“It is a dangerous game you play, Colonel. This is how dictators are born.”
“I don’t give a damn. I’m not in this life to rule, and you should know that by now. I don’t look to tread on people’s toes, but neither do I give a shit about hurting their feelings. This is a war for the survival of our race, and I will do whatever I have to for that end.”
“Except when it doesn’t suit you. Doing what was necessary would mean keeping your identity secret, and you threw all that away to satisfy your own ends.”
Taylor didn’t have the energy to argue with him anymore. It was serving none of them any good. He slumped back onto the bed.
“What now, then, Colonel?” the Admiral asked.
“What do you mean?” Taylor was suspicious.
“Well, you clearly run things around here. Rank counts for nothing when it comes to you. You go and do as you please, and I am done fighting you on it. Not when the Alliance backs you at every turn, so what are your orders?”
Taylor sighed.
“What is it?”
“I don’t want to run this, Admiral. I never did.”
“But actions speak louder than words, don’t they?”
Rogers knew he had to butt in as things were getting increasingly heated.
“If Bolormaa is coming for you, this is the first place she’d think to look.”
“And what do you expect us to do about that, Captain? Bolormaa has swept over and destroyed everything in her path. No one has been able to stand against her.”
“Bullshit, Admiral.”
“Come on, Colonel, you know how powerful she is,” replied Nilsson.
“And yet she still picks and chooses her battles carefully. If she was able to roll over us, don’t you think she would have done so already?”
“Depends what her endgame is, doesn’t it?” Rogers asked.
“You said you knew, that she was coming for me.”
“That is what I believe, but there are few certainties in life.”
Taylor groaned.
“We’re just going round in circles.”
“Yes, it feels like it, doesn’t it?” Nilsson asked.
“If we are going to stand and fight here, we’ll need all the help we can get,” added Rogers.
“I can call in probably a dozen ships more at best. It’s not like the Alliance has much of a surplus right now.”
“No, but for this, it could be worth committing everything we have.”
“Why? Why now, Captain?” Taylor asked.
“Because now we have the AR2s. If Bolormaa really is coming for you to fight in personal contact, this is your chance to end it.”
“That’s a big if.”
“It’s what we have been training for, and it’s what I believe she wants.”
Taylor shook his head.
“What, what is it?”
“I have heard too many people try and presume to know what Bolormaa is thinking, understand what it is she wants, and what she is going to do next. You know what? We are almost always screwed over by those assumptions.”
“You don’t believe it is you she is going to focus on? After all that you have been through? After she saved you and killed a powerful ally just to get at you? Cakir was her chance to control the Krys, and now Jafar is clawing back everything he ever had as each day goes by. She threw a lot away to keep you alive.”
“The Captain is right. For better or worse, your fate is tied to hers. I don’t know why, and frankly I don’t care, but while you stay here you endanger us all. Either you leave, or you accept that we are going to stand and fight, and call in every bit of help we can get,” replied Nilsson.
“And if those suits aren’t up to the job? If I can’t beat her, or if she doesn’t even bother trying to come for me? She could just as easily be sick of me and ready to finish the job with no fuss.”
“Then we’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
“The Admiral is right. Now that the secret is out, there is nowhere you can hide, and even if you could, she’ll just tear through the Alliance until she finds you. It’s time to stand our ground.”
“It’s easy to say that when you’ve never had to meet her.”
“I understand that, but I am telling you that I am willing to stand beside you in this. Not watch from the sidelines. I will fight her with you if it comes to that.”
“It won’t do any good,” he replied with a sigh.
“After all this and you still don’t have faith in the equipment? I saw you cut down a Morohtan Prince as if he were nothing. A few weeks ago the prospect of surviving personal combat with one of them seemed like a distant dream, and now look where we are.”
“Fine, I agree, but they aren’t her. They aren’t the Queen. She is on a completely different level, believe me, I know.”
“Maybe that’s true, but I don’t see how it matters.”
Something was different about Taylor, and they could both see it. Rogers gestured towards the Admiral for him to give them a few moments. He didn’t need to say a word. The Admiral stepped outside, but he didn’t go far.
“You can’t ask me to do the impossible,” said Taylor quietly.
“That’s nonsense. You have achieved the seemingly impossible before, and you have asked and expected it of others as well.”
“Not like this, I haven’t.”
“This is all about your girl, Alita, isn’t it?”
That got Taylor’s attention as though some great offence had been made.
“That’s right. You can’t get what you want, and so you’ll give up.”
Taylor leapt up and squared off against the Captain who stood his ground.
“Don’t you talk of her!”
“Why? Because you think you are the only one who has lost anything here? We lose friends every week, sometimes every day. She isn’t even dead, and yet you mope around as if life were over. Well, suck it up, Colonel, she’s one human being. We are talking about millions.”
