Battle Earth VI

Chapter 4

"Colonel Taylor, report immediately to the bridge."

He had been aboard the Neptune just two seconds. Enough to hear the cries and cheering of success as the troops of the 2nd Inter-Allied poured onto the docking bay decks following their successful mission. He wasn't going to leave until he'd checked his own people. He stepped into the centre of the deck where he could easily be seen and the officers find him. They all approached for a quick debrief.

"Well done to all of you, I want updates on your Companies…Jones?"

"One dead, four wounded."

"Grey?"

"Three dead, two wounded, Sir."

Jackson?"

"Three dead, none wounded."

"Ota?"

"We weren't needed in the end, Sir."

"All right, that's about the best we could have hoped for."

"One of my ships was hit and disabled on the way in, and I had to deploy my last platoon in their place. They have reported no wounded and crews are out recovering them now," Grey added.

"Good, get the wounded to medical. Re-equip and be ready for whatever comes at us next. Ota, I want your Company stationed here ready for rapid response via the Stallions. The rest of you know your grid sectors. Get to your posts and be ready for any possible breach in the hull. Well done, all of you."

He turned and strode off as ordered towards the bridge. Jafar was the only one who followed him. The alien would rarely ever leave his side, and it gave him a sense of security to know he had the strongest fighter in the fleet at his side at all times. He reached the bridge to find there was little sign of celebration amongst the crew.

"Colonel Taylor!" called Bailey.

She beckoned him over to the operations table where she was looking over the current enemy positions.

"Good work out their, Colonel. Be sure to pass on my congratulations to your people once this is all over. Of the Purge fleet, we destroyed two of the cruisers outright during the battle. Another two are disabled and one triggered one of the nukes not long after you departed. That leaves seven at our disposal loaded and ready to use. They have presently been set to continue their course to Earth in order to conceal our intentions. As far as the enemy is concerned, those still moving are still fighting with them."

"Then it worked," Taylor replied with relief.

"So far, yes. We are pulling back to the main fleet who will disperse and appear as if scattered from the Purge. We need them to bring this so called Planet Killer into the hornets' nest."

Taylor smiled. Damn right, and ram it down the bastard’s throat.

"Have we had any sightings of the Planet Killer yet?"

"Ours scouts have confirmed it, yes. At their present speed, we'll have visual contact within the next ten minutes. I sure hope this thing needs to get as close as you say it does."

Taylor turned to Jafar for confirmation. He merely nodded in agreement in the calm fashion he always did.

"If it didn't, they would surely have come to a halt by now. No, they're coming for us."

"Now we just wait, and hope our guns are bigger than theirs. That our fleet is bigger than theirs, and our luck is better than theirs," whispered the Admiral.

"We can't have fought this hard for this long to have it all end now, can we?" Taylor asked.

It was a rhetorical question, and Bailey seemed to agree.

"We've got incoming!"

They turned their attention back to the operations table to see pulses approaching.

"Evidently, their big guns are still bigger than ours," stated Taylor.

"Deploy counter measures!"

At the distance they were at, it still took time for the pulses to reach them, a fortunate thing indeed, considering the size of the shots. Cannons aboard the Neptune fired counter shots at the huge pulses and smashed them into thousands of particles well before they reached them.

"Much closer and we won't have that luxury," Bailey said.

"Targets will be in range in thirty seconds!"

"Prepare all weapons. I want to give them everything we've got from the get-go," she replied.

They could see the fighter wings advance from the human fleet. The Planet Killer was visible now, but they had been well prepared for it. To most who had fought the enemy in the first invasion of Earth, it looked little different to what they called Tartaros.

"Looks like they haven't got a whole load of ships covering that monster. You were right," Taylor said to Jafar.

"I doubt they think it's in any danger, not yet anyway," replied Bailey.

"In the Krycenaean history, the Gezgen K'til has been unstoppable. It is one of the things maintaining Demiran's power, for many of the other Lords fear its wrath, should he turn on them and try to expand his influence. Even the great Erdogan is wary of crossing Demiran for the power it holds."

