Taylor smiled. “Need I remind you of who is winning this war?”
Demiran looked away as if shamed. Taylor could tell the leader’s guards were confused by the whole conversation. They could clearly understand what was being said, but not why.
“Can there never be peace between our two races?”
“Yes, when we rule your planet.”
Taylor shook his head. He’d always hoped that peace could be negotiated, but he had not yet seen any evidence that it was a possibility.
“What are your people’s intentions now?”
“Is is not already clear?”
Taylor stood up quickly in frustration at the lack of co-operation.
“How many soldiers do you have on the Moon?”
Demiran glared at him, and it was clear an answer would never come.
Taylor turned in frustration. I wasn’t born for this shit. We need an interrogator, he thought.
He paced out of the room and returned to the station HQ to find it was now a hive of activity. Kelly and Chandra were busy chatting over a briefing table with four other officers. The Commander noticed as he entered.
“Major Taylor, join us please.”
Mitch could make out the insignia of the Moon colony forces on two of the officers, and they glared at him as if he were the enemy, but Kelly welcomed him with open arms.
“Did you get anything from the prisoners?” he asked.
“Nothing useful, Sir. He is a relation of Karadag. I don’t think he’ll give me anything.”
Chandra’s eyes widened. “No, you might be able to use that to your advantage.”
Kelly thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement.
“It’s true. His anger towards you could let certain information slip, so keep at it. Now, we’ve secured the station, and Earth has been notified. So far, we have eight dead and thirty-four wounded. It’s a solid start. We’ve got eight hours until the main fleet arrives. Most of the ships will be civilian and unarmed, so it is vital they have a clear run.”
“Commander!”
Doyle, Kelly’s comms officer spun around in his chair and frantically called out. The Commander turned as the man blurted out the news.
“Sir, we’ve got incoming!”
Kelly rushed over to the man, and the others stood anxiously awaiting more information.
“Several dozen ships are approaching from the Moon.”
“My, God, how long do we have?”
“At the speed they’re travelling, maybe two hours.”
Kelly turned in horror. He quickly snapped out of it and strode back to the table where the other officers were stood in shock.
“What do you reckon they want? To destroy the station or take it back?” he asked.
“They must have occupied it for a reason,” replied Chandra.
“And we have Demiran,” Taylor added.
Kelly looked at the Major with a puzzled expression for a second before he clarified.
“The enemy officer we captured.”
Kelly shook his head. “To hear their names, it almost makes them feel like a human enemy.”
“Sir, we must hold this station, or there is little hope of taking back your homeland. Let alone the fact we cannot let a sizeable enemy force loom over Earth.”
He once again snapped out of his daze and turned to the Colonel.
“Of course we must defend it! Captain Morris. We were hit by a defence grid installed by the enemy on our approach. Figure out where it is and get it working. Chandra, get all combat ships flying, and have them take up defensive positions around the station. Taylor, you’ve successfully faced off against these bastards more than any of us. I want you to liaise with all other officers on organising the defences. I’ll return once I have reported to General Schulz.”
The Commander turned and quickly rushed off to Doyle to organise an urgent transmission he would take in a private room. They all knew what it would entail, a desperate bid for support at all haste. Chandra left the table also to go about her business, and Taylor looked up to several confrontational faces. The Earth officers among them admired him, but the Moon Defence personnel despised him to the core.
“Perera, is it? Can you bring up a map of the station?”
The Lieutenant obliged but remained silent. A few seconds later, a digital 3D model of the station was projected above the table up to chest height.
“We still don’t know the enemy’s intentions. If they mean to destroy this station, then we best hope the Navy boys can do their best. But knowing their tactics, I would expect them to breach with infantry forces, whether they intend to destroy us or merely rescue their officer. Either way, we must prepare for a serious fight.”
“Not our first time,” replied Perera.
Taylor sighed at the man’s insubordinate and snarky comment.
“Let’s get something straight. You barely survived and escaped from your colony with the help of our forces. We aren’t here to survive by the skin of our teeth. We’re here to win. You can either skulk around, and keep bitching like a school boy, or you can join the winners.”
Several of the Earth officers could not conceal their amusement that only served to infuriate the Moon officer further.
“What?” Taylor asked. “You want to hit me? You want to kill me? Good, vent that at the enemy. I don’t give a shit what you feel towards me. I am here to serve a purpose. Fall in line, or get out of my sight!”
The Lieutenant knew he had been unprofessional and unhelpful and so felt uneasy, but Taylor could still see the hatred in his eyes.
“Right, let’s get on with what’s at hand.”
He quickly studied the map of the station and could see that it was a vast area to have to cover.
“We’re gonna be spread a little thin. If they were going to set charges to blow this place, you can bet your ass it’ll be either at the energy and grav generators here, or the central engineering quarters here. Those will be our focus points, as well as the command centre and guarding of the prisoners.”
“Is it wise to leave so much of the station unguarded?”
Taylor looked to the Asian man but couldn’t identify his rank from an insignia that he did not recognise.
“Sorry, but I do not believe we have met.”
“Colonel Chen.”
“You fought with the MDF?”
“A hard struggle.”
Taylor could see the Colonel had no qualms about being under the orders of a less ranked officer. Mitch’s reputation still gained him immense respect from most in the military fraternity.
“The incoming forces must have departed the Moon within minutes of our attack, meaning they probably have some idea of our strength. With that in mind, I can guarantee they’ll be hitting us hard. If we split our numbers, this station could be overrun, and we’d have nowhere to run.”
Mitch studied the map once again before pointing out a number of points.
“I want these corridors sealed off, anyway you can. That’ll close off all ancillary districts of the station, leaving us with only a third of the floor space to cover.”
“Nothing we do will keep them contained for long,” replied Perera.
“No, but time is not on their side. General Schulz is on his way. We only have to hold until he gets here.”
“We’ve got four access points to cover, Colonel Chen. I’d like you here, at hall 14B. The MDF will take the crossroads at the end of hall 86E. Captain Nichols and the Royal Greens will take the engineering levels. 112 ^th Mechanised, under Major Achen, will cover the corridors leading to the command centre here, and the prisoners themselves.
“Where will you be?” asked Chen.
“We have to be ready for anything. 2 ^nd Inter-Allied will remain fluid for rapid deployment to any breaches, and to provide assistance to any and all locations needing it.”
“Trying to be the hero again, everywhere at once?” asked Perera.
Taylor righted himself and took a few quick steps up to the Lieutenant. Perera stood tall in defiance, taunting the Major. Taylor without warning struck the man with a hard punch to the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Mitch had been careful not to use all the power his suit afforded him, which would have been enough to break the man’s neck.