He had never been so doubtful of anything in his life. He had been responsible for hundreds of men in his time, never thousands, not in such a frightful and horrifying situation. It was a responsibility he had never wanted, at least not since he’d had his first taste of war. He watched them close the distance.
What the hell am I going to do next?
* * *
Taylor staggered through the corridors like a man who had lost everything. Everything he owned, all that he loved, and all of his hopes and dreams. Everyone he passed could see it on his face. He knew he needed to keep himself together, but he didn’t know how. The hit to the head had hurt, but the pain was far deeper and more severe than the wound itself. It sparked the memories of Coco and the videos she had left him. He had not watched them in a while now, but for some reason he was reminded of them, and of better days when what he’d fought for had achieved something.
He used to feel that everything he had done had been worth it, and always told himself that the sacrifices were worth it for the outcome. The day he thought he’d died on that open plain in North Africa against Erdogan, he had finally felt at peace. He faded away in the knowledge that he had achieved what he needed to in life.
Now it seems all for nothing. Have I saved the Earth from one monster, only to see it fall to another?
He staggered onwards but had no idea where he was going. There seemed nowhere left for him to go. He couldn’t run, he couldn’t hide, and he couldn’t win by fighting. It all seemed for nothing. That physical trauma to his head had shaken him up and made him doubt everything he had done since he awoke in this future.
I wish they’d never brought me back.
Taylor stopped suddenly with a feeling that he was being watched. More intently than he had been before. He looked up slowly to see the last person he would have expected. Alita stood before him. Her left arm was in a sling, her neck and head bandaged up, but she was on her own two feet and smiling back at him. He couldn’t help but smile back. In all the chaos of the fighting on Kapetyn, and the events that had followed it, he had not had a chance to check on her.
“Hey, stranger,” she said happily.
Taylor was shaking his head in surprise and disbelief.
“How can you be here?”
She only smiled for a moment, as she looked him up and down.
“Nothing could keep me from you. Not doctors, not injuries. Nothing short of death.”
“Don’t joke about that, please,” he gasped.
“I didn’t,” she replied confidently.
She stepped up to him and put her one good hand on his head, turning it so she could check his injury.
“What have you been doing to yourself, Mitch?”
Even before she had finished, the ship rocked as it was hit by a heavy impact, but he was so focused on her that he didn’t even notice.
“Didn’t you know there’s a war on?”
“Yeah, there is, so why aren’t you up there fighting it?"
He was slow to answer, but then said quietly, “I’m done, Alita. I can’t do anything more about this. If I can’t even protect you, how can I protect the rest of them?”
She stared at him for what seemed like an age before without warning she slapped him hard across the face. His head snapped to one side. He hadn’t seen it coming, but it was enough of a shock to wake him up.
“What was that for?”
“You aren’t yourself, and it’s a hell of a time to have a crisis of faith.”
“I didn’t choose it.”
“None of us did, but this life seemed to choose you, and so did the rest of us. We volunteered to fight with you. We all did. Do you know why?”
He shook his head.
“Because we believe in you. We believe in you more than anything else in our lives. When everything was falling apart, it was you who stood up and showed us that we could be strong, even in the face of something so terrifying that it could cripple even the strongest among us.”
The gesture hit home, and it meant a lot, but it wasn’t enough to make him turn back into the storm.
“You were born for this. You always were. You are the great Mitch Taylor. You are our saviour. If you can’t fight this, no one can.”
“Maybe we can’t win, Alita.”
“Is that what Coco would have said? Is that what Eli would have said?”
Those names struck a sour note with him, and he looked up into her eyes as if gravely offended that she would even utter their names.
“That’s right. I know who they were to you. I know more about you than any person alive today. Would they have given up? How about Chandra?”
He thought back to them and remembered how they had carried him through the worst experiences of his life. He couldn’t believe Alita even knew who they were.
“We all have moments of weakness and doubt, especially when the obstacle before us seems so vast, but you know what we do?”
He stared at her as she replied softly, “We do what Mitch Taylor would do. We improvise and we overcome. They need you. The Alliance needs you, and I need you,” she added and placed her hand lovingly on the side of his cheek.
“What if I can’t win?”
She smiled in response. “I don’t believe you can’t win. Not a thing in this universe could stop you, not while your friends stand with you.”
His head was starting to ache even more from the wound now, but it was a relief that the weight was being lifted from his shoulders. He knew those doubts for the future always hung over him, but he had been able to suppress them, and be the fighter everyone needed him to be. At this new low he needed help, and Alita had been there for him.
“So what’s it gonna be? Will you fight?” she asked.
He nodded slowly as she leaned in close and kissed him, pulling back to look into his eyes.
“Make those bitches pay, Mitch.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied.
He then turned around and strode back towards the bridge. He was starting to get back to his old self as he picked up pace, understanding that the knock to the head had knocked him off his game. It had made him doubt himself in ways that he should know better than to do, but he’d needed something or someone to break him out of it. He looked around to check if Alita was still behind him. He wanted to be sure he hadn't just imagined her presence. Crazier things had happened. Thankfully, she was keeping pace and smiled as she saw him look back. They felt the ship rock from an impact, and they both crashed into the same bulkhead. Taylor shook his head with disgust.
