Taylor retreated to Song's side so that he could talk to her privately.
"If anyone has any inclination that we are here, and the reason we have come, we will have a whole world of trouble coming down on our heads. So you be ready for anything and anyone, you hear?"
Song nodded.
"And no matter what, you protect the Aranui ship. It is our ticket out of here."
When they finally reached the planet, they had aerial shots of what looked like the remnants of a vast city. Though it seemed almost entirely industrial. It stretched forty kilometres long and almost as wide.
"This must have been one hell of a mining operation," said Taylor.
"Yes, but before my day," replied Irala.
There appeared to be no signs of life in sight, or any explanation as to what was mined there.
"Looks like a wasteland to me."
"It was not always this way, great oceans, canyons of precious metals, and pockets of gas. Every nutrient and resource you could ever think of."
"What happened?" Song asked.
"War."
"Someone must have hit this place hard and destroyed the ecological system," added Jones.
"Will we even be able to breathe down there?"
Irala had no answers, but Nichols was carefully studying the data before him.
"For a few hours at a time, any more and the toxicity and dense molecules will start to clog your windpipe. Much longer and you will suffocate."
"Mmm, could be worse."
"Underground you will be safe, with clean air," added Irala.
"How can you know that?"
"He is right, Lieutenant. I don't know what it is, but something under the surface is working to keep the air clean," said Nichols.
"There are still living inhabitants here?"
"No, but the world was intended to be self sustaining. Anything not damaged beyond use will still be operational."
"You people sure know how to build things to last."
"We must, for your lifetimes are merely a fragment of ours."
"Any more advice before we do this?"
Irala shook his head. Taylor put the sphere in his webbing, and the projection powered down.
"I'm taking my people plus another twenty of the marines with me. I'll take Lieutenant Hartley. He's proven himself."
"Will that be enough?"
"If it isn't, then everything else you have wouldn't make a difference."
"Then I wish you luck, Colonel. I have every faith in you and your ability to find this great weapon, if it indeed does exist."
"Stay sharp, Commander, and be waiting for us if we come running."
Ten minutes later he stood before the team and three Stormers. He held the Aranui staff from Moana in one hand, his hammer on his back, and rifle in the other hand. The Aranui Guardian stood next to the unit with its hand outstretched for the sphere, which he provided.
"How many of you believe in this spear, the Pauri Tao?"
None answered, though he wasn't sure if that was because he had sounded rhetorical, or just that they were sceptical.
"How many of you believe in miracles?"
Still nothing.
"Well, I do. Do you know why? Because I have witnessed enough to know they can happen. But they don't happen by chance or some great mystery. They do because of hard work, perseverance, and a cast iron will to succeed. That is what I need of you today. Suspend disbelief and believe in something that seems beyond reason. I remember the day I first saw alien life. Seeing it with my own eyes was the only thing that would convince me I wasn't being strung along as part of some great prank. Well, I ask that you rise above that. The only evidence we are going to have is finding what we are looking for. I need you to do what I could not all those years ago. Believe and have faith in this. For if there is even the remotest of chances of this weapon existing, it could yet change the course of the war which we will face soon enough."
"We're with you all the way, Colonel."
Taylor nodded to Jones and then gave the order, "Load up and move out!"
They climbed aboard the Stormers to begin yet another mission. Taylor looked around to see all the Immortals were fast becoming vastly experienced combat veterans. Increasingly, he knew he could depend on them now, but they needed a great success or victory to cement their confidence, and their reputation.
"Do you believe half the things you say? Or do you just say what you know people need to hear?" whispered Jones, sitting beside him.
Taylor thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. He really didn't know the answer himself, but it didn't seem to matter either way. He looked up to his team and spoke openly.
"If you get your hands on this spear, you trust no one with it, you hear? It does not leave this group, not unless every one of us has fallen. You do not trust the President with it, nor Irala, nobody."
"The Alliance won't like that at all."
"Yeah, well, tough shit. They don't even believe in this weapon, so it's none of their business."
"But Irala?" Jones asked.
"Let's not forget that everyone in this world has their own agenda. I've been gone so long I don't know whom I can trust and with what anymore. What I do know is that those here with me now, I can trust. You have proven that many times over. So when you get this weapon, you protect it with your life, right?"
The interior of the ship lit up from viewscreens displaying the skies around them as they entered the dusty desert like world.
"Is it still as exciting? Visiting a new planet the first time?"
"To tell you the truth, Jones, excitement has never been the emotion I would use to describe it. Every single new world I have ever stepped foot on has led to death, destruction, and regret."
"Wow, that's a happy thought."
"Take me back to Earth any day, so long as some lunatic isn't lurking out there waiting for their chance to make us extinct."
"Is that what you still want, after all this time?"
"Of course, isn't it what any man would ever want? Look around at all this, is this what you want?"
"I wanted to explore and discover new and exciting things."
"And how is that working out for you? Guess you got a little more than you bargained for?"
