Battle Beyond Earth: Insurrection (22 page)

Taylor wanted nothing more than to strike Nichols down and send him on his way. Fortunately for Nichols, he could see that the crew morale was low, and Song's leniency was the right way to go.

"I...I am sorry," said Nichols with his shoulders slumped low, and his eyes looking to the floor in front of Taylor's feet.

"Don't be sorry. Do your job."

Taylor had to muster everything inside him to be polite to the Captain, but somehow he managed it, and it did not go unappreciated by the crew. Song still saw it fit to ram the message home.

"Like it not, this ship and this crew needs Colonel Taylor, and the Alliance needs this ship. Enough dissent, from now on we go forward together!"

It was clear to Taylor that Song was still considered as much an outsider to them as he was, and yet she was doing a damn good job of becoming something far closer to all their hearts. Song took a deep breath and resumed to her duties.

"Have the Massri and Curlew come alongside us and engage towing braces. They can guide us out of this mess while we get our engines back online."

Nichols looked shocked that he hadn't thought of that, and it was some relief that he was once again in the right place. He smiled as he went about his business, clearly glad to relinquish the responsibility of the ship to Song.

"Not easy is it, having responsibility for everyone around you?"

Nichols turned to see Taylor standing beside him and asking the question.

"No, Sir."

"We can't always make the right decisions. Sometimes we just have to make do with the best we can manage, or the one that will save the most lives. When you learn to appreciate that, you will earn your own command."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not destroying me over this. I was a fool. I panicked and made the wrong call."

"Yes, you did, and you won't be the first one to do something brash for all the right reasons, and then realise your mistake afterwards. We all do it, but we also learn from it."

Nichols nodded slowly as if in thought and then went back to his duties.

Song approached Taylor. She looked relieved as she took up position by his side.

"As much as I hate to say it, that attack couldn't have come at a better time," she whispered.

"Yep, nothing like the risk of death to shake things up."

"So what I asked about before, these Stalkers. Do you think they have been waiting here for what, hundreds of years? Or are they are the result of this modern conflict?"

Taylor shrugged.

"I wouldn't begin to speculate without some evidence. We are alive, and they are dealt with. That's all that matters right now."

"And if we pass through this nebula and find a Morohta fleet waiting for us the other side?"

"Then we'll turn tail and run as quickly as we can."

Song shook her head. "I don't like this at all. If we were going to pass so far into uncharted space with potential enemy presence, we should have come in far greater number. A dozen warships would have barely made me feel safe."

"That wasn't my choice to make. You can take it up with the President."

"I don't have his ear like you do, Colonel, nor would I want to."

He wouldn't have wanted it either. He'd do anything to stay away from the politics and management of the war, if he knew he could rely on those in position to do the job right. He stared out into space and the nebula that reduced their view range to only what the Human eye could see. Explosions lit up the foreground as the gun systems continued to blast a path through the minefield. It was a waiting game now, and Taylor could not help but feel excited to see what was on the other side, no matter how terrifying it might be.

* * *

Taylor was lounging on his bed when he found himself drawn to the videos Dubois had left him. They had hit hard before, and he wasn't ready for them, but he needed something from his old life to hang on to. Some reminder of what he was still fighting for. He played the next video in sequence and smiled as she appeared before him overlooking a city from a great height.

"Taylor, look, repaired and as good as new. The Eiffel Tower. You remember fighting for this city and this magnificent landmark," she said, walking along one of the walkways high up the structure and looking down at the beautiful parks and rivers beneath.

"This is what we all fought for, and finally we have it. I pray someday you wake up so that you may see for yourself what we achieved. I still think of you all. Those we lost, and those who still remain. Come back to us, Taylor."

The door light went. He paused the video and yelled, "Come!"

Jones stepped through and opened his mouth to speak when he spotted the woman frozen on the screen.

"Who is that?" he asked, and it was clear he at least partly recognised her.

"Coco."

Jones instantly realised who she was.

"Please, continue."

Taylor shook his head and ended the video.

"No, some things are too personal to share, at least for now."

Jones did not argue the point. He saw it meant a lot to Taylor.

"What can I do for you?"

"Have you considered what a high profile target we will become if we get our hands on that spear? Every power hungry fool will want it, and that doesn't even begin to include the Morohta. You know that much power corrupts?"

"All too well."

"Then what are we to do about it?"

Taylor laughed.

"Let's worry about finding the thing first. You worry like a gambler planning how to spend his millions of winnings."

"You don't seem to worry at all. Someone has to."

"We all have our part to play," he smiled.

"Anyway, what I really came here for. Engines are up and running, and we are now fully operational."

"Good to know. We may just make it through all this yet, then."

"Have you ever doubted it?"

