Nick Thomas - Battle Earth IV

“Sir, you can’t see the General without an appointment.”

He continued on at a brisk pace that she could do nothing to stop. Taylor burst through the doors to the General’s office with Silva close behind. Schulz looked up and smiled at the sight of the Major. Several other officers and the city Mayor sat around a table with him.

“Major Taylor, it is an honour to have such a decorated officer among us.”

He looked to his secretary who was flustered. “It’s okay, leave us.”

“Cut the bullshit, General. Ramstein has been flattened. This war is very much back on.”

“I am aware of that fact, Major.”

“The Moon must be taken back, and I want in!”

“Your enthusiasm and determination is to be admired, Major.”

“General. We have what it takes. I know the colony, and we have one of the finest combat units in the world. But this war has taken a heavy toll. We need troops, guns, and we need to be brought back up to strength. Not a few dozen to fulfil a company. We need a battalion once again.”

Schulz took a deep breath and looked across at his advisers. One of them finally spoke up, a French officer.

“Sir, the Immortals leading the charge could give an immense boost to morale.”

Schulz nodded. Taylor could see that the General felt no ill will towards him, and he was starting to understand it. They each had their part to play and needed each other.

“You would choose to remain under my command?” asked Schulz.

“I believe you’ll be placed in charge of any Moon deployment, Sir. I want to be where the action is.”

“Your Company is an amalgamation of British and American troops, is it not?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then it is only fitting that we maintain that. I will get you the troops and equipment you need, if you agree to be the spearhead of my operation. The troops need heroes, Major, and you’re a poster boy that can turn the tide in the coming battles.”

Taylor nodded. “It would be an honour, Sir.”

“Return to your people. I’ll have what you need sorted within the next twenty-four hours.”

Silva’s eyes widened. He’d never seen any change be made so rapidly in his long time of service. Taylor turned and strode out of the room. Silva was close by his side.

“Will he do it? Really get you everything you have asked for?”

“Yes, because we’re an asset to him that he can’t afford to lose. Much more fighting, and there’ll be nothing left of the Immortals.”

“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking. Yesterday, you wanted to put down your rifle and see an end to the fighting. Now you want to be at the forefront of a second war?”

“It’s not a new war. The old one just never ended. I see that now. Chandra was right all along. She could see that and I couldn’t. This war will end when one race is utterly destroyed.”

Silva shook his head in astonishment, but he was glad to see Taylor back to his old self. They rushed back to the copter to find Rains and Kato waiting on the ramp, each with a coffee in hand.

“You get what you were after?” asked Eddie.

“Hell, yes. We’re going back to war, Lieutenant. Are you ready to return to the Moon?”

“Fuck, yes. All those missions I flew to get aid up there. Pissed me off when we lost the colony for good. We going to take it to the bastards?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Alright!”

He threw out the contents of the coffee onto the roadside and rushed into the copter to take them back to Reims. When they got back to the city, they found Chandra and Jones waiting for them at the landing zone. They were stood in thick coats beside a heater the pilots had set up for working on the copters. As soon as they had landed, Taylor was out the door and heading down the ramp to pass on the news.

“Taylor, I’ve just heard from Field Marshal Copley himself. He says you’ve been causing quite a stir, and that we’re getting fresh troops tomorrow morning.”

“It was time we got back up to strength,” he replied.

She smiled. “How many toes did you tread on to get this?”

“Only a few. The only proviso is that we spearhead the Moon assault, that okay with you?”

“It’s what I’ve been God damn telling you these past few weeks, isn’t it?”

“So you aren’t pissed that I went over you on this?”

“Major, getting us the support we need is not going over my head! Good work, let’s just see what they send us.”

The evening was a strange mix of sombre reflection on what they had lost in Ramstein, and in what excitement lay ahead. They had all built such a hatred for the enemy that to put their lives on the line no longer mattered. It was clear to them all now what must be done. Chandra tapped her glass and drew the room to silence.

“We lost a great many friends and comrades today. They were not the first and will not be the last. Remember them, for they are the reason we are still alive today. To our fallen friends!”

She lifted her glass to an enthusiastic cheer. She turned to Taylor who sat alone with a glass of beer, staring into the distance in a world of his own.

“You asked when this war would be over for us?” she asked.

Taylor snapped out of it and turned to her with a look of curiosity of what wisdom she might impart.

“It’ll be over for us when it’s over for the world.”

He smiled.

“What?” she asked.

“Yesterday, that would have just pissed me off.”

“And now?”

“Now I wonder what any of our lives are really for. Yesterday, I wanted to end this life of soldering, but what would I do? What else are people like us made for?”

“Christ. You’re not going to go all philosophical on me, are you? I’ll go and find the chaplain if this is to continue.”

“You must give it some thought from time to time?”

“Sure, and my conclusion is I am glad I have a purpose in life. I see people wasting away doing nothing, achieving nothing. I never wanted fame or fortune, but to know that I’m doing something good with my life, that’s enough. Look at you, all that and a damn statue!”

Taylor chuckled. “Hey, I never wanted that shit.”

“But it’s there all the same, and not for no good reason.”

She could see she’d got back the officer she had come to admire so much. It warmed her to know she kept his company in such hard times.

Morning came and the Company formed up at a former playing field of a school that had been allocated to the fresh troops that were arriving. It was almost 0900 hours, and they stood calmly in the cold.

“You really believe anyone is coming?” asked Jones.

“From the hassle Taylor whipped up yesterday, yeah I believe so.”

Seconds later, they heard the roar of engines as copters tore across the sky towards them. Eddie and Kato sat on a wall beside the Company in a relaxed manner. They wanted to see what fresh equipment was coming with their own eyes. The two pilots leapt to their feet as they heard the familiar sound of the modified engines they’d grafted to their own copters. Then they came into view.

“What the fuck is that?” asked Eddie.

“Nothing we’ve seen before.”

Five aircraft burst into view that were bigger than the Eagle copters they had used previously, but they seemed to move with the same speed and nimble manoeuvrability. They descended quickly and landed down on the green in front of them. The fast decent and engines blasted a snowdrift across the fields, splashing the awaiting Company with a spray of white powder.

The ramps slammed down, and troops poured out from the craft, each equipped with Reitech’s finest. As the NCOs formed up the troops, a Captain strode forward to greet them. He saluted as he got with a few metres but continued onwards to shake the hand of Chandra and then the others.