"You've got an escort up to our frontline, Taylor. You are to run landing lights and beacons from lift off until you land in Basel at the coordinates given."
"We'll be a target for every son of a bitch out there," replied Eddie.
"Those are the instructions, and I have been promised by General Schulz himself that if you comply with those guidelines, you will not be harmed."
"Well that's just fucking great," muttered Eddie.
The General didn't pick him up on it, as he knew he was asking a lot of them all.
"Sure we shouldn't have a scientist with us?" asked Taylor. "I mean I can say everything I know, but I am no expert."
"At this stage we cannot risk any of the researchers on the project. This may be intended as a peaceful gathering, but I want everyone there to be capable of handling themselves in the event of it turning ugly. Inside the box there are data cards outlining all of our findings so far, including all interviews made with Armand before his death. Along with your testimony, it is all the proof we have to make this work."
"Well, I guess there's nothing else to say on the matter."
"Other than good luck," replied Dupont, stretching out his hand to Taylor.
Time and context had changed the General in ways Taylor could never have thought possible. Never did he believe he would have accepted his hand in friendship, but he did. Not another word was spoken as they boarded the copter, and Eddie fired up the engines. Jones climbed into the co-pilot seat ready to control the chin turret if need be, but Taylor prayed he would not. As the door shut, Jones looked around to Taylor.
"I'd have thought we would have taken the Deveron for a mission of this nature."
They all remained silent, realising Jones had been out of the loop for so long, he hadn't heard the news.
"Deveron went down when all this sparked off."
"And Ryan?"
Taylor shook his head.
"Damn shame."
They all groaned in agreement and tried not to think about the fact they were now heading into a similar shit storm as to what had been the cause of Ryan and the Deveron meeting their end. Taylor never found out what happened to Ryan. He was hurt badly but still breathing the last he saw him at the crash site. He doubted he had made it through, but it was far from impossible.
"Listen up," said Taylor. "You heard what the General had to say. Normally, I'd say to hell with waiting for the enemy to fire first, but in this case, we must follow those orders. If there is even the remotest of chances we can pull this off, then we need every possible thing in our favour to make it work."
The all accepted, but it was going to be hard to be disciplined enough to do so. Years of fighting the Mechs had taught them to always fire first as they might not get a second chance. There was nothing more to be said now. They waited until Eddie finally broke the silence with some news.
"That's it. Our support’s gone, and we're heading over no man's land."
They expected to feel the impact of a missile or gunfire at any moment, but it never came. Five minutes later he spoke again.
"Here we go. Thirty seconds and we'll be on the ground."
Like a beached whale for anyone to pick at, thought Taylor.
They put down on the roof of the tallest building in the town as arranged, so both parties could feel safe that they were at least not being watched from the ground. Though after their recent drone attack, Taylor didn't feel safe at all.
"Eddie, you stay at the controls unless I say otherwise. Keep scanning the skies for all craft and report anything suspicious."
"Got it."
"Rest of you, with me. Act casual, but be ready for anything."
He stepped up to the door and hit the open button. The ramp slid down to the rooftop, and he could see six human soldiers awaiting them. He stepped out first with Acosta close behind and lugging the box they had come to deliver. Their welcoming party stood before a ship much like they had arrived in, and a UEN Major stood at the head of the group. Taylor didn't recognize him, but as he stepped out, he was greeted by name.
"Welcome, Colonel Taylor."
"That's not a good sign," whispered Taylor.
"How'd you know who was coming?" he shouted.
"I did not, but I of course recognise you."
Taylor could not pinpoint the accent, but it was of eastern European origin.
Bullshit! If he'd not known I was coming, he would have been a little more surprised.
"I am Major Saric and am personal attaché to General Schulz. He has informed me to listen to whatever you have to say, and collect any evidence you might have and take it to him personally."
"Would have been nice if he could have come here himself. This is a rather important issue which could affect the future of the human race."
"And yet they send you. Not a scientist, not an EA leader or representative or diplomat. They send you, Colonel, a combat officer."