Taylor smiled in response, and that was all Jones needed to know.

"Three minutes, Commander," said Nichols.

Taylor stood on the bridge in full armour with his Morohta hammer attached to his back. He was ready for anything. With all the concerns that had been levied at him now, he half expected to find a Morohta fleet ready to blast them into dust. However, nobody said a word as they counted down the seconds to breaking out into open space.

Taylor thought of what the world might look like.

Come on, be there, you son of a bitch. Aratoro, are you just a dream?

The clouds of the nebula seemed to part before them as the bow of the ship broke out into the vast open space beyond.

"Weapon systems at the ready!" ordered Song, "If we find any substantial resistance out there, I am jumping us out, anywhere," she whispered to Taylor.

"Think you will be able to do that?"

"Yes, we couldn't jump here because we had no idea of the geography of the area, and the ever changing environmental effects may make it impossible to ever do so. But find us some open space here, and we can go run where we want."

"Let's hope that isn't necessary."

After what seemed an age, they pierced the last clouds of the nebula and broke out into open space. Many of the crew gasped at what came into view. It was not the shock they had all feared, but a beauty they could not have dreamed of.

"I don't believe it," stated Nichols.

That brought a smile to Taylor's face. What lay before them was an arid world with the remains of a vast space station still floating in orbit. The structure was identifiable as of Aranui construction, but had long since been abandoned. Taylor lifted the sphere and activated it so that Irala once again stood before him.

"Is this it? Is this Aratoro?"

"Yes."

"Just as he said it would be," added Song in amazement, "Scan the area!"

"I've got faint energy signals coming from the surface. That's all," replied Capek.

"No sign of a fleet or any ships at all?"

"Negative," replied Osborne.

"Hell, yes, we might just pull this off yet," muttered Taylor.

"What are your orders, Colonel?"

"Take us is."

"Set a course, launch fighters."

It took them almost an hour to close the distance and have a good view of the former station.

"Do you believe now?" Taylor asked Nichols.

"I always wanted to, Sir, but yes, I can see there is hope now."

Taylor retreated to Song's side so that he could talk to her privately.

"If anyone has any inclination that we are here, and the reason we have come, we will have a whole world of trouble coming down on our heads. So you be ready for anything and anyone, you hear?"

Song nodded.

"And no matter what, you protect the Aranui ship. It is our ticket out of here."

When they finally reached the planet, they had aerial shots of what looked like the remnants of a vast city. Though it seemed almost entirely industrial. It stretched forty kilometres long and almost as wide.

"This must have been one hell of a mining operation," said Taylor.

"Yes, but before my day," replied Irala.

There appeared to be no signs of life in sight, or any explanation as to what was mined there.

"Looks like a wasteland to me."

"It was not always this way, great oceans, canyons of precious metals, and pockets of gas. Every nutrient and resource you could ever think of."

"What happened?" Song asked.

"War."

"Someone must have hit this place hard and destroyed the ecological system," added Jones.

"Will we even be able to breathe down there?"

Irala had no answers, but Nichols was carefully studying the data before him.

"For a few hours at a time, any more and the toxicity and dense molecules will start to clog your windpipe. Much longer and you will suffocate."

"Mmm, could be worse."

"Underground you will be safe, with clean air," added Irala.

"How can you know that?"

"He is right, Lieutenant. I don't know what it is, but something under the surface is working to keep the air clean," said Nichols.

"There are still living inhabitants here?"

"No, but the world was intended to be self sustaining. Anything not damaged beyond use will still be operational."

"You people sure know how to build things to last."

"We must, for your lifetimes are merely a fragment of ours."

"Any more advice before we do this?"

Irala shook his head. Taylor put the sphere in his webbing, and the projection powered down.

"I'm taking my people plus another twenty of the marines with me. I'll take Lieutenant Hartley. He's proven himself."

"Will that be enough?"

"If it isn't, then everything else you have wouldn't make a difference."

"Then I wish you luck, Colonel. I have every faith in you and your ability to find this great weapon, if it indeed does exist."

"Stay sharp, Commander, and be waiting for us if we come running."

Ten minutes later he stood before the team and three Stormers. He held the Aranui staff from Moana in one hand, his hammer on his back, and rifle in the other hand. The Aranui Guardian stood next to the unit with its hand outstretched for the sphere, which he provided.

"How many of you believe in this spear, the Pauri Tao?"

None answered, though he wasn't sure if that was because he had sounded rhetorical, or just that they were sceptical.

"How many of you believe in miracles?"

Still nothing.

