Taylor smiled, appreciating that his friend could lighten up in such a bleak scenario. It was a very human thing to do, and reminded him of the way Jafar had become after all his time in the Regiment. They could see the Tusk up ahead now, and she was well clear of the enemy vessels on the far side of the planet.
"We are being hailed," stated Turan.
"Minn, good, hopefully she has some good news for us. I don't fancy getting left out here much longer."
"No, it originates from a Krys vessel."
Taylor felt his heart sink. He thought back to those horrifying liaisons between him and the Krys Lords of old. He knew what was coming and said nothing for a moment. He considered not responding to the call at all, but then he looked into the faces of those around him and realised what he needed to do.
"Put it through," he said with a sigh.
He pretended to be cool and calm, but he was anything but those things. A display lit up, and a Krys Lord appeared projected before them. Or what appeared as a Lord, anyway. He wore armour reminiscent of Karadag's. Taylor knew that it must be no mistake that it was so similar. It was not a subtle message.
"Colonel Taylor, you know who I am?"
Taylor sighed. It was a deliberate sign of disrespect that brought him great satisfaction to give. For a moment he was able to forget all his previous woes, the threat of Bolormaa, and the loss of his friends. He could focus his mind on an old enemy, or as close to one as he could get.
"You look like a traitor to me. You owe your allegiance to Lord Jafar, and he will hear of this."
The creature began to laugh. It was a low sound and with deep resonation. It reminded Taylor of Karadag.
"I won't offer to let this go. But I will agree to a ceasefire and to let Lord Jafar resolve this matter," he added.
"Jafar...he is no Lord," spat the creature.
"And I suppose you are?"
"I am Lord Cakir, the rightful Lord of my world and the Krys Empire, and I am here to ensure that you pay for your crimes against our people."
Taylor smiled.
"I think you are forgetting who started the Krys wars. It wasn't us who came looking for you, and it wasn't us who tried to wipe out your entire civilisation, if you can call it that."
He felt bad that Babacan and Turan had to hear it, but he knew they would understand his motives.
“Nothing you can say will change what has to come. You must pay for your crimes against my people.”
Taylor laughed. He couldn’t help it in the face of such absurdity, but at the same time it was saddening that the Krys Lord could be so blinded to reality.
“You find this funny?” Cakir asked in disgust.
Taylor’s face turned deadly serious.
“Do I find the genocide of my people funny? No. Do I find the fact that you are offended that we stopped your ancestor from committing genocide against us to be funny? Sure, I can’t think of any other way to take it. If you think Karadag was some kind of saint, you need to take another look at your history and get your facts straight!”
Cakir didn’t even pause to give it a second thought.
“Humanity is a curse on the universe. Lord Karadag was merely attempting to remove it, and he paid for it with his life. And you! You are at the centre of it all. We will not rest until we have destroyed you and brought justice to our people. There is not a place in the universe you can go that we will not find you.”
Taylor was shaking his head in astonishment.
“You know that Bolormaa is still out there, right? She is waging war on us all, and she will destroy us all if we do not stand together.”
“Bolormaa wants you dead as much as we do, and I would rather stand with her than you and the traitor Jafar.”
Taylor felt his heart sink, realising how desperate their situation had become.
“So you’re siding with her, Bolormaa, the scourge of this universe? If you think she can be trusted, you are a fool. She would just as soon destroy you once you are no longer useful.”
“Her goal is our goal, and while that remains true, we will fight you together.”
“Then know this. If you take up arms against me, no matter how long it takes or what it costs, I will kill you. I don’t know how or when, but better and tougher Krys Lords have tried to take me down before, and you will be no different. Stand with us, or pay the price with your life, and the lives of most of those you know.”
Cakir didn’t respond. He glared at Taylor and ended the transmission without another word.
“You have your answer,” said Turan.
“He wants to fight? He is a fool,” replied Taylor.
“But a powerful fool. If he has taken up arms against Jafar and the Alliance, then he must have rallied many to his cause. No Krys, no matter how powerful, would try and go after you without an army at their side.”
“This is not good,” added Babacan.
“No shit,” replied Taylor.
“We cannot fight on two fronts.”
“We’ve had to do it before, and we’ll do it again. Bolormaa is weak, far weaker than we first thought. Now we must hope that Jafar can hang on to what he has got. This is a rebellion, an uprising, and we must rely on him to put it down.”
“I fear he has a tough task ahead of him,” said Turan.
That worried Taylor more than anything. He knew how loyal Turan was to Jafar, and to show any doubt that he would be capable of putting down the rebellion was a clear indicator of just how serious things were.
“I guess the shit just keeps piling up,” said Taylor and turned his attention to the Tusk ahead of them. They were making their final approach to land.
“I have to say I didn’t expect to be coming home on this heap of junk,” he added.
“This is one of the latest and most advanced small transports in the Krys fleet,” replied Turan.
