“This is worse than I thought,” he muttered. “How can we get these people to see sense?”
“We may never do so.”
“So what, we just have to fight them till death or surrender?”
“Same as any war,” said Jones.
Taylor had somehow held on to the belief that the humans fighting for the UEN could be ‘converted’ and would come on board.
“That bastard killed Acosta and tried to kill me. I want him to pay.”
“But would you not do the same to the enemy?” asked Rossi. “He didn’t kill civilians. He didn’t slit your friend’s throat in the night. He fired on you in a war zone, as you were doing to his comrades.”
Taylor knew it was true, but he didn’t like hearing it.
“This was a hell of a lot easier when we only fought aliens.”
“This is why they are doing what they are doing,’ said Jones. “They’re screwing with our heads and weakening the whole of humanity in the process.”
Taylor had seen and heard enough. He turned to leave. Jones reached to grab his arm and pleaded, “Mitch, just wait a minute,” but he shrugged it off and went through the door. He stepped out of the prison block, not knowing what to do or where to go. His faith in humanity had been shattered in one single encounter. He needed air and stepped outside the complex, but even as he did so his comms unit flashed, and a message came through.
“Colonel Taylor, report to General Dupont immediately.”
He was initially annoyed to have been bothered during a moment of peace, but he then felt more than anything else he needed something to take his mind to a better place. He needed a job to do, a mission to undertake. He strode on quickly to Dupont’s war room, stepped inside, and found a serious tone overshadowed everyone gathered there. They were frantically in conversation, but Taylor could not make out the subject.
Phillips approached and his face was grim.
“What the hell’s going on?” asked Taylor.
“UEN has gotten control over the Earth Defence Grid and are threatening to turn it on all nations in support of the EA.”
“What? How did they manage it? Are there not safe measures in place to stop it being turned on Earth?”
“Yes, nobody knows how they got control of them, but they did, and they have two dozen war ships defending the grid. No way we can get near them without them opening fire.”
“So what is happening here?”
“We’re trying to come to some kind of solution, or any sensible idea really as to how we can stop them.”
“Anyone got any good ideas yet?”
Phillips shook his head. “Full on assault is the only thing so far which makes any sense, but I can’t see how it can work before half the capitol cities in the EA are vaporised, including London, now we have joined the fight.”
“You sure chose a peachy time to get involved.”
“What is the US saying?”
“Nothing yet. We’re waiting to hear their response.”
“Colonel Taylor!” yelled the General.
The room was silenced.
“I see Commander Phillips has explained the situation to you, got any ideas?”
Taylor seemed surprised.
“Come on, Taylor. You’ve successfully completed some of the most outrageous and far-fetched missions known in any of our lifetimes. Don’t be so modest. We need to stop this defence grid. How would you do it?”
The entire room was looking to him, and when he knew they were relying on him to come up with an answer to save millions of lives, he hesitated.”
“Go on, Taylor. This is right up your street,” whispered Phillips.
“General, seems to me the avenue of negotiation is closed to us. All that remains is action. I propose a direct assault on the defence grid to retake control of the weapons and ensure the safety of us all.”
His comment was met by heckles from other officers in the room.
“Let him speak!” Dupont ordered.
The room was silenced.
“Please, Colonel, enlighten us as to how you would achieve this, considering they are so heavily guarded and ready to fire within just a few minutes notice?”
“I would send an EMP up.”
“That would knock out everything up there, anything we had also, and the enemy vessels would be operational again before we could get there in any number,” Phillips replied.
“Nothing big, no, but a few small fast ships could pass through at speed undetected. Nothing more than maybe three to five craft. They’ll have to bypass visual identification or risk bringing in a wave of support. Yes, we need the EMP to appear as an accident, a malfunction of a nearby satellite. Make it appear as if we lose everything too and do not know the grid is down. We play dumb while a select few are doing the job.”
“And the German’s latest battleship, it has shielding from EMPs. Even its primary systems recover from EMPs in sixty seconds.”
“Okay, so we set a diversion also. It’s all doable.”
“And you would be the leader of such a mission?” Dupont asked.
“I would gladly do so.”
“Mmm, I know that you would, but I am not sure all our allies would agree,” he said, pointing to a US officer sitting at the table he had not previously noticed. Taylor did not recognise the woman but knew she would not be a fan of his.
She opened her mouth to speak, and he expected to hate anything that came out of it.
“Colonel Taylor may be a hero of the EA, but he is a traitor to the United States. He cannot, and will not, be trusted to carry out a mission so vital to the security of our nations.”
Everybody was silenced and turned to him for his response. He could feel the anger brewing inside his very soul, but he would not let it destroy him.
“Where was the United States when the UEN freed Mechs and gave them weapons? Where was the United States when France was invaded? I will not be lectured by an office clerk with an attitude problem. The US always should have been in this fight. I knew that from the beginning. That it has now joined only confirms I was right, and if you want to be so petty as to drag me down just to save face, shame on you.”
Everyone in the room looked to the US officer in disgust. They all secretly felt just the same. She was blushing and flustered, and did not know how to respond. She shrunk into her chair as if she wanted to find a hole and jump in it.
“You see, I am the blunt instrument needed in war, and as much as you don’t like me at times, I am a necessary pain in the ass. I’ll do this mission for you all because I can, because I will, and because you won’t find a better team for the job. When you accept that, you call me.”
With that, he turned and left. Phillips could not help but smile. Taylor walked right out and didn’t stop until he reached the hangar that was the new home of the Regiment. They were lying about with many taking a nap in the afternoon heat. Parker was the first one to notice him and acknowledge his arrival.
“Colonel is back in the house!” she yelled.
“So what’s next for us?” asked Silva. “Take on the World single-handedly?”
Many of them laughed, but Taylor raised his hand to quieten them down.
“You laugh, but it isn’t so far from the truth!”
Suddenly all attention was turned on him.
“Something big has come up, and I volunteered myself along with anyone willing to come along for the ride. I can’t give you details just yet, but what I can say is I expect General Dupont to accept my offer within the hour!”
They shouted in excitement even though they had no idea what they were getting themselves into, but they trusted Taylor no matter what. Jones stepped up to his side and was clearly concerned after seeing him with the prisoner earlier on. He took him by the shoulder and moved him a few steps out of sight from the rest of the unit.