“Yes I do, and I offer a lot more if we succeed together. You’ve seen our world. Tell me it isn’t an improvement over this piece of shit desert? Tell me it isn’t what your people deserve?”
“I will discuss it with my people. I will meet you here at noon tomorrow.”
“On whose clock?”
“According to what your watch is set to.”
Taylor looked at his watch and nodded in agreement. He looked back and opened his mouth to ask another question, but Irala was gone.
“Why does he always have to do that?”
He looked around to Jafar but got no response.
“He doesn’t like you, you realise that right?” Taylor asked him.
“Neither did you when we first met. You tried to kill me, too.”
“Fair point.”
The time until their meeting seemed to pass quickly as he watched Parker and the other NCOs continue training new recruits from the civilians who had volunteered. As noon approached on that second day, he waited aboard the roof of the Diderot with Admiral Huang and five other high-ranking officers. It was a bizarre location to have such an official and unprecedented gathering, but Taylor rather appreciated it. They could see for miles all around, and yet had relative privacy from those below. Jafar stood a few metres behind them, too, Captain King with him, as well as several marines working as a protection detail for Admiral Huang.
Taylor still wasn’t sure what he thought of the Chinaman, but at least he appeared a strong and decisive leader, and that meant a lot.
“Where are they, Colonel?” Huang asked.
Taylor looked down at his watch. It was one minute to noon, and he was counting the seconds down. He looked up as they hit the hour, and three of the aliens appeared before him.
“I am Admiral Huang of the human fleet.”
“Irala, of the Aranui.”
Taylor was surprised.
At last, now we know what to call them.
Huang was shocked at the sight of the Aranui and wasn’t sure how to proceed. Taylor stepped in and opened the conversation even though he knew it was far above his station.
“We’re here to discuss your assistance,” he stated, “We need materials, and we need your technologies and knowledge to make us the best we can be.”
Huang glanced at him, clearly irritated but finally nodded in agreement and looked back to Irala to await a response.
“We have considered your request,” replied Irala.
There was a long silence, and they waited for him to continue.
“We have misplaced our trust in other beings in the past and paid a dear price for it. Therefore, we will assist you, but only as far as we choose, and within strict parameters.”
“Anything you can do would be greatly appreciated,” Huang said quietly.
“The first requirement is that we deal with those we trust. At this time, that is only Colonel Taylor.”
“He is a fine marine, but he is not a representative of our fleet or our race.”
Irala went silent and stared Huang down until he changed his mind. It was clear he would accept nothing else.
“That is what we will do. What will you do, Colonel?”
“Seems to me we need to do two things. We need to organise an invasion force, and to begin smaller scale attacks that weaken Erdogan’s forces before we are ready for the former.”
Huang didn’t look impressed that Taylor was calling the shots, but he knew he was powerless to affect it. Taylor carried on.
“I believe if we can draw Erdogan out and kill him, the ground operation will be comparatively easy. When Demiran fell, his armies lay down arms for the most part. More than anything, I want to reach out and put some hurt on him, make him bleed. Make him and his armies know that we can make them bleed on what is now their home soil. Let them know how that feels.”
“If we are to carry out operations in your solar system, then there is an obstacle we must overcome. A new defence grid they have assembled stops us from carrying out many potential operations on the surface.”
“Perfect, then we hit that first,” said Taylor excitedly.
It was like a dream come true that he never could have imagined possible.
“Everything was going so quickly that Huang could not get a word in, and Taylor stepped past him now to bypass the Admiral entirely.
“Give us the means, and we’ll nail that fucking station,” said Taylor.
“You’ll need Jump technology to do it. We’ll install six of your vessels with such technology, but no more. With a combined fleet, we will strike the defence grid platform in seven days.”
“Seven days?” Huang interrupted, “We have only just begun repairs on our vessels and not even buried all our dead yet. We aren’t ready to be striking back, not by a long shot.”
Irala ignored him and looked to Taylor.
“We can prepare your ships. Are you ready for it?” he asked, “You are asking us to make a leap of faith, as you call it. We ask that you prove you are willing to give as much as you ask for.”
“Give us the opportunity to strike at Erdogan, and I will give you everything I have got, and more,” replied Taylor.
“Then select six of your medium-sized vessels that can carry fighters and a sizeable contingent of your soldiers.”
“Marines,” replied Taylor.
“You travel in space aboard ships than never encounter water, and yet still you call yourself a marine?”
“Some traditions are worth holding on to, no matter where life takes you.”
Irala seemed impressed. “The finest answer. Select your vessels, and have them moved one kilometre south of this position. Have their flight crews and maintenance teams stay with them. We will outfit your vessels and have your crews familiarised with them within five days.”
Huang opened his mouth to speak, but before he’d got a single syllable out, the three aliens had vanished.
“Colonel Taylor!” he yelled furiously.
Taylor turned to him casually.
“Have you forgotten who is in charge of this fleet?”
