"Rains! What the hell is going on here?"
The Lieutenant nearly jumped out of his skin and then froze. A moment later Jones paced around the corner and stopped.
"What are you doing, Charlie?" he asked.
"You know exactly."
It was true. Taylor knew from the moment he told Jones about the state of France there would be no holding him back, but that wasn't a reason to hide the facts from him.
"You know you would do the same. I'm going to get her out, both of them, Coco and our unborn son."
Taylor didn't know how to respond. It would be hypocritical to try and stop him. He looked around to see four of Jones' unit was with them. Lewis, Wood, Evans and Corporal Robinson.
"You can either leave us be, or help us," Jones said calmly.
Taylor looked to Rains.
"Hey, I got a chance to fly. I ain't gonna say no," he responded to Taylor's glaring eyes.
Taylor shook his head. He didn't even know why he’d chased after Jones other than the fact he had slipped out in the night, but he never imagined the possibility of going with him.
"France is gonna be a death trap," he stated.
"Yeah," replied Jones.
"You're gonna need more than five men to pull it off."
"Probably."
"And maybe twenty-four hours. That means leaving our people for twenty-four hours here. A lot can happen in that amount of time."
"Yep."
"Why should I go with you?"
"Because I would do it for you. Because you know how important this is to me. You risked everything to save Parker. I only ask you respect my right to do the same, and support me like I did you."
Taylor thought about it for a moment.
"This would mean going UA again."
"AWOL, you're in the Army now," replied Jones with a smile.
"God knows what we are anymore."
"Inter-Allied."
He nodded in response.
"All right, all right. I'll come. But let's do this right. We get in and out fast. The mission is to get Coco out safely. We do this without casualties. We can't afford any."
"Agreed," Jones replied and reached out his friend Taylor, tapping him on the shoulder.
"So, who else are we taking?" asked Taylor.
"Just us," replied Rains, "With a single copter and a few guys, we’ve got a chance of getting in and out of there."
"He's right," Jones agreed.
"This just gets better and better."
"So you're in?"
"Yeah, I guess, but this is your mission. You are taking the lead."
"Okay," Jones replied, somewhat surprised. He looked over to Rains. "How long till we can get this bird in the air?"
"About a minute. She's ready to go."
"All right, then let's move out."
They climbed aboard as Eddie went to the cockpit and fired up the engines.
"So you got much of a plan?" Taylor asked.
"France may be a sinking ship, but she ain't down yet. I figure the lines will be all over the place. A single copter doesn't pose a threat to anyone and shouldn't draw any attention. We head right for Meaux and attempt to put down there.
"Right on top of the base?"
"Yes."
"Which is almost certainly under attack?"
"Yes, well I didn't say it would be easy. Let's just get there and see."
"Great plan," Taylor replied sarcastically, "and how do you know you will have a son?"
"I just know," he said, smiling.
A few moments later they were lifting off in the darkness. Rains was flying by night vision only and with no lights of any sort. It was dangerous, but less so than announcing their presence to all around them.
"You know what really pisses me off about all this?" Taylor asked of Jones.
Jones looked puzzled. "I thought it was a little obvious."
Taylor shook his head. "No. The fact that everything we do is reactionary. Not once have we gone on the offensive. Not once have we forged a plan which isn't merely in a desperate response to what is being thrown against us."
"I don't see how we can do differently. Look at this war. It's a fucking disaster."
Taylor's face tightened as he looked scornfully at Jones. Never did he accept such talk in front of the troops, and yet he relaxed, realising it was both true and unavoidable.
"We're doing this, aren't we? Going out on our own free will to get Coco."
"Who would be perfectly safe if our armies in France were holding out," replied Taylor, "Let's think about this for a minute. We get Dubois out of France, but what then? Where do we go?"
"I don't see what you mean."
"France is falling, I get that, but the United States seems to be following her. We can only retreat so far."
Jones nodded in agreement and put his head in his hands, thinking about it for a moment.
"Earth's a big planet. We'll find somewhere to go," he finally responded.
"Not big enough to hide forever."
It was a grim reality that none of them wanted to face.
"We've got to get back to our unit after this though, right, Sir?" asked Lewis.
Taylor nodded.
"If one thing is certain in this life, it's that we need each other. Inter-Allied will stand together in victory or death."
"Better be victory then, hey?" asked Jones with a smile.
They carried on through the night with no idea of their surroundings. They remained silent and listened for some sign of attack, but it never came. It wasn't long before the sun was up as they passed into new time zones, and morning turned to mid afternoon as they approached the English Channel. Taylor strode up to the cockpit to look out with his own eyes.
"I don't like this. It’s way too quiet."
"Can't we just enjoy a bit of peace?" asked Rains.
"Love to, trust me."
"Trust you? Says the man who leads me to hell every time he's in trouble."
"Don't pin this one on me. This is Jones' doing, and you obviously didn't take much convincing."
"Hey, there's a damsel in distress, how could I pass up the opportunity to rescue her?" replied Rains rather jovially.
Taylor could never tell whether Rains was genuinely that calm and relaxed, or if it was a coping mechanism, but it was comforting, no doubt.
"Okay, we got something up ahead," Rains said, looking at his scanners.
"What is it?"
"It's not good, whatever it is. Multiple contacts and they are not friendly."
"Got any ideas?"
"Well, we ain't fighting 'em, and that's for sure."
They banked hard and headed north for the Channel.
"Are they coming after us?" Taylor asked.
"Uhhh....yep."
"Fuck, how many and what are they?"
"Looks like a single fighter coming after us."
"We got any weapons at all?"
Rains shook his head. "She ain't nothing but a transport."
"What do we do?"
Taylor looked around, and Charlie was now standing behind him.
"This is your mission. You're in charge here," replied Taylor.
Jones stopped to think for a moment.
"They're closing on us," stated Rains, "so think fast!"
"Put out a message on all channels. Colonel Taylor of Inter-Allied calling for immediate assistance."
Rains turned around in surprise. "It won't reach anyone but the enemy. We can only communicate short range with their jamming."
"I'm well aware of that, Lieutenant."
Rains quickly understand and conveyed the message across all open channels.
"Dangerous game you're playing here," Taylor whispered to Jones.
"Yeah, just playing on your celebrity status."
"So you just announced to the enemy the man they want dead most in the World is aboard this ship that has no defences? Good move."