"They really have pulled out the big guns," Taylor added.

"Yes, and played all their cards. If we can defeat this thing they all fear so much, we may well yet prove they can never win."

That was a positivity Taylor rarely heard. He liked this Admiral more every minute he served alongside her. Her confidence and composure reminded him a little of Chandra and that brought a smile to his face.

Almost there, he thought.

A single pulse flew past their display monitor and burrowed into the hull of the Neptune, but the dreadnought of a ship almost brushed it off entirely.

"In range in five, four, three, two."

"Fire," Bailey replied quickly.

The bridge lit up as the railguns and missile bays fired as one. The escort ships around the K'til took a battering from the human fleet, and as they closed the Earth planetary defence grid joining the fight. Taylor watched in awe as the battle unfolded before his eyes. From what they could see, it was just hulking ships slugging it out, but he also knew how many hundreds or thousands of lives were ended as each ship was blasted into space debris.

"Itching to get into combat, Colonel?" Bailey asked. Taylor stood mesmerised.

"It's strange to sit back and watch a battle be fought before your eyes. Never have I felt so redundant. Never have I seen death on the battlefield in such vast numbers. Some of those ships being vaporised have more men and women than my entire Battalion."

"Not a pretty sight, is it?"

"How much longer until we send the Purge fleet in?" he asked.

"Not long now, but we need to get as many of those escort ships out of the way as possible to give us the best chance of getting the nukes in. I just hope it's enough. Just look at the size of thing."

"Can't we just hit it with nukes from here?"

"We tried that last time around. Their weapon intercept defences took out everything we threw at them. Only way to get close is with something severely armoured."

"Then pray this works."

Taylor stepped forward and opened a channel to Huber.

"This is about the best opportunity I think we're gonna get, Sir."

"Agreed. Have your man activate the signal."

Taylor turned and nodded to Jafar who knew exactly what to do. He lifted a device he had kept close since they left the enemy vessels and punched in a few buttons.

"That it?"

He nodded in acknowledgement. Bailey placed her hand on the ops table and panned over to where the Purge ships had laid in wait beyond the human fleet.

"They're powering up. This is it."

The battle continued to rage all around them, but Bailey and Taylor were fixated on the Purge ships on their viewing screens. They knew it was their best and probably only chance of stopping the Planet Killer.

"Has anyone ever tried to destroy this thing before?"

"Yes, Admiral.They failed," he replied sternly.

"I guess they didn't have inside knowledge like we do."

Jafar remained silent.

"How long until they reach their target?"

"Approximately two minutes, Ma'am."

"The game must be up by now that we have control over them. Direct all fire to supporting their approach, and notify the rest of our battle group to do the same."

"Looks like Huber has already had the main fleet doing that," said Taylor.

They looked out to see a brutal bombardment hitting everything between them and the massive Planet Killer. The seven Purge cruisers soared in between Bailey's battle group and the main fleet with their engines at full. There was no hiding it anymore. Within seconds of them passing, a volley of pulses smashed into the first vessel, ripping it apart. Several of the bridge crew gasped at the brutal salvo that continued onto the second ship but didn't manage to slow it any.

"Come on, come," whispered Taylor.

He could see Bailey wanted to give them more, but the Neptune was already firing with everything she had. Now they could only watch and pray. The distance was closing rapidly between the Purge ships and the K'til. The second ship began to spit sparks until a final burst blew it apart.

"Shit," Taylor murmured.

He doubted for a minute that any would get through,slumping his head down as he leaned against the table.

"It's not over yet," replied Bailey.

He hadn't realised he had spoken so loudly for others to hear. He knew he had a responsibility to maintain confidence in their endeavour. As he lifted his head, a great light grew in size and brightness on the edge of the K'til hull. They all stared in surprise and amazement until they realised what it was. A weapon Taylor had witnessed during their Tau Ceti expedition. It was a devastating ship killer. The light suddenly rushed from the ship towards the Purge fleet and struck one across its prow. The ship shattered into thousands of parts in seconds, and what was left was unidentifiable as anything but space debris.