He sounded offended that Taylor had insulted the vessel. For a moment he had forgotten he was even amongst Krys soldiers. He didn’t see them in the same light as Cakir’s kind. To him they were his comrades. He had known enough different races now that he didn’t judge them merely on their looks, but that didn’t make him any more comfortable to be travelling in one of the Krys constructed vessels.
“You think you can land this marvel of technology?”
His sarcasm was lost on his Krys friends.
“Yes,” replied Turan confidently.
He seemed to guide them into the docking bay with remarkable precision, but as they came in to touch down, his approach speed was too high.
“Brace!” Taylor yelled.
The landing gear struck the deck hard and collapsed in under the weight of the heavy hull. The fuselage hit the docking bay floor, and they bounced slightly, coming down hard once again and sliding ten metres. Sparks flew, and the screeching sound was horrendous. At last they began to slow, struck one of the walls, and crashed to a halt. Taylor just about held on this time as they were thrown around and finally settled down.
“Smooth.”
“Thank you.”
Taylor smiled. Turan had taken it as a compliment, and there was some charm in that.
“Captain Minn, we are all aboard and accounted for. Are you able to get us out of here?” he asked over the comms.
“Colonel, glad to hear you are okay. Jump engines are active, but it will be some time before our weapon systems are operational.”
“That’s good enough for me. Get us the hell out of here, pronto!”
“Aye, aye, Sir.”
“Nice flying,” groaned Dart.
He looked terrible, but he was still breathing, and that was something. Taylor picked up the wounded pilot and carried him out onto the deck. The moment he put one foot out of the Krys craft, he felt them jump, but this time it didn’t turn his stomach at all. An overwhelming sense of relief overcame him.
“You feel that? We are free and clear.”
He put Dart down on one of many gurneys awaiting the wounded. Dart was clearly
in immense pain, but he was putting on a brave face.
“You are going to make it through this, you know why?”
Dart shook his head.
“Because I need the best damn pilot there is, or I get stuck with that ham-fisted one,” he said, pointing to Turan.
The alien looked angry by the sentiment, but he saw what Taylor was doing and why. He was clearly starting to understand humans more than he had previously.
“He did all right,” said Dart.
He was wheeled away with several other wounded. Taylor looked around to see how few had come back.
“We paid a dear price today.”
“But we accomplished one of our missions. We found Captain Jones.”
“Yes, at least we did accomplish that, Babacan.”
He stared down at his friend who was guarded by two of Turan’s soldiers. He looked lost, as though he didn’t recognise anything or anyone around him.
“We found him all right, but how much of the Captain that is left remains to be seen. Get him to the medical bay, and let them see what they can make of him once they’re done patching up those who need it more.”
“What are we treating him as?” Turan asked.
“What do you mean?”
“The Captain attacked you,” said Babacan, “For whatever reason, he is not himself. We do not yet know what danger he could pose to himself or others.”
Taylor groaned. He hated to accept that fact, but as he looked into Jones’ eyes, he failed to recognise the man inside. It was a terrible and depressing thought.
“Keep your guards with him, but do not let any harm come to him, and do not treat him as the enemy. Whatever he is going through right now, he is still one of us. He must have seen some harsh treatment at the hands of Bolormaa’s minions, so let’s make sure he knows who his friends are.”
He walked over and knelt down beside the Captain.
“William, Captain William Jones. You know who I am. Colonel Mitch Taylor. You remember me, don’t you?”
He slowly looked up into Taylor’s eyes, and for a moment it seemed that he responded to the sight of Taylor’s face.
“It isn’t safe here. You shouldn’t be here. It isn’t safe.”
He was deadly serious and spoke as though he was relaying some message that was buried deep in his mind.
“What is it they did to you?”
“Terrible things, terrible things.”
He was skittish and wide-eyed. He had the look of both shock and panic at the same time.
“We are gonna fix you, I promise.”
“Fix me? You can’t fix me. It isn’t safe here. It isn’t safe here. It isn’t safe here…”
It almost brought Taylor to tears to see his friend in such a decrepit state. He gestured towards Turan’s soldiers to help him. They carried him away like he was a psych patient, and Taylor realised that is just what he was.
“What do you think Bolormaa did to him?”
Taylor shook his head.
“Babacan, I have no idea, but I guess the real question is not what did she do, but why? Jones didn’t have any secrets that could change the outcome of this war. He is just a warrior, and nothing more.”
“No, he is with you, and that makes targets of us all,” said Kaytun as she approached, “Bolormaa is hell bent on getting to you. Physically and psychologically, and this is only another way of doing it. She is trying to take from you everything that you know and love. She doesn’t just want to kill you, she wants to hollow you out and make you a wreck of a man.”
“Yes, but we will not let that happen,” added Babacan.
Taylor didn’t seem so sure.
“She’s doing a pretty good job so far. I don’t know how much more I can lose before I go crazy.”
“I know. I have studied your history. Your weakness is that you care too much for those around you…”
“Too much?”
“Yes, it is a weakness that your enemies will always attempt to exploit.”
Taylor looked distraught as it dawned on him that he was the reason everyone he loved suffered so much, but Kaytun didn’t stop there.