"Enough of this shit," he snarled and carried on even faster than before.
He stormed onto the bridge to see a flurry of light and explosions ahead. The battle was in full swing, and they found themselves at the very centre of it. Jones turned around with a stunned and relieved look on his face. He didn't even know what to say.
"What's our status, Jones?" Taylor asked.
"Not good. We're taking a lot of fire. Resolution is still in the fight, but I don't know how long for."
Taylor looked at a console beside the Captain's chair to see the map for himself. Their fleet still outnumbered the Morohtans, but it was a bloody and closely fought battle. Fighters zipped back and forth, and the trails of missiles and gunfire littered the space all around them in such a vicious spectacle that some ships vanished entirely from view behind the wall of fire.
"What do we do?"
Taylor surveyed the scene for just a moment, and Jones waited, hoping that he had the answer. Finally, Taylor looked up, and Jones saw a new confidence in his eyes. The Taylor he knew was back.
"That vessel," he said, pointing to a frigate size ship that was unloading on the Resolution, "Target their bridge. All weapons, fire when ready."
The crew looked to Jones for a moment for confirmation.
"What are you waiting for? Do it!"
A few seconds later the gun batteries opened fire simultaneously and hit the enemy ship with everything they had.
The first salvo stopped almost all of their weapon systems, and the tactical officer looked to Taylor as if to ask what next.
"Again," he ordered.
A second salvo smashed the enemy ship and tore through the hull either side of the bridge. The engines cut out; the vessel plunged into darkness and rammed into a passing enemy vessel. It caused it to break in two and then erupt in a massive blast. Taylor looked as surprised as any of them.
"I guess the Indy really is up to the task," he said.
Jones was smiling back. "That's about..."
Taylor cut him off as he saw a wave of assault craft heading for the Resolution.
"Target those ships, now!" he bellowed.
They all knew too well what a boarding action could be like. Taylor had lived a lifetime of them, but none were quite so terrifying as those undertaken by the Morohta.
"Fire, now!"
Once again the guns flashed to life, and two of the four enemy ships were blown apart. Taylor watched anxiously as the other two soared towards the ship.
"Come on!" he yelled.
They were getting too close, and there was nothing more they could do. The craft were closing the last hundred metres when one of the port gun batteries of the Resolution spun around and quickly snapped a burst of fire. It engulfed the two craft, and both were blown apart and impacted on the surface of the battleship's thick hull. Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. Their screens flickered, and Vega appeared. He looked unscathed and brimming with confidence.
"Nice of you to show up, Colonel," he stated.
"We were hit pretty hard as we came through the jump."
The Admiral soon changed his tone on seeing Taylor's bloody face and the damage and patched up crew around him.
"Captain Wilcox?"
Taylor shook his head. "Out of action."
"Will he make it?"
"No idea."
Vega took a deep breath and finally responded in a serious tone.
"Colonel, I want your honest opinion."
"Anything, Admiral."
"Your assessment, do we keep fighting here?"
Taylor was surprised both by the question and the fact that he would ask it in front of both their crews.
"I don't see what choice we have."
"We can withdraw. Repair and re-supply, and get help from the rest of the Alliance."
"And leave Earth?" Taylor was shocked.
"You've seen it out there. We are giving as good as we are getting, but it'll cost us dearly to stay here any longer. Haven't we lost enough already?"
"If we leave, we lose Earth. Isn't that more than we can afford?"
"I understand your attachment to this world, Colonel, but there is more to this war than one planet. We are talking about the survival hundreds of worlds. Worlds that will need our help, too."
Taylor looked past him to the view of Earth. It broke his heart to think of having to leave her to an enemy once more, but even as he was watching, a massive impact finally obliterated the defence grid. A battle still raged between the fleet in orbit, but they were barely holding on, and at a terrible cost. Dozens of hulks were floating in space. Several were burning up as they hit the atmosphere, but even as it was happening, Taylor was shaking his head.
"No, I won't leave. Not again. I can't and I won't."
He saw that Jones was torn on the issue.
"You think we should stay in this fight, Jones?"
The Captain shrugged. He wasn't any more certain of what to do now than when he was left in command of the ship.
The Independence was rocked again by another impact as everyone waited for his response, almost as if Vega was subordinate to him and so hung on to his every word. Taylor looked back to Earth, and the battle still raging in orbit many kilometres away. It seemed within his grasp now. They had suffered horrific losses, but so had the enemy. He looked around at the faces of the crew and could see they would follow him, no matter what. They just wanted some certainty in their lives.
"I won't leave Earth," he stated once more, "Not again. I can't do it. If we accept defeat here, we accept defeat, full stop."
"But if we stay we may lose any hope of winning at all. We weren't ready for this fight, and..."