They're not gonna make it, Taylor thought.

The weapon powered up once again and obliterated another of the cruisers.

"Come on," said Bailey.

Taylor looked up at the last minute when he knew the monstrous weapon could not fire again before the distance was closed. The entire bridge crew watching silently as the last three Purge cruisers still moving plunged into the K'til. They smashed through the outer hull with little resistance at all. They punctured deep within and continued until they were no longer visible.

Sighs of reliefs came from all the crew, but all was not over. Bailey spun around to look directly into Jafar's eyes.

"Do it!"

He did not hesitate, and Taylor was frozen solid watching the display screen. Ripples ran through the front of the K'til until cracks appeared and the blast burst out of the structure, tearing frigate size pieces from the outer skin. Explosions erupted through the ship, and the massive pulse cannon was ripped apart.

"Yes!" yelled Bailey.

Cheers echoed around the bridge as the crew leapt up from their seats in celebration. She turned to Jafar.

"Thank you, you've done us a damn good turn."

He nodded in agreement in his typically calm character. Bailey turned back to the ops table where Taylor had not moved, and her smile was quickly erased.

"They're still coming at us," he whispered.

"Their defence grid must be down with all that damage. Launch nukes into that breach, now!"

The gunnery officer stood speechless with his mouth open.

"Fire the damn nukes now!"

"Admiral!" Taylor shouted.

She spun around to see a large metallic glowing object soar towards the fleet, but it did not appear to be targeting any ship in particular. Jafar recognised it immediately, but he did not have any time to warn them, not that it would have helped. They all stared as boosters came on to draw it to a standstill, and then it erupted with a shockwave. Just three seconds later the bridge went dark. All lights, power, and displays shut off.

"What the hell just happened?" Bailey cried out.

Taylor felt the weight of his Reitech suit almost drag him to the ground as its power source had also cut out, and he felt three times heavier than a second ago. He reached for the catches to release the suit from his body, and it hit the deck with a loud crash.

"That was an EMP!" he answered.

For a few moments there was complete blackness. Deep in the core of the hull of the Neptune they were a long way from any windows that would bring in any light. Even if they were closer to the outer skin, the blast shields were up. The entire ship was not in blackout; thirty seconds later, lights flickered across the bridge and emergency lighting powered up. It was a muted red ambient lighting, but it was enough to get by.

"That's the reserve power source kicking in. It's shielded against EMPs but will only power basic life support. Enough for us to get working," the Admiral explained.

Taylor turned to Jafar for answers and didn't even have to ask.

"This is an act of desperation. The EMP will have disabled the vessels of both sides. Demiran must have seen the end was close for the Gezgen K'til. He is scared."

"That's all very well, but it leaves us hanging," replied the Admiral.

"How far will this have spread?"

"Only those ships on the very fringe of this fight would have escaped it."

"You're telling me there are hundreds of ships floating in space without power, just like us?" she asked.

"Yes. The EMP cannot be directed. Like you, the Krycenaeans’ vessels have only limited shielding, as it is impractical to have it all encompassing. However, they are better prepared for this."

"You're saying they'll get active before us?"

"Almost certainly."

"Christ, if they can get that monster going before our ships recover, they can fire on Earth without anyone to stop them," she replied.

"Is there no one left to continue the fight?" Taylor asked.

She looked up into his eyes with fear and shook her head.

"We committed everything we had to this, how could we not? The greatest threat the World has ever known?"

"So let me get this straight. Both fleets are floating about without power. You reckon they'll fix the Planet Killer before we can get any ships online, and that'll be the end?" he asked of Jafar.

The alien nodded in agreement.

"Well, fuck that. We didn't get through years of this shit to sit here and watch it all end."

"There's nothing else to do. Our crews will already have started work. We can only hope they get us operational before we’re blasted by their weapons."