“Admiral, we’re a pretty long way past any kind of protocol here. I don’t know you, and I certainly never signed up to serve under you. In time, I might call you the boss, but right now, I’ve got a technologically advanced race willing to give me the means to hit back and to take back my home, and I’m gonna take it. Now you can either stand with me, and help take back our planet, or you can make an issue of this and make an enemy of me. I think between us we have enough enemies, don’t you think?”
Huang was speechless, as if nobody had ever dared to speak to him that way before. Taylor knew Huber handled him right, and he was following in his footsteps. Huber was a great loss to them all that they could not afford, but he had to move past it now and do the best he could.
“I won’t be stopped, Admiral, you know that. All I want is the chance to fight. So will you stand with me or not?”
He offered out his hand in a sign of good will. Huang looked to his staff but finally took it. Taylor gripped his hand firmly and hauled him in close.
“We need you to be the man now. Not any old man. Not a shitty Admiral or a lay about, we need a great man. I think you can be that, and I’ll help you be one. Have you got it in you to fill Huber’s shoes, and be the man to lead our fleet home?”
Taylor leaned back and looked into his eyes, waiting for a response while still holding the handshake firmly. Huang was still a little stunned by the whole experience but slowly nodded in agreement.
“You are a hero of our whole world and race, Colonel. If you will serve me as you did Admiral Huber, I will gladly have you command the first operation that marks the return to Earth.”
Taylor smiled in response and withdrew his grip to salute the Admiral. He was bareheaded, but he gave a salute anyway, as a sign of the respect and the future they had together.
“Assemble your troops, Colonel. You have a few short days to prepare for this operation, and I wish
you every luck.”
He then turned and strolled away; confident in the notion he had maintained his hold on command. Taylor could see some potential in the man, and he prayed he could be the man they needed him to be. He’d never thought of the Chinese as fighters. He’d heard tales of their bravery in the wars, but he’d never seen it with his own eyes. And even though he had marines in his unit of Chinese descent, he had always believed they were the fighters they were because of American training.
More and more he was realising there was little of America left in his life. Half of the Inter-Allied Regiment were British, plenty more were from Continental Europe, and an increasing number from the East. They had assembled as a Regiment formed from two nations, but they were ever more becoming a multi-national outfit.
Taylor was raring to go, and the days passed quickly when he found himself standing before his unit that had assembled ready for Irala’s briefing. They had received nothing from their allies in the passing days, but Taylor wasn’t bothered. Something deep down told him he was right to trust them, and practically, he knew he had no choice. Most of the Inter-Allied formed there had served beside him for at least a couple of years or more. Twenty percent were new recruits that had been training since leaving Earth. Green, but well trained.
They were all surprised to see Irala approach on top of some kind of a hovercraft with another of his people. They wondered if this was perhaps only the second time they had ever seen him for real, the other occasion when he fought the Krys when they first met. The alien stepped off the craft, and Taylor could see he was indeed real.
“Colonel Taylor, are you ready to strike at the defence platform?” he asked.
“Yes, other than the fact we don’t know what it looks like, the strength on board, or what our job will really be. What do you need marines for anyway? I figure we’ll jump into the system, blow the hell out of the platform, and get out.”
He could already see that Irala had other plans.
“The Krys once made you destroy your own weapons platform in a cruel turn, would you not prefer to insult them further?”
“What did you have in mind?”
Irala smiled. It was the first time he had ever seen the expression.
“You are a Marine Colonel, a fighter, and we have a part of this plan especially for you.”
“As long as it involves us killing those bastards, I’m in.”
* * *
The days had passed and the continuous training had never been focused enough, for they still didn’t know the plan of Irala. He stepped up before them to address Taylor.
“Embark, and follow us.”
Taylor was shocked. He reached forwards and grabbed Irala’s arm. The alien spun around in surprise.
“You want us to follow you, without a clue of what we’re doing?”
“I assumed you had discovered that for yourself by now.”
Taylor didn’t know what he meant.
“What would you do, if you could do anything with that weapons platform?”
Taylor thought for a few short seconds before blurting out a response. “Board it, turn the weapons system on enemy targets on the ground, and then destroy the platform itself before leaving.”
Irala nodded in agreement. “It took you this long to understand?”
Taylor shook his head in amazement. “Briefings normally involve sharing information, you know,” he replied.
“And we expect more. Embark and prepare to lift off.”
Irala turned and left without another word. Taylor had never experienced such a passive command before, and yet felt compelled to go along with it. He liked these new aliens. He liked their no nonsense approach, even if that did frequently mean he was lacking information. He turned to his unit that were assembled and waiting a long briefing.
“Are you ready to kill those bastards who took our homes?” he bellowed.
A roar of agreement followed.
“Load up and let’s move!”
Nobody moved for a moment; they expected so much more.
“We’ve got Krys to kill. Load up, let’s go!” he added.