"Well, I do. Do you know why? Because I have witnessed enough to know they can happen. But they don't happen by chance or some great mystery. They do because of hard work, perseverance, and a cast iron will to succeed. That is what I need of you today. Suspend disbelief and believe in something that seems beyond reason. I remember the day I first saw alien life. Seeing it with my own eyes was the only thing that would convince me I wasn't being strung along as part of some great prank. Well, I ask that you rise above that. The only evidence we are going to have is finding what we are looking for. I need you to do what I could not all those years ago. Believe and have faith in this. For if there is even the remotest of chances of this weapon existing, it could yet change the course of the war which we will face soon enough."

"We're with you all the way, Colonel."

Taylor nodded to Jones and then gave the order, "Load up and move out!"

They climbed aboard the Stormers to begin yet another mission. Taylor looked around to see all the Immortals were fast becoming vastly experienced combat veterans. Increasingly, he knew he could depend on them now, but they needed a great success or victory to cement their confidence, and their reputation.

"Do you believe half the things you say? Or do you just say what you know people need to hear?" whispered Jones, sitting beside him.

Taylor thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. He really didn't know the answer himself, but it didn't seem to matter either way. He looked up to his team and spoke openly.

"If you get your hands on this spear, you trust no one with it, you hear? It does not leave this group, not unless every one of us has fallen. You do not trust the President with it, nor Irala, nobody."

"The Alliance won't like that at all."

"Yeah, well, tough shit. They don't even believe in this weapon, so it's none of their business."

"But Irala?" Jones asked.

"Let's not forget that everyone in this world has their own agenda. I've been gone so long I don't know whom I can trust and with what anymore. What I do know is that those here with me now, I can trust. You have proven that many times over. So when you get this weapon, you protect it with your life, right?"

The interior of the ship lit up from viewscreens displaying the skies around them as they entered the dusty desert like world.

"Is it still as exciting? Visiting a new planet the first time?"

"To tell you the truth, Jones, excitement has never been the emotion I would use to describe it. Every single new world I have ever stepped foot on has led to death, destruction, and regret."

"Wow, that's a happy thought."

"Take me back to Earth any day, so long as some lunatic isn't lurking out there waiting for their chance to make us extinct."

"Is that what you still want, after all this time?"

"Of course, isn't it what any man would ever want? Look around at all this, is this what you want?"

"I wanted to explore and discover new and exciting things."

"And how is that working out for you? Guess you got a little more than you bargained for?"

Jones could not deny it. "Maybe it's worth the price."

Taylor turned his attention to the viewscreens. They had a lower viewpoint of the old industrial city now. There was no sign of any power or life. Dust and sand had overtaken many of the structures and all of the streets.

"You can't tell me this isn't exciting, no matter how much danger is involved?"

Taylor smiled and looked over to Alita. She was genuinely as excited as Jones was. For a moment he was reminded of how that felt, and began to get a little sense of it himself. Hunting for an ancient and powerful weapon was certainly a fascinating prospect, and yet doubts over its existence barred him from getting too enthusiastic.

He looked down at his console; they were very close to the landing zone now. He was about to mention it, when Alita slowed the craft and brought them in for a landing on what looked like the floor of a large hexagonal shaped building. The walls were long gone, and the hard standing only just visible through parts of the sand. As their engines blasted the surface, the sands were parted, and the steel like base of the old building became clear. It was adorned with Aranui symbols. They had no idea what it meant and had little reason to ask.

The landing gear touched down, and Taylor was the first at the door as usual. The ramp lowered, and the acrid air that he had been expecting struck him. It wasn't pleasant, but it was still preferable to having his face sealed and contained within his suit.

"Hard to imagine what this place would have been like if Irala's account is accurate," said Jones.

"We're heading one klick north. Hartley, have a squad cover our left flank, the other the right. Rest of us are going down the middle!"

"Do we even know what we are looking for?" Jones asked, as they stepped off the foundation of the building and into a broad road.

"Well?" Taylor asked the Guardian.

"The staff is the key. He who can read the staff can find its lock."

"Riddles? That's all we need."

"That staff was left for Irala to find, and for him to understand. We have to rely on him working out its directions."

"I still don't understand why he couldn't come with us. If this mission was safe enough for us, why not him?" asked Alita.

"Because Irala is irreplaceable."

"Right, I see how it is."

"Yep, that's what we're paid for."

They passed from one building to another. Many were still mostly intact, others looked like they had been heavily bombed during some long ago conflict. There appeared to no sign of life anywhere they look, but just as they thought they were going to have an easy run of it, an explosion blasted out on their left flank. It shook the ground beneath them.

Taylor was on his feet in seconds and rushing across to where he knew one of Hartley's squads was. He came to a quick stop on finding the body of one of the marines in the Lieutenant's arms. Both his legs had been blown off, as well as his left forearm. The Lieutenant had a piece of shrapnel buried in his right arm, a deep cut on his left, and dust and cuts on his face.