"And what would we go home to? No way. I won't accept it."

He lifted up his comms unit.

"Lieutenant Rains to the bridge…"

He realised the comms units were down as well. It would be weeks of repair work until everything was restored.

"How long do we have till the Planet Killer is operational?"

"Two hours, maybe."

"Allright. Maybe we can't get the Neptune up and running in that time, but we can surely get marines into action before then."

"What are you thinking?" asked Bailey.

"I'm thinking we'll hand deliver those nukes gift wrapped, " he replied confidently.

"Anything you need, Colonel. The only thing that matters anymore is destroying that ship. It doesn't matter what it costs. Take any resources you need. Your mission must come before the repair of this ship. Within the emergency shielded core, you will find a reserve of armour and weapons, along with a few other core components. You have the full resources of this crew at your disposal. I don't care how you do it, or at what cost, just get it done!"

Taylor nodded in acceptance of the mission. He knew it was unlikely anyone else in the fleet would have the information, ability, or initiative to act against the K'til. The fate of Earth now lay in his hands. He gestured for Jafar to follow him, grabbing his Reitech rifle from the deck. Without the support of his exo-skeleton, it weighed a tonne. They rushed from the bridge at a quick pace. Taylor felt more vulnerable than ever. He had no armour, no communications, no power, and a rifle he could barely carry.

Two minutes into their run they bumped into Jones and one of his platoons. They’d setup in defensive positions around an air lock. Taylor could see the Captain was anticipating a breach at any moment. They too had stripped off their armour and suits that had become dead weights. Jones arose from cover as he saw them approach. He looked flabbergasted.

"EMP? What the hell's going on?"

"Both fleets are out. I don't have time to get into the details. A breach isn't our concern, right now. We're heading for the docking bays. Join us, and I'll fill you in on the way."

"Doesn't sound good. Follow the Colonel!" he ordered.

"I'd love to say it's the same shit, different day, but this time, it's a whole lot worse."

It took them just a few minutes to reach the bay where they had left Ota's Company. Only she and one platoon now remained.

"Sir, we didn't know what the hell was going on. I have dispatched units to defend the nearest ports."

He acknowledged her as he rushed past without a word to get to Rains. He was sanding on top of a crate with his head and torso up inside the engine bay of his Stallion.

"Eddie, tell me you can get this bird going!"

"Not without the parts, Colonel. The CPU is fried, and a few other components that she won't run without."

"I might be able to get what you need from the emergency stores," he replied.

"That could work. We still have some major issues though. She's gonna need more than a few bits."

He reached forward and grabbed the pilot’s arm, hauling him down.

"I need you flying in the next thirty minutes, or Earth will be destroyed. Is that enough motivation?"

He looked down into Taylor's eyes for a second and saw the seriousness in his face.

"Well, holy shit, you aren't joking."

He jumped down to the deck, and his tone had changed completely.

"Get me to the parts!"

He looked over to his co-pilot and the Engineering Chief who had been helping him, pointing for them to follow him.

"Jones, you and your platoon with me, come on!" yelled Taylor.

They rushed towards the nearest corridor, and Taylor lifted his Mappad to check the location of the emergency stores.

"God damn it."

It was another piece of technology disabled by the blast. He turned back to the Chief, knowing he knew the ship better than anyone.

"The emergency storeroom, take us to it."

Without a word, the Chief rushed forward to lead the way. He too had heard Taylor's grim insight into their future, should they fail in their task. Eddie was running alongside the Colonel and still in shock at what was being proposed.

"No bullshit about this, we get flying or it’s all over?"

"That's right."

"So you're pinning the entire survival of the World on our ability to bodge an EMP hit Stallion which will get you what, a one-way ticket riding nukes into the biggest mother fucking ship I have ever seen?"

"That's about the sum of it, yeah."

"Well I hate to say it, Colonel, I might be a mechanical wizard, but I ain't no miracle worker."

"Today you are."

"This is it!" called the Chief.