"I guess they just trusted in my winning personality."
"So, down to business. Explain to me these wild rumours about aliens cloning humans and what evidence you have."
Taylor reached back, grabbed the box from Acosta, and launched it in place down before him. He kicked it so it slid three metres across the rooftop and stopped in front of the Major. He looked less than impressed with his etiquette.
“There are aliens among your ranks. They look like humans, but they are here to fuel this and keep us fighting. There is no need to carry on fighting, for we only make Earth weaker and more prone to invasion once again!”
Saric looked suspiciously at Taylor and then down to the box. He knelt over it and twisted the locks until the seal broke. He hinged back the lid. A mist arose as the frozen contents met with the warm afternoon air. As it cleared, Saric reached in and took out the head as if not phased by the barbaric gesture.
“You have your people check into this, and you will quickly find that head belongs to something not entirely human. The Krys are fucking with us here, and we’re playing right into their hands,” pleaded Taylor.
“Councillor Armand, we did wonder who you suspected.”
Taylor looked confused for a moment, as he tried to make sense of what Saric had said.
“You see, Colonel, we know Armand was a Krys clone. We know because he was one of us,” he said as he stood up and grinned wickedly.
It was just the trap Taylor had expected and prayed would not be the case. He lifted up his comms. “Rains fire her up, now!” The turbines were whirling within two seconds, but just as Taylor turned to move something struck the roof of the copter, and the power cut out immediately.
“What the fuck!” Rains shouted. Taylor looked up to the cockpit and could see Rains was panicking as he tried to no avail to make the system work.
Taylor looked back to Saric. Several other figures came up from the stairs behind him. His face turned to disgust on recognising the military police insignia on US Marine Corps uniforms.
"You are under arrest, Colonel Taylor!"
With that, he heard the roar of engines and two craft swooped in. Saric was reaching for his gun, and Taylor had heard enough.
"Run!" he screamed.
He got to a sprint towards the far edge of the rooftop, and the others had not hesitated to follow him. Gunshots rippled the floor at their feet, but they had reached the edge, and Rains had leapt out his copter and caught up. Taylor launched himself off the rooftop in what felt sickening; he had to trust in his equipment. He had no other choice.
As he hit the open air and dropped like a stone, his boosters started to kick in and he could see just how high they were.
"What the hell happened?"
"It was a trap, Eddie!" replied Taylor.
"Well, thanks, you just lost me another bird!"
"I'll be sure to note it in the report if we make it back!"
He knew the distance they had to descend was pushing the limits of their suits and would be all the juice they had if they did make it. He heard an engine roar overhead; a gunship was descending towards them.
"Oh, hell!"
He lifted his rifle and fired but couldn't get any accuracy with the turbulence.
"Into the building!"
"You what?" screamed Rains.
"Bank now!"
Taylor banked hard into the side of the building they had leapt from and fired a burst of shots at the reinforced glass they were heading for. It was just enough to weaken it a little as he put his arms up in front of himself for protection and hurtled through the glass, sliding ten metres into an office. There was no finesse to it, and he landed hard.
"Everyone here?" he asked.
He looked around to see only four of his comrades were in sight.
"Who's missing? Rains?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"Silva?"
"Here."
"Acosta?"
"Here."
"Jones?"
No response came.
"Jones!" Taylor shouted again.
They heard the thunder of boots rushing towards them. He turned back to the window they had come from in the hope they could once again make a jump, even if it would mean leaving Jones behind. But as he made a step to do so, the gunship raised into view completely blocking they path.
"Whose clever idea was this, again?" Eddie asked as Silva helped him to his feet.
Taylor looked at the gunship and noticed it was in US markings. He knew he could use that to his advantage as he turned around to oppose those coming for them. Taylor didn't try and run for cover or raise his weapon when several troops burst into the room. They were all MPs with their rifles held high and screaming at the tops of their voices. It didn't intimidate Taylor or his team; they looked unbothered by their presence.