Jones could not deny it. "Maybe it's worth the price."
Taylor turned his attention to the viewscreens. They had a lower viewpoint of the old industrial city now. There was no sign of any power or life. Dust and sand had overtaken many of the structures and all of the streets.
"You can't tell me this isn't exciting, no matter how much danger is involved?"
Taylor smiled and looked over to Alita. She was genuinely as excited as Jones was. For a moment he was reminded of how that felt, and began to get a little sense of it himself. Hunting for an ancient and powerful weapon was certainly a fascinating prospect, and yet doubts over its existence barred him from getting too enthusiastic.
He looked down at his console; they were very close to the landing zone now. He was about to mention it, when Alita slowed the craft and brought them in for a landing on what looked like the floor of a large hexagonal shaped building. The walls were long gone, and the hard standing only just visible through parts of the sand. As their engines blasted the surface, the sands were parted, and the steel like base of the old building became clear. It was adorned with Aranui symbols. They had no idea what it meant and had little reason to ask.
The landing gear touched down, and Taylor was the first at the door as usual. The ramp lowered, and the acrid air that he had been expecting struck him. It wasn't pleasant, but it was still preferable to having his face sealed and contained within his suit.
"Hard to imagine what this place would have been like if Irala's account is accurate," said Jones.
"We're heading one klick north. Hartley, have a squad cover our left flank, the other the right. Rest of us are going down the middle!"
"Do we even know what we are looking for?" Jones aske
d, as they stepped off the foundation of the building and into a broad road.
"Well?" Taylor asked the Guardian.
"The staff is the key. He who can read the staff can find its lock."
"Riddles? That's all we need."
"That staff was left for Irala to find, and for him to understand. We have to rely on him working out its directions."
"I still don't understand why he couldn't come with us. If this mission was safe enough for us, why not him?" asked Alita.
"Because Irala is irreplaceable."
"Right, I see how it is."
"Yep, that's what we're paid for."
They passed from one building to another. Many were still mostly intact, others looked like they had been heavily bombed during some long ago conflict. There appeared to no sign of life anywhere they look, but just as they thought they were going to have an easy run of it, an explosion blasted out on their left flank. It shook the ground beneath them.
Taylor was on his feet in seconds and rushing across to where he knew one of Hartley's squads was. He came to a quick stop on finding the body of one of the marines in the Lieutenant's arms. Both his legs had been blown off, as well as his left forearm. The Lieutenant had a piece of shrapnel buried in his right arm, a deep cut on his left, and dust and cuts on his face.
"What did this?" Jones asked despairingly, as he caught up with Taylor. He took a knee and looked cautiously around the area, his rifle at the ready. Taylor could see the crater where the explosion had originated. It had launched the fallen marine several metres through the air, and a deep crater remained from the blast.
"Land mine."
"What? Surely not?"
"Yes," replied Hartley solemnly.
"From who?"
"This is Krys technology, and likely left over from the last war," said Babacan.
"We were so preoccupied with this spear and the Morohta that we forgot all the other dangers that exist in this world," added Jones.
The medic appeared at Harley's side, but he would not let go of the fallen marine for a while.
"Ground scanners on, let's not have another accident like this!" Taylor shouted to everyone.
He activated the device on his console that would scan the surface in a five-metre radius around his person. He bitterly regretted his mistake in not having done this when they landed.
It’s my fault. I should have thought of it.
Hartley was soon patched up. He looked sad for the loss, but he didn't take it out on anyone but himself.
"Let's get on with this mission, Sir," he said quietly.
Taylor nodded in gratitude for his resolve and gestured for them all to continue. He headed back to the main road where they had come from. Within two minutes the scanner on his arm began to bleep, signalling it had detected something. He raised his fist and brought them all to a halt. He drew out a mine clearer grenade from his webbing and rolled it across the floor in front of him. He slowly took a few paces back. The grenade ignited, with its signature deep pulse sending vibrations through any buried devices to ignite them. A second later the mine blew, just as the last had. A few shards of metal and rocks hit Taylor's shield, and dirt and dust settled over the top of him.
"Any more surprises we can expect to find?" he asked the Guardian.
"I do not know."
"Did you not fight in the last war?"
"Yes."
"And did you fight on this world?"
"For a time, yes."
Taylor shook his head. He realised he wasn't getting anywhere. He got up and pointed for them to go onwards. Another scanner began to bleep soon after, and it was Jones’ turn this time in a repeat of the clearing he did. Another three explosions rang out on their flanks as they made their way to the destination, when finally the three groups found themselves descending on one crossroads. Taylor’s console confirmed that it was their destination. He was looking around in every direction for something, anything. But all he could see was more dust and rubble.
"There’s nothing here," said Alita.
Taylor drew out the Aranui staff and paced around the perimeter of the crossroads.
"Any ideas?" he asked the Guardian, but there was no response.
He walked towards the centre of the crossroads, though it looked as bare and dusty as the rest of the road.