Taylor had had enough and struck Rogers with a solid punch to the jaw. The Captain soon recovered and stood defiantly without response. Taylor struck him again, but got precisely the same response. A small cut had opened under Rogers’ eye, but he still made no attempt to defend himself.
“Is that what you needed? Because I am in this for whatever is needed. Are you ready to take on this fight now or not?”
Taylor lifted his hand to strike once again but stopped himself on realising how futile it was. He was angry and disappointed in himself.
“I understand what you are going through, but we need you now, and now more than ever. There is a real chance we can get Alita back, and not just in body, but that will never happen if we don’t make it through this. If we two aren’t alive to find her and help her, who will?”
“You talk like all of this is a choice. Like we can just go on and find her.”
“That is precisely what I am saying. Don’t falter now. We have a chance against Bolormaa. The best we have ever had.”
“Yeah? That sounds familiar. I went up against Bolormaa with some of the best, and Zaya by our side as well, and still she lives.”
“But it was close, wasn’t it?”
“I thought so then, but now I’m not so sure. Zaya has gone over to her. Was he ever really on our side? Was it all just an act?”
“I think in that moment Zaya wanted her dead as much as you do, and I think you came close to achieving that goal. Now imagine how it would have gone had you been in an AR2 suit.”
“You keep talking about the AR2 as if it is some game changer in this war. Maybe with a few thousand of them, but what do we have? Three.”
“For now.”
“Come on, you heard Rivers, and you have seen this project unfold. Irala was at the heart of it. Rivers is just tinkering with a technology that he doesn’t understand, and maybe never will.”
“You shouldn’t underestimate Milo. Others have, and he has always proven them wrong.”
“In bus
iness, money, investments, great, but this is war, Captain.”
“Business and war are no different for someone like Rivers, someone who works behind the scenes. He is always under pressure, always working to a deadline. Whether that is in peace or war, I don’t think it matters, not to him.”
“And you still think he can figure this shit out?”
“Yes, I do. All we have to do is keep fighting long enough for him to pull it off.”
Taylor sighed at the prospect.
“Come on, Colonel, don’t stumble now, not after all you have gone through and have achieved. It will be all for nothing if we don’t survive what comes next, and don’t fall into that trap of thinking we can’t bring Alita back from this hell. The Alliance brought you back from the dead, so don’t tell me we can’t reverse whatever has been done to the Lieutenant.”
“The Alliance put that effort in because they needed me, what care do you think they have for Alita?”
“That is a pretty cynical way of looking at things. That we are all just resources.”
“Aren’t we?”
“In a way, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t valued.”
Taylor smirked and shook his head disapprovingly.
“Come on, Captain, don’t tell me you have bought into that shit. We are pawns to do with as is necessary, and Alita has no more value to those in charge than any other fighter.”
“Then force them see otherwise. You’ve never been shy about making yourself heard. You can make a difference. You can make sure she is saved, if you can save yourself first. Go on living for her, if nothing else. Because if you die, it won’t even come down to a choice as to whether to help Alita, there will be no choice.”
That struck Taylor to his very core.
“Live to save her,” repeated Rogers, “Come on, we have a real chance here. Let’s give Bolormaa hell in a way she never imagined. Let’s put those suits to the test, and use them for what they were built for.”
CHAPTER 2
Taylor looked out from the bridge of the vast station. Jump gates opened every few seconds as more vessels jumped in to answer the call to arms. More than fifty ships now surrounded them, with more arriving all the time. Human, Krys, and Cholan, but the absence of the Aranui did not go unnoticed.
"A marvel, isn't it?"
"What, Admiral?" Taylor asked.
"The grandest fleet I have ever seen assembled, and all because you asked for it. If that is not power, what is?"
He couldn't deny it, and as much as he didn't want to rule, the support was welcome.
"Is it enough, do you think?"
"Never. Never have we had the resources we truly needed to fight Bolormaa. Some have said you should not face a battle until you have superior odds. Well, that is something she well understands."
"And yet you have won great victories."
"Yes, sometimes numbers aren't everything, and yet imagine what we could have achieved if we had them. We get by and we survive, but we never have the strength to pursue our enemies when they are defeated, or hit them as we please."
"I suppose if were the case, this war would be long over. But she has those numbers, and it is not."
"What are you saying, that there is more to winning than resources?"
"Yes," replied Nilsson confidently.
"Certainly I have seen wars won against all the odds."
"Yes, and we will do it again, Colonel."
"You think so?"
"Yes, because the alternative is the destruction of everything we know."
Taylor nodded in agreement.
"You think that is what she wants?"
"To destroy society as we know it, yes. Maybe she wouldn't hunt every one of us to the end of the universe, but just see us scattered to the wind. A shattered society that would take hundreds if not thousands of years to recover from."
"So she can just sit back and wait for her next turn to humiliate us?"
"Possibly."
"Jones and I have said this before, and many have called us mad for thinking it. They say that nobody could be so sadistic and cruel as to play with billions of lives like that."
"And what do you think?"