He punched in the access codes, and thankfully the huge shielded blast doors slid open. The room was the size of a tennis court and a couple of metres high.

"This is everything we have that'll still work after an EMP."

Jones rushed inside and hauled the Chief alongside him.

"Please be in here, please be in here," whispered Eddie.

Taylor could see a rack of Reitech equipment.

"That's at least something. Must be enough to kit out all of us here. Gear 'em up, Captain," he ordered Jones.

"You heard the man!"

They quickly strapped themselves into the suits, a drill which they had become more than used to doing in quick time. As Taylor secured the last clips onto his arms, Eddie approached with a large trolley stacked with component parts.

"We got some of what we need. Most of this stuff is last gen, and we'll only get the bare bones up and running. Maybe the engines and manual controls, no weapons, life support, grav, scanners, comms, nothing."

"Just get her flying, that's all we need!"

He continued on to the corridor.

"Chief, I'll need you and a dozen of your best to have a hope in hell of getting this done!"

"Anything you need," he replied, and they rushed away with the cart.

"What's the play here?" asked Jones.

"Exactly what it looks like. We're hand delivering a few nukes."

"Doesn't sound like the best plan in the world. They must have thousands of Mechs aboard that thing, maybe even tens of thousands."

"Yep, and we have just one long shot of making this work. If you can think of something better, I'm all ears. Otherwise, prepare for a ride into hell."

He turned back to address Jones' platoon.

"By now, you probably all have idea of what we're about to do. I am sorry to say you have ended up on this mission through the shear bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I needed assistance, and you were the first I reached. However, we have been together since the very beginning, and there's nobody I'd rather trust to undertake this mission. I know you want to live, and do not believe for a moment that I have a death wish. But this mission is more important than any of our lives. If we have to give up a few dozen to save a few billion, so be it. But let's not give those lives willingly."

It was a lot to take in for a group of veteran soldiers who had so recently been preparing to fight en masse on their own ground with all the support of the Battalion and Navy crews.

"Let's be clear here. If there is any chance we can make it out alive, then we will, but only once our mission is complete. Grab you gear and another half a dozen sets,and let's haul ass back to Rains."

When they were on the move in the corridor, Jones finally spoke again.

"You promise me something, Mitch."

"Anything."

"Dying fighting these bastards is not something I fear, but being taken alive by them again is. You promise me you won't let that happen. Whatever happens over there, you promise me that!"

It was a sombre thought, but Taylor fully understood where he was coming from, and it was not the first time Jones had asked it.

"If it ever came to it, you have my word, but it won't. We have debts to pay, and there won't be any dying until those scores are settled."

Jones nodded in acknowledgement. That was something he certainly agreed with.

They arrived back at the docking bay to find twenty mechanics going at the Stallion like never before. Sparks were flying as components were cut and welded. Rains’ head was buried in the access hatch where they had first found him when it had all begun.

"Where are we up to, Rains?" Taylor asked.

He finished tightening something down before ducking back down to see the Colonel.

"It ain't pretty, but we have a chance of making this work."

Taylor breathed out a sigh of relief.

"And how long will this masterpiece take?"

"In ten minutes she'll either run, or it's all over."

"Then get on it and be sure it works," Taylor snapped back.

Rains held up his hands as if to complain that he was already being distracted. Taylor turned to see the platoon all stood there, watching the work. It was hard to tell if they were keen for it to be successful or not.

"I want two full suits prepared for the pilots. They'll need them as much as us, including weapons."

As he was speaking, Silva pushed through the ranks to reach the Colonel.

"Sir, permission to join you."

"We have limited space here, Sergeant Major, if we get off the deck at all."

"Sir, you need all the help you can get. You have a few spare sets of gear, and I don't see many volunteers taking them up."

Taylor sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

We’re already putting two key officers of the unit in danger, but it doesn't seem to matter anymore.

"What the hell, I haven't got the will to argue anymore. Just do me one thing, get word to Parker's section that they are to stay put. I don't want her knowing about this mission. You do that,and you get a seat on this ride."