"We never are ready, because that bitch Bolormaa is always one step ahead of us. If we run, she'll only hunt us down. We can win this fight. We can do it. We must stay the course, and we must stick at it. Earth is worth fighting for, trust me."
Flashes ignited in the displays behind the Admiral as the battle raged on.
"I don't know what the right answer is, Colonel. I wish I did, and because of that I will bow to your experience. You have been down this road before. The only thing I know for certain is that Earth is still free, and you are still alive. That says a lot. Lead the way, Colonel, and we will follow."
It was a hell of a responsibility, and Jones was surprise, but also relieved that it wasn't put on him.
"What do you want to do, Colonel?" Vega asked.
Taylor looked at Earth again, and then to the battle in orbit and pointed right at it.
"That's where I'm going. Cut a path to Earth, and destroy anything that stands in our way."
"Very well, good luck, Colonel," said Vega. He then vanished from their screens.
A last devastating volley burst out from the battleship and blew apart one of the primary Morohtan vessels. The guns still fired as they came about and hit at the remaining enemy vessels. They were little more than stragglers now who refused to admit defeat. Another single impact struck the Independence, but she shrugged it off with ease. It brought a smile to Taylor's face, as he was used to facing such powerful vessels, but not being aboard one. Jones leaned in close so that he could whisper to Taylor privately.
"You sure you know what you're doing?" he asked.
"No more than you do."
"I doubt that. How is it you always know what to do?"
"Ever thought that I don't? Maybe I just make shit up as I go. Or maybe I just look for the fight and take it head on."
"No, that’s not true, you wouldn't still be alive if you did."
Taylor shrugged. "Sometimes it feels that way."
"He knows what he's doing," Alita joined in the conversation.
"I hope so."
"Sir, I am getting reports of multiple engagements on the surface," said one of the crew off to Taylor's right side. He didn't even know their name, or have much time or care to ask.
"They've already attacked the surface?" Jones asked, running across to the woman who had announced it. He pressed a few buttons and brought up five projected screens for them all to see. Each was a major city, but Taylor only recognised one - Paris. His face turned a few shades paler as he became distraught at the sight. He thought back to how much he had given to free the French city, and all those that were sacrificed along the way.
Scores of enemy craft soared across the skies in every newsfeed. Some bombed from the air while others descended to the surface to deploy ground troops. He couldn't believe how quickly it was all happening. The Morohtans couldn't have been in the Solar System for more than a few hours, and already they had boots on the ground.
"Bolormaa..." he spat.
"She has come for revenge," said Jones.
Taylor nodded in agreement.
"If only we could have killed her. She was in my grasp. So close," replied Taylor.
"And she knows it. She underestimated you. She underestimated all of us. She toyed with us, and she paid for that mistake. Now we have to pay for that bitterness she will be feeling. She played with you once. I wouldn't bank on it again. The next time you see her, you’d better be ready."
That was a sickening thought.
Why does it always have to be me?
But he knew why. He put his neck out once and had forever been targeted because of it since. It went right back to the days of Karadag. In that one moment when he defeated that Krys Lord, it sealed his fate. He couldn't run from his past, and it wouldn't
let him forget it. He hated that, but more than anything, he hated the burden it placed on all those he loved, and the price they paid for it.
Taylor looked to the displays either side of him. The front half of the bridge was displayed as though he were on an open deck and standing on the bow of a warship of old, when they still travelled on oceans. It was both useful and terrifying in equal measure. Dozens of ships had taken up formation around them as they made the run for Earth. He didn’t need to say another word.
Everyone knows what they have to do. The tactics are simple. Sweep the enemy from the atmosphere. I only pray it will be as straightforward as it sounds.
A few kilometres passed quickly when the Resolution opened fire. She was the largest and most powerful ship of the fleet, and with the longest range guns. A second and third salvo had left the barrels of her guns before the first had even met their target. Everyone watched intently and expectantly to see the effects of the first wave of fire. They impacted on the largest enemy vessel and blew holes in her hull, but seemed to have little effect on the bombardment she was unleashing on what remained of the fleet defending the planet.
A few moments later as they were drawing nearer, they began to see the flash of explosions where another battle raged on the far side of the world, undoubtedly another attack on the Earth defence fleet. At first Taylor thought they should have known it was coming and been better prepared. On the other hand, he knew just how bad it felt to be blindsided, even when you thought you were ready for anything. He said nothing but looked for Alita. She had settled back out of the way. The look on her face told him all that he needed to know. She had every faith in him, and because of that, so did he.
He took a few paces further forwards so that he was right up against the display screens that were the height of the wall of the bridge. He was studying the second largest vessel in the enemy fleet and could see smaller craft coming and going from it. He didn’t quite recognise the pattern of the ship or of those it catered to, but they were undoubtedly of Morohtan origin. They were like black shadows, swallowing up all the light and life around them.
“That has to be some kind of carrier,” he said.
No one responded.
Battle Beyond Earth - Box Set (Books 1-5) Page 82
