"I'm sorry," she said as she cried.
She was remembering her old life, and who he was to her.
"I am so sorry," she added.
"No, no, Alita, please don't say that."
"I failed you, Mitch."
"No you didn't. You saved me," he replied, weeping uncontrollably.
"I am sorry I couldn't fight her."
"You did when it mattered. You did what nobody else has. You were strong."
She smiled, but she was drawing her last breath. He kissed her forehead, and she fell limp. She was gone. He had lost her.
* * *
Rogers was sat atop a dead Prince, the last of them. He was bloodied and bruised in many places, but he watched towards the wall where Taylor had gone, praying for their safe return. Just seven others were still alive, and hundreds of bodies lay about them. Their own mixed with those of the enemy. It was a brutal sight, although none of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was what had gone on inside the palace.
The wall began to rise, and he leapt up to face whatever threat may be coming for them. Not one of them had a round of ammunition left. Rogers was holding a glaive that he had taken from a Prince. He had no idea what to expect, but finally, three figures appeared in the opening. Taylor and Jones, carrying CJ with one arm over each of them. They looked like they had been through hell.
"Is it done, Colonel?"
"It's done. The creature is dead."
The look of relief on their faces was like nothing any of them had seen before. They could hear a hive of activity from the ramp where they had come from. Rogers turned to face it, but they didn't even take cover. Whatever it was, it no longer mattered.
Dozens of marines poured into the room, at their head Roworth and Sommer. They reached the mound of enemy dead and could barely believe what they were seeing.
"Bolormaa is dead!" Rogers shouted.
None of them quite knew how to take the news.
"What are your orders, Colonel?" Roworth asked.
"Many of our friends lay dead on this battlefield. We leave no man behind," he replied solemnly.
Roworth relayed the orders, and the marines rushed past them to retrieve the dead.
"You did it, you really did it?"
Rogers stepped up before the three that had made it out.
"No, we did it, all of us. Bolormaa is over. It is finally over."
"What now?"
"There’s a lot of work to be done, Jones. We fought for Earth, but our work is not done. Someday we will be able to return home, and all of this will be forgotten."
Jones reached out a hand to CJ who he was still carrying. He looked surprised, but took the offering.
"Today you became one of us. Today we were united, all of us."
"It's a new dawn, and a new day. A day without evil, Colonel," said Rogers.
Taylor had lost so much, they all had, and yet he smiled. Alita had come back to him before the end, and Jafar had died fighting like he had always wanted to.
"It is a new dawn indeed. Earth is saved. Now let's take back our home!"
THE END
Battle Beyond Earth - Box Set (Books 6-9) Page 86