"Aye, aye, Sir."

Silva seemed excited by the news, which astonished Taylor.

He must be mad. Still, I’m glad to have the Sergeant Major by myside.

"So this is it, thirty-three against the World?" asked Jones.

"Plus Eddie and his co-pilot,Perez, and a handful of nukes."

"Sounds like an interesting recipe."

Taylor looked down the docking bay and could see Kato working on one of the other Stallions with a repair crew, but they weren't getting anywhere near the attention and work put in that Rains was. He could see it would be some time before the other craft were up and running.

The next ten minutes seemed more like an hour as the platoon lay about on the nearest boxes watching Eddie and the others slave away as quickly as they could. Jafar sat one side of Taylor and Jones the other.

"Assuming we get inside this thing, what then?" asked Jones.

Taylor turned and looked to Jafar for answers.

"If they launched an EMP, then the situation must have been desperate. There must be a hull breach so severe that much more damage, and the K'til would be inoperable. The power source and weapon itself is at the very core of the ship. If we want to guarantee success, then we must get your nuclear weapons as deep into the vessel as possible."

"How far are we talking?" asked Jones.

"At least a kilometre in."

"Christ!"

"But we have already done a tonne of damage, so we should be able to fly a good way inside the structure," replied Taylor.

"The crews will still be in chaos trying to recover and repair the ship. Their communications will be out of service just as ours, but it will not be long until they recover."

Engines pulsated before them as Rains’ Stallion fired up. Cheers rang out from the crews all around, but not from Jones' platoon. All Rains’ success meant to them in that moment was that they would have to enter the jaws of death. Rains’ voice rang out as he shouted for Perez to test the controls before he finally jumped down to address the Colonel.

"We have power and basic controls, but that's it."

"That's all we need."

Eddie wiped the sweat from his brow, which was as much from working as it was the stress he had been placed under.

"Suit up."

Rains turned and gestured for Perez to get back to the deck and do likewise.

"Make way!" a voice yelled.

Taylor already recognised it as Admiral Bailey.

"Attention on deck!"

"As you were!" she hollered back.

She strolled out onto the docking bay deck, with twenty crew in tow. At the head of the column, they wheeled in three nuclear weapons."

"This is the entire compliment for the Neptune, so use them well."

I hope it'll be enough. It was all Taylor could think.

She stepped in close so she could address him privately.

"You really think this can work?" she asked him.

"In all the crazy suicidal plans I have heard and participated in, this has to be the most ridiculous, but we haven't failed or died yet."

"I guess that's hopeless optimism."

"Not hopeless. This has to work, and I'll give it everything to make it happen."

"I wish there was more we could do. It's crazy that with all these ships and all this man power, it's going to come down to what, thirty marines?"

Jones could just hear what she was saying from his position behind Taylor and coughed deliberately at hearing his troops being called marines.

"Captain Jones, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes, Ma'am."

She looked down at his uniform to see he still wore the Parachute Regiment patches and British Union Flag adorning his sleeves. It was clear the insignia was much older and more fatigued than the rest of his attire, and she could tell it had been carried over to every uniform he had worn since the fighting began."

"No, not marines. Does it matter anymore, Navy, Marines, Army, Paras? We're all in the same shit and fighting the same battle. On behalf of the Navy, I extend my gratitude for the sacrifices that you are about to make. Make it home or not, it will never be forgotten."

"Unless we fail, and there will be no one left to remember it," Jones jested.

Bailey could not refrain from smiling. It pleased her to see their spirits were high. Taylor looked around to see Rains and Perez were kitted up and ready to move. They were waiting at the door to their Stallion and overseeing the loading of the nukes.

"Ma'am, we have precious little time."

"Good luck," she said, as she reached out to shake Taylor's hand.

He looked around to the crew who were with her and mechanics to their sides. A sombre tone filled the room. Gone was the eager enthusiasm and momentum to fix the Stallion. The celebrations had already died down as they realised the real trial was about to begin.