Through the middle of the MPs strode an officer. He walked with an arrogance and self-importance that made Taylor think they had met before, but then there were so many MPs like him, it was hard to tell.
"Colonel Taylor, you are under arrest for the charge of absence without leave, and insubordination, along with a series of other charges to be determined prior to your court martial. You are to lay down your weapons and come with us."
"And if I don't?"
"I have been instructed to inform you that should you come peacefully, charges will only be made against yourself, while your collaborators will suffer only a warning. Should you not come peacefully, your entire outfit will be put to court martial, including all who remained in the United States throughout."
What a bastard!
Taylor could see the man was a Major, and he didn't like the fact he hadn't shown the courtesy of introducing himself, but he let it slide in the hope of getting through to the man inside.
He is a marine, after all.
He thought it was worth a shot to try and make the officer see sense.
"Do you know what is at stake here, Major? Do you realise what we're trying to accomplish here? We have a chance to end this war. A war that the United States will get dragged into, whether it wants to or not. You have a chance to help us end it all here."
"It's not my job to interfere with the politics of the World, Colonel, and neither is it yours. We have rules for a reason, and when you signed up to the Corps, you signed on to abide by those rules."
"Fuck sake, Major! Pull your head out of your ass and open your eyes. This is about more than your shitty little job!"
He knew as the words were coming out of his mouth they would do nothing to sway the man's mind, but he was infuriated by what he was hearing.
"You have five seconds to lay down your weapons," he replied.
"Five...four..."
"Be smart, Major. This will not end well!"
"Three...two..."
The Major was halted by the sound of an object bouncing across the floor and landing in the middle of the MPs.
"Grenade!"
Taylor went to ground as the MPs leapt for cover, but the room ignited into a blinding light, accompanied with a deafening explosion. As Taylor looked up, he could see a few of the MPs stumbling around trying to come to their senses, but smoke was flooding the scene from a second grenade. Taylor turned to see the gunship pilot didn't know what to do because he couldn't fire into both groups. Through the smoke came a few muzzle flashes as bullets riddled two of the MPs, and Jones burst out of the smoke.
He didn't stop but rushed on and past Taylor towards the gunship. Taylor watched in astonishment as Jones fearlessly leapt out of the building and launched himself at the cockpit of the ship. The pilot realised too late what was going on, and Jones hit the windshield full force. The glass half caved in, leaving Jones embedded in the nose. The pilot reached for a sidearm, but he grabbed him by his helmet and smashed his head forward onto the console three times until his face was a bloody mess. The copter began to dip and spiral out of control.
"Let's go!" Taylor ordered.
The whole group sprinted for the opening and leapt after the falling copter. They saw Jones leap from it just as it collided with the same building and burst through the glass as it erupted into flames.
They came to a smooth landing shortly after and looked up to see and tail of the gun ship still half protruding from the building.
"You're a crazy son of a bitch, you know that?" Taylor asked Jones.
"Yeah, well I can't let you have all the glory."
Taylor shook his head in disbelief. He knew the chances of that working were pretty slim, and it brought a smile to his face that they had pulled it off.
"Why don't they jump after us?" asked Herrera.
"Because they're a punch of pussies," replied Silva.
Taylor looked around at the empty street. They had landed in a small loading bay area behind a block of buildings in the main high street of the town. They could hear the traffic running parallel with them as if nothing had happened.
"We gotta move. They'll be on our asses soon enough," said Taylor.
They rushed around a bend heading towards the road and found a limousine, parked with a driver sitting on the bonnet and drinking a coffee. The man looked at them. He was surprised but made no attempt to move.
"You!" Taylor shouted and pointed to the man.
He seemed surprised and replied in a language Taylor didn't understand.
"We're taking your car," Taylor added, pointing his rifle at the man.
Finally, he replied in English and put his hands up as if to surrender.
"I won't stop you."
He stepped aside and out of their way.
Taylor climbed into the driver's seat, but it was a tight fit with all of his gear on.
"We're getting out of here in style," he said, putting his foot to the floor. The rear wheels spun before Silva had even pulled the back door shut.