"I don't give a shit who it is. There are people in the water who need help, and they're gonna give it."
Two hours later the coast of America was in sight. Taylor knew he should be glad to see it, but he wasn't. In the distance to the south, he could see enemy vessels over Norfolk and a similar sight over New Jersey to the north.
"What do we do?" asked King.
They were standing in the cockpit with the pilot and co-pilot, astonished by what they were seeing and looking for direction.
"Continue as planned. There'll be whole divisions slugging it out down there. We've done enough for now."
"Enough?" King asked, "Hardly looks like it."
"Today the war became an entirely different animal, one we are all familiar with though. We need to get back to whoever is in command around here, and work out what the hell is going on and what we can do."
As they approached Quantico, a warning light flashed, and the pilot quickly piped up.
"We've just been locked by local air defences."
A transmission came in as they closed in to comms distance.
"Identify yourselves immediately, or you will be fired upon."
The pilot gave his credentials, and the line went silent.
"Hold position and await further communication. Do not enter Quantico air space until advised."
Taylor tapped the pilot's shoulder as he went to respond and stepped up to take over.
"Negative. This is Colonel Mitch Taylor of the Inter-Allied Regiment. We need immediate permission to land, do you hear me?"
There was silence once again for a moment and then a response.
"Negative, hold position and await instructions."
"We're coming in whether you like it or not. We have hundreds of US troops and allies aboard, and we ARE coming in."
Taylor gestured for the pilot to do as such, but he was frozen solid.
"Take us in," Taylor clarified.
The officer shook his head. "They'll shoot us out of the sky."
"Not a chance, trust me. Now do it."
He did as ordered, but his hands were shaking a little at the prospect of being blasted out of the sky by their own side. They began to surge forward, and the base was in sight now. They could see gun towers tracking their movement and missile silos with doors wide open.
"Sure about this?" King asked him.
"Not really," he whispered, "but we either go forward and risk being shot down, or go back where we'll definitely be fired upon."
"Rock and a hard place, then."
"Alter course immediately, or you will be fired upon!"
Nobody responded, so Taylor had to.
"This is Colonel Mitch Taylor. Get me General White immediately. The General will clear us to land."
"Hold your current position to confirm."
"That's a negative. We're coming in. If you can't confirm we are friendlies, that's your problem. We've just fought through hell to get back here, and I won't wait another minute to get down on the ground. If you want to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans and our allies, you pull the trigger. Otherwise, stand down and get the General on the line."
The comms went silent as they passed over the air space of Quantico, and they could see a few of the gun towers tracking their position. They were waiting for them to open fire at any moment when finally General White appeared on the screen before them.
"Taylor? That you?"
"Yes, Sir."
"What the hell are you doing, and where the hell have you been? Get your ass on the ground now!"
Taylor smiled. "Just what we've been trying to do, General."
"Well do it quicker."
The transmission ended, and finally a voice came over the comms once again and said sternly, "You are cleared to land at sector 19F."
"And you couldn't have just waited for that?" the pilot asked Taylor, "We could have had our butts blown out the sky there."
"And we would have been left hanging a few hours if we waited in line for them to go through proper channels."
They were soon on the ground, and as Taylor's boots hit the surface, his name was being called. A Lieutenant strode up and saluted him.
"Sir, General White requests your presence immediately."
"Yeah, thought he might."
Taylor looked around at their surroundings. They were on home soil, but he didn't recognise it. He'd not been to Quantico in as long as he could remember.
"Sir, I must insist on haste, as was made clear to me by the General."
He looked back to King and Jones; both were waiting for his command.
"You can be guaranteed we'll be heading for the eye of the fucking storm before long, so get whatever food, rest, and supplies you can."
"So eloquently put," Jones replied.
The Lieutenant didn't say another word as he drove Taylor to a command and control facility. He was shown through without a single check into a command centre that was packed out with projection displays and several dozen personnel. General White stood at the head of a large table with his command staff surrounding him. He looked up and shook his head when he saw Taylor approaching.
"Colonel, what the hell happened up there? I don't know whether to arrest you or give you a goddamn medal."
"Then do neither, Sir."
White shook his head once again and took in a deep breath.
"You're a son of a bitch, Mitch, but don't ever forget you are our son of a bitch."
He relaxed a little as he leaned against the table and looked at the 3d relief map projected before them. It showed enemy craft in real time, and he could see air force fighter wings en route to engage.
"Nobody has heard from you since you took off to disable the Earth Defence Grid. The results of which are mostly clear, but I have been authorised to conduct a debriefing for the President. Make it quick," said White.
Taylor looked around, and all eyes were now on him.
"It was a trap. There was no way we could disable all those weapons. All we could do was destroy them. Which we did, and is precisely what Erdogan wanted."
"How do you know that?"
"Because he came to me, as a hologram or whatever. He's mocking us, and he has a right to. He led us exactly where he wanted to, and look where we are now."
"So that's it?"
"That's all that's important."
White nodded. He clearly hadn't expected any better news.
"So it is Erdogan this time?"
"Afraid so. But he's the one, the one that holds it all together. We finish him, and it’s over for good."
"I think we have more imminent concerns right now."
Taylor looked shocked.
"We're losing ground fast. We are getting reports of enemy forces throughout the United States and EA nations. It's a mess, Mitch. Honestly, I don't know if we can make it through this one."
Taylor was taken aback and looked around expecting some of the other officers to call him up on his defeatist attitude, but he could see they were no different.
"The invasion isn't even a day through yet, and you are giving up?" he asked them all.
Nobody responded.
"We are fighting and dying out there while you lot cry and cower in your bunker. Well, fuck you, fuck you all."
White was ashamed enough that he did not answer, despite Taylor's ridicule. The room was silent as everyone waited for Taylor to continue and give them some answers.
"We have just one choice here. We fight or we die. I didn't fight all these years to lie down and die now after all that. Can you honestly tell me that everything we did these past few years was for nothing? No, we have beaten these bastards more than once. We've beaten everything they have thrown at us, and now is the final hurdle. Erdogan himself."
"What do we do?" asked one of the other officers at the table.