"We're doing everything we can do get operational again. If we can assist before this is over, we will," Bailey added.

"Load up! Let's move!"

The platoon rushed to the door, but Taylor stopped as he heard his name screamed from down the corridor Bailey had so recently travelled. Personnel scattered as someone pushed their way through to reach him. His name was screamed once again, and he recognised it instantly. It was Parker. Before she was visible, he turned to Silva with a scornful look.

"I told you to make sure she didn't find out."

"And I did, but you know what she's like."

He shook his head, but he knew the Sergeant Major was right.

Eli broke through the ground and leapt onto him in front of the Admiral without a care for her presence. First she hugged him and then recoiled to confront him.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked.

"Our jobs, and don't go thinking you're going to join us."

"It's suicide, Mitch!"

"Colonel!" Eddie called.

He turned around to see the last of the platoon were getting through the door, and they were ready to go. He looked back to Eli whose eyes could not hide how distraught she felt.

"No, suicide is doing nothing. We have to act and do it now. I'm sorry, but I can't waste another moment."

"No! Mitch!"

He turned and left. She tried to follow, but the Admiral's guards grabbed hold of her and held her back. She began to weep, but she quickly wiped the tears from her face and shrugged off the guards. She turned to make one last appeal to the Admiral.

"Why him? Haven't we given enough? Haven't we sacrificed enough?"

"Taylor is Earth's best hope. Would you rather leave it to a lesser officer?"

She shook her head and knew it was the right, or at least the best course of action, but it didn't make it any easier to accept. The Admiral continued.

"The best thing we can do for him is get this ship operational and stay safe. We still don't know what's out there, and without our comms, we are in serious danger if we are breached. You have a position to guard. I suggest you get back to it, and make sure Taylor has something to come home to."

Her shoulders relaxed as she accepted the situation and stood calmly to watch them leave.

"What chance do you think he has?" she asked Bailey.

The Admiral was accepting the Sergeant's over familiarity, as she knew it was a tough situation to digest.

"Of destroying the K'til or getting back alive?" she replied.

"I do not doubt he will succeed. Taylor is not one to fail. He wasn't born with the ability to fail. The only question is what is the cost of success?"

Bailey had no answer. She knew just as Parker did that Taylor would not hesitate to give up everything to get the job done.

"If anyone can make it back, Mitch can."

Taylor stepped aboard the Stallion and stopped in the doorway to look at her one last time. He then turned to step inside but stopped as he noticed a hastily applied lettering sprayed across the fuselage. It read 'Welcome to Earth you bastards'. It brought a smile to his face, and he knew that only Eddie could have done it. Mitch hit the door close switch and it did nothing. He smiled before cursing.

"Fuck this is gonna be a real barrel of laughs."

He turned around and grabbed the door of the ramp, hauling it shut by hand before clamping the mechanism shut.

"Back to basics, ey Colonel?" asked Blinker.

"Be thankful we have our personal gear. Think back to before the days of Reitech, and you'll appreciate what we do have."

"Yeah, I will when we're blasting back off that big mother fucking ship," he replied with a smirk.

Taylor couldn't doubt he felt any different. He knew the mission had to be done, and he knew he needed to be the one to do it, but now it was finally going ahead he could feel the sickness in his stomach return. The sickness that always came before such a vital mission. The engines roared, and they lifted off from the deck, soaring out towards the exit.

"This isn't the first time Earth has faced an apocalyptic weapon, or the first time I have led the operation to destroy it. We've done it before, and we'll do it again. Let's remind these bastards what happens when you mess with our planet!"

Cheers rang out. It was the first time he had gone into an operation with an almost entirely British force, but there seemed little difference between any of the personnel of Inter-Allied any longer. Silva had a broad grin on his face, the only one of them who did.

"What are you so pleased about?" asked Taylor.

"Honestly, it's hard to say. We're going all in here, no time to regret it any longer."

Taylor still didn't get it, but it was better than the sombre tone that they had left at the dock.