war, we could estimate the total number of human beings that would survive and get free of the solar system to be no greater than fifteen million at best."

Taylor's eyes widened at hearing the shocking figures.

"That's...not acceptable."

"You're assuming we have a choice. If we cannot win this war, we must either flee or surrender."

"And if we did surrender? Would the human race survive?"

"Nothing of our experience of the Krys would indicate so. They have sided with some humans so they could win this war, but what do you think will happen once they have control of the planet?"

"So there is no hope?"

"Oh, there is hope, just only for a minority. When these plans were drawn up, they were intended as a means of survival for the human race. That does not in any way attempt to consider the welfare of any individual or collective of people. It's a numbers game, that's all."

"So that's what is being considered?"

Dupont was silent.

"You've already initiated it, haven't you?"

Dupont took in a deep breath. "It has been clear for a couple of days that our chances here were slim."

"And you put this into action, even before you sent me to Munich?"

"Let's get something straight. This is not about my decision, or any other single person. This is a joint programme initiated by surviving governments and their military leaders. I brought you in here to tell you in person because you can already imagine the hysteria it will create."

"Damn right it will."

"And there is nothing we can do about that. The simple aim now is to save as many people as we possibly can."

"And how are we gonna move that sort of number of people?"

"Barges. They have been in construction for several years now at locations all around the World. They are probably the greatest kept secret of our time. Several hundred space worthy transport barges, each with a living capacity of twenty thousand souls."

"How? Where have they been built?"

"Most have been constructed to appear as permanent ground constructions. Many currently have large populations living within them, under the assumption they have been built for such a purpose on Earth."

"And what, we're just expecting to take off and fly off into the distance, just like that?"

"Allied forces will of course provide as much cover to civilian ships as possible to minimise losses. Ultimately, they can only shoot so many of us down once they become swamped."

"That's gambling with millions of lives."

"It's isn't really a gamble when you consider the alternative. I want you to stick around, Taylor. There are still many factors to consider in order to make this operation a success, but you keep it to yourself, okay?"

Dupont got up and led Taylor to the door. Mitch stepped out of the room with a pale distraught face, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Morris and Grey. He carried on past them without a word. Jafar met them as they stepped out of the bunker. He was standing patiently awaiting them. Taylor patted him on the shoulder as he walked past, and the alien turned and continued on beside him.

"I cannot protect you if I do not know where you go," he stated.

Taylor nodded in agreement. "The ship Erdogan came here in. You say it was famed for having jump gate capacity."

"Yes."

"And it was the only known ship of your people to do so?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I do not know."

"But you are sure it is the only one?"

"I believe so."

"What's going on, Colonel?" asked Grey.

He carried on walking without saying a word. He knew Dupont had asked him to keep it all to himself, but he wasn't one for keeping things from those who he depended on to have his back. He shook his head and finally came out with it.

"Follow me, and I'll explain everything, but it ain't pretty."