"There's nothing here, Colonel, what do we do?" Jones asked.
Taylor could see the exact marker on his console lay at the centre of the roads, and so he approached it cautiously with the staff held out as if it were hazardous material.
"What are we doing here, Colonel? There is nothing here! It is a waste of time," Hartley shouted.
It was apparent that the loss of his marine weighed heavily on him. Taylor knew he had to find some answers soon, or the mission would fail. He reached the centre of the crossroads and looked down. There was nothing but sand at his feet. He simply stood there, hoping for some miracle, as he was all out of ideas. Finally, he lowered the staff, and the base touched the sand. As it made contact, a light sparked as if the base had contacted metal and some electricity passed between the two.
"What the hell was that?" Jones shouted.
Taylor remained still and waited. For ten seconds nothing at all happened, and then a bright blue light appeared between his feet. It began to trace a line forward and then drew a two-metre circle in the sand around him. He looked up at Alita.
"Is this really it? she asked.
The ground began to rumble, and then a wide section in front of Taylor began to lower into the ground. The troops around him scattered as more layers in front of that dropped further down. A dust cloud was thrown up as they waited to see what was there. Then the dust began to settle, and a huge stairway beneath the surface was revealed to them. Taylor looked up at them all marvelling at the sight. It was giving them all hope.
"Could it be? Could it all be for real?" Alita asked again.
But no one had an answer. Taylor took the first step, and the others followed without another word. The stairway was cut from rock and appeared entirely natural, aside from the fact they knew it could not be; as it was created by some kind of mechanical mechanism they could not yet see. They kept descending until they were almost a hundred metres down, and the ground began to level out.
"Wow," Alita said, as the space opened up into a vast and high chasm. Orbs emitting light were fitted every five metres down either side of the chasm. Two narrow paths clung to each side, and the space between them looked like a dried up waterbed.
"Must have been some kind of underground lake," said Jones.
"What do we do now?"
"Looks like there is only one way to go, Alita," replied Taylor, and he went forward.
His team followed him while Hartley took the right side, though they appeared to be following the same route.
"Could this place really have remained secret all this time?"
"Not exactly the kind of place you would come looking, is it? An abandoned mining planet, and nothing left here but sand and wreckage," Jones answered her.
Taylor looked around. They were all starting to believe now. There was some hope, and he just prayed that it would be paid off in full. They got half a kilometre along the chasm when both paths joined and stopped before a tall steel door. Besides the lights, it was the first thing that was not created by nature since they had entered.
"You don't build a door like that unless you want to protect something valuable," stated Jones.
It was covered in a thick layer of dust and had clearly not been opened in living memory, at least a Human's memory.
"This mean anything to you?" Taylor asked the Guardian.
"I have never seen or heard of this before."
Taylor stepped up before the door, and as he got within arm's reach, a light flashed and a soldier was projected before them. He was wearing full armour from head to toe, and a cloak, as if in ancient ceremonial armour. It had the shape and size of the typical Aranui. It seemed to stud
y them for a few moments before noticing the Guardian, but it said nothing. He then saw Babacan and still said nothing. Taylor glanced at the Guardian and then his people, but they all looked to him to make the first move. He lowered his rifle and addressed to the warrior.
"My name is Colonel Mitch Taylor, of Earth. I represent the Alliance of Human, Krys, Cholan, and Aranui peoples. I come here in search of the Pauri Tao."
Almost a minute passed before they received a response.
"The Krys are our enemy, and I do not know Human nor Cholan. But here you stand, a race I do not know, with both Aranui and Krys by your side? What trickery is this?"
"No trick. We are allied in a common cause to fight the Morohta, and their leader, Bolormaa."
The warrior was gazing across at his troops but snapped back to Taylor upon hearing those two words.
"The Morohta have returned?"
"Yes, and that is why we have come. We need the Pauri Tao. You know of its power. We will need it in this fight."
The warrior was silent and seemed to consider the information he had given. Taylor knew he had little else to offer and could not afford to risk offense by making a story up.
* * *
Song watched in horror as she saw the explosion ring out on their overview. She could see the fallen marine in close detail and his horrific wounds.
"I don't envy those who have gone down there," said Nichols.
"No, and something tells me this will not be our last casualty before we are free of this place."
They observed the entire events on the surface unfold and marvelled as the entrance to the underground vault was revealed, and everyone followed Taylor beneath the surface. Song didn't like this at all, not being able to see what was going on. A minute had past, and she was already getting anxious. She wanted to contact Taylor, but she knew she must let him work.
"Sir, I am getting some readings off the starboard side, ten klicks out," said Osborne.
"What? What kind of readings?" she snapped.
"Looks like a sort of engine signature, but it is so faint."
Song felt her heart drop, but she did not panic.
"Activate weapon systems! Launch all remaining fighters, and deploy marines at all sectors!"
Battle Beyond Earth Box Set Page 38