They still looked surprised, but it was all they needed to hear, and they leapt into action. Parker was the only one to stop in front of him.
“You know this is crazy?” she asked.
“As crazy as leaving our world? As crazy as finding a second alien race?”
Her face slowly broke into a smile, seeing where he was coming from.
“Irala and his people are giving us the means to stick it to Erdogan and his armies. I’ll take those odds, no matter how long they are. Will you stand by me, as I need you to?”
She didn’t say a word. She only reached forward and kissed his cheek before falling in and carrying onwards.
Taylor’s vessel was the Diderot, and half of the Inter-Allied Regiment was aboard, along with many of Moye's own troops acting in defence of the vessel itself. He made his way to the bridge with Jafar and Parker, where he was met with Lasure and Moye, as he was familiar with.
“She looks as good as new,” he said to the Captain.
“Nothing like we ever knew her, but we’re up and running.”
“You’re the only man I know who is mad enough to think this mission is a good idea.”
“But you trust in me, Major?”
“Enough to follow you,” said Moye.
They lifted off from the world and were once more in the blackness of space. He still didn’t like it. He never liked leaving hard ground for the emptiness of space, but this time he knew he would see Earth, and that alone was enough to carry him through. They exited the atmosphere and heard Lasure issue a few commands in his native tongue. A moment later a Gateway opened before them, and they powered on through.
It seemed like as soon as they had travelled through it, they were out again and Earth was ahead of them. The blue azure of the homeworld caused a surge of emotion and memory in all who saw it. Not one of them ever expected to see the planet again.
“That’s what we’re fighting for,” stated Taylor.
“The Krys say it’s paradise, is that right? Moye asked Jafar.
Jafar seemed as amazed by the sight as the rest of them. For all of their time on Earth, few of them had ever had much time to marvel at it from orbit.
“Well?” he asked again.
“Look at her,” replied Taylor, “Doesn’t that answer your question? ”
Nobody replied.
“Game face,” added Taylor, “We’ve got a job to do. Let’s do it.”
They watched the weapons of the platform move to target them, but as they did, beams of energy surged from the allied vessels beside them, striking one single point at the flank of the defence grid. In an instance, the weapons of the platform stopped moving and all was quiet.
“It’s our time,” said Taylor, “Get to the boats, let’s move!”
He looked to Moye one last time. “You be ready when we’re heading home, you hear? Good chance we won’t be coming out light.”
His language use was largely lost on the Frenchman, but Moye still understood what he meant from their situation alone. Taylor rushed off the bridge and headed straight for the Mastiff that was awaiting him. He stepped aboard and went straight to the cockpit where he found Rains.
“Still alive, Lieutenant?”
Taylor knew it was the case but still thought it funny to jest with the pilot.
“I’ll still be around long after you pass from this world, Colonel,” he replied with a smile.
Eddie laughed, but he also knew it was likely to be true.
"Let's get this bird in the air."
"Yes, Siree."
Just thirty seconds later, they were off the cruiser and well on their way to the defence platform. It was an unnerving experience for both of them to be hurtling towards the heavily armed platform that was still fully intact.
"You sure about this?" Rains asked, "There sure are a lot of guns on there that could be training
on us in a split second."
"Irala tells me they have disabled the automatic targeting devices, and that manual override will take them twenty minutes or more."
"But they must have other weapons on board?"
"Some bigger stuff yes, designed for targeting large capital ships or ground targets."
"Ground targets?"
He smiled, realising Taylor's intentions.
"You don't need to board that thing at all. You want to turn their guns on them just to rub salt into the wound."
Taylor took a deep breath and then replied with a wicked grin.
"Nice to know there is some justice in life, don't you think?"
"Hell, yeah."
They soared nearer to the platform and could see two enemy vessels moving to intercept them.
"Not liking the look of those."
"Don't panic, Eddie. We'll be fine," Taylor replied calmly.
Rains shook his head in disbelief, but as he did so, beams from their allied vessels surged past them and cut both intercept craft apart with a single volley.
"Jesus!" yelled Rains, "We gotta get ourselves some of those guns!"
"I'm with you there."
Rains took them in on a rapid descent and only used reverse thrust when he absolutely had to. They came in a little too fast and smashed into one of the bulkheads of the station. The thick armour of both the wall and the Mastiff meant there was no damage to either, but they were rocked violently on impact.
"Nice flying," said Taylor sarcastically.
"Hey, I got you here and in one piece, what more can you ask for?"
Taylor rushed to the access door to find the breaching team were already ready to blow their way in. They looked to him for the go ahead, and he simply nodded to show his approval.
"Fire in the hole!"
The shaped charge blew, and Silva was the first one to jump through the breach. Taylor got through not long after and found they met no resistance at all.
"Caught 'em with their pants down," said Silva gleefully.
Jafar stepped up beside Taylor and simply said, "Follow me."
They didn't question his knowledge and followed him. Taylor looked back for just a moment to check if the two nukes had been carried aboard.
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