"I think I have known enough sadistic bastards that it wouldn't surprise me at all."
"I fear you may be correct, Colonel. I wouldn't want to believe it either, and yet that is what all the evidence points to."
"Finally, someone sees clearly."
"You cannot blame people for not wanting to see or believe it. It is a terrifying prospect, is it not?"
"What?"
"That the enemy doesn't want to just beat you into submission, but destroy you, and they cannot be reasoned with. That no peace can ever be sought?"
"It shouldn't be a surprise. I have lived it once already, and you only have to look into the pages of our history to know it to be true."
"I fear that side of the war has been lost in time, perhaps deliberately so."
Taylor looked confused.
"How could we go on living in peace with the Krys if that were known?"
"The truth isn't always easy to accept, but it is what it is."
"You are well aware that people lie to themselves and many others about a great many things to keep life simpler and more comfortable. Sometimes the illusion of safety is as good as the real thing, at least while it lasts."
"That's the point, isn't it? What good is that feeling of freedom and euphoria if a sword always hangs over your head?"
"Doesn't it always? We humans live such short lives. That life is a mere spec in the fabric of the universe. If we can but live that short life happily, is that not enough?"
"And what about all those who have to suffer in the generations afterwards? Let alone those that suffered to get you there in the first place."
"You'd like to think people cared and thought that much about it, wouldn't you? But they don't, at least not the majority. The majority live content while life is good, and don't question why or what they need to do to maintain it for years to come."
"No wonder we're in such a shit situation." Taylor sighed.
Then out of the corner of their view a familiar ship soared past and away from the station. It was unmistakeable, the Phoenix.
"What the hell is he doing?" Taylor asked wearily.
"Captain, did you clear the Phoenix for departure?" Nilsson demanded.
"No, Sir, no such request was made."
"CJ doesn't ask for anyone's permission. He goes and does as he pleases."
"Who does that sound like?" Nilsson asked.
Taylor brushed of the comparison. They could do nothing as the Phoenix vanished with a jump.
"We can't have the Captain running right now. Do you know what that could do to the morale?"
"Can't, Admiral? We just have, so deal with it."
Nilsson stepped up closely to Taylor so as to not be heard by any others.
"Do you know how desperate this situation is? The confidence of those around us hangs by a thread. Many of the ships that flew in have done so on orders they are close to defying."
"Mutiny?"
"Yes, and who could blame them when others won't stand and fight?"
"It's one ship. One lunatic."
"But that's not the way the rest of them see it, do they? The Alliance sees CJ as a wild card, just like you. A blunt instrument that is needed to win this war."
"We are nothing alike."
"Oh, Colonel, you are far more alike than I think you are ever willing to admit."
Taylor's fury was building, and he wanted to grab the Admiral by the throat and squeeze. It took everything he had to hold himself back.
"He hates you just as much as you hate him. Both of you flaunt the chain of command and do as you please, and you both want to see Bolormaa’s head on a spike. Tell me, Colonel, so how are you different to him?"
"Because I care about people, and he does not."
Nilsson was surprised by his quick response and opened h
is mouth to reply, but found himself speechless.
"That has always been what has driven me. I care about my team, this crew, those who serve, and those who are at home keeping life ticking. I care about them all."
Nilsson looked shocked. He clearly thought he had a complete picture of what Taylor was, and now it had just been shot out of the water.
"I thought you were in this for your own reasons."
"We're all in this for our own reasons, but that doesn't have to mean they are bad ones."
"So it's not fame you seek?"
Taylor laughed in surprise.
"Fame? That's the last thing I ever wanted. Give me a peaceful beach house, and let the universe forget my name so that I may live in peace for the rest of my days."
"Is that what you would really want?"
"Sure I would, so long as I could share it with the people I care about."
"You surprise me, Colonel, you really do, and there are few welcome surprises left these days."
"You really thought I was in it...for what, the glory?"
"Can you blame me? After all of the things you have done?"
"I'm not gonna apologise for it seeming that way. Not to you, and not to anybody. I give it my all to protect our people, not just my friends, but everyone. That is what I signed up to do a long time ago, and I'll be damned if anyone is going to stop me from doing it."
Nilsson's tone seemed to change entirely.
"I apologise. I misjudged you, Colonel."
"Yeah? Well, you wouldn't be the first."
"No wonder all this cost you your life once. You really gave it up for others? A truly selfless act?"
"I wouldn't say it was selfless. I wanted my friends to live."
He smiled in response as Taylor was coming to the realisation that it might be true.
"You know we all do stupid things in the heat of the moment. Some of those things we regret, some we never live to be able to regret. That should have been me out on that scorching plain, at the end of it all, and it would have been worth it."
"It is clear that this universe and those people in it were far from finished with you."
"Maybe. Some people say we all have a destiny, and some even claim that I am part of a prophecy, and that I cannot die until I have fulfilled it. Do you think you could ever believe that?"
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