“But it is also your strength, Colonel.”
Taylor’s head rose up proud at the statement and listened intently as she continued.
“Monsters like Bolormaa rule through fear, but not you. Deep down you are good, and she is evil. People flock to you because you inspire them to be better than they are. That is why we follow you.”
“You follow me because you were ordered to.”
“No, I was ordered to assist you, and I can’t say I liked the idea initially, but you cannot help but have this effect on all who fight with you. Look at us, human, Krys, Cholan, united, and all because of you. The Alliance was started because of you. It was started that day you aligned human and Aranui. It was set in stone when you defeated the Krys, and instead of destroying them, you made allies of them. The Cholan Empire joined because of what you created, but it was never complete until you came back to us and made it what it is today. All of this, it is all because of you, Sir.”
Taylor sat down against a crate as he took it all in.
“It’s true, all of it. You know that it is. You just won’t accept it. You could have been the leader of the Alliance. You always should have been, but you won’t, because that is not the kind of man you are. And we are all made better because of it.”
“I don’t know what to say. You sure kiss ass good, but I don’t mind it.”
“You miss my meaning. I am not here to milk your ego. Emperor Tuin told me all about you. He knows what and who you are, and how you did all the things you did. Everything I said is true, and I am here to make sure you never change. Those were my final orders from the Emperor himself. He told me to keep you alive, and ensure that you do not change.”
Taylor laughed.
“She is right,” said Babacan.
That comment silenced Taylor. He sensed from the looks of them all that they all agreed.
“So what you’re telling me is that I am destined to make life hell for those all around me?”
“Yes, but for the right reasons, and that it is an honour for all of us to be at your side, no matter the cost.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but Turan spoke before he could think of anything more to say.
“I agree with her. I never understood how anyone could follow you, especially my own kind. So many on my world hate you for what you did to our people, and so did I. I dreamt of one day meeting you so that I could get revenge for my people, but the reality could not be more different. The truth is, the effect of humanity on Krys life has been nothing short of incredible, but so few appreciate it. The Krys people lived as slaves before Lord Jafar, and that change was all because of you.”
“Thank you,” he finally responded.
Taylor was dumbfounded by what he heard, but it was welcome. At such a low point in his life, it really put things in perspective. Turan spoke again.
“I never thought I would say this, but I would give my life for you, and if elements of my people continue to come after you, I will kill every last one that I can. ”
“I never wanted it, never wanted another war with your people. Not the first one, let alone any that followed.”
“We know, and that is why we follow you. There are stronger bonds than blood, and this unit is proof of them. It is an honour to be here.”
Taylor got to his feet. He didn’t have any words left but could see they didn’t expect any.
“Thank you, all of you. Now let’s get back in this war and work out what the hell is going on out there!”
Chapter 7
The doors before Taylor opened, and he peered into a room full of high-ranking officers and political advisors. Jafar stood at one end of the room facing a blank wall as if in deep thought, while Lisa Caron had her head in her hands. It was a bleak scene. Things clearly weren’t going well.
“Well, this sure looks good,�
� Taylor whispered.
He stepped inside. Caron looked up and smiled to see him.
“Taylor, thank God you made it! We thought we had lost you, too.”
Jafar turned at the sound of his name, as well.
“I’m still here, but plenty aren’t. We hit some resistance, but we’d have been just fine if a Krys army hadn’t shown up. And it wasn’t there to help. They came to kick our asses.”
“We heard rumours of a Krys uprising, but we didn’t know it was that bad. They came looking for you?”
“By name, Madam President. Some rather unpleasant fellow called Cakir, he claims to be a Lord and doesn’t like you very much,” he replied, pointing at Jafar.
Jafar didn’t look surprised.
“You knew about this?” Caron asked.
“Not the details, but this was a long time coming. Cakir has spoken out against me for more than one hundred years, but he has never had the strength or support to attempt to cast me out. He has been waiting for his opportunity.”
“Yeah, well, he’s found it, and he’s a de facto ally of Bolormaa, and he isn’t hiding the fact!”
“If that is true, then this situation is far graver than I had feared,” replied Jafar.
“We lost a lot of good people out there, but we did find Captain Jones. He is alive, but he is not the man we all knew.”
“I am sorry to hear that, Colonel.”
“Yes, as am I. I am sorry, Taylor, but I cannot stay here any longer.”
“What do you mean, Jafar?”
“If there is revolt and rebellion on the Krys worlds, I must go to counter it.”
“We can’t afford to lose your troops that are fighting on Earth.”
“I am sorry, Madam President, but I have no choice. If my people fall under the rule of Cakir, we will be cast back to the dark days that Colonel Taylor knows all too well. The Krys armies would come back here, but not as your ally.”
“This Cakir, he cannot be as insane as you suggest, surely?”
“Trust me, when I say that you do not want to know what life would be like with him at the head of the Krys armies. If I cannot stop this rebellion, Earth will be finished.”
“Let him go,” added Taylor, “If he says he needs to go, I trust him.”
Battle Beyond Earth: Survival Page 10
